Absolute Choice
chapter-464

Array World

The sky was eventually covered by the massive wings of the monsters in the sky. Sunlight was nearly completely devoured, and could only peep out through the cracks in the winged blockade. The rays of sunlight that scattered to the ground illuminated the lands, but all it showed was a mass of darkness from the monsters that swamped the lands.

Sounds filled with killing intent like roaring, hissing, screeching, shrieking sounded incessantly. It did not give any spot of reprieve to the world they were in.

But in this world filled with despair, a boy was running straight towards hope. His hands were holding an unconscious girl, as though he was carefully carrying a crystal that could easily shatter at a touch.

In front of him, there were monsters charging at him with gaping mouths. Behind him, there were innumerable monsters in desperate pursuit. Once he came to a stop, he would immediately be inundated by the monster horde. All he could do was advance and tear through the horde of monsters, going from one land of despair to another.

Shi Xiaobai lost track of the time when it came to his running. He did not know how long he could run nor did he know how much longer he had to run.

However, he knew that he needed to run. He had to run without stopping towards what was in front of him!

Even if his feet no longer obeyed his command!

Even if his lungs felt like they were burning!

Even if the air he was breathing was so thin that it did not seem to exist!

Even if every second felt like he was in hell!

Even if such running did not have an end to it!

Even so, he would do his best to open up his stride and run forward. He would run ceaselessly forward, not for the ends of the world, but because the girl in his arms was still sleeping peacefully. How could he let that short dream turn into an eternal slumber?

"Huff, puff...."

Heavy breathing burned his lungs. Due to the need to maintain his consciousness with pain, Shi Xiaobai completely stopped using 'Unleaking Turtle Aura'. His body felt like it was consumed in flames.

If burning his life could be exchanged for power, Shi Xiaobai would not hesitate to do so, but unfortunately, he did not possess such a mystic technique. All he could burn was his will that refused to collapse.

Time and again, just as he was about to fall unconscious, he would use the pain to force his eyes open.

If he was alone, he might have already collapsed a long time ago. But now, in his arms, there was a girl who had given him her heart. The girl had proclaimed 'I like you' loudly.

"Slam!"

Shi Xiaobai finally ushered in his first fall.

However, he immediately turned his body to use his shoulder to withstand the pain of the fall.

Immediately after that, he clenched his teeth and got up.

Every time he fell, he had to use even more strength to open the gap between the monsters behind him.

But that was not his final fall because he was beginning to reach his limits frequently.

At the sixth time he fell, he finally consumed all of his strength.

No more additional pain was effective because even the most lazy cells had given all its energy.

Shi Xiaobai did not know how long he had been running with Dawn. He was so exhausted that he had forgotten about time. However, he knew he had done his best and given his all.

Unfortunately, she remained unconscious.

He had no chance to tell her.

That he liked her too.

...

...

Infernal domain. Infernal King's bedroom

The glow of flickering candles barely illuminated the dim room. Inside the massive bedroom, there was only a stunning beauty dressed in a bathing robe.

The woman was lazily sitting on a chair as she shook her slender fair foot. Her eyes were on a crystalline chessboard in front of her as though she was observing a complicated game of chess. Yet, it looked like she was looking at another world through the crystalline chessboard.

After a long while, the stunning woman picked up a black chess piece termed 'Queen' and placed it back on the board, removing a white chess piece termed 'Knight' from the board.

At that moment, she was playing a board game named 'International Chess' by a boy. Each side of the board was a country, and the game of chess had the inkling of war between countries. Although it did not seem as complicated as 'Aeroplane Chess', it was still extremely interesting.

However, the boy who was the only one capable of playing chess with her was situated far away. In her boredom and loneliness, all she could do was play chess with herself.

At that moment, a pleasant voice rang in the quiet room.

"Let's end it here."

At the instant the voice resounded, the black-and-white chess pieces on the board flew out like bullets. They either smashed into the walls, into flower vases, or to the ground. There were a few that hurtled towards the beautiful woman.

However, the pieces were reduced to dust by an unknown force before it reached the woman.

On the crystalline board that no longer had a single chess piece, a blurry image gradually appeared.

That was an absolutely stunning beauty with purple hair cascading down naturally. For some reason, she wore a white eyepatch over her left eye. Only her blue right eye could be seen, but it looked as a clear as a crystal. The eye was calm, but it seemed to contain the mountains and rivers, as though a sea of stars filled it. It added a sacred flair to her beautiful looks. She clearly looked like a young girl, but she exuded the dignity of a goddess.

The purple-haired girl looked at the stunning woman through the crystalline chess board.

The woman was apparently not surprised by the situation and seemed to have anticipated it. She squinted her eyes as she said with a smile, "You finally can't bear it any longer? I thought you would have appeared earlier, but who knew that you would be able to endure up to now."

The purple-haired girl said, "I never expected you to be this bold. You obviously know that I can destroy you and the entire land of trials with a wave of my hand, but yet you kept rubbing me the wrong way time and time again?"

The stunning woman said with a chuckle, "Just treat it as if I'm sick of living. Since I'm not afraid of death, or afraid of destruction, there's nothing to fear."

The purple-haired girl fell silent for a moment and said, "Speak, what is your goal? Seeking revenge against me?"

"Revenge?"

The stunning woman covered her mouth as she said with a laugh, "Giggle...You must really be joking. All you did was be a bit forceful when negotiating with me and made some unfriendly threats. How can I have a grudge with you, or even seek revenge on you?"

When the purple-haired girl heard this, a look of helplessness flashed in her eyes. She said with a wry smile, "So that's the reason. It looks like I miscalculated. I never expected that as the 'assessment program', not only have you gained sentience with a personality. It's actually a personality with extreme pettiness. By seizing the Infernal Queen's body and setting Xiaobai as the Infernal King, you used all sorts of techniques to seduce him, all because of a few harsh words I used against you during our negotiation?"

The 'Infernal Queen' gave a coquettish smile as she said, "You must be joking. What I did was because I loved my Darling Husband, and wanted to be closer to him and do what he wants."

The purple-haired girl said with a sneer, "Don't tell me that you think that you can enrage me by doing this?"

The 'Infernal Queen' giggled and said, "Of course, I only spent time alone with your boyfriend in one room, and had 'intercourse' for ten days and nights while neglecting food and sleep. He taught me things in such a meticulous manner, but with Her Excellency Kali being tolerant and forgiving, how can you be angry over such trivial matters?"

Kali was cursing secretly. Although she knew that what the fake Infernal Queen's shameless distorting was false, she still felt incensed.

She pretended to stay calm as she said, "What's there to be angry about? You went so far as to bring shame on yourself so that you can prove that my boyfriend is such a gentleman. I should be the one thanking you. Unfortunately, your charms are limited. Even though you went nude, you still failed to let my Xiaobai have a tiny inkling of interest."

The 'Infernal Queen' pricked up her brows. She had especially chosen this body which had snow-white skin and absolute beauty that could topple countries. Her figure was excellent and she had ample breasts. Her hips were curved and her waist slender. She could be considered a masterpiece, but after her bath, she had failed to seduce Shi Xiaobai despite being thoroughly naked. It had also far exceeded her expectations.

However, the 'Infernal Queen' obviously could not tag on praises about how Shi Xiaobai's sublimate actions of 'not being disturbed with a woman in his lap'. She said with a chuckle, "It's not that I lack charm, but Darling has a unique taste. He likes bony lolis like you, and coincidentally, that girl called Dawn Li also matches his taste. Hey, aren't they acting out the till death do us part scene of star-crossed lovers right now? It really makes me jealous. I wonder if you will feel a modicum of jealousy? After all, if this carries on, even if your beloved boyfriend might not have a change of heart, he will at least end up becoming unfaithful. Why don't you take the opportunity to use my hand to kill that little side-hoe?"

"Why don't you take the opportunity to use my hand to kill that little side hoe?"

Kali's gaze turned cold as she said, "I do not wish for him to become a flower in a greenhouse, so I do not mind you increasing the tribulations that he faces, but if it exceeds my tolerance level, you will force me to do something. It's best that you consider if you can withstand the outcome of infuriating me. I can accept him having a change of heart or becoming unfaithful, but I do not wish for him to be heart-broken. Therefore, that girl cannot die."

The 'Infernal Queen' said with a sigh, "You are really making it tough on me. This can't be killed while that can't be killed, wouldn't the trap that I went through great pains setting up be for nothing?"

Kali said with a sneer, "As for the seven trial-takers, do not overdo it. Sending out three Level Lords and even going against the rules to ban the 'exit command'. You have already completely overturned the balance of the game. Although I do not mind the deaths of those seven people, they are still Xiaobai's friends. Furthermore, they are in such a dire situation in order to save Xiaobai. I cannot sit idle while you do as you please."

The 'Infernal Queen' said in an even more depressed manner, "You are being too cruel. You are even forbidding me to have my final enjoyment? What if I were to say...no?"

Kali said with a sneer, "If you are bent on refusing to realize your errors, I'll have to intervene."

The 'Infernal Queen' said with a sly smile, "If you could personally take action, was there a need to enter this prolonged mindless conversation with me? The moment you attack, I'll gain the final authority and will immediately activate the 'self-destruct sequence'. No matter which side you save, the other side will instantly die. No matter how strong you are, there is also a time lag when it comes to crossing between two worlds that are on different planes of existence. It's because you can't save both sides that you are here threatening me, isn't that right?"

Kali's expression changes slightly, as she said coldly, "So that's how it is. Is that your real goal? By doing so, you have indeed forced me into an impasse, but you should know that when push comes to shove, I will not hesitate to save Xiaobai. Although doing so would be less than fair to the seven trial-takers, it is something that cannot be helped. My conscience is clear and Xiaobai would not blame me for it. But if you were to activate the 'self-destruction sequence', you would be destroyed along with the land of trials. Do you think it's worth it to pay such a huge price but only being able to drag seven humans to die along with you, without being able to kill Xiaobai or hurt me?"

The 'Infernal Queen' gave a coquettish laugh as she lazily bent her fair arms and whispered, "Then, what if my true goal is to force you to do something, in order to gain the final authority to activate the 'self-destruction sequence'?"

With that said, Kali's pupils constricted slightly as she said in disbelief, "You don't want to live anymore!?"

The 'Infernal Queen' chuckled and said, "That's right. I'm sick of living. Being trapped here in what seems like a vast world but actually lacks freedom, living on is just an exceedingly boring matter. Therefore, being able to see your pained and hesitant expression might be the last moment of joy to me. You definitely never imagined that the powerful you can't even save a few humans, right?"

A wry smile suffused across Kali's lips. She had truly been tricked and had completely fallen for her scheme. Who said that no scheme was useless in front of absolute power?

It was only because your scheme was not sinister enough.

The moment the self-destruction sequence began, it only took an instant for the entire land of the trials to be destroyed. Shi Xiaobai and Speechless' group were separately located in the array world and the world of the seventh level. They were different worlds that existed in different spaces. Even she needed to take time to travel through space.

If the 'Infernal Queen' was really sick of living and wished to be destroyed as soon as possible, Kali could really only save one side.

And she definitely would choose to save Shi Xiaobai, but the other seven rookies were Shi Xiaobai's friends. Furthermore, they were in a dire state because of their attempt to save Shi Xiaobai, so how could she turn a blind eye to their plight?

The 'Infernal Queen' was too nefarious, causing Kali to feel inordinately furious, but she could not do a thing, because the moment she attacked, she would similarly activate the 'self-destruct sequence', causing her to fail to save both sides.

Kali found her head aching. She had lost count of the years that has passed since she felt so helpless after gaining absolute strength.

This time, the only person that could save the seven children was not her, but...

"Xiaobai, quickly wake up."

...

...

The boy's eyes were filled with tears. In his blurry vision, he slowly lost his focus.

"Badump! Badump! Badump!"

A weak heartbeat began to turn stronger constantly in his unconscious mind...Stronger and stronger...

Suddenly, a fiery beam of light shot out from every corner in his mind and stabbed his eyes, evaporating all his tears. It was as if even his eyes were consumed by the flames. In his pained vision, the world in front of him suddenly opened up into an expanse of light.

In the light, a shadow gradually floated over, like a large rug that paved a path in front of him.

Screech, screech. The sound of mice screeching began resounding in his ears.

Suddenly!

Countless eyeballs appeared in the shadow. The pupils in the eyeballs turned in different directions as they simultaneously looked at the light beyond the shadow!

At the same time, the light filled the firmament, as a massive mouth that occupied half the sky slowly opened. Accompanying it was the sound of maggots squirming.

Slowly, a gigantic bloody tongue reached out from the massive mouth.

On careful look, the tongue was filled with sharp barbed spikes. Every spike had a thin red lip, as though the most striking lipstick had been applied on them. Countless red lips slowly opened.

The countless eyeballs in the shadows that were looking at the light suddenly turned and looked towards him. Their overwhelming evil intentions seemed to stab into the boy's every pore like needles. In the light, the countless lips on the spiked tongue unleashed a demonic voice. The voice sounded like the wails of ghosts and the roars of gods!

"Giving up?"

"Have you given up?"

"Repressed or indignant?"

"You must be indignant?"

"Are you indignant!?"

"Then struggle!"

"Struggle!"

"You have to struggle!"

Suddenly, a gigantic mouth that filled half the sky reached out a hand. It was a black-skinned devil's hand covered in blood.

That hand looked like it was far in the sky.

But in fact, it was just in front of him.

"Grab it!"

"Grab it!!!"

"Grab it!!!!"

"Take the power you need!"

"Go struggle!"

"Go and struggle!"

The boy used his final bit of strength to raise his hand with great difficulty.

Gently, he grabbed the devil's bloody hand.

...

...

The three-headed hellhound, Herat, was a bachelor dog. It was not because it wasn't handsome or because it did not 'dare' to risk things, but because this screwed up world only had a single three-headed hellhound.

It was not like it could not accept the act of mating with other species, but that was only to release its pent-up sexual frustrations. It was a physical process and there was no spiritual connection and exchange. It was not the pure 'love' it yearned for.

As it could not obtain it, it no longer believed in 'love'.

Only till today!

Two humans that suddenly appeared in this world were actually exchanging sweet nothings in front of it!

It was incensed but it did not act rashly and chose to quietly observe!

Oh? Wanting to kiss?

Interrupt them!

Hmph! Want to confess?

Another interruption!

Let the two darn humans experience the anger of a bachelor dog!

After a long while, the two humans finally could not hide in the turtle shell any longer. They began their journey of escapades, but what made it even more incensed was that the two humans would not forget to exchange sweet nothings to each other while running.

Herat used all its strength to chase after them, but it had no idea how long it chased after them. The two humans seemed extremely tenacious and managed to last a long while without collapsing.

However, there was ultimately a limit no matter how tenacious they were.

After the girl fainted, the boy had lasted for a rather long period of time. He fell down six times before he finally could not get up.

Herat gave a victory roar and was preparing to have a taste of the two humans' flesh with its partners. It was definitely going to be filled with the putrid taste of love.

However, just as Herat took a few steps forward, it immediately caught a whiff of intense danger. Don't ask it why it was able to catch a whiff of danger, it was only because three-headed hellhounds have such sharp noses.

In short, as a meticulous and intelligent three-headed hellhound, Herat believed in its intuition and retreated far away at the fastest speed possible.

Just as it forebode, the boy that had just fallen down stood up once again.

Furthermore, when he stood up, his black hair had all turned silvery-white. His pair of black eyes had a golden vortex in them, as though there were two golden devils living in them.

Immediately following that, the banquet of a cruel massacre happened in front of Herat's eyes.

In less than a minute, hundreds of monsters were torn into pieces by that human. No, that was no longer a human but a silver-haired demon.

It used its bare hands to rip apart hundreds of monsters.

The silver-haired demon was bathing in blood and the girl that was tied to it was also covered in blood.

The silver-haired demon raised its head to roar, as though it did not notice that there was a girl tied to its body.

The monsters that came late trembled in fear from the hellish scene before them. None of them dared to approach the region that was like an Ashura's playground.

Herat felt thankful for its intelligence. It had hidden in the safest zone and continued monitoring the situation secretly.

Suddenly, its eyes lit up.

That was because the true show it had been waiting for is finally about to begin.

The unconscious girl finally opened her eyes!

"Shi...Xiao...bai?"

The girl slowly lifted her hand and tugged gently at the silver-haired demon's sleeve. Her weak voice sounded especially clear in the dead and silent hell.

The silver-haired demon seemed to finally realize that a strange object was tied to its waist.

It lowered its head and growled.

Then it stretched its blood-stained hands slowly towards the girl in front of it.

Herat was immediately ecstatic as it began to tremble in excitement.

That was because the silver-haired demon's hand pose was one it was very familiar with. That was the same hand pose that it used repeatedly when it ripped apart the hundreds of monsters!

... IChooseDogLeading (我选择狗带) when read in Chinese sounds like I Choose Go Die. It was a meme that resulted from a former member of famous Korean boygroup, EXO, TAO (Huang Zitao). At a concert, there was a part in a rap that where he said "", but due to a mispronunciation, it sounded like he will not easily choose to be led by dogs. This phrase now means 'I'd rather die/I choose death'.