Volume 9 Endless Days, The End NO.4: Merciless
Translated by Trespasserby, Ever & Raylight (proofread by J Tao; C/E edited by lucathia)
Enemy: Lv. 1 in command, Ri Ji Yan, intends to harm the highest priority master. Eliminate!
Analysis of highest priority master’s condition: sorrow, rage, pain.
Lv. 2 in command has approached the highest priority master. Threat level low. No danger determined.
On standby.
“The higher-ups ordered a microchip installed in Ah Ye’s head to suppress his humanity, leaving behind only a robot that will obediently follow orders. Your little brother places your safety as the highest priority. Even if you command him to stop protecting you, it’d be useless.”
“I didn’t have a way to rescue him. All I could do was persuade those theorists that perhaps their employer would prefer to have a bodyguard with emotions. Also, if eliminating Dark Sun’s humanity negatively affected Dark Sun’s judgment, then what? So an alteration was made to the microchip, to include the option for retrieval in the settings…”
Change in the highest priority master’s mood. Analysis uncertain. Searching for additional examples to make a determination.
“So, give Dark Sun the command! Tell him to stop suppressing his humanity and emotions. Let him recall his memories. Ah Ye will remember you, his gēge, even though a brother like you took so long to get here!”
“Ah Ye.” The highest priority master spoke. “Stop suppressing your emotions. I don’t want to see you like this. You are my dìdi, not a robot bodyguard!”
Command received.
“Understood.”
Initiating action: Cancel emotion suppression setting. Processing…
Warning: Emotion suppression is classified as a core setting of the microchip and is unable to be changed. Unable to follow command.
The highest priority master has issued the command. Following the command has highest priority.
Unable to follow command. Following the command has highest priority. Unable to follow command. Following the command—changing core setting. Attempting to restart.
“Ah Ye!”
***
“Aren?!” I cried out.
“Haven’t seen you in a while, Charles-gē.” Aren jerked his thumb in the direction of a car and said, “Get in, then we’ll talk. Our hacker notified us that his interference has been discovered, so the Church should just be finding out that you’ve escaped now. We’d better leave.”
My thoughts were in complete disarray. I had never guessed that the employer was Aren. To be honest, even if the Sun Emperor himself appeared here, it would have been somewhat less surprising than Aren showing up.
But the most important matter at hand was to flee, so I immediately pulled open the car door and jumped in. Someone was already seated inside.
“Yue Gang?” I once again cried out, “W-Why are you here?”
Yue Gang rolled his eyes and irritably said, “My old man said you’d been kidnapped and they were keeping you out under the sun. And, that you were about to turn into vampire jerky from how dried out you were getting. How could I not come?”
Actually, I had not even seen a glimmer of sunlight. However, these words and what Father Yue had said were truly very similar. Neither of the two “could refuse to come.” They truly are father and son.
I looked toward the driver’s seat. The chauffeur Nitewalker was wearing sunglasses like he always did and he had not even turned his head to look back. Even after Lieder also sat down in the car, he still wordlessly started driving. He was going so fast that it felt like this had to be the world’s fastest racecar, but the car’s outer appearance was clearly an SUV!
During this, I was not sure how I should react, as I was still confused. Out of the corner of my eye, my gaze swept over Yue Gang and I blurted out a completely trivial question.
“You skipped work?”
“To hell with work! I haven’t taken a day off in eight hundred years! I’m just catching up on vacation right now.” Yue Gang unhappily said, “As soon as that jerk Xie Wei heard I was going on vacation, he was so happy that there was a smile on that dead fish face of his. He even said I should take all my time off at once and just come back a year later! He’s really making a mistake! He makes such a mess of things that if I hadn’t always been there to stop him, he would’ve been killed off already! Instead, he’s wishing for me to take time off and never come back. Ungrateful bastard!”
For the first time in recent days, a smile crept onto my face.
Aren looked back and said, “There’s a box of tools beneath the footrest. Check if the Church did anything to Charles-gē.”
I shook my head and said, “You do not need to conduct an inspection. They did not do anything to me.”
Lieder disagreed, saying, “The Church has more vile schemes than you can imagine. What Sin did can’t even be counted as very egregious, since he really didn’t intend to harm you. As long as you drew out X, they’d leave you alone, since you still hold the title of the Elysees family head, after all. If the Church could avoid making another enemy, then it would. But they’d still let Sin use a few small tricks. Like, drugging you after you had fallen asleep and making his move afterwards. I believe he isn’t so upright as to avoid that kind of tactic.”
I looked at him earnestly and said, “Believe me. They did not do anything. Ever since I drank your drug, I have not lost consciousness. They have not tampered with my thoughts.”
Lieder was startled and curiously asked, “You can’t even faint?”
“I cannot.”
“I don’t know if that’s good or bad.” Lieder frowned and said, “You had better be careful not to use up too much of your energy. Otherwise, I’m afraid that one day if you do collapse from overwork, it’s because you’ll have dropped dead.”
“What do you mean dead?” Yue Gang listened, stunned. Then he forcefully slapped me and scolded, “Haven’t you already been rescued? Are you going to die over nothing? I’m warning you, I used my time off to come save you. If you still dare to die on me, you’re never going to hear the end of it from me!”
If I am already dead, how are you going to never let me hear the end of it? I smiled and said, “Fine. I will not die.”
“I don’t know if death would count as losing consciousness? If you can’t fall unconscious at all, then perhaps…”
Lieder suddenly let out a couple of sentences, but he had not even finished speaking before he fell deep into thought again. His expression was complicated.
… Do not say that even death is impossible. Even hearing it is extremely alarming!
“It shouldn’t be like that.” Fortunately, Lieder refuted it while muttering to himself. “This drug isn’t that strong, so it shouldn’t be able to stop the march of death. If not, then how could those remnants we found have died?”
Hearing that, I sighed in relief. The lifespan of a vampire was already too long. I was absolutely incapable of accepting an outcome like eternal life.
Aren said with regret, “That’s a pity. Otherwise, wouldn’t Charles-gē be unable to die?”
Only once I looked at Aren did I remember the most important issue.
“Aren, did the young master send you?”
Aren glanced back at me and calmly said, “Ah Ye didn’t tell me to come save you. He just phoned me about everything that happened.”
Hearing that, I could not help but feel some regret. In the end, the young master was unable to disobey his instincts?
“When I was done listening, I asked him, ‘You’re not going to save the butler?’ But he said he couldn’t go to save you and that he even had to kill you because you raised a hand against his brother.”
So it truly is impossible after all.
Even though the situation was like this, after that time in the alley and seeing the young master’s tears falling as he wanted me to flee, I felt that even if I really had been killed by him, I would have had no complaints. I would only be concerned that the young master would blame himself, perhaps even to the extent that it would create a permanent rift between him and the master.
Aren continued to speak. “I asked him, ‘If you won’t rescue him, then is it fine if I go?’ He said I wasn’t one of his subordinates, so he couldn’t regulate my actions. If I wanted to go to your rescue, then of course I could.”
I was stunned. I lifted my head to look at Aren.
The corner of his mouth curled up and he said, “I asked him for a pretty big sum of money, then borrowed Melody-jiě, the chauffeur, Bramble-shū, and the others. If they hadn’t helped with the planning, I wouldn’t have even known where to look for you. Ezart originally wanted to come too, but Ah Ye wasn’t doing so well, so all he could do was stay back and look after Ah Ye.”
I quickly inquired further, “What happened to the young master? Why is he unwell?”
“Uh,” Aren stammered a moment, then confessed, “It was my fault. When I borrowed the money and personnel from him, he was quiet for a long time, with his entire face contorted and flushed red like an apple. Finally, he forcefully squeezed out just the word ‘fine.’ Scared me to death! I was almost about to give up and say that he didn’t have to lend them to me. But if I didn’t have people or money, what would I have used to rescue you, Charles-gē? All I could do was watch him struggle.”
Young Master…
“Charles-gē, Ah Ye didn’t mean to hurt you, and it’s not that he doesn’t believe what you said, he just can’t do anything about it.” Aren looked at me in concern, saying, “He didn’t explain much to me, but I can tell, he really didn’t—”
“I understand.” I interrupted him and emphasized again, “I really understand.”
Aren looked at me for a while and then grinned as he re???positioned himself steadily in his seat, saying in ease, “I’m gonna go laugh at Ah Ye. He said you’d never forgive him, ‘cuz his brother made you lose your family, brought X into this, and even fired a gun at you. After hearing all that, even I started to worry that you might hate Ah Ye. But still, Charles-gē is Charles-gē!”
All I knew was that these were all unrelated to the young master himself. How could I blame someone for things that he had never done? Just then, the car suddenly swerved to the side, and I saw a silver reflection blocking the road, crossing the car’s original path. The object’s outline was very familiar….
Something landed heavily on the hood of the car. Upon such an impact, the car’s back wheels, which had been moving at a high speed, immediately left the ground and almost tipped the car over. However, Nitewalker did something to force the car down, making the back wheels land heavily on the ground.
These sudden movements forced everyone forward uncontrollably, lifting them up from their seats and almost hitting the roof. To avoid crashing into each other, I immediately used my blood ability to keep the two normal human beings and myself in our seats.
“Ezart you jerk!” Aren’s outraged shout sounded from next to me. “Didn’t you say that you’d phone immediately if Ah Ye’s behaving weirdly?”
I stared fixedly at the thing that landed on the hood of the car—or I should say, the person.
A pair of wings came into sight first, flashing with silver light, followed by hair that flashed the same silver-white. At first glance, the person seemed incomparably divine, as if they were an angel, but after looking more closely, one would discover that the pair of wings was actually made of blades stacked together. They were so sharp that one could feel the pain just by looking at them. Those were a pair of wings that could not be touched; they were the wings of slaughter.
The person crouching on the hood of the car lifted his head. He did not have a visor on to cover his expressionless face and dark pupils that were black as the night.
The cold, heartless, Dark Sun.
Young master… no, this is Dark Sun.
He slightly turned his neck to face me. The movement was not natural at all, as if a robot, having calculated the exact angle, executed the action without the smallest deviation. His pitch-black pupils gazed at me directly, as if they had found their prey… No, I was at most a “target.” Predators looked far more spirited than this when they found prey.
“Charles-gē, does Ah Ye look really weird?” Aren swallowed nervously and said, “He looks like… uh, I really don’t know how to describe his condition.”
“Like a robot.”
Aren immediately replied, “Right, that’s exactly it.” But just as he completed his sentence, his expression darkened immediately, and he looked very concerned.
I was concerned as well. The young master had never acted like this in the past, even in his Dark Sun mode. Is the young master right now another step closer to a robot with no human feelings?
Even DSII looked more like a human being than the young master was right now.
Dark Sun jumped off the car neatly, holding a stick in his hand. After waving the stick, a giant silver blade extended from the top, chilling everyone who saw it to the bone.
The Death Scythe.
“Aren.” I called.
“Huh?”
“When Dark Sun comes after me, you and the others must leave. Do not look back, and do not try to stop him. Until this entire thing is over, do not make contact with him.”
Hearing so, Aren immediately turned around, saying in frustration, “But—”
“Believe me!” I interrupted him and said hurriedly, “He is not the Ah Ye you remember anymore. To kill me, Dark Sun will use anyone, so you absolutely cannot play with fire! He will kill you, truly!”
As if to prove my words, Nitewalker suddenly shouted, “Go!”
Everyone’s expressions turned frightened and they hurriedly pushed open the doors as Dark Sun brought the blade down on the center of the car. A loud noise erupted as the Death Scythe split the car in half.
“Run!”
With that, I immediately dashed out of the car, but did not use x-speed. If I left Dark Sun too far behind and he felt that he could not catch up, he might go back to retrieve Aren and the others.
“Charles, Charles, stop running!
“I have something to tell you.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t do that on purpose.
“I’m not Dark Sun anymore, really!”
Behind me, the young master called out, his voice filled with pleading. My heart quivered when I heard his cries, but I did not dare look back.
Roughly speaking, this far should be enough. I could only hope that Aren and the others had left, as discussed. I started to use x-speed, but as soon as I moved, I heard a gunshot. Immediately, I shifted my body, but still felt a hot pain in my foot. It was not very painful, so it was likely not too serious… Or perhaps the aftereffects of the candies lowered my sense of pain. I could no longer tell the difference.
The bullets came from behind at a frantic rate. Even though I had x-speed, I had to slow down sometimes to dodge the bullets. Additionally, no matter how fast x-speed was, racing against bullets was still insane. I could instantaneously surpass a bullet’s speed, but that was definitely not something that could be done for a long period of time.
Perhaps I should change direction and head toward the part of the grove where the trees were dense. Although that would greatly decrease my speed, it would affect Dark Sun even more.
Just as I was about to change paths, there was suddenly a particularly muffled gunshot. I estimated its direction based on the sound and immediately retreated a few paces, just to find that the grove I was headed toward had actually exploded. Right then, I heard a few more gunshots, and felt pain once again, this time from my arms and legs. The young master’s aim was chillingly precise, and his predictive abilities allowed me no room for escape.
I had no choice but to continue running forward. I tried to hide into the denser part of the grove, but the explosions followed me closely. Though I could avoid all of them, and so received no more injuries, the other paths were all cut off by explosions. I could only continue to run forward.
This cannot go on anymore! I used blood ability to form shields around the back of my head, heart, and knees. I had no time to worry about the other body parts, but as long as these three places were not damaged, then I could continue to move.
I slightly bent my knees and dashed out, using x-speed to its fullest and running relentlessly. I focused all my attention on avoiding obstacles such as trees and bushes, and so was unable to mind the bullets coming from behind. I could only hope that the shields were strong enough to block them.
Soon, I emerged from the grove and saw the deserted nuclear plant again. I continued forward, as though there was nothing in my path, running up the walls and setting my feet on various parts of the buildings. As long as there was a foothold, then there was nothing a vampire could not climb. I only hoped that this could get rid of Dark Sun’s chase.
The young master had said before that he could never learn to walk on walls.
After crossing the entire nuclear plant, I stilled my footsteps. Standing on top of the last building, I was speechless as I looked down at the mess below.
This was a battlefield.
There were gunshots, cannonballs, and explosions. Thousands of people were killing each other. Such loud noises should be audible from even a long distance away, but why, upon seeing all this, did I only hear the chilling noise from below as if soundproof curtains had suddenly been drawn aside?
One of the parties in battle was the Church. I did not know who they were fighting since I was too far away and could not see clearly.
Suddenly, I realized that Dark Sun had used the explosions not to force me to change paths, but to drive me to this place.
Just then, two combat aircrafts closely flew by. I lifted my gaze and broke out in a cold sweat at the sight of red bowties on the airplanes. I felt as if my blood was about to freeze.
Red bowties!
The other party is the Elysees!
I jumped down from the building and dashed madly to the edge of the battlefield to observe the two party’s uniforms. Although I was not familiar with the Elysees’ most current battle uniform, those armors, guns, and tanks were all marked with red bowties.
My clansmen, they were firing bullets at the enemy, they were shot by bullets, and they lay silently on the ground…Curtis, you really never gave up on me.
As long as I am alive, would you expend all resources to protect the head of the Elysees –No, no, no!
I dashed into the battlefield, running between the fighting people and saving the hurt ones, shouting, “Cease fire” as I did so. However, for a battlefield of a few thousand people, this was only a drop in the ocean.
“Stop!” I used Hollow Roar, “I am Charles Endelis, leader of the Elysees Family! This is an order—retreat!”
This one time, even the Hollow Roar of a vampire was unable to attract any attention. The noise of the battlefield was deafening, and the clash of thousands fighting was too chaotic. They were already unable to see any other options other than kill or be killed.
I could only try my best to save them, for every life saved was one more man who could live on.
Right at this moment, I abruptly sensed danger and dodged to the side with a twist of my body. A giant scythe nearly grazed me as it swung by.
It was Dark Sun. He had finally caught up to me. Or perhaps, he had long calculated that once I reached this point, I would flee no further.
This was the battlefield of the Elysees family, who were battling for their Family Head. How can I possibly flee?
I took numerous steps back, without the slightest desire to continue engaging with Dark Sun. Though I knew it to be futile, I could not stop myself from begging, “Please, Young Master, I do not wish to fight you. My clansmen are still out there fighting, dying one after another! I beg of you, please help me end this war to prevent further casualties. I beseech you!”
Dark Sun’s answer was to advance step-by-step, still wielding the Death Scythe.
Seeing that, I could only grit my teeth and prepare for the incoming fight. A rapier formed in my right hand while my left held an energy dagger in a reverse grip. The blood shield no longer floated in the air, but rather clung to my body in the shape of a vest that extended to the middle of my thighs. I then formed over-the-knee boots with my blood ability to firmly protect my lower legs as well. The moment my speed was affected, I would no longer have any advantages whatsoever.
Compared to a blood shield, blood armor would stick closer to my body, and would take me less effort to maintain. The downside was that I could only protect myself, but that was not a big issue, as I could just form another shield if I were to need one again later.
Forming a rapier, maintaining x-speed, using blood armor, and even continuing to forge blood shields—I was not confident of my ability to do those simultaneously. However, given the current situation, I have no choice but to do even the impossible!
This blood armor was inspired from the red bowtie squad and Church members around us. They were all dressed in armor—not the kind from the past; instead it looked rather high-tech. Perhaps calling it a robot shell would be a more fitting term than armor. If it were not for the shell, thousands would lay dead on this battlefield of such extreme and violent gunfire, rather than the current handful of casualties.
Just a handful, but still far too many!
Dark Sun approached with his Death Scythe, and I could only dodge while searching for an opportunity. Neither my rapier nor my energy dagger could meet the Death Scythe head-on. The young master had once said that his scythe was made of a special material. It was made without regard for any manufacturing costs and was the only one of its kind. It was practically indestructible, and even energy weapons did not pose a problem for it.
Thankfully, the surroundings were very chaotic. The young master was holding such a large scythe and looked so extremely dangerous that both the Elysees and the Church treated him like an enemy. From time to time, someone would launch an attack at him, forcing him to dodge them.
On the other hand, perhaps my appearance seemed very harmless. The blood armor clung to my clothes and my skin, and, without a closer look, it would probably pass off as simple pieces of clothing. As for the weapons I held, they merely included a rapier and a dagger of three fingers’ width. In the middle of all the gunfire, these weapons just looked like a joke. I was seen as a complete non-threat, and no one targeted me specifically.
Even when he had to occasionally dodge, the young master still approached me at a steady pace. He was unbelievably strong, and his movements were clean and precise. He would use the smallest movements possible to dodge or block the majority of the bullets, a feat that looked exactly like the result of precise calculation.
The young master had only one weakness. Due to his extremely precise movements, if his joints were to be damaged, it would greatly affect him. However, when facing such a reluctantly heartless young master, is it even possible for me to follow through? Would I really be able to hurt him? And… Am I really going to hurt him?
Just then, an explosion occurred from not too far away, and both of us were forced back by the blast as smoke filled the air. When it cleared, the young master’s face was gradually revealed. It was void of expression, and beyond cold. That face was entirely unlike a human’s; it was the face of Dark Sun.
“Young Master,” I could not resist asking, “Do you still remember our first meeting?”
Dark Sun’s answer was a swing of the Death Scythe, which I quickly avoided using x-speed. I watched as he was forced back a bit by bullets from the battlefield.
“At the moment I saw you, I felt that you were truly a serene young man, especially suited to walking in the moonlight.”
Serene and clear, limpid as glass, and with an almost artificial quality. It was no wonder that he had been harassed by thugs back then, even without doing anything in particular. It was difficult not to notice that kind of temperament, and no matter how old-fashioned the style of his clothes were, or how little they fit the current standards of beauty, he would still naturally attract attention.
An unnatural beauty.
I gazed at Dark Sun, and that feeling only grew stronger. Whether he was wielding his Death Scythe, in battle, or taking life, that expressionless face of his remained so serene, entirely unaffected by his bloody actions.
It was as though murder was the same as cooking. Be it a scythe or a kitchen knife—they were both merely tools, and killing people was no different from dicing up pork.
“Melody once said that you were able to kill humans like slaughtering pigs, and you admitted that this was indeed true. The one who admitted that was you, not Dark Sun!”
In order to block the wildly flying bullets, Dark Sun spread his wings. An angel with wings of steel. Has he fallen, or is this his true nature?
“Young Master, do you truly not hear what I am saying?”
Dark Sun turned and flew past, his wings turning into a most terrifying sight, a hurricane of sharp blades.
“Actually you can hear me, can you not?”
All of us had forgotten that angels originally could fight. The weapons that they held in their hands could be used to protect, but could also be used to kill.
“Ri Xiang Ye, and Dark Sun.” I could not suppress the hypothesis I had harbored for a while now. “The truth is, you have always been both of them, have you not? There is no difference between Ah Ye or Dark Sun. It has always been you!
“You took all the behavior that falls outside of your brother’s expectations, all the ideals that are unacceptable to society, and any characteristics that could be deemed ‘evil,’ and pushed them onto Dark Sun. This ‘Dark Sun’ persona is just a refuge for you to seek solace in!”
Dark Sun’s movements halted abruptly. He stared at me, clearly devoid of any expression, but for some reason, I felt like I could read his face screaming:
Don’t say it!
But, I could not stop.
“I have served you personally. No one is able to see this more clearly than me. When the criminals used hostages to threaten the heroes, you decided on killing to end the killing. When Josh’s ability became a threat, you decided to simply eliminate him to prevent any further trouble. When you made these and many other cold, calculated decisions, it was not as Dark Sun.”
If “Ri Xiang Ye” made such cold decisions from the start, then why was there the need for “Dark Sun”?
“Your coldness and innocence intertwine into an indivisible individual. How could you possibly separate them into two? They had never been two different people in the first place!”
I looked at the young master, and though my heart was heavy, I had to reveal the cruel truth.
“Young Master, you are the one who does not want Dark Sun to vanish, because Dark Sun is your excuse for being unable to adapt to this world!”
The angel was unwilling to admit that he was no longer his brother’s obedient child. He had already fallen long ago, and his original kindness was dead and buried in the sea of endless modification experiments.
The young master worked so hard to be a good person, and as long as one did not cross his bottom line, nothing would anger him. But this was not kindness—he simply did not care.
For an angel who watches over the world as it flies through the sky—to him, is there really a big difference between a colony of people and a colony of ants?
I gazed directly at him as I said, “If you wish to kill me, then do not claim that it was the work of Dark Sun, for this is work of your own hands!”
Dark Sun stared at me, unmoving. During this time, he even endured many bullets, but continued to stare at me, without flinching at all.
Young Master, this is not what Dark Sun would do, is it?
“Do you know? Charles?”
The young master finally spoke. As expected, he did not speak in the cold voice of Dark Sun, and I could even hear exasperation in his voice as he said, “Your rating on my significance scale has reached ninety-one point five percent. This is a percentage exceeding An Te Qi-bàba, Ezart, and close to Gēge, but this cannot be right!”
Significance scale? I froze. The young master even had this kind of measurement setting? How exactly did the world appear through his eyes?
“You are not my gēge who rescued me, you are not my bàba who accompanied me in the lab for seven years, and you aren’t even my first friend! How exactly did you become this important to me?”
I fell silent. This kind of comparison is not right! “Young Master, there is no way to compare them. People who are significant to you are simply significant to you. How could you use points to calculate that?”
The young master growled, “I’m the kind who would calculate that! That’s just how I am!”
I was unable to refute him any longer. After all, I was unable to understand the world through the young master’s eyes, so how could I possibly deny his values? If I had such a variety of figures flying through my own head, constantly reminding me of the significance levels of those around me—I was completely unable to imagine what kind of world that was, or how I would be expected to view others.
“You must die, because Gēge ordered me to kill you. If I disobey him, then you are… That is not right! That can never happen! Absolutely not!”
Looking at the young master, a realization suddenly dawned on me. If he disobeyed the Sun Emperor’s order, meaning… I am more important than the Sun Emperor?
“Charles Endelis!” The young master’s enraged shout resounded across the whole battlefield. “You must die!”