Igola and Harvey, Who Are They?

Run. An endless flight. Having trudged through the void for so long, he was close to becoming part of the nothingness himself. Without his memories, he would not even have been able to tell who he was. The Void Dimension had no color; everything was composed of lines. Here there was no past, no future, no eternity, no fleeting moment. Even sorrow could find no shelter here—only meaningless immortality, like an eternal tomb hidden beneath a glacier. "Dead Frenzy, Dead Frenzy, my dear Dead Frenzy, my pathetic Dead Frenzy!" Nether Demon's first words were irritation, the second despair, the third full of affection, the fourth laden with a sigh—every line bursting with a different emotion. "You saved them. Satisfied now? But it's over, everything is over!" He was used to it. Nether Demon was a stress monster. The moment things went awry, she would fly into hysterics, and even when everything was going smoothly, she couldn't resist spewing negativity. She was a bottomless mire; no one could save her, and anyone who approached her would sink into despair until they drowned in it. "Everyone's going to die, everyone's going to die, la la la~" Black Demon sang happily, her seventeen-part chorus grating enough to make one want to puncture their own eardrums. "If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands~ If you're happy and you know it, nod your head~ If you're happy and you know it, let's all go toge~ther! Go together!" "Yay, let's all die together! No one gets to be happy... As long as everyone is dead, no one will be happier than us, right? Right, right, right?" Although Black Demon seemed completely insane, she was actually quite easy to manipulate. She wasn't nearly as eager to die as she appeared. Her resentment and jealousy toward all things in the world gave her more than enough capacity to run seventeen personalities simultaneously. Even Divine Lords would suffer soul destruction if they split into too many personas, but that rule didn't apply to Black Demon. Most importantly, Black Demon still yearned for the time she had spent with Beguiling Heart... so even if every single sister had to die, she would never give up. She was the most useful tool. "Observer." Mirror Master's voice was gentle. He could even feel her gaze, filled with deep attachment, focusing on the side of his face. She flew almost side by side with him, as if wanting to burrow into his embrace. "This is different from our plan. Ouroboros noticed this world ahead of time, yet Yaxiu and the others have only just ascended to demigods... What should we do now?" Among the four, Mirror Master was the most obedient, the wisest, and the calmest. Moreover, she was almost wholly infatuated with him, willing to tear out her heart for him. If he told her to die, she would die; if he told her to bite someone, she would bite. She said she had repented, that she wanted to salvage everything—whether it was the world or feelings, marriage or the future... But he had never believed a single word she said. How could a broken mirror ever be mended? How could a beast that had tasted meat go back to grazing grass? She pretended to be a fish, desperate to draw near to him, but he could still smell the bloody stench on those sharp fish bones. Mirror Master was truly the monster he could control least. However sincere her tears were, her betrayal would run just as deep. "What else can we do? It's time, Observer!" Nether Demon yelled loudly. "We still have a chance to fight with everything we've got... We still have a chance to raise hell! The Lalafell we've raised for so long—it's time to eat them!" "Eat them, eat them! Gobble them all up and make them ours!" Black Demon clapped excitedly, her seventeen-part chorus overlapping into the same frequency. "And then Observer can lead us in another charge! Once more walking against the flow of time, inverting the reflection of this world!" "No." Dead Frenzy, who had remained silent all this time, spoke, biting out each word: "It is not time to give up yet." "It's all your fault, Dead Frenzy! If not for you, we wouldn't have fallen to this point!" Nether Demon shrieked. "Every bit of interference on our part drew Ouroboros's attention to this world that much more! Our interference had long since reached its limit... And you actually interfered directly in their Hell trial! Why didn't you just slash Hell to pieces? Slashing Hell to pieces would have been better than letting them share void wings... That is an authority that shouldn't even exist in this world right now!" "If I hadn't saved them, they would have died, and we would have failed all the same!" "Couldn't we have just replaced them then and there?" Mirror Master said calmly. "They couldn't pass the Hell trial, but we could have. Though it's a pity we couldn't make the plan utterly flawless, just as Stars said, perfection only ever exists in fantasy." "Huh? Then why didn't we do that?" Black Demon tilted her head. "Because she took action directly! She shared the authority!" Nether Demon was nearly beside herself with rage. "What could we do? With her acting like that, what choice did we have but to go along with it? Satisfied now, Dead Frenzy? The people you wanted to save survived, but Ouroboros has arrived, and this world is doomed!" "In other words, if Dead Frenzy hadn't acted, we should have eaten them back then?" Black Demon giggled. "So Dead Frenzy did it on purpose to block our idea of eating them. On purpose, on purpose! Hee-hee, she did it on purpose... On purpose!" "Dead Frenzy." The seventeen-part chorus of Black Demon suddenly vanished, leaving behind only a single, frigid female voice. "You betrayed us." "But there's still time," Mirror Master said softly. "Observer, there is still time for us to replace them. Flesh and blood, sunlight and sky, love and warmth... At least before the world is devoured, we still have a chance to experience it all once more." "Except for Dead Frenzy," Nether Demon spat venomously. "Let her die here!" "Let's go, Observer, let's go together," Black Demon clapped her hands and chirped cheerfully. "Before Ouroboros arrives, let's make a grand mess of this world! Except for Dead Frenzy—bad girls don't get to play with us!" Dead Frenzy said nothing. She merely pressed her right hand against her sword hilt, a venomous rancor capable of toppling mountains and seas rising from her. But at the same time, endless shrieks of despair resounded around Black Demon, tens of millions of aggrieved souls surged beneath Nether Demon's cloak, and every single line of Mirror Master gleamed with murky silver light! Four auras, vast as abysses and heavy as prisons, roared and collided with one another, threatening to tear even the Void Dimension to shreds! "Let it eat Hell." Just then, Yaxiu heard himself speak. His voice was high and cold, his tone as casual as tossing meat to a dog. Yet upon hearing his words, all four of them, ready to slaughter one another, froze. Nether Demon was in disbelief. "Are you serious? That will let Ouroboros barge straight in. We won't even have a chance to pray that it overlooks this world anymore." "There was never any room for wishful thinking," Yaxiu said. "Since it has traveled all this way, we'll let it chew on the meatiest and toughest bone." "But what is the point of that? It merely delays things for a little while," Mirror Master said. "We might as well—" "And that little time is exactly what we need," Yaxiu said calmly. "Enough to change everything." "Ouroboros will eat Hell." "However." "We will eat everything." "Now, go and be the bait." Yaxiu's voice carried an indisputable majesty. Even facing four demon kings, each harboring their own insidious schemes, none possessed the standing to bargain with him. Dead Frenzy gazed at his back with complicated emotions. She had already prepared herself to be exiled, never expecting that Observer would actually intervene on her behalf. Thus, upon receiving the order, she turned without hesitation and charged toward the colossal monstrosity chasing them from behind, her vast sword light twisting even the Void Dimension. "Observer, you better not betray us," Black Demon paused and said coldly. "Why reward her? Why not exile her directly? She betrayed us!" Nether Demon suppressed her fury. "I will need an explanation later, Observer!" "Observer," Mirror Master sighed, "I trust your judgment." The three of them caught up with Dead Frenzy. Sixteen silhouettes appeared around Black Demon, each unleashing six spectacles—a full ninety-six miracles activating simultaneously, forming an unending tempest that blasted the giant serpent. Nether Demon commanded an army of aggrieved souls, pressing forward like towering mountains and surging seas. Mirror Master raised a shattered silver lantern, and endless silver light submerged the Void Dimension. By the time they were completely devoured by the serpent, Yaxiu Heath had already arrived before the Gate of Hell. In the Void Dimension, this gate was likewise composed of countless lines, though the lines varied in length and thickness, with undulating waves running within the segments—each line representing the magnificent, tumultuous life of a mortal. He turned around, facing the boundless colors poised to swallow him. Drawing his dual swords into a cross, he calmly proclaimed: "Terminal Observer is my name; devouring despair to swallow the Void Realm!" In the next second, a multicolored, cross-shaped sword gleam tore the Void Dimension to shreds! *** Yaxiu opened his eyes. He smelled the scent of fresh grass carrying the earthy tang of soil. What greeted his eyes was a night sky glittering with stars, along with five faces looking down at him with concern: Feili, Sonia, Diya, Weise, Weixi... Subconsciously sitting up, amid their startled gasps, he pulled all four of them tightly into his embrace. Weixi blinked, the corners of her lips curling into a wicked smile. "I never knew Master was so worried about me. But next time, could we do this where no one's watching? Acting like this will make the little maid hated by the mistresses." "Yaxiu," Weise blinked, smiling as she reminded him, "although I don't mind, doing this is... a little disrespectful, you know." "So cramped," Diya mumbled petulantly. "Four people really is too many..." "Did you have a nightmare?" Sonia wasn't angry. She rested her forehead against Yaxiu's, saying softly, "Don't be afraid. We're all here." "Just now, I dreamed that all of you were eaten," Yaxiu murmured. "You were so strange in the dream... Is this Hell?" "What Hell?" Sonia asked. "We're in Stars." "Stars?" Stunned, Yaxiu turned to look behind him. "But I saw Feili..." "Lord Observer, were you looking for me?" Seeing Felix sitting behind him, Yaxiu fell silent for a moment and let out a long breath. He looked around and found that they were in a carriage caravan camp next to a forest, with Daidalos directing things not far away. They were still in the Star Country, not the Six Hells. "Well, that's fine too." Yaxiu felt somewhat relieved. "To think we didn't end up in the Six Hells and were kicked back into reality instead... But what on earth happened? Didn't we enter the Gate of Hell?" The others exchanged glances. Weixi gestured for Yaxiu to lay his head on her lap. Supporting the back of his head, she carefully examined his soul and shook her head, indicating that nothing was wrong. Weise shone her silver lantern over him, Diya swept her threads across him, and finally, Sonia cradled his face, staring into his eyes. "Yaxiu, what on earth are you talking about?" "The Six Hells, of course," Yaxiu said, thoroughly confused by them. "Now that we've become demigods, aren't we supposed to go to Hell?" Sonia looked at him with tender concern and shook her head. "If demigods cannot enter heaven to become angels, they can only wander the mortal world as wandering demigods." "If this Hell you're talking about is the legendary place where the dead go," Weixi folded her arms over her chest, propping up the supple softness that even her maid outfit couldn't conceal, "then in over a thousand years of wandering, I've never discovered it either." Yaxiu looked at them, the corner of his mouth twitching. "Are you... joking with me?" "Yaxiu, you might have injured your soul body during the promotion," Sonia said gently, choosing her words carefully. "Why don't you rest a little longer?" "Right, the promotion! Didn't we bear Hell to ascend?" Yaxiu seized on this lifeline at once. "The demigod promotion ceremony is bearing heaven," Weise explained. "We bore the Five Heavens together to ascend." "The Five Heavens?" "First Heaven, Blood Moon; Second Heaven, Omniscience; Third Heaven, Fantasy; Fourth Heaven, Boundless; Fifth Heaven, Stars," Diya counted on her fingers. "Five Heavens." Yaxiu stared at them for a moment, then suddenly slapped himself across the face, only for them to instantly pin down his hands and feet. "Strange, I didn't wake up..." Yaxiu murmured. "Could this not be a dream?" "Maybe it's because you've dreamed too much," Weixi said, holding up a water flask to feed him a sip, then wiping away the water trailing from the corner of his mouth as she analyzed the situation. "Yaxiu, you shared four dreams with us. The merging of the dreams caused confusion, which led to a discrepancy in your memories." "You make it sound so convincing I almost believed you. But Igola once said that my greatest virtue is that whenever there's a problem, I never doubt myself—I blame others first." Yaxiu paused as something suddenly dawned on him, his spirits lifting at once: "Right! Igola and Harvey entered Hell ahead of us; they're bound to know what happened! Since we were kicked out, they must have come out too... Witch, use the Gospel God to track them down!" "Igola and Harvey? Who are they?" Diya asked.