Open Secret

"...Is that so? Gwen and Chikala..." At the lowest level of the Silent Spiral, shattered stones collapsed all around, and the sea of blood overturned as if the world itself was beginning to plunge into the abyss. Yet within this dim chaos, there remained a sanctuary sheltered by Silver Lantern—like a small boat adrift in a raging sea, frail yet stubbornly resisting the tide of fate. Green light flickered across Yaxiu's palm, regenerating Harvey's lost limb piece by piece. His original role for himself had always been a "battlefield commander" balancing attack, defense, mobility, and healing. With the potent healing miracle "Joy Sword," combined with the Thousand Machines sorcery spirit's ability to transform into the Water Therapy sorcery spirit, regenerating flesh and bone was not difficult for him. Having listened to their ordeal, the taciturn star sorcerer and the slick, clever beastman surfaced in Yaxiu's mind once more. He sighed softly. "More and more people are waiting for us in Hell..." "Death is a curtain hanging between the living and the dead," the necromancer said. "So there is no need to suppress what you feel inside. Though death may cut off everything, feelings such as love, longing, and respect can still pierce through the curtain of death to connect each other; no death, no matter how powerful, can diminish them in the slightest." Everyone looked at Harvey in astonishment. Yaxiu smiled bitterly. "Living a long life really does bring good things. I never thought there would come a day when I'd feel comforted by your words, Harvey." "This is a necromancer's professional ethic," Harvey replied calmly. "The dead must serve the living." Yaxiu asked, "Then when someone you know dies, Harvey, do you... feel the same as me...?" "Of course I feel the same," Harvey said. "You're healing me right now. Have you found that what flows through my veins isn't warm blood, or that what beats in my chest isn't a heart? Naturally, I'm proud of Chikala—he was my first student, and my finest—yet death needs no embellishment, and of course I grieve for him." "Those who hate death do not understand it," he continued as Ghoul Alice helped him sit up. "Those who praise death only imagine they understand it. If even a necromancer dares not face death, then that would be far too pathetic." Harvey held out both hands toward Yaxiu. Taken aback for a moment, Yaxiu quickly gave him a hug. In the slight tremor of Harvey's body, Yaxiu became certain that the necromancer was not nearly as calm as he appeared. "If one is to do hospice care, shouldn't one offer more hugs to the other person?" "Yeah." Yaxiu nodded. "Nothing makes you feel each other's presence better than an embrace." "Still, it's not all bad news," Igola said, leaning against the coffin. "For instance, the Mercury Trojan—the root of all evil in Senluo who has plagued us from the very beginning—is finally dead." "Yes," Tamashi agreed, nodding. "The villainous Mercury Trojan is dead." From those words, Yaxiu realized that not only was Mercury Trojan dead, but the heavy shackles she had placed on Tamashi were completely broken as well—for this was the first time Tamashi had referred to her as "Mercury Trojan" rather than "Tanomu." "It truly is good news," Yaxiu said in a low voice. "Except, besides that, all that's left is bad news." After finishing with Harvey, who had been left with only one arm, the next step was to readjust Igola's internal structure. Yaxiu inspected Igola's injuries, finding that even with Joy Sword treating him, the deceiver's body was riddled with damage like a battered doll, covered everywhere in ugly scars layered over past wounds. This was the first time he had seen the two of them looking so wretched. Injuries like Igola's had to be mended slowly, and erasing the scars would take considerable effort. Harvey seemed easier to treat, but this kind of rapid regeneration was equivalent to borrowing from his lifespan; even by the most optimistic estimate, he likely had only twenty or thirty years left to live. Yaxiu's slightly lifted mood sank back down, weighed down with sorrow once more. "If I had known things would develop to this point, if I had known it would turn out like this, I would have..." "If I had known it would turn out like this, I should have stayed in Shattered Lake Prison," Igola scoffed. "No, wait—you forced me to break out. I couldn't even stay if I wanted to. It's all your fault I ended up in this state, crossing Gospel to go through the Weaving Ceremony, then crossing Senluo to brush against death time and again... It's all on you, all on you, you bastard. Let's part ways right now. If I ever go adventuring with you again, I'm a Lalafell." No matter how heavy his heart was, Yaxiu couldn't help but retort, "Who told you to try conning a rookie who had just arrived in prison?" "Could it really just be that I had bad luck?" "What else?!" "So," Igola said calmly, "your luck was just bad, too. We all had bad luck." "Instead of wasting time reflecting on yourself, you'd be better off blaming fate. On little things, you know full well how to dodge responsibility, so how come you can't see straight when it comes to the big things? This ill-timed survivor syndrome stems from your displaced conceit—conceited enough to believe you could see through destiny and stop everything." "It is my fault," Tamashi said, standing at the edge of Silver Lantern's domain and gazing into the distant chaos. "I dragged you all into this." "It has nothing to do with you," Yaxiu said. "Rather, thank goodness you told me to find Wei... to find Silver Lantern. If I hadn't come down, what awaited the people of Senluo would have been the cruellest end. But now, at least they can choose death." "Are you two serious? Planning to untangle right and wrong and assign blame here?" Igola said. "If you're willing to pick another place to slap each other's faces, I'd be more than happy to watch." "We will leave," Yaxiu said after finishing emergency treatment on all of Igola's severe injuries. "Just not right now." Seeing Yaxiu open his arms, Igola immediately lifted a leg to kick him away. "What do you think you're doing? Didn't you notice Alice looks lonely? She must be missing your hugs..." Yet the cult leader still gave the deceiver an easy embrace, whispering in his ear, "Sorry that even at a time like this, I still have to trouble you to counsel my mood." Igola muttered, "You could ease up on the grip. I'm a wounded man, not a hallucination." Yaxiu walked over to Tamashi. Even though he had peeked several times earlier, seeing him up close still left him stunned. Carelessly cut, sleek black hair cascaded down both sides, framing serene cherry lips, a high nose bridge, delicate, charming brows, and supple, porcelain skin. Beneath those bright eyes lay naturally faint-red eye shadows. If Yaxiu had looked like this, he wouldn't have gotten into so many fights with his desk mate in elementary school. If not for Tamashi's clothing style being practically an intangible cultural heritage of Senluo, along with his near-monstrous physical capabilities, Yaxiu wouldn't even have dared to assume it was him. He took the initiative to spread his arms, but paused in midair without reaching forward. Instead, Tamashi embraced him naturally and gracefully, saying, "It's not as if I wanted to look like this. To me, this face is the real mask. The moment I put on the Black Crow mask is when I truly take the mask off." *True enough,* Yaxiu thought. If Tamashi had gone around hunting down criminals with a face like this, criminals might have thrown themselves right into the net, or even more people might have committed crimes on purpose just to request Samurai Tamashi to pursue them... "By the way, is this the lowest level of the Silent Spiral?" Tamashi looked around. "Strange. It's impossible for me to have been here before, but why does it feel somewhat odd...?" "Because this is the bottom of the dream realm closest to reality; it might feel a bit disorienting for someone from Senluo," Yaxiu said casually, before asking, "So do you think you're unattractive?" "I know the difference between beautiful and ugly," Tamashi said. "Especially since Tanomu used to tell me often." "Since it's not that you're ashamed to be seen, why did you keep it hidden from us normally?" Yaxiu complained. "I thought taking off your mask would trigger your second form and skyrocket your combat power, like a special trump card, which is why I never dared try peeking under your mask." "Haven't I said so before?" Tamashi said. "There are religious reasons involved. In front of outsiders, a Black Crow must always wear a mask. That way, outsiders will not fear a specific Slay All Crows, but will fear all of the Slay All Crows wearing Black Crow masks." Yaxiu raised an eyebrow. "Are we outsiders?" Tamashi reached to his waist and pulled out a second crow mask. But then he stuffed it back without putting it on. Yaxiu nodded in satisfaction. Yet as he looked at Tamashi, a flicker of hesitation appeared on his face as he weighed his words. "Then... I don't mean anything by this, just out of pure curiosity, Tamashi, are you actually a..." *Crack!* A tremendous rumble tore through the sky as the fissure widened once more. Falling debris tumbled down in ever-greater masses, as though the entire sky were about to collapse. "Save the chit-chat until we're safe!" Igola shouted. "Yaxiu, it's time for us to leave—use the Empty Door sorcery spirits!" Yaxiu nodded and asked, "Have you all regained mobility? Let's count up our Empty Door sorcery spirits." Pooling all the Empty Door sorcery spirits together, Yaxiu exchanged a glance with Tamashi, then looked over at little Silver Lantern beside them. Hesitating no longer, he took out the Wish Hub. "This is the key to the Thousand Wishes Heaven. Even without Empty Door sorcery spirits, I can evacuate us to the absolute safety of the Thousand Wishes Heaven at any time." "So, I want us to try saving others," Yaxiu said. "Even if we can only save a single life."