Dragon Raja 3; Chapter 454: The Sword of Damocles (14)

Dragon Raja 3

“With water this deep, even whales could swim into the city,” the Vice Principal remarked, pointing into the distance. Sure enough, a small whale had been swept into Tokyo by the tidal surge, rolling in the water and letting out terrified calls. It sang its whale song, seeking help from its kind, but there were no others like it in this world.

“The birth of a god, with the lives of the masses as its sacrifice,” Eva said coolly.

“That’s easy for you to say. Your core is in the U.S., so whether Tokyo sinks or even Japan disappears doesn’t matter to you. But think about your beloved mentor! I’m still in Tokyo,” the Vice Principal scratched his head.

His tone was like a teacher scolding a mischievous student. He didn’t treat Eva like an artificial intelligence at all.

“But you’re not afraid of death, are you, Flamel? I think, deep down, the idea of this city sinking is entertaining to you. You’ve even said it yourself: after living so long, the only thing left to experience is death.”

Few in the academy knew the Vice Principal’s real name. Some thought he shared the last name Manstein, believing father and son would have the same surname. But Professor Manstein quickly dispelled the rumor, stating he had taken his mother’s surname, and even his mother didn’t know what the Vice Principal’s surname was. They’d met in a bar, where everyone called him the “Mooncatcher.” But in a different bar on the same street, he was known as the “Curry Rooster.” Anjou never addressed the Vice Principal by name either, typically calling him “old friend” or “rascal.” Yet Eva calmly spoke a simple, unremarkable French surname, as if that was how she and the Vice Principal always addressed each other.

“I do want to die, I mean really die—the kind of death where you never wake up again. But I still have a son, don’t I? If I die, he’ll be heartbroken, right? I mean, he’s middle-aged and bald, without a family. I’m really worried about his future. His birthday is coming up, and I’ve bought him a three-meter-tall Winnie the Pooh as a gift.”

“Flamel, Professor Manstein is already 39 years old. I don’t think he’s going to appreciate a giant Winnie the Pooh.”

“A son who doesn’t like Winnie the Pooh and works as a discipline committee director at the academy—he’s just not cute at all,” the Vice Principal sighed. “You know why I called you, right? Erase the locked coordinates for me.”

“But you’ve already promised the Principal you wouldn’t drop the Damocles Sword on Tokyo.”

“I was just fooling him. Eva, you know more than anyone else; you understand that God cannot be allowed to live in this world, because it will ultimately become the new White Empress,” the Vice Principal shrugged. “So I track God’s location to unleash Divine Punishment. If Chisei fails to keep God in the Red Well, then wherever God goes, I’ll drop the Sword of Damocles there.”

“What if God is in Tokyo?”

“Then I’ll target Tokyo. Using navigation to aim isn’t hard for you, is it?”

“The result of Divine Punishment descending on Tokyo would be the destruction of a district,” Eva’s tone was calm. “Sacrificing a district’s population to save the world is a logical decision in terms of artificial intelligence.”

“Speaking in such a callous tone about human lives.”

“Because my mentor is a mentor who disregards human lives,” Eva said quietly. “Back when I was still human, I could never have steeled my heart for such a massive sacrifice.”

The Vice Principal didn’t respond, humming a Texas folk song under his breath.

“By the way, has Lu Mingfei still not been found? Isn’t that little guy the Principal’s dragon-slaying mascot?” The Vice Principal suddenly remembered.

“Faced with the White Empress, no mascot is of any use,” Eva said indifferently. “When Divine Punishment takes the stage, the war between humans and dragons enters an entirely new realm.”

Lu Mingfei was curled up in the corner of the wine cellar, sipping from a bottle of Whale’s collection, listening to the sporadic gunfire outside. It was the Oni Clan gunmen and the surviving leaders of the Yamata no Orochi clan fighting on the third and fourth floors, the rooftop, and nearby buildings. Although such battles had already lost their meaning at this point, once caught in the battlefield, one could only fight until the bitter end. No one would forgive the other side, and surrendering was a death sentence.

No one would have thought that Lu Mingfei was still inside Takamagahara, and on the half-flooded second floor, no less. Takamagahara’s wine cellar was actually a low-temperature cold room with glass walls. Japan’s finest sake, called Junmai Daiginjo, had to be stored in a low-temperature environment from the start of brewing. Whale’s wine collection was incredibly vast, with many signed masterpieces by renowned brewers. Usually, only the VIPs of VIPs were invited to this cellar to select their favorite wines. But now, these famous liquors stored in maple boxes were floating in the water like little boats. Lu Mingfei casually grabbed one, opened it, and drank as easily as if it were mineral water.

He had already drunk quite a bit. Drinking helped him relax a little.

Only someone as crafty as him could think of this kind of escape strategy. The Oni Clan must have had a map of Takamagahara. No matter which exit you ran to, you’d encounter gunmen head-on. The gunmen sealed off the exits and drove the Death Servitors inside the building—a tactic much like trapping a dog in a cage. The way to counter this was to do the opposite. The Oni Clan expected you to be eager to escape, so instead, you don’t escape—you stay and drink. He had even thought of how to avoid the Death Servitors. Based on Caesar and Chu Zihang’s analysis, the Death Servitors relied far more on their sense of smell than their sight. So, Lu Mingfei knocked over several crates of aged whiskey. Now the whole building was filled with a rich aroma of alcohol. He didn’t know if the smell of the alcohol would mask his scent, but at least the scent made him feel more at ease.

His idea was inspired by the Alien series, where all the adults running around were eaten by aliens, but the weakest little girl survived because she didn’t try to escape and just hid herself well without making a sound.

In this situation, all a useless person like him could do was play the part of the weak little girl.

He felt that the brothers Chisei and Chime were pretty tragic. They had been so close to reuniting, but by the time they did, they were already mortal enemies. He would even shed a tear of sympathy for them. He also felt grateful that Chime trusted him so much, betting on him until the very end. In any other situation, those words alone would have fired him up. But he was destined to disappoint Chime. No matter how much Chime pleaded, it was useless. Lu Mingfei could not kill Osho. The only one who could kill Osho was Lu Mingze, and Lu Mingze absolutely could not be summoned again. This was a grave matter. Borrowing power from the devil never ended well. Hadn’t Chime himself borrowed power from the devil? And now his life was worse than death.

Lu Mingfei felt sorry for Chime, but he had already decided to never have any more dealings with Lu Mingze. Dragon slaying, world saving—it had nothing to do with him. He’d rather die than make another deal with Lu Mingze.

Speaking of which, Lu Mingze hadn’t come to bother him in a long time, not since Lu Mingfei had driven him away. Could it be that even devils have pride? Had Lu Mingze been scolded so harshly that he was too embarrassed to show up again? No, no, that couldn’t be it. There might be some devils in the world with pride, but Lu Mingze was certainly not one of them. The other possibility was that Lu Mingfei’s soul was no longer of any value to Lu Mingze, and he had given up on him. If that were the case, Lu Mingfei wouldn’t feel sad at all; instead, he’d feel relieved.

What he didn’t know was that the College had also nearly given up on him. With Divine Punishment entering the stage, there was no need for anyone to wield the Seven Deadly Sins to slay dragons. The war between humans and dragons had entered a new realm, and he was just a mascot from an old era.

How much time had passed? One hour? Two? Would the Oni Clan never stop? They had already done enough damage to the Yamata no Orochi; couldn’t they just call it a day? Lu Mingfei’s mind wandered with these random thoughts when his phone made a “ding” sound.

It was a notification from the Line app. Someone with the ID “Little Monster” had sent him a message.

In Japan, Line held a status similar to WeChat in China. Lu Mingfei had a Line account, and there was only one friend in it—“Little Monster.” Little Monster also had only one friend, “Sakura.” Sakura’s avatar was a pink cherry blossom, and Little Monster’s avatar was a pair of Roman high heels. Lu Mingfei had taught Uesugi Erii how to use Line, and he had come up with her ID for her. They had received a free phone while shopping, and Lu Mingfei had thought of using this spare phone to chat with Erii through messages. Though writing in little notebooks, while romantic, was simply too slow. But in the end, Erii still preferred paper and pen, so they had only used Line a few times.

Usually, it was late at night. Lu Mingfei slept in the bathtub, while Uesugi Erii slept on the big bed next door. The phone screen would suddenly light up, and Little Monster would ask Sakura, “Are you asleep?” Lu Mingfei would reply, “I’m asleep.” Then Little Monster would say, “Then I’ll fall asleep too.”

Though she was Little Monster, she was even clingier than the average little girl. Even with a wall between them, it felt like she was afraid he might suddenly escape.

Lu Mingfei’s head buzzed. Could that phone still be in Uesugi Erii’s hands? That seemed unlikely. On the morning they left for Shikoku, he had persuaded Erii not to bring her phone, telling her that they had a long way to run and there wouldn’t be any signal, so there was no point. In truth, he didn’t want her to take the phone back to the Yamata no Orochi, as it would only leave a trail for Chisei to track them down. Without the phone, Erii wouldn’t be able to log back into the “Little Monster” account because Lu Mingfei hadn’t told her the password.

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