Dark Fiend's Dirge

God-Demon Space.

Inside a space surrounded by five-colored ribbons, Tang Yu kept his eyes tightly shut, his consciousness drifting through various minor worlds.

A moment later, Tang Yu locked onto his target among the many minor worlds.

"Dark Fiend World."

Among the thirty-eight minor worlds he had scouted, the Dark Fiend World was exceptionally unique.

This was because a small portion of the people within this world possessed strength capable of rivaling the high-end combatants of the Boundless Realm.

Alas, in terms of overall scale and peak combat power, the Dark Fiend World could not compare to the Boundless Realm.

It ultimately collapsed and was ruthlessly crushed.

The living beings within were all devoured by the evil spirits and demons of the Boundless Realm.

Restoration in progress.

The Dark Fiend World, located within the Boundless Realm, merged bit by bit into the God-Demon Space.

At the same time, a vast amount of information regarding the Dark Fiend World surfaced in Tang Yu's mind.

As he browsed through the information remaining from the Dark Fiend World, Tang Yu suddenly stopped when he reached a segment of history from before its collapse.

This historical scene moved him deeply.

Tang Yu, who had been fretting over the lack of a faction background for his players, suddenly realized that this historical information could perfectly serve as the background for the players' faction.

After careful consideration, Tang Yu began to extract this history, preparing to craft it into a CG animation.

That afternoon.

The players currently in the game suddenly heard a notification sound in their minds.

[Game Update Notice: In ten minutes, this game will undergo a background data update. At that time, player perspectives will shift to a CG scene. Please be prepared.]

The players who saw the game notification were quite confused, not understanding what this sudden update was about.

The ten-minute wait passed quickly.

Amidst the players' anticipation and confusion, their vision blurred.

The sound of background music played on a guzheng echoed in their ears.

(The following plot is best experienced with BGM; the instrumental version of "Painted Heart (Guzheng Version)" is recommended.)

When the players' vision cleared once more.

A residence decorated in red appeared before them.

Red silk draped the courtyard walls, red lanterns hung from the eaves, and "Double Happiness" characters were pasted onto the window lattices.

Inside the room, red curtains hung low, and red candles were scattered all around. At this moment, a stunningly beautiful woman dressed in a red wedding gown sat alone before a mirror, raising her right hand to lightly touch her vermilion lips with a hint of rouge.

After combing her dark hair, the woman picked up a lantern and walked toward the outside of the house.

Moved by the scenery along the way, her memories returned to a year ago (CG scene playback).

That day, her husband-to-be received orders to set out on a campaign, looking dashing and high-spirited in his fine clothes and on his steed before he left.

However, their original wedding had to be postponed.

Though he was reluctant to part with their romance, he could not fail the greater cause of their home and country—that was what her husband had said.

Yet, before leaving, her husband made a promise: when he returned, he would marry her in grand style.

He then led ten million Black Armor Army soldiers, heading toward the direction of the setting sun.

She stood by the roadside, her eyes red, watching the soldiers march toward another world alongside hundreds of other women.

Until that long black dragon vanished at the edge of the night, they remained where they were, their eyes filled with reluctance.

In the days after the men left for the campaign, she heard countless rumors.

Good ones, bad ones, and ones that were neither.

But recently, the bad news had gradually increased, while the good news had vanished without a trace.

She dared not think; the mere thought made her heart ache in waves, as if it were being gripped tight.

Recalling the past, the woman walked step by step toward the city gates.

A breeze arose, and the night grew thick.

Outside the lonely city, a group of women lit lamps and stood quietly before the gates, draped in red silk, waiting for the soldiers to return.

The beautiful woman was among the crowd, her gaze fixed on the darkness in the distance.

Today was the promised day, and she waited for her beloved to return in triumph.

Though she remained expressionless, the way her fingers were clenched white showed the myriad emotions hidden within her heart.

As time passed, the mist in the darkness gradually dissipated, and a black warhorse appeared in the distance.

It hung its head, panting, its pace heavy, with multiple wounds left on its body, as if it might collapse at any moment.

The stunningly beautiful woman gripped her hands tight, not even noticing as her lantern fell to the ground.

Although the horse's coat was matted and dirty, she recognized it at a glance.

It was Cloud Strider, her husband's mount.

Yet, the rider was missing from its back.

Tears slid down her cheeks. Without a sound, the woman waved her hand, letting her red wedding dress slip away to reveal the plain white garment beneath.

In an instant, the wedding attire had become mourning clothes.

Soon, exhausted warhorses emerged one after another from the darkness, but their masters, who had set out with them, were nowhere to be seen.

The old horses knew the way home, but the men did not return.

Lantern after lantern slipped from the women's hands, and red wedding dresses were shed one by one, revealing the white mourning clothes beneath.

It turned out they had all been prepared.

The red in the crowd dwindled, quickly replaced by a spreading sea of white.

A breeze blew, lifting the discarded red dresses from the ground like a crimson cloud that obscured the heavens, yet it could not hide the sorrow and despair of the women beneath, as white as snow.

Guarding the lonely city, hearts breaking in dreams.

Tearing the red makeup, changing into plain white silk.

The sound of horns blew away the deep red, the spots resembling tears of rouge.

She raised the flute that had slid from her sleeve and touched it to her red lips.

Amidst the winding, melodic notes of the flute, the beautiful woman walked step by step toward the end of the night.

Memories of her fiancé flooded back, and tears streamed incessantly from the corners of her eyes. As she walked, her long black hair was slowly eroded by white.

In the end, her raven-black hair transformed into a shocking, stark white.

She walked on in solitude, merging into the night, stepping slowly toward another world.

Because that was where her fiancé was...

This history in the Dark Fiend World took place before the world collapsed.

That year, the nations of the Dark Fiend World joined forces to shatter the world barrier, forging a spatial passage to the Boundless Realm. They decided to take the initiative, staking everything on a final, desperate battle against the Boundless Realm.

However, the outcome was destined to be tragic.

Not a single warrior who entered the Boundless Realm returned alive.

The women in the scene, waiting for their loved ones to return, were the fiancées and wives of those men who had rushed to the battlefield.

The history Tang Yu had captured, viewed alongside the guzheng music, was truly tear-jerking.

Within this history, the players clearly felt the sorrow and despair in the women's hearts.

From the initial red candles and wedding dresses to the final mourning clothes and tears, it was as if the players had personally experienced this history.

Some players, having immersed themselves in the scene, could not help but burst into loud sobs.

Although the protagonists in the CG scene were the women, the male players felt the sorrow from a different perspective.

At the end of the CG, a line of text appeared in the center of the screen.

Do you still remember the promise you made before you left?

After this text faded, another line appeared.

They are still waiting for your triumphant return home...

At this moment, the players' emotions erupted completely.

The CG screen was flooded with frantic comments.

"I don't know why I can't stop these tears; did I get sand in my eyes?"

"Wuwuwu, I suddenly feel so heartbroken for their waiting. Are we the warriors who went to war? You damn developers, I want to go home!"

"The damn developers tricked me into crying, I can't stop the tears QVQ, I'm going to punch the developers."

The CG faded after a moment, and the players returned to the game.

Background information regarding this history, as well as the players' own character profiles, appeared before their eyes.