Chapter 89
“Let’s leave my discussion here.” Ark frowned as he looked at Apari. “I’m sorry about what happened before.”
"Why are you apologizing? I started it." Apari smiled at Ark and said, "It was quite an interesting fight, lasting forty-two minutes in total, and I was on the verge of death for seven minutes after I was exhausted. But at least I got to see you..."
“Please, don’t talk about that.” Ark pointed to the ceiling: “We’re still under the Sun Wheel.”
“Ha, still the same old personality. Yes, we’re still under the sun, and at least for now, there are five people watching us.” Apari chuckled, looking at Ark and saying, “Now, the demons are completely powerless against the church. In my time, a hundred years or more ago, we demons and demon kings might have been able to gain power in certain matters if we united. But now, if we don’t bow down, we can’t even survive the most basic thing.”
“Because the Church has been accumulating advantages. Their ruling class is very shrewd. For a long time, they have been using their advantages to expand their own advantage while maintaining the initiative. Although the demonic path has also grown, its speed is nowhere near that of the Church.” Denoston paused and said, “But this is quite good. I am just an ordinary human being, and I just hope for peace in the world. After all, if the war between demons and priests were to start again, perhaps the world would really be doomed.”
"Do you think the world is salvageable?" Suddenly, Apari asked a seemingly random question.
"What's the meaning?"
“After the gods and demons were sealed away, this world completely collapsed. Without a leader, it was utterly unable to stabilize its imbalance on its own. Here’s something interesting: the boundaries of this world have shrunk by about one kilometer in the last hundred years. If this is a circle, then it’s equivalent to a world with a diameter of two kilometers being swallowed into the void.” Apari looked at Denos and said, “This world is collapsing, probably starting a very long time ago, or maybe it’s just recently. But one thing is certain: if the gods and demons cannot be released from the seal of death, then sooner or later we will all be swallowed into the void.”
“I don’t care, I won’t live to see that.” Denoston paused and said, “But it’s something you should care about, you might actually live to see that.”
"Hmm, therefore, my goal is to resurrect gods or demons. Either way, we need a supreme being to regulate the entire world. I don't want to die one day in the future, suffocating in an ever-shrinking space."
“You should give up this idea. That’s why I stopped you in the first place,” Ark said after a moment’s hesitation. “You know that even if we succeed, things won’t turn out the way we want.”
“I understand, I understand. You did leave a deep impression on me with that analogy back then. Let me think, what was that saying again? Oh, if you were God, would you choose to repair a world that has already collapsed, or would you choose to destroy everything and build a new one? The latter would obviously be much more difficult for it. Ha, what a great analogy. It made me understand my situation very clearly.”
Yak nodded; he didn't want to elaborate on the matter any further.
The night was almost over, and he needed to think about what to do with the remaining time. After all, the entire team was now here, and those who weren't asleep should probably sit down and have a meeting.
Everyone was there. As Yak thought about this, he suddenly felt that something was wrong.
He took his hands out of his pockets and counted the items in his group one by one. Besides Lady, who else was missing?
About ten seconds later, Yak stood up and looked down at Apari.
"What's wrong?" she asked curiously, looking at Ark who had suddenly stood up. "Is there anything I can do to help you?"
“I need to find a person in this city, no, a monster.” Acton paused and said, “And two cats.”
"Your pet is lost?"
"Although they aren't pets, there are definitely three non-human things that haven't returned. I need to find them. Do you have any ideas?"
“I’m sorry, you might be a little disappointed to hear this. My ability is summoning, which allows me to fight, but I’m not very good at finding people.” Apari said, expressing her helplessness, “But I know someone who can help. Remember my junior? He’s a troublemaker, but his ability is very useful for finding people. Using him to find people will be easy.”
Then Aparie looked at the person standing in the shadows beside her: "And that guy is right here. If you need any help, just tell him. Despite his appearance, he's a very helpful and kind kid."
Although the guy being described like that didn't seem to like it, he glared at Apari sitting there with displeasure.
“I remember your name is Chulier, right? This city is now open to the outside world as its lord.” Ark recalled things related to this guy and roughly understood that he was a very useful person: “You have very powerful abilities.”
"I just don't want to be said that by you."
“No, from the bottom of my heart, your abilities are stronger than mine and Apali's. At least much stronger than mine, because my abilities are useless, while yours, you can protect many people. This ability can create a place similar to a safe zone, right? So there is no shortage of food and clothing in this city.” Acton paused and said, “I look forward to the day you become the Demon King.”
"The Demon King? What good is becoming the Demon King? Even if we can deal with the high-ranking clergy, we can't ultimately contend with the saints. The Church still has saints, but we have lost the Demon God Seed. Senior, it was my fault. I shouldn't have failed to recognize the reality that we have already been defeated, nor should I have thought that there was still a chance for things to turn around." He said this softly as he stepped out of the darkness into the light.
But he wasn't happy. In the light, he would unconsciously touch his neck, as if it were chained and bound by the light. He felt both rich and poor. He had things many people dreamed of, yet he had lost his freedom.
......
"Can I really live here?"
The child rescued by Ghost Duke was a little flustered. He had been pinching himself since earlier, trying to confirm whether everything was real.
"Don't ask me, I'm confused too. If you feel the need for pain to confirm that it's real, then try this." Ghost Duke tossed over a dagger: "You can use it to defend yourself, or stab yourself to confirm your own existence. In short, it's a good thing."
"Th...thank you." The guy carefully took it.
"Speaking of which, little mouse, is it really okay for me to call you that?" Ghost Duke hesitated for a moment, looking at the girl who was drawing herself with a small dagger pen: "I was just joking. Don't worry, it's all true. If you don't believe me, go to sleep and you'll know if it's true or not when you wake up."
"Hmm... I've just never seen this thing before, I'm just curious. I don't even know what my original name was, so just call me Little Mouse. I was raised by mice, so I guess you could call me a mouse."
"It sounds logically sound, but I should still give myself a name." Ghost Duke hesitated for a moment before saying, "After all, I don't know how long I'll live, so I should try to make myself happy while I'm still alive."
"While you were alive?"
“Oh, you should know how hard it is to live, right? Let me tell you this first: if you value your life, it’s best to find a place to settle down while we’re still here and can help you.” Ghost Duke hesitated for a moment and said, “You just came out of that kind of place; you probably don’t want to die too soon, do you?”
"Didn't the people here just say..."
“You can indeed choose to live here, but the people here are demons. The relationship between demons and the church will make your life here very problematic. I suggest you learn some combat skills.” Ghost Duke paused and said, “Your abilities are well-suited to learning some assassination techniques. Learn stealth. With a little training, you should be quite suitable.”
"Assassination? What's that?"
"It's someone hiding in the shadows, so handsome! Really handsome!" Ghost Duke seemed intrigued. He turned his head to look at the little mouse sitting there, then casually picked up the sketchbook from the table and sketched a human figure with a few strokes.
Those were the children who had hidden themselves, lurking in the shadows, with a mouse perched on their shoulders.
A standard anime art style that falls somewhere between cool and cute, with a little refinement it would be a pretty character illustration.
"Is this... a drawing of me?" The little mouse hesitated before taking the drawing. Although the lines were simple due to the passage of time, they had already conveyed what it was trying to express.
"Wow, that's amazing!" the little mouse exclaimed sincerely.
"If you had also undergone intensive training, you would be just as good." Ghost Duke uttered such rubbish without any hesitation.
After all, we've talked too much, and who knows when this seemingly cute and well-behaved kid might get one-shotted by some unknown AOE attack. It seems the healer in the team is also a one-sided DPS specialist.
Expecting that kind of guy to heal you when you're about to be instantly killed is less reliable than hoping he'll get fed up with healing and go out and kill the enemy's damage dealer himself.
Damn, what weird things are I thinking about? Playing too many games really makes my brain go haywire.
But speaking of which, that healer's damage output is really high. What happened to the idea that priests are all cute and adorable girls? Why is he a guy who can lift a dilapidated carriage with one hand? Especially when he's healing while using his back to withstand the impact of a monster, it really leaves a psychological scar.
However, in my understanding, this area seems to be designated as a monastic zone. It seems that all the higher-ranking clergy are male, or rather, I've never seen a female higher-ranking clergy member.
Speaking of which, the priest's combat power is too high... I've never seen a team like this before. How come the healer's level is the highest?
Shouldn't we be concerned with the balance of power? Balance is very important, just like how Thor and KY have similar attributes. At least one team should have...
"Um, what's wrong?"
The little mouse looked at the guy who had suddenly spaced out and asked him curiously.
"It's nothing, I'm just a little sleepy because it's so late. I'm in the room next to your assigned room, just call me if you need anything." Ghost Duke paused and said, "It seems like this is a very wealthy family. They don't care about a freeloader like me at all. Similarly, they won't care what help we can be. But don't expect to find those busy people, they seem to be very busy right now."
After saying these words, he went to his room.
"What a big bed, and what a nice room," Ghost Duke thought as he lay on the bed.
Yes, this is a rare good day. I've even gotten a nice place to stay thanks to my boss.
I wonder how long it will last? Maybe not long after all.
He looked at the ceiling and roughly understood what had happened.
Indeed, balance isn't something to worry about; after all, that's something far more absurd than games. It simply exists; it doesn't need any reason.
This group can hardly be called a group; they just happened to come together for various reasons. Perhaps, apart from Ark at the very beginning, the others weren't really necessary to be here.
You could even say they're all selfish; everyone is only concerned with their own affairs.
Ghost Lord realized this when the abandoned child died.
Abandoned pawns can be rescued; Ghost Lord witnessed the entire incident. Only one carriage, having lost power, was sheared in half. And the little spider did indeed use its silk to stick to half of the carriage, dragging it behind.
If, at that time, the priest, or Denos Dedeline or anyone else... or even Ark, had just put aside what they were doing to help, they might have been able to save the abandoned child.
But no, when hesitation occurs, the sacrificed piece is abandoned.
Afterwards, very few people even felt remorseful.
That's pretty much it; that's how selfish everyone is.
Even the very first Ark might have been an extremely selfish guy.
But he's still a good person. After all, this world is so dangerous. Strictly speaking, in this world, as long as you don't think about stabbing someone in the back, you're a good person.
But I'm really envious of the priest's stats. It seems like this guy doesn't even usually carry any equipment.
It's already this terrifying just based on its own growth stats, not to mention the effects of equipment.
However, if I were a priest, I'd at least look quite muscular. And because of my profession, I'd be a healer.
A tank/healer? That sounds like a great stat line. If you were to build items, you would definitely build some damage items like him.
After all, who wouldn't love a teammate who can tank, deal damage, and heal...? Thinking this, Ghost Duke fell asleep. He was indeed very tired; he had experienced a lot today. At least for him, it had been dangerous enough.
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