Ch. 35
Chapter 35: Word Spirit·Abyss Court Heavy Domain
In the dim classroom, only the faint glow of Lu Shiyan's cigarette broke the darkness.
Borrowing that small light, Hoshino stared at the pitch-black mark on Yekaterina's arm.
It was a face, silently screaming.
Just a single glance made her feel a chill seep into her bones.
"Wh-what is this?" Hoshino's voice trembled.
Yekaterina pulled her sleeve back down and said plainly: "A curse."
"Don't be scared now~little girl."
Lu Shiyan exhaled a smoke ring, a mischievous smile hanging at the corner of his mouth.
"Anyone who enters the range of this school will be marked by that hospitable host of ours."
"That includes you too, of course~"
"Ah?!"
Hoshino shrank into herself in fright, tears glimmering in her eyes.
She looked pitiously toward Yekaterina, her gaze practically spelling out 'tell me this isn't real.'
However, Yekaterina cut off her last shred of wishful thinking with cold indifference.
"Lu isn't trying to scare you this time."
"If you don't believe me, check your own body."
Now Hoshino was truly panicking.
Her hands trembling, she reached to pull open her collar to look—yet couldn't bring herself to, as though something monstrous were lurking beneath.
"Then...then why did that ghost stamp this mark on us?"
Hoshino asked, her voice on the verge of tears.
Lu Shiyan raised an eyebrow and lowered his voice with an air of deliberate mystery.
"To throw a party, of course."
"Wait until 4:44 in the morning, and you'll see exactly what it wants to do..."
"And think about where we are...a school, after all. There's always morning reading and the flag-raising ceremony."
"Trust me, you're going to 'love' it."
"I don't want to love it!!"
Guo Shuai, just about to step clear of the rainy mountain valley, felt a roar erupt inside his mind.
"What the hell! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?!"
Guo Shuai was so startled he nearly slipped in the mud: "Scaring someone out of nowhere like that—do you have any decency?"
"Decency? You want me to have decency?"
Inside his mind, Fit Albert howled with indignation.
"What was that nickname you just thought of?! Fei Yang-yang?!"
"That is clearly not a respectable name!"
"You little brat, rotten to the core, bullying this thousand-year-old man."
"It's just a nickname. Why are you huffing and puffing like that?"
Guo Shuai kept trudging forward through the uneven ground, firing back.
"I don't care! I refuse! You are not allowed to call me Fei Yang-yang!"
Fit Albert gave a haughty, tsundere harrumph and fell silent.
Guo Shuai's mouth twitched.
‘This guy's personality...’
‘How does it bear absolutely no resemblance to that brooding, grievance-filled image from the diary?’
‘If anything, he's more like someone who's been locked up too long—a bit of a chatterbox and a full-on insufferable tsundere.’
'But...people are always putting on masks.'
Guo Shuai thought inwardly: 'Better to stay guarded.'
He hummed a little tune, slung the machine gun over his shoulder, and strode briskly toward the black RV parked in the distance.
'I completed a big mission this time and even brought back weapons and intel—surely the boss will praise me, right?'
Thinking of Jiang Nan, Guo Shuai's eyes filled with reverence.
That figure standing like a deity amid the sea of fire. That silhouette turning to ash with a single wave of his hand.
It had become his one and only faith in this apocalypse.
And yet, right at that moment.
Fit Albert started stirring up trouble again.
"Hey, kid."
"Why are you following that man?"
"Now that you have this divine being, we could go it alone! Just the two of us!"
"We'd establish our own sect, have whatever we want—women, resources, territory, all within reach! Why live under someone else's roof?"
The moment he heard that, Guo Shuai's temper flared on the spot.
"Shut up! Stop trying to sweet-talk me!"
"I haven't even settled the score with you for that Fox Borrowing a Tiger's Might stunt yet!"
"Let me make this clear—the boss will always be my boss! I'll follow him until the day I die!"
"What Fox Borrowing a Tiger's Might? Don't you slander this divine being!"
Fit Albert grew anxious.
"I, Fit Albert, may occasionally tell a few 'well-intentioned little fibs,' but I never joke about matters of substance!"
"Your so-called boss—after this divine being's precise scan just now—his data panel came back as a Grade E- pushover! A complete nobody!"
"Though in terms of presence...I'll admit he's quite something, very skilled at putting on airs."
"But he doesn't even have an ability fluctuation. He's just an ordinary human! What's worth this kind of blind devotion from you?"
"......"
Guo Shuai rolled his eye and didn't believe a word of it.
"Ordinary human? Ha."
"What would you know, you blind eyeball?"
Guo Shuai was certain this thing was trying to extract information from him—or was simply blind.
Not to mention, the Scarecrow was already dead before this guy ever left the cellar.
He'd never witnessed the boss unleash his power, so naturally he had no idea what it meant to be 'divine wrath made prison.'
"Can't be bothered with you."
Guo Shuai shut out the voice in his mind entirely and quickened his pace.
Seeing that the other party was ignoring him, Fit Albert didn't embarrass himself further.
But he sank into deep thought.
'Strange...could I have actually misjudged this?'
'That man...there really is something about him that makes even me feel uneasy.'
'But then why does the data panel show nothing but low-tier values?'
'Interesting...truly interesting.'
......
While this exchange played out, Guo Shuai had already reached the RV.
"Guo Shuai!!"
Wang Meng, who had been pacing back and forth by the vehicle door, spotted the figure and rushed down immediately, pulling Guo Shuai into a hug.
"Haha! Brother, you're finally back! I was worried sick!"
Then Wang Meng spotted the machine gun hanging around Guo Shuai's neck and the rifle on his back, and his eyes instantly lit up like light bulbs:
"Holy crap! An NG-7 Machine Gun?! A fully-loaded M416?!"
"Did you go restocking or something? Where'd you get these?!"
Guo Shuai scratched his head and laughed, shaking the rainwater off his body:
"Heh heh, got lucky, found them."
"Brother Wang, can you let me get in the car first? This rain's got me pretty cold, and I'm covered in mud."
"Oh! Right! What was I thinking!"
Wang Meng slapped his thigh and immediately went to take off his own jacket.
"Quick! Take off those wet clothes—wear mine first! Don't go catching a cold!"
"That...that doesn't feel right, does it?"
Guo Shuai felt a little awkward.
"Ah, what do you mean it doesn't feel right?! We're brothers! What's mine is yours!"
Wang Meng generously began undoing his buttons.
"Brother Wang~"
"Guo bro~"
2 big men stood facing each other in the rain with deep emotion, the atmosphere gradually growing a little tense and oddly charged.
"Ahem."
At that very moment, the vehicle door swung open.
Jiang Nan stepped down wearing only his shirt, his expression cool and detached, cutting off this display of 'brotherly devotion.'
He swept a glance over the equipment on Guo Shuai's body and showed no particular sign of surprise.
Instead, he pulled out his Notepad and went straight to the point.
【How did it go?】
Seeing the boss, Guo Shuai instantly dropped his easy-going demeanor, his expression turning solemn and respectful.
He stood up straight, not even bothering to wipe the rain from his face, and recounted everything he had witnessed and heard at the school entrance.
Including that annihilated Sakura Nation squad, the bizarre Rain Demon, and the chatterbox 'Fit Albert' residing in his mind.
He reported every single detail without omission.
Jiang Nan listened quietly, nodding from time to time.
When he heard the name 'Fit Albert,' a hint of amusement flashed through his eyes.
That diary-writing mad wizard—he was actually still alive.
Interesting.
After hearing the full report, Jiang Nan wrote on the notepad:
【You handled this mission well.】
【Hand the guns over to Wang Meng to deal with.】
【As for the search for the Terminal Signal Tower—postpone it for now.】
Done writing, Jiang Nan turned to head back into the vehicle.
"Huh? Boss?"
Guo Shuai paused, pointed at his own left eye, and asked with some hesitation.
"Don't you need to...worry about 'him'?"
He was naturally referring to Fit Albert—the one parasitizing his eye, former creator of an S-Grade Boss.
A monster who had lived for over a thousand years. Even if he seemed a bit of a clown right now, what if there was a backlash?
Jiang Nan stopped.
He didn't turn around. He simply held the Notepad up behind him, tore off a strip with one casual motion, and let the wind carry it to Guo Shuai.
Guo Shuai caught it quickly.
The slip of paper held only a single line, the brushstrokes sharp, radiating an unparalleled dominance and contempt:
【Would you spare a second thought for a stray dog you casually kicked to death by the roadside?】
"!!"
Guo Shuai stared at those words, feeling a surge of hot blood rush straight to his head!
Domineering!
Absolutely freaking domineering!
Comparing a thousand-year-old arch-wizard, the very creator of an S-Grade Cursed Object, to a stray dog by the roadside?!
And a stray dog that was 'casually kicked to death,' no less!
"The boss is truly the boss!!"
Guo Shuai shook with excitement, almost wanting to drop to his knees right then and there and shout 'incredible!'
However.
While one rejoiced, another despaired.
"You bastard!!!"
Inside Guo Shuai's mind, Fit Albert completely lost his composure, his roar rattling Guo Shuai's skull.
"A stray dog?! Who does he think he's calling a stray dog?!"
"This arrogant mortal! What right does he have to look down on this divine being?!"
"Kid! Release control of your body! I want to fight him one-on-one! I'll show him what it means to have the dignity of a wizard!!"
Fit Albert—the great Fit Albert—when had he ever suffered such humiliation?
Guo Shuai gave a cold laugh inwardly:
"You? Don't overestimate yourself."
"The boss is not someone you can afford to provoke. Stay in your lane if you don't want to die."
"Hmph!"
Fit Albert was beside himself with fury.
"Clearly, he's scared! Suddenly saying to postpone heading there—he's definitely afraid of that rain monster!"
"In my eyes, he's nothing but a turtle hiding in its shell!"
"Shut up!"
A flash of anger crossed Guo Shuai's eye, and he thundered inwardly:
"Don't you dare slander the boss! Everything the boss does has deep and far-reaching reasoning behind it!"
"Say one more bad word about him and I'll gouge you out of this eye socket and stuff you up a Wandering Corpse's backside out there! I mean every word!"
"......"
This threat of physical humiliation was clearly devastatingly effective.
Fit Albert choked, and in the end could only let out a cold snort:
"Facts speak louder than words! You little brat, just you wait and see!"
......
Outside the vehicle, the squabbling raged on. Inside, it was perfectly tranquil.
Jiang Nan sat before the surveillance screen, his gaze deep and distant as he watched the valley entrance shrouded in the curtain of rain.
‘A monster hiding in raindrops, hm...’
‘Water-type. Teleportation. Physical immunity.’
‘Indeed—for me, currently in an ability vacuum period...’
‘And lacking any wide-range means of control, this is a somewhat troublesome opponent.’
If he forced his way in, the intimidation of the S-Grade Magic Hide would keep him alive.
But to actually kill something hiding within tens of thousands of individual raindrops—the difficulty was enormous.
‘However...’
‘There's only today left.’
‘I hope that tomorrow...you'll still be this brazen.’
Jiang Nan stood up, removed his shirt, and returned to the warm bed.
Chen Tong burrowed into his arms like a docile little cat, rubbing her cheek against his chest.
Jiang Nan pulled that warm, soft figure close, closed his eyes, and drifted peacefully to sleep.
He was waiting.
Waiting for that moment to arrive.
Tick.
Tock.
When the hour hand and minute hand aligned at their highest point.
【Ding! The time has reached midnight 00:00.】
【Daily settlement complete.】
【Word count quota refreshed: +1 (Current Balance: 6,323)】
【Current Location: Rainy Night Valley (Edge)】
【Check-in successful!】
The system notification arrived as promised, like a melody from heaven.
【Congratulations, Host—you have received Word Spirit·Abyss Court Heavy Domain (Grade A)!】
【Word Spirit·Abyss Court Heavy Domain (A)】
Effect: Expand a gravity courtyard with a radius of 10 meters centered on yourself.
Anyone who enters this domain with killing intent will immediately be subjected to your directed extreme gravitational pressure.
Extreme Gravitational Pressure: 100 tons.
Properties: Counter-triggered, stackable, infinite duration, ineffective against those with no killing intent.
Range: Radius 10 meters (centered on self).
Cost: 6 characters.
Activation Method: Drop to one knee, press your palm to the ground, and whisper: "This court runs deep and heavy—halt."
......
On the large bed, Jiang Nan's eyes snapped open.
‘Raindrops? Teleportation?’
‘Before the hundred-ton sovereign, I will make this sky full of rain—kneel before me.’