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This was a small island.
But this was only because Sonia couldn't find a better noun in her limited vocabulary, after all, it was just a hand-sized little place suddenly jutting out of the sea, as if a bigger wave could drown it.
Yet the sea level was very calm, extremely calm, without a breath of wind. Sonia's legs were submerged in seawater, stepping on the damp sand, and she looked around.
All around was thick milky fog, filling every inch of space. The sky looked like a spread of dark ink, dreary and heavy.
I'm dreaming, Sonia thought.
She remembered clearly that she was sleeping in the dormitory of the Sword and Rose Mage University, it was impossible to suddenly appear on a small island.
Just thinking it was a dream, Sonia felt more at ease. She crouched down curiously to taste the seawater and found it was like the water she normally drank, even a bit sweet, not the salty bitterness described in the online education courses.
Sonia became more convinced she was dreaming because she had never been to the seaside, had never tasted seawater, so she had no idea what it tasted like.
"But if I'm dreaming..." Sonia looked toward the center of the island, "why am I dreaming of a corpse I've never seen before?"
In the center of the island, an unfamiliar corpse knelt half-buried in the sand.
He wore a pitch-black trench coat with a hood, his face indistinct, his clothing thick and heavy, giving no indication if he was male or female.
A long sword pierced his chest, yet he did not fall; instead, he knelt on one knee. His left hand on the sword scabbard at his waist, his right hand gripped the sword hilt as if his heart had been pierced before he could draw the sword.
Besides the corpse and the sand, there was nothing else on the island. Sonia couldn't swim, and believing she was dreaming, she felt no fear of the corpse, so she boldly went over to observe it.
She noticed the long sword through the corpse was still dripping blood, the blood flowed along the beautiful engravings on the blade, streaming to the dark ruby embedded in the sword's guard, making the whole sword seem alive, it was amazingly beautiful...
When Sonia came back to her senses, she had already gripped this long sword tightly.
The sword scabbard fit her palm perfectly, the enchanting sword engravings struck her aesthetic sense, and that feeling as if it extended from her limb, this sword seemed...
...seemed crafted just for her.
Without thinking, Sonia pulled the long sword from the corpse.
She thought the corpse would fall immediately, so she stepped back as soon as she pulled it out, fearing it might crash onto her.
However, the corpse did not fall.
On the contrary, he stood up.
The tap, tap of steel-toed boots on the sand echoed, and under Sonia's horrified gaze, the corpse slowly straightened his back and drew out a sharp, cold long sword.
With a swish, the sword edge sliced through the air, and the tip pointed directly at Sonia. Although she couldn't see his eyes at all, Sonia felt a pair of emotionless icy gazes!
"Don't worry, Sword Maiden, this time, I am not your enemy."
The corpse's voice was neither male nor female, like the mechanical clinking of gears, "I am just going to kill you."
You seem to have a very different definition of an enemy than normal people, hey... Sonia gripped the magnificent long sword tightly, as if that could give her a sense of security.
"Who are you?" Her voice trembled a little.
"I am called the Final Observer, you can call me Observer," the Observer said, "Within the next seventy-two hours, you can leave only by defeating me; otherwise, you'll have to stay seventy-two hours to leave."
"Isn't this a dream?" Sonia's eyes widened.
"The difference between dream and reality is only that reality is a dream woven by everyone together, and a dream..."
"Is a cage you construct for yourself."
As the words fell, the Observer stepped on the sand and sliced forward, even though Sonia retreated as much as possible, she still couldn't avoid the flashing blade light—
"You have ten seconds of rest time."
Sonia knelt on the ground, both hands covering her throat tightly, her face full of terror.
The ripping pain was incredibly real, as if her neck had just been severed by this inexplicable monster.
If this was a dream, she should have woken up in her comfortable warm bed at the moment she felt such pain.
However—
"The ten seconds are over, I advise you to hold your sword tightly. Only in that way can you..."
Sonia lifted her head, seeing the Observer gripping the sword hilt at his waist, assuming a sword drawing stance, lunging toward her with force!
Sonia hastily raised the long sword and retreated, but the Observer's step bizarrely spanned a dozen steps instantaneously, and when she saw the Sword Light he left behind, the Observer's voice sounded from behind her—
"... die with slightly more dignity."
"You have ten seconds of rest time."
At the moment Sonia snapped back to her senses from the decapitation pain, without any hesitation, she turned and jumped into the sea, not caring if she couldn't swim!
Perhaps fear of death unleashed potential, Sonia almost intuitively learned to swim, albeit in a very unattractive dog paddle filled with splashes, but as long as she could get away from that creepy island with the freak, it was fine!
If not for the hunger in the dream, Sonia might have tried the fart propulsion mentioned in jokes.
Amidst the splashes, Sonia clearly heard the Observer's voice, "Running away is shameful."
"And useless."
Suddenly, a chill spread across the back of her neck, Sonia lowered her head and saw a cold sword tip sticking out from her throat.
Before the wave of pain submerged her, Sonia found herself back on the island.
"You have ten seconds of rest time."
This time she didn't flee but watched the Observer's hand.
"Are you expecting that once I throw the sword, I'll be unarmed?" the Observer leisurely sheathed his sword, "Why are you still so naive after experiencing several deaths?"
"You're really unreasonable." Sonia smiled wryly.
"Reason lies only at the tip of the sword. To reason, words are useless, use your sword to persuade me."
Before the Observer finished speaking, Sonia splashed into the sea with a plop. But this time she didn't swim, she chose to dive into the sea, trying to avoid the Observer's attack.
'You can't cut through the sea, can you?' she thought.
Indeed, five seconds, ten seconds, thirty seconds... a full minute passed, and Sonia wasn't attacked.
However, unable to breathe, she felt faint.
If this was a dream, how could a lack of oxygen cause a lack of blood flow to her brain?!
The pain from holding her breath was no less than decapitation, Sonia couldn't take it anymore, choosing a spot at random to surface, trying to breathe before diving again, hoping, maybe: Can I breathe for just a second or two, no way he'll find me that fast!?
A few seconds later, Sonia sat on the island, covering her recently penetrated mouth, incessantly licking her teeth with her tongue to ensure it hadn't been cut off by the Flying Sword.
"You have ten seconds of rest time."
"Observer!"
Sonia shouted angrily, face flaring with rage, teeth clenched, hands gripping the long sword, mustering courage as she walked toward the Observer. The Observer raised an eyebrow, right hand caressing the sword hilt, saying, "If you wish to end the rest early, I have no objection."
Snap!
Sonia knelt before the Observer with a plop.
"Great merciful and benevolent unknown ruler, Sonia is willing to pray to you day and night, listen to your holy words, follow your Wonders, sing your will… Please don't torment me like this, just tell me what you want me to do, I am very obedient and well-behaved, I'll do whatever you command, sob sob..."
"Really anything?" the Observer asked.
Sonia lifted her head, crying pitifully like a delicate flower, cheeks red with blush, she seemed to hesitate, biting her lip before nodding resolutely, "Anything."
"Alright then, I order you to—" the Observer gripped the sword hilt, adopting a sword drawing stance, "defeat me."
Clang!
"You have ten seconds of rest time."
Sonia lay on the sand, staring blankly at the dark, ink-black sky, then flipped up, puzzled, asking,
"No, but I've never offended you before, why waste so much time on someone insignificant like me? There are so many evil people in this world; if you wish to punish wrongdoers, I can recommend a few people; if you're a big baddie, I can even recommend a few high-ranking hypocrites."
"I'm just an ordinary female student; I'm not worth you going through so much trouble. Your actions now are like using a Spiral Light Cannon to kill mosquitoes, or making a Sword Master chop firewood, a huge waste of resources. Don't you think?"
"Just say what you want me to do. I look like a fragile rose who could be easily carried away by the currents…"
Just as Sonia attempted to persuade with emotion and reason, the Observer shook his head, "You're wrong."
Sonia immediately said, "Where did I go wrong, tell me, I'll definitely change."
"You were wrong from the first sentence."
"First sentence?"
"How can you be sure," the Observer gripped the sword hilt, adopting a sword drawing stance, "you haven't offended me before?"
Clang!
"You have ten seconds of rest time."
Perhaps because she had died so many times, Sonia even felt that decapitation wasn't that bad, accustomed to the pain it was nothing.
She raised her gaze to the Observer, "As long as I stay here for seventy-two hours, I can leave this cursed dream?"
"Yes," the Observer nodded, "However, there are no clocks here. Compared to a person's lifetime, seventy-two hours isn't long, but in the face of death, seventy-two hours is not short either."
"Can you truly endure seventy-two hours of continual death?"
"Moreover, why would you believe someone who keeps killing you in a dream? What if I'm lying?"
"Take for instance that you manage to leave this dream tonight; what about tomorrow night? The night after that?"
The Observer adopted a sword drawing stance, "Having tasted death, you should not harbor expectations of Miracles."
Clang!
The Observer stepped forward, sweeping his sword in a horizontal arc, his entire body spinning full circle, traversing more than ten steps in an instant, the long sword slicing through Sonia's neck once more like a hot knife through butter—
Clang!
For the first time, Sonia's blade blocked the Observer's edge!
In that moment, Sonia's face bore no expression, neither fear, nor anger, nor Killing Intent, nor plea, only the coldest silence. In her ruby-like pupils, she reflected the indistinct form of the Observer, as if imprinting him deeply in her heart!
"You leave me no choice."
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