Loud rumbles echoed through the air as the core of the labyrinth continued to fall apart. The huge pendulum clock stood in ruins as though it was teetering on the brink of collapse, its hands spinning wildly in a frenzy.
Amid the chaotic battlefield, Shen Nianzu tossed aside his shattered blade. A silvery thread of water coiled around his battered form, with a teary-eyed Aqua clinging to his neck. His left arm hung limp, a gash marred his thigh deep enough to show bones, and his entire body was trembling from the strain. Ying, Grandpa and Gu Luoxin were doing better than him at the very least, as they mostly acted as a support to the battle against this high-level nightmare creature.
Before them, deia lay sprawled on the ground, her bottom half missing. Black and gray colored ashes drifted out of her dissipating form. "I... lost?" She murmured before spitting out another mouthful of black, viscous blood.
The corner of Shen Nianzu’s lips tilted into a lopsided smile. "I don’t need to destroy your heart to kill you. I guess I have to thank my other self for imparting such valuable information. Also..." He cast a brief glance over his shoulder at the expanding mass of darkness. It had grown a few tis larger since he last saw it, almost... like the size of an adult human.
Shen Nianzu’s gaze rely brushed past it before he looked away lest he would be affected by the Nightmare.
He couldn’t help but acknowledge that part of the reason why they could win against the witch, aside from Grandpa’s imasurable assistance, was the Nightmare. Just its re presence alone was more than enough to suppress deia, and it was important to note that they had only witnessed a tiny, tiny fraction of the Nightmare’s true power.
Just what kind of horrifying entity was the Nightmare? His current self still couldn’t comprehend the truth.
"You have lost, deia," Shen Nianzu declared coldly. "From now on, there will no longer be any connection between us."
deia glared at him to the best of her ability with one of her eyes missing. She looked as if she was about to curse, but in the end, a twisted smile stretched across her lips. "Don’t think that this will be over, human..." she spat out, her hoarse voice not unlike the hiss of a venomous serpent. "The mont I perish here, my father will know the truth. Pray to your God that you will not be sent to Hell in the future, or else..."
She burst out into a fit of maniacal cackles, her laughter echoing in the space even after her entire body faded into ashes.
Shen Nianzu’s expression sank as he cursed under his breath. "Damn witch..."
He was aware that deia would not be able to curse him anymore, given that her true self had perished in the high-level Cycle. Her current appearance was nothing more than the fulfillnt of the prophecy and the embodint of the curse she had previously placed in his body. Nonetheless, witches were extrely skilled in the art of spellcasting and their words would often turn into jinxes. Now that deia gave him such parting words before she dissipated, it sent an unsettling pit of uneasiness to his stomach.
But that would be sothing he needed to confront sooner or later, wouldn’t it?
Whether it was the Demon King Asmodeus or the Great Angel Seraphim, he would cut down everything and everyone that stood in his way.
For his real target was the Nightmare, the sovereign of the Nightmare Cycle.
With the enemy gone, tension rolled off Shen Nianzu’s body and his vision spun, causing him to stagger. "Xiao Shen!" Gu Luoxin and Ying caught him in ti before he could crash to the ground.
Ying furrowed her brows and helped bandage his wounds, while Gu Luoxin scrambled to put on the wreath, necklace and bracelet on him.
A flicker of surprise flashed in Ying’s eyes. "Healing prop?"
"Uh-huh," Gu Luoxin showed a relieved smile as he watched a gentle blue radiance envelope Shen Nianzu’s body. "Our one and only."
This was the last ti they could rely on this prop, as the previous two tis had been used on Gu Luoxin and Grandpa who had co close to the brink of death in the ’Opposite Morality World’ before Shen Nianzu intervened and dragged them away.
"What a treacherous Cycle," Grandpa stretched his old waist with an exhausted groan. "It truly caught off guard. This level of difficulty almost rivals high-level Cycles, right?"
"Indeed," Ying concurred with a nod. "Sohow, we have encountered a high-level nightmare creature, and the Nightmare itself," she pointedly refrained from looking at the lump of darkness. "Yet we haven’t even seen the shadow of the master of this labyrinth."
"Is it really unusual?" Gu Luoxin asked curiously, as he was the only player here who had yet to experience a high-level Cycle.
Ying humd in affirmation. "At least, I haven’t challenged any Cycle like this before..." she trailed off, furrowed her brows and turned to Grandpa. "What did the Divine Oracle tell you? Why would you co here just to et the twins?"
Shen Nianzu turned to the legendary player, awaiting an answer as well. He couldn’t help but recall the conversation he’d had with Qian Hui, the Harbinger of Doom as well as the number one player on the leaderboard. The Divine Oracle had also inford her about the twin stars and sothing like how it would affect the entire constellation. Had Grandpa also co here because of that prophecy?
Grandpa let out a drawn-out sigh. "It’s a bit complicated to explain. But what I’m more curious about is how—"
Crack!
A deafening crack interrupted his words as the ruined pendulum clock finally plumted from the sky. Shen Nianzu’s pupils dilated as he dove to the side to avoid it. Gu Luoxin, Ying and Grandpa also executed similar evasive maneuvers in the nick of ti. However—
"Oh no, the twins!"
Jin Jiuchi was still there, right below the pendulum!
Gu Luoxin’s last word had not even settled in the air yet when Shen Nianzu propelled himself forward and raced toward the growing mass of darkness. Gritting his teeth, he pushed his speed to the limit.
At that mont, he did not even care about what would happen if he were to touch the Nightmare. The only thought left in him was: he had to bring Jin Jiuchi to a safe place!
But then, just before the pendulum clock could crash to the ground and shatter to pieces, ti abruptly halted its relentless march like a paused movie reel.
Gu Luoxin’s expression was locked mid-scream, Ying had her eyes opened wide in shock, while Grandpa was in the midst of activating his skill card to shield both Shen Nianzu and the twins. Shen Nianzu’s outstretched hand hovered just inches away from the lump of darkness, but everything ca to a stop, no longer moving forward.
Except for the spinning hands of the clock, and the occasional twitches of the darkness.
From within this void, a pair of eyes slowly fluttered open. One glowed in an otherworldly silver, while the other pitch black with a radiant golden pupil. Those eyes reflected the cracked pendulum clock, watching as two people materialized out of it.
One was a little girl with her blue hair tied in twin pigtails, kneeling in a gesture of deep remorse. "I–I deeply apologize for ssing up! I didn’t expect that a witch would appear here, let alone... let alone the Omnipotent One!" She sobbed with sha and guilt in her blue eyes.
The other figure, a fully grown man dressed in a resplendent silver robe trimd with golden accents like a God from Greek mythology, had shoulder-length luminous golden hair and eyes that glead like the sun. Offering a gentle pat on the girl’s head, he spoke with an air of reassurance, "It’s okay, I know this is not your fault."
"Master!" Momoko was so touched by this benevolence that she cried even harder. "Wuwuwu, Master is so kind to !!"
Khronos, the Ruler of Ti as well as the creator of this labyrinth, bore a lancholic look on his face as he gazed upon the starless void where the dazzling constellations used to reside. His voice carried a touch of sorrow as he lanted, "Ah, everything is in ruins..."
He then shifted his attention to the newborn creature that was shrouded by the inky darkness, staring right into those heterochromatic eyes that appeared utterly lost.
"Nian’er... Nian’er..." an unsettling, almost inhuman voice resonated within the abyss, sounding like a disconcerting blend of childlike innocence and eerie maturity. "Kill... hurt Nian’er... kill..."
"Pitiful child who yearns for nothing but freedom..." Khronos let out another drawn-out sigh and shook his head sadly. "Have you obtained the answer you seek? I’ve housed you for over a century, but in the end, the Omnipotent One still found ways to locate you. Your presence is unraveling the fabric of ti in this realm. How do you plan to take responsibility for that?"
When all that ca from the darkness was nothing but unintelligible murmurs, Khronos let out a light exhale, knowing that nothing he said would register in the other’s mind.
"Now go." With a wave of his hand, it was as if a gale had risen in the middle of the space and swept everyone away into different paths, including Jin Jiuchi whose solid body had not even fully ford yet. "Begone from my presence before my wrath descends upon you."
Reviews
All reviews (0)