Beside the Sin King

Everything was so tedious and loathsome...

Moonlight, chirping insects, sky, clouds, dew...

Colors, sounds, touch, people, ideologies...

Hatred, bonds, order, love, chaos...

Truth, lies, reality, sin, deceit...

Meaningless, senseless.

There has never been right or wrong, nor has there ever been depravity or redemption. This world has never been twisted, because it has been twisted beyond recognition since the moment it was born.

Since it has never had an 'original form', it might as well become the way I like it...

When the noisy clamor becomes deafening, one can become numb and accustomed to it.

Or simply let it return to silence completely, that doesn't seem so bad either~

Mo Tan gently lowered his body, looking at a pink flower under the shade of a tree. He could feel its vigorous vitality, and that was why it could grow tenaciously in this not-so-suitable environment.

"Steadfast, tenacious, and aloof." A trace of tranquility appeared on Mo Tan's face, his eyes filled with pure appreciation: "It's just that this unique beauty still has some flaws..."

A dark red halo flashed and disappeared without a sound or trace.

A scorched petal fell at his feet...

"Like this..." Mo Tan stood up again, his figure seemed to stagger slightly. He raised his hand to support the half of the mask covering his eyes, and murmured in a low voice: "It's perfect~"

"When I first walked over, I thought you were praising me."

Ji Xiaodao appeared behind Mo Tan at some point, her rather indifferent tone seemed to contain a hint of concern: "Are you okay?"

"Steadfast, tenacious, and aloof?" Mo Tan turned around and looked at this tall girl with long silver hair in the game. He didn't answer her last question, just shook his head coldly: "All I see in you is blindness, willfulness, and persistence."

Ji Xiaodao shrugged indifferently, and said expressionlessly: "No girl will be interested in you with this kind of personality."

"Apart from you, that's indeed the case." Mo Tan leaned against an ancient tree next to him, gently rubbing his forehead: "Stop following me, you should know you're in the way..."

A blush suddenly rose on the Dark Elf's slightly pale face. Ji Xiaodao stared straight at this guy who didn't look like a normal person no matter how you looked at him: "What did you say!?"

"You're in the way." Mo Tan repeated without any emotional fluctuation.

"That's not what I'm asking!" The girl gritted her teeth, her eyebrows slightly raised.

Mo Tan just glanced at her: "You're really annoying..."

Seriously, not killing this overly troublesome girl until now is almost a miracle for Mo Tan. Although he was interrupted by that squad of cavalry that had long since turned to bones when he wanted to do it before, he would have plenty of opportunities to do it later if he wanted to...

[I really should kill her.]

Just as Mo Tan was thinking this for what felt like the hundredth time, the girl in front of him changed the subject.

"The messenger arrived at the Imperial City this afternoon." Ji Xiaodao suddenly said: "The investigation team is expected to arrive here in two days. Count Tiel has not dispatched any more search and rescue teams to Banse City because of your order, and seems to be waiting for your further instructions..."

Under the mask, the increasingly violent chaos in Mo Tan's eyes subsided a little, and he narrowed his eyes slightly.

Ji Xiaodao continued to speak on her own: "I heard that one of the investigators coming this time is a Grand Duke named Bart Gallos. He has considerable power in the upper echelons of the empire, and is also a high-level Tempest Magus, deeply trusted by the emperor."

A wicked smile suddenly bloomed on the corner of his mouth, and Mo Tan nodded to the girl: "Continue."

"The companions also include the High Priest of the Kaguya Order and several high-level Clerics. I learned that they believe in the guardian of rangers, poets, and children - Moon Goddess Rose, an Absolute Neutral deity." Ji Xiaodao's speed seemed to quicken a little: "I think those people will be interested in you, and may even tie you up to..."

"The stake isn't popular here. Even if it is, I'll only be one of the spectators." Mo Tan slowly walked up to Ji Xiaodao, looked at this Dark Elf girl who was a few centimeters taller than him in the game, and asked softly: "What do you want to express?"

The girl stubbornly stared at him: "I just want you to know that I'm not a burden, and I'm not in the way!"

Mo Tan shook his head slightly: "I don't need companions, and I don't want to trust anyone other than myself."

"I can help you!" Ji Xiaodao said loudly: "I'm already doing it!"

"But I don't need collaborators."

"I..."

"Or do you think I couldn't have gotten those words out of Count Tiel's mouth myself?"

"..."

"However~" Mo Tan stared at Ji Xiaodao's bright and lost eyes, and said softly: "He's just an ordinary tool after all."

The girl blinked blankly.

"I'm not interested in any of your thoughts, but if you insist on following me, perhaps I can indeed let you see many different sceneries, or... nightmares." Mo Tan's voice suddenly became low and ethereal: "But..."

In that instant, countless thoughts flashed through Ji Xiaodao's mind: fear, confusion, anticipation, pity, apprehension...

And many, many more.

"You can have your own self, but you must unconditionally obey all my orders."

Endless sin rose from his eyes. At this moment, Mo Tan activated his talent skill on a player named Silent Prayer.

[Original Sin]

"Commit suicide." When Ji Xiaodao's slightly stiff body relaxed a little, Mo Tan said to her casually: "Now."

The sword flashed, and the girl unhesitatingly thrust the weapon in her hand fiercely toward her own heart!

But Ji Xiaodao failed...

In an instant, Mo Tan moved behind her, embracing the girl's somewhat slender shoulders, his other hand firmly grasping the sharp, thin sword.

"I've changed my mind," Mo Tan whispered in the ear of the struggling Dark Elf girl in his arms. "You'll stay... by my side for now..."

Ji Xiaodao immediately stopped struggling, turning her head to flash the other party an unprecedentedly gentle smile: "Okay~"

Mo Tan released her, not looking back as he walked into the distance: "Wait for me here."

Five minutes later, in a sparsely wooded area a little further away.

Mo Tan stopped, took a hexagonal crystal out of his bag, and examined it closely...

[Nameless Blood Pact]

Quality: Unique Legendary

Requirements: Requires a Summoning class or a total of at least 300 in base attributes to activate.

Use: At the cost of permanently deducting 20% of Stamina and Health *limit* (not current), create a custom summoned creature. Its existence is permanent, it can execute any command without distance restrictions, it can be summoned and dismissed at any time, it has growth potential, but its abilities can never exceed the summoner's total attributes. It can share the summoner's skill list (excluding special skills and talent skills). After being killed, it can be resurrected next to the summoner after 240 hours (game time).

[Note: Whether this is a worthwhile deal depends entirely on your purpose.]

This crystal was one of the spoils Mo Tan obtained during the massacre of Banse City when he first logged in, and it was also the only legendary item he possessed. It was even very likely the first legendary item discovered by a player in the game.

But from a gamer's perspective, the cost-effectiveness of this [Nameless Blood Pact] was not high, even for players who majored in summoning classes.

First of all, its cost was too high. Permanently deducting 20% of Stamina and Health limit would undoubtedly have a huge impact on anyone, and it was 'not current', which meant that after use, when the player's Health was theoretically 100, it would only be 80. And after a long period of leveling up, when the theoretical data became 1000, it would only be 800, and not just 20 points less than the initial limit, becoming 980.

Stamina was the same.

As the two most important stats in the game, this was equivalent to permanently making oneself 20% squishier.

Secondly, although the summoned creature could be customized, theoretically it wouldn't be a problem to create a dragon, and it could also share most of the summoner's skills, but its overall ability could never be stronger than the summoner. So although it felt very powerful, it wasn't too powerful...

You have to know that in any game, the general characteristic of summoning classes in the later stages is that the summoned creature itself is strong, which is equivalent to... a strong support, equivalent to... taking off, equivalent to... being cool, equivalent to... taking a girl, equivalent to... love... equivalent to... meeting up, equivalent to... being dumbfounded, having one's worldview collapse, bleeding five steps, exploding on the spot...

Seems like I'm getting off track~

What I mean is, this type of summoned creature makes it difficult to greatly increase the player's coolness in the later stages, thereby producing a series of results that people love to see.

Adding in the previously mentioned cost, the cost-effectiveness is not high. (See, I came back to it)

But Mo Tan never considered it from a gamer's perspective from the beginning, so he didn't care. Moreover, for various reasons, this thing was actually very suitable for him.

Of course, not for combat, but...

"Deception." Mo Tan looked at the face on the surface of the crystal that belonged to him, but not only to him, and crushed it into powder with a mad laugh, unhesitatingly sacrificing 20% of his Health and Stamina limit to activate it.

Accompanied by several streams of blood mist rising from his body, Mo Tan revealed a cheerful and unpredictable smile, the mad whispers seeming to come from the chaotic other side: "Now, the only hidden danger is about to be resolved..."

He looked at the open space not far in front of him that was filled with chaotic aura, carefully examining it as if looking in a mirror...

By the time Ji Xiaodao finally waited for Mo Tan to return, the sky was almost dawn.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Mo Tan said to her indifferently, without any apology. "I was delayed for a while."

Ji Xiaodao shook her head and smiled: "It's okay, it wasn't actually that long."

Her smile seemed much gentler than before...

But Mo Tan didn't pay attention, just passed by her and walked towards the dense camp in front of him: "Let's go, we still have some time."

"Okay, I'll accompany you." Ji Xiaodao followed behind him very naturally, walking half a step behind Mo Tan, as she had been doing these past few days.

[Perhaps fate left this position for her from the very beginning...

A position where she could watch, accompany, and touch that person with just a lift of her hand.

As for whether the Dark Elf Silent Prayer was really controlled by the Sin King, we don't know...

As for whether the Sin King ever cared whether that girl was really controlled by him, no one knows either.

Looking back at history, we can only use the word 'fate' to make an explanation for their encounter that is not reasonable at all, and firmly believe that it is meaningful.

To understand it with romantic ideas... yes, romantic, although these two words seem unable to be associated with that man, we can still speculate on the most unreliable of many possibilities...

Perhaps in the Sin King's heart, there has always been such a position, it is unique, like her, unique.

So he left it for her~ (Thank goodness Common Tongue allows me to express this possibility so simply)

From everything recorded in the previous volumes, we can see that neither the Four Cardinal Sin Generals under the Sin King, nor the Thirteen Godslaying Stars, nor his Six Absolution Legion Commanders, have ever truly gained the Sin King's trust, nor have they ever truly been taken seriously by the Sin King.

They are just... tools...

It's a pity...

Of course, I don't have any pity or sympathy, after all, the pain those people brought to this world has not yet completely healed. If I had been born in that era, I would definitely have wished that all those accomplices would be completely destroyed, with no chance of a good death.

But I am not a person of that era after all, so I still can't help but feel sorry for them.

From countless battles and operations, I could see how much those people revered and yearned for their king. Even death and destruction couldn't stop them from stubbornly fulfilling their loyalty.

It was a kind of faith...

A kind of mad faith and loyalty that I might never understand in my lifetime.

But as I said before, no matter what, in the eyes of the Sin King, they were merely tools.

Only that Dark Elf who had followed the Sin King from the very beginning, in that era, was truly able to quietly stand by his side...

Perhaps we cannot forgive her, but everyone must admit that Silent Prayer is special, different from those villains who also have their hands stained with blood...

She is an alien who does not belong to our world...

She is the biological younger sister of Lady Night Angel of the Grand Alliance...

She is the only woman the Sin King truly trusts...

She is his confidante, his right-hand, his guard... perhaps even his partner...

She is one of a kind—[The Sin King's Consort].

——Speculative Epic, The Sin King Volume: The Sin King's Consort

Chapter 33: The End