The Eternal Night Continues / Bloodthirsty God

"You are lying."

After listening to the white-haired man's words, Lin spoke coldly.

"..." The white-haired man's urgent gaze shifted sharply downwards, transforming into the biting cold of winter snow.

The transformation happened in the blink of an eye; those human-like tones, expressions, and eyes seemed to be nothing more than a disguise for this man.

Lin, however, was focused on the mangled flesh on the girl's back and paid no attention to his change.

"You realized she was Herrscher a long time ago, and you definitely saw the events of the previous two incidents. You couldn't have only just discovered her problem now."

"Only at times like this do I sense the similarities between you and before." The white-haired man coldly crossed his arms and glanced down at the girl in the flickering black and white space. "However, you've misunderstood one thing. I did intend to exchange with you to prevent us from being killed. She has that ability."

Lin pressed, "Tell me, what are her abilities?"

"Didn't you notice? The symptoms of those 'vampires' are more like those of someone infected with some kind of plague than those of ordinary Honkai zombie."

"...Infect?"

"Moreover, her situation is very complicated, and it doesn't just stem from a Herrscher; there must be someone interfering..."

"What exactly is it?"

"Didn't I already say it? 'Infection,' or to put it another way..."

The white-haired man pointed to the scattered corpses, his expression faint, like a drop of icy rain falling on his face.

"Erosion."

Chapter Forty-Two: The Eternal Night Will Continue

"Although there are many names for this Herrscher, such as God, Ghost, and Eater, 'Erosion' best describes the Herrscher's power and ability, compared to those messy words that were just created to make a nice-sounding name."

The white-haired man's body twitched unsteadily, like a scene from an old-fashioned television set, his entire being undergoing an abstract distortion.

This was an unprecedented situation, perhaps because Lin's physical condition had reached its limit.

The white-haired man also realized this situation. His Prismatic Eyes gradually emitted a faint light as he barely managed to stabilize himself. He continued, "You can notice those vampires... to be precise, they are Honkai zombie. Unlike ordinary Honkai zombie do not have bloodlust and whose destructive power is far less than that of vampires, these are all due to the abnormal mutation caused by her abilities."

"And her power is essentially the erosion and control of both living and mechanical things."

Erosion and control...

This situation is exactly the same as Theresa's use of blood to control humans and create vampires.

"But the Herrscher of Erosion is nothing more than that." The white-haired man stared at the girl, and Lin also looked at her. Whether it was a misperception or not, it seemed that her gaze had turned towards Lin.

"What's the meaning?"

"What I mean is, if she's just a Herrscher of Erosion, it's not a big deal. You had a lot of dealings with them before you lost your memory, and even if she killed you, you would only be back on that ship with a period of unconsciousness."

Conversely, this means that the girl in front of us is not simply a Herrscher of Erosion.

"Hurry up and let me take over. What can you do without your hands and feet?" The white-haired man stretched out his hand to Lin. "I'll kill her. At the very least, we can return to the Hyperion. You can deal with the distortion of this World Bubble later if you want."

"..."

"I've already told you everything you want to know. Are you still hesitating because you're planning to drag me down with you?"

"...No."

Lin's gaze never left the pile of what had once been Kallen's remains; he was thinking, thinking without stopping for a moment.

The mystery of the Vampire Night has been solved, but there is still an anomaly that makes him frown even more than the Herrscher of Erosion.

That's the cycle of these three days.

He had taken this cycle for granted, but never thought about why it happened.

When he tried to trace the origins of those two cycles back to their final stages, he had only a blank memory and no clue whatsoever.

"Sizzle—Sizzle—"

The white-haired man's body began to disintegrate. Seeing this, he frowned and said coldly to Lin, who was still trying to recall what had happened, "You've experienced something similar before."

"Keep it brief." A glint flashed in Lin's eyes. He wasn't sure whether the white-haired man was good or bad to him, but for now, he did need to cooperate with him.

"Your solution at the time was to find the 'different' parts from the 'same' parts of the loop, and that was the key to the anomaly." The white-haired man's movements were currently restricted. His understanding was at the same level as Lin's, and to be honest, he didn't know much more than Lin. "It is not yet clear how the loop was generated, but there are traces of human intervention on this Herrscher, so it is very likely that the loop was also caused by humans."

After obtaining the information he wanted, Lin said to the white-haired man, "I need to conduct experiments."

"For two non-humans you've only known for less than three days? Or for the people in this city and the World Bubble? So you risk your life to test a hypothesis?" The white-haired man finally couldn't help but sneer. For the first time, he showed his true colors in front of Lin, his merciless Prismatic Eyes slicing through the air and piercing Lin's eyes. "Fine, I take back what I said before. You really haven't changed at all, Lin."

"But I have something to remind you."

The white-haired man, his body twisted and his face contorted into a bizarre shape, with his mouth extending all the way to the back of his head, knelt before Lin. Only his captivating Prismatic Eyes remained unchanged.

"Losing something after you've gained it is often more devastating than having nothing at all in the first place."

"How long can this kind of thinking, which even you yourself couldn't have dreamed of, this kind of optimism that seems like a fantasy, last?"

"..."

As the voice fell, the white-haired man completely collapsed, and even the frozen black-and-white image shattered as if struck by a hammer.

The girl, now back to normal, pointed at him, but Lin Fei didn't close his eyes in fear. Instead, he stared intently at everything in front of him with unwavering composure.

"Bang!"

Just as Lin was preparing to face death, a similarly petite figure attacked from behind the girl, and two blood-red swords pierced straight for the back of the girl's head!

"Snap—Sizzle!"

The girl tossed her long silver hair, her right arm covered in purplish-black Honkai Energy, and turned to meet the twin swords. Her delicate arm actually blocked the twin swords that could cut through iron like mud!

The attacker seemed surprised after being stopped, but when she saw not only Lin, who had lost all four limbs, but also two arms holding a pistol on the ground, her reason snapped.

"Aaaaaaahhhhh!" She opened her mouth and let out a shriek, her sharp teeth gleaming coldly, as she lunged at the girl who looked exactly like her once again.

Lin stared blankly at Theresa, who had suddenly appeared and then suddenly gone mad. At that moment, he was gripped by an indescribable fear.

"Losing something after you've gained it is often more devastating than having nothing at all in the first place."

"Theresa!"

The "monster" who had raised his bloodthirsty twin swords heard his call as he took a step forward, and his eyes suddenly cleared, causing him to stop.

The girl had no intention of stopping. She ruthlessly swung her arm, which was wrapped in Honkai Energy, and a large amount of purplish-black corrosive energy transformed into a giant python that opened its mouth to devour Theresa!

Lin immediately lowered her head and bit Kallen's finger!

"Bang!"

With a flick of the finger, the bullet left the chamber and shot towards the girl. The gunshot also startled Theresa, who managed to dodge the Honkai Energy that was corroding the ground and trees into pus. She stared at the unknown enemy with a look of alarm.

The girl simply blocked it—or rather, she didn't even look at the bullet aimed at her. The bullet, like Lin's arm before, hit the transparent wall and fell directly to the ground.

"Theresa! Run!"

Lin opened his mouth, blood trickling from between his teeth, and called out hoarsely to Theresa.

"... Human... and my sister..."

When Theresa saw Lin's tragic appearance, her previously stable rationality began to spiral out of control again, and this time, Lin desperately splattered the blood from his severed limbs onto Theresa's face.

"Smack!"

It was as if he had slapped Theresa across the face from afar, and he roared hoarsely at the stunned Theresa—

"This is a contract! No matter where we are, we will never forget each other! No matter where you are or what you become, I will find you! I will bring my sister back to you, so... hurry up!"

"Theresa..."

The silver-haired girl looked at the man she had known for less than a day. He said to her, trembling yet with unwavering determination, "Don't forget this contract."

"Smack!"

The next second, Lin turned into a cloud of fleshy pulp, as if a bomb had exploded inside his body, and in an instant, he lost his original form.

In the last second before losing consciousness, Lin saw a bright red figure that seemed to illuminate the night, and he grabbed Theresa and ran away.

Chapter Forty-Three: Bloodthirsty Gods

A vibrant and colorful world is broken down and reassembled, recombining from basic particles into a scene that is both strange and familiar.

This is an extremely slow process. Men can even clearly feel every cell in their body separating and then recovering. There is no pain; instead, there is a wonderful sense of pleasure.

"Died again... You really have a lot of bad luck."

"..."

Who?

The man couldn't make out the voice; it seemed to be coming from a great distance, carrying a very complex mix of indifference and disgust.

"In the past, every time you were about to fall into the abyss, someone would pull you back." The voice sighed, with an indescribable emotion in it. "This time, let me play that role. Since you've chosen this path, don't look back. Keep going and prove to me that I was wrong."

Proof of person...

"That's right, this is what you and I agreed on. You're the kind of person who would never break a promise, right?"

"..."

One after another... one promise after another... had he made promises to so many people before?

"Yes, and I don't care about your relationships with others, but if you dare to break my promise, you'll be dead."

Before Lin's body had even finished reconstructing, he felt a chill run up the back of his neck. The indifferent, emotionless tone concealed a genuine killing intent.

This is no joke, this person really will kill him, and will definitely use the most terrifying methods.

His consciousness gradually sank to the bottom of the sea, and he vaguely saw a pair of Prismatic Eyes watching him quietly from the depths of the sea.

"Um... Little Yan Luo, don't you think you're being a bit too harsh with your words?"

I don't think so.

"..."

The silver-haired girl's concise and clear answer made Zero smile awkwardly, "Although you spoke to him without my permission, it doesn't seem like a big deal, does it? He'll definitely think you're an enemy, right?"

"Let him interpret it however he wants, I'm just telling the truth." Yan Luo touched the "little bump" on his head and said indifferently, "And if you dare to add the word 'little' before 'Yan Luo' again, don't blame me for being impolite."

Ling scratched his face, increasingly feeling that Yan Luo and Lin's personalities had developed differently. Only Yan Luo could have such a murderous aura that made the entire carriage feel like it was frozen.

"By the way, why have you started changing your style?"

Yan Luo's original bizarre attire, covered in bandages, had vanished, replaced by a high-slit, off-the-shoulder black cheongsam, over which was a light gray overcoat. Even his once simple, long silver hair, which had been draped behind his back, was now styled into two buns, with two strands of silver hair cascading down.

Well... this Shenzhou- style outfit manages to be both sexy and cute? However, her aloof and pretty face greatly diminishes the cute aspect.

"..."

However, Yan Luo did not answer; her gloved hands were flipping through the documents in her hands.

Zero didn't care too much. After all, that strangely styled bandage cloak was just the outfit that Yan Luo wore when using her Herrscher abilities. Dressing like that normally, which made her look more girlish, wasn't bad either.

But why did she suddenly start caring about her appearance?

"Chirp... chirp..."

The fireball overhead radiated its damn heat, and this sweltering feast was as relentless as the Blood Moon that would descend in three days. Opening my mouth, I felt as if all the moisture in my body evaporated and floated out of my throat.

Pedestrians, wilted like eggplants, dragged their feet along the road like zombies.

How long will this nightmare last?

"Call..."

Lin needed more and more time to sort out the fragments of his memory. The chaotic memories, especially those of serious injury and death, were like soft knives cutting into the cortex of his brain. Even though he had superhuman endurance, he had to kneel down on the ground, sweat dripping from his chin and pooling under his body.

Hurry... we must hurry, find the Herrscher of Erosion and defeat her.

Two full hours later, Lin finally returned from the world of memories that threatened to make him lose himself. He was panting, and his tired eyes suddenly noticed someone standing in front of him.

"..."

Ding-dong.

Death tolled its bell.

Lin looked up from the familiar black stockings and saw a pretty face that was incredibly innocent, pure, and without any boundaries of good or evil, like or dislike.

Her blood-red pupils stared intently at Lin Da's sweat-drenched face.