Secret World: I Became a God Through Lies

Chapter 135: Whale Grave Sea Battle: Burning Heart Oath of Love
"I don't want to fight you with swords, but if this is the only way to wake you up—then I will, by piercing my own heart."

"Love is the craziest rebellion in fate."

Off the coast of the Whale Falls Channel, the night was as dark as ink, the storm tore through the sky, and the waves roared and rolled under the deck like throats.

The Red Dragon and the Red Rose sailed side by side, their iron chains connected to each other. Amidst the raging waves, a deadly battle was slowly brewing between silence and flames.

The twin flags of blood and fire fly high, and the marks of roses and dragons flutter in the night wind, as if old vows are rekindled, or as if fate is colliding.

The Red Dragon, a member of the Whale Tomb Sleeping Fleet, was once the throne of the pirate king Xu Long. Now it lies like a floating shadow of a sunken corpse, silent and motionless.

On the bow of the ship, the figure that once shocked the sea stood in the storm like a sculpture, with black hair hanging down and robes fluttering in the wind, but he did not utter a word.

Chen Mei looked up at him, her heart feeling as if it were being burned through by flames.

"Madman," she murmured, her voice hoarse as a knife cutting through cloth, "If you were still alive, you would have heard my curse."

Behind him, the boarding chain was firmly nailed into the deck of the Red Dragon.

The three main generals of the Red Rose each led their troops onto the ship and engaged in close combat with the sleeping sailors, and the war had already begun.

Rosalind "Ironheart" Dewar, clad in heavy red iron armor, charged into the enemy camp like an iron tower.

The giant axe flew, cutting through the bone armor and curse seals of the whale tomb guards, turning the entire deck into a purgatory battlefield.

Belinda "Nightingale" Grey stood on the top of the mast, her eyes as sharp as an eagle, and she calmly released each crossbow arrow.

Her shooting never missed the target. Wherever her arrow pointed, someone would fall down.

Evette "Snake Kiss" Coleman shuttled among the flames, a smile on her red lips, the musket in her hand was like a poisonous snake kiss, and every shot ignited the enemy's screams.

Her orders were as precise as a knife, and her instructions and dispatches were carried out without a moment's confusion.

They are the Rose Blades.

And Chen Mei is the tip of that blade.

She had already stepped onto the Red Dragon, like an executioner approaching the guillotine, her eyes burning with a rage as fierce as the storm.

Step by step, amidst the flames of war and afterimages, he walked towards the motionless figure at the bow of the ship.

Xu Long didn't move.

His back seemed frozen in time, the breath of sleep frozen in his eyes, like the dead silence under the deep sea.

——He doesn’t speak.

——He didn't respond.

——He is no longer the Xu Long in her memory.

Chen Mei stood still, three steps away. The wind blew up her cloak, and she slowly took off the cloak, revealing the card in the sheath close to her body.

It was a fate card with a dark blue tinge of crimson. On the card, a rose totem was entwined with the thread of fate, as entangled as a blood oath.

"Advanced Destiny · Rose Thorn Sword – Burning Heart, Oath of Love."

She lowered her head and gently stroked the card, as if touching an unfulfilled promise. Her fingertips trembled, and her eyes were cold as ice.

She slowly took it off, her tone as light as a sigh in a dream: "You once said that you wanted me to accompany you to conquer the entire ocean."

"But after you fell asleep, I conquered all my enemies...but I couldn't find you anymore."

She raised her head, her eyes burning like fire at Xu Long's back.

"Now, I'm here."

"Take this card."

“It’s just for you.”

The sword light emerged.

The rose-thorn sword slowly rose from the card surface, its double-edged blades like weeping blood-red steel, as if forged with her obsession.

On the hilt of the sword, a metal rose slowly bloomed. The edge of the sword had not moved, but drops of blood were already dripping from the tip of the sword and dripping onto the deck. It was silent, but it sounded like the ringing of a deep bell.

Xu Long, still motionless.

His eyes were as empty as the night sea, as if his soul had been completely hollowed out by the strange power of the whale tomb. Only the sleeping silence responded to her roar.

"Then—let's do it."

She rushed forward.

The battle broke out in an instant.

The rose thorn sword cut through the night wind, and with unstoppable determination, it stabbed towards the man who was familiar yet unfamiliar to her.

Xu Long's fingers moved slightly, and a whale bone spear condensed by the power of sleep emerged from the fog and slashed out horizontally!

The first clash between blade and gun roared like thunder, and sparks exploded between the two!

Chen Mei was shocked and took a step back, with blood oozing from the corner of her mouth, but her eyes did not change, but became even more fierce.

"You'll fight back."

She gritted her teeth, "Then don't blame me—I'm merciless!"

The next moment, she suddenly leaped up, and the rose blade spun and slashed, bringing up an arc of blood and heading towards Xu Long's heart.

Xu Long was speechless, but every counterattack was as accurate as before.

Although his body was controlled by sleep, the fighting instinct of a pirate king was still dormant in his bones and blood.

Their shadows intertwined in the firelight, each strike carried the echo of old vows, and each slash seemed like a collision of past years.

In the storm, the light and shadow of the Rose Blade and the Sleeping Whale Lance weave into a tragic song of farewell.

Chen Mei felt heartbroken, but she attacked without reservation.

—If he could still remember.

Then let him remember her in battle.

Even if it's just for a moment.

Even if it's just at the last moment when the rose blooms.

Xu Long's movements were cold and mechanical, yet still fierce.

His swordsmanship was just as precise and ruthless as it had been back then. Every strike of his sword was aimed directly at the vital points, with the unique trajectory of a killer that belonged to the one sleeping in the Whale Tomb.

But every move Chen Mei made seemed to be talking to him with her heartbeat—

That's not a fighting technique.

It is a struggle of memories, a confrontation between love and hate.

Every time she turned around, every time she blocked his seemingly cold attack, she responded with the tenderness of the rest of her life.

The rose thorn sword cut Xu Long's arm, blood splattered on the sharp blade, and a red mark appeared.

But there was no breath of death in the blood, but rather a slight, almost imperceptible tremor.

He paused slightly, and a slight ripple appeared in the dead silence in his eyes, as if a voice was slowly rising from the end of the abyss.

"This is our first agreement." Chen Mei said softly, her voice as low as the night wind. "You said that if I can hurt you, you will marry me."

Xu Long's hand holding the sword trembled slightly, but he still slashed down.

But his sword power is no longer so absolute.

He became hesitant, like a shadow struggling in the water. Although his strength was still there, his will had been torn to pieces.

The rose thorn sword suddenly turned and stabbed into Chen Mei's own shoulder!

In an instant, blood gushed out and the sword blade penetrated into the flesh.

At the same time, Xu Long's right shoulder shook violently, and a bloody mark was torn out of thin air!
His body suddenly became unstable, as if his throat was strangled by something, and he stood frozen in place.

Chen Mei's voice was still gentle, but it carried a sharp knife-like intent: "You're in pain too, right?"

“We empathize now.”

"If you draw your sword against me again... you'll be cutting yourself."

Xu Long's pupils shrank slightly, and for the first time, wrinkles of pain appeared between his brows.

The hand holding the sword was shaking, his knuckles were white, and his body was slightly tilted, as if he was withstanding the storm from the depths of his consciousness.

The mist of slumber gradually thinned around him. It wasn't that the mystery was being dispelled, but rather that his will was wavering.

"Do you still remember..." Chen Mei's voice was softer, but clear as a storm, "the day when the Red Dragon first set sail?"

"You stood on the mast, stepping on the privateer captain's head, smiling at me, and asked me - 'Come with me and conquer this sea, okay?'"

"I agreed."

"And now... you're actually going to forget me?"

She lowered her head, the rose-thorn sword in her hand slowly spinning, the tip of the sword seeming to be stained with the blood of fate. A red light danced on her chest, illuminating the faded embroidery - the red dragon pattern she had embroidered for him with her own hands, once a token of their love, now mottled and unclear.

She raised her eyes, her gaze no longer trembling, but turned into a sharp line that cut through the past.

"The last secret."

"Rose-thorn Sword, Burning Heart-Swearing Love - Tragedy."

Her voice was as soft as a dream, with a resolute tenderness.

"Women always hurt themselves to prove whether a relationship is worth it or not."

She slowly placed the tip of the sword against the collar of her shirt over her chest, her movements as if she were pinning a farewell brooch on an old lover.

"That's what you said, Xu Long."

"You said, 'If you die first, I will be buried with you; if you fall asleep first, I will kill you and wake you up.'"

She smiled, bitterly and tenderly.

"Now, I'm here."

"I didn't choose you to die."

"Then do you—do you want to wake up?"

The moment the tip of the sword slowly sank into the flesh, the entire Red Dragon ship shook slightly, as if the battleship itself was sensing the pain of its owner.

Blood flowed down the blade and bloomed into a rose on her chest. It was not a mysterious special effect, but her heart burning with her faith and love.

Chen Mei staggered slightly, but still stood upright.

She stared at Xu Long intently, her eyes like waves washing over the cliff again and again.

That's not anger.

That is the obsession of love, and the vow to persevere until the last moment.

She seemed to be waiting.

When Xu Long's soul was awakened from his slumber by this drop of her blood.

"Listen carefully—Xu Long."

"If you are still in this shell, if you still remember our oath, if you are still the captain of the Red Dragon—"

"Then wake up."

"Otherwise, I will sink to the bottom of the sea with you and become a reef in the sea of ​​dreams."

Chen Mei's voice was not loud, but it was as clear as a knife, scraping across the stormy deck and through the sleeping mist. Every word she spoke was stained with blood.

The corner of her mouth curled up slightly, and blood slid down from her lips, bright red and slippery, but it couldn't hide the ridiculous and almost holy smile on her face.

She smiled like a bride taking her vows at a wedding.

"Red Dragon, you shouldn't sleep."

"I don't care what secrets Kerkosen used to control you—I only know that my Xu Long is a flying dragon in the sky, not a slave on his ship."

The wind suddenly picked up, howling as if in response to her declaration.

Chen Mei's long hair was blown up in the storm, her battle suit was already stained with blood, her figure was thin, but more determined than the entire sea.

She began to count down.

"one."

"two."

……

"--three."

The sword moved forward another half inch.

At that moment, Xu Long's pupils finally shook violently.

A ripple of pain spread across his face, as cold as iron, like the stillness of a lake broken by the first teardrop.

His fingertips twitched slightly, his chest heaved violently, and a drop of blood slid down from his heart.

——The poison of empathy takes effect.

The pain Chen Mei suffered was reflected in the depths of his soul in a one-to-one manner.

Yet he remained standing, like a trapped animal struggling on the edge of consciousness.

Chen Mei's breathing began to become disordered, her chest became increasingly hot and wet, and the rose thorn sword was already covered in blood.

Her face was so pale that it was transparent, but she was still smiling through gritted teeth.

"You won't die so easily, right?"

"I'm betting—you're not the type to lose to fate."

"You are not a slave to the rules."

Her voice began to tremble, as if she was physically exhausted and on the verge of emotional collapse.

"You...you always look back at me only when you are most desperate."

She raised her head, her eyes red, and growled with gritted teeth:

"Then just watch!"

"Look at me—Xu Long!!!"

"If you're still the dragon that vowed to conquer the entire ocean, crawl out of this damn shell!!!"

Her roar was like thunder breaking through the air and the sound of thunder exploding, tearing the sleeping silence into thousands of pieces.

Xu Long's body finally shook violently!
Blood slowly seeped from the corners of his eyes and slid down his cheeks.

His fists were clenched tightly, his nails dug into his palms, and his knuckles turned white.

Black fog began to surge around him, a sign that the dormant rules were beginning to collapse.

He opened his mouth and let out a low, intermittent growl from his throat.

"You... you crazy woman..."

"Every time... it's always this way..."

"You want to... force me..."

He leaned back, staggered, and an extremely painful struggle erupted from his chest like a raging fire.
It was as if an invisible hand pulled him back to the world from the bottom of the abyss.

"My blood... my pain... my keel—"

“Never belonged to any god!!!”

He choked out a mouthful of black blood from his throat, but he laughed wildly and defiantly, his laughter was hoarse and unbridled, like a dragon waking up in a dream.

"I haven't agreed to let you die with me in the sea, Chen Mei."

"Even if you want to die, you have to get my approval."

Click——!
There was a clear sound from his neck, as if some chains that were oppressing his soul were broken at this moment.

The black fog exploded completely.

A scarlet dragon pattern emerged from his back, like flames, like an old war song, roaring beneath his skin.

It was the mark of his former name, the Red Dragon, sealed away for so long, but now breaking free from the heavy shell of his dormancy, his rage reignited.

He opened his eyes, his pupils were bloodshot, burning with a light more terrifying than fire!
"You lose, Kerkosen."

"I, Xu Long—I'm awake."

He was still kneeling on the deck, looking disheveled but standing tall. One hand tightly embraced the nearly unconscious Chen Mei, while the other slowly raised its hand, pointing to the night sky.

The sky above the Red Dragon began to distort.

What spread from his feet was not a dormant elegy, but a will that was dead in the past but was tenaciously reborn.

Domain rifts are quietly forming around him.

The power of the world is broken at this moment, the elegy of the whale tomb is interrupted, and the laws are in turmoil.

Chen Mei opened her eyes in his arms, her eyes were covered in blood, but she was smiling.

She murmured softly, as if responding to his previous oath:

"This is... my captain."

(End of this chapter)