Chapter 24: Truth and Deception
The dark mask absorbed a large amount of black mist once again, rising from the river and forming a real body. The kind of enemy that can't be defeated no matter what is terrifying.
The fear aura from Dark River was maximized, and the first to break down was Meng Xi. He cried out, rushing toward Fu Bin lying on the ground, shouting, "I don't care anymore, I just want to avenge my wife and children, I just want to kill Fu Bin."
Luo Yan reacted quickly, using her agility to get in front of Fu Bin, spreading her arms and saying, "Fu Bin was just confused by the mask. He's just a mentally ill person driven crazy by external temptations. He knows he was wrong now. Killing him won't bring your family back. Why not let him do something meaningful for society?"
"If you must kill, kill me! Just spare him!" Luo Yan said, closing her eyes and continuing, "Killing won't solve anything. You still have children. Let go of hatred, and you'll be happier."
"You..." Before Luo Yan could continue, she felt something sticky on her body. Even with her eyes closed, she felt a darkness, followed by pain, and then she felt nothing.
The others, on the verge of collapse, saw the whole process. Under various tortures and fears, Meng Xi had lost almost all his sanity. With his SAN value reduced to single digits, he opened his mouth, shooting out a scarlet tongue, wrapping Luo Yan into his mouth, chewing a few times, and then spitting out a mask before swallowing it. [TL: Well, she just asked to get Killed]
Ignoring the reactions of the others, Meng Xi's insane eyes fixed on the immobilized Fu Bin. His tongue shot out again, swallowing Fu Bin in one gulp, leaving only a few white light spots drifting away.
After devouring Fu Bin, Meng Xi lost all sanity, with his SAN value hitting zero. He charged straight at the nearest beings, which were Sloth and the others. Dark River waved a hand, and a weapon formed of black mist shot out, piercing Meng Xi's heart. His chest exploded, and his massive body fell before Dark River.
His monstrous body gradually returned to normal, and a tentacle formed by Sloth's floating creatures removed the mask from Meng Xi's face. His body shrank visibly, and Shadow Assassin appeared in front of the Lust mask, picking it up.
"Now we've recovered two masks. I advise you to give up and merge with us," Sloth said, securing the masks and looking at the others still struggling in the fear field.
"If you release Xiao Zhang from the ice, allowing us to get the mask, I'll let you go. How about that? We don't want to offend the Great Yue Kingdom unnecessarily, but if you refuse, I'll have to kill you to disable your abilities," Sloth said, probing the limits of the response team.
These response team members surely had hidden strengths, so Lu Li kept up the pressure. The previous continuous threats not only boosted the mask bearers' determination, making their original sin abilities stronger but also tested the Negation Ring.
Now, these mask bearers had reached the peak of their current strength. To go further, they needed more time to cultivate. But Lu Li didn't have that time, so he decided to reap the harvest directly, continuing to pressure the response team.
Zheng Long endured his inner fear with difficulty, finally smiling bitterly. Grabbing the chain, he charged at Dark River and the others. He didn't want to continue. He could feel that his courage and faith would break again if he kept going. "Damn it, I was supposed to be the protagonist of a dark story, but just wait, even if I die, I'll come back!"
A black blade pierced Zheng Long as he ran. Before he closed his eyes forever, he thought maybe he'd see his parents ten years younger and his still-alive brother next time he woke up, making up for the regrets of this life. Or maybe he'd wake up in a strange place, rising to the top. Of course, he might also hear, "You're the best candidate this time," before losing consciousness completely.
Picking up Zheng Long's Arrogance mask again, the Seven Deadly Sins now had only the frozen Xiao Zhang and the still-hidden Li Yuanfeng. Glancing at the struggling Bing Bing and the trembling Xiao Mi in the distance, Dark River walked over, lifting the fallen Lao Hu by the throat. Black mist formed a weapon in his hand, and he stabbed it into Lao Hu's thigh, seeing Bing Bing flinch but not move.
Understanding something, Dark River beheaded Lao Hu, then cut open his stomach but didn't find the frog. Looking up at the calm Bing Bing, he realized everything was being frozen. The scene turned real as Bing Bing appeared in front of him, hands pressing on him, freezing everything. The black mist body turned to ice, the floating mist freezing like ice flowers in the sky.
Lao Hu retracted his hand from Shadow Assassin, forming a blade and decapitating him. He kept vomiting blood. Lao Hu, once known for his flawless illusions, could have played everyone if not for his injuries. With Sloth the only one left, seeing the mask bearers' corpses and Bing Bing approaching, he smiled and said, "You're ruthless. Those people fought alongside you, yet you abandoned them."
"The essence of illusions is blending truth and lies. If I hadn't abandoned them, my illusions wouldn't have fooled you, or rather, you." Lao Hu coughed blood, swallowing the frog he kept in his pocket. His face looked slightly better, but he laughed madly, the side effects of the God's Blood still torturing him, like a looping nightmare.
"The so-called mask battle never happened. You just used it to continue the evil god summoning ritual!" Lao Hu said, piecing together information from Shadow Assassin, while signaling to Xiao Mi.