The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 868: Unfair

Chapter 868: Unfair

Gao Yang watched Liao Liao's breakdown without surprise. He understood—he knew exactly how madness reared when one was backed into a corner. His own past encounters with despair had left him oddly calm now. With little time left to him, he went over the information he had to formulate plans.

First, he concluded that Clear Mirror had stationed himself nearby, Judge's passive domain already expanded, waiting for them to stumble into his web.

The trigger had been their mutual killing intent. The moment Gao Yang and the Union had moved to destroy each other, they'd unknowingly signed Clear Mirror's contract, allowing him to activate the domain.

The move was more discreet with a more complicated requirement compared to what Clear Mirror had done with Judge before. Clear Mirror had to set up the ambush beforehand and patiently wait for the prey to step into the trap for a binding contract to be formed. The advantage was that once triggered, the targets wouldn’t be able to escape the domain.

He learned from his failures. Direct ambushes didn't work, so he adapted.

But two questions remained: How had Clear Mirror known Gao Yang would come tonight? How had he found Dr. Jia's hideout?

The Nine Scions and Twelve Zodiac Signs couldn't have leaked the information—they'd had no chance between planning and execution. And the Ocean River Union working with Clear Mirror seemed unlikely. Sir Jiang's group appeared genuinely surprised, and they hadn't even been certain Gao Yang would move tonight.

So how?

The answer had to be a partner—someone who could both locate Dr. Jia's hideout and foresee Gao Yang's arrival.

Did Clear Mirror have a companion like that? Gao Yang didn’t know. There was a detail worthy of attention, though.

According to Chen Ying’s report, she and White Rabbit had stumbled upon Dr. Jia’s hideout because she sensed two lifeforms. One awakener, and the other a monster.

Chen Ying and White Rabbit had thought that they were Sir Jiang and a member of the Ocean River Union seeking Dr. Jia out, which Chen Ying happened to catch with her Sensory.

But what if...

Clear Mirror and a precognitive monster companion, scouting the location. Chen Ying detecting them, inadvertently discovering Dr. Jia's laboratory. That discovery leading to tonight's attack—an attack the monster had already foreseen, prompting their initial scouting, which Chen Ying had detected...

A perfect loop. The cause becomes the effect, the effect the cause.

Gao Yang cut off that line of thinking before it spiraled further. Time was too precious to waste on paradoxes.

Gao Yang looked up. Four additional scales had materialized beside him. To his left, Dr. Jia hung in his restraints, already conscious. Beyond him, a fat gray parrot thrashed against its bonds.

"Help! HELP! HELP!" The parrot's hoarse croaks echoed through the void, each cry more desperate than the last.

The scene bordered on absurd, but the battle rules now burned into Gao Yang's mind made everything clear. He turned to his right.

The nearest scale held an old man in a weathered flax robe. His bald head and wrinkled face disappeared beneath a wild white beard, but his eyes blazed with an unsettling fervor. He muttered continuously, his expression caught between ecstasy and madness.

"Who are you?" Gao Yang demanded.

The old man's muttering ceased. He turned with deliberate slowness, smiling. "Hello, Divine Scion. I am the wanderer prime. Call me Nico."

"You're with Clear Mirror?"

"Yes, we are both apostles of the Heavenly Godbearer." Pride trembled in Nico's ancient voice. "Though in this domain, I stand with you."

Gao Yang's jaw tightened. This had to be Clear Mirror's monster ally. All that happened tonight must be this wanderer’s plan.

"I offer neither strength nor wisdom," Nico continued, his tone eerily earnest. "We shall die here together. Child, you've served your purpose. I am here to guide you back to God's embrace..."

Gao Yang ignored the zealot's ramblings, his attention fixing on the empty rightmost scale.

Four versus five.

"Clear Mirror!" His shout challenged the void itself. "Where are you? Four against five is clearly unfair! I reject your judgment! I demand a rematch!"

Gao Yang could tell that Clear Mirror was only a judge in the domain, not God. Otherwise, he could have simply annihilated them all. His need for this pretense of justice revealed his limitations. He too must follow the domain's rules of fairness—hence why Gao Yang had been granted companions, however weak. But this numerical imbalance might be the flaw in Clear Mirror's authority that Gao Yang needed.

Or so he thought.

Ring.

The toll shook their very souls. Alien whispers filled the space as the monochrome world trembled.

Above Gao Yang, the black sky twisted. Like spilled ink, it poured downward, forming a massive stalactite. Simultaneously, a white stalagmite thrust up from below, reaching for its dark twin. Where they met, the colors merged into a singular gray pillar that bridged heaven and earth.

From this pillar, a face emerged—perfectly symmetrical, its features sharp as carved stone. Clear Mirror's heterochromatic eyes—the left one white and the right one black—gazed down upon the arena. When his mouth moved, his voice carried the weight of twisted divinity.

"The match is fair. Challenge denied."