The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 757: Perfect Performance

The first option was to assassinate Qilin.

Black Tortoise never found a chance to do that. Qilin was a million times more cautious than he appeared to be.

And among the four Elders, Qilin trusted Azure Dragon the most, followed by Vermilion Bird. Black Tortoise had little to no chance to approach Qilin alone.

Even if he did end up alone with Qilin, he was far from Qilin’s match.

Thus, he had long given up on going for the first option.

Second, steal the Miracle Rune Circuit.

Qilin had taken out the Miracle Rune Circuit before the Elders on several occasions. Only then did Black Tortoise realize that Qilin hadn’t hidden the Miracle Rune Circuit somewhere, but had carried it with him twenty-four-seven. It would be a suicide mission to try to steal the Rune Circuit under his watch.

The option was quickly dismissed, too.

Third, gather as many Rune Circuits as possible and trade them for the Miracle Rune Circuits as bargaining chips.

Black Tortoise believed that Qilin might consider the offer if the Godbearer Cult collected more than half of the Rune Circuits and had Tails pretend to be a new awakener faction rivaling the Qilin Guild, proposing to exchange the Miracle Rune Circuit with half of the Rune Circuits.

However, it was easier said than done.

Given Black Tortoise’s privilege, he could take one Rune Circuit from the Qilin Guild temporarily, the Miracle Rune Circuit not included. And Dust, in the body of Goldthread, was keeping only one Rune Circuit, too.

That was why Yellow Butterfly had turned against the team to grab the Rune Circuits when she saw two in the Rune Cave of the Eleventh Highschool. Unfortunately, she failed.

Even if she succeeded, though, and Balck Tortoise and Dust each betrayed the Guild and the Union with one Rune Circuit, the Cult would have only four Rune Circuits, less than half the total number.

And with hindsight, it was clear that Qilin wouldn’t be willing to exchange the Miracle Rune Circuit even for half of the Rune Circuits. He would at most agree to lease it, and he would be there to monitor the use of it.

The three options were never going to work.

Soon, Black Tortoise no longer had to agonize over the options. He got killed by Gao Yang and Ghost Horse’s ploy, and the mission to acquire the Miracle Rune Circuit was officially a failure.

After that, Dust continued to stay undercover in the Hundred Rivers Union and supply Tokoos with trivial intel for trivial missions.

Nico sighed when he heard Takoos’ response.

He turned to the two overtaker primes, Clear Mirror and Dust.

The last time he saw the siblings, they still had their own faces. They were a beautiful pair.

Now, Clear Mirror had turned into a brooding, tired middle-aged man, and Dust into an ugly man disfigured by a fire.

“I tried to assassinate him twice and failed both times,” Clear Mirror said slowly, his voice deep and cool. “He’s cunning and very capable of escaping. He seems to have a way of predicting danger before it strikes, too.”

Clear Mirror had been helping Tia look for the summoner prime until the Divine Scion emerged. Then he was given his first crucial mission—killing the Divine Scion.

Clear Mirror wouldn’t be able to do it with his power alone, so he took over the trump card Black Tortoise had prepared before his death—Luqi’s body and gained access to Judge.

Even so, his assassination failed.

After getting exposed, Dust had been helping Clear Mirror with the assassination mission until they were summoned to Snow Nation.

Nico didn’t sigh this time. He nodded slightly and fell into thought for a moment.

After a while, he slowly opened his mouth. “Last night, the Heavenly Godbearer came to me in my dream and told me that the Divine Scion is a mistake. It’s like a screw that gets in the way of the gears of fate. He must be erased as soon as possible. It takes top priority.”

Dust’s gaze was hesitant. She finally mustered the courage to ask the question she had been agonizing over. “Why is he called the Divine Scion? Is he the child of God? Can God...make a mistake, too?”

“God doesn’t make mistakes.” Nico looked at Dust with a pious certainty.

“The Divine Scion is merely derived from the divinity, while the Heavenly Godbearer is the divine avatar of God’s mercy and empathy. The Heavenly Way is the avatar of God’s authority and severity. Only when the Heavenly Godbearer and the Heavenly Way come together will God return in full.”

“God divided Themself to test all lives. God will become one again to save all lives.”

Nico’s emotions surged suddenly, and he declared like a devoted and possessed preacher, “Everyone! Lives are original sins, and desires, enemies. Without clarity, it’s doom...”

“Everyone!” Nico shot to his feet, face trembling and beard shaking. His monsterhood destabilized again, and personhood took over.

“Humans are mistakes! In need of correction, of repentance, of salvation! And you...are angels, angels blessed with God’s grace! Angels here to test humans!”

“But...” Dust was going to say something, but Nico interjected loudly.

“Ah, everyone! Look ahead! Look at us!”

Nico got more and more worked up. He was in another “episode”, which was what set him apart.

No matter how much they wanted to deny his position, there was one thing they had to acknowledge: the insane old man understood divine revelations the best and was closest to God’s will.

“We were born with a divine cause!”

Nico’s monsterhood returned. He pounded on his chest and pontificated to the audience seats. “Wanderers play as humans! Wanderers are the audience craving their moment on stage. Yes, audience. We’re the audience...”

Nico went still and silent for a few seconds.

Then he whipped around to point at Tia and Tokoos. “You and you...wrath monsters hurt humans!”

Nico threw his cane at them. Tia raised her hand to catch it, looking flabbergasted.

“Tools! Wrath monsters are tools...”

Nico howled and swung his arm around, finger stopping at Clear Mirror and Dust. “You, greed monsters, claim humans!”

Clear Mirror and Dust stayed silent.

Nico started humming an upbeat tune. The old frail body even attempted to break into a dance.

“Yes, yes. Greed monsters are music, drawing one in and keeping them enthralled...”

Nico took a few steps forward in a gait that showed his age. He looked up at the brilliant chandelier above him. “Pride monsters observe humans! Pride monsters are the omnipresent light coming from above...”

He dropped to his knees and pressed a kiss on the stage under his feet. “Life monsters give birth to humans...life monsters give birth to everything. Just like the stage beneath us...”

“What else, what else...” Nico picked himself up unsteadily, looking around.

Then his muddled eyes lit up suddenly. He pointed at the curtains behind him. “And death monster! Death monster...death! It...it’ll end humans! Like the curtains that signify the end of a performance!”

“Haha! A perfect performance! A perfect curtain call! Hahahaha...”

“Lord, we will live up to our purposes...save us, save us and take us to your world. Allow us to continue to be angels without a care...”

Nico lost it completely.

He collapsed to the floor and blacked out, foaming from his mouth as his body seized up violently.