367: Chapter 367 Stop!

"Lin Yao! Stop now!"

Wen Yan roared with all his might.

However, the young girl's body only trembled slightly, giving no response.

Her consciousness seemed unable to hear any external sounds anymore.

She was completely controlled by her own obsession.

...

Lin Yu looked at those faces distorted by fear and excitement, at the soldier roaring in anxiety, and at his sister who was being lifted by everyone's power, about to complete a miracle.

Suddenly, he understood.

He completely understood what this girl's earth-shattering tantrum today was actually for.

Where that paranoia, that madness to prove herself at any cost, originated from.

The five years spent away from home.

To Lin Yu, those five years were a struggle, a period of hiding, a gamble to find a sliver of hope within the abyss.

But for Lin Yao, what were they?

How those so-called relatives mocked and sneered in front of her, calling him a waste, an ungrateful wolf who would never look back.

Even their parents, after countless disappointments, gradually chose silence—perhaps giving up, or perhaps out of a helpless sense of respect.

Only this silly girl.

Only she would stubbornly take a long bus ride every few days to see him in that dilapidated rental room.

Even when he couldn't afford the rental and moved into a discarded shipping container splashed with sewage, his sister never looked down on him.

Thus, she also became the sole witness.

She had seen how debt collectors kicked open that thin wooden door, how they insulted him with the filthiest words, and how they trampled him into the ground like a dead dog.

She had seen how he wasted away in that sunless room until he was gaunt and skeletal, looking as if a gust of wind could blow him over.

Even after he returned home.

When everyone thought everything was fine, this girl had also stumbled upon his arm—covered in hideous needle marks—when he took off his shirt.

It turned out she knew everything.

She had seen it all.

So, in her heart, her brother was never some powerful figure, let alone a legend.

Her brother was someone who would end up bruised and battered just to survive.

He was someone who would hurt himself, sacrifice himself, and do bad things she couldn't understand.

And now, she had grown up.

She was no longer that little girl who could only hide behind a door, covering her mouth and crying silently.

She had power.

Therefore, she wanted to use her own way to protect her brother.

To protect him from everyone.

Including... from her brother's own hands.

Yes, even her brother hurting himself was not allowed.

This obsession, accumulated over days and months, had long since turned into this girl's inner demon.

Today, here, through this duel, it was completely ignited.

Wen Yan's roar was torn to shreds by the violent energy storm; not a single syllable reached Lin Yao's ears.

It was useless.

Everything was too late.

That infinite starry sky was no longer an illusory projection. It had become a tangible plane, a terrifying world composed of countless powerful beings that was currently descending.

The Asura Ocean behind Zhao Tianyang boiled completely. Every Asura Warrior let out a silent roar, and that killing intent, as solid as substance, made the space barriers of the Duel Arena groan under the strain, cracking into fine black fissures.

Within the Magic Torrent behind Lin Yao, the versions of "Lin Yao" from different times and spaces had merged their chanted incantations into a single Final Movement. Elements wailed and laws retreated.

The most terrifying change still came from behind Lin Yu.

In that deep starry sky, the version of "Lin Yu" whose half-body had turned into crystal had completely solidified. Just by standing there calmly, a great power that transcended time and space and erased existence enveloped the entire Duel Arena.

Wen Yan felt his body decomposing.

Not a physical decomposition, but a conceptual erasure from the very foundation of "existence."

The fragile human chain of Researchers behind him let out deathly wails.

The Old Analyst's body had become semi-transparent. On his thick reading glasses, the lenses shattered with a "crack." Yet, he remained like a statue, his hand gripped tightly onto the shoulder of the person in front of him without loosening in the slightest.

A young Researcher's legs gave way, and he knelt directly on the ground, but his hand, drained of vitality, still clutched firmly at his companion's clothes, refusing to let go.

The help they provided had instead become the most lethal poison.

They had lit a spark, but it had detonated the entire armory.

Lin Yao's spell, nourished by their vitality, reached perfection. And this perfect spell was repaying them with a hundredfold, a thousandfold efficiency.

With death.

At this very moment, Lin Yao, who had kept her eyes tightly shut, suddenly trembled.

She finally felt it... surges of diverse and scorching vitality that did not belong to her were madly pouring into her body through Wen Yan's hand. That vitality was mixed with fear, with determination, and also with a nearly frenzied desire to witness a miracle.

It was them.

It was that soldier and that group of Researchers she didn't even know.

They were using their lives to fulfill her self-indulgence.

Boom!

Lin Yao's consciousness was violently dragged back from that infinite starry sky.

She "saw" Wen Yan's arm which had already turned to charcoal, she "saw" the Old Analyst's body which was about to dissipate, and she "saw" the faces distorted and sunken by the loss of vitality.

What was she doing?

What on earth was I doing?

To prove myself? To show my brother my power?

At the cost of these innocent lives?

This isn't protection.

This is a massacre.

She had personally created a monster that devoured life, and the first ones to be sacrificed were those who chose to believe in and help her.

An icy surge of regret and fear instantly seized her heart.

So what if she won against her brother?

Even if she really could use this spell to defeat him, it would only prove that she was a cold-blooded, cruel monster stronger than her brother.

No.

It can't be like this.

It absolutely cannot be like this!

Lin Yao clenched her teeth into her lower lip, and beads of crimson blood slid down the corner of her mouth.

It's my fault.

All of this is my fault alone.

The price should also be borne by me alone.

Deep within her consciousness, the thread composed of obsession that connected to the infinite starry sky began to vibrate violently.

Just cut it.

As long as she actively severed this thread, the out-of-control spell would stop. Those innocent people would be able to live.