The Creatures that We Are

Pzzt.

Golden light burst out of the Guard Rune Circuit. Cast under the dark red force field, it looked like a branding iron heated to the point of appearing red. It flew toward the center of Gao Shou’s chest, attempting to brand him.

An energy flower bloomed from Gao Shou’s chest, the thin petals quickly covering most of his body like a golden, glinting armor. At that moment, Gao Shou’s level 4 Absolute Defense had jumped to level 7 with the holy water as catalyst, and combined with the Guard Rune Circuit, it reached level 8 and gained the most powerful defensive skill.

“Chain of Fate!”

Gao Shou clapped his hands together, and instantly, an endless supply of golden energy sprang from under his feet like fierce waves, rumbling and growling as it swept toward the Malediction.

Splash! The golden wave overwhelmed the Malediction as well as the centermost area of the crater.

Rumble. Then the golden energy morphed into a behemoth pillar that reached toward the sky like it was going to prop the sky up.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh. Golden two-dimensional barriers appeared all around the golden pillar, and countless golden chains shot out through the barriers. Some wrapped around the Malediction tightly to tie it to the golden pillar, while others intertwined to create a golden cage that obscured the outside world.

“Aghhhh—”

Now in the form of a ball of black strands, the Malediction struggled wildly and let out terrifying shrieks, the waves of its power containing curse power that could kill a regular man in an instant.

Outside the golden cage, Gao Shou and Lin Yue linked their hands and watched things play out calmly. Their eardrums had been shattered and were bleeding. Then the corners of their eyes and mouth bled too.

Yet they remained determined and unwavering.

The golden pillar, too, stood strong, and the chains restraining the Malediction continued to tighten around it.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh.

Clink!

Following a dignified solemn bell ring, a thin golden thread appeared out of nowhere to pierce through the Malediction’s chest. It was the thread of fate.

The end was defined.

Within the barrier, there was no escape for all living beings, including Gao Shou and Lin Yue, and all things, including fate itself.

While the lockdown only lasted a minute, it was more than enough.

The Malediction was going to destroy itself, and it stopped struggling.

Tied to the pillar of fate, it became quieter than ever before, and soon, it turned back into the young child that resembled a charcoal doodle.

“Wah…”

“Wah…”

It cried.

Seven seconds later, it stopped crying.

The world lost its sounds and colors.

“Wah—”

It all happened too fast. A pure, absolute black filled the golden cage and swallowed everything inside. Even outside the cage and shielded by a small barrier created with Absolute Defense, Qing Ling ended up hit by the absolute black. She had to close her eyes, or the black would destroy and erase her body and soul.

But she couldn’t control herself to close her eyes.

Thankfully, her body’s defense mechanism kicked in, and she collapsed, blacking out.

…

“Ah!”

A minute later, Gao Yang cried out, jerking up and waking from his state of suspended motion. He came back to life, and Qing Ling also regained consciousness due to his shout.

“Qing Ling…”

Gao Yang slowly got to his feet to help Qing Ling up, but then he started. Not far from him was an abyss with a diameter of about fifty meters. It was bottomless, and remnants of black fog remained inside.

Standing by the abyss were a man and a woman, holding hands while extending their other hands to the sides, like a hug or an attempt to shield someone behind them.

Gao Yang recognized his parents at first glance.

“Dad? Mom?”

He stood up and stumbled toward them, breaking into a smile and crying hot tears of relief. “Thank God, Dad, Mom… We won. We…”

His smile stilled.

As he approached, he realized that his parents’ figures were a strange light gray, and they looked flat, like cardboard cutouts.

What happened?

No, no no no no no…

This isn’t real! My blood worked on the Malediction! I stabbed it in the heart! I killed it, I wasn’t useless this time!

Why?

“Dad…Mom…”

Please answer me! Turn around and look at me!

Don’t stay quiet! Don’t pretend to not notice me!

Don’t joke with me like this!

Please!

Please, please, please, please, please, please…

A gust of wind swept through the light gray figures reduced to two-dimensional existence, and they scattered like ashes, gone completely.

Gao Yang’s hand froze midair. He wasn’t able to touch them yet.

He fell to his knees with a thud.

Face pale and hands shaking, he couldn’t say anything, and he couldn’t stand up. It felt as if his legs had become boneless.

He crawled forward, digging his fingers into the charred ground by the abyss. There were remnants of the white powder—his parents’ ashes.

Shuddering, Gao Yang dug and gathered more and more black charred soil to his chest like the most precious treasure.

“Gao Yang, don’t…”

Qing Ling slowly went up to him. Now missing an arm, her movement was a little awkward.

Gao Yang couldn’t hear anything. He opened his mouth to speak, but it felt like a stone was stuck in his throat.

He continued to gather soil to his chest.

“They’re dead, Gao Yang. They died to contain the Malediction’s self-destruction. They saved us…” Qing Ling couldn’t continue. She realized that nothing she said would do anything now.

Gao Yang was still silent.

Suddenly, he grabbed the charred soil and shoved it into his mouth. His chest suddenly felt empty, and it hurt. He had to fill the cavity with something, anything, until it was full again, or he would surely die…

Qing Ling started and went up to grab Gao Yang. “Stop.”

“Hm, hmph…” Gao Yang’s mouth was already filled with soil. Like an idiot, he threw a tantrum and struggled on the ground, his mind solely focused on eating more soil.

“Stop…stop now!” Qing Ling couldn’t stop him. With a growl, she kicked him to the ground. Gao Yang rolled to the side.

She went up and pinned him down with a knee on his chest, pinching Gao Yang’s bulging cheeks. “Throw it up! Throw it all up!”

“Ack…”

Gao Yang pushed Qing Ling away and rolled around, vomiting.

It hurts! It hurts so much!

Activate Psychic Armor.

Seal all emotions!

Fail.

Activate Psychic Armor.

Seal all…

Fail.

Seal…

Fail.

It was unstoppable, unavoidable, unshakeable.

Violent waves of pain caught up to him in the end.

Houseau3's Thoughts

That's cruel, author...

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