Role Playing the Dark Horse Character

Chapter 115: Illusion

[????]

[Aaaaaaaah?!]

[Prophet, Yu Xiao, villain?!]

[Cao aaaaaaaah!]

On the colorful manga, comment barrages kept popping up.

[One White Moonlight, a character practically a saint, is actually the mastermind behind everything?!]

[My dumb beauty suddenly turned all evil and wild, damn!]

[Everything Heige did was completely meaningless!]

[The Prophet killed that cat, then told Yiming it left, and they couldn’t find it.]

[Help, is Yu Xiao now trying to kill Heige too?]

[Am I a chopping board? In the end, even that light from Heige’s youth was fake, all fake, he has nothing!]

[The only light from Heige’s youth is now trying to kill him!]

[What’s the point of his existence?]

In the vast space, some floor tiles had different children’s drawings, like an innocent playground.

Childlike strokes, yet brimming with infinite killing intent.

This was an SS-rank ability user’s domain, with its own set of rules within.

This was Yu Xiao’s domain, his territory.

The domain’s master held supreme authority; even an SS-rank Lin Ran was subject to its rules.

Under rank suppression, all space-related domain-type abilities, including teleportation, were unusable.

The floor tiles pierced by sharp spikes depicted Tetris patterns, glowing with blue light around them.

In the domain, ‘blocks’ made of spikes and blades kept falling, and a black figure dodged swiftly among them.

The blocks followed that figure closely, as if it were a marker guiding their descent.

Yu Xiao was the player of this game, controlling where the blocks fell, chasing that ‘marker’.

This was the domain’s rule, an unavoidable killing intent, the formidable power of an SS-rank.

No escaping it.

A materialized long blade stabbed into the ground; the black-haired youth sought survival amidst unavoidable attacks.

Sharp-edged Tetris blocks pierced the ground, kicking up dust. In the next frame, the black-haired youth raised a hand, brushing over his wounded left shoulder.

Bright red seeped through his fingers, staining his pale fingertips.

Blood beads floated in the air in the frame.

Those calm, almost icy eyes looked through the sharp blade, gazing distantly at the spectator on the high platform.

The one who tore off the hypocritical mask, revealing a true face, treating pain and struggle, the suffering he caused, as mere amusement.

[God, is this really Yu Xiao, our baby?]

[Still calling him baby? Can you even say that?!]

[Aaaaaaaah, I’m going crazy! Heige saw him as salvation, walked the path of revenge for him, and it was all wrong in the end?]

[This is a joke, right? Tell me it’s a joke! Prophet! Shuang Buyan!]

The attacks in the domain continued; dodging was only possible the instant they landed.

In the frame, the domain’s master showed a side profile, as if in thought, playing his game while saying: “Where did I slip up? Was it because I didn’t act this way around you before? True, I didn’t care much about those test subjects. You can see the end of their lives at a glance—boring. Of course, if I’d known there was someone like you among them, I’d have taken a closer look.”

Blades formed a rectangular array, and spikes cast shadows enveloping the black-haired youth.

Amid the killing intent, Yu Xiao said: “Can’t blame me for this. I genuinely don’t remember you, not at all.”

Behind him, the domain’s foundation shifted, the falling blocks merging.

Blood slid from the youth’s forehead; the black-haired youth’s lips pressed flat, head lowered, staring at the massive shadow on the ground that made him seem utterly insignificant.

Melding into the darkness, as if even his own position was unclear, he said in that darkness: “That’s really…”

“Laughable.”

As if speaking of his own existence, or his past obsession, or the version of himself that once grasped the Prophet’s outstretched hand, mistakenly believing in that light.

Yet that false light, with those round, red pupils, with utmost purity, said: “Why resist?”

“Since I saved you, just obediently die by my hand. It’s a full circle, isn’t it? Isn’t that what you all love to call repaying kindness?”

Black bangs cast shadows, hiding his eyes, hiding his expression.

The black-haired youth stared at the ground, his mouth moving quietly, saying:

“Get lost.”

[Say less! Have some mercy! He really saw you as his light before!]

[He doesn’t remember you, Yue Shan doesn’t remember, the Prophet doesn’t remember, no one remembers. The one you wanted to avenge didn’t even die, the one you wanted to take revenge on is maintaining world stability—isn’t this just a joke?]

[Enough, enough, I’m a chopping board incarnate, I admit it, please stop with the knives!]

The massive blocks came with such force that the wind around them formed visible lines.

Teleportation was stripped away, leaving only the sound of the wind, awaiting death.

“Since you love playing games so much,” the black-haired youth suddenly said.

In the final moment, the black-haired youth stepped back, his long blade materializing, stabbing into the sharp blade, leveraging it to leap backward, landing on a tile with a spinning wheel.

“Then come down and play together.”

In the next frame, blue light flared, the game activated.

The Tetris blocks vanished, and the space shifted to the next game.

A revolver emerged from the ground, chains slithered up like a writhing octopus, trapping the two within the game’s boundaries.

The manga’s white text introduced the [Game World] rules: once a game is activated, it requires enough players, pulling in others if needed.

Yu Xiao, within the space, also became a game player, pulled into the game.

“You’re really clever,” Yu Xiao said, his eyes somewhat indifferent.

In a short time, he found the rules of his ability and carved out a path to survival.

“Hmph,” the black-haired youth said.

“Let’s add some stakes. Win, and you get to ask a question; the other must answer.” As a player in the game, the revolver’s cylinder spun before the blond youth, clicking, then instantly aimed at the black-haired youth opposite and fired.

It was a blank.

“Good, a chance to ask,” Yu Xiao said.

The black-haired youth looked at him, saying without hesitation: “You don’t have prophetic abilities, only guiding others. Who’s the one who can prophesy?” After a pause, he pursed his lips. “Why are you still alive?”

“That’s two questions,” Yu Xiao said.

His face, though, was utterly delighted.

He loved these questions.

“Then let’s go again. Survive, and I’ll tell you,” he said cheerfully.

For the second question, the revolver spun again, while the chains trembled, their sharp tips connected to spikes rising.

The revolver fired—a blank.

But the chains stabbed instantly.

This was Yu Xiao’s ‘rule,’ an unavoidable punishment.

“I like your question,” Yu Xiao said, though his expression had already made that clear.

As the black-haired youth turned, brushing past the chains, Yu Xiao spoke: “I know what you’re thinking. Like, the dead Shuang Buyan was indeed me, but the Shuang Buyan before you was an ability’s creation, and I was just its controller?”

He tilted his head slightly to the left, as if recalling: “Yeah, he didn’t seem fake at all. He cared for you, protected you, led you out of the abyss of despair.”

The manga’s panels shifted after this, as if reflecting his words.

As if light shone into the heart, in that brightness, a youth with pale golden long hair smiled gently, taking young Yiming’s hand, walking into their home.

He half-crouched, stroking the hair of the test subjects he adopted, reading fairy tales under the children’s sparkling gazes.

He walked ahead, turning back with a gentle look at Tang Zeng following behind, eyes full of admiration and excitement.

He sat across from Sang Feiling, debating with firm resolve, making the green-haired girl show a shocked expression.

He walked among those already gone—Shen Qingqing, Shi Quan, Xuan Ying, now mere skulls. Smiling faintly, gesturing, explaining his ideas, his prophecies, the dawn he spoke of.

“How nice. ‘Shuang Buyan’ was a true good person, only his consciousness dissipated in my hands,” Yu Xiao said. “I don’t mind you thinking that. I like you thinking that.”

Across the chains, he stared intently into the questioner’s eyes.

The questioner, behind the chains, stared back just as fiercely.

“Here’s good news: you guessed right. The so-called ‘spark, savior’ prophecy was something I heard. There really is someone who can prophesy, but it’s not me,” Yu Xiao said.

His ability was domain-type; he had no prophetic power.

He guided, spoke a so-called ‘prophecy,’ then herded and arranged the relevant people into the positions he set.

Then he made his words come true, turning ‘prophecies’ into reality.

The chain’s sharp spikes pierced the black-haired youth’s waist, tearing the fabric, blood staining the edges.

Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, but those crimson pupils still fixed on the speaker.

That gaze held no trace of expectation, just watching.

As if awaiting an answer.

[So, Shuang Buyan might really exist!]

[Right, Yu Xiao, our baby, is domain-type. He can’t prophesy!]

[The Prophet exists! Heige and the others did meet such a person! They’re not just a mocked joke!]

[As long as Shuang Buyan’s consciousness truly existed, everything he did has meaning!]

But on the next page, in the center of the panel, the blond, red-eyed youth suddenly smiled: “But there’s also bad news.”

“Do you play games?” he asked.

“Game over, hit a death ending, then start over with a new account—how normal,” Yu Xiao answered the second question, explaining why he was still alive. “My ability is independent of the world. As long as I return to my domain the instant before death, I can revive.”

Then he smiled: “Playing a game means diving in, fully becoming the character. Otherwise, what’s the point?”

The faint possibility was snuffed out by him again.

The manga’s panels shifted once more.

The youth with pale golden long hair smirked, tossing a black cat’s corpse into a trash bin.

In a dungeon, he used malicious words to shatter a child’s longing for their mother.

He watched Tang Zeng walk toward Yue Qing.

He listened to a companion’s unwilling roar, questioning why the loyal Tang Zeng betrayed their shared ideals.

He became the blond youth again, saw Ranmu City’s Eternal Night, saw Lin Ruye, now far stronger, never stepping into the attic again.

He saw Sang Feiling in Zhusheng City, in a dark dungeon, legless, with no thought of escape.

Qing Yu Chen, betrayed by companions, ideals collapsed, fallen into a noble’s lapdog.

Tang, who thought his father betrayed the Former Ability Guild, unable to lift his head before its members.

He died under a blade, yet used that same blade to kill the executioner, watching that child from years ago break, dragging a city into madness.

Perhaps he observed this world, but everything was built by his hands, then collapsed before his eyes.

“I love this process, both the buildup and the harvest,” Yu Xiao recalled his game, then showed a gentle smile identical to the one in his memories.

Then he said: “Unfortunately, Shuang Buyan was just me from start to finish.”

He couldn’t prophesy, but Shuang Buyan himself was a lie.

False prophecies, false identity, false ideals.

And the false sincerity given to everyone.

His figure paused, chains grazing his forehead; the black-haired youth looked up, letting blood slide down.

But it wasn’t bewilderment—it was a quiet acceptance, as if anticipated, like that day in the lab, silently watching Yue Shan’s corpse, expressionless, like an ice sculpture of that child’s illusion.

After all, he’d long known it was impossible.

“Even now, you haven’t dropped your rhetoric,” the cold-faced black-haired youth said.

Amid the dancing chains, this moment froze on the manga page.

[Aaaaaaah, how could this be!]

[The Prophet was just a pervert from start to end! He loves destroying what others cherish most!]

[No more knives, please, no more! Why give hope just to crush it again!]

[My heart’s bleeding too, wuwuwu, don’t look at him like that, he doesn’t deserve it.]

[Help, what kind of knife incarnate is this? Even now, he’s denied by the light he once held.]

[This is psychological warfare; the Prophet stood at the winning point from the start.]

[The calmer Heige is, the more it hurts. Why accept the truth so calmly!]

“Ah, I thought you’d show some interesting expression,” Yu Xiao shrugged. “As expected, if you keep that stone face, I’m not interested at all.”

“I didn’t plan to kill you so soon. Your lifespan’s already short. It’d be more fun to reveal the truth when you and Yiming storm Floating City, thinking you’re about to succeed before you die,” Yu Xiao said regretfully.

He’d looked forward to that drama, but after Heige got too close to the Imperial Family and started suspecting him, he had to act early to ensure the main plan wasn’t disrupted.

“But it’s fine. Wait a bit longer, and I’ll personally lead Yiming to break Floating City. Right when hope’s closest, the world goes boom,” Yu Xiao said. “Since we can never break through the sea’s surface, let this sea collapse with me. How great.”

“You won’t see it.”

“Hm?” Yu Xiao froze.

In an SS-rank ability user’s domain, with many abilities suppressed, the black-haired youth was at an absolute disadvantage.

Blood hadn’t yet clotted, but his posture remained upright, like an indestructible blade.

The black-haired youth quietly looked at Yu Xiao, snapping his fingers.

A massive mirror appeared beside him.

Like the mirror that day, which Yu Xiao saw replicate Feng Jiuqu’s ability, killing Feng Jiuqu.

“You want to replicate an SS-rank domain ability?” Yu Xiao laughed. “Or the S-rank ability you copied before? I’ve observed your ability. Your Rewind is like Dan’s, but Dan can’t rewind people, while yours can. That’s not copied—it’s your innate ability. Your copying can only replicate single-target attacks, not domain-type or concept-type.”

“So, what do you plan to use to defeat me in my domain?” Yu Xiao said.

“Two days ago, I had Red Crane follow you,” the black-haired youth said.

“Right, I know,” Yu Xiao said. “I meant to use that chance to make you believe Yu Xiao and Shuang Buyan were different people, but it failed.”

Then the black-haired youth said: “That night, I went to Jiao Huang.”

In the manga’s background, a scene appeared: one person and one dragon talking under the moonlight.

Then, in the mirror, a black shadow roamed.

Like the black dragon swimming beneath the sea that night.

“[Devouring], ever heard of that ability?” the black-haired youth said.

Yu Xiao’s ease vanished.

Jiao Huang’s city lord, Jue Hui Shen, a mimicry-type ability user. His [Devouring] could swallow all energy forms, turning them into his sustenance.

Including domain-type ability users’ domains.

“Looks like you’ve been wary of me all along,” Yu Xiao said. “Not cute at all.”

If devoured, his power would be absorbed too.

This was a highly unfavorable fight for him!

[Was Heige planning for this day from the start? Did he realize so early that the Prophet was a thrill-seeking jerk?]

[No hesitation, decisively starting the plan, even if that person was once his motivation, the father he thought he’d never reach again…]

[It’s the same behavior as before, yet I want to cry.]

[No smile, yet as powerful as if he were smiling.]

[He’s no longer the Li who said don’t go but couldn’t hold anything back. He’s a mature, powerful Heige.]

The tense atmosphere exploded after those words.

Chains danced in the domain, attacking the central mirror again under the domain master’s command.

The revolver expanded to its maximum; Yu Xiao deemed the earlier question a violation again, triggering the game’s punishment mode automatically!

The third punishment was stronger than the second, the entire panel seemingly filled with rapidly whipping chains.

Winds around the mirror lifted the black trench coat.

The black-haired youth’s illusion disguise fizzled out, reverting to his original form, as if he’d exhausted all his strength to replicate this overpowered ability!

The mirror was like a sea surface.

The black dragon leaped out, opening its sharp-toothed maw, swallowing the chains, gun, everything in its path, then biting toward the blond youth at the other end.

The sharp teeth loomed largest in the panel’s perspective!

[Aaaaaaaah! It’s Li!]

[Heige’s serious, but do they really have to kill each other?]

[Must he personally kill the light in his heart?]

[Stop, manga artist! Put down your knife!]

In the next panel, the blond youth’s figure vanished from the dragon’s maw.

A domain-type ability user moved freely within their own domain.

Then he decisively raised his hand.

The domain vanished abruptly under his motion.

Two figures appeared in the air, surrounded by colorful debris glinting under the sunlight.

To minimize losses, he had directly withdrawn his domain!

Midair, the blond youth faced the orange-red sea, looking up at the sun on the horizon and the black-haired youth who, with the domain’s suppression gone, teleported in front of him.

Red and black pupils locked, as if reflecting each other’s forms.

The scene shifted. Yiming and his group, walking through Jiao Huang’s streets, followed the black dragon’s path and saw two figures plummeting toward the sea.

[Why did Yiming show up now?!]

[How is it this exact moment!]

[It’s Yiming’s birthday! Manga artist, I beg you, stop!]

[Do one of the dad or brother have to die? On his birthday?!]

“Is that… Yu Xiao and Heige?” Yiming said uncertainly. “Heige’s using Li’s appearance again, but why isn’t he wearing a skirt?”

Then he saw the figure with Li’s face grip a long blade.

In the fall, it pierced the blond youth’s heart below.

Yiming froze.

Then, eyes widening in disbelief, he shouted: “Yu Xiao!”

[Aaaaaaaaaah!]

[No, no, no!]

[It’s over, all over!]

[Why only this scene!]

Above the sea, in the fall, Yu Xiao looked at the resolute black-haired youth above and said: “Yiming? You brought him here.”

Blood splashed where the long blade pierced, staining the black-haired youth’s face, mingling with his own blood.

“You wouldn’t let him know your identity before the game ends,” the black-haired youth said calmly.

In front of Yiming, Yu Xiao wouldn’t do anything that contradicted his current persona.

Because Yiming was his chosen protagonist, an irreplaceable protagonist.

“True,” Yu Xiao said, gazing into those black pupils, seeing himself reflected in those calm black eyes amid splashing blood, smiling. “I’d love for him to hate you.”

[Aaaaaaah, how could this be!]

[Calmly seizing the only leverage, rationally suppressing emotions, quietly completing the final step of the plan.]

[I get it, they’re truly father and son, cut from the same unhinged cloth!]

In the next panel, they plunged into the sea, splashing huge waves.

Falling from high above to the sea, the pressure was like a heavy hammer, yet neither of the two in the water even furrowed a brow.

Bubbles surged in the seawater, blood mist spreading.

“But this wound can’t kill me,” Yu Xiao said.

He was smiling, while the other showed no trace of a smile.

“Killing you here won’t affect my plan at all,” he said. “Did you account for that?”

But the black-haired youth said: “You looked into my eyes, for a long time.”

Yu Xiao’s expression tightened.

Just like that day, with the SS-rank ability user Qu Ting, who appeared through a junior.

He’d met the conditions for Rewind.

“Rewind your state to the moment Lin Ran severed your head,” the black-haired youth said.

They were falling, plummeting toward the unseen depths of the deep sea.

The blond youth’s form changed in the fall, stretching, growing taller.

His radiant blond hair dulled, his round, docile eyes narrowed.

His youthful face matured, from boy to man.

Pale golden long hair drifted with the seawater, floating upward during the fall, brushing gently across the black-haired youth’s face.

Soft as could be.

That was the Prophet, Shuang Buyan.

The one in everyone’s memories, always standing in the light, gently extending a hand, bringing illusory hope.

Now, he still smiled gently, the same as before.

As if, in a fleeting moment, he was still that upright, kind, beloved Prophet.

But now, his backdrop was the deep sea.

A long blade was buried in his heart, a red line appeared across his neck.

Blood mist surged upward, as if to envelop the black-haired youth in this red.

“This won’t kill me,” Yu Xiao, Shuang Buyan, said.

He could still use his ability to escape like a cicada shedding its shell. This wouldn’t kill him.

“You will die,” the black-haired youth said.

Behind the pale golden hair, like seaweed, behind Shuang Buyan, in the pitch-black deep sea, the black dragon opened its golden eyes.

“He’s awake,” Shuang Buyan said.

The [Devouring] ability could swallow his space, naturally able to devour his domain along with him if he hid within it.

He would indeed die.

Yet that gentle, good-person face didn’t change at all.

He still smiled so warmly, sinking in the deep sea, reaching out, touching the black-haired youth’s face above.

“Then remember this moment forever,” he said, like he used to when reading fairy tales to those children.

He sank, like a fish drowning in the sea.

Yet he still said to the bird fallen into the sea:

“You killed your father.”

In the next panel, the black dragon opened its maw and swallowed him.

…

[His conviction never wavered, not once.]

[Face difficulties, break through, surpass them—that’s Heige.]

[He never stops moving forward.]