Endless Debt-Chapter 778 - 245: Burning Sacrifice

At this unexpected moment, the situation rapidly developed in unforeseen directions, and Palmer was completely caught off guard. He couldn’t understand how Cinderella had suddenly transformed into this state, nor could he comprehend the strange tacit understanding between Ewen and Bologue.

"Cinderella..."

Palmer opened his mouth in confusion. Just then, Canary blocked Palmer, raising the crossbow and pointing it forward with vigilance.

"That’s not Cinderella," Canary said. "Cinderella never existed."

Aimou came to his senses, speaking with lingering fear, "This was just an identity used by the Joyous Desire Witch for disguise, one of her many identities."

Palmer’s face turned pale as an immense sense of crisis loomed over him. Reflecting on the various happenings along the way, he looked at Ewen in disbelief.

"From the start, were we being watched?"

"I don’t know."

Ewen shook his head. Among the group, he was the first one to encounter Cinderella. Now, looking back, Ewen couldn’t say for sure whether it was all coincidence or a long-planned conspiracy.

But regardless, the initial purpose was no longer important. The reality before them was that Cinderella had achieved her wish, her identity card development had been completed, and was thus re-collected by the Joyous Desire Witch.

A strange idea rose in Ewen’s mind; he couldn’t determine whether Cinderella ever truly existed in the past moments, or if it had all been layers of deceitful illusions.

Ewen had many questions to demand answers from the other party, but he knew they wouldn’t provide him with answers, just as they hadn’t when he once asked Cinderella about her secrets.

"Was all this just coincidence?" Ewen knew the answer, yet couldn’t resist asking, "Or did you deliberately create it?"

Facing Ewen’s question, Asmodeus smiled without speaking, her smile so enchanting. How could anyone be angry at her? Yet, an inexplicable fury surged through Ewen’s heart, growing more intense.

Ewen recalled his words with Cinderella; it all felt so real, yet ultimately was nothing more than an overly convincing illusion.

"Rather than focusing on these matters, pay attention to yourselves first."

Asmodeus had taken over Bai Ou’s identity, becoming the new host—more capricious and ignoring the rules.

She asked, "Whose turn is it?"

Bologue clenched the dice in his hand, not rolling it compliantly but looking at Asmodeus with heightened caution, "I thought you, the master villain, would appear in the later segments, not now."

"Indeed," Bologue became increasingly convinced of his thoughts. "This entrance is not dramatic enough, not meeting your intentions, correct?"

In Bologue’s calculations, she should have a more dramatic entrance rather than bizarrely taking over a girl’s existence after her wish had been fulfilled.

"What expedited your appearance?"

Asmodeus squinted her eyes, with an orange-red glow akin to an external storm flickering in the slits. She seemed to be looking at Bologue, or perhaps at the unexpected guest standing at the car door.

"I told you he’s sharp," Belphegor leaned against the wall, smiling at Asmodeus, "You can’t control everyone’s heart."

Belphegor had appeared on this rapidly moving Dawn at some unknown time. Strangely, only Asmodeus seemed able to see him this time, entirely isolated from the mundane world, like a spectator.

"I prefer developments left to nature, only uninfluenced creations can birth perfect works."

Belphegor said as he raised a hand, bringing out Ewen’s draft. He read it throughout the journey and was almost finished, as Ewen would soon use reality to depict the final conclusion for him.

"I know what you want."

Asmodeus spoke, seeming to address Belphegor, yet proclaiming to all those with desire in their hearts.

Ewen remained expressionless, although he was a writer, at this moment he didn’t know how to describe his emotions. It felt as though all the words and phrases he had learned and known were inadequate to fully express his current inner feelings.

Bologue retorted, "Then what exactly do you want?"

"The legendary Joyous Desire Witch has been lurking around us since the beginning, orchestrating this mad game... Why would you do this?"

Bologue couldn’t guess, unlike other Devils he had encountered, those despicable creatures pursued certain interests. But for the Joyous Desire Witch, interest seemed secondary, as she truly sought to evoke emotional fluctuations.

"I just want to play a game with everyone," Asmodeus admitted, "and this game concerns a certain bet."

Asmodeus suddenly moved, almost floating to Ewen’s side, her eyes resembling precious gemstones reflecting Ewen’s visage.

"I remember you, Erwin Flesher."

A slender, fair hand landed on Ewen’s face, and she gently pried open Ewen’s eyelids, exposing his aged and murky eyes completely to the air.

"We have met before, didn’t expect you to have grown so old."

Ewen stared at her blankly, as in Asmodeus, he saw the shadow of Cinderella, along with the image deeply buried in his memories.

As if reacquainting himself, Asmodeus displayed a bewildered performance, beckoning with her hand, and a book of flesh flew into her palm, its bloody pages flipping.

Asmodeus murmured to herself while flipping, "Which card was it, sorry, I can’t quite remember, should it be this one? Or this one?"

She seemed like she was choosing clothes from a wardrobe, countless identity cards flashed in her hand. Perhaps due to the time being too long, Asmodeus couldn’t find the identity card familiar to Ewen. Therefore, she once again took out Cinderella’s identity card, under Ewen’s watch, transforming back into the familiar form.

"Couldn’t find it, is using this one okay?"

Asmodeus smiled and extracted another card, "Or like this? How is it?"

The girl’s lightness and the matron’s elegance alternated on her, each change brought startling beauty, like the reality manifestation of the concept of desire.

Ewen stared blankly at her. When her performance finally provoked Ewen, he grabbed her wrist angrily, roaring his question, "What are you doing?"

Anger surged high in his heart. Ewen had thought of the Devil’s distortion, yet when she truly appeared before him, wantonly playing with his memory and emotions, Ewen still felt he underestimated the Devil’s wickedness.

"Oh? I’m merely satisfying everyone’s desire, don’t you like this?"

Asmodeus didn’t think she did anything wrong. She even looked up at Bologue, loudly questioning him, "Don’t you want it?"

During her narration, Bologue astonishingly noticed Asmodeus’s transformation. Her features changed into another familiar form, Bologue knew whom she intended to become, but it was a memory Bologue wouldn’t tolerate desecration. Rather than Ewen’s angry roar, Bologue preferred to act, therefore quietly raising the longsword, swearing to chop off Asmodeus’s head.

Bologue silently burst forth, the longsword approaching Asmodeus, yet before the sword struck, she transformed into countless burning butterflies and scattered, then reformed at the game table, lazily sitting in the chair, crossing her snow-white legs on the table.

"I truly don’t understand, obviously I was kindly fulfilling your desires, why are you so angry at me?"

Asmodeus said, looking at Palmer and smiling, "What do you think?"

In Palmer’s frightened gaze, Asmodeus morphed into Vasilina’s form. From this moment, Palmer understood what Ewen and Bologue saw on Asmodeus’s face.

Palmer muttered, "The villain has entered the stage..."

"Haha! The villain!"

Asmodeus laughed heartily, as her laughter resonated, the howling wind outside the car became even louder, the wailing sound of metal disintegrating persisted. The accompanying storm of the Dawn was tearing apart all the iron tracks it touched, severing and grinding them, throwing them into the wild wind.

"Since everyone is resisting so much, let’s change the game mode."

Asmodeus stretched lazily, then snapped her fingers, opening the door behind her with a bang. Yet sliding from it was a twisted-looking meat grinder, numerous sharp, lethal blades grinding against each other, issuing threatening friction sounds.

The meat grinder was firmly connected to the front of the train, as if through it, the train could be powered.

"It needs a sacrifice to move forward now."

Asmodeus calmly narrated, and meanwhile, the Dawn seemed to lose power, its speed drastically reduced. The raging storm grabbed hold of the rear carriage, shaking violently, almost flipping the entire train and sending it plunging into the sea.