Chen Lun's eyes narrowed slightly.
He looked at the man in front of him who looked about 70% similar to Philip, and felt a strong sense of absurdity and disbelief in his heart.
"Philip?!"
"I'm sorry for not being honest with you before."
The blond man smiled apologetically.
"No, I should say that I hadn't realized the truth when I wrote the message... I didn't know until later that Howard and I had challenged the teacher together, but we didn't win in the end because our fates had already been affected by the teacher's power, gradually drawing closer until we merged and became indistinguishable from each other."
There was a dim light in her eyes, which were full of dark circles.
Chen Lun himself was a Saint of Destiny, and he easily understood the meaning of her words.
The trajectory of a person's destiny is absolutely fixed without external interference... Even if the person makes a choice that he thinks is correct at a major turning point in his life, the future will still develop along the trajectory of destiny, because destiny has already seen through everything and determined the outcome.
If the fate trajectories of two people intersect and collide, it means that the two people will meet, get to know each other, and develop a bond. Parallel means companionship, while divergence means alienation.
Philip and Howard's situation is unique.
At least Chen Lun had never heard of it.
However, under the influence of some extremely terrifying mythical power, the two destinies of the two of them were forcibly merged into one... The result was that two living individuals finally became one person!
To put it in a more understandable way, the current "Philip Howard" is a completely new existence, but he is in a state of split personality.
"So... what's the point of you helping me all this time?"
Chen Lun frowned and asked in a deep voice.
Philip was originally both a teacher and a friend to him, and Chen Lun had promised that after he was promoted to a high position, he would find a way to rescue her from the dream world... But now it seems that the other party's situation is far beyond his expectations, and she has become his mortal enemy.
His heart is extremely complicated.
"This stems from a disagreement between Howard and I..."
Philip shook his head.
She turned her head and looked inside the high wall, and spoke softly:
"I was already deeply trapped in the dream world and couldn't extricate myself. Every time I fell asleep, I would get closer to the lighthouse. My strong intuition told me that one day in the future, when I got completely close to the lighthouse, that would be the time of my death... Howard wanted to save me. Of course, now it seems that she was also trying to save herself, so she agreed to my decision and left the book "Sleepwalking in Wonderland" to you. One reason was to help you grow quickly, and the other was to let you adapt to the environment of the dream world in advance, so that you can eventually pull us out of this quagmire."
She turned her head back and looked at Chen Lun with regret.
"Unfortunately, Howard's plan is much faster than mine... Although she and I both hope that you can grow up, our ultimate goals are different. I am simply asking for your help, and I will accept my fate whether I succeed or not... But Howard was unwilling to put his hopes in the hands of others, so he imitated Duke Huan's "Pearl Hour" and planned a fight in the royal city in order to complete the angel's promotion ceremony, so that he could use his own weight and power to directly break the shackles of the dream world and finally escape."
After hearing this, Chen Lun finally understood Philip's position.
She may have never thought of being an enemy of herself, nor has she manipulated her own destiny. She has even always regarded herself as a friend, guiding and helping her... But Howard is different, she only believes in herself.
Although he agreed to Philip's plan, Howard also made a second-hand preparation... Chen Lun even speculated that Philip would most likely be at a disadvantage in the process of competing for control of the body.
"Philip, have you ever thought that... even if I finally save you from the dream world, I will eventually become your enemy because of the constraints of fate?"
Philip fell into silence for a long time before he sighed.
"Jack, the path of destiny does not always rely on challenging destiny to gain power... This rule will only appear when those in higher positions intervene in the fate of those in lower positions... I did not notice Howard's actions at first, and when I found out, it was too late... If possible, I actually hope to live peacefully with Maggie for a while after I gain my freedom. When you are sure that you need to be promoted to an angel in the future, I will return this life to you."
"There's no point in saying this now, Philip."
Chen Lun said softly.
"Yeah... there's no point."
Philip raised his head and closed his eyes, sighing.
The two were silent for a while.
When she opened her eyes again, this time, her eyes became deep and indifferent.
"The past is false, memories are fleeting, only loneliness is eternal... Jack, your performance can begin now."
Philip… No, Howard began.
Chen Lun instantly calmed his fluctuating emotions and slowly raised his silver cane.
Next second.
Bang!
The silver light, like a comet's tail, hit a rusty black cane, making a loud, ear-piercing sound!
Chen Lun's figure suddenly appeared behind Howard. He struck with a stick, but was blocked by the opponent's backhand. In an instant, violent shock waves spread out, and the view of the starry sky was distorted for a moment.
"Nice power, Jack."
Howard smiled in admiration.
She suddenly increased the strength in her hands and managed to block Chen Lun's cane. At the same time, she turned around and kicked at him with such speed that the air was crushed. With a bang, she kicked Chen Lun several kilometers away.
rumble…
The terrifying force was accompanied by strong wind pressure, and the black hat on Chen Lun's head was blown away to who knows where.
But his flying figure suddenly stopped strangely, and in the blink of an eye, he was back to Howard's side, and the silver cane fell towards her again.
Bang, bang, bang, bang!
The silver light turned into afterimages, striking out hundreds of times in a single breath, each time with enough power to smash the high-density alloy into pieces. Howard stood still, and the black cane also flashed countless phantoms, like a black epiphyllum blooming in her hand, instantly blocking the overwhelming silver light.
From beginning to end, there was a faint smile on her face.
In the vast starry sky, the figures of the two people almost escaped the limit of what humans could capture. Only two distorted and blurry afterimages were seen shaking violently.
The dazzling white light created by Mars is just like the stars in the sky, twinkling continuously.
Woo!
Howard seized the opportunity again and kicked out, this time hitting Chen Lun straight in the chest.
boom-
A gas explosion circle with a diameter of tens of meters emerged.
Chen Lun coughed up a mouthful of blood and flew out like an irregularly spinning top, hitting the invisible starry sky barrier one after another, making a clanging sound of hard objects breaking.
In the next breath, Howard had instantly moved in front of Chen Lun, and with an expressionless face, he stretched out his black cane, and the sharp end pierced straight into the latter's throat.
A strong sense of danger came through spiritual intuition.
Chen Lun used the Key of Life to straighten his twisted and deformed body. With a click, he raised the silver cane with his right hand to block. At the same time, he flicked his left hand and a sharp diamond flying card arrived in front of Howard.
However, the latter tilted her head slightly as if she had foreseen something, and the red light brushed past her cheek, then disappeared into the depths of the starry sky.
The black cane clanged, and with unmatched force, it slid past the silver cane's defense and pierced straight into Chen Lun's throat!
Puff—
A handful of blood flew everywhere.
Chen Lun endured the pain and suffocation, and immediately activated the mythical creature characteristics of "Golem Life" to block out the pain and breathing.
At the same time, his heart sank.
In the short few breaths that he fought with Howard, he was always in a state of suppression. No matter his physical fitness and close combat ability that he was proud of in the past, or his unexpected teleportation, they were all ineffective.
Both of them are at high positions in the path of destiny, but the other's accumulation and experience far exceeds their own.
"go!"
Chen Lun narrowed his eyes, bit his teeth and hooked his index finger.
Great, great, great…
Thousands of playing cards surrounded his body, forming a sharp strangling storm, spinning and rushing forward!
Howard's eyes moved, and he calmly glanced at the mighty torrent of cards, but he suddenly pulled out the black cane and kicked out at the same time, hitting Chen Lun's lower abdomen with a bang.
puff-
Chen Lun flew backwards.
His eyes were fierce, and he used the air walk to stop the inertia of flying backwards, and stopped his body in mid-air. The hollow of his throat kept bleeding, and his body also made a gurgling sound under the heavy burden.
Looking up, Howard's figure was nowhere to be seen in the surging torrent of cards. The opponent had obviously avoided his counterattack easily through foresight and teleportation.
"The extraordinary people in the Destiny Path are indeed difficult to deal with..."
Chen Lun sighed secretly.
He now finally understood how aggrieved his former enemies felt when facing him.
boom-
A loud bang exploded quietly from behind!
Without even turning his head, Chen Lun knew that it was a simple card flying knife, but it was flying at a speed far exceeding the speed of sound, flashing a blazing yellow light, and cutting through space!
whoosh!
Another teleportation.
Chen Lun was forced to dodge before he could even use the Jingzhe Bookmark to infuse himself with vitality. However, even so, he still felt a deep cut on his left arm.
'Too fast...'
The solemnity in Chen Lun's eyes reached its peak.
After he teleported, he was about to find out Howard's location, but his eyes suddenly shrank because three more card knives were flying towards him!
"She divined my location?!"
This time, there was no room to dodge.
Chen Lun's eyelids twitched and he suddenly raised his right arm with his five fingers spread out.
His palm instantly turned dark as a shadow.
"Tianfeng..."
Buzz!
A repulsive force that was extremely terrifying spread out in all directions with Chen Lun as the center.
The three card knives thrown by Howard himself had their trajectories distorted by this invisible "brute force". With a sharp whistle, they turned ninety degrees and flew upwards, disappearing into the starry sky.