[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-sword-god-in-a-world-of-magic":3,"chapter-sword-god-in-a-world-of-magic-sword-god-in-a-world-of-magic-chapter-949":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Sword God in a World of Magic",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1492734,1940,"Chapter 949  949 - Faces In The Dark","sword-god-in-a-world-of-magic-chapter-949",949,"\u003Cp>949 Chapter 949 - Faces in the Dark\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shang had no idea where he was or what he was.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An eternal darkness was engulfing him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The darkness was seeping into his body and causing unimaginable pain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The warping and moving darkness around Shang kept seeping in and out of his body. It was almost like Shang wasn't corporeal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Faces appeared in the darkness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were smiling, crying, filled with hate, filled with love, and every other kind of imaginable emotion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They screamed and laughed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Millions of faces screamed and laughed as they passed through Shang's body, tearing him to pieces.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shang was under unimaginable pain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It had never been this bad before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An eternity passed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shang still didn't know what he was.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Was he one of these faces?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Was he part of the darkness?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shang had tried many times to escape, but the darkness around him was eternal and omnipresent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Was the reason why he couldn't escape that he was simply part of the darkness?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But he didn't want to be part of the darkness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It hurt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It hurt so much.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It felt so horrible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had to leave.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had to get away from here!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But it was impossible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pain and suffering were everywhere, and no matter what he did, it was impossible to escape.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It would only stop when he stopped existing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet, as soon as Shang had that thought, something deep inside of him was violently revolting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But it hurt so much!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He just wanted it to end!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He couldn't let it end!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But it was so bad!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The inner conflict was eternal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shang wasn't sure why he existed or what he was, but he refused to stop existing, even if it was only filled with pain and nothing else.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had to keep existing!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An eternity passed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nothing changed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>How long had he been here? He wasn't sure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ever since he had started existing, he had been in this eternal darkness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Was this life?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What was life?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shang wasn't sure why he had suddenly thought about a concept called life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Where did that even come from?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shang wasn't sure if he was alive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Was he aware?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, Shang remembered something that came deep from within his memories.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Something he hadn't thought of in thousands of years.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I think, therefore I am.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A quote.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shang wasn't sure where this quote came from, but for some reason, he felt more secure in his existence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He could think, which meant that he was aware.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shang's existence was so vague and fickle that he hadn't been sure whether or not he existed, but now, he was sure that he actually existed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn't know what he was or why he was, but he knew that he was.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The faces in the darkness kept tearing at him and moving through him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The pain was constant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was horrible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It had always been horrible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It had never stopped being horrible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet, why was it horrible?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shang wasn't sure.I think you should take a look at\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He just knew that it was horrible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Something inside of him told him that feeling pain was bad.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet, with no reference, the feeling seemed pointless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Was feeling pain really bad?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What was so bad about feeling pain?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What happened when he felt too much pain?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Would he stop existing?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shang remembered that he had considered stopping existing due to the pain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So, the pain was actually influencing his thoughts and directing them toward death.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Death.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Where did that come from?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>First, Shang had suddenly thought of a concept called life, and now he was suddenly thinking about a concept called death.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Death...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pain...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pain was convincing someone to die.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At least, that was the only thing Shang could think of right now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The faces in the darkness wanted to convince Shang to die.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What would happen when he died?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Would he become one of the faces?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Shang looked at the faces, he could feel all the different emotions coming from them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, there was one thing shared among all of them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Indignation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Frustration.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Refusal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The smiling faces were happy that they could cause someone pain, which made it easier to deal with their own frustration and indignation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The angry faces wanted to share their hatred with others.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sad faces were just lashing out because they felt so horrible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All the faces hated Shang but showed it in different forms.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were all individuals.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No face was like the other, and they were all distinct in appearance and personality.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And yet, all of them shared the same goal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Force Shang to join them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was unfair that they were dead, and he was alive!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was unfair that they couldn't do anything anymore while he still had his own destiny in his hands!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Why did they have to die?!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Why couldn't he have died instead of them?!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn't deserve to be alive!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They hated Shang because he was alive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Slowly, Shang realized these things, and as he did, the pain became easier to bear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shang was still feeling the pain. In fact, it hadn't dropped at all in intensity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet, one thing had changed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shang had become angry.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just like them, he had become frustrated and indignant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'So what?! You are dead, and that's why you want to kill me?! You think I feel bad for you?!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You died, and you deserved to die!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You were weak!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'Weakness is a sin!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'And I refuse to comply with some weaklings that couldn't even protect themselves!'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Oftentimes, knowing that someone was trying to enrage someone made it easier to stay calm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"They want me to become angry. Becoming angry is doing what they want.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was often how emotions worked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For Shang, something similar was happening.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He knew what the faces wanted and why they wanted it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dying would just be following their wishes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because of that, Shang's mind steeled, and he refused to give up and die.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Suddenly, something like an arm shot toward one of the faces and grabbed it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The arm pulled back and moved the dark face towards Shang's opened mouth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>CRKSH!\u003C\u002Fp>",1023,"2026-06-06T04:07:25.425Z",1,"novelbin.me","56e2ccc317c48b34934f975fa2931a39b85a9a4c0b570edf1f58c92caa1343ec","sword-god-in-a-world-of-magic-chapter-950","sword-god-in-a-world-of-magic-chapter-948",1033,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fsword-god-in-a-world-of-magic-cover.jpg"]