Chapter 194-The Manga Pariah's Guide to Self-Salvation
Ye Zheng also learned of the manga Creator's statement. He personally confirmed that an important character would die in the upcoming plot.
The Creator seemed to be leaving readers with suspense. In Ye Zheng's view, this was more like a provocation toward her.
She had been constantly struggling against the plot under the Creator's pen. The other party had retreated repeatedly. Now, his only remaining powerful weapon was the death node of the original plot's "Ye Zheng."
The System informed her that in the original plot, Lucy was used as an experimental subject by Hope Base and turned into an irrational Dragon-Bodied Human. From then on, the protagonist group became enemies with the Sei Curia.
"Ye Zheng" couldn't tolerate the Sei Curia's darkness and completely broke with them, abandoning her Saintess identity. As a result, she suffered severe punishment from the Sei Curia and bore heavy public opinion pressure.
But the Emperor extended a helping hand to the Cloud-Soaring Squad, who were being suppressed by the Sei Curia. The Squad was very grateful, and their interactions with the Royal Family became increasingly close. "Ye Zheng" used her ability to heal the Emperor from an illness, and the Emperor granted her the privilege of holding her coming-of-age ceremony at the Imperial Palace.
On the day of the ceremony, Percy and Sykes fought at "Ye Zheng's" coming-of-age celebration. She blocked Sykes's fatal strike, protecting Percy and dying, completely going offline in the manga.
Plots had gravitational pull. Without strong external interference, they would guide characters toward predetermined storylines. But as long as there was even a slight deviation, similar yet different plots could lead to completely overturned story developments.
For example, an important character dying at the coming-of-age ceremony—but the death target wasn't the original plot's accessory female lead Ye Zheng, but rather the original plot's most important villain character Sykes. What developments would follow?
Ye Zheng was looking forward to it. This manga only needed one big villain—her.
*
These past few days, the Empire had two big news stories.
First, the Empire's youngest Pope in history was actually going to hold her coming-of-age ceremony at the Imperial Palace.
People who heard the news couldn't believe their ears. The Imperial Palace was the Emperor's residence and office, symbolizing imperial power's rule. The Pope was the spiritual leader representing the divine, leading the Sei Curia to spread the gospel. Although the two appeared harmonious on the surface, they had actually long been in a relationship of mutual checks and balances. The Pope celebrating her birthday at the palace was simply inconceivable.
The second news—monsters appeared in the upper district. An accident allegedly occurred at the Crown Prince's hunting grounds, and monsters escaped, killing over a dozen people.
The upper district had always been the Empire's most stable and prosperous area. Since the Dragon Bone was buried, Demonic Domains had never descended. But perhaps because it was too comfortable, many upper district nobles secretly kept Mutant Beasts and Plants from Demonic Domains, with the Crown Prince's hunting grounds being the largest scale.
On the day of the incident, a surviving old marquis shouted crazily, "The Demonic Domain has come! Doomsday is coming!" The upper district fell into panic for a time. That day, Empire Central Station was packed with people wanting to leave the upper district. The Royal Family quickly issued denials and reassurances, barely stabilizing order.
The mentally unclear old man died from severe injuries within days.
The Royal Family's timely handling and response couldn't stop rumors from spreading. Some speculated that those monsters weren't escaped livestock, but that after five hundred years, Demonic Domains had finally descended upon the upper district again!
This almost meant the Empire's strongest defense line had also been breached by Demonic Domains. Everything was regressing toward that disaster that swept the nation five hundred years ago...
"Roy, do you think Ye Zheng choosing to hold her coming-of-age ceremony at the palace is a signal of the Royal Family and Sei Curia joining forces?"
Three young men were crammed into a small, dirty black market hotel. The guests were all people of unknown origin who couldn't produce proper identification. The location was also very remote. This was the most suitable lodging they could find.
Roy suddenly looked up. His well-maintained smooth golden hair had dulled considerably during their escape. He looked at Percy and frowned. "Why ask me? You should have the answer in your heart."
Percy observed Roy's subtle reaction, lowered his eyes, and confirmed the answer he had been struggling with for so long.
His feelings were extremely complicated for a moment, but he didn't show it on his face at all. He just calmly nodded.
"Yes, I think the upper district incident wasn't as simple as monsters escaping. I'm inclined toward that rumor—Demonic Domains descended."
Caleb's eyes widened in disbelief. "Demonic Domains can even invade the upper district. Is the doomsday in the prophecy really coming?"
Percy exhaled. "Look at the Royal Family and Sei Curia's abnormal attitudes. It almost confirms that it definitely wasn't an ordinary accident."
"The Royal Family took the initiative to invite, and Ye Zheng, who's already Pope, agreed to hold her coming-of-age ceremony at the palace. Such an inconceivable thing happened, which means there must be even more unbelievable things behind it."
Percy placed the gray cloth-wrapped rectangular object on the table. All three's gazes fixed on it. The gray cloth was wrapped very tightly, not leaking a bit of sacred golden light.
"Its appearance may also be some kind of omen."
"This world will soon fall into tremendous chaos."
Percy picked up the sword and pulled off the gray cloth. The dim little room instantly shone brilliantly.
"I obtained the Divine Sword, which means I must shoulder the responsibility behind it. I can't retreat, can't escape."
"But before doomsday arrives, let's first rescue Lucy from Sierra's hands."
The other two companions nodded heavily.
Originally, they came to the West District wanting to find Lucy for support, to evade the Sei Curia's warrant, and settle down in the West District for a while. Unexpectedly, they received news of Lucy's disappearance.
They inquired everywhere and discovered Lucy's disappearance was related to the West District's famous Disciples leader Sierra.
They weren't unfamiliar with the name Sierra. From the Blood Flower Demonic Domain to Hope Base to the current West District, Sierra consistently did crazy things.
After entering the West District, Percy could clearly feel the pressure of being wanted had lessened considerably. They could go out on the streets with just a bit of disguise.
He originally thought it was because the central Sei Curia's control over the West District was weak. Unexpectedly, there was an existence far more troublesome than them, making the local Sei Curia forces and government overwhelmed, with no time to care about others.
*
"Sierra... she's really better at creating chaos than I expected."
Ye Zheng sat at her desk, one hand propping up her chin, her expression not surprised at all.
From the information the new West District bishop gave, Sierra had already developed tens of thousands of followers in the West District and controlled multiple churches.
Because the West District was vast and sparsely populated, the Sei Curia's management was also relatively sparse. The churches Sierra controlled were almost all remote rural churches outside the main city. But her methods were somewhat too cruel, and she appeared and disappeared unpredictably, liking to strike unexpectedly. The West District's clergy were in constant fear because of her.
She was now the Sei Curia's ruler. She couldn't possibly let Sierra continue opposing the Sei Curia.
[In the original plot, without you giving her Dragon Bone, she basically fought alone and didn't develop an organization. But she still caused quite a bit of trouble for the protagonist group. She was also a minor villain with quite a presence.]
"Now that you mention it, Percy and the others fled to the West District. They'll very likely encounter plot with this minor villain Sierra."
[Smart.]
[Although Sierra is quite hostile toward you, she also often cooperates with you. And you always have a strange tolerance toward Sierra. The relationship is really hard to understand... Anyway, I appeared to tell you—]
[Sierra's death plot isn't far away either.]
Ye Zheng's hand paused while flipping through documents.
[Ye Zheng, will you try to save her?]
Author's Note:
Oh my, I ate too much at the buffet yesterday and got an upset stomach.
Comments
Post a Comment