In Academy City, the Paradise Project begins.

Page 145

A terrifying storm, purely driven by magic, erupted instantly from the center of Kronzon! A jet-black torrent of energy, carrying an aura of destruction, mixed with countless thorny blades made of pure magic, swept across the entire phase space like a runaway black tsunami! Wherever it passed, the ground cracked inch by inch, as if the entire world was violently shaking and on the verge of collapse!

"puff--!"

Caught off guard, Higashino was struck hard in the chest by the impact containing pure demonic power. He felt a sweet taste in his throat and spat out a mouthful of blood.

Facing the blood spurting out by Dongye, Kolonzun did not dodge, and in an instant, the blood stained her delicate face red.

"Depend on!"

Alarm bells rang in Higashino's mind, and he couldn't help but swear. The injury itself wasn't a big deal; he'd be back to normal in a second. But the problem was that the plan had taken a serious turn for the worse.

He truly underestimated the nature of this demon! The power of cognitive reconstruction did indeed alter her contractual partners, core objectives, and her essence, but it could not completely eradicate her nature of "spreading and destruction"!

Her love was ultimately about complete possession and mutual destruction!

Moreover, within this "absolute phase" that should have been absolutely under his control, she was actually able to mobilize such terrifying power!

This was something he never expected at the beginning.

However, it wasn't that the rule of absolute suppression was flawed, but rather that the contract she modified created a peculiar connection and resonance between herself and Kronzun, causing the phase's judgment of her to deviate.

The only saving grace is that even though he can use his power, most of Kronzun's power is suppressed, and he can only use a small portion of his full strength.

However, even such power is not something to be easily faced. If one is even slightly careless for a moment, it is not impossible to be instantly killed.

Higashino didn't want to die here before he could even enjoy a few days of his wonderful life; that would be such a loss.

"I was careless. I tried to imagine the love of a great demon with human thinking. I was incredibly stupid!"

But there was nothing he could do. He had tried to directly change the perception that Kronzun was absolutely loyal to him, but he realized at that moment that he couldn't do it!

The Great Demon's loyalty? Impossible! Otherwise, he wouldn't have chosen love as an emotion.

He couldn't understand why this demon was so resistant to the concept of loyalty, yet showed no resistance to changing the essential number 333 to 47.

But the current situation doesn't allow him much time for reflection.

Higashino forcefully suppressed his surging blood and qi, and his silver-gray pupils burst forth with an unprecedentedly brilliant light.

He forcibly erected an invisible, absolute barrier in front of him, isolating him from all energy and concepts.

Boom! ! !

The pitch-black storm crashed violently against the invisible barrier, producing a deafening roar.

The space trembled violently, and spiderweb-like cracks instantly spread across the barrier, but it ultimately did not break.

Higashino was propelled backward dozens of meters by the enormous impact, carving deep tracks in the mirror-like ground.

"It's no use, Master~."

Kolonzun let out a silvery laugh, his figure vanished from the spot, and the next second he appeared to the side of Higashino.

Her fingers were pressed together like knives, with dense energy wrapped around her fingertips that seemed to have materialized. She simply and directly stabbed towards Higashino Yu's temple!

The speed surpassed the limits of physics, accompanied by a piercing shriek that seemed to tear through space. She showed absolutely no mercy; every strike was aimed at killing Higashino.

Now she has no interest in what will happen to the world; she only wants to disappear with her master and go to eternity.

"Since you're calling me master, can't you behave a little better?!"

Higashino's pupils contracted, instantly compressing and distorting the space around him. Kronzun's deadly hand blade grazed past his afterimage, and the terrifying energy shockwave annihilated a patch of land behind him into nothingness.

"Tsk, with so much power restricted, you still have this level? Are you kidding me!"

Cold sweat beaded on Higashino's forehead.

Although his cognitive reconstruction did suppress most of her power, the true nature of the Great Demon was too terrifying. Even this small portion that had been leaked was powerful enough to make his scalp tingle!

If he hadn't tricked Laura into his phase in the first place, he probably wouldn't have had any chance of defeating her.

I was too confident before; that impromptu sneak attack wasn't very well-planned.

Moreover, she seems to be "adapting" to the rules of this phase space at an astonishing speed, breaking through or adapting to the limitations of cognitive reconstruction!

This was an unexpected joy brought to her by the contract.

The only saving grace is that this battle isn't entirely hopeless, as long as...

"Wow, Master is so amazing! You really are the one I chose! Resist me even more fiercely!"

Kronzun's first attack missed, but he became even more excited, his face flushed with a sickly redness.

She spread her arms wide, her long golden hair dancing wildly, each strand transforming into a deadly magical whip, like a golden net, lashing out at Higashino Yuu. At the same time, she chanted syllables that seemed to come from the abyss, their meaning unclear: "Ll! Arn! Deo!"

Three grotesque and twisted "angel" phantoms, composed of pure magic, instantly coalesced before her! One was like a burning thorn, another like flowing lava, and the third like frozen darkness, exuding a nauseating aura of blasphemy, roaring as they pounced on Higashino!

"Oh dear, your power is still increasing, is it really that ridiculous? Since you're calling me master, can't you go easy on me a little?"

Higashino used to think that as long as he got someone to his position, he could even fight a demon god to a standstill, but today Kolonzon's performance was a real slap in the face.

His phase did indeed grant him absolute priority, but he himself was not strong enough to completely suppress an existence of the level of Kronzun.

Even if his power is in no way inferior to that of a demon god in terms of quality, the difference in quantity is still too great.

It's like comparing a country with one nuclear warhead to a country with a thousand nuclear warheads. They are both nuclear-armed countries, but they are completely incomparable!

Higashino was unaware that Kolonzun's ability to break through the limitations was actually due to a contract.

"Fortunately, it's not entirely without a chance of winning!"

He focused his mind, attempting to directly erase these summons, which were made of the magic of Kronzon, from the conceptual level.

However, as the silver light swept across, the three illusory "angels" only fluctuated violently, their forms becoming slightly blurred and their speed slowing down, but they did not completely disappear! They still rushed towards us with destructive power!

"Hahaha! It's no use, Master!"

Kronzun laughed wildly, his long hair like golden tentacles, wrapping around him once more.

“Your phase is wonderful! But my ‘love’ and ‘destruction’ are two sides of the same coin! The stronger you are, the more you resist, the more my ‘love’ for you burns! This ‘love’... is breaking through the shackles you have set!”

boom! boom! boom!

The attacks of the three phantoms came one after another, and together with the golden hair that resembled whips flying everywhere, they completely overwhelmed Higashino.

Higashino's figure darted left and right in the storm, his silver cognitive power constantly flashing, sometimes deflecting attacks, sometimes constructing barriers, and sometimes briefly erasing the physical laws of parts of the area to create vacuum zones. Each collision caused the space to groan.

He was dancing on the edge of a knife, each dodge and defense fraught with danger. Kronzun's attacks grew increasingly ferocious and precise, nearly killing Higashino several times.

Kronzun's power, as if fueled by her "love," is "expanding" at a visible speed!

Small wounds began to appear on Higashino's body, marks left by the aftershocks of magic.

He felt his mental energy being depleted at an unprecedented rate. This couldn't go on! In this domain where he should have been invincible, he was being suppressed! His opponent was using that distorted "love" to forcibly increase their power and break through the blockade of cognitive reconstruction!

"Damn it... This is really self-inflicted damage. Love can actually turn into nourishment for her? Isn't this an absurd plot that only happens in novels?!"

While awkwardly dodging a black beam of light that tore through space, Higashino's mind raced.

"'Love me unconditionally forever'... So, her understanding of love is 'die together'? The devil's thought process is truly bizarre! We must find the loophole, before she fully adapts and breaks through the limitations..."

scoff!

A magical spear formed from golden hair, carrying the power to pierce through the void, instantly pierced through the hastily constructed defensive barrier of Higashino Yu and fiercely stabbed towards his heart!

Higashino's pupils suddenly contracted!

Chapter 181 Love is possession! It's fusion!

The spear, formed from brilliant golden hair and wreathed in destructive black light, had pierced through the fabric of Higashino Yu's chest. The icy touch on his skin, and the fervent blue eyes of Kronzun that seemed to ignite his very soul, formed the prelude to death.

Power! That being belonging to the Great Demon, even under the suppression of cognitive reconstruction, is still burning and expanding wildly, fueled by "love"! The limitations of power seem to be forcibly broken by her purely twisted will!

Unstoppable! Inescapable! The shadow of death has never been so thick; this is the greatest crisis Higashino has encountered since his transmigration.

However, just as his consciousness was about to be consumed by that burning, desperate love, Higashino did not try to reinforce the barriers, nor did he futilely change the rules. He seemed to have given up resisting, letting the destructive aura engulf him.

But this was not giving up. Higashino relinquished control over the surface rules, throwing his last, and all, strength into "observing" and "communicating" with the core of Kronzun's existence. He no longer tried to forcibly define her "love," but rather to "understand" the root of this twisted power, and then... break through the limits of his own cognition to shake it!

"Why destroy?" Higashino's thoughts, like a drop of pure water falling into the heart of a burning furnace, silently pierced through layers of violent magic, echoing directly in the frenzied and scorching core will of Kronzun. "Is this your understanding of eternal love? Destroying everything, including the one you love? Along with this world you want to be with me forever?"

Kronzon's movements froze for an almost imperceptible moment. The twisted smile on her face remained, but in her fanatical eyes, it seemed as if a tiny speck of dust had been thrown in.

"Absurd!" her thoughts roared back, carrying pure destructive intent. "Love is possession! It is fusion! Only at the climax, in the shared moment of destruction, can we obtain true eternity, which cannot be taken away by any time or rule! This is our destiny!"

So that's how it is! At the last moment, Higashino grasped this twisted foundation. This demon was trapped in a misunderstanding and obsession with "eternity"! She couldn't comprehend the eternal form that transcends destruction, just as the abyss cannot comprehend sunlight.

But Higashino is human. He has witnessed the fleeting beauty of morning dew and experienced the warmth of family. He knows that true eternity lies not in the destruction or continuation of form, but in the process of existence itself, in the eternity inherent in every shared moment! Therefore, even with the power of cognitive reconstruction, he did not recklessly abuse it. Even with girls whose perceptions had been altered, he still enjoyed dating them. Reality and falsehood were not the point; shared experiences were what mattered!

What needs to be broken through is not the rules, but a higher level of mindset and philosophy!

"Kolonzun!" Higashino abruptly raised his head, no longer dodging the spear that had almost pierced his chest, and stared directly into those burning blue eyes. "You're wrong." Higashino continued to unleash his remaining power without reservation. "True eternal love isn't found in the fleeting brilliance of destruction! That's merely the epitaph of the self-destructive!"

Ignoring the piercing sharpness, he leaned forward slightly, actually taking the initiative to meet the deadly spear tip! Dongye opened his arms, making a welcoming embrace gesture, his eyes fixed firmly on Kronzun.

"It's in the thrill of spring buds breaking through the frozen earth!" "It's in the silence of counting stars together on a summer night when the Milky Way falls to earth!" "It's in the warmth of autumn winds swirling withered leaves, huddling together to resist the growing chill!" "It's in the whispers of sharing a story by the fire when winter snow covers everything!"

Each word seemed to carry a strange magic, no longer just the power of simple cognitive reconstruction, but originating from the most essential understanding of "the meaning of existence" deep within the human soul! He broke through the limits of his own cognitive power, turning his understanding of "eternity" into a sharp sword!

"It is 'witnessing'!" "It is 'walking together'!" "It is every moment we 'coexist' here on this long journey from the birth of this world to its due end!"

Higashino's voice grew increasingly firm. Deep within his dark pupils, the usual silver light no longer shone, but a golden, warm light—a vast, star-like understanding and acceptance. "The end of destruction may be grand, but what comes after? Utter nothingness, erasing even the proof of 'our' existence, the traces of our love! The eternity you seek is ultimately just an empty, desolate dream!"

"And the 'love' I give you is to walk with you through this long river of time! To witness the blossoming and withering of countless lives, to witness the rise and fall of civilizations! To let 'our' existence itself become a stroke embellishing this vast canvas of the universe, until it naturally and slowly moves towards its final chapter!"

"This is... a higher level of 'eternity' that transcends the cycle of destruction and birth!"

As he spoke those resounding words, an incredible light of "understanding" and "will" that transcended the ability to reconstruct cognition itself erupted from him! This light was not silver, but a gentle yet irresistible torrent of will, like the morning sun, that pierced straight into the core of Kronzun's consciousness!

Om-! ! !

The destructive spear aimed at Higashino's heart, just a hair's breadth from piercing through, was as if eroded by an invisible force, silently disintegrating into a pure flow of energy, and then "purified" and dissipated by the dawn-like radiance!

For the first time, the madness and fanaticism on Kronzun's face melted away like ice and snow, replaced by a huge, unprecedented bewilderment and shock. Her once flamboyant, aggressive golden hair lost all its power, falling softly down like tamed silk.

The burning passion in her eyes had not disappeared, but the impulse to destroy everything was firmly held in check by this new and grand concept of "eternity"!

“Together…witness…the…end of nature…” Kronzun murmured, his voice carrying Laura’s crispness, yet filled with a strange, childlike confusion and bewilderment. “Instead of…burning out together at the peak?”

The destructive power within her, which had been expanding and trying to break free of its shackles, subsided abruptly, like a raging storm encountering absolute tranquility. It even began to recede and dissipate.

Higashino Yu's forehead was covered in sweat; his spirit was exhausted to the limit, but the radiance he once possessed had also dimmed. Looking at the motionless Kronzun before him, who seemed to have just restarted his core and loaded a new program, he breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Fortunately, he strengthened the influence and connection of his abilities through the special anchor points left during the two kisses; otherwise, he would have really messed up today. It seems that even the strongest people have some issues in their minds, otherwise this time wouldn't have been so difficult.

However, the danger... is at least temporarily over.

However, at that moment, Laura on the other side changed.

"Huh?" Her dark green dress, including the clothes underneath, instantly turned into scattered fine dust particles, disappearing without a trace, like sand that had been weathered for thousands of years!

One second the Great Demon was still bewildered by the true meaning of "eternity," and the next second she stood on the earth like a newborn infant. Her perfect silhouette was exposed before Higashino's eyes. Her bewildered gaze fell on her empty body, then lifted to look at Higashino, who was so close to her.

The air solidified instantly.

"My... clothes... are gone?" Kronzun, or rather Laura, had eyes filled with the purest confusion and bewilderment.

Her mind was a complete mess. Kronzun had become a fake, a counterfeit, while the fake Laura had become the real one. A wave of genuine, unvarnished shyness washed over her. Although the young man before her was still the same familiar face, their relationship was no longer what it used to be.

This is her master, her eternal and unchanging lover, who will follow her forever. But her shyness won't change because of the change in their relationship. Deep down, she's still just a beautiful 18-year-old girl who hasn't been in love for countless years! Even she felt a little embarrassed being looked at like that.

Higashino was caught off guard by this unexpected "collateral damage," and his lips twitched involuntarily. The disappearance of the clothes really wasn't his fault. Forcing an explanation would only make things worse.

Looking at the incredibly alluring, flawless body before him, Higashino took a deep breath. He stepped forward, completely ignoring the immense visual impact and potential danger posed by that irresistibly seductive state, and stretched out his arms, sweeping Laura up in his arms amidst her bewildered gaze!

It felt warm and soft to the touch, and the long, golden hair fell softly over his arm, no longer exuding any danger.

"Don't overthink it." Dongye forced himself to calm down, looking at the blood-pumping scene in his arms, and said helplessly, "Look, you're even temporarily confused about the concept of maintaining the existence of clothes, aren't you? Come on, let's clear up first, both on a physical level and on your still confused cognitive level. Take a shower, calm down, and then slowly think about the academic questions about 'eternal love'."

The stunningly beautiful demon in his arms didn't say anything, she just nodded, and then, as if she had found a support, she subconsciously snuggled closer to his warm embrace, even wrapping her soft blonde hair around his arm that was holding her, as if afraid of being abandoned by Higashino, she clung to him tightly.

Higashino's body stiffened slightly, then he sighed helplessly. This oblivious guy had no idea what kind of allure she possessed right now. If he didn't know that now wasn't the right time for "that kind of thing," and if he wasn't unsure whether Laura would have other reactions if things went that far, Higashino really wouldn't mind letting her take maternity leave.

As for what will happen to the Puritans without Laura? That's none of his business. He subdued this great demon who could destroy the world, which can be considered saving the world. They would be heartless if they didn't find two pretty girls to thank him!

Holding Laura in his arms, Higashino vanished, returning to the bedroom he had left in.

"...Therefore, the next step is to reinforce this understanding more thoroughly, so that she will continue to exist as Loras Stuart, not as Kronzun!"

Chapter 182 Cleaning up the Great Demon in the Bathroom: This is so tiring!