Chapter 212-The Manga Pariah's Guide to Self-Salvation
The sun sank below the horizon, yet the fluttering white points of light extended the day's brightness, halting the advance of night.
A turning point had arrived!
Suddenly, a roar so loud it nearly burst their eardrums erupted. The ruined walls shook again and again. Ye Zheng's first instinct was to cover her ears, then she swiftly grabbed Wu Shu's hand and the two moved toward a distant building.
Ye Zheng didn't look back, seizing the opportunity to pull Wu Shu into a run. In the chaos, Wu Shu glanced over her shoulder—a tilting clock tower spire had plunged squarely into the black dragon's eye, and one golden pupil was instantly drenched in blood.
It howled ceaselessly, its thick tail thrashing wildly at the remaining structures around it, sending rubble and dust flying everywhere. The chaos actually made it easier for them to slip away.
Wu Shu suddenly let out a muffled grunt—a piece of debris had struck her back, breaking the skin. Her stride didn't falter for an instant, and the two quickly ducked into a palace that was still intact.
Seeing Bai Muqing, Ye Zheng wasn't the least bit surprised. They had made this arrangement long ago.
Bai Muqing was the backup she had kept in reserve for herself. If anything went wrong while dealing with Sykes, Bai Muqing was the strongest support she could find.
But if things went smoothly, Ye Zheng hadn't wanted to drag Bai Muqing into it, which was why she had sent her away from the banquet hall.
—Yet another person she wanted even less to involve had also appeared here.
"Zhengzheng!"
"Why are you here?"
Ye Zheng blurted out in surprise, not even bothering with honorifics. She strode quickly to Shu Wan, and for a moment could only stare at her wide-eyed, at a loss for words.
From the resolve to kill Sykes, through the string of unexpected events, even witnessing the dead Sykes reborn as an unstoppable dragon—Ye Zheng hadn't wavered or doubted for a single moment. Yet right now, she felt a rare flash of bewilderment.
How could she have come here? A noblewoman who had spent her life in the upper district with pitifully little combat experience—how could she have charged into such a dangerous place?
Upon seeing her daughter standing before her, Shu Wan's excitement gradually gave way to uncertainty. Reading Ye Zheng's expression, it belatedly occurred to her—was she causing trouble?
"You two, escort my mother... Lady Shu away from here."
Ye Zheng tore her gaze from her mother's and issued the order to the two Knights at Shu Wan's side.
Bai Muqing, who had been listening silently, furrowed her brow. The two similar-looking Knights exchanged a glance, and the darker-skinned young Knight spoke up: "Your Holiness, you gave us our orders yesterday. Today, we are responsible for protecting Lady Shu, and all actions defer to Lady Shu's wishes."
"Yesterday's Pope and today's Pope... which one should we obey?"
The warmth vanished from Ye Zheng's dark eyes. She stared at the young Knight who had spoken—Cheng Cheng, the "troublemaker" who had stepped forward to challenge her when she first formed the Holy Journey Knights Order. Ye Zheng had always appreciated troublemakers, probably because she was one herself. But today, she found herself inexplicably losing patience.
"Cheng Cheng, Cheng Che—I'll say this one last time. Take her and leave."
Where Ye Zheng couldn't see, Shu Wan lowered her head in awkward helplessness.
"Ye Zheng, your mother won't be a hindrance. Her ability isn't weak—I can sense it."
In the tense standoff, Bai Muqing walked to Ye Zheng's side and placed a hand on her shoulder, feeling the pronounced rise and fall of her breathing.
Ye Zheng's reaction was unexpected. It surprised Bai Muqing—she had almost never seen Ye Zheng this emotional.
"...It can track me. Staying by my side isn't a safe choice."
The moment Ye Zheng's sigh-like whisper left her lips, everyone's expressions shifted. This meant they had very little time to rest and regroup.
"We need to leave here as soon as possible. You two, take her. Bai Muqing, Wu Shu—if you're willing to continue, come with me to the hunting grounds."
Ye Zheng's voice was crisp and cold as she gave her orders.
"Ye Zheng, I'm staying. I don't need you to bear responsibility for my life or death. All consequences are mine alone."
The middle-aged woman, silent for so long, suddenly spoke. She raised her head. Her expression was no longer awkward or hesitant—her tone was swift and resolute.
"I am an A-rank ability user. The Empire permits ability users of B-rank and above to voluntarily enter Demonic Domains for rescue operations. One more powerful ability user means one more chance of stopping the monsters. Your Holiness, on what grounds would you turn away a citizen of the Empire who has bravely stepped forward?"
"Must I leave because I'm your mother?"
Most of the time, Shu Wan kept her eyes downcast, giving off a quiet, reserved air. In truth, her brow bone was high and her features deep-set. When she looked at someone without any restraint, there was an unexpected intensity to her gaze, and the fine lines at the corners of her eyes only sharpened the effect.
"Your Holiness, you should not let personal feelings cloud your judgment. The priority right now isn't sending someone to escort your mother away—it's leading us to resolve the crisis outside!"
Her resounding words left Ye Zheng momentarily stunned. She stared at her mother with unconsciously wide eyes, almost with an animal-like bewilderment—like a child caught hiding snacks, seized upon by her mother for a lecture.
Her mind was still turning nimbly. She wasn't about to meekly comply the way she had as a child—she had plenty of reasons to argue back.
Mother and daughter locked eyes in a stubborn standoff. Ye Zheng knew Shu Wan was lying. Standing up for the Empire and its people? Shu Wan was clearly staying because Ye Zheng was her beloved daughter—staying out of a mother's selfishness.
But was Shu Wan wrong?
Silence fell once more. Ye Zheng lowered her head. Didn't she, too, harbor the selfishness of a daughter?
Everyone else tactfully kept quiet, giving the two enough space. Wu Shu glanced out the window, then at Bai Muqing's expression, and thought to herself: this isn't good—time is running out.
Just as she was about to speak up, Ye Zheng withdrew her gaze from the contest with her mother, turned calmly, and walked toward the palace's rear exit.
"Let's go. Everyone, to the hunting grounds. I have a way to deal with it."
Ye Zheng walked alone at the front. Her composed expression softened, and a self-deprecating smile flickered and vanished, carrying a relief and lightness that no one behind her could see.
She had hoped Lady Shu would find a life beyond being a "mother," yet just now, it was she herself who couldn't stop measuring her mother's actions through the lens of being a daughter.
Even if Shu Wan still acted around her in the role of mother, her eyes had gradually opened to a broader world. Ye Zheng had no reason to stop her.
A trace of a smile crossed the ever-silent Bai Muqing's face, and she was the first to follow Ye Zheng's stride. The others fell in close behind.
It seemed Lady Shu's selfishness had won out after all, Bai Muqing thought.
Her thoughts drifted, and something made the cold indifference return to her white eyes like settling mist. Her taut features carried a thread of worry.
Within the range of her [Divine Domain], no one had entered.
So many people had gathered at the gates. The Imperial Palace was more than half destroyed. Why hadn't anyone been sent in to stop it?
This wasn't an ordinary Demonic Domain—this was the Imperial Palace. She could understand that her father had to seek the Emperor's approval before acting, but they still hadn't moved. A strange unease stirred in Bai Muqing's heart.
Perhaps they just needed more time. After all, the creature out there wasn't an ordinary Demonic Domain monster—it was the Emperor's own child, Crown Prince Sykes.
Through [Divine Domain], Bai Muqing had recognized it instantly.
If the Crown Prince's transformation became public, it would be a devastating blow to the Royal Family. What would the Emperor do about it?
But regardless of what the Emperor thought, they had to kill it today.
...Even if her actions brought trouble to the Bai family, she could only pray that her family would forgive her righteous selfishness.
*
The Crown Prince's hunting grounds lay beneath the Royal quarters. By the time they arrived, the palace above was deserted. Only faint monster cries drifted up from the underground hunting grounds.
After Sykes was forced out of the Imperial Palace, whoever was left managing the grounds had clearly grown lax. When Ye Zheng's hand touched the railing of the viewing platform, it came away dusty.
She led the group to the center of the grounds—a vast, imposing arena. Passages on either side held caged monsters. Sykes would normally have them released to fight in the underground arena while he lounged on the platform above, idly passing the time.
Of course, it wasn't only monster blood that stained this place. Occasionally, there were people too.
"Ye Zheng, do you have a plan?"
In the urgency of the moment, Wu Shu forgot her usual honorifics, a barely perceptible edge of anxiety in her voice.
Ye Zheng gestured for them to relax and said, "This place was built with Heterogeneous Stone. Otherwise, the Emperor would never have been bold enough to let Sykes keep those things inside the Imperial Palace."
Heterogeneous Stone was not only extremely hard but had a uniquely special composition—it could block Demonic Domains and suppress the powers of ability users and Demonic Domain monsters alike.
Hearing this, Wu Shu relaxed slightly. Tracking relied on detecting special energy signatures, and this hunting ground could block those signatures entirely. That thing shouldn't be able to find them here for a while.
"That guy sure holds a grudge—even in that form, he hasn't forgotten to come after you for revenge." Wu Shu quipped.
Ye Zheng smiled back. "Indeed. Who knows—maybe he still remembers everything."
Wu Shu's smile froze. Ye Zheng turned to Bai Muqing, who spoke slowly: "Mm. Judging by its soul state, it's different from those monsters—more... intelligent, with emotional fluctuations. Human-like."
"So you're saying he just changed his outward form, but inside he's still that..." Wu Shu glanced at the uninformed Shu Wan and the two Knights, and swallowed the rest of her words.
"Alright, what do we do next?"
Wu Shu asked. Everyone present looked to Ye Zheng, waiting for her next move.
"Muqing monitors its movements. Everyone else, rest up."
Ye Zheng turned to look at a tall iron door at the far end of the arena. Faint monster cries echoed from the deep passage beyond.
"I'm going to pay a visit to the Crown Prince's beloved pets. They might be quite willing to help."
Ye Zheng flashed a smile. [Mother of All Things] had just dominated their master not long ago—dominating them would be no challenge for her.
Let this hunting ground truly become Sykes's "hunting ground."
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