Watching the battle unfolding before him—not particularly intense, but still quite thrilling—Al's eyes betrayed not a single flicker of emotion.
It was as though he were watching two strangers engaged in a fierce struggle.
For the young man before him, Rope, was far from a mere stranger or even someone he merely recognized.
In terms of causality, Rope had, to a certain extent, taken on the burden of causality for him—that is, the responsibility of safeguarding this world.
And this karma must be repaid. Moreover, due to differences in identity and strength, the extent of repayment varies. For instance, in Rope's original world, when it was under attack and on the brink of destruction, Rope, as the Son of the World, was unable to save it. Then Al appeared and saved the world.
Thus, Al effectively took on Rope's karma.
However, due to Rope's extremely low strength, even if he were to sacrifice his own life, it might not be enough to compensate for the cost of karma. Therefore, what he needs to do is to offer up some of his precious possessions to repay the karma.
For example, Rope gave Al a house he owned. Although Al clearly had no use for it, it was still repaid.
Of course, this is just an analogy. Rope is not the Son of the World of his original world. If his original world had faced such a crisis and been saved by Al, the compensation Al could receive would be beyond imagination.
Al might even directly become a Supreme Being.
Here, the Sun Flame is one of the compensations Al gave to Rope.
The total compensation depends on how perilous this crisis was.
If it reached an extremely terrifying level, Al would definitely have to make a significant sacrifice.
However, none of this was the reason for Al's grim expression. After all, the compensation would not be excessive. It would mostly be within his capabilities, nothing that would cause irreparable damage.
His grim expression was because he recognized the shadow of Halley's techniques.
"That relentless woman..."
Al sighed helplessly.
He had offended many people in his lifetime. Before his ascension, he had no enemies, as he was the spokesperson for the world's will.
After entering the void, many sought to recruit him, while others sought to kill him.
And the fact that he is still alive means he has killed many.
Right, wrong, good, bad, old, young...
The world is neither black nor white, but a delicate shade of gray.
Everyone is complex. Some are grayish-white, some are grayish-black. But they all reside within the same person, with both good and evil coexisting within them.
Al was no exception.
He had indeed killed good people by mistake.
Driven by momentary righteous anger and swept up by that so-called "sense of justice," he carried out his imagined "justice." Only after feeling satisfied did he realize he had done the wrong thing, killed the wrong person. The sense of justice was exploited, and even if he sought revenge afterward, it would be of no use.
The incident had already occurred, and due to the person's complicated background, there was no way to bring them back.
Thus, the person's mother pursued him for thousands of years.
At first, he really couldn't beat that person's mother. But later, that wasn't the case anymore. So-called geniuses always have opportunities. As long as they don't die, they can always make rapid progress.
Al was such a genius. Two thousand years later, he gained the power to defeat that mother. Three thousand years later, he even gained the power to kill that mother.
But in the end, he didn't take action. He just silently endured being hunted down. Eventually, he disappeared without a trace.
But now she has come after him again.
Someone who shouldn't know his location has found out where he is. And at such a time. This makes Rope truly unable to avoid suspecting that there might be some other meaning behind it.
"Don't become someone else's pawn..."
But as soon as he said this, Al was stunned for a moment, then smiled bitterly and said, "Oh, what right do I have to criticize others?"
Everyone has their weaknesses. Once you grasp someone's weakness, they become your puppet. They may even do so willingly...
In the distant void.
A mansion made of black stone floated in the void. The mansion looked grand and imposing, but it was gloomy and filled with darkness and death.
In any case, it didn't seem like a place of kindness.
Inside the mansion, a woman dressed in white robes sat elegantly in the central hall. She had a graceful appearance and an elegant demeanor. However, her brows were heavy with sorrow, and every movement carried a sense of lamentation.
This woman was beautiful, but one glance was enough to know she was not someone to be trifled with.
Another woman in the central hall was a stunning beauty dressed in a rose-red suit. She was like a vibrant rose—beautiful yet prickly.
However, at that moment, her rose-red eyes were filled with anxiety.
"Don't you find this suspicious?"
She paced back and forth in front of the woman in white.
"The trail of the Thousand-Armed God, who has been missing for so many years, was suddenly discovered by you. And you provided the information with such certainty. And it just so happens to be at this time."
Although the void remained as chaotic as ever, those with some insight and connections could sense the turbulent undercurrents beneath the chaos of the void.
Everyone had begun to think about how to get a piece of the pie or how to avoid the chaos. After all, everyone wanted others to be the cannon fodder, but no one wanted to be the cannon fodder themselves.
"I know there's definitely something wrong with all of this."
The woman in white spoke without any surprise.
"Then why are you..."
"Why are you rushing to be a pawn? So what? When we were young, weren't we all pawns? What's the harm in being one again now that we're old? We've never had absolute freedom anyway; we just don't have the value to be manipulated by others."
The white-clad woman's words left the red-clad woman speechless.
"And if that person behind the scenes can truly help me kill the Thousand-Armed God… even if it means being a pawn, or even a dog, so what? At worst, it's just death."
At this point, the white-clad woman glanced at the black stone in her hand. She rubbed it with her fingers, as if expecting something.
The red-clad woman opened her mouth, but in the end, she said nothing. She simply transformed into a flock of bats and silently flew away from the place.