Chapter 489: The Burden on the Shoulder

High above the sky, countless distant gazes streamed down, piercing through the boundless heavens to continuously observe this inconspicuous town, making it the central vortex of focus for the entire Three Realms.

The people hiding in the bookstore.

"We can't hold them off any longer..." their companions nearby couldn't help but whisper.

The dozen or so people outside, empowered by evil gods, were spreading terror everywhere. They had captured countless townspeople, confining them in a residential area, threatening and abusing them to absorb their energy... How could they possibly compete against that? Miraki finally took a deep breath, clenching his fist. In his hand was a crumpled book from the bookstore, its alluring cover depicting a beautiful girl, but it no longer held any energy. In this town's current state, no one would visit the bookstore anymore...

Perhaps in a big city, they could go to casinos or gladiator arenas to absorb people's malice and emotions, but in Carde Town, the bookstore was their only, and weakest, channel.

Boom!

Another massive explosion occurred outside, in the block next to the bookstore.

"No!"

"The Church will punish you!"

Accompanied by cries and wails, elderly people, women holding children, and adults were all driven out, intended to be gathered in a distant residential area and "farmed" like livestock, their fear constantly harvested. And those dozen people, wielding evil gods, were like shepherds tending to the wicked masses.

"Make a decision quickly, they'll be here any moment..." someone whispered.

Miraki clenched his fists tighter, fully experiencing the taste of powerlessness. His beloved friends, his newfound companions, his close comrades, the girl he secretly admired, this ordinary town he once loathed but now cherished... all were being savagely destroyed, filled with loud wails, sorrow, and pain, all because of him.

It was all because of me... Just a thought brought a tearing pain from within him.

"Power..." He took a deep breath, his nose stinging, as he gazed at his anxious and frantic companions.

"Let's go first! The people driving them will be here soon. We can go to another area and figure something out – whether we also collect energy like them, or something else..." A gentle senior, with whom he had a good relationship, whispered from behind him.

"It's too late..." Miraki said faintly. His expression suddenly became incredibly calm. This boy, barely in his teens, had matured in an instant. Youth's immaturity never fades with age; it matures only through hardship and experience.

He turned around. "There's a secret I need to tell you... You, who possess evil gods, and our enemies – your evil gods were born because of me. If you pay attention, you'll find that they are almost entirely people centered around me: friendly neighbors, classmates I greet daily, the senior girl I admire, the senior boy I respect, and... the girl I secretly like."

"What?" Shock rippled through the group. This was unbelievable.

"So what do we do now..." someone tried to speak.

"Every one of you has become my companion, you are all that I cherish... I'm very happy." He choked up. "Life always demands some sacrifice to gain something."

Miraki stretched out his hand, looking at the crumpled, discarded book. The soaring red light in the distance dyed his face, and time seemed to flow slowly, an unutterable calm settling over him. "I was once ordinary, yearning for the extraordinary. Now, my life feels incredibly surreal, like a dream. To have a group of people I once admired by my side, that alone is spectacular enough."

"You go first. I have a surefire plan for victory."

Meticulously, he put on his Misoa High School uniform, buttoned his black blazer, and carefully tied a white necktie, appearing incredibly upright.

"What surefire plan?" His childhood friend, Sia's, expression subtly changed.

"Don't lie to me! I know we're trying to crack a stone with an egg..." She looked at the boy, knowing he was an extreme person who never inflicted hardship on others, always bearing the pressure himself. After all these days, even she couldn't help but plead in a low voice, "We can try to capture some people too, lock them up and absorb their fear! Then we'll have power, we'll be able to protect them and fight against them!"

"Those things will drag you down once you touch them," Miraki said faintly. "All the evil gods were born because of me. The disasters, the pain, the wails... they are my responsibility, all my fault." His face was deeply shadowed, making his expression unreadable. "It's up to me to solve this... Trust me, I truly have a way. You leave, and wait for me to return! Like a hero, triumphant!"

He strode out of the bookstore, heading towards the explosion. Soon, the thugs mistook him for an ordinary student and took him along with the others, intending to confine him in the residential area.

"Miraki! He's insane! He's truly insane!!" The class president's chest heaved violently. She bit her lower lip, and threads of blood trickled down, yet she felt nothing.

"Let's go!" The group's expressions changed drastically, and they ultimately fled through the bookstore's back door.

If falling into an abyss could exchange for power. If abandoning shame could awaken strength. Other desperate people, abandoning everything, would have no chance of reversal, but he himself possessed it. So, what reason was there to consider himself the unluckiest one? Miraki smiled, moving forward with the surging crowd.

"Hurry up!" A demonically powerful thug laughed as the crowd, like captives, was pushed into the residential area and violently locked in. Miraki watched the suffering and wailing townspeople around him.

It was all because he wasn't strong enough.

His gaze turned to some of the nearby people. "Everyone else has a companion evil god... but I don't. That's because the evil god I picked up, which only remembers itself as the God of Beautiful Dreams, is too powerful. It suppressed my inner being so much that no symbiotic evil god emerged... In a sense, it *is* my companion evil god, and although it doesn't entirely belong to me, I've developed a deep friendship with it!"

"Everyone else has used their evil gods, but I've never used the God of Beautiful Dreams, because..."

Boom!

In an instant, a black specter suddenly soared from his shadow. All the victims in the residential area felt an internal dread, as if some terrifying ancient demon god had descended. It was a shivering terror that reached the very core of their beings. And the dozen people responsible for their confinement also trembled violently internally, as if they had seen a horrific monster appear. They even felt a subtle connection, as if by a thousand threads, to the evil gods within them, as if it were their birth mother.

"What's happening?" At the entrance, the leader of these dozen individuals, Adrian the Murderer, was a meticulous and forceful man, possessing the mindset and ruthlessness required to become a strong leader, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to subdue the others and lead these thugs. Adrian violently turned his head, a grave expression on his face. "What is this??"