"I was thinking, if the day comes when I die and the real Steve still hasn't found a way to break the game and get out, then this book should be left for you latecomers to continue adding to."
Number Three stroked the cover, a sense of tragic succession permeating their tone.
"This can be considered a record of all the experience and bitter lessons we clones have gathered while playing this game. If nothing else, without us stepping stones at the front, at least this will let the Steve Tians who come later take a look, help them avoid detours, and assist Number One in getting out alive."
New Number Two took the notebook and solemnly tucked it into their chest.
This was not just a notebook; it was a strategy guide written by the predecessors with their own lives.
Just then.
"Beep!"
The large screen on the wall instantly lit up, displaying before everyone.
[Total number of people: 5]
[Number of deaths yesterday: 1]
[Number of people who cleared the game: 1]
Boom!
Seeing these three lines of text, the entire Conference Room fell into a deathly silence.
No one spoke.
Number of people who cleared the game: 1
Number Two's death had bought one spot to clear the game.
The truth is often this cruel and hurtful.
In this Mysterious Domain, the path to survival was truly paved with dead ends.
"It seems..."
Number Six, who had been silent all this time, spoke in a hoarse voice.
"Not only do we have to obtain the stripped-away Seven Emotions through slaughter, but in the end, we must also experience true death to be judged as having cleared the game."
Hearing this, everyone jolted awake as if from a dream, the note they received at the respawn point on the first day flashing through their minds in unison.
"Do you all remember the note we got on the first day?"
Number Four said with a trembling voice.
"[Please trust all the Steve Tians]..."
"Thinking about it now, this didn't mean for us to work together at all."
A flash of realization crossed Number Three's eyes.
"Actually, it meant that the Steve from the first day had his Seven Emotions full; nothing had been stripped from him."
"As long as a later Steve, who had been stripped of emotions and was filled with desire, killed him and took his emotions to complete themselves, then that first-day Steve who was killed would be able to clear the game directly in a full state."
"So that's what the person who left that note meant."
As this truth was completely revealed, everyone felt a bone-chilling cold.
If they were ordinary players and knew this rule, they could at worst kill each other, and someone would eventually be able to escape this cycle through death.
But...
Everyone's gaze, filled with indescribable despair and sympathy, slowly turned to Steve, who was sitting at the head of the table without saying a word.
"But what do we do now?"
New Number Two clenched their fists, their voice filled with a deep sense of powerlessness.
"The real Steve has the heart of faith protecting him; he simply cannot die."
If he can't die, he can't clear the game.
If he doesn't clear the game, he will be trapped forever.
This strongest trump card, which was originally meant to protect him as he charged through the Mysterious Domain,
had, at this moment, turned into the ultimate cage that locked him forever in this Nether.
As the truth was ruthlessly revealed, the air in the Conference Room became so heavy it was suffocating.
Number Three looked at Steve sitting upright at the head of the table, their eyes beneath the mask filled with an indescribable sorrow.
"Number One, if our calculations are correct, you only have two days left."
"Once these two days pass, the Seven Emotions in your soul will be completely drained by this Mysterious Domain. By then, you will become like Number Seven and Number Five, left only as a monster driven by pure survival instinct and the desire to kill."
"The most terrifying thing is that we still don't know what kind of deformity occurs after a person is drained into a pure monster and then forced to survive another day in this Mysterious Domain."
Her words plunged New Number Two and Number Six into a deathly silence.
"And..."
Number Three bit her lip and continued.
"The original Number Two, Three, Four, and Five—the clones before you—have all already died once. We no longer have the spare manpower to conduct experiments on various death rules for you."
Hearing this blunt analysis, everyone's expressions immediately became extremely serious.
Steve sat in his chair, his fingers lightly tapping the table.
"Number Seven's death back then should have indeed triggered some kind of game clearance mechanism."
Steve analyzed calmly.
"However, he had already killed the real Number Three and Number Six at the time and stripped them of their emotions. I just don't know if those forcibly inserted emotions triggered any hidden elimination mechanisms when determining the game clearance."
Seeing the grave, even somewhat desperate, expressions of everyone, Steve suddenly stopped tapping his fingers on the table. The corners of his mouth beneath his mask curled up slightly, his tone revealing a confidence that cut through the fog.
"However, it's not completely without a chance."
"What?"
Everyone was stunned upon hearing this, and New Number Two eagerly leaned forward.
"Number One, what other way do you have? Didn't your immortality attribute lock away your path of retreat?"
Steve slowly stood up, his gaze seeming to pierce through the walls of this Ancient Mansion, looking into the endlessly distant void.
"You seem to have forgotten that from the very beginning, I haven't been fighting alone."
Steve's voice was low and powerful.
"I still have America, and I still have countless other trump cards. Just now, I truly felt it—Muriel's heart of the angel is getting closer and closer to me. She is doing everything in her power to rush here."
"Muriel?"
Number Three frowned in confusion upon hearing this.
"She is a Tier 7, but she doesn't have any special world-breaking abilities. Facing this SSS-rank absolute static Mysterious Domain, how could she possibly break in?"
Hearing the confusion of Number Three and New Number Two, Steve understood instantly.
"It seems that when this Mysterious Domain copied my memories, it ultimately had its limits," Steve thought to himself.
"It only copied my thought patterns and a small portion of my experiences, but it failed to copy my memories regarding the core bond of the heart of faith and the heart of the angel."
This meant the clones had no idea just how heaven-defying his true trump cards were.
"Do not doubt it."
Steve did not explain in detail, but instead stated with the most concise words:
"The heart of faith in my body is an absolute life-saving artifact, while the heart of the angel in Muriel's body is the supreme blade that governs attack and purification. Both are supreme divine objects of the same level, and they have a cross-dimensional resonance with each other."
"As long as she senses my location, this mere Mysterious Domain cannot stop her."
After hearing Steve's explanation, although everyone was still shocked by the power of these so-called divine objects, they finally felt reassured.
"Since that's the case, all we can do now is wait."
Number Three stood up, looked down at her sailor suit disguise, and then cast a firm gaze toward Steve.
"Since we have to wait, it will surely take quite some time."
Number Three's tone became unusually calm, as if she were talking about a trivial matter that had nothing to do with her.
"Number One, you only have two days' worth of emotions left. I don't want that Jiaqing to go through all that trouble to break in and save you, only to see a monster driven solely by desire."
Hearing this, everyone in the Conference Room instantly understood what Number Three wanted to do.
Sacrifice.
She wanted to voluntarily sacrifice the emotions in her soul that hadn't been drained yet to Steve, in order to extend his life.
Number Three turned around, pulled the thick black notebook from her bosom, and handed it solemnly to the new Number Two beside her.
"Take this."
Number Three looked at the mask on the new Number Two and instructed softly.
"Write in it well. Record all the pitfalls we've stepped into and the patterns we've summarized."
The new Number Two took the notebook with both hands, his fingers slowly stroking the slightly rough cover.
"Okay, I will. Don't worry."
"Mm."
Number Three nodded, let out a sigh of relief as if a burden had been lifted, and even stretched.
"It's finally coming to an end. Playing these mind games with you bunch of devious bastards has truly exhausted me."
She turned to look at Steve, her tone carrying a hint of urgency and nonchalance.
"Let's go, Number One. Don't just stand there. Be quick about it. If Jiaqing really saw me in this sorry state, wouldn't she laugh at me?"
After speaking, Number Three walked out of the Conference Room with long strides, without any hesitation.
Steve gave her a deep look, said nothing, and just silently followed.
The door to the Conference Room was closed.
The new Number Two and Number Six, who were sitting inside, did not follow, but instead remained silent by tacit agreement.
Number Two opened the notebook, which carried the countless blood and wisdom of Steve, picked up a pen, and with a slight force of his wrist, wrote a line on a blank page.
[New Number Three voluntarily sacrificed to Number One. Purpose: To preserve the host's emotions and prevent him from becoming a monster driven by desire.]
Having written this, Number Two stopped his pen and rubbed his temples with some fatigue.
When he was first dropped into this game, he had thought that what followed would be a life-and-death struggle full of deception and intense mental exertion.
But he hadn't expected that the previous versions of himself, who acted as stepping stones, had already used their lives to walk through the cruelest parts of this game.
Now, all that remained were tragic sacrifices and endless waiting.
About ten minutes later.
The door to the Conference Room was pushed open again.
Only Number One, Steve, returned.
Seeing Steve's still composed expression, Number Two and Number Six immediately stood up.
"Number One, how is it? How much longer do your emotions last?"
Number Two asked anxiously.
Steve walked to the main seat and sat down, his voice devoid of any ripples.
"Number Three's soul replenished three days of my consumption. Added to the two days I originally had left, I now have five days remaining."
Upon hearing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Five days—with Muriel's strength, it should be enough to break through this Mysterious Domain.
"Good."
Number Six, who had been sitting in the corner, suddenly stood up straight, his tone extremely resolute.
"The day after tomorrow, when these five days are mostly consumed, I will sacrifice myself to you as well. As long as the host can be sent out, us shadows will have died for a worthy cause."
Meanwhile, at the Fortress Command Center.
Watching the large screen, the situation in the Conference Room had finally stabilized, and all of Steve's copies had reached a consensus, willingly paving the way and sacrificing themselves for the original Number One.
Randy, who had been keeping his nerves on edge, finally let out a long breath of relief.
"Good lad, you've really got it in you. You even managed to trick your own copies into willingly dying for you."
Randy wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, then his expression turned serious, and he abruptly turned to ask the intelligence officer beside him.
"Where is the Angel Legion now?"
The intelligence officer immediately stood at attention and reported loudly.
"Report, Chief! Pope Mikaela has personally led the first wave of the Angel Legion's main force and successfully entered the Portal leading to the Strange World."
"Very good."
Randy waved his hand.
"Switch the main screen; I want to see real-time footage from the front line."
"Yes."
Strange World, edge of the space-time frozen zone.
The image on the large screen switched instantly.
What came into view were dense, holy figures that blotted out the sky.
Countless angels clad in silver-white battle armor and holding enchanted holy swords surged out from that massive purple Portal like a golden tide.
However, in this world where the SSS-level Anomaly had imposed absolute rules of stasis, even high-ranking angels, the moment they stepped out of the Portal and left the protection of Muriel's chaos domain, would be instantly frozen in mid-air like insects in amber.
At this moment, Muriel was holding the front line all by herself.
The eight light and dark wings behind her were flapping frantically, and each flap stirred up a violent energy storm in the space.
Relying on the heart of the angel inside her that was running at crazy overload, she forcibly carved out a flowing channel thousands of meters long in this solidified world, like an icebreaker.
But she was only one person, after all.
Facing the crazy pressure of the entire world's rules, golden blood was already spilling from the corners of Muriel's mouth, and her originally brilliant light and dark wings also appeared somewhat dim, as if they might be swallowed by this endless stasis domain at any moment.
"Muriel!"
Pope Mikaela, who had just stepped out of the Portal, immediately saw her daughter's precarious figure, a flash of heartache in her eyes.
She raised the papal scepter in her hand high, and the artifact, which represented the highest authority of the Church of Light, instantly erupted with dazzling holy radiance!
"All troops, listen to my command!"
Mikaela's voice, carried by the holy light, rang out in the minds of every angel who had stepped into this world.
"Do not resist the surrounding stasis rules. Lend your holy power, your faith, and all your strength to the Holy Angel!"
"Help her break through this dead zone."
"Yes! Your Holiness!"
At this moment, the thousands-of-meters-long channel that had been forcibly opened could not actually accommodate the tens of thousands of angels in the army; the vast majority of the angels were still stuck on the other side of the Portal.
But this did not prevent them from transmitting their power.
Hum! Hum! Hum!
In an instant, the angels who had already entered the channel, whether frozen by the rules or still barely able to move, all closed their eyes.
Pure and holy light power erupted from the Holy Angels.
And those Fallen Angels released their deep, violent dark power without reservation.
Countless beams of golden light and black light intertwined, like a hundred rivers converging into the sea, madly gathering towards Muriel at the front.
In the depths of the Mysterious Domain, Muriel.
'Cough...'
Muriel struggled to swing her sword, cutting open a gap in the viscous space ahead, but the resulting backlash made her feel dizzy.
'Short for Muriel, you must wait for me...'
Her consciousness was already beginning to blur, but the determination to save her loved one supported her, preventing her from retreating even half a step.
Just as she was about to exhaust her strength and was prepared to burn her soul to forcefully break the barrier.
Boom!
An indescribably vast force, like a tidal wave, surged in from behind her.
Muriel turned around and saw countless beams of light and dark energy pouring into her body from the passage she had opened.
'This is'
Feeling the instantly full energy within her, Muriel finally smiled beautifully.
'It's Mother, they have come.'
With the entire Angel Legion as her support, the heart of the angel in Muriel's chest seemed to hear an ancient battle song, and its beating frequency instantly soared to an extremely terrifying level.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Each heartbeat was like a strike on the world's rules.
Under the infusion of this immense light and dark force, the holy light and black flames on Muriel became even more intense and violent.
That chaotic aura, intertwined with holiness and evil, was no longer passively resisting but began a highly aggressive counterattack.
'Break for me!'
Muriel looked up and let out a clear, melodious shout.
Rumble!
The chaotic energies, like wild horses breaking free, began to rampage within the walls of the Mysterious Domain.
The originally indestructible static space, under this force that surpassed the limit, countless massive spatial cracks spread like a spider web.
Bang!
Accompanied by a sky-shattering sound.
The absolute static domain within a radius of several dozen miles around Muriel was actually forced to explode! It shattered into countless light fragments like broken glass!
'Phew'
Regaining a broad space for movement, Muriel did not pause for a moment.
She reached back and drew the angelic holy sword, symbolizing judgment and destruction, from the void.
At this moment, with the power of countless angels, the heart of the angel had reached an unprecedented peak state.
In this state, Muriel's energy fluctuations were surging.
Seventh stage peak!
Eighth stage!
Due to the heart of the angel's supreme status, this pressure was even more deadly in suppressing the strange.
'Short for Muriel, I'm coming.'
Muriel's gaze was like lightning, her sword pointing towards the direction of the sacrificial altar in the capital, where the red light was sensed soaring into the sky.
Her wings of light and darkness trembled.
Boom!
The air was instantly compressed to the extreme and then violently exploded.
Muriel turned into a beam of chaotic light, intertwined with golden light and black flames, charging towards the depths of the Mysterious Domain with an unmatched, overwhelming momentum.
'Break! Break! Break!'
She swung her holy sword, and wherever it passed, the static rules and strange black mist that tried to obstruct were directly pierced and evaporated by the sword's overpowering light.
Golden light lingered, and brilliant colors filled the air.
In this desolate end of the world, she was like a meteor cutting through the darkness, forcibly plowing a path of light in this despairing dead zone.
And behind her charge.
As the static domain was broken, countless angels who could no longer hold back poured out from the giant purple Portal, spreading their glowing wings like golden deities filling the sky.
'Follow the Saintess, slay all evil!'
'Kill!'
Countless angels took to the air, following the path of light Muriel had opened, turning into a golden flood that surged towards the depths of the Strange World.
Inside the Ancient Mansion, the atmosphere was oppressive.
As time passed, although the tremors from Muriel leading the Angel Legion to frantically break the static Mysterious Domain outside could not directly transmit to this independent small space, Steve, the core of the trap, could vaguely feel that a certain wheel of fate was accelerating.
'Pant, pant.'
Sitting in the main seat of the Conference Room, Steve's breathing suddenly became heavy.
His face, originally hidden by the mask and always calm, now revealed his extremely unstable state through his taut jawline and slightly trembling hands.
He suddenly looked up, his gaze sweeping over Number Two, Number Three, and the others who were ready in the Conference Room.
'The situation is a bit off.'
Steve's voice was hoarse.
'The emotions you have been sacrificing to me these past few days have helped fill my void, but...'
'But what?'
The new Number Two immediately stepped forward, looking tense.
'But every time you sacrifice to me, it's a mix of various emotions, and in these mixed emotions, there is always an underlying desire.'
Steve gripped the armrest of the chair tightly.
'This Seven Days Together, every day it precisely removes other emotions from my soul—joy, anger, sorrow, fear, love, evil...'
'It takes away these emotions but leaves the desire you sacrificed and keeps accumulating it.'
Steve took a deep breath, forcefully suppressing the restlessness deep within his heart that seemed to want to burn away his reason.
'So now, the desire in my body has not only not disappeared but has even begun to grow uncontrollably, occupying most of my soul.'
Hearing this, everyone in the Conference Room gasped.
They finally understood why the previous Number Seven and Number Five had turned into such crazy monsters.
When a person loses all sense of morality, empathy, fear, and sorrow, and only the purest, most primal desire to survive and kill remains in their mind, they are no longer human.
Number Two narrowed his eyes, staring intently at Steve, his hand already reaching for the dagger at his waist.
'Then what do you want to do now?'
Steve suddenly looked up, and although he wore a mask, everyone could feel the last struggle of human rationality in his eyes.
'Control me.'
Steve gritted his teeth and growled.
'Use every means possible to bind me, do not let me leave this chair even half a step, just hold out until Short for Muriel breaks through this Mysterious Domain and comes in, and we will win.'
Hearing this request from the original, the replicas looked at each other.
Without any hesitation, they all nodded.
Number Three and Number Six immediately brought the thickest iron chains from the other rooms of the Ancient Mansion.
Several of them rushed forward, pinning Steve firmly to the chair. They used ropes and iron chains to bind his arms, legs, and even his torso, layer after layer, securely to the heavy solid wood back of the chair.
Having done all this, the five clones each pulled up a chair and sat in a semi-circle opposite Steve, staring at him quietly without even daring to blink.
Time passed day by day in this confrontation.
Outside, the sacrifices and reincarnations continued according to the rules of the Mysterious Domain.
Inside the Ancient Mansion, new versions of Steve were constantly being replenished.
After listening to the notes left by their predecessors and the explanations of those present, they would all unhesitatingly choose to sacrifice their remaining emotions to the original body tied to the chair before they turned into monsters.
In this way, several more days passed.
By this time, Number Two, Number Three, and the others sitting opposite Steve were no longer the same group that had originally tied him up.
They were all substitutes who had entered through the new reincarnation cycles.
But no matter how many groups changed, they all maintained the same original intention.
They guarded this place tenaciously, maintaining this fragile balance while waiting for the arrival of the Angel Legion outside.
Late that night.
Steve, who was tied up securely to the chair, suddenly began to twitch violently.
"Ugh, ah."
A beast-like low growl of pain escaped his throat.
"This is bad."
Steve suddenly looked up. Beneath that faceless mask, a pair of crimson eyes seemed to peer through; his voice was completely distorted, carrying a sense of greed and madness.
"The desire is too great; I can't balance it much longer. Let me go, I want to get out."
Hearing this roar, the five new substitute Steve Tians sitting opposite him all shuddered.
But they made no move to get up and untie him.
Number Two sat in the middle, clutching the notes recorded with the blood and tears of his predecessors. He looked at the frenzied original body with a cold expression.
"Ignore him."
Number Two said in a low voice.
"He is now completely dominated by Desire. As long as he doesn't break free from those chains, we'll just act like we didn't hear anything. Since he's restrained, there's no way he can get out."
Everyone nodded upon hearing this.
Since the original body was on the verge of going berserk, they didn't intend to continue the sacrifices to avoid adding fuel to the fire.
In the suffocating wait, another agonizing day passed.
The five clones all widened their eyes, staring fixedly at Steve tied to the chair.
"Tell me."
Number Three swallowed hard.
"Right now, within Number One's body, the Six Emotions have been drained, leaving only this final Desire."
"At the moment of the time transition on this final day, if the rules of this Mysterious Domain also completely drain this last bit of Desire from his body..."
"...what will he become?"
Hearing this question, everyone felt a shiver run down their spines and shook their heads one after another.
"I don't know."
Number Two's gaze was locked firmly on Steve.
"This is the first time seeing this."
Just as their voices fell.
The second hand of the wall clock silently pointed to midnight.
A hidden fluctuation of rules instantly descended upon Steve.
At this moment, Steve suddenly felt as if his body had turned into a massive black hole.
The beast of desire roaring frantically deep within his soul, trying to break through its cage, was suddenly seized by the throat by an invisible giant hand and then...
...uprooted completely.
"Ugh."
The roar in Steve's throat came to an abrupt halt.
His violently struggling body suddenly froze, then slumped limply against the back of the chair.
Everyone held their breath, staring at him intently.
They saw the faceless mask on Steve's face suddenly crack with a snap, shattering to reveal his original face.
However, what filled everyone with dread was...
...that at this moment, there was no expression on Steve's face.
No pain, no madness, no calm—there wasn't even a trace of a living person's aura.
His eyes were wide open, but his pupils were like stagnant water, without the slightest ripple.
"Number One? Number One, how are you?"
Number Six summoned the courage to call out.
Steve didn't react at all; he didn't even blink.
Just as everyone was filled with doubt and uncertainty!
"Whoosh!"
In a corner of the Conference Room, a cold whirlwind suddenly whipped up from the ground.
Immediately after, a mass of thick black mist seeped out from the void without warning.
As soon as this black mist appeared, it carried a suffocating sense of pressure, locking directly onto Steve who was slumped in the chair.
"What is that thing?"
Everyone turned pale with fright.
Without any hesitation, the five clones drew their weapons simultaneously. Moving like lightning, they all blocked the path between the black mist and Steve.
"Stop it."
Number Two roared.
The attacks of the five people—even their bodies—seemed to strike the void the moment they touched the black mist, passing right through it.
"What?"
Amidst their horrified gazes, the black mist moved with lightning speed, bypassing their obstruction and slamming directly into Steve who was tied to the chair.
"Hahaha!"
Along with the black mist's charge, an arrogant and infinitely evil wild laughter echoed in every corner of the Conference Room.
"A perfect empty shell, an absolute vessel without a trace of emotional impurity."
"This unkillable Divine Body is finally mine!"
Whoosh!
The black mist turned into a streak of light and drilled directly into Steve's body through the center of his forehead.
"Number One!"
Everyone's eyes nearly split from rage, and they immediately wanted to turn and rush forward to check on the original body's condition.
But the very moment they turned around...
Thump.
Thump.
A dull heartbeat, containing some kind of grand power, suddenly rang out in the silent Conference Room.
The sound wasn't loud, yet it felt like it was striking directly into the depths of everyone's souls.
Everyone stopped in confusion, their gazes unanimously following the source of the sound toward Steve's chest.
In the next second, everyone gasped, their brows furrowing deeply.
At the center of Steve's previously lifeless chest—right where his heart was—a tiny point of extremely brilliant, pure golden light suddenly lit up.
That was the heart of faith.
But this light was different from any time before.
It was no longer that warm, soft light of protection; instead, it exuded a sense of lofty and absolute majesty that looked down upon all living beings.
"Fall back!"
Number Two keenly sensed the terrifying repulsive force contained within this golden light. He immediately spread his arms, firmly stopping the others who wanted to approach.
"Quick, everyone get back."
Under his command, although the other four clones were full of doubt, they instinctively obeyed and quickly retreated toward the edges of the Conference Room.
"Number Two, what on earth is wrong with Number One? What is that black mist? And what is with this golden light?"
Number Two stared at the increasingly bright golden light on Steve's chest, his voice extremely solemn.
"Number One's Seven Emotions have been completely drained by the rules of this Mysterious Domain. Right now, he is a perfect empty shell without any human feelings or desires."
"However, the heart of faith inside him is still there."
A hint of realization flashed in Number Two's eyes.
"The most likely situation right now is that the mastermind behind that Mysterious Domain wants to take over this immortal body the moment Number One becomes an empty shell."
"But it never expected that when a person loses all human emotions, what sustains the operation of this body is no longer humanity..."
Number Two took a deep breath and said word by word.
"But rather the Divinity provided by the heart of faith."
"Divinity?"
Everyone listened, dumbfounded.
Number Two nodded heavily.
"Indeed! Absolute rationality, absolute indifference, a Divinity immune to all laws!"
And at this very moment, within Steve's own Sea of Consciousness, a confrontation was unfolding.
"What's going on?"
The mass of black mist that had just arrogantly rushed into Steve's body.
Which was the source anomaly of this Seven Days Together SSS-Level Mysterious Domain, was now staring at everything before it in stunned silence.
It had originally thought it would enter a dim soul whose emotions had been drained and whose defenses had completely collapsed.
As long as it injected its own will, it could perfectly take over this flawless shell that even rules couldn't kill.
But.
When it truly entered Steve's Sea of Consciousness, it discovered that everything in this world had undergone an earth-shattering change.
What should have been a chaotic or dim ordinary Sea of Consciousness was now plated with a layer of dazzling, sacred, and inviolable brilliant golden light.
In the center of this golden Sea of Consciousness.
Steve's soul form was quietly floating in mid-air.
His eyes were lowered, his gaze lonely yet filled with an absolute coldness as if looking down at ants, quietly watching the black mist below that was acting as if facing a great enemy.
"Divinity?"
The Source of the Anomaly looked at that unbreakable golden light, feeling the absolute suppression from a high-dimensional Status, and suddenly roared in disbelief.
"Why? You're clearly just a human. Even if you have an immortal body, you shouldn't possess such pure Divinity. Damn it!"
"Why? This perfect empty shell was clearly drained by me. This should clearly be my Divine Body. Why do you still have Divinity protecting you?"
The Source of the Anomaly was about to go crazy.
It had laid out this Seven Days Together chain of death traps, even going as far as consuming massive power to operate the rules of time, originally intending to completely strip away Steve's Seven Emotions and replace them with its own source will, thereby perfectly taking over this Divine Body that could resist all certain-death rules.
But despite its many calculations, it never expected this.
When the human Seven Emotions were completely stripped from Steve, it instead made room for the heart of faith hidden in the deepest part of his soul to take absolute dominance.
Humanity faded, Divinity awakened.
Not only did it fail to take over, but it also awakened an even more terrifying, absolutely rational entity completely undisturbed by emotions.
At this moment, Steve's soul, floating in mid-air, slowly raised its head.
He looked at the frustrated Source of the Anomaly below, his face still devoid of any expression, his voice grand and cold, as if a divine sound falling from the highest heavens.
"You are the Source of the Anomaly of this Seven Days Together."
Under that cold gaze, the Source of the Anomaly instinctively felt a shiver, but its dignity as an SSS-level Anomaly made it roar stubbornly.
"Indeed, I am the ruler who trapped you here. I admit I underestimated you. I thought you only had an eternally immortal shell, but I didn't expect Divinity to be hidden inside it."
"However, so what if you've awakened Divinity? In my Mysterious Domain, I am still God."
However, facing its frantic shouting, Steve, who had entered the state of Divinity, had no intention of wasting words with it.
He simply looked down at it coldly.
Then.
Thump!
The heart of faith at the chest of Steve's soul form suddenly erupted with a violent vibration.
A repulsive force swept through this golden Sea of Consciousness with a bang.
"Aah!"
The Source of the Anomaly felt like an insect caught in a hurricane and let out a shrill scream.
Before this absolute divine power, its proud source of anomaly had no room for resistance and was kicked out of Steve's body by an unmatched force.
Ancient Mansion Conference Room.
Bang!
Amidst the shocked gazes of the five Clones, a mass of black mist flew backward from Steve's chest and slammed heavily into the wall of the Conference Room.
"What's the situation?"
Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment.
The black mist that was so arrogant just now, claiming it would take over the body, how did it get knocked out in the blink of an eye?
Just then.
Snap.
Accompanied by a series of crisp snapping sounds.
The steel chains that had been tightly binding Steve to the chair actually shattered inch by inch under that faint golden light, scattering all over the floor.
Steve slowly stood up from the chair.
He didn't look at the Clones on the ground, nor did he look at anything else.
His eyes were still filled with dead silence and indifference.
"Cough, cough."
The Source of the Anomaly, which had been blown away, reconsolidated into a mass of rolling black mist in the corner.
Although it had suffered a great loss, its laughter still carried endless madness.
"Good, very good! Don't think that just because you're immortal and have activated Divinity, you can act wildly here. Don't think you can use your own power."
"I admit your soul defense is impeccable, but do you really think you can defeat me with just this passive defensive state?"
"Look closely, I am an SSS-level Anomaly, and here is Minecraft."
With its final hysterical roar.
Rumble!
The entire Conference Room, even the massive Ancient Mansion, and even the Misty Space outside, began to vibrate violently.
An irresistible repulsive force from the Mysterious Domain instantly descended.
"Not good."
Number Two, Number Three, and the other five Clones standing nearby didn't even have time to react before being swept up by this violent Mysterious Domain power.
They instantly disappeared from the Conference Room.
In the entire space, only Steve and that massive mass of black mist remained.
Seeing five versions of himself instantly cleared out, Steve's face, which had entered the state of Divinity, still didn't show even the slightest ripple of emotion.
He was like an emotionless bystander, quietly watching all this happen.
"he he he he, as expected of divinity. To think you could remain so indifferent even when your own clone was wiped out."
The Source of Anomalies let out a strange laugh, and then its physical form began to expand in an extremely terrifying manner.
In the blink of an eye, that mass of black mist transformed into a terrifying monster that occupied the entire space of the Conference Room, blotting out the sky.
Countless distorted human faces wailed within the black mist. Carrying a pressure that could destroy heaven and earth, it opened its bloody maw and lunged madly toward the solitary Steve below.
"Die for me!"
Facing this world-destroying strike,
Steve still didn't dodge; he didn't even lift a hand.
A layer of brilliant golden light, as if substantial, naturally emerged from his body, forming a circular absolute defense barrier that firmly protected him within.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The massive black mist incarnated by the Source of Anomalies was like a crazed bull, ferociously slamming into that thin golden light barrier time and time again.
The entire Conference Room had completely collapsed under its impact, turning into a pile of ruins.
But.
No matter how the Source of Anomalies charged, bit, and bombarded, that layer of golden light, which appeared as thin as a cicada's wing, didn't even show a single ripple!
Steve just stood quietly within the golden light, saying nothing and doing nothing.
With those emotionless eyes, he coldly watched this SSS-level Anomaly act like a clown before him, incessantly and frantically charging at him in an attempt to break through this absolute defense.
"Damn it, what the hell is this thing?"
After a full ten minutes of indiscriminate bombardment, the Source of Anomalies, realizing it couldn't even harm a single hair on Steve's body, finally broke down and let out an exasperated curse from within the black mist.
"Why? Why is it that I, the grand ruler of an SSS-Level Mysterious Domain, can't even break through a single layer of your light barrier!"
At this moment, besides anger, the Source of Anomalies felt even more anxiety and fear.
Because it could clearly sense that at the edge of this Absolute Stasis Mysterious Domain it was so proud of, a violent power was frantically tearing through its rule barriers at an extremely terrifying speed.
Someone was breaking in from the outside, and their speed was ridiculously fast.
If it weren't for the fact that the person was breaking the formation far too quickly, it would have even wanted to temporarily avoid the brunt of it and wait another few dozen days for the divinity in Steve's body to be exhausted before finding a way to take this immortal body for itself.
But now, it was out of time.
Steve had entered a divine state and directly activated the absolute defense ability of the heart of faith, becoming like an unbreakable tortoise shell.
If it continued to stall here with him, once that woman outside broke in,
The Source of Anomalies had no doubt that she would absolutely slash it and this Mysterious Domain into flying ash with a single sword!
Boom!
Deafening roars echoed continuously through the void.
At this moment, the Source of Anomalies, that massive black mist blotting out the sky, had completely fallen into a state of frenzy.
It manifested countless abyssal maws filled with fangs and condensed thousands of dark black spears capable of easily corroding space, recklessly bombarding the figure below.
It couldn't run even if it wanted to now.
That terrifying Rank Eight aura from the outside, which was frantically tearing through the Stasis Domain, was already close at hand.
Its proud Mysterious Domain barriers were collapsing in large areas.
Its path of retreat was completely blocked. Its only hope of turning the tables now was to forcibly shatter that thin golden tortoise shell on Steve's body in this extremely short amount of time, then forcibly drill into Steve's body to occupy this immortal, perfect divine shell.
As long as it could occupy this body, it could escape like a cicada shedding its skin, and perhaps even kill that Female God of Slaughter outside.
"Shatter for me! Shatter!"
The Source of Anomalies let out a crazed roar, and the massive black mist even began to burn its source power, slamming violently against Steve's protective golden light.
However, facing this world-destroying crazed attack, Steve, standing in the very center of the golden light barrier, still didn't have even the slightest reaction.
At this moment, Steve's face had no expression, and his eyes were like cold ice.
He felt no fear, no anxiety, no anger, and no joy.
After his seven emotions were completely stripped away and his body was entirely taken over by divinity, he was like a deity, standing quietly in the long river of time, ignoring the incompetent rage of the clown before him.
He just relied on instinct, waiting quietly.
He was using that beating heart of faith within his chest to sense that bond that shared the same origin, spanning across endless space.
With the enhancement of divinity, Steve's perception pierced through layers of illusions and black mist, clearly capturing the location of that frantically burning heart of the angel.
"It's very close."
He could feel that the aura had already reached the outermost edge of this altar, with only the final barrier remaining.
Meanwhile, in the outside world.
The massive Angelic Holy Sword in Muriel's hand had now completely transformed into a dazzling platinum rainbow, shattering all the Stasis Domains that tried to block her path.
"Steve, wait for me!"
Muriel's exquisite face was filled with killing intent.
After breaking the final seal of space-time stasis with her terrifying Rank Eight strength, a red vortex emitting a dense, ominous aura finally emerged before her.
It was the very entrance through which Steve had been sucked into the interior of the altar.
Without any hesitation, Muriel turned into a streak of light and flew at full speed directly into the red vortex.
Inside the altar space.
Just as the Source of Anomalies was preparing to gather its final strength for a source strike,
Steve, who had been standing as still as a statue, suddenly and slowly raised his head.
His eyes, which looked down upon all living beings, stared straight at the dome shrouded in black mist. Then, his lips parted slightly as he spat out two cold words.
"She's here."
Hearing these two words, the Source of Anomalies, which was in a state of rage, suddenly froze.
"What?"
Before it could react, a terrifying aura of extreme holiness, pure to the point of being able to purify all the filth in the world, suddenly poured down from the top of the space.
The Source of Anomalies' heart shook violently, and it snapped its head up to look.
It saw the originally indestructible spatial dome instantly blasted open by an extremely violent force after a period of intense distortion.
Immediately after, a dazzling, blinding pillar of golden light, carrying the incomparable terrifying pressure of a Rank Eight holy being, crashed straight down toward its position.
"Damn it!"
The Source of Anomalies let out a scream. It sensed a fatal threat from that golden light sufficient to completely wipe it out.