Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong
Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/
Chapter 167: A Quiet Night
That night.
“What exactly is going on with those two?” Fork asked.
“Don’t ask what you shouldn’t ask,” Knife said sternly.
Truthfully, even it wasn’t entirely sure what was going on with the atmosphere. While they were trapped in the fog, it remained drowsy the entire time. Fork had been busy spraying magic from his mouth and hadn’t had time to ask what was happening either.
All they could tell was that ever since leaving that fog-filled place, the atmosphere between those two had undergone some subtle… change?
Salaar no longer seemed so constantly tense, and Knife felt more comfortable as a result. Myss was still his same willful self, but the way he treated Salaar had become, well, considerably more casual.
Like right now.
Professor Gentry was famous enough that simply showing his face was sufficient for a gemstone merchant to enthusiastically offer them a beautifully furnished vacation villa. Of course, Professor Gentry insisted on paying the short-term rental fee.
The group had spent the entire night struggling through that strange fog and had exhausted themselves considerably, so resting for a day at Emerald Cliff was perfectly reasonable. Myss spent the day eating whatever he wanted, then soaked in a hot bath for nearly half the afternoon. Just as he was preparing to end this peaceful day with a sweet dream, he suddenly realized Salaar had no intention of sleeping.
Mr. Hero was inexplicably energized. He had asked for a considerable amount of paper and was enthusiastically calculating something.
“Aren’t you going to sleep?” Myss asked while hugging a pillow and yawning.
Salaar turned to look at him.
Myss’s neatly tied hair from earlier that day had come loose. Half-wrapped in a blanket, he looked like a plump triangle.
His garnet-red eyes were terribly hazy, and he looked ready to fall asleep at any moment. Yet he stubbornly kept staring at Salaar, his eyes filled with accusation.
Salaar couldn’t help smiling. “You go to sleep first.”
“If you’re not coming over, how am I supposed to sleep?” Myss refused outright.
Salaar: “…”
Salaar sighed, resigned himself to his fate, and set down the paper and pen before taking off his shirt.
The moment he lay down on the bed, Myss expertly sprawled over him, moving with even more righteous confidence than before. Salaar hadn’t even had time to tease him a few times before Myss fell deeply asleep.
Myss had cleaned himself thoroughly. His long gray-white hair had just been washed and carried a fresh, pleasant scent. His cheek was pressed against Salaar’s chest, perfectly pillowed over his enemy’s heartbeat.
Salaar quietly pulled the blanket over them and wrapped one arm around Myss’s waist. He raised his gaze, and brilliant golden characters arranged themselves in the air according to his thoughts, replacing ink and paper.
Over the course of this journey, Salaar had seen all kinds of “gods.”
There were human geniuses infected by Abnormal Fruits and forcibly twisted into gods; “artificial demigods” created by humans, with extensive accumulation and profound understanding of magical knowledge… and beings like Myss and the Dragon Fae God, alien species born possessing authority from the start.
They shared two traits: Authority far more powerful than ordinary magic, and unique magic circuits.
Moreover, the former was merely the result of the latter.
During the era of the Night Scourge, only geniuses could use magic.
Even then, those geniuses had already realized that their magic circuits were immature. Everyone was like someone trapped in a dark forest, trying to feel out a path belonging only to themselves.
What Salaar still lacked now was the completion of his magic circuits.
Once, Salaar had possessed no target he could use as reference. On top of that, he had been wholly focused on maintaining the seal, determined to use his life to delay time for as long as possible.
An abyss-like problem such as “perfecting magic circuits” had never been within his considerations.
But now things were different.
Myss had said he was willing to wait for him to become a god. And… and Salaar no longer wanted to hand his enemy over to the human world. Even though he understood perfectly well that this wasn’t some outbreak of heroism, but something driven entirely by his own selfishness.
Salaar casually stroked Myss’s smooth long hair and the strip of back exposed between the strands. The sleeping Myss began breathing a little more loudly, smacking his lips in relaxation, clearly enjoying it.
Salaar could not help lowering his head and kissing Myss on the crown again. At this moment, they almost looked like an ordinary, loving couple.
…If one ignored the flashing equations floating above Myss.
Even the distorted circuits created when Salaar had been contaminated by the fog and filled with obsession had still been magic circuits suited to “Salaar.”
He wouldn’t use them, but they could serve as an excellent reference.
Maybe, he couldn’t help thinking—just maybe…
If he truly became a “god,” could he find a way to end the Night Scourge while also preserving Myss?
Salaar still believed in the strength of humanity. But at the same time, he firmly believed that no one else would ever be like him… fall deeply in love with this Archdemon who embodied disaster, even to the point of touching His heart.
His successor would kill Myss by any means necessary. Only Salaar could possess such an absurd delusion.
How tragic. At this point, he actually wanted to end the Night Scourge even more than before.
Myss rolled over on his chest and gave a comfortable hum, burrowing his head further into the hollow of Salaar’s neck.
Salaar tightened the arm wrapped around him. In the dim room, densely packed golden equations glittered like stars.
“…Whatever is going on with them, this looks pretty nice,” Fork said after an enormous yawn, mumbling his conclusion. “Like stars… zzz…”
Knife remained awake, just like its master.
The tip of its tail gently hooked around Fork’s limp tail, while specks of light reflected in its lapis-lazuli eyes.
“Yes,” it hissed. “What a beautiful night.”
…The Dragon Fae, however, felt absolutely none of that loveliness.
Theoretically, his body had recovered. Aside from his wings still being pitch-black, his physical condition was even better than before. Compared with an ordinary Dragon Fae, his magic was practically inexhaustible, and the strength of his spells had multiplied dozens of times.
But he still couldn’t use his authority very well.
He carefully sensed it. Summoning fog and absorbing magic were merely digestive functions of that enormous dandelion. Transforming living creatures into gods had likewise been the result of its painstaking imitation of Abnormal Fruits, not an innate ability.
The things that could actually be called “divine authority” were “Projection” and “Camoflage”. It could project one space into another and transfer targets within it, thereby achieving something similar to teleportation.
At the same time, it could make the chunks of its own flesh and send it flying all over the world appear to be beautiful Faes from fantasy stories.
How to put it? This was unbelievably lame.
Forget terrifying beings like the Chaos Archdemon. Even the Lord of Shadows could grant His followers the abilities of “Concealment” and “Divination.”
Their effectiveness was so great that even Salaar and Myss couldn’t see through them.
Tass, on the other hand, had only one “Projection” ability with an unknown range limit, along with one “Camouflage” ability possessing zero offensive power.
Looking on the bright side, these two little tricks were extremely suitable for assassination and highly beneficial to his career as an assassin.
But the moment Tass remembered that these were supposed to be divine authorities, he felt as though he had lost a million gold rings.
…Sigh!
Tass violently pounded the little bed he had lined with gemstones.
Several smoothly polished rubies went flying and rolled across the bedside like splattered drops of blood.
The Dragon Fae became increasingly convinced that the dandelion had simply been thrown down here to serve as a glorified pet. Unfortunately, its memories had vanished along with its spirit. Otherwise, they might have been able to find the one who had thrown it down here.
Filled with sleepiness and unwillingness, the Dragon Fae slowly closed his eyes.
He dreamed of fog again.
Gray-white, unpleasantly thick fog like the film over a dead person’s eyes. He stood in the middle of the fog while sticky sounds of flesh squeezing together periodically came from all around.
What a terrible dream, Tass thought helplessly.
Of course, perhaps this was some spiritual residue left behind by that nameless god.
[Your wounds have recovered considerably.]
A voice suddenly appeared.
No. Rather than calling it a “voice,” it was more like a concept being driven directly into his consciousness. It had nothing to do with tone. Nothing to do with language.
Tass instinctively tried to find where it was coming from, but he couldn’t detect any change whatsoever.
The fog continued rolling at its leisurely pace, and the surrounding magical fluctuations remained perfectly undisturbed.
Only the divine body he had just taken over suddenly became stiffer than stone.
[I am pleased to see you struggling so desperately. It seems your end hasn’t yet arrived.]
[Congratulations. You will survive for quite some time yet, Void Moss.]
The “voice” continued.
Tass couldn’t identify any emotion within that pale concept. He only knew there wasn’t the slightest trace of goodwill.
Worse, merely having the information flow into his mind caused the divine body to tremble violently, like a mouse faced with a cat.
Across that enormous body, every single chunk of flesh suffered unbearably. The other party hadn’t appeared at all, yet Tass felt as though he were being squeezed into meat paste.
[…Unfortunately, you are destined never to survive until the season of harvest.]
The season of harvest?
For a moment, Tass even forgot his discomfort. If he remembered correctly, every one of V.O.R’s “farewell letters” mentioned that!
Tass wanted to demand answers, but he was still unfamiliar with the divine body and couldn’t find where its mouth was.
Perhaps he had become too anxious, or perhaps the impact of the information stream had been too intense. Tass opened his eyes, drenched in a cold sweat. Every gemstone beneath him had shattered into powder.
He panted heavily, his wings still trembling uncontrollably.
…Everything had felt far too real. So real that he didn’t dare dismiss it as an ordinary nightmare.
Only belatedly did Tass shudder, lingering fear rising in his heart.
Fortunately, he was still unfamiliar with controlling that body. Otherwise, the other party probably would have noticed something was wrong.
He needed to tell Salaar and the others as quickly as possible, he thought.
That V.O.R might not be some fragile thing hiding behind the scenes and tempting others into mutation. He… or It, might be even more dangerous than they had imagined.
The Dragon Fae acted the moment he made up his mind and rolled out of bed. Only when he stretched his wings did he realize his body was still trembling.
He stood in place and took several deep breaths. Only once his heartbeat had become relatively normal did he pull open the bedroom door.
Father Kalen was standing outside.
The large priest stood quietly before his bedroom door, the candle in his hand flickering between bright and dim.
The instant the Dragon Fae opened the door, a drop of snow-white wax slid down the candle.
<<< || Table of Contents || >>>
