”Give it to me…”
To Renji’s surprise, the Source Lord did not directly attack them like before.
The phoenix perched on the crown of the world tree transmitted an ethereal voice to him.
“Power… belongs to me…”
The phoenix seemed to be communicating with him, which surprised Renji quite a bit.
Because from previous experiences interacting with the Sources, it seemed that for the Source, they viewed “intelligence” as non-essential. The vast majority of Sources did not possess the awareness to communicate.
But Renji also hadn’t forgotten that in Lena’s diary, there had indeed appeared Sources that were forced to give birth to “intelligence” due to external environmental limitations.
The current Source Lord should be the same.
But obviously…
“Give it to me… Let us become one…” The ethereal voice was intermittent. It could be seen that the intelligence born from the phoenix was not yet mature and not very good at speaking.
But since the Source Lord had evolved intelligence for his sake, Renji tried to communicate with it.
“If you are willing to give up and return these worlds you occupy, restrain the other Sources, perhaps we can discuss some conditions. I can also find you new paths to power.”
It was unknown whether Renji’s sentence was too long.
Or the phoenix in front of him had put all its attention on the word “give up” at the beginning.
Soon, the responding voice from the Source Lord sounded again.
“No… impossible…”
“This is… the only way to cross over…”
“Become one…”
The voice was intermittent, but the unquestionable persistence could be heard in the tone.
Renji had long anticipated this result and didn’t have any expectations that he could make the Source Lord give up with just a few words from him. What he was more concerned about was…
“What crossing over? What does the method refer to? Collecting worlds?”
Faced with Renji’s frowning questioning, the Source Lord seemed to have exhausted its patience. The phoenix became more and more agitated, and all that echoed in its ears was the increasingly urgent voice of “Give it to me… Give it to me!”
It seemed… I still needed to make the Source Lord evolve a bit more intelligence.
The method was also very simple.
Defeat it and increase his weight in the Source Lord’s mind. Perhaps then the Source Lord could return to the negotiating table with him.
After he made up his mind, Renji no longer hesitated.
He activated the power of the contract and communicated with Miyuki on the Blue Planet.
The protagonist of this final battle was actually not him.
He was more like a guide.
The one who could defeat the Source Lord would be…
…
After receiving the message from Miyuki that it had “started,” Renji took a deep breath, feeling a bit uneasy. The time had come to test the results of his running around and efforts over the past few months.
Seeing that Renji was unwilling to cooperate, the Source Lord also gave up on communicating. Its phoenix’s wings opened fiercely, and each of the feathers on them was a world it had collected, a world that had “merged into one” with it, and also… the source of the Source Lord’s power.
However.
After a brief delay, the feathers on the phoenix’s wings began to emit a faint light one by one. This was not from the Source Lord’s own will, as could be seen from the phoenix’s somewhat surprised appearance now.
One, two, ten, a hundred, a thousand…
These feathers on the phoenix’s wings, from the initial faint glow, became more and more intense in just a few breaths, and finally seemed to be burning. Hundreds and thousands of feathers all ignited on their own.
The Source Lord’s expression changed from initial surprise to current panic. It finally realized that these feathers that made up its wings, these worlds under its control, seemed to be escaping its grasp and becoming more and more out of control.
The phoenix with burning wings began to circle in the air, as if trying to extinguish the flames, but once the sparks were ignited, the momentum of a prairie fire could no longer be stopped.
After all…
…
User123: “Damn, this DLC is really long. Waited so long for the cutscene to run the game!”
GamerGirl_89: “Mm, so nostalgic. I remember when I first played this, I had just started junior high.”
PixelMaster: “The graphics and smoothness of this reset version are much better than the previous one. Doesn’t it feel very realistic?”
RetroGamer42: “Speaking of which, isn’t this game single-player? How did it become online and even have a public channel chat room!”
Fanatic: “This is very normal. It’s been twenty or thirty years. Who still plays pure single-player? Playing online together is indeed fun. You can even show off your waifu to others, hehe~!”
WaifuKing: “Indeed, I saw your homepage. Your waifu is awesome bro!”
Hail-The-Loli: “Minotaurs can go f@cking dieeeee!”
LoliFan: “WTF! This game ID, Hail The Loli? Isn’t that the author of the novel I’ve been following? Could it be the real person? You’re also a Fallen Chronicles fan? @Hail-The-Loli!”
Hail-The-Loli: “Ahem…”
Nerdo: “So nostalgic, everyone. I didn’t expect to see so many familiar IDs from the forums and groups back then after so many years. It’s great. I feel like I’ve become young again too!”
Missanori: “Yeah, but isn’t there a big shot missing? I don’t see his ID. Back then, I persisted in playing by following his guides all the way…”
Camaro: “You mean ‘Ashen’?”
KO: “Huh? You know that big shot too?”
Great_Dady: “The Fallen Chronicles’ community was small to begin with. There were only a few big shots who could release such detailed beginner-friendly guides. Everyone definitely knows them. If you don’t believe me, ask again in the public chat?”
Cacarote: “To be fair, indeed, I also successfully cleared the game by following ‘Ashen’s’ guides. It helped me avoid many pitfalls.”
Seeker: “What a coincidence!”
+1: “+1”
Bad_Gamer: “To be honest, without ‘Ashen’s’ guides, with this disgusting game difficulty, I really don’t know how I would have kept playing.”
Kalina: “I think Fallen Chronicles’s official team really needs to kowtow to Ashen.”
Midyosaa2023: “Sigh, what a pity. Now Fallen Chronicles has been resurrected, but where is Ashen?”
Young_Master: “Yeah, I also wanted to thank him in person. I sent him a private message before, but it seems he never logged on again afterwards.”
Bald_G: “It’s been twenty or thirty years. It’s very normal. He also has real-life work.”
Touched: “But ‘Ashen’ should have also received that letter from the game character, right? Although it was AI-
generated, it really moved me. That’s why I chose to come back. I think Ashen, who put so much effort into this game, should have deeper feelings than all of us, right?”
Dorororor: “Exactly. It feels like anyone can not come back, but Ashen can’t!”
HopefulPlayer: “Don’t worry. Maybe Ashen is actually logging in right now!”
Shadow: “Don’t worry. Maybe Ashen has already logged in and just hasn’t spoken, secretly watching the screen!”
Hail-The-Loli: “Don’t worry. Maybe Ashen has already crossed over into the game HAHAHAHA!”
Realist: “Hey, hey, hey, you’re going too far!”
Hail-The-Loli: “Haha!”
Witch: “It’s fine. Now everyone is a savior. Feel free to speak your mind and deduct points from @Hail-The-Loli!”
Hail-The-Loli: “…”
…
9,645 worlds, now 4,210 of them were lit up, and the chat of players pouring in was scrolling crazily in the channel, and this number was still growing.
Corresponding to Renji’s side, at this moment, on the phoenix, each burning feather symbolized each former “Fallen Chronicles” player who had accepted Renji’s “reunion” invitation and chosen to “return.”
Because of the players logging back in, the world control that the Source Lord had seized began to diverge, resulting in the phoenix’s feathers now “self-igniting and shedding.”
And just as the players posted in the “public channel,” Renji had slightly modified “Fallen Chronicles” to make this final decisive battle a large-scale online DLC additional content.
In other words…
This would become a world boss battle jointly challenged by Fallen Chronicles players.
Using magic to defeat magic.
Using players to defeat the boss.
Just as described at the end of the “Ashen Cloak.”
The starting point would also become the final destination.
This was the final answer given by Renji as a former “player.”
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