Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes.

Chapter 299, Section 46: The Oriole in the Crow's Nest
After the light went out, the atmosphere fell silent in the deep darkness.

The two were not ordinary people in Silver Cup Manor. Even though their abilities were unrelated to eyesight, they could still see a certain distance at night.

Taki was wary of Ethan's unknown burst of attacks, while Ethan was wary of Taki's ability to see through attack trajectories.

Both of them stared at the tainted silver cup, weighing whether to continue the conversation or fight.

“Give me the silver cup, and I, Baron Rice, will owe you a favor and a secret, a secret about ascetics.”

Ethan's crimson aura couldn't last long, and he eventually spoke first.

As for the so-called favors and secrets, we'll talk about those after we get the silver cup.

During this period, he did indeed fabricate a mystical system that seemed plausible at first glance, since it was free.

"As long as the manor lord lives, the silver cup can never be used by anyone else. He will also be resurrected from the lake, and then the silver cup will still be his."

Takii wouldn't believe the words of someone like Ethan, who's good at hiding his true intentions.

Ethan secretly mobilized his forces: "I am naturally aware of this, and I have my own solutions."

"I don't believe you." Takii reached out with lightning speed, and as one hand extended, the other hand had already swung the grappling hook.

Ethan had anticipated this, and with a low shout, the blood mist instantly condensed into several sharp red blades, slashing towards Taki's wrist.

Taki had already retrieved the silver cup, his body still dangling in mid-air. He quickly retracted the grappling hook, and with a clang, the Fire-Slaying Pill was drawn, deflecting the Blood Blade!
More blood spikes instantly formed around her, and they were about to strike her down in a dense barrage!

Boom——! !

Suddenly, the earth shook violently, and the manor located inside the fused monster's belly began to split and collapse.

The entire manor seemed to have had its foundation blown off—and in a sense, that was indeed the case.

Under such violent shaking, the ground cracked open like a wafer, and the walls groaned under the strain before collapsing with a crash.

The dome ceiling above, which had been wriggling and covered with a viscous black substance, rapidly lost its vitality, its color faded to ashen gray, and its texture became hard and brittle. Then, with a series of cracking sounds, it began to crumble.

Grayish-white stones, almost the size of tombstones, rained down like hailstones, rapidly petrifying and disintegrating the fused monster's enormous body as the manor lord's main body annihilated.

Even as the building collapsed, their battle continued.

Ethan has already settled for second best: either the Silver Cup or Taki's essence blood, he'll be happy with either one!
Otherwise, his actions would truly be considered charity, resulting in a complete loss.

Swish!
Ethan's blood blade was shattered, but he reacted extremely quickly. The blood mist surged again, and several sharp blood spikes instantly took shape, like venomous snakes emerging from their holes, stabbing towards Taki's side ribs.

Just as Takii parried the blood-stained blade, the ground beneath her feet caved in, causing her to lose her balance and sway slightly. She then used the momentum to sweep the Blazing Fire Ball horizontally, precisely deflecting the blood-stained thorn.

A huge piece of petrified debris crashed down from above with a whooshing sound. Takii twisted her body forcefully and rolled away awkwardly, the debris shattering into pieces where she had just been standing!

Ethan wasn't faring much better. As he tried to chase after Taki, a thick, cracked stone pillar slammed down, grazing his nose and kicking up a cloud of dust.

At that moment, a sliver of light shone in—moonlight from outside, filtering through the huge crack above.

The two of them noticed the crack at the same time, and Taki felt that even if they were to fight, they should find a different place to fight.

Staying here would be too embarrassing.

Ethan, however, did not want to leave because the area affected by his blood clotting spores was limited, confined to the manor.

Once he gets out, he'll definitely be no match for Taki, the king of endurance.

Taki rolled to his feet, not even glancing at Ethan, and sprinted towards the crack with all his might.

Beneath her feet was a constantly collapsing ground, and above her head were constantly falling boulders. She was extremely nimble, leaping and dodging through the crumbling ruins.

The grappling hook was thrown out again, catching a huge stone beam that had not yet completely fallen. Using the momentum, it swung up and narrowly avoided a shower of falling stones.

Ethan transformed into a blurry blood shadow, increasing his speed to its maximum. However, boulders kept falling and blocking his path, forcing him to change direction multiple times. The blood mist condensed into a thin shield in front of him, barely deflecting smaller pebbles.

The two fled for their lives through the crumbling manor, one after the other, rushing toward the ever-approaching glimmer of light.

Ethan knew he probably couldn't catch up with Taki, but what could he do to fight Taki once he got out? Right, there was still this high-quality health pack, which could at least keep him up for three rounds.

Just as they rushed out of the collapse zone and their bodies landed on the turbulent lake surface pounded by the falling rocks—

An invisible yet real force suddenly gripped Takii's throat, the force so great that her vision went black and she instantly suffocated.

At the same time, another similar binding force locked Ethan, who was about to move.

Takii struggled to turn her eyes, and saw that in the distance, the color of a thick fog was deepening, turning from grayish-white to jet black.

The black mist condensed upwards, forming a humanoid shape with only an upper body.

It had no face, wore a black robe, and stood there silently, darker than the surrounding darkness.

It is Iwasaki in the form of a Ringwraith.

“I don’t want to kill you unless absolutely necessary.” Iwasaki’s voice was flat and cold.

The invisible grip tightened suddenly, and Taki's throat bones made a soft cracking sound as his face turned pale.

Ethan, who was receiving almost the same treatment, was practically cursing. This guy was really good at hiding his true intentions. He could only dream of being a praying mantis, but Ethan was a real sparrow.

Feeling his almost depleted blood energy and looking at the fully recovered Iwasaki, he suppressed the urge to fight desperately. The effects of the blood clotting spores had worn off; he no longer had the resources to fight head-on.

Iwasaki ignored Ethan; his disguise was no match for Iwasaki's, and he already knew about Ethan's foreign identity long ago at the foot of Mount Fuji.

Taki knew he didn't have many options, but Iwasaki was clearly under official surveillance. So, does that mean he's already gained some kind of clone ability?

She didn't have time to think much, struggled to take out the silver cup, and casually let go.

The moment the silver cup slipped from her hand, the strength around her neck vanished, and she fell into the lake, coughing violently.

Iwasaki's invisible hand caught the silver cup and brought it near his main body, where it was enveloped in black mist as it sensed the surroundings.

He could sense that the silver cup was tightly sealed by a powerful and stubborn consciousness, isolating it from the outside. Even with his understanding of the soul, he couldn't find a way to peel away this outer shell.

It may take some time to study.

"Wait!" Takii recovered and lifted her head from the water, water streaming down her face. "Tian! Tian might know how to completely destroy the manor lord's consciousness!"

Her voice echoed across the water.

Iwasaki nodded slightly. He didn't think Taki was lying, and he knew why she would tell him these things.

Eliminating the manor lord was also one of Taki's purposes in coming here. Since he couldn't get the Silver Cup now, he should at least achieve this secondary objective.

He doesn't like to cooperate with people from the Player Mutual Aid Association unless absolutely necessary, but having these people around isn't a bad thing for him.

The unseen force did not withdraw; the Ringwraith held the silver cup in one hand, while the other unseen hand still restrained Ethan, dragging him towards the shore like a burden. On the shore, Tian staggered out of the mist.

His condition was extremely unstable; his body outline flickered like a faulty signal, his clothes changed rapidly between suits and casual wear, and his body shape fluctuated between fat and thin. His mental stability had clearly reached its limit.

Iwasaki's gaze fell on him, and after scrutinizing him for a moment, he asked, "How confident are you?"

Tian coughed a few times, glanced at the dull and murky silver cup, and said in a hoarse voice, "Half."

Iwasaki didn't ask any more questions. An invisible force carried the silver cup and presented it to Tian.

"Begin now." The voice brooked no argument. "You only have one day. He will be resurrected by this time tomorrow."

Tian laboriously reached out his hand, which was covered in wounds, to take the cup, and shook his head: "Thirty seconds is enough to verify."

After saying that, he stopped looking at the others and, dragging his weak body, trudged to the shore, his steps uneven.

A thick fog hung low, and the lake surface appeared eerily calm in the dim light.

The petrified fused creature had now collapsed, piling up in the lake to form a mountain of rubble, its original appearance indistinguishable. In the mist, it resembled a giant beast crouching and waiting for its chance.

Takii returned to the shore soaking wet. She nodded to Asada, not minding the dirt, and sat down on the ground with Dankamaru in her arms, ready to see what Asada's so-called solution was.

Tian slowly knelt down, his knees sinking into the mud.

He held the silver cup and dipped it into the murky lake water in front of him, where thick green algae floated.

The cup sank, filled with dirty water.

Tian picked up the cup, tilted his head back, and without hesitation, poured the entire cup of sewage into his mouth.

Taki's eyebrows twitched. What did that mean?
It's...that simple?!

The lake was calm, as if nothing had happened. However, Iwasaki, with his keenest senses, had already detected a strong aura. Something was brewing in the lake.

next moment.

The wounds on Tian's body healed at a visible speed, and even his flickering appearance stabilized, his complexion began to return to normal, as if he had just drunk not clean and hygienic swamp water, but healing holy water.

Immediately afterwards, the silver cup in his hand trembled violently, as if it came to life, and suddenly broke free from his grasp, flying into the air with a whoosh.

"Do not--!!!"

A shriek filled with pain, fear, and resentment exploded from the cup, the sound waves rippling outwards in visible waves.

The voices piled up in layers, as if containing countless consciousnesses: "I am eternal! Immortal! Liar! You're all liars!! Angel's game, hahaha! So, I was just an angel's toy! His plaything—!!!"

With this desperate howl, the thick layer of grime on the surface of the silver cup began to crack! One point, two points, countless points of pure and intense silver light burst forth from the cracks, growing brighter and brighter.

At the same time, the entire surface of Lake Okechobi below suddenly boiled.

Without heating or temperature changes, the entire lake seemed to be forcibly pulled up by an invisible, terrifying force.

Thousands of tons of lake water defied gravity, surging upwards to form a massive, murky waterspout connecting heaven and earth.

And that small cup, suspended in mid-air with its increasingly dazzling silver light, was the center of it all. Like a black hole, it greedily devoured the entire lake, and the raging water rushed wildly into the small cup's opening.

The mist, along with the lake water, was swept in and formed swirling arms, which, when reflected in the hazy moonlight, resembled stars in the Milky Way.

The manor lord was not strong; his power did not originate from himself, but was merely a facade, a fabrication of the power of the silver cup.

Once others figure out the rules of the Silver Cup, all his talk of eternity and legends becomes utterly worthless.

Compared to Ashiya Dōman's path of relying on his own talent to study and fuse magic, stitch together monsters, and attempt to build a belief system, his approach appears crude and low-level.

Its natural strength is also quite worrying.

If I had to say something, it would be that it has the ability to manipulate a large number of monsters, unlike Kyoto Attack.

If no extraordinary being had emerged in the human world, he might have been able to gradually devour the waters and become the god of the earth's rivers and seas.

Unfortunately, there are no "what ifs." Most players cannot live without human society, and no matter how chaotic their own internal situation is, they certainly cannot be defeated by such a successful table-flipping.

Not to mention the player mutual aid associations, which treat extraordinary disasters as a top priority.

Moreover, their extraordinary abilities have absolutely nothing to do with their past cultivation, and they have an overwhelming advantage in terms of information, practically exposing their opponent's true nature.

Tian picked up the camera; the damage to the camera had not been repaired and it needed to be left to rest for a while.

At this moment, the silver cup in the air had absorbed all the mist and lake water.

The former Okechobi Lake is now just a vast, muddy mudflat, with various sediments and fish struggling in vain exposed on the lakebed, as well as small hills of rubble that have collapsed and piled up from the monsters that were transformed into stone sculptures.

The silver cup lost its support and fell towards the bottom of the lake.

Iwasaki's invisible hand grabbed him, and without saying another word, dragged Ethan away.

Taki breathed a sigh of relief, his gaze sweeping over the struggling creatures on the mudflats, his fingers unconsciously touching the ram's head badge in his arms.

Does this badge have any other purpose? The fact that the vampire knew the badge was in her possession means that Iwasaki was likely aware of it as well.

She stood up and looked at Tian, ​​who was clearly not in good condition.

"Need a ride?"

Takii could tell that Tian's physical defense was no different from when he was out of the game.

Now that the manor lord has been eliminated, those corrupted monsters may not have completely disappeared.

Tian shook his head: "I will leave on my own."

Upon hearing this, Taki nodded without saying anything more and turned on the location transmitter.

Tian turned away silently and walked unsteadily toward the abandoned town, his figure gradually swallowed by the shadows of the buildings.

Just as Taki was gathering her thoughts and waiting for the helicopter, the head of the remaining demon statue slowly emerged from the silt at the bottom of the lake.

Its tightly closed eyes trembled a few times, and it opened them with difficulty, its gaze sweeping over the struggling fish, the bubbling crabs, and a winding water snake on the mudflat in front of it.

The demon's eyes emitted an almost invisible dark red light, which then disappeared into the water snake's body.

The water snake shuddered violently, then, as if receiving some kind of command, it quickly burrowed into the deep mud and disappeared.

Having done all this, the demon statue seemed to have exhausted its last bit of strength. Its surface was instantly covered with cracks, and it quietly collapsed into countless fragments, merging into the rubble and mud on the ground.

　Thank you to "Pi=3.14" for the donation.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)