Chapter 346

Chapter 132 Light and Darkness Twenty-Nine

“Ahh, but the game ended too quickly, it’s no fun! So, I’ve decided to give you two more chances~”

Duke Lexx gritted his teeth and lifted his head.

The girl was still smiling as she had been before, her eyes curving into a beautiful crescent moon. She was holding up two fingers towards him, urging him happily, “You can keep running now, hurry up, hurry up!”

Madman…

Intense pain made Duke Lexx’s vision start to blur. He clenched his teeth, feeling that he could not hold on much longer; his head was even starting to go numb. Despite this, he still held onto a sliver of hope, pleading with the girl to let him live: “I… I need medicine, uh… stop the bleeding…”

“No.”

“Save me…”

“No. Way.”

The girl’s smile slowly faded.

“You can only win the game.”

After saying this, the girl’s face lit up again with a smile: “Run, run~ I’m going to start counting!”

She closed her eyes again.

“One! Two! Three…”

The unique clear voice of the girl counted out the numbers, which reached Duke Lexx’s ears like a countdown to death.

Duke Lexx’s limbs were icy cold.

He bit his lip and mustered all his strength to stand in front of the girl who had her eyes tightly shut. Blood trickled down from his side to his thigh, his shirt inside the armor sticking to his body, but he barely felt it. Using his remaining left arm, he silently reached for his waist and gripped the sword hilt.

“Huff—huff—”

His eyes were bloodshot, his breathing heavy.

“Eighteen, nineteen…”

The girl continued counting, seemingly unaware of his small movements.

Or perhaps she just didn’t care.

A few seconds later, Duke Lexx moved his hand away from the sword hilt.

His chest heaved rapidly a few times, then without hesitation, he turned around and limped out of the ruins, turning into the narrow alley he had come from earlier.

Duke Lexx’s consciousness was already muddled, and his vision was gradually blurring. He darted through the narrow streets, his expression contorted with pain but never slowing down.

The excruciating pain had gradually turned into numbness; almost half of his body was numb. His tongue bled, and his mouth tasted salty and bloody. The suffocating sensation in his chest made him want to lose his mind, his emotions teetering on the brink of collapse, with only reason holding his actions together.

He knew that no matter how much it hurt, he couldn’t stop or lose consciousness.

No matter what, he had to survive.

Whether it was failure or pain, he had experienced them before. And whoever had humiliated him, no matter how powerful they were, he could kill them one by one.

As long as he lived, he could always get back what was rightfully his.

But if he died, there would be nothing left.

Duke Lexx did not want to die.

He wanted to try his hardest, to survive this terrible child’s game.

But…

Where should he run?

Gradually, he could no longer run.

He was really getting old.

“Huff—huff—”

Duke Lexx stopped and leaned against a crumbling wall in the alley, looking at the大道 ahead, a wild cat jumped from the roof and ran away.

How he wished he could be like that wild cat.

But his legs were already weak. His body slid down the wall, sitting on the cold ground, gasping for breath, then he started to remove his armor—this simple task was incredibly difficult with only one left hand.

It took a great effort for him to remove his breastplate and toss it aside. Looking down at his blood-soaked shirt, he clenched his teeth and pulled up the hem, using his mouth and left hand to tear off a large piece of cloth and hastily wrap it around the wound on his right arm where it had been severed.

During this process, cold sweat poured down his cheeks, and his head became increasingly dizzy.

Huhuhu—

Suddenly, a breeze came from above.

They’re here…

So fast.

Duke Lexx slowly raised his head. Then, with a “plop,” the girl landed in front of him, carrying the scent of lilacs.

“Hey…”

Her brows were furrowed, looking quite displeased.

“Are you… trying to fool me?”

“No…” Duke Lexx tried to force a smile at the girl, “You said I still have… cough, two more chances…”

Sometimes, once people break through fear,

At the critical point, he反而会变得冷静下来actually becomes calmer. Duke Lexus feels that he is currently in such a state.

“This game, I surrender…cough, I don’t have time to deal with the blood…no! Don’t! Not yet…I’m old, given the current situation…I can’t run in armor…I need to handle this first before I can properly play with you, right…Miss Peyalo…cough cough…”

After hearing his words, the young girl tilted her head and thought for a moment.

“…Alright then.”

She lowered her raised right hand and gave him a sweet smile.

“Then hurry up!”

“Cough, alright.”

Duke Lexus tore off another piece of cloth, tightly wrapped it around the stump of his arm twice, and tied it into a knot with his mouth and hands, finally stopping the bleeding temporarily. He weakly leaned against the wall to rest for a moment. When he felt that the young girl was becoming impatient, he started to remove the waist armor and leg armor.

“Why…”

As he threw each piece of armor to the ground, Duke Lexus couldn’t help but ask.

“Miss Peyalo…I have always respected you and your father…why are you treating me like this…”

The young girl seemed unprepared for him to ask such a question; she was somewhat stunned. But not long after, the young girl laughed again.

“And why did you treat Victoria like that?”

“……”

Duke Lexus’ movements paused.

The young girl continued, “You scared me so much…I had only been out for a short while, and when I returned, everything was in chaos. Victoria lay in bed, unable to wake up…you almost made me lose her, and I hate feeling like this.”

“…Is that all?”

“What else could there be?”

Ah, damn it.

Duke Lexus understood; she had come to avenge Elizabeth on behalf of someone.

“Hehe…”

Since that’s the case, there’s nothing left to say.

Run…

Hopefully, I can survive.

He struggled to stand up, leaning against the wall, slightly moving his legs and adjusting his breathing. Looking at the young girl, he said, “Start counting.”

“Mm.” The young girl nodded and then closed her eyes, “You have to play seriously with me.”

Duke Lexus didn’t reply, turned around, and ran.

He rushed out of the alley, turned north, and ran for a distance. Then he looked back south toward the city walls, estimating his position in his mind, gradually slowing down.

The little girl should have very keen hearing.

She could determine which direction he roughly went and follow it to find his location.

So this time, he deliberately headed north, slowed down his pace, controlled his breathing, threw the bloody scraps ahead, then turned into another alley along a side road, walking in the opposite direction.

Be as quiet as possible.

He would take one more gamble.

Bet that the young girl wouldn’t think he would return to the street where they first met, the terrifying street filled with white light and ashes.

That street wasn’t far from here.

Duke Lexus decided to go back and hide there.

Although he was extremely anxious, he maintained a slow pace, trying not to make any noise—clearly, it was effective. Two minutes had passed, and the young girl still hadn’t appeared before him.

Duke Lexus felt a bit more at ease. He continued to navigate through narrow alleys, stepping over countless broken beams and rubble, heading towards the most secluded areas, trying to avoid being seen by anyone.

The young girl never appeared.

Soon, the street was just ahead.

Of course, Duke Lexus wouldn’t foolishly walk onto the main road. He chose to hide under an eave, sticking close to the wall and slowly moving in the shadows—a house was just ahead.

The house was dark inside.

But the windows looked old and could be easily smashed.

Stay calm, don’t get caught…

As he moved along the wall, he glanced around, especially at the sky, which was heavily clouded. He feared the young girl might suddenly appear in his line of sight, so he became increasingly cautious.

The ashes no longer drifted in the streets; sometime ago, even the lights in the sky had vanished.

…The monster must be dead by now, right?

Thinking this, Duke Lexus subconsciously looked back at where he had encountered the young girl before—he suddenly froze.

The monster had long since disappeared.

But standing there was a little girl he had never seen before.