NOVEL NEXT Chapter 1531: The True Protagonist
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Explosions of light and shadows erupted as their poles met, constantly extending and retracting. The floor shook, and the sky trembled. Both were going all-out, becoming completely serious this time.
"For being my clone, you sure are slower and sloppier! Your lack of mastery over the Nyoibo is striking! And of course, it's nothing but a cheap copy of my own!"
Cheng Xie laughed, balancing around the falling boulders while leaping and laughing, provoking his foe like the Monkey King himself would do, making them enraged and more foolish as a result.
CLASH! CLASH! CLASH! CLASH!
RUMBLE!
Cracks appeared through the fake Nyoibo as it suddenly shattered into pieces, exploding apart. Cheng Xie smiled, leaping forward and kicking, punching, and headbutting his foe, throwing him around the city as dozens of buildings collapsed one after another.
At this point, everyone could see the scene. Cheng Xie himself leaped around, fighting an impossibly strong Nightmare like nobody had ever seen. The Students, unifying their power against the incoming threats, saw it too. Even those three who had lost hope and now regained new Dream Spirits to fight were shocked to see him, especially Ming Lee, who was Cheng Xie's friend.
"Cheng Xie! It's him! He's fighting for us! Oh wow! He's so strong!" Her eyes glowed brightly as she saw him fighting. "I know you can do it! You're our hero! You're our country's pride! CHENG XIEEEE!"
Everyone started cheering for him as his battle raged. His Dream Essence was running low, but the screams and cheers of the people started to alter his energy reserves.
"HAHAHA! YOU SURE ARE COCKY, BUT YOU'RE SLOWING DOWN! SHORT ON ENERGY, HUMAN?! NO MATTER HOW MUCH YOU PRETEND TO BE THE MONKEY KING, YOU'RE NOTHING BUT A TERRIBLE IMITATION OF HIM! EVEN I CAN EMBODY HIS TRUE POWER MUCH BETTER… AND BOUNDLESSLY!"
Cheng Xie smiled as he faced his clone, smiling as he bled from his forehead and several wounds around his body.
"Yeah, you might be right… I am not really the perfect vessel of the Monkey King's Myth. Hell, even that stuck-up guy Artorias is a better vessel for his own Myth…"
He stood up, his body growing exhausted as he panted, but the divine light within his body only grew stronger, rapidly manifesting in the form of a giant, slender, and powerful monkey, glowing brightly as it glared at his foe.
"But my grandpa always said that we have to just play with the cards that life gives to us… We can't complain about them; we just have to work hard and make them work… I am not his perfect vessel, I'll never be… but I'll keep fighting, using his legacy to protect everyone."
His eyes glowed as Cheng Xie showed his true power…
And in that moment, as Maria saw that… she realized something.
His aura, his charisma, his splendor!
How could she have never realized that fact?
If this world had Heroines and Characters, if it was really similar to a Visual Novel or something of that caliber, then Cheng Xie was… the Protagonist of this world.
"Hahaha… I see… You're definitely losing now, bastard. You should have never awakened him."
He was truly the Hero, while Artorias was his rival, and Maria and her friends were all his friends or love interests, most likely.
However, the story was completely twisted when the villain won, and the heroine, the girl that Maria is replacing, used her power to create a seven-day loop, while important Story Characters started disappearing one after another.
Except for the Protagonist and the Rival, and a few background characters who weren't "important enough," giving them the power to actually reach the end…
But that, perhaps, was also an oversimplification.
This wasn't a game, it never was… it was a world, and although previous transmigrators saw it as a game made reality, that mindset only led to their demise as they died one after another.
Protagonist, Rival, Love Interest, even Villain… all of those labels didn't really matter, they never mattered, and only those foolish enough to believe that the reality they experienced was a game ended up paying the price.
This world was alive, and so were its people. Even Cheng Xie himself was fighting against fate, a cruel fate that killed him in every single loop, until now.
The belief and cheers of his people, their dreams and hopes, gathered within him, empowering him, boosting his strength beyond all limits.
Maria smiled, realizing that this young man, Artorias, and the rest of the students were truly the hope of this world!
"You got this far, until the very last loop, it's only fair you see the very end. And let's make it a happy ending, shall we?"
Her voice resonated through both of her bodies as, in the depths of the Nightmare Dimension, she battled with intensity against the monstrous Original Nightmare Curse, alongside her Spirits and Familiars, her Undead Army, and… her sister.
It turned out her powers were amazing. Her manipulation over time helped Maria cover her own weaknesses as the Original Nightmare Curse struggled to deal proper damage. They were at a stalemate, although his infinite energy allowed him to realistically push even further, but Maria could absorb this energy too, making it once more an even match.
"You're truly going to shape a new future? No more loops? No more destruction, sister?"
Amelia floated in midair, surrounded by an aura of gray color as sand clocks spun around her constantly.
"Yeah, I will… No, actually, we will!"
Maria extended her hand, and Amelia smiled, leaving behind her glasses as she held Maria's hand…
Even though she knew she wasn't her sister, she couldn't help but love her as one.
It wasn't brainwashing. It wasn't the world forcing her to love her either.
This was simply her raw emotions.
This essence of time flowed toward Maria constantly as she held her hand, rapidly increasing the speed of her own evolution and also of Lucifer's evolution.
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