Dawn: A GameLit Series (Death God System - Book #2)

by M. Q. Kajack

  “What a nice couple, volunteering to be the next to see the other side.” Both heads exploded in my hands, and two more corpses embraced the cold hard floor.

  A cry came from a now panicking Lu Xin.

  “Regroup! Hurry!”

  Lu Xin wanted to get the situation back under her control, but it was already too late.

  Ding!

  Ding!

  Ding!

  Ding!

  Legs, arms, heads, torsos, I severed them, crushed them and obliterated them. One could no longer see blue on the floor, only red. In less than a minute, twenty had fallen.

  “Please have mercy! We didn’t do anything! It was Lu Xin! It was all her! I promise!”

  A group of young men near me had fallen to their knees and hit their foreheads into the bloody floor, prostrating themselves.

  “Begging for mercy? You think you can buy time?” I looked with disdain at the party that couldn’t even retain their dignity in their final moments.

  A deafening sonic boom rang out as the young man who had just been grovelling nearest to me no longer existed. The only reminder of his mortal life was the smattering of internal organs that painted the nearby wall. This time, I felt pain, but after using my Qi to defend, I felt better. I had wanted to teach them a lesson this time, and I’d achieved that goal.

  “Monster!”

  “Attack him together! He can’t survive our combined offense!”

  “Right! Attack them together!”

  The crowd reached a feverish pitch, losing all rationality, their backs against the wall.

  “Stop it!” Lu Xin tried desperately to regain control. “Don’t attack him! We must defend!”

  But Lu Xin couldn’t control anything anymore. Hundreds of attacks streaked toward me. Fire, water, lightning—the show of lights would’ve dazzled my eyes if their attacks weren’t so weak. They gave their all in this last-ditch attempt, but without any coordination, their all wasn’t anything in my eyes. I gave a low chuckle as I grabbed some of my nearby opponents and threw them forward, using their bodies to intercept the incoming attacks.

  A firework of blood spread out across the battlefield. Bodies exploded from the Qi attacks that hit them or the force of their own offensive reflecting onto themselves.

  The wave of Qi attacks soon dissipated and the mist of blood finished raining onto the ground. The crowd had dwindled from its initial one thousand members to no more than twenty. As the chaos died down, those that remained alive saw me standing with my leg up on a pile of bodies, completely unscathed.

  “Well, that was satisfying. You aren’t going to attack anymore? There are still a few of you...”

  Kicking bodies out of my way, step by step, I approached the remaining enemies. Just the sound of my footsteps trudging through the slick blood was enough to make the bravest among them fall to their knees.

  I saw Chu Xian trembling. Li Qi wore a resolute expression. As for the girls, You Ye had her mouth slightly agape, not noticing herself drooling, and Xiao Wu had tears welling up in her eyes.

  “It’s time! Time for the rest of you to—” my sentence was interrupted midway by a loud voice resounding through the room.

  “Hold it right there.”

  “The final test will start soon. Young boy, are you planning to destroy every test you face?” The voice was loud enough to be heard by everyone in the room.

  The small party left after the massacre was pale and scared, kneeling on the floor crying, begging for forgiveness. When the voice reached their ears, they got hyped up, and since they felt safe, their arrogant inner selves resurfaced.

  “Boy, you are strong I acknowledge that fact.” One arrogant outer disciple from an unknown sect pointed at me with a trembling finger, scolding me. “Look how you were so proud of claiming you would kill all of us, but now you are stopped by the owner of the test. You are about to be punished!”

  I glared at him with a cold murderous look. Suddenly, I heard liquid trickling onto the floor. My gaze was enough for the already terrified disciple to cover himself in piss. Nearby, a girl yelled with disgust. The yellow liquid reached her while being in a kowtowing posture, and she couldn’t help but vomit. Brief seconds later she recovered and directed a pleading look...

  “Don’t waste your time.”

  My legs moved forward to meet the rest of the people that needed to die.

  “Young man, aren’t you being a little disrespectful to this humble one?” The loud voice rang again.

  “I don’t know you. You are just a voice. Are you someone worthy of respect?”

  “Fair enough.” A middle-aged man appeared in the center of the room hovering above the scattered corpses. “Truly, you overdid. Don’t you have some kind of respect for life? They were so young, some of them only twelve years old. You could have taken them as slaves, at worst. There was no need to kill them like that.”

  “After I killed them, we can face the fifth test,” I replied in an offhanded tone.

  The man’s imposing manner grew. “Arrogant, aren’t you?”

  “Oh, you are a remnant soul! Trying to suppress me with the soul?”

  I released my soul, and both souls crashed. I overpowered the middle-aged man’s soul.

  “What kind of monster are you?!” he shouted, frowning.

  “The kind you don’t wish to offend, or you will cease to exist,” I retorted.

  Seeing this, Lu Xin’s body shivered. What kind of monster had she provoked?! How could he go against the Ancient Ruins Test Master?

  If she were to be given a second chance, she would have never provoked this guy, even more, she would invite him to her country, even marry him! Sadly, in this world, there was no cure for regret.

  “I command you to stop!” the middle-aged man yelled.

  Due to his strong voice projection, many youths fell to the floor with their ears bleeding.

  He was distracting me! Not good!

  With a thought, I summoned my Scythe and threw it as hard as I could towards Lu Xin. The speed at which my Scythe was flying was incredibly fast. I never got to try it before, but it seemed like my Weapon Throwing can overlap with my Scythe, providing it with a huge Throwing Speed Bonus. Yet, it wasn’t enough. The remnant soul was faster. He possessed Lu Xin’s body and avoided my Scythe using a core movement speed art. The Scythe crashed against the wall. Although the walls remained unscratched, the whole room trembled; the power from the impact was something a Core Foundation cultivator would have trouble defending.

  The possessed Lu Xin didn’t wait for me to reach her and executed a deadly core art. A huge ball of flames inevitably engulfed the remaining youths. They couldn’t defend themselves; the art was too powerful and it turned them into ashes. On one hand, Lu Xin had visibly paled as forcibly executing a core art was not something that came without a price.

  “We will meet again,” an aged voice sounded from Lu Xin’s mouth.

  I was already on the move, running towards the pale Lu Xin when I saw her reach out to the red wall behind her.

  “I accept the test!” This time, it was Lu Xin’s voice that sounded.

  A red light covered her body and she disappeared. In her place, only the remnant soul remained. The red wall then turned dark.

  “Damn, you fucking old man! Why did you help her? How are you related to her?!” I shouted with rage as I charged towards him.

  “She is my sister’s granddaughter. I recognized her the moment she entered the room as she looks exactly like her when she was young. Unfortunately, this room is a test without explained rules. People must figure things out...”

  The remnant soul was slowly disappearing.

  “Nascent Soul cultivators that die inside the Ancient Ruins get their souls sealed, becoming part of the tests to maintain order, help, or supervise, as well as do other kinds of functions. Long ago, when I died, I became the supervisor of this test in order to give small pointers so people can complete this test.

  “This test only
allows six people to survive and pass the test. This is a room for a massacre! Of despair! When only six people are left, they can accept the true final test by touching a wall. The tests are based on the color of the wall touched. Unfortunately, possessing Lu Xin was the limit that the Ancient Ruins allowed me to do; using my own power to kill was not something that the Ancient Ruins can tolerate… My soul is already dissipating, and soon, I will cease to exist. Lu Xin is not a bad girl. She is just young and bad-tempered. The Central Country is not a good place for young people to grow. Forgive her…”

  Initially, I had wanted to kill the remnant soul myself to earn a good amount of experience points, but the talk filled with information regarding the Ancient Ruins stopped me. By the time I processed the information, the middle-aged man’s soul had fully dissipated.

  What a pity.

  My eyes caught sight of four youths who didn’t know how to approach me. Perhaps I had scared them by my actions, or maybe they feared my strength now, I wasn’t sure. Until now, they sort of found me normal, but my last attack with the flying Scythe and the remnant soul brought their minds into confusion.

  I looted what was left of the bodies on the ground. It wasn’t much, but I collected every piece of valuables I found. What was left of the corpses was also collected, since having them could be used to fix my body. Next time, though, I better not be wasteful. There were hundreds of corpses above 5th Rank that were incomplete and I wasted many missing pieces…

  I sighed. What have I become? Do humans only mean this much to me? Just chunks of meat to fix me?

  The room was deadly silent. My sigh released all my negative emotions in the air and it pierced through the four youths’ ears. The petrified youths recovered with mixed feelings and thoughts. I saw the struggle deep in their eyes. Perhaps, my existence was something too hard to approve. Who knows? I might never get a friend.

  Xiao Wu was the first to react. Her petite body was moving through the remains I didn’t collect and I could see her beautiful crying face getting closer. In my eyes, her actions were in slow motion and I caught every small detail on her expression. She kneeled down and looked straight to my eyes. She wasn’t confused or scared. It was a strange sight to see—she was feeling grateful yet regretful.

  “Ye Bai... I’m sorry, but this is too much. I have people I need to take care of. I can’t be as carefree as you. I cannot face their retaliation. Thank you for saving my life. Sorry.” Xiao Wu’s voice sounded fainter and fainter with each word, her tears flowing in streams. She had betrayed her heart for the sake of her loved ones.

  Her previous ‘brother’ was no longer present and our small relationship had ended. In her eyes, I was a monster, but it wasn’t enough to put her faith in me, and so she discarded me. How long did we know each other? What did I expect?

  My Scythe was back at my hand, the blade was resting against Xiao Wu’s thin and perfect neck. A little push was all I needed and Xiao Wu would breathe her last. My arm trembled, my mind screamed against it. She did nothing, but it was her choice and she would pay a heavy price for betraying her heart, although it was not a huge betrayal. The Scythe in my hand then disappeared. I recalled it to the System Inventory.

  After kowtowing three times, she muttered, “I reject the test.”

  A blue light engulfed her petite body, and then she disappeared.

  I knew Xiao Wu was smarter than the rest. She found a way out of the test. The test of the Ancient Ruins sometimes were all done without rest, or maybe there were a few moments to rest. It was then when the tokens to exit could be used. Right now, we were facing a survival test. We needed to accept the test based on what the remnant soul told us. I never thought that the test could also be rejected.

  Chu Xian’s axe appeared in his hand. He had a serious face and I wondered what Chu Xian was going to do. He was a very basic young man. In fact, all men from the Berserk Mountain were simple. His way of expressing himself was through arguments and that was what he had always done with Li Qi. Chu Xian walked away with his head lowered. I was feeling slightly disappointed. To be honest, I expected more from this proud young man.

  Li Qi smiled as his elegant voice reached me.

  “Brother Ye, you should observe carefully. He will give you his answer. Such is a man that I never beat in a true combat.”

  Chu Xian’s muscles grew bigger, or rather, his whole body grew. He became two times bigger than me. His robes got torn apart and his body was totally exposed, the veins showing underneath his skin. I could hear his heart beating from where he was standing. What a mighty ancient bloodline!

  “Brother Ye! This is what I can do to help you out.”

  Those words from Chu Xian was followed by an immense roar. His back muscles bulged out, strength flowing to his arms. Gripping his axe with both hands, he unleashed an attack toward one of the walls.

  The loud noise stunned me and it almost made the room tremble like I did. So... why? Why were they so afraid of Lu Xin? Chu Xian could literally turn her into dust...

  Huh?!

  Blood came out of Chu Xian’s mouth.

  “I can only help you out this much! Bring it out, I fear no one. Perhaps, I might not be able to stand by your side, but so what?! Even big bosses need their minions to be killed. I will be a true man until the very end!” Chu Xian started laughing, his eyes fixed on me.

  His face was pale. It was clear he was not in full control of his bloodline and he was restraining it. His bloodshot eyes showed traces of the ancient and mighty Berserk Bloodline. I didn’t need the System to tell me or to read it in a book. I simply knew it—any man in the entire world would understand where that wild look was coming from. This man would slaughter his way to the very top once his bloodline and his wild nature totally awakened. I couldn’t help laughing. A true man? So be it.

  “Go on, otherwise, I would feel disappointed, Brother Chu!”

  “I accept the test!” roared Chu Xian.

  Li Qi sighed. “Now, you know the reason why Chu Xian never went all out. Trying to control his Berserk Bloodline will make him suffer a backslash. There is a huge chance that he will go berserk and start a massacre as he’s not in control. But he’s a simple man. He unleashed his bloodline even at the price of hurting him because he trusted you as his brother.”

  “Yeah, there is still a long way for him to control his bloodline. Once he accomplishes it, he will become someone great!” I said, facing the wall where Chu Xian disappeared.

  “True, until now he’s been afraid of his bloodline. He was afraid to unleash a massacre. Seeing you must have untied that fear,” Li Qi said with a proud smile on his face.

  “What about you? Are you afraid?”

  “Me? This whole mess started because of me. If I were to cower now, what kind of man would I grow into? Besides, you opened up a new path for me.”

  “I just suggested something at best. It was all your effort.”

  “You should know that with your strength, you will have no problem becoming an inner disciple of any sect. They will doubtlessly fight over you. Do you want to join the Light Sect?”

  I could see the solemn face this youth in front of me had. Li Qi was serious, formally inviting me to his Light Sect. It was true that I had a small conflict with Senior Brother Wu, however, he was only an ant in the whole Light Sect. If I entered the Light Sect, I would have no trouble at all. I doubt he could do something to suppress me.

  Unfortunately, this wasn’t part of my plans. The best sect for me would be the Dark Wood Sect. Later on, I’d need to think of a plan once I got in. I doubted Lu Xin’s alliance with the Dark Wood Sect was something that elders carelessly agreed to, so I would need to be careful.

  “Sorry, I have to decline your offer.”

  “It’s okay. I understand, Brother Ye. With your power and strength, it’s understandable. So, you will join a sect from the Central Country, then? It’s a good idea. It will help you face Lu Xin’s retaliation...”

  I waved my hand to sto
p Li Qi. I knew that if I didn’t interrupt him, he wouldn’t ever stop talking. He ignored my hand signal.

  This guy...

  “No, you got it wrong,” I replied to interrupt his blabbering.

  “Eh? But, Brother Ye, you cannot join other countries’ sects. It’s impossible. You killed every member of the Dark Wood, the Moon Lake doesn’t accept men, and you rejected the Light Sect... Oh! Could it be your plan is to join the same sect as Chu Xian?”

  “Wait! What do you mean you can’t join any other countries’ sects?” I asked, confused.

  “You got your talent tested, I assume?”

  “Yes.”

  My mind was filled with thoughts about Ye Qing, the first human who I interacted with and also the one that gave me a name. He provided me with shelter and helped me. He also taught me the foundations of this world. Now, I realized it was dumb of me to spend every single day training instead of asking him more about this world. No wonder Ye Qing always looked at me like a fool. My mind was looking through every memory I had with Ye Qing. Thanks to my powerful soul and the System, everything was recorded in detail.

  Eh? What are those movements...

  The Ye Qing in my memories each day did one slight move out of the routine he was teaching me. I never noticed that.

  “System, assemble all the moves outside Ye Qing’s routine—the moves that he doesn’t repeat in a day.”

  Ding!

  Analysing and processing. Please wait.

  “Ye Bai! Ye Bai!”

  Li Qi was shouting at me, trying to wake me up from my deep thoughts.

  “Sorry, I got absorbed in my thoughts. I just remembered something.”

  “Since your talent was tested, it registered you as a South Country citizen. The sects only accept people registered in their respective countries. That’s a rule that has been set since ancient times.”

  “Don’t tell me it was the Holy Crystal’s doing?”

  “Yes, as the Holy Crystal is present in every country, and there is one Holy Crystal in almost every city. Initially, many people didn’t agree to this rule. Some of them even tried to destroy the Holy Crystal, but they didn’t succeed and they ended up being destroyed, their souls devoured by it. It was said that ten thousand years ago, the number one existence tried to destroy it, too, however a white light engulfed him and he died.”