At such a time to become aware of such intelligence, it was hard to say whether it was fortunate or unfortunate. The Third Seat became serious, and if conditions permitted, he would have been ready to act personally.
Even if it meant revealing information that he was not dead, he had to seize the Immortal Heart.
The Third Seat was well aware of one thing: if the Shadow King died, everyone’s efforts would become futile, utterly worthless.
The voice of the Third Seat carried a hint of tension. Facing an enemy capable of infinite retries, during each instance of Time Reversal, Lebius would fully grasp all the actions of the King’s Shield Guards.
Most crucially, no one knew when the next Time Reversal would occur. By then, the Third Seat would forget everything he just heard, and the situation would revert to its starting point.
"It’s alright," the Shadow King’s words were full of confidence, "as long as Lebius appears in every Time Reversal, then I too can sense it in each instance of Time Reversal."
The Shadow King easily realized this point, maintaining an air of arrogance despite the dire circumstances.
"But this is still too passive."
The Shadow King gazed at the Sea of Mist below, pondering how to handle this situation.
Then he looked at his own palm, thinking if he weren’t in this decrepit state, if he could regain the power to command all things...
What of Time Reversal? Unlimited trial and error would only keep increasing the Order Bureau’s chances of success. Assuming from the start, their odds were a cold zero, then Time Reversal would merely force them to repeatedly witness that scene of despair.
Absolute power can crush all schemes and plots.
Regrettably, all this is hypothetical; the current Shadow King is but a pitiable creature, needing the Calamity’s flesh to extend his life.
Before the Shadow King could continue thinking about how to resolve this issue, a blazing white storm emerged from the city, devouring everything in its path. A few seconds later, that blazing radiance ignored material obstacles and poured into this shadowy fortress.
Bologue made a promise to Aimou, extinguishing the Fantasy Species at her chest, triggering a Time Reversal.
The Third Seat witnessed the dazzling radiance, wanting to resist... In every Time Reversal, he had resisted, but even as a Defender, there was still some power that he couldn’t defy.
The Shadow King was no different. He unwillingly watched the oncoming radiance; in every Time Reversal, he could sense all this, but the prerequisite for perceiving it was the confrontation between the Third Seat and Lebius.
If Lebius changed strategy in the next Time Reversal, avoiding conflict with the Third Seat, then he might not perceive the existence of Time Reversal, or might perceive it too late.
The Shadow King disliked the feeling of passivity, but faced with this power that toyed with time, he could only sigh silently.
The once murky gaze grew sharp. Even consumed by the Fantasy Species’ power, the Shadow King stubbornly stared into the light, trying to find any chance to turn the situation around.
Time gradually slowed down in the Shadow King’s eyes; everything was vividly reflected in them, even the dust.
Then the Shadow King heard, amidst the blurred sounds, he could easily distinguish those clamors, and the noise of electric currents.
Someone seemed to be conversing, but they were far from the Shadow King. Even if he concentrated, he could only catch snippets drifting in the wind.
He tried to discern those words but could only grasp vague tones, as if it were language not meant for human hearing.
In the shadows of the world, two figures seated before a television were conversing.
"He has also realized the existence of Time Reversal," the Tyrant observed, letting out a series of strange laughs as he watched the Shadow King on screen, "Seems he’s not as frail as imagined, huh?"
Sai Zong was quite intrigued by this new character behind the scenes. Though separated by the screen, but upon seeing the Shadow King for the first time, Sai Zong felt a threat.
Like tigers clashing on a narrow road, even without seeing the other side in person, merely knowing of the other’s existence, he instinctively sensed the release of that killing intent.
Sai Zong rarely found himself so interested.
This man could threaten him, which delighted Sai Zong, but before he could savor this joy, he realized the man was exceedingly weak, utterly inconsistent with that sharp sensation.
"Him? One of my tenants. Since the secret war ended, he’s been residing in the Wandering Crossroads," the Tyrant said, "We’ve never met... he’s very wary of me."
Sai Zong bluntly asked, "Can I kill him?"
The Tyrant shrugged indifferently, "He’s just my tenant, after all. Our relationship is purely one of mutual interest."
Sai Zong fell silent, his gaze hidden deep within the eerie doll mask, before a voice emerged.
"I always find it hard to understand your mind; sometimes you’re noble like a king, other times as cheap as a tradesman."
Sai Zong never cared for the Tyrant’s attitude, but every time he saw his strange appearance, it ignited an unexplained rage.
"Are you trying to say I’m not like a Devil?"
The Tyrant knew what Sai Zong meant, as others had mentioned it long ago.
The Tyrant raised his hand and snapped his fingers, and in an instant, the surrounding walls reclined back, and bright light descended from above.
At that moment, the Tyrant and Sai Zong found themselves in a magnificent palace made entirely of gold, whereas the darkened room they previously occupied was merely a larger box.
Now the box was opened, and the walls lay flat on the ground.
With another snap of his fingers, the worn-out sofa transformed into a luxurious throne, and the television set split into thousands.
They are piled together, each television representing a color block, countless color blocks pieced together, forming a screen like a high wall.
"Do you find this entertaining?" The Tyrant asked, his voice filled with a weariness of the opulence.
Sai Zong silently nodded; on this point, he agreed with the Tyrant’s view—it wasn’t interesting.
Clenching and unclenching his fists repeatedly, the will filled with anger gradually calmed down, and Sai Zong realized he had just been influenced by the anger; he reminded himself to be vigilant at all times.
"Right, I also find it uninteresting."
The Tyrant snapped his fingers again, and the walls rose, recomposing this dark box, and the two returned to their initial state.
"I’m just more easygoing; if the Devils had a company, I would be their best salesperson."
The Tyrant looked at Sai Zong, extending slender fingers with dagger-like nails, pressing against Sai Zong’s doll costume.
"Just like your perplexity, I also find it hard to understand you... and that guy under your skin, you both only care about bloody violence, what’s good about that?"
The Tyrant stopped midway, halting the topic, "Let’s not discuss these matters anymore; my siblings have argued about this for so long, and no one has ever won, right?"
Sai Zong rarely agreed with the Tyrant’s views; they were beings beyond the present world, wealth, power, beauty, fame... none of it mattered to them.
The only thing they needed to care about, and the only thing worth caring about, was to follow their true selves and find ways to please themselves.
The greedy embrace wealth, the wrathful unleash slaughter.
"Speaking of which, it’s time for me to strike back." The Tyrant looked at Shadow King on the screen and suddenly said, "You helped Bologue, reminded him of the existence of Time Reversal, now I must correct this event."
Sai Zong replied coldly, "He’s a member of the Undying Club, helping members is my duty."
Having said that, Sai Zong limited his help to that extent; he seemed to enjoy this disarray in the timeline order.
"Then he has paid rent for so many years, I should help my tenant a little, shouldn’t I?"
The Tyrant was waiting for Sai Zong’s words, and let out that sinister laugh again.
"You must know this is a crossroads of hesitation, a land where wishes come true, I can hear his wishes, so intense..."
Their conversation suddenly halted, and they simultaneously looked at the television screen, only to see Shadow King slowly turning his head in the blazing white torrent, seemingly able to penetrate the boundaries of reality and gaze directly at them.
Sai Zong felt even more joy, exclaiming, "Interesting..." Google seaʀᴄh novel⸺fire.net
"You also want the performance to become more interesting, right?" The Tyrant commented beside him.
Sai Zong was completely captivated by this peculiar occurrence, to the point that he didn’t mind the Tyrant intervening, as long as he could witness the best show.
Aside from pleasing themselves, there were few things in this world that could draw the attention of beings like them.
Regarding the Shadow King’s identity, the Tyrant maintained his mystery, whispering.
"Now is not the time to reveal his identity."
This is a surprise, the Tyrant vaguely guessed who prepared this surprise, but he didn’t plan on ruining it because he also wanted to know what reaction would come when the Shadow King stood in the sunlight.
But it was certain that their expressions would be fascinating.
The power of Fantasy Species surged like a torrent, just when the Shadow King was about to be completely swallowed, he saw a blurred figure standing before him, parting the roaring stream of light like a rock.
The Shadow King couldn’t see his face, but he could clearly feel the extreme frenzy emanating from the blurred figure.
The man raised a finger to him, whispering.
All things plunged into the utmost brilliance, as time collapsed and contracted, ending the fifth Time Reversal and beginning the sixth.
The Shadow King’s vision gradually cleared, the surroundings returned to normalcy, the Third Seat stood not far away as usual.
His spirit was somewhat scattered, quickly the Shadow King realized all before him felt so familiar, as if he had lived through it once.
Fractured memories flashed in his mind, leftover from the last Time Reversal, though they were few, the information contained within left the Shadow King momentarily silent.
"Help from the Devil?"
The Shadow King slowly recalled everything from the last Time Reversal, that silhouette whispering to him.
The identity was too easy to guess, even though he had lived here for years without seeing his landlord, the Shadow King was too familiar with his aura.
"Tyrant, you want to use me?"
Help from the Devil is never free, since the Tyrant helped him retain a memory from a Time Reversal, his subsequent actions would undoubtedly benefit the Tyrant.
To defy the Tyrant was simple; the Shadow King only needed to ignore the memory in his mind and act as he did in the previous Time Reversal rounds.
The Shadow King slowly stood up, using the Tyrant’s words to respond to him.