The King of Black Fog

"Ha, ha," Chang Men panted, "those two are unconscious, go, cough, cough, go over."

Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, his body was drenched in sweat, and his face was pale and frightening.

"Good!" The robot lay down on the ground, transformed into a taxi again, avoiding the dense "shell" bombardment from the sky.

◇

"Very good." Li Changzhou said.

A black hand emerged from the void, like a projection unaffected by any impact, a black finger pressed on the ground where the Turtle Immortal and the Knight King stood.

"Go." Li Changzhou grabbed Senju, flying low over the short buildings of the street.

As a Heroic Spirit, the Knight King quickly woke from unconsciousness.

Her magic power was almost depleted... it's fine, battles without meaning, battles that only know how to wantonly destroy, shouldn't be fought in the first place.

She shook her head, the double vision in her eyes finally aligned, and the ringing in her ears lessened a bit.

Seeing everything around her clearly, the Knight King, who had given up fighting, changed her expression drastically and shouted, "Stop!"

She saw a man with only a left hand pulling out her lost Oathsworn Sword of Victory from the ground.

"Stop it, stop!" Urgent words spilled out, and the shriek of wind brushed past the alley.

Despite everything, the Knight King still struggled to stand: "Excalibur is not——"

"The game sealed my 'ability' for immortality, forbid my 'skill' to freeze time, weakened my [Divine Body] strong enough to lift planets, but there are two things it could not deprive——"

Whoosh!!

With a sound as if flames were burning, the sword body of the Golden Sword turned into a brilliant light.

The Knight King couldn't support the feeling of weakness in her body, collapsing half-kneeling on the ground, yet her handsome face still looked up in disbelief at the released Excalibur.

"Impossible." She murmured.

Li Changzhou turned around, his face illuminated by the light of the Golden Sword, looking like a young deity.

He smiled and continued, "One, my No Taboo's background; two, my personal way of doing things."

"What way of doing things?" Senju asked curiously.

"Even in such a stage, I only trust myself." He raised his sword, blocking the Demon Exorcism Arrow aimed at his temple.

Wearing a pristine red and white witch's costume, holding a bamboo bow taller than a person, Jie Gen with an expressionless face, white Death Soul Insects holding souls glided around her.

"Without this sword, that earlier arrow would've killed me." Li Changzhou laughed.

"Is this the time to show off?" Senju raised her gun, aiming at Jie Gen.

Jie Gen drew her large bow, abundant spiritual power lighting up the arrows.

"Who is she? What is her ability? Can we win?" Senju asked rapidly.

Li Changzhou showed her with action—he tugged her backpack, both retreating, buildings on either side closed like doors before them.

The next instant——

Boom!

The building was penetrated by the Demon-breaking Arrow.

"Excalibur!!" the Knight King shouted.

Through the hole in the building, you could see the Demon-breaking Arrow disappearing at the end of the street, while Li Changzhou and Senju had vanished without a trace.

The two moved quickly.

Under their feet, like chess pieces, they traversed Tokyo.

Li Changzhou maintained the Golden Sword's minimum release—his qi was insufficient, feeling the surroundings with full awareness.

Players all turned into ordinary people, trying to rely on qi to find them required immense patience.

Amidst a group of anime characters with auras strong as the scorching sun, he sought out firefly-sized mortal humans, and from those tiny firefly light points, found the light points that weren't fireflies.

The players' auras weakened, but their essence differed from Earth's ordinary people.

Meanwhile, he also encountered attacks from some weak characters.

Snipers unknown from which anime, characters capable of using simple magic, martial arts, and ninjutsu, attacked from various angles.

Using 'qi' to anticipate in advance and utilizing Geass, Senju, the Golden Sword, Li Changzhou cut through the obstacles.

Swoosh!

A head flew off, and the alien player attempting to escape fell.

At that time, Senju had no time to care if he killed someone.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

She rolled amidst the rain of bullets, hiding behind a taxi.

"Yo!" She greeted a character hiding behind the car as well.

The man hadn't reacted yet when he was tied to the car amidst the hissing sounds.

The sound of police sirens surged like a tide from behind, and Qianshu glanced back, shouting, "Give me a hand!"

The Black Finger held her down and moved her away.

"Hey!!" Qianshu jumped off the ground that had turned into a chessboard and leaped back to the taxi, "Take her with us, I can't leave her here alone!"

The woman nodded vigorously.

Yui Hibi, a character from a slice of life series, she was quite grateful to Qianshu for fixing her to the taxi, as she was just lying paralyzed on the ground.

The Black Finger came over and placed it behind them, dragging them away.

Boom!

Li Changzhou collided with a character, the golden sword and the long spear clashing, and the shockwave roiled.

"Oath Sword?" The spearman glanced and twisted his mouth into a large, grim smile, becoming excited.

Li Changzhou frowned.

Previously, those who dared to act openly were all strong. The owners of these characters all adopted the tactic of using their advantages to slaughter other players in this stage.

After all, no one could guarantee they would still have the upper hand in the next stage.

So far, he had already killed over twenty players, and the surrounding chaos was diminishing, leaving only some weaker characters fighting.

The withdrawal of terrifying characters also triggered an effect—the Tokyo police force began to encircle them.

Under the barrage of bullets, these weaker characters were no match for modern weaponry; even giants in armor and Gundams, though seemingly formidable, would eventually fail.

Not to mention Qianshu.

When anime characters died, did they really die, or did they return to their original world?

No one could guarantee that.

Li Changzhou wouldn't gamble either.

"Let's go!" He jumped next to Qianshu.

The spearman raised his hand for another stab, the thunder and lightning from the tip of the spear cascading like a tidal wave.

"Watch out!" Qianshu shouted.

Li Changzhou's hair was already standing up, but he didn't turn back. The golden sword in his hand traced a semicircle in the air with a casual slash.

Lightning, like a tangible net, was severed.

The spearman had already leaped but caught nothing, as the Black Finger pushed Li Changzhou, Qianshu, and Yui Hibi disappearing down the road.

◇

CC walked out of the boutique and happened to see a taxi moving to the front without its wheels turning.

"I've changed my outfit," CC twirled around, wearing a very stylish and beautiful dress, her long legs were astonishing, and she wore a beret on her head, "Let's start."

"Start?" Li Changzhou asked back.

"It's already over!" Qianshu shouted.

"Hmm?" CC tilted her head in confusion.

"Alright." Li Changzhou stuck the golden sword into the ground, "Thank you all, when I become the 'victor,' you all will live the life you wish for."

"Eternal life is boring." CC said.

"Perhaps." Li Changzhou smiled, "But being together with someone you like will never be boring."

"Tsk!" Qianshu clicked her tongue, showing an extremely displeased expression.

Li Changzhou smiled, then looked at Yui Hibi: "Sorry, could you transfer your ownership to me? You also want to leave this place quickly, right?"

"Yes, yes, yes!" Yui Hibi nodded vigorously.

Counting the Parasitic Beast on Qianshu, Li Changzhou had collected four characters.

All four received a prompt, all were returning.

"Goodbye then." Li Changzhou said once more.

"By the way, we've been together for a day, what's your name?" Qianshu asked.

"Li Changzhou."

"Achou," Qianshu stood on tiptoe and patted his shoulder, with a slightly melancholic tone, "Take care."

For a moment, Li Changzhou couldn't distinguish whether she was acting or genuinely sad about the separation.

Based on Qianshu's previous behavior... he believed it was genuine.

A lively and cheerful, kind-hearted café poster girl.

"Yes, Qianshu, you too, take care."

The wind blew, and the four of them disappeared from the street like light sand, leaving only the golden sword still lonely stuck in its place.