Chapter 86-The Manga Pariah's Guide to Self-Salvation
The heavy stone door was pushed open with a dull, low rumble.
Panting, Percy entered the new palace, turning his head left and right to confirm that Caleb and Lucy had followed.
Without Zhao Mei, they had lost their knack for clearing the levels and were constantly triggering penalties from the maze. The previous palace had even claimed Roy, leaving only the three of them.
Percy slammed his fist against the stone wall. He closed his eyes, painfully trying to recall the clues from his strange dreams, but the image that flashed most vividly in his mind was that gentle, quiet face.
So this was the painful price of trust. If he could do it all over again, he wouldn't have left Zhao Mei to think alone, wouldn't have given Zhao Mei the chance to sacrifice himself!
In the end, it was because he wasn't strong enough. Because of his weakness, Roy was also trapped. Who would he lose next?
"Percy, Percy, look at the ground!"
Percy turned his head. He saw Lucy seeming to reach for him, her eyes, usually filled with laughter, now showing panic. Then he watched in horror as Lucy suddenly vanished, falling into a chasm that had abruptly split open in the ground!
He dropped to his knees, reaching for the fractured black abyss. Suddenly, his body lost its weight and he began to fall—the ground beneath him had collapsed as well.
In the midst of the infinitely light descent, Percy subconsciously closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he found himself unharmed, having landed on a white floor.
The young man stumbled to his feet, anxiously looking around for his companions, only to meet a pair of gloomy, golden eyes.
"Sykes?"
"You?"
Two voices spoke at the same time, both carrying a trace of incomprehensible surprise and a subtle hostility.
They watched each other warily, neither speaking again.
Percy secretly sized up the mysterious space he had fallen into. It was taller and grander than the previous palaces, and as far as the eye could see, there were only white floors and gray stone walls. It was utterly empty, with a large door directly opposite him, behind Sykes.
A picture was carved on the door, depicting the God of Hope raising his divine sword, with countless commoners cheering behind him.
Enduring Sykes's intensely present gaze, Percy took a few more steps forward and discovered a line of text at the very bottom of the carving.
"Only the benevolent—ugh!"
A powerful impact struck him. Percy barely dodged it. Before his body could recover, his peripheral vision caught Sykes appearing at his side, his face cold.
"Only the benevolent and strong can lift the hilt of the Sword of Hope."
A cold, emotionless voice recited the words.
"What the hell is this place?"
Another voice grumbled in dissatisfaction, then suddenly asked loudly.
"Hey, woman in white over there, do you know?"
Bai Muqing's vacant white pupils stared straight ahead. She ignored the young man's words, her gaze not falling on him at all, like a silent snowflake, quietly contemplating the divine revelation.
"You're ignoring me?"
"Why won't you look at me? Is it because you know you can't possibly defeat me?"
Sierra giggled and suddenly moved closer. Bai Muqing stepped back, almost in disgust.
"You should not have come here, you true heretic."
"One who blasphemes the gods should not set foot here, much less appear before me."
"Hahahaha, the one who truly wants to blaspheme the gods is someone else!"
"Guess if she's here right now too?"
Sierra's words were cut short as she suddenly attacked, the silver glint of her dagger approaching Bai Muqing's icy face. To her surprise, her opponent vanished in the blink of an eye.
The golden-haired girl showed a puzzled expression. A sound came from behind her, and she immediately spun around.
"I have experienced your ability."
As long as she didn't use her ability to directly harm Sierra, her power would not be nullified by Sierra.
"I cannot harm you, and you cannot harm me," Bai Muqing said coldly.
"Then what do we do? This room obviously requires one to take out the opponent to get out!"
Sierra's tone grew higher, her red eyes flashing with excitement. She tightened her grip on the spinning dagger and threw it at Bai Muqing. Seeing her opponent dodge again, Sierra suddenly produced two more daggers in her hands.
The System had not lied to her. The southeast was the closest position to the divine sword.
She could already smell the scent of the Dragon Bone. Her palm felt a faint, sympathetic heat; it was the palm-sized Dragon Bone she had the Holy Journey Knights Order bury inside the statue of the God of Hope, the one she had obtained from that shadow Demonic Domain.
In the manga spoilers, behind Percy as he drew the sword, stood a statue identical to the one in the Divine Plaza. So, she guessed the divine sword was likely in the same location.
Unfortunately, Wen De had reported finding nothing unusual about that statue.
But it didn't matter. Knowing that it would be the place where Percy would draw the sword and become the successor to the God of Hope was enough for her to make arrangements. The custom-made golden sword was a precaution in case something unexpected happened when she drew the sword—like the divine sword being reluctant to be drawn by her.
The divine sword itself was not important. What mattered was the divine status that the act of drawing the sword represented. Ye Zheng only needed that status.
And that piece of Dragon Bone served not only to boost her power at a critical moment but also to mark the location.
Now it seemed she was fortunate to have kept the Dragon Bone for herself. The closer she got, the stronger the scent of the Dragon Bone, and the clearer her path became.
This maze was truly strange. It didn't feel like a Demonic Domain at all, yet she had indeed entered a Demonic Domain with the members of the Cloud-Soaring Squad.
Logically, the statue from the Divine Plaza shouldn't appear in an alternate dimension like a Demonic Domain, yet here it was.
Ye Zheng pondered as she walked quickly. No matter what mysteries this Demonic Domain held, she just needed to reach that place before anyone else.
"I'm almost there—huh?"
Ye Zheng pushed open another new door. She was walking along, before she even had a chance to observe the new environment, the ground beneath her suddenly gave way. All she had time for was to leave a puzzled "huh" in the palace.
When she opened her eyes again, she found herself lying on a cold floor. Just as she was about to get up, a fairly familiar voice came from above her head, tinged with a lazy smile.
"Someone's finally here. I was starting to think I was trapped in this place!"
Ye Zheng stood up, patting the dust off her light armor. Her gaze carried an imperceptible scrutiny, but her lips curved into a smile. "Yin Kong?"
The silver-haired young man's eyes widened. He stared at her for a good while before exclaiming in pleasant surprise, as if recognizing an old friend, "Oh, you're that Zhao Mei from the Cloud-Soaring Squad!"
"We haven't seen each other since that shadow Demonic Domain."
Yin Kong, with his right hand in his pocket, spoke with great familiarity. "Bai Muqing will definitely be happy to know you're here, haha."
Ye Zheng, however, subtly let her smile fade and asked, "I don't believe I'm very familiar with Miss Muqing."
"In that last Demonic Domain, it seemed like Muqing had a pretty good impression of you. She's never been so easy to talk to with a boy she's just met."
"If you're curious, you can ask Miss Muqing yourself. It's impolite to discuss others behind their back."
Yin Kong raised his hands in surrender. "Alright, alright. I just saw that Bai Muqing was finally willing to let my [Fate Cards] serve her, but when she did a test reading, she drew a fate card belonging to someone else."
"I was really curious, so I went through everyone around Bai Muqing. It's only now that I suddenly realize you, Zhao Mei, fit the description quite well."
Yin Kong spoke with a casual, joking demeanor, but his pupils were fixed intently on the black-haired, green-eyed young man.
The young man chuckled and asked curiously, "What kind of card was it? To make you think of me, someone you've only met a few times."
"Well, it was something like a person with black clothes and black hair raising the divine sword of the God of Hope."
As Yin Kong gestured, the young man opposite him listened, his reserved and quiet face growing more surprised. His green eyes trembled as if he'd thought of something, his expression hesitant.
Yin Kong stopped smiling. He stood up straight and walked closer to the young man who seemed to know something. "What do you know?"
The young man shook his head. "One does not speak of others' secrets behind their backs. Yin Kong, whatever Bai Muqing is thinking, or whatever I may have thought of, I have no obligation to tell you."
Hearing Zhao Mei's words, the lazy smile that always hung on Yin Kong's face vanished completely for the first time. His expression turned icy for a moment, but he quickly returned to a relaxed smile.
"Alright then."
He patted the young man's shoulder. "Don't make me out to be some kind of stalker. I'm just curious."
"I've heard that you've always been that curious about Percy and the others, sometimes to an impolite degree. Is this another one of those times?"
Yin Kong pouted, his right hand slipping back into his pocket. "Okay, I'll reflect on myself. I haven't bothered the Cloud-Soaring Squad for a long time, have I?"
The silver-haired young man thought playfully, from this Zhao Mei's words, it seems the secret he's protecting is about his teammate, Percy.
During the second stage of the ability tournament, he had indeed been exceptionally curious about Percy and the Cloud-Soaring Squad, especially Percy, whose fate was very interesting. So he often used the competition as an opportunity to observe Percy and his teammates.
Bai Muqing was unwilling to reveal whose fate card it was, so Yin Kong had to work hard to list a few candidates himself. The most likely ones were Percy and... Ye Zheng.
He had once prophesied "a world-ending flood" for Ye Zheng. That fate was already terrifying enough; it was impossible for her to bear the weight of another card.
The long hair in the card looked a lot like Ye Zheng's, but cards weren't necessarily realistic. In terms of the uniqueness of fate, the destiny represented by that card should belong to Percy.
It would be terrible if it didn't belong to Percy.
Originally, Yin Kong had been holding onto a sliver of hope. But now, upon meeting this young man, for some reason, the moment he saw him in this palace, a strong premonition washed over him.
"Forgive me. People like us, who deal with fate and the future, tend to have muddled minds."
Yin Kong smiled, his hand restlessly reaching into his right pants pocket again.
"It's nothing. I'm not your teammate. The one you should be asking for forgiveness is Bai Muqing."
The young man nodded, his gaze sweeping inconspicuously over Yin Kong's right pocket.
Yin Kong was at a loss for words. He was telling the truth; sometimes he also felt his head needed clearing. After that strange premonition passed, he rationally judged that the possibility of this Zhao Mei being the person drawing the sword in the card was very small.
"Did you know? Predicting fate comes with a price. The price is that you have to work for fate."
Yin Kong's arm wrapped around the young man's shoulder. They stood close, almost side by side.
"They all call me the Prophet, but I prefer to call myself—"
"Fate's janitor."
Yin Kong turned his head, and along with his gaze, the muzzle of a gun also turned.
The right hand that had been on the young man's shoulder was now, at some point, holding a gun, pressed against the young man's throat.
"Sorry, but even if there's only a one-in-ten-thousand chance, you have to make way for fate."
Yin Kong tilted his head, looking at the young man's face, so close to his own. It was surprisingly calm. His green eyes were lowered, his lashes fluttering slowly.
Yin Kong's heart suddenly began to pound violently. The sudden sense of losing control made his scalp tingle, compelling him to pull the trigger immediately!
The expected blast didn't sound. Everything was silent, even the green eyes that looked at him so lightly were just as calm.
Yin Kong looked at the ground. Several bullets already lay in a puddle of water, having been unloaded at some unknown time.
He felt his right pocket again and found a trace of wetness.
"You're a terrible janitor of fate. Prophet suits you better."
Yin Kong felt something press against his chest. He looked down; a black gun muzzle was pointed straight at his heart.
A water ability, skilled with guns... the answer he should have thought of first!
"Ye—"
Bang!
[300 action points deducted!]
Ye Zheng had no time to pay attention to the System's broadcast. She wiped lightly at the bloodstains on her body, stepped over the prophet's corpse, and walked towards the sealed door.
"Only the benevolent and strong can lift the hilt of the Sword of Hope."
Only then did she see this sentence, and she couldn't help but chuckle.
Immediately, Ye Zheng pushed hard. Behind the door, a massive statue looked down, its merciful yet majestic gaze fixed on the first to arrive.
Author's Note: Caught a cold with the change of season, my head's all foggy, so updates are slow... everyone, please take care of your health.
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