4

I pressed "Yes".

Blue light exploded from my body.

Not just from the fingers, but from the whole body.

Something inside the body was ignited.

[Word of Power: Total Suppression]

The light curtain expanded instantly, extending outwards from the villa and reaching the end of the street.

The torches held by the purification team went out at the same time.

Their authority was suppressed.

Amy, the children, and the elderly outside the door were enveloped in a light curtain.

I opened the door.

Amy's eyes lit up when she saw me, but then immediately turned to terror.

Because she saw me vomiting blood.

He kept vomiting.

Black blood dripped from the corner of his mouth onto the ground.

I've held a baby.

The child's body temperature is very high, and his skin is starting to turn translucent.

[Words of Power: Stripping Away]

Blue light was injected into the child's body from my palm.

The child screamed in agony.

Black liquid flowed from his mouth; it was the contaminant being forcibly removed.

Purification progress: 47%...89%...100%

The child stopped screaming.

The pollution has been completely removed.

I left the child with Amy.

"Go in."

The woman took the child, helped the elderly woman, and the three of them walked inside.

[Quest complete, Word Power Ability upgraded from lv.2 to lv.3]

Sylvie stood in the doorway, looking at me.

I'm still standing outside the door.

Because I suddenly don't know why I'm here.

I looked at Sylvie.

Why did I build this?

She was stunned.

"What?"

"This…" I pointed to the villa, "This thing. Why did I build it?"

Sylvie's expression changed.

She came out and took my hand.

"Owen, your name is Owen. You created the Godless Zone to survive."

"Survive?"

I repeated those three words.

But I don't understand what it means.

I looked at her.

"Who are you?"

"Sylvie."

"What is our relationship?"

"We..." she paused, "we're husband and wife, you have to live with me."

"oh."

I nodded.

My mind went completely blank.

But something flashed through that blank space.

A single scene.

It's very blurry.

A woman sat in the light, her arms covered in cracks, and smiled at me.

Then it disappeared.

--

On the morning of the seventh day, a violent tremor woke me up.

The entire villa was trembling. I rushed to the window and saw that the black characters in the sky had become so dense that they blotted out the sun. Even more terrifying, huge cracks had appeared in the ground, and black pollution surged out from the depths.

"Owen! The contamination has worsened!" Sylvie rushed into the room, her face pale. "The ancient god's core is awakening! I must continue to mend the foundation cracks, or the boundary will collapse from the inside!"

Boom! A loud noise came from underground.

We rushed to the basement, where more than a dozen cracks were spreading across the ground, with black pollution constantly seeping out.

"Reality Stitching!" Sylvie spread her hands, and blue threads stitched the cracks together one by one.

With each stitch, another crack appeared on her body.

I saw the cracks on her arm increasing rapidly.

42 questions → 45 questions → 48 questions → 51 questions.

"Sylvie! Your body..."

"Leave me alone!" she gritted her teeth. "Owen, go stabilize the boundary core! Use your Word of Power!"

I rushed to the rooftop; the boundary core was fluctuating violently.

"Word of Power: Stabilize!"

White light surged from my hand, enveloping the core of the boundary.

I have lost most of my memories of junior high school.

But the core of the boundary has stabilized.

I rushed back to the basement, where Sylvie was still desperately stitching herself up. Her body was like shattered porcelain, riddled with cracks.

54 questions → 56 questions → 58 questions.

"There are two more..." Her voice trembled.

"Enough! Sylvie!" I hugged her. "You'll die!"

"There are still two cracks..." Sylvie said weakly, "If they're not stitched up...we'll all die..."

She pushed me away and used her last bit of strength to stitch up the last two cracks.

The crack stopped at line 58.

Sylvie collapsed into my arms, trembling all over. I could hear the sound of porcelain shattering from her body.

"I...can't hold on much longer..." she smiled weakly.

I carried her back to the bedroom. Outside the window, the pollution had reached its peak.

Sylvie's body was stained with black text . We sat by the window, watching the apocalyptic scene outside.

"Owen," Sylvie said suddenly, "I have something to tell you."

"What's up?"

"I have fragments of an ancient god within me , which gives me precognitive abilities. I've seen many visions of the future."

She turned to look at me: "I saw you lose all your memories. I saw me... I saw you die in a battle. I also saw... you come looking for me, even though you won't remember who I am by then."

"Stop talking," I interrupted her. "You won't die."

"Let me finish," Sylvie said, grasping my hand. "I also saw that Mark will be back tomorrow. He devoured three fragments of the Ancient God and turned into a monster. He'll be bringing 63 deacons to attack this place."

"tomorrow?"

"Yes." Sylvie nodded. "And I... will die in that battle. My cracks will break through 100, then disappear. It's an unchangeable fate."

"No!" I gripped her hand tightly. "I won't let you die!"

"Owen..." Sylvie's eyes reddened, "Actually, there's something else I need to tell you."

She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and whispered:

"When I was seven, three older children cornered me in an alley. They grabbed my schoolbag and pushed me to the ground. You walked by, picked up a stone, and threw it at them. They were scared away."

" I was sitting on the floor crying, and you reached out and helped me up. You asked me, 'Why did you help me?' I said, 'Because we're friends.'"

She opened her eyes and looked at me:

"But actually... I liked you back then."

I was stunned.

"When I was ten, you gave me a bluebell. You said, 'I secretly picked this from the flowerbed in the community, and I'm giving it to you.' I said, 'You'll get scolded by the administrator.' You said, 'It's okay, as long as you like it.'"

When you were fifteen, you said, "When I grow up, I will become strong and protect you."

"But you don't remember any of that."

She gripped my hand tightly:

"Fifteen years. But I've never said it. Because I saw the future, I saw you would forget me. So I thought... at least before you forget, let me say it."

"Sylvie..."

"It's okay." She wiped away her tears. "You don't need to respond to me. I know you don't remember me. I just... wanted you to know."

I looked at her.

This person is very important to me.

Although I don't remember why.

But I know... she did a lot for me.

I can't let her die.

" I love you. "

That evening, we sat by the window watching the bluebells. Sylvie told us stories from our childhood over and over again, and I tried hard to remember them.

But I know those memories are gone forever.

On the morning of the eighth day, the sound of orderly footsteps could be heard in the distance.

A dark mass of figures appeared on the horizon.

Mark is back.

He stood at the very front of the group, but he was no longer human. He was 2.5 meters tall, covered in black armor, with six thick tentacles waving behind him, his eyes were pure black, and he was emitting inhuman roars.

"Owen—come out and die—the light of the true God will purify all evil—" His voice was low and frantic, yet still filled with fanatical conviction.

Sylvie stood beside me, looking at the large army: "63 deacons... exactly as foretold."

What do we do?

"Fight." Sylvie turned to look at me, her eyes filled with tenderness. "This is our only choice."