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"I'm really looking forward to it, Lord of Ashes, I'm really looking forward to it." "Chai Qi" and the black wolf simultaneously gave the Lord's back a mocking smile.

P.S. Sorry for the delay. I finally finished the background check today, and now I just have to wait to start work.

Chapter 143, Section 145: Let's Open the Cracks in the Wound

"Did I miss something?" Asakura Yuki slowly recovered from her half-awake state. For a moment, she couldn't remember what had just happened. She only remembered that she was in a fierce battle with many shapeshifters of Lady Fujiwara. Lady Fujiwara was about to drag them into a predicament, but Kurosawa Shizuki took out the strange golden skull that she had taken from the forest.

What happened next was bizarre. An irresistible force eroded her mind, as if she had a nightmare she couldn't remember. All that remained in her mind were vague impressions—burning torches, flying witches, golden elk antlers… Asakura vaguely remembered that she had attended an extremely grand gathering, but she couldn't remember who was there, what happened, or why the gathering was held.

But by the time she came to her senses, it was all over. The empty altar was covered with dead blue butterflies, their bodies crumbling into dust. In the very center of the altar, a scarecrow had been erected, its antlers woven from branches, upon which hung Fujiwara no Lady's lifeless body.

Kurosawa Shizuki stood expressionlessly in front of the scarecrow. Asakura Yuki noticed a strange, dark red light flashing briefly in Kurosawa Shizuki's ominous, deep blue eyes. Kurosawa Shizuki looked down at the dark golden skull, where the third eye socket between the skull's brows was a bottomless darkness.

Behind Kurosawa Shizuki, Takasaki Ryo looked bewildered, like a puppet with its strings cut, while Nakamura Yukise wore a fanatical smile:

"Is this the master's true power? Such a crazy and beautiful dream is enough to destroy any rationality in reality. It seems that in order to understand the master's profound thoughts, I still need to study more forbidden knowledge..."

"You...remember everything that happened in the dream?" Kurosawa Shizuki slowly turned her head and asked incredulously. It made no sense that Nakamura Yukase could maintain consciousness in Theresa's dream, after all, Theresa's power could suppress even fourth-tier beings like Asakura and Fujiwara without any doubt.

"That's right, it's absolutely amazing! The feeling of completely losing yourself and being immersed in the frenzy of a witch's revelry is incredible. If possible, I would gladly stay in such a dream forever. This kind of dream is so much more interesting than boring reality~" Nakamura Yukise seemed to have no idea what this meant and continued to praise it to herself.

"Did we really have a dream together? Was it just a dream?" Yuki Asakura rubbed her face in a daze. Her body temperature was not high, or rather, it was a little cold. Unlike usual, when she always stored up the power of Yang Flame and emitted eternal light and heat, the Yang Flame in her body was being rapidly drawn out by an entity in another direction. It seemed that the entity was caught in a very difficult battle.

Asakura could vaguely hear the sound of countless wings flapping, the howling wind, a woman's mournful lament, the sound of glass shattering, and the sound of flames burning everything to ashes.

"It's nothing. I tried using this skull once, and the effect... was indeed better than I imagined," Kurosawa Shizuki said somewhat reluctantly. Asakura Yuki also saw a fleeting look of panic in her eyes.

“It seems that what you obtained is the true treasure of the forest, compared to the golden branch in my hand,” Asakura Yuki said with a sigh, looking at the skull in Kurosawa Shizuki’s hand. The golden branch in her hand was far less powerful than the centipede sage’s, merely a sacred weapon that slightly revealed the killing intent of a blade. It was not like the one in the forest that could directly kill beings. It was like the difference between the seller’s show and the buyer’s show. She never expected that the seemingly inconspicuous golden skull in Kurosawa Shizuki’s hand would show such terrifying power in reality.

Even now, Yuki Asakura feels a chill run down her spine when she recalls it. The dream contained within her skull unfolded so silently that she had no chance to resist before being dragged into that dream where reality and illusion were indistinguishable. In the dream, she was completely under the control of the other party, and she couldn't even retain a conscious self. If Shizuki Kurosawa was her enemy... Yuki Asakura suspects that she might already be hanging on the antlers along with Lady Fujiwara.

Asakura Yuki disliked the feeling of having her fate in the hands of others—she secretly resolved to have corresponding countermeasures!

"It's not as powerful as you imagine. This skull has its limitations, and it might not be entirely reliable." Kurosawa Shizuki's words only made Asakura Yuki feel more and more annoyed. The more Kurosawa Shizuki was trying to hide something, the more it proved that the benefits she had received were beyond imagination.

“Damn it, Dad…” Asakura Yuki’s face suddenly turned deathly pale. She coughed up a large clump of foul blood, and dozens of black, parasitic threads were writhing in the blood that fell to the ground.

But now there was no time for Asakura Yuki to dwell on things anymore, because an ominous premonition was rising in her heart. Through the connection of fate, Asakura Yuki felt the direction of "father" on the other side. An uncontrollable fear, panic and confusion overwhelmed her, as if she were being torn apart by a thousand cuts, and then being devoured by countless wild beasts in the blink of an eye.

Right in front of Kurosawa Shizuki, Asakura Yuki clutched her throat, coughing incessantly, as if an invisible hand was pressing down on her throat, inflicting unbearable torment upon her. She looked at Kurosawa Shizuki, as if trying to say something, her face contorted with dark blood vessels, no longer possessing her former beauty and charm. Anyone could see that something extremely bad was happening to her.

"Quickly... save, Dad..." Asakura Yuki collapsed into Kurosawa Shizuki's arms. Kurosawa Shizuki had never seen the strong-willed Asakura Yuki in such a vulnerable state. Even when she was "killed" by the Centipede Sage and the Golden Branch in the forest, Asakura Yuki could still regenerate unharmed. But now, Asakura Yuki had completely lost that spirit and become an extremely weak and sickly girl who seemed like she could die at any moment.

Before Kurosawa Shizuki could respond, Asakura Yuki completely lost consciousness and fell into a coma, collapsing into Kurosawa Shizuki's arms, completely at her mercy. Moreover, Asakura Yuki's condition seemed to be continuing to deteriorate, with cracks like shattered glass appearing on her porcelain-white skin, reminding Kurosawa Shizuki of Kureko, who was finally impaled by the golden branch in the forest.

Clearly, there is a very close connection between Yuki Asakura and the King of Blaze. The fact that Yuki Asakura is now in such a terrible state proves only one thing—the King of Blaze, who is currently fighting a bitter battle with Kureko, has run into trouble. The fact that Kureko could bring the King of Blaze, who is also a member of the immortal class, into such a dangerous situation can only mean that Kureko's power has increased once again.

Did the two Mukos, who were once separated by God, finally reunite in the way they least expected? Kurosawa Shizuki recalled Muko's sorrowful yet resolute gaze at the last moment. Had her final struggle against fate also failed?

Kurosawa Shizuki realized that from now on, the human part of Kuriko would probably become less and less. Every day she was taking big strides toward becoming a god. In the end, Kuriko's existence would probably completely disappear. She would eventually become a puppet of the god, as the incarnation of Kirieko's divine descent, losing all free will.

This painful and lengthy process, once it begins, will never end. The only thing Kurosawa Shizuki can do for Muko now is one thing.

Kurosawa Shizuki asked Nakamura Yukise to take good care of Asakura Yuki. From now on, Kurosawa Shizuki will probably have to face everything alone.

Kurosawa Shizuki wasn't sure if going to see Muko now was a rational choice. After all, she was also one of the Chosen Ones, and facing Muko, who had successfully devoured the fifth Chosen One, the chances of her being easily defeated were probably very high.

However, Kurosawa Shizuki received another mission from the system, which made her give up all thoughts of escaping.

[Special mission has been issued: the cracks in the wound.]

Long ago, the script for a grand drama of the fall of a god was already in the works. The great god of moths would eventually fall, and within the god's remains lay the last hope for a new world.

You left an unhealable wound in Muzi's sacred body with the golden branch, but that's not enough.

Please use this to open the cracks in Muko's wound; the key is in your hands.

Mission reward: none

Mission Failure: You will be devoured by Mist Spring as one of the chosen ones.

Good grief, this time the system has completely dropped its pretense, forcing her to confront Mu Zi head-on without any reward. Instead, it directly tells her that if she doesn't seize this opportunity, she will definitely be devoured by Wu Quan Zi, giving her absolutely no choice!

And "open the cracks in Muko's wound"—what kind of vague task description is that?! Is it really okay for system tasks to be so riddle-like?! The key is right in my hands, where the hell am I supposed to find a key to open a wound? Kurosawa Shizuki felt utterly confused and bewildered. What exactly did this system want?

Just as Kurosawa Shizuki was lost in thought, a strange warmth surged within her, and shimmering threads of time flowed around her body, coiling and forming a thick, black ledger on her palm. The ledger seemed to burn with an inextinguishable flame, and the wordless pages turned endlessly on their own. Each page had a tree-like pattern, but these layers of patterns gave people a sense of unreal illusion.

The "Fake Ashes Ledger," originating from the power of a formidable enemy, is the so-called "Will of the Wandering Flame" that has been dormant deep within Kurosawa Shizuki's bloodline. As if responding to Kurosawa Shizuki's question, it activates on its own, and Kurosawa Shizuki senses that a certain will is stirring within the Ashes Ledger.

Does this mean she could try to steal Muko's time through the Ashes Ledger? Is it really that simple? Her Ashes Ledger, which she had only recently awakened, didn't contain any usable time. It only contained the so-called three thousand years of false time that she had recently stolen from the pillar hermit in the woodland. Being completely ignorant of the art of using time, she had no idea how to use this false time.

[The Forged Ashes Ledger: Everything can be forged, even time. A forged ashes ledger won't make you live longer in reality, but it can at least be used to deceive traders or construct false history.] Repeatedly pondering the system's description, deceiving traders or constructing false history…

Kurosawa Shizuki suddenly realized that after the arrival of the King of Blaze, she now seemed to be living within a false history that shrouded the ruins of the entire Shedding Club.

P.S., I'm really sorry, my writing efficiency has been extremely low lately, and writing each chapter is a struggle.

Chapter 144, Section 146: Sister, why did you abandon me?

Muko could no longer remember whether this was her memory or a remnant of a distant, long-vanished history.

Black snowflakes drifted down from the sky, like spilled coal dust, yet amidst the filth, a chilling purity remained.

She walked across a pristine white marble plaza, where countless worm-like figures in white robes, wearing masks symbolizing secret co-governance, bowed to her on both sides of the road.

She climbed the steps and saw that they were covered with the broken wings of moths. The air was filled with dust that had been shaken off the wings. When she inhaled it, it smelled salty and sticky, making her cough softly.

With each step she took, countless feathers shattered. At the top of the steps, she saw a throne made of stacked insect wings. A black-haired girl stood naked, her eyes gleaming with obsidian-like facets. Her body was covered in bluish-purple scales, bearing the horrific marks of torture. All her fingernails were curled up, her hands and feet twisted into pretzel shapes, and her left eyeball had popped out of its socket. She was on the verge of death, clinging to life.

She looked down at herself from above, countless wounds oozing pure white lymph; her throat moved, uttering in an ancient language:

“Save…save…me…” in obscure yet familiar language.

“I’m sorry for this outcome,” she said involuntarily, though she didn’t want to. “Let us go to the final battlefield together. Destruction is just a temporary slumber. One day, we will meet again in a new history.”

"You...you didn't...lie to me...?" Although the girl sat on a winged throne, she was not a queen, or rather, she was not the queen most people knew. There are many kinds of kings in this world. Some kings are born to rule the world, while others are born to spill their blood on the execution platform as a symbol of the beginning of a new era.

"Of course I wouldn't lie to you. Just trust me, sister. In this world, only I will always be with you, never deceive you, and always love you." Mu Zi revealed an innocent smile, but Mu Zi saw black snow pass through her body and fall to the ground.

A gallows, like plants, slowly rises behind the maiden's throne.

"Hang her, hang her, hang her! The age of the gods is over, the future belongs to insects, to ants!" Countless worms cheered and applauded. Black cinder snow covered everything, the white temple collapsed, and the great bell of the sanctuary echoed continuously, signifying that the moment of the end was approaching.

"Wuquanzi is the first, but not the last! This is just the prelude to a great war. Sooner or later, all the gods will fall from their thrones, and there will be new stories, new religions, new art, and new history!" Countless masked people sang hymns of praise for the new era.

"In the name of the great worm, united as one, execute! Execute! Execute!"

The executioner, wearing a pitch-black pyramid-shaped mask with holes only for his eyes, stood behind the girl and gently placed it on her chin, then slowly tightened it little by little.

“It will be soon,” the executioner chuckled hoarsely, a laugh that sounded more like that of a worm in human skin than a human.

"No, don't, go..." The light in her pupils was fading, and she pleaded with Muko.

The executioner cut the hemp rope, and in the black, cinder-like snow, she was suspended high in the air by the rope, her hands clasped in the loops, struggling in agony.

“I will stay with you, right up to the very end. Long afterward, we will reign over the world again, and then we will look up at the stars together once more. In a completely new history, a different kind of starry sky awaits us,” Muko said in a voice as gentle as if comforting a child.

Quietly watching the final end arrive, time seemed to slow down, and she possessed a serene yet despairing beauty as she lay dying.

Her hand reached into the air as if trying to grab something, but only black snow fell on the back of her hand and melted away.

But in Mu Zi's eyes, her face slowly overlapped with another face, another face wearing a bizarre and ferocious golden mask.

"Why did you lie to me?" Mu Zi cried out in anguish. She straddled her enemy and punched him repeatedly at the detestable mask. With each punch, the cracks in the golden mask grew an inch wider.

"Roar—" The person beneath the mask was entirely composed of black liquid, and even now, this living liquid was still flowing continuously.

"You said you'd always be with me..." Tears as black as oil streamed from Mu Zi's eyes. She clutched her head tightly and pounded her fists against the golden mask beneath it. "You gave up on me a long time ago, didn't you?"

Amidst agonizing screams, the man wearing the golden mask had his head smashed deep into the ground by Mu Zi, his entire skull twisting and deforming under the terrifying force.

Between the black-masked man and Muko, streaks of pure white flame, radiating a sacred light, rose and burned, gradually spreading and raging on both Muko and the masked man.

"It hurts so much! Why does it hurt so much?" Mu Zi's entire body was being burned by the flames and metal, but she didn't try to dodge or even wanted to. Even though she had been burned to a crisp, she continued to relentlessly bombard the inhuman monster beneath her. The mask was covered in cracks, making one worry that it would break open at any moment. Mu Zi's face was contorted with extreme pain, but only in this way could she truly feel alive.

Pain was like an anchor, the call of strife constantly dragging Him upward from the depths of the dark realm. Once again, He heard the distant howl of wolves, an endless howl.

Unaware that she was sitting on the masked man, Mu Zi found herself surrounded by wolves. Every wolf in the pack looked at her with restless, primal eyes, their fangs grinding together with a cold, sharp sound, and saliva dripping from the corners of their mouths to the ground.

"Wolf, you called me back to the human world only to devour me?" Mu Zi looked at the wolves surrounding her with contempt, her words dripping with merciless sarcasm. "You will never have a chance. I will win, I will win, I will continue to live, forever—because I want to face that person—"

He gritted his teeth and said, "Revenge!" It was another incredibly cruel blow, like a meteor falling to earth.

This attack changed the color of the world; black snow buried everything, skyscrapers collapsed, and even the surrounding wolf packs were swallowed up by the rising dust.

The golden mask shattered into countless pieces, revealing the incredibly weak and desolate true nature beneath.

The middle-aged man, his face deathly pale, was charred black by flames, leaving him unrecognizable. Strange black sun patterns etched onto his left cheek, still burning like flames even now. His cloudy, crazed eyes stared intently at Mu Zi's face, and he uttered incomprehensible whimpers. If one listened closely, one would hear him monotonously repeating a single syllable:

"Yuki, Yuki, Yuki..."

"Huh? You're not that person," Muko exclaimed, seeing the unfamiliar face beneath the golden mask. Overwhelmed by fear and confusion, she clutched her head amidst the white flames, screaming hysterically, "Why, why, why, why?!"

Why am I here? Why did I get involved in this war? Why did I come back? Why can't I remember anything?

Who was the person who abandoned me back then? Mu Zi's gaze was unfocused and confused. Why couldn't she remember that person's name at all?

Only a blurry face slowly appeared in my mind.

Mu Zi shakily stood up from the middle-aged man whose body was almost completely crushed. A cloak that shimmered like starlight behind her swayed and covered the middle-aged man like a shroud. The middle-aged man just stared blankly at the murky sky. Black snow fell on his eyes, which he could not close, but was melting because of the heat of the flames.

All around, the city lay in ruins, a fragment of a fabricated history, everything melting away in the black snow.

Mu Zi heard footsteps behind her, which someone was trying to keep extremely low to the ground, but even such footsteps could not escape Mu Zi's current perception.

With difficulty, Mu Zi turned around. In the dim and blurry vision, the unfamiliar and distant face gradually overlapped with the anxious and hesitant face of another person behind her.

With her deep blue eyes, clear yet reminiscent of the hallucinatory allure of poison, and dressed in a black and red schoolgirl skirt, she seemed to possess an indescribable, bewitching charm. In her arms, she held a dark gold skull, its lines and colors as beautiful as a work of art, perfectly complementing this enigmatic girl and seemingly simultaneously illustrating the beauty of life and death.

Mu Zi's face contorted into a hideous grimace once more. Ignoring the still-burning Yu Liyan, who was nearly reduced to an unrecognizable form, she scrambled towards the uneasy girl like a wild beast, her fingernails digging deep into the earth, tearing it open with horrifying wounds.

She let out a wail like a wounded cub: "Sister...why, why did you abandon me?"

“I never abandoned you, Mu… Quanzi,” the girl said with a sad yet compassionate smile. She knelt down in front of Muzi, reached out her hands, and gently helped Muzi up. Although her hands touched the Yuli Flame on Muzi's body, the sacred flame did not leave the slightest mark on the girl's fair, baby-like fingertips. On the contrary, the flame rejoiced because of her touch. “You see, now, haven’t I come back?”

The girl hugged Muko tightly.

Mu Zi did not feel the warmth she craved; instead, she felt only a chill, an even deeper chill... a suffocating chill.

P.S., Volume 1 isn't finished yet, I'm crying. There's still the final execution of Kirie in the Cursed Paradise. This is so hard for me.