Chapter 67: Only One Winner
"Louis, I'm a person who deserves to die — nobody wants me alive in this world..."
Halfway through their drinking, before Louis could say anything, Sylus began clutching his head and roaring.
Louis squinted at him, his words meaningful: "No one is born deserving of death."
"Louis, you always like to preach morals, but you're not exactly happy yourself." Sylus smiled.
Louis: "..." He was sure Sylus was looking for a fight.
As if bored to death, Sylus pushed his glass away and said, "You're cruel — you make me remember things I shouldn't. If I could forget them, I could've been happy..."
"But it's okay. After all, I feel strangely relieved. I've avenged my parents. I dared to face the past — that means I've already won."
Louis nodded. "It's good that you know that."
"But—"
At that moment, Sylus suddenly slammed the table and stood up so hard that Louis startled and dropped his glass. A little angry, Louis frowned and looked up at Sylus: "What the hell are you going crazy about?!"
Sylus, huge like a bear, almost blocked out the light. He dropped his gaze to Louis, his eyes deep and unfathomable: "But you're my only friend, and you're not loyal! I have only one friend, and that's you, but you're always looking for other friends!"
The corner of Louis's eye twitched — Sylus had really lost it. "So what? Are you okay? I only have one close friend, you, but I also need other friends. Even a super best friend isn't so close that there can only be one person."
"But clearly I only have you!"
Sylus roared, then immediately grabbed Louis by the throat.
Louis didn't rush to struggle. He felt Sylus's grip tightening, yet his face stayed strangely calm: "So what do you want, Sylus? Don't you already have your dream lover? Is acting like this your way of trying to marry me off?"
Sylus froze at that, then his expression began to turn thoughtful.
Louis's face went dark instantly. "You bastard — die!"
With that, countless tentacles burst out from Louis's back, forming sharp points that shot straight at Sylus.
Sylus didn't dodge — he was pinned to the ground by Louis.
Louis straightened up, looking down at him from above, his voice icy: "I'll just consider you dead already. That's that."
With those words, he turned to leave, but the sound of air being torn apart suddenly rang out. Looking back, he saw Sylus standing tall, black wings spread wide behind him, like a monstrous creature in the night.
Feathers shot toward Louis without the slightest mercy.
Louis dodged swiftly, his gaze cold as he stared at Sylus: "So today, you want one of us to die, is that it?"
Sylus shook his head. "No. I'm only trying to take back what belongs to me."
"Madman," Louis sneered, then lunged without hesitation. Tentacles burst from his flesh, their sharp tips gleaming as they drove straight at Sylus.
"666, prep the escape route — I can't win this," Louis said in his mind.
666 suddenly replied, "That's not too bad, my lord. It's shifting the relationship from friendship to love — our mission's complete! Once Aboli looks for you, you can take her as your second wife. Everything will go smoothly!"
Louis: "..."
He was utterly speechless!
"Do you even realize the crap you're saying? You're telling me to marry Sylus to complete the mission?"
Sensing the fury in Louis's tone, 666 quickly shook its head: "No, no, my lord, I'm only concerned about your safety. Let's just endure a little for now. Besides, Sylus doesn't look like in love with you — it's more of a psychological problem, a lack of security. I think I'm right: the soul fragments are genuinely drawn to you."
Yes, a psychological problem. After all, the so-called protagonists of this world were nothing but lunatics. Lucas and Luna didn't love him. Aboli didn't love him. And Sylus definitely didn't love him.
By now, Sylus had forced Louis back. Louis's face darkened. He knew full well that this so-called system prioritized mission completion above all else — it wanted him alive, sure, but beyond that, it was useless, offering no real help at critical moments like this.
Louis transformed into a mass of black matter, quickly slipping out of the garden.
But then, a transparent wall with black light suddenly materialized, forming a cylindrical barrier blocking his escape.
"666, what do we do, what do we do, what do we do?!" At times like this, even if Louis disliked 666, it was still the only thing to share his feelings.
666 stared at Sylus's wings, blotting out the sky, equally panicked: "Didn't you say Aboli would come looking for you?!"
"That's right, she should've been here already..."
No sooner had Louis spoken than a cracking sound echoed through the air. The barrier surrounding them suddenly split apart at lightning speed, the fractures spreading wider and wider until it shattered completely.
666 shouted: "She's here, our female lead!"
From the sky descended Aboli, her pure white wings keeping her aloft. She still bore Lily's outward appearance, but her eyes radiated an aura that could not be concealed.
Louis looked up, murmuring: "That's right, the female lead."
Aboli folded her wings, diving straight down like an arrow. The great spear in her hand thrust toward Sylus, wrapped in immense energy.
Sylus turned, wings spread wide, lips curling in disdain as he looked at her: "A defeated loser who should've fled with her tail between her legs dares to come back here? Fine then — this time, I'll kill you so completely you'll never rise again!"
He didn't dodge at all—a sphere of black energy condensed in his hand. The two forces collided head-on, sparks and lightning bursting from the clash, before exploding into a thunderous blast that shook the entire grand tower.
The garden was utterly destroyed, battered flowers scattering, the greenhouse collapsing into shards, and the ground rumbling and splitting apart.
Now, only two black and white angels hovered in the sky, locked in a direct standoff.
Blinding light streamed from Aboli's wounded face, and her body swiftly returned to its true form. Cold as ice, her silver eyes fixed on Sylus: "Louis is leaving."
Sylus laughed: "I thought Louis was nothing more than a pawn in your little game. What now, do you think I'd treat him worse than you?"
Aboli frowned: "That was the past." From now on, she would never be that way again.
She leveled her spear forward, her expression more resolute than ever before. This was no longer her game.
"Only one of us can claim the throne. I, princess of the Heavenly Clan, will sit upon it — for the honor of my bloodline and my own honor!"
Sylus roared with laughter, black spheres swirling around him: "Is that so? Enough talk — that seat belongs only to the strongest!"
With that, they clashed. Thunder rolled across the heavens, black clouds swallowed the sky, and the earth quaked in waves. Looking up, all one could see were the relentless flashes of light tearing through the darkness above the royal tower.