Chapter 814: Mahayana Talisman

There were ten live show streamers. I had killed two of them, Chen Jiuge had possessed the Uncorrupted Bone, and I had seen Xiao A and the Man in the Colorful Robe among the Traitors. Counting Black Robe and the Butcher, that only made seven in total.

Through the Live Show Examiner, I had already confirmed that I was both the First Anchor and the tenth streamer. But even counting it like that, there were only nine of us in total.

'Where did the remaining live show streamer go?' I probably wouldn't have cared on any other day, but at such a critical moment, a thought suddenly struck me.

During the broadcast at Jianghu Cancer Research Hospital, the Live Show's layout had encouraged the streamers to hunt one another down. Exactly how many streamers had participated in that broadcast?

The Butcher's face looked too much like Zhu Li's, ruling him out first. Black Robe had indeed participated in that broadcast, but he was covered in scars and easy to identify.

'I clearly remember that when I headed underground alone, someone helped me stall the majority of the white fiends. That person has to be either the medical student, Chen Mo, or the reporter, Zhang Heng! It's highly likely that one of those two is the hidden live show streamer!'

'This layout in the Deep Dream Layer is the crucial battle against Destiny. Pulling a single hair moves the entire body, so that live show streamer should be participating as well!' Xia Chi hadn't passed the Live Show's assessment, so he didn't count. The Butcher had once revealed to me that a puppet of heaven's will was hidden among the Traitors. It couldn't be Xiao A, and it didn't seem to be the Man in the Colorful Robe either, which meant the most likely candidate was the streamer who had yet to show their face.

'The Black-Robed Anchor's plan is doomed to fail; everything is already under Destiny's control. If we want to break this deadlock, we have to find Destiny's puppet. Only by stopping him—or even killing him—can we deal a heavy blow to Destiny.' With the Butcher and Black Robe locked in a life-and-death struggle, and Xiao A and the Man in the Colorful Robe keeping each other in check, I was the only one outside of Destiny's plans who could stop him!

In the entire Deep Dream Layer, I was the only one who could change everything.

I avoided getting too close to either battlefield, drifting through the shadows instead as I searched for the final streamer.

'Wait, I think I overlooked something.' Watching the massive spider shadows busy repairing the webs around the district's perimeter, a sudden thought crossed my mind: 'Who's controlling those spider shadows?'

The Man in the Colorful Robe and Xiao A were too wary of each other to be distracted, and the Black-Robed Anchor and the Butcher were locked in a desperate struggle for their lives, so it couldn't be them.

'It seems the final live show streamer must be somewhere in this district, controlling the spider shadows to manipulate the situation from the dark.'

The district was simply too vast. Even after figuring out this crucial detail, finding that streamer would still be incredibly difficult.

Time flowed abnormally in the area covered by the loophole. Every second I lingered here, the situation would only grow worse.

'There's no time. It looks like I'll have to force him out of hiding.' I concealed my aura, gave a wide berth to the Man in the Colorful Robe—who was still locked in a standoff with Xiao A on the periphery—and approached the central battlefield.

Spiderwebs blanketed the buildings, and things resembling spider eggs had even started appearing in obscure corners. Against the grayish-white backdrop, the entire district looked like it had been overrun by a post-apocalyptic insect swarm.

I advanced cautiously, walking inward for half an hour before finally coming to a halt.

'The Butcher is in bad shape.' The tallest building at the very center of the district had been transformed into an altar swirling with complex runes.

The structure was over a dozen stories high, piercing the sky like a sharp sword. If I hadn't possessed the Judging Eye, I wouldn't have been able to clearly see the two figures clashing at all.

The Butcher was pinned down in the middle of the building, roughly around the sixth or seventh floor. He was struggling to hold on; his bloodstained clothes were in tatters, and he was in a wretched state.

I could finally see his face clearly. The Butcher's core will bore an eighty or ninety percent resemblance to Zhu Li. Strictly speaking, it was a face patched together from countless different people, constantly shifting and changing, much like the White Rose Owner's.

Facing a life-or-death crisis, the Butcher held absolutely nothing back. Four talismans hovered around him, forming a rudimentary array. Judging by the radiant halos lingering on them, every single one was a top-tier Upper Vehicle Talisman!

But the Butcher's capabilities extended far beyond just that. He specialized in toying with human emotions, capable of drawing energy from the seven emotions and six desires to empower himself.

The Deep Dream Layer was fundamentally a graveyard for the memories abandoned by humanity. It hid away countless sealed emotions, with every building and every inch of soil concealing a forgotten story.

It was precisely by drawing on these things that the Butcher had managed to hold out for so long.

"The First Anchor is already dead. I will be the one to carry out the Live Show's will! Butcher, surrender everything you have! Struggling is useless!" Black Robe's attack methods were incredibly bizarre. Rust-mottled black chains extended from beneath his robes, lashing at the Butcher like whips.

Though the chains appeared ordinary, they were actually imbued with the power of rules. Even the defensive array forged from Upper Vehicle Talismans began to dim after being struck over a dozen times.

The Butcher held his ground within the array as faces bearing various expressions surfaced on his bloodstained clothes. He shot Black Robe a cold glare. "You idiot. Destiny is hiding among the Traitors. That's the real reason the Live Show wants to wipe them out completely."

"This is the Deep Dream Layer, a place that even Destiny cannot touch! Even if there is a pawn of Destiny among the Traitors, he cannot stop me now!" the Black-Robed Anchor roared, his tone manic. He was completely blood-crazed.

"Destiny can't stop you, but what about fate?" the Butcher asked with a meaningful smile. "I know you want to refine a Mahayana Talisman in the Deep Dream Layer, then bridge it to reality to shatter the rules set by Destiny. But it's a pity that you are doomed to fail. Even if I cooperated with you completely, you'd still fail!"

"Shut up! Do you have any idea how long I've been preparing for this day? Do you know how much I've sacrificed?!"

Black Robe unleashed a frenzied assault, leaving the Upper Vehicle Talisman array teetering on the verge of collapse. The Butcher's face was slightly pale, but his voice remained unhurried and calm. "Compared to that person, all your preparations are nothing but a joke. Perhaps, years from now, when Destiny is finally defeated, you'll learn from that person what true sacrifice actually means."

The moment the words left his mouth, the array the Butcher had set up shattered. All four Upper Vehicle Talismans cracked apart simultaneously, and the Black-Robed Anchor's chains lashed mercilessly against his bloodstained clothes.

Debris flew through the air as a long gash was torn open across the Butcher's chest. A black, festering rot rapidly began to spread from the wound, teeming with countless nematode-like creatures frantically burrowing into his flesh.

This wound was identical to the one I'd seen on the old man. The only reason the Butcher had managed to escape earlier was likely because he used the old man's secondary will as a scapegoat.

The Butcher was already injured to begin with—he had likely been besieged once before—and now he was just barely holding on.

The black chains wrapped tightly around the Butcher, biting deep into his flesh as the Black-Robed Anchor dragged him toward the altar at the top of the building.

'The Butcher only relied on talismans to fight back just now; he didn't use any of his own abilities. It seems his lamp has truly run out of oil and his wick has dried up.' Gripping the Humanity Crystal in my arms, I broke into a rapid sprint toward the building. 'I can't wait any longer!'