Thank You for Your Cooperation

“Killing this family isn't the hard part. It doesn't even qualify as a good show, and as a game, it lacks any difficulty whatsoever. That doesn't match your expectations. Therefore, since you're forcing me to do this, it means there must be some problem hidden within this family—something that would catch me off guard, leave me unable to cope, or even cause me to suffer a backlash. I'm afraid only an ending like that would qualify as a 'good show' in your words, am I right?”

Hearing Lynch's rapid-fire exposure, the young lady in fancy clothes's eyes narrowed. She covered her face with her black fan, smiling without a word.

“Yet both the master and mistress of the house are dead. Although their deaths were disgusting, they can hardly be considered troublesome for me—at most, a slight surprise. If even this counts as a good show, then your bar for entertainment is far too low. Therefore, the only possibility is that the issue lies with Nara. Coincidentally, this child is dripping with anomalies from head to toe.”

“After Luke read that book, Goddess of the Black Fan, if my previous judgment was correct, the normal process should have been for Luke to be affected first. He would start having those strange dreams, which would then spread to his wife and daughter. But in reality, nothing happened to Luke; instead, Nara was the first to dream, as if she were the source of the infection. This is an anomaly at the very root. I felt suspicious from the beginning, so I've been observing.”

“From the moment I broke into their home, her reactions didn't resemble those of an ordinary child. She cried and threw tantrums, but her crying was incredibly superficial. Even when her parents died right in front of her, she only shed a few symbolic tears to go through the motions. Most of the time, she was curious and observant. What kind of child acts like that? More importantly, her parents didn't find anything strange about it at all, just as the other people don't find anything strange about this city.”

“If I only harbored doubts before, her subsequent two warnings completely confirmed to me that she was a problem. First warning me, then warning her father, as if she were terrified that the conflict between us wouldn't be intense enough. Unless her intent was to instigate a fight between us, even the stupidest person wouldn't do such a thing. But it was precisely this anomaly that made me realize there's another explanation for my initial doubt.”

“It's not that the book Luke read had no effect. Perhaps the thing creating the influence merely used him as a guide to take effect directly on Nara, and then Nara infected the others. If that's truly the case, that thing is still inside Nara right now. If I were to fire a shot, what on earth would pop out?”

“Maybe it's just a child. Won't you find out once you pull the trigger? Cowardly and fearful, not even daring to shoot—you've wasted everything we prepared for you.”

The eyes behind the round fan seemed filled with laughter, yet her gaze was ice-cold. Her voice was coquettish, but it sent shivers down one's spine:

“I have already given you a chance to choose. Since you do not wish to end the game the easy way, then die here.”

With a wave of her hand, the bodies of the five black-robed figures behind her suddenly began to swell and twist, transforming into the spider-like monsters he had encountered before. Waving their sharp claws and tentacles, the monsters closed in on Lynch.

“Are you sure I'm the one who's going to die?”

Lynch took another step back, already reaching the edge of the stone slab. The stone slab was not flush with the ground but raised, resembling a platform as white as jade. Just moments ago, Nara had been crawling and playing on it, but now, having absorbed blood, the platform had turned completely illusory, a blurry silhouette of the city emerging on its surface.

“Stop him.”

The monster girl with the black fan finally seemed to grow anxious, shouting loudly as the surrounding monsters abruptly accelerated, closing in rapidly.

“Heh, don't even think about it.”

Lynch made a move as if to leap onto the stone slab, but suddenly let out a cold sneer. With a flick of his wrist, he smashed two bottles of Flame Oil onto the ground. As they exploded, he slipped on his ring, turning his body into fire to merge with the exploding flames. This caused the five monsters to completely lose their target, leaving them with no choice but to plunge into the sea of fire.

Meanwhile, utilizing the lightness of his fire form, Lynch moved at high speed within the sea of flames and instantly materialized in front of the monster girl with the black fan. The figure formed of fire was gradually returning to solid form as his half-illusory, half-real fist, trailing a long streak of fire, slammed heavily toward her face.

While astonishment was still frozen in her eyes, the flaming fist struck its target dead-on, smashing violently into the bridge of her nose.

“For Clara.” A straight punch to the eyes.

“For Luke.” An uppercut to the face.

“For myself.” A revolver then appeared in his palm, and he fired three consecutive shots directly into her face.

In the blink of an eye, the young lady was blasted backward. Everything happened too fast; the monsters didn't even have time to react, only able to turn their heads and stare at the scene in shock.

Yet the moment she flew backward, Lynch's cane had already transformed into a segmented whip, wrapping around her and dragging her back by force, followed by a vicious knee strike straight to her face.

“Still trying to toy with me? Still trying to trick me into jumping in myself?”

The cane stabbed viciously into the monster girl's stomach.

“That thing clearly looks like an altar. Do you think I don't fucking know where an altar leads?”

With a wave of his left hand, he forcefully stuffed his last bottle of Flame Oil into her ruptured wound.

“Mr. Klin's experience and strength were ten times greater than mine. If it were really that simple, he would have escaped long ago. How could he have ended up as a Twisted One?”

Jamming the muzzle of his gun directly into the wound, he fired three consecutive fire bullets. The explosions ignited the Flame Oil inside, turning the monster girl with the black fan into a raging ball of fire.

“I...”

“Roar!”

Just as Lynch was about to continue his assault, the burning fireball suddenly exploded. The girl's body swelled several times over, and the resulting shockwave blasted Lynch backward. As the dust settled, the monster girl with the black fan had transformed into a bloated humanoid monster over three meters tall, with tentacles flailing behind her back—exactly as Lynch had glimpsed through his mystery intuition earlier.

The open flames on the monster's body had been extinguished, but wisps of white smoke still drifted from her. Her charred, cracked skin revealed raw, bright red flesh beneath, and the smell of burnt, rotting meat wafted through the air—a truly appetizing sight.

“Roar.”

The bloated monster girl roared in anger once more. Her materialized tentacles reared up into the sky, then stabbed down violently toward Lynch from all directions.

There was nowhere to run, yet Lynch's eyes shone with excitement and madness. Gripping his cane tightly, he stood tall and straight, suddenly taking a step forward. He spread his arms and tilted his head back, leaving himself completely undefended.

“Come on, do you dare?”

Dust, tentacles, flying soil, and weeds completely swallowed the proudly standing Lynch. Within the dust, everything instantly fell into dead silence.

“Hehehehe, as expected, my bet was correct.”

Lynch's dark yet confident laughter suddenly echoed from the chaos. As the dust gradually cleared, it revealed that the tentacles had all brushed past him, slamming into the dirt on the ground.

Meanwhile, Lynch, standing at the center, was completely unharmed. He tipped his top hat and bowed slightly to the bloated monster.

“Since even someone as experienced as Mr. Klin couldn't escape, I figured the method of escape must lie completely outside of normal human cognition. At the very least, it would be something a normal person wouldn't dare to try, even up until the moment they are completely twisted.”

“And there was only one option I could think of that fit: finding life within death.”

With that, Lynch drew his handgun and pointed it at his own forehead, saying with a cold laugh:

“The simplest way to escape is to pull the trigger right here. Am I right? I told you, I've seen right through you all.”

The massive monster did not continue to threaten him, but instead took a few steps back under Lynch's imposing aura.

“Unfortunately, I won't do that, because I'm currently very displeased with being played.” Lynch casually put away his gun, clenching his fist with a half-smile as he said, “I told you, you get to announce the start of the game, but when the game ends can only be decided by me. I haven't had enough fun yet.”

Lynch leisurely lit a pipe of soul-returning grass and took a deep drag. Then, he suddenly pointed at the petite figure nearby—little Nara, who was watching the scene with great interest.

“Come out, you hiding piece of trash. I've already found a way to leave. Furthermore, I've guessed that aside from allowing myself to be contaminated, only your appearance can destroy my soul in this world and make me die here. Hehehe, now our positions are reversed. I will give you a choice. Whether you can keep me here forever depends on whether you—this wretched, malicious evil god who only dares to crawl in the dark and peek in secret—dare to face a mortal's blasphemy in person.”

With that, he spun around and fired a shot at the statue, then stared at Nara's small body with a provocative, cold smile.

“Heh, a mortal gazing directly upon the Supreme... Although it is merely an identity, such a request is rarely heard. Then I shall satisfy you.”

A mature female voice—the cold voice from earlier—echoed from Nara's body. Then, she made a motion as if covering her face with a fan. In the next instant, within Lynch's field of vision, Nara's body suddenly grew, transforming in a flash into a mature noblewoman who looked identical to the statue. Her eyes held a freezing smile as she stared at him with complete indifference.

The moment the noblewoman revealed her form, the surrounding monsters suddenly let out a chorus of shrieks. Their flesh quickly vanished as if melting, turning into a cloud of red fog that merged into her body. Only the bloated monster that the young lady with the black fan had turned into remained, now trembling violently as she groveled at the noblewoman's feet.

The moment Lynch laid eyes on the noblewoman, his entire mind suddenly shook as a powerful shockwave slammed into him.

Light and shadow shifted rapidly. It felt as though an endless stream of bizarre knowledge was pouring into his soul. His brain throbbed with intense pain, and his soul swelled wildly, as if it might shatter at any moment.

There was a price to pay for a mortal gazing directly upon an evil god. Even with the aid of the soul-returning grass, Lynch nearly collapsed on the spot, almost merging with the noblewoman like the other monsters.

Yet Lynch showed no panic. Instead, a sinister smile spread across his face.

“This time, you're the ones being toyed with.”

“You've been tricked.”

“Thank you for your cooperation. And now, goodbye.”

With that, Lynch gently exhaled a puff of smoke. Accompanying his movement, a dazzling crimson moon rose from behind him.

His Divine Authority was fully charged on the spot, and the crimson light shone once more.

Lynch leaped up violently, his fist drawing upon the moonlight as he smashed it down toward the noblewoman's face.