The Shell

Leviathan slowly raised his head and looked at Ning Yu.

The terrifying eye, covered by an eyepatch, was revealed before her.

The white of the eye had turned completely black, and the pupil in the center had transformed into a bewitching red, just like Ning Yu’s.

What was horrifying was the dark red patterns spreading around the eye. Upon closer inspection, they were actually fleshy tendrils extending from the eye itself.

They wriggled, seemingly drawing nourishment from Leviathan’s body, making the mutated eye beneath the torn eyepatch increasingly grotesque.

His body visibly aged and decayed at a rapid pace, as if supporting this eye required some kind of sacrificial price.

Now, his appearance was no different from that of an ordinary mutated zombie. The grayish-white hair on his head fell like autumn petals.

The once graceful young man had instantly transformed into the visage of an elderly zombie.

The unleashed demonic eye twitched, glancing left and right, before suddenly locking onto Ning Yu in the distance, who had just put down her RPG.

Ning Yu was already preparing to flee. Although she didn’t know what kind of ability this was, it wasn’t worth risking her life to find out.

As for the 200,000 points, she would just have to come back for them another time.

But the next second, Ning Yu felt an overwhelming sense of unease. She seemed to realize something and hurriedly tried to cover her eyes.

Unfortunately, it was already too late.

“I see you.”

Leviathan’s hoarse voice rang out, the once elegant and composed tone of a young man now replaced by the terrifying voice of a zombie.

Ning Yu felt her body stiffen. She struggled to move, to activate [Mist Walk], but there was no response.

Suddenly, she understood. She wasn’t being restrained; she had already fallen into some kind of illusion.

However, she had successfully deactivated the [Serene Moon] mode, and it would take a few minutes before she could activate it again.

“Con...fess...”

Leviathan’s aged zombie body disappeared, and the surrounding buildings vanished as well. Ning Yu found herself enveloped in a dark red barrier.

Before her was only a massive eye, identical to the one Leviathan had unleashed. It was alive, staring intently at Ning Yu.

If an ordinary person were to see it, they would likely have a mental breakdown, their soul tainted.

But for some reason, Ning Yu felt nothing toward this eye. She simply thought—it’s just really ugly.

“Con...fess...”

The giant eye stared directly at Ning Yu, and Leviathan’s voice echoed all around.

Yet, although Ning Yu felt unable to move, nothing happened, which left her somewhat puzzled.

What’s going on? Is he trying to scare me to death?

The dark red sky occasionally flashed with brighter lightning, and raindrops fell from above.

The rain ignited black flames upon hitting the ground, painting a desolate scene.

However, the area where Ning Yu stood remained unaffected.

“Con...fess...”

Now Ning Yu was completely speechless. Why do I always run into these repeaters?

“What’s going on...?”

“What kind of monster are you...?”

Leviathan’s frustrated voice echoed from the sky, as if he had encountered some thorny problem.

Ning Yu, completely innocent, blinked in confusion, suddenly realizing she could speak again.

“I mean, compared to the two of us, you’re the one who looks more like a monster, right?”

Her words were mercilessly sarcastic.

The hideous giant eye was bloodshot, as if it had been staying up for days, glancing left and right at Ning Yu, but she remained unfazed.

“How can there be a human like you??”

Leviathan’s voice was filled with disbelief, making Ning Yu curious about what he had seen.

“Indulging in your desires, indulging in food and pleasure...”

“Craving money and power that doesn’t belong to you...”

“Escaping reality and wasting time, directing unreasonable anger at others...”

“Resenting others, envying and hating them, despising other lives...”

“There’s nothing!!”

“How can this be, how can there be someone like you!!!”

He kept muttering these words.

“You should have been burned to death by the flames of sin, but you... you’re nothing like a human. You’re just an empty shell with a human appearance!!”

Ning Yu felt his voice growing increasingly frantic.

“Don’t you have anything you want to possess?”

“Haven’t you ever wanted to look down on others from a high position?”

“Haven’t you ever wanted to show off your knowledge and skills to gain admiration?”

“Haven’t you ever resented someone stronger or more beautiful, wishing they’d meet a tragic end?”

“Haven’t you ever taken out your emotions on others?”

“Haven’t you ever overindulged in delicious food to satisfy your cravings?”

“Haven’t you ever experienced the sinking into romantic or physical pleasure?”

Listening to his barrage of questions, Ning Yu roughly understood the situation. She smirked slightly and spread her hands:

“Sorry, no.”

“You... you...”

Leviathan seemed to tremble with anger, his voice stuttering.

“Blasphemy, blasphemy! This is outright blasphemy! You don’t deserve to be human!!”

“How can there be someone as perfect as you!!”

He roared, his voice reverberating within the dark red barrier. Ning Yu felt as if some belief within him had shattered.

But from his words, Ning Yu also began to reflect.

Wanting to possess and gain things, looking down on others, directing unreasonable anger at others... Everything Leviathan mentioned sounded like things normal people would do.

Ordinary humans, with their full range of emotions and strong feelings, couldn’t escape these things.

Although she herself had no particular desires for this world.

She couldn’t honestly say she had never had such thoughts.

Yet, the barrier and ritual Leviathan had unleashed had come to this conclusion about her.

Either the Moon Princess had done something to make her “sins” undetectable by Leviathan’s ritual.

Or...

Ning Yu looked down at her own body.

This snow-white, delicate skin, this exquisite and adorable face, this aloof silver hair.

Everything that made up this body was just an empty shell.

Suddenly, she felt the surroundings violently shake. The giant eye began to shrivel and deform.

Ning Yu looked up at Leviathan’s dark red barrier, which was now covered in cracks.

Then, with a loud “crack,” it completely shattered.