Asking for Help

Simply reciting a true name could sometimes lead to terrible things. It might even let the other party know in that very instant and draw its gaze.

"Yes, my right eye healed, but I lost my left eye. Since then, the voice that granted wishes has completely disappeared, but I... feel so miserable, as though I lost something else. Every day, I've been muddled and afraid. I really want to know what terrifying thing happened to me."

There was a faint sob in the girl's voice. In the dim divination room, the light filtering in through the distant window made her pale face look even more pitiful.

Yet this situation made Bai Yun certain of one thing.

This girl had indeed encountered a secret incident.

She had simply been lucky enough not to die, and had instead completed a transaction with some unknown existence.

It made him tremble, while also filling him with an indescribable excitement.

In truth, when it came to things like Evil Gods, human fear far outweighed curiosity. Most people who came into contact with them met terrible ends.

Yet this young lady before him had actually... had her wish granted?

Equivalent exchange had unexpectedly proven reliable.

Even if danger lurked behind it.

And without a doubt, the predicament Bai Yun currently faced could not be overcome unless he prayed for certain powers.

"Could you let me see the note with the writing on it?"

"This..."

The girl hesitated, but eventually took it out and pushed it in front of Bai Yun.

With a casual glance, he immediately shifted his attention away, his heart skipping a beat.

It was the standard format of a sacrificial incantation.

Dragon of End?

Though he had only taken a hurried glance, the first line had still been imprinted in his mind.

"Hah..."

It's fine, it's fine. I only saw the beginning.

"Miss, I think it would be best if you stopped carrying this note around from today onward. You haven't lost anything extra... That's very fortunate. Don't get involved with this again in the future." He tried to persuade the girl before him.

"Mm, that's what I thought too. But I feel so awful right now. Will I recover?"

"I think you should see a doctor. If they determine you don't have any illness, then perhaps you should pay attention to your mental state. In any case, don't get involved with what I mentioned."

"U-understood."

"Then, let me begin your divination."

More than ten minutes later, Miss Battle No. 1 left with a meaningless divination result, a smile appearing on her face.

"This way, there's a greater chance he'll believe it."

At first, she had planned to force it on him, but that would have made him suspicious. It was best for him to make the choice himself.

Bai Yun no longer had the mood to continue divining, so he left.

After returning home, he leaned back in his seat, unable to shake the thoughts from his mind.

Just then, a message came in.

Upon seeing its contents, he gritted his teeth, his expression turning unwilling.

"Your little sister is still doing well, right? Stop dragging things out."

Damn it!

He entered a room, where a young girl lay quietly on the bed without moving.

He took a deep breath and pulled out the note.

"I came here only after searching so many places, because I heard the people here could treat my sister. But these people forced me to do bad things, and now I've done as they asked, but... heh."

He had realized long ago that these people could not treat her.

It was only after overhearing some information that he learned it had all been a scam to trick him into working for them.

The deep curse his sister had come into contact with back then was definitely not caused by ordinary secret powers.

Some people said that an indescribable Evil God had turned her into this.

"It can't be cured. It will never be cured, unless you pray for the help of an orthodox god... such as the God of Light Prayer."

What a joke.

The God of Light Prayer!

Not to mention that the deity had not answered prayers for who knew how many years. Even if it did, someone like him would never be qualified.

And he was far from the only one praying to it every day.

"Is this... my only choice?"

He trembled as he picked up the note, swallowing nervously.

It was not as though there had never been cases of people sacrificing to Evil Gods and having their souls damned forever. Of course he was afraid. Yet that girl's situation did not seem especially terrible.

But could the other party guarantee that it would remain that way in the future?

"Whatever. I'll try it."

His gaze fell upon the note:

"Dragon of End, who stands beyond the world."

"Overture of Boundless Desolation."

"You are the reshaper of the Ancient Divine Shadow."

"You are the Monument of Endless Glory."

"I hereby request your gaze."

"I request that you save my sister."

After reading through it, he felt a chill run down his spine, though he did not know whether it was merely psychological.

"This truly isn't any god I know. At the very least, it can't be an orthodox god."

But this feeling was no weaker than that of any orthodox god.

After reciting the words, he put away the note and looked around.

Unfortunately, nothing happened.

A few minutes later...

"Was it an illusion?" For some reason, he felt relieved.

But when he recalled that the woman had only heard the voice after entering a dream, he became tense again.

"Sleep, right... I need to sleep!"

He hesitated. Since he was trying to save his sister, he should go to her room.

Entering the room, he sat directly beside her.

Just as he was about to lie down and close his eyes, he suddenly felt that something about the scene before him was wrong.

Only then did he discover that the outside of his home's window had somehow become shrouded in chaotic mist.

The world outside was pitch-black, filled only with boundless fog. The door stood wide open, but beyond it were no longer the stairs and hallway, only a deep void.

A line of strange text appeared on the blanket before him.

"Was it you who requested me?"

He jolted in fright and abruptly sat upright.

This was not any language he knew, yet the moment his gaze fell upon it, he somehow understood it.

"Y-yes. May I ask who you are?"

The moment he asked that, he realized how foolish he had been and hurriedly changed his words.

"Greetings, great Dragon of End."

The bloody words vanished.

A new line of text appeared: Equivalent exchange.

"Equivalent exchange? Y-you mean I need to offer a certain price in order to save my sister?"

He glanced at his sister sleeping beside him. Thinking of the pained expressions she occasionally wore in her dreams, along with the arrogant faces of those who had deceived him, a trace of unwillingness and madness surfaced in his eyes.

"No problem. I'll give you everything—my hands, my feet, my organs, even my life. As long as you can save my sister, I'll give you whatever you want!"

"God, surely you wouldn't disdain to lie to a mere mortal, would you?"

There was a hint of madness and anticipation in his eyes.

Yet the bloody words that appeared the next moment chilled his heart.

"Still not enough!"

Not enough?

His heart sank.

"Y-you... What else do you want? My soul?"

He realized that his sister's curse truly was extraordinary. That god was powerful enough to heal her, yet the price demanded was actually so high?

Even his life was not enough.

Unexpectedly, however, the new words that appeared in this bizarre environment left him stunned.

"Freedom."

"Become the power through which I infiltrate the present world."

Chapter 52: Asking for Help

Elsewhere, beyond Bai Yun's knowledge.

"Hey, hey, that's enough. What the hell do you mean the price is snacks? If you keep doing this, all your grandeur will be ruined."

Seeing Dragon Loli preparing to tell him that she wanted snacks, Ye Qian decisively stopped her.

"Just let me handle it obediently. I'll give you all the snacks you want anyway. Don't casually accept other people's things, and let me answer any prayers too. Just be good, okay?"

"Mm."

Dragon Loli lay before a huge cake and nodded obediently.

"Good girl. That's more like it."

Maintaining prolonged ritual communication with Dragon Loli consumed energy, so for the sake of her healthy growth, Ye Qian took on that expenditure herself.

It was not much, only one unit of Life Energy per day.

At this moment, in Bai Yun's home.

"Freedom?"

This unexpected price surprised him.

He glanced at his sister beside him. A pained expression had appeared on her face once more. Clearly, even in her dreams, the girl was still suffering unimaginable torment.

Bai Yun clenched his fists and shouted, "Fine. I'm willing to pay with my freedom to save her."

As soon as his words fell, the bloody text on the blanket vanished.

In its place, a savage sentence appeared in midair:

"Contract established."

The lettering was so terrifying that he briefly suspected he had stepped into some sort of conspiracy.

The next instant, a strange sensation came over him. A mass of dense black fog emerged from the void, and amid black afterimages, a bottle of translucent liquid appeared before him.

"This is..."