New Century Warriors

Chapter 9. Turning Point Part 1: Long, Straight Black Hair

That's not how it works...

For five whole years, in this world with a rather dark setting, Raiye experienced many perilous battles, but he never lost any important people: his teammates, his acquaintances in the guild, or even the owner of the small shop he frequented.

Analyzing this world from the author's perspective, Raino came to the conclusion that his adventure story would most likely follow a similar trajectory to Gintama or Konosuba. Therefore, although the slow growth of his power made him anxious, it wasn't to the point of being desperate.

Now, someone has died.

no...

Why did you just kill them off like that? This isn't how a lighthearted adventure story works! Even if you really are a villainous evil god who infiltrates a human city, you should at least talk to me first, discover my gentle side, develop feelings for me, find out I have allies with even higher affection levels, then awaken your yandere side, enter a battle scenario, accidentally kill someone, be defeated by me, feel remorse, revive the person you killed, and then you two reconcile and become allies. Why did you just kill them off like that? I don't accept this!

No, Lei Ye went through all the happy memories in his mind, but he still couldn't suppress the sadness welling up in his heart.

He opened his eyes and looked at the severed hand he was clutching tightly. It had become cold and hard. Lei Ye mechanically pulled off the watch hanging on it and rubbed it to wipe the blood off the dial.

"Rayno! Rayno!! What are you doing? Wake up!"

Such calls could be heard from afar.

As his hazy consciousness cleared somewhat, Lei Ye felt a jolt and drowsiness, like slowly waking up on a long-distance bus. He finally looked away from his already cold severed hand and exhaled a breath of cold air.

It wasn't actually very cold, because warm tentacles wrapped around or held him down from the waist.

Another tentacle, growing from this one, lay across his face. This tentacle was wider, and on it were the paper and pen that Lei Ye had used just a few hours earlier.

Then another tentacle growing from this tentacle, like a branch swaying in the summer breeze, swayed in front of Lei Ye. An eye without eyelids moved from the base to the tail like a ray swimming in water, staring directly at Lei Ye. Then several mouths followed like a school of fish.

"Don't be afraid... Teacher Kuang Xiaolei..."

"Writing, updating quickly...writing..."

"I like you..."

"Dating..."

"Raino!!!"

As they whispered amongst themselves, the call they had just heard came again, this time much clearer than before, like a thunderclap. Because it was so close, Lei Ye suddenly looked up, but before he could see the figure leaping in mid-air and wielding a sword, she was slammed down by a giant tentacle, followed by the sound of armor and body being crushed.

Anrashi, that's her name. She was one of Raino's mothers, the only one in the Forest River with long, straight black hair. For a moment, Raino thought of many things about this teammate, but he immediately forced himself not to think about it, because she was now dead, and there were other things that needed to be done.

First, Lei Ye tried to break free of the tentacles, but as expected, it was the same indestructible force he had previously felt from Ye Lei.

Oh, I can't say that, because this giant tentacle is Ye Lei.

Lei Ye took a deep breath to calm himself down, recalling the scene he had just witnessed: the girl whose body was twisted in front of him, the giant purple octopus that rose from the ground, the tentacles that had captured him, and the girl he had just met who had transformed into a ten-meter-tall monster in a few seconds.

The indescribable fear that had been suppressed in my heart finally came true. This guy didn't give any warning at all, instantly switching to battle mode, making it impossible to defend against.

Then, Lei Ye peeked outside and saw the place where Ye Lei had walked, a scene of utter devastation resembling a battlefield ravaged by missiles.

Several large tentacles rose from the ground amidst the ruins. They were actually able to wriggle and move, and several explorers were fighting against these tentacles that seemed to be moving freely with the purpose of destroying the building.

The situation was not optimistic. Raino recognized that among the explorers fighting was the guild's most elite warrior. Although they were not familiar with each other, they had treated each other to drinks before. Raino had just remembered his name when he saw him being killed.

His enemy was nothing more than a damned, wriggling tentacle.

The real battlefield is around Ye Lei's body. Those who can fight here are the pinnacle of Xillius's combat power, namely the strongest team that Lei Ye just left—the Forest River.

The moment Lei Ye thought of this, he felt his blood run cold.

He could even hear his teammates' groans of serious injury and their roars of charging forward.

His heart was pounding at an unbelievable speed, and his breathing became increasingly rapid, but Lei Ye remained surprisingly calm, even to himself.

Judgment 1: One of Ye Lei's tentacles is resting on her head, like a human drawing a heart on their head, and her current position is in the "arm" of this tentacle, which can also be seen from the height.

Judgment 2: From his vantage point, he could clearly see the catastrophic destruction caused by Ye Lei. Unlike any enemy who had ever tried to occupy or plunder the city, Ye Lei's goal seemed to be simply to completely destroy everything in the city.

Judgment 3: The River of Forest is trying to rescue itself, while this super team, which was formed to defeat the Demon King and is second to none even in the royal city, is being utterly crushed.

Finally, considering all the cards we've accumulated so far, the chances of winning are zero.

Thinking of this, Lei Ye no longer felt sad; instead, he felt more like laughing in anger.

"Even Lu Mingfei, if pushed to the limit, would risk his life to save the day. What kind of ridiculous plot twist is this?"

Lei Ye checked his skill description again, and the number of mothers listed was still nine.

Even though Mom died, Mom's money won't disappear. Raino finally confirmed something he'd been unsure about all along, but what good is it anyway?

He can't do anything right now.

Uh... not necessarily.

"Ye Lei!"

He yelled at the tentacles, "Come out, let's talk."

Lei Ye originally thought that Ye Lei might not respond, or at least that he would have to argue for a while, but Ye Lei appeared immediately.

Her true form, the location of the octopus's brain, twisted into a dark purple door, and she appeared in a form that could barely be considered human.

Lei Ye recognized her true appearance at a glance.

She stood quietly in front of Lei Ye, as if waiting for him to speak.

Lei Ye was in a state of utter confusion and speechless for a moment. After a long standoff, he finally managed to squeeze out a few words.

Why?

"Why? Why?"

"I don't know what you are, but if you want to read books, I'll write them honestly. Why are you doing this? Even villains have to have a reason to do evil."

No answer.

Lei Ye racked his brains trying to figure out how to make every word he said next as effective as possible, and to move in the direction of stopping this monster. But after thinking for a long time, the image in his mind was the resentment in Luo Ya's eyes when she left after watching the stars that day, as if she was glaring angrily at a damn scumbag.

scumbag...

"Do you really like me?" Rai Ye suddenly looked up.

"like."

"Stop it, and I'll date you."

They're not answering again.

Ye Lei lowered her eyelids slightly, as if she was thinking about something.

But the tentacles didn't stop at all, still slapping wildly, and Raino's mothers were being beaten in Raino's blind spot.

In his anxiety, Lei Ye suddenly had a flash of inspiration!

"Can we put this matter aside for a bit? I have a really nasty bastard I want to kill. If you help me kill her, I'll date you, and after that, you can do whatever you want. I won't stop you."

"Sure, who do you want to kill?"

Lei Ye took a deep breath.

"Scorched Earth, Demon King."

...

Scorched earth, Demon King's City.

Corpses are everywhere.

Raiye had fantasized countless times about the day he would arrive at the Demon King's Castle, a final battleground he would reach after overcoming countless obstacles and enduring long battles with his companions. He never imagined that he would set foot on this land in this way.

Ye Lei's movement speed was ridiculously fast; she covered hundreds of kilometers in a single night.

From the moment they entered the scorched earth region, demons continuously launched surprise attacks on Lei Ye. Lei Ye couldn't judge the strength of these demons because they were all instantly killed by Ye Lei in one move.

As you delve deeper, you start encountering demons with detailed models and special equipment, complete with attendants—like mini-bosses from an RPG game. But it's no use! They're still defeated in a single hit.

Further in, one could see enormous demons leading their armies straight towards Ye Lei. They could barely hold their own against Ye Lei for a few rounds, but Ye Lei still won without any pressure.

Lei Ye had a very comfortable journey, with plenty of food and drink and the best viewing spot. However, Lei Ye felt that his mental energy was about to be depleted. Only now, after relaxing a little, did he have time to recall everything that had happened before. If it weren't for the blood on his wristwatch, he would find it hard to imagine that his daily routine of searching for his mother in another world could suddenly change like this in a single day.

In addition, his original plan was to bring Ye Lei here to be killed. Lei Ye had investigated this world for five years, and all the information pointed to the Demon King as the pinnacle of power in this world. He tricked this seemingly unintelligent ancient god into coming to the Demon King's territory, thinking of using the Demon King to kill this guy. Of course, after that, he probably wouldn't be able to go back. He didn't even think about being able to go back. He only thought that his death could bring life to Xierlius.

Today he finally saw the true face of the Demon King.

Demons all have horns, so if they weren't on opposing sides, Lei Ye quite liked demons. Because Lei Ye liked feet, he also liked horns.

The Demon King's horns were ridiculously large.

The Father of Ultra said so.

However, the large horns were only relative to her body proportions. The Demon King's size was not as huge as Raino had imagined. Although she was quite large, she could still be considered a "somewhat tall human girl". Raino had never even thought that the so-called Demon King was actually a fairly pretty woman, which was very different from the illustration in the data he had investigated.

When that demon king spoke, he didn't have the air of superiority that Lei Ye had imagined at all.

"Wait a minute, wasn't it supposed to be that a hero might come and conquer this place? If we defeated him, we could gather an army and wipe out the Frey Empire; if we lost, we could just surrender and wait for Ai Cao. What is this thing?! Strategist! Where's the strategist?!"

"I don't know!"

"The strategist seems to have run out through the side door!"

The Demon King gritted his teeth, looked up at Ye Lei, and shouted.

"Who are you? A hero? Have all heroes become like this these days?! Let's talk this over and not fight, okay? I'll sign a peace treaty! Otherwise, if I lose, you'll kill me! Wait, isn't this a peaceful era? I haven't invaded human territory, have I?"

Ye Lei seemed to have no desire to communicate with her. Starting at zero frames, a large tentacle slammed down.

"Damn it, they even ambushed your poet?!"

The Demon King reacted quickly, pulling out a huge scythe and leaping up to meet the attack.

As expected of the Demon King, the scythe-like hot blade, shrouded in a black and unclean aura, sliced ​​through Ye Lei's tentacles as easily as butter. This was the first time Lei Ye had ever seen Ye Lei's defenses breached.

As Lei Ye had predicted, the Demon King's side gained the upper hand in the probing exchange.

But for some reason, the Demon King, who landed from mid-air, instantly switched to an extremely serious battle expression.

She stared at the black aura on her sickle and pondered silently for a few seconds.

Without warning, he turned and ran.

The demons who had been standing next to the Demon King, with their exquisitely modeled figures and extremely sophisticated equipment, exchanged glances and then made their moves. Lei Ye subconsciously raised his hand to shield his eyes, because a special effect that could be described as light pollution erupted with a magic he had never seen before. Amidst the deafening explosion, the tentacle where Lei Ye was standing shook violently, even knocking his pen away.

The intense tinnitus left Lei Ye somewhat dazed, but he quickly judged from the intensity of the explosion that at least two of the spells were special-grade spells, second only to super-level spells. Even among the mothers of the Forest River, there was only one person who could use such spells, which showed that these demons were all masters among masters.

Lei Ye couldn't help but despair. Now he had finally gathered firsthand information about the Demon King's side. His Mother's Squad, which he had built up over five years, seemed to be no match for the raw power of the Scorched Earth. But then he thought that he no longer needed to consider conquering the Demon King's castle, so it didn't matter anymore.

The smoke and dust cleared.

Lei Ye stared blankly down, wondering if his eloquence, which he was so proud of, could persuade these demons not to kill him.

Well, you know what, from the author's perspective, a sudden change in the map definitely means that the main plot has made significant progress. Does that mean we should go to the scorched earth to find Mom next?

...A cold wind swept across Lei Ye's pale face. He glanced at his severed hand, which he had been clutching tightly until now, and swallowed dryly.

My taut back suddenly collapsed.

"That sounds really... discouraging," he said to himself.

When the smoke cleared, there was no super demon as expected, who had settled the battle with a thunderous stance.

Only the demons lay wounded and dead everywhere.

"?"

Lei Ye tilted his head in confusion as he watched this scene, feeling a sense of incongruity that the fight scene had been skipped.

In just a few seconds...

He leaned forward, tilting his head to glance at Ye Lei. The demon's attack was actually quite effective; Ye Lei's enormous body had several large holes torn in it, and two-thirds of it had disappeared. Yet, despite being so hollow, she wasn't falling down, and her body was healing at an unbelievable speed. It's important to know that the larger the body, the more magic power is consumed when using healing spells on it; her regenerative ability...

But it wasn't over yet. Dragging her broken but rapidly healing giant body, she chased after the Demon King in the direction he had fled. When the battle broke out again, Ye Lei's body had fully recovered, and she killed the Demon King as quickly as kicking a wild dog to death.

Lei Ye watched the entire battle, and he was so angry that he laughed, then gave up thinking about it.

The world's combat system has collapsed to this extent, so what's the point of playing anymore? Let's just destroy it.

Ye Lei reappeared, in the same manner she had when she was talking to Xillius and Lei Ye.

Speechless, Lei Ye gave Ye Lei a thumbs-up as she walked out of the small door and approached him, acknowledging her strength.

"So now we're boyfriend and girlfriend, right?" Ye Lei asked.

"Yes, yes, yes, whatever you say is right, that's settled then, you can kill me if you want, I'll do whatever you say."

She tilted her head. "Why this attitude? I helped you kill the person you wanted to kill, but you're not happy?"

It's unclear whether she's genuinely naive or just pretending; she can't see that Raino intends to use the scorched earth's fighting power to kill her. But given the current situation, it doesn't matter whether it's explained or not.

Lei Ye just wants to die knowing why.

"Where did you come from? There's no mention of any Old God faction in the library. Even when there's a paid DLC character update, at least give an announcement! This whole charade is ridiculous. Who wants to play with you guys?"

Ye Lei seemed not to understand, so she moved her lips but did not make a sound.

"Venus! Venus!!" Raino gave up trying to communicate with her and shouted at the sky above, "I'm not playing anymore! This whole deus ex machina thing is disgusting! Let me go home!"

"The Venus you mentioned, isn't she a goddess?"

Lei Ye was surprised that Ye Lei would react to those words, so he looked over and nodded.

"But God is long gone."

Ye Lei asked in confusion, "They were all killed long ago."

What does that mean?

Lei Ye didn't react immediately. He was still wondering if the blond-haired man who had greeted him was Venus. Since all the believers he had met during his adventures only mentioned one name, he naturally assumed that the blond-haired goddess was Venus.

Wait a minute, but if not.

Who was it that received him back then?

Or rather, what is it?

Lei Ye trembled.

A chill crept up from my tailbone, inch by inch.

He felt he was going to die; he even saw a car coming to pick him up.

...

That's not an illusion.

Lei Ye patted his face and widened his eyes.

Pointing to the sky with a trembling finger, he spoke incoherently.

"That's it, that's the thing, damn it, fourteenth floor, birthplace."

The scene that made Lei Ye wonder if he was hallucinating from writing too much years ago has reappeared.

Dump trucks are flying in the sky...

Ah!

Oh, right, the Demon King is dead.

So a car came to pick him up.

Unexpectedly, Lei Ye actually felt a sense of familiarity with the dump truck. Although he didn't understand who the blond guy was, he was willing to keep his promise and take him home, so he was a good blond guy. Lei Ye's numb heart started to stir again. He opened his arms and waited for the dump truck to arrive, then closed his eyes.

Although I feel bad for everyone in Shirius, there's really no other way. Even if I'm prepared to risk my life, I still can't win. All I want to do right now is go home.

drop--

The impact arrived as expected.

But it didn't hurt as much as last time.

Lei Ye opened his eyes and saw Ye Lei lying next to him.

"ah...?"

Another unexpected development.

Judging from the impact he just felt and their current positions, Ye Lei rushed over and pushed him away just as the dump truck was about to send him flying.

Where are the dump trucks?

I didn't see it; it disappeared.

Lei Ye's glimmer of hope was shattered, turning into a frantic rush.

"What the hell? That's my car on my way home! You're stealing that too?"

"? Strange... How could this be, how could I..." Ye Lei looked at herself blankly.

"Why did you do that! Ouch, I, damn it!!!"

"Because I am now, your girlfriend... I want to protect you..." Ye Lei looked at Lei Ye blankly.

Lei Ye was so anxious that he stomped his feet, couldn't catch his breath, and collapsed to the ground next to Ye Lei.

He reached up and pinched his philtrum, panting heavily.

The person lying to the side handed him a storage bag.

Lei Ye took it casually, opened it, and found it was full of large gold coins.

He angrily slammed the storage bag aside. What use was money at a time like this?

Looking around, Lei Ye noticed that the giant octopus from before had disappeared, and only Ye Lei was lying next to him. Her once incredibly dark body, capable of sucking away souls, had become so soft, lying limply on the ground as if she had no bones. Her dark purple eyes gazed at the sky, lost in thought.

Lei Ye then noticed her weakness.

"Really...?"

Is the dump truck that powerful? Lei Ye couldn't help but reach out and touch Ye Lei's body. He truly felt the impending death.

Mechanism-based killing?

It was unbearable; the dump truck that was supposed to take her back to Earth had taken Ye Lei away.

Sigh, surely Ye Lei can't possibly travel to another world and arrive on Earth.

What kind of nonsense is this?

Lei Ye let his mind wander for a while, then shook his head and put the matter out of his mind. If it really happened, he would just leave it to the other side's firearms.

He judged the direction of Hillius and swayed past Ye Lei.

His ankle was suddenly grabbed.

Ye Lei handed him a bottle of medicine with her other hand; her arm was now as limp as a real octopus tentacle.

"What is this?"

"The antidote for the previous medicine."

Lei Ye glanced down at his crotch and took the medicine from his hand with a disgruntled expression.

She turned to leave, but the hand gripping his ankle did not let go.

"what?"

"Don't go back to that country, it's dangerous... You have money, take it and go somewhere else..."

"nerve."

Lei Ye kicked Ye Lei's hand away and staggered forward.

Behind him came Ye Lei's increasingly weak whispers.

"Say some really sweet things to me...even if they're clichés, just to put my mind at ease..."

Perhaps because of the large-scale area-of-effect magic just now, Lei Ye was also seriously injured. Before long, his steps went from staggering to being unable to walk. He took off his clothes and pants to check his body, but he couldn't find any wounds.

Not knowing where the wound was, it was difficult to use the few remaining healing rolls correctly. Lei Ye found a clean spot and sat down against a rock. His vision gradually became dizzy, and the world became distorted and blurry. He felt that he might need to rest for a while.

After sitting for only a short while, his body and eyelids grew increasingly heavy.

Lei Ye suddenly remembered something else. He hadn't used the antidote Ye Lei had given him yet, but he wasn't sure if it was for external application or oral administration. He glanced down at it, froze, and then smiled.

He was so angry he laughed.

"After all that trouble..."

In his last moments before losing consciousness, he couldn't help but complain.

"The long, straight black hair in the prophecy... is myself."