Netherworld Retrograde - Chapter 168 - 78 Companion Beetle

[Main Plot Completed]A love doomed from the start, a lost cause, a losing battle—and yet, neither hearts are willing to let go until the very end.-----Arlan Cromwell, the epitome of the perfect Crown Prince. All he wants is to live a normal life of a human but the life of a dragon is anything but normal. He has but one goal—to find his runaway betrothed and behead her. What happens when he discovers that the woman who has snagged his heart is the one he vowed to kill?Oriana, a Black Witch, disguising herself as a man, has spent her entire life on the run without knowing what she is running away from. When the mysteries of her past slowly catch up to her, she has no one to turn to…except Arlan. But when she learns that the man she has given her heart to is the same man who wants to kill her, how can she accept the cruel card life dealt her?Two people with secrets to keep, identities to hide, and answers to find. When the certain darkness threatens to take Oriana away, will the Dragon be able to protect his mate?-----Excerpt-“If I knew you were my betrothed, I would have killed you the very first moment we met.” Arlan's gaze darkened with hatred.“If I knew I was betrothed to you, I would have killed myself before you even killed me!” Oriana mirrored the same emotions as him.He pulled out a dagger and offered it to her. “It’s not too late. Just slit your throat with this and you'll bleed out painlessly.”She accepted the knife, her fingers clutching its handle tightly. The next moment, he was pressed against the wall and the knife was on the right side of his neck. “How about I try it on you first, my betrothed?”“Feel free to try. But when you fail, this knife will first taste your grandpa's blood, then yours.”Anger rose in her eyes, and the next moment, blood was flowing through the right side of his neck. She cut deep enough to severe an important blood vessel.“You should not have challenged me,” she sneered and stepped back, waiting for him to collapse.He simply smirked and brushed his finger along the deep wound on his neck. “Seems like you failed.”She watched the wound on his neck heal on its own and felt shocked to her bones. “You.. what are you?”“Guess?”

Chu Yi, who was accidentally reborn into a beast-taming world 18 years ago, has finally awakened the Evolution Compendium, a system that could help him with binding beasts.Yet the first “beast” he binds is a little bit extraordinary.[Ding, binding success!][Player binds first Deceit Beast, reward: Initial evolution points +5.]“Binding successful? What did I bind?”“This is... my hand?”

❗[Current Writing Contest-WebNovel Spirity Awards 2025 Fantas]❗Flain grew up in a futuristic world. When he was born his parents didn't want him because he didn't live up to their expectations and so he ended up very badly.Flain was employed as a slave. He was forced to mine radioactive iron deep in the mines. It was drilled into his head that he existed only to obey orders.Young Flain was obedient. He doubted some of it but knew nothing else. For years, he never saw a single ray of light; light was only spoken of among the others as a legend.The routine was the same: in the morning, he would take a nutrient tablet and water. Then he would mine all day, sleep eight hours, and repeat.Flain worked like this from childhood until he was ten years old. He even found a friend, but that friend died of radiation poisoning right in front of Flain. Flain couldn't stop mining. He kept mining with tears streaming down his face.Before bed, Flain cried. “I will become the strongest. I will kill you all, and you will become my slaves.”Flain stopped crying, stared blankly at the rocky ceiling, then looked ahead. A manic grin appeared on his face, one that would often adorn it from that moment on.At the age of ten, Flain was assigned to a military camp due to his endurance in the mines and his survival against radiation.In the camp, Flain was trained. The regime was much looser; he even had an hour of free time each day. However, Flain didn't make any more friends. Even during his free time, he trained with a smile. He would achieve his goal at any cost, even if it meant training himself to death.Experiments were conducted on Flain. He lost his hair, two long gray arms grew on his back, and a third red eye appeared. Flain became a mutant.Flain was then sent to war. He fought with sharp katabas. He performed quite well in the war, earning himself command of ten soldiers and becoming a small commander.But one day, everything changed.Flain then dies, is swallowed by darkness, and Flain refuses to die, thus appearing as a skeleton in a fantasy world.

“I can clear all your debts, but you have to substitute me in my marriage…”

When Liang Dou Kou was diagnosed with cancer, she formed a contract with Qin Zhi Ai to substitute her in the time she would be absent, including her marriage with Gu Yu Sheng.

Initially, Qin Zhi Ai suffered under the cold and harsh attitude of Gu Yu Sheng, who mistook her for Liang Dou Kou. But his heart gradually softened and he fell in love with her.

Just when he thought that he could live happily ever after with her, it is time for Qin Zhi Ai and Liang Dou Kou to revert their identities, and Qin Zhi Ai evaporated from Gu Yu Sheng’s life.

Months later, Gu Yu Sheng meets someone who possesses the gaze of Qin Zhi Ai who captured his heart…