I'm Shenji, what are you doing?

In the featureless Guanbuzi City, there is a very special building called "Ogawa Apartment".

The reason why it is special is not because it is a rare high-end apartment in the Kayamihama apartment area, nor because it was jointly built by three companies, but because of its unique design.

Let’s first take a look at the two designers of the apartment: Soren Araya and Yuko Aozaki.

No need to say anything more, these two names alone are enough to explain the problem.

This apartment is actually made up of two adjacent apartment buildings. Two neat half-moon-shaped ten-story buildings are built facing each other. If you take a helicopter and look down from above, you will be surprised to find that the entire apartment is a standard circle, which is completely different from the surrounding traditional square buildings with no features.

The walls inside the apartment are uniformly painted in cream color and are extremely clean. There are strange shapes mixed everywhere on the walls. If you look at them for a long time, you will feel dizzy and chest tight. The lobby is the only space that connects the two buildings. You cannot go directly from the east building to the west building above the second floor. You must first return to the central space and then pass through the lobby.

Although it is divided into two independent apartments in the east and west buildings, the structures of the east and west buildings are exactly the same. However, due to the nature of Ogawa Apartment itself, even the residents of the apartment are rarely aware of the fact that both sides are completely symmetrical.

Let’s refine a few keywords.

Perfect circle.

Split in two from the center.

Both sides are independent of each other.

There are also the words used to write these keywords.

Are there any ancient patterns that come to mind, familiar to everyone who can write like this?

That's right, if you twist the lines a little, it will become the Tai Chi diagram known as "China's No. 1 Diagram".

The Tai Chi Diagram explains one of the most basic Taoist principles - Yi has Tai Chi, which creates two rituals, one yin and one yang. In the Western magic world, this is called the "Contradiction Spiral."

This is exactly the secret of this Ogawa Apartment. Araya Soren built an alien world, an artificial barrier based on the entire apartment.

All the families staying in Ogawa Apartment are broken people. People who are heading towards collapse will undoubtedly reach the end of life - death. This was a penance that should have taken decades to come to an end, but due to special circumstances such as the unchanging scenery around the apartment and the strange patterns that oppressed the retina, the collapse was accelerated and it came to an end within a month.

These lost lives were gathered in the west building of the apartment by Araya Soren.

The brains of these lives were taken out by Araya, and corresponding dolls were made using these brains to imitate the lost lives, so that they could live in the East Building and repeat the last day of the end every day.

The east tower is for life and yang, the west tower is for death and yin, they are symmetrical to each other, and together they form the two adjacent and connected rituals of life and death, forming a spiral of contradictions.

This is a pure experiment. Araya Soren wants to try to see if human beings can usher in a different death than the end.

People must die. But that is just the death that everyone is destined to die.

The so-called final death of a person is only one. Anyone who dies in a fire is killed by a fire in any form, and a person who is killed by his family is killed by his family in any form. The first time I escaped from the predicament of death, but that was just a destined way to usher in the second and third death. This limited way of dying is what we call life span.

Even though the way a person dies is destined. But if the same knot is repeated thousands of times, there will probably be errors in the spiral. It doesn't matter if the error is an extremely small accident, and the misfortune of being run over by a car on the way to work is also a good thing - nevertheless, the result is still the same now. Two hundred uninterrupted repetitions only made Araya Soren see the fact that one's destiny cannot be changed.

This is a world that ends in one day, called the "Sixty-Fourth Floor of the Devotion Hall". Although it is not an inherent barrier, it is also the embodiment of Araya Zongren's mental landscape. It is the incarnation of Araya and also represents Araya's consciousness and pursuit - his purpose is always to record human death, and reaching the source is only a means.

The building itself is a mantra, an altar to strengthen Araya Soren's consciousness.

The high degree of magic power, coupled with the power of the land itself and the lives sacrificed within the barrier, make "Ogawa Apartment" transcend the level of the magic workshop and become a "temple" above that.

In the temple, the owner of the temple can exercise mysteries beyond magic and exercise power beyond the reach of humans. That is the realm of "magic".

If the workshop is the home of the magician, then the temple can be said to be an extension of the magician's body, a place where the impossible becomes possible.

Araya Soren's temple is called "The Sixty-fourth Floor of the Devotion Hall". Here, he is sure to realize his long-cherished wish; here, he is confident to repel all invading enemies.

Now, the two rituals of the body and body necessary for his long-cherished wish have been lured by the chess pieces he sent, and stepped into the "64th floor of the Consecration Hall" and came to him.

Shi stared at the tall man who appeared silently within five meters of her, with undisguised surprise in his demonic eyes that could see the death of all things. Everyone so far, without exception, is on the verge of death. But, for this man, that line is extremely weak.

What surprised Shi even more was that this man felt very familiar to her.

"I remember you."

"That's right. It's been two years since we met like this."

Araya Soren's voice was very heavy, as if it was pinching the brain of the person who heard it.

He slowly reached out and touched his temples. There is a straight scar on the side of the head, from the forehead to the left. That was the deep scar carved by his own hands on the last night before Liang Rixi fell into coma.

As early as that time, he had already set his sights on the two rituals. Everything he did was for today, in order to obtain the body that connected the "root" of the two rituals.

"You are——" Shi Ru faced a powerful enemy.

"Araya Soren. A killer."

Araya Soren asserted without even moving an eyebrow.

◇◇◇

The bright moonlight illuminated the Spiral Tower. In this world shrouded in darkness, a red Honda sedan stopped in front of the apartment's main entrance.

A young woman with long orange hair stepped out of the car. The leather coat she wore, which looked like lizard skin dyed through with brown, was not suitable for her slender figure. The coat doesn't feel like clothing, but instead gives off a feeling of armor.

She looked up at the apartment, then picked up the orange suitcase with one hand, walked through the atrium covered in green fur, and entered the apartment.

The glass-covered hall was dyed with a cold moonlight by the bright moon. Whether it is the floor, walls, or the elevator columns used to go to the upper floors, they all exude haziness. After thinking for a moment, she turned around and decided to change her destination. The goal is not the elevator, but the hall that continues eastward.

At this moment, a rather shrill voice for a man sounded in the hall.

"Ah, Aosaki! It's been a long time since we last saw each other. Are you feeling well?"

Aozaki Orange raised his gaze. On the stairs leading to the second floor in a gentle diagonal, there stood a man in a red coat and a red hat. He is about in his early twenties, with dark blond hair and blue eyes, and a face as deep as a knife.

"As expected, it's you, Cornelius Aruba." Orange had undisguised disgust on his face, casting a cold gaze at the man.

"Don't show such an expression. I came here specifically to see you." Aruba spread his hands exaggeratedly and made a smile full of kindness.

"I don't have time to talk nonsense with you!" Orange's expression was completely opposite to Aruba's, so cold that he could drip water.

"I'm really surprised. Are you so impatient? However, this is also a gratifying thing. Welcome to my hell, the strongest puppet master."

The magician Cornelius Aruba smiled happily and bowed deeply with exaggerated movements like an actor.

"Your hell? It's impossible for you to come up with the idea to materialize the Tai Chi diagram."

Orange impatiently put the suitcase on the ground with a bang.

"Okay, call Aranya out quickly, I'm not here to see you today."

After saying that, Orange began to pay attention to his surroundings. He did not focus on the red magician that he should pay attention to, but began to look for non-existent opponents.

The magician just looked at her. With eyes full of murderous intent as if he was about to cry.

"you are always like this!"

It was as if he couldn't help but say this.

"Yes, you are always like this, you always give me such low evaluations - it's me, it's me first, it's obviously me who came first - whether it's studying runes or the reputation of the puppet master, Good or bad. Obviously, your attitude deceived those imbecile guys. Your attitude of belittling me made those guys think that my ability was inferior. Just think about it carefully! I am Schübenheim Abbey The next dean! I have been studying magic for more than forty years. Why should I be ranked behind a little girl in her twenties...!"

When did his words become so passionate that they resounded through the entire hall. Facing this opponent who had always pretended to be friendly and began to spread curse words, Chengzi just looked at him with no interest.

"Learning has nothing to do with age, Cornelius. Although you look young on the outside, you always only pay attention to the appearance, so you can't catch up on the inside."

Although a calm remark, there is no more provocative insult. After listening to this, the young man over fifty's handsome face twisted with hatred.

"——I haven't said what my purpose is yet."

Trying to calm down, the red magician changed his words.

"I don't care about Araya's experiments, and I have no interest in the source vortex. It's so meaningless to pursue something that I don't know exists. If you want to touch the realm of God, just pursue the truth. There is no such thing as We need to go back to the origin.”

Aruba took a step back, intending to climb up to the second floor and slowly walked up.

"I... came to this remote place just to kill you! Aosaki!"

With a voice that sounded like he was breaking his throat, the magician laughed and ran up the stairs quickly.

"By the way, are you here to find the 'Liang Yi' in this 'Tai Chi'? Unfortunately, you are a step too late. That girl has already arrived at Araya's place. Is she struggling to her death now? Or has she been killed by Aranya? Caught it? Anyway, it has nothing to do with me or you, because you are going to die soon."

The hall on the first floor was completely filled with the manifestation of the magician's malice.

Some were humanoid, and some were animal-shaped. Although the scars and warts on the surface began to dissolve, their appearance was immediately reshaped, and there was nothing more real than that. Metaphorically speaking, it is like a person or a beast that is constantly decaying, something that is both ugly and delicate at the same time.

"Are these slimes?" Orange described the aliens around him in an unprecedented tone of insult and hatred. "These things can only be realized here. Aruba, you really should switch from being a magician to being a film supervisor. With you here, I should be able to save a lot of money on monster props. However, you can probably only participate in some small-scale horror works, right? What, this career is more suitable for you than the dean!"

She complained as she was surrounded by monsters filling the halls.

Indeed, this situation is very similar to a horror movie. Speaking of differences, probably crosses or shotguns are ineffective against these things. Even though she was surrounded and only about two meters away from her, she still reached into her breast pocket without moving her eyebrows and pulled out a box of dry red paper packaging boxes.

"There's only one left. It's time for Shinji to replenish my supply."

He lit the cigarette skillfully, and the smell mixed with nicotine made Chengzi feel slightly better. As the most powerful puppeteer, she is an out-and-out artist. When she sees interesting things, she will admire them. When she sees boring things, she will feel uncomfortable and have to smoke to relieve herself. The aliens manifested in Aruba are such boring things.

"No, it seems that you can't be a supervisor. The performance is really bad. This level cannot make the current guests happy. There is no way. Speaking of weird, at least it should be maintained at this level."

With that said, Chengzi kicked open the suitcase at his feet.

"Come out!" That was an order full of majesty that could not be refused.

In response, the suitcase opened with a click.

Inside the opened lid, there was nothing.

At the same time - a black object surrounded the magician named Aozaki Orange.

The black object is a typhoon with a body, whizzing around at high speed with an orange eye as the typhoon. The crazy momentum left the hall empty within a few seconds.

The monsters that kept overflowing in the hall disappeared without leaving a trace.

The only things that remained were Aozaki Orange, his tightly closed bag, and the cat sitting in front of him.

"What!" Aruba never imagined that it would be such a scene.

The cat is bigger than an orange. Its body is completely black and has no so-called thickness. It is a flat black cat made of shadows.

No, I can't even tell if it's a cat. It looks like the shadow of a cat, except for the eyes that look like Egyptian hieroglyphs on the head.

"What is that!" Aruba looked down at the cat from the second floor.

When the cat's painting-like eyes met, the cat began to smile. It removed part of the face and mouth to express the smile.

"Am I watching a nightmare?" Aruba couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief.

Chengzi didn't say a word. There was only a chirping sound coming from nowhere.

"It's different from what I heard! Is the rumor that your familiar has been defeated by your sister false?"

Perhaps unable to bear the silence, Aruba began to scream.

She just replied: "Who knows?" and then turned her attention to the black cat.

"Sorry, I made you eat something unpleasant, but it will be much better next time. Wait, it is not that kind of energy block, but real human flesh, and the storage capacity of spiritual power is also very sufficient. Because he is mine Classmate, so you don’t have to worry about it. I’ve taught you well, I’ll eat it as long as it’s an enemy.”

As soon as she finished speaking, the black cat rushed out. It seemed to be gliding on the marble floor, running across the hall towards the stairs... Even so, the cat's feet were not moving, and it still maintained a sitting shadow, with only its eyes rushing toward the red magician.

It probably took less than ten seconds to go from the first floor hall where Orange was to the second floor platform where Aruba was. However, Aruba who responded in time was not an ordinary person. He was a magician after all.

"Go away the shadow. It is impossible to touch the thing which are not visible. Forget the darkness. It is impossible to see the thing which are not touched. The question is prohidited. The answer is simple. I have the flame in the left hand.And I have everything in the right hand——”

Disappear! Phantom, I will become invisible; forget it! The darkness, the invisible will be untouchable; there is no question, the answer is obvious; I hold light in my left hand, truth in my right hand.

Aruba calmed down and chanted the incantation at a speed close to the limit.

For magic, incantations are nothing more than personal self-suggestions. The magic of the rising wind is the same as that of a weapon, and the power it possesses is determined from the outset. No matter which magician uses it, the effectiveness does not change. However, singing can make it different. The purpose of chanting the incantation is to discover the magic engraved in one's body. The content can deeply express the nature of the magician. In addition to containing the fixed keywords necessary to discover the magic, the details of the chanting are also based on the preferences of each magician. Magicians who like to exaggerate, be artificial, and prone to self-absorption often sing very long chants. However, it is true that just as the chant increases, the power will also increase. The stronger the suggestion given to oneself, the ability to guide it from oneself can also be improved.

From this aspect, Aruba's chant can be said to be excellent. It is neither exaggerated nor too long. It uses minimal verses and contains words that make one's spirit high. The pronunciation of the chant does not take even two seconds. . This fact made Chengzi say "Oh~" in admiration.

Although the young man named Aruba likes to sing chants that are longer than necessary and use a lot of useless content, it seems that he has indeed grown a lot in the past few years.

The combination form and speed of the mantra chanting, as well as the circuit connection that makes the physical world move, are surprisingly dexterous. His chanting is absolutely top-notch in terms of magic that destroys objects.

"I an the order. Therefore, you will be defeated securely——!"

I am the truth for all things. Before me, you will eventually destroy yourself!

Aruba held out one hand. The moment the black cat reached the first step of the stairs, the atmosphere shook slightly - the stairs immediately burst into flames.

Like a mirage shaking and rising from the ground, the blue sea of ​​fire swallowed up the stairs. In just a few seconds, flames appeared from the stairs, penetrated the floor of the second floor and disappeared into the ceiling. Like a geyser in a volcanic area.

In just a short moment, the sea of ​​​​fire that deprived the hall of oxygen only burned the black cat out of this world. This is natural,

Magical flames that exceed a thousand degrees Celsius can be transformed by any animal from solid to gas like butter. The process of turning into liquid takes less than a thousandth of a second.

But Aruba saw it. He saw a strange black cat appear unexpectedly after the flames burned out.

"impossible!!!"

Her green eyes stared at the stairs.

The black cat regretfully licked his lighter black body, and suddenly turned his attention to the red magician. The strange black object moved quickly again.

Aruba didn't even have time to see through the black cat's true form.

"Repeat...!" Aruba kept repeating his magic with a tearing and sharp voice. "Repeat" means "repetition". Using this word to repeat the previous magic trick is the pinnacle of Aruba's singing skills. It is by virtue of this skill that he becomes a first-class magician.

The stairs caught fire again, but this time the black cat didn't stop. Perhaps because he was used to this flame, it rushed towards the magician in a straight line.

"Repeat!" The sea of ​​flames sprayed out again and then disappeared. Black Cat climbed the stairs.

"Repeat!" The fourth flame also came to an end.

After the black cat reached the second floor, he immediately approached Aruba and opened his mouth wide. The body of a human-sized cat is wide open from the soles of its feet. If a hinge is added to the top of its head, it will look like an open treasure chest.

There was no thickness, so the alien residue that had just been swallowed was probably stuck to the flat black cat's body like mud. Aruba finally found out that it only looks like a cat, but is actually a creature with only a mouth.

"Repeat——" The terror before death made him repeat the last incantation.

But before that, the body of the black cat, like the jaws of a shark, sandwiched the magician. Starting from the red coat, they were all swallowed up in big gulps.

"If you don't block the way, you can live for two more days - but you will eventually be killed by me because you touched a taboo that you shouldn't touch."

Those were the last words Aruba heard before losing consciousness.