Chapter 187: Cheat Mode
Even after suffering unexpected, devastating injuries, He did not stop His plan— in fact, He only accelerated.
He raised His enormous head toward the black sun hanging in the sky. When the moment came for that sun to overflow, He lifted His two grotesquely twisted, mucus-covered “hands” high above His head. A piercing shriek—impossible to describe in human terms—burst out from His body and from the few remaining heads still clinging to Him.
Thirteen beams of light froze midair for an instant—then shot toward Him in unison.
The closer they drew, the shorter the distance between them became. The Federation’s last few surviving humans were annihilated in an instant as the beams passed.
Now, within the entire Federation, only Xu Zhi and those protected within Cloud City’s array remained alive.
The world-ending formation had completed its purpose. The outcome was no surprise to Xu Zhi or the Narrator—within the Federation’s borders, there was no one left capable of stopping Him.
Even though Xu Zhi had long known this moment would come—and had once thought she wouldn’t care—now that she had learned part of the truth, she couldn’t help but feel a flicker of grief for the fallen, a faint pang of sorrow for all that had perished.
But that feeling faded as quickly as it came. Xu Zhi was not someone who allowed emotion to trap her for long.
Once she realized that the backlash from using [Eye of Secrets] to gaze upon Him wasn’t too severe, she prepared to use it again—at the right time. Unfortunately, she couldn’t maintain her gaze indefinitely; the accumulated backlash would eventually break her.
As the beams of light neared His position, they began to contract, and on the ground, a massive blood-red formation slowly rose into view.
It seemed to be emerging from underground. Likely, when His followers had constructed the array, they had buried it beneath the surface to hide it from the Federation’s eyes.
Now, the vast formation radiated an intense crimson glow, dyeing the entire land of the Federation in eerie red light.
When the beams gathered at its center— suddenly, the whole formation winked out, as if someone had turned off a lamp in the dark.
Then, behind Him, a huge red magic circle appeared out of nowhere— so large it enveloped His entire upper body and even extended above His head.
The patterns on it were incredibly intricate; Xu Zhi studied them closely and realized— they were the very same sigils once carved across the land of the Federation itself.
This smaller, floating version of the grand formation glowed like a red halo behind Him, and at that moment— He connected with the black sun above.
The black sun was a [Cup], a vessel for energy storage— and also a power amplifier for [Cup]-attribute transcendence.
When the energy inside the black sun trembled slightly and decreased just a fraction, His “wounds” began to heal at astonishing speed.
In the space of a few breaths, the melted heads had reappeared across His body, making Him look as if He had never been hurt at all.
And the black sun’s energy had dropped by only the tiniest amount.
“…He just turned on cheat mode?”
A pause. Then Xu Zhi muttered, half exasperated, half incredulous:
“How are we supposed to fight that?”
[It’s fine.]
[Even with His cheat active, He might not win. Worst case—you open yours.]
The Narrator’s voice was calm.
“My cheat? How am I supposed to open a cheat when I don’t even have one?”
Xu Zhi stared, speechless. You needed a cheat to use a cheat—where was she supposed to get one of those?
[Don’t rush!]
“Yeah, yeah—‘Wait for the right moment,’ right?”
[…]
[…Yes.]
She still didn’t know what exact “moment” they were waiting for, but at this point, she could only trust the Narrator.
After His injuries healed, the voices that had vanished from Xu Zhi’s ears came back— louder, clearer, more chaotic than ever.
[…Scared to death!]
[Almost died!]
[Already dead—but alive again!]
[Heehee.]
[She’s still alive… the pretty eyes.]
The moment His gaze turned toward Xu Zhi again—
[Want.]
[Want!]
[WANT THE EYES!]
Those eerie, greedy voices flooded Xu Zhi’s mind, rising and falling in volume, their malice and desire undisguised. They didn’t sound like thinking beings at all— just empty skulls and eyeballs clinging to His body, mindless and obsessed.
Xu Zhi tried to block the noise but had no idea how.
“Doesn’t occultism have any practical spells? Something everyone can use—like noise cancellation?”
It was a ridiculous thought, but she still muttered it under her breath. Of course, even if such spells existed, the Federation had never known them.
When His wounds had completely vanished, the first thing He did— was to bring Midnight fully down upon Cloud City.
His movements were frantic, almost desperate— as though He were being chased, or running out of time.
A deafening boom split the heavens. A flash of silver light cut through the black sun’s shadow and illuminated the earth for a heartbeat—
Lightning.
A single, enormous bolt of lightning. It felt like an omen.
He moved even faster now. Xu Zhi could feel the thick, sticky malice in the air growing denser, almost tangible— as if His fury came from being forced to finish the descent of Midnight only now. There was rage in His every motion.
After that first lightning strike, dark clouds began to gather overhead— but no rain fell.
The storm was building. Charging.
Xu Zhi noticed His gaze shift subtly upward—toward the storm clouds.
Was that His enemy?
The lightning?
No—it was more than ordinary lightning.
When Midnight finally descended upon Cloud City, the ruined metropolis vanished. The skyscrapers beneath Xu Zhi’s feet melted into muddy forest paths and sparse black trees.
Most of the trees were gone, leaving Midnight terrifyingly vast and empty. Worse, countless narrow trenches—no wider than Xu Zhi’s palm—had been carved across the ground, interlinking the entire expanse of Midnight. Blood filled the channels, flowing like streams, staining the air with a faint metallic tang.
The scent didn’t overpower Midnight’s own stillness— instead, it blended with it, intertwining eerily, much like His very presence.
It was as if even He had merged completely with Midnight.
When Midnight’s aura appeared, the storm clouds overhead stilled. They didn’t disperse, but they no longer gathered, as if they had suddenly lost their target.
Xu Zhi didn’t understand why. It must have been another secret—some knowledge she had yet to grasp. But one thing she did understand: He needed Midnight to descend. Perhaps because Midnight granted Him protection.
And then Xu Zhi remembered what the Narrator had once told her—
Bring the cloak.
The cloak made from special human skin— it could block part of the lightning’s power.
She’d wondered at the time, What lightning? Now she understood.
Without Midnight’s protection, if she wanted to do what He was doing, she would have to withstand that lightning herself.
