Descent

 “We… we’re just going to waltz in like this, Sui-ge?”

“Well, how else?”

“You want us to sneak in like thieves?”

“We’re robbers, not burglars. Haven’t I told you this a dozen times already?”

“In this line of work, it’s never about people coming to us.”

“It’s always us who make the first move.”

“Let’s go! Doralmon, bring out every invention you’ve got!”

“I’m about to make a scene!”

“Hold on, hold on! Let me find it…”

Behind them, a pair of emerald-green eyes suddenly flared open.

“Found you…”

Meanwhile—

“So… I finally made it?”

Lect’s expression looked completely dead inside.

His score had reached sixty long ago, but after getting lost, he’d practically scoured the entire outskirts of Mingxi City before finally locating the road to the inner capital.

“Now begins the crowd-pleasing massacre phase, right?”

“I’m honestly looking forward to it.”

With those words, he slowly stepped into the heart of the capital.

“Is that where the final battle will be?”

“Is he… there too?”

Having casually eliminated yet another reckless team along the way, Bai Luoxia also arrived before the gates of Mingxi City.

This city held too much weight for her—regret, beauty, and pain.

But none of that mattered now.

The past, she would sever with her own hands.

All she needed was to keep her gaze forward.

The etched laws would naturally sweep obstacles from her path.

Her obsession belonged to one person alone.

In the real world—

“Impossible! Even so, I’m still putting the selection under lockdown!”

“This concerns the lives of all participants!” Anna’s voice was tinged with urgency.

“If anything goes wrong…”

This was the control terminal of [Mirror Realm]—whoever could infiltrate it without triggering alarms had nothing but ill intent.

Frankly, they’d be lucky if it wasn’t a direct envoy from the Abyss.

“Relax. Everything is still within our control… for now,” Bai Yunqing said calmly.

“Yes… everything is still in control.”

A sudden male voice echoed from the doorway.

“Good morning, everyone.”

“I doubt introductions are needed, right?”

Bai Yunqing’s face changed the moment he saw the man.

The aged features twisted with unmistakable fury.

“Xyst?! You—how are you still alive?!”

“Xyst? Ah, yes, such a familiar name.”

“Oh, right—I almost forgot. Silly me.”

“A pleasure to meet you all. I am one of the Twelve Apostles beneath the [Abyss], ranked seventh—[The Hanged Man].”

“Please take care of me from now on.”

“Go take care of your mom!”

With a sudden roar, Anna launched herself forward like a meteor, wrapped in a torrent of force that shattered the floor.

Gone was any trace of subtlety or assassin’s grace.

“Sigh… are all people from the real world this violent?”

“So troublesome…”

Before the last syllable dropped, [The Hanged Man]’s form was abruptly torn apart.

But what lay behind him shocked both observers to their core.

Corpses of palace guards hung midair like grotesque marionettes.

Ropes extended endlessly from the void, crisscrossing the room in a terrifying web.

Even Bai Yunqing—no stranger to bloodshed—froze in horror.

A total of 165 [Soul Invokers] had died…

…all while the man casually joked.

“Them? Sigh… It’s not like I wanted to kill them.”

“But if they chose to block my way, I simply had to send them off!”

“Hahaha! Isn’t it hilarious?”

“Don’t you think so?”

“What a waste, though.”

“You’re… a complete maniac!”

“So sorry, Miss Anna.”

“Looks like Rhine really did make a terrible decision choosing you as the chief examiner this time.”

“Honestly, what were they thinking?”

“Physical attacks don’t work on me, you know!”

The Hanged Man’s voice spread like a virus—every syllable infecting the very air.

Dazzling colors splattered across the palace like a child’s chaotic crayon drawing.

From the walls, countless rainbow-colored ropes surged toward the glowing mirror.

“Not good! His target is [Mirror Realm]!”

“Yunqing!”

“I’ve been ready. [Scale of Law]!”

The relic of order bloomed.

Behind Bai Yunqing, a massive phantom of a balance scale emerged.

The divine light it radiated dispersed every rope in its path and began scanning the surrounding corruption.

“This is getting troublesome…”

“But—”

“My mission isn’t to play around with you two.”

“[Chariot]! Where are you?”

“Here, here—ugh, I’m so sleepy.”

A second figure appeared.

A disheveled swordsman entered, lazily holding a Western longsword.

“So we’re getting two apostles at once?”

“You guys must think very highly of us,” Anna said with dry sarcasm.

“[Chariot], ranked sixth. Hello.”

“And now please go die.”

“Hah! We’ll see who dies!”

Anna stepped forward.

The pressure of an [Immortal] tier Soul Invoker exploded outward like a storm.

“Yunqing, stabilize Mirror Realm.”

“I’ll handle this bastard!”

“Understood.”

The old man nodded and began initiating mass comms within the mirror system.

“[Attention all participants—urgent notice!]”

“[The selection is temporarily suspended! Resurrection protocols are offline!]”

“[Your only mission now is to survive! I repeat—stay alive at all costs!]”

Once the order was issued, Bai Yunqing turned his full focus toward resisting the Hanged Man’s invasion.

Despite his relic-enhanced strength, age had long drained his stamina.

He couldn’t overpower this Apostle quickly.

Meanwhile, the battle on the other front escalated rapidly.

Anna spared no effort in invoking her own [Soul Invocation].

[Black God—Chernobog]

The legendary deity of darkness and calamity descended.

Anna slowly closed her eyes.

Darkness wrapped around her like an abyssal veil.

A black flash tore the air apart as it collided with Chariot.

Silver sword-light clashed against the pitch-dark flare.

It was like a symphony of destruction, shaking the heavens themselves.

Witnessing this, even Bai Yunqing couldn’t help but mutter,
“With all this commotion… there’s no way the outside world hasn’t noticed, right?”

As if reading his thoughts, the Hanged Man chuckled.

“Outside?”

“They can’t even protect themselves.”

“Why would they care about you?”

Outside the palace—

“Damn Abyss!”

Phil—Duke Fenrir—gritted his teeth.

Wave after wave of Abyssal beasts surged from the cracks in reality.

Each twisted spawn reeked of madness and carnage.

The entire vanguard braced themselves as if facing an unstoppable tide.

“Get ready!”

“The Black Tide is coming!”

Phil raised his right hand, preparing to confront the infinite horrors.

But his gaze shifted instinctively toward the palace.

An ominous dread gripped his chest.

“Let’s hope they’re okay in there…”