The other party’s breath sprayed in his ears, and that gave Nemo goosebumps all over. He subconsciously wanted to do it but was afraid the dark shadow would really stab the person in front of him, so he had to take a more compromised approach. Nemo gritted his teeth and swung his fist.
Jesse turned his head and lightly dodged his unskilled punch.
“Don’t be so shy.” He showed an expression similar to that of grievance. “I’m trying to help you—”
Nemo didn’t bother responding. He tried to stand up to get away from this inexplicable person.
“You are just bound by your cognition.” Jesse didn’t mind the cold treatment that he’d received. He propped his right arm on the trunk of a tree and stopped Nemo’s movement before continuing happily. This time, he raised his voice slightly. “As long as you always think you’re an ordinary person, your strength will be suppressed. How about relaxing that thought occasionally? For example, try to deny to yourself that you’re an ordinary person.” He licked the corners of his lips. “…Or try to deny that you’re a human being.”
“If I remember correctly, I haven’t used any spells in front of you the few times we met.” Nemo took a deep breath, trying to make him sound as cold as possible. “So where did you come to this conclusion, Mr. Dylan?”
“Secret.” Jesse shrugged. “But that suggestion is from the bottom of my heart. You can’t—”
Before he finished speaking, Jesse moved back unnaturally, causing Nemo to blink. Out of nowhere Adrian had awoken and was currently dragging Jesse away from Nemo by the back collar.
Nemo didn’t miss this opportunity and quickly moved to Oliver’s side. Although Oliver was still in a deep sleep, he felt united as the two of them had a common enemy.
“I see.” Ann put the fruit in her hand aside. She had no intention of eating it. “Maybe this guy is here to poach.”
“Poaching?” Nemo glanced at Oliver and asked curiously.
“Yes. I have been in this business for a long time. Everyone basically knows that I like to act alone. Cross is now a walking sign board for trouble, while Oliver’s power… If he wanted to poach Oliver, it wouldn’t be such a hapless thing.”
Nemo couldn’t help but glance at her with a slightly sad face.
“Demon worshippers and warlocks generally have their own circles, and they usually don’t mix with ordinary people.” Adrian loosened Jesse’s collar as he added in a low voice. He looked a little more energetic after his nap. “Mr. Light is indeed an anomaly.”
“It may be that I’m careless, but you seem to be hinting at something,” Jesse said in an exaggerated tone. “I’m definitely not a demon worshiper. How can I be a demon worshiper without a demon? As for being a demon warlock… Well, this is really hard to prove.” He scratched his chin. “Ah yes, I’m not deformed! I don’t mind taking off my clothes to prove my innocence—oh, we have a lady present. I forgot—well, the one from the Holy Church. Do you want to check on me? I really don’t mind.”
Adrian thought for a while before he said, “Yes, take it off.”
“…You’re really too reckless!” Jesse immediately hugged his arms. “Of course not here. It’s too bold in the wild during the day and I’ll be embarrassed. Maybe you can come to my room when we’re in Vincent Town—” he dragged the end of his sentence, incorporating some ambiguity in his tone.
Adrian turned around and left.
“You did not deny my previous statement,” Ann snorted. “You want to poach our mage? Give up. Our captain won’t let people go.”
“I didn’t want to go either,” Nemo muttered. Oliver, who was asleep, titled his head and rested on his left shoulder. The soft light brown hair was scattered on his shoulders and looked very soft. Nemo couldn’t help but touch it a few times; it felt really good to the touch.
“Maybe it was only in name, taking the boy away so he could poach me!” The gray parrot sighed wistfully. “I have no problem. Take me away. I’ve had enough of it here—”
“Of course!” Jesse opened his arms. “…I’m not admitting who I want to poach, but who would refuse such a smart and cute bird?”
The gray parrot made a strange noise that Nemo suspected it was going to cry. It seemed to have completely forgotten who was yelling at Jesse Dylan last night.
“Bagelmaurus,” he carefully said, “Do you remember what you are?”
Bagelmaurus turned his head and mooned him, obviously not intending to answer his question.
“If I really succeed in taking anyone away from you, it must be by the power of true love,” the blond young man said passionately, still maintaining a posture of slightly open arms. “Before that, I’m just a weak and harmless colleague.”
Nemo didn’t want to continue talking to him, but Jesse Dylan’s words lingered in his mind. He stretched out his right hand and tried to empty his thoughts. A dark-purple ball of light slowly condensed in his palm. He carefully manipulated the spell, which felt like water droplets sliding on a lotus leaf. Just as he thought he had stabilized it, it slipped away from under his nose again.
He really didn’t need to perform any incantations.
Rather, he didn’t even know what kind of spell this was. Bagelmaurus had used it several times, so he made a similar one. God knew if its destructive effect was the same. Nemo sighed, and the ball of light dissipated in an instant. He didn’t intend to do this kind of unethical experiment on such a peaceful occasion.
Unsure if it was due to Nemo’s movement, but Oliver’s breathing became a little faster. Oliver frowned, opened his eyes, and looked around bleary-eyed. Nemo stared at him in silence for a moment and found that the tips of his ears were a little red.
“Ollie, would you like some water?” Nemo was worried. He grabbed Oliver and put his forehead against Oliver’s forehead. “Your body temperature is a bit high. Don’t get heatstroke.”
“He’s not.” Ann sounded as if she was holding back a smile “…Just leave him alone.”
Oliver used magic to conjure up a piece of ice and began to chew on it with a complicated expression.
“Oh—I see.” Jesse, who had finally quieted down, opened his mouth again. “What a pity. I lost two opportunities.”
“You didn’t even have half an opportunity in the first place.”
“Really? But I think… Oh?” He quickly changed his words. “Do you smell it?”
Ann had already stood up vigilantly while Adrian took off the longbow he was carrying on his back. Oliver drew out his sword quickly this time, though he still looked a little confused. Nemo sniffed and smelled a strange sweet fishy scent in the air.
“Scorpion-tailed wolves,” Adrian frowned. “But it’s still daytime.”
“There’s a problem.” Ann cast a glance at Jesse, who raised his hands and smiled innocently at her.
The wolves came extremely quickly. They were specially divided into several teams as they surrounded the five people. Scorpion-tailed wolves were larger than ordinary wolves. They didn’t have hair, but bare red and wrinkled skin, and a scorpion tail grew where their normal tail should be. The tip of the tail was bright blue; anyone could tell that it was poisonous from a single glance.
Ann put away the spear.
“This number should be fine.” She breathed a sigh of relief. “Cross, aren’t you going to teach Oliver how to use a sword? This is a good opportunity.”
Several scorpion-tailed wolves close to them lowered their bodies. They pressed their sharp claws into the soil, their milky white eyes locked on Ann’s movements, and their throats let out a sticky, unpleasant growl. Adrian carefully mounted the longbow on his back. He frowned, as if intending to say something, but Oliver took the lead.
“The scorpion-tailed wolf will only hurt people when it feels threatened.” Oliver sounded a bit hesitant. “They are extremely afraid of the sun and will never move during the day unless they have to. In other words…”
“What did we do that frightened them so much? They thought it was useless to run away, so they planned to fight to the death?” Nemo added in an unpleasant tone. The conjecture made him a little irritable.
“They’re afraid.” Oliver put down his sword. “Mr. Cross, I really want to learn combat skills, but can you wait a bit?”
“Why do you care about the reason?” Jesse shrugged. “You see, whether it’s because of appetite or fear, these ugly things made the first move. What are you waiting for?”
After that, he simply threw out a dagger and slashed the throat of a scorpion-tailed wolf. Fuchsia-colored blood sprayed everywhere. The wolves stirred for a moment, and the low growl became louder.
Jesse magically summoned more daggers and sandwiched them between his fingers. He seemed to be in a happy mood. Just as he was about to throw out a second one, his wrist was grabbed by another thin, pale hand.
“Our leader is Ollie.” Nemo squeezed Jesse’s right wrist hard. “It’s not you.”
“His indecision will kill you.” Jesse arched an eyebrow. “Isn’t it natural to hunt monsters?”
“He said that because he could defend himself.” Nemo increased his strength. “…Fear is not a capital crime.”
“Oh my God, do you adore the scorpion-tailed wolf to such an extent that—”
“I don’t care about these wolves,” Nemo said softly. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with your approach, but you’d better get this through your head—you’re not qualified to ask us to obey your ideas.”
As he said it, he turned his gaze to Oliver.
Oliver didn’t pay attention to the movements over there. He took two cautious steps back, lowered his body, and inserted the silver sword into the soil. The wolf was standing opposite of him. It was the largest of the scorpion-tailed wolves. Almost the entire bony tail had uncomfortable blue stripes on it. As it gave a low growl, it wrinkled its nose and revealed almost all of its sharp teeth, and saliva was leaking from between them.
Oliver looked back a few times, as if he had drawn a circle with his gaze. Nemo was familiar with this movement. He was estimating the position of the ice shield when Oliver turned his head and painted a complex array in the air.
“We’re not malicious.” His finger left light green traces in the air, and the flashing frequency of the magic array was like a beating heart. “…Don’t be afraid,” he said softly.
The wolf looked at him suspiciously, still baring its teeth, but the volume of its low growl decreased. Its milky white iris and white eyes couldn’t be separated. Only the dark vertical pupils were embedded in the eyeball. Its tail hung down a little.
Oliver moved his other hand away from the hilt of the sword. A reassuring light flickered in the air when the magic array was completed.
“Don’t be afraid,” he repeated again.
The wolf retracted its teeth and stretched out its tongue to lick its nose. It sniffed the air suspiciously.
“Come,” Oliver said, reaching out his hands.
“…Is he touching it?” Jesse shouted. “Oh God, doesn’t he feel sick?”
“How can I put this. I think it should feel better than touching you.” Nemo said quietly, releasing the hand that was holding onto Jesse’s wrist.
The wolf cried a few times without resisting Oliver’s touch. It squinted its eyes and even shook its ugly tail. The scorpion-tailed wolves gradually dispersed and bypassed all five of them. They drilled into the trees and shadows and soon disappeared.
“Forest ballad,” Ann muttered. “People still use this thing these days?”
“Forest ballad?”
“It’s a way to show your emotions to a living thing that doesn’t understand the language, but it has little value. Generally, the time to complete it is enough for the other party to bite your head off ten times over. Oliver’s speed… Only with that much magic can he afford to be this wasteful.” Ann curled the corners of her lips uncomfortably. “Most people prefer to use this on animals in cages.”
“Isn’t this good?” Oliver clapped his hands and put the sword back into the scabbard. “It’s better to speak clearly. They didn’t want to eat us, and we’re not going to eat them.”
“Huh, I have to admit, it’s really troublesome dealing with the poison of scorpion-tailed wolves. It’s best that no one is injured.” Ann put away her weapon. “It seems that Cross can only teach you how to chop the air.”
Jesse put away his daggers in disappointment, then resumed his signature smile.
No one had noticed the damage to his calf. When the wolves retreated, one of them passing by gave him a hard blow. The skin under his clothes quickly changed from bruising to pitch black, before quickly returning to a healthy white again.
“Indeed, it’s best that no one was injured.” Jesse Dylan smiled and spread out his hands. “You’re absolutely right!”
The author has something to say:
Gray Parrot: He said I’m cute!
Nemo: Are you really a superior demon, my friend?
Gray parrot: But he said I’m cute!
……Bagelmaurus has lost its dignity.
It’s a pity that Jesse didn’t include it in his love at first sight. What a pity.
Kinky Thoughts:
Nemo’s so cute. Protecting his hubby. I love all these small interactions between Nemo and Ollie.
Early the next morning, Ann calmly knocked on the door of her companion’s room with an apple in her hand. When she entered, the apple in her mouth almost fell to the ground.
“You guys… haven’t been well?” She looked with concern at Oliver’s baggy eyes. Adrian looked a little better, but the air around him was almost reduced to zero degrees. Nemo’s face was not haggard at all, but rather he had a murderous aura, which was rarely seen on Mr. Light who was usually indifferent to the world.
Oliver took a deep breath. His expression shook twice, as if he had forcibly suppressed a few swearing words. Nemo uncharacteristically showed a smile that could be called cold.
“Someone snored all night.” Nemo’s smile showed gritted teeth. “All night, I thought a mountain pig was singing somewhere.”
Ann didn’t intend to hide the joy on her face for the rest of her life. She glanced into the room carefully. Jesse was still lying sideways on one of the beds. His long blond hair slightly curled and white pillows scattered everywhere like molten metal. The sun hit his beautiful face just right, bringing out some purity. It was a pity that after being tossed all night, no one was moved by such an image.
“We can suffocate him with a pillow right now,” Ann whispered with hope.
“Don’t talk about me as if my eyes are still closed. I’m already awake—” Jesse yelled. “You’re so humorous, lovely lady.”
“Let’s go,” Nemo whispered. “Since we’re not in a hurry this time, we have time to take a nap, right Ollie?”
“Of course.” Oliver rubbed his temples fiercely. “We have to buy some tents first, and… Uh…”
“If you mean the ones you use on the road, I already bought them early in the morning.” Ann said with a lisp as she kept chewing her apple. “I also bought a fuller goat. With four people we have a lot of things. Nemo can’t keep carrying everything on his back. If we no longer need it, we can always sell it, so we won’t lose too much money and if we’re in a critical situation we can always eat it.” She licked her lips. “It tastes pretty good.”
Nemo imagined a picture of them marching forward with a goat and stopped talking.
“I know it maybe be different form the image that you’re thinking of,” Ann threw the apple’s pit into the trash can that was in the room, “…but a horse is really expensive.”
“We also need weapons,” Oliver said faintly. “Nemo and I…”
“Yes, I found a good shop. You can choose it yourself,” Ann spoke quickly. “I took some cash from my Black Chapter account, so everything is in order. We can set off after we make our purchases.”
She kept glancing at Jesse as she said this; the latter was slowly getting dressed. She didn’t know when the blood stains on his light blue coat was erased by him, but there wasn’t blood or even a wrinkle on his clothes. He arranged his outfit meticulously, then tied up his long hair with a ribbon, dressing as if he was going to attend a royal banquet.
“Where are you going?” he asked with a smile. “Don’t be nervous. I’m just asking. After all, I have my own task—”
“Vincent Town, a very remote place,” Oliver replied impassively. “Let’s say goodbye, Dy—”
“Amazing! This really was meant to be! I also happen to be going to Vincent Town!”
“What exactly do you want?” Adrian asked coldly. “Stop playing tricks.”
Jesse raised an eyebrow before bringing up the contract parchment and threw it directly in front of the four of them.
“The remains of a Grace Bluebird?” Ann took two steps back in disgust. “You’ll pay the price sooner or later.”
“I’ve been told this for many years. It seems that retribution isn’t as fast as me.” Jesse stuck a finger in his ear and dug it out. “You see, I’m not lying to you. The race of the Grace Bluebirds is on the edge of Vincent Towns.”
“Let’s go.” Oliver pulled aside the parchment roll, as if he had made up his mind to ignore the uninvited guest. “We still have weapons to buy.”
“What happened to the remains of the Grace Bluebirds?” Making sure that Jesse wasn’t near, Nemo couldn’t help whispering. He had never read anything about them in a book.
“There are few records now. After all, they’re almost extinct,” Ann sighed. “It’s a kind of bird monster about the size of a human. Their bones make good materials for weapons, and their feathers and flesh are suitable ingredients for spellcasting. If the mission is to be believed, and that annoying person is not lying, there is indeed a group near Vincent Town.”
“…Is it okay to do such a task?”
“There are not many people who would dare attack them now as their magic are pretty extreme. For example, if they find that they are about to be killed, they will desperately give themselves a ‘funeral’. Their whole body would turn into ashes, leaving nothing behind, including bones. My previous team took on a similar mission in another country. Don’t ask. I don’t want to go into details.”
Nemo hurriedly closed his already opened mouth.
“In short, if you want to get their corpse, you must either betray their trust and shoot from behind, or dig in their holy land. Either way, it can still be done,” she didn’t lower her voice when she said this. Nemo believed that Jesse Dylan would be able to hear it, but the beautiful blond young man still had a bright smile on his face as he hummed a minor tune happily while following them.
There were no exciting discoveries in the process of buying their weapons. Adrian picked a bow and gave Oliver the silver sword.
“I’m no longer qualified to call myself a knight,” Adrian said seriously as he mounted the quiver behind his back. “This sword is more suitable for you. It can last longer than these ordinary goods.”
Nemo was gearing up for a while but resulted in getting nothing. The store obviously didn’t consider the needs of a demon warlock. The three men came into the shop empty handed and ended up buying only a very ordinary metal bow and a bunch of arrows. Even with the deterrence of the black badge, the shop owner’s eyes almost rolled to the back of his head and his actions were both sad and angry when he was giving them change.
With their weapons ready, Ann began to pile bags of various sizes onto the fuller goat, which was about half a person tall. It had a long neck and was as big as a little pony. It ruminated slowly, looking at them one by one crossed-eyed. The gray parrot flew happily and stood still between its curly horns and puffed out its chest.
Nemo poked the goat’s moist noise curiously and was immediately spat on. He straightened his waist in silence and wiped his face carefully with his sleeves under the loud ridicule of the gray parrot.
“Done.” On the other side, Oliver and Adrian were holding the luggage, while Ann tied the last belt around it and tightened it. “With a few small teleports, it should take us about a week to walk there. Nemo, don’t poke it. It’s our companion for the time being.”
Jesse looked at them with a smile dozens of steps away. He was casually carrying a cloth bag, but he didn’t bring any large luggage.
“We should be able to pass through the forest at noon.” Ann ignored him and pointed to the hills not far away. “Then we’ll take a break. Oliver, don’t sleep on the goat. You’re too heavy.”
It was boring moving forward in silence. At first their feet stepped on stone bricks but the pebbled pavement was soon replaced by dirt. After a while, the dirt road was gone, leaving only trampled grass and thorny vines. The sun hung high in the center of the sky. It was so hot that everything in their field of vision had a harsh white tint. Insects buzzed amidst the grass and the uneven touch against their soles made everyone feel uncomfortable. Nemo’s feet felt sour as he walked. The hot air burned his will, so he had to distract himself by looking around.
Jesse Dylan walked leisurely in the hot sun, hauntingly behind them.
The female warrior and the knight had expansive combat experience, while Nemo had monster-like physical strength. It stood out that Oliver was the weakest member of the team, and it could be seen that he cared deeply about it. Nemo watched Oliver stagger forward, and decided he needed to be vigilant so that their captain wouldn’t fall flat on his face.
Ann and Adrian were keenly aware of this as well. As soon as they entered the woods, Ann announced to break in advance. Oliver didn’t push himself harder any longer. He sat down on the soft rotten leaves and quickly fell asleep against a tree trunk. Adrian chose another area with shade, sat crossed legged and began to take a nap as well.
“I hope I don’t get the chance to experience Mr. Dylan’s snoring.” Ann huffed and sat down by the shade near a tree. “This is the first time I’ve seen Oliver so listless.”
“Bless you,” Nemo said dully as he pulled on the leaves and grass with his hands. The weather was too hot that his drowsiness had burnt out. “…But I feel terrible. Look, he’s coming again.”
“How does he do it?” Ann murmured. “Did he rise to the level of a sea scorpion by being this shameless?”
“Don’t say that,” Jesse leaned forward and sat down not far from them. “I just want to casually chat. It’s boring to travel alone.”
Ann and Nemo turned their heads slowly showing lifeless eyes.
“How about in order to express my apologies, I can share a little interesting knowledge with Mr. Light.” The blond young man tucked his bangs behind his ears revealing not a single drop of sweat on his face. “After all, I have always acted alone before, and I haven’t paid much attention to this. Miss Savage, you should understand… Oh, I didn’t mean to accuse you of snoring.”
“What knowledge?” Nemo snapped his fingers and made up his mind that if this man opened his mouth again and said something vulgar, he wouldn’t mind using violence to threaten him.
“I accidentally overheard your conversation yesterday,” Jesse accentuated the word “accidentally”. “It seems that you have never successfully cast a spell before being corrupted by the demon?”
“Yes,” Nemo replied dryly.
“I have some experience on this issue.” Jesse beamed. “You see, there must be a lot of people telling you how to meditate or devoutly recite mantras religiously—a bunch of naïve fools! The essence of magic is trading. It’s nothing more than a creature with insufficient power asking for a trade from a more powerful being. Of course, this is just a boring atheist’s theory.” He pulled out a grotesque purple fruit from the cloth bag and threw it to Nemo.
“Would you like her fruit?” He threw another one to Ann who caught it with a sullen face.
“…I already have one.”
“Exactly.”
Jesse leaned generously close to Nemo’s side; so close that his lips almost pressed to Nemo’s ears. He opened his mouth at a volume that only Nemo could hear, and his voice was full of banter.
“If you ask others for what you already have in your hands, who will respond to you? If you ask me, you’re just being misled. That power is originally yours. You should have found out by now, right? Your spells don’t need incantations.”
Nemo’s face froze. The light of the Abyssal magic slowly emerged, and the edges of the dark shadow exuded dark purple halos. They danced hideously as they were about to cover Jesse’s face. “You’re too close.”
“You are indeed a powerful caster before you were corrupted.” Jesse smiled as usual. He was close enough that Nemo could tell that there was no smile in those beautiful blue eyes. “Please don’t doubt this.”
The author has something to say：
Jesse: Tentatively on the verge of Nemo’s outburst.jpg
Nemo’s rage value +10
Ann’s rage value +5
Adrian’s rage value +5
Oliver’s rage value +50
……
Grey parrot favorability +5
Kinky Thoughts:
I know we all have our guesses but lets keep them to ourselves until its fully revealed to avoid potential spoilers, or you can join my discord server to discuss the novel (or others I’ve translated).
“I am very sorry, but we have a sudden emergency,” Oliver said with a sincere expression. “We had no way of contacting you, so we could only leave without saying goodbye.”
Jesse Dylan raised his beautiful, sharp eyebrows, enlarging his blue eyes that were like a frozen lake. “Oh—is that so?” He covered his chest sadly and let out a well-acted sigh. “That’s too bad. I had a hunch that we would be able to talk! Alas, Noer is really a heartbreaking place, so I can only say goodbye to you here—”
While talking, he casually opened the Black Chapter tasks list and signed a task without even looking at it. Oliver took this opportunity to quickly input the coordinates on the operation board of the teleportation array and threw out a golden page with some distress. The surveillance beam swept across their faces and stayed on the black badge for a moment before the next second, dizziness and bumps unique to the teleportation array grabbed them.
The town of Vincent was extremely remote, so the large teleportation array could only send them to the nearest medium-sized city. This time, the teleportation distance was extremely far. After the light flashed, only Ann and Adrian were still standing. Nemo himself had a terrible headache, and with such a toss, he lay on the ground blankly as he started to doubt whether his head was still connected to his neck. The gray parrot struggled to get out of his robe, took a few steps askew, and shook its head desperately.
Oliver covered his mouth and supported himself on the wall with one hand, looking like he was fighting a desperate battle with nausea.
The guard on duty glanced at them amusingly, but when he saw the snake heads on their black badges, he stood straight up and pressed his hand on the hilt of his sword.
“Anyway, we got rid of him.” Ann didn’t really want to take care of the two struggling inexperienced boys, so she turned to Adrian. “I recall that Willard believes in Manichaeism* here?”
*Manichaeism taught an elaborate dualistic cosmology describing the struggle between a good, spiritual world of light and an evil, material world of darkness. Through an ongoing process that takes place in human history, light is gradually removed from the world of matter and returned to the world of light, from whence it came. *Clarity: Note that religions in this novel are not from real religions though they are based off of it (like Laddism is close to Christianity/Catholicism).
“That’s correct.” Adrian nodded. “Nearly 80% of the population of Willard believes in Manichaeism.”
“That’s good. It’s so much more comfortable.” Ann shrugged. “They would love to see what a joke the Laddism Church has become… Hey, have you two had enough rest? Lying there for a long time will cause trouble for others.”
Oliver straightened his waist with difficulty, while Nemo rubbed his temples hard and sat up slowly off the cold and hard slate. Perhaps it was because there wasn’t any sense of dangerous elements in this group, so the guard breathed a sigh of relief and slowly moved his hand away from the hilt of his sword.
“Kind sir.” Oliver wiped his mouth, trying to keep his voice as smooth as possible. “Is there an inn nearby?”
“Yes,” the middle-aged guard replied cautiously. “Follow this street and you’ll reach a Four-Leaf Clover less than 500 steps south.”
“That’s a good start.” Ann stretched her waist vigorously, causing her joints to rattle. “I can finally rest at ease. Thank God.”
The Four-Leaf Clover Inn was well-known among adventurers. There would be at least one near every great teleportation array. Its accommodations weren’t very good, but it was convenient and cheap. Because the owner has connections with high-level members of the Mercenary Guild, few people would cause trouble for his business. Unfortunately, popularity came with disadvantages…
“The bunks are all booked?” Ann asked, disappointingly.
“Yes, miss. There are only single and double rooms left.” Although the night was dark, the girl in the light green uniform didn’t look sleepy at all. Her voice was soft and sweet. “Since there are four of you in total, I recommend a double room and two single rooms. The price of a single room is slightly more expensive, but the conditions—”
“Just two double rooms. We have limited funds.” Ann waved her hand. “Cross and I will share one, and Oliver and Nemo will share the other.Do you mind, Cross? I don’t have the habit of sleeping naked.”
The Knight Commander nodded slightly in agreement, while Oliver nodded weakly. Nemo felt like his eyelids was glued to his face. Even if he was given a stable now, he was confident he would fall asleep at once, even with the smell of horse dung.
“Then it’s settled…”
“How preposterous this is for a lady!” A familiar, irritating voice sounded behind them.
Nemo woke up almost immediately. “Am I dreaming?” he asked alertly. “Why does it seem like I’m hearing Dylan—”
“A single room for this lovely lady, plus two double rooms. I can share a room with you.” Jesse Dylan smiled sweetly at the girl who was receiving guests, causing her to suddenly blush. “To make amends, I’ll pay for the bill! You seem to be so busy that you don’t seem to have time for a drink together.”
“Okay.” Oliver opened his mouth before Ann got the chance. He twisted himself hard so that he didn’t sound weak. Oliver’s face was expressionless, but Nemo, who noticed it, gasped for him. “We’re really busy, so let’s just clear things up. Mr. Dylan, why are you here…?
“This must be fate.” Jesse Dylan stepped forward, with a suspicious shyness in his tone. “I don’t know what your task is, and you saw that I just took a task casually. This is probably what people called ‘destiny’—”
Oliver rubbed the goosebumps on his arms and the decent smile on his face twitched.
“And I fell in love at first sight!” The beautiful blond young man announced in a serious tone. Nemo subconsciously turned his head to look at Ann, whose face was livid.
“Oh, it’s not necessarily this lady. I haven’t thought about it yet. You, you, and you.” Jesse obviously noticed Nemo’s action. He raised his right hand and pointed to each of them one by one. “…You’re all my favorite types, so it makes things quite difficult.”
Now Ann wasn’t alone. Nemo took a silent step back while Ann clenched her fist and the lightning between her fingers made a small crackling sound. There was no change in Adrian’s expression, but there was a trace of murderous aura in the air.
“Thank you for your generosity.” Oliver struggled to squeeze the sentences out from between his teeth. “Please remember, now we are square.”
“How heartless,” Jesse said with emotion. “But being cold is good too.”
Oliver shivered visibly to the naked eye. He took the key handed to him by the girl, dragged Nemo away, and left the front hall. Ann also took her key to the single room and ran away quickly. Before leaving, she didn’t forget to leave the knight with an apologetic look in her eyes.
“Is Mr. Cross going to be okay?” Nemo scratched the parrot’s neck. After a week of sewer life, the hot bath and soft bed made him feel like he was in heaven. “Is it fine to leave him with that guy alone?”
“He has a lot of combat experience.” Oliver dried his hair vigorously with a towel. “…And has deeper knowledge than us. He should be able to handle it.”
“That Dylan doesn’t seem very good.” Nemo buried himself in the quilt and let out a comfortable sigh. “…But I can’t figure out what he wants from us.”
“I don’t think he’s good either.” The gray parrot finally spoke after a long time. Nemo’s and Oliver’s eyes instantly focused on it.
“…Another superior demon?” Nemo asked in shock, suddenly holding back a yawn. “Are superior demons all over the streets now?”
“I’m not sure. I can’t feel anything.” Bagelmaurus sounded unusually serious. “He must have hidden his aura. Maybe there have been some techniques that I don’t know about over the years… but even if some means are used, Dylan’s strength is at least above mine; I mean my flesh.”
“…I’m starting to worry about Mr. Cross,” Nemo murmured.
“His black badge is a sea scorpion. According to Ann, he should be a dangerous person.” Oliver frowned. “Bagelmaurus is not that strong though. It would be fine if Mr. Cross hadn’t lost his powers, but…”
The gray parrot grabbed Oliver’s hair frantically and forcibly interrupted him.
“Anyway, I’ll take a look.” Oliver said, casually throwing the gray parrot aside. “You go to bed first. If you’re okay with it, we can let Mr. Cross squeeze in with us.”
As a result, as soon as he opened the door, he almost bumped head on into Adrian Cross, who was carrying a pillow in one arm and was about to knock on the door. At this moment, the hand stopped awkwardly in the air.
“Uh… Mr. Cross.” Oliver took two steps back and let Adrian into the room. “Are you okay?”
“…Dylan’s too noisy.” Adrian thought for a moment, and concluded in a heavy tone. “Can I borrow your floor to sleep for one night.”
Nemo didn’t want to imagine what the “noise” was that could make a former Chief Justice want to escape. “You can sleep in the bed. Oliver and I can squeeze into one.”
Oliver didn’t say anything. He quickly made room on his bed.
“Thank you.” Adrian didn’t refuse. He sat upright on the edge of the empty bed. “Now that I have time, Mr. Light, can I talk to you for a bit?”
“You don’t need to be so formal. Just call me Nemo,” Nemo replied, while holding a pillow. The other party’s posture was too formal, so he felt embarrassed to lie down. “What’s the matter?”
“About you… your situation,” Adrian said solemnly. “If you don’t mind, can you tell me the reason behind it? I’ve seen enough demon warlocks before, so maybe I can help.”
Now Nemo was fully awake. He jumped up from the bed as if he had finally found his savior. From being attacked by Bagelmaurus to fighting Witherspoon, Nemo described every unnatural event clearly and concisely.
However, his hope gradually died between the frowns of the Knight Commander.
“Generally speaking, there are three types of abnormal contracts with demons. If the human does not have any magic talent but the demon still insists on entering into a contract, the human will directly dry up and die after making a wish. We call this the ‘Poor’s Law Reaction’. The others are extremely rare. When the human magic talent is stronger than the demon’s flesh, they will die together after the contract is successful because the magic isn’t compatible. This is called ‘Excessive Rejection’. Therefore, when the superior demon selects the target of corruption, they will evaluate the qualification of their prey first.”
“You only said two kinds so far.” Nemo’s Adam’s apple bobbed nervously.
“The last one is ‘Cannibalism’. We have only seen one example. The experiment was done by Telaranea. Even if the human has been completely corrupted by the superior demon, they can still make contracts with other superior demons.” There was a trace of disgust on Adrian’s face. “After the wish is fulfilled, the two pieces of flesh will fight in the human body and devour each other, with the strong side gaining dominance of the body. When they do that, the human body container will be greatly distorted and the victim will swell up, becoming almost as big…” He looked around, “as this room.”
Nemo shuddered at the spacious room.
“He absolutely didn’t have that situation,” Oliver interjected. “I witnessed the whole process of him being attacked by Bagelmaurus and we have never been separated since.”
“I can only guess,” Adrian said. “I really haven’t seen this kind of abnormality. I’m very sorry I couldn’t help.”
“No, I feel more at ease,” Nemo said hurriedly. “It may be that Bagelmaurus is too weak.”
The gray parrot, who had been huddling in the blanket since Adrian entered, poked out its head and squawked aggrievedly.
“Actually, I also have a question to ask,” Nemo stuffed the gray parrot back into place and tried to change the subject. “Since you hate Telaranea so much, why did you want to give him information? If he could reproduce the reason why you lost your powers…”
“It can’t be reproduced. If that information was really that valuable, I would never have made that kind of mistake,” Adrian sighed. “I know you’re curious and I have nothing to hide. I don’t know why I lost my powers. Simply put, I didn’t do anything special. It just… disappeared suddenly.”
Nemo felt much better this time. At least he wasn’t the only one in the room who was being played with by this inexplicable reality.
“So it turns out to be like this. This is beyond my expectations.”
“Yes, I am also very… Wait?!” Nemo, who was so spirited, suddenly summoned the dark shadow. “Jesse Dylan? When did you—”
“You guys were talking so happily that you didn’t notice me at all.” The blond young man in the corner casually carried a pillow and gesticulated happily with his other hand. “It’s such a shame for me to sleep in that room all alone. You see, I’m not so well off, so I asked for a refund on that room. Dear Nemo, can you get rid of these shadows? I’m very timid!”
“The floor is still empty,” Oliver said slowly. “Please, Mr. Dylan.”
“Can’t this bed accommodate two people? Don’t be too insightful.”
“Please.” Adrian stood up decisively. Instead of lying on the floor, he stood up and leaned against the wall. The former Knight Commander’s eyes were sharp, without any fatigue. He looked as if he could stand all night.
“Do you hate me that much?” Jesse spoke with a sad face, as if he had just been dumped by a lover whom he had been in love with for so many years. “Even if you don’t have the strength, I won’t do anything… too much. Although I don’t mind being watched by others, I prefer the kind you—”
“Shut up!” the other three roared at the same time.
The author has something to say:
—Black Chapter—
The higher the number on the black badge, the higher the team’s danger level and the more it needs to be monitored.
One eye: Night Owl
Two eyes: Jackal (Ann’s original team level)
Three eyes: Lizard
Four eyes: Snake (current team level of Nemo and Ollie)
Five eyes: Sea Scorpion (Jesse Dylan’s team level)
The number of eyes is related to the number of eyes these animals possess.
“I pray to you.” A young man’s voice echoed in the cellar. He squatted in the corner of the iron cage, trembling. “Merciful God, all glory belongs to you. Please forgive me for my sins and take me out of this quagmire-“
There were only a few torches in the cellar that were lit. The ventilation was terrible, and the air was filled with the smell of excrement mixed with physical decay. One by one, standard cubic iron cages leaned against the wall with men and women inside that were either sitting or lying down. Most of them were sluggish and quiet. The mud was mixed with dried blood stains. And now, there was a brilliant blond hair that was disproportionate to the environment.
“What’s with that look in your eye?” The man roared, stepping on the blond young man’s neck. “Unconvinced, boy? Have you looked in the mirror? With such a face, you’re still wandering in the Frontier Forest at night. This is your fault.”
“Oh—were you planning to sell me?” The blond young man, Jesse, said lightly. His throat was being trampled on, so his voice sounded a little muffled, but his eyes were full of banter. “Please be sure to find a gentle buyer for me. I’m afraid of pain.”
The man moved his foot away and kicked Jesse Dylan hard in the abdomen. “Respect,” he emphasized in a coarse voice. “Respect, little boy. I’m not joking around.”
Long blond hair covered the young man’s face, and no one could see his expression at this time. Considering that the face of the “commodity” couldn’t be injured, the man spat and focused on his feet. His strength was strong enough that Jesse let out a muffled groan as he slammed his back into one of the cages. He coughed a few times as blood flowed down the corner of his mouth. The light golden hair glowed like silk from the light of the fire as it fell from his cheeks.
“…You know everything. You can do everything. You spread love and compassion to the world…” The boy in the cage shivered and prayed harder.
The smile on Jesse’s face disappeared, and his expression was mixed with just the right amount of fear. “Please… Please stop. I shouldn’t have looked at you like that. I’ll listen to you—”
“Just know, it’s called the law of the jungle. When you’re locked up in the chains of those noble masters, you’ll have plenty of time to think about what you said. You’ll understand by then that these feet are just trivial. You’ll miss me and cry, gentle Gentry—”
“I think you have a point,” Jesse said without a trace of obedience. He stood up briskly, patted the mud stuck to his clothes and kicked the iron cage behind him. “And you—I just wanted to say, you’re so noisy that it affected my performance.”
The young boy stared at him in horror and anger.
“Gentry, right?” He casually tied up his blond hair and wiped the blood from the corners of his mouth with the back of his hand. “If I recall, 1,800 gold coins? I must say, your performance disappointed me. What else can you do besides kicking people? No taste at all. I didn’t even have a good time.” Jesse’s tone contained a bit of mournfulness.
The short and stout man didn’t have the mind to listen to his nonsense. He instantly pulled out a knife from his waist, and the soil arched slowly under his feet.
But before he could even move, the world in his eyes turned upside down. The beautiful commodity, who was extremely weak just now, patted his hands, and stepped directly on his face with one foot, then crushed it hard a few times with his sole. The bridge of his nose shattered instantly, and blood flowed everywhere. Gentry wanted to struggle, but the foot was as heavy as a mountain, and the pressure seemed as if it would burst his head.
“This is indeed a world that revolves around the law of the jungle. You’re right!” Jesse exclaimed happily. He leaned down, neatly broke Gentry’s wrist, and grabbed the knife in his hand. Gentry let out a sharp howl from his trampled mouth.
“You can’t kill me!” He struggled desperately. After realizing the disparity in strength, fear had appeared in the man’s voice. “I was also forced! Part of this batch of goods will be given to the Abyssal Church. I have children to support. I’ll give you good information—I can give you information, valuable information!”
“That’s really unfortunate.” Jesse touched his chin and didn’t take his foot away. “Intel… Sounds good.”
“Yes. You’re a bounty hunter, right? I’ll tell you everything I know. Please be merciful—”
Jesse burst out laughing.
“Wow—when you’re the predator, you clamor about the law of the jungle, but when you become the prey, you ask for mercy? You’re very interesting.”
He didn’t hesitate and slashed with the knife. Blood spurted everywhere from the man’s neck.
“I think these gold coins should suffice!” he announced with a grin as he held the freshly cut off head in his hand. The headless corpse was still lying in place with blood continuously seeping into the soil.
“…Zenni, give me courage…” The young boy who was sprayed with blood shook like a sparrow in the cold wind. He shrank to the corner of the cage in horror, trying to get as far away from the corpse as possible.
“Are you blind?” Jesse purposefully brought the dismembered head closer. The head’s eyeballs were still protruding from fear and caused the boy to scream in fright. “If you’re not, you should see the key is on this guy’s belt. You can reach out and grab it, or would you rather pray? Oh, I see. After all, your suffering is also given by God,” he said in a mocking tone as he kicked the headless body away. “Go on, this distance is just right. You can reach it by dislocating your shoulder. Enjoy your suffering.”
“You wicked—”
“Wow, thank you for your compliment!”
“Merciless demon. Sooner or later, you’ll meet retribution!”
“I’m looking forward to it.” Jesse started humming a tune and turned the pocket of the headless corpse over. Before leaving, he didn’t forget to pick up the corpses of small demons on the wooden table by the side and held them in his hands along with the head. “This was a pleasant conversation, but it’s a pity that I still have an appointment to catch—” He glanced at the blood stains on his clothes in annoyance, then magically took out the black badge and pinned it on a relatively clean shirt. “If I don’t hurry up, they’ll slip away!”
In fact, Nemo and his party were indeed slipping away.
Even though they passed the Black Chapter’s qualification, this time they brought back a freshly baked wanted criminal and had to climb the wall again. Fortunately, there was no weird demon worshiper who came to their door this time around. As soon as they started napping in the straw pile, they were awakened mercilessly by Ann.
“No one has come so far. It seems that Dylan isn’t planning to shed his pretenses,” she whispered while holding the spear vigilantly. “Get up. Your physical strength should be restored. We have to register and leave here quickly.”
Nemo grabbed a handful of straw and tried to bury his head deeper in order to escape this reality. His plan to eliminate his headaches by sleeping was only halfway done, and Ann’s wake-up call was counterproductive and made his head hurt even more.
Oliver got up quickly. He patted his face violently, with a posture as if he was going to assume the responsibility for the team. Seeing Ann’s arched eyebrows rising higher and the lightning flickering between her fingers, he quickly pulled Nemo up, who was still dozing.
Adrian was standing straight up to the side. Nemo looked over bleary-eyed, suspecting from the bottom of his heart that this man could sleep while standing like a horse. He yawned and turned his weight to Oliver’s side.
“…Humor me. You’re obviously the least likely of us to be sleepy,” Ann pointed out discontentedly.
“My soul is sleepy,” Nemo muttered.
Adrian frowned slightly, looked at him up and down, and said nothing. The gray parrot shrank uncharacteristically into the pocket of Nemo’s robe, looking as if it was thinking about big problems related to bird life.
It didn’t take long for them to return to the familiar registration office. In fact, it was more prominent now. Since it was late at night, except for some special shops, most of the streets fell into darkness. The building of the registration office was still brightly lit, but no one came in and out, giving the building a lonely vibe.
“Let’s hand in the task,” Oliver announced, a little unaccustomed. He tried to find the contract in his pocket, but it took him a long time to realize that the contract paper roll had already turned into ashes. “So… Um, the consultant registration.”
The staff on duty probably had a lot in common with Nemo. His eyelids were almost glued together. He groaned and held out his hand. “The black badge of the leader of your team.”
Oliver took off the black badge on his lapel and carefully handed it over with both hands.
“Hm… Oliver Ramon’s team… Oliver Ramon?!” The man in the uniform instantly woke up. He wiped his nose carelessly and swept his eyes from Nemo’s bloody robe to the silent Adrian. “My God! The person you want to register isn’t—”
“Yes,” Oliver said nervously. “We hope to register Adrian Cross as a consultant.”
“You have to think about this clearly.” The staff puffed up his chest and sniffed in his snot. “You’re only ordinary people and doing this is tantamount to directly challenging the Laddism Church. I strongly suggest you think about it again.”
“We already deeply offended them,” Nemo explained bitterly. “It shouldn’t be a problem to offend them a little more.”
“Different! You’re just a nobody, but he is—sorry, Mr. Cross—is a stain on the Laddism Church’s teachings. They give priority to getting rid of stains…”
“Less thinking and cut the crap,” Ann said impatiently. “I know what you’re planning. If we give up now, Cross will not be associated with the Mercenary Guild, and you’ll notify everyone that Cross is here within the next second. Am I mistaken?”
The staff scratched his big nose and smiled. Ann turned her gaze to Oliver.
“We hope to register Adrian Cross as a consultant,” Oliver repeated firmly.
The staff muttered and took out a pile of parchment paper, quills, and ink, which danced in the air like he was juggling them. He reluctantly reinserted the black badge into Oliver’s hand, lowered his head, and rummaged through the drawer for a moment before tossing Adrian a strange ring.
“It’s done,” he said bitterly. “Sign it, captain. The reward for the last task was… Let me see, the title deed to the Edwards’ estate. You can choose to sell it directly to the guild or keep it for yourself.”
“…Keep it.” After glancing at the silent crowd for an instant, Oliver sighed. He grabbed the quill pen that almost poked him in the face, lowered his head, and signed.
As soon as he put down his pen, the black badge on his chest melted. Ann closed her eyes as if she had resolved to accept her fate.
The badge didn’t ignite their clothes or even radiate heat. The gray lizard pattern disappeared, and a snake head replaced it. They were no longer dusty and dirty gray badges, but pure black with a metallic luster. Nemo removed it from his robe and the magic array on the back of the black badge was flashing, indicating that it was activated.
“The magic array will issue direct orders from headquarters when necessary.” The staff were still secretly staring at Adrian. “It will also regularly remind you to register your whereabouts, which is its main purpose. The four-eyed snake rank isn’t my personal decision! Honestly, I think this result is too moderate.”
“Well, at least it’s not the sea scorpion.” Ann raised her arms to the sky.
“…What are you doing?” Nemo asked curiously.
“Welcoming a new low in my life,” Ann said with a flat face. “Once you adapt to this rhythm, it’s actually quite exciting.”
“If we’re planning to leave, isn’t it better to take a task first?” Nemo looked away with some guilt. “The task for this month has been completed. We have also become an official Black Chapter. We should be able to take a break—”
“Snake level,” Ann said bitterly. “Good idea. We can see if there are any tasks suitable for humans to do.” She accentuated the word “humans” deeply.
“Didn’t you want to act alone?”
“Snake level! Dear Mr. Light, weak humans cannot complete tasks on the snake level alone,” Ann complained. “What can I do? The Laddism Church is eyeing us. Even if I quit, I won’t get any benefits. You have to take responsibility, especially you, Mr. Captain.”
Oliver turned his head and silently pressed on the black badge to call up the list of tasks available. Columns of words flickered before their eyes. Even Adrian, who had been examining the ring just now, leaned in.
“…” After reading two lines of text, Nemo cast his gaze towards the ceiling.
Oliver sighed deeply. Now he had a new understanding of what “snake level” meant. “Explore the demon tower west of the Felix Basin,” he whispered. “Crusade against a small bone dragon or the hundred-year old parrick ogre… Do you have any good suggestions?”
“Being blown up by Abyssal magic, sprayed to death by corpse flame from the bone dragon, and turned into the excrement of an ogre… Which one do you prefer?”
“What’s the one above?” Nemo decided to divert their attention.
“The golden one? The tomb of the 13th generation of the Hero has been found.” Ann checked her black badge directly. “A tomb of high elves. It’s said that the holy sword that killed the Demon King is in it. Even Horizon participated in that exploration mission. I must say that if you choose this…”
“Of course not!” Nemo replied immediately, and Ann and Adrian looked at him speechlessly.
“It sounds dangerous, doesn’t it?” He gestured and almost swept the gray parrot out of his pocket with his arms. “…I mean the one below it.”
“’Looking for my daughter Melody Delany’… Huh? Is this mark wrong? How could this mission be on the rank of a snake level? Is this the daughter of the legendary Bigfoot?”
“Is Melody Delany a famous person?” Oliver asked carefully, trying not to look in Adrian’s direction.
“At least I haven’t heard of her.” Ann frowned. “But you have to know that, generally, this kind of task doesn’t usually appear on the Black Chapter’s task list. I’m sure you’ve experienced it before. There may be fraud involved.”
“The location is on the border of Willard, Vincent Town.” Adrian broke the current delicate atmosphere with a stern face. “I have heard of this place. It’s said that there’s a demon curse there, and it’s next to a habitat of demons.”
“This can explain a lot of the issues. If there are demons and curses, it’s not normal to find ordinary people to complete such thing. The task was just sent half an hour ago.” Ann studied the task text carefully. “We have a half-assed demon… worshiper, as well as a former demon slayer. Demon curses shouldn’t be a problem.”
Nemo worked hard to reduce his sense of existence under the attention of the staff.
“This place is quite biased. It should be a good place to avoid the limelight,” Oliver said. “One month should be enough, though it does seem to be the safest task. Everyone can also take a good rest and think about what we should do going forward.”
“But I have a bad feeling,” Ann murmured. “I always think it’s nothing good when I see the words ‘looking for someone’.”
She scanned the content of the task thoroughly, but she couldn’t pick out anything that was wrong with it. It looked much easier than the other tasks that were full of words leading to death.
“I agree, Captain.” Nemo solemnly raised his hand.
“I have no opinion.” Ann gritted his teeth. “A long night is fraught with dreams. There’s also Dylan to keep in mind. Let’s leave Garland’s sphere of influence first.”
Adrian nodded quietly.
Oliver called out the mission contract and signed his name carefully. “Let’s go directly to the teleportation array in the city?”
“Well, Cross has already registered. No one will stop him as long as they’re not from the Laddism Church.”
However, it turned out that if the Goddess of Fate really existed, she would never have any affection for them.
“Oh? Where’s everybody going?” Jesse Dylan’s slightly ostentatious clothes had suspicious blood stains on them. He leaned against the entrance of the building where the teleportation array was located, showing them a bright smile. “Didn’t we agree to have a drink tomorrow?”
If he was being honest, after knowing all the facts, Nemo’s view of Adrian became a bit complicated. Even if he wasn’t as good at communicating with people like Oliver, he knew that the answer must be related to the questioner’s concept. Adrian Cross was unpredictable, so he wasn’t sure what kind of answer the other party wanted to hear.
“Eliminating the strong and helping the weak” sounded too general and insincere. “Protecting your companion” could be a good answer, but Adrian blocked the avenue first. If they didn’t take the initiative to cause trouble, there really won’t be problems with self-protection. And after just going through all this, talking about “justice” was a bit…
Nemo could only look at Oliver nervously.
Oliver was holding a sword in his hand, which made him look more like a warrior.
“I must first learn to control my power before I can consciously choose whether to use it or not.” Oliver lowered his head solemnly. “That’s it.”
“…Then I want to remind you that sometimes ‘can do it’ is more painful than ‘can’t do it’.”
“I know. I just saw it.”
Nemo heard it but didn’t quite understand. Still, this didn’t prevent him from being surrounded by inexplicable irritability. He always felt that he had heard similar conversations before, and Oliver had answered very similar questions before, but this time, his answer was not the same.
His head hurt a little.
Nemo was pretty sure he had never said more than three words to Oliver in his previous peaceful life, but why did he have this wonderful impression close to memory?
[“In order to become a ‘hero’?]
[“For justice!”]
He began to feel creepy and couldn’t help but take a step back. The two people who were talking didn’t notice his abnormality.
“I understand.” Adrian nodded. He didn’t seem to mind the response. “I can’t teach you much, but I will try my best.”
Oliver pressed the sword to his chest and performed a serious salute.
“But I’m afraid I can’t teach Mr. Light anything.” Adrian glanced at Nemo, “…Mr. Light?”
Oliver also turned his head—Nemo’s face was as pale as a dead man’s.
“Nemo, you…”
“I’m fine.” Nemo interrupted Oliver bluntly. “Maybe it’s just… A little too much blood—um, too much blood was lost just now.”
“We’ll go to a city first.” Ann quickly made a decision. “Register as soon as possible and get a good night’s rest.”
“It’s okay. I’m not so—” Before Nemo finished speaking, a coolness passed across his cheek and a hot pain followed. A dagger rubbed against his face and was nailed straight into the tree trunk behind him.
The wound started to heal visibly to the naked eye. Nemo immediately turned around. He wanted to command the shadows to erect a defense, but a light voice sounded first.
“Oh, I’m sorry. You two are already Black Chapters.” With a sound, a figure flashed from the depths of the forest. “I just wanted to earn three thousand gold coins!”
Oliver pulled the sword out of its scabbard, and his movements did not stop because of the other party’s explanation.
The owner of the voice stepped out of the shadow and walked into the bright moonlight. The moment they all saw each other’s faces, except for Nemo, who remained tense, the movements of the other three showed slight hesitation. It wasn’t because they were shaking in fear, but because the scene before them was too unreal.
The face was quite suitable for appearing in many places, as it fit a bard’s description of “a lady’s lover”. It was also very suitable for appearing on sacrificial occasions of various religions. In short, this kind of face should not appear in this kind of setting. The visitor had long, brilliant golden hair, which was casually tied up with a silk ribbon and placed on the side of one of his shoulders. His face was incredibly beautiful, with a hint of innocence, but the word “handsome” wasn’t very appropriate.
Unfortunately, the people present had long passed the age where they would be bewitched by appearance. After a moment of hesitation, the defensive posture of the four of them didn’t waver in the slightest.
“It’s my fault for attacking without seeing clearly, but that bird is really conspicuous. As soon as I recognized it, I realized it’s an occupational disease. I didn’t expect you to be part of the Black Chapter.” The blond young man casually pointed to the gray parrot on one side, giving them a sad little look. “I’m really sorry, okay?”
The gray parrot was rarely silent. It didn’t open its mouth and yell like before, but instead stared at the visitor with suspicion glimmering in its eyes.
“Sea scorpion.” Ann glanced at the black badge on the other party’s chest and said in a low voice, “That’s not good.”
“Oh—how can you say that! This is prejudice!” The blond young man covered his chest. “That spear… Oh, it’s Miss Savage. The rumors are correct. You’re as beautiful as a nightingale.”
Ann’s face turned pale in an instant, and a lightning bolt blasted directly over.
“I’m just complimenting you!” The young man yelled, jumping aside quickly. “You should have heard of me—Jesse Dylan, your colleague! If conditions permit, I would kiss your hand politely… How about you stop first?”
“Are you that Jesse Dylan?” Ann’s face became even uglier. “Jesse the ‘Viper’?”
“You see, I just came to the forest at night to see if I could find some prey.” The blond young man, Jesse, shook a small demon’s body with his hand. “How about I buy you a drink to make amends?”
No one listened to him. Ann moved in Adrian’s direction, looking more vigilant.
“I have already apologized.” The beautiful face was full of sadness. “Well, in order to show my sincerity, I just wanted to ask. Is that one there who you just brought out the freshly baked apostate from the Laddism Church?”
He knocked on the black badge, and the task list that they were all familiar with appeared in the air. There was a blood-red text flashing on it, which looked particularly dazzling.
“With the news just now, all the Black Chapters and mercenaries should have been notified. Oh, sorry, except for you.”
“Your goal is Mr. Cross?” Oliver took a breath and adjusted his breathing. “I’m sorry. He’s our companion now.”
Nemo made a gesture in silence, and the dark shadow flowed under his feet. His headache was better, but the nausea caused by the pain was still there. Oddly, as the only person who had been successfully attacked, he should be the most displeased at the moment; he wasn’t sure why, but he intuitively believed that there was no malice.
“How could that be! …Even if I’m really short on money, I would rather see those old liars shrivel up.” Jesse opened his arms empty-handed, trying to flaunt his innocence. “A former Knight of Judgement rebelled against the Holy Church. This is a masterpiece. Why should I destroy it?”
“Then you can leave. I accept your apology.” Nemo suppressed the discomfort rolling in his throat, “At least we won’t deliver Mr. Cross to the Holy Church. You can rest assured… Mr. Dylan?”
“My god, you’re so polite. I like polite people.” Jesse rubbed his hands together and took a few steps closer. “But I really want to express my apologies and respect. You did what I wanted to do for a long time. How can I make you believe in my sincerity? How about tying me up?” he proposed with interest.
“…Why don’t we just go.” Oliver raised his sword in one hand and rubbed his temple with the other. “Leave him alone.”
“Let’s go. It should be okay if we stay alert.” Ann’s face twitched as she gave a quite sympathetic look. Adrian turned around without a word.
Nemo dispelled the dark shadow, grabbed the dazed parrot, and raised his feet, when suddenly an arm came over.
“The weather is obviously so good tonight. Look, the stars are beautiful,” the blond young man said in a warm tone. He put his hand on Nemo’s shoulder and got close enough that his beautiful face was close at hand. “Those guys are really upset. Being too upset is bad for your health. Isn’t that right, Light? …May I call you Nemo?”
Nemo grabbed the arm in silence and took it off his shoulder. “No,” he said with a sullen face, holding back the urge to summon the dark shadow. “…You’re too close, Mr. Dylan. I don’t like to be too close to strangers.”
“Strangers,” the blond young man said pitifully, as if he had been greatly wronged. “But we all exchanged names, so don’t say that. Is this your parrot? It’s so cute.”
The cute Bagelmaurus didn’t say a word. There seemed to be something unnatural about it. Unfortunately, Nemo’s head had been a mess and he couldn’t think clearly. He frowned slightly and instinctively sped up his steps, leaving the blond young man behind. The latter followed eagerly, as if this was some kind of fun game.
“Cross, you said you’ll bring trouble,” Ann said bitterly. “You’re right, but I didn’t expect ‘trouble’ to come so quickly.”
Adrian pinched his brows and remained silent.
“If I say that once you enter the town, I’ll immediately issue an alarm and tell everyone that Adrian Cross is there—although I really don’t want to do that—what do you think will happen?” His arm was about to stick to Nemo’s shoulder again, only this time it was Oliver who had slowed down.
“Are you suggesting that we kill you?” Ann cried impatiently. “I have to say that I really like this suggestion—”
“Mr. Dylan, what do you want?” Oliver grabbed Jesse’s arm as he spoke in an unhappy tone. “We don’t want any conflict with you. I hope you understand.”
“Like I said, I just want to have a drink with you. Isn’t this fate? I was the first person to find you after the incident!”
“Okay, but we’re very tired. Can we talk about it tomorrow?” Oliver replied simply. “How about noon tomorrow? I know a nice tavern right by the river in the market.”
Nemo looked at Oliver in surprise. Oliver winked at him. Even if his mind was groggy, Nemo still understood Oliver’s intention.
“Oh, alright. You see, it’s sometimes difficult to make friends.” Jesse clapped his hands happily. “Then it’s settled! I believe in your credibility. You can’t break the appointment. If you stand me up, I’ll be very sad.”
The blond young man stopped, hummed a song, and walked towards the demon’s corpse that had just fallen to the ground.
Jesse’s humming became vague. Nemo subconsciously tried to distinguish a few words, but soon lost interest and accelerated his pace. He kept up with the team and quickly marched towards Noer. This time, Jesse Dylan didn’t follow him.
“…The dew on the tombstone is shining. Will you cry for me?” The blond young man sang happily, picking up the bloody demon’s corpse on the ground and confirming with satisfaction that its valuable place hadn’t been soiled. “Beautiful Sandra, my beloved—are you waiting at the end of the road… What’s behind?”
“…Well, that’s a good song, isn’t it?” He said this with emotion to the muddy eyes of the corpse.
The author has something to say:
The knight joined the team and, as a result, got a surprise discount. Buy one get one free.
…It’s just that everyone didn’t want it and threw away the gift in an instant.
Gray parrot: (See through it but not speaking out)
The girl smiled. Her laughter became louder and more enjoyable. The way she looked at Cahill was like a child looking at a holiday gift package.
“Of course!” she happily agreed, “but you should know that you will die immediately. I am a reputable businessman. Half of the knowledge is used as a deposit and the rest will be taken after the contract. I can recover like you, and of course, I can repair the irreversible damage to your mother. Even if she already has one foot in the coffin, I can revitalize her. I will meet your king for you and help the world through you. ‘Hope’? What a cunning and greedy wish. I like you very much, human.”
She took off her shoes and jumped into bed barefoot. She stepped onto the soft mattress and knelt down beside the young man. The demon moved its hand and the eyeball flew straight above Cahill’s chest, who was lying down.
“To be honest, this business is a little uneconomical,” she said softly, “but I’m very happy—so I’ll agree.”
Its eyeball went up and down but stopped just as it approached Cahill’s chest.
“Something’s in the way.” The girl curled her lips and grabbed the semi-melted amulet. The metal hissed and melted into a ball, completely losing its original appearance. She pulled the pendant off Cahill’s neck with a slight force. At the same time, the red eyeball stretched out countless squirming filaments of flesh, gradually burying into the young man’s body.
The girl with the braided hair got closer. She lowered her head and pressed her forehead against the young man’s forehead.
“Come, tell me,” she said in a tone like coaxing a baby to sleep. “What is the last regret in your life, Mr. Hope? Was it becoming a healer and rushing onto the battlefield? Or being loyal to this cruel country? Or believing in a false god?”
The filaments of flesh moved faster. Nemo touched the back of his neck. He knew how severe the pain was, but Cahill was motionless. He just lay quietly, as if he had lost all ability except tears.
Finally, he closed his eyes and slightly opened his chapped lips.
“I must walk the world with kindness and treat all those who are injured or sick.”
The smile on the corner of the girl’s mouth became more obvious.
“No hypocrisy, no greed, no distinction between the nobility or those inferior, and the temptation of demons must not be obeyed.”
The eyeball melted into a viscous blood color and was slowly injected into Cahill’s body along with the filaments of flesh.
“…May there be no more pain in the world.”
But it was not the young man in the hospital bed who said that last sentence, but a younger Cahill Edwards. The surrounding illusions turned into the living room of the Edwards family at night. The room was brightly lit, the floor was smooth and shiny, and everything was brand new and full of vitality.
Mrs. Edwards was collecting dinner tableware, and the teenage-looking Cahill Edwards was hooking his arm around another teenager’s neck.
“This shit is sloppy and hypocritical,” he muttered, summing it up. “What sane person would make a deal with a demon, right Adri?”
Adrian Cross, who was the other teenager, already had the old age of a knight. He was silent and frowned slightly.
“Don’t say that. Your coming-of-age ceremony hasn’t been completed yet.”
“Well then… ‘Witnessed by my close relatives and close friends. Please guide and help me. If I go astray and break my oath, please call me back’—okay? Why are you so serious.”
“I swear.” Adrian nodded solemnly.
“It’s done. Starting today, I’m a real healer!”
“…I shouldn’t have asked him to be a witness.” The older Cahill said softly. He was as weak as a dead leaf in the wind. “He won’t compromise. He has never compromised.”
He sighed softly.
The warm living room melted and disappeared. The red eyeball was now fully integrated into Cahill’s body. The laughter of children outside the window was still loud.
Nemo, who had been silent all this time, couldn’t help looking at Adrian. The knight’s face still had no expression, as if everything in front of him had nothing to do with him. He moved his gaze in the direction of the door, and Nemo followed it curiously but saw nothing there.
“What a pious liar.” The girl clapped her hands and jumped off the bed lightly. She straightened her skirt and lifted the fruit basket. The apple’s flesh that had just been peeled and put aside was now already a little rusty yellow. The demon shrugged, grabbed the apple, and bit it in her mouth while sluggishly rubbing her shoes on the floor with her feet, preparing to flee.
The door was knocked open.
Another Adrian Cross rushed in. He looked healthier than the Adrian they knew. His skin was wheat-colored, and the emblem of the Laddism Church was pinned on his chest.
The girl curled her lips, bent over, put on her shoes and knocked her heel on the floor.
“Adri?” Cahill, who was lying on the bed, slowly said. “Didn’t you just leave? Did you forget—”
A golden shield suddenly opened up. Countless sharp, spider-foot-like black limbs were blocked. Nemo gasped and carefully moved away. If the shield was even a second late, Adrian would have been a pile of ground meat by now.
“Oh, I’ve been found out.” The two voices spoke at the same time, with the same intonation and speed, which made the back of people’s hair crawl. “Is it because of that amulet? I’m truly not careful enough. What’s this? Haven’t you lost your strength? Let me see…”
The translucent limbs that filled the room instantly dissipated, and the girl knocked curiously on the shield. “Oh, what a rare toy. It’s from that bald man. Wise choice.” She showed a sweet smile. The room still echoed with an unpleasant harmony. “What are you going to do now, Adri?”
The girl’s voice stopped, and Cahill was already sitting up. There was a smile in his voice, “Are you going to turn me in, my dear friend? You can walk down the street—you know I can’t chase you—and pretend that none of this happened. We have known each other for more than twenty years. You know me. I don’t wish for much.”
Adrian did not answer. A look of blankness flashed across his face, and then quickly returned to calmness.
“Telaranea,” his tone was strongly affirmative.
“Well, good afternoon.” The girl raised her skirt and curtsied with a smile. “What? Do you need some personal time to cry for a while, or shall we make a deal? I’m curious about what you did. No creature, as far as I know, has lost power in such a state as yours—you see, your limbs are intact, and you’re not insane.”
Adrian narrowed his eyes.
“I can tell you his last words,” the demon sincerely suggested. “Or I can do you a little favor in the future. Do you want merit? Hey, tell me—”
The Adrian in the illusion was silent for a long time. It was so long that Nemo suspected that Telaranea’s eyeball would not be able to last and would return to the Abyss.
He finally spoke.
“Yes,” he confirmed. “If I can have the opportunity to witness your failure… Then at that time,” he paused, “please stand behind me. This is my request.”
The illusion ended in an instant.
The sun turned into moonlight, and only a faint shadow of the scarlet eyeball in front of them was left. The four stood in silence as Nemo clutched his blood-soaked robe. No one spoke. The gray parrot was not drawn into the illusion. It was blinking desperately at them, trying to send out an aura full of doubt.
“The transaction is complete. We will meet again,” Telaranea sounded very happy. “Good night.”
Finally, the melodious voice gradually dissipated, and the demon returned to the Abyss. Only the quiet night was left in front of them.
“Thank you, Mr. Light.” Adrian saluted slightly. “To be precise, thank you—Miss Savage. Judging from the way you escaped just now, you didn’t have to take me with you.”
Ann moved her gaze away.
“If we continue to act together, I’ll only bring you trouble. Please allow me to say goodbye… If we have the opportunity to meet again in the future, I’ll try my best to help you within my ability.”
“Why didn’t you report Nemo?”
“Ann!” Nemo shouted loudly.
Adrian shook his head gently. “Survival itself is not a crime.” He replied pointedly. “He proved it himself, didn’t he?”
“Sorry,” the female warrior simply lowered her head. “…I apologize for my previous behavior. It was my prejudice.”
“You don’t need to apologize,” Adrian sighed slightly and inserted the sword in his scabbard that was on the ground, as if he didn’t intend to take it away. “Then, I…”
“Wait.” Oliver, who had been silent, suddenly spoke. He took a few steps forward and pulled out the sword. “Mr. Cross, would you mind working with us?”
“I don’t mind, but like I said, I’ll only bring you—”
“Nemo, Ann. What are your thoughts?”
Nemo shook his head quickly. Ann sighed, “Of course not.”
“I suggest we act together. After all, Mr. Cross no longer has powers. It would be difficult as he’s wanted by the Laddism Church. Besides, Nemo and I also need teammates. We can cooperate… After all, Ann, you’re not staying long.”
Ann turned her gaze away again and snorted softly.
“We need a mentor.” He concluded sincerely.
“Why don’t you ask me? I don’t agree—!” The screaming gray parrot was pressed onto a tree trunk by Nemo.
“He can’t become a Black Chapter,” Ann interrupted. “Even if the Mercenary Guild isn’t a dog of the Laddism Church, it will not unnecessarily anger them either. Cross will not be able to participate in the exam… But if the leader of the team agrees, he can also register as a non-staff consultant, but our danger level will most likely rise.”
“Then do you agree, Ann?”
“Is there something wrong with you? The leader of the team is not me. It’s the one who signed the task.” Ann crossed her arms and looked at him suspiciously.
Nemo let go of the gray parrot and patted Oliver on the shoulder with a deep expression. “Very good, Ollie. No, very good, captain… You can’t abandon your team members, captain.”
“Is this okay, Mr. Cross?” Oliver continued stiffly.
“You want me to teach you, don’t you?” Adrian didn’t leave. He turned around, but his expression showed no signs of ease. “I found out when I was in the sewer that you’ve been copying my movements.”
“Yes.” Oliver admitted calmly.
“Why?” Adrian asked in a deep voice. “You don’t seem to have any ambitions. Even without skills, your current strength should be enough to live.”
He stared at Oliver sharply. “I’m willing to walk with you and I’m happy to help, but if this is what you want, I need a reason.”
The author has something to say:
The above is the whole truth! It’s not easy to find a new teammate.
It’s a pity that the Knight Commander can actually only teach Oliver.
Oliver, a friend who’s full of skill points but hasn’t had time to add those points. It seems like he bought a game gift bag with the promotion of upgrading to Level 9999.
Kinky Thoughts:
That’s not true, Adrian. His ambition now is Nemo.
Long Shen looked at the text message on his mobile as he remained motionless for a while.
This is not the first time that Dong Zhi has sent him such a mundane text. He would send them from time to time before he became Long Shen’s apprentice, and now that he was his master, he started to send even more. Like asking if he had eaten or slept yet. Sometimes he would send a text if he saw a flower on the side of the road that was a different color from the other flowers. When he ate a delicious dish, we would also send an entire paragraph about it.
Dong Zhi obviously knew that the content he sent was irrelevant, and he didn’t expect Long Shen to suddenly become attracted to him. The goal of these texts was to establish a connection. Even if the other party doesn’t reply, he would still see them. As long as he reads them, it’ll leave traces in his eyes and heart.
The days were long, and the water ran deep*.
*(静水流深) Metaphor use to describe a person who’s shy/quiet on the surface but is often intelligent and interesting underneath.
Long Shen would reply with one or two sentences during his spare time, but usually he would ignore them. This text message was no different from the previous ones, but to his surprise, he hesitated for a few seconds for the first time whether he should respond to it.
The meeting was still in progress, and it was rare for him to look at his phone during such a time. He put down his phone and continued to concentrate on the meeting.
Half an hour later, during the break, he finally returned a response.
[There have been many meetings recently. If you have questions about your cultivation, you can call directly.]
He was truly busy, and there were many meetings. No matter how he felt in his heart, Long Shen despised lying and cheating.
Since setting the general direction to look for the stone tablets, various branch offices have repeatedly sent back reports. This kind of task was like finding a needle in a haystack. As the central command, the General Administration Bureau made adjustments to the direction based on feedback from the branches. In addition, there will be a high-profile international conference in the capital. Leaders from all over the world will come to participate, so the Special Administration Bureau couldn’t remain idle.
What Dong Zhi didn’t know was that not only Long Shen, but the entire General Administration Bureau was so busy that even Zong Ling and Zhang Xiankun, who were already semi-retired, were asked to assist Group One and Group Two.
Long Shen hit send and watched as the message prompt quickly showed that it was successfully sent.
He Yu’s big head suddenly leaned over. “Boss, why have you been staring at your phone for the past two days?”
His face was full of gossip, trying to find clues from Long Shen’s immovable face.
“Lovelorn? Ah, no, you haven’t been in a relationship before. How did you become lovelorn? Did you try online dating? No, boss is like an old man who doesn’t eat, drink, or gamble and doesn’t have any bad habits, but as the saying goes, proper relaxation helps meet greater pressure, right?”
Long Shen: “Why haven’t I heard this saying?”
He Yu said with a sigh, “A Master of Chinese Studies named He Yu said this, but that’s not the point. The point is, as your dear subordinates and companions, we also hope that you can relax. There have been so many things happening lately. If you’re under too much pressure and suffocate, won’t our group be headless?”
Long Shen: “In your opinion, how should I relax?”
He Yu laughed. “In my opinion, it’s best to play games. Lend me your full level account and I’ll lend you mine. Let’s exchange, so that you can also experience the fun of leveling up and changing equipment. What do you think?”
Long Shen: “Okay.”
He Yu thought there was something wrong with his ears, so he said incredulously, “What? Did you agree?”
Long Shen: “I’ll lend you my account for an hour in return for 10% of your month’s bonus.”
The corners of He Yu’s mouth twitched. “Why don’t you just rob me?”
Long Shen turned to look at him, causing He Yu to quickly cover his mouth and run away, for fear that his month’s bonus would be docked again for “insubordination”.
“Don’t you think that the boss is acting a bit strange?!”
During the break, Zhong Yuyi was laying down on the conference table and took the opportunity to doze off. Unexpectedly, someone elbowed him, waking him up.
“…What?” He looked back with his tired eyes.
He Yu gossiped nervously, “In the past, he never looked at his phone for more than five seconds. This time, he stared at it for almost nine. With the boss’ temperament, isn’t this very strange?”
Zhong Yuyi didn’t understand what was strange about this and said slowly. “It takes me five minutes to read a message. The boss is much faster than me.”
“…I can’t tell you anything. Just go back to sleep!”
He Yu had the expression of “I’m super intelligent that you mortals just don’t understand”, and didn’t bother to tell Zhong Yuyi more. He waved his hand, leaned on his crutches, and limped outside to play games.
Before the meeting started, he had to get in as much time as possible. Every second was worth a second more in gold, and with such a measly amount of gold, it was hard for him to buy upgrades!
—
An afternoon passed quickly. Dong Zhi’s efficiency was good, and he had nearly completed the report. He only needed to consider his words at the beginning and end.
Although the house was old, the lighting was good, and the leaves outside the window reflected mottled shadows on the table, swaying uncertainly, like the restless heart of a young man.
The southern coast didn’t have an autumn season. It spanned from summer directly to winter. At that moment, there were still many trees that still had all their leaves, and the old indoor air conditioning was running, making a whirring noise that couldn’t be ignored.
Dong Zhi stopped typing and stretched. He planned to stay in the hotel for one more night before looking for a place to rent for tomorrow. Originally, he wanted to call Long Shen, but as his finger went through his contact list, he dialed Yan Nuo’s number instead.
The call was quickly connected with Yan Nuo’s voice coming through, and it sounded impatient.
“Hey, what’s the matter!”
Dong Zhi: “Yan Ge, is there anything I can do for you? I have nothing to do now, so I can assist you.”
Yan Nuo: “If you have nothing to do, just rest. There are a lot of people here. I don’t need you for the time being. If you want to do something, just go play by yourself!”
He hung up without waiting for a response from Dong Zhi.
What do you mean, go play by yourself? Dong Zhi was speechless. It was clear that the other party did not want him to get involved, as he refused to even tell him where he was.
Dong Zhi also knew that no matter where he went, newcomers would be treated unpopularly. They didn’t know anything, so they had to ask about everything. Things would often go wrong because they were not familiar with the situation. Like when he used to work at the game company, he didn’t like to bring in newcomers. If he said things lightly, they wouldn’t understand, but if his tone was heavy, it would make them angry and possibly hold a grudge.
But now that he had become the newcomer who was hated and guarded against everywhere, he didn’t feel so happy. Not in the mood to finish the report, Dong Zhi closed the document and planned to work on it tomorrow. He opened his social media instead.
He hadn’t had time to update his comic serialization in the past few days. The latest message on his account was two days ago, with already thousands of comments under it. Most of them were pretty standard, saying that they liked it, they thought it was cute, they were looking forward to the next edition, and the likes… but one caught his attention.
The message said that the stories in his comics were very thrilling. It goes on to describe how she had inherited a hotel that was run by her relatives. Both her staff and the tourists had encountered strange things inside it, but business for the hotel had always been good, so she thought it was quite amazing.
There were a lot of responses to this comment. Some people laughed, some made jokes, some thought she was talking nonsense, and others said that the hotel was haunted and suggested she should exorcise the evil.
Dong Zhi had seen a lot of comments before, but the stranger things that couldn’t be explained scientifically, the more interested people became. The development of the internet had made the exchange of information much faster. Since Dong Zhi’s comic serialization belongs to the urban fantasy and supernatural genres, it was natural that readers interested in that topic would gather below.
However, this reader said that her eyes and nose were perfectly fine, and she wasn’t making up nonsense. Although she didn’t explain where she was, from the description, Dong Zhi had an intuition that she was located in Lucheng.
He sent a private message and soon got a reply.
The other party didn’t seem to expect that the comic book author would personally reach out to her. She was so excited that she was speaking incoherently. From the tone of her voice, it seems like she was a young girl. Dong Zhi’s guess was correct. The hotel was indeed in Lucheng, and coincidentally, it wasn’t far from where he was.
Dong Zhi said he happened to be in Lucheng during this time and asked if it was convenient for her to meet. He wanted to learn more about the hotel.
The other party was originally a big fan of him. When she heard that she could see her idol, she naturally agreed. The two parties made an appointment at a restaurant not far from the hotel.
Considering that it would be too eye-catching to have a sword on his back while walking out in public, Dong Zhi came up with a solution. On the way to the appointment, he went to a music store and bought a guqin case. After putting the sword in, he used the spare space to hold his cinnabar and talismans, thus killing two birds with one stone.
Sure enough, when he walked outside carrying the guqin case, he suddenly lost a lot of strange glances.
As soon as he arrived at the restaurant, he found a place to sit at random and saw a long-haired girl in a t-shirt and shorts hurriedly entering while looking around, as if she was looking for someone.
“He Jia?” He raised his head to signal and shouted tentatively.
The other party immediately turned her head, showing a surprised look, and walked over to him quickly.
“You—Hello. May I ask if you’re the great Dong Dong Qiang?” The girl didn’t expect that the comic drawer himself was such a delicate and elegant boy, which far exceeded her expectations.
Dong Zhi got up and smiled. “I’m just Dong Dong Qiang. Hello. I’m sorry for taking the liberty to invite you out.”
He Jia hurriedly said, “It’s okay. I just happen to be free!”
Dong Zhi handed the menu to her and gracefully asked her to order. After the waiter came and took their order, he got down to business. “I have been looking for some new materials for my serialization recently. I saw your comment saying that strange things are happening at your hotel. Is this true?”
He Jia nodded. “It’s true. The hotel wasn’t originally mine. It belonged to a relative, but she went abroad and settled down there, so she won’t be back for a while. However, the hotel still needs to run, so she entrusted me to handle its affairs. When I took over, I did not replace the original staff, so everything is as it should be. I would occasionally go over and monitor the situation and found that strange things often happen.”
With the popularity of his comic, Dong Zhi had become one of those famous internet celebrities, but unlike them, who relied on their face to attract fans, he purely attracts readers that liked his style and content. His readership count was very stable. Many have secretly tried to guess his age and appearance. He still had old fans back from when he was an artist for <The Great Wasteland>, but no one had ever seen him in person. They all guessed that he was most likely a young man. He Jia didn’t expect that she would be the first fan to see him in person, so she was quite excited. She wished she could take a photo with him and post it online to prove that she had a meal with Dong Dong Qiang. She naturally trusted Dong Zhi, so she spoke without reservation.
For her, not only was she able to witness her male god with her very own eyes, but his appearance and speech patterns were very much in line with the tailor-made image that she had in her mind, which made it even more shocking.
Dong Zhi listened very seriously. “Can you tell me more about it?”
He Jia said, “Some staff members reported that they had seen dark shadows floating by when they were patrolling at night, but when they got closer, they saw nothing. We even checked the surveillance, and it didn’t show anyone passing by. We also had residents who said that when it’s midnight, the faucet would turn on by itself, inexplicably. Others said that they could hear someone signing and talking in their ears and could feel ghostly steps on their bed.”
She lowered her voice and made a mysterious expression. “Later, I asked the original owner of the hotel, who’s my great aunt, and she told me I needed to worship regularly on the first and fifteenth days of each month and I wouldn’t need to worry about anything else.”
Seeing that there was no response from Dong Zhi, He Jia continued, “But the strange thing is, my hotel business remained very good. In order to solicit business, I asked someone to make an official website for it. As a result, despite no advertisements, guests would make reservations online, almost fully booking us. We’re completely booked out for the holidays.”
Dong Zhi: “Who does your great aunt want you to worship? Did you do what she said?”
He Jia: “I don’t know. She asked me to vacate a room and not allow guests to stay there, and then enshrined fruits on the offering table inside all year round. I just need to change it once a week. I did everything as she asked, but the strange things didn’t go away.”
Dong Zhi pondered, “Were there ever any deaths there?”
“No… Ah, actually, there was one!”
Slender fingers held her fair chin casually, and her other hand tapped unconsciously on the table. He Jia felt that the other party was not only born handsome, but he also had an indescribable taste. She looked a little dazed for a moment before slowly reacting.
“I heard from my great aunt that before her hotel, the previous building was also a hotel but was burned down by a fire. The fire had killed the previous owner. It took a few years to rebuild the hotel to its current state. Later, a guest committed suicide by cutting his wrist in his room. It was too late to rescue him. I heard that it seems to be because of feelings. However, besides these incidents, there were no other deaths.”
Having said that, He Jia felt a little distressed.
“In fact, it used to be normal, but recently, our employees have often gotten sick, and many guests have had memory loss. I don’t want to stay there myself. The strange thing, though, is that despite all this, business still remained good. I thought about it last time and I wanted to ask a specialist to take a look, but my great aunt firmly opposed it, so I could only give up.”
“How long have you taken over that hotel?”
“Just the last six months. I asked my great aunt when she was in charge of the hotel, and she said there was no frequent illness for employees or guests.”
As the two chatted, the dishes they ordered came one after another, and the topic was switched to talking about the local customs.
Hearing Dong Zhi was new in town, He Jia enthusiastically offered to show him around. While Dong Zhi found the proposition exciting, he first had to find a place to settle down, so he politely declined.
“Great Dongdong…”
Dong Zhi smiled and said, “Don’t call me great. It’s quite awkward. My surname is Dong. Given name is Zhi. You can just call me Dong Ge.”
“So this turns out to be the origin of your screen name, Dong Dong Qiang!” He Jia realized it at once and immediately asked, “Dong Ge, do you still play games now?”
She wasn’t only a fan of Dong Zhi’s comics but was also a player of the <The Great Wasteland>. It could be said that she had watched Dong Zhi come a long way from all the way back then.
“Not anymore.” The identity of the Special Administration Bureau is special and couldn’t be easily revealed to ordinary people. Dong Zhi came up with an excuse. “I’m currently helping a friend’s company, so I only draw during my spare time.”
He Jia looked regretful. “What a pity.”
Dong Zhi laughed. “What’s there to pity? Isn’t it better to like your hobbies than have them be the source of how you can eat?”
He Jia thought about it, and then laughed as well. She enjoyed this meal very much.
From her impression, male artists were generally otakus who weren’t good at speaking and were very slovenly. She had seen some male artists in the past when she went for autograph signings or seen their pictures online, so it only deepened her stereotype. She didn’t expect Dong Zhi to be an exception. What’s even more rare was that the other party was very polite and gentlemanly, letting her order and taking the initiative to pay when she went to the bathroom, so as not to leave her in an awkward state. Even if it hadn’t reached the point of falling in love at first sight, being invited to a meal with a handsome guy was already a plus for girls like her.
After the meal, Dong Zhi asked her, “Are the rooms in your hotel full? If not, I would like to book a room and stay for one night tonight.”
For a moment, He Jia was taken aback. With a shy look on her face, she said, “I asked before I came here. There are still two rooms available today. Why don’t I take you there?”
She was afraid Dong Zhi might misunderstand, so she quickly added, “Dong Ge, I’m a little afraid of going by that place at night.”
Dong Zhi laughed. “That’s okay. You can just take me to the entrance, and I’ll go in by myself.”
Facing such a charming and handsome guy, she gritted her teeth and hardened her heart. “Forget it. I’ll go in with you for just one night!”
Dong Zhi chuckled. “Just take me there. You don’t need to accompany me.”
“It’s fine!” Who told you to look so good, He Jia silently added in her heart. She suddenly remembered something and said shyly, “Dong Ge, I don’t mind if you use the hotel as material for your comic, but can you hide the city and hotel information when the time comes?”
Only now did Dong Zhi realize that He Jia thought he wanted to go to the hotel purely out of curiosity so he could collect more materials for his comic. He thought to himself that this was a good excuse he could use when it was inconvenient for him to reveal his identity in the future.
“Of course. Even if I use it in my comics in the future, I’ll never expose any relevant or personal information.”
He was really interested in the hotel, especially the strange events that He Jia had described. It would be good if those strange things didn’t lead to any evil outcomes, but since the employees and guests were getting sick often, this showed that it had affected the lives of ordinary people, which meant it fell within the jurisdiction of the Special Administration Bureau.
The Special Administration Bureau was different from other departments. Things may not always be delivered to you. Although Dong Zhi was new and Yan Nuo didn’t let him interfere with their work, it didn’t mean that he couldn’t take the initiative himself.
After the two of them finished their meals, they rested for a bit before He Jia took Dong Zhi to the hotel.
The hotel was located in the old district. There were some well-preserved arcades from the Republic of China days. Plants grew on the left and right of the entrance, and flowers swayed back and forth. The scenery must be even more beautiful during the day. The hotel had three floors and adopted the architectural characteristics of both Chinese and Western styles, most likely to integrate it with the nearby old buildings in order to attract more tourists.
When Dong Zhi stood at the door and looked at the words “Langhai Hotel” on the wooden signboard next to the hotel gate, his feet stopped abruptly, as if the brake button was suddenly pressed in his body, catching him off guard.
“Dong Ge?” He Jia asked when she was motionless.
What was this bad feeling that he felt standing in front of this place? Was it the eerie hotel that made people not want to go in?
No. As soon as he saw the entrance, he had a strong desire to go in and stay there, as if he couldn’t wait and felt impatient.
This was the strangest feeling. Dong Zhi was now struggling with such instincts, holding back his body’s reaction forcefully. The doors to the entrance were like a magnet in his eyes, with the ability to suck people in.
“Every time you come through the entrance, do you get a strange feeling?” He asked He Jia.
“What strange feeling?” He Jia was puzzled.
“I feel like I really want to go in. Like there’s something there that’s attracting me.” Dong Zhi couldn’t describe this feeling very accurately because it was just an invisible force, illusory and immaterial.
He Jia shook her head. “No, I actually don’t like coming here very much, but I have heard guests talk about the feeling you mentioned. They said that they wanted to go to the nearby island to find a hostel, but when they passed by here, they somehow became attracted to coming in.”
As a practitioner, Dong Zhi was more consciously observant and could better control his will, but most ordinary people couldn’t do it, and they wouldn’t think too deeply about the weirdness either.
“Let’s go.” He didn’t say anything more as he walked in with He Jia.
The furnishings in the hotel were deliberately designed to create a sense of history. A combination of Chinese and Western styles could be seen everywhere. The stairs were European-style in imitation of the Republic of China era. There were quite a lot of guests. When Dong Zhi entered, they happened to run into two groups of guests who were checking out and another group that was waiting to check in. It could be seen that, as He Jia had said, business was booming.
Dong Zhi carefully observed their expressions and saw that among the two groups of people who were about to check out, there was a mix of old and young, and their expressions weren’t very good. The children were coughing as they looked at the furnishings in the hotel, showing reluctant expressions.
“Hello, auntie. Are you checking out?” He took a step forward.
The middle-aged lady who had taken her family out for a trip nodded and said, “We had checked out the day before yesterday and were leaving, but the stay here was so comfortable that we couldn’t bear to leave, so we stayed for two more days.”
“Comfortable? Is the service very good?” Dong Zhi innocently blinked and smiled. “I’m staying here for a night. If it’s as good as you say, I might book another night.”
The auntie laughed. “It’s not like that. I can’t really describe it. Anyway, I would feel lazy after coming in, and I would have good dreams every night. Since I stayed here, it really felt like a vacation. We don’t want to go anywhere else. Just sleeping here is enough.”
Dong Zhi felt touched and smiled. “Then I’ll book two nights so I can feel the sense of vacation.”
As there were guests present, He Jia couldn’t say anything. As soon as they left, she said, “Dong Ge, just stay for one night. You don’t need to check in. I’ll tell them.”
Dong Zhi shook his head. “How can you do that? You opened this place for business, so there’s no reason to offer me such benefits.”
When he saw that He Jia was about to object, he quickly said, “Don’t worry. I can pay.”
He Jia didn’t press the issue, believing that she’d simply compensate him for the night when he checked out.
“Is it convenient to get a tour of the place?” Dong Zhi asked.
“Of course. I’ll show you around.” He Jia told the front desk and asked them to reserve a room for her tonight, then she took Dong Zhi upstairs.
There were only three floors in the hotel. The corridors were brightly lit, and paintings and decorations were hanging from both sides. The windows were made of colorful glazed glass, which was very much in line with the bourgeoisie style of the city. There were iron railings hanging outside the window that had various sunflowers planted in them. The sea could be seen from a distance. Although it was located in the old district, it wasn’t surprising that this place would have an endless stream of guests due to these attentive arrangements.
Dong Zhi inquired about this question, and He Jia replied, “Even if that’s the case, there are many tourists in Lucheng all year round, but fewer come during autumn and winter. Generally speaking, every hotel would be full. This hotel was booked at maximum capacity almost every day, and the rooms that were available would be immediately booked. The problem is, I rarely advertise and have never cooperated with any travel websites or tourism groups to promote it. Furthermore, the guests who made the reservations online said that they originally wanted to book another hotel, but for some reason, their search ended up at my website. They thought it looked good, so they changed their mind and booked mine instead.”
As she said this, she couldn’t help adding, “While I’m very happy that business is good, still, this is just too strange!”
Dong Zhi looked around the room in the corridor and asked, “Your great aunt told you to dedicate a room for worship. Can I take a look?”
He Jia nodded and whispered, “I don’t believe in ghosts, but I feel weird whenever I go into that room. I’ll let you take a look, but don’t stay too long.”
Dong Zhi naturally agreed.
The author has something to say:
Dong Zhi never expected to become a male god in the eyes of others.
Let’s put a (non-related text to the novel) as welfare:
At the time, the Special Administration Bureau was still attached to the National Security Department and had to act with them every time when dealing with issues. It was always inconvenient to go in and out, and the application for funds was even more troublesome. The Special Administration Bureau had a special job dealing with monsters and demons, so they had to maintain a high level of vigilance. What would happen if they accidentally injured ordinary people? Once, former Director Zhang Xiankun saw Lanzhou ramen and Shaxian street food all over the street and it gave him inspiration. He thought about it and disguised his local offices as restaurants serving braised chicken and rice, worried that they wouldn’t have enough money.
Later… There was no later.
Because Kan Chaosheng joined the Bureau.
Kinky Thoughts:
Just for some clarity, the Special Administration Bureau refers to the entire exorcism department as a whole (all the branch offices along with HQ), while the General Administration Bureau is the HQ of the Special Administration Bureau, so while they were in the capital, the General and Special Bureau usually mean the same thing, but when it’s specifically referred to as the General Bureau, it means that it’s where all the leaders are (as HQ is the one that gives out the orders to the other branches).
I probably should have added this note way before.
Oliver erected an ice shield in front of Nemo almost instantly. Ann took a step back, and the sharp front end of her hunting spear was firmly facing the eyeball. Adrian drew the sword out of its scabbard this time while the gray parrot turned around, mooning its ass towards him in disdain.
Nemo did nothing. He patted the dead branches and grass clippings off his robe and bypassed the ice shield, stepping in front of the red eyeball.
“Nemo, don’t—” Ann warned loudly.
“It had a deal with Mr. Cross which seems to have been successfully completed.”
“Be careful.” Oliver moved his finger to remove the ice shield. “Witherspoon is on his side.”
Nemo nodded and looked directly at the distorted pupils in its eye. He couldn’t figure out where the voice was coming from. Those words seemed to flood into his ears from all sides.
“I don’t deny it,” Telaranea said briskly. “I have my position and doing charity is not my style.”
“It’s okay. I can feel it. It’s weaker than me now and it’s constantly getting weaker.” Nemo fixed his hair casually.
Adrian didn’t say a word. The silver sword blade gleamed cold and soft in the moonlight.
“What do you want to know?” It’s strange that Nemo didn’t think the eyeball in front of him was disgusting or scary. He took a deep breath, and a vague thought crossed his mind. “What can you offer?”
“I want your real name,” Telaranea’s voice was slightly rapid. “The engraving is governed by law, so you cannot lie. Oh, don’t worry about human rumors. Knowing your true name is pointless. It’s just a marker of sorts.” It deliberately paused for a few seconds.”Regarding my side, I can provide information—as long as it is within my knowledge. I can answer your question.”
“Listening to your tone… Are you sure I’m not human?”
“Is there a problem? I don’t have the habit of paying a deposit in advance.”
“Of course not,” Nemo quickly added. “I need time to think.”
“Thinking is a good habit.” The eyeball floated randomly in the air, and the dried flesh began to become translucent. “But you have a limited time to think, so I personally suggest you think quickly. If you can’t think of anything, I can give you some examples. Like, the respectable knight over there. I gave him two choices. The past and the future.”
Nemo closed his mouth carefully, so that he didn’t have any doubt about what he said would be counted as the content of the transaction. He nodded his head vigorously and put on the posture of being all ears.
“I can let him see his friend’s ‘deathbed’. It’s a pity that he missed it. It was just a short time. This is the past,” it sounded jubilant, without the slightest bit of pity. “Of course, I can also help him do a harmless little thing. This is the future. I believe you can guess what he chose, but I disagree—he did struggle for a long time.”
Adrian raised the sword a little higher but it simply responded by shaking its eyeball a few times. Because it had too many pupils, Nemo could only guess that it was a symbolic eye roll.
“What about you? Which one do you care more about?” It ignored Adrian’s underlying meaning and continued with interest.
“I accept your deal.” Nemo’s mood wasn’t high. In fact, the caution in his tone was almost overflowing as every word was carefully said as if he was wiping his finger on a blade. “How do we start? Ah, no, that’s not my question—we can start.”
He thought he would see a spell similar to the Pact of Truth, but the magic of a superior demon was much simpler and more straightforward. He felt as if he had been cut by an invisible knife that left a mark on his left wrist. Not a drop of blood oozed out, and the wound flashed with an orange glow like burning charcoal.
“Recipient, please follow the transaction and tell me your original name—the name connected to the Abyss.” The eyeball leaned in closer, almost touching the tip of Nemo’s nose. “The engraving has taken effect, which means you must know the answer to the question.”
“……Bagelmaurus,” Nemo replied slowly.
The gray parrot turned its head in shock and let out an earth-shattering “bah” sound.
“Shameless!” It almost rushed over to protest. “You stole my powers and now you’re stealing my name! I love my name!”
The brilliance of the engraving darkened, and a lot of blood quickly gushed out of the shallow wound. It seemed that it wasn’t a shallow scratch but rather a cross-section on the wrist. The rate of blood loss was so fast that if Nemo was an ordinary human, this would have been enough to make him faint. His body temperature was slowly falling, but the pain was almost insignificant compared to the strange emptiness caused by his blood leaving his body.
Oliver’s body became extremely stiff. Ann didn’t speak. She frowned slightly and exchanged a surprised look with Adrian.
“Lies,” it said, “but it’s okay. You still have a lot of blood to shed—it’s best not to lie in the transaction, Light.”
Most of his gray robe was stained red with blood, but Nemo showed a relieved smile. He stretched out his right hand and gestured to stop Oliver, who was about to step forward.
“Great,” he whispered. The rapid blood loss made him shrink subconsciously. “I understand.”
“Listen, my original name is—Nemo Light.” He raised his voice and his left wrist demonstratively. “I am the adopted son of Patrick Light from Roadside Town. He gave me this name.”
The blood stopped.
The only bright red liquid left dripped slowly along his fingertips. Nemo, who was staring at the engraving, breathed a sigh of relief. He slowly straightened up, with an inexplicable taste of victory.
“That is my only name,” he announced in an oath-like tone.
Telaranea was silent. The pupils on its eyeballs were like grease floating on water, and now they were twisting violently into a ball.
“You are not lying,” it said extremely slowly, fluttering slowly around him in a circle. “The law recognizes this.”
“Yes, I did not lie,” Nemo wiped his blood-stained left hand casually on his robe. “Sorry, I’m a pure human being and not what you think… Well, whatever you’re thinking of.”
Telaranea fell into a long silence until the dry flesh disappeared. Its small eyeball began to become a little transparent. Suddenly, it began to make a series of strange noises. It was hard to say whether it was laughter or some strange scream. The sound was like a bad carpenter sawing a dry log.
“You’re more interesting than I thought—” The eyeball twirled at an increasing pace in the dark night. “How extremely interesting!”
It rotated excitedly for a few minutes, until half of its eyeball began to become smoky and hazy.
“Come on, your question,” it generously said. “Past or future?”
“I have no past, and I don’t need you to intervene in my future,” Nemo’s voice was steady. He had never been so relieved, like a person who had been struggling hopelessly in the sea for a long time and was finally able to catch a piece of driftwood. “I already have the answer to my only question.”
“Do you want to give up the opportunity to ask a question?”
“Of course not!” Nemo shouted. “You stated that you disagree with Mr. Cross’ choice… I’m not qualified to judge other people’s choices, but there is still a chance now. Yes, I think ‘now’ is good.”
As soon as Adrian opened his mouth, Nemo interrupted him without hesitation.
“Tell us the truth. Yes, all of us,” he asked in a loud voice. “Tell us about the end of Cahill Edwards.”
“You need to know that you wasted a very precious opportunity.”
“This sentence sounds a bit familiar.” Nemo tugged at the corner of his mouth and glanced at the gray parrot. The latter was nervously plucking its feathers with its mouth. “…I’m very good at wasting things.”
The dark forest disappeared.
It was a very sunny afternoon. The sun was shining through the windows, and everything was joyfully warm and golden. The fresh roses by the window were still dewy, reflecting crystal-like light in the sun. From time to time, children’s laughter came from outside the window. The owner of the room, Cahill Edwards, lay silently on the bed; his expression calm and empty. He lay flat on his back, staring at the spot on the ceiling motionless, with only a slight fluctuation in his chest.
The half-melted amulet was still hanging around his neck.
The four of them stood in the corner of the house. Nemo tried to reach out and touch the flowers, but his hand directly went through them. Ann looked around curiously, while Oliver and Adrian stayed where they were, silently.
This was the last corner of the truth, and they knew it.
The door pushed away the sunlight and slowly opened. A cute girl with braided hair walked into the room carrying a basket. She hummed a minor tune, and her milk-like skin was sprinkled with freckles. Her dress was a popular style among the common people.
“I came to see you… Yes, I’m here again.” She winked playfully at Cahill and sat down lightly on the edge of the bed. She put the basket at the head of the bed, and the cover slipped slightly, revealing the bright red and tempting fruit inside. Telaranea illusion was so realistic that Nemo could even smell the aromas of cinnamon and roasted apples on her body.
“Why didn’t you drive me away this time?” She looked at Cahill, who was silent, and sighed with a low voice, pretending to be surprised.
Cahill still looked at the post on the ceiling. His gaze didn’t even budge.
“Why don’t you give up?” He said softly. “Don’t you only show up when you’re called? I said last time, I didn’t summon you.”
“I want your knowledge.” The girl shrugged and took out an apple from the fruit basket. She picked up the knife and started to peel it. The bright red peel slid down between her fingers like blood. “Your level of magic is regrettable, but your casting skills and experience are not learned in any books. Do you know how strong the smell of despair is on you? I can smell you from another city. Yes, unfortunately, I am a very active outlier.” She covered her mouth and laughed as if she had told some funny joke. “And I want to correct one thing—you weren’t so polite last time you asked me to leave. It was really hurtful.”
Cahill fell silent.
“Poor, poor Cahill,” she said softly, putting the peeled apple aside. “Are you tired? Do you want to rest?”
“Hawkes committed suicide the day before yesterday. He lost his arms.” Cahill still didn’t look at her. “It was Tobin a month ago. He lost both his legs.”
The girl closed her mouth and flashed her big eyes.
“But I’m still alive,” he said in a hushed tone. “So I’m a ‘strong and admirable hero’, a symbol of hope, while they’re ‘cowards whose faith was not firm enough’… I know Adri has been fighting for them, but…”
He moved his lips without saying any more.
“I need someone to help turn me over and feed me food every day and exorcize evil spirits three times a day. In order to prevent corruption from the Abyss, my mother has to do everything herself.” There was a pause, then he spoke again. “Yes I’m tired… Dragon breath stones are really costly.”
He closed his eyes. “It’s really too costly.”
“Adri? The one who just left?” The girl played with the tips of her hair, sounding a little absent-minded. “That person is also very interesting.”
“I promise you.”
“What?”
“I promise you. I want to make a wish, Telaranea… Is that your name?”
“Oh—yes.” The girl took out another apple from the basket. It floated from her palm and the peel quickly twisted and festered, turning into a red eyeball. “You will become part of me. What is your wish?”
This time Cahill faced her squarely. He opened his eyes wide as tears kept slipping from the corners of his eyes.
“I want to stand up and work with Adri again to help those friends who have fought together… I want my mother to recover from the irreversible consumption of this period of time. I want to see His Majesty and tell him—”
“Stop, stop, stop.” The girl, one of many of Telaranea’s bodies, made a pause gesture. “You’re too greedy! I said that your magic level isn’t qualified, so only a boring type like me would be willing to make a deal with you. You have too many wishes.” She licked the corners of her mouth and moved the eyeball closer.
“You can only choose one,” she stated cruelly. “I suggest you choose the first one. Look at how young you are. Even if you become a demon warlock, you won’t have such an ostentatious deformation. You can stand up…” she whispered sweetly close to his ears. “You can save countless people and restore hope to those desperate remnant soldiers. Isn’t this what you swore in the first place, dear healer? It’s enough to sacrifice the old lady. She won’t live long.”
Nemo turned his face. He didn’t want to look at this anymore. Adrian had already walked to the bed. He looked down at his friend with a blank expression.
“It can’t be me,” he said slowly.
Telaranea was stunned for a few seconds.
“…It’s okay if it’s not me,” Cahill Edwards repeated. “You said you want to fulfill my wish. Then you will live in my place. I want you to recover slowly and do everything as I would do.”
“Then this is the wish. I want you to be a real ‘hope’… Don’t let them down.”
“Take everything from me, demon. It’s just a human life. It’s short for you, isn’t it?”
The author has something to say:
Since everyone cares so much about being Mr. Studious (…), let’s talk about the demon setting a little bit~
Telaranea (Telaranea), the source is tela + arana, which means spiderweb*. The image is of a giant brain in the center of a huge spiderweb. It has a strong thirst for knowledge and sends out countless eyeballs to climb around the earth’s surface and the Abyss, learning everything. The main body cannot move, so it uses illusions for self-protection.
*In Latin.
The objects it selects and possesses are treated equally, regardless of whether they are men, women, old, or young. A friend who is chaotic neutral and loves to learn as learning makes it particularly happy.
Kinky Thoughts:
Poor Cahill. Such a tragic figure in this novel.
Correcting a mistake. I originally translated Telaranea as Della Leanne until I came across the author’s official name for it. For early readers, please keep this in mind going forward that Telaranea is Della Leanne previously. Western names, especially those unique like this, don’t translate well to English.
The eyes of the other three suddenly focused on Adrian’s back, and even the gray parrot froze on Nemo’s shoulders without saying a word. The crowd was already much thinner than at the beginning. The Knights of Judgment neatly drew their swords and surrounded the four of them in front of the burning house.
The aroma of roses was finally dispelled by the unique smell of fireworks.
The shadow of the superior demon began to scatter like smoke and started to become more solid. It looked like a huge cobweb had formed between heaven and earth. There was an equally huge brain-like structure in the middle of the cobweb. Unfortunately, the whole thing was a virtual cloud of translucent black mist, and the details were not clear. The shadow stretched out its smoky end and merged into the dark shadow under Adrian’s feet. Nemo frowned slightly. The shadow of the demon in front of him revealed a strong sense of discordance. If he had to say it, he didn’t feel the aura similar to Pandorater from that shadow. It wasn’t strong, but quite the opposite—its momentum was a bit weaker than the fake ‘Cahill’.
Adrian turned around with his left wrist exposed. An engraving flashed faintly.
“Long time no see, teacher,” he said in a deep voice, lowering his head slightly.
The knights removed their shields, and a rickety figure appeared. The old man was dressed in a red robe. His figure wasn’t tall, but his whole body exuded an indescribable majesty.
The expression on his face was closer to regret than anger.
“Holy Sacrifice,” he sighed. “I know Joanna. She set it up for you.”
“I had guessed it.” Adrian raised his eyes.
“I believe she knows what we’ll do.” The old man spoke as if he was having a nice chat and was ignoring the burning mark. The blades of the swords from the Knights of Judgment flickered in the fire, like a row of neat metal tusks. “Of course, you also know. Come back, my son. Zenni will forgive your mistakes.”
Adrian didn’t speak. He sighed and slowly raised his engraved left wrist. Behind him, the huge shadow of the demon slowly twisted. Several bold civilians crossed the silver armor of the Knights of Judgment to watch desperately through the gap.
“I know what this is, my son.” There was more sadness in the old man’s voice. “It’s not a contract. It’s just a transaction mark. You know that the demon has invaded the world. You’re not the reason. God won’t blame you too much.”
“But they don’t know.” The former Knight Commander’s tone was calm as he cast his eyes on the people watching carefully in the distance.
“Child, I can guess what you’re thinking,” The old man in the red robe said. “Please—please come back. Don’t be obsessed. Cahill Edwards is dead and you’re still alive. The reputation of the living is always more important than that of the dead. Joanna is my good friend, and I know the pain. They’re all gone. You have to accept this.”
“So you still plan to use the old method to solve it.” Adrian lowered his wrist.
“Everything is for the overall situation,” the old man said slowly.
“Push him down from the altar and tell everyone that Cahill Edwards was possessed by a demon from the start. He tried to become a hero so he could bewitch everyone afterwards. He miraculously recovered while I was chosen as a sacrifice not long after I was imprisoned. This can be the best evidence. And I—I will become the new ‘Tragic Hero’ and hold onto the glory of God while in prison.”
Adrian smiled. It was the first time Nemo had seen him smile, and that smile was complicated and sad.
“Then His Majesty and the Holy Church only need to admit this harmless little injustice—who made this demon’s evil plan?”
“…This is the most appropriate and your persistence is also a fact,” the old man said. “The dead are gone. People need stability, and they need to know the existence of heroes.”
“I’m not a hero.” Adrian said it slowly, emphasizing each word. “I’m undoubtedly a sinner.”
“First, my blindness caused bloodshed. Second, my lies have created despair. Third… What do you think of this ‘truth’ that I colluded with demons to seduce heroes who trusted me wholeheartedly?”
“It makes sense in theory,” the old man commented in a low voice, “but are you sure you want to go this way, my child? Your sacrifice will be worthless, and the same thing is bound to happen again.”
“Two and a half sentences that I spoke are facts, you know.” Adrian lowered his hands and the huge shadow of the superior demon fell silent. “This is not a sacrifice, Mr. Mercer. This is just an attempt. I can guess the ending, but I don’t regret my decision. Even if you still ignore the cause of the demon this time, one day, His Majesty must face up to that fact—a few symbolic gold coins are useless, and the wounded soldiers on the road to death cannot survive only on faith alone.”
“If he insists on going his own way, not thinking about solutions but just hoisting them high with virtue, then the demons are destined to return again, because that is not the suffering given to them by God, but by man. The glory should go to those who died or were injured as a result of his command, and it has nothing to do with God.”
“’Don’t run away from your mistakes. Just as you are about to face the painful truth…’ This is what you taught me. Cahill Edwards saved 387 people on that battlefield, and he is their light.”
The former knight straightened his back and raised his head, his eyes burning with fire.
“…And I don’t want you to erase that. I’m very sorry, teacher.”
The old man known as Mr. Mercer was silent for a long time.
“I respect your choice, my child,” he said, taking a deep breath and raising his voice. “Adrian Cross colluded with a demon because of his lust, fell from the grace of God, and betrayed Zenni’s love and trust.”
“Cardinal Mercer Nathaniel hereby proposes to treat this as ‘apostasy’ for the time being.”
The crowd of onlookers in the distance was stirred. The old man coughed a few times, bending his back down a bit, looking even thinner.
“Catch them,” he gave the order wearily.
At that moment, Nemo wanted to raise his hand, but Ann was the first to move.
“Come on, a big one—” she shouted at Nemo. “Clear the field!”
Nemo immediately understood. He took a step back and raised his hand. A purple black light of Abyssal magic immediately obscured a piece of the sky.
“I’m a demon warlock.” He thought seriously for a moment. “I suggest you run away… No, leave.”
A live demon warlock and an unknown shadow were not the same thing. The nearest onlookers screamed and fled, spreading panic wildly. Within a few minutes, the people who were still watching from a distance suddenly fled, leaving only small debris that they had no time to pick up.
The Knights of Judgment didn’t wait until they finished their attack. They skillfully rushed up and raised their shields to advance under the crazy pouring of icicles.
“You won’t last long,” Mercer said. “Don’t resist. Now give us Adrian Cross and I can help you regarding your sentence.”
“We have such a big demon warlock!” Ann jumped on the top edge of a big shield and dodged a sword neatly. “Are you going to imprison him too? Oliver will die of a broken heart.”
Nemo was leaning in the direction of Adrian. The shadow shield offset the beams of light that bombarded them one after another. He tried to give a puzzled glance at Ann. Oliver’s ice spikes stopped unnaturally for a few seconds, and he almost collided with a heavy shield. He shook his hand uncomfortably, and the icicles changed direction to suppress the large number of enemies in front of him.
The gray parrot was screaming happily, throwing black balls of light at the Knights of Judgment one by one. Although they didn’t cause any incredible damage, they were annoying to deal with on this narrow battlefield and restrained the movements of many of them.
Adrian caught a knight’s right arm with his hand who was attacking him from behind and snatched away his sword, even removing the scabbard along with it. He put the sword back in its sheath and assumed a calm stance. The shadow behind him was really just a hideous decoration, as it was slowly dissipating at this moment.
“Heilem’s city wall has been blocked, and the teleportation array has been disabled. You can’t escape. It’s better to give up now—”
“Oliver, do you have the Amulet of Holy Light? Follow what we discussed.”
“No problem.”
“Nemo, how about you?”
“I…”
“Are you ready?”
“…Probably.” Nemo was sweating nervously.
“Do you want to know how you managed to escape the Walls of Sighs, Nemo? Come on, Oliver, it’s time for you to shine—”
Oliver interrupted her mercilessly with his movements. He raised the Amulet of Holy Light, and a surge of magic swept into the small amulet like a whirlpool, turning it into pure light. The dazzling white light burst out all at once, and this time, he didn’t hold back—the amulet directly turned into dust.
Under the pure brilliance, the knights subconsciously stopped their movements.
“Nemo!” Oliver shouted.
Nemo crossed his fingers unfamiliarly and the dark shadows rose from the ground, forming into vines. He was caught in them himself. He was so nervous that it made him nauseous. Oliver jumped and clung to the nearest vine closest to Nemo, while Ann neatly grabbed one that had rubbed against her and also Adrian’s collar—easily dragging him off the ground.
“Old man,” she grimaced with a smile. “Is the magic radius for the disabling teleportation spell only a few hundred meters?”
The sky above them was defenseless.
The knights came back to their senses and tried to cut off the shadow vines, but the moment their silver sword touched them, they seemed to turn into real shadows. Their sharp blades couldn’t pierce or break through nothingness. The shadow vines rose extremely fast, and soon their figures ascended and became so small that they couldn’t be seen.
In fact, these seemingly happy fugitives were far from as calm as they seem.
There was no trace of clouds in the night sky. The windows of the buildings that had light turned into tiny stars, and the fireworks turned into small shining splashes of water under their feet. Nemo only felt that his legs were growing softer, causing the shadow vines to sway. Fortunately, the gray parrot had its own wings, so it was fine, but the other three wingless humans were almost thrown off.
“What are you doing!” Ann yelled. She almost lost her grip on the Knight Commander and dropped him from the sky.
“This is the first time I’ve used this technique!” Nemo roared back against the violent wind.
“This is the life of a Black Chapter. Adapt to it!”
“I’m afraid of heights!”
“…You’re what?”
“I’m afraid of heights, okay?” Nemo tried to focus on the shadow vines instead of looking at the ground. “The tallest I’ve ever been was climbing a tree!”
“Oliver, think of a way to stabilize him!” Ann’s voice became sharp. “It’s stupid to be killed by a companion. I need a stable environment to stimulate the teleportation array!”
Oliver let go of his hand.
To be precise, it wasn’t letting go. He made a force at the end of the shaking shadow vine and jumped steadily to Nemo’s side, and without hesitation, hooked an arm around another vine and raised his other hand and covered Nemo’s eyes.
“Don’t be nervous,” he said softly. “It’ll be fine in just a bit.”
The swaying of the vines slowed, but it was still trembling badly. Nemo licked his lips nervously. He could feel the wind hitting his cheeks and the darkness in front of him didn’t make him very reassured either.
Suddenly, the gust of wind became cooler, and his vision was illuminated by the moonlight again.
He couldn’t see the ground anymore. Thick clouds gathered under their feet, obscuring everything below. They rolled slowly around them as Oliver smiled at him. He crumbled pieces of ice into powder that floated around him.
“Is this better?” He asked softly.
The shadow vine answered his question faster than Nemo himself, as it became extremely stable, like a giant tree towering into the sky.
“Well done.” Nemo commented pertinently, trying to ignore the heartbeat that was beating half a beat faster in this instant. “You should take note of this, Ollie. It’ll be useful when you chase your future girlfriend.”
He didn’t know if he was seeing things, but Oliver looked away for an instant. Nemo just wanted to crack a few jokes. The light of the teleportation array had lit up. The next moment, their faces were firmly buried in the grass. Nemo got up in silence, desperately spitting out the grass debris in his mouth.
“Welcome back to Frontier Forest.” Ann announced it happily. “The large teleportation array is very expensive. This charge will be added on to you both.”
Adrian loosened his neckline, revealing a terrible red mark. It was truly a miracle that he was not strangled to death, and Nemo couldn’t help but have some sympathy in his gaze.
“Now the transaction has been completed.” A strange voice that didn’t belong to anyone sounded. The imprint of Adrian’s left wrist was completely extinguished, and a red eyeball the size of an apple was floating in front of them. A deformed pupil was squeezing and flowing over it. Nemo felt familiar with this eye.
“Telaranea,” he murmured.
“It’s me.” There were slightly squirming fleshy lines hanging under the weird eyeball, which was drying up from the end. “My deal with this gentleman has been completed—oh, don’t be surprised. It’s just an intelligence deal. He gave me information, and I did him a small favor. It’s a pure transaction.”
“I’ve gained a lot this time, but I don’t mind adding a little more knowledge before I return to the Abyss. Nemo Light, I propose a deal with you.”
It floated ominously in the night sky and sounded very happy.
The author has something to say:
Oliver: No, I mean, I may never have a girlfriend in my life.
Nemo: ? Don’t be so sad, my friend. You are obviously very proficient at flirting.
They quickly followed the well-connected underground water road to the vicinity of the Edwards’ courtyard. Nemo used the shadow shield to cover everyone’s aura. Everything was going well. Regarding Mrs. Edwards’ situation, Adrian snuck out to take a peek and found nothing. Everything was surprisingly calm.
“That makes sense. No matter what she wants to do, if we can easily find out, then she can’t hide it from Telaranea.” Oliver carefully poked the dinner in front of him. It was a slimy mixture of moss and strange mushrooms, hastily roasted over a flame. It looked more like a witch’s brew than food. They weren’t short on water since Ann and Oliver had skills that could summon water bubbles. Although it took a lot of magic compared to a magical water bag, they didn’t worry too much about that at the moment. Besides, Oliver’s water bubbles could make enough water for them to take a cold bath without a time limit.
However, this didn’t make the atmosphere warmer.
Nemo refused to eat. He and the gray parrot stubbornly closed their mouths and kept away from the unpleasant color. Despite the fact that his body couldn’t even be destroyed by a superior demon, his mind was likely to be crushed by this so-called food, especially when Ann picked up a fat, four-eyed mouse and gave him a meaningful smile.
Anyway, he shouldn’t be able to starve to death, Nemo judged in his heart with some certainty.
In contrast, Oliver’s receptivity was surprisingly high. Nemo looked at him with a sullen face. Oliver chewed the pile of roasted mixture in small spoonfuls, without any expression on his face, as if he was performing some serious ceremony.
“You’re still too tender.” Ann quickly cut open a small beast that fainted on the ground. “In the beginning, even I vomited… Forget it.”
Oliver stopped chewing and his face turned a little blue. Adrian’s manner of eating was gentler. He acted as if he had heard nothing and was enjoying a palace dinner.
Seeing Ann throw a handful of grayish-black internal organs into the canal, Nemo’s mood turned complicated again.
“The taste actually isn’t too bad.” Oliver finally managed to swallow what was in his mouth. “It’s mainly a matter of materials. We don’t even have salt.”
“Don’t even think about it. They must be rummaging through the land looking for us. Just bear it for another five or six days. It’s not difficult.”
But Nemo found it very difficult.
Except for Adrian, who would take some time to venture above ground every day to investigate, the others stayed in place. The people of the Holy Church had explored the underground waterways several times, but they were all deceived by the shadow shield and Ann. However, it was difficult for their morale to be raised in such a dark environment, especially when they couldn’t distinguish between day and night, which made it easy for them to lose the concept of time entirely. All Nemo could do was sleep and talk, but even if he delved into his previous life experience, there weren’t many topics he could find. Ann was obviously not very interested in the daily lives of ordinary townspeople, but Oliver listened intently.
When he described the neighbor’s dog to Oliver for the third time, Ann finally uttered the words everyone was looking for.
“It’s tonight.” Her voice was clear and still full of vitality.
Adrian was more reticent than at first. In fact, he had been frowning and remained silent during the last period of time when he went up. Nemo was even worried that he wouldn’t come back after he went out.
From the beginning, he would briefly describe to them Mrs. Edwards’ actions, but from what they heard, the result was the same every day. Mrs. Edwards’ life seemed no different from before. She dealt with guests politely, took good care of her paralyzed son, and went out to buy fresh fruits and vegetables every day, just like clockwork.
Thus, Adrian simply stopped talking.
This atmosphere of waiting for the shoe to drop* was really difficult.
*Idiom meaning seemingly awaiting the inevitable.
“If nothing happens tonight, we’ll leave first,” Ann whispered. “Curiosity is one thing, but I hope you understand, we’re waiting for the right opportunity to escape, and curiosity was never the goal.”
Adrian cast his gaze on the sewage in the canal and nodded slightly.
Above the surface, people were already ready. Even though something happened to the Church of Penitence and there were knights belonging to the Holy Church patrolling around with cold expressions, the enthusiasm of the people did not diminish at all. The sun had just set, and the cornflower blue that belonged to evening slowly swallowed the glow. The wooden frames for burning sacrifices were full of flowers, and the air was filled with the unique smell of festivities—a mixture of wine, floral fragrance, old leather, and all kinds of sweet perfumes. It filled the noses of every pedestrian on the street and turned into some kind of unreasonable, almost slightly drunk happiness.
No one cared about how many frames there were for the sacrifices. The fireworks before the ceremony and the festival after it were the highlights.
Mrs. Edwards came back earlier today. The basket, usually full of fresh fruits, was empty. Cahill was in the living room, solemnly reading a heavy biography. There was tea prepared on the table on the side sitting on top of a tray with a magic array that was used to maintain the most appropriate temperature.
“Didn’t the Bishop ask you to give the opening speech for the sacrifice ceremony?” Mrs. Edwards put down the basket in her hand as she asked softly.
She didn’t touch the cup of tea.
Cahill raised his head, showing a smile that was no different from the past. “I can’t make it,” he said, carefully putting down the book in his hand and gently brushing off the dust on the cover.
“It’s still early.”
“You know I can’t make it, don’t you?”
Mrs. Edwards’ expression darkened, and her gentle smile slowly disappeared. She opened her mouth. Her lower lip trembled a little, and she didn’t say anything for a long time.
“I only discovered that magic array recently.” Cahill—the smile on Telaranea’s face was more obvious. He didn’t seem worried about his situation at all. “There’s no need for you to do that. It’s hidden really well, but you can’t handle that kind of blood loss. You know very well that that kind of array has no effect on me, don’t you?”
“But that wasn’t set up for me. You know that. All this—from that task, to the timing—was to help him… Oops, don’t give me that look. I can understand. After all, you’ve watched Adrian Cross grow up with him, so he’s like your second son.”
It was still the small living room of the past, but the air with a residual temperature in the summer evening suddenly became cold and viscous.
“It’s a pity that the contract failed,” Telaranea sighed slowly. He stood up from the wheelchair and changed to a more comfortable seat for himself and crossed his legs.
“…You’re half right.” The gentleness in Mrs. Edwards’ voice completely disappeared. She sat down opposite the demon and smiled slightly.
The roses were instantly swallowed up by white flames. The light of the magic array was particularly dazzling in the gradually darkening night. The moment the magic array was activated, the room was as bright as day for a few seconds, as if it was illuminated by lightning during midnight.
“That magic array is not a simple flare. I can at least use this life to trap you for a while,” she said slowly. “Do you know how many Knights of Judgment are patrolling now? Especially when the festival is about to begin. They will come faster than anyone else.”
Telaranea let out a louder sigh.
“I’m not the type who vents my anger when I fail—you should know that. After all, your son chose me. He is a—” he smacked his mouth. “Well, quite a kind person.”
Mrs. Edwards turned her gaze away.
“I’ve always been curious,” the demon said in a softer tone. “How did you find out? I have all these memories of Cahill Edwards. You are just his adoptive mother, so you can’t talk about the subtle feelings of kinship, and I do love you—I have walked in the world and tried all kinds of love. My love for you is by no means false, so my usual actions should be flawless.”
His voice was enthusiastic and simple, which made people feel creepy.
“Can you tell me the reason? …Please.”
Mrs. Edwards finally turned her face. Her expression was still indifferent, but her eyes were full of tears. They rolled down the deep wrinkles on her cheeks and turned into dark water stains on her dress. She stared at the familiar face in front of her. It was like a soldering iron was stuck to her heart, searing her chest with burning pain.
“…Because there’s no fear in your eyes.”
She answered the demon’s question with difficulty.
“Perhaps you really understand ‘love’, but this is something powerful that you wouldn’t understand… You could call it a ‘mother’s intuition’, Peo—” She paused for a while, trying to calm her breath. “People… sometimes feel fear and pain all from just the act of ‘living’ itself, just like me now.”
Telaranea stood up, approached the sobbing old woman, and held her thin and cold hands.
“Just like me now,” she repeated in a low voice. “My son, he must have been very desperate in the end… I know him better than anyone else. He knew what he had called into the world and he knew that he had betrayed everything he believed in.”
“But he died for you.”
“I know, but I have no obligation to accept it… It’s the responsibility of the parents to correct their children’s mistakes in time.”
“Am I a ‘mistake’? You know this kind of questioning is very rude. When your King of Garland goes crazy, more people die. Yet even so, you’re willing to accept and endure it,” the demon said meaningfully.
“Just to be ‘right’?” The old woman forced a tearful smile, rubbing tremblingly against the young hands that had once belonged to her son. “How can I step on his despair and live on? I just… can’t bear it. Like I said, people are afraid of ‘living’, more than death.”
“I see.” Telaranea stood up and bowed to the old lady with a grim joy on his face. “Thank you very much for your teaching. You can say it—that one sentence to end the contract once and for all.”
The old woman closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
“Cahill.” Her voice was unexpectedly calm.”I’m very—very disappointed in you.”
Outside the window, through the pale flame, people’s cheers suddenly rose with the fireworks. In the room, the carpet around the demon began to burn. The tongue of fire licked the dry carpet and quickly climbed onto the bookshelf, spreading unnaturally fast. The demon did not leave. He took the old woman’s hands again.
“Shh… Don’t be afraid,” he said softly. “I have one more question. A final question. If you answer, I can give you a dream.”
The air in the house began to distort due to the high temperature as Mrs. Edwards slowly raised her head.
“What is the biggest thing you regret in your life?” In the light of the fire, Telaranea’s eyes gleamed. “I’m curious.”
The old woman smiled wearily, and she surrendered her memory obediently.
The flames and smoke disappeared. Everything in the illusion became clean and new, and the young Mrs. Edwards looked tired. She took off the uniform and robe of the Holy Church and walked into a child’s room in the dark.
“Why haven’t you slept yet?” she asked. “Cahill, it’s already late.”
The little boy with ginger hair looked only six or seven years old. He was wrapped in a blanket and shrank in the corner of the bed.
“There’s a monster under the bed.” He breathed nervously. “Mom, can you help me?”
Mrs. Edwards didn’t bend over. She glanced at the shadow hastily. “It’s all fake, darling.” There was a hint of perfunctoriness in her tone. “I’ve told you many times that it’s all fake. Be a good boy, okay?”
“Don’t let mom down.”
How many times did she say that sentence?
Her son had grown up cheerful and brave. Cahill Edwards had been out and about for a long time, saving one desperate person after another.
After he went on the battlefield, she was bored and wanted to change a new bed for her son. When the workers lifted the old big bed, the bed board broke in two, revealing terrifying weird bones that were embedded between the thick wooden planks. It was only a subordinate demon that fed on fear, and it could only live for a few years. It was so weak that she could easily get rid of it with one hand.
But it had grown so big before it died.
The old woman passed through her young phantom and walked forward tremblingly. She stretched out her arms and embraced the little figure in vain.
“It doesn’t matter if you let me down,” she whispered. “It doesn’t matter if you disappoint everyone.”
“You can tell me your pain. It’s not wrong. If I’d told you earlier… If I could tell you this truth earlier, would your final pain be less?”
“I’m sorry,” she murmured. “I’m sorry, my son.”
“Go to sleep.” The demon lifted her up and kissed her forehead. “Good night, mom.”
The old house finally collapsed in the skyrocketing flames.
The unnatural light had already attracted people wandering nearby, as a group of well-dressed people crowded the streets where the Edwards lived. There were many voices in the discussion.
“I can break the magic array—” Nemo, who was mixed in with the crowd, stared anxiously at the flame as if he was about to rush in.
“It’s too late.” Adrian turned his back to them, facing the burning ruins. “The moment the formation was launched, it was already too late… She really didn’t leave anyone a chance.”
His voice trembled for the first time.
Above the flames, a huge shadow of a superior demon became clearer. People uttered, suppressed their screams, and some began to flee.
“There’s a superior demon in the Edwards family!”
“That’s the Edwards family. I don’t believe it. Mr. Edwards was going to give a speech tonight—”
Beautiful fireworks lit up the night sky. Under the fireworks, the Knights of Judgment broke through the crowd and quickly reached the burning house. The white light of the magic array had begun to weaken, but it hadn’t had time to dissipate.
“Now, it’s my turn.” Even though he heard the familiar sound of friction of armor, Adrian remained motionless. He slowly pulled up his left sleeve, revealing a weird and terrifying engraving.
