124: When the world falls into eternal night, we are the sinners who stole fire!

World of Evil, Human Realm, Blackrock City Ruins

The sky was leaden, the earth scorched.

Stretching between heaven and earth,

only the ruins of an altar, long since razed to the ground, still billowed with wisps of black smoke.

And in the center of the ruins, a figure holding a gradually cooling corpse, seemingly merged with this desolate world.

Chen Yuan knelt there.

“Ah… Ah ah…”

Chen Yuan’s mouth was open, but only an incoherent, beast-like roar escaped his throat.

He wanted to cry, but found that his tears had long since dried up in endless slaughter and conquest.

He wanted to shout, but found that his voice had long since been burned hoarse by the flames of hatred.

His heart felt as if an invisible hand had brutally clenched it, then, little by little, crushed it into fragments.

His eyes, once terrifying to all demons and a beacon of hope for humanity, were now so hollow they could contain nothing in this world.

Only the face in his arms, devoid of all color, yet still heartbreakingly beautiful.

He knelt there for a very, very long time.

“…Ningxue…”

A broken whisper escaped his parched lips.

He reached out, wanting to brush away a stray strand of hair from her cheek, as he always did.

But his hand trembled violently in mid-air, unable to descend.

He was afraid.

He was afraid that his hands, stained with blood and sin, would defile her, the last purity in this world.

He was even more afraid that what his fingertips would feel was no longer familiar warmth, but the soul-freezing cold of death.

He was the Human Emperor.

He was the savior who, with his own strength, carved a path to survival for humanity in despair.

He had faced darkness deeper than the abyss.

He had endured burning more intense than purgatory.

He had never shown an iota of fear.

But now.

He was afraid.

He was as afraid as a child who had lost his entire world.

Tears, mixed with blood, silently streamed down his face, already twisted beyond recognition by pain.

Drop by drop, they fell onto her white dress, soaked with blood, blooming into flowers of despair.

He wanted to cry, to wail aloud.

He wanted to vent the grief in his chest, enough to tear heaven and earth apart.

But he could not make a sound.

His throat felt as if an invisible hand had tightly choked it.

All the sorrow, all the regret, all the love, transformed into an invisible blunt knife, repeatedly cutting and stirring within his organs.

Pain.

Heart-wrenching pain.

Pain beyond endurance… World of Evil, Heavenly Realm, Temple of All Evils.

Upon the supreme divine throne.

Gu Yanci, or rather, the Lord of the End, was observing this “tragedy” unfolding in the Human Realm with the most languid and indifferent posture.

Before Him, a massive water mirror, composed of countless threads of law, floated.

In the water mirror, Chen Yuan’s heartbroken, agonizing appearance was clearly reflected.

“…What a delightful painting.”

His emotionless voice, like the absolute zero of a cold wind, echoed in this magnificent temple, constructed from pure malice.

“The sound of hope being crushed in despair.”

“The lament of love being swallowed by death.”

“This is the most exquisite ‘evil’ symphony in this world.”

Below the divine throne.

Ye Liuli, Ling Xi, and Cang Xuan, the three newly appointed Evil Gods, stood with bowed heads.

Their faces bore expressions befitting their respective “divine natures”—some enigmatic, some cold, some playful.

But beneath the mask of “acting,” their hearts had already surged with tumultuous waves!

They could clearly feel Chen Yuan’s grief, powerful enough to shake heaven and earth!

They also knew that once this last hope of humanity succumbed,

then the entire “World of Evil” instance would be declared a complete failure!

All of them would be forever trapped in this desperate cage, which fed on “malice”!

They must find that sole chance of survival!

“…Great Lord of the End.”

Ye Liuli spoke first.

Her eyes, like an abyss, filled with lies and betrayal, slightly lifted, looking at the terrifying existence on the divine throne.

“…A tragedy, if without a ‘turning point,’ is merely a dull, one-sided slaughter.”

“…Do you think I should add a bit of ‘fun’ called ‘betrayal’ to this play?”

Her words were extremely clever.

They neither exposed her true intentions nor deviated from her “persona” as the “God of Betrayal.”

“Oh?”

The Lord of the End seemed to show some interest.

His eyes, seemingly containing the birth and death of the universe, slightly turned, falling upon Ye Liuli.

“…How do you intend to ‘betray’?”

“It’s simple.”

A strange smile curved at Ye Liuli’s lips.

“Chen Yuan is not alone. Behind him are countless humans who hold ‘hope’ for him.”

“And ‘hope’ is most afraid of ‘backstabbing’ from ‘within.’”

“…As long as you allow me to issue a ‘divine oracle,’

I am confident that those ‘ants’ who once regarded him as their ‘savior’ will personally stab him in the back.

Let him lose all his ‘faith’ after losing his ‘beloved disciple.’

“…Nothing is more ‘vicious’ than this ‘betrayal,’ is it not?”

Ling Xi and Cang Xuan, upon hearing this, both felt a chill!

They understood Ye Liuli’s plan!

—Killing with a borrowed knife!

No, it should be said, “borrowing the divine sword to accomplish salvation!”

Ye Liuli’s plan, on the surface, was to present a more malicious “script” to the Lord of the End.

But in reality, she intended to convey information from the outside world to the Human Realm by “issuing a divine oracle”!

She wanted to “stimulate” Chen Yuan with an extreme form of “betrayal”!

To make him rise again from the quagmire of “sorrow”!

“…A good suggestion.”

The Lord of the End actually nodded.

“…What about you two?”

His gaze then fell upon Ling Xi and Cang Xuan.

“…What kind of ‘colors’ can you add to My ‘script’?”

Ling Xi stepped forward.

Her face, always shrouded in the shadow of “destiny,” showed no expression.

“Even the most spectacular ‘betrayal’ is meaningless without ‘an audience.’”

“I can send down an ‘apocalypse,’ proclaiming the ‘future’ of this ‘betrayal’ to the entire Human Realm.”

“Let everyone know that their ‘hero’ will ultimately die by their own hands.”

“…Then, watch them, knowing the ‘ending,’ make all their futile struggles.”

Cang Xuan also stepped forward.

“…With ‘future,’ there should naturally be ‘past’ as well.”

“…I can send down ‘divine punishment,’ tearing apart the ‘contracts’ signed by those ‘allies’ who once made ‘oaths’ with Chen Yuan.”

“…Let him, while being betrayed by all, also taste the pain of being backfired by ‘oaths.’”

The three Evil Gods, in perfect harmony.

In just a few words, they constructed a “future” for Chen Yuan that was even more tragic and desperate than death.

The Lord of the End listened quietly.

His indifferent face showed no signs of joy or anger.

After a long while.

He slowly nodded.

“…Granted.”

“Go.”

“Go and unleash your ‘malice’ to your heart’s content.”

“Let Me see how ‘splendidly’ you can perform this ‘tragedy.’”

“…As you command.”

The three bowed.

Then, slowly, they exited this suffocatingly oppressive temple.

The moment they stepped out of the temple.

The three exchanged glances simultaneously.

The same light flickered in their eyes.

—That was the madness and determination of “actors”!

They were about to step onto the stage called the “World of Evil.”

With their “acting skills,” with their “lives,” they would gamble against that high and mighty “director”!

Gambling that Chen Yuan could understand the “goodwill” they conveyed through “malice”!

Gambling that they could tear open a path to “hope” in this “tragedy” whose “ending” had long been written!

However, just as they were about to disperse and execute their plan.

Ling Xi suddenly stopped.

She frowned, somewhat puzzled.

“…Strange.”

“…Why does it feel like something is missing…”

Ye Liuli and Cang Xuan were also startled upon hearing this.

They looked around.

On the temple square, made of malice, there were only the three of them.

“…Is it an illusion?”

Cang Xuan said, somewhat uncertainly.

“…I also vaguely had this feeling just now…”

“…It feels like we should have been four people…”

The three fell into a brief silence.

But soon, they cast this inexplicable sense of “discrepancy” to the back of their minds.

Now was not the time to dwell on such minor details.

Saving him was paramount!