Secret World: I Became a God Through Lies

Chapter 517 Dream Voyage
The flower blooms for a fleeting moment, and the nightmare vanishes like a dream;

Set sail on the illusory sea, and embark on a journey of destiny.

—The Secret Records of the Tower of the End

Si Ming slowly walked out of the illusion of Blood Nightmare Flower Street.

The red light had long been extinguished, and all that remained beneath our feet were ruins stained with flames and blood.

Looking up, the scenes on both sides are already different.

On one side, Calvino stands on the broken stone steps, holding his violin with both hands, the bow drawn, the music rising and falling like the tide.

The melody wasn't cheerful; instead, it carried a somber and magnificent quality, like a funeral dirge for the entire Phantom Street.

On the other side, Lilia leaned against the broken doorway, arms crossed, looking utterly bored.

She saw Si Ming, raised an eyebrow, her eyes full of mockery and smugness, as if to say:
"You're so slow, we finished a long time ago."

Kneeling before Calvino was Ayame Hanakain.

Her gaze was unfocused, as if she were lost in some indescribable dream.

In her dream, she walked step by step onto the brightly lit stage.

The strings resonated, the crimson curtains fell, and the audience was filled with shadowy figures, only countless blurry eyes fixed on her.

She danced like a butterfly, her fingertips entwined with silk threads, her smile alluring.

However, with each dance step, the floor cracked like water.

The dance moves blossomed in the air, only to vanish like bubbles in the next instant.

One dream after another.

Beautiful, splendid, and fleeting.

She seemed to be struggling in an endless stage of illusion, destined never to reach the final curtain.

Finally, she let out a low sob, her voice filled with obsession and resentment.

Then, her figure shattered along with the stage, scattering light fragments and disappearing into the air.

Calvino pulled back his strings, lowered his head, and spoke in a voice that was both a soliloquy and a way of setting the tone for the entire audience:
"Beautiful flowers, in the end, cannot hear the final chapter of the illusory song."

The last note from the bowstring echoed through the ruins.

The air suddenly turned cold, as if this statement was not just a comment, but an irreversible destiny:

Beauty is fragility, and fragility is destined for destruction.

From the other side of the flower street exit, came a series of reluctant footsteps.

Xiao Jinyan walked out with his head hanging low, looking utterly dejected.

Behind him followed a girl with empty eyes and a numb expression—Kasakain Yukino.

Her shamisen was broken, her kimono was half-undone, and her steps were stiff like a marionette.

"I really wanted to test my reflection..." Xiao Jinyan complained, looking frustrated, "but before I could even do it, she turned into this."

"I started it."

Xiao Lianyin's voice cut him off.

She walked slowly from behind, her eyes sharp, yet a playful smile played on her lips.

"She cried so horribly that I couldn't help myself and kissed her as her tears fell."

Xiao Lianyin casually raised her finger, a faint purple light lingering at the tip, like a mark.

"This kiss was not out of pity, but out of a sinister control."

Xiao Jinyan's eyes widened, his expression saying, "I told you my sister was dangerous."

Siming saw this and his mask trembled slightly as he unconsciously shrank back.

Xiao Lianyin noticed this and immediately let out a soft laugh.

Her gaze shifted to Si Ming, her voice carrying a hint of allure: "Don't be afraid, I won't just kiss you. Besides—"

She leaned forward slightly, her smile deepening. "This kiss is poisonous."

As she finished speaking, she pointed to Yukino's neck.

The pale purple kiss mark was faintly visible, like a poisonous flower about to bloom.

"While she's still conscious, ask her what you want to ask. Once the mark is completely stained purple, she'll be dead for good. See you at the resurrection point."

Shinobu had already stepped forward, her katana held horizontally across Yukino's chest, her eyes cold and sharp.

She uttered two cold words:
"say."

Yukino's eyes were vacant, and her voice was wooden, like a puppet whose soul had been taken away.

She began to answer—she answered everything she knew without reservation.

The interrogation begins.

Nobuna's question was cold and sharp, cutting in like a blade.

Under Xiao Lianyin's mysterious control, Hanakain Yukino's eyes were vacant and her voice was hollow, like a puppet that had lost its soul.

"This instance..."

Her voice was hoarse, but she didn't hesitate at all. "Essentially, it's the Onmyoji headquarters hunting down the deep-sea nightmare."

Her voice echoed through the ruins, each word like a veil being torn away.

"The prey isn't just Xu Long..."

Her lips trembled, yet she remained calm. "Indeed—Si Ming."

The air froze instantly.

All eyes fell on Siming at the same time.

He merely raised his hand and tapped his fingertips lightly, as if confirming hidden cards at a gambling table; his expression beneath the mask remained indifferent.

Yukino continued:

“We know that... Xu Long and Si Ming both possess supreme secrets. This is the true target of the Onmyoji Headquarters.”

Her voice trembled as if drawn to the final stage by a poisonous kiss, but she still revealed the secret little by little.

She raised her head, her gaze empty yet fixed on the void.

"The Tokyo Tower is an indestructible object within the instance. No mystery or celestial calamity can damage it."

This one sentence seemed to freeze the air.

Calvino gripped the bow tightly, his brow furrowed slightly.

Lilia's lips lost their previous flippant expression.

Nobuna's fingertips gripped the hilt of the knife even tighter.

Yukino's voice continued like a curse:

"The Onmyoji headquarters... has set up a large number of hidden resurrection points within the Iron Tower area. Their locations are so well hidden that even we don't know the full extent of them."

"We will be resurrected indefinitely... until time runs out."

Her eyelids trembled slightly; the poison had already seeped into her bloodstream. "According to the rules..."

Her voice trailed off, “The losing side… will be eliminated.”

The last few words seemed to be swallowed by blood, appearing intermittently.

The next instant, her body convulsed violently, and blood spilled from the corner of her lips.

"what--!"

She screamed in pain, her voice tinged with a brief moment of lucidity.

Before she completely broke down, her eyes regained their color, a final glimmer of resentment and hatred.

"As long as the Star Calamity still exists, we will respawn at the respawn point..."

She stared at Si Ming and his group with a hoarse and vicious voice, her voice almost tearing her throat:
"Next time—you'll pay the price!"

Before she finished speaking, her body suddenly blossomed, transforming into countless cherry blossom petals that swirled and scattered in the wind.

The petals have all fallen, leaving only desolation on the long street.

The last cherry blossom petal that Yukino transformed into dissipated in the wind, leaving behind a suffocating silence.

The six people stood silently on the ruined street, and no one spoke.

It seemed everyone was still processing that cruel message they had just received:

Tokyo Tower is indestructible, and the loser will be annihilated.

Si Ming slowly tapped the railing beside her with her fingertips, her expression hidden behind the mask.

That brief pause was like an awkward silence at a gambling table, waiting for the cards to be revealed.

Calvino spoke first, shaking his head, his voice tinged with suppressed emotion: "This is bad news."

Then, he raised his head and gazed at the distant night sky.

--boom!

Explosions roared, followed by deafening fighting.

The firelight illuminated the night sky, revealing the center of the Tokyo ruins.

At that moment, they all saw it.

The towering Tokyo Tower, like an indifferent deity, pierces the night and stands firm.

On one side of the iron tower, a massive floating pirate ship is emerging from the void, its iron-clad back like a tortoise shell, its cannons roaring, trailing flames and wreckage.

With a deafening roar, it crashed violently into the iron tower with a tearing motion.

boom--!
The earth trembled.

Buildings around the Eiffel Tower collapsed in large sections, steel bars were broken like bones, and glass shattered and flew through the air.

The firelight dyed the entire night sky red.

However, the Eiffel Tower... remained completely still.

Mysterious power, stellar impact—all the violent forces were rendered futile before that cold, steel body.

The bow of the floating pirate ship was shattered, and the wreckage fell like meteors, with the fire wave from the explosion sweeping across the base of the tower.

The army of Deep Sea Nightmare was immediately thrown into chaos.

That scene was like a clash between human anger and the cold laughter of the gods.

Fragile mortals, their efforts are in vain.

Calvino frowned, his voice heavy: "We need to hurry, Sir Fate. Any slower and we'll be left only collecting corpses."

After a brief silence, Si Ming let out a soft breath, a faint smile curving his lips.

His voice was light and cheerful, like a gambler's casual laugh before shuffling the deck:
"Then let's try a different way of walking."

Calvino lifted the violin case and gently ran his fingertips over the clasp.

The next moment, he chanted in a low, mysterious voice, his tone like the echoing tide:
"A dream begins, a ferryman across the dark sea—the Lost One appears."

boom--

The black fog suddenly surged above the street, transforming into a turbulent, illusory sea of ​​waves.

From the depths of the waves, a massive pirate ship slowly emerged:
The ship's hull is translucent, as if pieced together from illusory light and skeleton, and ancient runes are engraved on its surface, occasionally shimmering with starlight.

The three giant sails billowed in the wind, their surfaces resembling a deep-sea night sky dotted with illusory stars, as if the entire ship were sailing on a starry sea in another dimension.

The Lost One – A high-level World-type card, Calvino's proud ship.

The six people boarded the ship one after another.

The ship's planks creaked and groaned underfoot, yet they were more sturdy than steel.

As the last person stepped onto the deck, the Lost One shuddered, as if awakening from a deep sleep.

"set sail."

Calvino breathed softly.

The ghost ship's bow suddenly tore through the void, and illusory waves surged up from both sides of the street, forming a massive wave that completely engulfed the ruined neighborhood.

In the illusory sea, countless floating spirits stretched out their hands and wailed, like the souls of drowning people, yet they were firmly bound around the ship's hull, providing the warship with endless thrust.

--boom!

The black cannons on the deck spewed out flames in unison.

The roar of the ghost cannons echoed through the streets, causing the buildings on both sides to collapse. The Onmyoji shikigami hidden within were all hit and exploded into blood shadows and paper talismans.

The waves of the Illusionary Sea surged along the street, with countless transparent arms reaching out from the crests to grab the lurking monsters and drag them into the abyss below.

The screams mingled with the drumbeats of the waves, like a symphony of demons.

The Lost One cuts through the thorns and brambles like a sword cleaving through the darkness.

It rampaged through the ruins, carrying the six people as they broke through boundaries and sped toward Tokyo Tower.

The wind howled, and the deck swayed.

Si Ming stood at the bow of the ship, his black cloak billowing wildly in the wind.

His smile was faintly visible behind the mask, but his eyes were cold.

"The hunter thought he was setting a trap..."

He spoke softly, but his words were as clear as a knife's edge in the wind.

"Unfortunately, I forgot—"

The wind howled, and the bow of the Lost Ones churned up huge waves, as if trying to split the night sky in two.

"Sometimes, the prey is the more ruthless hunter."

The flower nightmare has faded, and the blood-soaked street is empty;
Once the lie is started, the hunter is trapped.

The ship sets sail on the illusory sea, its mission set at the forefront.

—Fragments of The Lost One

(End of this chapter)