Volume 2, Chapter 20: The Silent Border
The border between Star Luo Province and the untamed wilds was marked by a long line of ancient balete trees. Their thick, tangled roots were etched with old protective Baybayin markings that had stood for centuries. Normally, this place was full of life — the rich smell of damp earth, the constant buzzing of cicadas, and the rustle of leaves in the breeze.
But today, everything was wrong.
The Academy spirit-carriage rolled to a slow stop. The moment the doors opened, the silence hit them like a heavy blanket. No birds called. No insects hummed. Even the wind seemed to have disappeared.
Professor Lakas stepped out first. His boots made a dull thud on the dry ground. He adjusted his crooked glasses and wiped a smudge of grease from his cheek. Behind him, Yuhao, Ma Xiaotao, and Tang Ya climbed down. All three looked pale and tense.
"Welcome to Barrio Silid," Lakas said, his voice unusually flat. "Population of... well, it used to be three hundred."
The village looked like time had frozen in place. The houses were still standing, their roofs intact. But everything was covered in a thin layer of fine grey dust. It wasn't normal dust — it felt lifeless, like all the color and warmth had been drained away.
In the middle of the dirt road, a woman stood frozen while pouring water from a clay jar. The water had turned into a brittle grey arc, suspended in the air. The woman herself had become a dull grey statue, her face caught in a look of mild surprise.
"They're… they're still alive, right?" Tang Ya whispered. Her hand trembled as she reached toward the statue.
"Don't touch her," Lakas warned sharply, grabbing her wrist. "Their will to move has been drained. The stream of soul power that keeps their bodies working has been stopped. If you touch them now, you might break the connection completely."
Yuhao activated his All-Seeing Library. What he saw made his stomach twist. Each person looked like a cluster of grey, stalled energy. Their internal movement had been choked by a heavy, black decay that spread through the air like rust.
"It's him," Yuhao said, his voice shaking slightly. "I can see the trail he left behind. It looks like rust floating in the air."
They walked deeper into the village. The sight grew heavier with every step. Two children were frozen mid-run, a dog was stuck forever in the middle of barking at nothing, and an old man sat on a bench with an unlit pipe still in his mouth. Everything was perfectly preserved in that single moment of horror.
Lakan, watching through his professor shell, felt a familiar irritation rise in his chest. He remembered the frustration of seeing a computer freeze back on Earth — the sudden loss of everything you were working on. But this was far worse. This was happening to living people. It felt like a deep violation of the world he had tried to build.
'He's not just hurting them,' Lakan thought. 'He's treating their lives like useless clutter he can simply pause.'
"Professor, look over there," Ma Xiaotao said, pointing toward the village square.
The grey dust was thickest in the center. It wasn't just covering the people — it was eating away at the protective Baybayin markings on the old boundary stones. The characters meant to guard "Life" and "Movement" were being overwritten by jagged black lines that looked like thorns.
"It's the same corrupting markings he used on me," Tang Ya said quietly. Her new emerald wrist guards pulsed with soft protective light.
•••••••••
A shadow moved near the old village temple.
Chen Feng stepped into view. He no longer looked like a student. His skin was dull charcoal black, and his eyes were empty pits. He carried the Scythe of Decay, the blade humming with a low, unpleasant sound like distant whispers.
"You're late," Chen Feng said. His voice had no emotion left — it was flat and mechanical. "I've already finished the first round here. The people gave me plenty of energy. Fear is very useful."
"Chen Feng, stop this!" Yuhao shouted, stepping forward. "These people didn't do anything to you! Why are you hurting them?"
Chen Feng tilted his head in a stiff, unnatural way. "They don't matter. I need more power to face the Phoenix. By taking their will to live, I'm making this area better for my new markings. You should thank me, Yuhao. I'm removing the unnecessary noise."
"You're a monster," Ma Xiaotao hissed. Her phoenix flames tried to rise, but they flickered weakly. The air in the village had almost no energy left for her fire to burn.
"Fire needs movement and friction," Chen Feng said, raising his scythe. "I've taken all of that away. Your skills have nothing to hold onto here."
He moved without warning. One moment he was standing still, the next he appeared right in front of Xiaotao. He swung the scythe in a wide arc. Xiaotao barely raised her arm in time. Her Rainbow Skin glowed brightly, but when the black blade hit, a burst of dark energy drained into her. She cried out in pain as her body staggered.
"Xiaotao!" Tang Ya shouted. She sent her emerald vines surging forward, but the moment they got close to Chen Feng, they turned grey and snapped apart.
"Yuhao, look for the pause in his movements!" Electrolux urged inside Yuhao's mind. "He's fast, but he's still following a fixed pattern. He's not truly alive — he's just carrying out orders. Find the small gap between his actions!"
Yuhao's eyes burned violet. The All-Seeing Library spread out like a grid over the square. He saw Chen Feng's attacks were precise, but there was a tiny delay — a fraction of a second where the scythe had to reset before the next strike.
"Now!" Yuhao called. "Xiaotao, strike the ground near his feet! Tang Ya, don't attack him directly — wrap the ground and create more resistance!"
Xiaotao slammed her fist into the dirt, releasing a burst of raw heat that kicked up a cloud of steam and dust. Chen Feng's empty eyes flickered for a moment as his corrupted system tried to adjust.
In that brief pause, Tang Ya's emerald vines spread across the ground like a net, rooting into the shadows and increasing the natural resistance of the area.
Chen Feng stumbled. His body, built for a world without resistance, suddenly found itself struggling in thick friction. His movements became slightly jerky.
[Warning: Visual Obstruction. Re-calculating...]
"Enough!" Chen Feng's voice distorted with anger.
He slammed the butt of his scythe into the ground. A wide wave of dark, draining energy erupted outward. It wasn't a physical attack — it was a heavy corrupting force meant to shut down every spirit tool and vessel in the village.
"Look out!" Yuhao cried, dropping to one knee as the pressure hit him hard.
The dark wave rushed toward the students like a wall of shadows. But when it reached the spot where Professor Lakas stood, it simply stopped.
Lakas didn't move. He didn't draw a weapon. He just stood there calmly with his hands in his pockets.
Hidden inside his shell, ancient stabilizing markings activated. The corrupting wave hit them and dissolved away harmlessly, like water disappearing into sand.
"What?" Chen Feng's eyes widened for a moment, a flicker of confusion breaking through his emptiness. "My scythe… it didn't work on you. Why?"
"Maybe you should try a different approach, kid," Lakas said casually, yawning. "That one was pretty basic. Too focused on breaking things, not enough on actually working."
Chen Feng growled and raised his scythe again, but the ground beneath him began to shake.
The grey statues of the villagers started vibrating. Yuhao felt a strong pull on his soul — not physical, but like hundreds of quiet voices whispering for help.
"The Library… it's connecting to them," Yuhao gasped.
He realized the villagers weren't truly gone. Their wills had just been locked away in the grey dust. If he could create a bridge, they could fight back.
"Xiaotao, Tang Ya! Lend me your energy!" Yuhao reached out.
The two girls placed their hands on his shoulders and poured what they had left into him — Xiaotao's warm phoenix fire and Tang Ya's steady emerald life force.
Yuhao didn't attack Chen Feng directly. He reached into the air and began chanting softly, his voice carrying the weight of the All-Seeing Library. He wasn't using a normal skill — he was trying to wake the village itself.
"ᜊ… ᜎ… ᜐ…" (Ba… La… Sa…)
The markings for stability, light, and spark.
Violet light poured from Yuhao's eyes and spread across the village. For a moment, nothing happened. Then a single grey child blinked.
The grey dust began flaking off the villagers like old paint. One by one, they started moving again — confused, scared, but alive.
"No!" Chen Feng shouted. His scythe dimmed as the energy he had stolen was pulled back. The black decay on his skin started cracking.
[Warning: Resource Loss. Efficiency dropping below 20%.]
"This village is useless now," Chen Feng hissed. He glared at Yuhao with pure hatred. "You've only delayed things. The Source is still growing. The Holy Ghost Cult knows about you. They know you're the one protecting this world."
He didn't wait for a counterattack. He swung his scythe in a wide circle, tearing open a jagged rift in the air. A temporary passage back to the Slaughter City ruins.
"Next time, I won't stop at one village," his distorted voice echoed as he stepped through. "I'll take the Academy. I'll take everything."
The rift snapped shut, leaving the square in sudden silence.
The villagers slowly came back to life, stumbling and looking around in fear and confusion.
Yuhao collapsed onto the ground, his face hitting the dirt. His body was exhausted, his meridians burning from the strain.
Ma Xiaotao sat down beside him. She pulled a slightly squashed plum from her pocket, wiped it on her sleeve, and offered it to him.
"It's a bit bruised," she said softly, her voice cracking. "But it's real. It's not stone."
Yuhao took a bite. The simple sweet-tart taste felt like the best thing in the world after everything they had seen.
Professor Lakas walked over and looked down at the three exhausted students. He adjusted his crooked glasses and gave a tired smile.
"Not bad, kids," he said lightly. "You didn't die. That counts as a win in my book."
"Professor," Tang Ya asked, looking at the recovering villagers. "Who is really behind that boy? Who gave him that scythe?"
Lakas gazed toward the distant mountains, his expression turning serious for a moment.
"Someone who should have stayed in the past," he replied. "But don't worry about him yet. You still have a lot of training to do before we face the real problem."
He looked up at the sky where the first stars were appearing.
"Anyway," Lakas sighed, "the carriage is still working. Let's head back. I'm hungry, and I think the cafeteria is serving that mystery stew again tonight."
••••••
Back on the Phoenix God Star, Lakan stood up and stretched. His biological shell was now resting quietly in the carriage.
"He's getting stronger, Nana," Lakan said to Gu Yuena. "Chen Feng is actually learning how to work around my rules. He's finding the quiet places where my markings are weaker."
"And the people behind him?" she asked.
"They're becoming a real headache," Lakan replied, picking up a small wooden bird he had carved long ago. "They think they can use decay to break my laws. They don't understand that I didn't just create the song — I built the entire orchestra."
He looked out at the vast world he had made.
"The field trip worked," he said with a small smile. "They've seen the darkness. Now we'll see if they have the courage to create their own light."
End of Volume 2, Chapter 20