VIP Chapter 464: My Black and White Self (4k)
“Endless meetings, endless arguments…”
“Carver, who kept pushing for more, and the Empire, which can no longer support itself against the Adventurer forces…”
After an “assassination” attempt, Treya Entak still managed to conclude all her meetings. Swaying, she found herself at her room door.
The long corridor was unlit. She had already sent the maid away when she entered her room.
“Will I see the side fused with the dungeon again today?”
She opened the door.
Just as she had expected.
As she stepped inside, she once again saw the room completely dominated by black and white. Four-colored demons peeked out from strange corners of the room, some openly, others watching her with cautious curiosity.
She cast a cold glance at the four demons. She had never given demons a good look.
On her birthday, when she entered the Demon Pot and truly stepped into Zero Demon City, she knew…
None of the demons in Zero Demon City were good.
To control them, she had to be much crueler, much more powerful than them.
She turned her icy gaze, her silver boots stepping on the moonlight as she walked step by step to the edge of the table and sat down.
Then, she unpinned the silver-gray hairpin from her hair.
The silver-gray hairpin was very similar to her silver hair. When pinned, the hairpin seemed to melt into her silver hair, making it look as if it were styled with magic.
She herself was not adept at “magic” and had always been a pure physical fighter in dungeons, using a sword for attack.
Therefore, she would rather spend a very long time choosing a hairpin that matched her hair color than use any magic on herself.
She tossed the hairpin onto the tabletop.
The elaborately crafted silver hairpin, possibly worth hundreds of thousands, was thrown unceremoniously onto the solid wood table, with the potential to be damaged.
Following her silver hair, Treya flicked her hand, letting her hair cascade through the air, scattering in the moonlight.
She still remained silent, sitting amidst the black and white, exceptionally still.
“…”
The four little demons shyly crept closer, resting on the tabletop.
The four familiars, usually grotesque and often instigating trouble in her ear, were now acting cute and fawning in front of her.
“What happened? Is it related to those adventurers who suddenly appeared?”
If it were truly something concerning Zero Demon City, she wouldn’t hesitate to handle it, no matter how much she disliked interacting with these demons.
“Yes… Yes…”
“Those adventurers are incredible now!”
“It seems they’ve already broken through ~Floor 70~ and defeated our lowest-ranked Undead Swordsman~”
“What to do—what to do—”
“Dungeons are meant to be cleared. It’s normal for things to reach this point. As long as we respond in time, we have plenty of methods.”
Treya said this, but with her experience in dungeon adventures, she knew very well…
Faced with a brand-new dungeon, one would need at least time to accumulate experience, especially since the BOSSes in the 50-70 floor range would suddenly increase in difficulty.
Mature adventuring teams would first scout, gather information, then control their clearing speed, understanding the current dungeon’s monster composition, supply points, and potential BOSS attributes…
This knowledge naturally surfaced in Treya’s mind.
In fact, she had already thought in reverse, considering how to arrange monsters, how to design BOSS skills to make it more difficult for adventurers.
But it seemed…
These adventurers were more skilled.
“Let’s first see who is currently clearing the dungeon.”
Treya turned. Behind her large desk were four windows facing the royal garden.
Within this space, which was effectively Zero Demon City, these windows transformed into surveillance monitors for Zero Demon City, allowing her to see the situation within.
Four windows showed three of the adventuring teams currently attacking.
“They’ve split into… three teams?”
This adventuring team…
They weren’t acting together.
Although the number of members, eight in total, was typical for a mature adventuring team, they were divided into three groups.
“Have they discovered the biggest structural difference of Zero Demon City?”
“Oh! They’ve found it! I hadn’t even noticed!”
“So… so powerful… we probably can’t win…”
Treya fell silent.
She stared intently at the reflections on the window glass.
The figure appeared to be of elven race, even bearing some resemblance to her mother. She carried a large bow and arrow, moving slowly through the “extreme darkness” of Zero Demon City.
Behind her, almost all of them were archers. Judging by the bows and arrows they carried, they likely had all sorts of attributes covered.
And the second window…
The team was led by a “Witch.”
Her large hat was emblazoned with the emblem of the Witch Association.
Her team was specialized in magic; apart from the Shield Saint leading them, they were all elite mages.
Treya had worked with witches before, and with her memory, she could recognize that emblem at first glance. Moreover, the other side seemed to be afraid she wouldn’t recognize it, so they wore the witch-emblazoned hat.
The third window, however, seemed to be just ordinary old adventurers.
They appeared to be scouting, their progress slow but meticulous, even flipping over nearby glass bottles.
“…Their movements are very regular, and they pause. They should be communicating with each other.”
Zero Demon City was not a completely vertical dungeon; its floors were spread out horizontally. To find the true path to the final floor, one needed to advance simultaneously in space.
Originally, this was Zero Demon City’s “advantage,” as most adventuring teams found it difficult to split their forces.
But…
When an 80-floor dungeon was divided into four 20-floor routes, an adventuring team capable of dividing its forces would far surpass the dungeon itself.
“The first team primarily faces flying demons. The second team deals with floors requiring magical decryption to advance. The third team… appears to be scouting, gathering information on our monsters and mechanics before proceeding further.”
Treya quickly and calmly finished her analysis.
“Please, Empress… we can’t be cleared…”
“Yes~ Please save us~”
“Empress! Zero Demon City will be ruined like this!”
“This… this is Zero Demon City that allowed you to successfully eliminate all your rivals… and ascend to the throne…”
“Are you really going to do this~”
“It’s really a case of using and discarding! So cruel, so cruel!”
“Just like… just like all the previous ones…”
“But the Empress of Zero Demon City—just needs to climb step by step—”
Treya had always dismissed the words of the four demons as insignificant background noise.
She only listened for useful information; the rest was just demonic, inciteful garbage.
However, this time, their words struck a nerve.
—Give me back my father.
When she had received the benefits of Zero Demon City…
She had lost her most important “color.”
“Scram.”
This word was a “command,” an Empress’s command to her subordinate familiars.
As soon as she spoke, the demons on the table all retreated.
As the demons vanished, the entire room slowly shifted from the black and white of the dungeon back to “color.”
Treya supported her forehead.
Speaking of which, the closer she got to Zero Demon City, the more the things around her seemed to turn black and white.
Could this symbolize…
*Whoosh—*
While she was still thinking, a sparrow flying past the window brushed against the glass, making her heart clench. She grabbed her sword from the table.
At the moment she turned back, she saw the sparrow’s silhouette on the window.
And…
Her own reflection in its eyes, panicked and filled with killing intent, appearing utterly uncalm.
“…It’s time to sleep.”
Entering sleep, entering the dreamscape, was her best method of escape.
She endured a dual torment—
On one hand, her life as the Queen of Entak in reality, constantly swayed by the “legislative proposals” from the dungeon side, with various forces and organizations joining the political confrontation.
On the other hand, this side of Zero Demon City, where adventurers suddenly appeared, seemingly intending to drive Zero Demon City to its death.
“It’s rotten.”
As the Queen of Entak, her power was actually diminishing, caught between the forces of the dungeon and the forces of the old nobility, struggling to find a balance.
However, no one cared about what she truly wanted.
As the Empress of Zero Demon City, she knew better than anyone the true intentions behind the demons of Zero Demon City.
Zero Demon City, from its birth, originated from the selfish desires of the greatest, most primordial demon.
In its development, it was stained with the flesh and blood of the entire royal family of Entak, and also… the flesh and blood of the entire people of Entak.
Treya no longer wanted to think.
She changed out of her dress, removed her black stockings, and took off the black earrings Will had given her, placing them on the table.
Then, she obediently covered herself with the quilt and lay flat on the bed.
She turned her head to look at the empty other side of the bed.
“Dear. Good night.”
“Let’s meet again in our dreams.”
“I look forward to your next ‘mission’…”
“The only thing sustaining the future between us is this dream.”
However, the dream did not arrive as expected.
“This is… in a dream?”
Treya opened her eyes and saw…
The washroom where she had briefly stayed after being assassinated today, after cleaning herself up.
Moreover, sometimes it was difficult to distinguish between dream and reality; one often had to dream for a long time before realizing it wasn’t reality.
But the washroom before her was definitely a dream.
The color of this washroom made her uncomfortable.
In reality, the washroom was white, ivory white, befitting the luxurious aesthetic of royalty.
But the washroom here…
Was colorful.
It was the chaotic, colorful palette often seen in dreams. Every tile, whether on the wall or the floor, presented a chaotic, disordered, yet saturated color.
Bright red, playful yellow, serene blue, bizarre green…
Adjacent tiles wouldn’t even have the same color, like the surface of a soap bubble, like a rainbow after rain, like scattered sunlight…
It was as if all the colors in the world were concentrated here.
As if she had eaten some strange mushroom in the dungeon that she shouldn’t have.
Or perhaps…
The demons, holding buckets of paint, had wantonly splashed them around, creating this bizarre dreamscape.
Having seen so much black and white, Treya found this dream momentarily painful to her eyes.
“Why has the dream turned like this?”
She widened her eyes, searching the dazzlingly colorful washroom for his figure—
To the right.
To the left.
In front.
Behind.
Even above…
“No… he’s nowhere…”
Treya felt her panic rising, her voice trembling…
Her heart was beating very fast, and she could feel that with every heartbeat, the vibrant, multicolored washroom vibrated.
This was the first time she had entered a dreamscape and not found Will.
“Impossible, impossible… you won’t disappear. This is a dream, a dream where anything can be realized… How could…”
If this were the case…
She had to figure out the reason.
She walked step by step towards the mirror. This mirror was very strange; it should have reflected the scene before it truthfully, but now it contained no “color,” only emitting a white light.
“Why would you disappear in a dream?”
“Why doesn’t a normal dream exist?”
“Why would you throw me into the washroom?”
…
Treya quickly walked to the mirror, took a deep breath.
Her fingers slowly traced across the mirror’s surface, turning it towards herself so she could see her complete reflection.
After a brief reflection, she saw the image in the mirror—
What was in the mirror was…
A black and white Treya.
Her silver hair, as if stripped of its radiance, had turned gray.
Her purple right eye, as if painted over, had become black.
Her blue left eye, as if its color had been erased, had turned pale white.
She lowered her head, looking at her fingers.
Even though she already knew the answer, she still saw…
Her skin, the cool white complexion of an elf, her palm now black and white like a memorial portrait.
“Ha… ha… ha…”
Her heartbeat quickened, and the edges of this inherently colorful dreamscape began to distort more and more, becoming increasingly bizarre.
*Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump.*
She suddenly understood this dream.
This was…
A world without Will…
A world where everything outside was beautiful, desirable color…
Only herself, black and white, a nightmare that should disappear from this world.
—Don’t you understand yet?
—You’ve already said it out loud yourself.
—Because the one who ruins beautiful dreams, the one who shouldn’t be here, the one who should disappear from this world, the damn…
—is the Queen of the Entak Empire.
—is the Empress of Zero Demon City.
—is Treya.
—is Treya Entak.
Like some uncontrolled thought flooding her brain, it repeated in Treya’s mind.
