List of Assassinations

The subterranean river flowed quietly, yet the city was gradually coming alive. With no distinction between day and night, people from all kinds of schedules populated the city, and some might only just be getting out of bed to go to work. "So, you're a princess who fled the imperial palace, you want to save your older sister in the high tower, and your wish is to abolish the List of the Unconnected?" On the bench beside the river channel, Yaxiu finished listening to 'Lisi's' confession and mused as he summarized. "Mm-hmm!" 'Lisi' nodded emphatically. "Sister doesn't want to become the First Gospel either. As long as you take me to see her, let me touch her, and then we leave the high tower together, she'll never become the First Gospel. You won't need to assassinate her at all!" "Hmm..." Yaxiu stared at 'Lisi'. "To think you're actually a princess..." "What? Don't I look like one?" "Nothing, it's just that thinking about a princess calling me 'Daddy' gives me an inexplicable sense of accomplishment... Want to call me that again so I can hear it?" The white-haired little girl opened her mouth, then turned her head away with a huff. "Stinky Yaxiu!" The one inside her right now wasn't Lisi, but Diya. How could she possibly bring herself to say that! After consulting with her sisters, Diya had decided to disclose most of her secrets while still concealing details such as her multiple personalities, her body turning juvenile, and the fact that she was originally the First Gospel. Explaining why her body had shrunk was simply too troublesome—the trial of the Bronze Dragon, her identity as the First Gospel, the Armored Sanctification... Moreover, these details had nothing to do with the assassination operation. Even if Diya confessed she was the original First Gospel, Yaxiu and the others would still go to assassinate the princess. Most importantly, Diya was unwilling to introduce herself to Yaxiu in this 'body'. It was like anonymous chatting. Yaxiu had always looked after her as a little girl, and suddenly confessing that she was actually a young woman nearly twenty years old felt terrifyingly vulnerable and flustering. What if he grew to dislike her? What if he thought she had deceived him on purpose? What if... That fond feeling surged and receded in waves, tangled with apprehension, rising and falling again and again. The White Queen had also raised a crucial point: the most terrifying thing was not Yaxiu getting angry, but Yaxiu accepting their existence. If he accepted that Lisi = Diya = White Queen = Black Butler = Red Apostle = daughter, they would be completely finished. An established relationship was like a mirror: it either grew yellowed and dusty, shattered to pieces, or remained unchanged. Yaxiu's daughter was only Lisi, and solely Lisi. They had no desire to be Yaxiu's daughters for the rest of their lives. Therefore, once the Weaving Ceremony concluded, once the trial of the Bronze Dragon ended, and once she returned to her original form, only then could she muster the courage to meet him as herself. [Hello, I am Lisdia.] Just picturing that scene filled Diya's heart with hope, making every cell in her body want to leap with excitement. Furthermore, keeping these things hidden downplayed their connection to Nina. She didn't even mention that her desperate desire to save Nina stemmed from an intense guilt within her heart, thereby making their rescue seem not quite so... necessary. Or rather, it made Yaxiu mistakenly believe Nina wasn't that important to her, lowering the chances that he would agree. Because they hadn't managed to persuade Lisi; on the contrary, they had been persuaded by Lisi. Diya was unwilling to give up the chance to save Nina, yet even more unwilling to let Yaxiu lose his life over it. Trapped in this knot of conflicting emotions, she could only hand in this flawed, error-ridden exam paper and wait for Yaxiu to grade it. This was undeniably a shameless act—unable to make up her own mind, she could only beg someone else to decide for her. In this regard, Diya felt no different from Lisi, still just a child dependent on adults. If Yaxiu felt this would increase the difficulty and insisted on the original assassination plan, killing Nina with his own hands to secure Annan's victory, Diya might feel deeply disappointed and heartbroken, but she would also feel joy that Yaxiu's chances of survival had increased. "So," the white-haired little girl asked apprehensively, "what do you think... Yaxiu?" "No problem." "Or rather, this is wonderful," Yaxiu smiled. "If I had to kill a girl living in a high tower whom I've never even met, I don't know how many therapy sessions with Igola it would take to smooth over my guilt. Lisi, thank you. You've given me a second choice." Yaxiu agreed so readily that it felt surreal to her instead. "Don't you think it makes things harder?" "It just means bringing you along. The difficulty goes up a bit, but not by much. Plus, you might even be able to help me during the operation... Still, you really are too weak and have no way to protect yourself." Yaxiu scrutinized 'Lisi'. "Though it might be little more than nothing... I can make you a sorcerer. At least you'll have an extra sorcery spirit to help." 'Lisi' froze. "Make me a sorcerer?" "That's right," Yaxiu chuckled. "I recently had a fortuitous encounter on the Time Continent and obtained a single-use 'Gift' miracle that lets me [transfer one of my sorcery spirits to anyone]. You aren't a sorcerer, so you might not understand just how valuable this miracle is..." Of course Diya understood. Or rather, anyone who was a sorcerer or aspired to become one would understand just how powerful this miracle was! At a glance, 'Gift' was merely transferring a sorcery spirit. How was that any different from buying or selling one? And it could only be transferred from oneself to someone else; if it were seizing a sorcery spirit from another person, that would be another story. Between sorcerers, 'Gift' truly was meaningless. But between a sorcerer and an ordinary person, the value of 'Gift' was virtually immeasurable. If Yaxiu were willing to auction off this opportunity, he could become wealthy in an instant, with countless people clamoring to throw money at him! That was because mortals had no way to possess any sorcery spirit. Commanding any spirit required sorcery power, but sorcery power could only be obtained by entering the Void Realm. For mortals, this was an impasse akin to 'a fresh graduate needing three years of work experience.' Therefore, whether you were a poor village girl or a wealthy young master, the first step to becoming a sorcerer was grinding your skills day and night, summoning your very first sorcery spirit from scratch before you could knock open the doors to the Void Realm. The value of the 'Gift' miracle lay precisely here—even though only a native sorcery spirit summoned by oneself could open the Gate of Truth, and a secondhand sorcery spirit gifted by Yaxiu could not grant entry to the Void Realm, having a sorcery spirit allowed anyone to develop their skills in reverse. It was like solving a problem with the answer key in hand; as long as one put in the effort, reaching the Silver rank was practically guaranteed! And this 'Gift' miracle had been Yaxiu's reward for enduring the 'No Paper While Pooping' curse. Back then, they had purchased a blessing and a curse from the Book of Chaotic Shopping. The blessing was Critical Danger Sense for all of them, at the price of having to gaze at one another; meanwhile, Yaxiu had bought the curse 'No Paper While Pooping' on his own. Although he hadn't managed to glean any insights into the destiny faction during that wretched period, there was still a consolation prize. At first, Yaxiu had mistakenly thought 'Gift' was useless junk, but after checking the Book of Gospel, he realized the immense potential it held. Still, things were meant to be used. Yaxiu had originally intended to save this reward for the future as a present for Igola's daughter, picking an invincible sorcery spirit to give Leya. But if Lisi was going into the imperial palace with him, he naturally had to arm her first. So what did Diya think of this? Naturally, there was no way she could accept! She was already a sorcerer herself. The only reason she couldn't use sorcery spirits in reality was due to the trial of the Bronze Dragon. Even if Yaxiu gave her a sorcery spirit, it would be just as useless, and would only expose more of her secrets! Therefore, 'Lisi' hurriedly shook her head in refusal and quickly changed the subject: "Right, even if you agree, Yaxiu, Annan will definitely insist on making Banjie leave, won't she? As the excuse for Banjie leaving, I'll definitely have to go too... Do you have a way to persuade Annan?" "That's Uncle Banjie and Sister Annan." Yaxiu gave 'Lisi' a light chop on the head. "It's fine if you call me by my name, but be polite to others." He paused. "As for that problem, you don't need to worry. It's already solved. Annan won't make Banjie leave." "Solved?" 'Lisi' was taken aback. "How was it solved?" "The Gospel solved it for us." 'Lisi' blinked, quickly realizing something, and summoned her Book of Gospel, flipping to the page with the bookmark. Because the latest release of the rankings had come at an inconvenient—or perhaps all too convenient—time, little Lisi had seized the chance to spirit Yaxiu away, so they hadn't looked at what was on the latest Future Board until now. *List of Assassinations* [Rank 10 on the List of Assassinations: Assassinate Rust Crow. Assassin: Cicero Scott... Will be executed by Yaxiu Heath.] [Rank 7 on the List of Assassinations: Assassinate the Ghost King. Assassin: Anlock... Will be executed by Yaxiu Heath.] [Rank 5 on the List of Assassinations: Assassinate Leya Bogin. Assassin: ... Will be executed by Yaxiu Heath.] [Rank 3 on the List of Assassinations: Assassinate Yaxiu Heath. Assassin: ... Will be executed by Yaxiu Heath.] [Rank 2 on the List of Assassinations: Assassinate the Empress. Assassin: Banjie Doran.] [Will be executed by Yaxiu Heath.]