Chapter 36-The Manga Pariah's Guide to Self-Salvation
The dark door opened, and everyone entered the stuffy building, descending a long, winding staircase. After a while, they reached the widest underground floor, which was crowded with anxious people.
Hearing a sound from the stairwell, many people looked up. Upon seeing the golden-haired, golden-eyed young man surrounded by the others, someone gasped. No one in the Holy Sei Empire was unaware of this Crown Prince. His tyranny was frightening, but his god-like power brought a reassuring authority in this moment.
"Your Highness Sykes!"
Someone shouted, bowing deeply to the figure on the stairs.
More people noticed the figure with the powerful aura. From a high perspective, the crowd was like a surging tide, looking up in surprise and then obediently and anxiously lowering their heads, as if they were seeing a true god.
It was not an exaggeration to call him a god. The Pope with the prophetic ability had once prophesied five hundred years ago—
Five hundred years later, a super-S-rank Demonic Domain would once again descend upon the Empire, bringing a world-ending disaster, and the incarnation of the God of Hope would once again save this country.
Sure enough, five hundred years later, Demonic Domain activity became more frequent, and at the same time, the Holy Sei Empire welcomed a prince with a 3S-rank talent, just like the God of Hope, which almost validated the prophecy.
People were anxiously waiting for the super-S-rank Demonic Domain to descend, hoping the Cloud-Soaring Squad could win and bring the protective dragon bone to the lower district, and also hoping that Sykes, as the incarnation of the God of Hope, would once again slay a demonic dragon and bring them a new dragon bone, forever freeing them from the threat of Demonic Domains.
Sykes looked down indifferently at the dense crowd. Cowardice, hope, and reverence were all directed at him, but his heart was extremely calm, far from the emotional turmoil that Ye Zheng had just given him.
Someone had told him that it was normal for a transcendent god to have no cumbersome emotions, but he occasionally thought that "monster" was a more fitting description for him.
Sykes smiled and raised a hand to wave. Just like that, the crowd erupted in a fierce cheer, like followers who had finally welcomed a god to spread hope—no one could have imagined that this son of a god had just tried to destroy the fortress they depended on.
"Your Highness, your reputation is even more astonishing than we imagined. It's incredible." Yu Tianming's praise was somewhat sincere, but Sykes couldn't be bothered with his rare sincerity. In the midst of the fanatical atmosphere, he slightly turned his head, taking in the calm and indifferent profile of the girl beside him.
Ye Zheng was also surprised that Sykes had such a high reputation in the lower district.
She could understand it. In such a perilous situation, the arrival of such a noble, legendary powerhouse was like an oasis in the desert. How could a thirsty traveler not go crazy? Unfortunately, Sykes was not an oasis; he was a mirage.
Sykes did not continue to walk down. Ye Zheng could tell that he had no intention of sharing a public space with his subjects.
"We should go." He dropped this sentence and turned to walk back up. Even Lucy, who had followed them, was dumbfounded. "What do you mean? We just went through all that trouble to get in—"
Yu Tianming's eyebrow twitched at Lucy's loud voice. He tried to cover his mouth with his hand, but someone acted a step faster.
Ye Zheng placed a finger on Lucy's lips, and Lucy immediately fell silent.
Perhaps Lucy had some kind of protagonist aura, but there was no need to offend Sykes and the Royal Family anymore. Ye Zheng couldn't guarantee that she could stop Sykes from acting again.
Only she knew that stopping Sykes's [Destruction] at the door was pure luck. Sykes had probably not even used one-tenth of his power on that door, and she had already felt the strain.
Lucy's eyes widened, watching her lower her finger and follow that group of hateful people away.
"What a strange woman!" Did she know her well? Her hand almost touched her lips.
The dark door opened again, and the blazing light made Ye Zheng close her eyes.
Leaving the shelter, they were now going to eliminate the core of the Demonic Domain. Afterward, the heroic stories about Sykes would be spread by the successfully rescued people, if everything went smoothly.
Ye Zheng held a hand to her forehead to block the sunlight, her eyes slightly squinted as she looked at the figures in the distance.
For Sykes, none of this was destined to go smoothly, because he was the villain, and the righteous protagonist was also in this Demonic Domain.
Percy and his two teammates were leading dozens of people toward the shelter. In the dimensional space, many people couldn't find the original location of the shelter, so the Cloud-Soaring Squad had decided to have Lucy stay and watch over the shelter while the other three went to rescue ordinary people and bring them to the absolute safety of the shelter.
As for destroying the core, this place was very close to the Crown Prince's territory, and with the Royal team's strength, they would definitely be able to resolve it faster than them.
Therefore, Percy had expected to see Sykes, but when he actually saw the golden-haired, golden-eyed young man standing in front of him, Percy couldn't help but frown.
"Your Royal Highness, long time no see." The black-haired, blue-eyed young man greeted him with an indifferent voice.
Sykes glanced at him, then turned his gaze away, listlessly. Perhaps it was the hot weather, but he seemed to have lost his strong interest from before, only lazily opening his mouth to mock, "I didn't realize you had an interest in herding sheep."
Percy was clearly unhappy with this metaphor. He controlled his emotions, his face taut, and said, "My hobbies are none of your concern. We're going in."
Unexpectedly, Sykes did not make things difficult for him. The arrogant Crown Prince didn't look at him again and strode away.
Ye Zheng watched the clash between the protagonist and the villain from the side. This was her first time seeing Percy and Sykes in the same frame. Unfortunately, they didn't create much of a spark, which left her a little disappointed.
[Sigh, how is this different from the original plot? Sykes and Percy had several very intense interactions here.]
The System was confused.
[Well, it doesn't matter if it's gone, it just means less fan-service for the Sykes-Percy and Percy-Sykes shippers... But there shouldn't be a change, right?]
The System thought about it. Ye Zheng hadn't intervened much in the original plot in this chapter. The scene where Sykes was about to destroy the door was originally stopped by Yu Tianming, so it wasn't a big problem to replace him with her.
The System didn't understand why Sykes seemed so uninterested in Percy at this moment.
"You can tell their relationship is really bad. If they knew that outside this world, many people are shipping them, their expressions would be very interesting."
Ye Zheng mused. It was a shame she couldn't show Sykes those fan art and fan fiction. It was a pity that he, the subject himself, couldn't appreciate masterpieces like Bitter Summer, Growing Pains, and Rose in the No-Man's Land(Some famous common title for fanfics).
Her gaze turned to Percy, and as expected, he was also looking at her. When their eyes met, there was a moment of awkwardness, but he quickly adjusted and gave her a friendly smile.
As Ye Zheng, she had met Percy a few times, so it wasn't strange for him to say hello. She gave him the Saintess's signature smile in return, a gentle smile that gave the illusion of mutual understanding.
Suddenly, Ye Zheng's gaze hardened. Her eyes were fixed on a man behind Percy.
Percy was a teenager, and his body was already considered tall. The man was completely blocked by Percy and was very inconspicuous.
The man had an ordinary appearance, but his body was strange, with an uncanny sense of disharmony. His exposed face, neck, and arms were twitching slightly, and his eyes were rolled slightly upward, exposing the whites of his eyes.
"Sir, are you feeling unwell?" Ye Zheng stepped forward to ask. Percy also turned around in surprise. Sykes, who was walking ahead, stopped and shot her an impatient look.
The man suddenly became the focus of everyone's attention. His legs walked backward in a comical way, and he was about to fall over, wobbling.
"No," Ye Zheng's eyes darkened. She quickly held onto the man's body. The System shrieked in her ear.
[Don't get close to him!]
It was too late. The moment Ye Zheng touched the man's body, he suddenly deflated, like a clothes rack that had lost its support, and fell to the ground as countless black bugs burst out of his body.
"Ah!"
The crowd that Percy brought with him screamed. Countless black bugs scattered and spread. Even Percy was stunned for a moment. He saw the dense bugs crawling up his pant legs before he turned his left hand into a blade and sliced them off.
Ye Zheng finally understood what it would be like to be swallowed by these bugs. They would not only eat away your internal organs but also crawl into your skin and pretend to be human!
"Don't run around! Get behind us!" Percy shouted. Caleb had already created a shield beside him, blocking the bugs' advance, while Roy's wide-ranging flame ability was a perfect counter for these bugs.
Since she was close to Percy when it happened, Ye Zheng took the opportunity to stand behind him in a safe area. Her ability was not suitable for dealing with these bugs, and the current Ye Zheng couldn't expose her true strength.
Ye Zheng's face was slightly cold. She no longer looked at the bugs on the ground but instead observed the fleeing crowd.
Perhaps there was more than one person possessed by the bugs. The chaotic situation made it even harder to find abnormal people. Ye Zheng's [Stream] was circling her fair arm, ready to go. If the situation became critical, she wouldn't care about exposing her strength.
At Percy's shouts, the panicked crowd ran in this direction. Ye Zheng's pupils constricted. She saw a "person" with a bug's mouthpart, leaning close to a panicked woman who was running in front of him.
It wasn't just the black bugs.
Ye Zheng didn't have time to think any further. Only her water flow could accurately and quickly kill that bug-person!
A thin stream of water, like a ghostly white snake, sped along the ground and quickly crawled to the target's feet, about to leap up and strike—
Bang!
A loud noise came from the dull sky. Countless specks of light fell like holy snow, and everyone's, even the non-humans', attention was drawn away for a moment.
In an unnoticed corner, the water condensed into a sharp spike and mercilessly pierced the bug-person's head. The eerie body fell, and the woman successfully escaped into the safe area.
After doing all this, Ye Zheng looked up and appreciated the serene and holy [Divine Domain] in the chaos.
"I'm so done with you. We came all this way, and the boss is probably going to be eliminated by the Royal team."
Yin Kong couldn't stop complaining. The usually cheerful silver-haired young man was so hot that he had lost his usual vitality.
This was within the Royal Academy's territory. Their Divine Academy's territory was so far away, but Bai Muqing insisted on coming here.
The girl's empty white eyes stared unblinkingly at the void, her voice cold. "I told you, I only have one goal."
Author's note:
From Ye Zheng's perspective, it's hard not to think of Bai Muqing as a friend. Even though the other party's main thought is to target her, she always ends up helping her by accident, hahaha
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