Chapter 64-The Manga Pariah's Guide to Self-Salvation

"Sitting up there is-is Sykes!"

Yu Tianming was so shocked he even forgot to use honorifics.

The golden-haired prince sat high upon the white remains, a pair of emotionless golden eyes coldly looking down at the people below.

Yu Tianming's back stiffened. He quickly realized something was wrong with Sykes; he was looking at them as if they were unfamiliar intruders.

"How lively! It hasn't been this lively in a long time!"

The girl sitting on the other side clapped her hands and leaped down from the high place. Even for an ability user with a highly trained body, that height was enough to break both legs.

Just as the girl was about to hit the ground, pale red branches caught her in perfect unison. Sierra stepped on the branches and jumped down lightly.

"The last time it was this lively was ten years ago."

"Don't you agree?"

A slender branch touched the girl's finger, as if in agreement.

Sierra's crazed red eyes dimmed for a moment, then burned hotly as she looked at the crowd.

"You all must not have seen this place ten years ago, right? Hahaha, it was so lively. Hundreds of people were trapped inside, running around, getting eaten. There was flesh and blood everywhere. I was stepped on over and over, it hurt so much..."

The blonde girl staggered as she walked, rubbing her stomach as if in phantom pain, pouting unhappily.

"A lunatic," Yu Tianming cursed under his breath. The girl's speech and posture were both insane, yet she put immense pressure on him.

Perhaps it was because his ability had disappeared.

He turned to look at Bai Muqing; her expression was clearly off. It seemed her ability had been nullified as well.

Just as Yu Tianming was about to look at the others, the youth who had been silent for a long time suddenly stepped forward, walking towards the blonde girl.

"Sierra, what are you trying to do? Get revenge on those people from back then?"

"Revenge?"

Sierra leaned close to the youth. She wasn't tall, and her blue uniform hung loosely on her body. Her frame was even somewhat underdeveloped and thin, making her red eyes seem exceptionally large and vivid, like an innocent yet cruel animal staring intently at its prey.

"Those people from back then... oh, you mean those knights who threw me into this place, and those adults who stepped on us to get out?"

The black-haired, green-eyed youth's expression showed a trace of confusion. It sounded like Sierra didn't even care much about the culprits from back then.

"You threw the mutilated bodies of Olin and those children into the palace to get back at the Royal Family and those adults."

Sierra suddenly covered her mouth dramatically, her red eyes wide with surprise. "What, so they were the children of those idiots from back then? What a surprise."

"That girl didn't lie to me either, she really did... mmph mmph!"

The youth expressionlessly clamped a hand over Sierra's mouth.

Sierra's eyes widened. The next moment, she violently kicked at the youth. The red forest, which had been quiet for a long time, moved with her, and a dense wave of branches and roots, like snakes pouring out of a nest, surrounded everyone present!

"It's wrapped around my leg! It's sucking my blood!"

"Damn it! There are too many!"

"Watch your back!"

Ye Zheng leaped backward, escaping Sierra's attack range, her green eyes locked on the girl.

Sierra appeared exceptionally calm amidst the wildly waving Exotic Plants. She even squinted her eyes in enjoyment, admiring the panicked looks of the people resisting.

Ye Zheng finally understood. Sierra's goal wasn't revenge on those people from the past. She seemed more interested in killing them all.

"Revenge? You don't seem to be wrong about that," the blonde girl made a gesture, walking towards the youth step by step with great interest. Ye Zheng's gaze swept over and noticed that the man-eating trees weren't attacking her.

Ye Zheng's heart skipped a beat. Could Sierra also control these Exotic Plants?

"Sierra, for these ten years, you've been trapped in this place, right?"

Ye Zheng said something that even she found a bit unbelievable. Ten years ago, Sierra was probably around her age. A seven or eight-year-old child trapped alone in this man-eating Demonic Domain for a whole decade?

Sierra laughed, her tone mocking. "Wipe that pitiful look off your face."

"I'm not pitiful. You people outside are the pitiful ones. It's a man-eating world either way. This one is at least simple and cute!"

A pale red branch gently wrapped around Sierra's arm and even shook lively, like two children holding hands.

The youth's brow furrowed slightly. "It killed so many people. Even if it seems to be tamed by you now, it is ultimately an existence hostile to humanity..."

As Ye Zheng spoke, she suddenly stopped, as if she realized something, and fell silent.

"It was humans who threw me in here."

Sierra's smile vanished, and for the first time, she showed a calm expression. But soon, her face twisted again.

"No one wanted to save me! They clearly could have saved me! I saw the priest pick up that girl, so why not me! Don't I deserve to be saved!"

"If I can't live equally, then everyone can just die!"

The nearby red eyes burned with a crazed flame, almost igniting the youth's green eyes as well.

Looking at Sierra's twisted face, Ye Zheng's breath hitched. She finally understood why Sierra hated her.

What was even more terrifying was that, in that instant, she completely agreed with Sierra.

Ye Zheng slightly parted her lips, as if wanting to say something, when she suddenly heard a soft landing sound. A bad premonition welled up in her heart.

Her gaze shifted to behind Sierra. The golden-haired prince had, at some point, jumped down from the skull. His expressionless face was filled with an unfamiliar coldness as he walked towards the group step by step.

Sierra noticed the increasingly grave expression on the youth before her and giggled.

"You all are a little stronger than the people before, but what if your enemy is him?"

Sierra backed away step by step until her hand rested on Sykes's shoulder.

"Go, kill them all!"

Percy, who had been watching Sierra's movements, acted almost immediately. Sierra seemed to have the ability to control others. He had to take her out as quickly as possible and not let her continue to manipulate Sykes!

Percy's hands turned into sharp blades, and he unhesitatingly leaped from a hidden spot to attack Sierra's side. The blades instantly reached Sierra's neck, already drawing a trace of blood.

He didn't pause for a moment. Even though he had never killed anyone, he understood that he couldn't be merciful at this moment.

"Don't continue the attack!"

Zhao Mei's voice came from behind. Percy was stunned for a moment. Then he felt his hands lighten. Sierra didn't even turn to look at her attacker, only rolling her red eyes to glance at him sideways.

Percy looked down. One of his hands was held harmlessly against the girl's neck. His ability had disappeared.

The next second, the youth's temples throbbed, as if foreseeing an extremely tragic future. Percy turned his head back almost immediately, but he only had time to see a flash of golden hair before a tearing pain erupted in his abdomen and spread throughout his body.

Ye Zheng's eyes widened as she watched Sykes flash behind Percy and activate [Destruction].

[Destruction] could destroy anything in the world. Once activated, there was no gentle alternative, only complete annihilation.

Was Percy going to die?

The black-haired, blue-eyed youth's body began to shatter from the torso, like an irretrievably broken vase.

Ye Zheng subconsciously took a few steps forward, then suddenly felt the chaotic battlefield around her pause. The wind brushing past her hair froze. Even her own body couldn't move; only her thoughts were still vaguely functioning.

When Ye Zheng blinked again, the sounds of fighting resumed behind her. Not far away, Sierra's mocking smile became vivid again—

And Percy was standing several meters away, completely unharmed except for a particularly pale face!

Ye Zheng immediately realized it. This was Percy's second ability, which the readers on the forum had mentioned!

"As expected of the protagonist, hiding such an incredible ability."

[This is Percy's second ability—Death Rewind!]

The System had been holding back for a long time. It had finally waited for Percy to use this ability so it could reveal some relevant information to Ye Zheng.

[It's extremely overpowered. It triggers upon death, though of course, it has a cooldown time.]

Ye Zheng watched with a calm expression as the Cloud-Soaring Squad immediately rushed to protect Percy, who had temporarily lost his abilities. Caleb raised a defensive earth wall, but against Sykes's ability, it was as flimsy as a child's sandcastle.

"I think I've also figured out Sierra's ability."

Percy's [Metal Transmutation] ability had been nullified, but [Death Rewind] was clearly still active. Ye Zheng recalled her previous encounter with Sierra outside the Demonic Domain. She had shot at Sierra, but even the bullets couldn't harm her.

Sierra's ability wasn't nullifying abilities. To be precise, Sierra's ability could nullify all harm against her!

Whether it was an ability that could cause her harm or a weapon, it would be rendered ineffective.

No wonder Bai Muqing's and Yu Tianming's abilities were the first to be nullified. To Sierra, their abilities threatened her control over this forest, which was also a fatal threat.

Ye Zheng looked back. The Cloud-Soaring Squad was struggling to hold off Sykes, while the knights brought by Yu Tianming were surrounding Yu Tianming and Bai Muqing, who had lost their abilities, fending off the aggressive Exotic Plants with Bai Mulin.

Perhaps because Sierra was interested in her just now, she didn't let the Exotic Plants attack her, which made her seem a bit idle.

The youth patted the black bag she had been carrying, turned to look at the massive skull that pulsed with immense power, and silently slipped into a corner.

This was a good opportunity, both for Zhao Mei and for Ye Zheng.

Percy bit his lip tightly. Having lost his ability, he could only hide powerlessly behind his teammates.

He deeply regretted his impulsive action just now. He should have figured out the blonde girl's ability before making a move. Now, he could only hopelessly pray for his ability to return quickly.

Sykes stared at them with emotionless golden eyes. His hands tore through Caleb's defense, Lucy's butterflies, and Roy's flames as easily as tearing paper, closing in step by step.

Roy gritted his teeth. Using Caleb and Lucy as cover, he charged to the front, trying to attack Sykes off-guard. Unexpectedly, Sykes destroyed Caleb's and Lucy's attacks in an instant. Noticing the movement, he flashed in front of Roy, raising a hand that was about to touch the blonde youth's neck!

Roy stared intently at Sykes, a complex and unwilling expression on his face, thinking he was dead for sure. The members of the Cloud-Soaring Squad watched in shock. Lucy screamed Roy's name in disbelief, and Percy, who had been observing the situation and following Roy, rushed forward.

Percy tried to stop Sykes's hands, which could destroy anything. Just as he was about to touch Sykes, the manipulated Crown Prince suddenly looked up, stopping the hand that was about to snap the youth's neck, and looked at the sky.

Belatedly, Percy felt a cool drop on his face and also looked up—

It was raining in this Demonic Domain!

He wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but Percy felt this rain was unusually comfortable, as if it washed away all the restless, bloody, and deathly aura, making one feel suddenly at ease in this perilous battlefield.

Bai Muqing, who had fallen into a state of complete blindness after losing her ability, felt the water droplets on her face. Her other senses were particularly sharp at this moment. The Exotic Plants that had been frantically attacking them seemed to have quieted down, temporarily silent.

Sierra, who had been enjoying the chaos, narrowed her red eyes, her face devoid of its earlier pleasure. She looked up at the sudden rain.

It didn't rain in this Demonic Domain. She hadn't seen rain in ten years.

Sierra looked up, the gentle rain falling on her cold face. In the continuous curtain of rain, she saw a girl in a white dress sitting high on that giant white skull.

A pair of clear black eyes happened to look down, and the two met each other's gaze in silence.

"...You?"

Sierra was confused for a moment, then suddenly recognized the face. Wasn't it the girl who had helped her bring things into the palace from outside the Demonic Domain that day?

So she happily waved upwards. "You're here too! Let's play together!"

She found her interesting too. She could save her for last.

"You're the second person I've been thinking about."

Sierra's voice was even a little sweet.

"And the first? Was it that little chubby girl who was lifted up by her family and handed to the priest?"

The girl in the white dress sat too high. Sierra listened to her voice drifting in the rain, as ethereal as her face.

Sierra slowly tilted her raised head. Ye Zheng looked down at her movement, seemingly able to hear the stiff bones creaking.

[A total of 100 action points deducted.]

[Percy's ability hasn't recovered yet, why did you reveal yourself!]

Amidst the System's panicked voice, Sierra leaped up on the pale red branches, her red eyes like an ominous red moon in the rainy mist.

"Hahahaha... it was you!"

Sierra laughed out loud, but it only sounded shrill and tragic.

Ye Zheng watched the blonde girl leap into the air, her palm stroking the majestic white remains beneath her—the remains that once belonged to the demonic dragon that had nearly destroyed the Empire.

Author's Note: Playing two roles in one show, what a hardworking baby.

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