Endless Debt-Chapter 753 - 226: Advance

Bologue’s meeting with Gold was anything but pleasant; it was downright awful.

Seeing Gold for the first time, Bologue felt an uncommon joy. After all, in this godforsaken place, meeting a familiar face was a rarity, and what’s more, the other person was a Defender. Even though trapped within a painting and probably stripped of Extraordinary Power like himself, it was still a comfort.

He thought they could join forces and find a way to escape this damned game together. But clearly, Gold’s fighting spirit was low.

"Gold, what exactly happened?"

In the Narrow Space’s carriage, Bologue sliced through the Demon’s neck with a single swing of his Blade, then thrust the Sharp Sword toward the carriage side, piercing the Demon hanging outside through the window.

Thanks to the advantage of the terrain, Bologue, despite being exhausted, still held the upper hand. Yet, he wasn’t complacent; instead, he was even more vigilant.

The Event Cards they encountered were just regular Demon attacks so far. In the previous tabletop game, Bologue faced many elite and formidable enemy units. More crucially, in those previous games, no matter how strong the opponents were, they were just pieces. But now, these pieces were turning into real monsters coming to kill.

This is a real game, a story in the making.

"What exactly did the tenth group encounter? How did you end up here? What is the true nature of the original artifact?"

Even while slashing, Bologue did not forget to fire a barrage of questions at Gold. Gold did not immediately answer Bologue; he seemed beset by some nightmare, his mental state highly unstable.

"Bologue... Bologue... I remember you, the Resurrection of Lazarus..."

Gold muttered to himself, then suddenly realizing something, asked in terror, "Why are you here? Does it mean we failed? Did the Order Bureau get destroyed amidst conflict?"

The voice hoarse and trembling, he appeared like a tormented prisoner.

"What are you talking about?"

Bologue sensed that the Defender’s mental state seemed off, his rational mind twisted by some sinister power.

Within the card painting, Gold was silent for a moment, trying hard to control his crumbling consciousness, organizing coherent words.

While Gold was silent, Bologue recounted to him all that had happened, from the attack on the tenth group to the grand melee at Free Port, and now being drawn into the Joyful Garden. Bologue recited it all in detail.

As Bologue narrated, Gold looked incredulous. Bologue was focused on slashing Demons, with no time to observe Gold’s reaction, but he felt the card on his chest trembling, like it was shivering alongside Gold’s body.

"You found me, and along with the original artifact... How much time has passed?"

Gold asked anxiously, "In... in the material world, how long has it been since I disappeared?"

"About half a month?"

Bologue had some trouble recalling too; the intense combat left him with no spare thoughts for these matters. The Dawn roared forward, metal and flesh collided endlessly, Demons smashed to pieces by the speeding train, fine blood mist blended into the wind, the nasal cavity filled with dense blood scent.

"Only... only half a month has passed?"

Gold was utterly shocked, eyes widened, fear etched at the bottom of them, then he began laughing maniacally.

Bologue thought Gold’s mind might truly be troubled, not knowing what the Defender had experienced in the Joyful Garden.

Bologue asked back, "How long do you think has passed?"

Gold was silent for a few seconds, striving to keep his voice steady.

"Ten years? Or twenty? My god, this void space distorts your sense of time."

Bologue marveled at the warped sense of time.

The carriage convulsed violently; it must be a new Event Card triggered. Bologue wasn’t sure what it was yet; he needed to go back and confirm. Turning to return to the chessboard carriage, he swung the door along the way. The door couldn’t hold the Demons for long, but as long as the chessboard carriage remained intact, they had the ability to win back.

Fierce gunfire came from ahead. Bologue climbed onto the car roof, seeing tracer bullets interspersed in the bullet rain, weaving a line of fire sweeping across the night.

He vaguely heard Palmer’s laughter; his firepower had doubled, surely due to drawing some favorable Event Card, acquiring supplies as aid.

"I remember participating in the original artifact’s contest. I found a way to distort the resilient metal, binding it to myself."

As Bologue charged forward against the wind, Gold’s voice came from in front of his chest.

"We were attacked by the Zongge Orchestra. Their offensive was vigorous. To avoid unnecessary sacrifices, I separated from my teammates, taking the original artifact with me on a solo escape."

Reflecting on his current predicament, Gold murmured softly, "It was a wise decision."

"Then what!"

Bologue loudly interrogated, Gold’s words regaining logic and reason, a good sign.

"I got caught up in the Joyful Garden."

Even now, mentioning Joyful Garden, Gold’s words still carried deep shock and fear. For Gold, this merry park was no different from cruel Hell, even more terrifying than Hell itself.

"And then you turned into this?"

Bologue kicked over a demon trying to climb onto the car roof, watching it crushed into blood foam under the heavy wheels.

"The Joyous Desire Witch, I faced her," Gold recalled his experience, "She played a game with me." 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Bologue asked, "Is it the same kind of game as now?"

If Gold was playing ’Journey Through the Endless Night’ alone, it would truly be challenging, embarking on this mad journey solo.

"No, just a simple game of contest. I won, but also lost."

In the picture frame, Gold fell into silence. To Bologue’s perspective, Gold was trapped in the card, but from Gold’s view, he was amidst void darkness with only a narrow, card-sized hole connecting him to the outside world.

Bologue roughly understood Gold’s ordeal, "Your physical body left the Joyful Garden with the original essence, but your consciousness is trapped here."

"She praised my will and collected me, tested me."

Gold’s eyes were bloodshot, as if he hadn’t slept for several days and nights.

"I understand her intention, she likes to collect those with intense emotions, then watch them destroy, numb themselves."

She is a monster, a creature who feeds on others’ emotions!"

Gold cursed the Joyous Desire Witch, then his body shook violently, not out of fear but due to unending torment ingrained into his body’s instinct, erupting uncontrollably.

"To you, it’s only half a month, but to me, it felt like decades spent in this darkness, enduring that relentless torment.

She was always waiting for my collapse. Only when I completely break down would she deem me played out and toss me aside.

But if I utterly collapse, losing myself, it signifies my failure..."

"Like a painful cycle," Bologue narrated, "The more you persist, the more pain you endure, the more pleasure she gets from you, but if you give up..."

Bologue didn’t continue, instead encouraging Gold, "You’ve endured, Gold, you still maintain self-awareness."

Gold sighed, "A tormented, passive, and despairing self-awareness?"

"You don’t understand, Bologue, even among devils, she is absolute evil," Gold sneered mentioning them, "Other devils merely want your value, your soul, or to achieve some evil goal."

"But she is different. She simply finds amusement in you, stirring the most fervent emotions in the cruelest manner, and when those are exhausted, leaving only meaningless emptiness, she discards you."

Gold blinked forcefully, uttering a series of meaningless repeated phrases, as if his language functions were impaired.

From the first encounter with Belphegor, Bologue realized that the devils’ void realm was not only capable of distorting space but also to an extent twisted the perception of time, unimaginable what Gold went through in the infinitely extending time.

"We cannot win... cannot win... Devils are always like this, winning over and over, never failing."

Gold pressed his hands hard against his face, contorting his features, horrifically twisted.

Bologue found it unimaginable, "What has she done to you?"

"You don’t want to know."

Gold shook his head, then nodded again, "You will experience it; everyone will experience it, that’s precisely where her pleasure lies."

Bologue casually threw the Flying Knife, piercing through several leaping demons, their bodies fell from the sky, landing sprawled across the vast wilderness.

He faked composure, "Looks like a brutal surprise awaits me."

"No, you don’t understand."

"There’s nothing not to understand! Gold!"

Bologue’s voice suddenly turned harsh, "Don’t you get this simplest of truths?"

Crossed blades tore open another demon’s body, Bologue left a trail of corpses behind, coupled with Dawn’s swift progress, the wind dragged the bodies into the darkness.

Bologue picked up the card, angrily reprimanding Gold, "Either we die here or live on, leave this damned place! All other words are just meaningless complaints!"

Flipping into the carriage board, everyone else was in position, dice placed on the exquisite playing board, Bologue grabbed them, rolled hard, smashing into Bai Ou’s face, bouncing back onto the board again.

"I refuse to die, so we are left with only one choice."

Others rolled the dice in turn, a new round of event distribution, Bologue did not finish his speech but leaned on the long sword, standing still, his blood, monster blood mingling together, flowing along the cold metal covering the ground.

Dawn continued onward, it proceeded forward.