Demon King: Hero, don’t run away!
Chapter 265: Despairing Dream

Chapter 265: Chapter 265: Despairing Dream

Floating within the body of the Light of God Destruction, transformed into a gigantic Core, Yang Yu and his two companions drifted amid the Darkness, connected to the other Cores, supporting the colossal body of the Light of God Destruction.

Because of the effect of the "Despair Breath" black energy, whether it be fairies or humans, all would fall into a dreamscape, where they faced despair over and over again.

The "Despair Breath" was designed with various self-regulating mechanisms to ensure safety, including the gradual escalation of despair and the termination of the experiment when the subject could no longer bear the despair, reverting to the pleasant memories within their mind.

Even if the soldiers didn’t pass the test, they wouldn’t lose their lives and could still contribute their strength on the battlefield.

Once it gained its own consciousness, the Light of God Destruction deliberately weakened these protective mechanisms so it could manipulate the black energy as it wished, applying higher levels of the state of despair and plunging this world into the Abyss of despair.

Now, the Light of God Destruction would use the highest-level state of despair whenever possible, never settling for a lesser one.

Under the high-level state of despair, painful memories would not only present themselves in the form of dreamscapes but would also link to the body’s senses to achieve true empathy with the pain.

Even more, the black energy could detect what the test subject feared and create a future that would drive them to true despair.

In Bai Jin’s dreamscape, she followed her mentor back to the seaside village where she was born.

The long journey had ended, and her mentor had been bedridden for a long time, his condition deteriorating with each passing day, every violent cough tinged with a trace of bright red.

Bai Jin tried to find a cure by running around everywhere, but no matter how hard she searched, she could not stop the worsening of his illness and could only watch helplessly as her mentor left her.

As her mentor requested, Bai Jin scattered his ashes over the coastal reefs.

Afterward, following her mentor’s last will, Bai Jin left the village, handling the matters her mentor had entrusted to her, only to find that she had contracted the same illness as her mentor, with only a few years left to live.

Just as Bai Jin sank into despair, someone entered her heart like a warm beam of sunshine.

He invited Bai Jin to travel with him, even curing her illness.

Just being with him, Bai Jin’s heart always felt warm.

However.

This happy time did not last for long.

As the adventure progressed, Bai Jin realized that her role in the team was getting smaller and smaller, and she found it harder and harder to fit in, only able to watch as the man she cared about grew closer to others, their relationship with her growing increasingly distant.

Bai Jin had thought about trying hard to fit in with them.

But even if she tried to join in spontaneously, she didn’t know what to say, what words might bring her closer to someone.

She had always been clumsy since a long time ago, and coupled with her awkward habits, Bai Jin always worried she would say the wrong thing.

To avoid causing trouble for the team, she chose to restrain herself as much as possible, not letting herself speak recklessly.

But this decision also made her presence within the team thinner and thinner.

To prove she was irreplaceable, Bai Jin began to study hard.

She longed for a little more time—if only she had a little more time, she could be as excellent as Tico.

But fate seemed to be mocking her.

During their adventure, an eloquent woman with super awesome magic joined their team.

Compared with that outstanding woman, Bai Jin suddenly felt like a muddy mess that couldn’t be scooped up from the ground.

"It’s only natural that he would be attracted to such an excellent woman."

The casual muttering became a reality.

The man she cared about and the new magician hit it off, their conversations becoming more and more congenial.

The man who had once saved her had gradually become more distant.

Bai Jin’s hope, which had been to win his favor, turned into a wish not to be kicked out of the team.

But often, the more you fear something, the more likely it is to happen.

"This way, our travel funds won’t be enough. Our adventure only needs three people. Bai Jin, do you understand what I mean?"

"I... I don’t quite understand."

"Let me put it more bluntly then, your mission is over."

Each word of this sentence, like spurs, pierced deep into Bai Jin’s heart. She tried hard to make the man change his mind, but in the end, she returned empty-handed.

She had been completely abandoned by the team and found herself alone once again.

Misfortune never comes singly.

Not long after she had been separated from the team, illness came sweeping back.

This time, at her side, there were no longer any people she could rely on.

...

In Iyas’s dreams, she returned to the Elf Village where she had always lived, after a hunt.

Under the shelter of the forest, every elf lived happily, and so did her most important family members.

Her younger brother Hake looked delicate. Within the Elf Clan, where male and female appearances were not very different, this delicateness was amplified manyfold. So much so that if Hake dressed as a female, no one could tell he was a boy.

But even such as he had the heart to become an excellent Elf Warrior. Day after day, he followed her and learned combat techniques.

She had thought that life would go on uneventfully like this, and that under her guidance, Hake would become an outstanding Elf Warrior.

Who would have known that one night, their village would be set ablaze, and humans would step into their hamlet.

Greed filled the eyes of those humans, who looked at the elves as if they were mere merchandise and attacked the defenseless elves, stuffing them one by one into cages.

Some elves tried to resist, but before their magic could complete, they were pinned down by burly men.

The village where Iyas had always lived fell into the flames of war.

As a warrior of the Elf Clan, she obeyed the command from above, using her familiarity with the forest terrain to fight a guerrilla war against the humans, curbing their offensive and allowing her fellow villagers to flee to safety, to seek help from the Queen.

But what she had not anticipated was that the humans had already set an ambush in the direction of the fleeing villagers, waiting for the fairies to throw themselves into the net.

In the end, all the villagers were captured, and Iyas, who had stayed to fight and cover their escape, was the one who narrowly avoided capture.

Through a stroke of luck or perhaps fate, Iyas found a hidden path.

Following that hidden path, she could flee the village and reach safety.

But Iyas did not choose to escape alone; she could not abandon her kin, much less her own brother.

Without hesitation, Iyas decided to fight.

Using her knowledge of the terrain to her advantage, she grievously wounded several humans with her bows and arrows. But unfortunately, it’s hard for one person to stand against many.

When she ran out of arrows and strength, the humans easily captured her, stuffed her into a cage, and secretly transported her to an auction house.

After being moved around, she was sold to the Silver Orchid Commerce and became research material for a laboratory.