Chapter 281: The End
“After tomorrow, it will be eternal night. What will you do today?”
This was a highly discussed question that appeared online, confirmed by relevant researchers, indicating that the gradually lengthening nights would completely “k*ll” the daylight in about a month.
Some responded, “I will just give up and wait to d*e.”
Others said that at the moment when eternal night descends, he would take up his armed sword and walk in the dark, fighting against the culprit behind it all—the wretched urban legends—until d*ath.
Someone else said he had prepared a perfect underground fortress with a plantation, power generation system, and complete water cycle system, sufficient for a thousand people to survive until the sun rises again, private chat for ticket prices, but with a small blade involved.
Among these colorful responses, one anonymous answer that received many likes stated, “I will take my loved ones to the highest place in the world to watch the last sunset together.”
When the official announcement was finally released, confirming that the sun would not rise tomorrow, the person who posted that anonymous answer revealed their identity.
Username: Calamity.
One of the legendary culprits behind the arrival of eternal night.
The user profile picture was a selfie of a ghostly face full of ridicule and provocation.
At this moment, with a countdown of 0:10:12 until sunset, Calamity sat atop K2 as she had mentioned in her response, surrounded by white snow, gazing at the horizon, the bl**d-red sunset reflecting in her eyes.
As for why the highest place in the world was not Mount Everest…
That was because, half a year ago, the Tibetan Areas encountered an invasion by Pestilence Taijie, and when the urban legend known as “The Third Goddess” or “Mother Earth,” sleeping within Mount Everest, was awakened by her followers, Mount Everest had already ceased to exist.
Unlike Calamity, who immersed herself in the final sunset beauty, Ji Yunpei kept her head down, staring intently at her mobile phone screen.
“The Ten Sins of Calamity”
“The Culprit of World Destruction—Calamity!”
“Calamity: Natural Disasters and Man-Made Catastrophes”
“Calling for the Sunset: The Past and Present of Calamity”
Looking at the titles of these articles and videos on her phone, Ji Yunpei’s eyes began to tremble, and her small hands gradually tightened until the phone could no longer withstand the pressure, shattering with a loud bang.
These articles and videos initially circulated only on urban legend bounty websites, but somewhere along the way, perhaps because the fact that urban legends cause disasters could no longer be hidden from the majority, or perhaps because the darkness had become long enough to completely swallow the daylight…
In any case, just a few hours ago, these articles and videos were translated into eight languages and suddenly spread across the entire internet.
It seemed like it was deliberately guiding something.
Ji Yunpei knew that these articles and videos were published by Void or its affiliates, containing severe distortions and misguidance.
Over the past few years, Calamity indeed caused an astonishing amount of destruction; countless city-states turned to ashes through her hand, and numerous spirit energy organizations became history, with countless lives reduced to nothing.
However…
Calamity’s destruction was all in the name of salvation.
Not to mention the disaster that led to the destruction of Shancheng.
If Calamity hadn’t acted decisively to imprison the powers of those urban legends at her own expense, but instead had waited for the Siye Society, Solar Eclipse Society, or other spirit energy organizations or urban legends to gradually eliminate the harms caused by Haze God’s offspring, they would have long since been profiting from the desecration.
How many lives would become nourishment for the blasphemy, which possessed the bizarre power to replicate all abilities after obtaining Haze God’s offspring, Ji Yunpei dared not think; it’s possible that the entire world would become a breeding ground for blasphemy.
And now, the Calamity that had once tried to stop everything had become the main culprit accelerating the onset of night merely because her methods were “a little” too harsh and violent?
Even some of Calamity’s affiliates believed it and stood on the opposite side of her, raising the flag for the crusade.
It was simply absurd!
“Peipei, what are you doing? Hurry over! Quickly, quickly! This is the last sunset of this world, if you miss it, you won’t see it again!” Calamity’s voice called out.
Indeed, today marked the day predicted by some spirit energy scholars after long observation and research, the day of eternal night’s arrival.
At 9:50:02, the sun rose, welcoming the morning, and now, at 10:06:07, dusk had already arrived.
Daylight would meet its end in ten minutes.
The eternal end.
Hearing the call, Ji Yunpei looked up to see Calamity bathed in the bl**d-red sun, waving and smiling at her.
Calamity’s complexion was pale, and her somewhat thin and frail body was covered in scars.
A petrified right hand, a vine piercing through her shoulder, and a left leg that appeared intermittently as if it could vanish into the void at any moment… the chest bore a grotesque black cross-shaped wound, a remnant of some spirit ability user’s deadly poison.
In stark contrast, Ji Yunpei was completely unharmed.
In fact, the journey from the foot to the summit of K2 with Calamity was not easy.
Almost everyone harbored hatred for her, suspected her of bringing upon eternal night, coveted her powers, or even some who had no grudges against Calamity and merely wanted to vent their anger had set an ambush waiting for her by the time she reached the foot of K2.
This was a grand celebration before the last daylight faded.
They had gathered here because Void wanted Calamity dead.
It didn’t plan to take action itself, so it sent out invitations for everyone to celebrate.
The answer Calamity posted was its de-anonymization, and every one of Calamity’s movements throughout this journey was covered by it.
Stirring public opinion, manipulating hearts! Calamity’s specialty.
Void simply did a straightforward “copy and paste.”
Although Calamity wore a forced smile, Ji Yunpei still saw the desolation within her eyes.
Like the eternal snow covering the peak of K2.
After a moment of silence, Ji Yunpei stepped forward and crouched beside Calamity to begin treating her wounds.
The enemies lying in ambush below the mountain were not all of them; after sunset, even more enemies would surge to the summit. Before that, Calamity had to be restored to her best condition.
However, Calamity suddenly grasped her hand with one hand while using the other to lift her chin, guiding her gaze toward the horizon, and then softly whispered in her ear.
“Healing can be done at any time, don’t waste this beautiful time, okay?”
Ji Yunpei stared blankly at the sunset sinking below the horizon, the ten minutes felt as long as a lifetime.
Calamity’s hands were cold, colder than the white snow on the mountain; feeling that icy temperature and watching the night gradually eat away at the light, Ji Yunpei suddenly had a thought.
In the years she had followed Calamity, she had grown into a medical practitioner unrivaled among spirit ability users, but perhaps she would never be able to heal Calamity…
Finally, daylight faded, and night descended.
Suspicious sounds came from the surroundings, growing closer.
Horrifying figures quietly approached the summit under the cover of darkness.
Calamity wobbled to her feet and bowed to the crowd, saying loudly, “Thank you all for not interrupting us while we enjoy the last sunset…”
“Void, I know you’ve been looking forward to this performance, and now it’s about to begin. How about some BGM?”
Then, as if responding to her words, a song called “SHAPE OF MY HEART” began to drift in from an unknown source.
When the music started, she nodded in satisfaction, slowly extended her hand to draw out a scarlet long kn*fe, her expression gradually turning cold and brutal.
“Very well, as a token of gratitude, I can make it a little more pleasant for everyone to d*e later!”
A d*ath without torment—that was Calamity’s greatest gift to her enemies!
In the next moment, a thunderous roar echoed throughout the Himalayas.
Numerous terrifying urban legends that had been lying in wait earlier, with the arrival of night, surged to the summit like a tide.
Calamity simply swung her kn*fe continuously, while keeping Ji Yunpei safely behind her.
Turning and twisting, it was as if she were dancing.
A duet dedicated to the curtain call of daylight.
After that day, the world began to descend into oblivion.
First to depart were the Siye Society, Night Alliance, White God Group, and a series of spirit energy organizations representing humanity’s direct confrontation with urban legends. The remaining three Disaster-Class spiritual energy manipulators led the surviving dozens of high-level spirit ability users to the Samoa Islands.
They sacrificed everything they had, sinking humanity’s last spark into the Tonga Trench.
Next to leave were various lesser elements of world destruction, which, during the final war among the Seven Factors of World Destruction, unfortunately became nourishment for the Seven Factors or perhaps were born into this world to serve as nourishment from the start.
Then it was the Solar Eclipse Society; Calamity cut down the president of the Solar Eclipse Society, proving to him that the salvation he always believed in—Black Sun, from the depths of the stars—would not come.
Finally, it was the whole world.
Until the last moment, the thought that had crossed Ji Yunpei’s mind months ago, atop K2, or perhaps her guess, became reality.
After Calamity obliterated everything, the kn*fe in her hand pierced through her body…
————
Perhaps my existence prevented her from completing the final destruction?
If there exists another Ji Yunpei apart from Calamity, how could it be called total destruction?
The system thought as the objects before it began to dissipate.
Countless otherworldly lights, invisible to outsiders, flew away in its peripheral vision.
An unusual spirit energy triggered undetectable vibrations.
As if something was changing.
At that moment, it finally sensed its own body fading away.
Weak light points rose from its body, which had become barely more than a faint gray shadow, swirling around like swarms of fireflies, gradually sketching out the outline of a human figure.
Then.
In the haze, it saw a familiar figure approaching with a smile, extending a hand.
Behind that figure, the chaotic sky and the ruins of the city after the apocalypse flickered into view.
“Haha, look what I found! It’s a girl with twin tails!”
The system froze in place, doubting whether it was hallucinating.
Familiar words echoed in its ears as she extended her hand, instinctively asking, “Calamity? Are you… here to take me back?”
But the girl on the opposite side suddenly retracted her hand, shaking her head at it.
“Sorry, I still can’t take you home; you have important things left to do.”
“You may not trust me anymore, but… can you please try to trust Luxianbei?”
That vague voice echoed in its mind.
At that moment, Calamity suddenly walked towards it and gently hugged it.
System, “!!!”
Why is she… could it be that everything is an illusion created by Calamity?
So my multiple attempts ended up being fruitless.
When she sees Calamity again, will she say “Welcome back” or “Sorry,” and then explain everything?
Thoughts surged, and before the system could fully feel the warmth of Calamity’s body, the embrace had already ended.
Calamity stepped back, placing her hands on its chest and pushing it forcefully “back.”
Then.
The figure before it began to gradually fade, and it saw Gu Qiqi, holding a roasted chicken leg.
“Sysуеm, you’re awake? Want something to eat?” Gu Qiqi said, “Those locals just brought us so many things!”
“But can you believe it, they can raise chickens in a place like this? That’s amazing!”
System, “…”
Watching Gu Qiqi with grease all over her face while eating, it suddenly felt a sense of melancholy about loss.
————
On the ruined rooftop.
Luxianbei tilted her head, watching Proxy Player Sister as if trying to grasp something, reaching her hand toward the sky but then pulling it back, as though she were conversing with something, muttering indistinctly, which gave Luxianbei a chilling feeling.
Could it be that this ghostly place has some “dirty thing” that I can’t see?
No!
Luxianbei shook her head vigorously, glancing at Proxy Player Sister, then at the Pure Water King and the Light Leader beside her, then looking down at herself.
Proxy Player Sister was the biggest “dirty thing” here; those two peculiar little things came next, and she herself was not far behind…
It didn’t seem like there was anything to be afraid of?
Lost in her thoughts, Proxy Player Sister stepped away from the edge of the rooftop and walked back. Luxianbei steadied herself and hurriedly asked, “So, you just exiled her? To protect her?”
“Yes, exiled her.” Proxy Player Sister nodded.
Once again, she exiled her, just a moment ago… Proxy Player Sister added in her heart.
“Did you explain to her why you exiled her?” Luxianbei frowned, “I think that’s very important, isn’t it? Otherwise, suddenly stabbing someone in the back is likely to be misunderstood, right?”
“No.” Proxy Player Sister shook her head, “If she knows the reason, she’ll try to find a way to come back; then what’s the point of me exiling her?”
“…”
Luxianbei found it difficult to judge whether Proxy Player Sister was right or wrong. After a moment of silence, she changed the subject and asked, “Is there nothing else? What about the twin-tailed girl? Do you have any clues about what she went through afterward?”
“You know, if not, I feel you’re leaving the story hanging!”
When Proxy Player Sister originally told her about the twin-tailed girl, the organization and details were relatively clear, but halfway through, it suddenly became vague.
It was like a perfectly good story got abruptly wrapped up with a “plot twist” one day.
How frustrating!
“I can only say it up to this point.” Proxy Player Sister shook her head, smiled bitterly, and explained to Luxianbei without hiding anything, “If I remember any further, I will recall her name, and she will return to my side. If that happens…”
“I understand.” Luxianbei nodded, “You mean she will fall into despair, right?”
Her and Proxy Player Sister’s “telepathic connection” had never been limited to just complaining.
Their reactions and thoughts on certain matters often reflected each other remarkably.
She had witnessed the past of the twin-tailed girl more clearly than Proxy Player Sister, having seen how hard the twin-tailed girl had worked.
“But…” Luxianbei asked earnestly, “Don’t you know how she feels about it?”
“Just…” Proxy Player Sister turned her face away, avoiding Luxianbei’s gaze, “Maybe it’s best not to know!”
Choosing to evade? Luxianbei sighed silently, “That’s okay, I can understand!”
When faced with such matters, I also like to choose to evade… Luxianbei thought.
“Leave the rest to me! If I have the luck to encounter her, I’ll help take care of her and ask about her true feelings, then if you’re interested, I can relay them to you.”
In fact, Luxianbei already had a hint of where that twin-tailed girl was.
She had glimpsed the twin-tailed girl’s past when interacting with “Imposter Calamity,” and now “Imposter Calamity” was trapped in the God Realm Prototype. As long as she dragged her out and coerced her, she should be able to find clues.
“Then… it’s the last question!” Luxianbei suddenly said, a profound smile appearing in her eyes.
Upon hearing this, Proxy Player Sister froze for a moment, turned her head, and wore an incredulous expression.
That expression seemed to say, “Didn’t I just answer the last question?”
But soon she snapped back to her senses.
“d*mn! Are you trying to trick me?”
The secret tucked deep in her heart was thus coaxed out by Luxianbei’s straightforward approach, and she felt a bit of embarrassment boiling up inside her.
“How can that be considered a trick?” Luxianbei said, shrugging without showing any emotion, “I only said I would ask you the last question, I didn’t mention what I wanted to ask. You just started rambling about the twin-tailed girl yourself; can you blame me?”
“Then why didn’t you interrupt me in time?” Proxy Player Sister retorted.
“Honestly, when I had heard just half of it, I did want to interrupt.” Luxianbei pouted, “But since you were so engrossed in your story, I didn’t have the heart to stop you.”
This statement was at least half true; when she had heard half of it, she had already felt a little reluctant to let Proxy Player Sister continue recalling.
“…” Proxy Player Sister glared at Luxianbei for a few seconds, then calmly said, “Alright, then tell me, what’s your last question?”
“My last question is, is there a problem with Hong Bian’s abilities?” Luxianbei said seriously.
“There is!” Proxy Player Sister nodded.
Luxianbei waited for a moment, seeing that Proxy Player Sister didn’t continue, she couldn’t help but urge, “And then?”
“And then what?”
“The solution!” Luxianbei said, “If there’s a problem, then what’s the solution?”
“Hehe!” Proxy Player Sister suddenly gave her a meaningful smile, “I won’t tell you!”
Since you didn’t interrupt me while I was only halfway through, I’ll only tell you half in return. Isn’t that fair?
Before Luxianbei could respond, Proxy Player Sister quickly added, “Tell that girl Shen you know to go to Tethys Laboratory as soon as possible to retrieve what belongs to her. The Elders’ Council’s final saint plan is almost complete…”
Proxy Player Sister’s voice grew fainter until it became a soft whisper, like a gentle breeze brushing past the ear. The scene on the ruined rooftop began to blur, as if it were vaporizing into dense fog, and a strong sense of dizziness struck, with consciousness swaying like a ripple in the mist.
Moments later, the dizziness disappeared, and Luxianbei found herself back at God Realm Yumen, the sights of Dai Mu Institute coming into focus.
“So, what exactly do you still need to do?”
Shen Baiwei’s urging voice echoed in her ears.
“Uh…” Luxianbei was taken aback for a second before regaining her senses, “There’s a lot! For example… I want to see what you look like with twin tails?”
Proxy Player Sister had it, and she also wanted it, but at this moment, the only one who could fulfill that was Shen Baiwei.
Shen Baiwei, “？？？”
What the heck? Asking me to draw a succubus and to do twin tails? Has this guy lost his mind?
