Chapter 63: Don’t Look Back

Chapter 63: Don’t look back.

Yi Jyuhan and Xue Lan ran through the corridor, following the marks of the wheelbarrow. In their line of sight, a large gateway that opened to a hall appeared.

From the entrance, both of them burst inside the hall. Xue Lan swept his gaze over the hall, finally landing on the Curator. "That really was a clone..."

Yi Jyuhan stepped forward. He looked at the group, now lying and scattered around the hallway; they had been defeated by the Curator alone.

Xue Lan stared at the Curator, who stood in front of the large monstrosity.

Yi Jyuhan focused on the son; the grotesque shape had gotten slashed multiple times, and yet it always regenerated. They couldn’t kill it; they had truly lost.

All of them looked at Yi Jyuhan and Xue Lan, standing at the doorway. The Curator turned his gaze toward both of them and said, "So you have returned. I hope you had fun fighting my puppet."

The Curator’s words hung in the air for a few heartbeats. His dark eyes swept over the exhausted group.

Yi Jyuhan stepped forward, his fan trembling in his grip. "How did you..."

The Curator’s smile widened. "That was all the plan made by the Mistress of Misfortune. She knew you’d try to stop, but how unfortunate that she didn’t survive."

Xue Lan’s gaze fell upon the God. "That’s your God’s bastard."

"Call it whatever you want." The Curator spread his arms wide. "The adaptation is complete. The vessel can now hold Him. The only thing left is..." He paused. His head tilted, as if listening to something no one else could hear.

The God twisted its body. The gray eyes flared in an ethereal glow, like a gray star was dying.

The pressure in the hall became unbearable. Yi Jyuhan felt that in his lungs, the air that had been smoothed moments ago had begun to thicken again.

"My God," the Curator whispered.

Mo Fei pressed himself against the pillar, his heart pounding. The Divine Serpent’s voice was a frantic hiss in his mind. "Great master... You must flee. This is beyond your current power."

"You are telling me to leave everyone?"

"Great master, you can return any time. Fighting against a God in your current Ordinal is beyond the limit. Your life is–"

"Is not that self-centered." Mo Fei pushed himself upright, and hands found the Glaive. His legs shook, but he almost stepped out from behind the pillar.

"Mo Fei!" Alisa grabbed his arm backward. "Don’t be ridiculous; wait here."

He didn’t answer. His eyes were fixed on the Hanged God... the corrupted, ancient being that had just awakened.

That was it...

What Yi Jyuhan had feared happened.

The cosmic gazes fell upon them. The pillars shrunk by the weight of the attention; the God’s return had brought the other deities’ focus.

The ground beneath them turned distorted, almost as if shrinking into a void. The Gods were watching them, Yi Jyuhan gulped; his head snapped at the ceiling. The roof was gone, opening in a field of open sky. The stars were different now; they were dark, hidden by a thin veil.

The Curator tilted his head up toward the sky. His eyes saw all the stars and the thin veil.

A hint that the Gods would come anytime once the true God completely took over the vessel.

"Great master, close your eyes." The Serpent spoke in his head, a warning that ran through every part of his body.

Mo Fei quickly shut his Apprentice’s eyes, he knew what happened last time when he tried to look upon a God.

Yi Jyuhan stepped forward. "Stop this already; look over you. The Gods are here; it’s meaningless! They’ll kill your God again, and you can’t fight them!"

"So what? It only proves that the Gods fear him."

"They fear his corruption! Not him." Yi Jyuhan grunted. "If you won’t stop, then the Gods will arrive, and their presence will destroy the whole city or even more than that!"

"I have no interest in human life. Moreover, I’m not here to play the evil. It’s none of your concern." The Curator turned his attention back to the God.

From behind them, the royal guards entered. They looked at the son, and then their gaze met the scattered group. Uro stepped forward. "We won?"

Mi Shon briefly glanced at him. "Yes."

Xue Lan walked toward the Curator, his expression unreadable. "Yi Jyuhan, finish the God. I’ll hold him."

Yi Jyuhan paced his eyes around, wondering what to do. "Don’t be reckless. You can’t hold him alone."

"I still have two seconds left." Xue Lan didn’t stop and stood behind the Curator. "Do it now."

Riyoshi groaned; his hand found the wall as he tried to stand. Zhuo also pushed himself up but fell back. Riyoshi said, "Don’t go there, Xue Lan."

"I’m not interested in talks." Xue Lan finally stopped; the Curator turned to face him but stayed calm and emotionless.

Mi Shon drew his chain of bones out. "I’ll fight him."

The Curator raised his finger. Mi Shon stopped in his tracks, brows furrowing. "Lord Shangguan, why?"

Shangguan pulled out his spine-sword, standing against Xue Lan. Yi Jyuhan from behind watched the fight unfold.

The group prepared themselves, looking at the royal guards. Their expressions were grim; that was the final confrontation.

Two butterflies flew by the tree. One was light blue and another was purple, both outlined by black stripes. They circled a plant, a carnivorous plant.

Finally, Yi Jyuhan lunged toward the God; at the same time, Xue Lan launched forward, his dagger moving free. The Curator stood still; when the blade reached his chest, he swiftly sidestepped his shoulder and avoided the blade.

Xue Lan twisted in midair and launched a kick on Shangguan. The winged bone stretched, stopping his kick instantly. Then, with an air-slashing movement, the Curator swung the spine-blade.

The attack went through Xue Lan’s body, like hitting a mist.

Yi Jyuhan stopped near the God, its body reshaping itself. Now there were smaller hands, almost as if returning in the body again.

He jumped, his fan aimed at its heart. The God’s gaze fell on Yi Jyuhan, and with a slow, deliberate movement, the bones came in defense.

Yi Jyuhan swung his fan and shifted the gravity. Its hand dropped low, and then Yi Jyuhan slashed down its chest. Just at that moment, the God’s scream faded in a calm whisper. The former mad roars became silent; Yi Jyuhan twisted his wrist and thrust the fan deeper.

Squeeze!

The tentacle wrapped around his waist. The two humanoid hands reached out slowly toward him, the jaws opening together.

The power had increased, or should they call it, the control over the vessel had increased. ’He’ could move it freely now. Yi Jyuhan grunted as an attempt to escape, but it fell flat. The tentacle tightened around him, squeezing his body too hard that it almost broke his bones.

Xue Lan’s focus shifted toward Yi Jyuhan, seeing him get caught. His expression faltered slightly for a moment.

The Curator didn’t wait any longer; his winged bones launched toward him. One bone pierced through his guts, and another two stretched widely, turning into a cage of bones. Xue Lan was caught inside like a bird; his body didn’t turn into a moth...

Shangguan let out a small chuckle, lifting the cage. "Can’t escape? Well, now you are a normal human inside the cage."

Xue Lan’s eyes widened; that thing had nullified his authority. He turned to look at Yi Jyuhan again. He pressed his hands against the bone cage tightly. Thorns came out of the bone, yet he clenched it tightly, ignoring the blood on his soft hands.

He reached through the bars, his fingers barely fitting; he tried twisting the bone, but only pain followed. The Curator glanced back, surprised.

"Futile attempt."

The jaws in the God’s hand opened with a clatter, then closed again. Finally, the hands moved toward him.

Riyoshi clenched his shoulder; without wasting a second, he rushed toward Yi Jyuhan. "No!" He shouted in urgency, his boots clicking against the floor. "Yi Jyuhan!"

He jumped.

And at that same moment.

Crunch!

One of the jaws bit into his right hand that held the fan. Yi Jyuhan’s breath hitched, his eyes wide, staring down at his arm that had been plucked out. The mouth ate the hand instantly, then shot out toward him. That time to devour him entirely.

Slash!

Riyoshi’s blade sank into the tentacle again and again. The God’s grip loosened and let go of Yi Jyuhan. But the God’s fury turned on Riyoshi. The hands shot out toward him; the tentacle caught his waist, lifting him into the air. The mantis claws rose, gleaming in the gray light.

Riyoshi looked down at Yi Jyuhan, bleeding on the ground. At Lin, struggling to stand. At Jian Yue, still holding his blade. At Mo Fei, hidden behind the pillar but watching, then at Jim and Zhuo.

His grip on his blade loosened.

Clatter...

With a soft metallic sound, the blade hit the ground.

"Don’t look back," Riyoshi whispered.

Yi Jyuhan fell on the ground with a loud thud. His vision became blurry, the blood coming out of his shoulder. The entire arm had been eaten...

He quickly focused back on Riyoshi in the God’s grip.

Crunch!!

At that same moment, the twin butterflies ended their dizzying waltz, succumbing to a fatal gravity... the pale, sky-tinted butterfly sat on the highest point of the waiting hunger. Its wings fluttered slowly, but that achievement was the last.

The crimson flesh of the plant yawned open, revealing a hidden, skeletal jaw that burst out with a yearning hunger. It swallowed the light blue winged butterfly whole. A gentle, ruinous crunch broke the silence, leaving the remaining butterfly to dance alone in the quiet air.

...