Kando was still sobbing, nursing its candle tears, while Nol gently tapped his magic staff, expanding the range of the blue fire's illumination.
His free hand gripped Teest's tightly. Standing side by side at the edge of the ruins, Nol and Teest gazed into the distance at the scene before them.
This was the apocalypse after the sky had fallen and the earth had shattered.
Tall buildings collapsed, and glaze tiles shattered on spherical machines. Rock layers looked like two rows of molars, brutally crushing two completely different worlds.
…Wait, were they really two worlds?
The gap beneath the chasm wasn't large. Nol's dark vision couldn't see too far. He pursed his dry, tense lips and activated [Bat Eyes].
He saw the corruption remains of terrestrial species, presumably some unlucky ones who had fallen here and were devoured by the corruption.
He saw bizarre corpses that didn't belong to Tahe. Most were skeletal remains lying in the crevices of buildings, dressed in technologically advanced suits or ancient robes.
He saw relatively intact castles and buildings, fallen amidst dull, unknown remnants. Those huge remnants seemed to stretch out limbs, as if to protect them underneath.
Finally, beyond layers of collapsed rocks and decayed buildings, Nol saw an eye.
The moment he spotted it, his pupils dilated sharply, and his heart skipped a beat—
It was a round plastic eye, covered in scratches.
It flickered intermittently with red light, like a setting sun in the absurd ruins. The huge eyeball belonged to an even larger teddy bear.
This teddy bear was larger than a blue whale. Its body was decayed, and its seams were burst open, covered with vines Nol had never seen before.
Round and cute vines pierced through the rotten stuffing, blooming with bright flowers—pink-white, powder-blue, candy-like, dreamy colors.
The flowers swayed quietly in the deep darkness, as delicate as a lie.
"…Three." Nol slowly squatted down, clearing away the ruins.
Three worlds had shattered here.
He picked up an especially cute plastic teacup, his fingertips trembling slightly. Not long ago, Nol had subconsciously categorized it with the "futuristic" world, but it wasn't that; it represented yet another destruction.
Everything before him was strange and unfamiliar. Nol didn't recognize these works—if they really were works.
He understood Zhang Shuhang's obsession.
The scene before him was beyond common sense, like a bizarre dream, impossible to occur naturally. How could a normal person consider this place a "normal world"?
Zhang Shuhang, coming from an internet giant, was already knowledgeable about games. Once he learned of the existence of "Players" in Tahe, it wasn't strange for him to firmly believe this place was a game.
This was the only explanation—the only one that could keep the survivors of The Manor sane.
Otherwise, this world was simply—
"Too terrifying."
"Too wonderful."
Nol and Teest spoke almost simultaneously. The former sighed, while the latter was exhilarated—
"Look at this!"
Teest excitedly tapped the cup, his fingertips casting an identification spell.
Orbs of light passed over several types of ruins, emitting gold halos of varying brightness.
"The cup is the oldest, then those strange machines, and finally those red walls and glass tiles. I can't determine the exact years. What a pity."
Holding Nol's hand in one and touching the truth with the other, this feeling was too blissful. Teest decided to postpone his anger.
Carefully avoiding the corruption, he observed a delicate metal pen. "Two religions arguing non-stop, saying darkness descended on the land, a Demon King destroyed the splendid civilization. Then their gods led humanity to revive Tahe… blah blah, that sort of nonsense."
"This 'splendid civilization' is more thrilling than I thought."
"Yeah."
The types of civilizations were completely different, some too splendid. Nol gripped the cute cup in his hand tightly.
The question arose: were those worlds really destroyed by the "Demon King"?
The Eternal Church and the Temple of Life had written a bunch of nonsense, and Nol wasn't about to believe another word they said. The Demon King's corruption was indeed destructive, but it didn't seem to have its own consciousness.
No matter how he thought about it, compared to the corruption itself, the person who scattered the corruption everywhere seemed more like the culprit, right? Nol still vividly remembered the grudge he held when he was attacked by the Thousand-Hands Nightmare in the Black Forest.
"Praise to your reward. What a great experience." Teest floated closer. "So, shall we go back first, honey?"
"…Wait a little longer." Nol shook his head.
It wasn't enough.
Zhang Shuhang said that the Demon King's corruption was "the corpse of a god". He wouldn't have come to such a conclusion without reason.
Activating [Bat Eyes] once again, Nol looked along the direction of the chasm.
When his eyes began to hurt, Nol found his target—
A barely noticeable missing piece.
There was a huge piece of black-red debris. Judging by the traces on its surface and the surrounding buildings, there should have been a large castle here.
Around this piece of debris, there were clear signs of human tidying.
"Teest."
"Hmm? …Whoa!"
Nol hugged Teest and spread his wings again. They flew over the corruption, crossing the dangerous areas with sharp steel rebars, heading straight for the predecessor of "The Manor".
Zhang Shuhang didn't disappoint them.
There were some charred bones nearby, probably also monsters that had accidentally fallen here. They were likely the reason why Zhang Shuhang survived at the bottom of the chasm.
Before escaping the chasm, Zhang Shuhang had organized the textual records within the debris and even tried to restore some of the machinery.
The records were diverse and fragmented. Fluorescent screens flickered in the darkness, the familiar text emitting waves of cold air. Teest and Nol's heads squeezed together, reading rapidly.
The "Teddy Bear" world left no records, hence unverifiable.
The "Near Future" world had two types of records. One type recounted a world-saving genius, while the other spoke of the "world collapsing after the genius's death".
The description of the genius was incredibly exaggerated—calling him the "protagonist of the era" wasn't an overstatement.
Considering this was a work, perhaps he really was the protagonist. Nol sighed—such a standard plot design. The protagonist saves the world, gains perfect love and friendship, lives a magnificent life that surpasses thousands, full of grandeur.
But his life was destined to end before this world.
After the genius's death, the world prospered for a while. People discovered a marvelous energy source underground—black with a hint of red, mostly solid, even more useful than oil.
…Shortly after this energy was exploited, a strange plague erupted in the world. As survivors struggled to survive, a corner of the sky collapsed.
That thing fell like a meteorite to the ground, shaking the entire world.
All who witnessed it died, the Earth's crust shifted, and the climate became chaotic. The entire planet seemed to have gone mad. Soon after, people found familiar black and red fragments at the edge of the crash site.
[Our god has fallen.] This was the last record left by the survivors, written in English from Earth.
The records of the "Ancient Style" world were all on paper, decayed and moldy, making them difficult to read.
Unlike the "Near Future" world, it didn't have a specific protagonist, but it mentioned many "divine edicts", "fates", and… "daily tasks".
Nol didn't recognize this work, but the framework was all too familiar to him—it was undoubtedly a daily life management game.
Its records, too, ended with the exploitation of the black-red "flesh coal". Soon after, plagues broke out, and a mysterious, massive seismic event caused volcanoes and tsunamis.
[The underground true dragon has died, and the four seas have scorched earth.] This civilization directly used ancient characters from Country C.
"Corruption out of control, gods dying, civilizations collapsing, dead gods becoming new corruption." Teest casually tossed aside the document, commenting, "Then the next civilization encounters the corruption, continues to perish… This damned place really is disaster-prone."
Although from his tone, the Mad Monk didn't seem to find this regrettable.
"So, the Demon King's corruption really can be considered the 'corpse of a god'."
Nol slowly lowered his head, looking at the black-red debris beneath his feet.
Droplets of water condensed on the surface of the debris, oozing out slowly flowing black corruption, like juice seeping from rotting flesh.
They fell into the nearby soil, turning it a rich black-red. They mixed into the air, stirring up a slightly foul-smelling murky fog.
Nol had seen these before. They were everywhere in The Manor.
This was the goal that Zhang Shuhang pursued. He wanted to bring the corruption to the surface, destroy the current world… and then welcome the "game ending" he firmly believed in.
Nol wiped away the stray corruption, carefully observing their source—the pile of debris resembling dried, rotting flesh.
Teest hummed a tune as he flipped through the remaining records. Halfway through, his voice suddenly stuck, falling silent.
"…Are the gods of 'Tahe' really the Eternal Son and the Goddess of Life? Isn't that too much?"
Teest turned his head, looking at Nol with a complex gaze. "According to previous records, those ruined worlds only acknowledged one god."
Nol suddenly understood Teest's implication.
These vanished civilizations were all "works" and works always have creators. Three worlds lay dormant here. Where did their creators go?
As the creator of the fourth world, a chill ran down Nol's back.
…Why did these "works from Earth" become real here?
…Why were they destroyed time and time again?
…And those black-red remains…
They had touched part of the truth, a part far beyond Nol's previous expectations.
Nol closed his eyes, and after about five minutes, his breathing became steady again.
…He seemed unable to feel despondent.
Nol's nerves felt numbed, lacking the energy for sorrow, only driven by the urge to smash those question marks.
Perhaps it was because of the warm Teest pacing around him, constantly picking up interesting-shaped remnants of civilizations.
He had promised this guy to seek the truth together. He couldn't break his word again.
"Teest, I need to do something a bit dangerous," Nol said. "I need your help."
Teest withdrew his hand from studying the relics, his smile completely disappearing. "Danger again?"
"I won't die. If something goes wrong, just take off my head and purify it vigorously." Nol patted his head. "Just giving you a heads up."
"That's more like it." Teest snorted and said, "If things really go south, you can regenerate your body after ten minutes—in exchange, I want to observe your head up close for ten minutes."
"Deal," Nol agreed seriously.
He picked up the ancient plastic cup, scraped off a piece of the black-red debris, and earnestly requested, "Can you make this edible for me?"
Teest: ".….."
Teest: "I love the moments when your brain is off-kilter, honey."
"The ones I ate before were all secondarily corrupted products. It's time to verify the 'source' itself," Nol said. "I also like your courage to do anything. Let's do this."
Previously, Nol would never respond like this.
Caught off guard by the "like", Teest was stunned for half a second before remembering to light a fire.
Under Kando's light, Teest set up a campfire, took out a lot of cream and spices. Chopped debris mixed with milk, cream, and various aromatic herbs, along with a lot of sugar, boiled into a light gray slurry.
Teest rapidly froze the mixture with magic, then used the "Betrayer" to cut it into fine powder and sprinkled it with jam. The whole process was astonishingly quick.
He served it in the pink cute cup.
"Here." Teest cleared his throat with a flourish. "Not quite suitable for the season, but it's the best way to suppress the odor."
Nol nodded, taking the cup of light gray shaved ice with both hands. "Thank you."
He had consumed corrupted monsters before, so it wasn't a big problem. Recently attacked by pure corruption, he could suppress it with [Lost Last Wish].
Now he was just eating a bit of the source of corruption. The impact was still within a controllable range.
Nol took a small spoonful, cautiously bringing it to his mouth.
A very faint taste of blood, overwhelmed by a strong, sweet flavor. The coldness of the corruption itself mixed with the actual ice, making it hard to detect anything odd.
The next second, two voices appeared simultaneously.
[Save me… I want to go home… Save me… Dad… Mom… Take me away…]
[Lost Last Wish] activated. The delirious murmurs of corruption crazily burrowed into Nol's mind.
The other voice made Nol's mouth bitter.
It was the sound of [Fallen Death] successfully activating. That meant the "Demon King's corruption" indeed was some kind of remains.
[Corrupted False God: Fragile creations, crude laws—their world cannot survive. This skill has no effect, this skill has no value, and this skill cannot be used.]
[Similar origin skill found. Do you want to merge "Lost Last Wish" and "Corrupted False God"?]
[Note: Merging can create a new skill. The new skill will retain the original skill sources, and the new skill will will will will bring you extremely dangerous knowledge. Please choose carefully.]
The strange stuttering occurred again.
"Yes."
Nol looked again at the remnants slumbering in the darkness, those desperate murmurs still echoing in his ears.
[Origin analysis in progress… Will transmission in progress…]
[Skill merge complete.]
In that instant, the continuous murmurs abruptly stopped, leaving only boundless silence.
The newly formed skill lay quietly in the skill bar, its description surprisingly simple—
[To My Compatriots: Please kill me.]
[This is not a skill.]
[This is a request.]
The author has something to say:
Here we are!!! The unveiling is essentially complete—
Next up, it's time to visit the Demon King!