Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong
Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/
Chapter 165: Contract Addendum
Myss had a chaotic dream.
He dreamed that Salaar conjured a brilliant golden thread and sewed shut the fissure on the “dandelion’s” true body, even tying it into a bow. Then a swarm of Dragon Faes rushed over, joined hands in a circle, and sang and danced around them.
Myss was annoyed to death. He was hungry and only wanted to find something to eat. He hid himself inside that pitch-black space, planning to come out after everything was over. But inside that empty darkness, he saw Salaar, the Salaar with brilliant golden hair and a young face.
He smiled at him, and that smile was somewhat sorrowful.
He said, “I can’t leave, because you love me too.”
You love me too.
As the words repeated, the distorted funnel-shaped divine body, the blond Salaar, and the black-haired Salaar changed back and forth, their overlapping voices giving Myss a headache.
Right. Salaar had been distorted by that dandelion god and had experienced what it felt like to “become a god.” With Salaar’s terrifying ability to imitate, maybe he could find a way to become a god without needing an Abnormal Fruit to stimulate him…
If a clearheaded Salaar gained the ability to stop time, wouldn’t Myss be in serious trouble? After all, simply stopping time would be difficult to classify as “harm.”
How had he so casually let that cunning bastard recover his power? He must have been bewitched by some extraordinary mental magic. Maybe Salaar had already frozen time around him, and all of this was merely a dream occurring within a single instant!
…Myss abruptly opened his eyes and saw a wooden ceiling illuminated by sunlight.
He discovered that he was lying on a makeshift bed piled with cushions. He had the best spot, perfectly positioned to bask in the sun. The fog outside the window had long since dispersed, leaving only layers of deep and pale green. The overly clear sunlight stung Myss’s eyes, forcing him to turn his head away.
Earl and Lawler were asleep beside the fireplace. Neither of them had any visible injuries, so Salaar had presumably treated them.
Father Kalen was heating herbal tea over the fireplace, and a faint fresh fragrance filled the room.
Myss swept his gaze around the entire room and didn’t see Salaar. He sprang neatly to his feet, his brows unconsciously drawing together.
…Salaar hadn’t made a move against him.
Could it be that he had overestimated Salaar’s cunningness, and the bastard had never even thought about imitating that divine power?
For a moment, Myss couldn’t tell whether he should feel satisfied or disappointed that Salaar had failed to live up to expectations. All he could do was rake his gaze over the Salaar-less room, searching for the missing man.
Father Kalen glanced at the deeply troubled Mr. Myss and silently pointed upstairs.
Faint voices drifted down from the second floor. Hearing the familiar voice, Myss’s brows finally relaxed.
He casually gathered up his messy long hair, couldn’t even be bothered putting on shoes, and rushed upstairs just like that.
The second floor was equally lively.
Professor Gentry leaned against the upstairs window, the rising morning sun stretching his shadow long across the room. Kai stood beside him.
Salaar had his back to the stairs, with the Dragon Fae sitting on his shoulder.
The Dragon Fae’s pitch-black wings gleamed like silk, and he looked to be in fairly good condition.
“…I wasn’t able to completely heal those wounds, but it won’t need nearly as much magic anymore.”
Salaar’s voice was steady. “As for keeping everything confidential from now on, we’ll still need… Myss, you’re awake?”
It was as if Salaar had eyes growing on the back of his head. He turned around, his lapis-lazuli eyes sparkling.
“Oh. Mm.” Myss nodded. “I came to get you to tie my hair.”
“We’re discussing how to clean up afterward. Lady Marcela’s death cannot be made public yet.”
Before Myss could ask further, Salaar continued openly.
“As for Earl and Lawler, I altered their memories. They’ll treat what happened last night as a dream.”
“You move fast,” Myss murmured.
Salaar continued as naturally as ever.
“Professor Gentry will tell them that Lady Marcela had urgent business in another country and won’t be returning for some time.”
Marcela Memi had always come and gone unpredictably, and she rarely contacted anyone on her own. As long as they deliberately concealed the truth, no one should notice anything unusual for at least the next two years.
An evil god had occupied Lady Marcela’s body and secretly devoured innocent humans. The matter was too shocking, too difficult to explain in a few words, and it would also destroy Marcela’s reputation.
…It was better to let everything sink quietly into silence.
To Earl Nebula, she would remain the distant relative whose whereabouts were always uncertain.
To Lawler, she would remain his stern, eccentric “Teacher.”
“I misunderstood her. She wanted to protect me until the moment she died, but I never realized a monster had taken over her body.”
Professor Gentry looked dejected. “And now, I can’t even give her a proper funeral.”
“Don’t blame yourself too much. That was Archmage Marcela, after all. It’s hard to imagine anyone daring to attack her.”
Kai sighed along with him. “Just like you said earlier, if we publicly announce Marcela’s death, it will still draw the attention of people who shouldn’t know.”
Professor Gentry rubbed his face with both hands.
“…I know. I’ll do everything I can to handle the details properly. Once all of this is over, I absolutely intend to make the truth public.”
“More importantly, I’m concerned about you, Mr. Tass. Are you really alright?”
The Dragon Fae looked at Salaar, then at Myss. After a long while, he slowly exhaled.
“It feels strange, but I’m managing. This body feels a little like, uh, a puppet being controlled.”
“But you don’t need to worry. I can control that divine body well enough, at least enough to keep it stable. Look, I successfully brought everyone back.”
He clearly had no real sense that “he himself” had become a god. From his tone, he sounded more like an anxious child wearing an adult’s clothes.
Myss wasn’t particularly interested in any of that. He simply looked Salaar up and down, trying to find where he had hidden that funnel-shaped divine body.
“I need to go take care of my companion. You all keep talking.”
Salaar had clearly felt the stare drilling into the back of his neck. He smiled and placed the visibly dazed Tass onto the wooden table.
……
Salaar took Myss by the wrist and, under Father Kalen’s utterly unsurprised gaze, led him all the way outside.
The weather outside was beautiful. The sunlight was warm and soft, and the breeze carried the sweet scent of grass and trees, completely different from that muddy, fog-filled hellhole.
Salaar motioned for Myss to sit down, then took out the small comb he always carried and gently combed through the long gray-white hair. His movements were just as they had always been, steady and gentle.
“Don’t try to sneak-attack me from behind,” Myss snorted. “If I sense even a trace of divine power, I’ll…”
“I gave it up,” Salaar said.
“I knew it, you definitely… You what?” Myss’s voice changed pitch.
“I don’t want to follow a path laid out by some unknown evil god.” Salaar’s voice was very quiet. “Stopping time was the product of a mad obsession while my mind was unclear… It doesn’t suit me.”
Mm. Doubting the aesthetic sense of that flesh dandelion was reasonable enough.
He knew it. Salaar wasn’t stupid enough to have overlooked all of this. His enemy simply looked down on that half-dead dandelion.
That was exactly right. Myss gave a rather pleased grunt.
“What you’re best at is healing. ‘Time statis’ has practically nothing to do with that. There’s no way it could bring out your full potential.”
Salaar’s hand paused. “You want me to reach my full potential?”
“Otherwise you’d be insulting me. Insulting my judgment or insulting my ability.” Myss clicked his tongue. “Even if you don’t want to, I’ll squeeze out every last bit of your potential and make you lose so completely that you have no choice but to accept it.”
Salaar’s comb remained tilted in the smooth long hair without moving for a long time.
After a while, he finally continued as calmly as he could. “Really? Are you sure you can win? If I used that power, I might be able to bypass the contract and seal you.”
Myss gave a short grunt. “You wouldn’t.”
“…”
“Maybe the version of you without a heart would, but the current you wouldn’t. You don’t like an ending that careless, and you know I don’t like it either.”
As he spoke, Myss tilted his face upward and met Salaar’s lowered gaze. “I already told you, I want you to lose so thoroughly that you accept it. I can add another clause to the contract. Before you truly become a god, I won’t suddenly destroy everything, unless the condition of my true body makes that impossible.”
Salaar’s expression remained impassive, but his hand trembled slightly. “What if I deliberately stop progressing…?”
“You wouldn’t do that.” Myss muttered. “Same reason. Neither of us likes an ending like that.”
At that, he laughed to himself. “Besides, your trust in me doesn’t go that far.”
Salaar extended both arms and wrapped them around Myss’s neck from behind.
Myss blinked. He could feel Salaar’s substantial body heat. It was completely different from how it had felt in the fog.
Back then, Salaar had been almost like a burning corpse. Now he was light and alive. Myss could even feel the other man’s vigorous heartbeat.
It was as if some invisible burden had finally been removed.
“Terrifying,” Salaar whispered beside his ear. “You understand me better than I understand myself.”
“But are you really willing to wait for me? Before this, you treasured your body so much. You refused to take risks at all…”
Myss turned his head slightly.
Unfortunately, Salaar had buried his eyes beneath his bangs, so Myss couldn’t see his expression.
Truthfully, he didn’t know how to answer. Myss only knew that when he saw Salaar with that hourglass divine body, he had felt nothing but disappointment.
His Salaar shouldn’t look like that useless, distorted thing.
And when he saw Salaar stripped of all power, Myss had felt equally uncomfortable. Even thinking back to the wooden, overly mature Salaar inside the seal didn’t make him particularly happy.
Admittedly, he could easily eliminate any of those Salaars. But whenever he imagined those scenes, he never tasted victory.
“All right. Maybe I like you a little.” Myss said, “Don’t misunderstand. Not the kind of love you keep talking about. I just…”
He thought hard about how to phrase it.
“…I’m just willing to wait until you become the best version of yourself and then beat you so completely that you submit. If I want the sweetest victory, I have to accept a little risk, right?”
Salaar didn’t respond immediately. He merely tightened his arms slightly around Myss.
“There’s no need to add anything to the contract,” he finally said. “I trust you, just like you trust me.”
“I don’t…”
“I know.”
Kinky Thoughts:
I swear, Myss unintentionally says the most romantic thing.
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