"Death throes."
Ling Yu's voice suddenly echoed from all directions.
Twelve searchlights pivoted simultaneously, their beams interlacing into a hexagram formation.
The shadowy veins that had been severed suddenly writhed back to life, coalescing within the star pattern into a three-meter-tall greataxe. Countless blood-red pupils blinked open along its blade.
Whoosh!
Then—
The axe came crashing down toward the two figures below with devastating force. At the moment of impact—
"Look out!"
Chen Mo wrapped his arms around Ye Qingmei, rolling them both to the right just in time.
BOOM!
The entire arena floor fractured, a five-meter-deep chasm splitting the ground where they'd stood moments before.
"Pathetic resistance."
Ling Yu's voice resonated again.
Twelve duplicates materialized.
Simultaneously, the crimson pupils along the axe blade rotated with a sinister hum—before firing laser-like shadow beams.
"ARGHHH!!"
Ye Qingmei's combat suit seared where the beams grazed, black veins immediately surfacing across her skin.
She collapsed, completely incapacitated by the pain.
Chen Mo could only stare at the monstrous axe through his left eye, fist clenched in helpless fury.
Was this...
really how far they'd make it?
But—
Just as the thought crossed his mind—
"We've come to aid you!!"
A clear male voice pierced through the battlefield.
BOOM!
Golden Buddhist radiance descended from the heavens as a swirling swastika sigil deflected every shadow beam.
A young monk in moon-white robes floated down on sacred scriptures, his nine-ringed staff chiming with each movement.
Behind him, a Miao girl in traditional dress sent a storm of silver bells flying, the buzzing of her gu insects resembling torrential rain.
"Damn monsters! Taste my latest gu creations!" she shouted.
"Great Compassion Mantra: Diamond Realm!"
The monk clasped his hands together, and a barrier of Buddhist light instantly enveloped Chen Mo and Ye Qingmei.
The shadowy veins on Ye Qingmei's skin squirmed like living serpents under the holy light before sloughing off entirely.
"Reinforcements?"
"Futile."
Ling Yu's greataxe suddenly pivoted midair. Every pupil along its blade ruptured at once, spraying black blood-rain.
Sizzle—
Where the droplets struck the holy barrier, corrosive smoke began rising.
"Careful! That's—"
Chen Mo's warning was cut short as shadowy tentacles erupted from the ground.
Their tips split open like trumpet flowers, emitting piercing infrasound waves.
The Miao girl's silver bell-gu exploded in succession as spiderweb cracks raced across the Buddhist barrier.
Then—
"Move!"
A woman's icy voice cut through the chaos.
A silver sword-light cascaded like a reversed galaxy—swish! swish! swish!—severing every shadow tentacle at their roots.
"Why are there so many monsters here?"
"My master's gonna scold me for wasting talismans again..."
A sword-riding Daoist nun sighed dramatically while flinging seven talismans skyward. Thunder coalesced above the arena, taking the form of a cyan-scaled dragon.
The wind pressure from the dragon's dive extinguished three of the twelve searchlights.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
Three duplicates vanished.
Finally—
Hummm.
Amid swirling black mist, Ling Yu's true form appeared atop one remaining searchlight, his face obscured by a playing card mask.
All remaining duplicates merged back into him.
"Heh..."
Before the assembled fighters—
Squelch!
He plunged both hands into his own chest, withdrawing two spinal-column swords.
The sonic boom from their collision made three nearby martial artists bleed from their ears and noses.
"Amusing," Ling Yu said, his voice suddenly mimicking the monk's cadence. "Diamond Temple's bald donkey... Qingcheng Mountain's ox-nosed..."
His body began expanding grotesquely. "Let me show you what true—"
Thunk!
The monologue ended abruptly.
The Miao girl had materialized behind him, an acupuncture needle buried in his neck. "Mister, you talk too much."
Tens of thousands of shadow-devouring gu poured through the needle, making Ling Yu's skin bulge with squirming lumps.
"Fall back!" the Daoist nun barked.
Not a second too soon—Ling Yu's bloated body detonated. But instead of gore, liquid shadows erupted outward, coalescing midair into hundreds of ravens.
Each bird's eyes held a different person's pupils.
"Illusions! Don't look!"
Chen Mo's right eye—the True Sight Pupil—pierced through the flock, spotting three ravens with glowing cores.
"There!" he roared. "Three o'clock! Ten o'clock! Six o'clock! Kill those three!"
No hesitation.
Every fighter unleashed their strongest techniques toward the marked targets.
SCREEE—
The ravens shrieked as they collapsed back into humanoid form.
The regrouped fighters gasped.
Ling Yu now stood with half his body gleaming like polished metal, the other half a rotting corpse.
His left arm had morphed into a gatling gun, while his right hand clutched the Daoist nun's sword.
"Thanks for the meal."
He pulled the trigger—shadow bullets infused with Buddhist light and thunderbolts tore through the battlefield.
The monk's Diamond Realm shattered instantly. The Daoist nun's hastily-erected Taiji diagram developed gaping holes.
"He's absorbing and replicating our abilities?!" Chen Mo realized in horror.
This wasn't a fight—it was a farce.
The battle deteriorated rapidly.
Ling Yu teleported between the nine remaining searchlights, each reappearance showcasing deadlier weapon combinations.
When he manifested as a three-headed, six-armed asura, his palms simultaneously conjured Buddhist seals, Daoist thunder, and Miao gu poison.
Even these prodigies felt despair creeping in. "What kind of bullshit... gets stronger the longer you fight him?!"
"If this continues..."
We'll all die...
Chen Mo coughed blood, his right eye's vision blurring crimson.
The thought looped: We'll die... die... die?
No—
His fist smashed the ground. Beside him, Ye Qingmei lay motionless.
He still had a wedding to attend. A future to share with her.
This couldn't be the end!
If death was inevitable either way—
Then burn it all!
True Sight Pupil—if you chose me as protagonist, then now's the time... to give me the hero's script!
Chen Mo's eyes flew wide.
Blood dripped steadily onto the fractured arena.
Under the pupil's overclocked vision, he saw shadowy threads extending from every person—all converging toward...
The lights? The searchlights?
Those weren't power sources for duplicates...
No—
His breath hitched.
"The light formation!" Chen Mo screamed hoarsely. "The searchlights are energy nodes!!"
He'd guessed wrong earlier. This wasn't about powering clones—
It was the monster's true body—an array formation!
As if confirming his epiphany, the nine remaining lights suddenly projected beams that wove into a cage.
Every ability within was suppressed. Even the Daoist nun's flying sword clattered to the ground.
"Damn it—"
Chen Mo pressed against the crushing force, face twisted in frustration.
Ling Yu's true form hovered at the cage's center, shadow energy coalescing into a throne behind him.
"Game over."
"How pitiful—you'll never even glimpse my king's majesty."
His hand clenched. The light-cage contracted.
Squelch.
The nearest martial artist's body contorted violently, flesh and blood siphoned away as shadow energy fed the throne.
Pop. Pop. Pop.
Warriors exploded into crimson mist one after another.
Chen Mo lay paralyzed, bitterness flooding his mouth.
Was this... truly the end?
But—
Are you really going to accept this, Chen Mo?
Is this really how it ends?
You're not dead yet... You're not dead yet, Chen Mo...
So... that's right...
My heart is still beating.
"I... can't give up!"
ap a wealthy young lady? Or else I'll be eliminated by the system? Ye Feng, who awakened the Kidnapper System, originally wanted to live a peaceful life but never imagined he would become a kidnapper of young women. However, after some time, he discovered that all the girls the system ordered him to kidnap were far from ordinary. "Big brother Ye Feng~ You've kidnapped my heart, and now you're not allowed to leave me ever again~" "Ye Feng~ You kidnapped me back then, now it's my turn to capture you♡" "Little Feng, you're mine! You can only be mine!" "Ye Feng, none of them deserve you. Only I love you the most♡" ... This is madness, they've all gone mad! Wait, what? Why are all the girls I kidnapped yanderes?!
nto another world, I bought a slave for the first time, never expecting the silver wolf girl to be so cute... Lin Feng: I know it's cold, but you don't have to sneak into my bed! Yuna: Just sharing body warmth, if you dare do anything naughty, I'll definitely...
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
