dmims Page 95
Page 95
Gu Chuan spoke softly, as if he were disgusted by something dirty or rubbish.
He extended his other hand and gave the "plunderer" a loose handshake.
"—So, just give it back to me."
"Aa ...
A scream, a hundred times more shrill and ten thousand times more painful than before, a scream that was inhuman, erupted from beneath the mask!
The "plunderer" suddenly knelt on the ground! He felt as if his body was being frantically devoured and torn apart by billions of invisible, greedy ants!
A black, pulsating seed, seemingly alive, was uncontrollably stripped and extracted from his body by an irresistible, absolute force of domination from a higher dimension!
As the "seed of fel energy" left his body, his black cloak and mask, constructed of fel energy, instantly crumbled and dissipated! Revealing a pale, unfamiliar young man's face, utterly distorted by extreme pain and fear, belonging to some otherworldly soul!
All the power in his body was draining away at an avalanche-like speed!
He went from being a "god" capable of destroying the world to, in an instant, a pathetic mortal with no power to even kill a chicken!
"Why... why..."
He collapsed to the ground, staring intently at the man who was calmly merging his "innate evil energy" into the enormous energy sphere, with a look of utter terror, as if he were staring at a demon.
"—Why are you also able to manipulate fel energy?!"
"Manipulation?"
Gu Chuan slowly lowered his head, looking at him with an absolute, godlike indifference, as if looking down at ants beneath his feet.
"No, you've got it wrong." P Yinlin (seven) 玐; (four) 霓^呜鹨
“I am not controlling it.”
He slowly raised his right hand, which held the terrifying spectral energy sphere that had swelled to the size of a small, black sun.
Then, he activated that forbidden, S-class ability that he had long yearned for.
"I am simply enjoying my dinner."
"—Bingeating."
171 The Fall of the Queen and the Purgatory of the Heart
The moment the command "binge eating" was gently uttered from Gu Chuan's mouth—
That terrifying sphere of evil energy, formed from the negative emotions and life force of the entire world, resembling a small black sun, was like a docile lamb encountering its natural enemy, offering not the slightest resistance.
It was completely enveloped, compressed, and twisted by a force of absolute law from a higher dimension, incomprehensible and beyond comprehension;
In the end, it transformed into a stream of the purest, most primal, blackish-red light, which was completely devoured, absorbed, and annihilated by Gu Chuan's seemingly small hand.
The entire process was silent, yet filled with a kind of eerie "beauty" that sent shivers down one's spine.
"No...my...my power..."
The "plunderer," sprawled on the ground, watched helplessly as the supreme power that should have belonged to him, the power that could have propelled him to the top, was easily devoured by that devilish man, like a "dinner."
His eyes, which had become completely vacant due to extreme fear and despair, ultimately lost all their luster.
He was utterly reduced to a pathetic waste, even more pathetic than the most insignificant ant.
Gu Chuan didn't even glance at him again.
He slowly turned around and cast his cold, emotionless golden eyes at the silver-haired queen who had stood motionless the entire time, as if she had lost her soul.
Esdeath has been defeated.
The defeat was utterly devastating.
First, she suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Gu Chuan, the only man in her life she had ever truly loved. She lost her most prized power—the ability to freeze time and space.
Then, she suffered another crushing defeat at the hands of this "plunderer" from another world, someone she had never heard of before. He unilaterally toyed with and utterly humiliated her, using the cat-and-mouse game she despised most.
Two consecutive, predictable, and crushing defeats were like two of the heaviest and most merciless iron hammers, shattering her proud and unbreakable mental fortress, built upon an extreme and cruel worldview of "survival of the fittest."
"...The weak should be eliminated."
"The weak should die."
This is the only, absolute truth that she has believed in since childhood.
And now, she is the most pathetic, the most powerless, the "weak one".
An unprecedented, black despair called "self-denial" swallowed her whole, like the most greedy abyss, completely engulfing her proud, queen-like heart.
In her eyes, all the fighting spirit, all the killing intent, and all the glory of being the "strongest" were rapidly dissipating at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Instead, there is a kind of emptiness, lifelessness, and numbness that comes from a detachment from life and death.
Perhaps, ending it like this is for the best...
Just as she was about to be completely dominated by this self-destructive thought from the depths of her soul—
A cold, emotionless, even somewhat self-righteous and cruel voice gently rang in her ear.
"—Since you're so eager to die..."
Gu Chuan slowly walked up to her and spoke in a calm tone, as if discussing a perfectly normal transaction.
"Then, why don't you hand over the essence of that Imperial Arm within you, the essence of the Devil's Essence?"
"Perfect timing. I'm short a few powerful henchmen. Your Imperial Arm, while having some major side effects, is quite powerful. Rather than letting it rot and disappear with you, this good-for-nothing who's only looking for death, it's better to let it find a new, more valuable master."
These words, like the coldest and most merciless lightning bolt, struck the hearts of everyone present!
Whether it was the NghtRad members, or Tu Shan Honghong, Nami, and the others, they all stared in disbelief at the man who uttered such "cold" words.
The chat group instantly erupted in chaos.
[March 7th]: Huh?! Boss Gu Chuan... what... what are you saying? General Esdeath is already so sad... how... how could he say something like that...
[Alice]: ...Although I also think it's a bit too cruel. But perhaps, this is Gu Chuan's unique and gentle way...?
[Saeko Busujima]: No, I don't think Gu Chuan-jun did anything wrong. For a true warrior, being pitied is the greatest insult. He was simply respecting Esdeath's own choice in his own way.
[Kurumi Tokisaki]: Ara ara~ I actually find it quite interesting~ Watching a proud queen utterly perish in the abyss of despair. This is, after all, the most exquisite drama, full of tragic aesthetics~
Gu Chuan ignored the shocked and puzzled gazes around him.
He simply gazed silently at the pitiful woman before him, whose soul was on the verge of complete collapse, with his golden eyes that seemed to see through everything.
Then, in a cold, telepathic voice that only the two of them could hear, he brutally tore open the most cruel and bloody truth and presented it to her.
"Esdeath, do you really think you lost because you were weaker?"
No, you're wrong.
You have never lost because of a lack of ability.
You lost because of your heart, which is more fragile than the most delicate glass, and so pathetic!
From a young age, you lived in the cruelest, most brutal, survival-of-the-fittest environment. Your father taught you the most extreme survival rule: the strong are respected, and the weak are eliminated. This gave you strength far exceeding that of ordinary people.
But, just as quickly, a seed, the most deadly of all, has been planted in your heart: fear!
You are afraid of failure.
You are afraid of becoming the very thing you despise and scorn—the so-called weakling!
Therefore, you relentlessly pursue greater power! You treat those weaker than you with the most cruel and ruthless methods! Because only through constantly bullying and torturing those so-called weaklings can you continuously prove to yourself that you are strong! Only then can you temporarily forget the deepest fear of failure buried in your heart!
[You are nothing but a cold, calculating idiot. You are not a born queen, nor are you the strongest in the empire.]
—You are nothing but a pathetic, cowardly weakling who only knows how to bully the weak!
Gu Chuan's cold, emotionless words, like a divine judgment, were like the sharpest, most poisoned dagger, piercing Esdeath's already riddled and proud heart!
Tear her, all her pretense, all her pride, all her self-righteous "creeds," to shreds!
"So, Esdeath."
Gu Chuan looked at the silver-haired queen, whose body was trembling violently from extreme pain and humiliation, and slowly spoke in a cold tone that was full of ultimatum.
"—Now, make your choice."
"Either you die here cleanly and hand over your share of the Demon Essence, which still has some value."
"Either..."
"—Just put away that pathetic, cowardly, sore loser face of yours, and then, like a true strongman, stand up again."
172 The Queen's Awakening and the Bet
Gu Chuan's cold, ultimatum-like words echoed across the deathly silent rooftop.
Each word was like a heavy hammer, striking Esdeath's crumbling soul, a soul called "pride."
“The weak…the cowardly…the weak…”
She murmured absently, repeating the word that she both despised and feared most in her life.
Meanwhile, the "plunderer" who had been completely stripped of all his power, after hearing the conversation between Gu Chuan and Esdeath that was full of "transaction" implications, suddenly had a glimmer of light, a kind of "madness," rekindled in his eyes, which had been completely dull and lifeless.
He knew that he had already lost.
They lost badly, utterly and completely.
But even if he dies, he will never let the man who cast him into the deepest hell have an easy time!
"Even if it means death, I will drag you all down with me!"
He let out a roar that was inhuman, filled with resentment and madness! He ignited the last of his life force, which was already exhausted! His withered, mortal-like body, like an arrow released from a bow, lunged fiercely at the silver-haired queen who was closest to him and on the verge of a mental breakdown, in a suicidal and resolute manner!
He wanted to use his mortal body to defile this proud queen!
He wanted to see, before he died, her beautiful expression of despair and collapse, born from being touched by the "weak"!
However, just as his filthy and crazed hand was about to touch Esdeath's blue military uniform—
A pair of ice-blue eyes, which had been rekindled with endless, cold, queen-like killing intent, suddenly rose up!
"—You, this pathetic piece of trash who doesn't even qualify as weak?"
Esdeath's voice was very soft, yet it carried an absolute coldness that seemed capable of freezing the soul completely.
"—You dare to touch me?"
Almost the instant her words fell, a terrifying chill, purer, more condensed, and filled with the meaning of "absolute zero" than ever before, erupted from her body!
Click——!
The "predator," still in its lunging posture, was frozen solid from the inside out by this sudden, extreme chill, before it could even utter a scream. It became a lifelike ice sculpture, twisted and maddening!
Immediately afterwards, Gu Chuan also moved.
He didn't even glance at the ice sculpture.
He simply snapped his fingers casually.
An invisible yet sharp hurricane, formed by high-density wind pressure ripples, capable of cutting through space, instantly took shape!
It was like the most precise and ruthless scalpel, piercing right through the ice sculpture!
wow-
That artistic ice sculpture, still retaining all its expressions before its death, instantly crumbled. It turned into countless, crystalline, moonlit powders of ice, which drifted away on the wind.
This "plunderer," from another world, who sought to destroy everything, vanished completely from this world in a dramatic and silent way.
[Ding! Congratulations, fellow travelers! The "Apocalypse Together" mission – [The Marauder's End] – has been successfully completed!] [Mission settlement in progress...] [Based on each member's contribution to this mission, rewards have been distributed to your personal accounts. Please check your accounts!]
With the system's cold notification tone, all the "fellow travelers" present received their respective rewards.
[March 7th]: Wow! 50,000 points! I... I was just standing there, taking some pictures and eating some snacks, and I actually got so many rewards?! System, you're so generous!
[Tu Shan Hong Hong]: ...100,000.
[Little Thief Cat]: Me too, 100,000! My God! This...this is more than what I earn after a year of hard work searching for treasure at sea!
Everyone wore expressions of surprise and confusion.
Meanwhile, the NghtRad people on the other side were even more confused.
"...Points? What are those?" Mine looked at her empty hands and muttered with some dissatisfaction, "Why do we have nothing?"