Chapter 77 Birthday: The Biggest Weakness [VIP]
"—Good evening, Princess and Singing Bird!"
After a burst of colorful light, the passage opened and the figure of the "Dark Night Mentor" appeared in the crystal mirror, greeting the two of them enthusiastically.
Xiao Yun discovered that after only two days of not seeing him, the already sparse hair of the "Dark Night Mentor" had become even thinner, and his clothes were not the common black of the magic world, but sky blue, with blood stains on the surface.
Behind the old man were crystal bottles and jars of various shapes filled with strange liquids and weird herbs. Romila was also in one of the crystal jars - he once again temporarily lost his human form and turned into a pool of sticky liquid with facial features floating on it.
Upon seeing Xiao Yun, Romila in the jar immediately extended a tentacle to hook onto the bottle's mouth, emphasizing with grievance, "Master... For you, I paid a terrible price..."
“Stop complaining!”
The Dark Night Mentor interrupted Romila impatiently, explaining, "This guy was so reckless. He provoked Kairusha while I was out searching for herbs that could heal Kairusha. Kairusha grabbed him by the neck and beat him up. The heavy blow and the high dose of 'radiation' caused all his cells to disintegrate and melt. Thanks to my timely return, he was able to survive!"
"I just wanted to try..."
"Shut up!"
After interrupting Romila again, the Dark Night Mentor asked with a smile, "Have you reached a conclusion regarding the Kairusha matter?"
"--Where are you?"
"At the junction of the Death Desert and the Gora Forest, in a cave in the Talia Mountains."
The Dark Night Mentor said bluntly, "I suspect the Death Sage has become his minion. He dares not stay in the Death Desert for long, and he cannot bring Kairusha, who is completely covered in radiation, back to the civilized world..."
"What's the situation in Kairusha now?"
Xiao Yun asked worriedly, "You just said that Romila was simply pinned down and beaten by Kairusha, and then she suffered a large dose of 'radiation', causing her stem cells to disintegrate and melt. Then Kairusha, as the 'radiation source'—"
"He is in stable condition."
The Dark Night Mentor cursed jealously, "I don't know the origins of that guy calling himself the 'Sage of Death'! But he's certainly quite capable. He's able to transform Kairusha into a mobile 'radiation source' while constantly vomiting blood and suffering excruciating pain. His body hasn't melted or disintegrated yet."
"So now this unknown 'Death Sage' is more powerful than you?"
Xiao Yun said suddenly.
The old wizard was immediately furious.
"How could my strength be inferior to his? I've just been hunted by the Seagod Priests lately, and haven't been able to improve myself... Speaking of which, if I hadn't been helping you out of kindness, how could I have been forced to hide in the Talia Mountains?"
The "Dark Night Mentor" cursed viciously, obviously feeling quite resentful about being schemed against by Yaris.
"You should compensate me for my losses!"
"We just finished a big fight."
Yaris said lightly, showing the crystal bottle containing the monster's body fragments sent by the magician.
The "Dark Night Mentor" suddenly opened his eyes wide.
"Um...what happened here?"
"You want to listen?"
"certainly--"
"We can tell you what happened here, but before you can get any information from us, you must first agree to one of our requests."
"What do you want?"
"Support us unconditionally and unlimitedly."
"Joining forces with you brothers is what I have always pursued, but..."
The old wizard showed an expression of surprise and anger.
"Your Highness, although you possess everything that captivates the world, and you are naturally gifted as a singing bird, with your careful training you will surely become a significant figure in guiding the world's destiny, leaving a mark even deeper in history books than you. However—just because you brothers are the ones who bear fate, you expect me to support you unconditionally and unlimitedly! This is too much! Do you think I'm your brothers' dog?"
(Aren’t you a dog?)
Xiao Yun secretly complained.
"Yet you will eventually agree to my cadre request."
"Why?"
"Because helping us will allow you to get what you desire most."
Yaris said solemnly, "Even if the 'Sage of Death' isn't dead yet, he's close to it. The 'Priest of the Sea God' is doomed to be in a state of decline after what happened before. If you help us defeat him, after I die, you will undoubtedly become the strongest mage in the world, perhaps even the strongest mage of all time."
"Old man, please agree to the princess' request! I can't wait to live in the Little Love Palace—"
"Shut up! Noisy thing!"
The "Dark Night Mentor" struck his cane, and the crystal jar containing Romila suddenly closed. Romila was so angry that she twisted and screamed in the jar, but her voice could not be heard out.
, I won't live long, but you have lived for over five hundred years and will continue to live."
Yaris continued to lobby the "Dark Night Mentor".
"With your means, it wouldn't be difficult to survive two thousand years later."
"A Taoist master? It's an attractive offer indeed, but—"
.
"Even when you first infiltrated his dark empire to spy on his secrets, he had already set his sights on you... Your future has only two paths: either become his pawn and serve him, or be destroyed by him."
Defeat Him and become the best in the world..."
"If you can defeat Him on your own, why do you keep coming to us and begging for cooperation?"
For a moment, the air was a little heavy.
The Dark Night Mentor, whose pain was pierced, opened his mouth, as if trying to resist, but in the end—
"What exactly do you want me to do?"
"You have infiltrated His dark empire several times, so you must have a good understanding of Him."
"I am undoubtedly the person who knows him best in the entire Western Continent."
The Dark Night Mentor said proudly.
"So, what methods did He use to transform humans into monsters? And how can we find the monsters hiding among the people?"
Xiao Yun asked directly.
"this……"
"Don't you know?"
Yaris deliberately used a sarcastic tone.
The Dark Night Mentor was immediately enraged, clenching his fists and cursing, "In the field of human body modification, I'm second to none in the world!"
"But we all know He is not human."
Xiao Yun said suddenly.
The Dark Night Mentor became even more angry: "Precisely because He is not human, He cannot understand the human body beyond the anatomical level. The monsters He transforms will always be just monsters and will never become real humans!"
"So you know how to spot monsters among the crowd?"
"good!"
"Dark Night Mentor" blurted out, then realized he had been tricked and burst out with uncontrollable anger: "Lucien! You used to be so innocent, well-behaved, pure and innocent, following your brother around day and night like his little tail! Now you are even more arrogant and rude than your brother, mean and sharp, and you join your brother in mocking and plotting against me!"
"The day before the birthday party officially started, I met a royal knight who could transform into a lizard monster in the grove beside Lake Lilia."
"Well……"
"I don't know how many knights in the barracks have become like this. But I'm certain that, in order to achieve his ulterior motives, the one possessing Edmund is plotting something even more terrifying and sinister than transforming the virtuous royal knights into lizard monsters! If this continues, the entire Solar Empire and even the entire Western Continent will be shrouded in darkness."
Xiao Yun looked at the Dark Night Mentor sternly: "We must stop Him, not only for the greater good of saving the Western Continent, but also for the survival of mankind."
"Humans are meaningless to the universe. But we are human, and a future without humanity is meaningless to us."
Yaris added softly.
The Dark Night Mentor fell silent.
After a long time——
“…You are right.”
The old wizard said gloomily, "I dream of becoming the strongest magician, admired and respected by everyone... If there are no humans in the future, even if I become the strongest in history as I wish... "
"I've infiltrated his dark empire more than once. In the heart of his capital, completely under his control, I've witnessed thousands of horrific monsters he created that couldn't even be called human, as well as living people who had lost their self-awareness and wandered around like zombies... If this were to happen in the Western Continent, if our cities began to swarm with monsters... Hell would unfold once again..."
"Although I'm a mage who lives apart from the world, I'm still human at heart. I long to be worshipped and respected by the living out of their own free will, rather than a large group of undead standing in the square and surrounding me, shouting 'Long Live!'"
“…”
As the "Dark Night Mentor" described, a scene of hell appeared before Xiao Yun's eyes.
The once pristine streets were littered with corpses and blood. Lizard monsters with scaly green skin rampaged through the city streets. The army had long since collapsed, and civilians were screaming and hiding in the alleys like frightened sheep. Children who fell were grabbed by monsters and chewed before they could even stand up...
[…As long as I am alive, He will never succeed, and the worst outcome will not happen.]
The gentle yet firm voice slowly flowed into Xiao Yun's heart along with the warmth of his fingers.
Xiao Yun held this slender hand and made a firm promise—
[I will work with you to protect our motherland and the people living on this land, even if it means sacrificing my own life to prevent the nightmare from coming!]
"--Well, Your Highness, Princess and little singing bird, although I would like to applaud your brotherhood, there is no time now."
The cold voice of "Dark Night Mentor" interrupted the conversation between the two.
"We must join forces to stop his invasion, lest this land we live in become a hellish place plagued by disasters and monsters. That's not the future you want, nor is it the world I want. So I promise—from now on—to support you unconditionally and without limit until he is completely destroyed!"
"Yes."
Yaris nodded: "What you said makes sense."
"My speech is not only very reasonable, but also very philosophical."
The Dark Night Mentor raised his chin arrogantly: "Your Highness, to be honest, in this operation planned by your brothers to stop the invasion and save our motherland, you are our greatest weakness!"
"——Brother is not a weakness!"
Xiao Yun was very unhappy.
Yaris smiled and said, "Yes, I am indeed the biggest weakness."
He's jumping into the trap we've set.
[So you...]
Xiao Yun understood instantly and revealed an unwilling expression: "Yaris..."
"My help is indispensable to you."
The Dark Night Mentor beamed with pride. "As your most important partner, I will not only take care of the radioactive Kairusha for you, but will also return him to you once his condition stabilizes. I will also share with you my skills in identifying monsters in a crowd. During Xiaoniao's absence from Maga City, I will do my utmost to protect Her Highness, the Princess, and ensure she doesn't get captured by him and his minions."
"...If civil war breaks out, I will escort the fragile Princess to Gaola before Maga City is engulfed in the flames. Once the Princess arrives in the Angan region, she can, as the High Priestess of the Twin Gods, announce to the Gan World the irrefutable evidence of lizard monsters appearing on the battlefield and slaughtering civilians. Your rebellion will instantly transform from a power struggle within the ruling elite into a universal struggle of justice against evil."
"After six thousand years, Gaola will once again become the center of the world. By then, even if you, Little Bird, haven't officially ascended the throne yet, all the other countries in the Western Continent will send envoys, addressing you as 'Your Majesty'. The people will respond to you and follow you, worshipping you as the hero who saved the world!"
The Dark Night Mentor became more and more excited as he spoke, and a rare blush appeared on his old cheeks.
"—I will also be worshipped and respected by the entire continent for helping you! Everyone who mentions my name will praise me from the bottom of their hearts, adding the prefix "The greatest and noblest black magician in human history" to my name!"
(…As expected, vanity is the best driving force.)
Xiao Yun secretly complained, and in coordination with Yaris, he said to the "Dark Night Mentor": "In fact, I have been very distressed these past few days... Ever since I discovered Edmund's secret, I have been considering the feasibility of taking my brother to Gaola... If Gaola's climate wasn't so harsh... I would also..."
"And my joining has perfectly solved your troubles."
The "Dark Night Mentor" became more and more proud.
"That's right. Although you are still untrustworthy to me, as long as we can successfully defeat Him and save the Western Continent, we can cooperate with anyone!"
"In that case—Your Highness, please open the barrier of the Little Love Palace as soon as possible and allow me and my Dark Magic Covenant members to enter your territory!"
"no problem."
Yaris smiled and nodded, then cut his finger with the dagger he carried with him, squeezed out the blood and smeared it on the crystal mirror.
The "Dark Night Mentor" on the other side of the mirror was ecstatic. He quickly cut his palm and smeared his blood on the mirror image.
The blood melted into the crystal mirror, emitting an unusual white light.
"Thus—the covenant is concluded!"
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