As the sky began to darken, Eugene, dragging his injured leg, got up for his evening prayers.
He regularly ate his three meals a day, even though their supplies consisted only of bread, water, and salted meat. After eating, he would complete his knight training as usual. Whenever he recovered a bit of magical power, he used it all to heal the wound in his abdomen.
Damori curled up at the base of a half-collapsed wall, covered with several blood-stained blankets, trying to reduce his consumption through sleep.
Knight Marion stood despondently at the edge of the stone platform, looking down into the bottomless chasm below.
The darkness was like a crack in the world. Staring at it for too long, one's thoughts seemed to be sucked into that unreal blackness. Every few seconds, Marion had to look up at the castle above.
The castle was shrouded in fog, more silent than a grave. However, this time, when Marion looked up, she saw the castle's spire blown off. The evening sun shimmered on it, resembling a violently extracted fang.
She jolted. "Captain!"
Damori opened his sleepy eyes, and Eugene lowered his sword. Inside the castle, a colossal silver-white object emerged, struggling in the air, clearly battling something.
Unfortunately, their view was obscured by clouds, allowing them only to see a rough outline.
Eugene narrowed his moss-green eyes, a fervor in his gaze.
"As expected," he said. "God wants us to witness all this."
Above in the sky, beyond the clouds, the two challenging the "monster" were far from calm.
Upon giving the answer that "the Demon King's corruption is the corpse of a god," the Lord of The Manor—Zhuang Shuhang "stood" up.
His mountain of trash-like body continuously extended from the base of the stage. Nol watched as the shadow grew taller and taller. What they had seen earlier was just the tip of the iceberg.
The black-red flesh interwoven with relics of civilization, grotesquely swollen and endless, made the embedded Savage Giant Witch seem minuscule. Now, the Lord of The Manor looked not like a centipede but more like a mutated ant queen.
The Lord of The Manor raised his hand and pointed. Five embedded weapons on his body activated.
Five beams of light shot towards Nol from different directions, and Nol hastily retreated. He clumsily raised his rocket launcher, firing at the opponent's mountain-like body.
Admittedly, as an office warrior, Nol's aim was disastrously bad. He kept firing non-stop, the crystal energy depleting rapidly. The Lord of The Manor didn't relent. The sounds of explosions and destruction drowned out all else, painfully reverberating in their ears.
With the castle's top gone, the bright blue sky suddenly pressed down. The highest clouds were thin, with sunlight pouring down, making everything terrifyingly bright.
Amidst the roaring artillery fire, Teest tried his best to jump onto the Lord of The Manor, attempting to sever the latter's upper body from the monstrous frame. However, each time he swung his sword, a strange barrier repelled his blade.
The Lord of The Manor was like an efficient killing machine—appearing damaged and cumbersome, but actually impregnable.
The Lord of The Manor fired around the hall, bullets and beams sweeping everywhere. If not for their quick evasion, their bodies would certainly have been shattered into pieces.
Nol leaped from his spot, the explosion's hot wind at his back, releasing his grip as the heavy launcher fell to the ground with a thud.
The launcher's crystal was completely depleted, but the Lord of The Manor's relentless attack didn't slow in the slightest. In the past hour, they hadn't managed to inflict any significant damage on the Lord of The Manor.
No wonder the Lord of The Manor had them come directly to him—he and Teest had defeated two neighbors, and Zhuang Shuhang had no intention of following the usual tactics. He came out swinging, ready to deal with them for good.
"Stop dragging this out," Zhuang Shuhang said listlessly as a beam of heat left a deep mark on the wall. After the attack, black-red corruption oozed from the damaged area, emitting billowing black smoke. "This is just a waste of time. Just let me kill you nicely."
'Deadly situation.' Nol thought. 'This guy's state is also off.'
As a leader, the Lord of The Manor had no interest in even the most basic negotiations; he seemed fixated only on slaughter and destruction.
But no matter. Nol suddenly leaped up, rushing to Test's side—his goal had already been achieved.
Seeing Nol relentlessly hopping around, the Lord of The Manor sighed. He had just raised his cannon when a ball of blue fire fell from the sky, blowing off a large chunk of mechanical pile on his body, exposing the black-red, rotten tendons inside. Murky smoke billowed upwards, and Zhuang Shuhang's expression suddenly turned gloomy.
Magic attack.
Just as Teest was about to instinctively land and jump again, Nol grabbed him around the waist. Teest gracefully spun around, lightly stepping on Nol's toes, and the two hovered mid-air.
"Ouch." Teest said, looking at the heavily damaged room from above, "Did you guide him to destroy the anti-magic crystals?"
"I don't understand his weapons, but the anti-magic crystals are my design. I can figure out where they are," Nol said hoarsely, swinging his staff forcefully. Blue fire burned, and a ring of fire appeared in the air, intercepting a beam of light.
Beyond the fire ring, surprisingly, was the corridor where the neighbors slept.
The beam created a semi-circular pit, and in the center of the pit was another fragmented anti-magic crystal.
"Teest, the rest is up to you," Nol said.
"At your command, honey," Teest replied as a gust of wind rose, and he plummeted towards the Lord of The Manor on the central stage.
The two turned the battle into a game of catch, with Teest leading Zhuang Shuhang's attacks, and Nol catching them with Kando's fire rings. The Lord of The Manor's attacks were ferocious, and Nol simply used them to destroy every anti-magic crystal he detected.
With each crystal shattered, an invisible weight was lifted off them.
Countless skeleton dragons rose into the sky. Nol stood on the back of one, extending his staff towards the heavens, raining down blue fire.
Suddenly, the situation reversed, and Zhuang Shuhang's reactions became sluggish.
Unable to adjust his cannons in time, he resorted to using his black-red tendrils to whip at the corruption marks, causing chaotic explosions everywhere.
Amidst the smoke, Teest drew the fire, nimbly leaping among the building ruins, gracefully dodging bullets and gunfire.
Nol seized the opportunity to rush towards the sleeping neighbors, jumping between fire rings and sealing them into the system. When the attack wave came crashing down, Nol flashed out of the fire ring again. He grabbed Teest's hand, and the two beautifully swapped places.
The fire ring was extinguished, leaving Teest in a safe place. Nol stepped on the dragon, swiftly ascending into the blue sky. Then the fire ring reignited. He extended his arm and pulled his knight back to his side.
Between the white light and the black-red corruption, a chaotic dance in space unfolded.
...
As the sun set and stars emerged, the sky grew darker.
With magic power rapidly depleting, Nol gasped, clutching "The Complete Recipe Book". After sealing all the sleeping neighbors, his mana was left with a mere 10%.
The drawback of a prolonged battle began to show—Zhuang Shuhang's attack speed hadn't slowed, and corruption kept gathering, making his power seemingly endless.
At this point, it was difficult for Nol to make Zhuang Shuhang lose consciousness. Their best option was to rescue the siren and escape this endless war of attrition.
"I can't feel my companions."
As the sleeping neighbors were sealed one by one, Zhuang Shuhang seemed to notice something, his voice becoming sharp. "Did you kill them? …Did you kill them all?"
"I just protected them."
Nol stood on the head of a skeleton dragon, facing Zhuang Shuhang from afar. "You must know, their condition was terrible. Whether it's the Demon King's corruption or the corpse of a god, it was hurting them."
He still remembered the relentless pain and ringing in his ears. Ordinary people couldn't bear it, let alone the neighbors on the brink of collapse.
On the increasingly dark stage, the Lord of The Manor let out an angry laugh.
"But it makes us stronger." He questioned sharply. "Only we, after being touched by it, can still keep our sanity. Only we can use its power… It's our greatest weapon, and you just took it away on your own accord?"
"Get stronger, then what? Attack nearby towns, kill ordinary people?" Nol retorted.
"Idiot. This is a game world! You actually sympathize with a bunch of data? Without attacking them, where do we get supplies?"
Zhuang Shuhang yelled, the entire castle trembling with his movements. "Do you think we didn't try to negotiate at first? Monsters plus corruption—they wouldn't even talk. Just killed our people!"
"How do you handle different factions? Is your cooperation with those NPCs genuine?"
He twisted his massive body, directly collapsing a wall. "Trapped in this hellish place, if not for this castle, everyone would've gone mad long ago!"
"Even with different attitudes towards the outside world, as compatriots, we could have cooperated."
Nol tiredly dodged beam after beam.
"Look at that announcement. You guys are really getting into this bullshit world. I'm not free enough to be educating you. Just keeping the people around me safe is tiring enough."
Zhuang Shuhang sneered. "Anyway, as long as this world is destroyed, everything will end—"
"How can you be so sure?!" Nol couldn't hold back anymore.
The Lord of The Manor widened his eyes, revealing a twisted smile that one might see on the face of a mentally ill person.
"I'm asking you."
He said with a terrifying smile, "You enter the game. The protagonist has the power to be denied by the whole world, companions on the brink of collapse, and enemies destined to be a matter of life and death with you… Tell me, how do you play this game?"
"Answer me, how do you complete it? With so-called truth, goodness, and beauty in 'negotiations'? I think it's a tower defense war game. The monster faction destroys everything, the protagonist wins, the game ends—"
Watching the crazed Zhuang Shuhang, Nol had mixed feelings.
He grieved for the innocent victims of Eternal Day City and Balsam Town, but as a native of Country C, he couldn't bear the thought of his compatriots being killed either. It was an insoluble contradiction.
If he wasn't so familiar with everything, able to act effortlessly, could Paradise have been another Manor?
"Have you ever considered that all this might be 'real'?" Nol tried to soften his tone.
Zhuang Shuhang laughed heartily, black-red liquid overflowing from his eyes.
"Absolutely impossible." He grinned, pointing to the pitch-black chasm. "You know what? I woke up from there."
"When you're about to die, I'll throw you down there—go down and see, then you'll understand everything."
"Listen, don't take it seriously," Teest warned. "This guy's not right in the head."
"I know." Nol closed his eyes. "Let's retreat for now. We'll come back to seal him later."
Zhuang Shuhang's trash heap-like massive body began to stretch, his voice harsh. "Do you know that there are still real Players in the world?"
"I really don't understand."
"You advocate for a system that 'strengthens through killing'. Under such rules, you still want peace?"
"Go!" Nol shouted to Teest.
Communication with the opponent was completely impossible. "The Complete Recipe Book" only had 8% mana left. They couldn't afford to tangle any longer.
The space emitted a viscous cracking sound.
Suddenly, numerous circular portals appeared around Zhuang Shuhang. They densely filled the space, the ground, the air, and near Nol and Teest. Countless monsters emerged—low-intelligence trolls and lizardmen screamed and furiously attacked the two.
This time, Nol saw very clearly.
Zhuang Shuhang activated some device on his body. The transporter buzzed like a pump, tirelessly opening voids in the air, drawing the power of corruption.
Taking advantage of the monsters distracting them, Zhuang Shuhang's eyes turned blood-red, and he launched another concentrated barrage of gunfire.
Damn it. Nol gritted his teeth.
No wonder the monsters could invade towns at will. That wasn't a power Tahe should have. Tahe's magic definitely couldn't prevent it. Zhuang Shuhang didn't hesitate to expose his hand. He wanted to use his "monster army" organized outside The Manor in exchange for their lives.
Nol's limbs were torn by the trolls and lizardmen. His vision was obscured by monsters, and his eyeball was nearly gouged out by a troll. Amidst the chaos, the effect of [Betrayal Overture] wore off, and Teest was dragged five meters away.
Nol's magic power had already bottomed out. The mana in "The Complete Recipe Book" was constantly draining away.
8%, 7%, 6%…
They needed to leave quickly.
Nol commanded the skeleton dragon to crash into him, barely breaking free from the encirclement. Ignoring his broken spine, he quickly scanned around and found Teest enveloped by monsters.
Teest's hand, still extended, rapidly cut through the monsters clinging to him.
Unfortunately, for each one he cleared, two more climbed on. The monsters Zhuang Shuhang recalled were in the thousands, a veritable swamp of flesh and blood.
Near Teest, the Lord of The Manor's weapon ports all emitted halos. These halos pulsed like heartbeats, ready to launch an attack at any moment with a rain of arrows piercing the heart.
No.
The shooting trajectories nearby were dense. Bumping into Teest would be futile.
Teest was going to die here.
Realizing this, Nol almost stopped thinking. At that moment, he finally made a choice—
The letter opener "Bad News" shot out like a bullet, rushing towards Zhuang Shuhang's shoulder.
The letter opener had no killing intent and no light effects, like a small piece of shrapnel flying off. It skewered into Zhuang Shuhang's shoulder, and the next moment, all the weapons on the Lord of The Manor's body simultaneously extinguished.
They began to fall.
Like mud sculptures drained of all moisture, the weapons stuck to Zhuang Shuhang rapidly rolled off. The rotting flesh that penetrated them lost support and collapsed softly to the ground.
Zhuang Shuhang's body, belonging to the Savage Giant Witch, melted and disintegrated, just like the previous Player, Jack.
Nol, dragging his broken spine, rushed towards the melting Savage Giant Witch. His heart thumped against his chest. Thankfully, the letter opener had a similar effect on the neighbor as on the Players. Zhuang Shuhang returned to being a normal person, and Nol could take him back to the Lost Tower. With so many neighbors there, they could communicate slowly…
Unfortunately, this beautiful vision shattered in less than a second.
From within the crumbling Giant Witch's body, there was no tall, thin young man from Country C. When it first fell out, Nol barely recognized it.
It was a half-mutilated skull.
The skull's edges were charred, and the pink brain inside was still trembling. It fell towards the ruins, the soft brain tissue about to separate from the skull and hit sharp debris.
Nol didn't care about slowing down. He rushed onto the sharp wreckage, blood splattering everywhere.
"System, custody—!"
Amid the collapsing machinery, Nol caught the half skull, almost breaking his voice shouting.
In a few short seconds, he trembled all over, as if waiting for a judgment. Fortunately, the magic was successfully activated, and the fragmented skull turned into golden light, successfully taken into custody by the system.
Zhuang Shuhang's life was barely saved.
The castle continued to collapse, the tremors not only not subsiding but intensifying.
With the Lord of The Manor gone, the power supporting this place—whatever it was—suddenly became chaotic. The monsters, without command, stood around confused. Teest successfully freed himself from his burdens and leaped towards Nol.
"Well done," he said cheerily, helping up the battered Nol. "This place is about to collapse. Need a hand?"
"What's wrong with you?" Nol didn't answer for a long time, and Teest suddenly realized something.
The stone layers were crumbling, with floor tiles falling everywhere. The "foundation" of the castle was completely exposed—a huge piece of wreckage, wax-like, was melting and falling into the chasm.
The first drop of "wreckage" hit the chasm, and the nearby land trembled violently. An explosion seemed to occur underground, with thick black smoke rising. The black-red corruption seeped out of the chasm again, signaling another round of the "White Night".
Then came the second and third drops. The smoke grew thicker, and the trembling land could now be called an "earthquake".
"We should leave," Teest reminded again.
Nol looked down at the chasm, enveloped in smoke.
"You take Ben. I'll go get the siren." He hurriedly connected his bones, ignoring his flesh wounds.
Without the interference of anti-magic crystals, the two quickly found the bewildered siren. The young knight mounted the shadow wolf, looking utterly shocked. "Did you do this?"
"Yes," Nol said. "We are from Paradise. Sorry for keeping it from you."
Teest ignored the siren, focusing only on Nol. "We need to leave."
"Yes, yes," Fischer said urgently. "The Lord of The Manor said, if everyone's gone, this place will fall back into the chasm. Corruption hitting corruption, that's a super big explosion—let's go quickly!"
Nol actually smiled.
"You call him 'The Lord of The Manor'," he said. "You don't know his real name. You don't have corruption on you and there wasn't any room above for you… Everyone's mental state is terrible, but you're unbelievably normal."
"You're not from Earth, are you?"
"Brother, is this the time to nitpick?" The siren looked down fearfully as the stone platform was rapidly crumbling. "Let's leave here first and then…"
"Earlier, when I heard about the collaboration between The Manor and the Eternal Church, I wondered why I hadn't seen any members of the church."
Nol glanced at Teest. "Don't mind me. I'm just guessing—this guy is an expert in identifying cultists. He'll know for sure."
Teest wasn't smiling anymore. His eyes were fixed on Nol.
As the platform peeled away, the corruption poured like heavy rain, falling into the abyss along with the debris. Black smoke rose swallowing the stars above, leaving nothing but boundless darkness.
'At least for now, the siren hadn't lied,' Nol thought.
The explosions underfoot became more frequent, like standing on a volcano about to erupt. If the castle completely fell, the impact would undoubtedly reach Brick Shadow and the capital city, Eternal Day City, causing an immense White Night disaster.
In the darkness, the staff could only illuminate a small area.
Nol suddenly felt the staff containing the [Mid-Distance Teleportation] was a bit hot his hand. He couldn't help but look at Teest, those molten gold-like eyes meeting his gaze.
The scales of decision wavered. It was time to choose again.
Perhaps he would never have enough time to make the perfect choice.
"My judgment has led to this crisis. I have to take responsibility." Nol's voice trembled, but his tone was unusually calm. "But even if time were reversed, I think I would make the same choice."
"What responsibility do you have?" Teest's tone was dissatisfied, and his voice was slightly hoarse. "This is a natural disaster. No one can stop it."
"I can expand the candle's fire ring to its maximum, making the castle debris fall into the sea, preventing the explosion."
"Are you joking? You only have that much mana left, and you have to—"
"Have to catch it below. It's a bit dangerous."
Nol reached out, straightening Teest's slightly disheveled hair, his fingertips brushing over the other's warm skin. "If things go well, I'll just go down to the bottom of the cliff. Sorry, this time I won't take you with me."
"Go, Teest."