Chapter 217-The Manga Pariah's Guide to Self-Salvation
Chapter 278 of King of the Demonic Domain dropped without warning on this day, and readers who received the update notification opened it immediately.
Percy's trio successfully took Lucy away from Sierra's control. To expose the truth about the Divine Sword and stop Pope Ye Zheng from continuing to deceive the world, the Cloud-Soaring Squad decided to head to the upper district and use the Emperor's power to restore the true Divine Sword to its rightful place.
But Lucy refused to go with them. Ye Zheng had once saved her, and she didn't want to do anything that might harm her.
Besides, the matter between her and Sierra was still unresolved—she couldn't just run away.
The three respected her decision and set off for the upper district. Meanwhile, Sykes, under house arrest in the lower district shelter, learned his true date of birth and recalled all the memories he had forgotten. He was consumed with hatred—hatred for his own existence, hatred for the one who had orchestrated everything, his father, and hatred for the world that expected him to bring hope.
Unable to endure the hatred and rage, Sykes crushed the note Ye Zheng had given him and decided to cast aside all the duties and expectations of "Sykes" at her coming-of-age ceremony—to become, as everyone wished, a true world-ending monster.
The banquet hall was filled with clinking glasses and laughter, the young Pope surrounded by a constellation of admirers, until an uninvited guest arrived and extinguished the festive atmosphere.
Sykes summoned a Demonic Domain on the spot. The crowd screamed and scattered. Only Ye Zheng remained in the banquet hall to face him.
[Sykes, well done!]
[Mwahaha, welcome, Your Gui's number one villain!]
[This scene is truly the peak of villain showdowns. Looking at it so far, Sykes is still the more unhinged one.]
[Ye Zheng is the scheming, working-behind-the-scenes type. Still prefer Sykes's kind of wild, arrogant madness.]
[Blow up the Imperial Palace, kill the Pope—my Emperor Sykes!!]
[This dual-villain dynamic is so satisfying!]
The comment count exploded after Sykes summoned the Demonic Domain. Nearly every reader who reached this point assumed this was the biggest twist of the chapter.
At this moment, no one could have anticipated that what followed would be another storm of upheaval—the second great reversal since chapter 263, when Ye Zheng's identity as Chaomei was revealed and she drew her sword.
Sykes was facing off against Ye Zheng, but the manga's perspective suddenly cut to Percy's point of view. Led by Wu Shu, they went to find the Emperor. Along the way, the Demonic Domain descended and a powerful tremor struck. While escaping from the palace, Percy's group unexpectedly ran into Ye Zheng.
Everyone held their breath waiting for the monster around the corner to appear—until a voice said "What are you all doing here?" The panel shifted, and the young Pope in white stood before them, looking at them with puzzlement.
Percy was startled in the manga; readers' hearts skipped a beat outside it. Ye Zheng had clearly just been fighting Sykes moments ago—and now she appeared completely unharmed. Did that mean Sykes had...
But soon, readers who continued on relaxed. It turned out Sykes hadn't died—he had transformed into his demon dragon form, his destructive rampage looking as though he intended to flatten the entire upper district.
Next, Percy, aided by his two teammates, took up the Divine Sword and engaged demon dragon Sykes in fierce battle. The fight panels were immensely satisfying, the close-up expressions full of tension. Readers could feel the urgency and the hot-blooded thrill of combat, and couldn't help but exclaim that this was what a true action shonen manga looked like.
Yet Percy was no match for Sykes. After landing one critical blow, Percy fell unconscious, and his two companions hid him away.
Just as readers were anticipating what Percy would do to stop Sykes once he woke up, Wu Shu suddenly appeared and tried to snatch the Divine Sword.
Caleb and Roy fought back against her. It was then that Roy realized—Wu Shu wasn't the Emperor's agent. She was Pope Ye Zheng's person. Only Ye Zheng would choose this moment to seize the true Divine Sword!
[Our great Zheng-god has launched her villain career once again]
[So the protagonist team's movements have been under Ye Zheng's control all along. Truly worthy of being Your Gui's number one master!]
[No wonder Ye Zheng is a villain. The protagonist team risks their lives fighting the demon dragon, and she attacks them at a moment like this for her own interests. The contrast speaks for itself.]
[Whoever is judging Ye Zheng—don't let me catch you posting comments about how handsome and powerful Sykes is.]
[In an ability-user world where strength is supreme, does Ye Zheng dare come out and fight head-on?]
The moment the plot touched anything related to Ye Zheng—even when she didn't appear directly—the comment section erupted into chaos again, surpassing even the peak comment count from Sykes's highlight moment.
In the manga, Wu Shu's ambush failed. The Divine Sword seemed to have grown into Percy's hand—she couldn't take it. She immediately turned murderous. Roy and Caleb were forced to fight her.
Just as Wu Shu broke through Caleb's defensive weak point and was about to slash Roy's throat, Percy woke up in time and drove Wu Shu back.
During his unconscious period, Percy had achieved a deeper mental communion with the Divine Sword. As his power grew, he glimpsed certain past events. He looked toward the roaring black dragon not far away, gripped the Divine Sword, and moved to stop Sykes.
Readers outside the screen were equally excited, waiting for the second round between Percy and Sykes. The once-hopeful Divine Sword against the resurgent demon dragon—it felt like a destined showdown.
As if on cue, heavy rain began to fall from the sky. Mist filled the air. Percy strode toward the collapsed hunting grounds, and the Creator drew his determined, forward-marching silhouette with a strikingly powerful perspective shot.
Then, the golden-eyed black dragon struggled free from a mass of white silk, roared, and spread its sky-blotting wings, soaring into the air.
A great battle between the protagonist and his fated rival seemed about to ignite.
[—Clap.]
A single onomatopoeia.
A close-up of two palms pressed together.
The blazing, electric atmosphere the manga had built up instantly cooled. A chill spread from Percy's body to the readers on the other side of the screen.
Fingers scrolled down the screen. Ye Zheng's calm face filled the entire vertical panel—palms pressed together, dark eyes half-closed, her expression as devout as someone in prayer.
The next panel: countless water threads materialized in midair, as if the phone screen had suddenly been covered in cracks.
In the manga, the water threads gleamed with a cold, string-like light under the moonlight.
[Boom!]
The countless water threads tightened simultaneously. The dragon flying in midair was instantly shredded to pieces, and a rain of flesh and blood poured down!
The spraying blood dissolved before Ye Zheng, leaving not a single drop of gore on her. A simple gesture, a calm expression—yet it delivered a tremendous shock to readers!
Before readers could recover from the impact, Ye Zheng in the manga found Sykes lying atop the black dragon's remains. The golden-haired Crown Prince had none of the arrogance or killing intent he'd arrived with—he was barely clinging to life, utterly fragile.
At that moment, the Emperor appeared with his entourage. He asked Ye Zheng to hand Sykes over to him—after all, Sykes was his son.
A close-up panel of Ye Zheng's expression—she seemed to be considering something.
["Farewell."]
["This is the only redemption I can give you."]
Under the bright moonlight, the water threads flashed, and a line of blood appeared across Sykes's throat.
His golden eyes dimmed, losing their light—like lifeless crystal balls, reflecting Ye Zheng's expression of merciless compassion. It was the last thing he saw in his life.
The comment section completely exploded, so dense it was nearly impossible to see the panels.
Beneath the mall's large screen, Tang Mingxi and Li Yixin looked up at each other in perfect unison and saw in each other's eyes their own expressions of absolute, speechless shock.
In the silent exchange, the mall screen cycled back to Ye Zheng's birthday fan art. The Saintess Pope holding a lantern gazed downward with lowered eyes, as if watching two tiny figures in the flowing traffic below.
*
The forum.
[Huh?] [hot]
[#1: Huh?]
[#2: Huh?]
[#3: Who among you will become a magical girl and go back in time to save the me who hadn't opened King of the Demonic Domain yet?]
[#4: I've lost my mind... don't tell me Sykes is actually dead. I will literally turn into a witch right here.]
[#5: Hahaha rivals are rivals after all. Wait—how did the rival die so fast?]
[#6: Ah, I haven't read the update yet, what do you all mean? Sykes died?]
[#7: If there's no reversal later, he's probably dead.]
[#8: ??? Your Gui's peak powerhouse is gone in one episode? How did he die?]
[#9: Ye Zheng slapped him to death (not literally)]
[#10: (Comment removed for violating community guidelines)]
[#11: Old rat, look at what you drew!! After all that buildup, he goes out like a clown. Can you face the character you created?]
[#12: Bros, drawing action shonen fight scenes really demands a lot of artistic skill. Is there an easier way to do it?]
[#13: There is, bro, there is. Just have the character get slapped to death by Ye Zheng. Saves time and effort.]
[#14: Please tell me you're all joking. How could Sykes go out this early?]
[#15: (Screenshot of Sykes's death)]
[#16: I'm crying so hard my hands are shaking while I type. Today is Sykes's birthday. Why do this to him?]
...
[#93: More than Sykes's death, what shocks me more is Ye Zheng's power. She effortlessly one-shotted a triple-S-rank ability user. What level is she at?]
[#94: Even though Sykes's death is a bit sad, the panel where Ye Zheng claps her hands is so cool I'm going insane.]
[#95: From now on, the forum never has to argue about who the number one villain is, because Ye Zheng has already killed all the other villains!]
[#96: I see people going crazy again saying Ye Zheng got a cheat code. Is it possible that her original character setting was always this overwhelmingly oppressive villain?]
[#97: Seriously, one moment Percy was ready to fight Sykes to the death, the next moment Ye Zheng calmly shredded Sykes. The overwhelming pressure and impact hit you right through the screen.]
[#98: I'm already curious how Percy is going to deal with Ye Zheng. Top-tier in both intelligence and combat, with sky-high popularity both inside and outside the manga.]
[#99: Percy: I fight Ye Zheng? (confused face meme)]
[#100: No time to mourn Sykes's death anymore! Coming up next—]
Tang Mingxi scrolled through the forum and various social platforms all the way home, still unable to put down her phone once she was back in her room. Her excitement refused to settle.
[#385: I usually only dare post my extreme hot takes about foot-brake male characters in private fan spaces—then I turn around and find out, oh wow, my goddess actually literally foot-braked the male character?]
[#386: Ahhhh that's a dark comedy!!]
[#387: Our Zheng really spoils her fans. Still not joining the Zheng camp?]
The plot bombshell of Sykes's death fermented rapidly across every platform in just one night.
King of the Demonic Domain's anime was in the middle of its hot broadcast run, with millions of viewers following it. It was the most-discussed anime of the season, with all kinds of fan creations flourishing.
News of Sykes's death in the manga's latest chapter shocked every anime viewer.
They were currently watching Sykes dominate other upper district teams at the ability-user tournament—proud, powerful, looking down on everyone—and he was especially popular in the ability-user worldview where strength was supreme.
How was Sykes dead? Killed by the protagonist Percy?
Not Percy? Apparently he was effortlessly one-shotted by someone else?
Wait—who is this Ye Zheng who could one-shot Sykes so easily?
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