Myriad Realms Gatekeeper

Daisy turned around, looking toward Lily and Shen Ye.

"I can imitate the Earl's technique, spreading out water to form various animals and plants, and present them right here."

"— You dance, you sing, do you have any ideas?"

Lily pondered, "I can scatter countless droplets of water that cling to me like a long dress, dancing vivid and colorful gestures among the various animals and plants you create."

"Good idea!" Daisy praised, about to continue, when suddenly her expression paused.

She looked at Shen Ye and lowered her voice,

"Baxter, there's no need to be nervous, this is just an opportunity, you don't have to be afraid."

Lily turned her head in surprise, only to find Shen Ye frowning, as if recalling something.

"Don't be afraid, it's alright, it's just a performance on stage."

She gently stroked Shen Ye's hand to comfort him.

By then, Shen Ye had thought through the matter from start to finish, let out a long breath, and laughed self-deprecatingly,

"Sorry, I just didn't expect things to turn out this way."

This way?

What way was that?

Both Daisy and Lily looked on at a loss.

Even the Earl sitting behind his desk tasting fine wine seemed somewhat puzzled.

After reflecting for awhile, Shen Ye felt there was nothing he couldn't do, and spoke up,

"Lord Earl, the study is a bit small for our work."

The next instant.

The entire study disappeared.

Surroundings turned into a blank expanse.

"This is the Nightmare Law Realm, vast and boundless, you may freely showcase your talents here," the Earl said.

Only then did Shen Ye take hold of Daisy and Lily, and went through the plan once more, this way and that.

Daisy inhaled sharply, unable to help asking,

"Can you really do it?"

"Yes, I can—Lily, can you manage?" Shen Ye instead asked.

"No problem!" Lily said excitedly.

"Shall we start then?" Shen Ye looked at Madame Daisy.

Madame Daisy looked at him.

"What's wrong?" Shen Ye did not understand.

Madame Daisy sighed softly and said, "Baxter, you're an outstanding Diva, a born performer."

She turned around, bowed to the Earl, and said,

"Lord Earl, we're ready."

The Earl appeared a bit surprised, his expression growing solemn,

"You have ideas already? You know the Grey Bone Dance Troupe deliberated for a quarter of an hour, and the Dusty Dark Dance Troupe took half an hour—"

"I hope you can think it over more and come up with a masterpiece."

"...We're indeed ready, please take a look," Daisy said.

"Very well, I hope you've prepared seriously," the Earl said.

Daisy's lips moved, and finally, she said the words,

"Rest assured, we have Baxter."

Upon hearing this, the Earl turned to look at Shen Ye.

Shen Ye, however, looked at Daisy and nodded slightly to her.

It was time to begin!

Daisy stretched out her hand, imitating the Earl's gesture, and lightly pointed at the ball of water.

In a flash.

The water rapidly changed shape.

It turned into a floating ice sphere, continuously emitting coldness in midair!

"Here!"

Daisy lightly tapped the ice sphere—

The ice sphere disappeared instantly.

At the same time.

Rows of faint luminescent text swiftly appeared before Shen Ye's eyes:

"Daisy releases 'Absolute Imitation,' seizing the Earl's skill and bestowing it upon you."

"You have been temporarily granted the skill of the Shadow Lord:"

"Elemental Fission: Water!"

"You may temporarily use this skill, or you may try to take on this profession!"

"Taking on the profession of Shadow Lord requires the Race: Undead, or personal Attribute Points that meet the following requirements:"

"Strength: 50; Agility: 30; Spiritual Power: 70."

"Do you wish to take on the profession?"

Shen Ye paid no attention whatsoever, focusing wholeheartedly on channeling his Diva Skill onto the "Elemental Fission: Water" Technique.

"Ice and Snow World!" he sang.

In an instant.

The entire blank world was covered with frost.

Lofty and precipitous, the Ice Mountain Range undulated, stretching from beneath their feet to the horizon.

Snowflakes fell silently.

The sound of an ancient windpipe, full of the vicissitudes of life, wafted through the air.

"Why ice and snow?"

the Earl asked.

He stood atop that solitary peak, paved with snow, looking down at the mountain mist with interest.

The whole world was enveloped in ice and snow.

Nothing was visible.

It was as if the world had died.

But the light singing of a banshee rose gently between heaven and earth.

——That was Madame Daisy herself joining in, casting the top-tier vocals of a banshee, creating an ambience of solitude and reluctance.

This feeling...

"Ah, no need to say more, I understand now... Frost brings a sense of desolation, water brings fragility, and compared to water, frost has more tension and is more suitable for our Undead Race."

The Earl muttered to himself.

Suddenly, feeling inspired, he stepped forward, dropping to one knee and brushing away the ice and snow from the ground.

He saw below the ice and snow a sleeping beauty sealed within.

Lily!

"Is it an artistic creation about emotions?"

The Earl whispered to himself.

Without a sound, a longsword of ice was forged and silently floated in front of him.

I see.

Now, I have to use this sword to break through the ice and rescue the beauty.

Quite creative!

And this sword—

The Earl carefully examined the longsword, only to see at the hilt a twisted, double-horned demon's skull, with Undead Runes that emitted a faint blue frost aura etched along the blade.

After admiring it for a while, he reached out and took hold of the longsword.

Is it time to rescue the beauty?

He was about to use the sword to shatter the frost when a sudden change occurred—

The ethereal music surrounding him suddenly changed.

From deathly silence, sorrow, and stillness to urgency, murderous intent, and a sense of oppression.

Daisy's soft singing was replaced by a soprano filled with an ominous presence.

Battlefield vibes!

It was supposed to be about rescuing a beauty asleep in ice, so why did it turn into this iron-blooded atmosphere?

The Earl slowly stood up, leveling the sword.

The longsword quivered ceaselessly.

In the midst of resounding singing, Shen Ye's whisper lingered in his ear:

"My Earl, on the day you hold power, the entire Eternal Night City whispers your name, my Earl, as the Divas look up to you with admiration and watch you grow stronger day by day, becoming the embodiment of strength and mercilessness..."

The Earl's face showed surprise.

What?

Is this not the classic hero-saving-beauty creation?

... That's not bad though.

But what exactly is this creation going to be?

In the midst of the endless snow, the Earl quietly savored the increasingly urgent battle music, looking down at Lily, asleep in the frost, and then—

He felt the core of the current artistic atmosphere and raised the longsword subconsciously.

Daisy's haunting chant finally echoed:

"We have always ruled the Undead with strength and ruthlessness, no one dares question your might; one day, you will sweep across the entire world!!!"

In the quietness, it seemed as if something happened.

The icy ground burst open with a thunderous crack.

Lily opened her eyes, shattered the ice surface, her body surged up into the sky, and as she danced mid-air, she gradually transformed into a colossal Frost Dragon tens of meters long.

The somber music became more intense and thrilling.

In the Snow Valley below the mountains, one figure after another appeared.

These figures stood amidst the wind and snow, densely packed, stretching as far as the eye could see.

Undead Army!

The Frost Dragon swept across the elongated valley, gliding over all the figures, like a giant shadow of death.

Countless Undead rallied into an army, standing in silence within the snow.

Looking upward, they tilted their heads towards the highest point of the mountain range, as if waiting for an order.

The Earl, with longsword in hand, stood atop the Solitary Peak, listening to the music that incited slaughter, looking down upon the Undead Army that filled the Ice and Snow World.

The wind carried snowflakes over the longsword, and there he stood, sword in hand, ready to lead the endless Undead to flatten the entire world.

This feeling...

This feeling—

This feeling!!!

The Earl felt a strange flutter in the depths of his heart, as his long-buried ambition was once again awakened.

He raised the longsword high, pointing toward the Frost Dragon soaring in the snowy sky.

The Frost Dragon instantly unleashed a roar that echoed to the heavens.

War Drums thundered.

Billions of Undead Soldiers released a frosty breath; their mouths erupted in roars of eager battle fervor.

"This feeling... is good."

The Earl spoke softly.

In an instant.

All illusions disappeared.

The world turned blank once again.

Daisy, leading Lily and Shen Ye, stood not far away, bowing slightly:

"Lord Earl, this is the work of our Dark Night Rose Dance Troupe."

The Earl stood still, looking down.

The longsword he had been holding was gone.

That mountain range covered in ice, the endless Undead sea, the soaring Frost Dragon—all vanished without a trace.

How come there is a sense... of loss.

The Earl's mouth twitched slightly, his lips pressed tightly as he recalled everything that had just happened.

Compared to that—

Turning water into singing text, or turning water into a meteor shower—

They used to bring a sort of artistic enjoyment.

But—

Compared to the recent Ice Mountain Range, awakening the sleeping Frost Dragon, commanding an endless Undead Army—

They are just terribly weak!!!