Chapter 1344: City of the Decisive Battle (1)

"Ugh... I'll be heading off now."

Gazing awkwardly at Shira, who giggled and chucked beside him, Rhode shifted his gaze to the noble lady in front of him. The noble lady, who didn't seem any different, blushed and lowered her head. Rhode didn't know what was going through her mind.

After he tossed her out, he pretty much passed the test. At first, he thought it was that crazy Shira who locked the noble lady up on that sandbox island. But after viewing her memories, he was surprised to find that the latter was the one who locked Shira up in the sandbox island instead.

Meanwhile, the reason why the noble lady had repeating memories was because she wasn't willing to face the 'present' and 'future', but was only concerned about the 'past'. That was why her memories only retained the period when she became a noble lady and the part of her fighting on the battlefield was separated, which formed the third Shira. Since the core personality chose to stay home and play The Sims[1], the unsupervised third personality naturally became the young, unwanted goatherd.

That was how Rhode came to understand how Shira cultivated her bizarre interests. As the saying 'life was like r*pe, where one must learn to enjoy if one can't resist' went, Shira's third personality was another version of that saying. For the third personality that was born into war and death, not only did pain and agony become a habit for her, but she also learned to enjoy it as well. So much so that now, after her personality had been completely twisted, she essentially became a crazed masochist. She used cruel and terrifying means to make her life more comfortable while confirming her existence.

As for the crazy things that Shira did, the noble lady didn't know them in the past. The latter locked herself up and immersed herself in her world, not caring about what that crazy personality was doing with her body. But this time, Rhode smashed the memory barrier and caused the noble lady's and crazy Shira's memories to fuse. Thus, she learned what the crazy Shira had been doing on the outside.

The noble lady was bewildered as soon as she learned of the 'heroics' of the crazy Shira. It was also mentioned that she was under the tutelage of the Dark Dragon and considered a sentimental person like Lin Daiyu. And now, as soon as she knew that her third personality did so many 'unspeakable' things with her body, she was considered mature for not continuing to lock herself up and refusing to face reality. After all, if one were in her place, perhaps one would have considered hanging oneself after learning that one had done such shameless things.

But Shira had the intention of doing such a thing. She was an undead puppet, after all, and even though she was ashamed and tried to escape with death, she would eventually be resurrected. Perhaps that was the main reason why she had such a bizarre mental world.

For that reason, the noble lady looked at Rhode with some awkwardness, and the latter felt the same. Technically speaking, the relationship between them wasn't as good as his with Celestina, where they had a closer spiritual connection at the very least. Moreover, Shira was entirely about the pursuit of physical pleasure (or was it pain?), which was naturally easy to handle if he were to face that lunatic side of her. But now, it was too hard for him to accept this aristocratic and artsy young lady if she did the same. Fortunately, through the memories, she learned that Rhode was her master; if not, there was no telling what would happen.

But even so, the noble lady was speechless. Hence, in the face of his words, she forced a smile and nodded.

Right now, they were neither on that sandbox island from before nor in that cold, dark graveyard. Instead, they were located on a grassland, where the soft, bright light of three full moons shone and illuminated everything in the world with exceptional clarity. Rhode was able to accept the presence of this world, for he remembered that the Country of Darkness had precisely three moons, which was also the real landscape in the heart of the core personality before him.

And in the face of Shira's embarrassed expression, Rhode didn't say much. After all, there was nothing to speak of between them. If she were Celestina instead, they would more or less have a particular spiritual connection and emotional foundation. But Shira was different. Although Rhode did consider closing the spiritual distance between them while physically pulling her closer, he didn't have much of a choice in the face of that crazy Shira, did he?

And now, facing the gaze of the noble lady, Rhode felt like the current plot was like a prince who rode to the castle to save Sleeping Beauty[2]. But after finding the beautiful sleeping woman, he was aroused and took advantage of her. Later, she was resurrected and opened her eyes. After looking at the white, turbid liquid all over her body, the Sleeping Beauty saw the prince who displayed a soft smile and said, "I am the prince who saved you from the evil witch"... Well, that could ruin a childhood.

But frankly, Rhode was also quite curious about what would become of Shira after he left her mental world. After all, this contrast was so huge. And based on his experience in the previous mental worlds, he found that the core personalities didn't change. But Shira was different. She was like an old, overthrown king regaining power and position. Besides, that crazy Shira...

At this thought, Rhode couldn't help but glance at the crazy Shira who giggled and drooled while standing behind the noble lady. Frankly, for some reason, Rhode always felt like this crazy young lady didn't seem as dangerous as he thought. He also had a feeling that this crazy one brought the core personality out deliberately. But that was just a feeling that he had. He waved his hand at Shira, turned around, and headed down the cobblestone path in front of him, sauntering toward the door that was metamorphosed by long, twisting vines.

"Phew..."

Walking to the front door, Rhode couldn't help but take a deep breath. Deep within his heart, he was more or less apprehensive because he knew very well that he would be facing the key of his major project: Karin. Compared to the rest, this time he wasn't allowed to fail, or else it would bring a huge problem. And unlike the rest, he barely knew any of the card spirits after Karin, which meant that their relationship was even more distant than his with the previous few. At the very least, he had physical contact with Shira in the past, but for the rest... He hadn't even figured out their personalities yet.

No matter what, everything will turn out well and there will always be some ways...

At this thought, he made up his mind and entered the door.

Shortly after, the dizziness from the teleportation he felt before struck again. And when he regained his senses, he had left Shira's mental world and arrived at a rather strange place. Or perhaps, it felt very familiar. At that moment, he stood on a white disc suspended in midair. As far as the eye could see, he spotted a vast ocean in the distance, while below him were numerous high-rise buildings that looked like the skyscrapers on Earth.

But soon after, he discovered that the 'skyscrapers' were, in fact, magical towers. Their appearance looked somewhat similar to those futuristic buildings that he watched in science fiction movies. They were long, triangular, and carved with various mysterious patterns. Looking at the scene, he was a little surprised. And just when he was about to observe what was going on, suddenly, a familiar voice sounded in his ears.

"You're finally here, Master."

"Huh?"

Upon hearing the voice, Rhode turned around, only to find a young lady standing behind him. Her short, platinum hair glowed under the sunlight. And upon sensing his gaze, she lifted her hand, pushed up her glasses, and stared at him with her azure eyes. After seeing the young lady, Rhode was taken aback. But soon, he returned to his senses.

"Karin?"

"Yes, Master, I have been waiting for you for a long time. Since you were able to reach here through the previous tests, I think you should be ready to face the next challenge."

"That's for sure. But... You know who I am?"

Sizing up Karin from head to toe, Rhode spoke with an incredulous tone. In the previous mental worlds, no matter which personality their mental projections were, they had no memories of him at all. Since it was a subconscious space, it was normal for them to have no memories. But the fact that Karin had memories of him was really surprising. In the face of his surprising question, Karin was very calm. She extended her arm to hold her glasses before looking at him and speaking.

"Of course, Master. Although this is my subconscious mind, I unify everything I know to ensure that my mind isn't disturbed in any way, both externally and internally. Thus, even my subconscious self possesses the same knowledge as my true self, so it isn't surprising that I would know of your existence."

"Alright then, what's my next challenge?"

In response to her words, Rhode spread his arms apart and shrugged helplessly, before looking left and right at the surroundings. According to information he received from the previous mental worlds, generally speaking, when a subconscious personality recognized him, it meant that they had already made a connection with their core personality. That was how Rhode was able to determine whether it was 'Game Clear' or 'Game Over' for him. But now, he didn't expect Karin to be so powerful as to share the memories and personality of her main consciousness with her mental self. But this also fit the impression that Karin left on him: a human-computer.

In that case, the rules of the 'game' were changed. And since Karin's subconscious mind knew of his existence, there would be some issues if they weren't able to match perfectly. Now, Rhode didn't know how to solve that problem, but it didn't mean that Karin was entirely helpless about it. Otherwise, she wouldn't be here in the first place. Just as Rhode expected, after hearing his question, Karin gave her answer without any hesitation.

"Of course, Master, given the unique circumstances, we must correct the error at hand. In the meantime, after a discussion with my other two selves, we have made certain arrangements for the immediate situation as well as..."

Boom! Boom! Boom!

However, before Karin finished her sentence, a deafening explosion rang out from nearby. The next things Rhode saw were rushing flames and dazzling energy beams that burst skyward. In the blink of an eye, several towers crashed down, raising huge clouds of dust and smoke. But it was a planned attack because soon, he heard the cries of battle echoing from within. Soon after, more energy beams and the brilliance of magical power ripped through the smoke and bombarded the back. Upon witnessing this scene, Rhode didn't react immediately, but stared at the odd smoke for a moment before puckering his brows, turning back to Karin, and speaking with some hesitation.

"If I'm not mistaken..."

"I was about to state my conclusion, Master. After a discussion between the three of us... We believe that the reason we can't have trust in you is because of your attitude toward all the holy sword card spirits. Although the feedback we've received from Celia, Celestina, and the rest was quite reassuring, we can't confirm whether you have a certain degree of prejudice against other card spirits. That is why we don't feel comfortable resonating with you, and that may be the main reason."

Karin came to a pause. After a moment, she continued to speak.

"Thus, after our discussion, we thought it would be best for us to confirm with our own eyes your attitude towards all the other card spirits."

"And?"

Upon hearing her words, for some reason, Rhode suddenly had a bad feeling. And as expected, at that moment, Karin looked at him quietly before speaking without changing her expression.

"Hence, we have transformed our own mental world and incorporated all the mental projections of the remaining four card spirits into this realm. I think you are also well aware, Master, that this is their subconscious selves, and themselves have no knowledge of strangers as we do. To them, this is an entirely unfamiliar place, while the rest are also unfamiliar beings. I think you understand what this means... And after experiencing the previous few mental worlds, Master, you should know very well that in the mental world, not every mental projection has the same fighting ability as their true selves..."

"Yes, I'm aware, but by doing so... Will everything turn out fine?"

After hearing her words, Rhode turned pale instantly. Of course, he understood how things would turn out. It was true that not every projection in the mental world possessed the same combat power as their original self. Not only that, but also based on his experience in the previous mental worlds, the personalities of the mental projections were even more difficult to handle than the person herself because they were 'purer' and wouldn't 'compromise' or 'consider' further.

Each and every one of their personalities and tendencies was extremely distinct. In that case, all three personalities in one were likely to be problematic. According to what Karin said, she would be pulling in all personalities from the previous four mental worlds to fight one another. It was imaginable just how chaotic and fierce the situation would become as soon as they got into a fight!

Furthermore, he never expected Karin to bring in all the other mental projections and leave it to him to handle.

Come to think of it, how exactly should I deal with them? What will happen to the mental projections if they are hurt in the battle?

Mental projections were incredibly fragile. Of course, Rhode was clearly aware of that. As a matter of fact, even Karin was risking her life. By bringing in all the mental projections into her mental world, it would cause relatively huge damage to her as well. That was why Rhode was cautious when it came to using his own mental world to connect with Gracier and Madaras before. But now, looking at Karin, it seemed like she was planning to play a big game and didn't even care about her own safety.

"Of course, we are well aware of the consequences, Master. But if we are unable to complete the task given to us by Mother, neither our lives nor ourselves matter to us anymore. That is why we can only ask for your help, Master..."

Karin spoke and held out her hand. Shortly after, along with her movement, the disc beneath Rhode's feet descended and landed on the ground shortly after.

"I hope you can stop the battle between them with your power and gain their acknowledgment."

"..."

Upon hearing her words, Rhode's expression changed slightly.

I've been to too many PvE dungeons in the past. Seems like this is forcing me to go full PvP!

[1] A series of life simulation video games developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts.

[2] A 1959 American animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney.