A black-red shadow enveloped the silver metal wall, expanding into a massive entrance three metres in diameter.
Facing the passage before her, Kurumi Tokisaki took several deep breaths, raised her hand to touch the entrance, and then stepped forward.
The moment she crossed the threshold, Kurumi's vision suddenly widened.
She stared at the white bricks, white walls, and pure white ceiling before her, taking in this white world, and froze momentarily.
Just as she stood stunned, a surprised voice rang out:
"Eh? Original, how did you get in, too?"
Hearing this, Kurumi turned her head and immediately saw one of her lost clones.
"Connected?"
"No, it's only linked to the clones within this space. The ones outside can't be reached anymore."
Kurumi instantly grasped the situation and frowned:
"I see... so this space can sever my connection with the clones?"
She murmured to herself, then extended a hand towards the clone, who immediately understood and clasped it.
In the next instant, the clone's figure dissolved back into Kurumi's original body.
At this moment, Kurumi Tokisaki finally understood the situation within the space.
"Only two containment units holding Ghouls, and nothing else?"
It turned out that after her two clones had entered this space, they had conducted thorough searches. Yet, apart from those two nearby units that imprisoned Ghouls, the space was completely empty.
No exits, no doors, not even hidden passages.
To verify, Kurumi's clones had even knocked on all three walls, failing to detect any secret pathways. It was as if this space was meant to be exactly this size and shape.
"So, was I tricked?"
Thinking of Luo Shu's claim that the origin of the Time Emperor was here, Kurumi couldn't help but murmur to herself.
But the next second, she noticed something unusual:
"Wait, it's not that there's nothing here – it's just that the clones can't perceive it."
Unlike the versions of herself summoned from other timelines, Kurumi's true body was the vessel for Angel Zafkiel.
Because of this, she could clearly sense a hidden connection.
Realising this, Kurumi narrowed her eyes:
"I see. Just as I thought – the secret can only be detected by the true body."
It was precisely because she'd suspected Luo Shu's claimed secret might require her true form to perceive that Kurumi had hesitated earlier about entering with her main body.
This was also why she'd devised the body-switching method.
"Before entering, I set it so the main body would take over after 10 minutes. If nothing goes wrong, I should have about 9 minutes left for exploration."
With this in mind, Kurumi hesitated no longer. Following her instincts, she strode directly towards the source of the call.
As her footsteps echoed...
The wall that her clones had examined earlier, which should have been solid, now revealed an enormous wooden door as Kurumi's true body approached.
Gazing at the door before her, Kurumi murmured:
"The thing calling to me... seems to be behind this door~."
As these words left her lips, Kurumi gently pressed her hand against the great door.
Instantly.
With a tremendous resonant hum...
The wooden door slowly swung open.
And what lay beyond entered Kurumi's field of vision.
Now spread before her eyes was an endless expanse of vast desert.
And in the distance, at what seemed the very edge of sight, stood a colossal tree of light.
"This is..."
Kurumi's eyes widened, her gaze filled with astonishment as she beheld the luminous tree that appeared to connect heaven and earth.
Most strikingly, this tree of light grew upside down.
The radiant tree consisted of ten massive orbs of light, connected by brilliant channels of light. Where the tree's crown should have been, countless delicate roots extended instead, tethering themselves to the entire sky.
Meanwhile, the tree's actual canopy plunged deep into the desert, long buried beneath barren sands.
Kurumi stared at the luminous tree, unable to tear her gaze away for the longest time.
"Quite astonishing, isn't it?"
A gentle male voice sounded in her ear.
Kurumi turned slightly to see Luo Shu standing less than five metres to her side, gazing at the inverted tree in the distance.
"To be honest, this is my first time seeing it with my own eyes, too. Before you arrived, even I couldn't easily enter this space."
Listening to Luo Shu's explanation, Kurumi Tokisaki pondered for a moment before saying:
"So that's the Kabbalah Tree you mentioned?"
Gazing at the radiant tree in the distance, Luo Shu smiled and replied:
"To be precise, it's the conceptual manifestation of the Kabbalah Tree. Though you could also call it..."
He deliberately paused for effect before enunciating each word:
"The Almighty God Job Class."
Speaking calmly, Luo Shu continued:
"Once someone gathers the symbols of the Ten Sefirot and the foundational Ten Authorities, then performs the Kabbalah ritual, they can completely fuse these authorities to obtain the Almighty God Job Class and become the new Almighty God."
"How about it? Doesn't that sound tempting?"
Luo Shu then looked at Kurumi Tokisaki with an enticing smile:
"Would you like to try killing me here? To seize the Almighty God's power? To claim this Divine Power?"
Instead of reacting as expected, Kurumi sighed at his words:
"You win."
After saying this, she dismissed her Astral Dress, reverting to her original black gothic dress.
Seeing Luo Shu watching her curiously while waiting for an explanation, she couldn't help but say helplessly:
"I honestly didn't expect you to be completely truthful for once."
Glancing at the distant Kabbalah Tree, Kurumi clicked her tongue:
"One-tenth of Almighty God's authority... So that's the truth behind Time Emperor?"
Though Kurumi fully understood how exaggerated and powerful her time abilities were, she never imagined they represented one-tenth of Almighty God's authority.
The divine right of the one true Almighty God!
What a simultaneously unsettling and secretly thrilling power.
Facing Kurumi, who had completely abandoned hostility and wariness, Luo Shu expressed surprise:
"I wouldn't say I told you everything."
"For example, I didn't mention that I can't actually use this Almighty God Job Class."
"Nor did I explain that this power was seized from another existence and suppressed here."
Tucking aside the bangs covering her golden left eye, Kurumi smiled and asked:
"But you're telling me now, aren't you? Even if it's at the last moment, you still revealed it."
Luo Shu gave her a deep look before responding:
"That's because your true self has arrived here, giving me enough confidence to say it. I wonder if that answer satisfies you."
"At least you're being honest now, right?" Kurumi's lips curled into a smile. "For a habitual liar like Luo Shu, this is significant progress."
Luo Shu couldn't help rolling his eyes at this:
"Don't act like you know me so well."
"Likewise."
Kurumi retorted without backing down, then asked:
"So the reason you brought me here, Luo Shu, is to make use of this Divine Power?"
"That's not entirely wrong."
Luo Shu turned his head away, avoiding the gaze of this smiling woman.
"Once the fundamental Class is chosen, changing it before reaching a certain level is nearly impossible—unless I erase my current Class by committing suicide and then revive."
Hearing this, Kurumi Tokisaki's eyes widened slightly before she suddenly smiled:
"If you really did commit suicide, Luo Shu, you must have a way to ensure your survival, right?"
At her words, Luo Shu's lips twitched, and he said dryly:
"Miss Tokisaki, you have quite the knack for courting death, don't you?"
"If I chose suicide, betting that my next incarnation would walk the path of the Almighty God Job Class, then the moment I succeeded, you would become my inevitable opponent on that path."
"In other words, to become the Almighty God, I would have to kill you."
"Or rather, everyone who steps onto this path would make killing you their goal—except yourself."
"Do you truly long for that day to come?"
Kurumi Tokisaki continued to smile at Luo Shu, her gaze brimming with mischief.
Seeing her expression, Luo Shu raised a hand to sweep his bangs aside, pushing his hair back as he said:
"The Kabbalah Tree isn't my own power—it's divine authority seized from an infant deity."
"And to ensure it doesn't backfire against me, I need you to reclaim the power of the third Sefirah from yourself and then have me bestow it back to you."
"What's in it for me?" Kurumi said with striking pragmatism.
"Benefits?"
Luo Shu glanced at Kurumi before replying:
"The benefit is that with me as a filter, you won't have to worry about the Almighty God awakening within you."
"The benefit is that the Time Emperor, which you've been desperately restraining to avoid being captured here, can gradually unleash its true power."
"And beyond that—you, Kurumi Tokisaki!"
Here, Luo Shu turned to her with utmost solemnity:
"You can truly shed the shackles of mortals and become an Angel walking the earth, a genuine Demigod."
Luo Shu stared intently at Kurumi's face for a long moment before finally asking:
"So, what's your answer?"
"Kurumi Tokisaki."
At his words, Kurumi's lips curled up bit by bit as she replied:
"Though you've been honest with me, Luo Shu... I'm afraid I must decline your invitation."
Hearing this, Luo Shu's pupils contracted slightly before he slowly exhaled.
"I see. Then it seems we're destined to become enemies from now on. After all, I must keep my secrets..."
But just then, Kurumi said with a playful smile:
"Because the actual contract needs my true self's approval, doesn't it?"
"True self?" Luo Shu's expression instantly turned peculiar.