After years of separation, Lu Yan's brother spoke at length, his words flowing like trivial household chatter. His body was shrouded in a faint black mist, making him appear as cold as a thawed corpse. Light passed through him without casting a shadow on the ground, leading Lu Yan to realize in a daze that, after retracing time, his brother might not have a physical form. He existed like an outdated virus infiltrating a computer, residing in the liminal space between reality and the virtual, with Lu Yan acting as the bridge connecting these two worlds. The surrounding seawater remained scorchingly hot.
For the first time, Lu Yan recognized this for what it truly was—a dream, indistinguishable from the time at the airport when his brain was dragged into this conscious space. He looked into his brother's blood-red eyes, asking, "So, why have you called me here? What's your purpose?"
His brother responded with a smile, "What if I just wanted to see you?"
Lu Yan's expression remained calm, "Then you can let me go back."
"I wish I could," his brother replied, "but unfortunately, I can't. We made entirely different choices, which means only one of us can reach the ultimate end."
Excitement shone in his eyes as he slowly opened his arms, "I'm fortunate to follow you again. But devouring is my nature."
In that moment, the calm waters surged into towering waves, the deep black sea swirling into immense heights.
"You've taken your time, but your integration is complete," his brother said, his eyes softening. "Come, try to kill me with your bow and knife. At least here, in this moment, we are equals."
-
Shen Qingyang vanished. To say he disappeared might not be entirely accurate. Lu Yan's face sprouted tiny bubbles that closely resembled the eyeballs on Shen Qingyang's tentacles. However, these turned silver-white, coldly observing everything around them. Time stood still here. The seawater ceased its flow, the seaweeds halted their growth, and even a gigantic white creature paused mid-stride, humorously lifting a foot.
Only the gazes of Lu Yan and Tang Xunan, who struggled to stand supported by the yellow dust, remained active in this paused space. Golden blood seeped from the gaps in his scales, quickly diluted by the sea.
Tang Xunan knew he couldn't fall, not with Lu Yan behind him. This might be the rare calm before the storm. Everything else was immobilized, while Tang Xunan healed, forcibly piecing his shattered body back together with dragon bones.
The white female creature sneered, "Give up. The god of old days will awaken in his body without any mishaps."
"You haven't experienced it; you don't understand. The monster you're protecting," she continued, "Can you accept him, knowing the truth? I forgot, you probably know nothing yet... How laughable. Ignorant and reckless."
"He does not belong to humans, nor does he belong to you."
Her words echoed in Tang Xunan's mind, repeating and overlapping. Quickly realizing she was using Delirium, a talent for beguiling minds, which works especially well on the weak-willed. Unfortunately for her, Tang Xunan was determined to follow his path, even if it led to smashing into a wall, bleeding profusely, and never looking back.
Deaf to her provocations, golden blood leaked from his ears. Tang Xunan understood that his time to pause was limited, only a few minutes at most, but that was already pushing his body to its limit.
Lu Yan's current state was peculiar, as if existing in a higher dimension, making accelerating time on him even more unrealistic than pausing it.
Tang Xunan inevitably thought about trivial matters. At 19, he had traveled back from the future. Qiao Yu had held back for a long time before asking what kind of future he saw, whether it was good or bad. When Tang Xunan's talent first awakened, he had also ventured into the future and was sternly warned by Qiao Yu of the great cost, and to never speak of whatever he saw.
This time, Qiao Yu himself couldn't help but ask, probably out of sheer curiosity. Tang Xunan told him he saw a future filled with hope, better than the best they had imagined, all thanks to Lu Yan. So, Tang Xunan chose to believe in him unconditionally.
Realizing her attempt to sow discord was futile, the female creature fell silent, calmly waiting for the end. Her body was ready for battle.
The container wasn't fully developed yet; she had to reclaim it. Tang Xunan lit a tranquilizer with Dragon's Breath, holding it in his mouth. He stood up, his bones cracking lightly.
Tang Xunan's expression was more of excitement than fear, excited for the inevitable destiny he was about to confront.
...
The war in another dimension continued unabated. Lu Yan reached for his quiver only to find it empty of arrows. Blood trickled from his forehead, blurring his vision. With a swipe of his hand, he wiped the grime from his face and shoved a piece of his dislodged innards back into his body. His regeneration was healing him, but he was dangerously close to a critical threshold.
His brother was right; here, they were equals. They possessed bodies of the same strength, the same talents. What one knew, the other could do just as well. No one else could understand their bodies as intimately as they understood each other's. A stab through his brother's shoulder would be met with a broken arm; an arrow to the heart, a gut wound in return. Yet, amidst this parity, there was a divergence.
His brother harbored an influence over Lu Yan that spanned from childhood to adulthood—fear. He lived in Lu Yan's dreams, his memories, every heart-pounding, suffocating nightmare. Countless were the nights a young Lu Yan awoke crying, face devoid of expression, his body shaking with physiological fear. Dreams painted with blood-red skies, bizarre and fantastical.
He knew someone stood behind him, someone who called himself 'brother' and promised protection. But Lu Yan never believed it. Now, the source of those nightmares stood before him. Lu Yan's actions were ruthless, yet tears uncontrollably streamed down his cheeks.
His brother laughed hoarsely from his chest, "It seems a repeat performance changes nothing. Last time, I was the thief. This time, you've chosen the wrong path. You were meant to be a perfect evolution, yet you've regressed, burdened by unnecessary emotions and still clinging to a human form."
"I'm disappointed," his brother sighed. Black mist swirled around him, deep red tendrils snaking out from his eyes, mouth, and ears, quickly replacing his head. He embraced Lu Yan, not in affection but in mutation. The tendrils wrapped around Lu Yan like a net, securely trapping its prey, piercing him and greedily gulping down his blood. Lu Yan's body grew cold as ice.
Pierced by the tendrils, a familiar terror overwhelmed him. He could hear his brother's heartbeat, slow and steady within his chest. "He" was being reborn. As the cold threatened to rob him of consciousness, a searing heat erupted from Lu Yan's back—the Dragonbone Bow.
With no arrows left, only the bow remained, now scalding to the touch. In his haze, Lu Yan realized something—if Tang Xunan woke to find someone else in his place, it would devastate him. Lu Yan had told the system he enjoyed seeing Tang Xunan cry, but not over something like this.
Fear stems from the unknown. Yet now, with his brother before him, they embraced. The tendrils persisted, but his brother had reverted to human form. Lu Yan lifted his gaze, "You're right... emotions are a burden. But it's these burdensome emotions that make me feel alive. Human."
He raised his hand, and a massive fissure slowly opened in his left palm, nearly splitting it in two. White filaments, reminiscent of the umbilical cords seen wrapped around pillars, eagerly pierced his brother's heart.
"Talent 25 - Devouring," his brother commented with a hint of amusement, "Using my own talent against me? Isn't that redundant, brother?" He had anticipated this possibility.
But it was futile. Lu Yan's Devouring was a step too late. His brother would consume him first. Yet, quickly, his brother sensed something amiss; he was vanishing, or rather, being purified.
His eyes widened in shock, "How can this be?!" Their talents were similar yet distinct. On the talent list, Devouring was marked with a significant asterisk, indicating a healing talent. Yet, it lost its healing essence upon becoming a Pollutant.
The system had mentioned that the Kingfish, symbolized by a tongue, possessed the talent of Devouring. It also said, "This fish indeed has the greatest potential among all." Because the superior talent to Devouring was named "Oracle."
...
R'lyeh began to ascend. The matriarch's face lit up with ecstatic joy, "The God! Our God awakens!" Her body, pierced with several large holes, housed white worms crawling in and out, secreting a gelatinous substance to mend her form.
She was nearly minced, but Tang Xunan was no better off. He was on the brink of death. Half of the Black Dragon's body had vanished, leaving no blood to flow. Tang Xunan's consciousness grew hazy, barely remembering his identity, fixated solely on not letting Lu Yan be taken.
As R'lyeh continued to rise, the blood-red moon loomed large, casting a dim red hue across the sky, prompting countless prayers. However, just as the city's supporting pillars neared the water's surface, the ascent abruptly halted. Without warning, the pillars began to fracture and, after a brief pause, the entire city plummeted downwards! The despair following dashed hopes was excruciating.
"No—no!" The matriarch wailed in agony. She had forsaken her humanity to come to the deep sea, willingly becoming nourishment for the birth of a god, all for a future ruled by Pollutants. Her child was to be the lord of the world, and she would stand by its throne.
Tang Xunan could no longer sustain his dragon form. He reverted to his human shape, which, polluted and seen in the conscious space, differed little from his human self; what was human had turned to dust. Clutching Lu Yan, he swam upwards, but the matriarch's tendrils tightly gripped his ankles.
The buoyancy provided by the swim bladder had long surpassed the 24-hour mark. Water rushed into Tang Xunan's nostrils and lungs, choking and burning him. With the last of his strength, he pushed Lu Yan towards the surface, nearly within sight of the dim sky light.
In the next moment, Tang Xunan was engulfed by the tendrils, yet his expression was serene, even relieved. He had fought all his life. Now, he could finally rest.
*
Lu Yan awoke amidst a landscape of ice and snow, floating on a slab of ice. His expression was blank as he drifted towards the island where their journey had begun, now silent and deserted. Without Tang Xunan, Shen Qingyang, or even the merfolk that once lingered by the shore, the world seemed engulfed by the icy wilderness.
Then, the system's voice reached his ears: [Finally awake? You scared me. I thought you might not wake up. Or worse, wake up as someone else...]
Struggling to sit up, Lu Yan felt as though he had been crushed, pained. Yet, he was well-protected, virtually unscathed. In his hand, he found something warm—a broken sword. It was Tang Xunan's Yellow Dust, half its length remaining, attached to the hilt and clearly having seen fierce battle, even the blade was curled.
Grasping the sword, Lu Yan asked, "Where's Tang Xunan?"
[...]
Lu Yan repeated, "Where's Tang Xunan?" His voice trembled, unnoticed.
After a moment, the system responded, [He and R'lyeh sank to the ocean's floor.]
Clutching the broken blade, Lu Yan fell silent, his mind a void.
"What happened?"
Unable to contain his emotions, his skin sprouted fearsome eyeballs, a horrifying sight.
[Host,] the system's voice was softer than ever, soothing, [Calm down. It's not as bad as it seems. He's still alive, trust me.]
Almost on cue, a shadowy figure fell from the sky. The man, newly sprouted dragon wings awkwardly fluttering, tumbled several times before stopping in front of Lu Yan, carrying a life pod. His beautiful golden pupils looked up in a panic, meeting Lu Yan's gaze.
The system exhaled in relief: [See, your little dragon dog.]
*
In the abyssal chaos, the long-dead black dragon's body shuddered, dust cascading from its form. Half-rotted, it slowly opened its golden eyes.
Tang Xunan's vision briefly swirled, his overly lengthy memories replaying like a film. He remembered devouring the twin souls at the world's end, thus acquiring the complete Talent 2.
"Talent 2 - Life and Death." To be reborn from the brink of death. One death, one life.
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