Chapter 49: Why Is Someone Voluntarily Seeking Dark Fall?

The four returned to their starting point, only to find the two Windstrider horses tied by the roadside had vanished, leaving just a lone carriage.

Without horses, they’d have to walk to the capital.

“They were probably scared off by that red dragon,” Aiya sighed.

“I’ll catch two more horses later, but first, let’s bury their bodies.”

The group began digging, carefully placing the dragon-flame-charred corpses under adjacent trees.

“For the followers of the Goddess of Nature, nature is the ultimate resting place,” Trineph said, kneeling on the scorched grass, praying softly.

“Their souls will find peace in the Goddess of Nature’s embrace, and this land, burned by dragon flames, will surely bloom with even more beautiful flowers next year.”

As Trineph prayed, Aiya gently waved her hand, and a soft, warm Holy Light spread from her palm like ripples, granting peace and serenity to the dead beneath the soil.

A breeze passed, and a hint of green sprouted on the blackened earth, as if answering Trineph’s hopes.

“Little White…” Ying Ye said, her mood somber.

“Is this really just a game?”

“Heh…” Bai Yue Ling’s lips twitched.

“This is a real world.”

Ying Ye, fresh from Novice Village, had tears in her eyes after witnessing such vivid life-and-death moments.

But Bai Yue Ling wasn’t deeply moved—not out of coldness, but because, over ten cycles, she’d seen too many such events.

The world was full of countless partings every day; even a god couldn’t stop tragedy.

Rather than wallow in sorrow, it was better to live happily in the moment.

Living happily was Bai Yue Ling’s life motto.

“Little White…” Trineph gazed dazedly at her sisters’ graves.

“If I were as strong as you, would they still be alive…?”

“If you put it that way…” Bai Yue Ling sighed.

“My answer is… yes. Only by being strong enough can you protect those around you.”

“Yes…” Trineph’s voice was hoarse.

“It’s all because I’m too weak… If I had enough power, I wouldn’t have watched them die…”

Her eyes flickered with guilt and regret, her fists clenched so tightly that blood dripped from her palms.

In a trance, a thick black mist rose from the shadows, coiling around her body, silently eroding her soul, as if pulling her toward the dark side of humanity.

“Hahaha! What a show!”

Dark Lisa’s voice suddenly rang out, laughing wildly.

“This girl’s weakness has birthed an ‘Obsession,’ making her the perfect candidate for Dark Fall!”

“Obsession?” 

Bai Yue Ling blinked.

“What’s that?”

“She’s developed a desire to grow stronger, so intense it’s morphed into an obsession, influencing her soul in return.”

Dark Lisa laughed maniacally, urging her.

“She’s grief-stricken over her sisters’ deaths, her spirit frail—perfect for Dark Fall!

Seize the chance!

Use your Fallen Angel powers to make her fall!”

“…No.”

Unexpectedly, Bai Yue Ling shook her head.

“I have no reason to make her fall.”

“…What?”

Dark Lisa sounded as if she’d heard an outrageous lie, her voice seething.

“What do you mean? Didn’t you, like me, endure unspeakable pain? Don’t you, like me, harbor anger and resentment, yearning to take revenge on this world?!”

“Hold it, hold it—I never said my revenge was against the whole world~” 

Bai Yue Ling wagged her finger.

“From start to finish, I’ve only wanted revenge on those big sisters who plotted against me.”

She made Ying Ye fall because Ying Ye, in past cycles, had repeatedly “cranked her feet,” a serious precedent that demanded control through Dark Fall.

She made Aiya fall because Aiya saw her as an enemy, and without defeating her through Dark Fall, Bai Yue Ling wouldn’t have survived.

But she had no grudge against Trineph, who had just lost her sisters and was steeped in the pain of loss.

Bai Yue Ling wouldn’t take advantage of someone’s vulnerability or kick them when they were down.

She was a scummy flirt, not a scumbag.

“You wretched girl… you dare deceive me?!” 

Dark Lisa’s every word seemed forced through gritted teeth.

“I thought we were partners who’d take revenge on the world together. I trusted you, and you betrayed me…”

“Hey~ Misc Fish Big Sister, you’ve got it all wrong.I’m not running a pyramid scheme—how could I just drag random people into darkness?” 

Bai Yue Ling looked skyward.

“Besides… taking revenge on the whole world? That’s way too terrifying for me.”

Unlike Dark Lisa, Bai Yue Ling’s resentment and pain were aimed solely at big sisters.

She loved both the real world and World of Fate.

If not for the threat of “cranking feet,” she wouldn’t even resent big sisters—just adore them deeply, being the yuri playgirl she was.

In truth, Bai Yue Ling and Dark Lisa were never truly aligned; they’d only crossed paths due to shared pain and resentment.

“You damn fool, you’ll regret this!”

“Oh~ Misc Fish Big Sister, didn’t you eat?

Is that all the energy you’ve got for cursing?”

“Shut up, you insolent brat!”

“Ugh~ Misc Fish talk is so boring~ Just calling me a brat? Plenty of idiots do that~”

As Bai Yue Ling and Dark Lisa traded silent insults, Aiya approached the despondent Trineph.

“Miss Trineph, tell me, do you crave power?”

Trineph clenched her fists until they bled, answering without hesitation.

“I do!”

Aiya crouched down, speaking softly.

“And how much are you willing to sacrifice for that power?”

Trineph lowered her head, breathing heavily.

Her heart brimmed with an obsession to grow stronger, cursing her own weakness.

“I think I’d… give everything!”

“Good.”

Aiya nodded lightly and turned to Bai Yue Ling.

“Little White, Miss Trineph is willing to undergo Dark Fall.”

“Huh?”

Bai Yue Ling, mid-mental argument, nearly choked on her own saliva.

“W-What?

Does she even know what Dark Fall is?”

“No matter what it is…” 

Trineph’s eyes burned with obsession.

“As long as it makes me stronger, I’ll give anything.”

Whoa, that line sounds straight out of some edgy corruption plot!

Aiya straightened her slender waist, her face practically screaming “praise me.”

Ying Ye eyed Trineph warily, thinking, Someone’s voluntarily seeking Dark Fall?

Am I about to get another rival?

Dark Lisa laughed wildly in Bai Yue Ling’s mind.

“Hahaha! This is fate!”

Fate, huh…

Bai Yue Ling sighed.

She didn’t want to, but since Trineph was asking for it, she had no reason to refuse.

“Consuming 99% of my health and mana… cast ‘Dark Fall’ on Trineph!”

With a flash of black light, another big sister was brought under Bai Yue Ling’s wing.

[You have successfully applied the “Dark Fall” status to the target “Trineph.”]

[Current Trineph Dark Corruption Value: 20%]

[Name: Trineph]

[Race: Human]

[Level: 21]

[Class: Fallen Priestess (Priest Hero/Goddess of Nature)]

[Description: A priestess who developed a strong obsession after witnessing her companions’ deaths, willing to embrace darkness if it means growing stronger.]

[Note: She is not a Chosen of the Goddess, so you needn’t worry—the Goddess of Nature cannot detect your Dark Fall.]