Chapter 254 The Gods Have Their Due (I)

The Twilight of the Gods had finally neared its end.

At this moment of the main universe's gods' fall, those gods and demons from higher dimensions were focusing all their attention on one player.

Feng Bujue's battle with Infinite had become a fateful决斗決鬥 (jue dou, duel) that transcended two dimensions, determining the fate of countless people, gods, and demons.

Victory, or defeat.

Would lead the two worlds... to two completely different futures.

In this atmosphere of suffocating tension, I felt... we should split the narrative...

Let's first take a look at several other unfinished matters...

...

First, the Necromantic Kingdom...

There, upon the main hall of the royal city, three figures stood side-by-side before the throne.

The three were Li Ruoyu, Gu Xiaoling, and An Yueqin.

At this time, the members of the幻魔教會 (Huanmo Jiaohui, Illusion Demon Church) had already departed, as they had many matters to settle; Zhuan Jiezun and Dian He Wang had also returned to the Deduction Club, preparing for the coming new era; as for the Shapeless Demon, Zero's mirror puppet... he had long since left without saying goodbye, his whereabouts unknown.

Those remaining in the main hall at this moment, besides the newly-ascended "Spirit King" upon the throne, were the three players from Hell's Frontline.

"Then... let us begin."

After communicating properly with the players, Fuling stood up. She raised her right hand, as if plucking something from thin air... and in the blink of an eye, a longsword with a skull-shaped hilt appeared in her hand.

The next second, Ruoyu, Xiaoling, and Huajian stepped forward in unison, kneeling on one knee and bowing their heads slightly.

Of course, they were not proposing to Fuling, nor were they confessing their sins; they... were awaiting their "knighting."

"Immortal kingdom, unwavering will." Fuling respectfully raised the [Necromantic Holy Sword], holding it vertically before her chest, and solemnly proclaimed, "Ascension ceremony, witnessed by all spirits."

At this point, Fuling turned slightly to her left, looking at Ruoyu in front of her: "In the name and power of the Spirit King, I bestow upon [Si Yu Ruo Li]..." As she spoke, she slowly and steadily moved the sword, lightly touching the back of Ruoyu's neck and shoulders with the flat of the blade, "...the title of Necromantic Knight."

As the word "title" was spoken, a hazy white light enveloped Ruoyu, and at the same time, a "cape" with shoulder armor quietly appeared behind her.

It was a set of bone-colored shoulder armor, with a pure white cape trimmed with silver; in the very center of the cape was imprinted a crystal-colored special纹章 (wenzhang, sigil)... this was the exclusive mark of Fuling, the new "Spirit King," its shape resembling a fragmented rose made of shattered human bones.

"I vow to honor our king, witnessed by all spirits." Ruoyu also raised her head, speaking her "knight's declaration"; and with that, a short knighting ceremony was completed.

In short, after bestowing the title of knight upon Xiaoling and Huajian in the same manner, Fuling sheathed her sword and turned to return to her throne.

Then, with a smile on her face, she said to the three players: "My knights, please rise."

The three beauties heard this and breathed a sigh of relief, standing up together.

"From this day forward, you shall be the 'Necromantic Three Knights' personally appointed by me, the Spirit King." Two seconds later, Fuling continued, "As long as you are in the main universe, no matter how far apart, you may borrow the power of the Necromantic Kingdom in the name of the knight. All the heroic spirits of the kingdom's past are your backing."

After the ceremony, Fuling no longer needed to speak so formally to them; she herself didn't like using stilted language, and even as a "new god," she still preferred plain speech most of the time.

"Hee hee..." Xiaoling seemed to quite like the "knight title," and immediately replied with a smile, "Long live our king~ From now on, when I, the 'Bone Knight,' go out, I'll just announce your name."

[Bone] was Xiaoling's special code name as a knight; all Necromantic Knights would have their own code name, and Ruoyu and Huajian naturally had them as well, namely [Rain] and [Flower] respectively; the code name of a Necromantic Knight was mostly a single character or a word, and that character or word also hinted at the "ability" they could wield.

"This king also believes that you three..." Fuling nodded in response, "Will not disgrace this honor."

After saying this, Fuling seemed to remember something, and immediately continued: "By the way, where is Feng Bujue now? With his merits, I could even bestow upon him the title of crown prince."

"He has other matters to attend to and may come to visit the Spirit King at a later date," Ruoyu replied.

"Hmm... very well then." Fuling replied, her gaze seemingly a little disappointed.

"However..." Ruoyu immediately added, "He has arranged for someone, hoping that you can keep him by your side."

"Oh?" Fuling looked suspicious. "Are not you interdimensional travelers unable to stay in this world for long? How can this person stay?"

"The one who stays is not an interdimensional traveler like us." At this time, Huajian took over the conversation, and took something out of her 行囊 (xingnang, backpack), "But... him."

With that, she activated the勾玉 (gouyu, comma-shaped jade).

Instantly, a tall, crimson monster shadow flashed into existence, standing proudly before the throne.

The moment Fuling saw this uninvited guest, her expression immediately changed, because with just one glance, she sensed an astonishing power from the other party...

"Is this the new Spirit King?" The Blood Corpse God was not a very polite person (let's call him a person for the time being). As soon as he appeared, he looked Fuling up and down, commenting, "As expected of the guy who killed '夺灵 (Duo Ling, Soul奪er),' not bad, not bad."

"Who are you?" Fuling looked at him nervously, asking, "Why have I never known... that there is such a being in the main universe."

"That kind of thing... I'll talk to you about it slowly later." The Blood Corpse God still had his own way of doing things, "Anyway, I'll be staying here with you for a long time."

"What are you doing here with me?" Fuling asked.

"To be your thug." The Blood Corpse God replied.

"You?" Fuling was surprised to hear this. "You... act as my 'thug'?" It wasn't that she doubted the Blood Corpse God's abilities, but rather that... as far as a "thug" was concerned, the other party's combat strength was too high...

"That was Feng Bujue's idea." The Blood Corpse God spread his hands, "Of course, I don't mind... On the one hand, I need a broader space to cultivate; on the other hand, in the process of fighting for you, I can 'feed freely'." He smiled when he talked about eating, "Hehe... speaking of which, do you have any prisoners waiting to be executed? I'm hungry."

Looking at the Blood Corpse God's expression and listening to his words, Fuling, the Spirit King, couldn't help but be a little confused.

"Spirit King." Xiaoling saw her hesitation and took the opportunity to say, "Please rest assured, the Blood Corpse God is trustworthy. It is indeed our captain's intention to have him stay here." She paused, then said, "Right now, you have just ascended the throne, and your foundation is not stable; the kingdom's battle strength has also been greatly weakened, and everything is undecided; under such circumstances, the Blood Corpse God can just replace the 'Necromantic Nine Worthies' to fight on the front lines for you and secure the country."

"Yes..." Huajian also said with a smile, "Anyway, his pursuit is just to eat his opponents after the fight... Staying here with you is undoubtedly a win-win situation."

"Hmm..." Fuling considered it, feeling that what they said made sense. In any case, it was impossible for Feng Bujue to send the Blood Corpse God to usurp the throne. If he really wanted to do that... he wouldn't have helped her ascend the throne in the first place. "Alright, since it's Feng Bujue's intention..." She turned to look at the Blood Corpse God again, "I have no reason to refuse such a powerful warrior."

...

At the same time, in the Mirror World.

This world composed of black and white had now become gray.

The sky, the abyss, the Vermilion Road, the sun, the moon, and even the light, shadows, smoke, and dust... had all become a hazy gray.

The Mirror Demon was dead.

The Mirror World had also become an empty shell that had lost its master.

And the vast demonic aura, like an ocean, was pouring out from the shattered六阖镜 (Liuhe Jing, Six Directions Mirror), filling this empty shell.

"Fu—" Meng Jingchan fell on the gray Vermilion Road, lying on his back... lighting himself a cigarette.

He was still alive, but his injuries were extremely serious, so serious that he could no longer sit up on his own.

"Stinky kid..." After taking a puff of his cigarette, Brother Chan looked at the gray sky and muttered, "I think I know why you wanted to apologize to us."

Yes... Why did Gui Xiao apologize to his four teammates before attacking the Mirror Demon? The reason was... he knew that this attack, unleashed by the [Left Hand of Judgment], would not only kill the Mirror Demon and彈死 (tan si, recoil and kill) himself... but the power that flowed out would also engulf everyone around him and inflict a devastating blow.

"And that guy, Wu Si Can Xuan..." Meng Jingchan paused for a few seconds, then said, "Saying he had already let go of the 'burden of the captain,' but... before he died, he still desperately held on to his last breath, helping me withstand the fatal damage, ha..." He gave a wry smile, "Obviously planning to leave me, this 'last hope,' to continue the competition."

Soon, Brother Chan finished the cigarette.

The intense pain all over his body did not alleviate in the slightest: "Ah... anyway, let's first try to deal with the fractures in a few key areas, otherwise it'll be difficult to even get up..."

Thinking of this, he gritted his teeth and tried to turn over.

"Don't bother." But at this moment, an unfamiliar voice entered Brother Chan's ears.

At this moment, Meng Jingchan's heart... sank to the bottom.

An instinct told him that the newcomer was not friendly...

"Sigh... let me guess..." Meng Jingchan looked at the strange figure wearing a hood who was standing next to him, sighing as he asked, "Did Feng Bujue send you?"

"You guessed right." Doma looked down at Meng Jingchan, saying calmly.

"Are you here to kill me?" Meng Jingchan asked again.

"He did tell me... when I come to this Mirror World, I might encounter one or two dying, not-quite-dead guys." Doma continued, "Now it seems... you're the only one."

"Hoo..." Meng Jingchan let out a long breath, seemingly resigned to his fate, "I really can't do anything about that guy... calculating everything flawlessly, not even leaving a breath for others to take, in a sense..." He simply lit another cigarette, "That kind of man... is charmingly ruthless, isn't he?"

"Is this your last words?" Doma didn't want to chat with Brother Chan too much, after all, they weren't familiar with each other.

"Fu—" Meng Jingchan exhaled a smoke ring, then said, "This brother... allow me to die knowing why, how about it?"

His sentence did not raise any substantive questions, but... Doma understood what he meant.

"My name... is Doma." Doma stretched out a hand, pointing at Meng Jingchan, "God of Eternal Life." A purple glow gradually condensed at his fingertips, "After receiving this 'gift of the Six Directions Mirror,' it won't be long before I become... the strongest—God—in this world!"

After saying that, the purple light flashed.

The energy beam released by Doma easily struck Meng Jingchan's head, instantly killing him and turning him into white light.

Then, Doma took off the hood of his coat, revealing his Frieza-like face (yes, that's what he looked like).

"Feng Bujue..." Doma stretched out his arms, taking a deep breath, and the demonic aura that filled the sky rapidly gathered towards him, the scene like a mad dragon swallowing clouds, vast and mighty; and in his mouth, he was still muttering, "You... really found me a good place."