Volume Two, Demon Game: Chapter Sixty-Three, Full-Map Assault, Only Two Remain

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The Warden narrowed his eyes and raised both hands. Four spheres of light were slowly rotating in his palms.

“Let us begin.”

As his voice fell, the four spheres streaked toward the four edges of the map, trailing streams of light behind them.

Once the spheres came to a halt, they began releasing thick black smoke and continued to expand. Before long, the entire world had grown dim. The challengers, sensing the change in the light, looked up toward the sky one after another, immediately noticing the spheres that resembled full moons.

“Ah!”

Jade Toad suddenly cried out. She no longer cared about searching for Shen Yixue, nor did she say a word to Lu Yi. In a panic, she rushed into a nearby house.

“Hey, Jade Toad!”

Seeing her in such a state, Lu Yi hurried after her.

The instant Lu Yi stepped into the house, the four moons in the sky suddenly blazed with light, illuminating the entire world. Everything touched by that radiance froze in place.

The light struck Lu Yi’s back, and he immediately became motionless in the doorway. His face was filled with terror.

“What is happening? Could the Warden be nearby? Has his ability affected me?”

By then, the ground had been completely covered by the light. Gazing at the vast expanse of white, the Warden revealed a cruel smile. He extended both arms, placed his left hand atop his right, and slowly said, “Engraving of Ruin.”

As his voice fell, the Warden drew his hands apart. A three-dimensional crystal model appeared between them. It was extraordinarily intricate; upon close inspection, one could see that it was identical to everything on the ground.

The Warden reached out and grasped the model, then clenched his hand with force.

The exquisite buildings and miniature figures shattered one after another within his grip. In response, every building on the ground twisted and collapsed in that same instant. The people outside, frozen in place, let out a collective shriek of agony as countless horrifying wounds appeared across their bodies.

Lu Yi grunted. Several wounds opened across his back at once. Jade Toad, however, had clearly regained her senses after entering the house. She ran back and dragged Lu Yi, still frozen in the doorway, inside.

Broken stones continued to fall from the house. Jade Toad immediately released a burst of energy to blast away the debris around them, then swiftly lifted several quilts and covered both herself and Lu Yi. Afterward, she quickly placed a healing talisman on Lu Yi.

“Jade Toad, what are you doing?”

Because he had just been frozen, Lu Yi was still somewhat disoriented. Yet when he saw her strange behavior, he could not help asking. At the same time, he noticed something amiss: there was no longer any sound of stones striking the ground outside.

It turned out that the instant Jade Toad covered them with the quilts, the four moons blossomed with light once again. The scattered rubble, rising dust, drifting blood, and falling people all froze in place once more.

The Warden reached out again and crushed the newly formed model. In an instant, the map underwent another enormous transformation. The challengers, already gravely wounded, suffered even more severe injuries. A rapid succession of death notifications rang out in Lu Yi’s mind.

The quilts covering Lu Yi and Jade Toad were also reduced to fragments by the attack. Thanks to the brief respite, Lu Yi’s condition had recovered considerably. However, after hearing such a dense stream of death notifications, there was no way his mood could remain good.

“Mm…”

Jade Toad suddenly clung to Lu Yi in terror, her body trembling faintly. There was no doubt that the danger had not yet passed.

Lu Yi swiftly surveyed their surroundings. During the first attack, every building capable of blocking the light had been destroyed. During the second, every object capable of concealing their bodies had been crushed. By now, there was nothing left that could shield them from the radiance.

Seeing the full moons in the sky change once again, Lu Yi let out a low growl. Thick black smoke rapidly poured from him, transforming into three walls of mist that concealed the two of them.

The third wave of light soon flared. The Warden once again crushed the model before him.

“With this, the game has entered its final act. Even if any survivors remain, they can only be that fool. I shall prepare a special stage for you.”

After speaking, the Warden moved both hands rapidly. One mysterious symbol after another appeared and arranged itself in formation.

Jade Toad released her hold on Lu Yi and twisted her head from side to side, looking left and right. Seeing that she was no longer in a panic, Lu Yi guessed that the danger had finally passed. He waved his hand and dispersed the last remaining layer of black mist.

What met his eyes was a scene of utter devastation.

Gazing across the boundless ruins, Lu Yi’s expression grew extremely grave. He looked up at the sky. The four additional moons had completely vanished, clearly indicating that the earlier attack was over.

Three attacks, each covering an unknown area of unimaginable size, and not one of them accompanied by the slightest pressure—only those bizarre phenomena. Then there was the Warden, whose location remained unknown.

Lu Yi suddenly felt unbearably oppressed, as though he could no longer breathe.

He hurriedly tapped at his wristwatch. Nine death notifications. That meant that, apart from himself and Jade Toad, only one person remained alive.

In the few moments since the bell had tolled, the Warden had accomplished what the first three Wardens combined had failed to do despite all their efforts.

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“Good Person, Good Person.”

Jade Toad shook Lu Yi.

“Your face looks awful.”

Lu Yi jolted back to his senses. He shook his head fiercely and thought to himself, I cannot lose heart. Otherwise, I will fall into the Warden’s trap, and then there truly will not be the slightest hope left.

“I’m fine.”

Lu Yi forced a somewhat strained smile at Jade Toad.

“Jade Toad, is something wrong?”

Jade Toad tilted her head and looked at him, seemingly suspicious of what he had said earlier. But upon hearing his question, she immediately broke into a bright smile.

“Good Person, I found where that person is.”

“That person?”

Lu Yi froze for a moment before realizing that she meant Shen Yixue.

“Let’s go and take a look.”

There was excitement in Lu Yi’s voice, but also a trace of unease.

As he saw it, if Shen Yixue had truly remained inside a room as Jade Toad claimed, then she should have been lucky enough to evade the first wave of attacks.

She would then have noticed something was wrong and paid attention to the four additional moons. As long as she avoided the second wave, she should have been able to survive even the third attack with the bracelet’s recovery ability and its death-prevention effect.

In Lu Yi’s view, the final survivor might well be Shen Yixue.

But that was only his guess. It was equally possible that, when he arrived, he would find nothing but Shen Yixue’s corpse.

The two hurried forward. Since all the buildings along the way had been destroyed by the Warden’s attacks, Jade Toad simply led Lu Yi in a straight line. They reached their destination very quickly.

However, the moment they arrived, Lu Yi’s expression stiffened.

Shen Yixue was indeed still alive, but given her current condition, it would not have been wrong to say that she was already dead.

She lay sprawled on the ground, her body severed by the earlier attack. Her condition was horrifying. The only reason she remained alive was that the energy within her bracelet was barely sustaining her final breath. Yet the pearls on the bracelet had already grown extremely dim, clearly showing that its energy would not last much longer. Moreover, her injuries were simply too severe, far beyond the reach of a healing talisman.

When Shen Yixue saw Lu Yi, a trace of light suddenly returned to her lifeless eyes.

“Lu… Lu Yi…”

She forced the words out with great difficulty.

Lu Yi silently walked to her side and crouched down. Shen Yixue’s body spasmed. Then she looked at him with a hopeful gaze and spoke with immense effort.

“I remember… you have an item that can revive us after death and transform us into demons.”

Her speech was extremely labored, but Lu Yi understood what she meant. He sighed and took out the flower.

“Name: Flower of Fleeting Life
Quality: Tier-One Purple
Type: Consumable
Energy: 2/3
Transformation: Consume all energy to transform a dying creature into a mid-level demon.
Vitality of Flora: Consume one energy to extend the target’s lifespan. The amount depends on the target.
Protection: Consume one energy to release a powerful energy shield.”

After seeing the description of the Flower of Fleeting Life, the light in Shen Yixue’s eyes immediately dimmed.

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Seeing her like this, Lu Yi could not help recalling Li Xinran when she had faced Andel. He felt extremely troubled. After taking a deep breath, he finally made his decision and summoned the Contract Stone from within his body.

Holding the Contract Stone, Lu Yi looked at Shen Yixue.

“Shen Yixue, the only thing that can save you now is this item. However, according to its description, accepting it means signing a contract with me. I do not know the specific contents of the contract either. Do you agree?”

Shen Yixue looked at the Contract Stone, then at Lu Yi. In the end, she nodded.

“Use the Contract Stone on Shen Yixue.”

The moment Lu Yi finished speaking, he received a notification. He looked at Shen Yixue and said, “Shen Yixue, are you willing to enter into this contract with me?”

Shen Yixue had clearly received the notification as well. Her lips moved faintly. Then the Contract Stone erupted with a burst of light that enveloped her.

When the radiance faded, Shen Yixue was no longer on the ground, and the Contract Stone had once again merged into Lu Yi’s body.

“You have signed a contract with Shen Yixue. Because the target is in a dying state, she has entered a special space. Please note: The function of this space is to reverse the contracted target’s dying condition. Its use at the time of signing the contract consumes nothing. The space may be retained afterward, but any subsequent use requires the target’s abilities to permit it and consumes sufficient energy.

“Shen Yixue is expected to fully recover and assimilate her new abilities within twelve hours, or upon returning to Mist City. If you die during this period, Shen Yixue will also die immediately.”

After reading the notifications, Lu Yi frowned and pondered for a while. The city had explicitly stated that she would assimilate new abilities, which meant there would also be a period of adjustment. Combined with the lengthy recovery time, it was obvious that Shen Yixue could not become an asset to him for the time being.

As Lu Yi continued thinking, a mechanical notification sounded in his mind.

“Shen Yixue has been eliminated due to her special condition. Because she cannot participate in the trial and survive until its conclusion, the reward points she could obtain from this trial have been reduced to zero. Current number of survivors: two.”

The reward points had been reduced to zero. Lu Yi’s expression changed slightly.

This was troublesome.

The Contract Stone had clearly been created to nurture new members with outstanding talent but insufficient strength. Even if such a person’s reward points were reduced to zero, the team could still provide resources and planned training to help them grow rapidly.

But Shen Yixue was a newcomer who had only just completed her second trial. After returning, she should have been strengthening herself and improving her abilities. Without reward points, relying solely on the two items she had obtained would certainly slow her growth.

Lu Yi could not help estimating his own gains. To his embarrassment, although he had obtained a large number of item rewards during this trial, he had received very few things related to reward points—only a handful of embedded sealing stones and opportunities to save people.

After converting the items he had obtained, he probably would not have many reward points left. If he wanted to strengthen Shen Yixue as well, he could only hope that the gifts he had received during the livestream could be converted into reward points.

While Lu Yi was thinking, something cool repeatedly pressed against his arm. He turned his head and saw Jade Toad nudging his arm with her head, shaking it back and forth.

“Jade Toad, what are you doing?”

Lu Yi stared at her in confusion.

“Good Person, I want to go inside too.”

Jade Toad seized his arm and shook it repeatedly.

Lu Yi was stunned for a moment, then said with helpless amusement, “Jade Toad, I don’t even know how to let you in.”

Jade Toad looked at him and seemed to realize that he was telling the truth. She immediately sat down and kicked her legs wildly.

“Then what do we do? It feels so dangerous outside!”

Lu Yi shook his head helplessly. At the same time, he resolved to retain that space—but absolutely not let his teammates know about it. He could not allow his future teammates to develop a reliance on it.

However, when he heard Jade Toad’s last sentence, his expression changed at once.

At that very moment, the earth began to tremble faintly.

Lu Yi abruptly raised his head and looked around. His fists clenched as the Demon Eye immediately opened.

“What is it this time?”

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