Chapter 1223: Escape
Higher Consciousness was a small element that originated from the infinite rules of the doomsday, while the Great Deluge was a force capable of destroying all order in the doomsday. So, was using Higher Consciousness to resist the Great Deluge like a mantis trying to stop a speeding car?
As the dazzling lights illuminated Lin Sanjiu"s vision, she surprisingly felt no nervousness. All her movements, from turning around, using force, and escaping, felt like muscle memory or pre-set programs within her body. Though she had encountered the Great Deluge once before, this time it seemed to have a hint of emotion: the light seemed to reach out like an arm, wanting to embrace her, to bury her deep within its warm body. Lin Sanjiu realized that she didn"t actually resist being swallowed by this light.
The concept of everything collapsing, crumbling, and succ.u.mbing to randomness held a certain allure, much like destruction and death. If she wasn"t concerned about her friend, she might have hesitated and walked into that dazzling wave of light.
Could this indicate that the Great Deluge"s power had once again escalated?
Lin Sanjiu didn"t have time to think about this issue now—she had to distance herself from the Great Deluge. The usual method of enveloping her body in Higher Consciousness was unfeasible. Even if it was like trying to stop a speeding car with her bare hands, she had no choice but to try. She had already condensed all her borrowed Higher Consciousness together, and when she turned to run, she threw a large chunk of Higher Consciousness behind her.
It was like using cotton candy to separate fire.
She didn"t need to look back; she could feel that large chunk of densely condensed Higher Consciousness being dissolved by the Great Deluge at an astonis.h.i.+ng speed. If the Higher Consciousness was indeed blocking the Great Deluge, it was only for an extremely brief moment, almost imperceptible. The gentle, wave-like colors of light were just half a fingernail"s distance away from touching Lin Sanjiu.
At this rate, she would be teleported away before reaching Hei Zeji.
She used the little bit of Higher Consciousness she had recovered to create a second barrier against the Great Deluge. Even if it only delayed the Great Deluge by a thousandth of a second, it was better than nothing.
If only her feet could move a bit faster.
Bohemia, who was watching her from afar, suddenly gasped sharply. As the sound entered Lin Sanjiu"s ears, she immediately understood that something had happened behind her. She clenched her teeth, forcing herself to run even faster until she finally seized the opportunity to turn her head. Her astonishment almost tripped her.
Within the glittering halo of the Great Deluge, the Higher Consciousness disintegrated and transformed into various images in her mind. A universe filled with stars, a residential building, Magus"s wide-brimmed hat... and suddenly, J7"s head, as big as a car, emerged from the light, moving towards Lin Sanjiu"s back. It turned into the grand prize"s pitiful cry when it pressed against her.
The Higher Consciousness lost its power and form, disintegrating into numerous chaotic images in the deluge.
"Don"t let it affect you!" Hei Zeji shouted, his words cutting through her flight. "Use your right foot!"
Bohemia must have pulled him into the Garden of Intersecting Paths!
The muscle memory from his previous training was still there; Lin Sanjiu quickly adjusted her movements. Instinctively, she paused her right foot just before landing, then used her right hand to support her body as she flipped in mid-air. In that moment, she realized that a halo of the Great Deluge"s light had already spread to the spot where she was about to land. Her feet touched the ground, and she immediately continued to rush forward.
"Hurry!" Hei Zeji was now not far from her. He leaned forward and stretched out his arm toward her. "Grab onto me, and I"ll throw you out!"
This was their chance to escape the Great Deluge!
Without a second thought, Lin Sanjiu reached out and grabbed Hei Zeji"s hand.
Just as her fingers were about to touch Hei Zeji"s palm, a small voice of doubt echoed in the depths of her mind. "Was Hei Zeji this close to me all along? Isn"t he supposed to be on the other side of the room, holding back the pocket dimension? Where is the pocket dimension?"
As this question arose, she heard Bohemia"s scream of "Don"t touch!" and Hei Zeji"s furious roar of "Withdraw your hand!" Lin Sanjiu suddenly realized that the "Hei Zeji" in front of her had a faint glow on his body. She was too late to react.
The real Hei Zeji was still standing more than ten meters away. His blood-red eyes burned deeply into Lin Sanjiu"s sight.
It was over.
The Great Deluge she stirred up was not confined to just one place, and apparently, it had more than one form.
She couldn"t articulate what happened next. As her hand was about to land in the fluctuating light of "Hei Zeji"s" palm, a figure rushed in from the right like a cannonball and collided with Lin Sanjiu. They both tumbled and fell. When her hand was forcibly pulled away from the Great Deluge"s grasp, the two sources of light merged, and the false "Hei Zeji" disappeared. The magnificent tidal wave of light swept forward, covering more than half of the room and engulfing the real Hei Zeji in layers of s.h.i.+mmering colors.
Lin Sanjiu hadn"t had a chance to turn around and see who knocked her away, as she had to leap up and pounce into the farthest corner of the room. Bohemia was standing there with her back against the wall, her eyes wide like an owl"s. The figure behind her also leaped over, and the light of the Great Deluge swept past them, illuminating everything, and then abruptly faded away.
She lay on the ground, and after a second or two, she realized that she was still there; it had not touched her or teleported her away. Bohemia had removed the Higher Consciousness, so her sensory perception returned to normal, and the Great Deluge"s radiance had finally disappeared completely. She breathed heavily and looked up to see Hei Zeji not far away.
"It touched me," he said, looking down at his palm, his emotions unclear. "But it seems like it didn"t work."
"There must be another way," Lin Sanjiu said hoa.r.s.ely, wiping her face, then paused. She noticed Magus, wrapped in a robe, standing stiffly in the corner on the opposite side of the room, close to the door. Then, the person who knocked her away just before...
She turned her head and looked at the woman behind her, blinking slowly.
"Don"t say anything," Gardenia said quietly. "We need to leave quickly."
"Hei Zeji," Lin Sanjiu said, suppressing the emotions that surged for a moment. Ignoring Gardenia, she quickly got up. "The Great Deluge was supposed to have touched the pocket dimension behind you. Did you feel anything—"
Hei Zeji disappeared.