Chapter 1430: Ending 1: The Fire of No Regrets_2

Noland Lee pondered endlessly:

“If I really did meet Senati, what then? What should I say after that? Should I just bluntly tell him that I experienced a painful failure, yet somehow survived mysterically? Sigh…it really is a headache. If I actually said that, would Senati believe me?”

After much deliberation, Noland Lee concluded that to convince Senati of his words, he first had to convince the Assassin Angel.

Only with the latter’s endorsement and affirmation could he better convince Senati.

Amidst jumbled thoughts, Noland Lee and the Assassin Angel arrived at the desolate planet.

This planet was the same one Noland Lee had last visited, only the location chosen by the Assassin Angel for landing had slightly changed.

...

“I learned of your existence from my avatar, and now we have finally met, mortal.” The words of the Assassin Angel carried an additional tone of gratitude:

“You put in a lot of effort to help me escape my bonds. I will repay you.”

The words of the Assassin Angel were similar to what Noland Lee had experienced last time.

However, Noland Lee did not plan to listen again in a dazed state as the other party explained the principle of illusions, their origin, and the true history of the Star God’s war with other gods.

After carefully choosing his words, Noland Lee spoke gravely:

“Your Excellency, I know that the illusions created by the Angel of Heart’s brain stem are of a high caliber, capable of creating near-real illusions based on my memories, making me believe in them as if they were reality. I also know I shouldn’t believe everything I experienced in those illusions. But please, hear me out, this isn’t the first time that I’ve awakened from an illusion to see you and Command Plane’s Core by my side protecting me.”

The Assassin Angel listened intently.

Recalling the joy and excitement Noland Lee showed upon awakening from the illusion this time, it seemed to understand something:

“From what you’re implying, you might have experienced that type of illusion where one thinks they have awakened from the illusion, right? Hmm, I have had such experiences too. The tricky Hysteric Brain created multiple layers of illusion. When I broke free from one layer, it seemed like I left the Angel of Heart’s brain stem and entered Outer Space, but in reality, I had entered another layer of illusion. Is that what happened to you?”

Noland Lee shook his head slightly, then nodded, with an extremely complex expression.

“I’m not sure, Your Excellency. I can’t be sure whether I am experiencing an illusion or if I really… really returned from the future to now…”

Noland Lee had doubted whether the death he experienced was real.

Even though everything he felt now seemed so real, he still doubted whether he had fallen into a new illusion.

Perhaps, the death he had gone through earlier was just another illusion created by the Angel of Heart’s brain stem.

Perhaps, even standing in front of the Assassin Angel now might also be an effect of the illusion.

But regardless, Noland Lee always preferred to believe that he really had returned to the moment he left the illusion after his death.

This thinking might be somewhat arbitrary, but it felt more grounded than continuously doubting whether he was in the “real” world.

“Returning from the future to now…” the Assassin Angel muttered thoughtfully, and after a few seconds, it said:

“I too have experienced these types of ‘time reversal’ illusions in the illusions of the Angel of Heart’s brain stem. Several times, after being surrounded and killed by the waves of Extraterrestrial Eternity, I opened my eyes and returned to the starting point. Was it like that for you?”

“Yes…” Noland Lee furrowed his brow:

“Does this mean that my returning to the starting point after death is also an illusion… Do you have a way to distinguish between illusion and reality? How do we ascertain that we are currently in reality?”

The Assassin Angel said:

“There is only one way. That is through death. In the illusions, we would continuously return to the starting point after death. But in reality, death means the end.”

This answer was very helpless, yet Noland Lee could understand why the Assassin Angel would say so.

The latter had stayed in the Angel of Heart’s brain stem for far too long, undoubtedly experiencing many deaths and rebirths.

Compared to his own single experience of death, the Assassin Angel could be considered an expert in dying and being reborn.

But since only death could verify whether one was in an illusion, then how could he explain everything he had experienced?

Noland Lee’s contemplation cast a brief silence over the scene.

Eventually, it was the Assassin Angel that broke the impasse:

“Can you tell me what you experienced in the illusions?”

“Certainly. It went like this…”

Noland Lee divided his experiences into three separate illusions for explanation. noveldrama

The first illusion involved members of Dillan Paradise hiding within the Sacred Fire, battling against the collapse of the universe.

The second illusion was about him waking up in the starry sky, touching the number zero, and then meeting the Assassin Angel for the first time, followed by being killed by the Void Spears.

The third illusion was about him, after being killed by the Void Spears, waking up in the starry sky and touching the number zero again.

Noland Lee emphasized that in the second illusion, when he mentioned “Dillan Paradise” to the Assassin Angel, the latter had introduced him to the origins of “Dillan Paradise,” saying it was a game created by the Angel of Heart, Vaana.

Hearing Noland Lee stress this detail, the Assassin Angel seemed to recall something as the purple mist around its body visibly surged but was quickly suppressed.

Noland Lee noticed this detail but did not stop speaking to inquire about it, instead continuing to recount his experiences of the third illusion.

“… at the end of the third illusion, the Scroll Angel was killed by the Void Spears and its body was taken over by them. I lost my usefulness and was torn to pieces by the Void Spears, then opened my eyes in darkness to find myself back in that starry sky.”