Chapter 102 : Chapter 102
Chapter : 102
Yan Yunqing pursed his lips, also raising his teacup, and lightly tapped Merlin's, making a crisp clinking sound, "Thank you."
"...I'm back."
Merlin drained the tea in one gulp, set down the cup, "Strange, I'm just drinking tea, how come I feel like I'm chugging beer in a tavern?"
Yan Yunqing was speechless: "With your alcohol tolerance, forget about chugging beer.
It's already great if you're not knocked out by one cup."
Merlin's face grew slightly hot. Fortunately, his beard concealed the blush that appeared on his face from embarrassment.
He couldn't help but defend himself: "It's been two thousand years! My tolerance is no longer just one cup."
Yan Yunqing didn't believe him.
In the game, Merlin's alcohol tolerance was being knocked out by one cup. It's said that a person's tolerance only gets worse with age, how could it possibly get better?
"Really!"
Yan Yunqing replied perfunctorily: "Alright, alright, let's just say you're telling the truth."
Merlin: ...
The battle over there was almost at its end. Yan Yunqing looked at the boss's nearly empty health bar and asked the question that had been on his mind.
"Merlin, you've deciphered the prophecy about the『Descenders』before, right?"
Merlin froze, as if he thought of something, his expression gradually turning strange, "You don't mean..."
Without waiting for Merlin to ask, Yan Yunqing admitted directly: "When I first heard this prophecy, I thought I was the 『Descender』in the prophecy.
But by a fortunate coincidence, I learned that the 『Descenders』are other people, and they are indeed about to arrive here. Can you tell me what that prophecy specifically said?"
Merlin fell silent. He frowned and pondered for a long while before shaking his head.
"I did indeed decipher that prophecy, but I only deciphered bits and pieces. You know, prophecy magic is the most mysterious and the most difficult to control and master among all law-based magic."
"All prophecy magic isn't actually a complete prediction of the future, but rather the world performing calculations about the future based on current events, and finally feeding back all possibilities to the caster."
"I'm not good at this to begin with. When I was deciphering this prophecy magic back then, I felt a resistance from the world. It refused to let me delve deeper into this issue, so I could only barely decipher the time of the 『Descenders'』appearance."
"I didn't even learn the full prophecy." Merlin said, "The content of the prophecy you heard should be 『the world is annihilated, only the Descenders can save it all』, right? Actually, the prophecy I knew at that time was pretty much the same."
Yan Yunqing was somewhat disappointed upon hearing this, "You don't know either?"
He had thought that Merlin, who had deciphered the prophecy, would know something, but what Merlin knew was no different from what he knew.
"There's nothing to be done. When this prophecy first came out, I ran into some trouble and fell into a deep sleep. I almost didn't wake up. It was Isabelle who found a way... forget it, let's not talk about that."
Merlin thought for a moment: "If you really want to know the full content, perhaps you can go ask Theodore."
Theodore? The Archangel?
Yan Yunqing hesitated for two seconds: "You think he knows something?"
Merlin was certain: "The prophecy emerged during the late period of the Eternal Empire. Most of the other races had already announced their return to their former territories. There aren't many left who lived through that time and are still alive. Divik was searching for you all over the world, Isabelle was busy saving me, and Torin wasn't at the center of power, so he doesn't know much."
"By my count, Theodore knows the most. As the head of the guard, he could be considered to have fought for the Eternal Empire to the very end. He handled all the affairs in those last few years."
"If you want to ask who knows the most about the prophecy, Theodore is definitely the most knowledgeable."
Yan Yunqing thought about it. Both Lilian and Merlin said that Theodore knew the most. It seemed that he could indeed go ask Theodore, but...
"Merlin, let me ask you a question." Yan Yunqing coughed twice, "That is, when I disappeared, what was their... reaction?"
Merlin: ?
Merlin didn't understand what kind of question this was.
He was puzzled: "What other reaction could there be? They were all going crazy."
As he spoke, Merlin clicked his tongue, "I was a little scared just watching back then. You really know how to pick them. The retainers you contracted were each more terrifying than the last. At that time, I was worried that if you suddenly came back, you'd be killed by your crazed retainers. Even Isabelle said that when she found you, she'd give you a good beating."
Yan Yunqing: ?!!
Damn, did they really want to kill the king?
Yan Yunqing was still wondering if the game company behind it was tricking him, but now that he heard a retainer actually wanted to kill him, Yan Yunqing felt a little cowardly.
No, this isn't being cowardly, this is following one's heart!
Divik, for now, probably isn't the one who wants to kill him. Then Theodore...
Theodore probably wouldn't, right?
Yan Yunqing was a little hesitant. They all said Theodore was the Demon King's loyal dog, could he really harbor such a disrespectful thought?
Yan Yunqing pressed his brow, deciding to take it one step at a time. Compared to figuring out the reason for the 『Descender』prophecy, his own life was a bit more important.
At least, once he raised his level to the point where he wouldn't be instantly killed in a fight with Theodore, he could go and meet Theodore.
There was still time. At least, there was still more than half a year until the players came online.
As Yan Yunqing made his decision, a system notification box popped up before his eyes.
【The limited-time challenge instance 'Mandiper·Morgan the False God' has been cleared. Exit?】
Countdown 10, 9, 8...
Yan Yunqing glanced at Isabelle, who had returned to her human form, one foot on the false god's chest, her whole body bathed in piercing flames, and chose to exit.
At this moment, Isabelle looked exactly like the Valkyrie Athena from mythology.
He had managed to freeload off this level 100-plus instance.
Apart from hitting a few vines at the very beginning, the big boss at the end was taken care of by Isabelle and Divik.
He wondered if he would get an assistance reward for clearing this instance.
"But... since you're back, Nolan, have you ever thought about..."
【You have exited the instance. Instance content has been recorded, auto-generating...】
Along with the system prompt, Yan Yunqing heard the last few words of Merlin's sentence and was completely stunned.
"Re-establishing the Eternal Empire?"
【Instance 'The Sinful Mandiper' has been generated, players are welcome to challenge it again.】
***
The long night was endless. Mandiper, filled with the smell of gold coins, collapsed and fell, bit by bit.
The former 『Man'er』and 『Pel』rushed out of the collapsing Mandiper in a panic, staring at the ruins of Mandiper, lost in deep confusion.
Beneath their feet were the ruins that buried sin. Above their heads was a night sky that saw no light.
They could no longer count how much time they had spent in Mandiper.
It had been so long that they had been assimilated and corrupted by Mandiper's money, and had never thought that there would be a day they would leave.
Inuo, who ran out with the crowd, also stared blankly at the pitch-black sky.
He was different from his companions in the children's group. Inuo, who became a 『Dealer』early on, was absolutely not allowed to take a single step out of Mandiper.
"So this is what the sky looks like..."
Suddenly, a gust of wind blew by, chasing away the dark clouds in the sky. The silvery-white moon quietly revealed a corner, casting down wisps of moon gauze.
Inuo slowly extended his hand, watching a wisp of moon gauze land in his palm and drape over his shoulder.
He slowly clenched his hand, as if trying to grasp that wisp of moonlight.
In Inuo's memory, there were only two kinds of light hanging above his head. One was the light from the crystal chandelier hanging high from the ceiling of the casino hall, rotating and refracting brilliant colors; the other was the dim ceiling light when he was locked in the small black room, a lamp that could only illuminate the playing cards in his hand for him to study.
The memories of living with Jeff and the others from long ago had long been forgotten.
He couldn't even find a picture of the sky outside in his memory, and could only piece together the outside world based on the descriptions from the children who returned from outside.
Even though that person had promised to take him away from here this time, Inuo had never had any expectations.
He was just a canary raised in a cage by Mandiper. He had long grown accustomed to life in an iron cage and had forgotten how to fly.
Could someone like him survive after leaving Mandiper?
Low sobs sounded beside him. Inuo looked around in a daze. Many people were crying.
People he knew, and people he didn't. Some of them had faces full of grief, while others seemed to be crying tears of joy.
Why were they crying?
Inuo touched the corner of his own eye. It was dry, without a trace of moisture.
That's right. He had understood from a very young age that crying would not earn him better treatment.
On the contrary, it would plunge him into endless punishment. Only by completing task after task given by the adults would his situation improve.
So he had even forgotten how to cry.
Inuo lowered his head and sighed softly.
"What should I do next?" His voice, for once, revealed a hint of confusion, and he muttered to himself, "Find a noble who likes to play cards and ask if he can take me in?"
Or wait for Mandiper to be rebuilt... hmm, it's already collapsed to this extent, rebuilding would be very difficult, right? How would he survive during that time?
Sigh, how vexing.
Inuo stared blankly at the tips of his own feet. He was wearing a pair of beautiful little leather shoes.
There wasn't a single part of him that wasn't exquisite.
Even though it was inevitable that he would be stained with dust during the escape, it was difficult to hide the temperament cultivated by Mandiper.
This was all part of Mandiper's preferential treatment for its 『Dealers』.
"Inuo—"
A call broke Inuo's confusion. He heard the familiar voice and looked up—
Not far away, Xiao Ai, Mia, Kot...
They were all standing a dozen meters away from him, waving their hands frantically at him.
And beside Xiao Ai, a tall young man leaning on a crutch was looking in his direction with a gentle gaze.
"Inuo!" Xiao Ai ran over excitedly and grabbed Inuo's hand, "Are you hurt?"
"I-I'm not?" Inuo answered blankly, "Why are you guys here?"
Xiao Ai found it strange, "Because we heard the commotion over here. Mr. Xavier said he would bring you out, so we were a little worried and came over when we heard the noise."
"It's a good thing you're not hurt." Mia noticed that the others around them had injuries to varying degrees. Seeing that Inuo was only a little disheveled and had no obvious wounds, she breathed a sigh of relief, "That's great."
Xiao Ai gave Inuo a tight hug before taking his hand and pointing to the young man who had just been watching them gently, "Inuo, this is Brother Jeff, do you still remember him?"
Inuo followed Xiao Ai's gaze and tried to recognize him for a long time, but couldn't find Jeff's face from his memories before entering Mandiper.
However, he didn't spoil the mood and just nodded, obediently following Xiao Ai's words and calling out: "Brother Jeff."
Jeff could tell at a glance that Inuo didn't recognize him at all.
This was very normal. Inuo was too young when he entered Mandiper, and he had never left Mandiper for so many years.
He himself almost couldn't match Inuo's current appearance with his memory, let alone expect such a young child to remember him.
But it didn't matter. Whether they could recognize each other or not, these were the children he had picked up one by one.
They were all his younger brothers and sisters.
Leaning on his crutch, he walked a few steps forward and also reached out to gently hug Inuo.
Jeff said softly to Inuo: "Welcome home, Inuo."
Inuo was enveloped in that embrace, and the warmth buried deep in his memory was unearthed again. His eyes widened slightly.
"At a time like this, you should say 'I'm home'."
Nika, who had been standing by without a word, saw Inuo freeze and reminded him with a smile.
"Ah? Oh!"
Inuo came back to his senses and quickly repeated the phrase: "I'm home."
Then his head was patted by Jeff, "Mm, I know."
Nika and Rocco also came over, each taking one of his hands. Compared to Inuo, who had been carefully raised to be a little taller than his peers, Nika and Rocco, who were clearly older, looked more like Inuo's younger siblings due to their thin frames.
But this still didn't stop them from becoming the closest of families.
They were homeless orphans in this free, barbaric, and sinful city, and also the younger brothers and sisters of Jeff, who had also lost his parents and yet held up the sky for these children at a young age.
"Let's go, let's go home!"
Inuo let Nika and the others lead him, jogging a few steps with them.
The wind blew past, lifting the short hair by his ear, and also lifting the corners of his upturned mouth, as well as the faint traces of moisture at the corners of his eyes.
The wind at that moment was very strong, yet it bypassed Inuo's soul, blowing away his confusion and hesitation.