I Want to Make One Final Deal with You

"What's going on?!"

Cha Mo Si hurried back to the headquarters of the Skeleton Corps, his face was extremely pale and his body was covered in blood.

"Two Gear Train in Fourth District have collided. Why hasn't anyone gone to rescue them yet?"

Cha Mo Si roared at the few skeleton Knight remained at headquarters, "Are you just going to stand by and watch?"

The few remaining skeletal Knight looked at each other, and they all saw confusion in each other's eyes.

"Gear Train collision? When did that happen?"

"We haven't received any notification."

Cha Mo Si's anger immediately turned into astonishment.

Half an hour earlier, he had witnessed two Gear Train collide and burn on the tracks. Shocked, he immediately led three members of the Tenth Squad to the rescue, trying to minimize casualties before the main force of the skeletons arrived.

However, the main force never arrived.

The three of them alone couldn't save anyone; they could only watch helplessly as the two trains burned in the flames and were then overshadowed by the even brighter fireworks under the night sky.

"You didn't know?!" His surprised tone was laced with barely suppressed anger. "How could you not know?! Where's the observation post?! Where are the station staff?!"

The remaining skeleton Knight looked at each other in bewilderment once again.

"I don't know, we haven't received any reports at all."

At that moment, an indescribable fear rose in Cha Mo Si's heart.

But before he could say anything, there was another burst of rapid footsteps. He turned around and saw the captain of the Ninth Squad hurrying over.

"What are you doing?!" As soon as he entered, the captain of the Ninth Squad roared at the headquarters Knight who remained behind, just like Cha Mo Si had done earlier. "A serious stampede has occurred in the Second District. Why haven't any reinforcements arrived?"

Now, Cha Mo Si joined the group that had been staring at each other in bewilderment.

"Cha Mo Si? What are you doing here?!" The Ninth Squad saw Cha Mo Si and immediately approached him, saying, "Quick, take your men and come with me to the Fourth District. Damn it, where did everyone go tonight?"

"No, Li En ..." Cha Mo Si shook off the Ninth Squad's hand and pointed to the door. "I think we can't go."

Li En subconsciously turned his head and saw the captain of the Fourth Squad walk in with a dark face.

Five minutes later, the three squad leaders finally understood the situation.

More than one place, more than two places... right now, accidents are happening everywhere in Lyra.

Two Gear Train collided in Fourth District, a stampede occurred in Second District, and an explosion occurred at a prosthetics shop in Third District, with two shops catching fire.

This kind of accident, which would not happen even once every few years, has already occurred three times tonight.

And it's very likely that it will happen more than three times.

Because these three times were only witnessed by the three squad leaders themselves.

What about what they didn't see?

Why did the Skeleton Knight's headquarters receive no information about such a major event?

The staff at the observatory and on the Gear Train seemed to have vanished suddenly.

Even at the entire Skeleton Knight headquarters, only a few people are on duty tonight, and most of the positions are empty.

"Damn it, what the hell is going on?!" Li En grabbed one of the skeleton Knight by the collar, his eyes blazing with murderous intent. "Where are the others?!"

"I don't know," the skeletal Knight replied tremulously. "I only know that some of them were transferred to guard the various district towers, but that's only a portion. There's another portion..."

He looked around at the empty seats and said with a wry smile.

"They just didn't come."

"Why?!"

The skeletal Knight pursed his lips but didn't speak, though everyone present understood what he meant.

The skeletal Knight also joined in tonight's "revelry".

This made Li En's face darken even more. He almost couldn't help but punch the other man, but Cha Mo Si stopped him.

"Taking your anger out on him won't do any good," Cha Mo Si said. "He's still here, after all, isn't he?"

Li En glanced at Cha Mo Si, then lowered his raised hand and paced back and forth anxiously. "What on earth is going on?!"

Cha Mo Si pursed his lips tightly.

What is going on?

Isn't that obvious?

The order of Lyra... has collapsed.

Of course, it wasn't just order that collapsed, but also countless things closely related to the Lyra God, such as the Gear Train and those prosthetic limb shops.

They suddenly spiral out of control, causing disasters and claiming lives.

It's like... committing murder intentionally.

Yes, it's almost like Lyra is killing people.

Cha Mo Si felt somewhat dazed.

Is this the price of killing a god?

... but none of these are as serious as the collapse of order.

Currently, disasters of varying degrees are occurring throughout Lyra City.

The problem is that no one knows about these disasters except for those directly involved and those around them.

The skeletal Knight who were supposed to provide disaster relief were unaware of this, as were the residents.

With the observation station malfunctioning, the Gear Train coming to a standstill, and the revelry that nearly turned the night upside down, it was highly likely that one street would be engulfed in stampedes, fires, and deaths, while people on another street were still partying. Or, the wreckage of the first two Gear Train might not have been cleared before a new Gear Train set off, packed with passengers.

The thought of such an outcome sent chills down the spines of the squad leaders present.

"Where is the Minister?" Cha Mo Si looked at the Knight on duty.

The Knight gave another wry smile, "The Minister isn't here either."

Li En clenched his fist again.

"...Go to his house and find him now." Cha Mo Si remained remarkably calm. "At least tell him the current situation."

The skeletal Knight nodded repeatedly and then quickly left.

"What about us?" Li En asked. "We have to do something, right? Which side should we save first?"

Cha Mo Si shook his head. "No, it's too late to save him."

"Can't be saved?" Li En asked. "What does that mean?"

"It means exactly what it says." Cha Mo Si looked into Li En's eyes and said, word by word, "We are short-handed and have no way to save those who have already perished. What we should do now is to prevent new disasters from happening as much as possible. We must let the Lyra ... or at least let as many people as possible know what is happening tonight. The revelry must stop, and those devices related to my My Lord ... the Old God must be stopped immediately."

"Including Gear Train?"

"The most important thing is the Gear Train," Cha Mo Si said. "It absolutely cannot be used anymore... no, it won't work."

As he spoke, he suddenly shook his head and then murmured something.

"We still need to use the Gear Train, otherwise we won't be able to get the message to all parts of Lyra in the shortest time. So the Gear Train must be used, and it must be used by... our people."

The other two squad leaders exchanged glances upon hearing this, but said nothing and simply nodded.

"That's not enough," Cha Mo Si said. "We also need to inform Bishop Ao Li Wei ..."

Cha Mo Si paused subconsciously at this point.

If everything that happened tonight was the price of killing a god...

Did Bishop Ao Li Wei, who first proposed the idea of killing God, foresee all of this?

The idea had barely popped into Cha Mo Si's mind when he quickly dismissed it.

Because he knew there was no extra time to think about things that wouldn't have answers in the short term, since at this moment, Lyra... was killing someone.

"We still don't have enough manpower," Cha Mo Si said in a low voice, "So we need to send someone to contact the Devil Squad."

"Devil Squad?"

"Let them back into the city," Cha Mo Si said, emphasizing each word. "Right now, only a well-organized Devil Squad can stop this..."

Before they could finish speaking, the doors of the Skeleton Headquarters were pushed open once more. The three squad leaders turned around and saw a fully armed Devil Knight rushing towards them.

"Bishop Wei Sen commands!" the Devil Knight roared at the three squad leaders, "The Skeleton Corps! We need your assistance!"

In the Fifth District, You Li looked at Bishop Wei Sen, who was sitting in front of him and struggling to keep his trembling body still, and suddenly felt a sense of admiration.

The bishop, who had been tossed about in the Thought Amber for ten years, was on the verge of physical and mental collapse when he was extracted from the amber, but he was able to recover in such a short time. His willpower was truly remarkable.

Although his body was still trembling uncontrollably, even though he was wearing thick clothes and holding a cup of hot chocolate, he still looked like he was about to freeze to death at any moment.

But his face, as pale as paper, was completely calm.

"I see." After learning the general situation, he said softly, "The one who betrayed us was that old guy Ao Li Wei. I was wondering why I couldn't sense his power in the Thought Amber. Logically speaking, he should be the strongest among us."

A fleeting sadness crossed his eyes, but it quickly vanished.

"But things probably didn't turn out the way he wanted," Wei Sen said. "I could feel a powerful force emanating from the Lord, which allowed Him to contend with that Sinful Creature."

"But won't this city be destroyed by the combined power of the two gods?" You Li asked.

Wei Sen looked up and glanced at You Li.

"You're calling yourselves Devil Squad?"

"Yes."

"Sorry, my memory is still stuck ten years ago," Wei Sen said calmly. "Back then, my direct unit was still Nightstar. I thought I would wake up to find Jie La Er."

You Li didn't say anything, but just watched as Wei Sen drank the hot chocolate in his cup in one gulp.

"My previous description may have been somewhat inaccurate," Wei Sen said. "The Lord is not angry, but rather... out of control. He does not want to kill the Lyra People, but wants to kill... everyone."

"Excuse me for being frank, but it seems there's no difference."

"No, there is still a difference." Wei Sen shook his head and said, "If all of this is not His subjective will, then there is still room for redemption."

You Li asked instinctively, "How can we salvage this?"

"The Lord is losing his mind, so let's restore his sanity."

You Li raised his head and looked at the huge piece of Thought Amber behind Wei Sen.

"Just like you did before?" You Li asked, "Enter the Thought Amber again?"

"Yes...but no." Wei Sen shook his head and said, "The Lord is awakening from his slumber, and we can no longer maintain His sanity simply by being inside him as before."

He paused.

"We have to resort to some more extreme methods."

You Li seemed to have guessed something, his pupils narrowing slightly. "Then can you still come back?"

Before Wei Sen could speak, the Thought Amber behind him suddenly exploded, and several tentacles emerged from it, flying towards the two of them.

You Li was shocked. He was about to draw his sword, but Wei Sen had already done so, throwing the cup in his hand and then forming a hand seal, uttering a low chant imbued with divine power.

"[Divine Art: Sword of Order]".

Holy Light burst forth from his body, and that Holy Light seemed to contain a tremendous suction force, directly drawing the tentacles to his side.

After a series of "plop" sounds, the tentacle pierced into his body, almost tearing him apart.

But at the same time, the Holy Light emanating from his body calmed down these restless tentacles.

But Wei Sen's divine magic was not over yet; his pierced body was rapidly elongating and gradually transforming into the shape of a sword.

You Li watched in astonishment as Wei Sen transformed half of his body into a sword, pinning the tentacles to the ground.

You Li was naturally familiar with the Divine Art: Sword of Order.

Using one's own body as a sword to suppress all sources of impurity is an extremely powerful divine art, but it is also... an irreversible divine art.

In other words, there is no way to turn back into a human from a sword; the moment the entire body transforms into a sword, the person has already died.

"This is the only way right now," Wei Sen said slowly. "As long as the sword doesn't fall, the Lord won't completely lose his mind. Once the sword falls, it's all over... Do you understand?"

After a brief moment of shock, You Li slowly nodded.

"I understand," he said. "We won't let it fall."

"That's good." Wei Sen opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something, but facing this unfamiliar subordinate, he found that he had nothing to say. So after a brief silence, he simply said softly, "I'll leave the rest to you."

"Good."

Wei Sen could not hear this brief reply.

He transformed his entire body into a jet-black sword, standing silently.

It's like a towering pagoda reaching the heavens, or a silent tombstone.

"Visas".

"Um?"

How many people will die tonight?

"Many, yet few."

"What's the meaning?"

"There will indeed be many people, hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands, but it is indeed very few, at least one-third of the total. Compared to millions, that's nothing," Bai Wei said. "This is already the best possible outcome."

Jie La Er gazed at the fireworks bursting in the night sky and murmured softly, "The best outcome..."

After a brief silence.

"Visas".

"Um."

"I want to make one last deal with you."