Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

---

Chapter 140: Reunion

An hour ago.

Through the maze-like cloister, two figures were running silently. The dim and pale firelight projected their shadows on the ground. The more petite shadow jumped from time to time. Whenever it returned to the ground again, there would inevitably be black and red blood splattered on the wall.

The guards who were cut instantly became piles of decomposing flesh that wriggled and aggregated, but before they could melt together, the exposed core was crushed by a man…

Randy Panther was in a bad mood.

Just as they planned, Mora made all the preparations and finally got the key to unlock his collar. As long as they were alive, the plan would continue.

Looking at it now, they were indeed alive, and at the same time, they once again ushered in an unexpected failure. It seemed that the demon of the Withered Castle had no compassion to sway, but it didn’t succeed in harming Mora. Whether that was a blessing because of the dragon breath stone dagger or not, this was the best situation he could think of.

It was really him who death had passed on. Randy held back his bitter sigh.

The two assassins rushed to the wall that seemed to be a dead end without hesitation. The illusion was broken, and they successfully returned to the starry night sky. Several years of investigation weren’t wasted, and almost all the variables were in their expectations.

Now, they were only one step away.

The patrolling puppets came by, and the two squeezed into a long-calculated recess of the building. That curse came in handy at this moment. They didn’t need to account for space to hold two people.

“This distance should be enough. We have to activate those magic stones,” Mora muttered. Her face paled with a sign of depression. She seemed to want a hug, but in the end, she only stretched out one arm and pressed the upper arm of the other person. “I really want to get out of this shithole quickly… Randy?”

The tall assassin hung his head and didn’t answer.

“Are you blaming yourself for killing Ramon? It’s not like you,” Mora said dryly. “Ramon is a nice person, but in a place like this…”

“I didn’t kill him.” Looking at the distant team of puppets, Randy lowered his voice. “In fact, he could have killed me.”

Mora frowned, stopped the movement of her hands, and pursed her lips tightly. She stared at her lover’s red and swollen wrist. She could only do some emergency healing spells to make it barely move normally.

“Then he… admitted defeat himself.” Randy moved his wrist. “How stupid.”

The female assassin looked away. “…How stupid.”

They walked in the dark. They had long since stopped trying to count the number of lives on their hands. No one knew better than a killer how worthless life was. A blade across the throat, a precise stab, a curse, poison, and even ill-intentioned words—they were as fragile as a church-stained glass window.

When that moment came, there was no dying confession, no decent memories. There was only crying, unbelievable and animal-like struggles, and then those lives came to an abrupt end.

Taking away the lives of compatriots was numbing, even if they had screened the targets in advance and knew most of them deserved it. It was as if there was a thick film that separated them from the world, and many things gradually became irrelevant…

Including their own lives.

Randy thought they knew very well. They knew very well that they could no longer fall in love with any other and could no longer leave this nightmare. Everyday when he woke up, breathing and heartbeat had become like a task. The love was still there, but they themselves were becoming less like humans. As this situation deteriorated, they gradually became the only people who could understand each other.

A vicious spiral.

They tried to retain the only remaining sense of morality and help people who wouldn’t harm their own interest. With this approach, it gave them a little warmth and the illusion that they were still living a normal life.

And once the other party touches their own interest…

Randy looked down at his scarred fingers. “Do you have a clue about the next target…?”

“There’s always something,” Mora said.

“…Since we’re not in a hurry, let’s play the ‘dangerous game’ again, okay?”

“Are you crazy? In a place like this? We’re not stupid young people anymore. Increasing the difficulty out of thin air will only… Only… I know. You don’t want to activate the magic stone inside and trigger the martial law alert.”

“Yes.”

“Ramon was thrown into the furnace. It’s only a matter of time before he dies.”

“I know.”

“Don’t do meaningless things,” Mora reminded dryly.

“If a person is pierced through the heart, he will die, right?”

“Of course.”

“But Ramon didn’t die.” Randy pulled out a wry smile. “I even think he’s still breathing now—in that furnace. Mora, you know what will happen to the furnace after martial law. The Gatekeepers will temporarily cut off all control and completely close it, and the inside will get out of control. Ramon was thrown in there alive. Maybe the Gatekeepers have other plans.”

“Anyway, the furnace will eventually devour everything,” Mora’s tone was flat. “Martial law must be triggered to lead away those damn puppets. Otherwise, with the puppets and guards, although we can deal with it… That’s definitely not the best solution.”

“I will protect you. You won’t get hurt.”

“Of course I know, but you will—your… Stupid decision can keep Ramon alive for a few more minutes at most.” The petite female assassin raised her head. “It’s just a few minutes. Is there a difference? It really doesn’t make sense—”

“Yes.” He stretched out his hand, gently stroking Mora’s hand… that passed through in vain as if it was a phantom. “Haven’t we been doing ‘meaningless’ things all this time?”

It would just be one more thing that wouldn’t add to their problems; maybe just a few more additional wounds.

The female assassin suddenly smiled.

It wasn’t a wry smile, but it wasn’t big either. It was a strange, even childish smile. “Your words don’t match your dead expression at all, stupid stake,” she murmured. “You… are a bit like you were before.”

Yes. Now that they thought about it, their lives were like a joke, but their destination had long been set by the demon, and they could only run straight in that direction. She had forgotten the feeling of slowing down and taking detours and even wanted to rush towards that impossible goal.

In a sense, they were the same as that young fool in the furnace.

“Let’s go.” The female assassin turned out of the recess of the building and stretched out her right hand, like an invitation to dance. “You have to protect me!”

“Nn.”

The puppets arrived at the same time they had speculated, and as calculated, spotted them. A tide of humanoid monsters surged up and was met with a heavy shield that flung their way, occasionally splashing bits of blood belonging to humans.

“I really hate this!” Mora panted as she cut off the arm of a puppet. “When this is over, you have to buy me cake from Trev’s! If it wasn’t for Ramon, we’d probably be lying in an inn by now—how much longer? God, these things are tough.”

“Come behind me,” Randy said calmly. The shield crushed the metal puppet on the ground. “Bear with it. As long as there were more than half of them…”

Their vision was suddenly black.

The metal puppets fell to the ground, and their metal parts quickly decayed. With a harsh hissing sound, they quickly turned into a pile of debris. A black figure suddenly emerged from the ground. A pale young man raised his head. His hands were empty, and his dark gray robe almost melted into the night.

“Ramon.” The stranger held the last puppet and watched as it turned into ash. “Do you know Oliver Ramon?”

“Where is he?”

Nemo didn’t know if he could still think clearly.

Now he didn’t have the ability to forget. He wouldn’t forget the place where the star lit up. He knew where the Withered Castle was at this moment, but the star that represented Oliver kept dimming. When he tore through the sky and finally reached the mountain-like castle, the star was… No longer shining.

It went out.

Suffocation and blankness overwhelmed him for a moment. Nemo stopped over the castle as if he was nailed in place, and time had suddenly frozen. It can’t be like this, he thought slowly.

It can’t be like this.

The air was still warm, and the dark blue sky was sprinkled with diamond-like stars. The quaint castle that slept inside a mountain created a beautiful scene, but he found it particularly annoying, like an exquisite dessert covered in mold.

Has Oliver disappeared?

Because he was one step late, will they never be able to meet again? Was that meeting at the Church of Silence their final farewell?

It shouldn’t be like this.

Panic and despair gnawed at his nerves. He almost failed to control his strength so that his whole body fell from the sky. Nemo knew he should be calm. He knew. But even this time, when he tried to pinch his palm, using the pain to calm himself down, the chaos of despair seemed to have possessed his bones and was completely impossible to shake off.

Until someone mentioned that name.

Nemo didn’t hesitate. Without thinking whether it was a trap, or whether the people were friend or foe, he rushed to them.

Everything that followed was like a broken and hazy dream.

The strange man and woman hesitated for a moment, and finally chose to show him the way. They took him to his destination. He didn’t bother to guess what their motives were or whether they were lying. He needed to grab any straw, whatever he could grasp.

After all, nothing could hurt him, but his lover may have died in despair…

“Are you Nemo Light of Tumbleweed?” Just as he quietly broke through the barriers, the man opened his mouth.

“…Yes.”

“Mr. Ramon has something to say to you.” The man hesitated for a while. “You’d better… Control your strength. Considering your current state, I think you need to listen first.”

Nemo stopped moving instantly. He even stopped breathing. It was like someone had cast a petrification spell on him.

He listened very seriously.

[I didn’t give up on my principles for him, and I hope he’ll not do the same.]

But “he who used to be the Demon King” no longer knew how many people he had killed. Was he really qualified to talk about “principles” now?

[He’ll always find the most suitable solution, and I’ll always believe in him.]

But he hadn’t had time to tell Oliver that “Nemo Light” wasn’t to be believed… He couldn’t even believe in himself.

[Sorry.]

How dare that bastard just die with trust in him like this.

If a miracle really happened, if they could really meet again, he would definitely beat that fool up, but when the furnace disappeared and that figure appeared again, he couldn’t hold in his emotions…

The world responded to his wishes just like that.

The gray mist dissipated, and with a harsh warning sound, a shadow stood quietly on the empty flat ground. There wasn’t even a piece of wreckage left in the furnace. The head was still wearing that strange skeleton helmet; the bloodstained white bone covered the upper half of his face. The armor was vaguely in the style of a Knight of Silence, but it was holed and full of scratches.

And that sword… Nemo had once witnessed its birth with his very own eyes.

Even if the aura became illegible, even if the power fluctuated erratically and strangely, he would never make this mistake.

At the junction of despair and ecstasy, his heart almost burst. To his world, to this Demon King. Nemo walked towards the figure at a calm pace at first, followed by a frenzied run.

Now he couldn’t find him in that starry sky. He didn’t know the reason why the knight’s oath was broken, but those questions were no longer important right now. Nemo hugged the armored figure hard. He could hear the familiar heartbeat from the armor.

“Ollie,” he whispered. “I’m here to pick you up.”

After ecstasy was followed by anger and grief.

“…I’ll treat you now,” he said tremblingly, not daring to confirm the other party’s physical condition again. “Don’t move yet, I…”

At that moment, the person he was hugging finally moved.

Oliver held the hilt of the Rest in Peace tightly in his right hand, and lightly grabbed Nemo’s wrists with his left. Under the dry blood marks, the engraved scars were still eye-catching.

“Nemo.” His voice was hoarse and soft. “I love you. I never mentioned this to you, right?”

“I don’t want to erase these wounds… If you’re a hallucination, this is really the best illusion. If you’re not—”

Oliver raised his eyes and looked at the Withered Castle in the night. “Then can you wait for me for a bit?”

“After this place disappears, let’s talk.”

---

The author has something to say:

Finally reunited _(:з”∠)_

---

Kinky Thoughts:

The pain of translating their separation was severe, but it was all worth it for this. AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

Note: When Oliver says “I love you” he’s saying [wo ai ni] (我爱你), so it’s not as simple as “I like you” from before.

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

---

Chapter 139: Hero of the Moment

Oliver thought that what was waiting for him would be the severe pain of burning or his limbs being torn apart, but unexpectedly, no form of pain appeared. He felt as if he was swallowed into the abdominal cavity of a giant behemoth, and a hot and humid smell instantly enveloped him.

The moment Oliver realized that he was falling, his hard armor hit something slippery. His feet touched the ground one step first, and he almost instinctively made a buffering roll to prevent his bones from breaking on impact.

The heavy armor was undoubtedly a burden at the moment, as it took Oliver a lot of effort to stand up from the soft “ground”. He was extremely vigilant against abnormal stability. His brain seemed to have solidified in an abnormal high fever and thinking became a particularly hard thing to do. He didn’t dare open his mouth and take a big breath for fear that the thick air would make him vomit.

He was still alive, but this time Oliver wasn’t happy about it.

Endless exhaustion and sadness overwhelmed him. People could muster the courage to take a step at a certain moment to throw themselves off a cliff, but after that short moment, it became particularly difficult to give up again.

He had reached his limit. His will was like deadwood that was moth-eaten and empty. It could collapse at any moment.

A strange touch climbed onto the back of Oliver’s neck, instantly causing the hair on the back of his neck to stand up. He ignored the aching muscles and didn’t hesitate to wave his sword without hesitation. With splashing pus and blood, a sharp fleshy hand shrank back. It was as thin as a child’s arm that was intertwined with several underdeveloped arms.

It only had time to pierce the side of his neck and scrape off a shallow layer of flesh.

A burning pain immediately followed. Oliver hadn’t had time to think about what those things were when an unknown raving noise sounded, and more fleshy hands leaned over from one side. He could only cut them mechanically and try to ignore the small wails from the darkness. As the attacks of the hands became more intense, he subconsciously retreated to a place where the hands were scarcest and almost stepped into thin air.

It was getting hotter, and his already extremely dehydrated body was sweating out what little remained inside of him. Oliver began to feel suffocated, not knowing if it was because of a simple increase in temperature or a loss of air. He felt like he was going to be roasted to death.

But for some reason, the temperature suddenly dropped a little at a certain moment, and the air became more refreshing. The cool air was like the key to heaven, blowing from a certain direction then quickly dissipating.

After draining his strength and launching another wave of attacks, Oliver bought himself time to look at his environment. He stepped back warily and leaned in the direction of where the light had just blown out.

In the faint light, he finally saw the space where he was. Perhaps this was what Randy called the “blood furnace”. The top of the semicircle was hidden in darkness, and he was stepping on the slightly trembling fleshy platform full of holes.

It looked like a fleshy plate with countless holes poked through, or an organ with lesions and hyperplasia. Dense fleshy hands protruded from the bottomless holes, constantly attacking all living things. Outside the slightly raised edge was a blankness from which came bone-chilling sounds of chewing and a whispering of the void.

A little further away seemed to be the wall of the furnace. It was so far apart that Oliver could only discern a little twisting pattern in the dark. Then his attention was attracted by a light source…

The phosphorescent sarcomas slid around the filaments covering the furnace, like dew moving along spider silk. Each sarcoma illuminated a face of horror and despair.

These things were locating them.

Yes, he wasn’t the only one here. Oliver recalled what Randy said; “Waiting for you below” probably referred to the body, but the situation was much worse—the people who had been in the same cell with him were still alive.

No, it should be said that most of them were still alive…

The people around him were entangled with fleshy hands. Oliver subconsciously wanted to split the weird flesh and blood that were ill-intentioned, but his legs sank like lead. Before he could lift his feet, the fleshy hands suddenly stretched out, pulling the person away and pressing him towards the furnace wall.

He failed to save himself, and this time he didn’t have time to save others.

The continuously rising temperature dropped again, and the sarcoma that had illuminated the person suddenly went out. He didn’t know if it was his hallucination, but the wall of the furnace seemed to be closing in.

The people subconsciously gathered in one direction.

Oliver was close enough now that he could see the thing clearly. In the middle of the fleshy ring full of blood vessels and mucus, there was a narrow table the size of two books side by side. The material looked hard and glittered, and the relieving coolness and fresh air were blowing from there, but it quickly dissipated.

A test.

Oliver’s heart went cold. He probably guessed the Gatekeeper’s plans. If he wasn’t wrong…

“Even though you are the lowest-level ant, you still have a chance.”

A distant voice floated from nowhere.

“Only one person can survive. Those who can survive can go directly to the mobile barracks. We still cherish talents, so don’t believe in the so-called no one survives.”

Lies.

Oliver thought numbly. Something was wrong with this situation. If it was just to maintain the furnace with the lives of losers, they didn’t need to arrange for him to fight with Randy, let alone wait for him to fall before starting all this. After all, Randy wasn’t as stubborn as he was, and he wouldn’t hesitate to kill people. No matter how he saw it, the utilization value was higher than him.

In the situation just now, he was likely to kill Randy on the spot, but when he was about to make his move, the Gatekeepers didn’t have any special reaction, but it didn’t seem like he was given special treatment. Randy’s first few attacks were intended to kill him, yet the Gatekeepers still didn’t respond.

Instead, when he conceded defeat and Randy had another chance to kill him, the Gatekeepers threw him into the furnace.

It was like… they were sure he would win and were waiting for him to admit defeat.

Why did they want to do this? Oliver thought with difficulty. This wasn’t the treatment of the so-called “waste”. Now the situation was more like a stage that was set up in advance, more sinister and crueler.

But his mind began to become more sluggish.

Is this what they want? Oliver looked at the sword in his hand. He was tired, very tired. He just wanted to rest. He didn’t want to think anymore, didn’t want to persist anymore.

But on the other side, the Gatekeepers were encouraging people to devour each other in despair. They recognized those that fought each other for the only peace left until only one remained.

If this was what the Gatekeepers wanted, then they were about to succeed. He did feel wronged, confused, and desperate. Everything in front of him was irritating. If the environment continued to deteriorate, if those people attacked him again, he would probably truly lift his sword, fight a bloody path by instinct, and then wait for his death in a relatively comfortable environment.

But he couldn’t figure out what the other party wanted from him.

The temperature was getting higher, and the air seemed to be boiling. The heavy armor seemed to become an instrument of torture. Almost all the water in Oliver’s body had evaporated. The young knight twisted the corners of his mouth but didn’t succeed in laughing. He didn’t know if the Gatekeepers were watching all this, whether they were hoping he would break everything, that he would kill people—or do something else.

Then maybe he could really give up, in the quietest way possible, just like his father, choosing to end it himself before the worst came.

Choose a dignified death as a last resistance.

The fleshy hands stretched out to touch Oliver’s neck again, but this time he didn’t avoid it. Oliver let go of all of his strength and tried to break the collar—but not surprisingly, the pain caused by the collar made him kneel on one knee.

As he thought, there was no miracle.

This was indeed the last, awkward, painful, silent death. His vision gradually blurred and Oliver simply closed his eyes.

He still had a lot of things he wanted to do and say, but at least he still had time to leave his last message, which made the upcoming death not so difficult.

Wrong.

Since people’s deaths could bring a moment of stability, why was the temperature of the air still rising?

The pain from the fleshy hand didn’t come.

Oliver laboriously opened his eyes and tried to look around. In his sight, which was blurred because of weakness, those bright lights were still flashing. His cellmates were watching him quietly from the darkness. Just like the first day, they continue to observe patiently, like insects hiding in dark cracks.

No one moved. No one rushed to the only oasis. No one killed each other.

“Yuri Killian,” a voice said. It was extremely close and unexpectedly familiar.

The burly man who used a meteor hammer threw a broken hand on the ground and spat with difficulty in the increasing hot air. “I still hate you, kid. I still can’t figure out why you don’t do it… But it doesn’t matter.”

“It’s gotten to the point where it’s pointless,” he said, “but I do have a name. Yuri Killian.”

“I have to be more like a man than you, kid.” He raised his head and made a motion of slitting his throat. “Fuck you Gatekeepers. You want me to be obedient to the end? Fucking dream on!”

He let out a sharp and piercing grin. “My name’s Yuri Killian! I like big-ass women in Willard’s Tavern—”

The burly man kicked Oliver in the knee. Oliver, who was about to be dragged off the platform by the hands, staggered and fell forward. The opponent’s kick was so hard that it almost exhausted his last physical strength. Oliver held the slippery flesh with both hands and almost fainted. The burly man walked carelessly to the edge of the flesh platform…

Then jumped down.

After a few seconds, the sarcoma that followed him went out.

Anger.

“Samantha Gru.” After a long silence, a trembling female voice sounded from the darkness. “I’m just a refugee. I… I have nothing. I’m afraid. I don’t want to be killed by you, but I also… I don’t want to kill. I don’t like to kill. I don’t like…”

She shook her head as she bit into her lower lip. The neurotic woman glanced at Oliver.

“I don’t like it!” She screamed and then jumped down.

Fear.

“Nicole Naylor. Garland national, prisoner of war. I’m sure I won’t live to the end… But I want to go home. I really want to.”

Desperation.

“Hackett Dalton. They said that only the dead and murderous walk out of here, so you’d better fucking get out of here, Ramon… Your name’s Ramon, right?” The man screamed. “Show them!”

Hate.

People took the first step by throwing themselves into the darkness. Oliver wanted to stand up and say something, but his eyes were rapidly weakening, and he could only see the dim light of the fire.

The lights were decreasing, one after another.

He wanted to shout something, but he couldn’t make a sound. Do something, he thought. He couldn’t accept it. At least stand up first… At least…

“Philip Sportt, fuck this world.”

“Lilin… Only Lilin. I like the color blue.”

……

In the end, there were only two bright lights left.

Oliver stabbed his sword into his right ankle, hoping the pain would keep him awake. This can’t be, he thought vaguely. He had decided to escape, but he was nailed into a bitter reality.

He couldn’t stand it.

A pair of feet appeared in front of him. Oliver tried to raise his head to see the other’s face.

“I don’t want to die,” the man said tremblingly. “I’m afraid. I don’t want to die!”

“…But you know? Just—just for a short while, you and I are completely equal.”

Oliver swallowed the air as the low figure approached him abruptly. It was just that what came out was not an attack but a trembling hug.

“Micah Draper,” the mole-like man said. His voice was getting weaker. “I’m sure I’ll regret it. How stupid. How could I die for just a bottle of perfume? But…”

“Thank you for… trying to save me.”

There was only one bright light left.

Oliver knelt blankly on the empty platform. He wanted to die. He was so weak that he would die at any moment. The blur in front of him fluctuated a little, and it seemed that there was liquid flowing along the skin.

[Son, as long as you live, the voices around you will not stop. What’s right and what’s wrong. What’s good and what’s evil. What’s meaningful and what’s not…]

[…Who has the value of existence, and who doesn’t. But you have to think, is that really the case?]

That’s right. He could still cry.

[When I think of a hero, it’s not necessarily because of what they did, but sometimes because of what they chose not to do. It’s not necessarily because they chose the kindness and rules we all know, but sometimes because they didn’t stop thinking and questioning the “rules”.]

[Because it’s really easy to stop thinking and choose to obey. But Ollie, I hope… You can take a good look at the world with your own eyes.]

Yes, father.

Oliver inserted the sword into the flesh, dragged his body, and struggled towards the middle of the empty platform. He could recover some strength there. Although all this may be a lie, a joke, he could still live for a second longer.

Those who were defined as despicable and worthless, those evils that were deemed impossible to change; they finally chose to resist at the last moment. Perhaps not out of kindness, but at least in that short moment…

No.

Perhaps there was no such definition as a “good person” and a “wicked person”. People were just choosing. He ignored this—everyone was constantly choosing—choosing to pay or plunder, and the price they brought.

It wasn’t the “roles” of good and evil that were defined in advance, but the “states” that are intertwined by choices. In that silence, there was no need to make a choice… They were just “people”.

Chaotic, selfish, and free.

He didn’t save anyone in the end. He was the one who was rescued by these heroes.

Up to now, he seemed to be ineligible to die easily.

…It went well. The manager of the test zone thought so.

Everything went well, beyond their imagination. The life reaction was constantly dying out, and in the end, there was only one left. Under the continuous cruel impact, that weak life response didn’t disappear.

It must be Ramon. He finally made his move. This development was so perfect that the manager of the test zone trembled. Now his spirit should be fragmented. After the impact, the negative array needed to be adjusted to the highest value…

“Success!” There was a scream of disbelief. “God, the power impact is complete! …Ramon isn’t dead!”

“The power of the magic array was adjusted to the maximum. The emotional readings were being monitored in real time.” The manager wearing glasses waved his hand and a light joy lifted him up. He seemed to be drunk as the air was filled with an amazing sense of happiness. “Now we can bet. Guess, Tela, what form will the creation take? A huge piece of flesh, or—”

“You’re so optimistic,” the middle-aged man said in a salty voice. “Take a good look at the emotional readings.”

The manager glanced casually, then took off his glasses in disbelief, wiped them, and put them on again. He instantly woke up from his slight drunken happiness and fell into an ice cave.

“Why is his consciousness still there?!”

In an instant, cold sweat permeated his clothes because in the next second, the researcher himself came to a conclusion…

If there was no negative emotion that could be expanded, then he naturally couldn’t be destroyed.

There was no anger, no fear, no despair, no hatred.

There was only one emotion, and its reading exceeded the upper limit of the counter. It was a rare emotion that they hardly paid attention to…

Sadness.

“Destroy the blood furnace,” the manager ordered as he trembled. “I will start the bone jade bomb right now and completely destroy the furnace! Drive the defense to the maximum!”

They couldn’t control him. No—they weren’t sure if that thing that survived still had any normal sanity. Protective measures had been taken in advance. The power of the bone jade bomb was enough to blow up most of the Withered Castle.

They may not survive, but that wasn’t the point.

He gritted his teeth and quickly confirmed the complex activation spell. When he completed the last rune, he even had a moment of joy of near despair. That thing had just been born, and it was estimated that it wouldn’t have a grasp on its powers yet. If they wanted to destroy it, it could only be now—

Yes, they had successfully created a creature outside the law. Even if it only existed for a short while, this was undoubtedly a great breakthrough. Using the most insignificant parts of human garbage, they had created a miracle that transcended truth.

The bone jade bomb. It would explode in the next instant, and the dense abyssal magic would devour all living things.

Then as a pioneer, even if he died at this time…

One minute.

Two minutes.

Five minutes.

Everything was still quiet.

“What’s the matter? Why didn’t it explode?!”

“No…” The red-robed old man swallowed with difficulty. “It exploded.”

“Could it be Ramon—”

“No.” The middle-aged man buried the pile of books stood up, showing an intriguing smile. The magic pressure over there was too strong for the surveillance bugs to approach, but he would never make a mistake about that feeling. “It’s abyssal magic.”

The bone jade bomb. Its style was extremely eloquent and could even be placed in the study of a noble. This piece of bone jade was especially huge, like a baby’s head. Layers of magic array rotated around it, and countless magic stones were embedded in it.

It did explode. It was just after the explosion spread out about a centimeter wide, it dissipated like a cloud of smoke.

Nemo patted the ashes in his palm and stood quietly in place for a few seconds.

“Thank you both,” Nemo said softly, bowing to the strange man and woman who led the way beside him. His voice was calm, but his body trembled uncontrollably. “Next, please stay away from here. The farther the better.”

“Ramon is still in the furnace. That’s the thing in front of you.” The tall man subconsciously moved away from the black-haired young man. The scars on his face seemed even more hideous. “You really don’t—”

“No. He doesn’t need my help… At least not now.”

The black furnace went straight into the sky. The edge was coiled around the spiral steps, so wide it couldn’t be seen from a glance. Now it was divided into two, and the upper part slid obliquely to one side. Gray mist poured out of the gap and wrapped around the furnace.

In the next instant, it ceased to exist, leaving no trace behind.

---

Kinky Thoughts:

These past three chapters were the most painful so far, but the best writing. So fucking good.

Nemo’s here!!!!!!

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

---

Chapter 138: Love and Shackles

The manager of the test zone poured himself a glass of water and pushed up his glasses.

The two people on the light screen finally started fighting, and he couldn’t tell what it was like in his heart—not out of sympathy or guilt for the two people on the battlefield, but more like worry; worried that Randy Panther was losing.

Randy Panther, Sancho’s Gray Fox. As an assassin, his combat skills were absolutely first-class, but in the final analysis, his magic power reserves weren’t particularly outstanding. Among the materials processed by the Withered Castle, this assassin was barely considered a first-class product, as there was still a considerable gap from the top.

Oliver Random was different. After his power had been strangely doubled several times, he had perfectly reached the upper limit of surface creatures…

And he was a true fighting genius.

When magic from both sides was sealed and his own state was in poor condition, his offensive became fiercer. Ramon’s swordsmanship was no longer regular but was like a beast that finally obeyed its hunting instincts. His moves were unrestrained and extremely natural and beautiful.

A born warrior.

He now understood the look on the face of the combat zone manager after he applied for him. It was as if he had seen the enemy who killed his father. If Ramon’s willpower was a little more fragile, he would never have been able to grab such a perfect material.

Now was the critical juncture. The manager wearing glasses swallowed water in small sips. If Ramon killed Sancho’s Gray Fox, then he would immediately be transferred to the mobile barracks for training and slip away from the palm of his hand. After all, once a stubborn stone cracked, it would become extremely easy to overcome. This was the specialty of the mobile barracks. 300,000 wasn’t expensive at all. If Ramon could really be transferred, he’d be made into an excellent death row fighter. He would certainly become a rare weapon worth thousands.

Recently, Alban had been in chaos. If the guys in the combat zone trained him and sold him back, they would fetch a price of 30 million or even higher.

…Short-sighted idiots who dared not take risks. The manager pushed his glasses up to the bridge of his nose again.

People in the combat zone only saw the benefits of stability. They had always lacked foresight. Yes, Oliver Ramon did have a fairly high risk of dying in the blood furnace, just like the previous 1,326 people, but he was also the best sample in history. They had two choices—to choose 30 million gold coins with a 100% success rate or a priceless treasure with a 1% success rate.

After all, no one could price a god-level weapon of destruction.

The experiment of the blood furnace had been going on for a long time, and this was the first time he had the opportunity to embark on this great and noble path of exploration. His predecessors carefully selected thousands of people in its long history, but none had succeeded, but they had never doubted the correctness of this path.

After all, their basis was clear. All surface life had an upper limit on its ability, an unnatural ceiling.

For the vast majority of life, vitality was perfectly proportional to the strength of mental and magic power, but once the magic exceeded a certain limit, the growth rate would flatten, infinitely approaching a definite value. At first, they thought it was the limit of the biological body’s ability to withstand magic, but when the limits of humans and dragons were exactly the same, this matter became subtle—it was like something added a simple and brutal power ceiling on all creatures.

So what would happen if it broke?

The blood furnace needed to be maintained by living creatures, and they had never lacked living materials.

For thousands of years, the furnace melted countless lives, and the power in it should be enough to create an impact—as long as the “nuclear” they threw down had the qualification to surpass the power ceiling. In theory, people who were regarded as “nuclear” may be able to break away from the current restricted magic system and show their true biological potential.

There was only one problem left.

Not many creatures came close to the power ceiling, but it was definitely not an issue of a once-in-a-thousand-year encounter. The problem was controllability. Once they were stripped out of the current magic system, and their speculation happened to be correct, they would create a real monster; an artificial god who was not limited by the law. The Gatekeepers didn’t intend to dedicate themselves to their ideals and leave the surface in a state of trouble—they must ensure that this creation was absolutely controllable.

Thus, the answer was also simple. They needed to destroy the will of the “nuclear”. While he or she was stripped out of the magic system, the spirit of that life would be completely annihilated, turning into an ultimate weapon that wasn’t bound by laws and obediently obeyed all orders.

That was the true “transcendence of truth”, the true progress and glory of mankind.

They had prepared everything. Relatively upright people were the easiest to destroy, but finding a guy with a strong enough spirit was more difficult than finding a creature close to the power ceiling. Among the more than thousands of people in front of them, there were hundreds of them who had forcibly increased their strength through experimental means, but none of them succeeded in holding on at the last moment.

Not surprising. The manager of the test area squeezed his cup tightly and thought dejectedly. After all, they set up a magic array to amplify negative emotions, and all the previous “nuclear” collapsed too early, without exception. Those stupid people who didn’t know how to adapt; either they couldn’t face the real desperate situation in the furnace and ended their lives, or they had a nervous breakdown before the impact of power was completed, and completely gave up on themselves, eventually becoming a part of the blood furnace.

Come on. The manager looked at the black figure on the light screen. Come and let me see your persistence.

Oliver’s head was a little dizzy. His sword was faster than his thoughts. His blood seemed to turn into boiling metal. It seemed that another person dominated his body, and his speed didn’t slow down due to injury but was getting faster.

He didn’t think about death or pain; all he could see was the blade cutting through the air in his eyes. A strange sense of pleasure crept on Oliver’s nerves. Time was slowing down, and the other party’s movements were dropping. The bone sword pierced Randy’s muscles, and the next moment the disgusting touch reached his palms. Oliver was so numb that he couldn’t feel anything. His limited consciousness was constantly repeating broken, simple sentences.

To defeat. You must defeat your opponent.

Randy felt chills for the first time.

When he met this somewhat brainless young man, he only regarded him as a first-class adventurer with good skills. It may be because his opponent’s behavior was too upright, and he just defended and avoided in battle so he didn’t know the degree of seriousness of his opponent.

Now he would rather not know. 

Randy never thought he would lose. He was in much better shape than his opponent. Targeted killing was also his specialty, but the other party seemed to have lost the feeling of pain. His movements were frighteningly flexible, like a ghost. The shield in his hand became heavier, and there were more wounds appearing on his body, while his opponent became more comfortable, and his attack was as elusive as a phantom.

The sight without any emotion stuck to him, cold and focused. Oliver Ramon was analyzing his attack pattern at an alarming speed, absorbing it and turning it into his own advantage.

As time passed, Randy couldn’t even land a hit. The weird knight opposite of him seemed to have endless strength, and the cursed pale sword couldn’t be shaken off. The confident hunter finally became the hunted.

Monster.

As soon as this thought crossed the assassin’s mind, his heavy shield was kicked away, and his wrist made a crisp, cracking sound. The opponent’s heavy metal boot kicked Randy’s stomach and caused the tall assassin’s vision to turn black. He couldn’t maintain his balance and fell to the ground, unable to move for over half a minute.

The tip of the Rest in Peace was held against the assassin’s throat. The sharp white bones pierced the skin on Randy’s neck, and beads of red blood rolled down the skin, leaving a dazzling blood mark. Randy tried to struggle a few times, but Oliver’s knees pressed against his chest. His shield had fallen in the distance, his wrist had been sprained, and his tough body was riddled with wounds. Those sword wounds turned outwards, and warm blood continued to penetrate into the dark black land.

But Randy didn’t give up.

He stretched out his hand and tried to punch Oliver’s head, but was easily blocked by his opponent. The assassin exhausted his last strength and attacked again and again, but the result became more desperate. After several revolts, Randy let out a very light sigh, and those eyes finally dimmed. He turned his head sideways, and his murderous aura gradually dissipated.

Oliver knew what Randy was trying to do, or rather, looking for.

He recognized the sadness. There was no fear in the eyes of his enemy. Randy was unexpectedly calm, but he looked a little sad. The steel-gray eyes finally stopped looking at the tip of the sword and turned in the direction of something empty.

Mora should be waiting close by for Randy, Oliver thought groggily. What was she thinking at this moment?

But Nemo was also waiting for him.

He was about to use the sword born from a blessing to take the life of another for his own selfish desire. Under the Rest in Peace, was there going to be a soul that wouldn’t be able to rest for the very first time?

He had no choice. Oliver gasped for breath. There was plenty of air, but his lungs felt as if they were pierced by his ribs, which made breathing extremely painful. As long as his wrist gently exerted force, pushing the Rest in Peace downwards…

No. Did he really have no choice?

He once believed that he would die. Not so long ago, in the Black Chapter test in the Border Forest, the moment he faced Pandorater, the person he loved was faced with the same choice at that time; to reasonably save his own life, or to take that step…

[If I don’t try it, I’ll have nightmares for the rest of my life. Oliver, you and Ann take those people away. I’ll lead it away. If it doesn’t succeed—]

The person he fell in love with was truly gentle.

The bone sword pierced hard, but the blade was buried in the soil on the side of Randy’s head. The assassin’s eyes widened subconsciously.

“If it weren’t for Nemo, I guess I would have done it a long time ago.” Oliver gave the other party an extremely weak smile. “…It’s really hard to persist.”

Kill the person who had protected themselves and pass on the pain of losing a loved one. He may never be able to truly return to Nemo. He would be imprisoned at this moment for the rest of his life, and he could no longer hold Nemo’s hand.

“If I really kill you, I’ll probably have nightmares for the rest of my life. Why is my opponent you?”

The young man laughed sadly under the pale skeleton helmet.

“…And why am I here?”

Abandoning everything for the sake of a lover, betraying everything, and being an enemy of the whole world sounded desperate but romantic. ‘Maybe Randy and Mora can really do it,’ Oliver thought. His own depravity may be understood by his own kind, but as a true superior demon, Nemo’s enmity would only invite chaos and undissolved fear.

Once that step was taken, the person he loved would not have the chance to turn back. This he knew very well.

He must not be the one who shook Nemo.

How he once wished that he could be the chain to the other party. To prevent him from getting out of control and falling off a cliff. Then he could proudly dismiss all doubts about him, and they could continue to live together under the sun.

He wanted to be a better person for each other. However…

“After you escape from here, go find Nemo Light of Tumbleweed,” Oliver murmured. He loosened his grip on the assassin. His voice was hoarse with a slight tremor. “Tell him everything that happened here.”

If all this could leave some meaning, there was indeed something he could do. It was very cruel, but if the other person had suffered as much as he did at that moment because of his own departure, then he still had the chance to become a yoke.

…Become a yoke that could imprison Nemo under the sun.

“Tell him that I didn’t give up on my principle for him and I hope he’ll not do the same.”

“Tell him that he’ll always find the most suitable solution, and I’ll always believe in him.”

“Tell him, I love him from the bottom of my heart…”

“…No, tell him, I’m sorry.”

I am always slower when facing difficulties, Nemo. Every time, he needed someone to rush in front of him first before he could summon the courage to follow.

This time, it was his turn to take the first step.

“I admit defeat.” Oliver straightened his back and lowered his gaze.

Randy knew he should have taken the opportunity to take his opponent’s life, but he didn’t move. He quietly raised his upper body and looked at his fierce and unreasonable enemy. The circles of his eyes behind the terrifying bone helmet were slightly red, but the young man was still smiling.

The assassin’s throat bobbed. He wanted to answer, “I will”, but the bloody soil instantly rose like a wave, completely obscuring his sight, and when they returned to the ground again a few seconds later…

The black figure had completely disappeared.

The light screen was bright in the dark room that was emptied of light. The manager of the test zone finally put the cup that had been empty in his hand and breathed a long sigh of relief.

Well done. Ramon didn’t give up in the end. Fate was still on their side.

If Oliver Ramon could deal with “true despair”, they might really be able to succeed this time. After all, the most desperate thing wasn’t forcing them to break their principles, nor adhering to said principles, but to abandon hope and end everything.

After thousands of years of experimentation and observation, they were more familiar with human nature than anyone else…

True despair existed after a moment of courage, when one was ready to face death. The warriors embraced their last attachment to the world and were ready to give their lives to stand firm.

Then they would find they couldn’t rest in peace.

---

The author has something to say:

Countdown to reunion: 2—! (；ω；)

---

Kinky Thoughts:

I bawled this chapter. Nemo’s coming Ollie!

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

---

Chapter 137: Futile Persistence

Oliver felt strange now.

The terrible thirst that rubbed his throat and mouth like a file and the hunger had turned into complete paralysis. They were mixed with the fatigue caused by his bondage and blood loss. The moment he opened his eyes, Oliver even thought he was dead.

But he wasn’t.

What followed was instinctive fear and bitterness. The wound left by the sword was faintly painful, like a dozen hot metal needles left in the flesh. He couldn’t laugh it off. Fatigue finally eroded his body and began to spread to his heart, but in contrast, a strange warmth was rushing from his heart to his limbs.

His will was struggling on the verge of death, but his body was slowly awakening. It was like a dilapidated dam had broken open and power gushed out uncontrollably, impacting all his nerves. Funny to say, Oliver had never felt so clearly that he was still “alive”. Although it wasn’t clear why, this wasn’t a bad thing.

The Gatekeepers who strengthened his shackles had already left, but their words didn’t fail to reach Oliver’s ears. Oliver couldn’t tell how he felt about it. Shaken? Sad? Perhaps. He didn’t want to think or talk anymore.

He just sat quietly in the dark corner, maintaining a blank state in his brain and supporting the operation of his body through instinct. If he was still alive, then someone would take the opportunity to attack.

Yes, he was still alive.

Oliver originally thought he would feel anger, despair, or some more intense negative emotions, but now he was as calm as burnt-out ashes. Perhaps when people were weak, their thoughts would become simpler and purer.

‘He was still alive. He could still see Nemo. For this, he must continue to live. He kept his promise,’ Oliver thought in a daze. It was amazing that he had managed to hold on to the present.

“Why?”

Oliver subconsciously wanted to raise his sword, only to find that it wasn’t a murder weapon but a question.

The man who wielded the meteor hammer questioned with subtle condemnation and resentment. “Why?” he repeated. “Don’t pretend to be a saint in such a place. It’s disgusting.”

“You expect me to kill you?” Oliver harshly cleared his throat.

“Fuck off. What’s the difference between what you’re doing and stepping on my* face?” the man roared. “You’re not going to the test zone, are you? You fucking gave up the opportunity I’ve been dreaming of! Listen, no one will accept your affection. Sooner or later, we’re going to die—”

*He’s referring to himself as [laozi] (老子) which when used like that is an arrogant way of saying this great one/your father. It could also be used out of anger or contempt (which it is in this case). Note that during his dialogue with Oliver, when referencing himself, he’s using this term. As this is a western setting, I decided not to use pinyin.

“Fifteen people never came back,” Oliver said. “I know.”

“No. You don’t know anything. You don’t know what’s going on in the test zone at all,” the big man roared, “and here—if you can’t stand out, no one can live here for longer than three months!”

“I want to kill you,” Oliver replied quietly, turning a deaf ear to the man’s yelling. “I’m not a saint. I want to kill you with every passing minute.”

The man choked.

“I’m not a saint. Far from it,” Oliver repeated hoarsely. “I just… don’t agree.”

“The law of the jungle is the iron rule. It’s up to you to recognize it or not. This goddamn world is like this—worthless human lives are worthless.” The big man approached. The iron chain left by the meteor hammer dragged on the floor, making a series of harsh noises. “Even if you pretend to be noble here, nothing can be changed. The Gatekeepers don’t care about your conscience—”

“Noble.” Oliver couldn’t help but laugh. “Noble you say? ……You really think so?”

To be defined as “noble” for killing others for his own benefits just before he had the chance to do so?

“Then throw away that hypocritical panache and pick up your sword! Let me be frank, you make people very uncomfortable 300,000,” the big man hissed. “I know you look down on us bitches, a bunch of scoundrels…”

“Who defines it?”

“What?”

“The Gatekeepers think you’re ‘worthless’ and you accept it.” The strangely dressed knight stood up, holding his sword sideways with both hands. “Why? I’m just more talented than you at killing people, so I’m a ‘valuable powerhouse’. Who defines it?”

In the peaceful life of Roadside Town, Oliver occasionally had the illusion that “everything was in line with common sense”. The law protected people, and people lived peacefully. The trajectory of their lives followed the established route. What a wonderful illusion that was.

But this wasn’t a fair or ideal world, and now Oliver understood it well.

The so-called goodwill wouldn’t necessarily be rewarded, and villains wouldn’t necessarily be punished. People were sometimes amazingly smart and sometimes terribly stupid. Many times, right and wrong were blurred into a ball, and the persistence of principle seemed meaningless. The world was cold, chaotic, crazy, and unreasonable.

But it was precisely because of knowing this unreasonable madness that occasional miracles became more precious.

It was like not all people who were hurt would be repaid with malice. It was like in a desperate situation where there was no way out, some people would succumb, and some people would continue to persist. Just as some demons would eventually part ways with fragile humans, some… would not.

Leaving aside meaning, putting aside gain and losses, those lives that were stubborn and stupid, who insisted on moving forward in pain; they didn’t operate in accordance with the so-called “rules”, “standards”, and “logic”.

This wasn’t a world that could be easily defined by others, and he didn’t want to bow to such fabricated rules.

“I said, I want to kill you, every minute and every second, but I’m making choices every minute and every second,” the knight’s voice slightly trembled. “I’m not a martyr. It’s not because I’m fucking noble or despicable. It’s because I have a reason to insist.”

Of course he would be disappointed and bitter, but the person he fell in love with was extremely gentle—Oliver hoped that the other person could continue to live like this, without scruples, and he wanted to be qualified to be the other person’s chain and armor, so he would not lose to hostility.

And a self that would bow to desire and liberation couldn’t do this.

“…It’s just that you chose to do it, and I chose not to, and then we each bear the consequences.”

This was true every second.

“We’re the same,” Oliver said. His throat hurt like he had just swallowed a glass shard. “Fuck this value. My name is Oliver Ramon, not ‘300,000’… You also have a name, right?”

But his enemy did not answer. The big man returned to the shadows, spit on the ground, and didn’t speak again. For a while, there was only numb and soothing breathing in the room again. People continued to peep from the shadows, just like the day that the weird knight had just arrived.

No one approached, no one made a sound; people just looked at him coldly.

But no one attacked.

Oliver almost managed to sleep, and when he opened his eyes again, it was a new cycle for the day. Oliver routinely kissed the scar on his wrist that had begun to heal. He could feel his strength surging under the restraint, stretching the shackles and collars of his limbs.

A thread of hope, like spider silk, hung in his hand.

Things seemed to be moving in a good direction. Oliver guessed that the anxiety and thirst had reached the limit of death, but he was able to keep a trace of sanity. He even started to try to break the shackles on his body. The composition of the new collar was very complicated, but under the continuous test of his great power, Oliver gradually began to get clues. For some reason, his power had increased several folds. Right now, he only needed time. Another week or two, at most a month, and he could definitely handle it.

The night had become less difficult. After the conversation of that day, Oliver’s cellmates no longer attacked him and preferred to treat him like air.

His persistence seemed to have paid off.

Until three days later, Randy stood in front of him.

It should have been a normal and crazy day as usual. It was just after the fight was over. The blood-soaked soil of the arena rose into the air and enveloped Oliver. When he saw light again, the field was still wide, but there was only one person on the opposite side.

The eyes of the assassin on the other side were complicated. He clenched his heavy shield tightly. His lips pursed, and silence floated in the air for a long time.

“Only one person can come out alive,” the tall assassin finally spoke, then sighed. “I’m sorry, Ramon—it was nice to meet you. May we have a good fight.”

After that, Randy took a few deep breaths and lowered his center of gravity. He looked like a beast that was about to attack. The murderous aura was like a quietly blooming flower, which spread out with icy precision.

‘He’s serious,’ Oliver thought blankly.

“We can cooperate,” Oliver said quickly. His voice was completely hoarse. He was still out of shape—there was no notice, no preparation. Oliver almost forgot to draw his sword. “It’s not just either life or death. Randy, I’ve been trying to break through…”

The heavy shield pierced his ear and almost shattered the skeleton helmet on his head.

“Do you know where we are standing?” Randy’s tone was still cold. He retracted his heavy shield and jumped close again like a lion. “Below is the blood furnace. They have a crush on you, Ramon. We can’t escape.”

The assassin had never stopped killing in the arena. His recovery had never been interrupted. Although magic was blocked, Randy still looked energetic and in excellent condition, with sharp killing intent in every movement. His actions were fast and flexible, which meant Mora wasn’t by his side.

…That meant his opponent had nothing to worry about, which wasn’t good news for him.

“There will always be a way!” Oliver shouted hard, not knowing whether to convince his opponent or himself, or was just trying to stay sane. He wasn’t in good condition to fight physically. What Adrian Cross had taught him was a sword style to capture the enemy, not a killing move that could take someone out in a single blow. “Even if it’s the blood furnace…”

Honestly, Oliver didn’t know what the blood furnace meant. He was completely confused about the current situation, and the only person who knew something was busy killing him.

“They didn’t tell you what the blood furnace is, did they? Of course.” Randy’s attack speed was getting faster. The heavy shield edge rubbed against Oliver’s chest. The latter held on to his standing position with difficulty, and was repelled a few steps, almost spitting out a mouthful of blood. “It’s like they won’t tell you that the time limit for the cell you were sent to has arrived.”

“Time limit?” Oliver just stood upright for a few seconds. His sword-swinging movement stagnated for a moment, and he was almost hit squarely by the shield.

“Exactly what I mean.” Randy tugged at the corners of his mouth, as if intending to use information as a means of attack. “The blood furnace needs to be maintained by flesh and blood. Why do you think they chose such a cell for you? Haven’t you been attacked a lot at night, Ramon?”

“They’re all dying. They are the ones meant to die. They were originally your opportunity, and you were also their opportunity,” the assassin announced cruelly. “Now they are waiting for you down there.”

“Yes, waiting for you. I’ll never fall.” Randy’s voice sounded a bit bitter and self-depreciating. “How lucky I am that my opponent is an upright person.”

Oliver raised his sword and took a deep breath. His hands trembled a little. “Fall?”

“A boring experiment by the Gatekeepers. Only one piece of information is certain. All the people who fell before were torn apart and swallowed alive. I told you a long time ago that it was much easier to kill someone at random.” Randy stared at the sword warily. “To tell you the truth, I admire you very much, Ramon, but now we’re destined to have one person fall, whether it’s a corpse or in a half-dead state.”

“My lover is waiting for me. I can’t die,” the assassin murmured. A trace of soft emotion flashed across his stiff face.

“Unfortunately, so is mine.” Oliver licked his lips. His gaze was still floating around the arena, trying to find flaws, but he found nothing. He didn’t dare destroy the collar at this time—Randy’s killing intent hadn’t faltered. If he couldn’t break it and was attacked by the collar, he would be killed by the assassin in the next second.

‘My persistence may be meaningless,’ Oliver thought. He still had the confidence to keep his life before, but now…

The armor on his chest was smashed and deflated. He should have broken a few ribs. Oliver tried his best to turn his heavy head, trying to judge the injury based on the pain. Randy was different from his previous opponents. If his condition was normal, it would be fine, but as it stood, he couldn’t end it in a draw.

It was either kill or be killed. There were no other options at this moment.

In any case, he seemed to be unable to fulfill his original promise to Adrian Cross. Either live and admit that he was a coward who would abandon his bottom line for selfish desires or die and follow the unfinished agreement.

But he was so close to freedom. As long as he persisted in thoroughly understanding the structure of the collar, he could break the shackles and escape. He only needed a little more time. He clearly overcame the pain of dying…

It was time to choose again, second after second, again and again, and this time, he finally lost the confidence to successfully resist. Oliver glanced at the engraving on his left wrist. His eyes became a little sour. He took a step, almost instinctively, and for the first time, he put on an offensive posture.

He was stronger than Randy. Oliver knew this.

He could win. He could, but…

“That’s it,” Randy said. His sharp eyes were moving with the tip of the sword. “Like men, let’s fight in a dignified manner.”

---

The author has something to say:

————————

Countdown to reunion: 3–! ╰(:з╰∠)_

---

Kinky Thoughts:

The writing, especially in this chapter, is beautiful!

Don’t do it Ollie! You must maintain your innocence!

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

---

Chapter 136: Under the Black Robe

Nemo was stunned in place, and those sharp black shadows instantly dispersed.

“Don’t worry about us.” Ann landed and blocked his possible problems. “Forget Cross—you know me. I’m not considerate enough to die for your love life. We got a way, so get out of here while you still can!”

Nemo didn’t ask any more questions. He bowed slightly to his companions in the smoke.

The line of sight was obscured by smoke, and the spells were subtly cut off by lightning. He was influenced by other magic arrays, so he still had no way to skillfully control his spells. Fortunately, at this moment, he didn’t need to attack. He just needed to purely escape.

It was dangerous to split open a rift blindly, but he couldn’t be bothered at this moment. He just needed to make sure the rift wasn’t on the surface, and it didn’t happen to tear open any creatures. As for himself—no matter what was on the other side of the rift, he wouldn’t die easily.

Nemo made a simple gesture, and a long rift was pulled out of the space in front of him. His figure quickly disappeared behind it.

“All right.” Ann licked her lips, and the smoke she had raised dissipated. “Now it’s going according to the original plan, Cross.”

Not so long ago, in a room at the Roadside Town inn.

“…He cut off communication.” Ann frowned at the communication crystal that quickly dimmed in her hand. “My intuition is telling me that this kid is probably going to do something stupid. His attitude hasn’t been right these past two days. Even if you consider Oliver’s situation, it’s too wrong.”

“I’ve inquired. The Knights of Judgment are led by Lord Waldron.” The former knight commander’s expression tightened. “It’s impossible for Mr. Light to retreat after ‘handling’ the superior demon. That person has always been meticulous. He must’ve laid out enough defenses. Even for Mr. Light, it’s impossible to completely avoid conflict—”

“What? Do you think he’ll kill them?” Jesse was sitting on the table, stuffing a fried bean pastry with salt grains into his mouth.

“I don’t think so,” Adrian replied dryly, while glancing at Jesse. “After all, the Knights of Judgment are there. Morally speaking, he can just stay out of it.”

“According to the nosy character of that little fool, the situation probably can’t be solved by the knights.” The female warrior looked out the window. The newly hatched demon was squirming in the forest, emitting a terrifying power. “What should I do, Cross? If I guess correctly, he probably thinks that he will be exposed.”

So he drew the line with them in advance.

“Mr. Light is indeed powerful,” Adrian’s expression became uglier, “but after all, he’s still just a civilian who has only experienced several battles. He should not have the skills to deal with war-style attacks. Although I don’t think he’ll kill them…”

Conflict was inevitable, and whether it was Nemo Light or the Knights of Judgment, neither party was really “ready” for this battle.

“Not to mention the severity of this situation. If he really acts against the Knights of Judgment, then it doesn’t matter whether his identity is exposed or not.” Ann lowered her gaze. “Considering what happened to the Abyssal Church, he’ll be recognized as an ‘enemy’, right Cross?”

“…And Nemo took this into account,” she tugged the corners of her mouth helplessly.

Strictly speaking, the risk of exposure was already high. After all, on their previous mission, no one expected that things would turn out this way. Their mission to sneak into the Abyssal Church was beautifully executed, and the information was clearly kept in the Mercenary Guild. It was only a matter of time before Tumbleweed became a target. Under the siege of the Knights of Judgment, Nemo’s identity was also at considerable risk of exposure.

Therefore, he completely pushed them out of this matter. As long as they insisted on not knowing, they could not be convicted.

When she picked the two of them up by the Border Forest, Nemo was still a shy young man with strange powers. Ann could see that he had been afraid that they would leave him because of those abnormalities.

But now, in order not to implicate them, they were left behind by him first.

“I’ll distract them. That asshole kid wants to play a sad hero by himself? Fuck no,” Ann said sternly, turning to Adrian with a flat expression. “You know, if I can get the Preceptor Bishop to recognize me, I should be able to buy some time. At least he won’t do anything to me—forget about you. They’re dying to take you back with them.”

Adrian Cross looked at her in silence for a long time.

“I’ll go with you. I know their offensive attacks, so I can delay them as well,” a few minutes later, he spoke, while quietly looking sideways at the blond young man beside him. Jesse was sucking the salt grains that were stuck to his fingers. “So what are your plans?”

“Why are you helping him?” Jesse picked up another fried bean pastry from the paper bag and chewed loudly. “Isn’t this a great opportunity to see Mr. Light’s true nature? Forget Ms. Savage; I don’t think you’re the kind of person who’s easily moved.”

“That’s right,” Adrian’s voice was as cold as ever. “I don’t intend to ‘help’ Mr. Light.”

Indeed, he was completely different from Ann Savage. He didn’t intend to act for emotional reasons such as “friendship”. His reason should be colder and more negative…

To be fair, from the perspective of a guardian of mankind, he didn’t think there was anything wrong with the Preceptor Bishop’s caution, but Light wasn’t wrong.

Nemo Light wasn’t human, and he had no position to require Light to adhere to human moral standards. And he wasn’t qualified to do any test of nature—to look on with indifference to the suffering of others and even contribute to their pain, and pin everything on the hope that “the other party is a saint”; if the other party didn’t hold true, they would shout, “I knew it would be like this” and “he doesn’t deserve to be treated well”, then logically began to deny and attack.

He had seen this before, Adrian thought bitterly. He had seen it countless times by the side of his close friend, Cahill Edwards.

Rather than expect Light to knock out his teeth and swallow blood*, he was more inclined to destroy the desperate situation that might be coming.

*(打落牙齿和血吞) Metaphor for extreme helpless forbearance. It symbolizes getting your teeth knocked out but holding back the anger in one’s heart and swallowing it into your stomach along with the blood. || It’s basically saying he doesn’t expect Nemo to just take what’s to come and let go of all grievances (no matter how unjust it would be to him).

“I’m just doing my job and protecting my compatriots.” Adrian picked up the metal bow on the table and then looked directly into Jesse Dylan’s eyes. “Seeing others in a desperate situation, rather than lending a helping hand, and instead judging that person’s ‘nature’; I personally don’t like this approach—after all, Mr. Light has no obligation to be merciful to mankind.”

“Wow, I really like this about you,” Jesse said affectionately, quickly stuffing the fried bean pastry into Adrian’s mouth, completely ignoring the frowning brow of the other party. “You don’t have to look so sad. Haa, I actually have a better idea.”

He grinned at the two of them, laughing like a fox who had stolen meat.

So far, it turned out that Jesse’s idea was indeed good—except for a little awkwardness.

The billowing black smoke was dispelled by a spell and the restraint and interference arrays once again tied the black figure tightly and continued to nibble at the wide robe that condensed into a black shadow. The female warrior’s face was covered in soot as she guided thunder and lightning to disrupt the knight’s formation. Adrian Cross generously pulled his bow and arrow to make sure that no attack successfully got near the dark omen.

These two people were so terribly strong, but they didn’t carry out any real attacks. They just defended blindly. In front of the large number of Knights of Judgment, failure was inevitable.

Felix Waldren, the Preceptor Bishop, was raging with anger.

Both of them were using surface magic. The dark omen really had human companions, and the possibility of being a “lonely and powerful superior demon” decreased instantly. This made him breathe a sigh of relief. Felix originally wanted to issue an order to thoroughly investigate all groups and teams that had been active in the Abyssal Church and nearby, trying to find this possibility. Unexpectedly, they saved him a lot of time and sent the information right to his doorstep.

But after he saw one of them clearly, he almost had a heart attack.

“Temporarily suspend the dragon breath stone fort’s charging.” He pinched his brow fiercely. “Damn. Why is Cross with that dark omen? No… When did he regain his strength?!”

But even the famous “Shining Morning Star” could not use defensive magic to repel the experienced Knights of Judgment. The attacks of the Knights of Judgment became more concentrated and finally completely tore open the black robes condensed by the dark shadows.

“Oh—you guys have gone too far!” The man under the black robe sighed, and his voice was full of suffocation. “I’m obviously here to help.”

The dark omen revealed its true face, but it wasn’t what they had imagined.

It was a blond young man who was a little too beautiful, and he even made an angry look. He changed hands, holding the staff that was emitting abyssal magic from his right to his left hand, then used his right hand to flip everyone off.

“This is really too much!” he shouted.

Naturally, the Knights of Judgment who have been on the battlefield wouldn’t be fascinated by a man’s beautiful skin, but the face was really difficult to rile up their fighting spirit, not to mention the man had stopped attacking. What was more…

After the battlefield calmed down, the shadowy figure next to the man became more familiar. The tall man wore a stiff monk’s uniform, had firm eyes and deep brows, and a warm white light arrow on his metal bow. That was the role model they had dreamed of that inexplicably collapsed overnight—the former Chief Justice, Adrian Cross.

Such a strange situation.

Everyone was completely confused. The knights had to strengthen their restraints while lost, waiting for the next instruction from the Preceptor Bishop.

“Ms. Savage and darling Adri.” Jesse deliberately lengthened his tone, admiring the wonderful faces of the Knights of Judgment. “You can stop.”

The two warriors finally put down their weapons and stood beside the blond young man, surrounded by the Knights of Judgment. Seeing that the situation was stable, the Preceptor Bishop stepped to his feet and rose into the air, glaring down at the beautiful blond young man.

And the other party gave him an exceptionally bright smile in return.

“May I ask your excellency?” Felix coughed a few times, trying not to look at Adrian Cross. “You don’t seem to have any plans to fight. I hope from the bottom of my heart that all this is just an unfortunate misunderstanding.” Before he could relax his vigilance, the Preceptor Bishop took a deep breath. “May I ask a question—why did you attack just now?”

“Jesse Dylan.” Jesse stuck a finger into his ear and dug it out nonchalantly. “Why attack? My God, you all surrounded me! You see, I just helped you solve a big problem. No one likes to receive this kind of ‘thank you’, am I right?”

“The responsibility lies with me.” Felix frowned. “I’m sorry for causing you trouble, but please understand. After all, you just used abyssal magic—”

“Do you suspect that I’m a demon? No, no, no. I’m just a good Samaritan passing by.” Jesse’s voice became more aggrieved. Ann, who lowered her face to the side, couldn’t help covering it. “It’s just the effect of this staff. You can check it. I’m definitely not a demon. Absolutely not!”

“Then your disguise—” Seeing the opponent’s face lit up in an instant, the Preceptor Bishop subconsciously wanted to swallow back his question, but it was too late.

“Because I like to do good deeds without leaving a name. After all, I’m too strong, and it would always cause unnecessary trouble,” Jesse covered his chest as he said deeply. “You see, we just caught an Abyssal believer who did evil. Then I found out that something was wrong here, so I easily solved it. You should know how urgent the situation is, right? If you doubt me, that villain is still locked up in the Roadside Town inn.”

“Now that you found me, can we pretend that we haven’t met each other?”

“I’m afraid that won’t do,” the Preceptor Bishop said with difficulty. Mr. Dark Omen was too lively, and his brain couldn’t compute. “You have to… come with us and let the Pope confirm…”

Adrian Cross instantly moved his gaze to the blond young man beside him. He was close enough to see the playful smile that suddenly appeared in the exaggerated expression.

“Alright,” Jesse Dylan said in a very reluctant tone, “but I have a condition—if I’m not a demon, you have to make compensation.”

“Of course.”

“My companions don’t have to go with me, do they? I know you’re curious about my darling Adri’s situation, so I won’t push the issue on that, but the lady; there are still things in our team that need to be dealt with…”

“…Let her go.” There was no aura of abyssal magic on that woman, and the Preceptor Bishop was too tired to tussle with the issue. The words “darling Adri” almost broke his nerves beyond their limits.

“Great,” Jesse threw the staff to the Knights of Judgment, and in an instant, sealing magic wrapped it in layers. “Let’s go then.”

The lights of Roadside Town were still flashing. The people didn’t know why the demon suddenly disappeared, but it didn’t prevent the grand festival from starting. The backyard of the Ramon’s inn was packed with singing and dancing. Drinks, bonfires, and music filled the small area, giving off the atmosphere of joy as usual.

However, the son of the previous owner, the person who should have owned this lively area, had not been well in the past few days.

Three days ago.

The “corpse” in the weird condition didn’t lie on the floor for long. Not long after the invisible flame burned down the meteor hammer, heavily armed Gatekeepers entered the cell. They didn’t intend to take the weird knight away, but instead put the same restraint as his collar on the limbs of the unconscious body.

Finally, the unnatural sense of oppression in the cell disappeared. The death row prisoners in the cell stared at the visitors in silence while remaining motionless.

After doing this, the leader pressed his hand on the chest of the strange knight, and a fluctuation of magic instantly spread in the air. The originally unconscious person coughed twice and opened his eyes with great difficulty.

“According to regulations, I should have given you a recovery spell,” the Gatekeeper said gruffly, regardless of whether the other party really regained consciousness. “But I don’t want to do this. Think about it again, 300,000. Kill someone at will, and you can still go to the mobile barracks.”

“Don’t blame me for not reminding you. Our combat zone is much gentler than the test zone.” He seemed to have thought of something and snorted with cold dissatisfaction before casually glancing at the dark cell.

The knight on the ground sat up with difficulty, lowered his head, as if looking at the new restraint on his wrist.

“…Besides, these wastes will die sooner or later. Some are prisoners of war, while others are refugees with poor combat capabilities. Their country doesn’t need them, and their relatives do not feed them. It’s better not to treat them as human beings.”

The young man wearing a skeleton helmet stretched out his hand and held the blood-stained hilt of the sword.

The sound of breathing in the cell subsided, accompanied by the sounds of small huffing and rustling movements. People subconsciously wanted to hide, but they didn’t know where to hide, so they could only stop breathing in vain. The value of this person was terrifying, and they had already experienced the abnormal fluctuation of his power firsthand.

Everyone knew very well that they were just consumables used by the Gatekeepers to sharpen this weapon. People more or less knew what had happened in the gladiatorial arena, and after receiving enough malice, the eccentric knight’s kindness and patience should have come to an end.

It was going to kill. Numb thoughts swirled in the heads of the death row prisoners, but no one could afford to mentally resist.

Yes, that’s it. The person in charge of the combat zone thought with relief. As long as this kid was willing to bow his head before the formalities were completed, he would still be a valuable asset to the combat zone. Bluntly put, they never thought he would be so stubborn and let people in the test area take advantage of this. Now this young man should know how strong he was, and he wouldn’t willingly submit to all this muck…

But the figure stood up staggeringly and didn’t look at him again.

The monster-like young knight retracted into the corner, holding his sword with both hands and posing in a defensive posture. He didn’t attack, didn’t speak, and was silent like a stone statue.

The mole-like man in the corner let out a sob. The strong man who had lost his weapon clenched the remaining handle of the meteor hammer in his hand and said nothing.

---

The author has something to say:

Jesse: Let me tell you, you are besieging good people! Isn’t that right, darling Adri?

Preceptor Bishop: …You stop talking.

Jesse: I can go with you guys, but you have to pay for the mental damage first, right darling Adri?

Preceptor Bishop: That’s enough. You should really stop talking.

Jessie: Darling Adri~

The knight pretended not to hear anything.

————————

I’m… finally beginning to be unable to bear the separation of Nemo and Ollie. I always felt that something’s not right. _(;””∠)_

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

---

Chapter 135: Fading Stars

Demons and monsters were the first to discover the changes in the Border Forest, much earlier than humans.

It was a bloody human arm that was thrown away by the garrison of Roadside Town into the damp shrubs. It would have rotted quickly and then turned into a broken piece of corpse that wasn’t an uncommon sight in the Border Forest, but instead of rotting, it remained in its original state in the hot and humid woods, faintly exuding an aura that made demons extremely uncomfortable. Even ordinary insects and beasts without demon blood subconsciously avoid the strange flesh.

It lay there quietly among the rotting leaves and dirt. Its growing powers seduced the surrounding creatures, but aggressive fluctuations pushed them away.

Until an injured earth dragon swallowed it.

The earth dragons had a medium IQ and a big head, but their reactions weren’t very responsive. They didn’t have an overly complex mind. People didn’t have much interest in this kind of intermediate demon. The earth dragons lived in the deep, dark lairs of the Border Forest. Their flesh was rough and poisonous, and their scales, skins, and bones were of little practical use. They only move in groups in small areas of activity, looking for other creatures’ eggs, rotting meat, and juicy water mushrooms, the latter in particular.

They often passed through shrubs in droves, sniffing at rotten roots and marking stumps where the mushrooms may grow. They were extremely cautious, and once a powerful predator approached, the earth dragons would quickly evacuate under the command of the leader.

It all started with an accident.

Humans held testing activities in the forest from time to time, and the life in the forest had long been accustomed to it. Not long ago, a superior demon appeared inexplicably in this event, but fortunately, it took the initiative to dedicate its flesh and blood. The active predators successfully got a piece of the action, and their strength soared, causing the balance in the forest to begin to tilt.

Unfortunately, this didn’t include the cautious earth dragons, and it was because of this that after Pandorater left its collapsed flesh and blood, this caution became the cause of the disaster—with their leader’s judgment, no earth dragon took a piece of Pandorater’s flesh, so none could resist the sudden strengthening of their natural enemies. The number of earth dragons had declined sharply, and the survivors had to run around daily to escape with their lives.

They finally had nowhere to go.

The leader of the earth dragon had lost an eye and a leg. The flesh on its chest was torn apart by fangs, revealing white ribs. Its companions screamed in its ears, pleading for the baby earth dragons that hadn’t even had the chance to hatch.

Its race was about to disappear.

There was a vague and painful groan in the throat of the leader of the earth dragons. Its breathing became more ragged. Remorse tormented it, along with toxins seeping from its wounds. The dying demon lowered its head and arched its nose over the arm on the ground.

As a kind of creature that wasn’t intelligent, its idea was simple and direct. Since it would die anyway, it was better to try to become stronger and win a glimmer of hope for its kind.

Wasn’t there still a piece of flesh of a superior demon here? Even if the rejection and fear derived from instinct numbed its brain and the overly intense fluctuations in power almost took away its standing strength; even if it was scared, extremely scared, this was still an option. The instinct of survival and the responsibility as a leader tore at each other in the small skull of the earth dragon, and it almost fell into chaos.

The earth dragon let out a small whine, struggled in place for a long time, and finally swallowed the dismembered arm into his stomach.

Then it sank into thick darkness.

It didn’t know how long it took before it finally saw light again. The world had never been so clear, and the majestic power was pouring out of its body, but what followed was pain. The body melted and deformed, and its heart almost burst. The earth dragon instinctively sensed something bad. It could smell the breath of death close at hand.

But it didn’t matter. It thought for a moment that it still had time to clean up the enemies of its species. Despite being puzzled by the suddenly smaller trees and mountains, it raised its head and began to sadly call for its group.

The Preceptor Bishop, Felix Waldron, was anxious.

He hadn’t had a good night’s sleep since arriving in Roadside Town. The Knights of Judgment persuasion to the civilians didn’t have any practical effect, and the people who left were far fewer than the adventurers who came to inquire about the news. At the behest of the Preceptor Bishop, the Knights of Judgment of the Laddism Church had laid down the highest level of defense. To ensure that the response was fast enough, half of the troops were on standby in the area adjacent to the demon cocoon, while the other half stepped up inspections and threw every demon worshiper nearby into the dungeon.

This thing was extremely dangerous, was the hunch that the Preceptor Bishop had. The current situation couldn’t tolerate anyone from the Abyssal Church disrupting it. Although the Abyssal Church’s headquarter was gone, greatly affecting their vitality, he couldn’t relax his vigilance because of this.

“Pull the dragon breath stone fort to the southwest corner. The defensive formation there is too weak and could be used as a breakthrough point,” he ordered in a numb voice. “Where are the demon toxins? Is it all ready? We have to prepare for the worst—”

A violent earthquake suddenly struck, and the sound of flesh tearing through the night sky made everyone’s skin tighten. A mass of a deformed creature fell from the cocoon, then the cocoon melted and disappeared like hot wax.

A strong sense of oppression followed, as if a blacksmith’s hammer instantly shattered all the ribs in one’s chest. Even under the layers of protection of the magic arrays, the Preceptor Bishop still vomited a mouthful of blood.

“Team 17, go to Roadside Town!” The middle-aged Preceptor Bishop bent down slightly as he shouted in a trembling tone. “Go to the most crowded place to stabilize the scene and guide them to evacuate! This is a superior demon. A complete superior demon…”

What came out of the cocoon looked like an immature dragon embryo, not healthy or normal. It let out a sharp and unpleasant howl, crawling on the ground as if struggling. A dark, shadow-like liquid flowed from the cracks in the Abyss, quietly entangling the newly born demon, and the pain in the demon’s howl became heavier.

It’s the law. Felix thought that the complete superior demon wouldn’t be able to come after all. The demon who violated the law was about to die, but why was the sense of oppression getting stronger?

“Kenyatta’s gunners should be in place. The dragon breath stone fort is on standby,” he raised a hand.

“Lord Waldren!”

“I said, standby. This thing can’t get out of control. Absolutely not.”

“We’re always willing to dedicate ourselves to the glory of Zenni, but if the fort blows over, you’ll also…”

“Nonsense! I’m the commander!” The Preceptor Bishop roared. The skin on his neck flushed with anger. “I must grasp all its changes immediately. Standby! Damn it—”

The oppression of the superior demon suddenly weakened sharply.

The sudden changes were the most terrifying part of this extremely abnormal situation. The Preceptor Bishop Felix almost ordered to fire with his shaking hand, until another steady and familiar sense of oppression appeared. Felix raised his head with some difficulty, subconsciously looking at the source of another powerful force.

The dark omen.

He still looked the same, with a black robe condensed into a black shadow, and his face wasn’t visible. He held an equally dark staff in his hand. The ominous figure floated in mid-air, one hand pointing in the direction of the superior demon, motionless.

This was truly the worst time.

Felix made a quick decision. He made a quick gesture, and the defensive array was launched, layer by layer, like a blooming white epiphyllum. ‘This was a great time to confirm the identity and position of this “dark omen”,’ he thought calmly. ‘How lucky.’ He may have the chance to die with the most terrifying demon.

Nemo stepped in the air.

He didn’t have time to be afraid of this height, and he didn’t even dare to be distracted by the defensive array that was launched by the Laddism Church. At that moment, all his attention was fixated on the superior demon who was still struggling. The dazzling star flickered frantically in his mind, and its thoughts and shouts also pierced his brain.

It was the leader of the earth dragons. It was calling for its most cherished thing, its group.

But no one came.

Perhaps it had been sleeping for too long. Nemo could sense there were few life reactions from the earth dragons in the forest. He didn’t dare to convey the news to it. It was still calling non-stop, and its cries became sadder.

Nemo closed his eyes. He emptied his mind, trying to touch the dazzling star. Finally, under the light, he could clearly see the complicated magic circuits like capillaries.

Sure enough.

He always thought that magic came from the ability of the creatures themselves, but now it seemed that the opposite was true. What it returned to him was pure energy, and what flowed out of him was “abyssal magic”.

It was like a transaction.

When they first met, he didn’t think there was anything to Jesse Dylan’s metaphor. Yes, it was no wonder why he could only use abyssal magic without any need for spells and prayers… No, now it seemed that those mysterious spells and prayers were just signals for trading.

And the “stars” in his mind—whether they used abyssal magic or not—returned pure energy. Although he didn’t know why they kept flashing like real stars, he had learned enough facts. Nemo carefully dredged the power in the demon’s body to make it less violent.

The power of this demon was so powerful that the subtle fluctuations felt like the tide. The exchange and flow of power gradually became clearer, and the starry sky in his mind began to expand. It was getting wider and clearer.

This was the first time he had close contact with the flow of power after he had his definite guess. Now, Nemo’s mind was as clear as ice, and his cognition had never been so real. It really wasn’t detection magic. It wasn’t even magic. It was just pure… Perception.

The perception of those lives that were connected to him and provided him with strength. It was like perceiving petals falling on the skin. Those who had just been born, those who were about to die. Born as a demon or making a contract with a demon. Countless stars appeared quickly, one by one, lit up in his mind, and began to flicker.

Oliver, who had a contract with him, had the ability to use abyssal magic. Now he could be sure—as long as he had this ability, even if he didn’t use it, Oliver would become his source of strength. Then, naturally, he would be able to find the star that belongs to Oliver.

He finally clung to a glimmer of hope, but he couldn’t take back his abandoned limb—he still couldn’t save the dying earth dragon.

The newborn superior demon didn’t move. It roared sadly, its voice becoming more desperate. Finally, an earth dragon responded to the call. The weak earth dragon dragged its wounded body and looked up suspiciously at the unknown monster in front of it—and the dying superior demon lowered its head, wanting to sniff its own kind and be intimate as usual.

However, it hadn’t yet learned how to control its power.

Under the excessive pressure, the weak earth dragon instantly became a pile of flesh.

The deformed superior demon let out a sharp roar. The light of the defensive array suddenly became a little heavier. Its power was still increasing, but it may have now recognized the sad fact.

At this time, that power was no longer important.

It began to struggle violently and roared with all its strength, but only one person could understand its meaning. Nemo took a deep breath, and the smell of the forest mixed with flesh and blood rushed straight to his nose. He took out the communication crystal in his pocket with slightly trembling hands and glanced at the Knights of Judgment, who had gradually gathered due to the abnormal condition.

“Ann,” he said gently and softly. “You guys go. The farther away, the better. It can get dangerous here.”

“Nemo? ……What are you planning?” The voice of the female warrior came from the other side of the crystals. “We just caught the bastard you said—”

“I need to deal with that superior demon. You should be able to see it now. It’ll be over soon… Now I can find Oliver and I’ll act as soon as it’s over.”

“Then what?”

“…Then I’ll go to you with Ollie,” he lied. “You can take advantage of this time to send the prisoner to the Insular Court.”

“But…”

“Promise me, okay?”

Nemo didn’t wait for Ann to answer. He directly crushed the crystal that was still flashing. ‘I’m really not good at saying goodbye,’ Nemo thought.

The superior demon in front of him was crying bitterly. Its power was so strong that it began to corrode its body; strong enough for it to detect the condition of the entire forest.

It had long since lost its reason to fight.

The former earth dragon wept helplessly, praying in a voice that no one understood from the swollen flesh. Unlike when he was participating in the Black Chapter’s test, Nemo no longer treated those thoughts as mystical murmurs.

This superior demon was just like Pandorater. It found him and began to pray.

[Kill me.] It spoke. [Kill me.]

[I’m so sad.]

[I made a mistake.]

[Kill me.]

It kept repeating.

“Okay,” Nemo responded dryly. “I’m really…”

He didn’t care about the gathering Knights of Judgment anymore. He didn’t care about how many pairs of eyes were watching. There were originally only two choices for him—either let go of his power and confine the explosion to a small space or wipe out the superior demon before the explosion.

He shouldn’t be so sad. It made a request, the least painful way. Everyone would be safe, but…

“I’m really, really sorry.”

Nemo murmured repeatedly. He cut off those circuits and extinguished the star, as if gently blowing out a burning candle.

The huge superior demon disappeared.

There was no exploding flesh; no splashing of blood. It quietly turned into ashes in an instant—ashes fluttered in the night sky, like falling snow in winter. It slowly fell on the armor of the Knights of Judgment, before accumulating into a thin layer on the ground.

He didn’t have the slightest fatigue after consuming his strength. Only unspeakable heaviness and sadness.

Nemo turned around and felt the vast starry sky in his mind. Virgil’s intel was more valuable than he thought—there was more than one dazzling star in the starry sky, but only one was in Walden.

In other words, the Withered Castle.

Oliver was there.

But before he could taste this rare little joy, the familiar despair struck again. The star was darkening at an abnormal speed. It was extinguishing, and he was about to lose it.

The snow-like ashes had not completely scattered to the ground and for a moment, his body seemed to really have turned into bitter winter.

‘I have to hurry,’ Nemo thought. ‘Go there immediately. I must be quick—’

But as he expected, several surveillance and restraint spells came at the same time. This crisis was over, but the Knights of Judgment naturally wouldn’t leave. A more terrifying threat than a superior demon was at hand.

Compared with before, the atmosphere of the Knights of Judgment was more tense. When power exceeded a certain limit, position and motivation were no longer important. They would no longer use his behavior as a main basis for judging whether he was good or evil. Nemo fully understood this, but right now he didn’t have the time or energy to entangle with the people in front of him.

What was waiting for him would be their attempts to stall him while more troops and support arrived. The Knights of Judgment were still trying to protect Roadside Town and the people.

Protect them from him.

‘There could be a peaceful solution,’ Nemo thought to himself. As long as he was willing to cooperate, make a harmless appearance, and obediently dispel their doubts, but that would take time, maybe lots of time…

Which he didn’t have.

Black shadows rose into the air, their sharp shadow blades pressing against the throats and eyes of the knights.

“Remove the restraint arrays,” Nemo shouted in a cold voice. “Please get out of the way!”

The knights didn’t move. They stayed firmly, guarding the twinkling town behind them. Countless restraint arrays wrapped around Nemo’s body, slowly gnawing at the dark shadow. His disguise was about to break.

They were indeed heroic and upright people, but the star that belonged only to him was about to fade.

“Get out of the way—” Nemo repeated it again, trying to suppress the crying in his voice. He exerted his own binding spells in vain as the magic belonging to the surface would not follow his instructions. The magic array that had been arranged in all hidden directions interfered with his judgment. He couldn’t find the right strength, and he was likely to hurt everyone by mistake. “I don’t want to fight with you!”

He couldn’t handle multitasking at this moment. He knew a faster way—ignore all their defenses and spells, stop trying to talk, and directly use enough power to crush all the lives present.

He couldn’t do it.

He heard someone on the surface arguing about firing. Although Nemo didn’t know what the dragon breath stone fort was, he could probably understand what the other party was trying to say. They didn’t mean to compromise, and they wanted to die together.

“I don’t want to fight with you,” he repeated, trying to repair the disguise woven by the black shadows, but as soon as his attention was distracted, the shadow blade threatening the knights suddenly began to shake, so more binding and restraint arrays came.

Time was too tight. Perhaps there was only one way.

His disguise was about to peel off, and this place was likely soon to be destroyed. All the magic arrays used to deal with the superior demon were being used on him, but he didn’t want to hurt others. He may not be able to master his strength, but serious injuries were better than death.

He might never be able to go back. Nemo finally glanced at the twinkling town not far away, ready to take a risk.

But another force broke out earlier. After a loud explosion, countless plumes of smoke and dust rose from the Border Forest in an instant. A myriad of lightning flashed across the edge of the dense black smoke.

A hand stretched out and took the staff from Nemo’s hand.

“Go find your Oliver,” another voice came from not far away. “I can’t believe you’ve learned how to lie, you bastard.”

The female warrior turned her spear. “Cross and I know better than you how to deal with these guys.”

She smiled at him and raised her hand.

“This smoke will only help interrupt their binding spells for a bit. Now get lost!”

---

Kinky Thoughts:

Oh, I cried this chapter. The poor earth dragon. Nemo’s feelings. Ahh…

Did anyone make the connection? The skull helmet Ollie’s wearing is an earth dragon’s skull. I love these small details.

I also love how everything is intertwined and connected. Previous events in this novel have led to the present consequences. Things just aren’t happening out of nowhere. Everything is connected. Ahhh so good!

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

---

Chapter 134: Demon Cocoon

Ramon’s inn was still lively. After becoming a wanted criminal, Oliver was deprived of his identity as the owner. He didn’t know who in town took it over, but they didn’t convert it to another use and kept it running as it was.

Originally, the inn didn’t have a name, which saved the trouble of changing the signboard. Not to mention the cooks who usually came to help, not even the gardeners hired for the small garden had changed. If anything was different—the handsome and enthusiastic boss was buried in a public cemetery, next to his wife, who had been dead for many years. There was no young figure running back and forth in the inn, and no kind person playing the ukulele from time to time in the tavern in town.

That was it.

Fortunately, the new owner didn’t plan to deal with the giant fir in the backyard. Nemo shrank like a shadow on the top of the tree, looking at the huge demon cocoon not far away.

The dark red cocoon was ten meters high, like a small mountain peak. Countless strands of translucent fascia were wrapped around it, and the end was twisted into a meat rope that reached out in all directions. Their ends weren’t attached to the surface but penetrated the cracks in space suspended in the air and suddenly disappeared halfway. Ominous firelight was being projected through the small cracks.

Nemo could feel his own power pulsating in the cocoon. It was extremely unstable.

At the behest of the Preceptor Bishop, the Knights of Judgement never stopped persuading the civilians. People of all religions organized their own gatherings near the cocoon, trying to understand its true situation.

However, there was probably only one person in the world who knew the truth about it.

Nemo knew very well that that thing would blow up sooner or later, and it made no sense for people to evacuate or not. It should have been some confused intermediate demon that had swallowed the arm. There was only one reason why it hasn’t blown up yet. At the beginning, he fully believed that he was just an ordinary person, and he didn’t have any concept of the specific practice of “abandonment”, resulting in the loss of a piece of flesh that could only be regarded as a half-assed gift of power. It was both a miracle and a poison. The demons should have noticed this instinctively.

But one of them overcame the instinctive warning and swallowed it.

The instantaneous skyrocketing power caused it to form a cocoon immediately, and an extremely powerful superior demon was about to be born. Then it would go out of control and be quickly destroyed, but when it did blow up, dozens of nearby towns would not survive.

Nemo knew this very well, but he had no clue what to do. At present, he could only do his best to suppress the force and try to rely on it to understand the narrow starry sky in his mind. But the state of that thing was too dangerous, like a crumbling house of cards. He didn’t dare to push too hard, so he could only rack his brain to grasp the subtle boundaries.

For three days, there was no progress.

The miracle didn’t happen, and there was no light in the chaos. The world around him was moving rapidly, and only he stopped. Every minute and every second were like a jagged blade, constantly cutting his nerves. His progress shouldn’t be so slow. Oliver was likely to die while he was struggling for answers, and Nemo knew this.

First, next to the cocoon, then the edge of Roadside Town, and finally here. He watched himself quietly fall into despair, and finally extended his hand to the only relief—

The way to rescue Ollie did exist. It was literally in front of him.

Nemo hugged his knees, buried his face between them and said nothing. The backyard of the inn was extremely lively. The warm lights illuminated the night sky, but they couldn’t illuminate the top of the tree. People’s laughter and songs came from under it while the cocoon continued to be silent. Roadside Town had become livelier—the sounds seemed to come from another world.

When he was far away at the bottom of the Abyss, he firmly believed that these vague sounds could be pursued; he just stayed away from them. Those songs, those laughter, Oliver’s voice. As long as he kept moving forward, he would be able to reach them.

Nemo thought to himself how close he was now to them, but he had been completely separated from them.

And “his corpse”, the one who could restore all his memories, lay not far from him. Ulysses’ terrifying skull was still in place. Not far away lay a bunch of completely dried and decayed flowers. There was obvious damage to the skull. Nemo guessed that it was a bone fragment that had been cut away earlier. The half-person-sized skull just stared at him with empty eye sockets, which made the scene quite absurd.

Nemo knew that it had all the answers he wanted to know.

The solution to the current situation lay in the secrets of the starry sky and the long and dark memories. Yes, when he was still “normal”, he would experience various discomforts every time he approached here. He only thought it was a coincidence at the beginning, but now Nemo finally understood…

That was his subconscious resistance.

“Nemo Light” wasn’t a complete Demon King, but a brief illusion. This illusion rejected the entire memory and desired to exist in vain in order to escape the long darkness for a few short decades.

But since it was an illusion, “Nemo Light” was destined to disappear.

Nemo didn’t dare to look at it more. He sat a few steps away from the skull, accepting the ridicule of his own corpse. The incompetent and confused Demon King who wielded power was at a loss. His companions were running around for him, his hometown was about to be destroyed by his unintentional actions, and his lover… was suffering far away.

And here he was wasting time and didn’t successfully solve any problems. Every passing second screamed at his failure.

Restore your memory and master everything. His brain, tangled with anxiety and eagerness, was roaring. To rescue a human, one who has all the knowledge and memories can definitely do it.

Nemo gritted his teeth. He tasted a little blood in his mouth. The pain was real and deep, as he thought desperately. If he really restored all his memories, would he give a flash of mercy to the surface because of these pains? Or would he laugh at these weak feelings and bring real disaster to the surface?

Of course, nothing may happen when he restored his memory, or his recovery and awakening itself would bring a huge catastrophe leading to disasters. It may save everyone, but it was more likely to destroy everything.

The power to save Oliver was within his reach.

Nemo raised his head and looked at the huge skull again.

He didn’t reach out his hand after all.

This gamble was too dangerous. He smiled weakly. Nemo Light of Roadside Town liked to escape, but this time he couldn’t escape before despair. They agreed never to leave each other behind. Oliver must still be alive, and he must firmly believe this.

Oliver wouldn’t give up, so neither should he. He couldn’t deceive himself into ignoring risks, and he couldn’t give up on himself wishfully.

The lights went out and the voices disappeared. The black-haired young man sat motionless in the same place, blending with the deepening night. Keep thinking. Nemo held the staff tightly in his arms as he bit his lower lip unconsciously. He must continue to think.

Until a sound of flapping wings cut through the silence.

Something stopped on top of the huge skull. A black bird turned its head, looking at Nemo through the three pairs of eyes embedded in the bird’s beak, and then tilted its head at him. It jumped on the skull twice, with only one foot, made a rude retching sound, and spat out a cylindrical copper letter.

It was a spiny corpse bird. It must be news for Duran Virgil. Mr. Cross had specifically contacted the exorcist before, and Virgil’s news came much faster than they thought, as if they had been prepared.

Nemo hurriedly grabbed the letter in his hand. It shook slightly as he unfolded it.

[I’m very sorry. We can’t determine the specific location of the Withered Castle. It’s constantly moving.]

The first sentence made his heart drop. Nemo took a deep breath and continued reading.

[We can only be sure that it’s in Walden. I hope this can help you.]

[In addition, I got inside information about Mr. Ramon’s trial. Although he didn’t know the reason, he did pass the knight test of Knight’s Heart, but he wasn’t recorded on any knight roster. The Insular Court found that he was a Knight of Silence. At least at this point, there was nothing irregular in the process of the Insular Court. I suggest starting from those following points…]

Nemo stopped moving his eyes. Oliver may not have made an impression, but he remembered it very clearly. In Noer’s tavern, by the river, the joking canonization ceremony.

Nemo clenched the thin sheet of paper in his hand. What are the criteria for judging a knight’s oath?

A leader or king who was clearly defined by most cognitions, rituals, and trust in each other. The elements of the contract were indeed complete, but he didn’t know who he was at that time…

No, there was no excuse. He wasn’t completely ignorant. His cognition was just sleeping, not non-existent. The battle with Witherspoon was enough to prove this.

This wasn’t the time to question. The contract was established in theory, and was now obviously established as fact. Even if it was unintentional, in the end, he was the one who caused this. No wonder Oliver was able to blend into the Church of Silence smoothly. He thought the other party had used some method he didn’t know. Thinking about it this way, there was no need to specifically create a trading seal for Oliver.

The contract between them had always existed.

Wait.

Nemo stopped breathing. If the contract between them had always existed, then Jesse Dylan’s words…

[You may not find the location of the Withered Castle, but you can find the star.]

He thought that those stars represented only demon worshipers, demon warlocks, and demons who could clearly use abyssal magic and had a “demonic aura”, but if he could also detect Oliver, the reason could only be the knight’s oath. This wasn’t natural. Oliver himself should have had no idea about the contract, let alone taken the initiative to use its power. Strictly speaking, Oliver was still a pure human being, not even a demon worshiper.

He hadn’t used abyssal magic, so he didn’t know about the contract. If this could be included in the “starry sky”…

Was it just because it had something to do with him? But it was impossible for him to have a contract with every demon, let alone those humans who were close to demons. If it was faith or something else… He could even feel the spider-dogs in the forest. He didn’t believe that they had religious beliefs.

[It’s not detection magic.]

If what he perceived wasn’t simply “demonic aura”, then what was it? Nemo looked at the cocoon again. The star belonging to the cocoon was dazzling. It was constantly flashing. It struggled under his careful control and continued to overflow with strength. Those powers drifted aimlessly next to his binding spell. Instead of attacking, they made his binding spell more stable.

No longer considering the “demonic aura”, leaving aside all established cognitions; after stripping away all the concepts, the scene was a bit untimely and hilarious—there was a steady stream of drifting power, and Nemo only felt that he was shaving a sheep that kept growing wool.

Wrong.

Nemo frowned. He emptied his mind for the first time and used all his power on perception.

It wasn’t overflowing. Those forces were coming at him.

…It was returning power. After confirming the Demon King’s suppression of superior demons, he originally thought it was just an ordinary power overflow that was snatched by him, so he didn’t think too deeply about it. If this “star” was like this, what about others? Nemo quickly turned his attention to other creatures in the forest, especially the miniscule subordinates who had no intelligence and the demon worshipers who had not been infected by a demon’s flesh.

They were doing the same thing.

Although it was so weak that it was almost imperceptible, it required special exploration to discover, but they were indeed doing exactly the same thing. They were undoubtedly sending him a steady stream of power.

And they only had two things in common: they were all alive, and they could all use abyssal magic directly. Whether it was by virtue of their own talents or the contract they acquired.

It had nothing to do with race, strength, or ancestry. Only these two points were similar.

Nemo stood up slowly. A guess gradually took shape in his mind. It was crazy and absurd, but the last thing he lacked now was absurd reality, so everything made sense, whether it was Jesse Dylan’s ability or the Demon King’s unnatural power.

There was only verification left.

Nemo stepped on the branch and jumped quickly towards the demon cocoon. After his figure left, another figure jumped to where he originally was. Jesse Dylan patted Ulysses’ skull with a helpless expression on his face.

“I thought I could meet an old acquaintance,” he said regretfully, looking in the direction of Nemo’s departure. “…Alas, I really can’t guess what you’re thinking.”

As soon as his voice fell, there was a strong tremor on the ground. The sleeping cocoon suddenly struggled, and then simply burst—followed by a shrill howl.

At that moment, a deformed superior demon finally broke out of the cocoon.

“You really caught up. If you slow down for a few minutes, I’m afraid only the two of us can ‘survive’.”

---

The author has something to say：

Nemo won’t forcibly restore his memory to save Oliver_(:D”∠)_

---

Kinky Thoughts:

Everything is falling into place! I also now have a vague idea of what Jesse really is, but… I’ll discuss it in the discord server as not to potentially spoil the story.

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

---

Chapter 133: Their Respective Fates

The corridors of the test zone were regular and clean. The body Telaranea currently possessed was more suitable for the battle zone. The scruffy middle-aged man rubbed his hair and yawned. The carved, thick metal door closed heavily behind him.

“What can I do for you?” he repeated vaguely.

The wide sleeves covered Mora’s clenched fists. Since leaving the village with Randy, she had forgotten how many people they had killed. Mora had long been accustomed to hiding in the dark like a predatory cat, calmly and quickly harvesting lives. This experience of being so nervous that it was difficult to breathe was brand new.

This was the superior demon they finally found. The third in fourteen years. She had to be careful not to make the other party feel unhappy. After confirming that there was no one around, the female killer carefully lifted her disguise.

“Lord Telaranea.” Mora lowered her head, not daring to breathe too hard.

Telaranea raised his eyebrows. He glanced at the other’s pocket casually and let out a casual sigh.

“I want to make a deal with you.” Mora didn’t seem to have her usual tone and sounded extraordinarily docile. “You may have heard of us—‘Sancho’s Grey Fox’.”

“’Sancho’s Gray Fox’,” Telaranea pressed his forehead. “I have a bit of an impression. An assassin who refuses to see people… But if my information is correct, the gray fox should be a man.”

“I’ll never lie to you, my Lord. “We, yes, the two of us, can be your swords and help you get rid of anyone cleanly,” Mora’s tone softened, as if she were speaking to a fragile human baby rather than a moody superior demon. “We only need a word from you.”

“Speak.” The demon remained undecided.

“…I hope you can recognize us.”

“What?” Telaranea tugged at his ears. “I seemed distracted just now.”

“I hope you can recognize us from the bottom of your heart,” the female assassin swallowed. “My lover and I are cursed. We need…”

“Need the blessing of a superior demon?” The demon sneered. “I’m very sorry, lovely lady. I can’t help you.”

The superior demon of the Withered Castle, Telaranea. They searched for this clue for eight years, but unfortunately, no one knew where the Withered Castle was, and that damn building would move its position from time to time. After confirming the credibility of the information, Randy deliberately went to prison. His strength was enough that he was picked up by the Gatekeepers without surprise.

They knew it was dangerous and crazy. It turned out that their pursuit was well worth it. She did find someone who matched the description, but the demon wasn’t vigilant after its identity was exposed and even accurately said the solution to the curse when she was just about to explain it. It was like…

Mora stopped breathing. She stood quietly in the distance. There was no pain or disappointment on her face, but her voice trembled slightly. “I… Can I know the reason?”

“Let me see, let me see. The demon who ‘cursed’ you. If I remember—was she wearing braided hair, had little freckles on her face, and was carrying a fruit basket full of apples?”

Mora stared at the demon in front of her tightly, bit her lower lip, and nodded very lightly.

“Oh, it seems that there was such a thing—it’s been fourteen years,” Telaranea scratched his cheek. “The reason? Simple. That demon was me. Why should I destroy the spell when I was the original caster?”

Sure enough.

The muscles in Mora’s face twitched. Her pretty face was slightly distorted. She stared at the “middle-aged man” in front of her in disbelief. Her breathing suddenly became extremely short.

“It’s really interesting. That experiment didn’t completely fail. I just randomly selected a hundred people as samples, and some really persisted to the present. I assumed ‘Sancho’s Gray Fox’ was a talent nurtured by an organization group, but I wasn’t expecting…” The demon showed an eager smile. “It turns out to be just the miller’s daughter and the blacksmith’s son, if I remember correctly. Mora Rodri and Randy Panther. Oh, humans grow up so fast.”

“Why?” This time, Mora’s voice suddenly became cold. Her originally soft gaze was instantly mixed into sharp thorns. There was no longer any slight politeness in her tone. “The two of us were just over fifteen at the time.”

That was the problem they had been unable to figure out. An unexplainable malice.

“Yes, the oath of young humans. Immature emotions,” Telaranea spread out his hands and said in a lazy voice. “That was the experiment. On one hand, it’s a decisive separation, producing a little regretful memory. On the other hand, it’s an abyss. The other 98 people have made the most reasonable choice, but you two… No wonder the success rate of the Gray Fox is so high. Most people can’t think of two assassins to watch out for at the same time. You took advantage of that curse in turn, didn’t you? Well done! What a rare sample!”

“Let me guess. The reason why you didn’t become a Black Chapter and directly step into the most chaotic business… is to find my compatriots faster?”

Mora didn’t answer. She slowly took a step back.

“If you want to use the dragon breath stone in your pocket…” Telaranea scratched his scalp, “You don’t have to. Killing me won’t solve your problem. I will pay a physical price at most, but what you will face will be a Withered Castle under complete martial law. That little boy is here too. Don’t you have to think about him?”

“You’ll tell on us.” Mora lowered the center of gravity of her body. Her hand had already touched the stone blade carved with runes.

“Oh, I can guarantee that I won’t.” The demon seemed to be in a good mood. He touched the walls with one hand. “Like I said, your precious samples, and it’s too boring to end like this.”

Mora hesitated for half a second, and within that half a second, a spell shield falling from the corridor completely separated the two of them.

“Why us?” Mora said in a hiss, smashing against the transparent shield. “Although we were young at that time, we absolutely didn’t offend you.”

“Look at what you’re saying. It’s like I hated you—” The demon turned around carelessly, exposing his back and began to move towards the room where he was originally. “Weren’t you doing the exact same thing at that time?”

Mora widened her eyes.

Of course, she remembered what they were doing at that time. She wanted a butterfly, so she caught one with Randy. She had forgotten what the butterfly looked like. She only remembered that it had very beautiful wings.

Like all teenagers who liked to collect treasures, they carefully put it in a glass bottle and admired it with fascination as it flew in the bottle. They even liked it a bit.

But when it died, it wasn’t a big event that was worth mentioning.

“Like you, I’m just observing and appreciating.” The demon waved his hand and walked away slowly. “Goodbye, lovely little girl.”

Mora was still standing where she was and didn’t make a sound. She just stood there, slowly regaining her disguise.

‘She have to find the next one,’ she thought numbly. They had to find the next superior demon.

She tasted despair for the first time. Unlike that butterfly, at least they and the demon could communicate. She thought they would have an opportunity, a chance for their pain to be understood. Even though the other party superficially understood, it was enough for them to be cursed.

But did they really have a chance? It had been fourteen years now, and the first six were considered lucky. They had found two superior demons on the most chaotic battlefield, and barely escaped with their lives under the ridicule of the other party. This time, it was eight years. What about next time?

The life span of regular humans wasn’t long, while the average life spans of assassins were even shorter. She didn’t have any uncontrollable desires. She just wanted to hold his hand, even once.

Yes, there was no hope, but it wasn’t completely desperate. The demon had lit a candle in front of the moths and waited with interest for them. She even hoped that the other party was malicious, not this kind of… desperate “interest”.

Mora quickened her pace.

She thought they had to get out of here quickly. It wasn’t time to give up. After all, in any case, even if it was destined to be fruitless, they could only continue… Until one of them really loved someone else. What a peaceful relief that would be, but unfortunately, neither had been successful so far.

“Tela! Where did you just go?” the manager with glasses asked with discontent.

The research room was a mess, and people were clamoring. The light screen showing Oliver Ramon’s body data was enlarged, and all the red-robed researchers were squeezing hard in front of the light screen, looking like fresh blood foaming out from a wound from a distance.

“Toilet,” Telaranea said, slumping back into the stack of books. “Why? Are there any new discoveries?”

“That kid’s magic power is close to the upper limit of a surface creature. My God,” The old man in the red robe muttered in disbelief. “Although it’s not a situation that hasn’t happened before… But how old is he? And still a purebred human!”

“Study him slowly.” The demon was silent and didn’t intend to share his thoughts.

“I’ve got him. I’m still going through the procedures.” The manager of the test zone was flushed and rubbed his hand happily. “That test plan can continue again! Thank Zenni. I have taken over for so many years and no suitable materials have appeared.”

“…It’s obviously a blasphemous plan. Is it okay for you to thank him like this?” the old man in the red seized every opportunity to retort. “Tela, what say—”

“I don’t know anything.” The demon buried himself in a pile of books. “You can continue.”

When the two researchers turned their disappointed gaze away, the demon came out of the pile of books again.

“No, no. You just mentioned it not long ago! There wasn’t much space in the blood furnace, right?” The sloppy middle-aged man casually picked up the report from the pile of books. “If I were you, I would add a few more tests to make sure this person’s will is absolutely qualified.”

“Look at his miserable appearance. He hasn’t killed anyone even now. He’s qualified.”

“He’s not the first to insist like this. Let me see… Haven’t there been 1,326 people who have done this before? You threw them all into the furnace, and it turned out there wasn’t the slightest bit of progress.” The demon lazily waved the report in his hand.

The old man tugged at his beard and fell into contemplation.

Then he spoke, full of enthusiasm and eagerness in his tone, without the slightest bit of malice. “Tela is right,” he said excitedly. “After all, it’s valuable material… Then let’s add an extra one.”

“One-on-one. A battle of life and death. Who’s the strongest now besides Ramon? ……Very good, very good. If there’s an intersection, it would be great.”

Telaranea tugged at the corner of his mouth.

“It’ll take three days to go through the procedures in the combat zone, right? Then just three days later, let him and Randy Panther go alone.”

The Garland border at this moment.

Although it was already late at night, the border city of Noer was much livelier than before. Since the Border Forest had undergone changes, in addition to the army and visitors from various religions, adventurers had also come from thousands of miles to watch the excitement. The business around here was exceptionally good. Although the strange giant cocoon had appeared for a long time, there hadn’t been any bad effects—yet.

At first, some cowards hurriedly evacuated their belongings on their backs, but everything was still terribly peaceful. Except for a few stubborn people, most of them slipped back in frustration, determined to seize this precious opportunity to make money.

Those who were more courageous even dared to pull a cart close to the warning area of various religious groups.

The Border Forest was located on the border of Alban and Garland, making things a bit awkward. Fortunately, both countries support the same religion and had less friction with each other, so they didn’t care too much at this moment. The Preceptor Bishop of Alban took his Knights of Judgement to be stationed in Roadside Town, and in the past few days, countless arrays had been arranged around it.

The Knights of Judgement went around to persuade the people to evacuate, but unfortunately, because there was no strong factual support and the religious atmosphere in Roadside Town wasn’t strong, and because of the fact that the local townspeople had long been accustomed to running back and forth in warning of demon invasions, the number of evacuees was far less than the number of people watching the excitement.

Was it really a demon cocoon just because the Laddism Church said so? No one had ever seen a demon cocoon, but good business was right under their nose. In front of gold coins, no one was willing to stop for an ethereal guess.

Taking advantage of the chaos, the Black Chapter team, Tumbleweed, entered Roadside Town smoothly. Unfortunately, although the past few days had been smooth, the team wasn’t lively. Compared to their previous harmonious atmosphere, the conversation between teammates had fallen.

‘This wasn’t surprising,’ Nemo thought bitterly. He was consciously reducing the amount of time he spoke and staying away from his companions. His attitude made the others even more cautious.

With the information provided by Nemo, the female warrior and the knight commander went together to search for the Abyssal believer who had summoned the Deadwood Jellyfish. Jesse dragged the gray parrot to some unknown corner to buy something to eat.

And Nemo acted alone again.

He didn’t want to make time before their farewell so heavy, but Nemo knew it. It was useless to deepen feelings at this time. The two veteran fighters would soon be able to catch the culprit who summoned the Deadwood Jellyfish and send the criminal to where he really should be.

There were two tasks for him—to solve the problem of the demon cocoon and rescue Oliver.

Then he would leave them forever.

Nemo thought of countless possibilities, but each approach went the same way. To complete these two tasks, it was impossible for him not to be exposed. Even if he wasn’t the Demon King, he would be noticed by the outside world as a truly powerful superior demon.

At least in the end, he didn’t want to hurt his companions.

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

---

Chapter 132: Firelight

The male assassin with a cold attitude was on the other side of the arena.

Randy threw out his heavy shield vigorously. His movements were much freer than when they fought side by side. Mora shouldn’t be with him, and he didn’t have to worry about her not keeping up with his actions. Oliver heard about how decisive the tall man was. Randy would never refuse anyone who attacked. No matter how many people attacked at the same time, he never avoided fighting, and the battle would always end with the death of his opponent.

The tall assassin’s worth had skyrocketed. There was only one reason why he was still here. He had never taken the initiative, so he wasn’t “qualified” enough.

No one here would call other people’s names. It was better to say that some people forgot their real names. They called each other by how much they were worth. The death row prisoner first called Randy “10,000 with scars on his face”, then “20,000 with scars on his face”. After just a few days, there was no death row prisoner who would approach Randy. They just directly call him “50,000”.

Just like they directly called him “300,000”.

Randy’s behavior seemed contradictory, but Oliver could guess a bit about his purpose. Mora was still active outside the prison. Although he didn’t know the plans of the two assassins, most likely Randy was stalling on their behalf.

The assassin stood quietly on top of the bloodshed. The heavy shield that had taken countless lives rested beside him, covered with flesh and brains.

The smell of blood filled Oliver’s lungs. At the moment, there was no fiery fighting atmosphere in the arena. Most people were quiet, as if they were performing a dull daily task. There was only the wailing of the wounded and the sound of weapons colliding on the field. There were rarely curses. Newcomers would curse a few words at first, then most would either fall silent or die.

Oliver retracted his gaze from Randy. Not far from him, the moist smell of blood came to his face, and blood poured out of the wound of a death row prisoner. He quickly turned his face away. His dry throat tightened, and he couldn’t see the liquid flowing down his skin.

His panting and fighting skills had also become famous after the battles in the past few days. No one wanted to get into an entanglement with the strange knight wearing the skeleton helmet for too long. His lips were dry and cracked, his face was full of dust and bloodstains, and his whole body didn’t feel as if he was even half alive. They weren’t sure whether the other party was a living person or a corpse deliberately manipulated by the Gatekeepers.

After all, this was a free-for-all battlefield. What Oliver’s persistence brought wasn’t stability, but an uncoordinated sense of terror. Most death row prisoners would rather choose another opponent with a strong desire to attack.

Although there was no hint of time, most people would get tired and the pace of the fighting in the entire arena would slow down. The death row prisoners who were fighting in a chaotic mess gradually spread out. Most of the attackers who hoped to gain the favor of the Death Row Legion as soon as possible were black and blue, while the escapees were on the brink of exhaustion.

But there was one exception today.

A shrinking middle-aged man approached Oliver. His whole body was covered with blood and some of his gray hair was smeared with dirt, leaving only a handful of bones. The man held a rusted sword in his right hand, and his bloody tag was exposed.

There were only two digits left on his tag.

The man trembled so much that he didn’t dare lift his head, as if he was frightened. It felt like an air-dried rabbit corpse.

“Good man. I’m not your opponent,” he murmured. His voice was hoarse, as if he had swallowed strong acid. “But I know you’re a kind person… I can see it. Can you give me a hundred points? Just one hundred. You don’t lack these hundred points.”

His sword-wielding hand hung limp to the ground, with no intention of fighting, and his stick-like arm was still bleeding. Blood dripped onto the soil along the mottled blade of the long sword.

“I can’t lose anymore… I… If my value is taken away again, I’ll be sent to the test area. Please, I don’t want to go back to the test area, but I can’t fight anymore today. Please, please…”

The man’s voice was like a fake sob.

Oliver held his sword vigilantly. He wouldn’t be stupid enough to accept all the other party’s words at this time, but the person in front of him was a complete loser. His voice, his appearance—this person hadn’t won in a very long time.

But…

He didn’t put down his sword and looked at the person seriously.

“Please. Please. Just let me touch your collar.” The man lowered his head to his chest and repeated in a broken tone. “I understand your concern. I’ll put down the sword now…”

After he said that, he let go of his right hand and the inconspicuous ragged weapon fell to the ground. He may have been too eager for Oliver’s consent and completely ignored the fact…

That others would not let this great opportunity go.

A bald man in red armor rushed at them at some point. The long ax slashed straight at the unarmed middle-aged man. Oliver’s attention shifted in an instant. He tried his best to turn around quickly and the Rest in Peace firmly held the blade of the ax that was shining in the cold light.

But his opponent’s eyeballs were convex, and a mocking smile slowly appeared on his face.

“300,000… 300,00,” he repeated. “How exciting.”

Oliver reacted for a few seconds before realizing what the other party was talking about.

Exhaustion numbed his pain. He only felt a slight tingling and an unnatural cold. He still maintained the posture of holding the blade of the ax and slowly lowered his head.

There was an extra piece of blood-red metal on his chest, like the tip of a longsword. The blade of the sword penetrated the location of his heart. The edge was pitted, and an obvious rust stain could be seen in the blood.

‘It shouldn’t be like this,’ he thought groggily. ‘It shouldn’t be like this.’

Then the tip of the sword retracted from his chest under his gaze. The owner drew it back, bringing up a string of blood.

…Was this reality? For a moment, Oliver was at a loss.

Then the world in front of him turned into a pure dark red. Before he realized it, his body had already fallen into the mud. He tried to keep his eyes open, but everything in front of him was quickly blurred. Oliver’s brain was blank, and all his thoughts seemed to stop working in an instant. He instinctively moved his head and looked at his left wrist.

“Nemo, I…”

But before he had time to see anything, his vision was overwhelmed by darkness.

“Sad instinct.” The thin middle-aged man finally raised his head. His eyes were abnormally blood-red. The shrinking look just disappeared without a trace. “What an idiot.”

The death row prisoners not far away averted their gaze one after another. Some even breathed a sigh of relief. No one made a sound. The puzzling “abnormal” person had finally disappeared, and the days they were familiar with were about to return.

Everything would work out normally, continuing to exude a cold and stiff sense of security.

The middle-aged man with red eyes was playing with the metal tag in his hand, and his voice was abnormally happy. “3,005, how long do you think this 300,000 is enough for me to lose?”

The other party just frowned at the metal tag. The middle-aged man raised his eyebrows and brought the tag to his eyes.

The above was still two digits.

“…Something’s wrong. This guy can’t be alive,” he muttered, glancing at the weird knight who fell to the ground.

Those lost emerald eyes were still half open, and the blood flowing out had gathered into a large pool. Even if the heart wasn’t destroyed, this blood loss was fatal.

The middle-aged man wiped the tag impatiently, but the trembling strokes on the tag weren’t distorted. They stubbornly maintained their double-digit appearance.

“Oh, count…”

This was the last sentence he left in this world.

A heavy metal shield flew from a distance and directly shattered his head. Its speed was so fast that after the shield flew over, there was only a section of his neck that couldn’t stop spurting blood from his skinny shoulder.

3,005 with the long axe in his hand, was extremely aware of the current situation. He slipped into the dense crowd in the next second. The new slayer of the arena came over and silently picked up his shield back into his hand, then paused for a few seconds in front of the knight in the pool of blood and let out a very light sigh.

Then he also frowned. The knight’s metal plate was almost submerged in blood, but the value of 300,000 did not decrease.

“The battle is over.” At that moment, an emotionless voice was expanded by magic and resounded over the arena.

The white-robed death row prisoners in the testing zone hurriedly entered like ants. Some of them put bodies or fragments of bodies into a cart, while others were responsible for returning the injured to their cells. Everything was in order.

This should be the case.

“You’re bringing back 300,000’s corpse?” The big man who used a meteor hammer complained in a low voice. “This isn’t in line with regulations.”

“He’s not dead.” Micah shook his head desperately and defended in a low voice. “You… You see. There’s still value in his tag. He’s not dead. The Gatekeepers don’t make mistakes.”

The cell tonight was quiet. People stayed in their usual positions, staring indifferently at the lifeless body on the floor.

“Oh, that’s just right.” The sturdy man picked up his meteor hammer. “No matter how special he is, he’ll die if his head is crushed… What say you, little mouse?”

The short, mole-like man did not rush back to the darkest corner as before. He half knelt in front of the body and did not get out of the way.

“You… You can’t,” Micah said shivering, scratching the stitched wound until it cracked again. “If… If he really dies. Didn’t I make a mistake at the beginning? I’m right. I must be right…”

“What crazy shit are you saying?” The big man gave him a kick and specifically picked a nonfatal part. He watched as the white figure fell to the side. “Get out of the way.”

Micah whimpered, shrank back in place, and no longer put up resistance. He firmly turned his back to the two of them, holding his head tightly with both hands. The death row prisoner who used the meteor hammer picked up the heavy weapon and hesitated for a few seconds, but he gritted his teeth hard and used all his strength to smash it down.

However, there was no sound of splattered flesh and blood in the darkness. Just a flash of fire.

The metal evaporated the second before it touched the “corpse”. Even the melting of the metal jumped over the corpse. When the big man pulled up the ball chain again, only a hissing sound and smoke were left at the other end of the chain. The barbed iron ball was completely gone.

He took in a deep breath and staggered back. He trembled and made a few meaningless noises and finally succeeded in asking the question that everyone in the cell wanted to ask, “What the hell is this?”

The stubborn knight lay quietly on the stone brick floor. His wound was no longer bleeding. There was a faint sparkle on the edge of the black armor, like a charcoal fire that was about to go out. It breathed clearly and secretly, with a weird beauty that didn’t belong to this hell.

Underground in the arena.

“What’s the matter with this value?” The red-robed test zone manager roared. “His power is almost beyond the limit of his collar! Tela, you said he can’t die—”

“I simply guessed. Didn’t I tell you I was asleep?” The middle-aged man who was still stuck in the pile of books yawned.

The demon thought this reaction was indeed beyond his expectations.

Telaranea picked up a book and covered his face as an escape, so he could draw a line with the researchers who were in a hurry around him.

He stayed up all night and finally found a reasonable explanation for Oliver Ramon’s situation. More than 20 years ago, an abnormally strong external force enveloped Ramon’s heart, firmly suppressing the curse of the Trent Plague inside his heart while forcibly keeping the paralyzed heart pulsating.

This was the only solution he could think of, and depending on the current situation, this conjecture was probably correct, but…

Telaranea peeked out from the edge of the book and aimed his sight at Oliver Ramon’s constantly changing body data.

He never thought that the curse from the Abyss would completely surrender. This was simply unreasonable. The demon curled his lips under the page of the book. The power that suppressed the spread of the curse absolutely originated from the surface, and it was impossible to coexist in harmony with the power of the curse. After that sword destroyed Ramon’s heart, it caused the balance to break and the two forces—or perhaps coupled with the unlucky young man’s own magic—the three forces should fight each other in Ramon’s body until a new balance was reached.

The physical changes brought about by that process were quite interesting. Ramon may become a monster, or he may not be able to withstand the power struggle and explode. In any case, it shouldn’t be the current situation of falling asleep peacefully. Telaranea was a little aggrieved. The current situation was tantamount to a shocking explosion. The lead of the bomb burnt out and quietly muted the fire.

Something was wrong.

This was obviously the curse of the Abyss that had been entrenched for many years. How could it be like a blood scab that was completely killed? It disappeared as soon as it was fiddled with. If one were to make an analogy—it was like a brutal murderer who had been prying through doors for many years and finally sneaked into the mansion of his dreams, and then knelt down and killed himself as soon as he entered.

And the foreign power that had suppressed it for a long time was completely free. It was being transformed into Oliver Ramon’s own magic without hindrance.

This didn’t make any sense. The Trent Plague curse wouldn’t vanish so easily. There was definitely a force he didn’t know that was involved in this process, and that force must have originated from the Abyss.

An unknown fourth force. A contract? The flesh of a superior demon? Or something else…

What the hell happened to that kid Ramon? Telaranea pressed his temple in dissatisfaction. At present, he only knew of one situation that would have such an effect, and the situation itself was purely out of conjecture—

No matter what kind of spell it was, it would keep quiet when it returned to its origin.

But that was impossible. Ramon had never used abyssal magic. How could it be related to the origin of abyssal magic? About the essence of magic… That was a problem that even he hadn’t understood yet.

Forget it. Telaranea sighed and took the book away from his face.

That female human had been watching him from the corner for too long, and he had to solve the current problem first. The demon stretched, then stood up, toppling a book on his back and massaged his waist.

“Mr. Warden,” Telaranea smiled and looked at the warden with a white cloth wrapped around his face—rather, a petite woman who was so nervous that her face turned pale after putting on her disguise. “What can I do for you?”

---

Kinky Thoughts:

I need some serious sugar after this… Poor Ollie!

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

---

Chapter 131: Instinctive Torture

This was Oliver’s fourth night in the Withered Castle.

‘There’s still hell in this world,’ was the first time he had such thought. There were no complex or ingenious traps or sharp blades that made people nervous. Presumably, everyone’s mental weaknesses were different. If they were to take them down one by one in a targeted manner, the efficiency of the Gatekeepers would be horribly low.

The method they used was simple and crude—

There was no fresh water.

It was fine to say that there was no lack of food, but if there was no drinking water, people would die very quickly. The Gatekeepers obviously found a countermeasure. After almost three days of sleepless nights, Oliver probably understood why the metal ring at the end of the tag was directly inserted into the clavicle.

A very low amount of magic flowed into his body along with the metal, barely restoring his body to a level that could survive. However, it did nothing to reduce his hunger and thirst, which only worsened. He didn’t doubt at all that if someone took off the metal tag at this time, he would immediately fall into a coma due to lack of water.

The Gatekeepers designed it beautifully. The death row prisoners used in battle couldn’t touch a bathroom or any water-related places. All cleaning was done by a magic array, and most of the metabolic functions of the death row inmates were also suspended by the embedded metal ring. Compared to humans, they were more like flesh machines that were being cleaned up at the moment.

There was only a simple magic input and nothing else.

There was also a way to relieve the thirst and hunger that made it seem like one was dying, as long as they won. After defeating an opponent, the Gatekeepers would reward the player with a powerful recovery spell. It would make the human body instantly return to its peak state, and all discomfort, fatigue, and wounds would disappear. Someone once described its effect like this: One second it was still burning like the fires of hell, and the next it was like lying on a cloud in heaven.

As long as one obeys, as long as one wins. There was no better reason than instinct to shake human faith.

As long as one gave in, it was easy. Sticking to one’s virtues made no sense, except to make themselves weaker and easier to kill.

By now, Oliver was very clear about the Gatekeepers’ intentions, because at this moment, temptation was lying in his ear and whispering, roaring deep in his brain, making a soft call in every shadow…

Start lightly and don’t kill people; just take away a hundred points of value from others. Even if the other party enters the test zone earlier due to the loss in value… but who could be sure? Besides, there would be several battles before the opponent completely lost their points, and he wasn’t the person personally responsible for it. Taking a step back, perhaps his opponent could win the next round?

Do it, it whispered. Now that your power is suppressed, you’re not much different from ordinary people. This isn’t bullying. It’s survival. No one will blame you. Grab it.

But Oliver knew very well that that would be the first step to his descent.

He chuckled a few times at the empty darkness beside him. At this moment, his mouth was terribly dry, and his lips were cracked because of thirst, unable to withstand the pull of his muscles. The small cracks that had been scabbed were torn apart again, and Oliver greedily licked the beads of blood oozing from his lips, only to feel as if he was licking a thick bark.

He was already too weak to take the initiative to create more wounds and he couldn’t use his own blood to alleviate his thirst. It would only make him lose his physical strength faster. The wound on his body was slowly exuding blood, and the coagulated parts were stuck to the lining, causing tearing-like pain as soon as he moved. His head was dizzy and swollen from extreme thirst. In contrast to this, the pain in his body wasn’t strong.

The initial unbearable hunger had already turned into cramps and colics. His stomach acid seemed to be digesting his stomach. In a sense, he endured a lot. At present, Oliver had only one wish—that those wounds should not get infected too seriously. At this moment, he absolutely couldn’t afford the price of disease.

Because what was waiting for him during the day was another uninterrupted battle all day. He couldn’t sleep peacefully at night. Oliver clung to his Rest in Peace and leaned against the corner, staring at the darkness in front of him through his heavy eyelids.

There was a slight friction in front. Oliver suddenly pulled the Rest in Peace out of its scabbard. A soft blue light rolled across the snow-white body of the sword, but the friction didn’t disappear, but suddenly increased. A sharp iron thorn ran across Oliver’s cheek, bringing up a string of blood.

The sound of a heavy meteor hammer rose in the darkness as it smashed into the wall of the cell. Oliver rolled on the floor, holding the scabbard in one hand and the handle of the Rest in Peace in the other. His hand was still trembling uncontrollably.

‘So tired,’ he thought numbly, once again avoiding the murder weapon that almost hit him.

I want to rest. I don’t want to move anymore.

Oliver waved the sword in his hand and cut off the iron chain connecting the meteor hammer with one swing. He could feel his muscles screaming and aching, and his whole body was ridiculously soft.

Please, stop.

But the cell was still full of hostility and fear. The man whose weapon was destroyed let out a roar, followed by a second opponent, a third, and then Oliver didn’t even bother to count. The offensive of the people in the same cell became crazier, and he could only keep resisting their attacks while trying not to hurt them.

The more restrained he was, the more fearful people became and the more aggressive their attacks became.

That’s right. Oliver waved his sword wearily. He could guess what those people thought. The value of 300,000 was enough to tempt some of them to take risks. On the other hand, his body seemed to have reached its limits. If his mental defense completely collapsed and he decided to seek comfort and relief… Then the first wave of suffering would definitely hit the people who were locked up with him.

Those people were only worth a few thousand at most. Even if he was also deprived of magic and could only rely on his physical strength, the gap in combat skills was clear at a glance.

Just taking the lead and killing them would be a wise decision. Oliver gasped hard. The lack of sleep made his heartbeat extremely fast, but the annoying healing magic that poured in from the metal ring inserted into his clavicle made it so he couldn’t even faint.

In the end, it was the warden who came forward to end this exceptionally long night. It was just that he wasn’t there to protect “precious goods” but to inform them of the rising sun.

The daytime fight was about to begin.

“Are you going to tie again, 300,000?” The big man holding the meteor hammer had bloodshot eyes. “Don’t underestimate people.”

Oliver smiled with difficulty under the skeleton helmet, unable to respond to his opponent’s provocation. Indeed, in hundreds of short-lived battles so far, he had never won or lost.

But he was getting weaker and at this moment, Oliver wasn’t sure if he could return back alive.

The death row prisoners in the test area wearing standard robes were repairing weapons for a big man. Most of them were crawling with dense sutures, and their faces were expressionless. Under the restrictions of the collar, death row prisoners in the combat zone and the test zone couldn’t harm each other. In order to save manpower, each cell would have a few death row prisoners in the test area do chores uniformly.

For example, Micah. The mole-like man was looking at Oliver suspiciously, nervously scratching the suture marks on his arms.

“You’ll kill people sooner or later!” he said in a sharp voice, sweating profusely on his forehead. “You’ll sooner or later… You can’t…”

Oliver glanced at Micah but didn’t respond. He looked down at his left wrist…

He no longer had armor on his left wrist. A slightly festering engraving was exposed, protruding from the skin, making it dazzling red.

“Hi,” he muttered. “I’ll live until dawn today, Nemo.”

After that, Oliver sighed softly. He staggered to keep up with the warden, and marched towards the multiplayer arena as usual, but this time, when he was about to plunge into the entrance gate, a soft female voice sounded in his ears.

“Kill 3,005—the fat man in red armor who uses a long ax.” Mora’s voice came from behind the white cloth covering her face. “Usually no one wants to come up and provoke him, and he’s not in good health since yesterday. You can easily kill him if you want, and you’ll recover quickly.”

“Thank you,” Oliver said, trying to get his voice out of his throat. “But no need.”

“Why? Are you a crazy believer or something?”

“Because I can imagine a more painful situation.” Oliver rubbed the mark that was slightly swollen due to being infected. “If I give up on my principles here to escape pain… I can no longer believe in myself.”

If there was really a day when he needed to kill Nemo with his own hands, it would be hundreds of times more painful than it was now, but if things really got to that point, he would be able to do it. On the basis of that promise, the current Nemo could have the qualifications to live a stable life under the presiding eyes of the knight commander.

Indeed. If he couldn’t even bear the pain now, how could he believe that he could “kill Nemo”?

“If I can’t believe in myself, how can I convince others to believe in me?”

He must hold on to his bottom line. There was no other choice. After all, he and Mr. Cross had made an agreement.

“Then go to hell,” Mora’s voice was icy and calm. “If you continue to weaken… Anyone worth over a hundred can kill you.”

“I know,” Oliver said, pulling the sword out of its scabbard. He could already smell the blood that seemed to never dissipate on the field. “But I’m still alive.”

The female assassin disguised as a warden sneered softly, sounding irritable, “You don’t know what’s good from bad*.”

*(不知好歹) Idiom referring to not being able to understand the kindness of others from Zheng Tingyu’s “Golden Phoenix Hairpin”. || Basically she’s admonishing him for not recognizing her good intentions (advice to kill and survive).

Oliver bowed slightly to her and carried his sword into the vast arena. The huge wooden door embedded with metal closed quietly behind him.

The arena was deeper underground.

“Have you heard of the kid who insists on tying?” A member of the Gatekeepers in a red robe pushed his glasses up. “The bones are hard enough. Do you want to deal with it?”

“That’s something you need to worry about in the combat zone. Why are you concerned when you’re in the management of the test zone,” another man wearing the same robe cackled.

“His collar reading is amazing. Didn’t you see? That kid is generally not strong, but looking at his willpower, maybe it could be great material.”

“Let’s not talk about whether he can hold on. Even if he holds on, do you remember the previous failure? There’s not much room left in the blood furnace, so we have to be cautious.”

“Let that lunatic try him? I’m going to make a bet with the man in the combat zone. If he kills that lunatic, then it just goes according to the will of the combat zone… But if he’s killed by that lunatic, we’ll go and get the body.”

“…What if he doesn’t kill the lunatic and he’s not dead yet?” A new voice joined them. A sloppy middle-aged man stretched out his hand from the pile of books and waved weakly. “You’re too absolute.”

“How is it possible?” The man wearing glasses shouted. “Then all the more reason to bring him over—but how could you say such illogical things? It’s not like you, Tela.”

“Well,” the middle-aged man who was paralyzed in the pile of books responded carelessly, “I fell asleep.”

No wonder. Telaranea looked at one of the several light screens at hand…

Out of interest, he had been silently paying attention to Oliver Ramon’s data. It didn’t take long for him to make an extremely interesting discovery. If it were in the past, Telaranea would definitely be the first to jump up and dissect Ramon’s body.

But considering Vance’s strange attitude towards Nemo Light, coupled with a vague premonition, Telaranea didn’t want to get involved in this matter too actively. If he wanted to start things, he should let others lead the way. In the end, he would still be able to study it himself.

He glanced at the beating runes and flashing images on the screen again. There was no doubt that Oliver Ramon’s heart bore traces of a curse, which was unique to the Trent Plague. As far as the data was concerned, the curse had existed for at least twenty years.

A human heart shouldn’t be able to bear such a thing. The Trent Plague would invade the human body from the heart, first destroying the brain, then slowly eroding the nerves and paralyzing the internal organs. Although Ramon’s body was weak right now, he was definitely healthy. It was just that his heartbeat was completely different from normal humans…

It was like some kind of external force was forcing it to beat.

It was the first time he had seen a human who had survived the Trent Plague, a terminal disease born from the curse of the Abyss that had disappeared for hundreds of years.

---

The author has something to say:

…No, anyway, I’ll lie flat first.

Lost the desire to survive x 1

Today’s warm tip: Trent Plague appeared in the Abyssal Church arc. It’s the disease suffered by Colestoro’s host.

————————

Tela: I have a bad hunch, so I’ll let the fools come out first.

Many years later.

Tela: That was the most correct and best decision of my life!!!

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>