Chapter 289-The Manga Pariah's Guide to Self-Salvation
The manga's final panel froze on drifting motes of white light. Bai Muqing had summoned her [Divine Domain] to hold back the floodwaters while the Demon Dragon—symbol of destruction—burst through the surface. The image was staggering.
In the world that belonged to them, the gears of fate ground ceaselessly forward. On this day destined for the history books, not a single soul was given a moment to catch their breath.
As Ye Zheng sank into the torrent with her eyes open, the pale remains descended before her, settling silently on the riverbed, sending ripples through the water.
She closed her eyes, crossed her arms before her chest, fingers splayed then slowly tightening.
Countless bright, razor-sharp threads of water pierced through the turbid, surging flood, weaving densely between Ye Zheng's hands. Her expression was serene, a trace of pain creasing her brow—like a martyred saint bound by thorny vines, her leaden hands unable to advance an inch.
A sudden, violent surge of water rippled outward. Ye Zheng burst through the pressure and flung her arms wide. The taut water threads snapped free like severed water-grass, drifting upward. The near-frozen underwater world began to flow once more—
Every last vestige of Margaret's power was now in her grasp. Resolve flashed across Ye Zheng's face as she slammed both hands downward!
The resilient water threads, carrying their mistress's inviolable will, drove the surging torrent into the hollow remains. The tremendous impact shattered the riverbed. Through the chaos, they lifted the white bones, filled them, and with an ancient, thunderous roar, summoned Her return!
Sleek, jet-black dragon horns broke the water's surface, reflecting the bright sunlight with cold brilliance. The floodwaters parted in two, and a furious, drawn-out cry pierced the entire city in an instant!
Half-conscious, Percy clung to the remnants of a building. The rebounding waves slammed him fully beneath the flood. In his last waking moment, an all-eclipsing darkness swallowed his vision. He gripped the Holy Sword and sank beneath the water.
Bai Muqing's eyes trembled. That towering, majestic dragon silhouette shattered her blank field of vision. The [Divine Domain] fell silent. For the first time, she truly saw—and her suspended form wavered in midair.
Further away—Wu Shu and Wen De perched atop a high rooftop, the knights of the Holy Journey base, the aristocrat army, and the civilians at the East District station who hadn't yet evacuated... every single person turned to gaze in the same direction. The colossal black dragon stood at the heart of the district, crashing into the field of vision of every living soul.
Its very existence seemed to strip the air from the entire city in an instant, leaving only suffocating silence.
That breathtaking silence spread rapidly across the nation.
Bright sunlight streamed through the window onto the deep-red carpet. The man seated within wore a pleased expression, his golden eyes fixed on the play of light and shadow on the carpet, pupils locked in a state of bloodshot excitement.
He had deployed virtually every force he could mobilize—from the royal house, the Papacy, to nobles great and small, even the Demonic Domains... paying an almost inconceivable price to assemble an alliance against Ye Zheng. He'd thrown every chip onto the table in this gamble against her!
He couldn't let Ye Zheng continue to grow. Even if Margaret's bones could never again see the light of day, no one could predict what other madness Ye Zheng might attempt.
Urgent footsteps drew closer and closer outside the door. The Emperor shot to his feet. He couldn't wait for the messenger to reach him with a report—he needed to know Ye Zheng's fate right now!
The man didn't even knock. He practically threw himself into the room, lifting a panic-stricken face from the floor, lips moving—but before he could speak, a hand of terrifying strength hauled him up. Golden eyes bore down on him like a ravenous beast.
"Lord Roy and the others are dead..."
"Ye Zheng, she—"
The two voices spoke almost simultaneously. The Emperor's expression contorted. His facial muscles spasmed. Eyes bulging, he staggered back two steps, as though he'd glimpsed something unspeakably monstrous.
His grip on the man's collar loosened. The messenger finally gulped fresh air, gasping as if he'd survived a near-death experience. But the moment he saw the Emperor's expression, he instinctively held his breath, trying to shrink his presence.
"No, no, no... impossible..."
The middle-aged man paced in circles like a caged animal, then dashed to the window like a madman, red-eyed, staring at the serene blue sky. Everything looked so peaceful and calm.
"No! No! Impossible—"
After his outburst, a dazed expression settled over his face. He couldn't have sensed wrong. The owner of that presence had once nearly expelled him from this world. He would never, for as long as he lived, forget that bone-deep terror.
She, too, must have sensed his existence—because in this world, only he and she were different from everyone else, deities transcending this dimension. And this world could only have one.
"You were already killed by my Holy Sword! Why have you come back!"
Vincent screamed and ranted like a child, pounding the windowsill until his fists were raw and bloody. Only then did he turn woodenly and walk back inside.
This had to be Ye Zheng's doing! He should have gone to the lower district personally to oversee things, to stop Ye Zheng's cunning, evil scheme.
"There must still be a way. There must..."
He gritted his teeth, kicked the servant who'd been trying to slip away, then ground his foot mercilessly into the man's throat. It was a long moment before he calmed down.
He'd killed Margaret once. He could kill her a second time!
And the weapon that could slay the Demon Dragon had to be an entity from a higher dimension, equal in power to the dragon itself.
The Holy Sword still existed. He still had a chance.
The only complication was that his physical body hadn't entered this world along with his consciousness. The flesh he'd possessed couldn't withstand the Holy Sword's power.
Five hundred years ago, that woman had lifted the Holy Sword through sheer, astonishing brute force. Five hundred years later, Percy—born carrying the blood of the divine—had come into the world, inherently qualified to wield it.
The Emperor's expression turned hesitant. Percy's uselessness exceeded all expectations. He was growing impatient to claim Percy's body and raise the Holy Sword himself—the Holy Sword and the divine blood were things he had brought into this world. Though he'd lost his memories from before his arrival, he was absolutely certain of this.
After all these years, it was time for that godlike power to return to his side.
But the moment he chose Percy, he would temporarily lose his grip on the Empire. Or he could follow the original plan and choose Roy first—
"What did you just say happened to Roy?"
The man lowered his gaze to the servant wheezing on the floor.
The servant lay trembling, and under the Emperor's crushing presence, managed with great difficulty to deliver the interrupted report.
"Lord Roy and Lord Colonna... are dead, sir. Killed in the enemy assault."
"...You're telling me Roy is dead?"
"Yes. Lord Roy and his party were at the concealed headquarters, but it appears the Pope's people found them. Everyone was burned... nothing left."
The man buried his face in his hands. After a long silence, he lifted his head from his palms, expression utterly blank.
"It seems Ye Zheng has already made the choice for me."
*
At the same moment, every person still stranded in the East District stared in tense silence at the majestic dragon towering over the city center, their minds held captive by fear and awe.
Not a soul could predict how it would act, or what earth-shaking changes it would bring to the Empire.
Perhaps not even the one who had summoned the Demon Dragon back could say.
All except in one place, where two people could spare no attention for anything else.
A wall of fire as tall as a city gate enclosed a pocket of extreme heat. Two figures were trapped within the roaring blaze.
One cold and composed. One battered and spent.
"Madam Shu, I have no wish to violate my chivalric code by killing an innocent woman. You are a mother; it is only natural that you protect your daughter. As a father, I can understand that."
"But I must concede—you are no less formidable than any knight. I have no choice but to regard you as a warrior."
Listening closely, one could detect a tremor in the man's voice, belying his outward composure.
Shu Wan blinked her parched eyes and pressed her lips together in silence.
Looking around, not a blade of green survived within the wall of fire. He had cut her off from her companions; the young knights outside couldn't breach Bai Yi's flames to rescue her anytime soon.
He had driven her to the end of the road.
She watched him draw the long sword at his side. Flame tempered the blade until it gleamed and shimmered—its searing yet merciless tip leveled in her direction.
The oncoming heat was nearly suffocating. The toll of childbirth on her abilities, compounded by twenty years of neglected training—she had absolutely no chance of defeating Bai Yi...
"This is an absolutely fair knight's one-on-one duel. Enjoy your final moments." Bai Yi said in a low voice.
The man swung without hesitation. Savage flames bore down on the figure across from him!
This was anything but fair!
Shu Wan screamed inwardly. Bai Yi's birth and gender had funneled countless resources his way. His ability suffered no depletion from childbirth. He'd been free to excel in any arena he chose—
But she—she... had her ability still been its natural S-rank, she might not have lost today!
Shu Wan summoned the last of her strength. Grass seeds on the scorched earth sprouted in a rush, but against the devastating fire, every effort seemed hopelessly futile.
At a certain moment, Shu Wan heard something like the howl of death itself. The flames had closed in to the breaking point.
Then, suddenly, a furious, grief-stricken cry rang out right beside her ear—a long, keening wail that drowned out every sound of defiance.
Her ears and mind went numb. She couldn't tell whether the roar came from the distance or from her own throat.
Shu Wan felt her body burning—but this heat was utterly unlike the scorch of flames. It was full, and warm...
In the blink of an eye, grass seeds erupted into massive vines that lashed fearlessly against the inferno!
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