463: 8.63 Final Boss

8.63 Final Boss

Lu Yizhou's heart was beating fast and his whole body was trembling like a small sapling wrecked amid the howling storm. He felt so weak as though the previous incident had seeped him out of strength. Hastily, he gulped down a stamina potion and then closed his eyes to regain his bearings.0

His throat still felt raw and his eyes burned with the sting of tears, but at least his shoulders were light of burden. 

He knew he had made the right decision. If his sister was still alive, she would definitely give Lu Yizhou his approval. Because she only wanted one thing… to see him live happily.

How could he ever try to forget her? The memory of her death used to be his drive, his motivation and purpose and after that… he let her go. Because clinging into it was too painful, he chose to bury the tragedy of that day into the backyard of his mind and locked it securely; he forgot that she was not only a source of pain, but happiness as well.

They were happy once, and Lu Yizhou would carry the image of her smile with him this time.

[666: H–Host, are you okay?!]

'Daddy!!' Ozzie licked his tears away, meowing piteously. 'Why are you crying?! Who makes you cry? Tell me and I will beat them up!'

Relief flooded Lu Yizhou at the familiar voices inside his mind.  Wiping his face clean, he shifted Ozzie to his arms and ran his fingers through her silky fur in an attempt to soothe himself. 'What happened? Are you two—'

[666: Yeah, we're all hypnotized as soon as we enter the room, Host! Fortunately, this trick didn't work on 666 because 666 only saw codes! And codes are 666's specialty, 666 is a code manipulator! 666 easily breaks free from the trap eheh~]

'It doesn't work on me either because I am not a player meow!' Ozzie nuzzled her head into the crook of Lu Yizhou's neck. 'But you kept crying, Daddy, and the mannequin got closer and closer to you… Scared me to death! I was so ready to attack her but fortunately you woke up in time! Did you dream about Mommy?'

Lu Yizhou only gave a vague hum. He was not ready to talk about his past right here, in this kind of situation. 

Sweeping his glance around the room, he found Ji Yan and Olivia standing a little behind him, their heads hanging low with tears streaming down their faces. Even then, they were smiling. It was all Lu Yizhou needed to know that they were definitely going through the same thing as him.

Two mannequins were inching closer and closer toward them. Lu Yizhou placed Ozzie back on his shoulder as he grabbed the two mannequins on the back of their necks and exerted force. Two sickening cracks rang out and in an instant, Ji Yan and Olivia's eyes snapped open as they were awakened from their dreams.

Ji Yan blinked again and again, gasping. "W–What was that?!" 

Olivia slumped to her knees, unable to react for a moment as she only stared blankly off the distance. Lu Yizhou had no idea if they would be able to free themselves should Lu Yizhou leave them alone, but he did not want to take the risk. After all, there was no harm in keeping the two protagonists around.

Ji Yan helped Olivia up and supported her weight on him. Then their eyes landed on the mannequins in Lu Yizhou's hands in time to see the black smoke coming out of their broken bodies. 

"Aaaah!!" Ji Yan jumped in shock as he pointed at the mannequin with an accusing glare. "It–It disguised itself as my late mother just now! How terrifying!"

Ji Yan's scream seemed to snap Olivia back to her senses as she straightened up and wiped the tears on her face. "Despicable!" She stormed forward and landed a few kicks on the poor mannequin, eyes shooting out flames. "How dare you pretend to be my family! You damned trash!"

The two wisps of black smoke flew above their heads before zooming behind the curtain following the one from Lu Yizhou's mannequin earlier. 

Then, a furious shriek resounded throughout the air, so loud that the ceiling seemed to tremble along with it. "How dare you?! How dare you destroy my beautiful collection?!"

It must be the black witch.

Ji Yan grimaced. "Oh shit. Here comes the final boss."

They took a defensive stance as the curtain was lifted and Luca sauntered out in a loose tunic like he had just woken up from his evening nap. His eyes were gleaming in a dangerous glint. Lu Yizhou did not see the black witch anywhere. 

"Why didn't you surrender to the beautiful dream?" He asked in a sincere tone that contrasted with the dark malice in his eyes. "We reunite you with people that you will not meet again. Isn't it better to just sleep and be happy forever?"

Lu Yizhou stared at him warily. From the patch of skin uncovered by the clothes, Lu Yizhou could spot deep discoloration on his chest, hands and ankles. Although his gait was leisurely, Lu Yizhou could see that he had difficulty moving his body. He was right, Luca Knox was indeed a corpse! Supposing that Luca had been maintaining his vigor by sucking life force from the black witch then in exchange, he would provide her with the sacrifices she needed for her ritual! Goddamnit, this was a win-win situation for both of them! 

From the start, none of the members of the Knox Family had been a living human!

Ji Yan scoffed out loud. "My apologies, Master Luca, but dying in a dream does not sound beautiful at all. I prefer to survive in the hard reality, unlike you."

"Such a glib tongue you have there, Lady Ji Yan." Luca sneered coldly.

[[Side quest[2/?]: Gain Master Knox's trust. Progress: -10000/10000]]

The sudden prompt was all the warning they received as Luca's dark eyes started to shine eerily. Wind gale rose around his feet, sending everyone's hair fluttering. The ground beneath their feet started to shake as if a huge earthquake was coming soon. The curtain flapped wildly and even the furniture started to float midair!

"Damn it!" Lu Yizhou cursed under his breath. Ji Yan told them to be careful with Luca's ultimate attack but in the end, he was the one who provoked the man!

He only heard Ji Yan let out a flustered squawk before he decisively placed himself in front of the two. The air in his palm solidified into a glowing silver shield. 

[[Skill card 'Silver Shield' activated! Remaining uses: 0/1]]

He planted the huge shield in front of him as a blinding light shot out of Luca's body. Its might was so powerful that the floor and wall was scorched from the heat intensity, crackling with sparks. Despite having the shield as a cover, Lu Yizhou still vividly sensed the tongue of flame licking his skin and burning the tip of his hair!

He hollered toward Ji Yan and Olivia. "Take cover behind me!"

[666: H–Hot, hot, hot! Ouch! 666 is a system, how can 666 feel hot?!]

Lu Yizhou's feet skidded backward from the force of Luca's power, leaving a blackened trail across the carpet. He let out another curse and staunchly planted his feet to the ground. If he just let his guard down for a moment, then he would definitely be sent flying and burnt into crisp!

The hem of his skirt started to catch into fire and the soles of his feet felt so hot it was as if his boots had melted from the torrential heat. It was not an ordinary fire, he noticed keenly. As it grazed across Lu Yizhou's skin, he felt the pain stabbing right into his bones. It was so painful that he broke out into cold sweat and his grip on the shield handle faltered in a split second. But that alone was enough to push him back even further. He heard Ji Yan's yelp of pain and Olivia's screech somewhere behind him.

Goddamnit, was it this attack that Diana was talking about? If it was, then he didn't doubt how it could wipe out seven players in an instant. Without Ella's shield, there was no way he could escape with his life unscathed!

The attack had only lasted for a few seconds, but Lu Yizhou felt like hours had already passed. He shut off his senses and focused only on maintaining the shield in front of him albeit the excruciating pain was driving him insane! His stamina was quickly depleting but he could not even free one hand to drink the potion! Fuck this world!

Just as Lu Yizhou's vision was starting to be dotted in black, a cooling sensation traveled from his wounds to his entire body, healing all of the burn marks on his skin in a blink of an eye. It was so cool and invigorating that he could not resist the gasp that escaped his lips. His eyes snapped open and amidst the blinding light, he seemed to see two silhouettes by his side. One big and one small, enveloping his hands that were grabbing onto the incandescent shield.

He muttered their name shakily, "Ella… Ellie…"

Ella and Ellie turned to give him an identical sweet smile. Their bodies were so thin, so transparent that Lu Yizhou was not sure if they were real or if this was just an illusion his mind had conjured up. 

"Go." They said in unison. "You're the only one who can save us now."

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