Our path

At this moment, the listener seems to be divided into two people.

Half of him was calmly thinking about the next question as Aurelius, and half of him was paralyzed as Mason and could hardly think about the meaning behind this sentence.

Even if I had experienced life and death many times while using the vest, it would not be as painful as the spike in my heartbeat at this moment.

How could the Monster Lord say such a thing? When did he reveal his true colors? How much did he know? When did he know it?

The human's throat tightened, and he said as calmly as possible: "Then why don't you come to me?"

The Monster Lord admitted frankly: "I can't do it. Unless you take the initiative to come to me, the World Tree will resist me. Haven't you experienced it? In that human town, you and my power once came into contact."

Mason immediately recalled the transformation of Amira, and the last time the World Tree intervened to protect the vest from the black mist. It turned out that they had contacted each other before.

If that's the case, then it's crystal clear what he's going to do. The Monster Lord definitely has bad intentions, he's definitely going to do the opposite!

Even though the young man said nothing, the Monster Lord could see through his thoughts. He said with regret: "What a pity, it seems that our negotiation has failed."

The thick black fog was blown by the wind, vaguely outlining a huge and strange outline. The floating monster like a jellyfish pulled the clouds and mist and quietly descended in front of them. The moonlight distorted through its transparent body, and countless distorted human faces were embedded on the top of its tentacles, staring at the humans in front of it with pale and empty eyes.

The Monster Lord smiled and spoke.

"There is no other way. Since you don't want to, you have to come. First..."

"Kill you and your pet."

Along with His casual voice, a huge pressure came towards Him.

This is an indescribable feeling. Unlike any enemy I have encountered before, if I still need to resist against a being like the Queen of Insects, then when facing the Lord of Monsters, anyone who raises a sword against him is doomed to fail.

The whole world was filled with dark gods, casting hostility on the rebels. Even the air to breathe became harsh. There was no moment when Mason realized more clearly than now that he was against the world.

This is the age of black fog, this is the future of monsters.

On the other side of the living world, the Lord of Monsters is the master of everything.

Before humans took any further action, Nidhogg was on the verge of death. The bones of the skeletal dragon made a mournful sound under the pressure. The red-haired young man suddenly realized what the other party was going to do, and his pupils shrank to the size of a needle tip.

"stop……!!"

Before the sound fell, the Monster Lord waved his hand gently.

The bone dragon didn't react at all and continued to crawl quietly on the ground, only the fire in its eye sockets was extinguished.

The human breath stagnated, and it was as if a hole had been opened in the heart. The howling wind blew in, and heavy snow fell all over the sky.

Dazed, confused, angry, floating in the clouds and unbelievable.

For a moment, humans even doubted their own eyes.

Is this true?

Did Nidhogg die just like that?

It doesn't matter if the vest is torn off, he can still get a new vest. But once the people around him die, they will never be resurrected.

Why?

Why why why?

Why is all this happening?!

Strong emotions impacted the young man's brain, breaking the last cordon. In the empty floating feeling, Mason realized clearly that he had to do something, whether for his dead friend or for himself, the Monster Lord was not joking. He really intended to do this.

Without any hesitation, Mason directly released the blessing to the highest level. Complex patterns climbed up the red-haired young man's face, and the sound of the monster's screaming curse echoed in his ears. The curse and blessing were triggered together, and the surging murderous intent overwhelmed his reason and bounced out his mental power.

The red-haired young man completely lost his mind, his expression was mad and twisted. The murderous aura turned into a concrete sea of ​​blood, his body trembled abnormally, forming a strange posture. All the creatures killed by the red-haired young man appeared behind him, cursing him, and becoming his slaves and servants, attacking the enemy as his soldiers.

The two sides cursed each other, hated each other, and yet connected with each other, forming a dead sea of ​​despair.

The scarlet sea spread out and smashed towards the enemy. The monster from the nightmare pounced on the enemy, and all its transparent tentacles broke before they even got close.

Although the blood scorpion was controlled, it still had a very high spirituality. When it woke up, it had already sneaked away. Seeing that it was his former subordinate, the monster master was too lazy to chase it.

"You're even more grumpy than I thought."

“He” sighed and casually patted the tentacles beside him. Yunmu exuded strong hostility towards the red-haired young man, and tens of millions of tentacles stretched out towards the opponent, starting a fierce fight.

......

Black Forest Tavern, Partington.

Almost at the same time when his mental power was ejected, the profiteer unhesitatingly called out the teleportation hole and prepared to leave. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

Bai's voice came from outside the door: "Master, the Noble Association sent someone to see you, saying that they have something important to discuss."

If anyone said that the Noble Association was innocent at this time, he would throw his head on the ground and step on it.

The black-robed merchant paused for a moment, and the paint on his pale mask flowed, outlining an unhappy expression. He quickly gathered his emotions and replied in his usual relaxed tone: "I know, I'll come right away."

He took out a coin from his sleeve, and as the coin disappeared, a glimmer of light flashed across the merchant's body. He walked out of the room, and Bai, who was waiting at the door, leaned forward slightly: "Their carriage is downstairs."

Through the contract, he was able to sense his master's mood. The young man raised his head and asked, "Do you want me to go with you?"

"Just stay in the tavern."

Under normal circumstances, Bai would have obeyed orders. But today he hesitated for a moment and still insisted, "I want to go with you."

Did I reveal my emotions to this extent today? Even Bai could see it. The paint on the profiteer's mask flowed, and in the end he said nothing, just nodded lightly.

"Follow me in human form."

In order to disguise his identity, Bai usually pretends to be a tavern owner with a human body and a snake tail, and moves freely in human form.

He changed into ordinary people's clothes, tied up his hair to reveal his eerie snake eyes, and followed the profiteer obediently.

The chairman's carriage had been waiting at the back door of the tavern. When they saw the two men coming out at the same time, the faceless puppet pulled up the curtain for them and waited for the two profiteers to board the carriage. The horses pulling the carriage rumbled into the darkness.

The Speaker of the Parliament had obviously done something wrong. The carriage passed through the strict surveillance smoothly and did not even meet anyone on the road.

When they arrived at the central building, there were several other carriages parked at the door. It seemed that he was not the only one here today. The profiteer glanced around and recognized the emblem of the Brainworm family and the logo of the Mechanical City.

What is this? A gathering of people who care about human rights?

He sneered in his heart. This time, the puppet did not lead him in through the main door, but instead took him in through a remote back door.

This was the first time that the profiteer saw the rest of the central building. The intricate corridors seemed endless, and the mechanical lights on the walls illuminated the way ahead. Bai caught the smell in the air, his face extremely tense.

The profiteer noticed his emotions and sent a message through the contract: [Don't be nervous.]

It wasn't him who was nervous. Bai lowered his head silently. Slaves who had signed a soul contract would be affected by the master's mood. It wasn't him who was nervous, but the profiteer.

He couldn't help but feel worried about this. What happened to make the master so solemn? But Bai didn't say anything in the end. He just lowered his head quietly, not adding to the master's worries at the moment.

The road came to an end and the puppet stopped, with a black wall standing in front of it.

It made an inviting gesture to the profiteer, blocking Bai who wanted to follow in. The black-robed merchant glanced at it and said, "Then you wait for me here."

Bai Xin stopped reluctantly and watched the profiteer walk in.

Cross the wall and enter a world of pure black.

There was no light in front or behind until a voice came from the darkness.

"I'm sorry to bother you at this time, but I have something to discuss with you."

The Speaker of the Parliament stood in front holding a lantern. The light outlined his tall figure and cast a dim halo on his voice.

"I have verified what you reported before. There is indeed a spy inside the Noble Association."

"Although there are some twists and turns in the process, it can be basically confirmed that the problem lies with the Mechanical City and the Brainworm Family. The technicians in the city checked the teleportation array, which uses a sophisticated detachable teleportation device. The current technological level of Partington City cannot handle this teleportation array. In order to solve it, we need to let Heisez redeem himself for his crime."

"The suspects have gathered in the lobby. I hope you can join the association's next move. If they show any abnormality, cooperate with me to deal with them immediately. The exchanged property has been prepared."

He spoke slowly and logically. The black-robed merchant stared at the lantern depicting the World Tree until the man's voice disappeared completely in the air.

The Speaker seemed to sigh, or was sighing. His expression was blurred by the light, making it difficult to see clearly. His attitude was still calm and gentle.

"I thought you were here to fulfill your agreement."

"I am indeed here to fulfill the agreement, provided that you remain the same as when the agreement was made."

The black-robed merchant answered politely and courteously. He took the initiative to walk towards the Speaker of the Council, and the pale bandage under his black robe reminded the Speaker of the devil recorded in ancient books.

Powerful power, mysterious identity, and arbitrary thinking, if there is really a devil alive in the world, it is probably like this, right? The Speaker of the Council said, "I know your ability. Let's play a game. You can ask a question, and I will ask a question. This is our equal exchange."

This was considered an active gesture of goodwill, and he handed the decision to the other party. The black-robed merchant did not answer, and the smile on the pale mask stared at the chairman of the parliament, like a dried bloodstain. After a long time, an inquiring voice came from under the mask, as if a ghost was asking a question inadvertently.

"You really don't know about Ai Bo?"

Don't you really know that he betrayed humanity?

Did you really not know that he had joined the Black Mist followers?

You really didn't know that he had been pretending all along?

You really don't know that there are shadows hidden beneath the magnificent and beautiful walls of Partington. Is it true that the fortress of mankind seems solid, but is it actually riddled with holes?

The dead soul inhabited the black-robed merchant's question, silently asking the supreme leader of mankind. The profiteer happened to be standing outside the range of the light, wrapped in thick darkness, confronting the chairman of the parliament who stood in the light.

Silence was a huge thing, spreading between the two of them. It swallowed up all the sounds, and the Speaker looked at the endless darkness in front of him, with only the lamp in his hand emitting a faint light.

"No matter what I say, you may not believe it. What I can tell you is that from the beginning to the end, my position has not deviated."

The president of the council said: "The Judge's bloodline requires that you must not violate your principles. My principle is to maintain the survival of mankind. On the contrary, as long as they threaten the survival of mankind, I can judge them. As a constraint on myself, if I violate this, I will die immediately."

The contract told the profiteer that there was no secret in the other party's answer, and everything he did was for the survival of mankind. The chairman of the parliament looked at the profiteer quietly and raised his own questions.

“When will the next sunny day come?”

The profiteer gave him a deep look and said, "Tomorrow."

"That sounds good."

A barely perceptible smile flashed across the Speaker's face, and then he returned to his usual indifference.

"My questioning is over. The boy you brought is waiting outside the meeting room, and the others are inside. If you want to leave, you can go directly to him; if you change your mind, then follow me."

After saying that, the chairman of the council turned around and walked to the end of the road. The black-robed merchant followed him without hesitation. At the end of the road was a door, and after opening it, he saw quite a few people sitting there.

The head of the Brainworm family, the S-level researcher of the Mechanical City, Heise, and some familiar noble families who were qualified to compete for the vacancies of the Twelve Families in the future. When the profiteer and the chairman of the parliament entered the hall, everyone looked up at them.

The chairman of the parliament sat in his seat, and the profiteer sat down in the only empty seat. Looking around, there were exactly twelve seats, not more, not less.

Some knew him, some didn't. In their eyes, the black-robed merchant looked so out of place. The latter looked back calmly, as if there was a destiny in the dark. The president of the parliament spoke in a low voice.

"Gather everyone here at this time. I have an important announcement to make."

"There is a traitor among us, and I have discovered his identity."

He said calmly, "That's you, profiteer."

The walls of the hall turned blood red, and a chain covered with barbs extended from the chair of the black-robed merchant. The King's Chair was activated, and a layer of air was separated from the unscrupulous merchant, so that the chain could never penetrate his body.

A sneer rang out from under the mask: "You don't think this thing can trap me a second time, do you? If you underestimate me like this, it will really be distressing."

"I will not use the same method to deal with the same person twice. Your ability is too special. From the beginning, I only wanted to deal with you."

The chairman of the council lowered his eyes and looked at him, saying gently: "There is a leaf of the World Tree in this table. The words written on it are: Trading is prohibited here."

The profiteer's expression darkened. The leaves of the World Tree of the old times naturally could not have earth-shaking power in the Black Mist Era, but this meant that the Monster Lord had taken action. The false destiny woven by the leaves of the World Tree enveloped the hall and imprisoned his blessing. He could break it, but he would have to pay a price.

"I know your abilities. You will never be able to defeat me. For the continuation of humanity, I will judge you."

The bloodline of the Judge is extremely special. It evolved from the angel race and has the magical power to judge others.

Users can use their own ideas as a scale for judgment. Those who deviate from this standard will be punished.

Following the judgment of the chairman of the parliament, with a piercing sound, the profiteer's chest was pierced by an invisible object, leaving a huge wound. His breath disappeared very quickly, as if he had been erased from this world with an eraser, and he fell straight to the ground.

Others did not react to this. Those who were able to appear here were all people who had defected to the Speaker of the Parliament and knew the truth.

"Should we dispose of his body?"

The researcher looked at the corpse of the profiteer, not disguising his malice at all: "After all, he is a person with special abilities. If we don't kill him completely this time, we will be in trouble in the future."

"No one can survive being judged."

"Well, who made you the Speaker of the Council? You have the final say."

Having said this, the researcher looked at the brain worm owner and asked, "Are your worms reliable?"

Among all the people, only the black-haired, blue-eyed bloodline person remained sitting there, ignoring their conversation. This inexplicably brought a sense of horror.

"If you feel it's unreliable, you can try it yourself."

Another voice came from the corner. The emerald-eyed young man nodded to him in a friendly way, his face a little pale. He knew that the other person's nature was hard to change, and he secretly called him crazy.

The Speaker of the Council asked gently, "Where's Amon?"

"I sent him back to rest. He is not fit to be in Partington."

The head of the Brainworm family sat at the table as if he had not heard what they said. It was not until the Speaker of the Council came to him that the Bloodline raised his head and looked at him. Looking at those familiar eyes, the Speaker of the Council sighed softly.

"I'm sorry, my friend."

Hai Shiz said with a sigh, "You are so ruthless. From what I know, you have a very good relationship with the Brainworm Family. They supported you to take the position in the beginning."

The president of the council said calmly, "He is a very good friend and an excellent family head. He will support all my decisions except this one."

Among all the family heads, the Brainworm family head is the only one who joined the Council of Twelve Round Tables at the same time as him.

At that time, among the three of them, one had not yet become the Pope who is the Lord of All Things; one had not yet lost his own body and could only rely on his deputy brain to travel; he also had not yet been recognized by the incumbent Speaker of the Parliament and became a candidate.

Among them, the Pope chose the path of becoming a god in the church, and the head of the Brainworm family decided to assist him in becoming a strong man in the Noble Association. The three of them parted ways.

Now, with his choice, there will be fewer and fewer people left. Those who travel together will eventually go their separate ways, and the end of this road is destined to be lonely.

The chairman of the parliament nodded slightly: "Go ahead."

Aibo hooked his fingers and connected to the mind worm's mental network. In the center of the mental network was a huge creature.

That was the brain of the family, the core of everything. The emerald-eyed youth looked at it with admiration as a small insect crawled out from the grooves on the surface of the brain. It looked too small, completely insignificant compared to the entire brain, so it easily hid in the folds.

Sensing the master's will, the little dancing insect bit through the skin under its feet and drilled in, becoming one with the master brain.

The main brain and all the sub-brains kept trembling, subconsciously resisting the external force. But after searching for a long time, they only found the family's intelligence transmitted through the thought network.

Aibo used the cover of blood to send more energy to the dancing bug, speeding up the fusion process of both parties.

The head of the Brainworm family regained consciousness due to the severe pain. He saw the scene in the meeting room and instantly understood what had happened. He looked at the chairman of the meeting with disappointment and pain in his eyes: "When did it start?"

The Council President replied softly, "The first counterattack plan against the Black Mist failed, and I entered the Black Mist. There, I met the Lord of Monsters for the first time. From then on, I knew where humanity should go."

A trace of genuine sadness flashed across the eyes of the Brainworm Patriarch: "Stop it, old friend. No matter how the Monster Lord tries to confuse you, it's just sweet talk. The path forward for mankind should never lead into the dark fog."

"But we have no choice." The Speaker of the Council said calmly. "The territory of mankind is shrinking, and the Black Mist is expanding year by year. If we want to continue, we must make changes."

The head of the Brainworm family was furious: "We have many ways, but we shouldn't choose this one!"

"You are wrong. We have many ways, but they are only ways. We don't know if we can succeed, and we don't know when we can achieve it. But merging into the black mist is a way, a way that can be achieved now. Resent me, my friend. This is my decision. Even if it means that humans are no longer human, I will let our species continue. The short-term sacrifice for this is worth it."

The head of the Brainworm family showed a look of pain, and the dancing bugs completely merged with the main brain. The thought network expanded outward uncontrollably, connecting all the Brainworm bloodlines in the entire Partington City.

The brainworm bloodline that forced communication radiated to the surroundings, affecting the bloodline. One spread to ten, ten spread to a hundred, and the indiscriminately expanding thought network enveloped everyone.

A trace of regret flashed through his mind, and he completely understood what had happened.

It’s too late.

Due to the high level of pollution, the main body of the brain worm master has long been separated from the human identity and has become the main brain in the mind network. Now Dancing Chong has completely merged with it and can completely control all the brain worm bloodline people through the mind network, and even control everyone around him through mind manipulation.

Why did it turn out like this? What went wrong? They shouldn't have ended up like this.

At the last moment of his life, the brain worm owner made three decisions.

First, he communicated with the main brain and proactively disconnected all thought network nodes, leaving only part of the network centered on the west, and handed over the highest authority to the brain worm assistants who assisted Sevich.

Second, he ordered his brain worm assistants to control Severic, interrupting his ability to connect to the thought network and command operations.

Third, he looked at the Speaker, and his mind flashed back to the countless years they had known each other. Finally, he said seriously, "Rui, you will definitely fail."

At this moment, his body suddenly expanded and exploded into a ball of blood. The force of the tidal wave came over him, and when it hit the chairman of the parliament and others, it suddenly disappeared silently, as if it had never appeared.

This series of actions seemed complicated but was actually very fast, leaving no one a chance to react. Hazel's face changed, and when he turned around and saw the calm expression of the Speaker, he couldn't help but ask, "Is this also part of your plan?"

"He knew I would guess he would do this. But he had no choice. If he didn't do this, Partington would collapse because of the brainworm bloodline. As the head of the family, he couldn't let his children bear such a stigma."

"...You are such a scary man. You can even calculate this. It seems that brainworms are not that great after all."

"If he really intends to investigate me, our plan will not last long. Even I don't know how much the Brainworm family knows. The intelligence flowing on the thought network is always beyond our imagination."

Heather didn't care: "But we won easily."

"That's right. Because I know he will never doubt me. So from the beginning of this plan, we have succeeded."

The chairman of the parliament said calmly. A familiar scene appeared in front of him again, which happened a long, long time ago.

"My bloodline is the Judge. I will use it to continue the survival of mankind and devote my life to fighting for humanity. To do this, I need your help. Are you willing to be my partner?"

The young black-haired bloodline stood beside him and was silent for a moment. At that time, he still retained his human appearance, and his eyes were full of vitality. Hearing his companion's words, the brainworm bloodline deliberately put on a stern face and replied: "If you can stick to your idea today, I will definitely help you complete it."

The young man, who had not yet become the president of the parliament, held out his hand to him: "It's a deal."

The other party couldn't hold it in any longer, and said loudly with eyes narrowed: "It's a deal!"

With a snap, the two hands were clasped together.

The man who had become the chairman of the council stepped over the pool of blood on the ground and walked out of the hall. The others followed closely behind him, leaving behind only the blood-stained ground and the dead body of the black-robed businessman lying on the chair.

Everything was for a better future, just like they had parted ways with the Pope and never said goodbye again. This time, none of them looked back.