HP - Chapter 55

Kingdom of Gods 33

As soon as she stepped out of the elevator, Zhong Xu strode quickly through the corridor.

Aside from the personnel she had already arranged, the entire Pantheon was outside engaged in the final battle with the Judgment Eye. There weren’t many people left here, so her path remained completely unobstructed.

At the corner ahead, someone stepped out and brushed past Zhong Xu as she hurried by.

Zhong Xu glanced at her once before withdrawing her gaze—

It was Ran Ran.

There was surprise and hesitation in her eyes, but she didn’t stop walking.

When she returned to the passage leading to the Tree of Faith, the scene had undergone a drastic transformation.

Mirrors of all shapes lined the entire corridor, and what had once been a short passage now seemed endless.

It was as if someone had duplicated it several times over and then spliced the copies together.

“I know you’re here,” Zhong Xu said.

No voice answered her, but in an instant, images surfaced on every mirror.

It was… the battle outside.

A torrential rain poured down, and an unending flow of blood dyed the entire city red.

This battle was undoubtedly a free-for-all.

Everyone was red-eyed from the killing. Here, thorns shot up from the ground to hook enemies’ feet; there, sharp blades hovered in the air, unleashing a storm of swords all at once.

The abilities of the Tarot cards were displayed to their fullest, each showing their own prowess.

Amid the chaos, the battle between White Butterfly and Ji Zhou was especially striking.

Clusters of flames flared up, somehow keeping the torrential rain at bay. The handsome youth leapt into the air, the wild smile on his lips reflecting his dazzling brilliance.

In contrast, White Butterfly was steadily being forced back.

Her pure white dress was scorched with several holes by the flames, and her long hair, soaked by the rain, clung tightly to her face.

But there was no hint of retreat in her eyes.

Just as everyone thought White Butterfly’s defeat was certain, she suddenly flicked several Tarot cards into the air.

White light burst apart in the rain.

The moment people saw her move, their expressions changed, and Ji Zhou’s eyes filled with shock.

He moved closer, trying to stop her. “Are you crazy? I’m not trying to take your life! Why are you choosing to reverse the cards?”

Reversing the cards wasn’t the most terrifying part—

The most terrifying part was that she had brought out so many cards at once.

Every player who had reversed multiple cards had turned into a mindless monster, without exception.

Was she trying to drag everyone down with her?

“Ji Zhou, just kill her! Stop trying to persuade her!”

Ji Zhou faltered for a moment. In that instant, a dark figure had already darted past him, attacking White Butterfly directly.

Ji Zhou sensed something was wrong, but he was still a step too late, completely unable to stop it.

White Butterfly curved her lips into a smile, and in the next instant, the cards reversed.

The nearby players felt a sudden silence fall around them. Then, a thunderous explosion erupted, and an invisible, colorless shockwave, centered on White Butterfly, blasted outward in all directions—

Bang!! Bang!! Bang!!

Explosions rang out one after another, and splattered blood blurred the surfaces of the mirrors.

“Haha.”

Zhong Xu heard a soft chuckle.

“She really doesn’t disappoint, does she? Zhong Xu, tell me—isn’t that the power of love?”

Zhong Xu frowned, her gaze fixed solely on the images projected in the mirrors.

The splattered blood was quickly washed away by the rain.

The first thing she saw was a scene of utter devastation—

The once prosperous, advanced high-rise buildings had been leveled to the ground in the explosion.

The dark figure who had first rushed forward to kill White Butterfly was none other than Zheng Zhong, the leader of the Judgment Eye. But now his body was pierced through by steel rebar, his eyes wide open as if he had lost all signs of life.

In the deathly silence, people gradually peeked out.

Every one of them had boundless terror in their eyes. In that instant of near-death just now, they had all exhausted every ounce of their strength and abilities just to barely cling to life.

Zhong Xu searched through the mirrors for Ji Zhou’s figure.

Before she could find him, she saw White Butterfly first.

If not for the fragments of the white butterfly mask still on her face, no one would have been able to recognize her.

She climbed up from the mud, the flowing sludge reforming her body. Her face was covered in monstrous patterns, and goat-like horns had sprouted from her forehead.

She no longer had a mouth, but instead had five eyes, unevenly scattered across her face.

She reached out and pulled off the remaining mask fragments.

A trace of sorrow flashed through her five eyes, but it was quickly replaced by hatred and coldness.

With a wave of her hand, countless sludge bombs exploded all around, and no one dared approach her.

Where was Ji Zhou…?

Zhong Xu hurried through the passage, anxiously searching for his figure.

Finally, within the curtain of rain, a faint flicker of firelight appeared.

Ji Zhou, his face pale, crawled out from the ruins, blood flowing from the corners of his mouth and his eyes.

White Butterfly walked toward him step by step, as if she had already precisely locked onto him.

Seeing this, Zhong Xu unconsciously curled her fingers, her feet already moving uncontrollably toward the exit.

“You actually want to go save him?”

A surprised voice came from behind the mirror.

Zhong Xu didn’t respond—she had already broken into a sprint.

But she was already lost within this mirrored corridor; no matter how she ran, she remained where she was.

“Even if you could get out, in your current state, you wouldn’t be able to save anyone.” He paused slightly. “Zhong Xu, oh Zhong Xu—you actually, truly consider him a teammate?”

Zhong Xu raised her hand and struck the mirror heavily.

This was an irrational act—and a futile one.

At the same time, White Butterfly’s attack had already shot toward Ji Zhou.

Ji Zhou ignited a shield of flames, but it was quickly weakened by the torrential rain—he was injured, and his strength was fading.

“Looks like this is where I die.

I wonder how Ah Xu is doing… Ah He and Ning Zhi are still missing too…

I really can’t accept this.

No—I can’t give up until the very last moment.”

He forced himself to hold on, focusing on the flame in his hand. With his effort, the fire finally grew a little stronger.

At that moment, he suddenly heard a strange sound.

What kind of sound was it?

It was like tens of thousands of flies and mosquitoes buzzing by his ears, getting closer and closer, louder and louder—so noisy it was unbearable.

Buzz—buzz—buzz—

White Butterfly’s attack shot toward him, but in an instant, an extremely fast figure darted in and knocked it aside.

“Ah Zhou, how’s this move of mine?”

It was a familiar voice.

It was…

“Qiu Heming!”

Qiu Heming stood with his back to Ji Zhou and waved his hand.

He stood firmly in front of him, and the heavy weight in Ji Zhou’s heart finally lifted. Although, he felt that something about Qiu Heming seemed a little off.

For example, the bones growing from his back were still there, but nearby, patterns resembling insects were spreading…

Buzz—buzz—buzz—

The buzzing grew closer. All the surviving players looked toward the source of the sound in shock and uncertainty, only to see a dense, dark mass surging toward them in the distance like a black cloud.

A black cloud?

“How could it be a black cloud… It looks like some kind of damned thing flying over in a dense swarm… some are crawling too…”

“What the hell is that?!”

“Looks like bugs!”

Bugs?!

Ji Zhou focused his gaze and, sure enough, saw a horde of mutated insects charging toward them.

“Ah He, this is bad—it’s a bug swarm attack!”

Qiu Heming turned around at that moment.

Ji Zhou met a pair of insectoid eyes, and his pupils constricted.

“Eat this.” Qiu Heming calmly tossed something over.

After instinctively catching it, Ji Zhou looked down and saw a wriggling insect egg in his hand, nearly throwing it away on the spot.

His voice trembled. “What did you say?!”

“Eat it.” Qiu Heming’s tone allowed no refusal. “If you come into contact with those bugs, you’ll mutate. Eating it will prevent that.”

“……” Ji Zhou had never, in his life, felt less inclined to continue living.

He even thought, becoming a bug was fine—at that point, he probably wouldn’t have any awareness anyway.

“Ah Xu still needs you to stay clear-headed.” Qiu Heming turned his back to him again, his voice hoarse in a way that felt off. “I’m about to lose my lucidity.”

Ji Zhou’s expression changed drastically. “What do you mean, lose your lucidity?”

But now was not the time for questions.

White Butterfly had already launched another attack. Qiu Heming stood in front to block it, barely managing to hold her off for the moment.

It still wasn’t enough.

“Ji Zhou!!”

A clear voice rang out.

Ji Zhou’s eyes lit up as he turned around. “……”

Then the light in his eyes dimmed.

What lit up was that Ning Zhi was alive, and Xiao Huan and the others were alive.

What dimmed was that they were riding a giant mutated cockroach, charging straight toward him.

Seeing the terrified look in Ji Zhou’s eyes, Ning Zhi struggled to explain, “This bug swarm is like a double-edged sword—it can help us, but it can also harm us, because they have no rationality. The other bugs are all aggressive. This one, disgusting as it is, won’t harm us.”

Xiao Huan shot him a resentful look.

She called out weakly, “Ji Zhou, I never want to be friends with you again!!”

Who could understand her despair? She had thought their passionate group would definitely win, so she threw herself into helping, leaving the city to find people—only to be met head-on by a swarm of bugs.

Her trypophobia had nearly killed her on the spot.

She had barely managed not to faint, and then Ning Zhi forcibly fed her an insect egg, saying it would protect her from being contaminated.

Then she was hoisted onto the giant cockroach and carried at full speed, jolting so badly she nearly threw up.

Ning Zhi glanced at the insect egg in Ji Zhou’s hand and scolded, “Why haven’t you eaten it yet?”

Ji Zhou’s gaze was unfocused. “Because I want to turn into a cockroach.”

“?”

Startled, Ning Zhi jumped down and forcibly pried open Ji Zhou’s mouth to stuff the insect egg in.

This was bad—had Ji Zhou been contaminated so quickly?!

Ji Zhou: “……”

Aaaaaah!!!

He was no longer clean! How was he supposed to face Ah Xu now?!

Ning Zhi turned and shoved several containers of insect eggs into the hands of the dazed group, saying energetically, “Feed them to allies, ignore the enemies—move!”

“This is the final boss, right?” Ning Zhi rubbed his hands together, staring at White Butterfly. “Once we beat the boss, this level will be over!”

Over…?

In the end, it was those two words that snapped Ji Zhou and the others back to their senses.

They didn’t want to stay among the bugs anymore!

Even if they weren’t contaminated, they were going to have a mental breakdown!

And so, from this moment on, the tone and atmosphere of the battlefield became distorted.

There were wails of “Aaaah, I don’t want to eat insect eggs!”

There were also those surrounded and contaminated by swarms of bugs, having their minds flooded with memories, then quickly transforming into bugs and joining the buzzing swarm.

But in the end—as Ning Zhi had said, the boss here was still White Butterfly.

Qiu Heming and Ji Zhou, one on the left and one on the right, leaped into the air and attacked White Butterfly.

The scene abruptly cut off there.

One of the mirrors suddenly cracked.

The long, endless corridor disappeared, and the entrance to the Tree of Faith reopened.

The blood-soaked Scorpion King crawled out from the shattered mirror, looking at Zhong Xu with pleading eyes.

“Please… I beg you, save White Butterfly.”

Sevyn here ~~~

Enjoy!