Chapter 41 The Meeting of the Kings of the Rings (4) It's all over now...
As everyone knows, almost every major event in Cocytus is accompanied by scenes of bloodshed. Although she hasn't yet shaken off her status as a new student, this mindset has already been deeply imprinted in Xia Ying's heart.
This is why Xia Ying immediately became alert when she heard the King of the Tomb Keepers announce the start of the meeting, guarding against any possible changes.
She stood on the Persephone Spring, holding the Kusanagi Sword, and waited with bated breath for a second, two seconds... half a minute passed.
Nothing bloody happened.
Just as Xia Ying was beginning to have doubts, the voice of the King of the Tomb Keepers rang out again, reigniting her vigilance.
"Next, I will proceed with the first item on the meeting's agenda," the King of the Ring Realm said quite solemnly, "which is to reiterate the meeting's discipline!"
“Perhaps it’s because of the previous incident where a meeting turned into a huge brawl,” Charybdis said in a low voice. “That was during the second meeting, when the organizers were the Crimson Ring.”
Upon hearing this, Xia Ying had already vaguely guessed the outcome of that meeting.
The siren continued, "Fafnir actually said that because he found the meeting troublesome and boring, he suggested that they just have a chaotic battle to settle things."
At this opportune moment, the King of the Tomb Keepers emphasized: "First, fighting is prohibited during the meeting."
Xia Ying asked, "But if it was just a suggestion, it shouldn't have escalated to that extent, right?"
"Although it was just a suggestion, it's inevitable that some participants already had friction... Of course, that's not the main reason."
The siren looked away, lacking confidence.
"The meeting of the Kings of the Ring Domains at that time was very large. In addition to the kings, there were many attendants from different ring domains. So once someone made a move, the situation would quickly become uncontrollable..."
As a result, only the rule-abiding and trustworthy "Silent Tomb Ring" suffered losses.
Perhaps because she knew the background, Xia Ying suddenly felt that the voice of the King of the Tomb Keepers sounded very cold and eerie.
"Second, it is forbidden to bring more than two attendants to the meeting."
A tiny bit of sympathy rose in Xia Ying's heart: Well, it's not that I can't understand it.
The reading of the rules was tedious and lengthy, comparable to even the most boring human meetings, making Xia Ying's mind wander and her drowsy.
"...Next, we will move on to the key topic of this meeting, namely the recent virus intrusion incidents."
Virus?
Xia Ying, having caught the keyword, snapped out of her reverie and perked up her ears.
The King of the Tomb Keepers continued, "There are many unusual aspects to this invasion. First, all four rings were attacked by the virus on the same day, and the scale of the virus invading Cocytus is also larger than ever before—these are unprecedented occurrences..."
Sitting next to Xia Ying, Charybdis said, "There's another point: the locations of the invasions all occurred near the King of the Ring Domain."
The King of the Tomb Keepers paused, then verified with the other Kings of the Ring Realms: "Is that really the case?"
Fafnir said lazily, "That's right."
Before the jade wall engraved with the emblem of the mad feast, the reflection on it also nodded.
"Just as Qilin said, this invasion is completely different from the previous patterns."
"Charybdis continued."
“Concentrated action,” Fafnir scoffed. “You mean to say that those soulless things have formed an army?”
“That’s exactly what I was thinking.” Charybdis said with a venomous smile. “This is the first time you’ve shared the same view with me. How rare, Fafnir. It seems the spikes of the virus have provided some beneficial stimulation to your intellect.”
"How did you know about the spike virus?" Fafnir's voice was full of suspicion and considerable dissatisfaction.
Uh, it seems like I was the one who said it.
Xia Ying nervously tugged at the siren's sleeve, frantically signaling him not to betray her.
There was nothing I could do; I didn't know you two had such a bad relationship back then!
The siren squeezed Xia Ying's hand in return, then gently released it, a smile appearing on his lips, his tone unconsciously becoming lighter: "I have my own intelligence channels."
He toned down his pleasure slightly and returned to the topic.
He glanced at Xia Ying and changed his words, saying, "I analyzed the virus spike sample that invaded the Shadow Scale Ring this time. Its composition rules have changed a lot from the past... Simply put, this thing can make abyssal creatures at the level of the Ring King lose their rationality and fall into madness."
The King of the Tomb Keepers realized the gravity of the situation, and his voice became even more solemn: "The virus is intensifying."
"That's right."
"Charybdis replied."
"Perhaps you all remember that when viruses first appeared, they were very weak, and eliminating them was effortless. But later, they gradually became stronger and stronger, and even evolved the ability to mimic. At the last Global Conference, there was an unexpected incident where a virus disguised as an abyssal creature broke into the conference venue."
"Was that really an accident?" This time, it was the King of the Feast who spoke.
His voice sounded clear, elegant, and gentle, making it hard for Xia Ying to associate it with the various negative comments directed at him.
“Even earlier…or rather, from the very beginning, the virus’s purpose was to devour Cocytus,” said the Feast King. “They have only taken one step closer to their goal.”
“That’s right, that’s what I call ‘iteration’.”
Charybdis agreed with the King of the Feasters' views, and added to them.
"In their battles against us, the viruses have accumulated a wealth of experience from their failures and have used this experience to continuously improve themselves. By this point, they have developed effective means of attack against the King of the Ring Realm."
He paused briefly before asking, "What's next?"
The meeting fell silent for a moment.
A moment later, the meeting's moderator broke the silence.
"As a condition for being accepted by Cocytus, the King of the Ring must fulfill his duty to protect this place. This is the contract we signed with the Lord of Demons."
"The King of the Tomb Keepers said coldly."
Fafnir: "Find the source of the virus and then destroy it completely."
Karybdis: "Analyze the nature of the virus, develop targeted destructive magic, and stop its continued evolution."
The shadow of the Feast King swayed slightly, indicating that he had relinquished his right to propose a motion.
Above everyone's heads, the Star Orbiter observed and recorded everything. A roll of parchment was generated in the core of the Star Orbiter, where light and shadow intertwined, and slowly drifted down to the conference floor below.
"Then, please sign your names in the minutes of the proposal. I will submit them to the Lord of Demons after the meeting so that he can make the final decision."
The jade disc, engraved with the seal of the tomb, gleamed faintly. The parchment pierced through the wall and fell into the hands of the tomb-sealing king, whose knuckles were distinct and whose skin was as cold and smooth as jade.
Magic particles gathered at his fingertips, outlining his signature at the bottom.
After that, the parchment flew from his hand again, drifting clockwise toward the location of the crimson crown emblem.
The signing process also indicates that this issue is basically coming to an end.
Before the next topic began, Charybdis relaxed slightly and turned to Xia Ying, who had remained quiet all along... She was squatting in front of the magic jade wall, using it as a canvas to doodle and draw.
"What are you doing, Xia Ying?"
"I'm recording the virus." Xia Ying moved aside a little, revealing her doodles.
She had already drawn a complete picture of a wheel-shaped virus covered in eyes on the wall, and added annotations next to it, explaining in detail the virus's attack patterns and behavior characteristics.
Charybdis stepped closer, observed for a while, and couldn't help but be surprised: "Your records are very accurate. Were these all observed during the last virus intrusion incident?"
Xia Ying looked uncertain: "It's less about observation..."
At this moment, the King of the Feast also finished signing his name. The parchment passed through the jade wall and flew to the outside of the room where Charybdis and Xia Ying were.
But for some reason, the parchment lingered outside the wall and didn't enter it for quite a while.
Xia Ying looked at the parchment that was only a step away from her and subconsciously reached out her hand.
Her hand passed unimpeded through the jade wall, easily grasped the parchment, and brought it into the room.
Xia Ying glanced at the contents of the parchment out of the corner of her eye. Below each of the listed proposals were three magic mark marks, each representing the name of one of the three Ring Domain Kings.
She turned around and handed the parchment to Charybdis.
The King of Shadowscales looked at her and raised his hand, but the moment Xia Ying let go, a sudden change occurred.
Right before Charybdis's eyes, Xia Ying suddenly vanished, and the parchment scroll drifted down from the sky, but the King of Shadowscales had no time to pay attention to it at the moment.
On the other side, Xia Ying suddenly felt dizzy, and then her feet lost their footing, causing her to fall to the ground without warning.
Xia Ying suddenly noticed a pair of black leather shoes in front of her, but the style was different from that of Charybdis.
She paused for a moment, then looked up and saw the tie she had tied herself before leaving the house.
This is indeed a waiting room, but it is not the waiting room of the King of Shadowscale.
The veil, which was enchanted with shielding magic, was shaken off during the teleportation, covering her face again, but Xia Ying dared not take any chances, because what had summoned her here was probably the [Sisyphus Collar].
Fafnir bent down from his seat, lifted Xia Ying's wrist, and held her fingers in his palm.
Xia Ying followed his movements and looked... there he was wearing a ring with a black gemstone.
She suddenly had a flash of inspiration and guessed why her identity had been discovered.
The white veil in front of him was gently lifted, and Fafnir asked calmly, "Xia Ying, why are you here?"
"..." In this situation where there was nowhere to escape, Xia Ying feigned composure and slowly began to speak, "I..."
In less than half a second, the scenarios she had envisioned flashed through her mind like a slideshow. In her mind, Fafnir had already gone through the process of shock and rage, and jumped directly to the stage of madness.
"I see."
In reality, Fafnir gently removed her veil, then stood up, carried her to the throne belonging to the King of the Rings, and walked forward.
Huh? Eh?
Xia Ying stared at the dragon's back, puzzled.
What exactly do you know?!
Fafnir silently walked to the jade wall, sparks suddenly bursting up and spreading all over his arm along with crimson dragon scales. He threw an incredibly heavy punch, shattering the wall along with the protective magic.
Stepping over the shattered fragments, the dragon roared with a ferocious expression, "Charybdis! Is it you who plundered and abused my treasures?!"
Where did this conclusion of abuse even come from?!
At almost the same moment, a huge bang drowned out Xia Ying's voice, and she was knocked to the ground, missing her chance to stop Fafnir.
Of course, this is not the worst-case scenario.
To make matters worse, as the dragonfire engulfed the entire palace, the jade wall containing the Shadow Scale Ring emblem was also shattered by the immense force, and seawater surged out from it.
"That's what I wanted to say to you, you damn crawler!"
Charybdis unleashed a raging storm, and judging from his completely out-of-control expression, his rage was no less than that of a dragon.
Standing amidst the raging floodwaters and blazing flames, Xia Ying's mind went blank for a moment.
...Now it's all over.
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Author's Note: Xia Ying: No, no, don't fight for me! (Faints weakly) (Actually, no)
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