Chapter 140: Ekusi: Can We Reconcile?

Twilight City, City Square.

Countless people immersed in illusions, like walking corpses, swung their fists crazily at the people around them, knocking down or being knocked down; in just a brief moment, many people fell with blood all over their faces.

On the high platform, Luo Sha looked at the miserable scene of her people hurting each other below, and a trace of pain flashed across her furrowed face.

At this moment, the scorching sun was hanging high, but she felt a bone-chilling cold as if she had fallen into an ice cellar, and her heart was even more tormented like being cut by a knife.

She was now facing two choices: either ignore everything and kill Ekusi directly, or accept the deal and use her own life to exchange for the lives of these bewitched people.

As for the former, she would have to bear the risk of all these over one hundred thousand people dying. Once it happened, the entire Twilight City would hold funerals in every household, and wailing would drown the sky; she dared not gamble.

As for the latter... if an old woman like her, who didn't have many days left, died, it would be better than so many people dying.

Although Ekusi was greedy and crazy like a devil in hell, if he violated the oath sworn to the Creator, the protection he had just advanced to would likely collapse; in other words, this deal was credible.

Forget it, forget it, anyway, she was already tired.

Since the day she lost her beloved, although she was still alive, she was already tired at heart, just conscientiously fulfilling her duties as a mother and lord.

Leo, will you wait for me in the Underworld and pick another bunch of violets for me?

Swish, swish, swish.

Luo Sha slowly closed her eyes, and the extremely scorching Violet Flame Luo Lan above her head gradually descended.

"Lady Luo Sha, you cannot seek death just like this!"

Seeing that the surging purple flame was about to submerge the old woman below, Xia Mingyu hurriedly pulled the other party to the side, which avoided her being burned to death.

He absolutely could not fulfill Ekusi's wish and let Luo Sha, this old person who brought peace and happiness to the entire Southern Region, be forced to kill herself.

"Your Highness, using the life of an old person like me to exchange for so many people to live is worth it. Leo could sacrifice his life for the Southern Region; I am his wife, so I will naturally not fear death and stain his glory."

Luo Sha opened her eyes and looked at the black-haired youth with an anxious expression in front of her, saying in a calm tone.

"Hey, Sage Xia Mingyu, aren't you claiming to treat every living being equally?"

"Are you going to watch as so many people here die because of you? Is the life of the civilians in Twilight City not life? Why don't you move away yet!"

Ekusi, who did not see Luo Sha kill herself as he wished, shouted with great dissatisfaction.

Looking at the merchant spouting nonsense in front of him, Xia Mingyu gritted his teeth, and the veins on his forehead bulged.

There was actually such a disgusting person in the world; how hateful!

The killing intent in his heart was boiling unprecedentedly; even when facing Huo Ke in the Red Rose Brothel in the past, he had never been this angry.

If he caught the opportunity, he must tear this damn merchant into ten thousand pieces and hang him on the city wall!

Feeling the Master's anger, Berg silently nocked an arrow, ready to activate the Death of All Things at any time to hunt the life of that merchant villain.

The hunter was waiting for the best opportunity and... the Master's order.

Ding, ding, ding~

Just as the situation fell into a deadlock, a burst of sad piano music suddenly sounded in the square.

That piano sound was like a silent rain falling slowly from the dark clouds; every time the strings vibrated, it was like a tear falling into a deep pool, causing layers of desolate ripples.

It seemed to be able to touch people's hearts, causing everyone confronting each other on the high platform to be stunned, even the cold-blooded and ruthless Ekusi was no exception.

"What a sad piece of music, it's just like Abing's 'Moon Reflected on the Second Spring'!" Xia Mingyu thought in surprise in his heart.

"Damn it..." Ekusi frowned tightly. This strange melody actually reminded him of the memory of his parents' shop being smashed and going bankrupt when he was a child, his father dying on the spot, and his mother dying of illness because they couldn't afford a doctor due to poverty.

And besides the two of them, the rest of the people on the high platform, such as Berg, Lafier, etc., also had dim expressions after hearing the piano sound, as if it could evoke people's sad memories.

For a time, everyone actually put down their hatred temporarily and looked toward the bottom in unison, following the piano sound.

Only to see a silver-haired poet with a handsome face holding a lyre and walking in the square. He played the piano while singing, while the monkey-faced pharmacist struggled to carry the prop magic ears to follow beside him, so that his singing could spread throughout the entire square.

"When I was a child, mother read 'Franken's Travels' to me~" The silver-haired poet sang lightly.

"She said reality is cruel, don't have a Scheherazade complex~"

"She once tried many things, didn't change husband's tyranny~"

"She said she loved me, but a person's life is long, shouldn't be drowned by pain~"

"She said sorry, she wants to pursue her own happiness~"

"She said she would come back to pick me up, then turned and disappeared into the dark night~"

"I waited for a long time, only waited for the alcoholic father and the starlight in the sky, never saw her figure again~"

The song roughly told the story of a child being abandoned by his mother. Under the poet's sad singing, it seemed to have magic, causing everyone who heard the music to fall into sadness in unison.

Even those people who were immersed in illusions and bewitched to attack each other crazily stopped after hearing the music, and some even had tears welling up in their eyes.

"What on earth have I done!"

Listening to the singing and recalling the atrocities he had committed against his wife and children, Harris burst into tears, finally realizing what a wrong choice he had made back then.

He should have held his head high in that war; even if he died, he should have died on the battlefield. That would be better than becoming a coward who only knew how to vent his anger on his family later!

"Mother..." Under the influence of the singing, Ekusi recalled the memory that was so distant it seemed to have long ceased to exist.

In the dilapidated wooden house, the boy lay on the bed of his seriously ill mother and cried loudly.

"Mother, those people smashed our shop and killed father; I will definitely avenge you!"

The boy wiped his tears and said full of anger.

The woman, who had long been tortured by illness to a withered face and was on the verge of death, opened her mouth to say something, but thinking of her dead husband, she finally sighed and did not tell the truth.

"Ekusi, my child, I am sorry for bringing you into this world as a Kelai person."

The woman hugged the boy with her remaining strength and kissed him lightly on the forehead.

"No, as a Kelai person, I am very proud. We are the oldest and wisest nation, we established the first great country in the world, we have Joshua, the King of Stars..."

The boy was about to refute, but suddenly discovered that the person hugging him had a gradually cold body temperature.

Mother died, he had no home.

Realizing this fact, the boy cried loudly again, as if he wanted to shed all the tears of his life.

The memory stopped abruptly.

Slap!

Ekusi slapped himself fiercely, and only then did he break free from the influence of the singing.

He realized a very terrifying thing—influencing others' emotions through singing; this is undoubtedly an ability that only a bard of the third rank, a chanter, possesses.

And this ability... Ekusi glanced at the crowd below who were no longer attacking each other but were immersed in the sad emotions of the song, which would undoubtedly have an impact on the Calamity of Bewitchment he launched.

It might even completely lift the bewitchment.

No, I can't just sit and wait for death!

The merchant quickly took out a Gold Sol from his merchandise inventory and threw it toward the silver-haired poet singing in the square.

"Berg, do it!"

At the same time, Xia Mingyu, who had just broken free from the influence of the singing, saw that the crowd below stopped attacking and immediately realized that this was the opportunity he had been waiting for, and shouted in his heart by activating the heart-to-heart ability.

After receiving the Master's order, the boy immediately nocked an arrow, and the bowstring of the Wind Whisper Bow tightened in an instant.

Eagle Eye.

Perception Enhancement.

Cat Shadow, Snake Thrust.

And Death of All Things activated!

In an instant, the hunter's eyes turned into a magnificently beautiful blue, and the whole world turned black and white in his eyes. He looked at the death lines intertwining on the Kelai merchant's body, eventually converging into a constantly moving death point.

"It's now!"

The boy suddenly released the bowstring, and accompanied by the explosion sound of the bowstring rebounding, the arrow with the refined iron arrowhead rotated and tore through the air, shooting toward the death point on Ekusi's body at a speed as fast as wind and thunder.

Coo, coo, coo.

Lafier and Luo En, who had reacted, wanted to block the arrow, but were blocked by countless white doves Xia Mingyu summoned in time.

At the same time, the Gold Coin thrown by Ekusi turned into a spot of light in mid-air and disappeared.

Then a deep green wind blade more than two meters long suddenly appeared and rushed toward the silver-haired poet singing in the square at high speed.

At the critical moment of deciding the battle situation, the ability called Currency Armament actually activated normally!

Swish.

Under Ekusi's terrified gaze, the arrow broke through the air and stabbed fiercely toward his left chest.

Bang!

However, just as the arrowhead was about to pierce the merchant's chest, it seemed to hit an invisible barrier, making a huge impact sound.

After the arrowhead and the barrier were in a stalemate for a moment, it finally fell to the floor, and Ekusi, who escaped death, retreated several steps, panting heavily.

The Liar Merchant's ability Unfair Protection—can block two unfair attacks in one day.

If the knights of Twilight City or Luo Sha, the Lord of the Southern Region, attacked or executed Ekusi, it would count as a fair attack and the protection could not be activated, but Berg's attack, who had no knight status, was unfair.

On the other side, in the square.

Facing the deep green wind blade attacking from above, Damien seemed to give up resistance, just singing to his heart's content.

This was his advancement ceremony; once he stopped halfway, it would be difficult for him to advance to a chanter in this life.

And most importantly, these bewitched people would fall back into the situation of attacking each other.

Damien had already decided that even if he died, he could not stop singing; he would use his own life to finish this song to repay the Sage's kindness!

Rip!

Accompanied by a hair-raising sound of flesh tearing, the man's body was cut into two halves from top to bottom by the wind blade.

Blood and intestines gushing out like a spring stained the ground red.

"Sorry..." Harris, who only had his upper body left, hurriedly dropped this sentence and then choked and fell to the ground, no longer having any breath.

Perhaps it was a discovery of conscience, or perhaps it was guilt; this father, who was incompetent all his life, rushed over at the last moment when the wind blade attacked, using his flesh-and-blood body as a shield to block it for his son.

After witnessing the man die miserably for him, Damien, with mixed feelings in his heart, had tears welling up in his eyes, but he still did not stop singing.

"Actually, I never resented her~"

"I know she loved me, I remember her kissing my forehead when I had a high fever, remember every hug she gave me, remember her teaching me to sing tirelessly~"

"Go be happy, mother, take my blessing!"

"Don't regret, don't feel guilty, because... we love you too!"

At the end of the song, Damien changed his previous sadness and switched to a cheerful tune, the strings of the lyre in his hand making pleasant sounds like honey-dipped sunlight.

After the song ended, silver-white magic as clean as snow surged from Damien's body, and the line of text above his head also changed—from the emerald green Bard to the deep purple Chanter.

At the same time, those people who were previously bewitched woke up like a dream, looking blankly at their blood-stained fists and the fallen companions.

Under the music sung by the Chanter with all his might, they finally woke up!

"Quick, take me away!"

Ekusi on the high platform saw the bewitched crowd below wake up, and realizing it was not good, he shouted in a panic at the vampires.

Swish, swish, swish!

The Lafier siblings and Luo En wrapped themselves in blood-red magic, turned into three red streams of light at a terrifying speed that ordinary people could not match, bypassed Ekusi without looking, and rushed toward the outside of the square.

In just an instant, they disappeared into the shadows, and it was difficult to see their traces again.

"At least take me away before running..." Ekusi's mouth twitched.

Although he knew that these vampires didn't have much good feeling for him and only listened to him because of Lord Saimen's orders, it was too much to bypass him and run away, or rather, use him as a target to attract firepower.

At least I treated you to Twilight Tea!

"Can we reconcile?"

"I am willing to offer all the coins and treasures in the merchandise inventory and swear to be loyal to the Masha family from now on." Looking at the unkind crowd, Ekusi squeezed out a flattering smile and said.

"For a person full of sin like you, even loyalty is a great humiliation to the Masha family." Luo Sha said coldly.

"Berg, chop off his hands and feet first." Xia Mingyu couldn't be bothered to talk nonsense and ordered directly.

"Leave him a breath after chopping off his hands and feet; I have other arrangements." He gritted his teeth and squeezed out this sentence, his voice full of killing intent.

Absolutely cannot let this guy die so easily; at least he must be given a "one thousand minus seven" set first!

"Currency Armament!"

Facing Berg rushing over with his sword, Ekusi, who couldn't care about being stingy with money, hurriedly scattered a large handful of coins.

Wind blades, falling rocks, ice cones, earth shields... all kinds of moves blocked everyone for a moment.

Taking this opportunity, Ekusi took out the Vampire Archduke's blood that Saimen had given him before leaving, opened the bottle cap, and drank it in one gulp.

The next moment, his skin suddenly turned pale, blue-black blood vessels bulged on his body like tree roots, and his fingernails grew into sharp hooks.

The merchant's originally thin and tall body expanded rapidly, soon becoming a pale giant more than two meters tall with knotted muscles.

His spine arched, and accompanied by the tooth-aching sound of bone growth, a pair of giant black bat wings tore through his robe and grew out.

"You, destroyed everything I had!"

Looking at the protection gradually disappearing above his head, Ekusi, who had fallen into a lower-rank vampire, said full of resentment.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 141 =====