The Forgotten Ones expressionlessly brought down destruction, while the Blackfall demigods fought desperately for a sliver of life. The Great Deluge judging Hell surged in from both ends and was about to converge, bringing the judgment of an end to all life. Perhaps never since the birth of Blackfall Hell had there been such an apocalyptic, earth-shattering moment: with every breath a life fell, and in every split second a sorcerer brushed against death.
Yet on this battlefield of life and death, where every fraction of a second counted, three people froze in place at the same time. The roar of wind and thunder grinding together, the piercing screech of warped spacetime, the shrieking howls of ice and fire, the despairing wails of demigods—all of this cacophony seemed to recede far into the distance at this very moment. It was as if fate had finally discovered its conscience, trading all their past wanderings and tribulations for this single glance back.
Having not seen him for several months, Harvey seemed completely unchanged. He still wore his dark-red garments suited for handling corpses; merely looking at him was enough to smell the preservative scent clinging to him. Yet half his face was burning, using white teeth and skulls as kindling to ignite a pale, dark-green cold flowing fire. Harvey had been practicing fire sorcery ever since the Cage of All Stars, intending to remodel "cold flowing fire" into a dual-system miracle of necromancy and fire. He had never been willing to waste the Tribulation Fire legacy Chikala entrusted to him... It seemed his months in Hell had finally borne fruit.
Igola wore a black velvet cloak, dressed elegantly and impeccably. Yet Yaxiu immediately noticed that his usually well-groomed long golden hair was haphazardly tied into a ponytail, with strands frayed and sticking out, and his bangs hanging loosely. He seemed not to have rested or bathed properly in a very long time, barely able to maintain a veneer of decorum, appearing somewhat worn down... Still, with Harvey as a "convict-chic" point of comparison, no matter how ragged Igola was, it only served to highlight an ascetic elegance.
Just as Yaxiu was letting his mind wander with absurd thoughts, he suddenly felt a powerful suction dragging him backward. At the same time, Igola and Harvey were also pulled away by the rifts behind them.
Portals to the Fourth Hell! Even if they didn't move, portals would spawn right where they stood!
Coming to their senses, Yaxiu and Igola did not hesitate for a second, straining their arms to reach for each other. But everything happened far too quickly and violently. Even as they stretched their arms almost to dislocation, in the end only their fingertips grazed past. The three, brushing past each other, were destined to return to their separate trajectories once more.
"Harvey!" Igola shouted.
"On it!" The pale flames on Harvey's face blazed fiercely.
A finely attired god wearing a masquerade mask appeared behind Igola. It extended its hands toward Harvey and Yaxiu. In an instant, the minds of the three seemed to overlap, forming a chat group where they could clearly hear each other's inner voices.
God: One Mind!
Death qi swirled around Harvey. The power of a necromancy spectacle transferred through the One Mind connection to Igola and Yaxiu, and a black line emerged on the palm of each of the three. The black lines burned rapidly, but before they burned away completely, their consciousnesses overclocked and accelerated, adrenaline surged violently, and the world before their eyes suddenly slowed down, so that even time turned gentle.
Spectacle: Dead Lines!
Yaxiu immediately recognized the immense value of their abilities—the One Mind god could bypass all defenses to connect one's mind with the targets. Igola only needed to cast spells on himself to infect the targets' minds from a distance; a mind demigod who shouldn't have been adept at head-on confrontation now possessed a mind spear capable of piercing any defense. And while Harvey's spectacle was a relatively common consciousness enhancement, its ability to manifest life through necromancy showed he had finally broken through the shackles of death and touched the domain where life and death cycle!
"Yaxiu," in the slow-flowing time, Igola's urgent voice sounded in the shared chat, "why are you in Hell—"
"You two bastards actually had the guts to run off behind my back!" The moment Yaxiu opened his mouth, fury flared sky-high. "You could at least have waited for me to show off the world's most adorable Sword Princess before running away! I held it in for so long just waiting to see your envious, jealous, hateful faces, and you actually ran off?!"
Harvey said placidly, "Actually, we both saw it. But I wasn't envious. I still think Rose, Niya, and Feili are better."
Yaxiu choked on his words, his voice turning somewhat bitter. "We haven't seen each other in months, Harvey, and your very first words to me have to be this harsh...?"
By now, the dead lines had burned past halfway, and half of their bodies were already sucked into the portals. Igola said anxiously, "Cut the nonsense! I'm positive, Yaxiu, that you didn't enter Hell with us, so how are you here now? What are you doing here?!"
"Good question. Then why did Harvey insist on bringing that coffin of his into Hell too?" Yaxiu couldn't help asking. "By the way, Harvey, is Alice all right?"
Harvey replied, "Alice is fine. It was just that the battle started too suddenly for me to bring her coffin along. I can only make another one when I have time."
"Yaxiu!" The Deceiver's voice sounded thoroughly exasperated, like an aunt with zero parenting experience stuck with two unruly children.
"Just like Harvey refuses to part with his coffin wherever he goes," Yaxiu smiled, "even if I couldn't get into Hell, I wouldn't abandon you guys either. I came to save you two idiots, of course! What other reason could there be?"
He paused. "Well, although more reasons have piled up along the way, rescuing you two is at least the fourth... fifth most important reason!"
Harvey asked curiously, "What are the first four reasons?"
"Do you have shit for brains?!" Igola could no longer maintain his elegance and couldn't help swearing. "You think you can save us? Have you figured out a way to deal with the Divine Lord of Stars? You can barely save your own skin, yet you still want to poke your nose into other people's business? Even if you're worried about the Six Hells affecting reality, if the sky falls, the Divine Lords of Stars will hold it up! What does it have to do with a piece of trash like you?"
Yaxiu smiled and waited until he finished venting, then said, "Not long ago, I found Harvey's coffin. I was already preparing to study necromancy, planning to find a way to resurrect you both in the future."
Harvey perked up. "That's great!"
"So I'm really glad to see you guys. At least I don't have to study necromancy now," Yaxiu chuckled. "Igola, why are you so surprised? If I were the one trapped in Hell, neither of you would let me be rid of you and live happily ever after either."
"Did you take our jokes seriously?" Igola said. "Going to Hell together was never a promise—"
"It wasn't?" Harvey was shocked. "I was actually looking forward to it all along... But Igola, haven't you been constantly complaining that Yaxiu hasn't died and come down here?"
Igola snapped in rage, "We're suffering in Hell while he's surrounded by women in the mortal world! Isn't it totally normal for me to complain?!"
"Sorry about that. I'll soon be heading back to the mortal world to have women on both arms again. But seeing how much you two miss me, I'll drop down from time to time to visit you," Yaxiu burst out laughing. "So you'd better remember this—"
Most of his body had already been sucked into the portal, and the dead line on his palm was on the verge of burning out.
"Stay alive! At all costs, stay alive!" Yaxiu pointed at the two of them, spirited and with resolute eyes. "I will definitely come save you! Just you wait!"
"Just you wait!"
The dead lines burned out and One Mind broke. The spell storm of the Forgotten Ones swept over the spot where the three had vanished. Ninety seconds later, the Hidden Gold Great Deluge converged over the Necro-Ark. The legion of Forgotten Ones was wiped out in an instant, and Blackfall Hell was filled with motionless golden rivers as the entire world returned to its primal, dead silence.
Chapter 1148