Chapter 335: The Collapse of the Banyan Tree
Blood dyed the plains red, and clouds dropped from the sky. The lives wandering on the island disintegrated into nothingness. The grass was dying, the trees were dying, the land was dying, but something was emerging from their death. The power of the ritual increased conspicuously. The influence on the agents’ mental state strengthened. More people died from the stabbings. As primitive as the method was, it was highly effective. Only about 50 agents remained standing. Their defensive circle tightened as they mounted the final defence. Amidst the chaos, Gu Jun remained motionless but strangely enough, none of the monsters made any offensive attempt at him.
What was going on? Was he fighting a mental battle, or he had already given up? At a time like this, the leaders from the other countries, who had been encouraging their members, started to harbour suspicions… Shadows darkened their hearts as death loomed in the near future. However, Wu Siyu did not give up as she continued to call upon Gu Jun. She shared the strongest mental bond with him and thus she was the one who was the most tuned into his mental status… A new surge of power arose within him and that brought rejuvenation to her as well.
“Dirty-minded Yu, listen to me…” Gu Jun finally spoke albeit in a coarse voice, “The opportunity is here but we only have one shot at it.”
“Oh?” Wu Siyu tensed as if knowing this was not going to end well.
“I will try to gather all the monsters at one spot.” Gu Jun assessed the bloody surroundings before his gaze landed on her face. “And you will lead everyone to sign out the Ancient Seal. End the ritual like how you did last time. Take these instruments, they will help increase the power of the Ancient Seal.” He handed the medkit, with all the Carlot Instruments in it, to Wu Siyu.
“Dirty-minded Jun, I have something that I need to tell you.” Wu Siyu’s grip tightened over the medkit as her eyes shone with tears. “But I’m not going to tell you now, so if you do not survive this, you’ll never hear what I have to say.”
“I’ll try my best.” Gu Jun nudged Wu Siyu lightly on her head before he turned to shout at the nearby agents, “Listen to Siyu’s orders! She knows what to do.” Due to the new source of power, Gu Jun landed in a precarious mental state. He barely maintained his consciousness but somehow could utilize the yet-to-be fully awakened power of darkness… However he could not sustain this state for long so he had to make his move now… He’d end the ritual once and for all…
With everyone looking on, Gu Jun walked towards the hill and sang out the song in foreign language, “Sons of Worms, reshape yourself.” A simple command brought upon an immense change. He repeated the chanting again. His voice filled with power. Wind churned the dark clouds. Energy was palpable on the plains as it blanketed everything under its influence. Time and space were dragged into a figurative swamp, every agent could feel their actions slowing down… The bullets stopped moving and gunfire ceased. They thought they were going to die under multiple stabbings earlier but now even the flesh monsters had stopped…
Then to everyone’s surprise, all the monsters moved away. The flesh on the ground reanimated themselves and joined their other brethren as they slowly shuffled towards Gu Jun.
“Captain Gu…””What’s happening, is this his power…””This is not a power yielded by a common human…”
Bell Grant, Grisman, Frederickson and the likes were shocked. In fact, even Lou Xiaoning and Peacock were stunned. ‘Ah Jun… Can control these creatures of darkness?’
Before they could make sense of this new development, they were greeted by something even stranger. The black-robed monsters walked to gather at the empty spot before Gu Jun. Their bodies glued to one another and their limbs started to twist together. The sound they made was indescribable. It was the sound of bones and skin breaking and forming at the same time. The monsters twined together…
Everyone was gobsmacked watching this but the people from Phecda were instantly reminded of something. It was the Malformed Banyan Tree. The flesh bound together and the bones formed lattices. The black-robed individuals were shaping into a big banyan tree with great branches. As more monsters joined the ceremony, the larger the tree became until it grew large enough to cover the sky. Soon, no trace of flesh could be found on the plain. They were all now part of the Banyan Tree. In the middle of the giant tree, there was a large black tree hole. Inside the tree hole, there was a throne made from flesh and blood. Steps, made from flesh and bones, extended out from the tree hole, which was raised more than 10 metres in the air, to the ground. The bark was filled with different faces. There were wilted faces, faces of the Deep Ones, faces of the cultists, and even faces of Xie Yiman, Tian Yi and Xue Ba…
The agents finally understood the seemingly incoherent account given by Jack Wales. They were in the presence of something immensely powerful. Just a glance of it could turn their brains into mush. A few more glances and they’d drop into madness… However, Wu Siyu and the others from Phecda needed to hold on, they still had the mission given by Ah Jun to complete…
The wails died away, all that remained was silence. Then to everyone’s surprise, Gu Jun walked up the steps and crawled into the tree hole. The man had no expression. He sat down on the throne and faced them like a newly appointed king.
‘Who is this person… or rather, what is he turning into?’ The agents shivered. As they scrutinized the tree and the individual inside it, they could feel its immense power locking them into place. Suddenly, the tree hole shrunk. The dark red flesh reached out to swallow Gu Jun. In practically a moment, Gu Jun was completely consumed. Only his face remained visible and his eyes were red and black in colors. Before the banyan tree, numerous illusory individuals appeared kneeling towards the tree. All of them bowed lowly. There were humans, mutated creatures, rotten bodies and even sets of skeletons. Those kneeling in front were the agents who just perished. Among them were Puloscov, Toddy Matt and Xue Ba. The living were overwhelmed by despair but Wu Siyu knew this was still Dirty-minded Jun! She could taste him on her lips.
“It’s him… He’s still with us…” She croaked out. “This is his idea…”
“Wu Siyu!” It was unclear whether the voice came from the tree or her mind but she could hear Gu Jun saying, “Now is the time!” Gu Jun’s consciousness struggled. Half of it was his own, while the other half belonged to darkness. This was the last step of the ritual, all of its energy was gathered here. If the Son of Misfortune was successfully evoked, he’d live in this state, the tree being his usual form… But now, Gu Jun’s power kept the door of the abyss closed but who knew for how long…
“Now is the time, everyone…” Gu Jun had no idea whether his voice could be heard or not but he could feel the dark red flesh joining with every inch of his skin and melting into his brain. He was becoming a part of the banyan tree. ‘But I… can’t die just like this… This world is not supposed to end yet, R’yleh will slumber for a lot longer… We will return to celebrate the Mid Autumn Festival… Dirty-minded Yu still has something that she needs to tell me…’ Gu Jun summoned all of his strength. He unlocked the broken sweet dream from the Son of Steel in his brain. Instantly, there was a burst of light energy. It suppressed the darkness within him. Now was the chance!
The wind picked up again and the grip loosened on everyone.
‘Now, do not hesitate…’ The voice echoed inside Wu Siyu’s heart. With tears shining in her eyes, she held the Carlot Instruments tightly. “Hit it with the Ancient Seal!” She shouted as tears slid down her face. “Everyone, give it everything you got!”
Thanks to their usual training, the Phecda members soon moved into position. Without wasting much time, the other agents followed suit. The remaining agents joined Wu Siyu to hit the twisted human-tree creature with an Ancient Seal. A scorching seal blasted forth. It gained power from the Carlot Instruments and hit the tree squarely. The wind howled as loudly as the wails of the tree. The earth moved and the world swayed before everyone’s eyes.
‘Dirty-minded Jun, you have to survive. Can you hear me?’ Wu Siyu’s voice faded away. Gu Jun felt everything disintegrating. He could feel the banyan tree collapsing and breaking into pieces… His own body shattered as well. There was immense pain but… at the very least, the door on the stone plaque closed and the ritual ended. Every single member of Afterlife Cult, including the last red-robed individual had sacrificed themselves to the stone plaque and now they would forever be suspended in hell and silence…
Before Gu Jun’s eyes, the broken sweet dream enveloped him. It was beautiful. It was the Lai Hwa Festival. The Lai Hwa Trees bloomed beautifully. Landon and his family, Lydia, and his good friend Pedra enjoyed the outing, laughing and chatting. Different from the well-known Son of Steel, this was Landon as a common man, brilliance in his common humanity. He laughed.
Then the sky darkened and a full moon rose in the sky. It was mid-autumn festival. There were Gu Jun, Dirty-minded Yu, Zixuan, Uncle Dan, Deng Ximei and the rest having a party under the moon…
The sweet dream faded away… as did his consciousness… Both of the light and dark energies disappeared…
The curtain was down. The play was over. This too was a play which was entitled man.
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