Vol. 6 Ch. 43

“Sis, you’re eliminated! Sis!!”

Watching Noa being led away by the staff, Moon rushed forward and grabbed her tail.

“Sis, don’t leave me! What am I supposed to do without you?!”

Noa smiled helplessly. “There’s no helping it. They really know how to play this game. Dad will come to you soon—make sure to listen to him, okay?”

“Sis~!”

“Be good.”

Noa pinched Moon’s cheek gently and then turned to Aurora. “Did you figure it out, Aurora? Uncle Constantine’s strategy?”

The pink-haired girl nodded with a serious expression. “I’m next.”

“Right. So, you need to hurry, Aurora.”

“Got it. I will.”

With that, Noa was taken to the “black room,” a small, dark holding area for eliminated players.

Aurora let out a long breath before turning back to the remaining three sisters.

“Second Sis, Muse, Hefei, we need to move faster.”

“Got it!”

“Sis… sob, sob… My sister…”

“Second Sis?”

“Your Second Sis is my responsibility now. Take Muse and Hefei and keep working on the tasks,” a voice interrupted from the side.

The children turned toward the source of the voice in unison, like they’d seen their savior.

Leon stepped forward, scooping up Moon and holding her against his waist.

Moon, like a subdued kitten, slumped onto his shoulder.

“Dad, if you’d taken any longer, I’d have thought you’d given up entirely,” Aurora said.

“Giving up’s not my style, even if it’s tough. Besides, I still need to avenge your mom and sister.”

“In three hours, you’ll be avenging me too,” Aurora quipped with a sigh. “Uncle Constantine really knows how to play his cards.”

Leon sighed as well. “We got too complacent in the early game.”

“But don’t worry, everyone makes mistakes.”

Aurora furrowed her brows. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Leon shrugged. “Nothing. Now, take your sisters and get to work. Stay safe.”

“Got it,” Aurora replied before leaving with Muse and Hefei.

Leon lifted Moon higher, placing her on his shoulders so she could ride on top.

He gently held her ankles to keep her steady and asked,

“Wanna do something fun, Moon?”

Moon sniffled. “Dad, Mom and Sis are eliminated. How can you still think about having fun? We need to do tasks and find clues.”

Sitting atop her father’s shoulders, Moon couldn’t help but feel that her dad’s idea of “fun” wasn’t exactly appropriate given the situation.

“Alright, alright. You’re so focused—it’s great! Let’s get moving.”

Moon glanced down at her dangling feet. Even with her small brain, she could tell how dire the situation was for their team.

So why did Dad still seem so relaxed?

“Could it be…” Moon wondered to herself.

“Losing Mom and Sis made Dad lose his mind! Dad’s gone crazy!”

“Only the Silver Dragon Prince and four little girls remain on the Good Faction.”

“So, in fifteen hours, this game will be over?”

“Yes. At the current pace, with a Good Faction player eliminated every three hours, the game will end in fifteen hours.”

“Boss, should we intervene? The pink-haired kid is trying so hard.”

“Yeah, the pressure on them is pretty intense.”

The team leader considered this for a moment and then said,

“Let’s shorten the remaining time to sixteen hours. Any extra time is unnecessary anyway.”

“Also, add some clue-based tasks to reduce the gap between the Good Faction and the ghosts.”

“Release the Good Faction’s [Kill] item card so they can fight back.”

“Finally, cancel the final Destruction Task. Just simplify it so that finding the plague source allows immediate destruction without any extra steps.”

“Got it. Implementing now.”

“Yes, boss!”

The Director’s Team quickly implemented the changes.

With ten minutes left before the ghosts’ next elimination cooldown ended, Aurora discovered a [Kill] item card that allowed them to fight back.

However, they still needed to complete a puzzle task to obtain it.

“It’s… a nine-ring puzzle? But there’s no table here. Dad made me this toy before—I can do this!” Aurora said, determination flashing in her eyes.

She pulled a light purple hair tie from her pocket, bit it in her mouth, and tied her hair into a ponytail with swift, practiced movements.

Sweat dripped from her forehead, and Muse, standing beside her, wiped it away with a tissue.

“Start with this one… Then this piece… Why is it stuck?!”

Aurora’s brows furrowed as her trembling hands worked at the puzzle.

She glanced at the countdown on the Memory Stone beside her, the numbers ticking down mercilessly.

Five minutes had passed, and she hadn’t even solved half the puzzle.

The overwhelming pressure was making her lose focus and her ability to think clearly.

No matter how clever she was, Aurora was still just a child.

“Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up… Please, just solve already!”

[Time remaining until the ghosts’ elimination: 10 minutes.]

Aurora’s palms were drenched with sweat. The nine-ring puzzle slipped from her hands once, but she didn’t even have time to scream. She simply picked it up and resumed working on it.

Muse and Hefei stood beside her, wanting to help but unable to do anything. They stared at the countdown, too scared to remind Aurora and add to her pressure.

“I’m almost there… Just a little more… Almost done…”

Just then, the room’s lights began flickering, and their bracelets started flashing erratically.

Although the elimination seemed random, Aurora already knew the result.

Even so, she didn’t let the chaotic surroundings or the looming threat of elimination distract her.

When her stress hit its peak, she grew calmer instead.

“Shh—”

The flickering lights abruptly stabilized, and the staff’s voice echoed through the castle:

“Attention, all players: Good Faction player—”

“Almost there, just one last piece!”

“Aurora—”

“Last piece… Done, done!”

“K. Melkvey—has been eliminated.”

Aurora stood up, panting. A triumphant smile appeared on her face as she held the completed puzzle and the newly unlocked [Kill] card.

“I did it! I eliminated one of the ghosts!”

“Let’s go!” Muse and Hefei cheered, rushing to hug her.

The tides had turned. The Good Faction wasn’t giving up just yet.

"Attention, all players: Ghost faction player Helena Poseidon has been eliminated."

"Hmm, so the little Sea Dragon was eliminated? What a pity."

"Yeah, it’s a shame. If they’d taken down the Red Flame Dragon King instead, the Good Faction might’ve had a better chance of turning the tide."

"Now, only the Silver Dragon Prince remains. Can he manage an incredible comeback and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat?"

The little ones seemed to have done everything they possibly could, but Constantine was systematically eliminating them one by one, leaving only Leon for the final showdown.

"A one-on-one finale… This is getting interesting."

By now, everyone understood Constantine’s strategy.

In the next few hours, Moon, Muse, and Hefei were all eliminated one after another.

On the battlefield, only Leon and Constantine remained.

As Constantine had envisioned from the start, the game’s ultimate confrontation had boiled down to a duel between him and Leon—a solo match.

However, the advantage Constantine had built up throughout the game put him in an almost unbeatable position.

In the game’s final hour, the castle’s secret passages had been sealed. Constantine stood silently in the basement, illuminated by the cold glow of a single overhead light. His solitary figure cast a long shadow, making the scene feel eerily lonely.

In his hands, he held a spherical metallic mechanism—the plague source Leon and his team had desperately been searching for. Step by step, Constantine had found it.

All it would take to destroy the plague source was to rotate the dials on the spherical mechanism.

After a moment of stillness, Constantine retrieved his Memory Stone and checked the time. His elimination ability was ready to be used again.

"I eliminate Good Faction player Leon Casmod," he declared.

With a calm tone, he prepared to activate the ghost faction’s Elimination ability on the final remaining opponent.

Constantine looked down at the Memory Stone in his hand, recalling his calculated movements.

"Do you remember the three item cards Leon mentioned when we first met?"

A voice drifted down from the staircase above.

Constantine raised his head to see a familiar figure descending step by step.

Leon was holding three cards in one hand, the other still in his pocket.

The cards bore the image of pure white wings.

"One card delays poison status by an hour. The second provides a task hint. And the third… I didn’t let Moon tell you about it."

Leon held up the last card for Constantine to see.

"This one is called Guardian Angel, and it can block one kill effect from any faction."

Leon tossed the three cards onto the ground, then took a few steps forward, stopping about five meters away from Constantine. His gaze fell on the spherical mechanism in Constantine’s hand.

"So, that’s the plague source?"

"Yes."

"Wow, you actually found it," Leon said, scratching his head with a wry smile.

Constantine, however, noticed something strange—the bracelet on Leon’s wrist, the one he’d kept in his pocket, had already turned black.

"That means…"

"I’ve won, Leon," Constantine said softly, his tone calm.

"Even if you blocked my elimination ability with an item card, you’ve still lost."

"Your bracelet is black. In ten minutes, you’ll be eliminated. There’s no task or item that can reverse this."

Leon didn’t deny it. "That’s true. But—"

As he spoke, Leon stepped back and bent his knees slightly, taking up a stance that looked like he was preparing to attack.

"Still struggling, are you?"

"Hmph, just indulging in a last stand. But… a little exercise doesn’t hurt," Leon quipped.

The two stood still for a few seconds before the basement lights flickered—a signal for battle.

Leon lunged forward, aiming to snatch the plague source from Constantine’s hands.

But Constantine easily sidestepped the attack, evading him with minimal effort.

The two overgrown children chased each other around the basement, leaping and dodging like kids on a playground.

Meanwhile, the eliminated players were watching from a screen.

"What’s Dad doing? Didn’t we already lose? Why isn’t he coming back yet?"

Moon pouted, confused.

"Yeah," Aurora added. "The bracelet’s black, so there’s no point in fighting over the plague source anymore."

"Destroying the plague source requires waiting fifteen minutes at the tower, but the black bracelet means elimination in ten minutes… I can’t figure out what Dad’s trying to do either."

Even Rosvisser, observing through the Memory Stone, murmured to herself:

"Leon… what are you planning?"

After some chaotic scrambling, Leon finally managed to grab the plague source from Constantine at an almost impossible angle.

Constantine froze for a moment but then shrugged nonchalantly and smirked.

"Looks like I got careless."

Leon took a few steps back, holding the plague source in his hand and gripping it tightly.

"Even the careful can slip up sometimes," Leon said with a grin.

"But the ultimate victor won’t change, Leon. Even if you destroy the plague source, you can’t escape elimination. The victory is still mine."

Leon didn’t respond. Instead, he began turning the dials on the plague source. The sphere emitted a series of clicks, and wisps of purple smoke seeped out from its seams.

"Attention, all players: The plague source has been destroyed."

Leon tossed the sphere aside casually, then shoved his hands into his pockets with a faint smile.

"Ah, looks like it’s not quite over yet."

"What?"

Without explaining further, Leon turned and began walking toward the castle hall.

Constantine’s confidence wavered as he watched Leon’s retreating figure. After a moment of hesitation, he followed.

When Constantine arrived at the hall, Leon was already standing by the exit.

The previously eliminated players were all gathered on the other side of the hall, watching the scene unfold.

Leaning lazily against the doorframe, Leon looked completely at ease.

"Notice anything, Constantine? Ten minutes have passed."

He waved his wrist, showing the black bracelet still strapped there.

Constantine said nothing, watching intently.

"But I haven’t been eliminated. Curious, aren’t you?"

Leon pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and began wiping the bracelet.

As he rubbed, the black color began to fade, revealing the green of a normal bracelet underneath.

"If you were paying attention during the game, you’d have noticed a corridor. At the end of that corridor is a room, and on the far wall of that room…"

Leon paused, smirking.

"…is Moon and Muse’s graffiti art."

"They painted our family. You know us—we’re colorful: silver, white, blue, pink, red, and of course—"

"Black."

"Simple graffiti art turned into the game’s ultimate victory," Constantine muttered, his voice low.

A breeze swept through, and the grand castle doors slowly creaked open behind Leon.

He placed one hand behind his back and the other over his heart. With a slight bow, he brought the unforgettable performance to a close.