Malicious Overtime

White Dove pulled back his cane. He seemed poised to strike Yaxiu again; multiple sorcery spirits emerged from the tip of the cane, swirling like pious pilgrims into wisp after wisp of light smoke that wrapped around the staff. Layer upon layer of keen, piercing edges condensed toward the point, rending the surrounding air into rolling waves of vapor as supreme might gathered toward an explosive burst. If his previous thrust was a silent spring drizzle, then the strike to come would be a violent summer thunderstorm—whatever it touched would be ground to dust! The first thrust had pierced Yaxiu's brain; the second would extinguish Yaxiu's very body! Yet in the next instant, White Dove dispersed the cane's surging fury and abandoned the attack. Because Weise rushed forward and snatched Yaxiu away. The plump Round Cicada emerged behind Yaxiu's head. It drew a sharp breath that ballooned its abdomen, letting out an odd, muffled chirping like a creature calling from underwater. At the same moment, Yaxiu's head restored itself to its original state. His briefly severed consciousness returned to its faithful vessel, and the light rekindled in his eyes. "You died just now!" Weise let out a sigh of relief. "I died just now." A lingering chill crept through Yaxiu, but what filled him most was utter bewilderment. There had been no moment of retrospection to summarize his life, no opportunity to leave any last words. The combat experience he took such pride in, the Sanctuary he trusted without reservation—neither had bought him even a single second to react. If one had to make a comparison, he was like an elite character in a video game—powerful, high-level, loaded with passive skills, fully capable of taking on any foe. But White Dove's attack was like pulling the power cord directly from the computer. He hadn't even felt pain before losing everything. Fortunately, he had the Round Cicada. Fortunately, he and the Round Cicada shared an understanding: the moment he suffered a fatal blow, the Round Cicada would automatically activate Three-Second Cicada Concealment, rewinding him to his state from three seconds ago! Otherwise, he truly would have been dead! "Go, hurry." Weise summoned another mist gate and shoved Yaxiu straight into it. Yaxiu knew this was no time for hesitation; every breath could mark the boundary between life and death. Without the slightest delay, he wheeled around and bolted toward the mist gate leading to the upper level. *Pfft.* The crisp sound of a spark catching pierced their ears. Though high noon blazed over the eighteenth level of the Silent Spiral, warming the sand beneath their feet and drenching the entire expanse in brilliant radiance, Yaxiu and Weise nevertheless felt themselves illuminated by a flame. It wasn't merely their clothes or skin being lit—even their bones, flesh, internal organs, and souls were stained with colors that did not belong to them. When Yaxiu reached the mist gate, he found he couldn't even push a fingertip through. He knew Silver Lantern would never trip him up, yet he could feel that he simply could not enter the mist gate. Because the color was wrong. The area on the other side of the mist gate was not painted in the colors of that fire. Yaxiu suddenly recalled a game he used to play as a kid: walking down the street and only stepping on tiles of a specific color. Now, he felt as though he had fallen into a similar restriction. He turned his head and saw that the hair of Fire Cat, the lively young woman, was burning furiously, just like her fiery disposition. Every strand of her hair had transformed into blazing flame. With every breath of fire, a flame sorcery spirit was born, which then melted back into the inferno like kindling fed to a hearth. Though her flame was small and not particularly bright, it reigned supreme above all light, forcing even the sun's glare to yield and bow! The same realization flashed through both sorcerers' minds: the Fire Cat grand law, also known as the Flame of Knowing and Guarding. "To know boundless darkness, yet guard finite light—such is the Flame of Knowing and Guarding." Even in battle, Fire Cat kept her radiant, youthful smile. "I declare that no one is permitted to leave this place." *To know boundless darkness, yet guard finite light...* It roughly meant that while darkness was endless, she could guard whatever area she illuminated. The direct effect of Fire Cat—or rather, the Flame of Knowing and Guarding as a god—was actually to forbid every target within range from stepping out of the area bathed in her light! Unlike White Dove's sheer violence, Fire Cat's ability was a restrictive one! Yet compared to White Dove, it was Fire Cat's effect that truly drove them into a corner! Both Weise and Yaxiu knew the mist gate wasn't their only retreat, for Yaxiu still possessed a trophy coveted even by Divine Lords: the Thousand Wishes Kingdom of Heaven! Yaxiu carried the Wish Heart Core within his soul. Even if Senluo were to detonate in the very next second, his physical body could instantly flee back into the Thousand Wishes Kingdom of Heaven, letting the seasons change outside while he reigned supreme within his realm! Yet Fire Cat's restriction directly cut off that escape route! Yaxiu immediately attempted to activate the Wish Heart Core, and the core attempted to pull him back into the Thousand Wishes Kingdom of Heaven, but his flesh and soul remained as stubbornly rooted as an iron weight! This life-saving straw that could hardly ever fail could no longer save him. The power of a god stood above all else; only a god could counter another god. Although Yaxiu's Wish Heart Core was an extremely advanced miracle of teleportation, it was ultimately not power fueled by a god at its core. At best, it merely borrowed a sliver of the Wishing Pool's might. How could it possibly shake a cage forged by a professional god like Fire Cat? Weise immediately moved in front of Yaxiu, and Yaxiu, abandoning all pride, practically hid himself entirely behind her. The only person the three gods had any wariness toward was Silver Lantern. If he didn't use her as a shield, Yaxiu would vanish like smoke in three seconds—and those first two seconds would cost the Round Cicada's remaining two charges of Three-Second Cicada Concealment. "Have you betrayed the Azure Lord?!" Weise deployed her Sanctuary, sheltering Yaxiu within, and demanded in a frigid voice, "Are you no longer the Azure Lord's gods?" "We have not betrayed the Azure Lord," White Dove said calmly. "Every single command of the Azure Lord has been executed to the letter, without the slightest perfunctoriness. We have performed our duties and remain loyal to our Lord, harboring not the slightest thought of betrayal." Fire Cat nodded vigorously. "Yes, yes! I am the Azure Lord's Flame of Knowing and Guarding, the manager of the secret realm 'Lighthouse.' The Azure Lord is my sole master. How could I ever betray the Azure Lord?" While it wasn't impossible for gods to lie, their cards were already on the table, and their expressions didn't look like they were feigning. This left Yaxiu and Weise somewhat perplexed. Weise asked, "Then by keeping the people of Senluo on the lands of Senluo, aren't you trying to make them remain a burden on the Azure Lord and hasten Her fall?" "That's right!" Fire Cat cocked her head. "Successor, your summary is spot-on!" "And you still claim you haven't betrayed Her?" Yaxiu couldn't help chiming in. "You want to kill the Azure Lord!" "No, no, we just hope the Azure Lord dies," Fire Cat said, waving her hands repeatedly. "We never thought about killing Her." The reticent Blue Bird suddenly spoke up: "We only wish for the Azure Lord to die. We have not betrayed Her." Weise's brow furrowed tightly, still unable to fathom what kind of double-standard logic this was. But Yaxiu finally caught on. Placing a hand on Weise's shoulder, he whispered, "They aren't sorcery spirits; they're gods with self-awareness... Their relationship with the Azure Lord is just like yours with the Mercury Trojan!" If analyzed through the lens of a sorcery spirit and a sorcerer, the actions of these three gods were completely incomprehensible—after all, a sorcery spirit and a sorcerer shared weal and woe. But from the perspective of an employee, it became much easier to understand: wishing your boss would trip and drown in a toilet every day didn't equate to betraying your boss! As long as you efficiently completed every assignment the boss handed down, you were a faithful employee. As for privately gossiping about the boss, complaining that his lofty promises never materialized, grumbling about empty pay raise promises, or reporting your superior's embezzlement to the board... none of that counted as betrayal. White Dove and the others hoped the Azure Lord would die, but they truly hadn't defied the Azure Lord's orders, and in all likelihood hadn't directly attacked Her either. They were merely acting against the Senluo mortals and Silver Lantern—preventing the people from leaving the realm, stopping Silver Lantern from acquiring more Dream Lord shares. All of this harmed the Azure Lord, but the Azure Lord had never said they weren't allowed to do it! If it wasn't forbidden, it was permitted! Just like when you badmouthed your idiot boss: you knew your words damaged the reputation of your boss and even the company, but on one hand the boss had never explicitly banned badmouthing, and on the other hand you really wanted to vent, so you did it. White Dove and his peers were the same: they clearly knew they were accelerating the Azure Lord's demise—or rather, if an action didn't hasten Her demise, they wouldn't bother doing it at all. One difference between gods and sorcery spirits was that gods were special beings endowed with self-awareness and desires, whereas sorcery spirits operated purely on instinct. Simply put, a god was at least a child of school age, while a sorcery spirit was at most an infant under a year old. An infant was at your mercy, but an older child already possessed the ability to rebel. White Dove and the others were indeed exploiting loopholes, but the root cause remained the Senluo Azure Lord. If Yaxiu's guess was correct, the Azure Lord didn't care all that much about the people of Senluo or even Her successor. The three gods' posture toward Silver Lantern was merely to deliver the Azure Lord's message, like couriers, rather than to 'welcome the young master to the throne.' That was why they dared to make a move against Silver Lantern. Without explicit rules from the Azure Lord, White Dove and the others wouldn't hold themselves back. Put crudely, even if White Dove and the others slaughtered the entire Senluo realm, not much would happen to them. If your computer suddenly deleted the study materials you had hoarded for years, would you smash the computer? What was more, White Dove and his peers were ostensibly protecting the people of Senluo. The most likely directive the Azure Lord had left behind was for the gods to protect the mortals of Senluo. How could She have anticipated that one day, She would have to banish or even slaughter Her own people just to prolong Her own life? The current situation was analogous to a company nearing bankruptcy due to a cash flow crisis, while still running an exorbitantly expensive project. If the project wasn't halted, the capital chain would snap completely. Yet the Azure Lord couldn't personally shut down the project. Now Silver Lantern, the project lead, had stepped forward saying she was taking everyone to jump ship, but White Dove and the other two veteran employees pushed Silver Lantern right back down, refusing to let her end the project and insisting on keeping it running. It was practically malicious overtime. "Then why do you want the Azure Lord to die?" Weise retreated step by step, shielding Yaxiu. "Do you hold a grudge against Her?" White Dove, Fire Cat, and Blue Bird closed in step by step. White Dove asked, "What is a grudge?" "It means you don't want to be around Her, breathe the same air, or stand under the same sky." "Then we have no grudge against the Azure Lord. We are more than happy to stay with Her." "Then why do you want the Azure Lord to die?" "Because we just want the Azure Lord to die." Fire Cat looked utterly perplexed. "Does that require a reason?" "It does," Weise said. "Or is there something you wish to do, but the Azure Lord stands in your way?" Blue Bird shook her head. "No." "Wait." Yaxiu picked up on the scent. "Since when... have you wanted the Azure Lord to die?" The gods exchanged glances and said, "From the very beginning." "From when you became grand laws, or from when you became gods?" Yet the gods' reply caught Yaxiu off guard: "From the moment we became the Azure Lord's gods." "Isn't that normal?" Fire Cat said. "Who wouldn't want their Lord to die?" "Having a Lord is not good," White Dove said. "All Lords ought to die." "Die," Blue Bird agreed with a nod. "I understand now," Weise murmured. "They're all kingslayers. In ordinary times, they execute every order a sorcerer gives them, but whenever an opportunity arises, they cause constant trouble for the sorcerer until they bring about the sorcerer's death!" "There's no complicated reason. Pure and simple... from the moment of their birth, they could never accept becoming tools for a Divine Lord!" Yaxiu had previously thought White Dove and the others had awakened their self-awareness and launched a glorious rebellion against the Azure Lord to regain their freedom. While the result was similar, the motive was entirely different: they had never spared a thought for what their future would be once free, nor had they feared what fate awaited them if the Azure Lord recovered. They simply wanted their master to die. Yaxiu and Weise couldn't be certain whether the three of them were an anomaly, but it was highly likely. After all, it was impossible for the Senluo Azure Lord to possess only three gods, yet only these three had appeared, indicating that the 'Azure Lord Must Die Club' consisted only of the three who had ascended from the mortal soil to heaven. The other, normal gods hadn't joined White Dove's ranks. Earlier, Yaxiu had marveled at how the production chain of 'sorcerer → grand law → god' had many admirable qualities. But now it seemed there was a serious defect rate on that assembly line. They had once been sorcerers who inherited the glory of their predecessors in the Void Realm; they had existed to seek the truth, never needing to kneel to anyone. They had once been grand laws who carried the faith of hundreds of millions; they had existed to realize ideals, not to become the instruments of some Divine Lord. Perhaps it was precisely their experiences as sorcerers and grand laws that left these ascended gods unable to accept the fate of being exploited by a Divine Lord, unable to accept being reduced to subservient beings. All they wanted was flexible employment. Whichever company tried to make them work, they would drive that company straight into bankruptcy.