Starting as a Magical Girl, I Alone Shall Rule for Eternity

"I'll tell you a secret. The world isn't destined for future destruction—it's already been destroyed in the future."

Black Keke had planned to start with that line to grab Jiang Si's attention.

But then she struggled all the way from the bottom of the building to the rooftop, panting heavily while bracing her knees, and looked up at the sky to see that falling star gradually magnifying—and heading straight for her, crashing down right on top of her!

"If you come down like that, even Beihai will be in trouble!"

She'd only come to pick up Jiang Si, but she never expected his arrival to be so brutal!

Like a meteor, his whole body on fire, he looked like he was about to smash into the earth like a meteor hitting the planet, planning to flatten Beihai completely!

And the target was aimed right at her high-rise building. If he actually hit, it wouldn't just be the building and her—the entire Beihai would suffer mass casualties!

Most importantly, Beihai was already deep in the night. Though the main streets in the city center were still brightly lit because of the night market, most people had already gone to sleep. Even if the Azure Cloud Sect's Disaster Control Bureau reacted immediately, there was no way to evacuate everyone from Beihai in time.

Could Jiang Si actually be the End of All Things?!

For a moment, she even forgot her opening line. Black Keke scrambled to get back downstairs, but she could see that she had nowhere to dodge the falling impact, so she could only sigh in resignation.

But then she suddenly noticed Jiang Si, falling like a giant fireball that had even scorched half the night sky red, abruptly stomp on the air!

Black Keke discovered that the air had suddenly materialized.

Stomped by that foot like a waterfall, it roared as it surged downward!

The violent gale blew all the leaves from the trees below, scattering them along with gravel and dust, drowning the entire Beihai in a sandstorm.

Crackling sounds of debris hitting filled the air endlessly. The lights by the night market swayed like candles, yet the wind only lasted a moment before disappearing without a trace.

Black Keke brushed her hair aside and looked up again. Jiang Si stomped on the air once more, then again, each step pressing down on something invisible. The sonic boom's sharp screech gradually softened, and the falling gale slowly turned into a gentle breeze.

In the end, Jiang Si descended as calmly as if walking down a flight of stairs, stepping through the air step by step until he landed on the rooftop.

When he finally touched down on the rooftop, he caused almost no disturbance at all.

The movement was so subtle it didn't even stir the dust beside him, and the entire Beihai remained in its quiet late-night slumber. Aside from the brief burst of violent wind that had swept through, no sleeping residents were woken up.

Effortless mastery over weight...

After a long silence, Black Keke took a deep breath. "Tsk, how did you do that...?"

Having reincarnated so many times, she was actually long accustomed to things like flying.

But she could clearly feel that Jiang Si hadn't used any mana.

No mana, no wings, no physical abnormalities.

He'd simply used his physical body to step on the air like stairs and descend... Newton was probably spinning in his grave!

Using left foot stepping on right foot like ladder-cloud-somersaulting to ascend to heaven!

"As long as you push hard enough, the air will obediently let you step on it."

"...So small effort really does create miracles."

The seemingly absurd Tandan suddenly fell into genuine reflection.

Could it be that the problem is actually me?

This world was already built on miracles. Jiang Si was the one who was right.

Or rather, maybe Magical Girls' miracles aren't enough because they're not pushing hard enough?

But before she could reflect too long, Jiang Si casually tossed Tiyana aside.

He glanced at the building.

This was Bingtang's property. It used to belong to an internet company, but after the AI shock, the entire company pivoted and kept shrinking. Now, the building was a shared game studio between that company and the Disaster Control Bureau.

The Magical Girl Idol Project poster was still hanging there, featuring the blockbuster announcement of Shion's rerun.

Bingtang had given a death order: this time, Shion's rerun banner must create a best-seller chart legend, worthy of Shion's status and position...

Good thing he hadn't damaged it. After all, he had to be careful with his own family's property.

After loosening up his body a bit, Jiang Si was extremely satisfied with the physical transformation.

Physical body enhancement had always had a bottleneck. After acquiring the second heart, though the bottleneck had loosened somewhat, his improvement hadn't been particularly noticeable. The second heart's main function was still focused on the Witch's enhancement.

It wasn't until he snatched the Beast of Eternity's power from Tiyana that the second heart's strengthening of his physical body truly manifested. Most importantly, this Beast of Eternity's power not only directly boosted the Golden Calamity Dragon King's rank by a huge margin but also perfectly integrated the curse's power with his own body.

Now, his blood and internal organs were all flowing with that golden curse.

He then cut a wound on his wrist to reveal that the blood flowing out was golden.

If Full Bloom could be compared to Pure Mana's path to enlightenment, then the Emperor's Curse was another completely different path from both Pure and Polluted Mana. In the past, the curse could only flow from the Emperor and the Black Dragon outward to the limbs. But now, his body could bear the complete curse!

A wanderer unbound by worldly affairs, within the heart lies the Great Elixir.

Using the second Great Emperor's heart as the furnace, the Emperor's blood essence as the Great Medicine, and the End's power as fuel, he had completely rebuilt the body's five secret realms: Foundation Building, Golden Core, Forming Infant, Nascent Soul, and Immortal Platform. All five triggered the Divine Restriction Resonance.

Finally, he had made every inch of his flesh and blood flow with golden liquid, returning to the origin and condensing the elixir!

With that gift from the Beast of Eternity added on, even without transforming, just using his physical body alone, he could now stand his ground against a Full Bloom Magical Girl!

Perfected Supreme Body?

Wrong. It was now the ultimate sublimation—an alternative path to enlightenment, a complete, extreme, peak, divine-restricted, flawless, golden, perfected, ninefold, nine-turn, nine-limit body!

"Good work, Tiyana."

Thus, even Jiang Si couldn't help but praise the last-place among the Seven True-Transmissions.

Tiyana, who had still been unconscious, heard the praise and forced her eyes open, sitting up abruptly.

Then, clutching her heaving chest, she didn't even have time to feel happy about the Sect Master's praise before immediately looking around.

"Beihai... is Beihai okay...?"

She crawled to the edge of the building on all fours, looking around frantically. Only after confirming that Beihai was fine did she slump down, lying directly on the rooftop, staring up at the night sky in a daze for a moment.

She let out two laughs of "ha ha," then murmured softly, "Everything... went exactly according to plan. Perfect!"

After obtaining the Beast of Eternity's gaze, Tiyana had deliberately grabbed Jiang Si and pulled him into an extra space for their battle.

After all, if she caused any large-scale destruction or losses...

She couldn't bear Bingtang's wrath—Ice Color Group and the Disaster Control Bureau were practically all Bingtang's property now. A little scratch or bump might destroy several of Bingtang's buildings.

So Tiyana had planned to drag Jiang Si into another space for their fight. Win or lose, as long as she didn't anger Bingtang, at least she wouldn't be kicked out of Azure Cloud.

No matter how unhappy Jiang Si was, he'd only remove her from the true-transmission position. But if she angered Bingtang, she'd have no place in Azure Cloud Sect at all...

So, the primary goal was absolutely not to anger Lady Bingtang and to prohibit harming civilians' property and lives.

Only then came gaining the Sect Master's recognition.

Now that both goals were perfectly achieved, Tiyana's expression was brimming with relief. It took her a long time to slowly calm down, and then she murmured, "Did I pass?"

Jiang Si said slowly, "Full marks."

The golden-haired, blue-eyed girl burst into a brilliant smile. Then she raised her arm to cover the upper half of her face. "I am the seventh true-transmission, Tiyana. Just the seventh true-transmission, Tiyana!"

After the rain came clear skies. Beneath the joy of finally relaxing after immense pressure, there was also a hint of a small, choked sob.

Having shouldered such immense pressure, she'd ambushed Senior Sister Bai Mei, schemed against Thousand-Pinweed, and had corresponding strategies prepared for both Qinghua and Yumo.

If her master still wasn't satisfied, she would challenge the other true-transmissions again until her master was satisfied.

No matter what it took, only the identity of the seventh true-transmission—this position.

"I, I absolutely won't—"

Before Tiyana could finish, Black Keke, who had been holding back, took out a small hammer and whacked Tiyana on the forehead.

This hit was no joke. Electricity surged from the hammer straight into her brain.

The true-transmission who had just been evenly matched with Jiang Si tilted her head, twitched, and fell unconscious.

"Now it's my time to talk with big brother. Can you outsiders stop getting in the way?"

After saying that, Black Keke panted heavily and wiped the sweat from her forehead. She crouched down and poked Tiyana's cheek to confirm she was truly unconscious. "But man, that was really something. I thought we were doomed. I didn't expect someone could almost summon the Beast of Eternity. Do all of Azure Cloud Sect's seven true-transmissions love to stir up trouble like this? Bad for the heart..."

Her tone suggested she was quite wary of the other true-transmissions too.

Jiang Si didn't pay much attention, because as soon as Black Keke tried to mess with Tiyana further, she would discover that this Tiyana was just a substitute puppet.

Of course, Tiyana wouldn't dare use a substitute during the actual fight with him. But after the battle ended, when they dropped back from the other space, Tiyana had already escaped midway.

Risk when you need to risk, be cautious when you need to be cautious. Don't let the two conflict. This was the true Path of Caution.

On this path, Tiyana had finally taken a crucial step.

Feeling somewhat gratified, Jiang Si looked up.

After all this fuss, it was late. Countless stars twinkled in the sky.

But they looked like countless tombstones.

"Anyway, what I wanted to tell you is—Guh-ha!"

Over there, Black Keke, who had been poking Tiyana's puppet, causing it to explode and sending her flying, scrambled back up and straightened her clothes to make herself look less disheveled. "Ahem, about how the future isn't destined for destruction but has already been destroyed..."

Jiang Si looked down at Black Keke. "What's the difference?"

"The difference is between something that's already happened and something prophesied to inevitably happen..."

"In the end, we just need to change the destroyed future, right?"

Jiang Si let out a cold laugh. "What's the difference? It's just cause before effect, or effect before cause. In the cultivation world, stories about saving the past are countless. When descendants of the Heavenly Emperor Ye defied the flow of years, built a causal bridge between the Primordial Heavenly Emperor and the Heavenly Emperor Ye, and transmitted warnings of future crises to Shi Hao with minimal disturbance to cause and effect—how was that any different from saving the past? You're making a mountain out of a molehill."

"Not to mention the countless simulation and reincarnation ancestors, countless cycles seeking immortality, or saving one person, or saving loved ones, or simply seeking survival."

"And those great figures from scriptures and classics who lived a second life. Like Sword Emperor Chu Yang, who defied fate with the Nine Calamities Sword, returned to age sixteen to make up for regrets, and ultimately left behind the resounding declaration 'All love is sin, yet heaven is ruthless,' ascending with his Nine Calamities brothers into the chaotic starry sky. Or Dragon Lord Xin Yun, who lived two lives, awakened his true heart, locked onto future big shots ahead of time, intercepted top-tier resources, and went from a nobody on the roadside to the strongest of his era."

Jiang Si counted them off as if reciting from a well-worn text, then looked at Black Keke again, his expression growing more displeased the longer he stared:

"Look at these guys next door. They retake the exam with the answer key and get full marks. And then look at you. How many restarts have you had?!"

"There's always a difference every time, okay? I've tried my best."

Even though she was used to him spouting a bunch of things she didn't understand, being looked down on like this still stung Black Keke's pride. "Going back to save one person is completely different from saving an entire world!"

"Ha. Didn't Chu Yang cut down the extraterrestrial demon? Isn't that saving the world? Didn't Xin Yun eventually open a cave heaven and blessed land to lead the Dragon Race away from the arrival of the primordial chaos? Isn't that saving the world?"

"How is that the same?! They don't lose their power when they reincarnate!" Black Keke snapped angrily. "You should read fewer web novels."

"Not the same again? So 'already destroyed' and 'destined to be destroyed' aren't the same either, right?"

Jiang Si laughed scornfully, unwilling to bicker with a child. All these worldly matters were recorded in the ancient texts of past ancestors.

In his view, "already destroyed" and "destined to be destroyed" were just two different ways of saying the same thing.

A little wordplay, and she treated it like some earth-shattering secret.

"What else? If the future is destined to be destroyed, it means we still have time to do something to change it. If the future is already destroyed, it means everything we do is useless."

Black Keke finally lost her patience. "Except by following my plan, no matter how strong you are, no matter what you do, the final result is that it's already destroyed, got it?"

"Don't talk about cause and effect or inevitability with a cultivator."

Jiang Si snorted coldly. "In our cultivation world, changing causality and swimming against the river of time is the norm!"

If you're not defying heaven, why cultivate immortality at all?

"Fine."

Black Keke was drained. For the first time, she felt how powerless words could be. Facing Jiang Si, she had lost completely.

Countless deaths had proven that the future was unchangeable.

And countless more deaths had revealed that the future's destruction was already a done deal.

Every single one of those deaths had shaken her to her core, constantly undermining her worldview and her plans.

She had hoped to use these hard-won, terrifying secrets to awe Jiang Si into obediently following her lead.

But this young man didn't take any of it seriously—information that had cost her who knows how many deaths to gradually accept.

Black Keke didn't think he was just that receptive. It was simply that this guy had no idea what any of it really meant!

She had to make Jiang Si understand the significance, understand the meaning of the future already being destroyed. Only then could he understand her.

And then cooperate with her plan...

So, in the pitch-black night, Black Keke grabbed Jiang Si's hand. "Come with me first."

Even though she had been acting pathetic the whole time, so pathetic that Jiang Si had almost forgotten that this knock-off little sister was actually the President of the Witch Association.

Until she raised her hand, and a crack in space appeared before them. As Black Keke pressed some unknown button, the spatial rift flickered with various lights and sounds, as if verifying her authority.

After a long moment, it opened like a door.

The two of them passed through that portal-like device. When they opened their eyes again, what lay before them was exactly the End Land—filled with Keke's corpses.

Black Keke was just about to say something.

Suddenly, a somewhat puzzled voice came from the distance.

"Big brother?"

Among the pile of corpses, one Keke, wearing a fiery red magical outfit, stood up as if alive, tilting her head to look at them.

Black Keke was so startled she jumped. "Holy crap, the corpse is resurrected!"

"I'm not dead!" Keke immediately raised her magic wand, looking at them. Her pale, weak face was almost completely streaked with tears. "I'm Keke! I'm not dead yet!"

......

Keke had just touched the tree branch and was still considering what she could achieve as an unrecorded Magical Girl.

Suddenly, someone summoned the Beast of Eternity's gaze.

Unlike the other petrified Magical Girls, Keke was being watched by another Beast of Eternity's pupil.

The Incubator suddenly disappeared without a trace—as if even the Incubator was terrified of the Beast of Eternity's power.

The moment the Beast of Eternity's aura appeared, she could feel the Incubator trembling incessantly, as if it were about to piss itself.

By the time the Beast of Eternity's gaze fell on her, the Incubator had vanished completely, nowhere to be found.

Keke had wanted to protect the other Magical Girls in Chongxu. But just as she took off—

The scene before her suddenly changed, and then she was teleported from Chongxu to this place by some strange force.

Everywhere, there were her own corpses.

Piled into mountains, all wearing the same clothes, as if she had died countless times in an instant...

Even though she was already a mature Magical Girl, and not long ago at Beihai's Disaster Control Bureau, she had even met Senior Qingying, who praised her as a mature, reliable, and independent Magical Girl.

Still, seeing her own corpses scattered everywhere, emitting a strange fragrant smell, it was hard not to feel uneasy and afraid.

Especially since each corpse had died in an extremely miserable way. Looking at those bodies that were identical to her, nearly indistinguishable, she even had the illusion that she herself should be lying there too.

Despite the eerie scene, Keke still held on.

Ever since she had been tested by the captain using the Witch's trial back then, Keke's mental fortitude had indeed grown much stronger. Though facing a ground full of her own corpses made her uneasy and afraid, even wanting to cry, she could still suppress her negative emotions.

She forced herself not to look at her corpses too much, creating distance while searching everywhere for an exit or clues.

This place was extremely vast. As she created distance, she even had the illusion that what lay below wasn't piles of her corpses but a garden, making her unconsciously look down again.

Then she felt a chill in her heart once more from seeing her own corpses.

As she prepared to land in a ravine ahead to see if there was an exit, Keke accidentally touched a corpse during her descent.

The identical Personal Realities rapidly merged, and the memories came flooding in!

And so, Keke saw the scene just before the corpse's death.

In a pitch-black void, she faced a monster covered in countless eyes, its form indistinct, hidden deep within the darkness.

Her body screamed at her to get away. That shudder and fear struck straight to her heart. Yet, for some reason, she still stepped forward toward that terrifying existence, even lifting her head and speaking boldly without any timidity:

"I want to negotiate with you, Beast of Eternity!"

The moment she finished speaking, her head exploded on the spot!

No pause, instant death. Keke didn't even have time to react.

The next second, when Keke came to her senses, she immediately felt a physiological nausea, a desire to vomit. That fear and the pain of death transmitted back to her so vividly that her consciousness blurred for a moment.

But quickly, Keke realized that these corpses of hers had been constantly challenging that Beast of Eternity in life!

Most importantly, in that body just now, she couldn't even sense mana or miracles.

As an ordinary person, challenging the Beast of Eternity head-on...

Keke looked around again at the corpses scattered everywhere.

The earlier eeriness and unease shifted slightly.

It was like going from a mass grave to a martyrs' cemetery—suddenly, it felt different.

She had originally wanted to just leave, but she didn't know if leaving would mess things up.

If she had been teleported here with the same mission—to seal away that terrifying monster, to keep it from reaching the human world and destroying everything—then leaving would mean all these selves had died for nothing?

Even though it was only a moment, that fear, pain, unease, despair, and the determination and urgency that surpassed it all transmitted to her clearly.

I have to save everyone.

Only by doing this could everyone be saved.

If she had been afraid of the corpses at first, now Keke actually felt a strange closeness to them.

They weren't enemies. Not enemies, not some weird unknown existence. They were just herself, trying her best.

After realizing this, Keke began to think carefully.

Should she not leave so recklessly?

Clearly, all these selves here were working hard toward something. And her appearing here—did it mean it was her turn to do something?

If an ordinary version of herself could face the Beast of Eternity, then as a Magical Girl, she had no reason to be afraid.

If she left just like that, would it cause everyone to die?

Like how she had caused her parents to die.

She instinctively wanted to rely on Teacher Shion, but then she remembered what the Incubator had said:

"Even Shion can't do it. Only you can..."

This was what it meant, wasn't it?

Besides, she couldn't contact Shion here anyway...

She had to do it herself. Only she could do it.

She kept thinking it, over and over.

So, Keke bravely touched another corpse.

"I came to negotiate with you, Beast of Eternity..."

The pain and fear of death made her pupils dilate instantly, almost dazed.

That bone-chilling coldness, though just a flash, nearly robbed Keke of her ability to think.

But soon, Keke bit her lip hard to pull herself together.

She wiped the drool from the corner of her mouth, her breathing growing heavy.

She reached out toward the next corpse, hesitating slightly.

Like when she was a child reaching out her arm for a shot, facing even greater fear and unease.

Taking a deep breath, Keke still suppressed the emotions in her heart and touched the next corpse.

"I came to negotiate with you..."

"Let's negotiate..."

"The condition is..."

Touching her way through, among the thousands upon thousands of corpses, almost all of them only said one sentence.

Just one sentence, and they died at the Beast of Eternity's hands.

The ways of death varied, and the fear and pain continuously stimulated her nerves in dynamic waves.

The Beast of Eternity knew how to magnify the torture of death to an unbearable degree for humans. For that monster, it probably wasn't some specially learned technique, but more like a beast's hunting instinct.

And for some reason, the Beast of Eternity's power vaguely reminded Keke of Teacher Shion.

Both were the same—incomprehensible, with no end in sight.

She didn't know how many corpses she had touched. The pain of death never numbed her.

That final moment of leaving the world, the body losing control, sinking into the icy abyss, felt like drowning. No matter how many times, she instinctively wanted to struggle.

But opening her mouth only filled it with a rush of freezing water, and struggling only made her body sink faster.

Real death echoed endlessly in her brain's nerves. If she weren't a Magical Girl, maybe just experiencing this would have caused brain death already—even as a Magical Girl, her brain had actually stopped functioning several times.

I have to stop. I need to stop. I might die...

Until she touched a crucial corpse.

A different voice made her pull herself together.

"There's no future left! Only by going back to the past can an opponent worthy of you be born."

"This is the last world."

"Once you destroy this one, you'll be stuck in nothingness forever!"

She saw that pitch-black phantom with countless eyes finally pause.

It didn't kill her immediately.

"Close your eyes! As long as you stop looking at the future, we still have infinite possibilities!"

Keke heard laughter, and then her vision plunged into darkness again.

What does that mean?

Coming back to herself, Keke was dazed for another moment, her pupils unfocused. She dry-heaved twice.

Her heart, lungs, and even her stomach and intestines were cramping.

She lay among the corpses, sometimes feeling like she was just one of them, gazing desperately into the distance along with all the other Kekes.

Her body was so abnormal that she could barely feel alive anymore.

Even after transforming, then transforming again to refresh her state, the pain and fear that seemed carved into her soul still wouldn't disappear.

But she had to keep looking. She had to see what she needed to do, what she could do.

Keke was a Magical Girl.

She had already decided.

She would bring happiness to everyone and make up for the mistakes she had made in the past. So she absolutely couldn't run away. She couldn't run from her responsibility. So many of her own corpses were here—this was her responsibility...

She struggled to her feet. Bitter liquid surged from her stomach. When she reached out to touch another corpse—

She instinctively flinched.

Her hand kept trembling. Because she was afraid. Because she dreaded the death that was coming.

Her body's instinct was even refusing to let her touch any more corpses, to experience any more deaths.

Keke closed her eyes. She thought about her parents, who had been chopped into pieces because of her. She thought about her big brother. She thought about Silver Lotus.

She suppressed her body's irrational survival instinct and pressed her hand down.

But all she got was more meaningless dialogue like "I came to negotiate."

Searching for useful information amidst countless deaths.

Finally, when Keke had dry-heaved until she was spitting blood, seeming like she was about to vomit out her organs, curled up and writhing among the corpses, she finally touched new, useful information!

"Aren't you very interested in Iris? Once this world ends, Iris will disappear too. You'll never find such an interesting Magical Girl again, because in the end, all you'll face is nothingness. If you close your eyes, after countless cycles, Iris might grow to your level. She can understand you, even bring you answers."

"Even if not her, there will be other Magical Girls who can satisfy you!"

This time, the Beast of Eternity didn't kill her immediately. One of its countless eyes slowly closed.

She wasn't dead. But Keke pulled out a dagger and aimed it at her own throat.

"I promise you, an opponent that satisfies you will definitely appear! Definitely!"

When the sharp dagger pierced her throat, the suffocating inability to breathe, the pain of blood entering her trachea and choking her...

All of it made Keke cough violently even after waking up. She clutched her throat, clawing at it as if trying to dig out a foreign object, nearly scratching her neck bloody.

It took a long time before her body adapted to the lingering pain. Only then did Keke look fearfully yet intensely at the other corpses.

Just as she was about to continue, someone else suddenly intruded, finally making Keke stop.

Then she turned her head. The moment she looked over—

All the pent-up emotions in her chest surged out at once.

"Big brother?"

She had already endured so much pain. She felt she was super strong, worthy of the name Magical Girl. But when she saw her big brother—

In that instant, she almost felt like she had turned back into that little girl who couldn't do anything and only blamed others.

She had experienced countless deaths, each one alone, with no one to rely on. The helplessness and unease of having to save the world all by herself were almost tangible.

So much so that when she saw her big brother, her first thought was to throw herself at him, to hug him, to cry in his arms.

Where her big brother was, that was home. Through this whole journey, she had really wanted to go home, to curl up in her little bed.

To pour out her grievances and pain.

But quickly, Keke held herself back.

On one hand, she had already cried a lot. On the other hand, she had experienced countless deaths and made countless resolutions.

It was as if every dead version of herself was pulling at her, telling her not to be that little girl who only hid behind her big brother anymore...

She had to have that kind of resolve.

"Big brother, why are you guys here?"

She frantically wiped the tears from her face, not wanting her big brother to see her weakness. Then she fixed her gaze on Black Keke. "Why did you bring my brother here? This has nothing to do with him!"

"You idiot."

Black Keke scratched her head helplessly, looking at the other version of herself. "You didn't come here by touching all those corpses, did you?"

"What's it to you?"

"Even I wouldn't do something that reckless, you know? If you wanted to know, I could have just told you."

Keke looked at the ground full of corpses. The painful memories of the torture she had endured came flooding back, making her afraid and timid. But still, she pressed forward. "That won't work."

Black Keke looked at her. "Why won't it work?"

"Words are too frivolous." Keke clutched her chest, sniffled. Though the pain still made her voice tremble slightly, her tone showed no sign of backing down. "To recount their deaths, words aren't enough. You have to remember it in your bones. Only then am I Keke—the real Keke who won't lose to any version of herself!"

"That's why I said you're an idiot."

After a moment of silence, Black Keke chuckled and changed the subject. Then she grabbed Jiang Si's arm. "Fine then. You go be the real Keke. I'll take Jiang Si, big brother."

"Stay away from my brother! Knock-off!"

Just as the two Kekes were about to start fighting, Jiang Si punched Black Keke in the head. "Shut up."

"Why do you only hit me?!"

"Because I'm your big brother."

Black Keke blinked.

Then she gave an awkward smile. She even let go of Jiang Si's arm, moving back a little stiffly before pretending to be nonchalant and replying, "Oh."

A flood of thoughts, feelings, and memories—including the unbearable loneliness of the past—surged up inside her.

Though many of her words were lies meant to get better results for herself...

She really never had a chance to see her parents again.

She had been alone for so long, always facing beings beyond comprehension, constantly falling to the bottom of the abyss, shattered to pieces, with no one to remember her, no one to comfort her.

She had to stand in front of everyone, block the Beast of Eternity, and carve out a new future...

It was really annoying. This kind of affectionate address. Usually, she joked around and said it casually without it meaning much.

But suddenly being serious about it...

It was really hard not to be shaken.

Could this guy actually be good at charming girls? Black Keke thought to herself. Then she looked at the unwilling Keke. "Why aren't you saying anything anymore?"

"Whatever. Anyway." Keke muttered. "Our cold war isn't a one- or two-day thing. From today on, I'm continuing the cold war until you disappear. I won't obediently listen to big brother anymore."

Black Keke was about to seize the chance to mock her when Jiang Si said, "Come here, Keke."

Before she could finish her sentence, Keke's body had already obediently walked over to Jiang Si.

Jiang Si casually pulled out a tissue and wiped her face, then pinched her nose with the tissue. "Blow hard."

After cleaning her nose, he grabbed her ear and twisted it. "Who told you to run around on your own?"

"I, I was suddenly teleported here!" Keke immediately whined in grievance. "I didn't run around. And big brother, you weren't paying attention to me at the time..."

"When have I ever not paid attention to you?"

Keke was stunned. At the time, she had felt that her big brother must have been affected too, so she hadn't gone to greet him...

Before she could apologize, Black Keke shamelessly leaned in too. "I want a nose blow too."

"Do it yourself."

"Favoritism!" Black Keke immediately yelped, but she didn't seem to care much. She just smiled and said, "But since Keke has already seen it, it can help confirm what I said."

"The Beast of Eternity being sealed here is all my doing, right? Isn't that right, Keke?"

Keke nodded quietly.

Then Black Keke continued, "I died countless times, countless times, just to make it stop looking at the future. Because once the Beast of Eternity stops looking, the already destroyed future can become a future that is inevitably destroyed. Then we have a chance to save the world."

"I see. As long as it isn't observed, there's a chance for change."

Black Keke immediately clapped. "As expected of big brother. You catch on right away. Once observed, it's a future that has already happened. If not observed, it's a future that will inevitably happen. That's the difference. Though the inevitable future recorded on the World Tree is still hard to change, at least nothing has happened yet."

Then she looked at Keke. "You idiot, if you don't get it, don't bother thinking about it."

Keke, who had been looking completely lost, immediately retorted, "I, I just don't get it yet for now."

After all, she was only a middle school student. They hadn't taught this stuff in school yet...

By high school, she'd definitely understand.

"Hard to believe a middle schooler has to save the world." Black Keke sighed. Then she puffed out her chest proudly and said, "Anyway, I used endless death cycles to completely seal the Beast of Eternity and carve out a new future for everyone! Listen up, you'd better not offend me. Because infinite reincarnation makes me unbeatable. Even the Beast of Eternity, I can seal it just the same..."

"Is it really sealed?" Jiang Si asked with some doubt.

Black Keke immediately raised her chin. "Of course! As long as you listen to me, we can continue to save the world—"

Before she could finish, Jiang Si pointed behind her. "Then who is she?"

Keke's gaze also went blank as she stared, her pupils shaking.

A small, cold dread surged in Black Keke's heart. Then she forced a smile. "Don't think you can scare me..."

"Long time no see."

Black Keke froze. She turned her head to look.

There stood [Iris], her expression cold and indifferent, staring straight at her. "Reincarnator."

Black Keke's legs went weak. She almost collapsed.

"How did you get out?!"