Chapter 219

The birthday fireworks belonging to the eighteen-year-old Ye Zheng illuminated nearly half the night sky. Ye Zheng stood silently amidst the shattered remains of the ruined palace for a long while, quietly admiring the spectacle before finally turning to search for her companions.

After taking several steps, Ye Zheng’s footsteps halted ever so slightly. She tentatively called out within her mind, “Mercè?”

『I’m here.』Mercè’s voice finally answered.

“What happened just now? I suddenly couldn’t sense your presence at all.”

『Ah… Perhaps it was because, at the very moment I recognized him through your eyes, he also recognized me.』

Ye Zheng’s eyes darkened faintly. She spoke that name once again, 『Vincent… Aston XIV, the man who should’ve died long ago.』

“So he truly did know about your existence,” Ye Zheng said calmly.

『We were enemies for more than half our lives. I could recognize that nauseating expression with a single glance.』

Mercè asked with a trace of curiosity, 『How did you figure out it was him?』

“There were too many suspicious points. Ever since Aston XIV, every emperor in each successive generation has possessed golden hair and golden eyes. Rather than a hereditary trait, it feels more like a kind of soul imprint. Bai Muqing also told me before that the emperor’s soul felt extremely strange…”

“If Aston XIV really was the one who created the Demonic Dragon and the Aberrant Realms, then a man like him could never willingly accept an ordinary, mediocre death like anyone else.”

“I’d always harbored suspicions. It wasn’t until the emperor casually showed me that painting of Count Lu'An that I realized he was deliberately testing me. The moment he tried to probe me, I became completely certain of his identity.”

Back then, Mercè had been assassinated by people dispatched by the emperor. The inheritance of 【Mother of All Things】 and the Hope Project had always been secretly manipulated behind the scenes by the royal family. Aston XIV, who had lived for five entire centuries, likely understood 【Mother of All Things】 even more thoroughly than the successive Popes themselves. So the moment she entered that room, he’d used some unknown method to block Mercè’s consciousness. He had already guessed at her existence from the very beginning. 

He feared that Mercè would recognize him, would see through the façade and glimpse the rotten, putrid soul festering beneath it.

“Mercè, does Aston XIV possess an ability?” Ye Zheng hadn’t found any record of it in the history books, nor did Mercè’s memories contain a single instance of that man ever using one.

『No. He publicly claimed that he doesn’t, and I’ve never sensed any energy fluctuations coming from him.』

『But he definitely possesses some kind of unusual power.』Mercè spoke with unwavering certainty. After years of clashing with him, she could sense the profound dissonance radiating from his very existence.

Ye Zheng sank into contemplative silence. If even 【Mother of All Things】 was incapable of detecting his ability, then either his power surpassed that of 【Mother of All Things】, or… his special power wasn’t an innate ability at all. It didn’t reside within his body, but was instead bound to some kind of object?

Regardless, she had at least uncovered the Emperor’s true purpose for creating Sykes.

The moment Sykes appeared with his golden hair and golden eyes, he’d already become the Emperor’s chosen next vessel: young, powerful, and strikingly handsome. A body that could only be described as perfect.

『You already killed that little monster?』 Mercè asked.』

『Where’s his corpse? I’m very curious. That man spent five hundred years plotting for the sake of his own selfish desires. What exactly did he create?』

Mercè’s mocking words triggered something in Ye Zheng’s mind. Her eyes abruptly widened, and a fierce blaze of anger ignited within them, burning startlingly bright against the darkness.

“So the real reason he spearheaded the Hope Project was to create a body for himself that surpasses human flesh?”

『…Based on my understanding of him, even if there were other motives, everything he did for himself was always his highest priority.』 Mercè let out a quiet sigh.

It was already infuriating enough that countless people had been sacrificed for the vague promise of some future savior. But the truth was even crueler. The endless sacrifices demanded by the Hope Project, the people who stepped forward one after another, had merely existed to satisfy the grotesque and selfish desires of an undying ghost?

Ye Zheng turned her head and saw that, in the distance, atop the mound of the black dragon’s dismembered remains, knights were carrying away the now-cold corpse. The Emperor stood there silently watching them, his thoughts utterly impossible to read.

“I should’ve crushed that body back then and left him with nothing.”

Ye Zheng’s voice was soft and quiet.

Mercè followed Ye Zheng’s line of sight and immediately understood what had transpired during her absence. Ye Zheng’s answer drew a faint smile from her despite the lingering heaviness in the air. Although they hadn’t managed to obtain that immensely valuable body for research, Ye Zheng had already accomplished more than enough.

『After all, you’re still the Papess. It wouldn’t do to leave behind too brutal an impression in front of everyone.』

“…But for certain people, only methods ruthless enough can truly keep them suppressed.”

Mercè fell into thought. She’d suffered in the past precisely because she’d been too hesitant. In every confrontation with the imperial family, she’d always weighed every angle with caution, only to have the other side strike first.

How humiliating. She hadn’t taught Ye Zheng very much, yet this junior had instead taught her countless truths through her own actions.

“It’s fine. I already obtained the most important thing from Sykes’ body.”

Ye Zheng withdrew her gaze and walked deeper into the ruins.

She saw her mother and the others stepping across the shattered debris, approaching her beneath the moonlight.

Shu Wan quickened her steps and ran toward her, pulling Ye Zheng into a tight embrace.

“Happy birthday, Zhengzheng.”

“You’re an adult now.”

After surviving such a perilous moment, a thousand unspoken words lodged themselves in her throat, ultimately condensing into the most heartfelt birthday blessing and the sincerest sigh from the depths of her heart.

Ye Zheng let her exhausted body lean against her mother, slowly drawing in her warmth. Shu Wan gently stroked her cheek, finding the feeling indescribably wondrous. Such a child had truly come from her. From a tiny infant to the person standing before her now, it really was a miracle.

“Mother, do you still have that bone with you?”

Shu Wan took out a section of bone and handed it to Ye Zheng. The bone carried a faint warmth. “I kept it safe, just like you told me to.”

“It was a little… magical? When I activated my ability, it started heating up, and I could feel my ability becoming stronger than usual. It probably wasn’t just my imagination.”

Shu Wan recalled that moment. The sensation had felt like returning to the height of her power in her youth, back to the S-Class strength she’d possessed before giving birth. Without this bone, she probably wouldn’t have been able to coordinate so seamlessly with Ye Zheng and the others just now.

Ye Zheng clenched it tightly, sensing the lingering warmth within it. Unlike the dragon bone fragments she’d acquired before, she could feel that this “human bone” belonging to the Demonic Dragon contained a certain vitality.

Ye Zheng wasn’t surprised that this bone could amplify abilities. Dragon bone fragments had always possessed such effects. However, her mother shouldn’t have been able to actively establish an energy connection with it. That could only mean this bone, the remains of Empress Margaret from five hundred years ago, had willingly chosen to aid them.

Ye Zheng carefully stored it away. The Emperor probably still didn’t know that this bone had already fallen into her hands.

“We need to leave quickly.”

A cool night breeze swept past them. Then a voice even colder than the night wind drifted softly through the darkness. “Your Holiness the Papess, don’t forget about me.”

Wu Shu emerged soundlessly from the shadows. Even at a distance, Ye Zheng could already smell the heavy scent of blood clinging to her.

Only then did Ye Zheng remember the protagonist team she had almost forgotten about.

“Come here, Wu Shu.”

Noticing that both of Wu Shu’s hands were empty, Ye Zheng reached out and took one of them. Streams of water climbed along Wu Shu’s forearm, steadily healing the injuries across her body.

The two of them were nearly the same height. Wu Shu leaned close to Ye Zheng’s ear and whispered, “I couldn’t get that thing. Is that going to be a big problem?”

Ye Zheng smiled faintly. “If you’d actually managed to get it, that’s when I would’ve been shocked.”

That divine sword possessed a consciousness of its own. Judging from the situation, it wasn’t just rejecting her. Wu Shu was unable to claim it as well.

【Stream】 continued penetrating deeper into her wounds. The smile gradually disappeared from Ye Zheng’s face. “I never ordered you to obtain that sword at all costs. Aren’t you supposed to be very smart?”

Then how had she ended up covered in so many injuries?

Wu Shu leaned half against Ye Zheng and spoke softly. “I am very smart. I came up with a perfect solution. If I killed the sword’s owner, then it wouldn’t be able to refuse me anymore, right?”

“…Very smart.” Ye Zheng said nothing further and merely patted Wu Shu on the head.

Most of the vast imperial palace had already been reduced to ruins, with only a few structures along the outer edges still standing intact. The group headed toward the palace gates. From a distance, Ye Zheng spotted a dense mass of people gathered beneath the city walls.

The Aberrant Realm had already dissipated. So why were these people still assembled here?

As they drew closer, Ye Zheng realized that everyone wore expressions of utter confusion, almost numb with shock. Many people were crouched in corners, clutching their heads as they trembled uncontrollably. These nobles, who were usually elegant and composed, now resembled frightened quails.

It was as though they had no awareness whatsoever that the crisis had already been temporarily resolved.

At that moment, Ye Zheng found the situation somewhat strange. She swept her gaze across the area and realized that no one was taking command of the scene. When someone noticed her arrival, they merely stared blankly before calling out, “Papess.”

Ye Zheng looked around once more and noticed scorched traces everywhere, with the ground ripped apart in multiple places. This was already the outer edge of the imperial palace. Her battle with Sykes shouldn’t have reached this far.

It looked as though someone else had fought here not long ago.

Suddenly, Ye Zheng caught sight of a familiar face. She walked over, lowered her gaze, and looked at Bai Mulin, who sat on the ground with his head clutched in his hands, then said:

“Knight, lift your head and tell me what happened here.”

The Aberrant Realm had already been dispelled, yet Wende and the others still had not come forward to receive her.