NABC Chapter 465 465: Rout
Chapter 465 465: Rout
"Stop talking!" The black-haired maiden screamed from the depths of her chest.
Her bangs messily obscured her eyes, and her pupils, submerged in darkness, were tangled with red blood streaks.
"You don't understand my love at all!"
Rumble—
Alain looked around at the surrounding black mist and faintly heard a surging wave of sound...
"Alain!" Misha's voice shouted through the headset. "The viruses engaging the other Mitas are ignoring casualties and heading towards you!"
"It's fine," Alain said indifferently.
"Let them come."
His gaze was tightly locked onto Yang Wanhua, not moving an inch, simply watching her furious howling.
"I clearly did so much for you, so why do you have to say such things that break my heart? Alain!" She gritted her teeth. "Besides, those products generated by code... are not called love at all!"
"So you're saying... imprisoning me, maiming the other Mitas, and destroying the Game World—this is what you call your love?"
Alain sneered, casually resting his greatsword against his shoulder.
"Then, I will return a sentence to you as well: No matter how many times I say it, that ridiculous possessiveness of yours cannot be considered love.
"It's still that same phrase: Your feelings are nothing more than an excuse to exert your tyranny."
"Stop saying it!!!"
Bang—
A giant mouth darted out from the black mist, its deep crimson code still shimmering with a faint light.
It instantly became Alain's target.
Whoosh—
The greatsword resting on his shoulder carved out a blue crescent, slicing that giant mouth in half down the middle.
Crash.
The Devouring Entity, chopped in two, collapsed beside Alain.
"You don't understand love at all. You are just blindly imposing emotions, unaware that... they are all fake."
After slaying a virus, Alain looked coldly at Yang Wanhua.
One virus after another darted out from the black mist, yet his gaze did not leave Yang Wanhua for even a moment.
His limbs, however, moved as if controlled by someone else, acting on their own accord.
Whoosh— Splatter!
Virus after virus was cut down by him, black blood trickling down his face.
"And my emotions are completely different from yours."
When he finished this sentence, a gentle smile hung on his lips, causing Yang Wanhua to daze slightly.
She recognized the meaning within that smile; the Alain of the past used to smile at her like that often.
But the object of his current smile was obviously not her.
"Not allowed..." Her hands clenched tightly, nails digging deep into her palms. "Not allowed... to show that kind of smile to anyone other than me!"
Thud, thud, thud!
Big Black Spheres, Spider Monsters, and even unnamed viruses jumped out from the black mist, launching assaults on Alain time and time again.
His swift and fierce steps crossed beneath his feet; the storm-like attacks found it difficult to hit him at all.
Shing—
After slaying a Black Sphere, carried by the momentum of the greatsword's weight, Alain flew into mid-air and landed on the ground as lightly as a cat.
"I cannot understand you, Yang Wanhua. And I don't need to understand."
His smile, in her eyes, was like a needle prick.
"Because, there is a gentler love waiting for me to pick."
"Disgusting!" The maiden leaned her body forward forcefully, pouring out her thoughts. "To actually develop emotions for a pile of code... I think without me, you've just become desperate and indiscriminately hungry?!
"I'm telling you! The so-called love of those Mitas is entirely written by code; that is what's fake!
"Only my... this emotion stemming from a beating heart, is the most real!"
"Yes... that's right." Wanhua reached a conclusion, the bottom of her eyes filled with mockery for Alain's self-deception.
"What you are protecting is nothing more than a code-generated AI phantom. Only my feelings for you are real.
"So, Alain! As long as you say an apology to me, I will treat everything you said before as if I never heard it!"
"Impossible."
Splatter!
Another virus was cut off at the waist by the greatsword's slash. Trickling garbled code fell like a curtain of rain, dropping between the two of them and dripping onto the clothes of the young man and the maiden.
His white shirt was stained with filth; her white dress was also spotted with ink...
"I saw all of this with my own eyes..." Alain ceased making violent movements, because the incoming viruses—
Had all been killed off by him.
"My interactions with them, that watering of emotions bit by bit, are all real. Even more sincere than reality.
"The Mitas' emotions do not have reality's hypocrisy, and even less of your false decorations in the name of love..."
Alain's hand rested on his own heart.
"I think, therefore I am."
"What... huh? What is that... I have no way to understand you..." The maiden looked at the greatsword he held obliquely at his side, which was splashing down virus code drop by drop.
Surrounding Alain as he slowly walked over were the scattered corpses of viruses.
Some had already dissolved into a puddle of garbled code, while others still stared at Wanhua with hollow eyes.
"Th-That kind of love..." She bit her lip, staring at Alain. "I can create countless ones too!"
She seemed to have thought of a perfect reason, pulling the corners of her mouth into a smile.
"As long as you let me know the underlying logic of the code, I can copy it infinitely! You studied liberal arts, right? You understand economics, right?! When the quantity of a product exceeds the equilibrium quantity, the price will drop! The love of those Mitas will also become worthless!
"Can you also accept such mass-produced, cheap love?"
"If you really can mass-produce such sincere love," Alain pondered for two seconds, a bright smile on his lips.
"Then, I will accept it all with a smile."
"Eh?"
Tap!
While Wanhua was dazed, Alain had already arrived in front of her.
The maiden only then realized that during the previous argument, she hadn't created any viruses at all, but was eating into her old capital.
Thump!
She slumped to the ground in disbelief, her head drooping low.
"Accept... all with a smile? What happened? What does that mean? Are you a harem protagonist? Impossible... Right, that's right, impossible! You must have been deceived by that group of Mitas!"
She forced a smile. "It must be because I left you for too long that you developed such thoughts... right, Alain?"
Seeing that he did not reply, the panic and helplessness on the maiden's face became even more intense.
"Right! Alain?!"
"Unfortunately, no. It is precisely because I left your side that I was able to find where I belong."
Alain placed the sword's edge against the maiden's neck.
"And now, the answer is already obvious.
"You just used love to rationalize harm, depriving me of my happiness time and time again."
The maiden opened her eyes wide, head bowed. "Alain, you don't understand at all."
She looked up. "Can't you understand? Only by staying by my side will you have true happiness! The others are all fake... let alone the love of that group of code!"
Wanhua reached out, grabbing the corner of his clothes, allowing the sword's edge to graze the tender skin of her neck.
"Alain, there's still time... I found out that this Game World seems to have a virus that turned you into this self-deceiving appearance!
"So, go back with me... Return to that mansion, and we can start over.
"As long as you aren't angry with me anymore, I can do anything..."
Halfway through her words, her eyes widened.
The maiden saw the thick disappointment in his eyes.
"You still don't understand." He sighed.
"Don't understand...?" Wanhua found it hard to comprehend. She believed that the topic of love... fascinated her more than computers.
Alain looked at the puzzled girl and shook his head. Then, a certain resolve spread out.
"I will not go back with you. I came to the Core only to drive you out and return peace to everyone."
"Impossible, you can't drive me away." The maiden pushed aside the sword's edge, allowing her fingers to be cut, yet still stood in front of him.
"I won't leave the Game World until I make you know the difference between the fake and the real."
"In the end..." Her black eyes took on a thick resentment.
"It's all because the code for that group of dolls was written too realistically, leading you to sink this low—
"Just a little while longer, and the game will completely become something in the palm of my hand!"
She grabbed Alain's shirt. "Wait for me a little longer, okay? Just give me ten more minutes, and you can break free from all of this!
"We can also return to our former happiness... no, it will be even more than that!"
"Impossible." He lowered his eyes, the emotion in his pupils dissipating without a trace.
"You must go. And it has to be right now, immediately—leave."
"That won't work... Alain! Ah, right! H-How about this?" She seemed to have thought of a good idea, her messy smile trembling.
"I can stop locking you up and return to our original cohabitation life instead... What do you think?
"Don't you hate confinement? This time, I'll obey you!
"We'll be just like before, going to school together, then dating, and I'll even make bento for you!
"When we graduate, you won't have to do anything, just stay at home and wait for me to come back!
"Actually, I've secretly saved up a large sum of money a long time ago, enough for you to spend freely! No matter what you do, I won't say a single word!
"Whatever progress bar, whatever Game World, whatever confinement... just treat it as a dream of yours!"
She laughed awkwardly. "It was also me being too domineering; maybe I put a bit too much pressure on you... But Wanhua-chan! Will always be on your side!
"If you don't like it, I'll stop, I won't do it anymore... okay?
"I beg you, Alain... come with me?"
She looked over hopefully.
Alain watched her silently.
He was not pondering whether this proposal had any possibility; he didn't even bother to think—
Alain had already decided to stay in the Game World with everyone forever; it was impossible to return to that bullshit reality.
Moreover, the current him didn't want to believe a single word from Yang Wanhua.
"I'm sorry." And in Wanhua's ear, the opening was a cold apology without a shred of regret. "I have already decided to stay in the game. So, still that sentence—"
Alain's greatsword pointed to the sky of the Core, or perhaps somewhere even higher above the sky.
"Go immediately."
"...Is that so." She lowered her head in disappointment, her hollow black eyes seemingly having lost something.
Alain watched her silently, his finger tapping lightly on the tip of the sword, waiting for the maiden's reply.
Before long, Wanhua seemed to have figured something out. She stood up and smoothed out her messy skirt.
"I understand what you mean."
"Then—"
"I definitely won't go." The corners of her mouth once again hung that glistening smile.
Elegant, proper, and indescribably complex.
"Not only that, but I will also continue the original plan." She finished speaking and was just about to clap her hands lightly to summon viruses again.
But faster than her clapping motion was Alain's greatsword.
Whoosh—
Two streams of garbled code splashed up; two arms fell to the ground belatedly, melting into black liquid.
"Hiss..."
Amidst the pain, teardrops hung from the corners of Wanhua's eyes.
But she was still smiling. "Alain, you should understand me. This little bit of pain will not hinder my plan."
She walked forward slowly, leaning her body forward. At a distance where their nose tips nearly touched, she looked at Alain smilingly yet indifferently.
"Actually, during my interactions with you, I understood one problem.
"Both of our personalities are of the relatively paranoid type. It's hard to talk sense into each other.
"Plus, you are really ridiculously wrong this time, reaching the point of obsession."
Hearing those words, Alain raised his eyebrows slightly.
But he didn't say much.
The things he held fast to in his heart wouldn't be thrown into disarray by a few words of provocation from the enemy.
She continued, "So... I will continue the plan and destroy everything in the Game World with my own hands.
"This time, it won't just be NPC-ification. I will keep the consciousness of those Mitas, peel open their underlying code, and let you take a look at their reality...
"Look at whether what flows in the blood of those fakes is red blood cells or code.
"Their so-called heartbeats..."
The maiden's hands, which had finished regenerating, cupped Alain's face.
"I will unfold them before you as well."
"I won't let you succeed."
"Heh, easy to say." The maiden pulled away from his face. "I don't know if Monika told you, but this clone of mine is afraid of pain.
"But no matter what pain, in front of the goal I am about to achieve, it's completely not worth mentioning.
"So—" She lifted her skirt, revealing her fair thigh flesh to Alain. "No matter what you do to me... I won't even scream out, oh!
"Even... while you enjoy my suffering, what awaits them will be a massacre by the viruses."
Just as Alain expected, Yang Wanhua had a sense of pain, but the influence of pain on her wasn't much.
The degree of her steadfastness to the plan in her heart could be called terrifying.
But...
"Of course I know. If anything, in this world, only I understand you best," Alain said.
Wanhua smiled. "Yah~ You still have the mood to speak sweet nothings at a time like this?"
Alain smiled too. "But don't forget, the method I initially wanted to use to force you to leave the Game World wasn't physical pain."
He walked forward, stopping in front of Wanhua, looking at her puzzled face.
"I told you, didn't I? I came here to see you to say those few words.
"Those few words, are wha—"
She stopped halfway through her sentence, stunned.
The next second, disbelief filled the eyes looking at Alain.
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