Life Dungeon Game

With a smile, he slowly lowered the sharp scalpel. "You saw the watch I had in the closet. You already knew your brother would never come."

His face slowly lowered as he gazed into the girl's wide, bloodshot eyes.

"There's one thing I didn't lie to you about back then: your brother really was insane. He knew you were special. If he had chosen to give you up back then, he might be the one standing in my position today."

"He's gone mad, so he chose to keep you here and forbid you from going out, afraid that we would take you away."

"But what can he do? He's just a child. There are thousands upon thousands of people like you in this world. Who can change their own fate?"

"So he really is insane."

The man slowly straightened up, and in the soft light of the church hall, the line between his gold-threaded white robe and the girl's blood-red dress seemed to have become less distinct.

"Alright, time's up. Most of your power should have been drained by now. It's time to end this."

He glanced at the old-fashioned watch on his wrist, then at the little girl's delicate and adorable pale face, and gently shook his head.

"What's the point of telling you all this? You died fourteen years ago. What's left here now is just a lingering obsession."

The sharp scalpel slowly sliced ​​through the blood-red collar, landing on the pale skin. "The person you're waiting for won't come. He hasn't come for fourteen years."

The little girl stared at the man's face, her expression, which had initially shown some fluctuations, eventually becoming completely still.

The paper butterfly that had been perched on her hair slowly lowered its wings and remained motionless.

The sharp scalpel cut through her cold skin, and the little girl's body trembled involuntarily.

The pain etched into her soul seemed to have traveled through time and descended upon her once more.

The surrounding shadowy figures fell silent in an instant, and everyone stared at the two people in the center of the hall.

History seems to be repeating itself at this moment.

boom--

In that instant, a white streak of light, like a thunderbolt from the sky, streaked across the heavens with a violent sonic boom, striking the scalpel in the man's hand and knocking it away.

Bang—bang—

The sharp scalpel and the white scabbard fell to the ground almost simultaneously, embedding themselves in the solid stone floor.

The man turned his head and looked in the direction from which the streak of light had flown.

"cough,"

A pale-faced boy stood in front of the open wooden cabinet, leaning on a white knight's sword, silently watching him. "Uncle Lockway, it's been a long time."

A red-haired woman in a tight-fitting outfit emerged from the darkness of the closet almost simultaneously, standing behind the boy. She looked around the hall and asked, "Are we back?"

"No."

He Ao calmly shook his head, his gaze still fixed on the man in the white robe with gold thread not far away.

Although this hall looks exactly the same as the one they entered from at the beginning.

However, the twisted patterns at the bottom are actually completely reversed; they seem to have returned to the origin, but in reality, they have entered 'another hall'.

At this moment, the man in the white robe with gold thread gazed at He Ao's face, his eyes narrowing slightly behind his gold-rimmed glasses. After a brief pause, he smiled gently with a hint of surprise.

"Ilo, I didn't expect you to come in too. But after so many years, I'm quite surprised that you still remember me."

"I don't remember you,"

He Ao gently shook his head. "I only remembered your mask."

Rockwell was an old neighbor of the Norvis family. In Ilo’s memory, he was a very kind and gentle person. He often shared candy with Ilo when Ilo was very young, and he had a good relationship with Ilo’s parents.

Back then, several of the children that Ilo played with in kindergarten had a good relationship with Rockwell.

Ilo had a deep impression of Rockwell, which was etched in his memory. That's why when Heo first heard Rockwell's voice in the first room, he had a distinct sense of familiarity with it.

After the Norvis family moved away, the two sides lost contact. However, when Elo was six years old, Rockaway visited the Elo family in an attempt to 'preach' to them.

But just like in the previous room, the man in front of me was wearing a 'smiling mask'.

What Ilo remembered was not him, but the mask he wore.

"interesting,"

Locke looked at He Ao, his eyes slightly narrowed.

“Little Yiluo, I can feel your soul burning like a raging fire.”

“I originally thought that only your parents possessed extremely high spirituality, and that you brothers did not inherit your parents’ ‘talent’.”

"But now it seems that my initial judgment was wrong. At least you 'inherited' some of your parents' talents and have a very high level of spirituality, it's just that you didn't show it so obviously before."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the knight's sword in He Ao's hand. "Now it seems you've successfully acquired extraordinary power?"

He shook his head. "What a pity. Such a fine natural gemstone, a gift from eternal light, has already been carved. What a waste."

"So how do we ensure that nothing is wasted?"

He Ao gripped his knight's sword, glancing at the girl in the red dress still pinned in mid-air. "Become the 'sacrifice' you offer to the eternal light to obtain 'gift'?"

He had just run through the thick fog, found this door, and pushed it open when he heard part of Rockwell's words.

“Oh, you’ve become unlovable, my little Elo. If it weren’t for the sacrifice of my little niece that allowed me to enter the inner circle of the church, how could I have the money to buy a house near your former residence and become your ‘neighbor’?”

Rockwell shook his head, maintaining his gentle smile, and lightly raised his finger. Invisible threads spread from the air, connecting to his fingertip.

“I know what you’ve done. You seem to have come into contact with some hidden power, thereby gaining some extraordinary abilities and some kind of secret assistance.”

I can sense inside you

"You've been subjected to immense power, but such a rapid increase in power, even with your exceptional spirituality, would likely come at a considerable cost. Can you truly utilize this power without incurring any consequences?"

He Ao's expression darkened slightly.

"This 'helper' beside you, although he has some interesting tools,"

Lockwell glanced at the red-haired woman beside Heo, "But she doesn't seem to be of much help to you in the fight."

Red-haired woman: ?

The red-haired woman lowered her head and whispered to He Ao, "Be careful of this guy who keeps faking a smile like a castrated eunuch in the palace. His clothing means he is the vice-bishop of the Eternal Secret Church, possibly one of the two or three strongest people in this church."

Although she lowered her voice, it was actually quite loud, and both Lockwell and the girl in the red dress could hear her clearly.

The smile on Locke's face gradually disappeared.

The little girl in the red dress blinked gently.

Hearing this, He Ao nodded slightly, it was unclear whether he agreed with the term 'court eunuch' or indicated that he had received the red-haired woman's reminder.

“Arguing about language is pointless.”

Lockwell stared at Heo and the red-haired woman, his gaze growing cold. He raised his hand, and invisible threads spread throughout the hall.

"So, my lovely little Ilo, what brings you here today? Is it for your parents' bodies? Or are you taking pity on me and want to save this little guy who's been dead for fourteen years?"

"I have a question,"

He Ao stared at him calmly. "Was it you who arranged for me to be pushed off the artificial hill?"

He obtained all the information about Kate's parish at Kate's villa, including a 'plan' to use children as threats, but no plan to push Ilo off the artificial hill.

At first, Heo thought that Kate hadn't written down the details of the events, but after seeing Lockway, he suddenly realized that Kate wasn't the only high-ranking member of the church connected to the Elo family.

Moreover, the "classmates" who gave the "plastic medals" to the Eternal Secret Cult of Elo during their kindergarten years were the same kids who played well with Rockwell.

Rockwell himself seemed to enjoy 'evangelizing' among children, and at that time, Ilo was climbing the artificial hill with a few 'friends'.

The investigation by Yiluo's parents afterwards concluded that Yiluo had 'accidentally' fallen off the artificial hill.

Only Ilo knew that he had been 'pushed down'.

If it weren't for Yiluo's good fortune and the wooden plaque containing the Hidden Observer's talent sequence, he would have died long ago.

"I had already forgotten about it if you hadn't mentioned it,"

Rockwell narrowed his eyes slightly. "You're the person involved; you know you didn't 'accidentally' fall."

He shrugged slightly and sighed.

"To be honest, I don't really like your parents. They're supposed to be righteous, just, and kind, but they always criticize us with righteous indignation, thinking that the great, eternal light is a greedy, evil god."

“Every time I think of them, I feel like vomiting. If they weren’t still of some use, they would have become my sacrifices long ago.”

"It just so happened that Kate needed to threaten them at that time, so I arranged for a few cuties to experience the loss of their loved ones."

The taste, however,

He smiled at He Ao and said, "You really are lucky to be alive."

In that instant, He Ao's figure vanished, transforming into a streak of light and rushing out.

He's still just a child.

"Although it has been tainted by supernatural power, it is still a 'sacrifice' with good spirituality."

As Locke watched Heo rushing towards him, he instantly pulled his fingers, and a smile gradually appeared on his face. Countless invisible threads stretched taut in the air like a dense spider web.

As he spoke, he was weaving these threads, waiting for an opportunity to 'provoke' Heo and lure him into his trap.

boom--

The white sword light collided with the invisible threads. Then, as Lockwell watched, the sword light suddenly changed direction in mid-air, not attacking him, but tearing apart a small section of threads that were arranged around him.

The young boy's figure flashed through the torn hole like a streak of light, and in a split second he caught the little girl in the red dress next to Rockwell and rushed to the other side.

Lockeway's smile froze on his face.

Only now did he realize that He Ao's target had always been the little girl in the red dress. The conversation, actions, and even the deliberate indulgence in letting him set a trap were all attempts to distract him.

This made him feel that Heo's goal was himself.

He was the one who was being completely manipulated.

“I’m not your brother,”

He Ao placed the little girl in the red dress on the ground, cut the silk threads binding her body with a single sword stroke, took out the four diaries, and handed them to her, saying, "But I hope I'm not too late."

The little girl in the red dress stared blankly at him, the paper butterfly in her hair slowly fluttering its wings.

The diary pages stained with bright red notes shattered instantly, transforming into starlight that merged into her body.

The shackles that had always bound her shattered with a crash as the threads were severed and she left the ceremony site.