Chapter 18: Death-Defying Enthusiast
The Prisoner Chila gripped the Dragon-Slaying Flash with one hand, his rotting, withered face utterly expressionless. The necrotic muscles beneath his skin were striated, lacking elasticity but abnormally hard.
Though the Saberface had a negative impression of Su Xiao, she knew this wasn’t the time to spectate. Just as she stepped forward with her sword, the Old Pious raised a hand to block her.
“If you don’t want to die, don’t get near Chila. Without the Black King’s protection, you’ll definitely die.”
The Old Pious wasn’t joking. Dead Silence City wasn’t a place that nurtured monsters—it was a massive “prison.” When its residents left the city, they didn’t weaken; instead, they could affect the vitality of other living beings.
Take Zos, for example. He had been in close contact with the Prisoner Chila moments ago, and now his face was bloodless, too weak to even stand steadily.
The reason Su Xiao could confront the Prisoner Chila was due to the [Black King’s Fallen Sacrifice]. This piece of equipment was helping him repel a certain fluctuation—not energy, but a wave that could influence biological vitality.
“Go back… go back now. This place doesn’t belong to you. This is the territory of the living. We… command you to go back!”
Muddled whispers emerged around them. The Prisoner Chila clutched his head with one hand, released the Dragon-Slaying Flash, and stumbled back several steps before retreating to the entrance of a shop.
Gray-black threads surged from the Prisoner Chila’s arm, climbing onto the wooden door. The door’s texture transformed, becoming a black, rust-caked metal door.
Rumble…
The rusted black door creaked open. The Prisoner Chila shuffled inside. Through the gap beside him, Su Xiao saw vast structures within—buildings with bizarre, pointed roofs that resembled black cones.
The rusted black door didn’t close immediately. The civilians who had collapsed on the street earlier rose to their feet. Their clothes rapidly decayed into coarse black hemp fabric, their skin withered, and their pupils turned gray-white.
“King.”
Dozens of civilians spoke in unison, shuffling toward the rusted black door.
Zos, his face as pale as paper, pressed one hand to the ground and looked at Su Xiao. Su Xiao nodded at him, which steeled Zos’s resolve to court death. He was intensely curious about that eerie fluctuation.
A mass of black energy appeared before the rusted black door. By now, most of the civilians had entered, leaving only a little girl of about seven or eight. One side of her cheek had withered and cracked, exposing yellowed teeth. Her hair was also yellowed and thinning.
With a squelch, like falling into a swamp, the little girl dropped into the black energy.
Clack…
The rusted black door slowly began to close.
Bang!
A pale arm caught the door, halting its closure. A gray-white eye stared at Zos through the gap.
“Give it… back… to us… It already belongs… to Dead Silence City.”
A voice as harsh as sandpaper grinding together reached them. Just hearing it made Zos’s scalp tingle with numbness.
Pfft!
A long blade pierced the gap in the rusted black door. With a rumble, the door slammed shut. Zos collapsed to the ground with a thud, gasping for air.
“Ha, haha, that was too thrilling. Worth dying for.”
Far from terrified, Zos sat on the ground laughing, even sneaking a hand down to his crotch. He’d been so tense his bladder ached, afraid that if he relaxed, he’d wet his pants.
The one who had thrust the blade was, of course, Su Xiao. He stared at the rusted black door ahead. The rust on it quickly flaked off, turning to dust in the air and dissipating.
The rusted black door reverted to a wooden one. The surrounding dilapidated buildings also rapidly restored themselves, the signs of decay evaporating as if they’d never existed.
The world returned to its original colors. Sunlight bathed the street, bringing a heartfelt sense of security. A breeze dispersed the stench of decay, but the street was now completely empty.
“So that’s Dead Silence City?”
Su Xiao sheathed the Dragon-Slaying Flash and glanced at the block to his right. Most buildings had cracks on them. He rarely caused such destruction in battle, since most of his abilities acted along a single line—his slashes. If his power scattered outward, his blade arts would have been wasted.
“Yes, that’s Dead Silence City. The King’s resting place…”
The Old Pious’s tone grew melancholic. The residents of Dead Silence City leaving could only mean one thing: the Black King had been assimilated too, becoming one of its inhabitants—no, becoming its king.
“Dead Silence City… really exists?”
Zos stood up from the ground. The Gray Rat and Number Ten were both gone, having entered that rusted black door. The Gray Rat lacked sufficient willpower, while Number Ten had no independent judgment at all—assimilation was inevitable.
“Of course it exists. And unlike folk tales, Dead Silence City isn’t in some illusion. It’s somewhere on this continent. We need to hurry. Someone must sit on the Black Throne within half a month, or Dead Silence City’s assimilation range will keep expanding, eventually swallowing the entire continent. We’ll become its residents too, forever living between death and life.”
The Old Pious had been worried and fearful all along. Now, what he feared was appearing, and what he dreaded was about to descend.
Zos recalled the humanoid monster from before and couldn’t help but shudder. He asked, “If—just if—this continent gets assimilated by Dead Silence City, wouldn’t we have to flee to the sea? Become sea folk?”
Hearing Zos’s somewhat fanciful words, the Old Pious chuckled.
“Child, don’t worry. When this continent is assimilated, you won’t have a chance to escape. You’ll become a resident of Dead Silence City too. It feels… like being trapped in a sack. You can vaguely see outside, but you can’t control your own body. You wander Dead Silence City every day, gradually being assimilated, until you become part of it.”
The Old Pious looked around the empty street. This had happened once before, during the Black King’s later years. That time, the scale was even larger. Fortunately, the Black King had repelled Dead Silence City’s residents and made some promise.
‘I will return, but not now. Let it wait for me at least one moon cycle.’
Those were the Black King’s last words, heard only by the Old Pious and Chila. Rumor had it that the Black King left alone, but in truth, his Left Guardian followed—without the Black King’s permission.
“Rahan, do you know where the Black Throne is?”
Su Xiao felt he might have misunderstood the second part of his main quest. The Black Throne didn’t seem hard to find.
“Of course. The Black Throne is in the royal palace, but until a new king appears, no one can set foot there—not even the royal family.”
“A new king…”
Su Xiao’s mind raced. He had already eliminated one opponent. Now he only needed to deal with Princess Shayeto and Bloomer. As for the Little Duke, that would come last.
Earlier, he had detected traces of a Violator on the Little Duke. Even if the Little Duke wasn’t a Violator in disguise, he had certainly been in contact with one.
The anomaly in this block soon attracted the city guard. Before they arrived, Su Xiao had already led his people away.
Just as they reached the entrance of the Right Guardian’s estate, Su Xiao saw a tall figure surrounded by soldiers.
“Amu.”
Hearing Su Xiao’s voice, Amu let out a moo from within the crowd, and the soldiers immediately backed off.
Though they had lost the temporary helpers Gray Rat and Number Ten, the more reliable Amu had arrived.