"I have to go."

On the fifteenth floor of the Silent Spiral, Igula, wrapped in bandages all over, heard these words from Black Crow, yet his face showed little surprise. Leaning half-lying on a carpet with his head of smooth golden hair tied back by Gwen, exposing a neck like white silk, his gorilla-like arms and wasp-waisted upper body bare, his lower half casually covered with a curtain, and his body full of wounds, he described himself as 'almost like a doll that's been played with to exhaustion but still has to entertain.'

Gwen was holding a small knife, scraping off the charred rotten flesh from Igula's body caused by the Thunder Water Arrow Rain, then using Water Therapy Technique Spirit to regenerate the flesh. She had to be very careful, as the Swindler could no longer afford to lose more blood; his face was as pale as paper, yet he remained composed in the face of this near lingering torture—Spirit Mages excel at cutting off their pain receptors.

Many people think the main purpose of the Spirit Faction is to deceive others, but spirit magic is more often used to deceive oneself. Deceiving oneself into not feeling pain, into not caring, if one deceives long enough and deeply enough, it seems like one can truly get used to loss and departure.

The Swindler's lips moved slightly, and it seemed a lot of words were brewing in his throat, but in the end, they only formed a question:

"Leaving now?"

Black Crow stood up, still wearing his cloak and mask. Although he went through a fierce battle in the Holy Domain, to him, it was nothing more than having his clothes torn a little more and the bloody smell on him getting stronger. His injuries were just as severe, if not more than Igula's, but in his martial life, this time's injuries didn't even make the top five.

Even though he couldn't use Technique Spirits to heal himself, Black Crow was always adept at self-healing. Stopping bleeding with muscles, manually setting bones, he could even stitch damaged organs outside his body... unlike Igula, Black Crow was very easy-going, not only treating himself but also doing it all without a sound.

As if he could truly grow accustomed to pain.

"Leaving now." Black Crow played with his wrist, "I'm basically able to move again. With my mental method, the Four Pillars God Sect on the surface won't detect me."

"Why the rush?" Gwen was a bit surprised, "And where are you going, Mr. Tamasi?"

"To find Tamanu."

Black Crow calmly said, "I am the one who let her go, so capturing her is my responsibility. Every second she is free increases the threat to The Innocent by one point, and perhaps someone has already been harmed by her now."

"I have no regrets about letting her go, and I'm willing to bear all the consequences. Her living departure from the Silent Spiral and regaining freedom means that my sentencing has officially begun—this time, not for revenge, not for justice, but because this is my sin. Only with Tamanu's blood can my soul return to freedom."

Igula suddenly sneered and said, "You really make me feel so guilty, Mr. Martial Arts. It's all my fault for dragging you down, otherwise you would have already killed the evil Mercury Wooden Horse on the spot."

"No," Black Crow said, "I wasn't blaming you."

"But because you saved me, you became so self-reproachful, suffering consequences and whatnot. Doesn't that mean saving me was a crime?" Igula said leisurely, "Ah, I feel so guilty too. Wait a bit, and I'll join you in hunting down the Mercury Wooden Horse!"

"Alright, if you really feel guilty," Black Crow said, "You are well-suited to become a White Crow."

The Swindler slowly tucked away his flamboyant smile, stared at Black Crow for a while, and replied expressionlessly, "I'm not a follower of Ya Sha Jin."

"You won't feel guilty either," Black Crow said.

"You don't need to feel guilty either," Igula said, "Exterminating the Mercury Wooden Horse is the responsibility of the Qinri Alliance, the responsibility of the mages, but definitely not a responsibility of you, an ordinary person. You have no sect, no followers; you have nothing you need to protect, and no matter how much harm the Mercury Wooden Horse causes, it has nothing to do with you. The higher the status, the greater the responsibility. You're like a humble crow as dust, you don't need to feel guilty for not guarding world peace, even saying it out loud would only make people laugh."

"I can't win against you," Black Crow said, "But I know what I have to do."

"Are you willing?" Igula said, "You could have left Senluo with us to start a new life in a new country, no longer needing to strive for survival or entangle with hatred. You could have a lot of friends, a new home, even rebuild your Black Crow Killers… You're just one step away from the future, yet you insist on being trapped in the past?"

"I am unwilling," Black Crow said, "But I am undeterred."

"Although I have to part with you, it is not a farewell. After I kill Tamanu, I will come to find you; or after you settle down, you can also return to Senluo to find me. Our future has countless possibilities, and if there is a chance, we can surely meet again."

"When Ash wanted me to leave with you all, I was really happy." Black Crow lowered his head, looking at his palm, "Seeing you all come to save me on purpose, I was so happy that I almost jumped. I know, I have disappointed your expectations, when you all went through so much to find me, and in the end, I ran away myself."

"I dare not ask for your forgiveness, but…"

Black Crow looked at Igula and Gwen, spreading his hands, "We Black Crow Killers are like this. But even if I'm 99% wrong, aren't you 1% wrong for treating me as a friend?"

Gwen and Igula were momentarily stunned.

Then the Swindler picked up a copper wine bottle and threw it directly, "You don't learn the good things, but you learned all of Ash's shortcomings."

"I quite like this trait of his, finding fault with others before looking for reasons in oneself." Black Crow caught the copper wine bottle and said softly, "Help me apologize to the others, I've really caused you so much trouble these days, I'm really sorry."

"Aren't you waiting for Mr. Ash to come back?" Gwen asked.

"If I wait for him to come back, I might really not be able to leave." Black Crow shook his head and turned to leave, "I just spent a lot of time deciding too."

"And the longer it takes, the deeper Tamanu will hide. The sooner I catch up, the more likely it is to catch her."

Gwen gave a look to Igula, signaling the Swindler to keep Black Crow. If they could wait until Ash returned or have Igula reason with him legitimately, they might sway Black Crow's determination, and have him give up on the great opportunity of hunting down the Mercury Wooden Horse to seek the hedonistic indulgence of life together.

However, Igula just watched Black Crow's departing back, gently sighed.

The Swindler knew it was impossible to persuade Black Crow. In the final choice, Black Crow broke with his faith, opting to let the Mercury Wooden Horse go to save Igula, which showed that Black Crow had already forged his own path, reinterpreted what 'Black Crow Killers' meant with his life, unlike before, when he was simply a blind believer of 'Black Crow Killers.'

Once faith becomes a shackle, its downfall is just a matter of time.

But he was merely reinterpreting faith, not completely abandoning it, so he had to continue hunting down the Mercury Wooden Horse to find inner peace and would never give up his convictions for mere survival.

Faith is the discovery of divinity within humanity.

"Perhaps," Igula murmured, "not all fish are destined to live in the same sea..."

Gwen asked, "Mr. Igula, do you really not care that Mr. Tamasi has left?"

How could he possibly care? He needed him as a friend before because he still had use value. Now that he was pursuing the Mercury Wooden Horse, he had no use value, naturally making him no longer a friend...

Igula coughed, feeling a nauseating discomfort in his stomach. He called out softly, "Black Crow."

"Ah?" The Black Crow at the Fog Gate turned his head.

"Until next time," Igula patted Gwen's shoulder, signaling to wave together.

The Black Crow hesitated, then vigorously waved back, "Until next time—"

Boom!

The world suddenly shook violently, and the hall seemed ready to collapse at any moment!

Gwen immediately lunged at Igula, spreading her wings to try to lift the Swindler, but just then, a massive rift tore open in the hall, making it impossible for Gwen to fly. Instead, it was as if she was caught in an invisible torrent, swept into the crevice in an instant!

At the moment Gwen fell into the rift, Igula, dragging his wounded body, rushed over and grabbed Gwen's wrist at the rim of the rift, preventing her from falling!

He too spread his Void Wings, attempting to use atmospheric pressure to pull Gwen back up, but Gwen felt as heavy as a thousand pounds, no matter how hard Igula tried, he couldn't lift her an inch!

"Black Crow!—" Igula roared, "Quick, come help me!"

He turned his head, only to see that the spot where the Black Crow had been was now precisely the center of the rift. That eerie and grotesque Ya Sha Jin warrior was gone without a trace.

The Swindler's mind was numb; he originally thought Onewa was the biggest crisis of this adventure, but unexpectedly, they encountered the Mercury Wooden Horse leading the Black Feather Guard. After temporarily defeating this dire threat, the Silent Spiral suddenly cracked and crumbled.

Are they the unluckiest people in all of Senluo?

However, as Igula looked up, he saw countless others even unluckier than them falling down.

Mages of Four Pillars, Alliance Mages, Combat Mages, Healing Mages, logistics, archers, messengers, sappers... thousands of Senluoians continuously fell from the rift above into the rift below. These people spread their Void Wings, summoned their Technique Spirits, and performed miracles, doing everything possible to resist this inevitable fate, but ultimately they could only dissolve like a drop into water, flowing into the Silent Spiral.

People fell like rain.

Igula watched this scene, his fingernails almost embedding into Gwen's wrist with force. Gwen winced at the pain, but she said nothing, enduring the pain to grab Igula's wrist in return.

...

...

On the eighteenth level of the Silent Spiral, the severely injured Ash opened his eyes, finding himself held in Silver Lamp's embrace. He instinctively cast a Joyful Sword upon himself, his memory rapidly recovering. With fear in his eyes, he grabbed Silver Lamp's shoulder and whispered, "Silver Lamp, Vishi is—"

Ash fell silent.

Because Silver Lamp wasn't paying him any attention.

And as he followed Silver Lamp's gaze to the sky, he too was stunned into silence by what he saw.

A massive rift tearing through the sky, continuously raining down people. From a distance, people turned into tiny black dots, like a swarm of debris falling down.

And their destination was also a rift, but a very narrow and thin crevice. Ash turned his head to see a finger-width crack in the ground, like a groove in the earth.

Such a thin crevice, people naturally couldn't squeeze through it. So what squeezed through was no longer human.

Those people being swept down began to melt in mid-air. Their arms, thighs, bodies, heads, everything melted into water, converging into a water curtain, flowing precisely and cruelly into the crevice.

Ash couldn't hear any screams, only the sound of rushing water.

"What... is below?" Ash asked in confusion.

This was already the eighteenth level of the Silent Spiral, the lowest point reachable by Senluo Mages. Theoretically, there shouldn't be anything below.

"It's the final resting place, the homeland, death, darkness," Vishi closed his notebook, intently watching the still silent Divine Beings, and explained meanwhile:

"It's also the Void Realm."

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