Chapter 215-The Manga Pariah's Guide to Self-Salvation

"What's happening?"

"It's underground—something's moving down there!"

"Monsters! Monsters must be coming!"

The crowd had barely quieted when the ground began shaking again, its destructive force no less than the dragon's earlier emergence. Crossbows mounted on the walls toppled, injuring several people. The scene dissolved into utter chaos.

Yet the handful of high-level ability users present had already sensed it—a tremendously powerful force was surging from beyond the walls toward the center of the Imperial Palace through the underground.

"The moat outside!"

"What about the moat?" Bai Yi grabbed a panicking guard.

"It's drying up! It's unbelievable!"

Bai Yi instantly realized what was happening. He looked into the distance, and upon seeing the extraordinary sight, his expression changed. He turned, summoned a few personal guards, and without bothering with the panicked crowd, slipped away discreetly.

He hadn't gone far when a group of people blocked his path.

"Your Grace, are you heading out to reinforce our Pope?" The tall woman, usually so taciturn, spoke with rare sarcasm. "How kind of you all to finally remember. But I believe Her Holiness doesn't need us disturbing her at the moment. Wouldn't you agree?"

"I think..." The middle-aged man's face was expressionless. The hand behind his back was already burning hot. Halfway through his words, he suddenly struck—but the person opposite was faster. A massive bone blade drove straight into the ground at his toes, spattering mud all over the dignified duke.

Had his reflexes been any slower, he'd have been pinned to the ground.

"Very good. So you're the Sei Curia's newly appointed Knight Order commander?"

The scimitar-like bone blade had erupted from Wen De's back. She said nothing. Her answer to Bai Yi came in the form of several more bone blades raining from above. One guard who failed to dodge was skewered through the thigh and lay howling on the ground.

White bone formed a cage, trapping Bai Yi within. He gripped one of the blades. Barbed spurs instantly pierced his palm, but in the next moment, the meters-long bone blade crumbled to charred ash.

The searing pain made Wen De feel as though her back was on fire. She doubled over involuntarily, forcing the instinctive cry of pain back down her throat.

She didn't know what these people intended, but she knew the phenomenon just now was Ye Zheng's counterattack. Their moving now meant they were going to interfere with her.

Wen De raised her head and stared into Bai Yi's eyes. He had killing intent. She might not escape a dual-S-rank's killing blow unscathed.

But precisely because of that, she had to stop him here—stop him from interfering with the Saintess!

Countless slender, razor-sharp white [Bone Spurs] strained and grew from Wen De's back. With a fierce battle cry, she and the Knights behind her charged alongside the unstoppable spurs toward the middle-aged man.

*

Meanwhile, amid the rolling ruins, one woman and one dragon faced off.

Tidal waves of water blades tore along the wound and ripped open the black dragon's belly. Blood gushed out, pooling into red puddles on the ground.

Seeing it rear back in agony, Ye Zheng gave it no chance to recover. Nearby, Bai Muqing manipulated gravity. Ye Zheng's toes lightly tapped the ground and she leaped atop a tall pile of rubble, raised the blade above her head, and launched herself off.

This time, she didn't mislead Sykes. Just as it wished, the blade plunged deep into the gash across its belly, then rode the momentum of her fall to carve a wound nearly twenty meters long, splitting the dragon's belly from top to bottom!

The spray of blood dyed Ye Zheng almost entirely red. Her white robe became a blood-red robe; even her sharply defined features blurred into a wash of crimson.

The dragon let out an earth-shaking roar. It beat its massive wings and lurched into the air, survival instinct driving it away from the tiny human at its feet.

Ye Zheng looked up. The dense rain washed the blood from her face, revealing a pair of clear, bright dark eyes.

She glanced down. The sword in her hand was reduced to nothing but a hilt.

Ye Zheng tossed the hilt aside. Bare-handed, she gazed up at the black dragon gasping its last in the sky. Killing it was proving quite difficult indeed.

Her chest rose and fell gently as she steadied her rapid breathing.

[Destruction] cloaked its body. Anything that touched its form would quickly disintegrate. If it concentrated [Destruction] on a single point, it could reduce an opponent to ash in the blink of an eye.

Sykes was the original storyline's ultimate villain. She had no idea how Percy had defeated it. So far, Ye Zheng hadn't found a fatal weak point.

Percy possessed the indestructible Divine Sword—the perfect counter to Sykes's ability.

Not only that, he had the power of metal transmutation—able to metallize any object and manipulate metal at will...

Wait. The Divine Sword was also a metal object. Could it be that in the end, Percy had fully merged his power with the Divine Sword to defeat Sykes?

"System?"

[Hmm, looks like you've gotten quite familiar with comic tropes...]

System's roundabout response confirmed her guess.

Ye Zheng knew she was on the right track. She turned to look at Bai Muqing standing guard nearby, then shifted her gaze to Wu Shu, who was observing the battle from another direction.

Wu Shu read her intent instantly. One teleport, and she was at Ye Zheng's side.

"Take Percy's sword. A golden sword." Ye Zheng was brief and to the point.

Wu Shu was puzzled. She had already spotted Percy and his group. Percy appeared critically wounded and unconscious—no threat to Ye Zheng.

Still, Ye Zheng had asked her early on to monitor Percy's group. There must be something on them that she wanted... Wu Shu mused, her gaze drifting downward. She froze, then stared wide-eyed.

She had spotted a golden sword hilt.

Ye Zheng was staring up at the wounded dragon overhead, her body taut, her focus razor-sharp.

Wu Shu bent down and picked up the hilt. She tossed it in the air before Ye Zheng and caught it again. "I'll get that sword for you. As for this one, I'll hold onto it for now."

Wu Shu grinned, raised an eyebrow, stepped back, and vanished in an instant.

Ye Zheng chuckled softly. Fortunately, she had prepared multiple "Divine Swords" in advance. Losing one was no great loss—she just couldn't let anyone notice the discrepancy.

But Wu Shu's reaction surprised her a little.

She had cleverly deduced the truth about the Godsent in an instant, yet accepted it with perfect calm. Her personality was cautious and calculating. Having discovered that Ye Zheng was a dangerous ship, she had nonetheless stepped aboard this vessel with no return and an uncertain destination.

When Ye Zheng locked eyes with those golden pupils high above, her smile faded.

She had sent Wu Shu to take the Divine Sword not to use it against Sykes, but to prevent Percy from slaying the demon dragon just as he had in the original storyline. If he succeeded, the truth about the Divine Sword would be exposed, and her still-unsteady position could very well collapse.

Therefore, the one to kill Sykes had to be her—Ye Zheng!

The dragon on the horizon let out another charging battle cry and dove from on high at terrifying speed. Ruins on either side surged toward it as if alive, forming wall after towering wall in a miraculous display.

The dragon didn't slow in the slightest. Its crown of horns smashed through barrier after barrier. Stones rained from the sky like the world itself was crumbling.

It seemed Sykes intended to settle this with absolute, overwhelming force.

Ye Zheng took a deep breath and raised her hand. Water erupted from underground, forming a curtain tens of meters tall—like a magnificent waterfall.

In the original storyline, she had been the healing Saintess who could partially resist Sykes's [Destruction]. In that plotline, her ability seemed tailor-made to support Percy—she had shielded him from Sykes's killing blow.

But Ye Zheng knew that the "Ye Zheng" of any timeline fought for herself and her ideals.

[Stream] could resist Sykes's [Destruction]. It was destined that she would have this battle!

The moment the tens-of-meters-tall dragon collided with the water curtain, it was like an insurmountable mountain toppling into a surging river. The muffled impact echoed through the rain-drenched night, and the surrounding ruins shuddered and fell.

Bai Muqing closed her eyes. The swirling dust couldn't touch a single thread of her clothing. She focused all her attention on Ye Zheng, channeling [Divine Domain] to amplify Ye Zheng's power.

Her body was already exhausted, yet her mind remained intensely active. A muscle in her face twitched—she heard Ye Zheng's voice.

Bai Muqing's white eyes snapped open in shock.

In [Divine Domain]'s field of vision, the water curtain shattered like glass struck by a hawk, dissolving into lifeless puddles on the ground. The black dragon stood in the puddles, head thrown back in a triumphant howl, its tail slamming the ground and sending up sprays of cold water.

...Where was Ye Zheng?

Where had Ye Zheng gone?

Her mind ground to a halt like a stopped clock. The world was reduced to nothing but a buzzing drone. Bai Muqing turned mechanically, barely managing to recall Ye Zheng's whispered words.

"Protect Shu Wan."

The black dragon's forepaw ground against a wet patch on the ground. Its mood was clearly elated, but it quickly changed direction, spreading its wings toward the tunnel. It landed on a crumbling structure, lowered its head, and nudged the building with its horns—as if searching for something.

Then it stomped the building flat.

Bai Muqing suddenly remembered—Lady Shu and the others had hidden in the hunting grounds' monster cells as Ye Zheng had instructed, and they had the strange bone Ye Zheng had given them.

Bai Muqing practically flew toward the ruined cells. She even forgot to use [Divine Domain] to scout ahead—her overtaxed mind had no room left for thought. She strained to keep her white eyes open, seeing nothing but a blank white haze.

It wasn't until she tripped and fell that she remembered to activate [Divine Domain].

Using [Divine Domain] was as natural to her as breathing. How could she have forgotten to breathe?

[Divine Domain]'s power washed over her trembling nerves. At last, Bai Muqing "saw" the scene deep within the tunnel.

An involuntary look of stunned disbelief crossed her face.

The barely-standing cells had collapsed entirely. Terrified monsters scattered in every direction. Under the night sky, the black dragon's massive body had tumbled into a dense white web, its form wreathed in an eerie glow.

Shu Wan sat on the ground not far away, one hand gently stroking a mushroom the size of a human head. Her expression was warm and tender—as if comforting a small child.

Countless mycelial threads radiated outward from the mushroom, layer upon layer climbing the dragon's enormous body.

The threads were studded with spores that kept bursting open on the dragon's hide, releasing paralyzing toxins. The dragon, mired in mycelium, roared and thrashed. The threads disintegrated almost on contact with its body, yet they reproduced so rapidly—endlessly surging toward it—that they seemed infinite.

The slippery threads restrained its movement but couldn't inflict direct damage. They only made its thrashing grow more and more frenzied.

Yet Bai Muqing could see plainly: the true danger lay in the airborne toxins carried by the spores. Even Sykes's [Destruction] couldn't annihilate toxins dispersed in the air!

When a cold raindrop landed on her pale cheek, Bai Muqing snapped back to the present. Her white eyes seemed to find focus, as if she could truly see. She turned to look at the young woman who had suddenly appeared beside her.

"I'm sorry. I made you worry."

Ye Zheng said apologetically.

When she had met Sykes's charge head-on, Ye Zheng realized the water curtain formed by [Stream] could withstand him but couldn't kill him.

Even if [Stream]'s water blades could cut into his body, they would ultimately be dissolved by [Destruction] halfway through. Combined with Sykes's formidable regeneration, it wasn't enough to finish him.

So she had deliberately burst the water curtain herself, using the moment to conceal her presence and form—creating the illusion that she had been annihilated by [Destruction]. Only then would Sykes follow the bone's trail and walk straight into the gift she had prepared.

"Lady Shu boasted to me when I was little that she could easily control exotic plants. When I found this mushroom inside, I immediately thought of her."

This mushroom was at least S-rank. If not for [Mother of All Things], she probably couldn't have escaped that cell herself.

Ye Zheng hadn't wanted to involve her mother in the fight, but it was the first time she had seen her mother wear such a resolute expression. Perhaps she could try treating Lady Shu as a true comrade.

"It seems she wasn't exaggerating after all."

Ye Zheng smiled, then noticed Bai Muqing's expression seemed off—she hadn't reacted at all. Ye Zheng's own expression grew serious.

Her face turned solemn. She took Bai Muqing's hand, a more sincere apology on the tip of her tongue—when Bai Muqing suddenly squeezed her hand in return.

"Happy birthday, Ye Zheng."

Ye Zheng's eyes widened slightly. She never would have imagined that Bai Muqing would say something like that at a time like this.

"Hahahaha..."

Ye Zheng burst out laughing—a rare, full-hearted laugh, so unrestrained that Bai Muqing looked both puzzled and flustered.

Just as that laughter rang through the rainy night, crisper than the falling raindrops, an earth-shaking cry echoed across the entire Imperial Palace. Every eye turned in the same direction.

Ye Zheng released Bai Muqing's hand with a smile. She turned and walked toward the black dragon nearby.

"Thank you, Muqing. I've had a wonderful coming-of-age celebration today."

Ye Zheng stopped in the black dragon's shadow. The mycelium was growing slower and slower, tearing apart like fragile paper under the dragon's violent thrashing. The spores were dwindling too.

She tilted her head back and spread her arms wide. Months ago, she had stood in this same posture before Sykes in the Imperial Palace, declaring—she could offer fair redemption to all.

The violently thrashing dragon went still. Its golden slit-pupils constricted.

Raindrops cascaded over Ye Zheng, layering upon her like sheets of white gauze. As she raised her arms, the veil-like water flowed from her fingertips, and every raindrop in that moment seemed to weave itself into a transparent shroud, hazing the world in mist.

Boom! The black dragon tore free of the mycelial nest and unfurled its sky-blotting wings. It would soar higher—it would kill her once and for all!

Yet in the instant it launched upward, it felt a momentary lag. The paralysis belatedly invaded its body and mind, and even its ability slowed by a beat.

Clap.

A tiny, insignificant sound. Ye Zheng pressed her palms together in a gesture like prayer, her dark eyes as clear and devout as ever.

In the pure rain-mist, countless water threads caught the cold light. In the next instant, the threads encircling their prey drew tight, and blood erupted!

Crash!

The black dragon didn't even have time to cry out. In the blink of an eye, flesh and blood rained from the sky, pounding the ground with thunderous impacts.

Between heaven and earth, a rain of blood fell.

Atop the mound of the black dragon's remains, Ye Zheng found Sykes.

His eyes were half-open, his skin deathly pale. His clothes had vanished. His lower body was fused with the dragon's carcass, his arms melded into its flesh and blood.

His bloodless lips moved. He clearly wanted to say something, but his throat could only produce meaningless wisps of air.

Ye Zheng stepped forward. Blood-red water threads coiled around his neck.

"Your Holiness!"

Ye Zheng turned. She saw the middle-aged man in a red uniform. His well-maintained, handsome face stared at her in disbelief.

The Emperor stood not far away, flanked by a retinue.

"Sykes was devoured by the black dragon. I am grateful for your intervention, Your Holiness. Please, hand him to me—I am his father..."

Ye Zheng turned back to Sykes. That perpetually haughty face could barely draw breath. Hearing the familiar voice, his half-dead body heaved with agitation. Beautiful golden eyes swirled with hatred, confusion, and a sliver of instinctive hope.

He looked at her.

Killing him before all these witnesses would certainly bring her enormous trouble.

But she had promised Sykes—fair redemption, even if he was the source of calamity, even if he was rotten to the core.

Ye Zheng bent down and whispered to him, "Farewell. This is the only redemption I can give you."

Under the moonlight, those fragile golden eyes went wide.

The water threads tightened. A permanent line of blood was etched across the pale, slender neck, freezing Sykes in place forever.

A beautiful, pitiable tool. Ending such a wretched life was the greatest mercy.

Ye Zheng turned. The Emperor's gaze upon her was no longer one of feigned entreaty. In the depths of his eyes lay something unfamiliar—genuine fury and shock.

In an instant, every Knight behind him leveled their weapons at her.

Ye Zheng showed not a trace of fear. She walked slowly toward Emperor Havel and stopped within clear sight of each other's expressions.

She parted her lips without sound.

When the Emperor read her lip movements, his golden pupils froze solid in that instant. He raised his hand and ordered the weapons lowered.

"Vincent."

The Emperor lifted his head and gazed at the eternal, unchanging moon. He suddenly wanted to laugh aloud.

Five hundred years. At last, someone had spoken that name again—his true name.

The corners of his mouth stiffened, pulling up then tightening. He watched Ye Zheng kill Sykes before his eyes and walk away with composure, powerful emotions churning through his body.

*

The ramrod posture Ye Zheng had maintained finally eased. Exhaustion washed over her belatedly, but she still needed to find her mother and the others.

Suddenly, a sound rang out—then another, and another in rapid succession. She looked toward the night sky on the horizon.

The rain had stopped. At some point, the Demonic Domain had vanished as well.

The fireworks celebrating her coming-of-age lit up on schedule, illuminating half the night sky. Their brilliance, bright as daylight, bloomed in her eyes.

She greeted her eighteenth birthday in victory.

---

Author's Note

Her birthday is officially set on this day! Buying a cake as soon as I wake up.

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