We Will Replace You (End of Volume 4)

Outside the tent, Sonia, Diya, Weise, and Felix were gathered around a wooden table, sipping hot tea in silence. Only Daidalos had gone off to rest. They stared at the brightly lit large tent, the atmosphere growing heavier by the second. "It's been fifteen minutes." "Blow it up?" "Drag them out for judgment. Neither of them gets off the hook." "It's definitely not Yaxiu's fault!" Diya clamored. "Weixi must have secretly brainwashed Yaxiu during the ascension ritual! It's all the Spectre Prophet's conspiracy!" "I don't think there's any need to be nervous. We should trust Yaxiu," Weise urged soothingly. "We're all right here." Sonia cast her a sideways glance. "Back then, I once asked Yaxiu if he could ever fall for the Silver Lantern." "You weren't by his side back then," Weise retorted sharply. "You can hardly blame a drowning man for grabbing the only lifebuoy available, can you?" Just as Felix was considering slipping away before getting caught in the crossfire, the tent flap was pushed aside, and Weixi strode briskly out. She glanced at the waiting group, the corners of her lips curling into a smug smirk. Her eyes crinkled with amusement as her gaze swept over them. Even clad in a maid's uniform, her expression was brazenly cocky as she stepped lightly toward her own tent. Seeing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief instead. If Weixi had actually made any real progress, she would have come out looking dejected to avoid arousing their suspicion. This triumphant swagger, as if she had just scored a huge windfall, made it obvious that she had accomplished nothing. After all, she was the Spectre Prophet, a thousand-year demigod. Nothing Yaxiu did could possibly shake her composure. In daily life, she could toy with him until he was in full retreat, and in dreams she belonged to the very same chaotic evil alignment as Diya. A demon of such absolute rationality would never wear her true thoughts on her sleeve. More importantly, everyone knew fifteen minutes was simply not enough. "Who's taking night watch?" Sonia suddenly asked. "Me." Felix pointed to herself. Sonia and the others gave Felix a deep look, exchanged glances, and after a moment of consideration, dispersed to their respective tents. Felix walked over to add wood to the fire, poured herself a cup of water, and sat down by the wooden table. Her gaze gradually focused on the flap of Yaxiu's tent, her thoughts unknowable. -- Yaxiu recorded all of Weixi's information in his small notebook. Beyond that, the notebook contained key facts about Igola and Harvey, important memories, and details of their sorcery. Even though he firmly believed his memories were correct, he couldn't guarantee that his memories wouldn't slip away like everyone else's. Perhaps writing it down was utterly pointless; stripped of those past days, Yaxiu wouldn't keep pining over those two bastards anyway. For all he knew, he might wake up wondering why he had hallucinated two men keeping him company. If he was going to be bold with his fantasies, he might as well dream about bathing with the Sword Princess and the Witch! Still, Yaxiu wanted to preserve whatever traces of them he could. Because... he was the only one who remembered them now. Closing the notebook, Yaxiu lay on the bed, lost in thought. He had roughly pieced together what had happened: Hell, along with every single existence within it, had its traces erased. Even past history had shriveled and annihilated. The true victim was Hell; Igola and Harvey had merely suffered collateral damage. Had they failed their ascension and never entered Hell, the world might well have retained traces of them. Yaxiu and the others were the luckiest ones. Because they hadn't entered Hell, they were rebounded into reality. But... recalling that bizarre dream of being swallowed by the giant serpent, Yaxiu found it hard to believe their survival was purely a stroke of fortune. And why was his memory the only one left untouched? However, the world's erasure of Igola and Harvey was exceedingly thorough. Even within Yaxiu's memories, the world's feedback regarding their presence had vanished. They were like phantoms forcibly spliced into fragments of recollection, unable to affect the world, nor affected by it. Even if Yaxiu wanted to prove they had existed, doing so would be extraordinarily difficult. Aside from his own memories, the world had wiped out all trace of Igola and Harvey... or had it? Yaxiu slowly sat up on the bed. He opened his palm, and a weak one-winged sorcery spirit appeared there. The Balance sorcery spirit. Its effect was to reflect the effects of other sorcery spirits. Yaxiu had only used this sorcery spirit once—back in Shattered Lake Prison. To coerce Igola into joining his prison break plan, he had deliberately enticed Igola into making a wish contract, then reflected the contract's effect, leaving them each owing the other a wish. Yaxiu had used his wish to make Igola help him break out, but to this day, Igola had never cashed in his own. In truth, that wish had expired long ago; far too much time had passed, and both had surpassed the one-winged rank by an immense margin, meaning the Balance sorcery spirit could no longer bind Yaxiu at all. Yet as long as Igola hadn't spent that wish, the Balance sorcery spirit was supposed to maintain a rule-based connection with him. Yaxiu immersed his mind into the Balance sorcery spirit, sweeping his spiritual feelers through every trace within it. Before long, he found a pale gold strand of hair— [Notice: You have found a new clue and unlocked a new Void Realm Exploration map.] Yaxiu immediately opened *Aurora's Sorcerer Handbook*—"Void Realm Exploration." Theoretically, they could not explore the Void Realm right now; Hell had vanished, and Ruby Mountain refused them entry. Without joining a Kingdom of Heaven, a demigod could only wander the mortal realm. Yet on the exploration interface, Yaxiu saw an option that everyone believed did not exist: "Sixfold Hell"! His mind wasn't the problem—the world was! At long last, a heavy weight fell from Yaxiu's chest. No one knew the crushing psychological burden he had been shouldering, with everyone close to him insisting he had gone mad and that his memories were delusions... More importantly, Yaxiu didn't want them worrying about him. If he had no way of proving he was right, he would rather investigate in secret than drag them into the mire. But now, he had a way to prove himself! He selected "Sixfold Hell" to explore. When checking off team members, Yaxiu found that aside from himself as the "Observer of the End," the only one he could select was the "Dead Frenzy Sword Princess." Still, that wasn't bad; he could convince Sonia first tonight, and even have a private date with her in Hell. "Sixfold Hell," "Observer of the End" and "Dead Frenzy Sword Princess"... Begin exploration! Consciousness connected to the Void Realm; the soul descended into the Sixfold Hell. Yaxiu slowly opened his eyes, met by a vast expanse of earth. Not far overhead hung an inverted land, featuring upside-down temple pillars, upside-down giant trees, upside-down rivers, and... an upside-down version of himself. "It isn't a mirror." Yaxiu looked to the side. Wearing a mink coat, a miniskirt, stockings with tall boots, and a ruby longsword hanging from her waist, a maturely dressed young woman stood side by side with him. Crossing her arms over her chest, she calmly explained, "The All Stars stole the canopy here, so there is no such thing as a 'sky.' Leaping into the air is the same as plummeting to the earth. It was interesting at first, but staying here too long only leaves you feeling suffocated." Yaxiu stared at her blankly. "You..." She took a cigarette case from her coat, plucked out a cigarette, and after lighting it, took a deep drag. Half the cigarette turned ash-white in an instant. "Do you still recognize me?" she asked leisurely. "Of course." Looking at her, Yaxiu said with absolute certainty, "You're the first Dead Frenzy Sword Princess I ever met!" "Just call me Dead Frenzy. At any rate, Sonia shouldn't be walking the same path as me... as long as you don't let her down, don't let her be wronged, and don't make her doubt herself." She suddenly grabbed Yaxiu's hand and ground the lit cigarette butt viciously into his palm. Yaxiu gasped in pain, hastily yanking his hand back. "Though, you certainly won't be able to manage that." Dead Frenzy tossed the cigarette butt aside and cast him a cold glance. "Because we will replace you." (End of Volume 4)