Chapter 152: Retribution

The blazing, bright flames split the dark sky. The flaming sword cut through the tides and vortexes, piercing the devil's final trick with the power of justice and love, causing the ugly giant to dissipate in the light.

The high temperatures melted the snow, causing a short, drizzling rain to fall over the city. A spark drifted through the drizzle, falling towards a deserted place... towards the ruins where this fierce battle had begun, where the killers had dueled.

It plowed a burning line through the earth, the divine fire, fueled by black blood, burning quietly. Gradually, the flames were extinguished by the drizzling rain, leaving a charred, rancid mass of flesh at the end of the burning line. The flesh attempted to regenerate, but was repeatedly burned by the divine fire, until its life force was exhausted, leaving only an empty shell lying in the ashes...

The end of the Doom Demon's clone is such an ugly and embarrassing thing.

Boots treaded the wet pavement, the knight's face reflected in the puddles. Ji Huaisu switched to ice armor and stood in the rain, greatsword in hand. The demon barely managed a mouth, dotted with tiny, densely packed eyes, observing the knight's demeanor.

"So that's how it is... You use the concepts of ancient dragons, martial artists, and knights as symbols of power... Through the different manifestations of talismans, you leap between three parallel points..." the demon whispered. "Thus, you are able to unleash absurd power, but you also impose constraints on yourself... You will become the most difficult Discipline Knight to ascend to in history, and you will no longer have the hope of soaring into the sky."

"Who cares? I'm a genius anyway!" Ji Huaisu didn't care.

Olek was speechless for a moment. The girl looked exhausted yet full of pride, and the confidence in her every move reminded him of the first knight a thousand years ago. That knight had been so confident and young, singing praises of love and courage with his companions.

Perhaps this bloodline is impervious to misfortune. Its strength can crush a knight's body, but it cannot break his spirit.

"You won this round, but your misfortune won't end here," Olek said calmly. "My true form will take action, and one day you will be forsaken by the raging tide of heaven. And in places unrelated to me, you will still face your own fate. The more you pursue the truth, the more you will be lost in the fog. Even if you close your eyes and turn a blind eye to the past, karma will always pursue you.

I don't need to curse you, you are the last knight of the Shendong Realm, you have already been cursed."

The demon fell silent, its expression as calm as before the battle. With victory or defeat decided, there was no need for further emotion. From the moment of defeat, it had withdrawn from the game, and therefore no longer needed to be moved by the actions of those involved.

Ji Huaisu looked at his dying enemy and suddenly laughed.

"I finally understand why you're so annoying, because you always look down on others. Now you're acting like you don't care, because after losing, the worst that can happen is you just walk away. To you, this defeat is just a loss in a game. No one can really hurt you, Doom Demon. You can always prepare yourself for another try, right?"

"I'm glad you learned how to deal with demons," said Olek.

"I've been dealing with you demons since I was a child. I understand your nature as dreamers too well... So I've prepared a great gift for you!" Ji Huaisu snapped his fingers, "Akong! Vander!"

"oh!"

"Here I come!"

But they saw a man descending from the sky, both of them were unarmed, but they were eager to fight, full of enthusiasm. They stood behind Ji Huaisu like the bodyguards of a villain's daughter.

The Knight Lady put her hands on her hips and grinned, "Ha! Olek, you can start screaming now!"

Olek was amused by this and wanted to laugh: "What are you thinking? Do you think I care about you whipping the corpse?"

Chu Hengkong swung his tentacles vigorously as if doing warm-up exercises: "Is everything okay, Fander?"

"I've never forgotten my old craft!" Vander smirked. "Old thing, if you fall into our hands today, it's like you're going out and hitting a reef, and coming back and hitting a tide. You're incredibly unlucky!"

“……?”

Olek was baffled, wondering where this group of people's confidence came from. He looked at the Eye Demon, who was talking nonstop, and felt an inexplicable strangeness.

This thing...

What is this demon?

It looked familiar, but I'd never seen anything like it. The way it possessed a body was also strange, as if it actually had one, and its utilization rate was abnormally high... That body should have two tentacles, but half was missing. Could it be Chu Hengkong's left arm... And was the contract completed in this way? So the mechanism of possession was...

Then, a feeling of surprise rushed into my heart like a cold current.

This wasn't the time to dwell on these things. More important than the apparent anomaly was the extremely distorted current situation. This thing called Finder was undoubtedly the Ancient One's messenger behind everyone. But why wasn't it included in the plan?

——Why didn't it realize the existence of this thing until it was defeated?

"Wait!" Olek called out, "What on earth are you...?"

But the time for sound was over. A stream of transparent slime suddenly coated the flesh, covering the pitiful mouth with a stickiness comparable to super glue. Chu Hengkong finished his warm-up exercises, raised his tentacles high, and swung the silver whip under the demon's incredulous eyes!

Bang!

A third of its vision vanished, and excruciating pain rippled through its ethereal form, causing its fragment to emit an imperceptible shriek. Its senses rapidly contracted, its power dissipated like evaporation, and the world it could perceive instantly shrank. Something was slipping away, pouring into the mass of slime. It was irreversible, something that could never be lost.

That whip took away a part of its "self"!

"Hold..." It whipped. "Stop..." Again. "No!!" It whipped! It whipped again! A whipping as invisible as judgment! The tentacle whip lashed down relentlessly, and the world spun, swirling and converging with pain. Orlek's self collapsed and drained away, leaving only a single "eye" in a matter of breaths. It had almost lost the ability to think, and could only stare at the Eye Demon with that eye—at the twilight vision beneath that strange surface.

"Who are you……!"

With one final lash, the Eye of Ego was reduced to ash. The Doom Demon's spirit completely vanished at that moment, its power whipped out by Finder's tentacles, and its slime turned an evil deep purple.

Fander pounced on it and collected the slime: "Quick! This is all the essence!"

Chu Hengkong touched his sleeve and said, "Oh no, the Immortal Machine has eaten everything..."

"I can make an ice can!" Ji Huaisu held up a transparent rock sugar can.

"Okay, use this! Hurry up and don't let this good stuff get lost. If you lose a drop, you'll regret it for a whole year!!"

The two men used their hands and eyes to quickly scoop the remains of the Doom Demon into the jar. Chu Hengkong solemnly closed the lid and raised the sugar jar high: "The spoils!"

Ji Huaisu threw a spark and burned the remains of Moon Blood to ashes, then wiped his eyes and said, "Finally! The fight wasn't in vain..."

"Take your spoils. This thing can make a very high-end relic." Chu Hengkong handed the jar to her.

Ji Huaisu pushed the jar back and grinned.

"I stole your talisman anyway, so consider this a return gift."

"Then we can share it..."

"No, if I say it's yours, it's yours!"

Chu Hengkong knew her character, so he accepted it without refusing. At this moment, the gloom brought by the black moon finally dissipated, and a little sunlight penetrated the dark clouds, shining through the snow in the sky. The ice chips in the light sparkled like stardust.

From afar, he saw the figures of people landing one after another. He stood there in silence, feeling grateful for having survived the disaster, and felt a long-lost sense of relief that penetrated deep into his bones.

"It's finally over!" Vander said weakly, lying on the ground.

It noticed that Ji Huaisu's hand did not release from the hilt of the sword.

"...No." Vander trembled a little, "Don't scare me?"

Ji Huaisu looked down, his gaze penetrating the ground, reaching the underground cave where the dead souls resided. Deep within the place once watched over by the knights, the pitch-black door opened a crack.

"I'm afraid it's not time yet."

·

Small cafe in the heart of Jinye City.

"Pay the bill, my dear lady."

The dark-skinned man called out, and the waitress came over with the receipt. The little boy at the table had disappeared. She had thought the prim, priest-like man would be the one to pay, but unexpectedly, it was this cynical guy who paid.

"Here's your bill for three days, that..." The waitress glanced at it and reported a number that made her dizzy. The three of them tried all the dishes in the restaurant and commented on them happily.

These were truly the strangest customers she had ever seen in her career. They had stayed in the store for three whole days... But it didn't seem to be a big deal, because the owner had no objections, and neither did she... It seemed like they should have some objections... ?

She shook her head and handed over the receipt before saying the usual question: "What do you think of our food?"

"Oh, to be honest, most of the drinks are terrible," the dark-skinned man said. "The coffee is diluted with too much water, the chocolate is full of cheap saccharin, the fruit may die before me, and the juice is full of the despair of being dragged out of hell to work."

"Uh..." The waitress's throat rolled.

"But the freshly made simple meals are quite good, and your service attitude is also very good." The black-skinned man grinned warmly, "So overall, I still give you a good review! The extra tip is yours, please take it."

He placed a small coin purse on the plate and, along with the silent priest, pushed the door open and left. The coin purse was zipped shut, and as she hesitantly unzipped it, perhaps because of the unique temperaments of the guests, two strange, premonition-like thoughts flashed through her mind.

Perhaps after opening the bag, she would see a wealth of wealth, enough for her to enjoy a lifetime of wealth; or perhaps there was an unspeakable monster hidden in the bag, which would kill her, this small shop, and everyone in the city.

She unzipped it timidly.

There were four perfectly round beads in her bag. After deducting expenses, it was enough to cover her three months' salary plus her year-end bonus.

The waitress hurried out the door, wanting to thank the strange guest, but she couldn't find him. She heard a few curses coming from the kitchen, it seemed that the juicer and coffee machine were broken.

Many people like her went out one after another, staring blankly at the road that looked like it had been plowed by a large crusher. It seemed that many things happened and ended without their knowledge, like a mischievous ghost passing by, but never disturbing their lives.

·

Vansalar walked along the deserted street with his hands in his pockets. He said lazily, "Clean up."

"As you wish, Nightmare King."

Bernfar bowed and floated into the air. He opened the great book he never left behind, and a gray mist drifted from the pages, dispersing into the sky. The effects of the dark moon's arrival were smoothed out by the mist, and the island would return to its normal state, unnoticed by the abyss.

Slowly, Vansalar's mouth widened into a terrifying smile. He clapped his hands vigorously, the applause as enthusiastic as the curtain call of an opera, and roared towards the ruins after the fierce battle, not concealing his excitement or his joy.

Start shouting.

Start laughing.

"--marvelous!"

"The hope of a reversal in despair! The will to never give up! The happy ending finally achieved after overcoming difficulties and obstacles, the love and courage that persevered to the end in the face of despicable and filthy malice!"

"That's exactly what I want to see! I love happy stories the most!!"

Like an audience immersed in the play, like an actor captivated by the plot, he stretches his arms out to the fullest, unleashing his fury with his voice and body. His genuine laughter is filled with emotion and gratitude, a feeling of equality offered to all who have struggled here.

Just like the thousand games that had happened before. Just like the end of every game.

——A competitive game requires two parties with different positions to be successful.

The doom demon Orlek is responsible for piling up malice and misfortune as obstacles.

Vansalar, the Nightmare Lord, spares no effort for the victory of justice.

"Well done, Olek! I knew you could do it. Only you are worthy of being the villain of this story. Only invincible misfortune can force them to reveal their potential!

Thank you from the bottom of my heart, my old friend. Without your efforts, how could I experience this miracle! "

Fansalar closed his eyes and clasped his hands together.

Like a prayer, pour your feelings into your palms.

"To you who have fought so hard until now, I offer my best wishes—

A new story is about to begin!"

He dissipated amidst wild laughter, transforming into a thousand bat shadows in the sunlight. Dark shadows danced around the city, piercing the earth in full view of everyone, sinking into the hole created by misfortune and falling into the half-open door.

Thus, the door sealed by the knights opened again. In the dark and lightless distance, fate attracted the survivors!

(End of this chapter)