Chapter 470: Evil God Festival · Houseboat (End) |
At the instant the task prompt popped up, Spades’s whip lashed out without a moment’s hesitation, its sharp tip pointing straight at the heart of Tawil, who was suspended in the water!
Bai Liu spun in the water, his gaze sharp as he blocked the space in front of Tawil, raising his whip to parry Spades’s incoming strike.
Spades’s whip slammed into Bai Liu’s whip body. Bai Liu was pushed back a section by the immense force of the strike, leaning into the chest of Tawil behind him. Dense bubbles emerged from between his clenched teeth, drifting upward through his flowing long hair.
Tawil’s body was nudged slightly. His silver long hair entangled with Bai Liu’s black hair. The originally motionless Tawil slowly lifted his hanging head.
His silver-blue eyes were covered by layers of silk thread, yet he still reached out his arms to embrace Bai Liu, who had fallen into his chest.
The inverted-cross pendant at Tawil’s collar suddenly glowed intensely. Within this dazzling white light, a water-ripple air barrier formed around Bai Liu, allowing him to breathe smoothly underwater.
“Bai Liu?” he asked softly in Bai Liu’s ear, “Is it you?”
Bai Liu said very softly, “It’s me.”
“I’ve come to find you.”
*(T/N: So like, they can just talk underwater?)*
Spades’s whip lashed out unexpectedly again. Just as Bai Liu raised his hand to block, Tawil pulled him behind his back to shield him. With a faint expression, Tawil raised his right hand in front of him and opened his fingers. Water ripples mixed with a white halo spread out in layers from his palm, forming a milky-white hazy water barrier that blocked the whip Spades swung down.
The glowing water ripples expanded in circles, like a wind blowing from nowhere in the sea, blowing back the short hair of Spades and the long hair of Tawil as they confronted each other on opposite sides of the barrier. The two identical faces stared at each other through the barrier, both possessing the same calm expression.
“Won’t you admit defeat?” the blindfolded Tawil asked softly.
Spades’s face was devoid of emotion. “I won’t.”
His whip lifted and lashed down sharply, pressing against the water barrier with a force that almost tore through space and time. The strength was directed at Tawil on the other side of the water wall, but his eyes were fixed unblinkingly on Bai Liu’s face behind Tawil.
“I won’t admit it,” Spades said word by word. “I want to win against Bai Liu.”
“I want to sacrifice you, and then become his most qualified souvenir.”
Cracks appeared in the water ripple wall.
Tawil’s brows didn’t move, and he countered in a peaceful voice, “Do you know whose souvenir you are?”
Spades looked through the cracked water wall at the indifferent Tawil. At the moment Tawil’s water wall shattered, he saw Bai Liu pull Tawil behind him without hesitation, the whip in his hand transforming into a short knife, spinning as it stabbed toward him behind the water wall.
The short knife grazed Spades’s cheek. Blood spilled from the linear wound, blurring into the seawater.
A rare look of blankness appeared on Spades’s face.
He could have dodged that moment, but for some reason, when he saw the look in Bai Liu’s eyes as he stared at him, the bullet wound behind Spades’s waist suddenly throbbed with pain, causing him to fail to dodge the knife Bai Liu thrust at him.
While protecting Tawil, Bai Liu’s pitch-black eyes stared at him with nothing in them, as if he didn’t even exist in his eyes.
The moment Bai Liu swung that knife, the silk threads wrapped around Tawil’s right wrist vanished. Simultaneously, a silk thread was tied around Spades’s right wrist.
“The pain between you and me is constant,” Tawil’s voice was blurred and ethereal in the water, echoing only in Spades’s ear across the water wall. “How much happiness I feel because of Bai Liu’s love for me is how much pain you will feel.”
“How much happiness you would feel because of Bai Liu’s love for you is how much pain I would feel because of it.”
“One of us must be the god’s sacrifice, Bai Liu’s [Anchor], the sacrificed offering.”
*(T/N: YOU’RE THE SAME PERSON DAMNIT)*
Bai Liu pressed on step by step; Spades retreated continuously. Blood red constantly blurred in the water. For every step Bai Liu took to stand in front of Tawil, one more silk thread appeared on Tawil, and one more silk thread wrapped around Spades.
As more of these silk threads called “pain” wrapped around him, Spades’s movements became slower, and he became more susceptible to injury from Bai Liu’s attacks. Finally, Spades was almost entirely bundled into a cocoon by the silk threads, suspended beneath the undersea shrine, replacing the previous anchor to become the new one.
The other end of these silk threads was connected to the ship-shaped shrine, causing Spades to bear the heavy weight of this [Pain] and the weight of that massive undersea shrine simultaneously.
Underwater, Spades used all his strength to lift his head. Through the silk threads, he stared at Tawil, who stood before him completely freed from the silk restraints, embracing Bai Liu and smiling at him.
Tawil looked down at him like a deity, his eyes full of pity. “Do you understand now?”
“You can never win against me.”
“I… don’t understand,” Spades said hoarsely, trapped in [Pain]. “But I must win against you!”
He spread his arms wildly. The tightly bound silk threads cut into his flesh and bone, and blood surged from the wounds. Spades looked at Tawil’s silver-blue eyes. His consciousness blurred slightly, and he couldn’t stop himself from sinking downward.
So heavy.
He had never carried such a heavy thing before. He didn’t even bring items when he played matches because he disliked the weight and how it made his movements uncomfortable.
So [Pain] is such a heavy thing.
From the moment Spades was born, he had never experienced something like [Pain].
The joys, angers, sorrows, and delights of humans lacked a link to be experienced by him. Embracing and weeping after victory, howling in pain after losing a loved one, the joy and happiness of being understood—he didn’t understand any of it.
Even when he was once surrounded by the center of victory, pain, and desire, he was like a monster isolated from these emotions; when he reached out to touch these emotions, they were always strange and odd.
His only obsession was when he was born in Siren Town: a strange man with a long ponytail and a white shirt was smiling at him with his back to the light. The features on his face were blurred and unclear. He reached out and handed him a black bone whip.
“This is a relic of your predecessor. I am returning it to its original owner.”
Spades looked up at this strange man. He opened his mouth—at that time, he couldn’t speak yet, only making an untuned syllable.
The man smiled and knelt down, looking down at Spades who was crawling on the ground. “The sole purpose for which I allowed you to be born—”
“—is that you will use your victory and existence to make people suffer.”
“Hearts of pain are all black,” the man chuckled, placing the black bone whip beside his head. “Let’s call you Spades.”
So this was what that man wanted him to do.
So this is [Pain].
Spades slowly dropped his eyelids, his body bound and falling downward. He opened his mouth, and countless bubbles rose past his face.
…When Bai Liu is in pain, is it also this difficult?
“Spades.”
“Wake up.”
“Don’t indulge in the illusion of pain.”
A white bone whip pierced through the seawater like a bolt of lightning. The water wall in front of Spades was shattered. He snapped back to his senses. In front of him was no longer that smiling deity Tawil holding Bai Liu, but the Tawil who gazed at him without sorrow or joy behind the water wall.
Tawil’s silver-blue eyes looked calmly at Spades.
“Your desire for Bai Liu has become so strong that you are being influenced by the [Door] in my eyes.”
“Before this, your mental value had never dropped, had it?”
>[System Warning: Player Spades’s mental value has dropped to 20! Please be careful not to be misled by illusions generated in your subconscious!]
Spades didn’t answer Tawil. Instead, without a trace of emotion on his face, he raised his hand and smashed it fiercely against the water wall. His voice carried a stubborn hoarseness: “I want to win!!”
Bai Liu transformed the whip into a knife and thrust it out from behind the water wall. Just like in Spades’s hallucination just now, he aimed straight for Spades’s face without hesitation!
Silk threads instantly snared Spades’s right hand. His whip and Bai Liu’s short knife collided against Tawil’s water wall, erupting in a massive light and gale. Neither man retreated; instead, they charged forward with even more force, their weapons pressing against each other. Their expressions were nearly distorted as they let out roars.
“Lose for me!!”
“I want to—win!!”
Outside the big screen.
The host slowly lowered the microphone, mouth agape. He was stunned, unable even to provide commentary.
The entire audience was dead silent. It was almost impossible to imagine this was a match with the largest audience since the mid-season.
Mu Shicheng looked at Bai Liu on the screen in a daze, almost doubting himself.
That person screaming at the top of his lungs… is that Bai Liu?
Bai Yi was completely stunned.
He had never seen Spades fight so hard, pursuing victory in such a disheveled state.
These two people, who were usually calm and composed outside, were slaughtering each other recklessly at the end of this game for a victory that led to who-knows-where. Their fighting style was even rather unsightly—punching, kicking, biting each other’s arms without letting go, kicking shins, smashing the back of necks—they had completely lost all technique.
—They were like two little boys tearing at each other in a game, wanting to win against the other.
During the scuffle, silk threads were constantly generated on Bai Liu and Spades’s bodies, connecting to the shrine. They were pulled by these threads, appearing like puppets controlled by a deity. But this savage appearance of struggling against the threads to attack each other made them look like two puppets who had developed their own consciousness and wanted to escape control.
The two men were pushed back after another strike.
Bai Liu’s body was covered in a layer of film. His chest heaved violently. From the end of his left eyebrow to the corner of his right lip were various wounds; some were deep enough to show bone and were seeping blood. His shoulders, neck, and back were all connected to silk threads.
He reached up to wipe the blood from his mouth, his eyes staring straight at Spades opposite him.
Spades’s breathing was very rapid. He held his bone whip in a reverse grip, still with that expressionless face, but his face had been beaten black and blue by Bai Liu. Silk threads were connected to his right and left wrists.
Tawil was suspended between the two.
The two men exchanged a glance and, in unison, turned and raised their bone whips, charging fiercely toward Tawil in the middle once again!
“I want to sacrifice him!!” Spades shouted hoarsely. He held his whip high, slashing across Bai Liu’s shoulder, his eyes showing a desperate stubbornness. “Move!!”
Bai Liu’s shoulder was directly broken by Spades’s whip. The whip he was holding fell to the seabed. He bit down hard on Spades’s wrist in a fit of rage, his teeth sinking into the skin as he let out a muffled roar through the bloody mess: “I won’t allow it!!!”
Spades gritted his teeth. He let go of his whip and raised his fist to smash Bai Liu’s right eye. Bai Liu let go with his teeth, tilting his head to dodge, and simultaneously kicked Spades’s knee.
The two men tumbled downward together.
Spades bared his teeth and bit hard into Bai Liu’s shoulder.
*(T/N: wtffffffff)*
He felt Bai Liu’s shoulder tremble from the pain. He felt that wound behind his waist throb so much his brain felt like it was about to explode.
He felt that in this cold seawater, his eyes were heating up for some reason.
So many game victories were probably because of Bai Six’s initial verdict on his fate, making him subconsciously pursue victory and choose the ending that caused everyone pain.
Only this match, only this one—
He was enduring the pain himself, he was the one who wanted to win!!
Spades’s expression was distorted as he bit down hard, biting until Bai Liu’s shoulder was deformed and bleeding. Bai Liu let out a muffled groan; he heard the sound of his own shoulder blade being crushed.
Without leaving Bai Liu a moment to recover, Spades slammed a fist into Bai Liu’s stomach, almost viciously punching Bai Liu into the seabed. On the right hand that punched Bai Liu, a transparent silk thread quickly grew. Spades didn’t stop; he quickly turned and swam upward to grab Tawil.
>[System Hint: Player Bai Liu has used player Mu Ke’s personal skill (Flash Strike).]
Bai Liu, who had lost the use of one hand, suddenly flashed and blocked the way in front of Tawil. He lifted his long hair soaked in blood and seawater, looking at Spades who had swum in front of him with a sinister gaze.
Time and again, time and again, losing to this person in such a horror game.
—And then losing his most important thing.
[Will you always play games with me in the future?]
[Mm.]
Xie Ta’s serious answer still echoed in Bai Liu’s ears.
Liar, it wasn’t like that at all.
If from then until now, I had won against you at least once, would it not have been like this?
—Would the person who became the Evil God have become me instead?
Bai Liu simply raised his hand, thrusting the knife into Spades’s chest with frantic force. He pressed the knife against Spades’s heart, turned the handle in a circle, and pulled it out.
A cloud of blood mist instantly erupted from Spades’s chest. A transparent silk thread was instantly tied to Bai Liu’s left hand that had stabbed with the knife.
The two men retreated half a step, riddled with wounds, but without waiting for a single breath from the opponent, they quickly closed in again, slaughtering each other at close range with whips like beasts that had unleashed their wild nature.
The rain on the sea surface gradually ceased.
Sitting on the small boat, Mifune looked at the shrine that had calmed down, and a look of joy couldn’t help but appear on his face. “Let’s go over and take a look. Perhaps the sacrifice has been successful, and we can make our wishes.”
“Yes.” The boatman bowed and began to row the boat.
The boatman rowed to the shrine, and Mifune jumped onto it steadily. Large fireworks suddenly exploded behind him, as brilliant as a starry sky of flowers in the night.
A servant beside him explained softly, “Mifune-sama, the rain has stopped now. The delayed fireworks display should be starting now.”
“The timing is just right.” Mifune shook his clothes and walked toward the messy altar, his face wearing an irrepressible look of triumph. “There should be such a lively background when making a wish.”
They had only taken a couple of steps when the entire shrine began to shake violently, as if something below was pulling it.
The servant screamed in fear. Mifune grabbed the stone lantern in front of the shrine with a look of consternation. “What’s going on?! The Evil God in my dream clearly told me I could safely make a wish soon…”
Before he could finish, the entire ship-shaped sea shrine flipped over!
Mifune fell directly into the sea!
He flailed his limbs in panic, large bubbles escaping from his mouth which was wide open in terror.
Beneath the sea surface, Bai Liu and Spades had fought to the point where they could hardly be recognized as human. Their bodies were covered in silk threads, and blood constantly spilled from wounds of all sizes across their bodies. They were in a tug-of-war, fighting over Tawil, who had once again been sealed by silk threads into a deep slumber.
Mifune fell above Tawil, frantically paddling his hands trying to get back to the surface. He clearly realized that if he were even grazed once by the fighting of these two, he would surely die.
But things went against his wishes. One of Bai Liu’s bone whips accurately wrapped around Mifune’s ankle, dragging him over like a water ball and tossing him toward Spades’s side to use him as a hindrance to delay the opponent.
And Spades did the exact same thing.
Mifune was tossed back and forth by these two like a beanbag and soon began to suffocate. His face turned purple as he clutched his own neck, kicking his legs wildly. His legs were caught by silk threads. Tawil was pulled downward a bit by the force of his kicking. The overturned ship-shaped shrine also completely submerged into the water at this moment, slowly sinking along with Tawil.
Bai Liu reached out to grab Tawil but was crudely interrupted by Spades. He didn’t catch Tawil, only grabbing the silk threads on Tawil’s body.
Spades pressed down on Bai Liu’s shoulder, using his back to block Bai Liu and pinning Bai Liu’s movement position to snatch the silk thread in Bai Liu’s hand.
Bai Liu suddenly took a deep breath, as if he had waited a long time for this exact moment when Spades’s back was close to him.
*(T/N: He… took a deep breath… under water??)*
In the instant before Spades realized what was happening, Bai Liu suddenly turned his head, closed his eyes, and kissed Spades.
Spades’s pupils shrank.
At the same time, Bai Liu pulled Tawil upward. He held Tawil’s hands and, in a manner that could be called cruel, restricted Spades’s movement, pushing Tawil into Spades’s body from behind.
Spades, who was being kissed by Bai Liu, had his pupils dilate instantly. He felt his heart leap heavily, and something was pushed into his mouth by Bai Liu.
It seemed to be a coin.
>[System Hint: Player Spades Soul Fusion]
>[System Hint: Detected that player Bai Liu has used the Soul Trade skill to trade for player Spades’s soul. The soul is now returned to its position. The trade voucher coin is on Spades’s person. The trade is now in effect.]
>[Player Bai Liu officially owns player Spades’s soul and has the authority to use player Spades’s system panel.]
>[Player Bai Liu uses Spades’s soul banknote to cut into player Spades’s system panel and prepares to click the game exit button.]
>[System Warning: Is player Bai Liu sure about clicking player Spades’s game exit button? Player Spades is currently in a match. Exiting defaults to admission of defeat and forfeit.]
>[Player Bai Liu confirms.]
>[System Hint: Player Spades has exited the game. The game is over.]
Fireworks blossomed in large clusters on the sea surface, brilliant and multicolored, making one dizzy. Beneath the sea, Mifune, bound by silk threads and having died with his eyes open, lay with his mouth wide open and a distorted, painful expression alongside the shrine resting at the bottom of the sea—as if he were the sacrifice meant to be offered tonight.
Inside the houseboat, Aoi looked at the disappearing sea shrine in the distance. She heard a voice echo in her ear.
That voice was a calm male voice, very gentle yet familiar, sounding like that Evil God named Tawil, and also like the voice of Bai Liu.
[God has granted your wish.]
[Someone has come to save you.]
Aoi leaned against the paper door of the houseboat, looking at the beautiful fireworks in the sky, her tears falling in a daze.
This sacrificial game that had tortured them was finally over?
*(T/N: ………………. Holy shit.)*
Viewing Gallery.
The moment the big screen went dark, the people from the Wandering Circus and Killer Sequence sitting on the benches all stood up at once, rushing to both sides of the screen.
Both sides of the big screen were player exit points. After the life-and-death slaughter just now, both Bai Liu and Spades were bound to be in poor condition and needed someone to receive them.
Sure enough, Bai Liu took one step out and collapsed on the second. Spades didn’t even walk; he collapsed straight down at the exit point.
Bai Liu was caught by Tang Erda and Mu Shicheng.
His face was pale, and he coughed violently several times. His body and hair were completely soaked in seawater, and a heavy smell of blood could be detected.
Over there, Liao Ke and Bai Yi were about to reach out to catch Spades when Liao Ke’s eyes sharply caught something. He pulled Bai Yi back several steps and shouted sternly, “Wait, don’t get close to Spades!!”
Spades, lying on the ground, coughed once and swayed, pushing himself up to a kneeling position with his elbows.
He slowly lifted his head.
The entire viewing gallery erupted with a massive alarm sound.
>[System Warning: Please all players move away from the pollution source quickly and use mental bleach to maintain your mental value!]
>[Detected top-tier pollution NPC escape in the game!!]
On Spades’s face, framed by wet, messy hair, was a pair of silver-blue eyes.
—
*(T/N: Sorry for so many notes these chapters but what the actual fuck is happening? I’m trying to make sense of it and often times you readers are way smarter than I am.
- We know that earlier in the shrine Tawil/Xie Ta agreed to sell his soul to Bai Liu and the coin was the medium.
- Spades was manipulated by Bai Six into believing that his soul, and Tawil’s soul, were two separate things. But in reality Spades is Tawil’s body and Xie Ta is Tawil’s… soul?
- Spades believed that in order to have Bai Liu (and keep his soul?), he had to get rid of Tawil?
- Bai Liu knew Bai Six was lying about everything.
- Bai Liu lured Spades into the water where Tawil was.
- Bai Liu bated Spades into this awful fight and… I guess made Spades believe he wanted Tawil more than him? Which made Spades frantic.
- All of this was designed by Bai Liu to get Spades and Tawil together.
- So then, once they touched, because Tawil’s body and soul were finally reunited, Bai Liu was able to use the soul contract, and the coin as the medium, to fuse the pair of them back together???
Idk ya’ll. This has me so stressed.)*
