Hero? I'm just here to borrow power!

The alchemical matrix that solidifies into a physical form in a fraction of a second is the "eye" of this Yamata no Orochi.

The power is receding like a landslide and a tsunami, and life is drying up rapidly like a punctured balloon.

The white tire threads that spread throughout Tokyo continue to faithfully carry out their orders, continuously drawing upon countless lives and transforming them into the purest life force.

But what good is that? The core that sustains this body has already shattered, and any amount of life force is just being injected into a decaying corpse.

Herzog watched helplessly as the world he had just grasped slipped through his fingers like sand.

The enormous body of the Yamata no Orochi was split in two by Xia Mi, crashing onto the muddy ground and creating a wave that was hundreds of meters high.

Herzog, who had once been one with the behemoth, was now violently expelled from the lifeless flesh as if it were a foreign object within his body. His remaining half-body rolled to the ground, and the light in his once domineering golden eyes quickly dimmed and eventually went out completely.

He stared at the remains of the Yamata no Orochi, his face filled with heart-wrenching disbelief.

"No...no...no no no no no no no!"

Herzog stretched out his withered hand and frantically grabbed at the Yamata no Orochi's cold, slimy flesh.

"Power...my power! How could it refuse me? How dare it refuse me!"

He roared, his voice hoarse and shrill, no longer displaying the elegant demeanor he had when wearing the Noh mask.

"I am Herzog, the White King! A god destined to rule the world! I command you, let me return to your body!"

Trembling, screaming, going mad.

He gave his final command to the silent corpse, but the only response was the ringing in his ears from blood loss. Freed from the Yamata no Orochi's control, his body was visibly withering and aging, while the white fetal threads completely ignored him, his former "master," and continued to channel life force into the two lifeless pieces of flesh.

"You were never a god."

Xia Mi fell silently from the sky, her dragon wings folding away.

"You stole Constantine's power, used the authority of the King of Bronze and Fire to make Yamata no Orochi into your own dragon servant, and then fused with it. You thought that this would be a shortcut to bypass the restrictions of bloodline and directly steal the power of the White King."

She looked down at Herzog, who was struggling in the ruins, her eyes filled with a mixture of a monarch’s contempt for a usurper and a hint of proud pity.

"If you had the courage to let it fully transform into the White King, the outcome of this battle would still be uncertain, but you dare not; your inner fear forbids you from doing so. Only in its larval stage could you barely control it, and you even forced it to be born prematurely out of fear, turning it into this deformed form. Its instinct, in order to complete itself, can only devour the entire Tokyo with its fetal silk. And all of this stems from your foolish delusion of becoming a god."

Xia Mi did not make a move.

She was a noble monarch who disdained to crush a cornered insect with her own hands.

"How pathetic. You have never become a god, you are not even a real monster."

As the cold words fell, Xia Mi watched Herzog continue to futilely tear at the beast's flesh.

“If the real White King were to descend, even with the ‘Kusanagi,’ I wouldn’t be able to find and destroy her ‘eye’ so easily. But you are different. You are just a parasite. All I need to find is the ‘eye’ of your alchemical matrix, and then destroy it.”

Bai Ye also walked over, the Kronos armor gleaming with a chilling green light.

Unlike Xia Mi, even though the Kronos armor's motion detection system showed Herzog's life signal was as faint as a candle in the wind, he still intended to send him on his way personally and end it all.

However, just as Bai Ye raised his hand, a sudden change occurred.

The white threads that had been converging on the corpse of the Yamata no Orochi suddenly changed direction as if a swarm of snakes had spotted new prey, and began to spread toward Herzog's remaining half of his body.

Herzog was taken aback for a moment, then burst into wildly joyful laughter: "Haha...that's right! Take me back! I am a god, I am the great White King! I haven't lost yet!"

However, his laughter quickly turned into a terrified scream.

"Wh...what? What are you going to do?"

When those fine white threads wrapped around his body, he realized with despair that they were not there to welcome the king's return at all.

With the core of power he stole destroyed, the last trace of the monarchical aura belonging to the "King of Bronze and Fire" on his body also disappeared. To the Orochi fetus silk, which was left with only instinct, this life, which had been completely rejected from its mother, was no different from other creatures in the ruins.

He was no longer the master, but... food.

The fetal silk greedily pierced into his flesh and began to absorb the little life force left in his body.

"No...no...I won't die...I am the White King...Herzog..."

Under the watchful eyes of Bai Ye and Xia Mi, Herzog's voice grew weaker and weaker until it disappeared, as countless white threads wrapped around him, forming a constantly writhing, pale cocoon.

Eventually, the cocoon ceased its activity, and when the white silk dissipated, only a completely drained, dried-up corpse remained. His last vestige of life force was transferred back into the cold dragon corpse that he could never enter again.

Black Moon Tide: Chapter 141 Monsters and the Promise

"he died."

Bai Ye's voice came from the Chronos armor as he watched the pale cocoon enveloping Herzog slowly shrink in the air.

"Yeah, dead."

Xia Mi responded. The dragon scales all over her body receded like a tide, and she stretched her body, returning to her girlish appearance.

My clothes were a bit torn, but it was much better than when I was almost naked after coming up from underwater.

Bai Ye's gaze fell on her; it was the uniform of the Enforcement Bureau, clearly a size too big—it was his.

The oversized shirt and shorts hadn't completely ripped her even in her semi-dragon form, but now that she was back in human form, they hung loosely on her body, making her slender figure look somewhat comical, like a child who had stolen an adult's clothes.

"What are you looking at? Haven't you ever seen Little Dragon Girl before?"

Xia Mi noticed his gaze, and perhaps feeling a little embarrassed, she stuck out her tongue at him, using her usual slang to cover it up.

"No." Bai Ye's voice was flat. "I was just curious why you called me Mr. Monster just now."

He turned around and walked toward the mountain-like corpse of the Yamata no Orochi.

Although the giant beast was dead, the neural network formed by the white fetal threads had not completely shut down, causing the two huge pieces of flesh to twitch slightly, maintaining a strange vitality.

"Compared to that madman Herzog, you're definitely more like a monster."

Xia Mi followed, casually rolling up her overly long shirt sleeves to reveal a section of her slender, snow-white forearm. She walked to the corpse of the Yamata no Orochi, stretched out her canvas-shoe-clad foot, and gently kicked the massive chunk of flesh, as if to check if a rock was solid.

“In this world, humans and dragons are different. But between the two, there are always some outliers,” Xia Mi said.

“Some dragons, though supreme rulers, are accustomed to thinking like humans… while others, though weak blood flows in their veins, have learned to think like dragons. But you are different from them. You say you want to walk that so-called path to godhood, but you think neither like humans nor like dragons.”

With her two seemingly weak kicks, the Yamata no Orochi's corpse seemed to have finally reached its limit. The white silk scattered throughout the ruins began to curl up and wither, losing its luster. It seemed that this disaster that swept through Tokyo was about to come to an end.

“So I think the title ‘monster’ suits you best.” Xia Mi seemed to have lost interest in the two huge lumps of dead flesh, and walked back with her hands behind her back and light steps.

She tilted her head, looking at Bai Ye's figure covered in green armor. "Speaking of which, whether it's Siegfried or Kamishiro Bai Ye, what is your real name?"

As Bai Ye watched the Yamata no Orochi's corpse completely lose its life, confirming that the last threat had dissipated.

He turned around when he heard Xia Mi's question.

"white night."

He, who is usually a man of few words, even added a sentence.

"I told you that long ago."

"Hehe, okay, monster... no, Mr. Baiye. Ahem." Xia Mi cleared her throat, suddenly adopting a serious expression.

"I just saved your life at a crucial moment... oh no, I should say half your life." She pouted, remembering that Bai Ye had recovered from his injuries thanks to her "energy item".

"Alright, alright, but at least I saved a quarter of your life, right? It was so dangerous just now. If I hadn't descended from the sky, you wouldn't have even had time to recover before that eight-headed serpent swallowed you."

Xia Mi gently nudged Bai Ye's armor with her elbow, but this time she was smarter and didn't dare to use too much force.

She clasped her hands together, squinted her eyes, and, like a theatrical actor performing on stage, began in an exaggerated aria: "So, shouldn't you say something to me? Or express something? For example, 'Thank you, Miss Xia Mi, for your timely help,' 'I will never dare to underestimate Your Highness again,' 'I will never forget Miss Xia Mi's great kindness,' 'I have no way to repay you but to offer myself in marriage'... and so on."

As she spoke the last sentence, the girl's eyes narrowed into crescent moons, gleaming with a mischievous light.

"The latter part is clearly wrong."

A very soft, almost imperceptible laugh came from beneath Bai Ye's armored mask.

He was somewhat surprised, but his tense mood did indeed relax.

"However, you are indeed the first person to act with the purpose of 'saving me'."

Bai Ye gazed into the distance, the city skyline standing out sharply against the red air. "But even if I wanted to repay this favor, I'm afraid I wouldn't have the chance. Isn't your goal to become an evolved being? You've already obtained the Black Serpent's egg; I think there's nothing more I can do to help you."

“Of course there is!” Xia Mi immediately retorted.

She rested her chin on her hand, feigning thought, and circled Bai Ye once. "Hmm... let me think. But you monster, it seems you don't have any particular skills besides fighting..."

Suddenly, as if she had thought of something, her eyes lit up, and she stretched out a fair finger.

"I've got it! You can protect me."

"If Ragnarok is destined, the end of all the gods, then you, the monster, will fight against the monsters that bring about this end."

"We will protect each other until death do us part."

As she uttered those words, Xia Mi stopped walking, and a fiery blaze rekindled in her playful eyes.

Her voice became deep and solemn, no longer that of the young girl Xia Mi, but that of the dragon king Jormungandr, making a monarchical promise to another supreme being.

Above the ruins, the air seemed to freeze.

"it is good."

Without the slightest hesitation, Bai Ye reached out and grasped the finger that Jormungandr was pointing at him.

"Until death do us part."

He repeated, his voice clear and firm.

Time seemed to freeze at this moment, sacred and destiny-bound.

The silence was broken by Xia Mi's voice.

"Hey, hey, hey, that's not how it works! I'm extending my pinky to make a pinky promise!"

Xia Mi's cheeks flushed red instantly as Bai Ye gripped her fingers, and the majesty in her golden eyes vanished without a trace.

"Why are you holding my finger? And why aren't you changing back? This kind of agreement should be made while looking into the other person's eyes! Orochi is dead, and you're still dressed like this in green; all I can see are your goggles!"

Xia Mi forcefully shook off Bai Ye's hand and stomped her foot in dissatisfaction.

"I thought you could see it." The voice coming from inside the armor remained calm.

"Only a ghost could see that!"

"Because I can see."

"...You did this on purpose, didn't you?"

"Alright, alright, anyway, we're allies now, so you have to keep your promise and protect me well." Xia Mi turned her face away, the evening breeze on the ruins blowing her hair and slightly fading the blush on her face.

"Aren't we allies already?"

“It’s different from before! This is a real promise, a monarch’s agreement… You don’t understand, but it’s different anyway!” Xia Mi explained somewhat angrily, but seemed to realize that she couldn’t explain it clearly, so she quickly changed the subject to cover up her embarrassment.

Black Moon Tide: Chapter 142 Word of Power - The World of Samsara

A crimson moon, a strange blood moon, hangs high in the sky.

This was the only thing he could see, reflected in his pure black pupils.

He was tightly bound to the chair by a heavy leather straitjacket, every joint immobilized. His right hand was particularly heavily restrained, with a thick iron chain and a menacing lock completely locking his palm inside a cast iron box.

Large doses of sedatives were being injected coldly into his body via intravenous infusion.

This dose would be fatal to any ordinary person several times over. Yet, the boy bound to the chair had an incredibly eerie look in his eyes.

Even the nurses who came to change his medication didn't dare to look him in the eye.

Because his eyes were the only deep black in the world, like a pair of black holes that could devour all light.

...

It's a wonderful world.

Everyone genuinely believes this.

War, oppression, disease, suffering, death... these concepts do not even exist in the cognition of this world.

People sometimes wonder why words describing things that don't exist have been passed down through generations.

But nobody cares about such trivial matters.

Because the only thing people need to do in this world is to enjoy happiness.

On the streets of Tokyo, the balding office workers who once worried themselves sick about their performance now radiate the youthful energy and vitality of young people.

He no longer needed to think about work or overtime; all he could think about was how to enjoy this eternal annual leave with his wife and children.

The school was a sea of ​​laughter and joy, where young girls and boys freely expressed the beauty of their youth. Even the most gloomy student in the class had a genuine smile on his face.

Everyone's heart was enveloped in an overflowing sense of happiness. There was no exclusion, no bullying, no isolation, only pure, unreasonable joy.