Chapter Forty-Nine: The Truth of the Taboo Disaster, A Ruined Kingdom
Iris’s worldview was astonishingly pure, her personality as innocent as a naive little rabbit, completely unlike any Grotesquery Apostle Luo Ling had encountered.
Even the other tea party members, the Leader, Camellia, Moonflower, and the taciturn Snowdrop, all exuded a sense of danger.
Despite Moonflower’s childish antics and Camellia’s gentle demeanor…
They were dangerous.
The mystical veil concealed more than just their appearances, hiding untold truths, their true natures unknown.
Luo Ling’s intuition told her that the personas they presented at the tea party were likely far removed from their true selves, a pervasive sense of falsehood.
Even Luo Ling herself was a fabrication, her true nature unknown even to the Leader, who only knew her Naraku form.
Of course, under the Leader’s watchful eye, despite the deception, the transactions at the tea party were genuine. The Leader could discern truth from falsehood, and Luo Ling trusted her judgment.
It was the Leader’s presence that guaranteed the integrity of their transactions.
…Therefore, the only truly innocent member of the tea party was Iris.
Her mystical veil merely concealed her face. Besides the secret of Jingwei’s injury, the other tea party members likely knew everything about her.
However, Iris posed no real threat…
Her innate talent for gardening made her seem almost pacifistic. Even her pursuit of godhood… didn’t concern the others.
They wouldn’t help her, but they wouldn’t hinder her either.
Because of Iris, Luo Ling began to re-evaluate the concepts of Grotesqueries and their Apostles.
In reality, both “Grotesquery” and “God” were merely human terms. Luo Ling hadn’t found such designations on the Taboo Slate.
Only “Sequence.”
Neither God Sequence nor Grotesquery Sequence, simply Sequence.
The beings humans encountered on the Sequence were mostly disasters, seemingly intent on destroying human civilization or the world itself.
However, Luo Ling, being a Grotesquery herself, having experienced a Grotesquery’s emotions firsthand, had her own theories.
Perhaps Grotesqueries weren’t deliberately harming humanity, or trying to save it in some twisted way. They were simply following their instincts, their Paths.
And in doing so, they caused disasters.
The Puppet Ballad’s instinct was to spread and expand, devouring flesh and souls, following the Path of Silent Demise.
Even after developing the persona “Su Wan,” she couldn’t stop it, her instincts overwhelming her, only finding release in true death.
Apostles and Agents followed their Grotesqueries, walking their Paths, therefore sharing some of their characteristics, human vessels for Grotesquery will. No wonder even the Harbingers called them fanatics.
But what if the “Grotesquery” or “God” itself was… peaceful?
Like… Jingwei?
Iris’s personality and actions hinted at her God’s nature…
However, humans rarely encountered such Grotesqueries and their Apostles. Iris, for example, spent most of her time gardening in her Kingdom. Therefore, humanity viewed all Grotesquery Apostles and Agents as dangerous.
And they were mostly right. Iris was merely an exception.
“Unexpected…”
Luo Ling sighed, looking at Iris with a hint of pity.
A little rabbit among wolves. Fortunately, the tea party members were relatively benign among Apostles, and the Leader’s presence offered some protection, preventing Iris from being completely devoured.
Iris looked at Luo Ling, tilting her head in confusion.
What was Sister Amethyst thinking about?
Even now, Iris had only revealed Jingwei’s injury, not offering to introduce Luo Ling to her God.
What if Amethyst, upon seeing Jingwei, succumbed to her instincts and took a bite…?
Even if it meant being devoured herself, she wouldn’t let Master Jingwei suffer any further harm!
“Since the contract is signed, can I conduct some experiments in your Kingdom now?” Luo Ling asked.
“Huh? So soon?” Iris was stunned. “Don’t you need to prepare…?”
“Not yet, just some small experiments.”
Luo Ling shook her head. “The events back then were complex, not easily investigated. I merely intend to witness the Taboo disaster.”
The Kingdom was a “snapshot” of Victoria before the Boundary collapse, containing a trace of the Taboo disaster’s power, hence its immortality.
But the true power of the Taboo disaster wasn’t fully manifested.
Five minutes was too short compared to the scale of “Immortality.”
However… with Naraku’s ability, the twilight Kingdom could bypass this five-minute limit, reaching the moment of the disaster’s true arrival.
“By the way, Iris, I must warn you, my ability might damage your Kingdom.” Luo Ling said directly, not wanting to deceive her. “Therefore, I’ll limit my experiment to a small area.”
“Damage? Are you planning to devour it again?” Iris asked nervously, despite the clause in their contract prohibiting it.
“…What kind of image do I have in your mind? A groundhog?” Luo Ling’s lips twitched. “I intend to use Naraku’s ability on your Kingdom to investigate the Taboo disaster.”
“Phew, as long as you’re not devouring it. Your ability is so strange, the devoured parts don’t regenerate…”
Iris frowned. “The sapling still has some missing parts. It breaks my heart.”
“I’m truly sorry…”
“But it’s fine, as long as you’re not devouring it. Naraku’s ability is for information gathering, right? No problem!”
Iris puffed out her chest confidently. “Everything in my Kingdom resets every five minutes. Any damage, unless permanently annihilated, like being devoured… will be restored.”
This was another important characteristic of a Kingdom, similar to Scientist’s “Retrospect,” but without any cost.
“In fact, including the five-minute time loop, everything within the Kingdom, the people, the buildings, everything… is a part of the Kingdom.”
Iris continued, “We, or anything brought in from outside, like the sapling… don’t possess these characteristics and aren’t affected by the time loop.
“As the Kingdom’s owner, I can control everything within, including the time loop.”
Iris snapped her fingers, and the setting sun froze, the birds in the sky, the people on the street, everything paused, like a frozen image.
But Luo Ling and Iris remained unaffected. They weren’t part of the Kingdom, considered “foreign objects.”
“How convenient.”
Luo Ling envied Iris’s control over her Kingdom. She wanted one too.
Of course, she wouldn’t deliberately cause a disaster and a Boundary collapse. She wasn’t that cruel. She would simply find an opportunity to steal one.
“But this is Naraku’s ability,” Luo Ling reminded her again. “It’s a Taboo’s power.”
“It should be fine, right?” Iris hesitated, then nodded. “I’ve used Master Jingwei’s Authority before, and everything was restored.”
An Authority was far more powerful than a mere ability, yet it hadn’t affected the Kingdom’s reset.
“Alright.”
Since Iris had said so, Luo Ling set up her experiment.
Although Iris insisted that no preparation was necessary, that she could use the entire Kingdom as her testing ground, Luo Ling’s intuition told her to limit the scale.
Besides, “rewrite reality” consumed a significant amount of power.
Luo Ling intended to use “rewrite reality” within the Kingdom to observe the Taboo disaster, even if Religious’s ascension ritual wasn’t directly related to Guixu’s Authority, it would still be beneficial.
Soon, Luo Ling found a secluded, open area within the twilight Kingdom. However, before beginning, she needed some living beings to test the effects of “Immortality.”
Although the humans within the Kingdom possessed all human characteristics, they were merely a part of the Kingdom. Even so, Luo Ling couldn’t bring herself to use them for her experiment.
She saw some birds in the sky and decided to capture a few.
“Sister Amethyst, what are you doing…?”
Iris looked at Luo Ling, puzzled, as she grabbed a few sparrows and placed them within the designated area.
“Conducting an experiment. I need some living beings.” Luo Ling replied.
“…Do you have to use birds?”
Iris seemed to feel sorry for the unconscious sparrows.
“Anything living will do, but I’m not comfortable using humans.”
“Then let me get you some lab rats. The nearby university has them. Can you release the birds?”
Iris looked at Luo Ling pleadingly. Luo Ling, although puzzled, agreed.
Soon, the lab rats replaced the sparrows, lying motionless on the ground.
Luo Ling’s expression turned serious. This was her third time using “Ensnare,” and the previous two times hadn’t gone exactly as planned.
It did “rewrite reality,” fulfilling her wishes, but the outcomes… were often unpredictable.
However, Iris had assured her that the Kingdom’s reset could handle any failures, so it should be… fine, right?
Luo Ling composed herself and unfolded her web domain, covering the designated area.
Threads of knowledge extended, taking root in Iris’s Kingdom, forming a domain.
Iris, as the Kingdom’s owner, felt a portion of her Kingdom slip from her control.
“Is this… Naraku’s power?”
To wrest control from a Kingdom’s owner, it truly was a Taboo.
Iris had anticipated this, simply watching, worried about Amethyst’s potential destructive tendencies, but also excited… this was a Naraku Godchosen using a Taboo’s power!
All Taboo Godchosen were known for their eccentricities. Naraku Godchosen were lunatics, Knight Godchosen were violent, and Guixu Godchosen… well, most of them were so modified they barely resembled humans.
Even among Godchosen and God’s Favored, witnessing a Taboo Godchosen using their abilities under normal circumstances was rare.
Iris didn’t know whether to consider herself lucky or unlucky, witnessing this within her own Kingdom.
“‘Ensnare,’ rewrite reality.” Luo Ling murmured, her dark eyes fixed on the area. “Accelerate time.”
The scale of “Immortality” was near eternal. Five minutes couldn’t reveal its true power. Only by accelerating time could its effects be observed.
The time within the area accelerated a thousandfold, even Luo Ling was surprised. “Ensnare” had gone out of control again.
However… this loss of control was acceptable. Luo Ling had intended to accelerate time anyway.
Soon, what she wanted to see appeared.
Under the accelerated time flow, the lab rats rapidly aged, their movements faltering, their eyes clouding over.
But aging didn’t kill them.
Their bodies withered, starved from lack of food.
But starvation didn’t kill them either.
Driven by hunger, they began to cannibalize each other. One rat bit off another’s head, crushing and swallowing it.
The decapitated rat, however… still lived.
Or rather, it was a curse.
Its consciousness remained within every part of its body, experiencing endless pain and torment, far worse than the residents of Jiangcheng County under the Puppet Ballad’s domination.
Even its decaying body screamed in silent agony, forever trapped.
This…
Was the disaster of “Immortality.”
“The elderly wouldn’t die, the injured wouldn’t heal, the sick would suffer eternally, the decaying would live forever… a world without the release of death, even hell couldn’t compare.”
The gift of immortality, the curse of eternal life.
Even having imagined it, witnessing it firsthand was horrifying.
These rats’ fate would have been Victoria’s, if it hadn’t been saved.
“So terrifying…”
Iris covered her mouth, her eyes filled with shock and fear. She had also never witnessed the consequences of a Taboo disaster.
Thinking that this was the source of her Kingdom’s immortality, the very thing sustaining Master Jingwei, Iris wanted to flee with her God immediately.
But she quickly calmed down. This was merely the result of accelerated time. As long as she healed Master Jingwei before it reached this point…
“Fortunately, the Authority isn’t complete.” Luo Ling said softly. “This wasn’t the Taboo itself. Guixu never manifested in Victoria.”
“This isn’t even complete?” Iris asked in shock.
“If it were the complete Authority, Victoria would have become a living hell, or even annihilated, before you acquired this Kingdom.” Luo Ling’s voice turned cold. “Because it’s incomplete, therefore…”
This was a man-made disaster.
Who had brought this calamity upon Victoria?
Was it the Harbingers of Calamity?
Using Artist’s ascension as a pretext, they had indeed contributed to the disaster, but… if they could cause a disaster of this magnitude, they wouldn’t have needed Artist.
Their ultimate goal was the annihilation of all Boundaries, with Victoria, the source, being their primary target. This disaster’s scale was sufficient, and the terror of “Immortality” was its insidious nature.
Look at this Kingdom, the twilight Victoria, so peaceful and beautiful, serene and tranquil.
Who would have thought…
That the most terrifying Taboo disaster had already arrived?
In this case, the Harbingers simply needed to wait, hidden in the shadows, until the disaster reached its irreversible stage, and they would have succeeded.
But that wasn’t the case. They had merely used the disaster for ascension.
Perhaps they had contributed to the disaster’s growth, but they weren’t the source…
Besides the Harbingers, who else could it be?
There were two possible answers: a Guixu Godchosen, or…
The Company.
Luo Ling didn’t want it to be the Company.
Despite the suspicious circumstances, like the Company’s preparations for the collapse, their meticulous planning, even managing to interrupt Artist’s ascension…
The three faces in the firelight, the elderly man, the woman, and the young man, their silent expressions, the shadows on their faces, weighed heavily on Luo Ling’s mind.
“It’s over.”
Luo Ling whispered, retracting her web domain, ending the brief disaster.
The pitiful lab rats finally embraced the sweet release of death.
“By the way, Iris, are you interested in a collaboration?” Luo Ling turned to the veiled girl.
“Wh-what…?”
Iris looked up, her eyes still filled with fear.
Clearly, she hadn’t recovered from the shock, never having imagined her Kingdom could be such a terrifying place.
“A collaboration, regarding the path to godhood.” Luo Ling said calmly. “From the memories I gave you, you should know what’s hidden within your Kingdom. That’s your bargaining chip.”
“Yes… you’re right.”
Iris calmed down slightly and nodded.
She was aware of the valuable secrets hidden within her Kingdom.
“I can provide you with more information on the Harbingers and the Company, allowing you to investigate the past and uncover the Harbingers’ true plan for the path to godhood. In exchange, you’ll share your findings with me.”
Luo Ling smiled.
“We’ll split the profits fifty-fifty at the tea party, fleecing those grandmas together.”
“Fleecing? Okay, okay! No problem! I agree to this collaboration!”
Iris’s eyes lit up. She was still deeply in debt, her pockets empty.
She still remembered Amethyst’s triumph at the tea party, amassing a fortune in petals. How could she refuse this collaboration?
Following Amethyst, she would surely become rich!
However, she was puzzled by Luo Ling’s term for the other tea party members.
“…Grandmas?”
“Alright, it’s settled then.” Luo Ling smiled. “We don’t need another contract, do we?”
“No, no, I trust Sister Amethyst!”
Iris puffed out her chest confidently. “Our collaboration will be seamless, our alliance unbreakable!”
“……”
Luo Ling fell silent.
What could she say…?
Truly a contract prodigy.
“I’m logging off. See you next time.”
Luo Ling left a mark within the twilight Kingdom, allowing her to return directly next time, then waved goodbye to Iris.
Iris beamed, waving until Luo Ling disappeared.
“Now, time to clean up.”
Iris examined the area where Luo Ling had used her ability, a shudder running down her spine.
The area, affected by the accelerated time, was now a zone of intense “Immortality,” any living being entering it quickly aging and decaying, yet forever unable to die.
“Good thing I have the Kingdom reset. Otherwise, having such a terrifying place in my Kingdom would be bad…”
Iris hummed as she manipulated the Kingdom’s time, accelerating from the paused state to the five-minute reset point.
The surrounding scenery shifted, the Kingdom reverting to its previous state.
But.
The area before Iris hadn’t reset.
Or rather, it remained trapped in the intensified “Immortality” disaster.
Even the Kingdom reset couldn’t restore it.
“W-why?”
Iris tried resetting several times, but the result was the same.
Looking at the horrifying scene, both lifeless and teeming with unnatural life, Iris’s eyes welled up, and she burst into tears.
“My Kingdom, my Kingdom… ruined by Amethyst again…”
“Waaah, I’d rather she devoured it…”
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