Secret World: I Became a God Through Lies

Chapter 524 Divine Kingdom and Dream Hunt

When faith ignites blood, when desire is written into dreams;
One man uses ten thousand ghosts as armor, another uses all living beings as a pen.

The divine realm and the dream hunter will reap a head on the same night.

—From "Secret Edict of the Flower Garden: Night Edict"

The air was filled with the smell of burning iron.

The flower and bird scroll of Shizuka Gozen had burned out, the ashes scattered, and the moonlight of Princess Kaguya was reflected by the mirror.

She looked up at the man who was still smiling—Si Ming.

He lightly raised a finger, and a thin line of light traced out from the fingertip, like a thread that moved through the entire space.

The world shattered into a chessboard pattern.

Black and white intertwine, heaven and earth shift repeatedly.

Shuten-dōji, the disciple of the Martial God, stepped forward, but the moment he raised his spiked club, he was swallowed by the grid lines.
He hit only the afterimage of the phantom.

“The Corridor of Illusion…” Shizuka Gozen murmured, her lips pursed.

Both she and Yu Wuzun understood that their secrets couldn't reach him.

The God of Fate is like the weaver of destiny in this battle.
And they are the characters in his script.

Their eyes met.

At that moment, the clamor of the battlefield receded into the background, and only a consensus silently formed between them.

—Burning Star.

Memories flashed into my mind.

Under the shrine lanterns before their departure, Hideyuki Kasakain bowed low and conveyed Haruhisa's orders to them:

“Bring back the head of the Lord of Destiny.”

Or that Supreme Card.

If a spark must be ignited, then life will be offered as a sacrifice.

Yu Wuzun slowly drew his sword, the scabbard and blade rubbing together to produce a low, mournful metallic sound.

He took a step forward, his battle robe brushing the ground.

"The leader of the Shura Group of the Flower Garden - Yuwu Zun".

Sentence breaks are like war drums striking the heart.

He bowed his head in greeting, his voice as cold and hard as iron:

"By order of His Highness Abe - to kill the enemy and erect a tomb."

The kingdom of God needs blood; I will offer my death as a sacrifice.

Blood and qi surged.

In an instant, the entire ruins shook.

He raised his knife, standing against the light, his body ablaze with blood.

The veins beneath the skin rose up as runes, and the flowing blood transformed into flames.

Two demon horns slowly grew from the top of its head.
Each heartbeat produced a sound like metal clashing against stone.

The sky looked as if it had been torn apart.

The Tanba Head Mound behind the Imperial Warrior Venerable cracked open.

It was a hill made up of countless heads.

From within the crack, pairs of murky eyes opened simultaneously.

Their mouths opened and closed, uttering the same syllable:
"——General."

Amidst the blood mist, Shuten-dōji roared to the sky.

Ibaraki-dōji stepped out of the Gate of Hell, and the demon mark on his right arm turned into black flames and ignited.

Yuwu Zun raised his sword.

The blade flashed, piercing through the blood mist.

"Burning Star - Asura Manifestation - Ten Thousand Ghosts Return to Their Tomb!"

The world lost its color in an instant.

He transformed into a martial god who was one with all ghosts.

Blood-red armor floats, ghostly heads surround.

Blood and flames merged into a massive suit of armor, blotting out the sky.

The dead in the tomb stood up, and the sound of bones cracking echoed one after another.

They were clad in rotting armor and dragged rusty swords.

One by one, they rose from the sea of ​​blood—

Thousands of people, tens of thousands of ghosts, blood flowing like a tide.

The sea of ​​corpses surged, overflowing the ruins and heading straight for the God of Fate.

The scene resembled a funeral in a ghost kingdom.

Solemn, terrifying, yet full of order.

Yu Wuzun knelt on one knee, raising his long sword high with both hands.

Whispers turned into roars:

"My blade can slay gods and Buddhas, and cut down anything that disobeys His Highness Abe!"

"War is a sacrifice, death is a ritual!"

The ghost army roared in response, their voices shattering the illusory mirror.

Blood overflowed, tomb lamps lit up, and ten thousand ghosts cried out in unison.

Shuten-dōji's laughter rolled through the thunder, like an ancient god drinking his last jar of strong liquor.

Shizuka Gozen, suspended in mid-air, slightly closed her fan.
Her smile was both gentle and alluring.

"gentlemen,"

She looked up at Si Ming.
"Tonight, let us give our lives as the prologue to our divine kingdom."

Si Ming did not answer, but only raised his eyes to look at the blood-red tide.

His mask cast two faint beams of light in the firelight.

It looked like it was smiling, but also like it was waiting for something.

Beneath the crimson hue, countless ghosts stirred.

Yu Wuzun's sword had already fallen.

Asura, proclaim the decree.

After the Martial Venerable Burned the Star, the entire battlefield was filled with the smell of blood and iron.

Shizuka Gozen quietly watched the expanse of red, her fingertips lightly brushing the edge of the fan.

Her eyelashes trembled slightly, and moonlight slipped through her hair, illuminating her grey-gold eyes.

“Your Highness said,” she whispered, “that the night in the Kingdom of God should not be filled only with killing.”

Burning Star: Fallen Dream Reincarnation - Dream-Painting Celestial Maiden.

She raised her arms and slowly unfolded her sleeves.

Blood flowed from her wrist, dispersing into a red mist in the air before congealing into ink.

She dipped her fingertips in blood and "wrote" in the air, stroke by stroke.

Each stroke glowed with a faint light.

Words transform into petals, and petals transform into paintings.

The scroll rose from the ground and spread outwards along the Blood Tomb and the Ghost Lantern.

The world is being written inch by inch beneath her feet.

The paper was covered with ink and blood, intertwined.

The ruins are gone, replaced by a quaint "dream courtyard":
Incense burners, egrets, and lotus ponds fill the courtyard; vermilion gates and curtains adorn the walls.

The wind carried the scent of sandalwood and moonlight, masking the stench of blood.

The air around every life she observes begins to fold and fold.

The shape of the bones is changing.

Armor was transformed into official robes, and sharp blades into folding fans.

The ghost soldiers knelt down and became "subjects";
The deceased's head was repainted with an expression, becoming a "servant";
Even the blood-red silhouette of the Imperial Warrior was depicted as "Divine Warrior General" by Princess Kaguya's silver light.

They were all "assigned".

"Emperor, subject, prostitute, servant, monk..."

Shizuka Gozen's voice sounded like she was reciting poetry:

Everyone is a page in a story.
Everyone will eventually take their final bow in their dreams.

Her smile was as gentle as water under the moonlight.

The sky slowly cracked open, and the silvery moon rose.

Princess Kaguya's phantom descended from the moon, overlapping with Shizuka Gozen's figure—

The two merged into one, and between light and shadow, a pair of eerie eyes were revealed.

When that light shone, the chessboard squares under Siming's feet were "pressed" by an inch by the light from the paper fan.

Shizuka approached, her smile gentle: "Your Highness has sealed off this building with the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons."

Her lip movements were soft, yet sharp as a knife.

“Kill you here, sir, and the Card of Destiny will be ours.”

Si Ming looked up, his gaze unfocused beneath the mask.

"Oh? Then you have to learn how to win first."

Yu Wuzun has stopped speaking.

He simply pressed forward step by step, the blade drawing a red line, forcefully compressing the space around Si Ming.

With each step, a ghost lantern exploded.

The blood and qi roared.

Shizuka Gozen raised her hand, and the floral and bird scroll painted on her fan unfurled—

Birds soared into the sky, and flower petals burst open.

That wasn't an explosion, but a silent annihilation.

The illusory clones caught in the crossfire instantly turned into dust.

Shuten-dōji's spiked club cleaved down from above, tearing a long groove in the air;
Ibaraki-doji swung his arm and severed the domain, even shattering a corner of the "illusory chessboard" of the God of Destiny.

The entire space became a hunting ground. The illusory clones of the Fate Master flickered among the chessboard squares, only to be annihilated time and again by the Flower Lightning.

Shizuka Gozen's "Dream Painting" not only depicts the world, but also the traces of her actions—

The mirror image of her reflection began to "mistake" under her moonlight.
The timing of the wave was half a beat too slow, and the angle of the attack was off by three points.

He felt as if he were being held back by a dream.

No matter how bright the light of Mirror Lake is, it cannot penetrate her "dream scroll".

Yuwu Zun's blood blade came close to him.

With nowhere left to retreat, Si Ming could only raise his hand.

"Place a piece on the chessboard."

The Black Pawns rose from the ground to fight against the horde of skeletons.

The black pawns charged forward in a line, unleashing waves of blood.

The white-horse knight broke through the formation and forcefully cleaved open the gates of hell.

But the opening that had just been created was "redrawn" by Shizuka Gozen in the next second.

She made a stroke in the air, and the paper covered reality.

The gap was rewritten as "floor".
The White Horse Knight was rewritten as "Horse Bone Statue".

The pages fell, and the petals fluttered down.

Si Ming chuckled softly, his voice slightly hoarse: "Well written."

He looked up, and moonlight refracted on the edge of his mask.

"But—your pen cannot write about me."

Both Yuwuzun and Jingyuqian were startled.

The next moment, blood and paper intertwined again, and a roar engulfed them both.

—A radiant moon hangs in the sky, while beneath my feet lie blood-soaked mounds and bone-strewn slopes.
The middle section of the paper fan features bursting flowers and birds.

The three layers of images, stacked together, form a true "scroll of hell".

The God of Fate stood in this dreamlike hunting scene.
Like a chess piece that shouldn't be in the painting.

The wind swept by, shattering the moonlight.

He stopped laughing.

Shizuka Gozen gently turned the tip of her fan.

The dream isn't over yet.

The sea of ​​blood roared, light flashed between paper and iron, and the air was torn to shreds.

The demon blade of the Imperial Warrior and the fan blade of the Shizuka Gozen intersected in mid-air. The moment they landed, the entire space seemed to be "sealed into a circle" by an invisible force.

This circle is their "divine hunting circle".

A shroud of light.

With a gentle tap of the tip of Shizuka Gozen's fan, silver light coalesced into a perfect moon.

The moonlight, like water and blood, fell from the sky and settled on the head of the God of Fate.

The shadow of the Fate Master froze in an instant.

In that silver light, his illusory chessboard began to "fade".
The lines of the pieces collapsed, and the image of the black pawn was gradually covered.
And on the layer of paper covering it—

It was written with one character: 臣 (chen).

"Role-based".

Shizuka Gozen's voice was gentle and low.

"Every dream needs an ending, and you—you're just the right one."

As the light fell, Yu Wuzun stepped into the blood wave.

Blood-red armor, sharp blades.

He strode forward, and behind him, Shuten-dōji raised his spiked club, while Ibaraki-dōji's domain overlapped with his.

"Your Highness's enemy is the rebel against the divine kingdom."

Yu Wuzun's voice was like a war drum.

"I will slay the rebels."

He drew his knife.

That single strike was accompanied by the roar of ten thousand ghosts.

The illusory corridor of the God of Fate flickered.
He forcibly "flashed" at an almost tearing speed.
Space shattered like a mirror.
But the giant blade still slashed past his side—

It was only half an inch off.

Half an inch, yet enough to be fatal.

Blood burst forth, and the flesh of the right half of his body was completely sliced ​​off.

Blood gushing out
He knelt down on one knee.
The air temperature plummeted, and blood mixed with steam to form a mist.

—The dungeon resurrection mechanism was not triggered.

He looked up, and a crack appeared in his mask.

In the shadow of that crevice,

Only a pair of eyes that are extremely cold.

The blockade of the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons.

Haruhisa's work.

He slowly exhaled, his voice low and deep: "...I see."

As Shizuka approached, the scent of fragrance mingled with the smell of blood.
Her voice was as soft as a loving mother's: "Stand still, sir. Don't move."

"We will cut, one stroke at a time—"

She leaned down and lightly touched his chest with the tip of her fan.

"Until the Lord of Destiny separates from you."

She looked up, her smile brighter than the moonlight: "When you become His Highness's sacrifice, I will write a beautiful eulogy for you."

Yuwu Zun has no expression;
He raised his sword and pointed it at the sky.

The blood-stained tomb lights up, and ten thousand ghost lanterns shine simultaneously.

The entire battlefield resembled a temple ritual.

He closed his eyes and recited softly:
"The kingdom of gods needs blood; the ceremony is about to begin."

"Your Highness Abe—witness my blade."

The sound of the wind beneath the blade transforms into prayer.

Si Ming took a step back.
The chessboard beneath their feet was soaked in blood.
Each cell flashed with white light, then went out one by one.

He raised his left hand.
The light gathered in his palm.

It has not yet solidified into a shape.
Princess Kaguya's fallen light fell once more—

The smooth surface brushed against his fingertips, burning his skin as it stretched his shadow to an elongated length.

Shizuka Gozen murmured:
"Those who are in a dream should all return to the dream."

Her figure was reflected in the silver moonlight.

Her skirt spread out in the blood.

Her fan was like a lotus, cold whether it was open or closed.

Yuwu Zun stepped forward.

Shuten-dōji and Ibaraki-dōji roared together.

The waves of ghosts surged and the ghost heads roared.

The sound of blood transformed into the drums of a sacrificial ceremony.

The blade fell.

this moment,
Time has lost its sound.

Si Ming's figure fell into the wave of blood, his right side completely torn apart.

Blood flowed into the ground through the cracks in the chessboard.

Disappeared into the boundless red.

He took a breath and struggled to prop himself up on his left arm.

Body temperature is dropping, and consciousness is fading.

What he heard was the clang of swords from Nobuna's side.

A roar that tore through the air with foxfire pierced through several layers of ukiyo-e prints.

Then, a deep roar—

The eight-tailed fox spirit, Tamamo-no-Mae, raises her head and cries out mournfully from the crack in the ukiyo-e print.

Si Ming raised his eyes, and in that instant, a bloody light entered his vision.

"She... also became a star?"

He murmured something, his lips slightly pursed, a smile playing on his lips, but he couldn't quite manage it.

Shizuka leaned forward slightly, her voice returning to the gentle tone of "wife".

"It's time to dream, sir."

Si Ming's breathing seemed to be cut off.

Life was erased by ink.

The moon was swallowed by blood-red light.

Blood, knife, moon, lamp, shadow, sound.

Everything froze into a painting.

Shizuka Gozen gently raised her hand.

Closed Fan —

—The curtain falls.

The air stood still, and all the ghosts fell silent.

Only the brightest ghost lamp swayed gently in front of Si Ming.

When the divine kingdom uses sacrifices as paper, and when the dream hunt uses blood as ink;

Who is offering sacrifices, and who is being sacrificed?
It depends on whose night is longer.

—From "Postscript to the Night Battle at Tokyo Tower"

(End of this chapter)