Chapter 408 — Meaningless Struggle

A red-haired woman sat in the dark space near a small planet covered mostly in water, swallowing the surrounding energy and storing it within her "fragile" body.

In front of her stood a small vial filled with an eerie drug.

Just like her, the drug also absorbed the surrounding energy, slowly but surely becoming more and more complete.

Time quickly passed.

Until suddenly, a soft cracking sound broke the silence.

The liquid within the vial glowed with a green light, evidence that its gestation process had finally been completed and it was ready to be consumed.

It was only then that the woman opened her eyes.

Glancing at the drug, created through the concentrated efforts and wisdom of humans over the last hundreds of years, she couldn’t help but show excitement as well as faint apprehension.

In the end, though, it didn’t take her long to make a decision.

Picking the glass vial up, she unscrewed its upper lid and let it pour down her throat.

The memories of what had occurred during the past few decades passed through her mind.

The rapidly expanding human civilization that left its traces throughout the galaxy, as well as the formation of a supernatural powers system that granted them extraordinary powers.

Most importantly, what the woman thought about the most was the gentle voice ringing in her head, which she had heard several times over the past few years.

Amidst these complicated feelings, the woman felt as if her body had caught on fire.

The power of the drug acted on her and enhanced her extraordinary power, elevating her life level and making her truly like a god-like being.

Before the woman could celebrate, though, a familiar power appeared out of nowhere and targeted her.

She had witnessed this scene happen several times, during each of her previous advancements.

As such, she understood that this was the method by which the unknown being communicated with her and subtly influenced her.

"Wake up... wake up..."

A soft murmur echoed in her ears.

If it were in the past, it would be at this point that the woman would fall unconscious for a few minutes and forget everything that happened.

But this time, the situation was destined to be different.

Sensing the unknown power arrive, the woman did not stay put.

She consciously struggled and resisted the urge to fall asleep, doing her best to ignore the inexplicable memories flooding her mind.

The red-haired woman softly breathed out.

Immediately, the energy she had absorbed over several years in this void poured out of her body and swirled around her.

It transformed into glowing symbols that danced with her at the center, seemingly forming an array.

The unknown power showed signs of retreating.

Having reached the peak of this world and protected by such an array, Liora, who had lost her memories, was able to fight against the influence of the Reincarnation Fruit.

Unfortunately, this stability didn’t last long.

Although she managed to withstand the impact of the memories at first, it soon showed signs of strengthening and bypassing the array she had set up.

Liora’s face turned ruthless upon noticing this.

She turned towards the planet floating not far away and seemed able to see the billions of creatures living on it.

Despite this, she made a decision that went completely against "modern" thinking.

The array around her surged and a beam shot out.

Upon touching the planet, it not only obliterated its land, but also all the creatures residing in it.

Their essence quickly flew towards her and poured into her body.

It temporarily boosted her strength, but most importantly, provided her with the power to fight against the Reincarnation Fruit.

Still, the balance did not last for long. The same situation occurred not long after.

After these creatures’ essence was exhausted, the pouring of memories resumed.

Liora was surprised and disappointed, but had already expected this and made a contingency plan.

After hesitating for a brief moment, she once again took action and moved swiftly through the galaxy.

She met planet after planet across her path. But they all met the same fate.

Every time she saw one, a glowing beam would fire out and extinguish every single life in it.

One, two, three...

Before long, Liora had lost count of how many planets she had visited and how many lives she had killed.

At first, she would display some hesitation. But after destroying more and more of these planets yet feeling the unknown power trying to take over not disappear, she stopped thinking about it.

Soon, she had become numb, utterly indifferent to the lives being sacrificed to help her resist its influence.

With her surge in power, there was no being that could resist her.

Within only a few hours, she was the last person remaining alive, not only in this galaxy, but in the entire universe.

Staring at the devastated, dead planets, Liora felt nothing. Only a faint helplessness flashed across her face.

She could sense that the unknown power had grown weaker.

However, it was still there and had yet to truly vanish.

Not only that, but perhaps noticing her act of defiance, this had become even more intense and threatening.

Liora could feel that as long as she withstood the next impact, she would be able to survive.

Unfortunately, this was no longer possible.

The "materials" that could help her resist had been exhausted.

There was nothing else she could devour to resist and she could not sustain "war through war".

Realizing this, Liora remained motionless and took one last look at this universe, which was now dimmer than ever.

A voice rang in her ears, seemingly questioning if everything she had done was worth it.

Was it really worth wiping out all life in the universe just for a chance to save herself?

If she had succeeded, Liora would have immediately answered "yes".

But, feeling herself gradually get lost in the unknown power and being replaced by another being, she had to begin to doubt it.

Seconds passed as if they were years.

Her memories over the years flashed through her eyes and the scenes of a destroyed civilization, the one she had once been part of, were abundantly clear.

The final screams of help, as well as planets being destroyed one after another were still fresh in her mind.

Despite this, Liora was finally confident in her answer during the final moments before her consciousness was wiped out.

"It was all worth it. Even if I were to go back in time and had to choose, I would have still done the same."

"Even if I went back before supernatural powers existed, I would still seek them out.",

"An ordinary life is so... boring.", she couldn’t help but whisper.

The next moment, the intelligence in her eyes began to fade away.

Her gaze became blank for a brief moment, before a supreme wisdom emerged.

"Liora’s" struggle had proved meaningless. The real Liora had finally woken up and truly replaced her.

Staring at the world around her and digesting the memories of her alternate self, Liora paused for a moment before shaking her head.

"I see..."

"So this is the function of the Reincarnation Fruit.", she whispered in a low voice.

The moment her words fell, the universe around her began to expel her.

She didn’t choose to fight against it.

She watched silently as the planets and galaxies she had lived on grew illusory, before vanishing entirely.