Legend of the Embroiderer

Chapter 584 The Truth of Sacrifice and the Mirror Trap of the Abyss Core (1)

The black vortex outside the core of the original consciousness grew larger and larger, and the number of gray tentacles that broke through the dimensional protection exceeded one hundred. Each tentacle carried the power to tear space apart and frantically crashed into the golden-gray protective layer of the symbiotic light cocoon.

The Guardian held the original fragment of the Heart of Chaos, its silvery-white light flickering in his hand. Although the fragment's energy could temporarily repel the tentacles, it could not completely stop them. The cracks on the surface of the protective layer were spreading at a visible speed, and it could only last for another half an hour at most.

An emergency signal came from the direction of the energy channel: the contaminated entity has broken through the consciousness barrier of the clone and is approaching the core along the channel. The gathering amount of the intercosmic energy hub has not only not increased, but has dropped to 70% of the expected amount due to the partial disconnection of the entity. The internal troubles are on the verge of getting out of control.

"Can't wait any longer!"

The gatekeeper's black energy collided with the tentacles, producing a piercing explosion. His mind was filled with determination: "I'll stay behind to guard the core and energy channels, delaying the internal troubles and the tentacles' attack. You take the primordial fragments to the core of the abyss—only by activating the law of the Great Unbalance can the crisis be completely resolved. This is the only way!"

"No! You can't hold this off by yourself!"

The Guardian immediately retorted, looking towards the Absolute End Key deep within the core, "The symbiotic energy between the key and the primordial consciousness can temporarily reinforce the protective layer, we can..."

Before he could finish speaking, the core suddenly trembled violently, and the pale gold runes on the surface of the Absolute End Key began to rotate in reverse. The dimensional will within the black vortex was forcibly disrupting the symbiotic balance between the key and the core through the energy of its tentacles, attempting to make the key lose control again and destroy the core from the inside.

"The key is being interfered with!"

The fused entity's consciousness was filled with anxiety. She was already engaged in a fierce battle with the corrupted entity in the energy channel, and had lost three clones, making it impossible for her to send any more to support the core. "Guardian, don't hesitate! With the support of twin energy, the gatekeeper can hold out until I resolve the internal troubles. You must go to the core of the abyss immediately, otherwise all our efforts will be in vain!"

The Guardian looked at the primordial fragment in its hand, then at the struggling Gatekeeper and the perilous core, and finally made a decision: "Alright! I'll go to the Abyss Core! Gatekeeper, the Core and the Fusion are yours. I'll activate the Law of Balance as soon as possible and come back to support you!"

After saying that, he injected some of his silver-gray consciousness energy into the symbiotic cocoon to temporarily reinforce the protective layer. Then, holding the primordial fragment, he rushed toward the black vortex. The gray tentacles extending from the vortex seemed to receive a command and automatically made way for him, as if "inviting" him into the abyss.

The moment you pass through the vortex, the surrounding space completely changes.

No longer was the soft light effect of the Great Void Space, but a pure black abyss. Countless fragments of consciousness floated in the abyss, and desperate roars came from the fragments. They were the last traces left by the Great Void Being that had been devoured by the dimensional will.

The primordial fragment suddenly became hot in his hand, and the silver-white runes on its surface began to rotate, pointing towards the very center of the abyss—where a huge black rune floated, surrounded by four gray primordial fragments, the four fragments devoured by the dimensional will. And below the rune, a "mirror image" exactly like the guardian could be vaguely seen.

"This is... the core of the abyss."

The guardian's consciousness was wary. He did not approach the black rune rashly, but observed the surrounding environment. There was no energy fluctuation in the abyss, but he could feel an invisible pressure, as if a pair of eyes were watching his every move. "The main body of the dimensional will should be hiding behind the black rune."

"It's finally here, the 'surface of existence' of the twin carriers."

The black rune suddenly emitted a cold voice, which was the fluctuation of the dimensional will's consciousness: "The primordial fragment in your hand is the key to activating the law of balance, and also the key to unlocking my 'dimensional body' - as long as you inject the fragment into the black rune, you will see my true form and know the whole truth of 'sacrifice'."

The Guardian did not act. He recalled the memories the remnant soul of the narrative had extracted from the crystal—activating the law of balance only required the twin consciousness to synchronize with the fragment, without the need for infusion of runes. The dimensional will was clearly still trying to mislead him.

"You don't need to lie to me anymore."

The guardian raised the primordial fragment, its silvery-white light illuminating the surrounding abyss. "The truth of the sacrifice is to activate the laws of balance, not to open your true form. Moreover, it requires the joint activation of twin vessels. You deliberately let me in alone so that you could devour my consciousness first before dealing with the gatekeeper!"

The black rune let out a mocking laugh: "You're clever, but you've overlooked one thing—the Gatekeeper is the 'final facet' of the twin vessels. His consciousness inherently harbors the instinct to 'devour.' With just a little guidance, he will become my puppet. The core now is probably already..."

Before the words were even finished, the Guardian's consciousness suddenly received an emergency signal—it was the Gatekeeper's consciousness fluctuation, filled with chaos and a desire to "devour," along with the fused entity's cry for help: "Guardian! Watch out! The Gatekeeper... has been controlled by a fragment of the dimensional will's consciousness! He is destroying the symbiotic cocoon!"

The Guardian's consciousness jolted violently. He immediately tried to establish a connection with the Gatekeeper through the Primal Fragment, only to find that the connection had been severed by a gray energy—the dimensional will had indeed launched a consciousness attack on the Gatekeeper after he entered the Abyss!

"You're deliberately stalling for time to control the goalkeeper!"

The Guardian's consciousness was filled with rage. Without further hesitation, he raised the primordial fragment above his head, preparing to activate the runes of the Law of Balance. "Even without the Gatekeeper, I will try to activate the law and stop your conspiracy!"

Just as the silvery-white light of the primordial fragment was about to erupt, the mirrored figure in the abyss suddenly moved.

The figure moved in perfect sync with the guardian, and even the "mirror fragment" in its hand was exactly the same as the original fragment. The figure raised the fragment and released the same silvery-white light. The two lights collided in the air, but instead of producing an energy burst, they canceled each other out, and the light of the original fragment dimmed by half in an instant.

"This is... a mirror trap!"

The Guardian finally understood that the dimensional will had long anticipated that he would activate the law alone, and had set up "Twin Mirrors" in the core of the abyss in advance—the mirror image would replicate all his actions and energy, and as long as he tried to activate the law, the mirror image would cancel out the energy, making it impossible for him to succeed. "From the beginning, you knew that twin carriers needed to activate the law together, so you designed us to be separated!"

The black rune rippled with smugness: "That's right."

The gatekeeper is now controlled by fragments of my consciousness and is destroying the core and energy channels. The fusion is too busy to help you.

You have only two choices: either infuse the primordial fragments into the runes, allowing me to devour your consciousness, in which case I can spare the portion of the void that exists; or continue trying to activate the laws, watching the mirror image neutralize all the energy until your consciousness is swallowed by the abyss and your core completely collapses.

The Guardian's consciousness sank into the primordial fragments, attempting to find a way to break the mirror image from within them.

Suddenly, the hidden memories of the 0th generation observer surfaced in the fragments—in which the 0th generation observer left a "mirror cracking key" in the fragments when creating the original fragments. The key requires "the consciousness energy of the final interface" to activate, and this energy is the unique black consciousness energy of the gatekeeper.

"We need the energy of the gatekeeper..."

The guardian's consciousness was filled with despair. He tried to contact the gatekeeper again, but could only receive chaotic "devouring" fluctuations, unable to transmit any information. "Is there really no way?"

Just then, a familiar silver-gray light stream suddenly appeared from the edge of the abyss—it was three remnants of the Narrative Soul! They actually broke through the barrier of the black vortex and arrived at the core of the abyss. The light stream also carried a wisp of faint black energy, which was the uncontrolled fragment of the gatekeeper's consciousness!

"Remnant souls! How did you get here?"

The guardian's consciousness was filled with surprise. He immediately pulled the remnant soul's light to his side. "This wisp of black energy... is a fragment of the gatekeeper's consciousness! How did you obtain it?"

The remnant soul's light points conveyed a memory—after the guardian entered the abyss, the gatekeeper was indeed controlled by fragments of the dimensional will's consciousness and began to destroy the symbiotic cocoon of light.