Chapter 87

 『You killed Yinkong? Just like that?』

Only after Ye Zheng reached the base of the statue did the system’s incredulous voice suddenly rise.

『He was at least a popular character. Even if his recent appearances were few and his heat was diluted by your sudden breakout popularity, causing his character popularity to drop, still, still』

“I gave Yinkong a chance.”

If she had been cold enough, the moment Yinkong revealed details of that card and suspected it was her, she should have killed him decisively instead of deliberately guiding Yinkong’s prophecy toward Pei Xi and giving him a chance to survive.

“We are neither good killers.”

Yinkong also lacked sufficient awareness. Otherwise he should have acted the moment he saw her, perhaps he would have had a slight chance.

These prophets really should take time to pay attention to their own fate. Ye Zheng sighed as she looked up directly at the face of fate.

In the grand and open divine hall, the statue of the God of Hope stood quietly. His figure was so towering, yet his expression was serene and compassionate. His hands were folded over his heart, as though lowering his eyes to question a lost child.

At the foot of the statue, deep bottomless clear water surrounded it, seemingly blocking intruders from approaching.

But for Ye Zheng, this was no obstacle.

She stepped onto the clear water surface, approaching the statue step by step. Small splashes wet her black boots.

With every step she took, ripples spread across the glass-like water, like water lotuses left by a legendary immortal crossing water. Yet the reflection on the water surface was a noble killing god in black clothes and silver armor, her tense profile like a white blade carrying snow aura.

『You want to seize the sword, but your remaining action points cannot support your actions. This is an extremely important plot point.』

The system asked with some worry.

Ye Zheng did not answer immediately. She walked on the water as if on flat ground, circled behind the statue, squatted down, and felt around the hem of the statue’s robe until she touched a slightly indented spot.

“Found it.”

The youth moved aside the blocking stone. From the missing corner, she first took out a heavy piece of bone, then drew from inside a longsword gleaming with golden light.

Indeed, this statue was the very one from Sieg Square.

Ye Zheng’s fingertip brushed across the blade of the sword. It was costly and exquisitely crafted, exceptionally sharp, yet it was nothing more than an ordinary longsword produced by the royal alchemy workshop. Later, Wende had taken it away for further refinement, transforming it into something that appeared even more majestic and sacred.

The blade seemed to tremble faintly, as if thrilled by the destiny that awaited it.

A nameless sword forged by a nameless craftsman would soon become a divine weapon that captivated the attention of the entire world.

『!』

The system jolted. It finally realized what Ye Zheng intended to do.

『You want to swap the fake for the real? You intend to deceive everyone here, even the entire empire?』

『The true divine sword has not yet appeared. Pei Xi, Sykes, and the other key figures are all rushing over. The success rate of such deception is far too low!』

“Then we will find the divine sword first.”

“I already know the secret of this labyrinth. This place is not a aberrant realm, or more precisely, it is something like a sanctuary that cannot be swallowed by a aberrant realm.”

Only this explanation could account for the corpses in the labyrinth that had died even earlier than the aberrant realm’s arrival, the suppressed ability levels, and the statue that should not exist inside a aberrant realm.

Moreover, even if many residents had voluntarily evacuated because of Sela, judging from the size of the aberrant realm observed from outside, it was impossible that not a single ordinary person was visible in the labyrinth.

Ye Zheng stroked the statue and looked up, murmuring, “The real aberrant realm exists above this labyrinth.”

Ability users had been summoned into the labyrinth for trials, while ordinary people were suffering in the aberrant realm above.

“The statue was moved from Sieg Square into the labyrinth because it* sensed danger, wasn’t it? This is the most revered statue in the lower district, not only because of its size, but also because the area around Sieg Square has almost never suffered a aberrant realm descent.”

[T/N- I couldn't make sense who that "it" was , statue? But it's not alive so next possible one was the sword.]

But now, even the protected Sieg Square had been invaded by a aberrant realm and even the statue had been forced to retreat underground.

It seemed the crisis foretold in the prophecy was drawing ever closer.

“This labyrinth is the sanctuary belonging to this statue.”

“Tell me, why would this statue receive such meticulous protection?”

This labyrinth was a sanctuary guarding the divine sword. It was also a trial. Only ability users could enter, and only those who passed the trial could obtain the treasure hidden within the statue.

Ye Zheng slowly raised the golden sword and pointed it toward the place where the statue’s crossed hands covered its heart.

In the spoilers, Pei Xi stood atop the corpse of an aberrant beast. Behind him, the grand statue was nearly shattered, and he raised the divine sword in his hand.

There were no aberrant beasts in this labyrinth. They could only come from the aberrant realm above. That meant the aberrant realm above would soon breach this underground labyrinth.

『You want to split the statue open to find the divine sword? This is an important plot item. You will be deducted a huge amount of action points! Once you exceed the limit, not only will the action fail, you yourself might very well be… Wait, what are you doing!』

Ye Zheng suddenly turned the sword tip toward her own abdomen. This labyrinth should be constructed from heterogenous stone, just like a sanctuary. It suppressed at least one-third of her abilities.

Not enough. Not enough. She needed even greater power to seize control of the situation.

The sword tip lifted the silver light armor, sliced through the tight black clothing, pressed against her skin, and drew a line of blood.

The system practically screamed in silence. For a moment, its display could not load any human-readable text.

Cut open. Insert. Streams of water formed lines and swiftly stitched the wound closed.

Ye Zheng’s face was pale. The closer the dragon bone implanted to her flesh, the more powerful the strength it supplied. She had already tamed a small piece of bone in her palm. Now it was time to attempt the next step.

“Only the merciful strong are qualified to grasp the hilt of hope.”

Her ice-cold hands gripped the golden sword’s hilt once more. Ye Zheng suddenly recalled the sentence she had seen before entering the door. Her bloodless lips curved into a smile.

Then, the girl exhaled deeply, almost like a sigh. The bloodstained sword tip pointed upward. The gentle stream of clear water beneath the deity suddenly surged, flowing backward like a heavenly river in reverse. It coiled around the golden blade. The water climbed higher and higher along the sword tip until it formed a frozen, towering wave that faced the standing statue.

Behind the colossal wave stood a tiny human girl, both hands gripping the sword. The bloodstained sword tip remained perfectly still.

The system was still on the verge of crashing. It watched helplessly as Ye Zheng raised the sword, its thoughts sluggish. Was she really going to split the statue? Would she succeed? Would the rules allow it? Were her action points sufficient to support this?

In the very next moment, it saw the sword tip flick sharply upward. The mountain-like wave immediately surged violently, unstoppable, rushing toward the labyrinth’s ceiling.

The wave swept past the statue and shot straight upward. The magnificent, sturdy ceiling made of heterogenous stone shattered into pieces in an instant.

Ye Zheng tilted her face upward. Fragments of stone continued to fall around her. Dust coated her snow-white face and her crow-feather-like black eyelashes. She had no time to wipe it away. Her gaze locked onto the ceiling she had just cleaved open.

After a while, amid the billowing dust and smoke, a pair of evil red eyes the size of bronze bells suddenly appeared behind the crack in the ceiling, like a perfectly round red moon hanging high, spewing an ominous aura.

A monster from the aberrant realm poked its head through the breach in the labyrinth.

“Come. This is where your grave will be.”

The youth in black light armor gently shifted the sword tip and spoke in a soft voice.

Above the labyrinth.

The ashen earth was filled with the despairing breath of death. A half-grown girl hugged her even smaller sister and hid behind a withered tree, tears streaming as she desperately covered the little one’s mouth.

She forced down the terror in her heart and quietly peeked out from behind the tree. In her tear-blurred vision, the bloody scene melted into indistinct red-and-white patches. People lay scattered on the ground in every direction. Bird-bodied monsters with sharp beaks were pecking at the corpses.

When the girl saw that the monsters were all far away, she let out a small breath of relief. But a sharp pain suddenly shot through her palm. She instinctively loosened her grip. The sister in her arms immediately let out a terrified scream.

She hurriedly turned her head and met a pair of blood-red giant eyes the size of bronze bells.

Drool had already dripped onto her head. She froze, clutching her sister tightly, not even daring to blink.

The dragon would swallow them. Mother had said that evil magic dragons ate naughty children.

Mother, I am sorry. We will not make trouble anymore. We really will not.

The girl finally broke down too. She sobbed and cried out for her mother. The giant dragon opened its mouth full of sharp fangs. A wave of bloody, foul stench rushed toward her.

Amid the older sister’s cries, the tiny younger sister stopped crying instead. In her confusion, she heard a tremendous noise coming from far away. She tugged at her sister’s sleeve.

The sobbing girl looked at her sister in bewilderment, then shakily raised her head to look ahead. The giant dragon was gone.

High in the sky, the hunting monsters and those feasting on their prey all spread their wings at once. They blotted out the sun and flew toward one direction.

✧✧✧✧✧

Somewhere inside the labyrinth.

Bai Muqing, who had several cuts on her body, frowned as she looked at Sela sitting on the ground. The blonde girl’s shoulder had a bloody hole pierced through it, damage indirectly caused by Bai Muqing using 【Divine Domain】, which had bypassed Sela’s 【Invalidation】.

It was also possible that abilities here were suppressed, so even Sela could not fully negate the injury.

“You clearly could have killed me. Why didn’t you?”

Bai Muqing replied expressionlessly, “Your crimes should be judged by the church. I will not overstep my authority.”

“I will personally drag you to the church to confess.”

Sela staggered to her feet from the ground. She was about to say something more when she heard movement behind her.

Both of them looked toward the door. The stone door slowly opened a crack.

Sela immediately became curious and wanted to run over to take a look. Unexpectedly, the floor beneath her feet suddenly split open. She let out a small startled cry and fell through.

Bai Muqing cautiously approached the floor that had opened and then closed again. Her intuition told her Sela should be fine. The labyrinth simply did not permit her to pass through that door.

She closed her white pupils. Using 【Divine Domain】 to see clearly what lay beyond the stone door, she suddenly opened her eyes wide. Her expression was one of utter shock.

✧✧✧✧✧

In another palace hall.

The floor was in utter disarray, covered in cracks and fallen stones. Even the surrounding stone walls bore numerous scars, enough to show how fierce the battle had been.

“You will regret not killing me, Pei Xi.”

Sykes expressionlessly covered the bleeding wound on his abdomen. Just moments ago, Pei Xi’s metalized hand had pierced straight through it.

“I already know your trump card. Next time, your tricks will not work again.”

Pei Xi looked at Sykes blocking his path. A trace of impatience flashed in his eyes, but he endured it.

“You are the Crown Prince of the empire. I have no desire to bear the crime of regicide.”

“The door has already opened. You can go in first.”

He had no intention of fighting Sykes at all. Who asked Sykes to attack with lethal intent from the very beginning, clearly aiming to kill him, even forcing him to use 【Death Regression】 once more.

Hearing Pei Xi’s courteous words, Sykes let out a cold, puzzled laugh.

“You have taken one step ahead, but I will catch up soon enough.”

“Savior… incarnation of the God of Hope… heh.”

Pei Xi walked toward the door. He had not yet clearly seen what lay beyond the slowly opening entrance when he suddenly heard a series of continuous crashing sounds, as though something was collapsing.

His steps grew even more urgent. The voice in his heart urged him forward. The thing that had called to him in his dreams was right there.

But the moment he pressed his hand against the stone door, that calling voice seemed to vanish.

✧✧✧✧✧

“This amount is enough to buy your life. Besides, I am not asking you to die, just to let me beat you down.”

“No, no problem at all, Young Master Yu!”

“Roy, be careful not to twist your ankle!”

“Get your butterflies away from me first. I really have a phobia of insects!”

“Wait, is this an earthquake?”

More and more people gathered toward the very center of the labyrinth. At the trembling core, a giant dragon’s claw had already reached inside.

✧✧✧✧✧

At the same time, the immovable statue suddenly moved. Its crossed hands flipped open, and a longsword gleaming with golden light hovered in its palm.

“Only the merciful strong…”

Using the pillar of water, Ye Zheng leaped onto the statue and jumped into the palm of the deity, drawing close to the longsword that flowed with strange radiance.

It shone even more brilliantly than it had in the book.

“…Only the merciful strong are qualified to grasp the hilt of hope.”

In that instant, Ye Zheng felt absolute certainty. The divine sword before her was calling to her.

She had already passed the trial of the labyrinth.

However, when she reached out her hand—

【Warning! Warning! Critical plot line collapsing… Initiating detection… Purging… Preparing to era-】

『No, no, that is not it! The kid is just messing around and being naughty!』

The system’s urgent voice replaced the merciless mechanical one. Ye Zheng pressed one hand against her aching head and withdrew the hand that had been reaching toward the sword.

The ceiling had been completely torn open. The giant dragon let out a piercing screech as it flew straight toward the statue that held the divine sword aloft!

From her position, she could have confronted the enemy head-on, but Ye Zheng chose to leap down from the statue and watch as the giant dragon crashed into the sturdy statue, knocking it over.

The statue fell forward into the water that had already been churned muddy by falling debris. The divine sword vanished beneath the submerged statue. The giant dragon stood atop the fallen statue’s back and released a long howl.

Ye Zheng glanced at the ordinary golden sword still in her hand. Good. At least all her preparations still had a chance to be used.

What came next was simple: prevent anyone from approaching the divine sword now hidden in the water.

Then carefully choose a suitable location to disguise the golden sword in her hand as the divinely bestowed sword.

Finally, in front of everyone, become the chosen one of the gods.

Higher power had been forced into a corner and could only resort to such forceful methods to stop her.

It did not matter. She still had plenty of little tricks up her sleeve. Ye Zheng gripped the slender sword in her hand, and a helpless smile crossed her face.

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Authors Note

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Next chapter: Drawing the sword and getting exposed!