Chapter 1081: Happy Birthday

“You...are the last hope of the world.”

Baili Yi spoke rhythmically, like he was reciting a prophecy from an ancient myth.

Even when they were threatened by a danger that could kill them in seconds, they fell silent for a moment.

The few words he uttered contained so much information that everything they had experienced and learned about the world seemed overthrown. Even someone as experienced as War Tiger was stunned.

Then War Tiger slapped himself awake. The sound broke everyone out of their shock.

War Tiger got to the point. “Two questions: Are you friend or foe? Do we fight or run?”

“Friend,” Baili Yi said faintly. “Run.”

“Then let’s go!” War Tiger glanced at Vermilion Bird, who was treating Gao Yang.

Vermilion Bird immediately grabbed Gao Yang’s elbow. “Come on!”

Gao Yang’s pale face contorted with pain. “No...I...”

“Wake up! The Wang Zikai you knew is gone!” Vermilion Bird snapped. “He’s a monster now, and he’ll kill everyone!”

Gao Yang shuddered, a tear of broken determination glinting in his desperate eyes.

Level 7 Psychic Armor.

Within seconds, pain faded from his pale face, leaving only cold rationality.

“How should we run?” Gao Yang had already come up with multiple plans, but he knew Baili Yi must have a better solution. He had to have come prepared.

Baili Yi responded concisely, “Hide in the diary. Gao Yang, you run with it.”

“I’ve just used Spatial Jump. I can’t use it again.”

Baili Yi nodded. “I know. Borrow Heavenly Dog’s Fly and use that thing that pushes you beyond the limit. That should shake the monster.”

That shocked everyone. The man seemed to know everything about them.

“Alright.” Gao Yang teleported to Heavenly Dog and touched his shoulder, replicating Fly.

“Gather around,” Baili Yi said, holding his diary open. White energy formed a small chalk in his hand. He drew all of them roughly, and the white energy lined their silhouette.

In seconds, they turned translucent until only the rough lines of their figures remained, like sketches superimposed onto a three-dimensional world. With a pull, Baili Yi pulled the sketches into the diary, but he suddenly shut the diary halfway, looking up at the darkening sky.

“Here it is.”

War Tiger, Nine Frost, Vermilion Bird, Qing Ling, and Heavenly Dog remained outside with Gao Yang. They looked up as an unidentified flying object approached from the gray-blue sky at supersonic speed, breaking the sound barrier several times. The explosive noises sounded like rumbling firecrackers.

In the blink of an eye, the white dot became intensely radiant. Three faint white threads connected the two sides of the sky in parallel lines.

“Watch out!” Vermilion Bird realized the danger.

Gao Yang, in an absolutely rational state, was already reacting; it was reflexive, instinctive.

Absolute Defense!

Golden waves rushed out from under his feet to form golden petals, closing like a giant flower bud to shield all his companions.

The next second, a strange wind whooshed through. The air seemed to freeze for a second.

Destruction ensued. The grass, trees, protruding rocks, elevated mounds, and even the air and the orange sunlight were sliced at a meter off the ground. The invisible power cracked open the land, scattering everything backward. Only those protected by the Absolute Barrier remained unscathed.

And the attacker dove and landed beside Wang Zikai, who remained trapped as a 2.5-dimensional image.

A black-haired teenaged girl in a blue and white uniform with twin tails. She was petite and pretty. On her face was an innocent smile devoid of morality.

She had come in such a hurry that her thin uniform was all tattered, the stripes of cloth revealing her skin, covered in beautiful, streamlined silver scales.

Her eyes were all black. Six wings of air stretched from her back, alternating between flowing curves and sharp geometric shapes.

Gao Xinxin.

They all recognized the girl. Their first reaction wasn’t shock, but turning to Gao Yang.

Gao Yang’s face was blank, pale. No one could tell what he was thinking. No one knew how he was faring.

“Gao Xinxin...is a death monster as well?” War Tiger posed the obvious question.

Baili Yi smiled resignedly, but wholly unsurprised. “Ah, there are seven death monsters: pride, envy, greed, sloth, wrath, gluttony, and lust.”

Cold despair overwhelmed their heartbreak of having to face their former friends as enemies. One death monster was bad enough, but there were seven!

War Tiger’s eyes sharpened and face darkened. He reached for the sword on his back, already considering their next moves.

Given the circumstances, they couldn’t depend on the ever-reliable Gao Yang; they would count it a win if he didn’t just lose his mind here. It would be too much to expect him to recover now.

And losing Gao Yang as an asset made fleeing infinitely more difficult.

War Tiger didn’t even need to think with his brain to figure out that the horn had been sounded by Gao Yang’s grandfather—the summoner prime. And its purpose was apparent now. It had awakened all the death monsters.

Which meant that the other six death monsters had awakened while Wang Zikai was out cold.

Gao Xinxin knew where Gao Yang and Wang Zikai were. That was why it took only a minute for her to arrive at Gao Yang’s old home in the Shanqing District after her awakening.

Even Heavenly Dog would take three minutes to fly that distance at full throttle; the speed possible with Absolute Barrier would be as slow as a snail to Gao Xinxin.

War Tiger’s conclusion was simple:

can’t run, then gotta fight.

The two death monsters seem game-breakingly powerful. We won’t stand a chance.

But Baili Yi seems like a big deal, And we have Vermilion Bird’s Equivalent Exchange. Worse come to worse, we’ll bet on the triple buff.

The key is still Gao Yang.

War Tiger’s heart sank at the thought, his grip tightening around his sword’s hilt.

Little Yang Yang, please stay strong and don’t break down.

Even if you can’t attack your best friend and little sister, at least play support, yeah?

Thankfully, the barrier will stand for some time. We can talk strategy now.

War Tiger said to Gao Yang, “Block out the sound, Gao Yang.”

Gao Yang continued to stare at Gao Xinxin through the barrier, unmoving.

“I'm talking to you, Gao Yang!” War Tiger had an ominous feeling.

Gao Yang remained unresponsive like a statue.

Shit!

War Tiger immediately glanced at Nine Frost. Nine Frost nodded in understanding.

“Gao Yang!” Vermilion Bird went up to grab Gao Yang’s shoulder. “I know you’re in great pain, but you cannot—”

“Brother,” Gao Xinxin said. Her voice was soft and meek, with a hint of petulance that always got what she wanted because she was loved.

The voice hit Gao Yang’s chest like a bullet, melting into his skin and freezing his blood. His heart shattered.

“Happy Birthday,” said Gao Xinxin.

...

The Absolute Barrier shattered into scattering golden shards.

A tear sliced through the pale despair on Gao Yang’s face.