Xing Chen suddenly found himself in a void.
Wasn't he just drinking rice noodles with Theresa? Where did this bring him?
"Xing Chen~" A mournful voice came from behind him, and Theresa stood behind him, looking worried.
"Theresa, what just happened?"
"I don't know either. You suddenly started muttering about a two-thousand monthly salary, and then you just had an emotional outburst."
Xing Chen felt as if he had been punched by a Stand, completely forgetting what had happened during payment.
But speaking of a two-thousand monthly salary... it wasn't a small amount for a student, as his family covered the major expenses of rent and tuition.
"What I meant at the time was, my identity is just an ordinary student, yet I'm always thinking about the major affairs of countries and even civilizations that I can't possibly interfere with. What's the point of such things?"
As he spoke, Xing Chen smiled again, but this time he quickly controlled his emotions.
"Isn't that a very natural thing? You have a saying, what is it... 'The rise and fall of a nation concern every man'? We should all contribute our strength to its continued existence."
Theresa thought Xing Chen hadn't done anything wrong, so why was he mocking himself like that? And with such intense emotion.
"Theresa, you are the Demon King; the future of the Sarkaz rests on your shoulders." Xing Chen was already an adult; he understood what the world was like. "If it weren't for this coincidence, the two of us would never have come to be together."
"I know," Theresa took Xing Chen's hands as he tried to pull back, "but you have already done so much for the Sarkaz, and it's all clear for everyone to see. I am also very willing to let you use my identity. I told you, I will continue to walk with you until the very end."
"Even if it requires you to give up your identity as the Demon King? Give up continuing to bear the responsibility of the Sarkaz?" Xing Chen thought he had proposed a condition that Theresa, given her identity, could not possibly accept.
"Yes," Theresa smiled as she faced Xing Chen, "but we must first overcome this crisis and make plans for the foreseeable future."
For Theresa, her duty had ended the moment she died. It was Xing Chen's appearance that allowed her to continue contributing to the survival of the Sarkaz.
After hearing Theresa's heartfelt words, Xing Chen lowered his head; he truly felt that he had somehow done something wrong.
However, the girl held his hand tightly, telling him not to overthink it, that everyone has moments of making mistakes when under too much pressure, and to just keep going as usual.
"Theresa, I have a discovery. The things happening to us might all have symbolic meaning."
The time Theresa awakened the diamond, he just happened to experience a dream of harmonious coexistence among various races, and that white sword possessed healing power.
Or, healing was just the superficial manifestation of another deeper meaning.
And this time his emotional outburst, in the final analysis, was the nihilistic thought at work, so the two of them were in a void.
"That seems to make sense," Theresa summoned her white longsword. She hadn't realized it had such a layer of meaning; she had thought it was just an evolution of her Originium Arts.
"The coast you went to last time, only a dead silence remained. Death and destruction, can they not also be seen as a superficial manifestation of nothingness?"
Theresa also began to ponder. It seemed that when the two of them exhibited extreme thoughts of existence or nothingness, Originium patterns would appear in their eyes, and then their power would begin to spiral out of control.
The two had reason to suspect that the owner of that message, who were the Seer and Prythian from some unknown timeline, had discovered something extraordinary.
They realized that their discovery could explain many things.
For example, why the Originium Xing Chen brought over was inactive, while the Originium that naturally appeared on Earth was all highly active.
Because the Originium Xing Chen brought over was imbued with the characteristic of nothingness.
Nothingness and existence... two forces that can be seen as opposing, yet Xing Chen and Theresa were acting together.
"Perhaps the final plan of those two people requires the combined action of two opposing forces?" Xing Chen guessed.
"That makes sense. I think I've seen something similar in your country..."
"The Yin and Yang fish in the Taiji diagram?"
"Yes, yes, that's it." Theresa clapped her hands. At this moment, she seemed to think of something. "Xing Chen, you said, if I have a white sword, would you also have a black sword?"
Xing Chen thought Theresa made sense, but even if he racked his brain, imagining a black sword in his hand.
The result was still nothing in either hand.
Xing Chen waved his empty hands in the void, and Theresa summoned the diamond as usual.
"How about we give it a new name?" Xing Chen suggested.
"Change it to what, Existence?" As she spoke, she pointed above her head, to where the Demon King's crown usually floated, "It's a duplicate name."
Well, it seems his own ability awakening isn't thorough enough, Xing Chen thought.
Now that some of the questions about himself and Theresa were answered, it was time to go back.
But now, how were the two of them to leave this void?
Xing Chen took Theresa's hand, asking her to lead him to move, to see if this area had a boundary.
If there was a boundary, the two might be able to "fall out."
There was nothing in the void; the lack of a reference frame made it impossible for them to determine if they were moving.
Even the concept of distance might not exist.
So where exactly was the key to breaking the situation?
"Opposition, opposition..."
Xing Chen hadn't skipped philosophy class, but he had never listened either.
"The opposite of opposition is unity."
Two opposing forces colliding might produce a big explosion, blasting the two of them out.
"Then how do we unite?" Theresa looked at the somewhat mystical Xing Chen, gripping his hand tighter.
Unity is also an abstract concept; it's easier to understand when combined with specific things, such as ideological unity.
"Theresa, do you still remember your Originium Arts?"
"What, the threads?"
"No, it's connection."
Just like active metals and oxygen, both need to come into contact to react, and the connection represented by Theresa's Originium Arts threads is this process of contact.
Could it be that their ability to traverse two worlds was also a symbol of connection?
Xing Chen and Theresa felt that many of the mysteries in their minds had suddenly lessened.
"Then, come on, Xing Chen."
Theresa opened her palm and intertwined her fingers with Xing Chen's.
"No Originium Arts?"
Xing Chen was a bit embarrassed; he had indeed never experienced such a thing.
"Given our relationship, we can actually go a step further."
As she spoke, Theresa smiled and brought her face close to Xing Chen's.