After 18 Years of Silence, Now My Words Are Divine

Chapter 76

Chapter 76: The Forcibly Terminated Plan

Canglan Continent, Polar Ice Wastes, deep within the Dragon God Ruins.

Howling winds. Stalactites of ice hung inverted from above.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

A man in a purple suit walked into the hidden cave, both hands in his pockets.

The suit was impeccably tailored—aside from the color being purple, it was nearly identical to the Faceless One's outfit, clearly the work of the same tailor.

He was none other than the Arashin-kai's 6th Seat.

Joker.

"Heyyy~ Dusk~"

Joker grinned as he looked toward the white-coated figure crouching in the shadowed corner.

"Nightmare's calling for you~"

"It won't be long before that 'War God' shows up—we need to get ready."

As he walked, Joker straightened his purple tie, muttering to himself.

"Stop playing games with that guy Wu Wo."

"His taste is truly awful. Always choosing black—like some joyless funeral parlor owner."

"Unlike me… this purple-and-yellow combination—how elegant! How artistic!"

He stroked his suit, a wistful look crossing his eyes.

"When that old hag tailor was still alive, she'd glare at me every day and threaten to sew my mouth shut."

"But I knew…"

"She must have been deeply satisfied with my sense of style!"

"Just too embarrassed to say so~"

"Such a pity though…"

"As the former 10th Seat…"

Joker let out a sigh.

"During the Destruction Five Days Campaign two years ago, she was personally beheaded by that 'August 1st War God.'"

"Tsk tsk tsk… One slash, and both the person and that wearable masterpiece were destroyed."

"That's why this time! We have to teach that old bastard a proper lesson!"

"Right, Dusk?"

Joker reached the corner.

However.

The figure that had been facing away from him the entire time showed no reaction whatsoever.

Not even a turn of the head.

"Hey?"

Joker's brow furrowed, irritation creeping in.

"I'm talking to you—can you hear me?"

"What are you brooding for?"

Joker reached out, grabbed Dusk by the shoulder, and turned him around.

"Look me in the eye! Give me a smi—"

However.

The moment he saw Dusk's face clearly.

Joker froze entirely.

Then.

"AHHHHH!!"

A shriek instantly echoed through the entire ice cave!

BOOM!!

The next second.

A dense burst of purple smoke surged rapidly in from the cave entrance.

It condensed in an instant into a man in a trench coat standing before Joker.

It was the Arashin-kai's 2nd Seat.

Nightmare.

"What happened?!"

Purple smoke swirled around Nightmare's hands as he scanned the surroundings warily.

"What are you screaming about?! Do you not know that Huaxia Nation's Dragon Squad is conducting a full sweep looking for us?!"

"Do you want to bring Lin Bayi here, you idiot!!"

However.

Faced with the 2nd Seat's reprimand, Joker acted as though he hadn't heard a word.

He pointed at the man drooling on the ground, doubling over with laughter, tears nearly shooting from his eyes.

"It's… it's not my fault!"

"See for yourself! Hahahahaha!"

"Look at this guy Dusk! This is too funny!"

"This is the absolute pinnacle of performance art!!"

Nightmare's brow furrowed tightly. He looked in the direction Joker was pointing.

At that sight.

Even he couldn't stay composed.

There sat the 3rd Seat—normally cold, brooding, always putting on airs.

Dusk.

At this moment, his eyes were glazed, his mouth crooked, drool dripping onto his white lab coat.

The entire person looked…

Like the village idiot playing in the mud.

"Aba… aba aba…"

Dusk giggled vacantly, his fingers still tracing patterns in the air.

Dusk's expression

"This…"

Nightmare's pupils contracted sharply.

"This is…"

"Psyche Collapse?!"

"He forcibly activated an ultra-long-distance Spatial Projection just to go kill someone on Eerie Island…"

"And his true body suffered the backlash as a result?"

"No… it's more than just backlash."

Nightmare stepped forward and checked Dusk's pupils.

"His psyche…"

"Was crushed on the spot—right there on that end!"

"Damage at this level…"

"Is irreversible destruction to the brain."

"He… is completely gone."

Silence.

Only Joker's roaring laughter continued to reverberate through the cave.

"Hahahaha! The 3rd Seat has become a vegetable!"

"This is without a doubt the greatest joke since the Arashin-kai was founded!"

Nightmare drew a deep breath and forcibly suppressed the storm raging in his chest.

‘Something massive has clearly gone wrong on Eerie Island!’

‘They encountered an enemy impossible to defeat!’

‘And it was Dusk together with the 9th Seat Wu Wo—both of them combined!’

‘Not only did they fail to kill their target, they ended up turning themselves into this?!’

"Stop laughing!!"

Nightmare let out a low growl.

"What do we do now?"

"Without him, how are we supposed to deal with Lin Bayi?!"

This was a critically fatal problem.

Huaxia Nation's ace, Dragon Squad Captain Lin Bayi, possessed an exceptionally troublesome ability.

【Sequence 081·War God!】

As long as he was present, all his teammates would receive an Immortal Buff—no matter how hard you hit them, they couldn't die, and their stamina would recover indefinitely.

Currently, the only known countermeasure was to rely on Dusk's domain to drag him away to a separate location and pick them off one by one.

Now that Dusk was gone stupid.

What the hell were they supposed to fight with?

"Joker, what do you think?"

Nightmare had run out of ideas at this point and could only turn to this madman.

Joker finally laughed himself out.

He wiped the tears from the corner of his eye, spread his hands wide, and said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world:

"Why, run, of course~"

"What else—go hand over our heads?"

"I actually kind of like seeing Dusk like this—he looks cheerful, in a dumb sort of way."

"But without his domain to trap the War God, once that Immortal Buff spreads to everyone…"

"We'd just be ground down alive by those fearless Huaxia soldiers."

Joker pointed at his own neck and made a slicing gesture.

"Remember how the tailor died?"

"All those puppet dolls she was so proud of—against Extraordinary Ones who couldn't die…"

"Were nothing but one-punch jokes!"

Nightmare listened, mulled it over for a few seconds.

True.

Going head-to-head would be suicide.

"No choice… we'll do it your way then."

"Full retreat. Abandon the ruins exploration this time."

Nightmare gritted his teeth and made the call, then issued his orders.

"Also, notify the 7th Seat·Gambler."

"She's also on a mission near Eerie Island."

"Have her go investigate exactly what happened!"

"Why did Dusk turn into an idiot?"

"And find out where Wu Wo is—he should have been there too."

"Alright, alright, alright~ always bossing people around~"

Joker waved a dismissive hand and turned toward the cave entrance.

"I'll go contact that crazy woman right now~"

"Let's hope she hasn't gambled herself away to someone else as collateral~"

……

After Joker left.

Nightmare lowered his head and stared at Dusk on the ground.

At this moment.

The man who had once been the 3rd Seat was stretching out a finger, digging enthusiastically into his own nostril without a care in the world.

At last.

He unearthed a sizeable find.

He raised his finger and gazed at the thing with a vacant smile.

Nightmare watched this scene and couldn't help but voice a question that cut straight to the soul.

"Does it taste good?"

"Heheheh……"

Dusk didn't answer him.

But he proved everything through his actions.

Nom.

He put his finger into his mouth and licked what he considered a 'candy bean' in his eyes.

A look of blissful satisfaction spread across his face.

"……"

His last shred of lingering hope shattered completely.

"What the hell…?"

"He really is gone!!"

"And thoroughly gone at that!!"