Chapter 107 World I: 4 "So—how can I help...?"
"So—how can I help you?" Ethan curiously poked the black markings wrapped around Starfall's exposed outer arm, not noticing any difference from a tattoo, but knowing they just hadn't been triggered yet: "What should I do?"
"Can you help me kill Yang Yan?" Xingyun lowered his eyes, and Ethan couldn't see the emotions in his eyes, only hearing him say softly, "I want Yang Yan dead."
After confirming several times that it wouldn't affect him, Ethan entered the cage. Upon hearing this, he blinked, his expression extremely hesitant: "Can I do it? I'm not sure if I can bring myself to do it, and is the city's will so easy to kill?"
"I can provide you with tools to assist you. Don't worry, once the will of a city is defeated, a new city will will be born to take its place." Xingyun's lips curled into a bewitching smile, his pupils flashing red: "Ethan, you will do it for me, won't you? You will remove all obstacles in my path?"
Ethan's mind began to fog up. He shook his head and regained his senses.
"This..." Ethan sensed something was amiss, his usually accurate intuition resurfacing. He stammered, "Should I not be interfering in the development of other worlds? Besides this matter, is there anything else I can do to help you, Lord Starfall?"
"Ethan? What are you talking about?" Starfall narrowed his eyes dangerously, pressing his hand on Ethan's shoulder and drawing his face closer. His tone was no longer calm, but rather tinged with an indescribable emotion: "You're not even willing to do this little thing? I just want you to help me get rid of Yangyan, not to destroy the world. Is it that serious? You're not even willing to help me with this. Are you even my guardian? You're Yangyan's guardian, aren't you?"
“No, I’m not.” Ethan lowered his head, somewhat unable to meet Starfall’s eyes. “But, Lord Starfall…”
"Ethan!" Starfall raised his voice, startling Ethan, who cautiously looked up at him. Starfall, whose size was not much different from his own, looked down at him from above, his face obscured by shadows, revealing only his bright red eyes that seemed to be dripping blood: "I am very disappointed in you."
"Wh-what?"
“You are not my guardian at all. How can my guardian favor someone else? I think you are just using this lie to deceive me.” Starfall said disappointedly, “Leave now. Forget what I just said. Even if I am trapped here, I will find a chance to leave one day.”
A strange light gleamed in Starfall's eyes.
"No...no! Lord Starfall!" Ethan panicked, his dark eyes fixed on Starfall, a red light flashing in them. He almost pleaded in terror as he grabbed Starfall's few remaining garments: "It's not like that! I can explain, I really am your guardian, not some other city's guardian imposter! It's not that I don't want to help you, but, but..." Ethan's voice trailed off.
Starfall watched him quietly.
"Please believe me..." Unable to bear Starfall's gaze, Ethan gripped his clothes even tighter, his pale fingertips matching his own pale face. He was on the verge of tears, his voice inevitably tinged with sobs: "Lord Starfall..."
Starfall remained silent.
The endless silence caused Ethan's already fragile heart to crumble even more. He trembled as he clutched Starfall, no longer daring to look into its eyes.
“Alright then, Ethan.” Starfall seemed a little reluctant. He grasped Ethan’s hands in return. Ethan cautiously raised his head slightly and met Starfall’s gaze, who had smiled again. As if nothing had happened, the red light in his eyes grew stronger. “Ethan, I won’t force you to kill Yang Yan. Perhaps your strength is still not enough to face her. Then you should face someone you can kill.”
“Kill your companions, those two guardians of Yangyan and the Dreamweaver’s Will.” The tone was seductive. Ethan heard Starfall say, “Kill them to prove you’re my good guardian, Ethan. You can’t even do that, can you?”
His mind went blank, and Ethan stared at him, his vision seemingly blurred.
"Ethan?" Starfall drawled out the last syllable.
“…Yes.” Ethan heard his own voice say, “I will do it, Lord Starfall, I will bring you their corpses.”
He will do it.
Can you do it?
Yang Yan whispered suggestively in Tenas's ear: "Can you help me get rid of that guy? It's easy~ Just help me kill them, your companions, the guardians of Dreamweaver and Starfall."
Turnas took several steps back, his expression frozen in horror and disbelief, a somewhat distorted look on his face.
"Are you really the will of Yangyan City?" Tenas looked at her warily, his body tense as if he were ready to fight at any moment. "I have never said that my partner is the guardian of any city."
"Ah...it doesn't work." Yang Yan pretended to be troubled and tapped his face. "Looks like I need to practice. Whether it's using my face to seduce you or giving you hints to hypnotize you, this technique is a bit too bad. It's not as good as Xingyun and Novigrad. Honestly, I prefer real combat. I shouldn't be doing this kind of thing."
Tenas gleaned the key words from them and instantly learned about the situation of his two companions. They were probably also being manipulated by the city's will, wanting them to harm or kill each other.
"Why?" Turnas asked warily. "We've only just arrived in this world; we shouldn't be without any grudges against you."
"Because you overestimate yourselves." Yang Yan smiled. "Because you are traveling between different worlds, borrowing power. Isn't your goal to save your world? This conflicts with that person's will. Let me tell you the truth, your world was created by that person. A part of it resists and is used as energy for that person's use, while the other part, like us, becomes that person's subordinate."
"You!" Tenas was almost stunned by the amount of information contained in those words, staring at Yang Yan in shock: "You just said that?! Aren't I your enemy? And you've obviously been brainwashed! Part of it is used as power, and the other part is like you people, this is brainwashing! Changing your perception."
"Hmm...it seems I did talk a bit too much." Yang Yan pondered for a moment, then broke into a bright smile. "But it's alright. Those two are better at brainwashing than me. They should have successfully brainwashed your companions. You'll die eventually anyway. Besides you and me, who else will know what I said? And I don't care whether they've brainwashed me or not. Maybe it's because of the brainwashing, but I am indeed loyal to that master. I don't want to reminisce about my world anymore. It's more fun to be under that master's command. But you can't let Xingyun and Novigrad hear this. They seem to care a little, but you haven't faced them, so it's fine. You'll die eventually anyway!"
"I don't want to think about such things anymore. I just want to enjoy the tasks assigned to me by the adults." Yang Yan spread her arms and danced around like a cheerful and lively female college student, but her face was flushed. "It will take a lot of power to snatch back the will of your world from the adults. Just obediently prepare to die."
After saying that, she charged at Ternas.
Although Tenas tried his best to block, the difference in strength was too great, and he was knocked down in no time, falling helplessly to the ground. Yang Yan even hit his chest, and with a little force, Tenas heard a crisp sound of bones cracking.
Turnas was panting heavily, and with each breath, the pain in his ribs intensified.
“I’ve wasted too much time. I didn’t expect that I still couldn’t convince you.” Yang Yan bent down and touched the center of Tenas’s forehead with his index finger. A beam of light entered Tenas’s mind: “I don’t want to be last. Starfall will mock me for a long time.”
It hurts. It hurts so much.
The pain was like his brain being blown off, as if his head had been opened up and someone had used a sharp object to turn it into mush.
It hurt so much that even the usually patient Tenas wanted to scream, but she couldn't even utter a sound. She could only clutch her head and writhe in agony, not even noticing when Yang Yan moved her foot away.
It hurt so much, thousands of times more than if his ribs had been broken. Tenas almost fainted from the pain, but the intense pain kept him awake.
He even considered, for a moment, that Yang Yan should just kill him outright. After all, killing each other would also end in death, but this time he wanted to suffer a fate worse than death.
Yang Yan coldly watched as Tenas rolled on the ground in pain for two minutes before slowly calming down, his sky-blue eyes unfocused.
“You’ll do it, right?” Yang Yan asked him.
“Yes,” Turner said.
"Good boy." Yang Yan smiled. "Now—"
"Kill them."
Novigrad said.
"Wh-what?" Nadia looked at her blankly.
“To avoid the outcomes you just witnessed, and to prevent Rena from ending up with nothing, the best way is to kill them.” Novigrad chuckled. “You can do it. I believe in you. Rena and I both believe in your abilities.”
"But, but we... are comrades."
“No, they are not your companions, Nadia.” Novigrad denied without hesitation: “They are enemies. They will drive Rena to that mad state, they will drive her insane. Are you worried that you are searching for counterparts from different worlds to borrow power? I will help you. Even if you kill them, I can still ensure you obtain a large amount of power and protect you on your journey ahead. You can completely rely on yourself to possess the power to resolve the crisis in your world.”
"..."
“Nadia.” Her inhuman golden eyes reflected Nadia’s image: “Think of our Reina. I feel the same way as you. We both want Reina to be well.”
Nadia felt as if her consciousness was being sucked away by those golden eyes: "...Yes."
Novigrad smiled with satisfaction as his figure gradually disappeared, along with the black mist that had been spreading all around.
Nadia gradually made her surroundings clearer. As the black mist dissipated, she could finally see the two figures clearly.
It was Turnas with his unfocused pupils and Ethan with his eyes flashing red.
-----------------------
Author's Note: Current status of the three people
Ethan: Controlled by Starfall, his behavior is considered gentle.
Ternas: Forcefully controlled by Yang Yan, he completely lost control of his body.
Nadia: Tortured in turn until she suffered a mental breakdown, and was given suggestive instructions.
Kagerou: You brat, you're so hard to listen to!
I'll take this opportunity to explain: Yang Yan talks a lot, so the other two are more cautious; otherwise, they'll still be confused.
This is such a great single-player game! ≥﹏≤ I want to interact with some games to recharge.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
