Chapter 29: Demon Arena (27)
Lost Paradise couldn’t be counted on for now. Tang Mobai quickly looked up and said, “Aren’t you guys staff members? If the tower collapses, you’ll be buried under it too!”
But as soon as the words left his mouth, Tang Mobai realized they were useless. People who had already died once—would they still be afraid of being buried alive?
They had blown up the tower; it wouldn’t be surprising if 009 and the others exploded on the spot. Yet instead of attacking Tang Mobai and his group, the black-robed figures simply stood there. Their faces were hidden behind masks, so he couldn’t see their expressions. They just silently stared up at the ceiling— and the air felt… mournful?
009 sighed softly. “You’ve won. But at the same time, the arena is finished. We can no longer suppress them.”
“Good luck… demons.”
What the hell?!
Tang Mobai and the newly freed Seth exchanged a glance— then bolted. They had no choice. The ceiling was shaking, stone pillars and stalactites crashing down— if they didn’t run now, they’d be buried alive!
As they ran, Seth asked, “What’s your big-shot boss saying? The report still stuck in review?”
“Why does everyone know I’ve got a big-shot backing me?!” Tang Mobai shot back, voice full of existential frustration.
“Come on, everyone can guess that. Not really the time to talk about it though, right? When can we get out of this damn arena? I swear, 009 and the others just want everyone to die here so the spirits can have their revenge!”
“I don’t know either!”
Did Tang Mobai want to get out faster? Of course he did! But Lost Paradise was still “reviewing” the report! There was literally a giant ghost titan outside—wasn’t that proof enough that their theory was right?! What were those admins doing? Could their bureaucracy not be this slow? Were they really just passing the blame around while everyone died here?!
They reached the second floor— and ran straight into Yan Wuzhen and his four-man team.
Tang Mobai’s eyes lit up. “You came to find us? How thoughtful!”
“Bullshit!” Yan Wuzhen’s face twisted. “We checked every upper floor. There’s no way out!”
Tang Mobai’s expression changed. “Can’t we just smash through the walls? Even if it’s barren outside, as long as we hold out until Lost Paradise approves the report, we can escape!”
“No. You’ve been to the top floor, right? You should’ve noticed the entire tower is sealed by a barrier. The planet’s surface has been irradiated for ages—no one can survive more than a minute out there.”
Yan Wuzhen clenched his jaw. “If 011 hadn’t let me go earlier, I’d already be dead. To them, we’re as good as corpses.”
“There’s really no other way?”
“I should be asking you! Doesn’t your sugar daddy have any more tricks?
If you’ve got an ace up your sleeve, now’s the damn time to use it!”
Tang Mobai looked miserable. If he had some miracle escape card, would he still be risking his neck like this?!
Then he suddenly asked, “Where’s Deville?”
Yan Wuzhen almost laughed out of disbelief. “You still have time to worry about him?”
“At this point, he should be in the arena—”
“Wait, you’re not seriously going after him, are you?” Yan Wuzhen stared. “You two barely even know each other! You’re going to risk your life for him? Is your chatroom big shot still even online—”
Tang Mobai blinked. “Of course he is. What are you talking about? And it’s not exactly ‘risking my life’—I can’t even save myself. But since we’re trapped, we might as well look for another way out.”
Then suddenly—he shoved Yan Wuzhen hard. Both fell to the floor— just as the ground where they’d been standing collapsed. The ceiling split open, massive chunks of debris falling. If not for Tang Mobai’s shove, they’d both be dead.
Because of the earlier alchemy knowledge broadcast, the expert team had hit their message limit— they couldn’t even warn him anymore.
Tang Mobai calmly stood up from atop Yan Wuzhen. “As you can see, collapse is inevitable. No matter where we go, we could be buried alive. Might as well take a gamble.”
Yan Wuzhen’s expression shifted uncertainly, but before he could reply— the deafening roars suddenly stopped. For one chilling second, the entire tower fell silent. Then came an even fiercer scream of rage.
Something had clearly happened at the arena.
Tang Mobai and Yan Wuzhen exchanged a look— and ran toward it.
The once-grand coliseum was now half-destroyed, its center dominated by a colossal wraith giant. Its entire form was made of countless souls, human-like faces screaming endlessly from its body. By rough estimate, its height reached nearly one-sixth of the tower’s— and it was still shifting between ethereal and physical form.
Tang Mobai’s group could barely get close. The air around the giant was pure chaos— falling debris, collapsing floors, chasms opening everywhere. Getting too close meant certain death.
Even from dozens of meters away, the sheer presence of the wraith giant made their legs tremble. Tang Mobai gestured toward Yan Wuzhen, “Seriously—no way to calm that thing down? Don’t you have a tool or something? If we don’t fix this, we’re all going to be buried alive!”
Yan Wuzhen’s only reply: “Fuck off.”
Even if he did have a tool, it’d require drawing the giant’s attention first. He wasn’t suicidal.
Then Seth suddenly slapped Tang Mobai’s shoulder, “Isn’t that—Deville?”
“Huh?”
Tang Mobai followed his gaze. After several seconds, his face twisted in disbelief. That tiny figure in front of the wraith giant—was really his insane but sleep-loving roommate?! How the hell did he get there?!
But soon, Tang Mobai noticed something strange. The wraith giant… was retreating? Retreating from Deville?
The realization froze him in place— and soon everyone else noticed it too.
Despite their enormous difference in size, the wraith giant was the one stepping back.
Something was flowing off its body toward Deville— threads of shimmering energy connecting them. And as the energy poured into Deville, the giant’s fury visibly subsided.
Anyone who’d survived long enough in Lost Paradise knew the legend: Demons grew stronger in two ways—through desire, or through others’ negative emotions. Everyone knew the first path, but the second—feeding on negativity—was rarer, reminiscent of the “crystals of desire” demons left behind upon death. Those crystals could strengthen someone, yes, but only slightly. However, rumors said the great devils had waged endless slaughter during the apocalypse not just to indulge, but to transcend.
Yan Wuzhen had always dismissed that as myth— until now. Watching Deville absorb the giant’s essence, a terrible possibility dawned on him.
If that was true… then who exactly was Deville?
He’d suspected before that Deville wasn’t a normal gladiator—maybe even from the deeper hells. But no one in the chatrooms recognized him. Impossible, if he were a true archdemon. Had he changed his name—or his face?
Yan Wuzhen could only guess.
Then he glanced at Tang Mobai— who was staring at Deville, clearly worried. And suddenly, Yan Wuzhen didn’t see him as a lovesick idiot anymore.
Think about it. Who would willingly share a bed with a lunatic for several nights? And considering how guilds interfered with the Revival matches— for Qiong, it was replacing new players to give her resources. But Tang Mobai? His “sponsor” had smuggled in a container that sealed a spell. So there was only one explanation: Deville wasn’t random at all.
He was the “failsafe.” A living contingency planted by Tang Mobai’s mysterious benefactor.
And now, that failsafe had finally activated.
No wonder Tang Mobai wanted to go back for him. He wasn’t being naïve—he’d realized something had changed, and was moving to trigger the plan.
Tang Mobai noticed his stare. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
Yan Wuzhen smirked, convinced he’d seen through everything. “Nothing.”
Tang Mobai: “???”
Then the wraith giant’s roar shattered their exchange. It thrashed wildly, tearing apart the coliseum as it tried to back away from Deville. The upper floors trembled on the verge of collapse.
Tang Mobai shouted, “Do we still have any nitrosugar left?”
Yan Wuzhen shook his head, looking at the dagger-wielding man. “Just one last bag,” the man rasped.
“At this rate, the whole tower’s going to fall! We can’t get out—if we stay here, we die!” Tang Mobai said. “You’ve all seen it—Deville’s trying to absorb the giant, but it’s too slow! We need to distract it, keep it from destroying the tower!”
Dagger-man panicked. “How the hell do we do that?!”
Tang Mobai took a deep breath. “I’ve got an idea.”
He turned to Yan Wuzhen. “Can’t you control its emotions? Don’t redirect them—just make it focus its hatred on me.”
“If I could, I would’ve already! You have any idea how many souls are inside that thing? If I use my power, I’ll be crippled instantly! And I can’t manipulate its feelings, only amplify or redirect them—and even then, I’d probably end up taking all its hatred myself!”
“That’s enough.” Tang Mobai nodded. “I’ll carry you.”
“I don’t trust you.” Yan Wuzhen’s eyes were cold.
“I don’t know if you’ll dump me to buy time when things go bad. I don’t trust anyone but myself.”
Rumble—Another floor collapsed nearby, the ground cracking open beneath their feet. Three of their companions fell through and vanished into the darkness below. The tower groaned—on the brink of total ruin.
“Then tie your piano wire around my neck,” Tang Mobai said, scratching his head.
“If I so much as hesitate, you can cut it off. Deal? We’re out of time—if we don’t move now, we’re all dead!”
Yan Wuzhen’s eyes flickered. Finally, he nodded. “Fine. But listen— I can only stabilize its hatred once. After that, I’ll be too drained to do anything else. You’ll have to find a way to keep its attention—make it really hate you.”
“No problem. Leave that to me!” Tang Mobai said confidently. He grabbed the last of the nitrosugar from dagger-man and disappeared for a few minutes.When he came back, two minutes later, he had the explosives strapped to his chest.
He pointed to his back. “Alright, hop on.”
Yan Wuzhen unceremoniously wound the piano wire around Tang Mobai’s neck—just as he’d said before: if he ever felt abandoned, he wouldn’t hesitate to slit Tang Mobai’s throat.
Right now, they were standing almost level with the wraith giant’s head. Tang Mobai took aim, lit the fuse, and hurled a pack of nitrosugar. Then, without waiting to see the result, he hoisted Yan Wuzhen onto his back and ran.
A faint golden light flickered in Yan Wuzhen’s left eye—but he didn’t activate his ability yet. He wanted to see what made Tang Mobai so confident that he could definitely draw the monster’s aggro.
Then he saw the explosion. Except… the smoke was brown.
And it gave off an indescribably awful smell.
Yan Wuzhen: “…?”
Wait.
Did you just—run to the bathroom earlier???
That’s so nasty!!
He didn’t even need to use his ability to feel it—the wraith giant visibly froze, then every single eye on its massive body turned toward them.
And then came the explosion of pure rage.
Yan Wuzhen swore under his breath. His scalp tingled under the crushing pressure, but he had no choice—he activated his power as Tang Mobai had said, drawing all the hatred toward them.
“Ahhhhhh it’s coming straight at us!”
Blood spurted from Yan Wuzhen’s mouth. His whole body went limp. “Run!”
He didn’t have to say it twice. As soon as the wraith giant swung its arm, Tang Mobai’s hair stood on end—he reached peak parkour form, dodging frantically across the fractured level while carrying a full-grown man on his back, barely avoiding death several times.
“How did you know it would get angry?” Yan Wuzhen asked during a rare lull, curling his limbs close to reduce Tang Mobai’s burden.
“Uh, I figured they still have some rationality left—just a little,” Tang Mobai said, remembering that first night when one of the ghosts had tried to scare them with illusions. If that wasn’t someone’s control, that meant it still had self-awareness.
And come to think of it—these wraiths acted as spectators in this twisted arena. Even with his toes, Tang Mobai could figure out this whole setup reeked of vengeance. They watched people fight to the death, again and again—if they didn’t feel anything real, wouldn’t that defeat the purpose?
Any being with a trace of reason wouldn’t ignore that—he was sure of it!
ROAR!
Just as they were about to leap over a cracked floor section, the wraith giant suddenly opened its mouth and let out a near-physical soundwave.
It had never used that move before— and Tang Mobai was midair.
The blast hit him like a hammer. His mind went blank. His muscles slackened— and with Yan Wuzhen still on his back, he plummeted from above.
The feeling of free fall made Tang Mobai instinctively close his eyes— but suddenly, something lifted them from below.
He opened his eyes wide in disbelief— and saw Seth, wobbling in midair, flying with them on his back?!
“You can fly?!” Tang Mobai blurted out, stunned.
Seth gritted his teeth and forced out a few words: “Temporary… mode.”
Yan Wuzhen looked back and saw that everything below Seth’s knees was gone— replaced by jets of burning energy propelling him forward.
A violent gust tore above them—Seth immediately dropped altitude, barely dodging the wraith giant’s enormous fingers. Even without being told, he understood their plan: they needed to lure the giant away from the tower and minimize the destruction.
Finally—finally—Lost Paradise responded.
[Report count exceeds 2000. Fast-track review initiated. Countdown: 3 minutes, 9 seconds.]
“Three minutes left!”
Seth used every bit of his aerial agility to dodge the monster’s blows. The plan was actually working—too well, in fact. The wraith giant had completely forgotten about destroying the tower, hell-bent on swatting these tiny flying insects buzzing around its head.
Those three minutes were the longest in Tang Mobai’s life. But at least, with flight mobility on their side, they might really make it.
Everything was moving in the right direction. Tang Mobai could see the giant’s form shrinking—its body becoming translucent, almost completely absorbed by Deville.
“One minute left!”
Then— Seth suddenly dropped in altitude, grimacing. “Power’s running out…”
“Seth—above you!!”
Seth jerked upward, flinging the two of them to the ground just as a massive boulder brushed past. The impact ripped off one of his cybernetic arms, sending him crashing into a pile of rubble near the arena wall. It wasn’t clear if he was still alive.
Tang Mobai staggered to his feet, glanced once at Seth, then dragged the paralyzed Yan Wuzhen onto his back again and stumbled toward the arena’s exit.
Less than a minute remained. Even if the tower collapsed—being buried alive was better than being smashed flat. They were so close. Just a little further, and they’d be back— back to reality.
But a group of black-robed figures appeared ahead.
Tang Mobai didn’t even notice when they’d arrived—maybe they’d been there all along. He’d been running blindly this whole time, driven only by sheer willpower. Every nerve screamed with pain from the fall, but he kept moving forward.
Even if the black-robed ones had lost control of their slaves, even if each one punched him once— he’d still fight through.
He tried to change direction, but the wraith giant behind had already locked onto them. No time.
With grim determination, Tang Mobai charged toward the black-robed figures. Five meters… three meters— he could clearly see the number 009 under the leader’s mask.
Yet 009 didn’t stop him. Didn’t move at all. He simply stepped aside— and let them pass.
“You…?”
Tang Mobai didn’t even have time to ask. He just gritted his teeth and kept running forward.
011 and the others exchanged confused looks. They respected 009’s authority—but even they didn’t understand why.
009 shook his head. “Too late.”
[00:10]
Hope surged in Tang Mobai’s eyes. His exhausted steps suddenly grew lighter— just a few more seconds, just one more step, and they’d—
The air howled behind him. A sound that ripped away his last fragment of hope.
Instinct screamed at him not to look back— because the moment he did, it would be over.
So close. Just a little more!
Frustration, fear—everything fused into one burning rage that erased all thought. His heavy body suddenly felt light again. The world slowed. That special, hyper-focused state came over him once more— the kind that made him believe he could do anything.
He only needed a few more seconds. Just a few seconds of breathing space!
Yan Wuzhen felt the grip on his thigh tighten sharply. Of course, he thought bitterly, almost laughing inside.
Yes—just a few seconds. If Tang Mobai pushed him forward as bait, it would buy those precious seconds. They could return to Lost Paradise as heroes, wearing unprecedented titles, backed by their powerful sponsor— free to rule again.
That was how it should’ve been. Of course it was. There’s no such thing as genuine innocence. In this hell, you either adapt—or die.
Between life and death lies the truest terror. Even saints would cast aside their morals just to survive. That’s human instinct at its core.
Yan Wuzhen understood. He understood Tang Mobai’s “choice.”
And yet, in that moment, something cracked inside him. The steel walls around his heart gave way to a gaping hole, and something black and monstrous began to crawl out—ready to drag him straight into hell.
He’d called himself an intelligence broker, but only he knew the truth—he was just a con artist. A liar who built lies upon lies, manipulating people, twisting facts, killing when necessary, living lavishly on borrowed names and stolen identities.
He’d tricked nobles, bribed guards, fooled childhood friends, even killed those who saw through him— and climbed the social ladder one corpse at a time.
He’d told himself he did it for revenge. To prove that a filthy slum rat could surpass those born with gold in their veins.
And yet, after deceiving the world— he was the one deceived. Tricked by a naïve rookie’s “promise.”
Serves you right. You deserved it, Yan Wuzhen. Even the name you gave yourself is fake. If you can’t even believe your own words, how could you ever believe anyone else’s?
Intelligence is contagious. So is trust. And promises— are made to be broken.
He twitched his fingers, meaning to slit Tang Mobai’s throat early— but found himself… too tired to move. Too tired to care.
Fine, he thought. If Tang Mobai throws me away, I’ll just cut him down in his moment of triumph. We’ll go to hell together.
Just as expected, Tang Mobai suddenly jerked his body, dragging Yan Wuzhen off his back— and pushed him forward.
…Huh?
Yan Wuzhen’s hand reflexively tightened, but something was wrong. The force was backward.
Tang Mobai had shoved him toward safety— while staying behind himself, closer to the wraith giant’s oncoming blow.
In that instant, their eyes met. Yan Wuzhen saw the deep red marks around Tang Mobai’s neck— and his mind went blank. He reached out a hand— but the distance between them only grew.
At the arena’s center, Deville let out a thunderous roar. The translucent patches on the wraith giant’s body spread faster and faster— its enormous frame shrinking, its hatred fading.
But for true avengers, fury never dies until the sinner falls.
Suddenly, the wraith giant split itself cleanly in two. The larger half was devoured entirely by Deville— and the smaller half surged like a tide, pouring straight into Tang Mobai’s body.
[Review complete: Staff found in violation of regulations. Evidence confirmed.]
[Emergency Exit Opening…]
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