NOVEL NEXT Ch. 29
Chapter 29
“Lady Mercury, do you still remember how the Bicolor Realm got its name?”
In the familiar study at that moment, a small, elegant White Dragon coiled lazily above the teacup.
“Why bring this up out of the blue right now?” Lady Mercury shot the White Dragon a glance.
“Just feeling a bit nostalgic, that's all.” He cast a look at the night outside the window and shook his head.
“This world started with only two colors—black or white, nothing in between.”
Before Lady Mercury could respond, he kept going on his own.
“Black stood for the chaos of the world, white for its truth.”
“And now we've lost the white. The whole place is just one big stretch of black.”
Lady Mercury replied evenly, “The Ring of Truth getting shattered... well, that was unavoidable.”
“Vandall—the first Outer God to tumble into the Bicolor Realm. He's also the one who smashed the Ring of Truth.” The White Dragon went on. “If it weren't for that bastard, things here wouldn't be such a mess.”
Lady Mercury stayed utterly composed, though. This story had gone down ages ago—countless years, really—and she'd heard it a million times.
It was just the same old tired tale, the kind that barely registered with her anymore. The White Dragon was young, though, which was why he kept brooding over it.
“Honestly, even if those Otherworlders actually pull their weight, I still can't figure out how we'd deal with Vandall.” The White Dragon grumbled. “And let's not get started on how few useful ones I've even seen.”
“That guy you decided to rush this time? He'll probably end up dead in that town.” He flapped his wings, as if pronouncing Luo En's fate ahead of time. “Your plan was extreme, if you ask me.”
Winterless Town was crawling with countless Evil Gods. Hardly any ordinary person made it out alive.
Sure, the Evil Gods' followers weren't powerhouses, but to a fresh-off-the-boat Otherworlder? They were plenty deadly.
Just as the White Dragon opened his mouth to say more, Lady Mercury raised a hand in a sharp shushing gesture, silencing him.
He had no idea why she was doing it and tried to speak up again.
“Our honored guest is on his way.” Lady Mercury tapped the teacup lightly, and a swirling vortex bloomed inside it.
“Wha—” The little White Dragon didn't even finish before the vortex yanked him in, and he vanished completely from the study.
As the White Dragon disappeared, an ornate door materialized slowly behind Lady Mercury's chair.
The door handle turned with a clear, melodic click.
“Creak—” The door eased open at a leisurely pace.
Lady Mercury sat there with elegant poise, facing the opening door. “Welcome, Mr. Luo En.”
The man stepping through was none other than Luo En, whom she'd dispatched to Winterless Town not long before. A few seconds later, Lilian and Moruna joined him in the study.
Lilian gave Lady Mercury a silent bow of respect, while Moruna fixed her with a gaze that bordered on cold indifference.
“Looks like you handled the task I gave you without a hitch, Mr. Luo En.” Lady Mercury smiled.
“Where do you get 'without a hitch' from?” Luo En arched a brow.
He'd nearly died in Winterless Town. Smooth? Hardly.
“I figured it'd take you around two months to get results.” Lady Mercury brushed off his irritation. “But it's only been four days since you headed to my Territory.”
She truly hadn't expected any death reports on Luo En—in fact, she'd gotten results in days. She'd pinned no real hopes on him, but this forced acceleration had actually worked, a pleasant surprise.
“So, Mr. Luo En, who exactly is the Culprit behind my Territory getting frozen solid?”
She knew Winterless Town was ground zero for the widespread freezing and that it teemed with Evil Gods. But the specific perpetrator? That she didn't know.
“The Mayor of Winterless Town. He meant to ice over the town itself—your Territory's other areas must've just gotten caught in the fallout.” Luo En laid it out straight.
“And where's this Mayor now?” Lady Mercury laced her fingers together, eyeing him with the look of someone in command.
“Dead. I buried him.” Luo En saw no point in fibbing.
Lady Mercury studied him closely. “In that case, a lot of this is just your word, Mr. Luo En.”
“I figured you'd say something like that.” Luo En tossed the ripped-open Scroll her way with a huff.
It had been wadded up once, but spread out, the runes on it were still sharp and legible.
Luo En gave a lightly edited version of the Winterless Town events, relaying it to Lady Mercury.
He cut out the visual projections and the Mayor's deceptions, playing up his own brutal clashes with the Evil Gods.
He delivered the tale with flair, nearly convincing himself—telling the unvarnished truth? That'd be for fools.
But whether Luo En's account held water or not didn't matter anymore.
The moment Lady Mercury spotted the Scroll from the Mage Tower, a pleased smile lit her face. “Ah, I see. My mistake—I misjudged you.”
She felt zero remorse for her earlier tone. “Can't be helped, really. I'm handing over a whole Territory here. If you hadn't delivered solid results, no way I'd follow through.”
“Lilian, everything Mr. Luo En's said checks out, right?” Lady Mercury glanced her way.
“Mr. Luo En is telling the truth.” Lilian wasn't sure why Lady Mercury—mind-reader extraordinaire—bothered asking her, but she answered anyway. “He came back covered in wounds, and Winterless Town is littered with Corpses.”
Lady Mercury's reason for double-checking was straightforward: her mind-reading powers felt oddly muted around Luo En.
“Freezing the town to stop people from going mad... It's extreme, sure, but I get it.” Lady Mercury nodded. “No need to go after his family, then.”
“Even if you wanted to, they're probably all gone anyway.” Luo En said it flatly.
Lady Mercury paused, then replied, “Oh? How tragic.”
As she spoke, her eyes zeroed in on Luo En's Left Hand. “Mr. Luo En, when did you get that Tattoo on your Left Hand?”
The deep black lines twisting across it were impossible to ignore.
“No idea. Woke up one morning, and there it was.” Luo En lied without so much as a twitch—since they'd all been playing him, fair's fair in return.
“Woke up with it? Now that's something.” The corner of Lady Mercury's mouth curved into a subtle smile.