242: 6.2 Two Villains?!

6.2 Two Villains?!

It turned out Lu Yizhou was half right. This time, the character he would be taking over was Regius, the God of Darkness. Or at least, he used to be a God. Unfortunately, right now, he was already forgotten; treated as myths and legends and only told in storybooks during children's naptime.2

Back in the Gods' glorious era, Regius used to be the most powerful of all with millions of faithful prayers all throughout the world. At first, people started praying to him for a safe journey and protection at night. His name was muttered with reverent breath and his unparalleled beauty was worshipped by many. As time went on, more and more people prayed to him not only for transportation, but any other mundane things. To pray for one's health, to bless a newborn baby, to beg the cure for a grave illness. He was so formidable that he almost overpowered the God of Life himself.

But ever since humans started to invent their own technology; fire torch to illuminate the dark, carriage to keep them away from the nocturnal beasts, soldiers and guards to protect their houses, they started to forget the God they were worshipping. Millennium passed and one by one, the lesser Gods started to go into slumber, having lost most of their followers and spiritual energy but Regius remained alert and powerful. Despite his name being forgotten in this generation, Regius was still able to sustain his consciousness enough to oversee the country under his protection.

But that wouldn't last long. Regius had watched over the rise of civilization for a very long time and had almost reached the end of his candle. 

Enter the villain, Duke Jillian Lacrosa, an aristocratic nobleman as well as a renowned General who was one of the King's most beloved vessels. At the young age of 28, he had fought against the barbarians and won spectacularly. He was a dashing man, haughty and aloof, earning him a distinguished reputation not only for his sword skill but his otherworldly appearance as well. With long curls of jet black hair that reached his waist, a pair of sharp golden eyes and features that had been carved to perfection, he was akin to the God of War himself. The soldiers worshipped him and his admirable feat was spoken like a legend. Without General Jillian, their country would have been invaded by those barbarians long, long ago!

With such a reputation came one sore weakness for Jillian. He was too independent! He was used to doing everything by himself, having been an orphan as early as a tender six years old. Forced to mature too early, Jillian grew up to be a withdrawn person who clearly had no idea how to ask for help. So far, everything had gone smoothly in his life. Despite inheriting his late parents' grandeur manor and aristocratic title, he didn't become those arrogant young masters who only knew how to enjoy the previous generation's wealth. Instead, he earned his current reputation by nothing but hardwork and perseverance. Alas, it took only one night expedition for everything to tumble down.

There were rumors that a mythical beast had been spotted deep inside the forest and the King gave him an order to confirm the rumors as soon as possible. Nobody had seen mythical beasts for centuries, or at least they could only see them in storybooks, treated only as fairy tales and legends. Hence the King's urgent need to inquire about the truth of this matter.

Stubbornly, Jillian refused the help of his subordinates and insisted on investigating the matter alone. To no one's surprise, he paid the price for his useless pride and reaped what he sowed.

It wasn't any mythical beast, but a pack of wolves that were ready to settle for winter with their males ferociously gathering food and protective toward their pregnant females. No matter how strong Jillian was, he was still helpless in the face of hundreds of these wild animals. Jillian had intruded their territory and provoked their fighting instinct. They tore into him fiercely, leaving him to bleed to his death. Jillian cursed his stupidity when he slowly lost the feelings in his limbs. He was sure that he would definitely die that day, alone and shivering, with no one to call for help deep in the uncharted forest. 

The world seemed to have other plans for him because in that perilous moment, Regius heard the General's desperate plea. The weakening God had often heard of Jillian's reputation and had personally witnessed how remarkable of a man was. Moved by the human's fierce desire to survive, Regius gathered the little energy left in him to heal Jillian's wound, enabling him to evade death and return safely. 

[Wait.] Lu Yizhou stopped digesting the plot and looked down at the spread of the country beneath him. It was snowing heavily and Jillian was supposed to fight the wolves in winter. Lu Yizhou gritted his teeth. After being put in this situation far too many times, he already developed an instinct to know when his lover was in danger.

He closed his eyes briefly and took a deep breath. 

(Actually he didn't need to breathe and it wasn't like he had eyes to blink either but it's just so weird to exist without a solid body. Lu Yizhou still couldn't get used to it, not now and certainly not in the near future. Was this what the simulator meant by special precaution? To deprive him of the barest feeling of being alive so he could appreciate it more if he got it back?)

[When] he asked through gritted teeth.

[666: O—Oh, Host you're right! Today is the day that the villain will go on the expedition! W—Wait a minute, don't get angry! 666 will locate the villain right at this moment!]

[666: Aha, there he is, around five hundred kilometres from where we are now and h—huh?! T—There are two…?! No way! Oh my Admin God, how could 666 receive two signals for the villain? Does it mean that there are two villains in this world?! The nearest is Jillian, five hundred kilometres from here and the other…. holy—it's so far! It's literally at the other side of the world!]

How could one get a headache when one didn't even have a head? Urgently asking. 

It seemed like he had underestimated what it meant by special precaution. Certainly, this world was different from any other world he had experienced before. Lu Yizhou let out a heavy sigh and a wintry breeze formed with a loud swish.

[To Jillian, then.] Lu Yizhou decided. The most pressing matter right now was to save Jillian's life. It was noon so certainly Lu Yizhou still had enough time to get to his lover. He might even prevent him from getting hurt. As for the other one… Lu Yizhou would need to digest the whole plot later on. He could only hope that the plot was completed this time, unlike in the fourth world where he had to fumble around blindly. 

And thus came the important question. How did he move? Or could he teleport?

[666: U—Um, Host… sorry but 666 has to break the bad news to you. Regius is really, really weak. It takes almost all of his energy to remain awake so… he is unable to move unless… someone prays to him…]

Lu Yizhou took a second to register what 666 was saying and then above them, bouts of lightning struck without warning and the clear blue sky was covered by thick gray clouds in the matter of seconds.

[666: Huaaah Host please don't get angry! You're still a God, okay?! Your emotions can influence the weather!!!]

Fierce thunder rumbled amidst the cloud, prelude to the oncoming blizzard. 

[You're telling me that I can only get to Jillian when he's dying and desperately calls for help,] Lu Yizhou's tone was completely flat but somehow, 666 was getting more terrified instead! Help! [and you're telling me not to get angry…?]

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Mini theater

~666's first diary entry after entering the sixth simulation~

666 didn't like this world as soon as we arrived QAQ

First, Host is more irritable than usual.

Second, it looks like the mission will be very difficult.

Third, there's no INTERNET in this world!!! How can 666 survive with such a slow connection?!!

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