The yellow sparks erupted before flooding all around me, wrapping into thick layers until I could no longer see anything around me.

Zhige immediately darted forward, temporarily forcing the sparks back, but they bombarded me once more. This time, they came in a massive flurry that immediately stung my skin, leaving red burns in the shape of scars. I pushed through the pain and waved them away, fighting to spot Yue.

“Yue! Yu-!”

My words were cut off by a loud cry, and I keeled over, my eyes burning as it felt like they were being cut through.

Observer ‘Socrates’: Jia li, stop! Turn back!

Observer ‘Socrates’: You’ll die if you continue for much longer!

Countless observers are telling ‘Socrates’ to shut up!

Observer ‘Socrates’ has been muted by the moderator.

Suddenly, all the sparks flew back, leaving an empty halo around me as if I was suddenly covered in a protective layer. They clashed against the invisible barrier, but they couldn’t pass through.

I hissed air in through my teeth, trembling from the pain on my whole body.

“You couldn’t do that sooner, Archangel Michael?”

The little doll still hung limply on my shoulder before falling over closer toward my neck. I knew it was the best that Archangel Michael could do given the amount of karma surging around me, but I was still pissed off that it took so long.

“Thanks anyway. Save your energy until we get closer, then I need you to fling everything off. It’ll only take a few seconds, and I’ll try to save your energy.”

I lifted a leg, lurching forward with each heavy step. It felt like I was dragging my body through quicksand; whipping my shield out from the bag, I began pressing my way forward.

The entire theater was rumbling, loud crashing and bangs threw me back. I gripped onto the side of the chairs, shoving myself forward until I could finally see the elevated stage before me.

Suddenly, I heard an ear splitting shriek cut through even the crashing stage.

Yue.

Yang and I cried out for her at the same time, our voices cracking and violent alongside the sounds of Yue’s pained, animalistic screeches.

“Archangel Michael! Now!”

The sparks all erupted away from me, glimmering and vanishing into the arc as I darted forward, leaping up onto the stage.

Yue was being violently gored, puppet Peijin rapidly stabbing straight through her abdomen repeatedly as puppet Yang held her in place with nothing more than a cold, empty stare.

“No! No!” My voice was a quiet scream—I couldn’t let this happen to her. Goddamnit, even if Yue was the biggest pain in the party, she didn’t deserve this.

Yue’s fists lit up with black, demonic fire, but it was smothered and weakened with each stab she faced. Tears streamed down her pale face as she kicked her feet desperately, screaming and crying and thrashing.

At my appearance, Zhige flew into my hand, and I let out a loud scream as I lunged at puppet Peijin.

Zhige pierced straight through puppet Peijin’s back before I dragged the sword up, splitting her in half. With a brutal cry, she attempted to reach behind me and grip the sword, but Zhige’s red eye furiously blinked and immediately cut off her arms.

Zhige was in the process of dicing straight though puppet Peijin with such ferocity it seemed like Zhige had a personal vendetta against the ghost. The blade made quick work since puppet Peijin had been distracted by Yue, cutting her into small ghost cubes that quickly began to disintegrate.

However, Yang continued to struggle against his demented self; his moves were frenzied, frantic, and panicked—only growing in intensity when puppet Yang suddenly lifted the staff and aimed it for Yue’s heart.

Some spare sparks cut into my skin like little paper cuts, but I swung my arms before me and pushed them back, stumbling forward in an attempt to control and speak with Zhige.

The last thing I would die from was some stupid sparks but hell, if it meant saving Yue, I’d tear through this entire dungeon myself.

“Zhige! Help Yang!” My voice was strained now from the repeated onslaught. I’d need to use some of the elixirs and potions gathered from earlier rooms to heal my wounds, but I needed to make sure Yue survived.

Zhige froze, looking back and forth between the two versions.

“Are you serious right now?! The real one!” Quickly swarmed once more, my voice and strength was fading. I cried out in obvious pain now, from my past injuries and I clutched the doll closely against me as if it were a protective amulet.

I looked up at the seats locked behind that cursed glass—Wei was covering Amelia’s eyes as she hugged his leg, clearly deeply frightened by the sight.

I had to last until the end of this dungeon.

Please, let that be soon.

Or I’d come back as a ghost to haunt Yue forever and give her a new fear.

Puppet Yang flung his staff and smashed Yang against the stage wall, causing him to cough and spit a mixture of saliva and blood all over himself. The fall was hard, creating a loud crashing sound, but Yang quickly got up and ran over.

Zhige was beside him, both of them moving as one to catch up to Yue.

I sprinted toward Yue, gently taking her into my arms and lifting her.

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“I’m sorry. I’m really sorry, Yue. Let’s get out of here, okay?” I whispered, hooking her arms over my shoulder and running toward the end of the stage. It was awkward, as she was considerably taller than me, but I quickly readjusted her position.

Puppet Yang lifted his staff up into the air with incredible strength, the muscles of his arm shifting under the theater light, before sending it straight through Yue’s chest.

My face fell immediately as the staff shrunk back—how skilled was he to have done that?

“It hurts! It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!” Yue screamed, trying to maneuver away before falling on the ground, a puddle of deep red blood pooling out beneath her.

She looked up with a horrified expression, not seeming to believe the situation playing out in front of her. Her face fell with a look of sheer horror and defeat, and her gaze flickered to the spear still clutched in her hand.

Zhige finally reached puppet Yang, and with one clean cut, pierced straight through his hard skull. Puppet Yang froze for a moment before gripping the hilt of the sword and trying to pull it out, but Zhige shook violently before goring Yang repeatedly.

Puppet Yang began dissipating while letting out a violent cry, dissipating into ashes. Knowing my tradition of collecting ashes, Zhige quickly gathered and piled the ashes of both puppet Yang and puppet Peijin together while Yang scrambled back onto his feet.

Suddenly, Yue tightened her grip on her spear and aimed at her own chest, but I ripped the weapon out of her hands, glaring at her furiously before shouting.

“I didn’t leave. None of us did!” I shouted at her. “So don’t ever do something so stupid!”

“...” Despite his words, Yue could only manage to blink up at me before blood spurted out of her mouth.

Yang tore off his jacket, quickly tying it around her and helping me bring her to the end of the stage. Although his entire body was trembling with obvious fear, he never left Yue’s side.

Once Zhige ensured the ashes were dumped in my bag, Zhige flew back and squeezed under the shield alongside me. The tower tattoo on my arm was glowing white now, and it only seemed to attract more of the sparks.

Yang and I dragged Yue’s limp body past the edge of the stage, finally bringing the dungeon to an end as we leapt onto the metro.

I groaned as I hit the cold ground of the metro, and the sparks immediately vanished. The small ragdoll was coated in blood, but it vanished before I could even process the sight.

“Thanks,” I choked, “I hope the contract helps you avoid punishment from Paradise.”

Each breath I took let out a small whistle sound, and my eyes were still squeezed shut from the overwhelming pain. The golden flakes continued to leak out of my body, but their rate had slowed.

“Peijin!” Amelia’s voice rang out and I could see the shadows from her footsteps as she approached me, immediately bending down to lift the shield off of me.

As soon as she did lift the shield, however, she dropped it beside me and covered her mouth in shock.

Observer ‘Hedgehog1938’: Oh my god…

Observer ‘Cjst123’: Holy shit… even with all that spiritual energy it turned out like this?

You have received a new review!

5 / 5: Peijin has changed a lot. For someone who acts so cold and brutish, she is far more heroic than I’d have ever expected.

Divinity ‘The One Who Fights in Front’ is stunned by your pain tolerance.

The luminosity of the metro lights bore into me, and even with my eyes closed, I was blinded—my eyelids were worn so thin now, that they couldn’t even block the light.

Divinity ‘Great Sage Who Pacifies Heaven’ is amazed at how far you went for Disciple Yue.

Zhige nudged me, trying to get me to stand up. My skin was marred by deep red marks, some actively bleeding while others seemed to have tore chunks out of my skin; I took in a shuddering breath that stung my throat.

If it weren’t for the doll, I would have been immediately torn apart. This? This was nothing.

No one could escape karma.

That was why I was deeply afraid.

“Wei, take care of Amelia,” I croaked, opening my bag to pull out a pink elixir.

Blood dripped into my eyes, causing me to see the metro through a strange red sheen, but I stumbled over to Yue on the ground, kneeling beside her. Yang held her tightly, and he tried to reach out to grab onto my arm, but he hesitated when he saw my condition.

[Peijin…]

I hadn’t realized that Chang followed me back here. That being said, I couldn’t process any of his words right now through my pained, bloody haze.

The pink elixir sloshed in the clear glass, and I tried to pry open the container’s cork lid with my thumb; however, as soon as I put pressure on the lid, the skin on my thumb peeled off and revealed a raw, pink flesh.

Yue’s eyes followed my movements—her expression was that of a stranger. Every few seconds, she’d wince, and sweat that collected on her forehead would bead down her face and blood would gush out once more.

“I got it,” Yang whispered softly, gently taking the bottle from my hands and tilting it above my mouth. “Here.”

I shook my head and gestured at Yue, trying to take back the elixir. “Give it to her first.”

Yang gave me a rather surprised expression, and I felt glad that I hadn’t looked in the reflective windows of the metro. Was my condition so bad that he thought I’d need the elixir before Yue?

I let out a small laugh.

That being said, Yue was still bleeding out on the ground before me, obviously in visible pain. She needed it far more than I did. If anyone was going to beat her to the brink of death, it would be me, not some stupid scenario.

Yang gently dripped the glittering pink elixir into her mouth before closing her chin, and she swallowed it with a wince. Her breath began to slow, and the blood began to clot.

“Give her some more,” I commanded with a scratchy voice, leaning over to tip the elixir until it was virtually empty. “She needs to heal so she can pick her skill like Amelia.”

Once Yue finished drinking, she lay on the ground rather frozen and unmoving, but her injuries were clearly beginning to heal over.

Her eyes fluttered open, her eyelashes twinkling in the light, and she looked at Yang before staring at me, her face promptly twisting into one of horror.

“Peijin, drink the rest and then open up a new elixir for yourself.”

“I’m fine.”

Yang glared at me with a harsh expression and I sighed.

“Her lips touched it,” I argued back stubbornly. Every ounce of that elixir had to be preserved, and I was annoyed to have spent an entire one on such an early and trivial scenario.

“Do you have any leftover kraken mucus?” I quizzed, “That’ll fix this right up.”

Yang didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Just grab a new elixir then.”

“That was the only healing elixir we got,” the lie slipped out easily despite my jagged voice, though it wasn’t really my intention. It was the only healing elixir we should use—they were hard to come by, and we were short on stock.

It wasn’t really a lie if it was for everyone’s sake.

To my fortune, Yang hadn’t been paying enough attention to the collected elixirs, and since I was the one gathering all of them in my bag, he was unable to question me. My vision continued to blur as my hearing began to cut out, overwhelmed by an odd, stuffy buzzing sound, but I reached out and grabbed the kraken mucus from Yang’s hand.

“Peijin? You’re looking a bit…” Yang’s words trailed off as I felt my entire body wobbling black and forth, blood still trailing into my eyes.

Suddenly, I collapsed on the metro floor with a loud thump.