Chapter 153
Chapter Sixty-Five: After the War.
"Who exactly are you?"
Seemingly aware that he was about to die, the Destruction Monarch was surprisingly calm.
His anger just now seemed fake. At this moment, he didn't seem like the Dragon Emperor who symbolized destruction and cruelty, but rather like a middle-aged man who was powerless.
Perhaps to express her approval of his calm acceptance of death, Castorice spoke softly, "The ruler of the Underworld and the dead, you may call me Senatus, or you may call me the Hand of the Dark."
"Are you the Grim Reaper?"
The Dragon Emperor's expression changed slightly.
"After today, you too will become a resident of the Underworld."
Castorice stretched out her right hand, and with the magic of Black Mud, a scythe appeared in her hand.
Upon hearing this, the Dragon Emperor could no longer lie down.
I know I can't win. It's one thing to die with dignity, but it's quite another to be beaten to death and still have to be your subordinate. In any case, the Dragon Emperor will never become anyone's vassal.
However, even with his desperate struggle, he looked somewhat comical under the claws of the Dead Dragon. Despite the huge difference in size between the two sides, the vast difference in magic power and their own properties created a scene where a child could hold down an adult with one hand.
This made the Dragon Emperor even more furious, yet he was helpless.
"Don't worry, you won't become anyone's subordinate unless you want to."
Castorice's voice did not waver in the slightest despite the Dragon Emperor's struggle, as if a higher life form was watching a lower life form's overestimation of its own strength and resistance, and could not stir up any emotion.
As the scythe approached, the Dragon Emperor opened his mouth to unleash his dragon breath, but was pinned down on the head by a claw from Polykeus.
May your soul find peace in death.
The scythe in Castorice's hand was insignificant compared to the size of the Dragon Emperor, but after she swung the scythe, it directly caused the light in the Dragon Emperor's eyes to disappear.
Then, she turned her gaze to the distance.
The old man, whose formal attire was torn in many places and whose body could no longer support him to stand, was being supported by a young man beside him as he slowly walked towards them.
Castorice ignored the dragon's corpse, which had lost its soul, and headed towards the two of them.
"Your Excellency, your condition is very poor."
Looking at the elderly woman, whose health was almost completely worn down by age, Castorice's face showed worry.
"I should have been swept into the annals of history long ago; it's Miracles that I've managed to hold on until now."
Gao Jianli chuckled twice, seemingly unconcerned about his current condition. After gesturing to Wu Zhenzhe that he didn't need to continue supporting him, the old man forced himself to straighten up.
"I never imagined that you would be the one to end this long war."
His speech went straight to the point, which made Castorice look a little confused and couldn't help but look in Wu Zhenzhe's direction.
"He already knows."
Gao Jianli said, "I have told him everything. After all... as the next Chairman of the Hunter Association who will succeed me, he needs to know the truth about this world."
Wu Zhenzhe bowed to Castorice, then said respectfully, "Please don't mind me, Lord Senatus."
"But I never expected you to be a Grim Reaper...? If we're talking about female Grim Reapers, the only one I know is Ereshkigal..."
Gao Jianli stroked his chin, unable to reconcile Castorice with the legendary Grim Reaper of this world.
"I probably won't appear in human mythology..."
Castorice had prepared her backstory long ago, but she didn't expect it to be revealed at this moment. "In fact, I have only just succeeded to the position of Senatus. Before that, I was just a human like all of you."
"Succession?"
Gao Jianli's expression was somewhat subtle.
Speaking of succession... the Shadow Monarch also succeeded. It's quite strange that two beings related to death both succeeded during this period.
"Are you Chairman Gao now, or Radiant Shards?"
"I can't help but ask, "Castorice inquired.
"I am Gao Jianli, but you could also say I am both."
Gao Jianli smiled and said, "We've fought side by side for many decades."
Castorice nodded slightly, meaning that her situation was similar to Cheng Xiaoyu's, right? However, the Radiant Shards obviously had not truly merged with Gao Jianli, probably because rather than becoming one, the two perceived each other more as partners with mutual understanding.
Furthermore, Gao Jianli had long been prepared for death, and it was impossible for him to live and cling to his position forever. Both he and the Radiant Shards knew that this was the human world and human society.
Their duties have been fulfilled, and it's time for them to step down.
"Chairman Gao? And Section Chief Wu?"
Che Huiyi's voice came from mid-air.
Both of them were far stronger than ordinary kings, so their victory was a foregone conclusion in a one-on-one situation with a king.
Che Huiyi doesn't know how to use teleportation portals, and since she had met Fang Monarch once before, she naturally went after him. Cheng Xiaoyu, an assassin who knows how to use teleportation portals, is completely outmatched by the support character Illusion Monarch.
After defeating their opponents on both sides, the two quickly returned.
"Because of the Dragon Emperor's death, the Destruction Legion is in complete chaos."
Cheng Xiaoyu landed on the ground on his flying dragon and immediately reported the situation.
"Where are the survivors?"
This is what Gao Jianli cares about most.
"With my soldiers protecting us, there were no casualties among the survivors."
Cheng Xiaoyu calculated. "City B, as the first city where the monarchs arrived, suffered the most casualties, but the citizens of other areas had already entered the evacuation facilities, so the casualties were actually not that many."
The main reason this result was achieved was that Che Huiyi tied down most of the forces as soon as the Antimatter Legion arrived, and only later, due to being overwhelmed, she missed other troops.
However, Cheng Xiaoyu's appearance later halted the previously one-sided offensive.
"Can the number of casualties be calculated...?"
"Approximately... 120,000 people."
The numbers Cheng Xiaoyu mentioned made the atmosphere much heavier.
120,000 people—that's less than the number of people who died on Qizhou Island back then, and it seems insignificant compared to the population of Country H, which is over 50 million. But... none of the people here treat human lives as just numbers.
Che Huiyi looked at Castorice and tentatively began, "Castorice..."
"I'm sorry, Senior Cha..."
Castorice understood what she meant, but could only shake her head regretfully. "The boundary between life and death is clear, and even if there are occasional exceptions, it cannot be taken lightly."
There are occasional exceptions where it's possible, but it can't be done this time.
This is to be expected, as many of the 120,000 who died died right under the noses of others. If they were to be resurrected under such circumstances, the news of their resurrection would spread immediately.
Moreover... setting aside the outside world, even considering only herself, Castorice did not want to disrupt the rules of the Underworld on such a large scale.
"No need to apologize, it was my fault for not thinking things through..."
Che Huiyi is just a bit straightforward, not stupid.
Such a thing, which goes against the natural Order of life and death, should not be a precedent.
Seeing the somber atmosphere, Gao Jianli cut to the chase. "Alright, we have a lot to do now. There's no time for sighs. Before we mourn the dead, let's make arrangements for the living!"
Epilogue of Chapter Sixty-Six.
The post-disaster reconstruction process went very smoothly. After Cheng Xiaoyu revealed his endless army of soldiers, manpower became the least valuable resource, and Demon Beast with various abilities were naturally capable of handling all kinds of tasks.
His appearance has drawn worldwide attention.
The disaster in Country H naturally attracted widespread attention around the world. Although they were not on the scene in person, they still had satellites and could see the general situation. The unprecedentedly powerful Demon Beast and the unprecedentedly powerful hunters caused a lot of discussion around the world.
People don't know how much resistance humanity can have against Demon Beast of this caliber (a monarch), or whether National Power Level Hunter can still act as a stabilizing force to protect humanity and stand at the pinnacle of human power.
However, these things have nothing to do with Castorice.
This time, Castorice was still almost invisible to those who didn't know her. There were very few people interviewing her or looking for her. On the contrary, those who had spontaneously rejected her disappeared completely, and many people even took the initiative to come to her to apologize.
What Castorice didn't know was that the reason she didn't receive attention wasn't because few people knew about her strength. Although there weren't many, basically everyone in various countries with some power knew that she possessed what could be called the world's strongest fighting force.
However, through Cheng Xiaoyu's interactions with Castorice, it becomes clear that Castorice is not the type to be fawned over; rather, she prefers to keep a low profile. It's only because her abilities don't allow her to be low-key that she appears high-profile.
As her top employee, Cheng Xiaoyu made it clear to diplomats from other countries that Castorice didn't want to attract attention. He then went to the World Hunter Conference in Castorice's place, and together with Che Huiyi, he obtained national-level hunter certification. At the same time, he revealed Castorice's identity to the leaders and hunter representatives of various countries at the conference.
"As a human being, she does not want to be elevated to a pedestal."
Cheng Xiaoyu emphasized that Castorice preferred a simple and ordinary human life and warned everyone not to disturb her.
The reason he was able to replace Castorice as the representative of the hunters of Country H at the meeting was because the world recognized his endless army and formidable strength as being at the top of the world. This speech, which was half warning and half reminder, was naturally not taken lightly. Especially since Che Huiyi, a hunter with similar strength to Cheng Xiaoyu, also stood on Castorice's side, all countries had to treat this warning with even more caution.
After the battle, Castorice went to the world of the Radiant Shards and received their heartfelt thanks.
They did not like war and fighting, otherwise they would not have killed their creator after learning that the endless war was created by their creator.
Having ended the long-standing cycle of struggle between the rulers and the kings, Castorice naturally gained their favor, and they offered to unconditionally fulfill one of Castorice's requests as a token of gratitude and as proof of their goodwill.
The Radiant Shards were indeed eager to befriend Castorice, after all, they had witnessed Castorice's strength firsthand. The mighty and invincible Destruction Monarch was unable to even put up a fight in front of Castorice, and even the Radiant Shards would feel awe for such power.
As for whether it would be inappropriate to unconditionally grant Castorice's request once... they felt it wouldn't be. After all, judging from the perspective and description of the most Radiant Shards of Gao Jianli, Castorice's essence was kind. Such a person might make troublesome requests, but would certainly not make unreasonable ones.
But to their surprise, Castorice immediately used this as a token of her gratitude.
The artifact that resets time— Castorice had been curious about it ever since she learned about it, and now that she had the chance, she naturally wanted to ask about it.
Of course, she wouldn't force the issue if the other party made things difficult for her, since she was just curious and wanted to let Herta study it.
However, the Radiant Shards did not show any difficulty. This item was originally intended to save the Earth and fight against the King. Now that the Earth was safe and the King had sent it, it was of no use to them. So they gave it directly to Castorice and indicated that the request was still valid.
Castorice didn't expect them to be so generous, but in reality, the Radiant Shards also had its own ideas.
Although they owed this favor, it also established a long-term connection with the other party, and this connection cannot be settled simply because of an object.
Upon returning to Earth, Castorice received a report from Cheng Xiaoyu. After learning what he had done at the World Conference, Castorice nodded with little reaction.
Increasing public awareness can indeed increase acceptance, but for Castorice, this is something that doesn't need to be rushed. The existence of the Underworld provides her with a continuous source of acceptance. Compared to the Underworld, Earth's acceptance is greater in quantity, but far inferior in quality. It's not important enough for Castorice to need to change her style of doing things.
Compared to many others, the quality of recognition that Castorice has gained is already among the best.
[Amber: Finally, there's someone else besides me who's a super-talented player!]
The entity itself has given it high recognition.
As the god of Otherworld and the protector of Earth, Amber gains Tianwen levels of recognition every second.
[Aria: Tears of envy streamed down her face at the bottom of her skirt.]
Being on the set of Resident Evil, even if she gained recognition, the means were extremely limited. Although she possessed exceptional skills in that world, killing Bow was as easy as drinking water, her gains were always unsatisfactory.
[Herta: Just wait, after this, my genius will be known throughout the universe, and you'll all be looking up to my exhaust fumes.]
She has just finished fighting the Chitauri invasion in Marvel. Although she is already very well-known on Earth, she has not gained much popularity in the universe.
[Jingliu: It seems that the flow of time on my side is much faster than yours. The story of The Return of the Condor Heroes has already ended, and since I have no opponents, I have no more ways to gain recognition. I will probably be switching worlds soon.]
[Necrass: The world I've arrived in seems to be Kill la Kill]
Is this a newbie? The gacha pool has changed again.
Amber: Necrass is actually a bit tricky... I wasn't planning on pulling for her, but I couldn't resist my collecting habit...
Amber: Thank goodness it's the world of Kill la Kill!
[Castorice: Fortunately, this is the world of Kill la Kill]
In such a world, Necrass is actually quite suitable.
[Necrass: You guys aren't mentioning personality compatibility at all... I don't want to be out of character, but Banana's personality...]
Amber:... Good luck!
In fact, Amber, who has become a god, is no longer the innocent girl she once was. She understands that killing can sometimes create beautiful things, but she has never actually done it.
[Necrass: Looks like I'm the first one to try something new]
[Castorice: I think I've eaten some... but probably only the crab legs... I'll transfer my Remembrance back to my original body later.]
[Amber: Killing girls is, in a way, a world where there's no need to hold back. Just do what you want.]