Number 01’s words successfully diverted Polo Ye’s attention.
If other wizards truly can’t hold on, those wizards could fill the gap needed for the Mysterious Fruit. And Number 01 could be used for experiments once the Mysterious Fruit truly goes out of order.
Polo Ye followed Number 01’s gaze and looked back.
He saw a figure not far behind the Observer, in a state of half-illusion, half-reality, flickering like a light that might extinguish at any moment.
"Interesting, using a semi-finished space to isolate, and employing a Body of Falsehood to counteract the pull." Polo Ye immediately recognized the state of this person: "However, though the idea is good, it doesn’t have matching heart calculus power. The gap between illusion and reality isn’t an easy place to be."
From the constantly flickering light and shadow of the other, Polo Ye was basically certain that Number 01 was right; he wouldn’t last much longer.
A minute at the most.
Polo Ye’s sapphire-like eyes glanced sideways at Number 01 with a soft, milky voice: "I’ll spare you this time, but don’t be too happy... You think you made the right choice, but maybe sacrificing now is the optimal solution."
Tossing Number 01 aside, Polo Ye lazily paid no attention to this dying person, his gaze fixed on the wizard using the Body of Falsehood in the distance, silently counting down his remaining life.
Polo Ye and Number 01’s conversation was not concealed; anyone present with a shred of sanity heard it.
Even Maguston himself heard it, but at this moment, Maguston was doing his best to maintain his heart calculus power and didn’t want to be distracted by Polo Ye’s words.
"Master Maguston, he probably can’t hold on, can he?" Rivetta said softly.
Neither Diescher nor Speaker Zhuguang responded but both sighed at the same time.
They weren’t optimistic about Maguston, just as Polo Ye said, the Body of Falsehood is an extremely powerful "divine hidden" ability; once you enter illusion, almost no power can harm you. But the more powerful the ability, the more conditions it is restrained by. The cost of using the Body of Falsehood is the near-maximum consumption of heart calculus power.
No wizard can use the Body of Falsehood for long, even if it was Speaker Zhuguang, he wouldn’t be able to maintain it for long. Let alone Maguston, whose level is far inferior.
Their sighs were not only for Maguston’s situation but also for lamenting this incident.
No one expected that the emergence of a Mysterious Object would lead to the fall of so many wizards, even the renowned Master Maguston in the Southern Domain, is on the brink of danger.
Even if they didn’t have a deep relationship with Maguston, empathy for their kind made them unwilling to see such a person die obscurely here.
Yet, no matter what, they couldn’t change reality.
They were just projections, with limited abilities.
On site, the only ones who could save Maguston were Polo Ye in the distance, and the Observer nearby. The former was waiting for Maguston to die and wouldn’t save him; the latter appeared to defend the Southern Domain’s interests but had never acted to save anyone, clearly making it difficult for him to labor over saving Maguston.
The outcome seemed already doomed.
Speaker Zhuguang wasn’t optimistic about Maguston, and truly, Maguston himself wasn’t optimistic about himself either.
His situation was clear to him. He knew he couldn’t hold on much longer; at most, he had half a minute left.
After half a minute, no matter what, he would die.
Was he regretful? A little bit. But not regretful for coming here, rather, for not paying more attention to heart calculus power in the past. If his heart calculus power were just a bit stronger, maybe Polo Ye would use Number 01 as a substitute for his death.
As long as Number 01 died first, perhaps he could witness the "fate choice" guiding him here, hoping to see the scene he envisioned.
Although he’s not sure what process is birthing these out-of-control things before him, he knew that merely witnessing this process would greatly benefit his Alchemy level.
Even knowing the end is death, he wanted to see that scene, to see what Alchemy impasse he’s been trapped in for hundreds of years.
But now, everything was over.
Not only unable to resolve his long-standing confusion, but his life would also end here.
Time ticked by, and everyone else silently awaited Maguston’s death, while Maguston himself counted down.
At the final ten seconds.
His eyes began to grow slightly hazy, everything in front of him started to blur, and his thoughts seemed covered by smearing ink, gradually losing self-control.
He vaguely saw, far away in the Void, a clock wheel of his own slowly dimming.
A tall figure sighed softly at his passing, then erased the clock wheel that was beginning to crack, turning and walking into the deep darkness.
"Thief of Time..." Maguston recognized the person’s identity, he was once marked by the Thief of Time... Has the Thief of Time abandoned him now?
Countdown: five seconds.
The last five seconds of life seemed both very brief and interminably long, as if the ruler of time suddenly opened up with mercy at this moment.
His somewhat muddled thoughts suddenly became clear again.
This was the last moment of life’s flashback reel, also known as the final reflection and enlightenment. Giving Maguston a gap to summarize his life.
He wasn’t a sentimental person, wouldn’t lament life’s brevity, nor find any deathbed peace.
At this last moment, he felt only intense unwillingness.
Unwilling that he didn’t persist a little longer, unwilling that his death seemed so devoid of value.
He still wanted to live, still wished to walk further along the path of Alchemy.
Yet, any cries of despair would now be in vain, wouldn’t they? In the solitary Mind Space, Maguston smiled bitterly, preparing himself to face life’s ultimate catastrophe.
However, just in the last three seconds, when Maguston was resignedly desperate, a soft whisper suddenly reached his ear.
In the final two seconds, while everyone else silently counted down, Maguston suddenly began to move.
He started walking forward, the allure of attraction forcing him to step forward.
"Did he give up early? Or is it that he really can’t hold on anymore?" Rivetta questioned.