I am the protagonist

A fist broke through his sword shadow and struck his cheek.

No, this guy is slowly exceeding my limits.

The speed has been gradually surpassed, and the reflexes have also been gradually surpassed.

The attack's power hasn't increased at all, but the intensity of the deathly flames is gradually increasing.

This rate of progress is too abnormal.

He blocked the next round of attacks with his sword. Even the Phantom Knight broke out in a cold sweat after facing these rounds of attacks.

His eyes swept over the two people standing to the side.

[Gokudera Hayato and Yamamoto Takeshi are definitely not weak either, and if I prepare to kill this man, the two of them will attack me simultaneously.]

Having already grasped Sasagawa Ryohei's level ten years ago, he didn't think the other two were weaklings.

As people from ten years ago, Gokudera Hayato is much calmer than people of this era, and Yamamoto Takeshi's aura is much sharper. All of this has convinced Phantom Knight that the other two are definitely not weak, and may even be stronger.

"Lord Irie."

"Communications have been destroyed, and we are now unable to call for help."

Irie was already thinking about how to break the deadlock, but at this moment, he could only dejectedly think of breaking the deadlock with strength.

“Let’s step back. Our presence is now affecting the Phantom Knight’s battle. If the Vongola targets us, he’ll have to take care of us.”

"Ah."

Cerberos covered Lord Irie's retreat.

The battlefield doesn't belong to them now; their presence would only be a hindrance. At least for now, they can't interfere with the Phantom Knights' battle.

"Pfft!"

Cerbero collapsed to the ground, powerless.

"Irie... Sir... run away..."

Cerbero was pierced by the ice spear and fell to the ground.

"!?"

"Cerbero!"

This scene really startled Irie.

"!?"

The Phantom Knight, who was fighting Sasagawa not far away, was also startled by this turn of events, but he could only quickly regain his composure, otherwise the situation would become even more unfavorable if he were defeated.

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of two figures walking from behind.

This is truly the worst-case scenario.

[The Vongola X and the Vongola Mist Guardian, who had been hiding in the shadows, have appeared.]

The Phantom Knight's heart sank completely. This situation was the worst he could ever imagine. Surrounded by enemies on all sides, he couldn't even guarantee he could leave alive.

"You probably have nowhere else to go."

Tsuna's calm voice broke the silence.

"You also have no choice right now."

"So now you're just a bargaining chip in my hands. If I'm not happy, I'll kill you right now, Irie Masakazu."

Irie was completely devastated. Being used as a bargaining chip was the most humiliating thing imaginable.

This unexpected turn of events made the Phantom Knights on the other side hesitant to act rashly.

"continue."

"Keep fighting Gokudera and the others. If you win all of them, I'll let you go."

The Phantom Knight glanced at Lord Irie, who was already under control, and his eyes lowered slightly.

I have no other choice right now.

I never imagined I'd face this situation.

He drew his sword and faced the three guardians before him with seriousness.

[We cannot kill any of them; we must defeat them, otherwise Lord Irie will be killed.]

With the enemy's warlock behind them, it won't be easy to pull any tricks.

It seems this is the only battle we have left.

If it's just about raw strength, the Phantom Knight is not to be underestimated. Moreover, from the previous exchange, he could sense that Sasagawa Ryohei's movements were somewhat clumsy, which was probably due to a lack of combat experience.

So what he needs to do now is work as a sparring partner.

Far away in another country, Bai Lan was watching the scene unfold with great interest.

"Oh my, I never imagined that Sawada Tsunayoshi was like this ten years ago."

"I never expected that Chrome of the Vongola would have such illusionary techniques to deceive everyone over there, and even at this moment he can deceive us who are seeing through the machine."

Such amazing illusion skills really surprised Byakuran.

[No matter which parallel world Chrome-Doraemon possesses this ability, only this world is special.]

[It was because Sawada Tsunayoshi changed ten years ago that all the family members changed as well.]

"Indeed, he is an exceptionally skilled sorcerer. Even after watching him closely, I couldn't discern when he began preparing the illusion."

"Moreover, some special processing was done on this shot from the beginning, so the opposing warlock already knew someone was watching."

Bai Lan smiled slightly; he wasn't surprised at all by this situation.

"You really are the most interesting person I've met so far, Sawada Tsunayoshi."

"Lord Byakuran, are you saying that all of this was orchestrated by the Vongola X?"

"Yes, that's right~"

Kikyo's expression changed slightly. She hadn't expected that Byakuran would value the Vongola X so much.

"He is different from everyone I've met in other parallel universes."

“He knew about my existence from the very beginning, and now he should be on almost the same level as me.”

"Hey! Byakuran, you mean that indecisive guy is just like you!?"

These words are obviously hard to believe, but it is precisely under these circumstances that Byakuran feels them more and more intensely.

"Haha~"

“He is not the Sawada Tsunayoshi of this era. Even if the Sawada Tsunayoshi of this era had some minor tricks, they were nothing special. But he is different.”

"...Sigh~ But to say that a kid from ten years ago was on the same level as you, Byakuran, is just too unbelievable."

"Isn't this too fake?"

Bai Lan knew that many people couldn't understand these words, but only he himself truly understood them.

[A destined rival, that feeling seems to have been there from the moment Xiaozheng began his actions.]

It's ironic, really. Even though his ability to peer into parallel worlds had gradually disappeared, this feeling was growing stronger every day. At this moment, he could even clearly sense where his destined person was.

Sawada Tsunayoshi, we'll be officially meeting soon.

I'll be watching closely to see how you'll end this game.

Chapter Seventy-Seven: The Eternal Prison

After observing Bai Lan in the office for a while, several of her subordinates sensed something was amiss.

"Bai Lan, has that boxer become stronger than before?"

After watching for a while, Linglan had a vague feeling about it.

"Not only has our strength increased, but even the death flames within our bodies look completely different. The purity of those death flames is no less than ours."

This change wasn't just noticed by Suzuran; others have seen it too.

It was because of this that the few people who had previously been indifferent gradually became more serious.

“Look at the rings on their hands.”

Kikyo immediately zoomed in and focused on Sasagawa Ryohei's Vongola ring.

"Hmm? Byakuran-sama, that ring doesn't look like a Vongola ring."

Pomegranate doesn't remember the Vongola ring looking like this.

He remembered that apart from Sky's ring, the other Vongola rings were not set with gemstones, but this ring clearly had a large gemstone.

"Oh... I don't know either."

Byakuran had already noticed the unusual thing about the Vongola ring.

"Perhaps Sawada Tsunayoshi is the one who prompted the Vongola Rings to change, or perhaps that is what the Vongola Rings originally looked like."

"Is it because of the different poses on the rings that the Guardian's abilities have improved so much?"

However, the worry that should have been there in the past did not appear on Bai Lan's face; instead, she was even more excited.

"He should be stronger than his guardian."

"I really want to meet him soon... Well, I'll just have to be patient for now. The really interesting things should be saved for last."

"Lord Bailan, aren't you getting a little too excited?"

Kikyo found Byakuran's reaction strange.

"Haha~"

Bai Lan showed absolutely no signs of anger; on the contrary, she was more gentle and more emotional than ever before.

"Does Kikyo really want to know the reason?"

"Yes."

"is it?"

Bai Lan paused for a few seconds before deciding to share her thoughts.

"Kikyo, actually... I've lost interest in this world."

"!?"

Everyone present was startled by those words.

Only Bai Lan herself had a slight smile on her face when she said this.

"Kikyo must have heard me say that, right?"

"I have conquered all the other parallel worlds and obtained 73 of that world, but obtaining those things has not given me any power."

If any parallel world obtains 73, then all parallel worlds will begin to connect, and all the gates will be completely opened.

However, he couldn't do such a thing in any other world, so Byakuran gradually lost interest in 73.

"So I gradually realized that my interest in that 73 thing had gradually made me lose myself, which led to this nightmare."

"For me in any parallel world, this is an endless nightmare. As long as the Mare Ring exists, my nightmare will not stop. No matter how many times I reincarnate, the Mare Ring will always drive me to pursue the power of 73."

"And in each of my worlds, I would uncontrollably create such a nightmarish parallel world."

"At this moment, this parallel world is no longer my toy, but a shackle that completely binds me."

"It has permanently plunged me into an endless nightmare."

Bai Lan wore a smile, but anyone could hear the sorrow in her voice.

I used to think I was a god who could exist in parallel worlds.

But in the end, they were nothing more than mortals being played by the gods.

In fact, Bai Lan had long felt that his fate was to be a pawn played by the gods. It was the gods' mockery and his obsession with never being able to fulfill his wishes that led him into this eternal prison.

“This endless prison needs to be broken by someone, but I am not the one who can do it.”

Bai Lan stared intently at the person in the picture.

"It's as if our fates were ordained by God."