Chapter 63: The Curtain Falls

Nighttime, Central District.

Miles stepped off the bus and yawned. The poor middle schooler had been put through the wringer these past few days, and all he wanted now was to return to his dorm and get a good night's sleep. At the thought of the series of accidents over the last few days, he shivered slightly.

He had been so unlucky already; surely nothing else would happen to him... right?

Clang, clatter—accompanied by the sound of chains, crowbars, and metal knuckles clashing, the laughter and banter of several young men drifted from nearby.

"An unprecedented shot!" "Quit bragging, you used your prosthetic for that." "We’re pretty lucky, aren't we? The court didn't get smashed by those guys." "Screw you, my house got blown up." "Whoa~ Dust Explosion is watching you~! Let half your head get blown off by purple smoke!" "Let Dust Explosion go eat s***."

Good heavens! It was six "Dodo-Unlimited-Basketball" players just returning from the multi-purpose court!

Dodo-Unlimited-Basketball was an emerging sport where players used blunt weapons to strike a basketball into a hoop without damaging the ball itself. Because there were no restrictions on the types of blunt weapons used and players were encouraged to develop their own auxiliary equipment, it had become highly popular in the City of the Firmament.

The only drawback to this sport was that its overly loose rules often led to fights, brawls, and other accidents. To this day, not a single game had been completed in an ideal, incident-free state, and basketball players were often synonymous with danger.

The youths had colorful hair and carried the blunt weapons essential to their game. Many of them displayed the metallic sheen of high-tech prosthetics; one of them even had half his head replaced with an iron shell. How terrifying!

"Haha."

But Miles smiled. Had the child finally suffered a mental breakdown after all he had been through? The boy in the baseball cap actually walked briskly toward the basketball players and waved to greet them—

"Good evening, seniors."

The expressions on the basketball players were magnificent, much like good students from the school encountering a junior after sneaking out of an internet cafe.

"Oh, s***!" "D*** it, you swore in front of a junior." "F***, I didn't mean to!" "Watch your image and stop swearing, you b******!"

The iron-headed leader said with an awkward look, "Good evening, little Miles. You know, we just got back from a match... we're a little bit excited."

The seniors chimed in with cheeky grins.

"Yeah, yeah, don't learn from us." "Be a good kid, don't learn from Billy~" "Hey, I ranked in the top thirty last time, my grades are better than yours." "What the hell, you cheated! You actually studied behind our backs!" "He betrayed us! Kill him!"

The hoodlum-dressed seniors began shoving each other, a sight Miles and the iron-headed leader were long used to.

"Seniors, still playing ball this late?"

"The match was scheduled for this afternoon, you know why it was delayed." The iron-headed leader unscrewed a murky green sports drink and took a sip. "How have you been lately? I bet you were scared by the Calamities today?"

He was scared. Scared so many times he had become numb.

Miles scratched his cheek and said, "I was possessed by a devil a couple of days ago and invited some classmates to go... break out of prison."

The seniors burst into loud laughter.

"A rite of passage for every newcomer!" "I knew he’d have a day like this eventually." "The three things every esper must experience in their life!" "Where did you go? The airport? Don't tell me you went to the airport."

The boy in the baseball cap answered embarrassedly, "Yes."

"Hahahaha, he really went to the airport!"

Another round of laughter ensued, and this time, even the iron-headed leader chuckled.

"And then?"

"Do you really want to hear it, seniors?"

The senior students began to whistle and jeer.

Miles continued, "Then I got caught up in some... rather unlucky accidents involving a few espers you’ve told me about, a classified experimental project, and some things I don't quite understand. After everything was resolved, they treated me to a meal. I think I’m still quite lucky, at least I came back alive."

The expressions of the seniors displayed a mixture of abstract, realist, and kindergarten-style art, which made Miles want to laugh.

The iron-headed leader shut his jaw and said earnestly, "You have fully adapted to this city."

Miles said pleasantly surprised, "Really?"

"Without a doubt, a veteran citizen."

The senior patted his shoulder and said, just as he had during their past lessons, "Welcome to the City of the Firmament."

***

Cangshou District, Intensive Care Unit.

The first thing Li Jun saw after regaining consciousness was his supervisor's round, chubby face.

"Director..."

Liu Zhongwu raised his hand in a gentle gesture of suppression. "Rest now, your wounds haven't healed yet."

Li Jun didn't waste any more words. He knew that if the director had the time to visit, it meant the matter was resolved. He only blamed himself, saying, "My abilities were insufficient."

Liu Zhongwu smiled helplessly. "You were ten people sent to stall for time; did you really think you could defeat the Void Traveler? You did very well. If you had held out for less time, that madman might not have had the patience."

Little Li nodded silently, feeling unreconciled.

He thought and thought, then couldn't help but ask, "Director, I—"

The chubby director said with unquestionable authority, "Do not consider turning yourself into a madman. That will not take you any further; it will only bring you closer to the Wicked Law-Users."

The young man with dark circles lowered his head in embarrassment and said no more. He understood the logic, of course, but after witnessing the power of a World-Creating Law-User and his own helplessness, even a well-trained elite couldn't help but feel a stir in his heart.

"Director, can one only reach that state of mind by becoming a World-Creator?"

"Hard to say! Everyone has a state that suits them best. To comprehend that state, apart from understanding oneself thoroughly, one also needs top-tier talent like the Void Traveler or the Celestial Pole. And even if you gather all these conditions, it will be difficult to make the resolution to break through... because one slight mistake, and you will fall into madness."

Liu Zhongwu sighed. "You see the Void Traveler as selfish and ruthless, but he has held the line, giving others room to maneuver. If one were to become a monster like the Red Mage, with a human face but the heart of a beast, that would truly be a dragon disaster for the world."

Dragon disasters are terrifying, and the Impermanent Law-Users who slay dragons can hardly be called kind. To ordinary people, there is little essential difference between a volatile powerhouse and a dragon.

Li Jun hesitated for a long time before daring to say, "Director, I think you look quite normal..."

"That is why I am not as powerful as them," Liu Zhongwu replied calmly. "And that is why His Majesty trusts me."

Little Li's expression turned solemn. The chubby director smiled and said, "Why do you think you are trusted with important tasks? It is the same principle. Now that this battle is over, you should think more... in a few days, the Ritual Hall's operations in the City of the Firmament will need someone else to preside over them."

Li Jun was surprised. "Director, has the transfer order already been issued?"

"Not yet, but calculating the time, it should be soon."

"A transfer is a good thing, Director!" Li Jun said, sounding like a usurping deputy, yet he was genuinely happy for his leader. "When that time comes, we will have to throw you a farewell banquet."

"What are you talking about! No fanfare allowed."

After Liu Zhongwu finished scolding him with a smile, he added, "You don't need to hold onto this frustration. Once the Void Traveler is done acting out, someone will naturally deal with him. In this world, there is no such thing as an action without a price."

***

Thorn District, Marlin Headquarters Park.

The park caretaker, dressed in blue, was patrolling with a small device in his hand.

Opening the back door to the Dragon's Belly for those two people two weeks ago had left him terrified for days. Fortunately, his superiors hadn't mentioned it after all this time, which meant he had done the right thing.

The city had been much more stable in recent years, and he hadn't encountered anything similar in a long time. It wasn't until the Central District was ablaze this afternoon that the caretaker found a bit of the feeling from when he first started working. He chatted happily with the elderly people strolling in the park: *Fighting again, you think it’ll reach us? Oh, then I’d better get back to the safe house early. Those young people have so much energy, they haven't gotten tired of fighting after all these years. My granddaughter is at school this afternoon, she'll probably be late coming back due to traffic...*

The middle-aged and elderly people were more composed than the last; having lived there for so many years, they were long past the point of panic. If there was no emergency evacuation notice, they would just keep chatting. By evening, when they saw that nothing had happened, everyone dispersed.

"Good thing nothing happened," the caretaker sighed. He intended to sit on a bench to rest, but as his gaze swept across the bench, he was startled.

Sitting on the bench was a long-haired man in green clothes. Across his chest were two gruesome, intersecting wounds—one long, one short—from which blood flowed, soaking his clothes. He looked like a swordsman who had traveled from a dueling ground hundreds of years ago, or perhaps a terrifying demon returned from the dead.

The caretaker felt a jolt of alarm, wondering if the brawl hadn't ended and had spilled over here. He hurriedly reached for the heavy tactical pistol at his waist, activated the standard-issue force field protection device, and sent a signal to the biological Cerberus on standby in the lounge.

After completing his preparatory procedure, he gathered his courage and said, "What are you doing, kid?! If you're sick, go to the hospital; if you have something to say, say it nicely. We try not to fight in public areas. The policy has changed; we have to stop small-scale armed fights when we see them. Can you understand that?"

*Huff, huff!* The three-headed obedient dog ran over and crouched behind the caretaker. The long-haired man found it interesting.

"I’m not fighting now," the Void Traveler shook his head. "I just finished fighting an old friend, and I need to rest."

The caretaker quietly breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed it was already over.

The long-haired man leaned over to tease the puppy. The biological Cerberus made a cute sound.

"Does it bite?"

"Oh, it usually doesn't, it's very well-behaved. Ah-Huang, roll over!"

The Cerberus obediently rolled over.

"Haha!"

The Void Traveler laughed like a child, completely ignoring the slash wounds on his body.

***

The noise had subsided.

The night grew quieter, and the weary people all went to rest. The giant dragon city in the high sky had finished a day with slight ripples and was preparing to welcome another vibrant day.

The events of this period, which involved so many people, ended here...

...

Ended?

***

Late night, Albinos Mountains.

A black line extended from the depths of the Crystal Mountains, converging beneath a child climbing the slope.

He had cursed, he had pleaded, he had wailed, but now, everything had returned to calm. Someone's body was curled up in the crystal valley, barely showing a trace of life.

A faint, ghostly sigh came from the cloth bag.

"Do you feel sorrow, hatred, grief, resentment?"

"Since entering this place of death, there is no escape. This tragic state is of your own making!"

The person couldn't speak; he only wondered why.

How could he be so fragile? How could he have been driven to such a state? This made no sense; this was something that should never have happened. Even if the three of them had attacked together, he shouldn't have ended up in such a sorry state.

Because he was... he was...

"Do not be alarmed, do not be surprised!"

"Subtract seven parts of memory, seize six parts of technique, strip five parts of wisdom, and leave ten parts of arrogance."

"Once the Lord of Hidden Laws, today a pitiful broken shell—nothing more than a clown!"

—

The brain, eroded by curse poison, forgot its pain in an instant.

Wisdom, technique, memory...

...?

All he had lost was his memory?

What he had forgotten was merely a part of his self.

Then, then. The implication within the words was, what he meant was—

"...You plotted against me?"

"Wuxiang, you plotted against me?! You plotted against me—!"

He finally realized the truth of the matter; the advice that seemed well-intentioned, the conversation that felt as familiar as an old friend's, had all come from the mouth of this thief who had set him up.

He roared in frustration and wailed in grief! He raised the cloth bag high, gathering the last of his strength, wanting to give everything to perish together with this malicious person.

But the person had forgotten that he was carrying a wicked curse. Under the intense emotional agitation, the suppression of the curse weakened, and Liu Zhongwu's curse surged up, unstoppable!

"Ahhh, ahhhhhh—!"

*Roll, roll.* The held-up cloth bag rolled onto the ground.

Just like the fragment in the City of the Firmament, the person's body melted bit by bit into black water, leaving no trace of a human.

The person who fancied himself a chess player, manipulating the masses from behind the scenes...

Had died just like that.

"..."

The cloth bag rolled down the slope from the black water toward the glass crystal clusters.

The cloth wrapping was torn by a sharp crystal edge, revealing the truth inside—a pale face.

What was inside this cloth bag was, unexpectedly, a head.

A man's head.

Within the black water, two forces vaguely emerged. One was entirely clear, shaped like glass, and the other was gray, gloomy, and mist-like. These were the Dragon Powers the person had painstakingly collected: the Spirit Prison Realm of Superbia and the Empty Flower Realm of the City of the Firmament.

The nameless head opened its mouth to inhale, and both forces were sucked in. The pale face rose without wind, and clear glass grew beneath its neck. The crystals molded into a torso and limbs, the texture turning white, forming a human shape; the mist condensed into wide sleeves and robes, draping over him, becoming white attire. In the blink of an eye, the head was no longer a head, but an eight-foot-tall, thin man!

He raised his right arm, covering his face with his large sleeve; the gray mist condensed into a tall hat and landed on the head of this ghostly man.

*Tap! Tap!*

His heels struck the glass crystals, the crisp sound echoing through the valley.

He moved in small steps like an actor on a stage, his thin, tall body turning half a circle in place, his plain white sleeves dancing in the air, revealing blood-red lips on his pale face.

"The chess player leaves the board, no longer a player; the spectator enters the game, truly a spectator."

He stood still, arms crossed, and sang his monologue in a long, melodious tone. He was like an actor who had practiced for a long time and finally stepped onto the stage of his dreams; even if there was no one to listen, he couldn't wait to perform his one-man show.

"What is true, what is false? Who is loyal, who is treacherous? Life is like a play, the viewer knows all!"

He turned his head again, looking at the foul, black water. Beneath his large sleeves, ten fingers extended invisible threads that plunged into the water.

"The body is lost, the will remains. The will condenses into a phantom body, an emergency measure."

"Five parts of wisdom, still rebellious. Strip away all intellect, leaving it as muddy as clay!"

His ten fingers moved in succession, like a puppeteer controlling marionettes, and the black water rose along the threads, condensing into a black-robed figure.

The black-robed figure's features were vaguely similar to the child from before, but the age was several years older, looking like a young man.

The newly born person's eyes were dull, without a trace of the vivacity belonging to the living.

"Thus, the play is finished. Now, let us see, who shall take the stage next?"

A small spark of black-red fire ignited on the hem of the plain white robe. This color had occupied the night sky of the City of the Firmament fifteen days ago; it was the sword light of the Sword of the End.

The power of the black sword occupied the entire robe in an instant, and it seemed it would burn this strange man to ashes, but it was blocked by four parts of the retreating gray mist. The glass body was also touched, and as if reluctantly, it separated a bit of light, joining forces to hold the corrosion of the sword light to fifty percent.

Thus, strange colors flickered incessantly on the puppeteer's clothing, as if three forces were using his body as a battlefield, fighting beautifully and endlessly.

The man was neither angry nor annoyed; he merely flicked his robe and laughed, "The time has not yet come!"

And the newly born person finally regained consciousness, muttering, "I... what happened..."

"You were dead, and I saved you!"

The black-robed person woodenly raised his hand, trying to help the tall-hatted man, but touched nothing.

As a phantom, he could no longer interfere with the real world, just like Qiluo when she first met Gongsun Ce.

The tall-hatted man tucked his hands into his sleeves and strolled down the mountain, followed by the newly born person.

"What... do we do next..."

"Having observed the two realms, we shall seek the new king."

His voice carried a unique rhythm, echoing in the deep mountains like a song.

"We go to Zero Island to find Shiyu, and collect the Hazu-Jikibi Technique!"

(End of Volume Two)