plumnovel Chapter 61 : For the Sky?
Chapter 61 : For the Sky?
For the Sky?================================
"At this point..."
The clan chief let out a bitter smile and said, "Do we really have any other choice?"
"Of course you do,"
Jiang Cheng shrugged. "You could just leave the spirit realm, shrink back into that underground city of yours like a bunch of rats, and stop dreaming about acceptance from humans—just honestly keep living as monsters."
"You know we would never choose that," the old clan chief said quietly.
"So, the choice you've given us is really only one," he added.
"How you choose is your business and has nothing to do with me,"
Jiang Cheng replied coldly.
"Could I even give you a different choice? Doing nothing and still hoping to be accepted—when has that ever happened in this world?"
"Even if you saved up enough money, the approval they sent would only ever be a watered-down recognition at best."
Jiang Cheng continued, "You can't possibly not see that for yourselves."
The old clan chief fell silent. Only after a long while did he finally say, "Yes, I had guessed as much."
"Humans are a suspicious race. They don't trust any group that hasn't paid a price."
"I've gone through the history books. Most of the clans that were truly accepted by humans had saved huge numbers of people."
"That's right~"
Jiang Cheng smiled. "Correct answer. Congratulations."
"But the world now isn't like the old days, full of wars," the old clan chief sighed.
"That's why I've thought up another way for you. Isn't that so?"
"A clan willing to kill its own king for human acceptance—of course, that's worthy of trust."
Jiang Cheng left the rest of her words unsaid—that she didn't really think human trust was worth this price.
"Alright," the old clan chief nodded, "now that we're here, of course we can't stop before fulfilling our clan's one and only wish, held since its birth."
"Then allow me, this old man, to set the example."
As he spoke, the old clan chief looked at Jiang Cheng. "Prepare your magic."
"Alright,"
Jiang Cheng replied with a beaming smile. She bit her finger and pointed to an area on the ground.
Even as they spoke, though only a few seconds had passed, the king of corrupted monsters was already heading their way.
On the ground, countless raindrops were pooling together to form newborn corrupted monsters. Each one gathered, shaped, then grew and mutated rapidly, charging at them in various forms.
These hastily-born "newborns" seemed to have been imprinted with a single instruction: kill Jiang Cheng and her group. From the instant they came into being, they charged madly in this direction.
"Be careful!"
Lyle warned, holding Sword in the Stone as he sheltered Jiang Cheng.
"No need,"
Jiang Cheng replied with a faint smile. "We have time. Which means these things are doomed."
By now, the blood flowing from her fingertip had already gathered at the spot she pointed to, forming a scarlet magic circle.
"That's it. You need do nothing more,"
Jiang Cheng said softly. "Just step in—step in and it's done."
The old clan chief gave Jiang Cheng a long, deep look, then turned away, as if he meant to say something to the rest of the clan.
But in the end, he only sighed, shook his head, and said nothing.
"Chief..."
The rest of the clan called out to him, but he paid them no mind.
These children, even as they tried to stop him—when it was their turn, they'd do the same.
There's no choice; this had been the wish etched into their kind since their creation as mutants.
Originally, as mutants shaped by the gods in their own image, their goal had been to blend into human society.
But thanks to the black markings on their skin, their spy plan had completely failed. Even so, the instinct to return to the humans remained in their genes.
After devouring humans, they could perfectly synchronize with human memories—for this clan, becoming human had become an obsession.
The air in the spirit realm was quiet and still. Yet the old clan chief seemed to feel the caress of wind.
He recalled his human memories—recalled his carefree friends running wild across the endless grassy plains. That feeling... was true happiness.
When "he" died, his family must have been devastated. He wondered if, fifty years later, they still remembered him.
If his parents were still alive, they'd be over ninety by now. Of course, he too was an old man.
Over all these years, he had managed the clan, striving for the return to humanity. It seemed he hadn't rested in a very long time.
Thinking on it, he really did want to run free in the wild human lands like he had as a child.
With these memories swirling, the old clan chief looked up at the twisted, pinkish sky of the spirit realm.
How long had it been since he last saw the sky? "How I miss the azure sky of the human world..."
Lost in his reflections, he whispered this absentmindedly, then finally took his last step and entered the blood-red magic circle.
"Pfft..."
With a soft sound, his form melted away into a swirl of blackish-red blood.
"Chief!"
Renata cried out in shock. But any answer was impossible—the old clan chief was gone, not even a body remained.
Jiang Cheng watched on coldly. The sky of the human world?
It seemed that even in her previous life, she'd hardly ever seen it? Perhaps she'd seen it often, after all—but being able to act openly under the blue sky had always been a luxury for her.
Yet now, she could act freely, but she felt not the slightest joy.
She couldn't understand the old clan chief's nostalgia, just like she couldn't understand their obsession with humanity.
In truth, outside of matters concerning Lyle, there was almost nothing left that she cared about.
So...just this! Only that god she hated! She would never forgive.
Her lips parted lightly. "For those who want to become human—keep going," she said.
Meanwhile, as the old clan chief dissolved into blood, the distant king of corrupted monsters suddenly froze in its tracks.
After a brief pause, its massive body shuddered, and countless layers of black mud on its surface cracked and flaked away, as if scorched by flame.
And those newborn corrupted monsters drawing near instantly turned to ash.
These rapidly grown newborns—not only would they never see the sky, they had not even grown familiar with the earth before being dispatched so easily.
This bloodline attack was truly a terrifying technique.
Renata stared numbly at where the old clan chief's blood had vanished, taking a hesitant step forward—as if she meant to die next.
"Come back!"
Another young man reached out and pulled Renata back.
"The chief told us—you are the one he believed in most," the young man said. "You are the new chief. So, please, let us go die in your place, just this once."
"But..."
Renata murmured, as if wanting to protest.
"No buts," the young man cut her off. "Your family is still alive. You still have a little brother."
Those words touched something deep inside Renata, halting her in her tracks.
And just at that moment, the young man took a step forward into the magic circle and, like the chief before him, dissolved into blood.
Renata stared blankly at the scene before her. In her ears echoed the anguished howl of the king of corrupted monsters, and she said nothing.