3

A massive, transparent barrier rose from the ground, completely isolating the pollution and the deacon team.

[Mission Completed: Establish the boundary of the Godless Zone]

[Word Power Ability Lv.1→Lv.2]

I turned and rushed toward Sylvie. She was lying on the ground, blood still flowing from the wound on her shoulder.

"Sylvie! Hang in there!"

"I...I'm alright..." she smiled weakly, "Is the border...complete?"

"It's finished! You saved me!"

"That's good..." Her eyes slowly closed.

"Sylvie! Sylvie!" I patted her face. "Wake up!"

Outside the border, Mark angrily pounded on the barrier.

"Owen! You blasphemer, you heretic! Come out here! The wrath of God will fall upon you!"

He raised his hand, and the thirty deacons launched an attack simultaneously, shouting "The glory of the true God!" and "Purify evil!"

The barrier trembled, but did not break.

Mark continued his attack for ten minutes, and the barrier's integrity dropped from 100% to 92%.

"Damn it!" Mark gritted his teeth. "The contamination is coming. Retreat! But remember, the judgment of the true God will surely come!"

The deacon team quickly withdrew. Mark glanced at me before leaving, his eyes filled with fanaticism and resentment: "You'd better pray the border holds out. Otherwise... the true god will punish you himself."

They disappeared into the ruins.

I carried Sylvie into the villa and laid her on the bed. Her wound was deep, and blood stained the entire sheet.

"Sylvie... wake up..."

I don't know what to do.

"Word of Power: Heal!"

[Memory reserves remaining: 25%]

I don't know if the Truth System has healing abilities, but I have to try.

A white light emanated from her hand, enveloping Sylvie's wound.

The wound began to heal slowly.

But I lost more memories.

I can't remember where I went to high school, how many points I scored on the college entrance exam, or what I majored in at university.

But I don't care.

As long as Sylvie survives.

Finally, the wound had completely healed. Sylvie's breathing became steady.

I breathed a sigh of relief and slumped onto the edge of the bed.

I'm so tired.

I closed my eyes and fell asleep.

I don't know how much time had passed when I was awakened by a slight noise.

I opened my eyes and saw Sylvie sitting on the bed, looking at me.

"You're awake?" I stood up immediately. "How are you feeling?"

"Much better." Sylvie touched her shoulder. "The wound...it's completely healed?"

"I healed him with the power of words."

"You..." Sylvie looked at me, her eyes filled with complex emotions, "You used your powers again to save me? How much of your memory did you lose?"

"5%. That's not much."

"Not many?" Sylvie's eyes reddened. "Owen, your high school, your college, those wonderful memories..."

"I know. But compared to your life, those memories are unimportant."

Sylvie looked at me, tears streaming down her face.

"I'm sorry...it's all my fault...if I were stronger, you wouldn't have to..."

"Don't say that. You've done more than enough," I said. "If you hadn't held Mark back, I wouldn't have been able to finish laying the markings."

I looked out the window; the boundary completely enveloped the entire villa.

"We succeeded. We established the first godless zone."

"Yes." Sylvie wiped away her tears and smiled. "We did it."

She looked at her arm, which was covered with 37 cracks.

"Each time I use my ability, more cracks appear on my body," Sylvie said softly. " There are still 13 cracks left to go to reach 50 ... that should be enough."

" 50 questions?"

"Yes. Once the cracks accumulate to 50 , I will be contaminated ."

I was stunned.

"So I have to use them sparingly," Sylvie said with a smile. "But don't worry, there 's still plenty left."

The system suddenly popped up a red warning:

[Abnormal external sound waves detected]

[Source: 30 meters outside the villa's main entrance]

[Type: Human distress signal]

Number of people: 3

I looked out through the peephole.

A woman ran over, holding a child in her arms.

An elderly man with an injured leg was following behind her, and he was running very slowly.

All three of them were running this way.

I glanced at the street further away.

The torches of the altar.

At least ten people, carrying torches, came around the street corner.

The system pops up additional information:

[Target 1: Adult female, approximately 28 years old, with no obvious signs of contamination]

[Target 2: Child, approximately 6 years old, with Category C parasitic contamination detected in body, outbreak countdown: 22 minutes]

[Target 3: Elderly male, approximately 65 years old, with a fractured right leg and severe infection]

[External Threat: The Altar Purification Team, carrying collective cognition weapons]

Estimated arrival time: 27 minutes

There was a knocking sound at the door.

"Is anyone there? Is anyone inside? Please!"

Amy's voice.

The child is crying.

The old man was breathing heavily.

The system pops up a battle situation analysis:

[Altar Purification Team's current distance: 500 meters]

[Estimated arrival time: 27 minutes]

[Countdown to Child Pollution Outbreak: 22 Minutes]

If left untreated, the children will become a Class S source of contamination, infecting the entire area of the base.

[Purifying Children's Pollution: Consumes Assertion Ability]

[Estimated memory loss: 8%]

[Current Status of the Atheist Zone Boundary:]

[If the door is opened and then resealed: the boundary integrity drops instantly to 71%, requiring Sylvie to suture and repair.]

[Sylvie's first repair surgery: approximately 8 new cracks appeared on her arm]

[Current Sylvie Rift Reserves: Estimated to be approximately 35 remaining]

[System Warning]

[If a powerful assertion is used to suppress the purification team while simultaneously purifying children and maintaining boundary expansion:]

[Potentially allows three to survive, the base to be safe, and the purification team to retreat]

5 % memory loss ]

[Current reserves: 25% ; remaining reserves after operation: 20 %]

However, this comes with high risks and additional costs.

This consumption will affect the core area of emotional memories.

[The system predicts that the content that will disappear will be: "Why do you want to live?"]

I looked at the last line of text.

Why do you choose to live?

The knocking on the door grew more and more urgent.

"Is anyone inside? Please! My child is dying!"

I looked at Sylvie.

She stood next to me, looking through the cat's eyes, with her back to me.

Her hand remained pressed against the wall.

It hasn't been touched for a long time.

"Sylvie."

"Um."

What do you think?

There was a long silence.

Then she said:

"This is your decision."

The knocking on the door stopped for a second.

Then it turned into a louder banging on the door.

"My child looks unwell! He has a fever! Please help!"

A new countdown timer popped up:

[Pollution Outbreak: 19 Minutes]

[Purification team arrived: 24 minutes]

[Open Decision-Making Window: Right Now]

I was looking at the door.

Then look at the last line of text in the system.

Why do you choose to live?

I remember I wanted to build an atheistic zone, to prove that I could live without divine grace, to bring down this faith system that was sustained by parasites, and to live to see that day.

I remember.

I remember now.

Will someone who doesn't remember why they're alive continue to live?

Sylvie was still standing next to me.

She didn't look at me, but she was waiting for me.

I stared at the door for a long time.

Then he opened his mouth:

"Sylvie, if we open the door, you'll have even more cracks ."

" About 10 dishes. "

I looked at her.

"Owen," she began, "you're asking me if I'm willing to take this risk ."

"yes."

Whether I want to or not is not important.

"It's important to me."

She stared at me for a long time.

Then speak slowly:

"I trust you ."

The woman outside the door was still crying, the child started talking nonsense, and the old man was whispering, "Hold on."

The purification team's torches are getting closer and closer.

The system pops up a final countdown:

[Outbreak of contamination among children: 17 minutes]

[Purification team arrived: 22 minutes]

[Select window remaining: This is your last chance]

I put my hand on the doorknob.

Sylvie stood behind me, motionless and silent.

But she didn't leave.

I gripped the doorknob.

Take a deep breath.

Then the system displayed that line of red text one last time:

What's disappearing is: Why do you want to live?

[Host, do you accept?]

I stared at that line of text.

Then I looked out the door.

【whether】