Chapter 395: I am the Ornament

Chapter 395: I am the Ornament

Screech—

From the rain curtain ahead came the spine-chilling sound of steel bones grinding, as if the listener’s own spine was being bent.

The sports car had retreated to its limit, with just ten meters behind it the ever-flowing Golden Flow. If they crossed one more thin layer of the rain curtain, the heavy weight of time would instantly crush their souls.

The most terrifying monster is time; it is everywhere, relentless, chewing on all beings, devouring civilizations.

In the virtual realm map, only three colors remained: the green safe zone where Ashe was, the “seeking one’s own doom” red zone painted by the heroic soul legion, and the golden zone of the Golden Flow.

Though the Empress had promised them time for love, she hadn’t said it would be enough space. The heroic soul legion was pressing in, leaving Ashe with no room to maneuver.

Ten meters beyond the rain curtain, the horrific and grotesque heroic soul legion was poised for action, ready for their midnight snack.

Yet they remained outside the rain curtain, their figures completely obscured by the Reverse Golden Rain. Ashe and his companions could only hear the rustling, gnashing, and scraping sounds, which was even more unnerving than if they had charged through—their imaginations led a grand rebellion in their minds, eager to overthrow the dictatorship of reason and welcome the arrival of the terror.

Besides the rebellious imagination, the court’s instinct for survival was also scheming. This thin layer of rain curtain allowed the rebel survival instincts to swell endlessly, singing triumphantly as it defeated the guards of dignity, smashed the inner minister of courage, and dragged reason from the throne, forcing it to kneel and surrender.

There is great terror between life and death.

This was no joke; the Empress’ heroic soul legion would definitely swarm them, devouring them completely, leaving at most a layer of soul skin to escape back to their bodies—but just like 100 milliliters of blood can’t drive the body, a tiny bit of soul fragment can’t reboot the operating system of consciousness.

Even if they hadn’t offended the local natives, other sorcerers dying in the Virtual Realm wasn’t uncommon. The Virtual Realm isn’t a charity, nor is it a lenient Party A. It’s a cold, indifferent filter that selects melodies that can adapt to the environment and destroys the dissonant noises that don’t belong to this era—whether you’re an outdated aria or an avant-garde rock.

The power of a Secret Incarnation is absolutely beyond their realm’s reach. Such a noisy dissonance naturally attracts widespread condemnation—though it might not be a thousand, at least a hundred armed units were besieging them.

The dominance of academic sorcerers makes sense; after all, adventurers might find themselves dead and buried at any moment, whereas academics can trade time for safety, steadily improving their sect’s realm and climbing step by step to the higher echelons of the Virtual Realm... Ashe couldn’t help but let his mind wander.

Smack!

A splash of unconditional malice landed outside the protective shield of the “Refracting Wall,” the dark green rotting aura almost melting their souls through their respiratory tracts. The sorcerers tensed up in fear, but the Empress’ heroic soul giggled and said, “Oops, my spider’s throat was a bit itchy, and I accidentally spat. I hope I didn’t disturb you?”

Ashe angrily shouted, “You did disturb us! We were just getting into the zone, and now you’ve ruined the mood. What are you doing!?”

Nothing is more exhausting than having incompetent teammates, especially at the project’s most critical moment. The Virtual Realm team needs not mascots or ornaments but reliable comrades.

However, not only were the sword Princess and the Witch not burdens, but on the contrary, Ashe felt he was their accessory. Facing life-and-death crises, they were braver than one another, wishing they could slash through the gates of life and death with one sword, and open the doors of right and wrong with their hands. Fear, regret, despair, and cowardice all transformed within them into the most resolute killing intent. Standing with them, Ashe felt as if he commanded thousands of troops.

But Ashe pushed them back into their seats. “Wait a moment; let me see if there’s another way.”

“Paramour!” Ashe called out loudly, “I have a gift for you!”

“What gift?” Deya, Sonya, and Danzel’s voices rang out simultaneously.

Ashe pressed down the operators’ heads and shouted, “My soul summoning spirit, do you like it?”

“It’s so-so, not particularly satisfying,” Danzel said very picky. “But since it’s from you, I’ll reluctantly accept it.”

“After accepting it, can you let us go?” Ashe spread his hands. “We don’t have deep hatred between us. How about we pretend nothing happened? You fight your wars, and we explore our Virtual Realm.”

“What are you talking about, my dear little paramour,” Danzel chuckled. “If you don’t die, how can I take back the soul summoning spirit? Don’t you remember, once a spirit is abandoned in the Virtual Realm, it immediately disappears? Only the spirits that drop upon the sorcerer’s death, with the soul imprint of the original owner, can linger briefly, allowing other sorcerers a chance to capture them.”

“But didn’t the Pact say if you catch me, I have to voluntarily hand over the soul summoning spirit...” Ashe was puzzled. If he couldn’t hand over the soul summoning spirit, why would the Empress include this clause in the Pact?

“So the real meaning of that clause is that once I’m caught by you, I’ll obediently commit suicide without resistance,” Danzel spoke lightly, her tone cheerful like she was singing. “Every clause has a hidden trap beneath its literal meaning. You accepted all of them without changing a single one. I really had to hold back my laughter at the time. My dear paramour, you’re just so considerate.”

“But you still have concerns.”

Facing the Empress’s mockery, Ashe wasn’t angry at all. He calmly said, “If it were really just as simple as catching me, and I would obediently commit suicide to hand over the soul summoning spirit, you wouldn’t waste so much time and effort chatting with me. You’d just rush over and tear me apart.”

The laughter outside the Rain Curtain gradually ceased.

“You’re using your army to hunt me, using mockery to suppress me, using your legion to intimidate me, and using words to tease me. Even I feel tired for you. If you want to devour me, why not just come directly and peel me open? Why go through all this trouble? Would this whole process somehow improve the quality of my flesh to a premium level?” Ashe said. “You’re trying every possible way to wear down my will to resist. There’s only one reason for this — to make me completely lose my judgment.”

“If I’m not mistaken, once we become hysterical and lose our rationality, you’ll present us with a very generous offer. The content would probably be something like, as long as I willingly die by your hand, you’ll spare my companions, and you won’t completely kill me. You’ll just take the soul summoning spirit from my soul... right?”