: The First Victim

"Let's go."

The little painter smiled and said, "We will never see each other again."

He bid farewell to Qiao Ye one last time.

As soon as he finished speaking, everything in front of Qiao Ye became unreal.

In the blink of an eye, he returned to the pure white space.

The maidservant sat there.

But her expression was different from usual.

"you……"

She spoke, her voice tinged with a rare hesitation, "You seem to have gained extraordinary power?"

Qiao Ye looked down at the gun; the metal felt cold and real to the touch.

"That's a terrifying power, isn't it?" he asked.

Qiao Ye knew this well.

The fully-formed Demon King is far beyond his current ability to control.

The maidservant remained silent for a few seconds, then nodded gently.

"But it's now in your hands; whether you use it or not is up to you."

The Dream Maiden spoke gently, "But if you have used this power, I can understand that the situation must have reached its most desperate point."

"Whatever the price we pay in the end, we'll face it together."

While drinking poison to quench thirst is undesirable, it's still better than losing all hope.

Qiao Ye looked at the gun in his hand.

After a long while, he let out a long sigh.

"I understand," he said.

Then he closed his eyes, and his consciousness began to rise.

……

When he opened his eyes again, he was still in that spatial rift.

Qiao Ye looked down at his hands.

The gun is still there.

He gripped the gun tighter, just about to look up—

The transparent barrier suddenly began to tremble violently.

Qiao Ye's pupils contracted.

Outside, Raguel turned his head, his golden eyes staring straight in his direction.

This time, it wasn't a doubt, nor a test.

He really saw him.

"I knew you were still hiding here!"

Raguel raised his hand.

A golden light shot out from his palm and pierced the void where Qiao Ye was.

Wherever the light touched, space cracked like glass, with countless fine cracks spreading in all directions.

The crack burst open.

Qiao Ye was thrown from his hiding place by a tremendous force, tumbling and crashing onto the stone slabs of the square.

He pushed himself up and realized he was now under everyone's gaze.

Raguel's gaze.

The gazes of the four archangels.

as well as--

The eyes of the entire world.

In the countless images before Raguel, they all switched to the same scene at this moment—

He is Qiao Ye.

A greyish-white resurrected corpse stood in the square of New Orleans, facing the five archangels.

The whole world is watching him.

……

Inside a command room of the coalition forces.

Zhou Zhiguo slammed his fist on the table.

"Qiao Ye..."

He stared at the screen, his voice strained, "How did he become like this?"

Someone nearby leaned over: "Sir, do you know him?"

Zhou Zhiguo did not answer.

He stared intently at the gray face on the screen.

Even when he turned into a zombie-like figure, he would still recognize him.

Qiao Ye.

How did he get there? And why did he make that entrance?

Where are the other members of the team?

What happened to them after they entered the dense fog?!

……

Qiao's mother suddenly covered her mouth, unable to believe what she was seeing in the sky.

That's her child!

I will never admit my mistake!

"Mother?"

Qiao Xing, the younger sister, tugged at her mother's sleeve, looking anxious.

"That's... my brother?"

"I have no idea……"

Qiao's mother really didn't know what had happened.

There's nothing we can do.

She could only helplessly hold her two children and look at the sky.

Qiao Xing and Qiao Meng are the same.

Everything is now developing in a way that is completely beyond what normal people would expect, so all we can do is wait and do nothing.

What will happen next?

Will the world end?

No one knows.

……

Raguel looked down at the lowly being before him.

It was a purely cold and detached scrutiny.

The gaze fell on Qiao Ye, like a mountain pressing down on him.

"It's you," Raguel said.

The sound wasn't loud, but the whole world could hear it.

Because those images, those images projected into the sky, are being broadcast live at this moment.

"You are the bloodline of that vessel."

Raguel took a step forward.

Twelve wings fluttered slowly behind him, each feather glowing.

"Because of your appearance, the container malfunctioned, causing the ritual to complete ahead of schedule."

He took another step.

"Yahweh was not fully resurrected; he became like that, he became—"

Raguel stopped.

For the first time, emotion appeared in those golden eyes.

It's anger.

It was the kind of anger that had been suppressed for too long and could finally be released.

He was burning up and his whole body was trembling.

"It's all because of you."

His voice deepened, like thunder rolling on the horizon.

"Because of you, my Lord has lost the perfect vessel; because of you, we are forced to accept a Lord like that; it's all because of you!!!!"

He was beyond furious.

They even pinned the blame for the voodoo shaman on Qiao Ye.

Raguel raised his hand.

Golden light gathered on his longsword; this would be a fatal blow.

"I will use you as a sacrifice! A sacrifice for the coming new world!"

"Let everyone see the fate of blasphemers!"

The tip of the sword pointed at Qiao Ye.

……

The whole world has seen it.

They might not know Qiao Ye, or even that Qiao Ye is human.

But we can tell from Raguel's words.

Qiao Ye must have caused them a lot of trouble.

Perhaps the end of the world would have come in an even more terrible way.

It was because of this person that things changed.

But now he's going to die.

He was the first victim, dying in front of everyone.

Some people knelt down to pray, some covered their eyes, and some just stood there blankly.

Everyone is watching.

Watching everything that was about to happen.

……

Qiao Ye stood there.

He can feel every eye in the world looking at him.

Fear, despair, numbness...

There was no hope, only confusion.

Suddenly, Qiao Ye calmed down; he was no longer afraid.

"Can I say a few last words?" he asked.

Raguel paused for a moment.

Then he said coldly, "Okay."

"it is good."

Qiao Ye turned around, facing the entire world.

Everyone was watching him.

Then Qiao Ye spoke up.

The sound wasn't loud, but it was exceptionally clear.

Hello to people all over the world.

He paused.

"I don't have much time, so I'll keep it short."

He glanced at Raguel.

"I don't know what this person said to you before, but it must have been terrible."

"Because I saw the confusion, fear, and despair in your eyes."

"It's like the end of the world."

But I have to say.

"No need to be confused, no need to be afraid, no need to despair."

Sometimes what we despair of is despair itself.

"The end of the world may come."

"But definitely not today."

"because--"

Qiao Ye made a decision.

He slowly raised the gun.

Walter PPK.

In an instant, everything around him seemed to slow down, and no one could stop him.

Qiao Ye raised the pistol to his temple.

The muzzle of the gun pressed against my skin, the icy touch spreading throughout my body.

He looked at those images.

Look into those eyes.

He looked at the world that was watching him.

His finger was on the trigger.

In a daze, he saw the little painter standing in front of him.

Tell yourself, "If you have any doubts, don't fire."

It's okay.

I'm not hesitating anymore.

"because--

"I will become the King of Demons."

boom--

Gunshots rang out.