"Before you do this, there is still time to turn back."
Caelus had already dressed and was sitting on the train's sofa, looking at Alice as she stared through the window at the simulated starry sky.
"I have already made my decision."
"I will obtain Nyarlathotep's rank, become one of Nyarlathotep's avatars, and then become a Nyarlathotep who hunts other Nyarlathoteps."
Alice had once possessed a youthful face and eyes filled with innocence.
Now, however, she resembled Grimm.
There was no life in her eyes, only the stillness of stagnant water.
Her expression was solemn, and her entire body radiated a grim, murderous presence.
She looked like a veteran who had only recently left the battlefield and was still suffering from severe trauma.
After Pangu used the false Grimm created in Alice's image to locate the real Grimm, he left this Alice in Caelus's care.
"The Rulers recklessly toy with people's emotions, dignity, and souls."
"They are filled with sick and twisted forms of love."
"I do not want the tragedy that befell me to repeat itself through others again and again."
"I am not the real Grimm."
"I am only a false existence created to satisfy the requirements of a ritual."
"The hatred within me drives me to seek revenge."
"However, my own power is not enough to accomplish that goal."
"That is why I have decided to embrace my origin and the power of Nyarlathotep within me."
"I will become one of her avatars, with a personality created specifically to hunt other Nyarlathoteps."
Had such a plan involved any other god, it would have sounded absurd.
However, when Nyarlathotep was involved, it was entirely reasonable.
Nyarlathotep possessed countless avatars, each with completely different personalities and characteristics.
Under those circumstances, an avatar devoted entirely to hunting other versions of herself was perfectly plausible.
After all, Nyarlathotep's avatars could fight among themselves over anything that caught their interest.
They could even scheme against one another without mercy, completely unconcerned that they were ultimately parts of the same being.
"But if you do this, you will die."
"The one who continues living will be Nyarlathotep, not you."
"I do not have much reason to continue living anyway."
Alice spoke calmly.
"Everything is false."
"My parents are false. My friends are false."
"Even my emotions and personality are false."
"Not a single part of my past belongs to a real story of my own."
"Even the hatred I feel toward the mastermind comes from Grimm's existence, not mine."
"Even my name belonged to someone else."
Alice looked down at her hands.
Then she turned toward Caelus on the sofa, her eyes remaining lifeless.
"What value does someone like me possess?"
"What reason do I have to continue living?"
Had this been a conventional heroic story, Caelus would have stood and solemnly declared that he would become Alice's reason to live.
He would have told her that she possessed value, accepted her, and encouraged her to begin a new life.
Unfortunately, although Caelus had recovered most of his emotions, he had not regained one of humanity's most important feelings.
Compassion.
It could also be described as sympathy, empathy, or affection.
He felt no sorrow or emotional connection when witnessing the tragedies of others.
"I understand."
"I will help you complete the ritual and ascend, allowing your current personality to become a new Nyarlathotep."
She had already made her choice.
That meant this was the path she had chosen for herself.
Caelus would not persuade her to turn back or tell her to let go.
This was the value she had found for herself.
The Armor-Clad Ritual began.
Nyarlathotep's Armor-Clad Ritual was undeniably useful.
That was one reason Caelus had been willing to participate in her play.
While observing and studying the vast ritual, he had also gathered the chaotic thoughts and emotions surrounding it, using them to stimulate himself and recover the instincts a living being should possess.
Had Nyarlathotep not attempted to interfere with Cyrene, Caelus would have continued acting.
He might even have pretended that his identity was beginning to waver, appearing on the verge of accepting that part of him might once have been Grimm.
By doing so, he could have kept Nyarlathotep interested while continuing to study the ritual and gathering vast quantities of chaotic emotions to wash over his sense of self.
That would have made his personal path more stable and refined while further strengthening his identity.
In the terms of a cultivation world, it would have been a trial that tempered and strengthened his conviction.
Unfortunately, the trial could only be interrupted.
Caelus was willing to place himself in danger to temper his own existence, but he would never allow Cyrene to suffer any harm or corruption because of him.
Within the ritual, Alice saw the crawling darkness.
She saw the God of a Thousand Faces.
The corruption of a higher-ranking power washed across her identity.
Her sense of self would not collapse immediately.
After all, the Grimm existence forming her foundation had already endured this form of corruption countless times.
Alice, however, did not continue resisting.
Instead, she opened herself and willingly embraced the chaotic corruption.
She felt every part of herself being eroded and corrupted.
She felt everything she was being swallowed by darkness.
The process should have been unbearably painful, terrifying, and hopeless.
Yet Alice enjoyed it.
She could clearly feel the darkness accepting her.
During the final moments of Alice's life, she remembered that night.
Caelus had appeared before her and saved the weak, carefully constructed version of herself.
Once, Grimm had also been driven to madness by despair, pain, regret, and oppression.
He too had wished for a hero to descend from the sky and shatter the seemingly inescapable cycle.
"Goodbye, my hero."
The existence known as Alice Grimm died completely.
The being who remained was a new Nyarlathotep who had inherited her personality and obsession.
In the outside world, she opened her eyes.
She looked at Caelus, who was calmly watching her, then released a deep sigh.
"You possess the same strange attraction as the real Grimm."
"Even I find myself fascinated by you now."
"What about Alice?"
"The story of a hero saving a girl may be old-fashioned, but it has always been effective, hasn't it?"
"Our connection will probably end here."
"I do not know when we will meet again."
"Perhaps we never will."
"I may even die during my hunt."
"Caelus, before we part, could you give me a hug?"
"Consider it the final wish Alice left behind."
Caelus shook his head and refused without hesitation.
However, a flaming longsword appeared in his hand.
He tossed it forward, and the blade embedded itself diagonally into the ground.
"This is my gift to you, and to her."
Alicenaia reached out and pulled the burning longsword free.
The weapon had been condensed from spiritual power.
Ignoring the raging flames covering it, she wrapped both arms tightly around the burning blade and felt the pain of the fire scorching her body.
The agony caused by the flames resembled the false yet unforgettable emotion within her heart.
It gave light to someone trapped within the darkness of Nihility, while also inflicting searing pain.
Yet that pain was also proof of existence.
It was a symbol of life.
(To be continued.)