The Creatures that We Are

This wasn't resistance; it was a dying man's final gasp.

Within Overlord's domain, any attempt to fight back was less than meaningless.

Gao Yang watched the gray fog flow, understanding with sudden clarity: time was passing differently for Qilin alone.

Inside Overlord, time stretched limitless. Whether Qilin maintained his Absolute Barrier for a day, a month, or a year meant nothing to Dragon. Like a reader casually turning pages in a story, knowing the hero's invincibility on this page meant nothing once the page turned.

To Gao Yang, five seconds passed before the Absolute Barrier shattered into countless golden particles. In that instant, Lonesome Emperor's grip vanished. Gao Yang’s energy, will, and autonomy flooded back.

“No.”

Qilin's third denial rang hollow.

His dark green eyes blazed with frustration before the tension drained from his body. He surrendered, floating helplessly like the others.

Two seconds later, he turned to Gao Yang. His face was pale and calm, a disappointed smile tugging at his lips. Pity flickered in his eyes—the look of one damned soul to another.

Gao Yang didn’t answer. He couldn’t.

Qilin fell silent.

They hung suspended, frozen in a gentle pause.

The gray fog of Overlord's domain thinned until the world beyond became visible—not Green Lotus Park, but a void as vast as the universe itself.

Then the titan emerged from the fog.

Boom—boom—

They approached with Their face obscured, each step shaking the pillars of creation.

Absolute inferiority and devotion consumed Gao Yang. He was an ant before a giant; no, a speck of dust on an ant's antenna.

The others shared his terror.

Boom—boom—

The titan's stride continued. Their face of gray fog drew near the orb of Overlord's domain, filling Gao Yang's vision like a slice of the universe itself.

Boom—boom—

Closer still, until Overlord's domain merged with the titan's body, settling into Their left eye socket.

Understanding struck Gao Yang like lightning.

The orb was Their left eye; it was a line of sight, a gaze of judgment.

All lives had sinned.

God's gaze was their judgment.

Time lost meaning. Emotion vanished.

His existence, his sense of time, his reactions—all were unceremoniously summarized. Not stolen or erased, but condensed without fanfare.

Thus, Gao Yang knew what was happening but couldn’t understand it; he couldn’t even recall the occurrence.

When awareness returned, he stood at Green Lotus Lake in the real world, upon the battlefield where war had raged.

The others lay unconscious but present. A quick count confirmed that everyone had returned, even Surnamed Li.

Qilin alone was gone, or perhaps erased.

Before the thought could settle, a presence materialized beside him. He turned around.

Dragon.

Just like the last time Dragon came to the rescue, he wore an elegant fitted gray trenchcoat with his waist-long black hair tied into simple braids. The hair on the sides framed his feminine pale face, swaying in the night wind, emphasizing his androgynous beauty. Ра₦ŐВЁṦ

His right eye shone a gentle serene blue, while his left—a deep, elegant amber—had dimmed as if light had been stolen from its depths.

He raised his right hand to his chest, palm cradling an eyeball-sized sphere of spinning gray fog.

Dragon pressed the orb into his left eye with casual grace, as if merely rubbing sleep away.

Two seconds passed before his left eye blazed bright once more.

With a soft sigh, Dragon turned to Gao Yang, offering a gentle smile. “It’s done.”

Though Gao Yang had regained his voice, silence held him. His emotions churned—sadness, despair, thrill, anger, frustration, and joy collided like ingredients in an over-spiced dish, impossible to separate or digest.

When he finally swallowed it all, one thought remained:

Why?

After everything—all the time, all the losses, all the growth—he still felt like a novice before this man, fresh from the game's tutorial.

All the thoughts distilled into one word; a word he felt keenly.

He parted his lips.

“Fuck.”

Dragon blinked innocently. “Are you…cursing me out?”

Gao Yang shook his head. “That’s meant for myself.”

After a pause, he added, “But you, too.”

Dragon smiled faintly.

“Why didn’t you wake up earlier, Captain?” The unspoken words hung heavy: Then many deaths could've been prevented.

“I’m sorry,” Dragon replied, his calm voice carrying genuine regret. “A shot made by a hunter will be heard by the whole forest. I must not make a move until I have absolute confidence of winning.”

A thin line of blood traced down from the corner of his mouth.

“You alright?” Gao Yang reached for him, fearing another collapse.

“Don’t worry.” Dragon smiled self-deprecatingly, pale. “I’ve charged for a long time. I can hold on for a little longer.”

He wiped the blood from his lips and walked forward, beckoning. After a moment's hesitation, Gao Yang followed in silence.

They reached the heart of Green Lotus Lake, distance growing between them and their unconscious companions.

Questions burned in Gao Yang's mind: why wake only him and not the others? But different words fell out of his mouth: "You never thought I would defeat Qilin, did you, Captain? You only wanted me to keep him busy and buy time for you."

Walking in the front, Dragon said calmly, “I didn’t know that.”

Gao Yang fell silent.

“I only knew that defeating Qilin and opening the Gates are two things we must do, and only you and me could do them.”

Dragon stopped and turned around, taking twelve Rune Circuits out of the pocket of his trenchcoat like a stack of gambling chips.

On the Mist World's grand table, player Dragon had claimed every stake.

Yet his face showed neither pride nor joy, not even reluctance as he cast the Rune Circuits toward Gao Yang. They hung suspended, forming a circle linked by an invisible energy, spinning slowly like the wheel of fate.

“Gao Yang, I killed Qilin.”

“I’ll leave opening the Gates to you.”

Houseau3's Thoughts

I feel that curse. I would've cursed too😂

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