Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

---

Chapter 256: The Queen’s Preparation

Ann woke up early before the sun rose.

Nearly a week had passed since Oliver, Jesse, and Adrian left for the desert of Garland. After walking on a bloody path for many years, Ann wouldn’t be sad because “only she was left behind.”

But that didn’t mean she wouldn’t worry.

Before leaving, Oliver said goodbye to her very solemnly. Ann never liked too serious partings— As if they might never meet again.

“Promise me to come back soon,” she responded half-jokingly.

But Oliver Ramon didn’t answer.

……Brat.

Ann opened the window, looked out at the city shrouded in mist and shadow, and held down the corner of her forehead. The cold wind in the early morning grazed her skin, completely dispelling her only trace of drowsiness. Ann shivered in the slightly chilly autumn breeze, and directly opened the wardrobe, pushed away the palace attire that seemed too cumbersome, and changed into the casual clothes she had brought.

After washing, she habitually wiped the hunting spear that was resting at the head of the bed. She hesitated for a moment and, in the end, didn’t bring it.

It was time to start a new day. She hoped today wouldn’t be the end of the world.

She was a little hungry and knew that as long as she gave an order, a servant would bring a delicate and delicious breakfast.

The bread was snow-white and soft, and the scrambled eggs had just the right amount of fat. The soup wasn’t too hot, and the vegetables and meat cooked in it were so extremely tender that they didn’t need to be chewed and could easily slide down her throat.

But at this moment, she missed the smell of burning dry grass and pine branches, the crackling flames dripping with animal fat, and the half-cooked, half-burnt, tough and chewy meat of wild animals.

……And the two brats she picked up from the forest casually.

They used to grimace at breakfast, pitifully gnawing at the fishy animal meat, trying to stuff it into their stomachs.

That was not too long ago—three ordinary little people struggling to survive in the woods in the early morning.

Ann smiled bitterly and opened the bedroom door.

It was just that nostalgia was useless, and since she learned the identity of Jesse Dylan, she had no interest in praying at all. No matter what the result was on Oliver’s side, as a member of Tumbleweed, there were still things that only she could do.

Ann walked to the room where the documents were processed, sat down skillfully, and dipped the tip of her pen in ink.

Originally, the things she had to do piled up into a mountain—from learning to process various documents to clearing up the hidden injuries caused by Alban’s internal struggle for power over the years. From when she opened her eyes until they were closed, she was as busy as a gyroscope.

After learning the truth about the world, her task not only didn’t ease, but became more onerous.

She had to be prepared to “leave the castle at any time and act with the team”, and every day she had to act as if it could potentially be the last.

The matter of Oliver and Nemo must not be leaked. However, Tumbleweed had lost a member of its team, and it hadn’t responded to the request from the Mercenary Guild headquarters to go through relevant procedures. They were already violating the rules, and the protection granted by the Mercenary Guild would inevitably weaken a lot.

On the other hand, Lord Zenni made a lot of trouble with the task of guarding the reconnaissance team. The Pope of the Laddism Church knew their strength status and wouldn’t rush to pursue it. Both the Mooney Sect and the one-eye dwarves had to give their statements.

While looking for the dizzyingly difficult method, Ann quickly wrote a letter, ignoring her rumbling stomach.

At the end of the day, it was up to fate. She dipped the nib of the pen in the ink bottle and raised the corner of her mouth helplessly.

She was neither a god nor a Hero. Although she had good talents, she was far from the top of the world, but now, at a time when the world was likely to be destroyed, she took up a weapon she had never thought of.

Secular kingship.

…A ridiculous but effective weapon.

“Breakfast.” When the sun rose, her knight arrived on time. “The Mad Dog of the Wasteland”, Gallagher Salter, looked quite uncomfortable. The smell of his perfume was a lot lighter, but it was mixed with a little bit…

“Baked meatloaf.”

He said with a flat face. The muscles on his face twitched. The marshal wore gloves as he handed over the greasy food wrapped in a paper bag with both hands through his handkerchief. The roasted meatloaf exuded the aroma of grease and coarse pepper that seemed to make Gallagher want to faint just from the smell of the oil.

“Your servant mentioned that you haven’t had a good meal recently—maybe you are not used to this? After all, the royal kitchen can’t make those… Uh, those…”

“Thanks, Salter.” Ann accepted it without restraint and took a large bite, making her voice muffled. “I feel much better.”

Her eyes were still staring at the documents in her hand; her brows were tightly locked, and her usual air of freedom disappeared without a trace.

“The death of Mr. Light is sad. If there is anything I can do…” Gallagher said cautiously.

“I’ve worked you hard recently.” Ann stuffed the baked meatloaf into her mouth and changed the subject. “I don’t really want to talk about this for the time being, Salter… Next month.”

Although it was early in the morning, her smile had a bit of weariness to it.

“If we have the opportunity next month, we can go out for a drink and have a good chat about it.”

If the world is still there next month.

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Gallagher looked at Ann, who had stuffed the meatloaf into her stomach within a few bites, and there were still crumbly bits that were stuck in her mouth. He couldn’t help but hand over a clean handkerchief. “In addition, I saw Her Royal Highness Delia just now. Her condition seemed to be a bit bad.”

He looked a little hesitant.

“I can help you with some chores about repairs or castle arrangements. Maybe you can take some time to talk to her.”

“I can probably guess what’s wrong.”

Ann wiped her mouth with a handkerchief and sighed. Unlike Gallagher, Delia currently had no responsibility on her shoulders, so she told her the truth herself. She originally expected the little princess who grew up in the bird cage to let go of her baggage as soon as possible and enjoy her life.

But Delia’s situation was more serious than she thought. Not only did she not mean to enjoy life, but she also ran to ask Oliver, hoping to find out why he didn’t accept the proposal of the Sage of the Abyss.

Very unlike a child.

When she came back, there was confusion on her face, and Ann thought in a daze that she had seen her deceased father—It was the same expression—cold annoyance belonged to the late emperor.

With all these years of experience, Ann could guess what Delia was worrying about, and at the same time, she knew that it wasn’t a problem that she could solve by herself—it was better to say that it was because she herself couldn’t solve it.

“Speaking of this, Salter. I have two things to ask you.” Ann put the quill pen into her hand.

“Please speak, Your Majesty.”

“First, go find Telaranea and tell him that I’m willing to open the bottom floor of the royal library to him for a week,” she said calmly. “The price is that he has to have a good chat with my lovely niece. I believe he can understand.”

“Yes.”

“Second, after you tell him all this, go to Delia and ask her to see the progress of Telaranea’s research. Just say I’m too busy to get away. I believe she can understand too.”

“As you order.”

The breakfast was very exquisite, but Delia didn’t touch a single bite. She stared coldly at the plate containing the soup. The creamy soup gradually cooled and no longer looked so delicious.

Since the day she asked Oliver Ramon why he didn’t accept the proposal of the Sage of the Abyss to kill the body of the Pillar of the World, Cat Whiskers began to lose their temper.

The spider curled itself into a ball and didn’t want to spread its legs and feet no matter how she poked it. Even if she communicated with her thoughts, all Delia could get was anger and grievance.

The little princess carefully packed it in a small silk bag and carried it close to her body. But these days, Cat Whiskers didn’t have any intention of paying any attention to her.

But she didn’t want to apologize for it either.

According to old habits, she took a walk in the corridor. In the past, Cat Whiskers would climb down her arms, put up two front feet on the windowsill with the best sunlight, and stretch its body. But it remained motionless as usual today, and it didn’t mean to climb out of the silk bag.

Delia wasn’t in the mood.

Not long ago, after the maid brought breakfast into the room, she had even lost her appetite.

Pushing away the already cold cream soup in front of her, taking away the teacup, the little princess took out the curled Cat Whiskers and put it on the saucer—The demon just shrank there and pretended to be dead. Even if she couldn’t see its expression clearly, Delia could feel its resentment.

“I know, you probably want an apology.”

She hissed from between her teeth, “But I…”

Delia cautiously stretched out her hand and poked the spider. Cat Whiskers still didn’t respond.

“You are my only friend,” Delia said in a hoarse voice. “Remember Rosa? My half-sister… Rosa is a naive girl. She is very nice, but there is nothing to talk about between us. I can’t understand her world, and she doesn’t understand me at all.”

“She smiled at me, and I protected her. That’s enough, but we can’t be friends.”

“I originally thought it didn’t matter. Naïve people will always die if there’s no one to protect them. No one was willing to protect me before, but I’m not qualified to be a naïve person.”

“Then Ann appeared.” She said with clenched teeth, her voice beginning to tremble a little.

“I thank her, and I thank everyone in Tumbleweed. But I have already become like this. I can’t change it back. Can’t you understand that?”

Cat Whiskers lay quietly on its back. Its eyeballs quietly turned around.

“Those fairy tales that my mother gave me… Those fairy tales that record spells and power, the stories they write will always be the advent of heroes, the salvation of princesses, and all imperfections are all made up. That was all a lie. My hero finally arrived, but the first sixteen years of my life can’t be repeated.”

The spider hesitated for a while, its feet trembled, but it still didn’t move.

“I’m a terrible person, I know!” Delia wiped her eyes fiercely. “Ann is the only family I have. She’s a great person. I should trust her. I should love her unreservedly and accept her love openly.”

“But I can’t do it. At least now, I can’t do it… All we have is blood, and she doesn’t understand my nature at all. Cat Whiskers, even if I have the time to do it all over again, I will ask Oliver Ramon the same question. I am such a person. Do you understand?”

“Even if I tell Ann this, she will tell me it’s okay. She can only tell me it’s okay. In her eyes, I am an unfortunate child. What else can she say?”

“But I know. I alone know that there is no difference between Eldric and I—No, no difference between my grandfather and I. Sampson, who abandoned her, to press on. I will never be able to become a carefree person with unconditional trust in others.”

“I can’t be Oliver Ramon, I can’t be Nemo Light, I can’t even be Gallagher Salter. I can’t be her companion. It will only make her more disappointed; can you understand…”

“You can always hear my thoughts. You know how cruel I am, but you didn’t leave me before… Please, talk to me, okay?”

Cat Whiskers rolled slightly, still looking in a bad mood. It chose a compromise—it burrowed into the ribbon, fastened the mouth of the bag, and floated with the bag to Delia’s knee.

Then continue to pretend to play dead.

Delia blew her nose and sighed.

Delia’s eyes were still slightly red until the sun had gone most of the way across the sky. Following Ann’s orders, she went to check on Telaranea’s progress.

In that room, the Sage of the Abyss was at work. The Demon King’s skull was placed on a stone platform in the middle of the room, surrounded by dense and complex runes. The ground not far away was full of bottles and jars, one of which smelled like fresh blood.

The body used by Telaranea—The handsome red-haired young man pushed up his glasses and nodded at her. The calculation in his hand didn’t stop.

“The progress is placed on the round table to your left.” The demon’s voice had a cheerful tone. “There are not many conclusions, so feel free to look at it… In case she is dissatisfied, keep this in mind. I told Savage I couldn’t devote my full attention to this job right now.”

“Even if you know what this job means?” Delia’s voice is still a little hoarse.

“If your throat is uncomfortable, you can take some potion and drink it. To the right, on the third shelf, at the bottom. Do you see it? That bottle of light blue potion that smells like mint.”

Delia picked up her skirt and carefully held the crystal bottle in her hand to look carefully.

“I won’t be stupid enough to poison you here,” Telaranea snorted. “Back to the topic just now… Yes, of course I know what this job means. I think you also know that the ground under our feet may crack at any time, and everyone will die together.”

This time, Delia held back her question as she took the vial and poured herself a little sip of the potion. It was cold in her mouth and a bit bitter, but it worked quickly.

“But I promised someone I would wait for him at the entrance of the Abyss. Now he hasn’t come out yet, causing me to waste a body guarding the place. There’s no suitable research equipment in that shitty place, and there are fewer bodies that can be used, so of course the efficiency of my research will be a lot slower.”

Telaranea finished writing on one piece of paper and changed to another. His tone was flat, and he didn’t raise his head.

“Well, don’t hold back, Your Royal Highness. I know what you want to ask—In that case, why should I waste time waiting for him? ‘There is no contract for this kind of thing, and the Sage of the Abyss isn’t the sentimental type.’ …I have lived a long time, so it’s quite simple to see through your thoughts.”

Delia lowered her head and looked through the progress report sullenly. She took another sip of the light blue potion in the cup without saying a word.

“There is no need to be embarrassed. I know this idea very well. To tell you the truth, we’re very similar in some ways—results take precedence over everything, and if necessary, we can abandon anything, including ourselves.”

Telaranea put down the pen and changed to another one. He picked up a jar of blood on the ground and began to smear the magic array around the huge skull.

“…I don’t like this,” Delia finally said. “Being able to trust others is a great ability, and I have lost it. You said we are very similar, but you’re still waiting for your… friend, aren’t you? You trust him.”

“Nature may be changed, but it cannot be completely erased.”

The painting technique of the Sage of the Abyss was very smooth.

“I’m not going to comfort you. To be honest, I don’t even think there’s anything wrong with this. What, are you thinking that there’s such a thing as right and wrong with someone’s ‘character’? If all humans acted in accordance with the most ‘ideal’ character and behavior, then at least for me, humans would be less valuable to observe.”

Then, the demon paused for a few seconds.

“I don’t trust Aurorae,” he said. “I’m just like you, I don’t trust anyone. It’s just that he needs me. If he comes back from the Abyss, he must need treatment. If I’m not there… he will disappear.”

“And the probability of him coming back doesn’t seem to be zero, so I must be there.”

Delia’s breathing stopped for a few seconds.

“So, Your Highness. In my opinion, it doesn’t matter if you continue to live like this. If results come first, you must mind ‘trust’ and ‘love’. Then, when considering the result of ‘what you want’, also consider the result of the wants of ‘those who care’ when considering the outcome. Isn’t this enough?”

Delia put away the report. She took a breath and bowed slightly.

“Thank you, I think I can think about it in a different direction,” she said.

“Also, you don’t seem like a very talkative person, Mr. Sage. I also hope you can… thank Ann for me,” Delia added after a few seconds.

“…I won’t apologize because I don’t think I did anything wrong.”

Delia poked the small silk cloth bag hanging on her chest and whispered. Cat Whiskers in the bag moved.

“But I promise, Cat Whiskers, I will consider your mood next time.”

The spider poked its head out of the mouth of the bag, laid back on her shoulder, and bit her gently to vent its anger. A little emotion took the initiative to pass into her mind, still with anger, but Delia showed a smile.

She rubbed the dark spider and walked to the door.

Ann breathed a sigh of relief outside the door of the research room.

“All this time, and you still care about a little girl’s mood,” Bagelmaurus muttered discontentedly. “Ramon hasn’t come back yet. Why isn’t he back?”

“It’s not just Delia, I also care about Alban’s future. Okay, okay, take your beak away—I know, if there is a future. After all, when Oliver comes back, I will probably have to leave here, and I may not be able to…”

Ann stopped talking, looked out the window, and then squinted hard.

A white behemoth was flying in the direction of the castle, and Jesse Dylan was about to land at the entrance of the royal city.

“They’ve come back—”

Before she finished shouting a word, Bagelmaurus screamed and flew out of the window. Thinking of the flying spells forbidden in the castle, Ann, who had already climbed to the window, cursed, and honestly rushed out of the castle from the steps.

Then she bumped head-on into Oliver Ramon, who was about to enter the door.

Seeing that the other party’s limbs were intact and his head was still on his neck, Ann didn’t care too much, and directly gave the leader of her team a big hug.

“Asshole.” She gritted her teeth, took a step back, and punched him in the shoulder without any hesitation. “What took you so long to get back?”

Oliver smiled a little embarrassingly.

“Sorry.” He scratched his head.

“Well, let’s see. I’ve put off all the protests of the Moonies and the one-eye dwarves.” She breathed a sigh of relief. Her eyes were a little red. “But on the side of the Mercenary Guild, we have to solve it quickly… I will sign the document and forgive the three of you. At least in this way, the regulations on the Black Chapters—”

“Thank you for your hard work, Ann.” Oliver smiled a little bigger. “But I don’t want to dissolve Tumbleweed.”

Ann raised her eyebrows.

“This is one of the reasons I came to you,” Oliver said, holding out a hand. “Uh, are you free recently? We need to go to the Mercenary Guild and get Tumbleweed’s name back.”

“Of course I’m free. I’ve been desperately squeezing out my free time.” Ann rubbed her chin. “It’s just you have to explain it well, Captain.”

“Considering that you can’t pull Nemo to the surface for the time being, what are you going to do about the fifth member…? Oh, wait, I’m going to speak to Salter and take my spear. The goat and horse are in the yard. Someone will bring them later. We can talk while we walk.”

She shrugged and showed a bright smile.

“I have a hunch that this mission will be quite amazing.”

---

The author has something to say:

Tumbleweed is gathering!!! Still missing Nemo (.

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

---

Chapter 255: The Annoying Believer

Adrian was the first to come around. He took a step back and ended the bloody kiss—or rather bite.

“Mr. Ramon.” He bent down and stretched out a hand frankly. His normally light-colored lips were still tinged with a bit of blood.

Oliver spat out a few more bits of sand, his eyes still a little confused, as if he had just woken up from a long sleep. Although he cleared his throat vigorously, his throat still sounded like sandpaper. “It seems that I am still alive.”

He didn’t hold the hand but fell back into the sand and looked at the sky.

Then slowly showed a smile.

“Is this within your plan?” Jesse snorted.

“How could it be. I thought I was dead,” Oliver muttered. “I just, uh… tried my best and just succeeded.”

But his plan did have another ending in mind.

Oliver continued to stare at the sky, holding a handful of sand in his hand. The delicate grains of sand kept passing between his fingers, eventually only leaving a little bit behind.

Then he put his clenched fist to his lips and kissed gently.

Oliver had a very deep impression of the great desert near Hailem—This was the first time in his memory that he was dying.

It was also the place where he fell in love with Nemo, or rather, the place where he fell in love with the Pillar of the World itself.

The legendary Demon King, a terrifying behemoth curled up on the ground. The life that propped up the surface kissed his forehead here, pulling him back from the edge of death.

For the Pillar of the World, it may have been just a whim, but from that moment on, the world he saw would never go back to the past. The object of his heart was not only Nemo Light, who was a “human” from the beginning. He loved his lover and the huge unknown behind him.

He never doubted this.

It was like Oliver was willing to blindly believe that, at least here, he was immortal. Just as he was willing to rely on intuition to persist, the Nemo Light he knew was still waiting for him in the depths of the Abyss.

It wasn’t a prayer, but just a persistence in his foolish love.

If he was unlucky and couldn’t match against the Pillar of the World in the end and perished here, then it was also the most suitable place… This was the grave that he planned for himself.

The weather was clear, and although the nearby desert was messed up by them, it was quiet and peaceful at the moment.

The world still went on, and for most people, this was just an extremely ordinary day in their lives.

That’s great.

Oliver took a deep breath. His throat was still aching, and building this circuit had exhausted his last ounce of strength. Although he could barely act, he didn’t want to go anywhere now.

The newborn God was found persistently paralyzed in place, pretending to be a sun-dried jellyfish. Jesse shook his head and walked forward, no longer hiding his complicated expression.

“Drawing power within safe limits, creating entirely new energy circuits right under the noses of the Pillars of the World, and to top it off, you’re actually pretending to be a human with common sense in front of me.”

He squeezed those words out with difficulty, but the smirk on his face almost fell off.

“Telaranea is 10,000 times more disciplined than you—how do you feel now, huh?”

“Not much has changed. I just feel that I’ll die from exhaustion in the next second,” Oliver responded drowsily. “I succeeded, didn’t I?”

“Yes, according to human standards, you are fully qualified to be called a ‘God’.”

Oliver didn’t respond.

At the moment he heard “yes”, he fell asleep, with traces of a smile left at the corner of his mouth.

Jesse took a breath and cracked his wrists hard.

Lord Zenni never liked surprises, let alone fear—Jesse seemed to want to grab this ungrateful guy and wake him up. It was best to shake out all the subsequent plans the other party had.

Unfortunately, his two ill-intentioned hands that had just stretched out were pushed away by Adrian.

“Mr. Ramon hasn’t slept for nearly a week. Let him sleep. Since he can fall asleep safely, he must be very confident in his next plan.”

Adrian put Oliver’s arm around his neck and carefully pulled him out of the sand. He glanced at his eyes and retracted his hand. Jesse, who was full of dissatisfaction, shook his head helplessly.

“…Now we must get out of here quickly. The movement made by you two isn’t small. Compared to the Pillar of the World, Garland’s defenders will arrive sooner.”

Jesse let out a loud “tsk”.

He stretched out his hand, patted Adrian’s face ambiguously, and tied the cloak wrapped around his body back to the opponent’s armor. Then the beautiful blond young man took a few steps back and turned into a huge white beast again.

The blood had long since disappeared, and Jesse lowered his body slightly, shaking his fur uncomfortably, throwing the last bit of sand and dust away.

He glared at Oliver, who was sleeping, and got down reluctantly.

“Try not to be conspicuous, okay? In Ramon’s condition, we’ll have to deal specifically with teleportation checks. Come up, I’ll take you straight back to Alban,” Jesse said impatiently. “Hold on to yourselves. I don’t want to bother taking care of you two while we move forward.”

Adrian gently placed Oliver on the back of the behemoth and cast a fixation spell—the sleeping leader of Tumbleweed was almost submerged by the soft long fur.

Then he hesitated for a few seconds and jumped up again. It was just that the former knight commander didn’t apply any spells to himself but firmly hugged Jesse’s neck.

Powerful magic waves exploded under the claws of the behemoth, and a soft white light shot straight into the sky.

When the defenders who reacted finally arrived nearby, only gravel and sand were left in the empty desert, as well as the remnants of palpitating spells. They found nothing else.

Jesse’s progress was much smoother than that of the teleportation array, and the speed was just as fast.

Although he said that he didn’t want to bother, Adrian still noticed the invisible protective cover around the behemoth—It was to resist the strong wind that was too cold in the sky, and he didn’t think Jesse Dylan himself would care about it.

Adrian Cross has never looked down at the surface at this height.

The dark green forest was like moss on stone, and the river was too thin to see clearly. The sparse village was no bigger than a button, and the tiny houses were like brown sugar sprinkled on a clean tablecloth.

This was the world he vowed to guard.

Adrian subconsciously clenched the long soft fur in his hand. Even in the cold air at high altitude, the faint warm fragrance still existed. Wrapped in the aroma and warm body temperature, he raised his head and looked at the clear sky.

Adrian wasn’t completely unaffected. The second he noticed that the darkness swallowed the sky, out of the instinct of a warrior, he immediately made a defensive posture, but wonderfully, when those twisted thin limbs wrapped around the bloody beast not far away, he couldn’t feel any fear.

On the contrary, he had never felt so relieved.

The cruel God he believed in slept there, twisting, floating, and slowly stretching his body in a world he couldn’t see.

Just as the falling snow finally reached the ground, night finally fell, and the tired traveler closed his eyes and breathed long and evenly. The world was as cruel as he had imagined, but there was indeed a trace of gentleness.

‘He should be afraid,’ Adrian thought to himself, but his fear seemed to have been exhausted with his recent death.

For himself as a human, it was indeed a “monster”—without a doubt, a monster.

…But that’s about it.

The cold, capricious, but occasionally tender-hearted miracle finally let go of the hazy fog, revealing its true face. The world was no longer a misty mirage, only a solid wall and a fortress full of order.

There was also a liberating calm.

“Jesse, in your opinion, what is our fate?” Adrian took the initiative to speak. “Mr. Ramon was considered a human before, but you can’t seem to be able to accurately predict his actions.”

“Although Light’s existence made all this difficult to infer, at the beginning, when I first observed the son of Flint Lopez, our Mr. Ramon was destined not to live long—the powerless Lopez was seriously injured by a demon and Ramon would follow his instructions to kill him and was therefore designated as a murderer.”

“In my initial calculations, Oliver Ramon should have fled alone and soon died quickly from his naivete. Unfortunately, Bagelmaurus, who possessed the power of the Demon King, and Nemo Light himself weren’t within the scope of my predictions.”

“Ann Savage will spend this life in hiding and die alone. Her brother, Prince Eldric, was supposed to inherit the throne of Alban.”

The behemoth snorted.

“And you, you should have died a long time ago.”

“I know.”

They were a team that shouldn’t exist.

“As for now… peace from the Pillar of the World is a big premise and until the thoughts of the Pillar of the World is determined, I can’t calculate anything.” When he spoke, the behemoth’s ears drooped a little.

Adrian rubbed the warm fur under his palm. “I can understand.”

“…Don’t worry,” he added, after a pause.

He didn’t know if it was because of the wind or something else as Jesse gently twitched his ears. The speed of the behemoth’s advance slowed down and then slowly stopped in mid-air.

A slightly tingling stream of heat suddenly surged in my heart. The power flowed to his eyes. With his strong willpower as a knight commander, he endured the urge to reach out and rub his eyes…

Adrian blinked hard, and it took a while before he regained his vision.

In his sight, the advancing behemoth skimmed countless thin limbs. The indescribable creature was entrenched in the sky with unparalleled clarity. It was sweat-inducing, spectacular, treacherous, and deceptively grotesque in its beauty.

Manipulating his power a little jerkily, Adrian retracted the heat flow. The appearance of the monster immediately disappeared, and the clear blue sky returned again in his view.

But Jesse made a point of showing this to him, probably not to pick this time now to teach him how to use his power. Adrian thought for a moment and decided to keep the power within his eyes for now. He retracted his gaze from the monster covering the sky and looked at the beast.

“Hey, Adri.”

It was a familiar flirtatious tone, but the owner of the voice’s furry head was facing straight ahead without turning around. “Do you like me a little bit today?”

The familiar question, but the questioner was no longer the beautiful and illusory young human being. After a long time, Jesse Dylan asked the question again—the weird and magnificent life above his head was seeking answers from him through the mouth of a beast.

“Maybe,” Adrian replied, magnanimously facing the sense of prying eyes that wrapped around him.

His God was silent for a long time.

“Nn.” Finally, Jesse turned his head slightly. “Well, I may well fail again. At this point in time, I can’t think of anything else that could sway you for the moment.”

The icy blue pupils of the beast flickered slightly, as if the sky was the only thing in the world. Under the huge monster, this somewhat untimely thought crossed Adrian’s mind.

“Shaken?” He repeated.

“Yes,” Jesse admitted. “So I need to tell you my decision.”

“Nn.”

“I don’t think this is the end. If the world isn’t destroyed, I am willing to take a little time to observe you and act with you. I’m quite bored anyway.”

Adrian didn’t answer but listened patiently.

“…After all, I gave you my heart.”

The spindle-shaped pupils of the beast shrank, and the behemoth emphasized it. Translucent limbs brushed Adrian’s monk’s uniform, dancing like weeping willows and dead branches.

“Unfortunately, Adrian Cross. Before I die, you cannot age or die. We have a long time… If you eventually become boring, I will kill you and get my power back. If you don’t want to continue, I can also help you end your life.”

Jesse Dylan’s tone became extremely familiar, as relaxed as discussing dinner recipes.

“You’re human after all. As time goes by, sooner or later you will see all this clearly, and eventually you will be disappointed or tired. Until then, I will stay by your side—I want to witness that moment.”

“Nn.”

“…And promise me that you won’t die easily. I don’t want to say it a third time.”

“Okay.”

“What are you laughing at? I’m not going to hide it from you now. I have no love for you in the human sense. I hope you won’t misunderstand—”

“Maybe.”

The annoying believer replied so.

Jesse turned his head a little sulkily and rushed towards Alban’s royal city. Behind him, the half-asleep Oliver smacked his lips, covered his ears with the white fur, and decided to continue sleeping for a while.

Unfortunately, Oliver couldn’t sleep peacefully for long. The tremor of the giant beast landing had just passed, and before he could regain his senses, a pair of claws stepped on his face.

“Ramon is dead! I can’t feel his breath! My god, Ramon is dead—” the gray parrot squawked in horror, stepping on his face pathetically.

“What to do!”

It planted its ass on Oliver’s face.

“…Hey, there’s still breath.” A few seconds later, the demon moved its ass away suspiciously. Bagelmaurus lowered its head and saw a pair of green eyes full of helplessness. “Why? What’s going on? I can’t perceive you anymore!”

Oliver sighed, grabbed the gray parrot on his face, and jumped off Jesse’s back.

Then he raised his head and looked at the magnificent royal palace in front of him.

“Jesse. If your date with Mr. Cross is over, I think we can officially start—”

Wiping the remaining blood stains on the Rest in Peace, Oliver’s tone wasn’t brisk, but there was no longer confusion in it.

“Next, let’s visit the Pillar of the World.”

---

The author has something to say:

Nemo: Come, please be sure to come.

The side CP is one goal ahead again. Oliver, come on, keep up—

————

Jesse: Something is wrong with this human being.

Jesse: Let me see.

Jesse: Let me see…

Jesse: ……

Jesse: I really don’t believe it! He will be shaken!

Jesse: …Forget it, it’s faster for me to shake him myself (?

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

---

Chapter 254: A Newborn God

No one spoke for a while. The cold wind was full of the smell of blood and sand.

Jesse wrapped his cloak tightly and was silent. Without the cover of bloodstains, he didn’t know what expression was on his face at the moment, but it wasn’t a smile.

He hadn’t acted in a human state for several days, and Jesse was even a little unaccustomed to it. Feeling Adrian’s sight, he turned his face and looked in the direction of no one.

Two steps away from him, Oliver Ramon was still lying quietly on the ground.

Although that was the result of their mutual agreement, Jesse still disliked this scene. He should be used to this as he has experienced the demise of several teams.

No, maybe he should have gotten used to it earlier.

Gaining power beyond oneself came at a price. When the strength reached a certain level, it was easy to transform oneself, but if you wanted to keep acquiring billions of dependents, a magic circuit was necessary.

It was like a unique signature integrated into the body of your dependents. Once the construction was successful and it was imprinted in them, it would naturally increase the reproduction of the dependents and finally achieve a stable supply of power. Like the many roots of a desert plant that drew water, it wouldn’t stop growing and would extend continuously.

To build a relatively stable magic circuit, strength, wisdom, and instinct were indispensable.

Born to be extremely powerful, the Pillar of the World could easily build magic circuits and create new dependents at will. Even if there were no dependents to draw energy from, the Pillars of the World could survive for a long time as long as their bodies were exposed to the sun.

Unlike the naturally powerful Pillar of the World, as a member of the floating cocoon, he had never been considered strong.

The lack of power could only be supplemented by strong instincts.

Jesse considered himself a little unluckier than Oliver Ramon.

If Ramon gave up obediently, he could at least continue to live as the strongest human on the surface—he could live normally and die normally like a human. Transforming a small number of creatures one by one, as a “crippled God”; there was no issue that he could dominate the surface.

‘That human being didn’t realize how lucky he was at all,’ Jesse thought to himself.

Ramon clearly had an out.

As a floating cocoon, he was more like the seed of a plant. If he hadn’t been able to build his own circuit, just like a seed that had lost its ability to germinate, all that was waiting would be consumed to death.

A cruel and effective elimination.

Countless floating cocoons were born in the void, screened by hunger and death. A very small number would use their burst of survival instincts to successfully build magic circuits so they could feed before they starved to death. The remainder would gradually die, dissipate, and become bait for other creatures.

Even if the circuit was constructed, before finding a world where they could feed, these surviving planktonic cocoon larvae still needed to struggle with hunger and wander in the dark void.

As one of the survivors, Jesse didn’t like the process very much.

Under the merciless strife, he sought a glimmer of life on the border of death. He drained all his possibilities, desperately looking for a slim miracle. That memory was awful to the core.

It wasn’t that Jesse didn’t try to dissuade Oliver Ramon’s thoughts. He had warned him countless times.

He couldn’t be sure whether his next blow would “absolutely” kill Ramon. Doing his best was the only choice—if the opponent noticed that he was holding back, his instinct to survive would suddenly decrease, and all his efforts would fall short.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t build his own magic circuit, so Oliver Ramon was simply not qualified to fight against the Pillar of the World.

Their leader resolutely chose to fight for his life.

And the result…

Adrian Cross was using a cleansing spell to remove the bloodstains from Oliver’s body. He repaired the armor that had long lost its shape, then his body. The person on the ground lay quietly in the sand, with no signs of recovery in their heartbeat or a sense of breath.

“I don’t think his circuit is complete. I don’t feel any changes,” Jesse said slowly, looking at the back of Adrian’s head. “Although I’m still losing power very slowly, I think that it’s just a residual effect of the magic array.”

Adrian didn’t look up, nor did he answer.

“You said you heard a call. Perhaps…”

Jesse stepped back a little.

“Originally, he was able to grab a little power from me and Light by virtue of being a true kind like us—you’re more susceptible to Ramon’s influence than us. That may be the illusion caused by his circuit array.”

Adrian remained silent, sitting beside Oliver.

“Don’t you understand, Adrian Cross, I killed him!”

Jesse couldn’t help raising his voice. “Maybe I have created so-called miracles for you a few times, but this time it’s different. No one can save him.”

The inexplicable frustration made his anxiety reach its limit, and Jesse lowered his hands and took a rare deep breath.

Oliver Ramon was dead, and there wouldn’t be any more crises on the surface, at least in the near future. As long as they adjust and guide themselves in time, even if the Pillar of the World really decides to trigger a disaster, it won’t completely destroy the entire surface.

Then time would continue to pass until everything was smoothed out.

Jesse had decided that no matter what the outcome was, he could quit and calmly return to his position as a spectator.

Ramon foresaw this situation in advance, didn’t he? This was a battle to the death with dignity and hope; a complete deal, isn’t it?

Why could Ramon accept it so calmly? Why was Adrian Cross still motionless there?

The cold reality was right in front of him, yet why was he still obsessed?

…Why was he so stifled at the moment?

Adrian Cross finally stood up. Jesse narrowed his eyes and watched the other party stride towards him expressionlessly. His star has finally woken up, Jesse thought calmly.

Embarrassed and weak, with his hands covered with the blood of his companion, Jesse Dylan was powerless against the current situation. It was just one of the ordinary lives in the endless void.

He, who couldn’t even fully control his own feelings, wasn’t the god he expected at all.

What is he going to do next? Grieve for Ramon, his only student, or just walk away?

Jesse stood quietly in place.

‘That’s fine,’ the tired “God” thought, and he closed his eyes. He had been too deeply involved in this farce. Not to mention Adrian Cross, even Oliver Ramon could cause him mood swings, which wasn’t good. He must soon…

But the next thing that came was a hug.

What made him even more annoyed was that the hug even smelled of comfort. How dare Adrian Cross—

“You look a little sad,” the human said so.

“You have no idea what I ‘look’ like.” Jesse’s tone was cold.

“Do you mean the life in the sky that covers it and doesn’t stop twisting and floating?”

The voice of the former knight commander was unusually calm.

“Maybe you were too weak just now. I saw it. At that time, you were replenishing your strength through those thin limbs.”

“……”

‘This is impossible,’ Jesse thought a little blankly.

He couldn’t calculate and couldn’t understand.

There was no collapse, no fear, or even a trace of panic. This wasn’t a human he was familiar with. The whole world seemed to turn mad, and his position was reversed as he was the one who seemed at a loss.

“Maybe you have been getting one thing wrong, Jesse.”

Adrian’s voice was damn smooth, and his embrace was raw and restrained, but there was no doubt that it was warm.

“I never expected you to look in line with human imagination, nor did I expect you to save the current Oliver Ramon. Just like now, I don’t want you to be omniscient and omnipotent, and know immediately what I’m about to say.”

He didn’t know if it was habit, but the bold human even patted him on the back.

“Mr. Ramon is still alive. This isn’t my imagination… If you are willing to look now, you should be able to see it.”

“I don’t see anything.”

“Maybe you are looking in the wrong direction.”

There’s nothing wrong. Jesse frowned. Not a single one of his dependents was missing—Ramon used the temporarily drawn power to build his own circuit, and undoubtedly failed and hadn’t even manage to snatch a single member under his dominion.

A trace of extremely dim light slid past the corners of his eyes. Jesse almost subconsciously thought it was a hair that reflected a faint light, but something was wrong.

Next came another faint ray of light, like a spider web flickering slightly in the sun.

The residual sense of absorption in his body stopped, and the silk threads that condensed into gray mist around him lit up one by one, increasingly. They flashed with extremely faint light in the vast world, and they looked extremely fragile at first glance.

It was countless… like stars.

“If I understand correctly, you and the Pillar of the World are wary of Mr. Ramon because he is like us… He could easily exert influence on the world, destroy the magic circuit you guys made, and replace it with his own.”

“…The truth about the origin of magic is so cruel, and he was trying to do it just now. It’s a pity that he cast his net too wide and couldn’t take it back.”

Adrian laughed out lowly.

“No,” he said softly. “Remember? During the time you were following us unilaterally, we were attacked by scorpion-tailed wolves. He’s a person who was stubborn enough to spend time and effort in front of the wolves to draw a “forest ballad” array, rather than rushing into battle.”

‘Wait,’ Jesse froze suddenly.

“As far as I can feel, although he borrowed the power of the two of you to build a circuit array, Mr. Ramon’s circuit wasn’t made for siphoning.”

Yes, neither himself as a predator nor the Pillar of the World as a top creature, they didn’t consider the possibility of…

The flickering filaments of gray mist began to slowly disappear, and they returned the same way, retracting into Oliver Ramon’s body.

It was like a mind-numbing calm.

Jesse took a deep breath, subconsciously called out the body, and suppressed the entire desert with his own aura.

At present, it seemed that unless they anticipated in advance or made a point to observe, the circuit created by Ramon was extremely difficult to detect—no matter what Oliver Ramon had done, he and the Pillar of the World hadn’t lost any dependents.

Without Adrian’s prompting, even though he was so close he couldn’t detect it. If it weren’t for “Nemo” who loved Ramon deeply, they would be able to conceal it from the Pillar of the World, but if Ramon caused too much energy fluctuations and was discovered by it, all this would really boil down to one big joke.

In the next second, the whole world lost its color in an instant.

Unlike what he imagined, there was no awe-inspiring momentum, no chilling sense of oppression. Except that the whole world faded in color, time seemed to stagnate in a few seconds, and nothing seemed to have changed.

An extremely weak heartbeat was heard coming from Oliver Ramon.

“I didn’t respond to his call, because I only need my own God.” Adrian Cross finally let go of the hug, put his hands on Jesse’s shoulders, and brushed away a little dust from his long golden hair. “But I can show it to you, Jesse.”

Despite his suspicion, Jesse didn’t refuse when the other party put his forehead up against his.

A little memory crossed over with the temperature.

There was indeed a call, and Oliver Ramon was indeed crazier than he thought.

[I didn’t take more than that, nor did I snatch it rudely.] Ramon was serious.

It was a formation that was very similar to the forest ballad that showed emotions, but more powerful. That was more of a sincere request than a bottom-up invocation. Most people may not understand the meaning, but as long as they respond to this subtle and vague emotion…

[I need help, and accordingly, I will also help you.]

Warm and gentle emotions passed through his heart, like a warm breeze on an autumn day.

[Magic has been given, so I will give you something else. Don’t worry, it will not affect your magical talents.]

That emotion was more like a gentle and polite stranger smiling than the order of a superior.

[No qualifications are required; no talent is required. As long as you’re willing to keep breathing and try to become stronger.]

There is even a little embarrassment in this “summoning”—

[The efficiency may not be too high, but I promise, as long as you don’t give up on me, I won’t give up on you.]

It was different from the “Gods” that could be clearly analyzed. In the eyes of most lives, this call may just be a subtle palpitation, a faint flash of intuition. But again, it was too soft…

Not too many beings would reject it.

“…That’s too cunning,” Jesse muttered.

That crazy guy abandoned the magic position that he and Nemo had already occupied, bypassed the magic circuit that had already existed, and directly attached his own extra…

A set of inefficient, overly gentle, and even “rudimentary” circuits.

It was like ignoring the already paved mountain road and choosing to climb up the cliff. The power it could bring couldn’t even be called magic, and Jesse didn’t know how to name it.

Simple, weak, but indeed effective. As long as the summoned person was willing to spend time and build up over time, it could indeed make their vitality become vigorous and their flesh strong.

This was indeed a choice that only Oliver Ramon, who was truly the same kind as them and had a terrifying utilization rate, could make.

“Ramon can no longer change his circuit.” Jesse sighed slightly. “If I do this, I will definitely starve to death. He really gave it up…”

Wrong. If Oliver’s gray mist silk thread really enveloped the Abyss and the surface at the same time in the deathmatch just now, then his source of power would be the entire world…

“But he is qualified to be your enemy, isn’t he? I think Mr. Ramon is about to wake up—the momentum that just broke out should have been suppressed by him. Jesse, I think you can take back the body without helping him draw the attention of the Pillars of the World.”

Adrian retracted his hands and smiled again.

The faint smile was disturbing under the huge, dark and distorted creature.

“Yeah,” Jesse said.

The distorted body of the God disappeared, and the sunlight spilled onto the desert. The slightly faked frivolous smile returned to the beautiful face.

“So you can shut up now, Adri,” the blond young man said, grabbing the collar of the person in front of him and biting his lip slightly rudely.

Adrian didn’t retreat, didn’t resist, didn’t even frown.

“……”

But their only audience was obviously not too happy. Oliver Ramon sat up, spat out a few mouthfuls of sand, and spoke in a hoarse voice.

“…This is really a bit too much.”

---

The author has something to say:

This seems vindictive, friends (×

Now do you know why there is no vindictive setting in this world XDDD?

But it’s definitely not really vindictive (.) In short, it’s this kind of power that’s different from magic! Let’s have a meeting!

————

Ollie: I won’t take your cake. I can dip the steamed bread in sugar, and I can easily get full off that.

Nemo: This friend really has no ambitions.

Jesse: This friend really has no ambitions.

Knight Commander: …It’s Mr. Ramon I know.

————

Ollie: Ah, after walking from the edge of death, I feel a little sorry for Jesse and Adri. Will they be sad?

Ollie: (Opened his eyes and saw the two kissing passionately)

Ollie: …

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

---

Chapter 253: Near Death

[There is a problem with your story, Lord Demon King.] After listening to the narration, Pandorater was confused as she floated around the Demon King.

“Hmm?”

[If I listened to my family and didn’t come over, would you really summon, uh, the huge monster you just mentioned to attack your lover?]

“……”

Nemo lowered his gaze, and there was still a smile at the corner of his mouth.

Although it was still the human appearance she knew, there was something different inside. Pandorater gathered herself more tightly. The gentleness of the Demon King didn’t disappear, but there was a bit of a colder, inorganic texture to it.

“Yes, this is our agreement,” he said slowly. “The world has not yet come to an end. We need to ensure this. Whether he kills me, or I hurt him, there’s no difference. I have my responsibility.”

[But you said that he would never let you down…]

“Yes, he will never let me down.”

Nemo stood up and stretched out his arm habitually.

“…That’s why I am willing to retreat to my final bottom line for him.”

He now knew what Oliver wanted to do.

“What an interesting new circuit. So when are you going to see me, Ollie? Cunning guy.”

A few days ago, near the capital of Garland, in the desert not far from Heilam City.

It was evening. The night was climbing along the largest desert in the world, and the sky hadn’t completely darkened, but the pale moon had already risen. The desert was glowing with a strange red color, and the sharp boulders standing in it were like rotten roots.

One person and one beast were facing off.

“I’m ready, you two can start at any time.” Adrian sighed without saying much.

Since he came back from death, the magic in his body had been like a flood that finally broke through the dam, uncontrollable. It took him a lot of time to fully control this power.

He never thought that the first time he used it was as a guard in a life-and-death battle.

Jesse Dylan had no intention of using his “true appearance”. Even if he couldn’t match the two in battle, Adrian believed that he at least had the power to ensure that the battle between the two would not spread to ordinary people.

The city’s wall-like shield of light lit up beside him, pushing outward layer by layer, and finally enclosing the rather vast desert. The power that was too strong expelled all conscious life, and even the most seasoned adventurers wouldn’t choose to spy under that power.

Inserting a precious giant sword borrowed from Ann for casting spells into the earth, Adrian looked in the direction of the center of the battlefield…

“Confirm again for the last time.”

Oliver was the first to speak.

“The Demon King has indeed woken up. The flesh of underground activities is either Ulysses or Nemo in human form.”

“This is our way of resisting risks. The external flesh will always be the first line of defense.” The behemoth affirmed the other party’s doubtful narrative. “Even if you directly attack my body, it will be ‘this beast’ that is injured right now.”

“You once said that the limit of your flesh on the surface is almost the same as Nemo. The relatively large Ulysses will have a much stronger bearing capacity than Nemo.”

“That’s right. What are you trying to say?” Jesse licked off the sand on his nose, sounding depressed.

“I need your help, Jesse Dylan.” In the gradually colder air, Oliver exhaled a white breath. “I need to do a test run.”

In fact, this chessboard wasn’t as hazy as he thought. If the Pillar of the World was as cautious and terrifying as before, the world would have been destroyed a long time ago.

There may be only two possibilities left at the moment.

First, the Pillar of the World would absorb Nemo’s intelligence, observe his reaction, and then evaluate the feasibility of using his feelings to get rid of him alone. Flying to the sun was the safest course of action, but in this way, it could avoid wasting the civilization that still had the value of observation and didn’t need to start from scratch again.

However, no one knew when the Pillar of the World would complete the evaluation. It may be next year or tomorrow.

Second, the Pillar of the World retained Nemo’s heart, so it wouldn’t attack.

As for whether the behemoth under his feet was willing to use something similar to feelings, consider Oliver Ramon’s “restraint” in his memory and regard it as a harmless factor. That’s something that his opponent had to decide on. If he didn’t make a move, he “won’t make a mistake”, however…

He couldn’t pray on that.

There was actually only one best choice, Oliver thought to himself.

“Dylan, no, Jesse. I will try to draw strength as lightly as possible, just like Nemo is still there.”

“As for the amount drawn, I will control it no more than the power of the surface flesh of you and Nemo. Within this limit, I will try to use magic to build my own magic circuit, summon dependents, and gain power within that limit.”

“What does this have to do with me? You’re not thinking… Aha, you’re really crazy.”

“Well, I will take action on both of you at the same time.”

“Yes, if you can do it. I won’t hold back since you’ll hurt me. That’s only fair.”

Oliver lowered his head and made a serious salute. “Thank you, Jesse. If your flesh reaches the limit, please be sure to remind me.”

“Why?”

“I must stop in moderation. That’s for ‘Ulysses’ to learn the information that ‘I believe Nemo is still there’, and the damage can be sustained—it’s tantamount to abandoning a piece of cheese and putting in a boobytrap. He won’t turn a blind eye to such a good opportunity for observation.”

The behemoth inhaled deeply, raised his chin, and motioned for Oliver to continue with his eyes.

“’Nemo’s different. My actions may cause his body to be exposed. When that time comes, he will definitely attack me to protect the surface. Before that, I need to give him hints with this limit.” Oliver sounded very sure of himself.

Jesse was silent for a while, took two steps closer, and lowered his head slightly.

“…But I must tell you, Ramon. If the Pillar of the World decides to fight back in advance, you can’t withstand the attacks of both of us at the same time. You’ll die.”

“I know.” Oliver rubbed the body of the Rest in Peace.

“This isn’t a joke.” Jesse wrinkled his nose and bared his teeth.

“I thought about it.”

Oliver smiled.

“The circuit spell is dominated by me. Assuming ‘Ulysses’ confirms that I am malicious, the spell cannot guarantee that it will kill me—it will seriously injure me, immediately abandon the possibility of booby-trapping me, and fly directly to the sun, right?”

“I warned you, yes.” Jesse’s tone was displeased.

Oliver stepped into the fine sand with both feet, and the gray mist began to fly into the sky, extending a complex line of spell formations.

“Then under your combined attack, my death will eliminate the worries of the Pillar of the World. If he can’t accept the softest draw, I won’t have a chance to be strong enough to kill him… For the surface, this is the best way to do it.”

Jesse stared at the person standing opposite in silence.

Oliver Ramon was using his own life as part of the plan. His tone was extremely calm, as cruel as another Pillar of the World.

“What if ‘Nemo’ decides to fight back?” Jesse didn’t intend to ignore this cruel possibility.

“I have also considered it. This is a real battle, not a game, I understand.”

With Oliver as the center, the formation began to extend in all directions. The gray mist twisted into lines too thin to see, coalesced with power, and began to gradually fill the space.

“I know he will be in pain, I know he will be confused. This is a one-sided attack, and it is the last thing I want to do in this world—to hurt him. Jesse, this isn’t the first time I’ve hurt him. I once personally sent Nemo to the Church of Repentance and saw him get impaled by a long sword.”

“I promised him that I would never really do such a thing. After that, I promised that if things reach an irreparable point, I will definitely kill the Demon King with my own hands.”

“Right now, I don’t think things are irreparable.”

Oliver’s expression was very calm.

“I have the confidence to control the precision of extraction, except for the moment that I die. If I overdo it for this reason… I’ll die before Nemo officially fights back.”

“What if he decides to attack in advance before he reaches the limit?”

“If that’s my ‘Nemo’, I believe in him.”

This was the last words of the leader of Tumbleweed before the battle, and what followed was a real fight.

Endless, sleepless attempts to control the power as naturally as a heartbeat. In response to Jesse’s stormy attacks, Oliver had a strange illusion—he was dancing on a stage full of knives and traps, and he had to ensure that the candle in his hand wouldn’t go out.

As the threads of the gray mist expanded, the magic circuit was slowly taking shape—powered by his survival instinct.

Once he started, he couldn’t stop, and he wouldn’t get any results if he gave up halfway. The birth of a circuit required strength, and his actions would certainly alarm the Pillar of the World.

He only had one chance. Oliver tightened every nerve and fought harder.

Since joining Tumbleweed, Jesse Dylan had become serious for the first time.

The sky was covered with overcast clouds, but no rain came. Thunder rolled in the gray clouds, rumbling so loudly that it shook one’s internal organs. Between the heaven and earth, countless lightning connected, and with just a touch, a piece of flesh could be torn off.

The white beast came and went freely in these deadly white light thorns while Oliver was struggling.

The gray mist still persistently dissipated around while more bloodshed spread faster.

“That’s it.” The hair on Jesse’s neck exploded slightly, and his huge claws stepped deeply into the gravel. “As long as you guarantee that the circuit that ‘belongs only to you’ is error-free, the path is clear. The plundering will follow instinctively, and the more you’re on the verge of death, the clearer and more powerful it will become.”

Oliver panted heavily and raised his still intact left arm. Countless gray mists condensed into ice needles and flew straight at Jesse. As he moved, the thin filaments of gray mist moved with unhurried, frightening precision.

He could still persist.

With the desert as the center, the filaments drill into the underground Abyss and expand to the surrounding surface. It first covered the city of Heilam, and then spread entirely to Garland.

It wasn’t enough.

The sun rose and set and brought the high temperature of the day and the coldness of the night. The battle continued without rest or pause.

The black armor was shattered in half, and the metal sheet crumbled on his chest, dripping with blood. Oliver didn’t care about it, as he escaped another attack by Jesse—thick bowl light spikes pierced from the ground and burst into several light thorns that almost turned him into mush.

His circuit spell still hadn’t been completed.

How many days has it been?

A wall of ice surged up behind him, accompanied by the gray mist, and hardened the countless light spikes. In the intense pain and exhaustion that could make one black out, Oliver continued to accept the attacks.

The three-dimensional array composed of gray mist continued firmly.

Jesse grinned; his long white hair stained with bright red. As the gray mist filaments expanded between heaven and earth, the footsteps of the behemoth became a little weaker.

“This should have been easy.” The blood stained the fangs of the behemoth red. “Will it be death, or will you successfully complete your own circuit before you die? But, Ramon, if it’s only to deal with ‘the power of flesh’ of Nemo and I, you’re overdoing it.”

“I didn’t take more than that, nor did I snatch it rudely. You should know very well.”

Under the action of the light thorns, Oliver’s right arm barely had any flesh left; his miserable white bone was directly exposed, but he stayed still, his voice appallingly calm.

“Your gray mist has covered Garland, Alban, and Willard, and it hasn’t stopped yet!”

Jesse let out a roar that belonged to a beast, and his blood-dripping claws stretched out sharp nails.

“I don’t know the state of the Abyss… At least this is the surface that belongs to me. Just drawing on these three countries is enough to obtain power equal to my flesh. What are you thinking?”

The hair of the beast exploded completely, and countless pale thunder rays radiated. “Now, if you are deceiving me—”

“If I told you, you would really think I was crazy.”

The gray mist wrapped around the bleeding arm and forced it to continue moving. The Rest in Peace was covered with blood and dust, but its owner had a smile on his face.

An ice shield suddenly stood up, blocking the pale flames and thunder.

“Not enough,” he said softly.

“Walden, Praedo, Hatfield. Half the world, Oliver Ramon. Your greed will kill you.”

Jesse’s voice began to grow hoarse, and the ear holes of his pointed ears began to bleed. Unlike Nemo, as the party that had been gifted, he was particularly sensitive to the fact that his control over the races wasn’t strong. It was true that Oliver Ramon didn’t take the power outside the agreement.

But the scale of this influence, if Ramon wanted to…

At this point, Jesse couldn’t think of a better way to finish the battle properly—after all, he was already attacking Oliver Ramon, and his opponent was now on the verge of death.

The siphoning was still gentle and unhurried. Compared with the figure wrapped in blood on the opposite side, this restraint made him shudder.

For the first time, Jesse felt fear.

As a result, his offensive became stronger, and the desert surrounded by the shield of light hardly had much sand left. The white light squeezed, burned, and swallowed.

In the middle of the battlefield, a sole human figure looked a little lonely.

“The circuit that belongs to me… It’s almost there.”

Oliver sighed. The ice shield around him began to collapse, but his voice was still steady.

Under the strong light, there was no haze in those emerald eyes.

The bloodied ice shield was erected again and again, even if in the next second it was swallowed by the white flames. Oliver stalled firmly and determinedly as faint power ran along the gray mist at a frightening scale.

Jesse could feel that the bones in his body were breaking. He found it difficult to even maintain his human transformed appearance. His throat was full of blood, and he looked in Oliver’s direction with complicated eyes.

His body was about to reach its limit, yet unfortunately…

Oliver Ramon was still a step late.

No matter what Ramon wanted to do, it seemed that the plan had not succeeded, and just as they had agreed in advance, he offered this piece of flesh as a bet while the other party offered his life as collateral.

It was so close. Truly a pity.

“I warned you,” Jesse muttered, his voice a little sad.

“…I clearly warned you that doing nothing was the best choice.”

Oliver Ramon showed his defeat before the circuit was completed. Although he had a soft spot for this human… A deal was a deal.

An extraordinarily thick light spike was the first to break through and pass through the ice shield, piercing through Oliver Ramon’s chest. This was followed by a second and a third.

The human seemed stunned, and slowly fell down, and all the ice shields shattered in an instant.

The beast let out a low whimper and staggered forward, waiting for the smoke to disperse.

Oliver Ramon lay quietly on the sand. His whole body was in tatters. If he were an ordinary human, he would have been a corpse long ago. There was no heartbeat, no breathing, only blood seeping uncontrollably into the dirt.

Unlike Adrian, Oliver was no longer in his dominion. Even if it was him, he could no longer do anything.

Coupled with the variables of the Pillar of the World, Jesse could no longer calculate anyone’s fate, but he could still speculate based on experience and get very reliable results. He had expected this possibility, but he thought…

Jesse arched his shoulders with his nose.

His body was collapsing, and he really couldn’t maintain his beast shape. The same seriously injured figure appeared—Jesse Dylan, transformed himself wearing a shabby robe, and fell to his knees, coughing up a large mouthful of dirty blood. His long blond hair was covered with dust.

At the last moment, Ramon lost control for an instant. Like he had said, he died due to losing control.

While his body should have collapsed with it, fortunately, his body was on the surface, and timely replenishment allowed Jesse to maintain the integrity of this piece of flesh.

Wait, something’s wrong.

As far as he could see, Oliver Ramon was indeed dead, but that gentle life didn’t end with his death. Although it became weaker, the siphoning continued.

Jesse frowned.

After confirming that Oliver was no longer conscious, he directly connected the flesh to the body and quickly restored the body’s physical strength. The siphoning couldn’t hurt him, and now that the spell had lost its master, even if the Pillar of the World wanted to fight back, it would find that this was faster than itself.

As if in response to his conjecture, the Pillar of the World was still curled up quietly without any movement.

What’s going on?

The shield of light surrounding the desert dissipated. Jesse was wrapped in a white cloak that was followed by a cleansing spell. Jesse turned his face—Adrian Cross got down on one knee and was looking at Oliver Ramon, who undoubtedly looked like a corpse.

“I’m sorry,” Jesse said stiffly.

“No.” The knight commander stretched out his hand to cover Oliver’s emerald eyes. “I think Mr. Ramon chose you instead of me for a reason.”

“I would’ve hesitated and faltered, while you’ll abide by the agreement and won’t stop because of his misery.”

Adrian paused, but there was no sadness in his voice.

“His circuit is complete, under your final blow.”

“But he—”

“I heard the summons. It makes sense that you and Mr. Light, as beings of the same level, wouldn’t hear it. Oliver Ramon is still alive. Although a human in this condition is bound to die…”

“But I think he is no longer considered a human being now.”

---

The author has something to say:

Yesterday, a little cutie proposed why it was impossible to conclude that Nemo was still there through “Ollie’s hand was drawn, but the surface was not attacked”. Why should the Pillar of the World consider “pretending that Nemo is still there”.

First of all, thank you to this little cutie for taking it so seriously! I’m actually super happy, rubbing my hands.

Inspired by the comment area, I decided… to use a description (…) that doesn’t appear in the Western fantasy as a metaphor.

——————————

The Pillar of the World, who is very rich, is a conscientious social animal.

Then one day, he found a small, painful swelling in his stomach.

Situation 1: [The Pillar of the World without Nemo’s memory and no feelings]

Lack of understanding of this tumor, it’s impossible to judge whether it is benign or malignant.

Pillar of the World: Fuck it, I’m taking time off to cut it out! Although it will cost a lot of money and delay my work, my life is important.

Situation 2: [With Nemo’s memory, the Pillar of the World without feelings]

With the latest test results of this tumor, it was found that although it still exists and continues to absorb its own nutrients, it is likely to be a benign type that can be solved by taking some medicine (booby-traps).

Pillar of the World: I don’t know if it will become cancerous, so take some medicine first. If the medicine doesn’t work, I will ask for leave to cut it off. Unnecessary losses still have to be considered.

——————————————————

Ollie, I’m sorry! (In a broken voice)

But if the Pillar of the World does dispel Nemo’s feelings, the logic for Ollie is indeed similar to this. So just because the Pillar of the World didn’t do it immediately, it doesn’t mean that Nemo’s will is still there.

Personally, I think it is a decision to maximize the benefit _(:з”∠)_

Jesse’s proposal, translated, is actually: Do you think he knows that you may be harmless? If you don’t want to kill yourself, then don’t become stronger, don’t absorb nutrients, and don’t make him uncomfortable. Maybe he will continue to be a social animal and decide not to operate.

Ollie, I’m sorry!!! (In a broken voice again)

---

Kinky Thoughts:

Wow. Very nice of the author to provide a metaphor to help clear things up. I know it could be confusing. I was quite confused too reading these past few chapters, but here’s the gist of what they are doing:

With Nemo stuck in the Abyss and Ollie on the surface, they have no way to determine whether or not the Nemo in the Abyss is still alive or not. Thus, to communicate with Nemo, they plan to use Ulysses’ skull that was brought to the surface as a tether. However, they don’t know if Nemo is dead, is Ulysses, or was replaced by the Pillar of the World as a fake Nemo (boobytrap) to basically placate Oliver and make him stop powering up.

Telaranea proposes a plan: Use the skull to summon Nemo’s or Ulysses’ (they don’t know what Demon King is down there) consciousness and trap it in a container (whether it be human or otherwise). This way, the consciousness of the Pillar of the World won’t return back to its body, and they can use this time to kill the Pillar of the World without having it struggle (which could potentially destroy the surface like what happened to the other Pillar of the World Jesse encountered). Whether or not the consciousness that is summoned is Nemo or a different Demon King or Ulysses… well, that’s up to luck.

Ollie rejects this idea and instead comes up with a new plan (though IDK what the end goal is yet as of this chapter). His plan so far is basically to complete a new circuit and become a “God” like Nemo and Jesse. He asks Jesse for his help because, not knowing who is currently under the Abyss, he doesn’t want to kill Nemo, and since Nemo’s and Jesse’s powers are similar in capacity, he can gauge how much power he can siphon from them before it reaches Nemo’s limits.

Likewise, Nemo in the Abyss doesn’t know what Ollie is planning. Thus, this is why it’s called a blind chess game. Neither knows the other situation, so they can only go into this blindly.

Ollie starts siphoning off the power slowly, which Nemo thinks isn’t right because it will alert the Pillar of the World. He is the first defense and alert mechanism for it, so he is the first to endure the pain brought from it. Nemo considers whether or not he should counterattack Ollie’s attempt and basically harm or kill Ollie before he himself is killed and his consciousness returns to the Pillar of the World. This is also to protect the surface because if Ollie fails, the Pillar of the World becomes alerted and could potentially wipe out the entire surface to eliminate Ollie.

Ollie on the other hand, is doing this purposefully because he not only doesn’t want to kill the potential Nemo, who is still alive, but in this way, if it is Ulysses down there, it would counterattack and kill him, thus eliminating the threat to the Pillar of the World and it will continue to monitor civilization with Oliver wiped out.

The intrinsic part of all this is that this whole entire battle is based on their love and trust for each other. Nemo trusts in Ollie to not counterattack and believe that he knows what he’s doing, while Oliver trusts that Nemo is still down there. It’s quite beautiful once you fully understand the scope of it, but man was it fucking confusing as I was translating it.

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

---

Chapter 252: Suffocation

The blue sky overhead was like leaves gnawed by insects, slowly shrinking in the rustling sound. The original, warm and simple house gradually blurred, and then drifted away, revealing the cold, mysterious piles of corpses behind it.

This time Oliver didn’t attack directly. Nemo was able to distinguish the small difference.

The human was trying to absorb his power, moving cautiously and lightly. It was comparable to grabbing a sharp blade rather than a rusty knife that roughly poked into the flesh. The cool touch licked the skin, causing blood to seep before the pain came.

Even if Oliver was careful, the balance of power that had been maintained for a long time at the bottom of the Abyss was still broken, which directly affected the stability of the long-term illusions. As for Nemo himself, he only felt a little unwell at the moment, and the pain was negligible.

Nemo didn’t rush to repair the Roadside Town illusion.

He went back to the library in the center of the illusion and sat down where he was. He rubbed his forehead and put his elbows on the wooden table. He raised his slightly drowsy head with his right hand and continued to look calmly outside the door.

The illusion collapsed faster and faster, and the darkness was drawing nearer.

Is this an attempt or is Oliver drawing a conclusion? Nemo’s left finger poked at the false light spot gently swaying on the desk and thought casually.

At least Oliver Ramon didn’t choose to rush down to inquire. Nemo didn’t know whether to feel relieved or regretful. The human he loved wasn’t stunned by it and abandoned their promise.

Oliver was still the Oliver he knew well, and for a few seconds, he did feel a little bit close to happiness.

Then it quickly dissipated into loneliness.

The bakery not far from the library disappeared into the light shavings, revealing a half-rotted head of a superior demon with a thin frost on the surface of the godless eyeball. Nemo glanced at it, then retracted his gaze.

As the most external part of the body, this body must be the first to withstand the attack. As if suffering from a bad cold, his head began to ache, like an awl was drilling from his temples into his brain.

The discomfort became stronger.

Nemo smiled a few times in a low voice but didn’t move.

Was Oliver going to kill him to protect the surface, or was he drawing on this power to carry out some other plan? He didn’t know and he couldn’t know.

Now he didn’t want to pin his trust on pure feelings. All he did was wait calmly.

The door of the library that was opened outwards was also shattered in the darkness. The incomplete floor and wooden table that still had light floated alone in the darkness at the bottom of the Abyss. Nemo endured the pressure concentrated on his body without saying a word while clenching his fists.

He began to be unable to see through Oliver’s intentions. If it was simply to extract power, the other party’s movements were too slow and cumbersome. With Jesse Dylan on the surface to guide him, Oliver wasn’t so stupid as to do so.

So was it to be set up carefully and preemptively before he could take any action?

“That won’t work Ollie… If you can’t kill me cleanly, you’ll ruin everything.” Nemo sighed and crossed his fingers across the wooden table, forcibly retaining the last illusion.

The non-existent spot of light was still trembling on the smooth wooden table.

Wait a little longer, Nemo thought to himself.

Wait another minute, and the next minute after that.

The crumbling space floated in the darkness like nothingness for an unknown amount of time.

There was no negative feedback, and whatever was being done, Oliver clearly had no intention of stopping. The plundering was firm, but not as rough and thorough as the plundering in Nemo’s memory—it made him increasingly uncomfortable but was unable to quickly destroy this piece of flesh in which his own will resided as if it had no intention of killing.

There were indeed ways to interrupt it—while the spell wasn’t yet completed, he could seriously counterattack and destroy it.

Was this flaw a message to him or a test?

Without any resistance, just by feeling, Nemo couldn’t determine the full picture of the spell that the other party was running.

When the spell was running, he could directly attack Oliver without hurting the surface, but if he were to fight back now, the power of his counterattack could seriously injured Oliver Ramon.

Nemo closed his eyes.

Even if he didn’t fight back, the surface would think that the “new Demon King” with more flesh that was stronger had appeared on the surface. He couldn’t rule out the possibility that the Pillar of the World was sacrificing a little benefit to create the illusion that “Nemo Light” was still there—after all, this could induce Oliver Ramon to soften his heart, and it could even lure him directly down here.

If he completely lost emotion, as the Pillar of the World, he may really do that.

Did he want to fight back?

His ears began to buzz, and his breathing became more difficult. This body, no, this piece of flesh could no longer bear the pressure alone and was warning him.

After all, the flesh was only a human-size piece of flesh. Even if the magic power was sufficient, the ability to withstand it was ultimately limited.

Not to mention that at the moment, his attention was all focused on resisting external injuries. Even if he could quickly repair the physical damage, “a body that was wrecked can be repaired” was also a big assumption.

If the absorption wasn’t interrupted in time, this body would only slowly become fragile and gradually dissipate. If Oliver intended to use this relatively gentle way to wipe out the flesh first, then attack his original body…

Nemo coughed a few times and frowned at the blood stains on his palms.

The deterioration rate was faster than he thought, but there was still a lot of time before the body was annihilated.

Oliver, what are you thinking about at the moment? Nemo shook his head, ignoring the pain coming from inside his body.

In any case, he trusted him, and now there were other possibilities.

Repeating in his heart over and over again, Nemo sat on a wooden chair, resting his twisted and broken staff above his knees.

He trusted him, so he waited. He could still afford to wait.

The humanoid Demon King put his cold fingers on his chest, counted his heartbeat, and calculated the passage of time.

One day, two days, three days.

The warm blood cooled in the palms of his hands, and his body was getting colder.

With the destruction of this body, his consciousness would return to his original body of the Pillar of the World. Once that situation happens, things will be irreversible. Even if Nemo was able to retain his feelings, he would have to take action against Oliver to protect the surface. Without the cover of this body, the main body would be directly exposed to damage.

The risk was too high.

It took time to give birth to another flesh used to withstand the damage, and in this continuous extraction, he didn’t have time.

After returning to the body, he could no longer feel at ease like he was now. No one knew at what point he was on the path of death—Nemo only knew that if he made a mistake in judgement and caused the body to die as a result of a half-assed attack, his body absolutely wouldn’t be able to restrain the physical struggle before death.

In that way, the surface would still be destroyed, and all that awaited them in the end was to die together.

‘How funny,’ Nemo thought to himself. They were fighting blindfolded on the chessboard with the survival of the world on their backs.

He was gambling, and every second that flowed through his skin was soaked in countless analyses and probabilistic calculations. If it were any of his previous selves, he guessed that he would have made a move a long time ago.

It was just that this time, countless memories participated in the calculation.

He still remembered the Withered Castle shrouded in night. After the flesh and blood furnace collapsed, the figure covered in blood appeared in front of him again. Nemo could clearly recall the rancid smell of blood and corpses in the air, as well as the dry and desperate kiss.

Oliver Ramon’s first sentence after escaping from that hell was a simple and earnest “I love you”.

“I love you too,” Nemo said to the void, wiping the blood from the corners of his lips.

His Oliver, the knight who walked through hell in flesh and blood. He would never choose to kill him so easily, even if that was what he had to do in the end.

But it shouldn’t be now.

……Wait a little longer.

Finally, Nemo couldn’t part with his strength to maintain the illusion and fell directly on the hard, cold pile of corpses.

But the stimulation and extraction of that power didn’t stop but began to run out of control at a certain point in time. Like a drowning person clinging to the person who came to the rescue, the two would sink to the bottom of the water desperately together.

“Ollie.” Nemo laid on the top of the pile of corpses of superior demons and stretched out his hand to the darkness above his head. The pain became more severe, and at any moment he could have shed this tattered and broken body and returned to his original body to fight back. Perhaps he should have done that long ago, but…

“Don’t let me down, okay?”

He lowered his blood-stained hands slowly, took deep breaths, and remained stubbornly in the collapsed body. His lungs seemed to have lost function, and the suffocation was so overwhelming that it pressed down on him.

Hold on for another second. One more second would be good.

Nemo narrowed his eyes, looking above the Abyss, in the direction where Oliver’s aura was coming from. The suffocation made him dizzy, and anxiety began to dominate every nerve—Nemo could even clearly feel step by step how this small body was going to reach its demised.

Suddenly, he was able to breathe again.

Nemo blinked, and then found that it was still a human eyelid that blinked.

Unlike what he imagined, his consciousness didn’t return to the body. The capacity of flesh was limited, so it was impossible to use the full power of his original body, though the total amount of magic of his remnant body hadn’t increased inexplicably.

This was purely from external forces…

[You fulfilled my wish. Although not the one to destroy mankind.]

A voice came into his mind. His emotions were so complicated right now that he couldn’t tell what it was.

[…And you didn’t eat me, even though I chose to self-destruct at that time.]

But Nemo recognized this aura.

[Your condition isn’t good. I can only do this. Lord Demon King, my family advised me not to come over, but I—I am not afraid of you. The surface is even more terrifying.]

Mist-like limbs covered the sky, and the young Pandorater floated quietly close, resolutely leaving a large part of her body behind. Under the action of self-destruction, the huge flesh and blood turned into pure power and returned to Nemo’s body without hindrance.

[This is the agreed upon reward. Since the wish was exchanged, last time I self-destructed with the thought of certain death. This time I don’t want to die, and I believe you can understand.]

The young demon expressed very stubbornly, with a little fear in her consciousness.

[I know this is a bit conniving, so you can make some other requests in exchange. My compatriots told me that demons have to be reputable, especially for great people… You are a great person.]

Nemo slowly lifted his arm, put his palm over his eyes, and showed a slightly bitter smile. “Remember to listen to my family next time. As far as my current situation is concerned, if it wasn’t me… You would definitely be preyed on by the other me.”

The pain continued, but with the injection of new strength, he was able to continue breathing.

Pandorater’s flesh could keep him alive for another hour. Although he didn’t know if it was useful in terms of the results, there was no doubt that every extra moment meant a glimmer of hope, which was extremely precious.

“But having said that, now I do have a wish, little girl.”

Nemo said softly, propping up his body with both arms. He touched the mass of mist that stretched out in front of him, and the smile at the corner of his mouth became bigger.

“Would you like to listen to me?”

[Of course, Lord Demon King. But are you okay? You look really bad.]

“I’m fine… My lover and companions are still waiting for me—I’m so happy, I’ll definitely survive. This is what someone told me before, it’s a good idea.”

Nemo replied.

“I want to tell you about someone.”

[Hmm.]

“Do you remember the human who acted with me during the Black Chapter test?”

[Remember. He seems to have no power, clumsy and useless. An ordinary human being. Later he saved me with you… Is he your follower?]

“No.”

Nemo poked the reddish-brown mist.

“He is my favorite… favorite person.”

He recounted it softly, as if he was telling it to himself rather than to Pandorater. As the clean and gentle voice echoed at the bottom of the Abyss, the fluke stopped, and time began to pass again…

His line of sight became more and more blurred, and his breathing was heavy with blood.

However, just when Nemo thought he could no longer make a sound, the extraction stopped abruptly.

The power that had been used to resist damage was finally free, and his body was rapidly recovering. Nemo breathed a sigh of relief and paused to talk. When the last trace of pain disappeared, he raised his head again and looked at Pandorater in front of him.

Then raised eyebrows.

“Ollie.” Nemo wiped the dirty blood mixed with organ fragments from the corner of his mouth again and chuckled softly. “I really haven’t thought about this… You’re such a greedy bastard.”

[What did you say?]

“Well, it’s nothing. Let’s continue, like I just said—”

“He never let me down.”

---

The author has something to say:

I received Pandoraters’ flag (*/ω＼*)

After countless sufferings, the last thing is hope XD

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

---

Chapter 251: Mayfly Love

For a rare second, Telaranea was taken aback.

“It’s rare for me to think of a good solution for you.” The demon shrugged regretfully. “I thought you were a lunatic who was willing to defend the world, but you turned out to be just a boring mortal who’s overwhelmed by love. I suppose you and Mr. Light weren’t just playing around at Clementine Academy? At least now it seems you’re truly in love with him.”

“Yes.” Oliver was calm.

“Even if all this is in vain?” The Sage of the Abyss seemed interested.

“The moment I fell in love with Nemo, I knew he wasn’t human.”

Oliver scratched the feather on the grey parrot’s neck, then put it on his shoulder.

“This is not a deal with him. I just happened to fall in love with him. If Nemo still likes me, I would be extremely honored. If he makes it back to the Pillar of the World… I have no idea how to deny my feelings because of it.”

“Your call. I never advise on human love. That power is yours, and I have no right to tell you how to use it. I just want to witness it to the end.”

Telaranea watched as Oliver closed the black wooden box containing the skull and rubbed his hands.

“Your Majesty, I think you should have a free guest room here? You see, I need a suitable research site, and I can’t take the Demon King’s skull to the headquarters of the Mercenary Guild.”

“Yes, there is. Oh god, I’m almost starting to sympathize with Fenrir. There’s something mixed in with the Steel Wolves.” Ann hadn’t had time to get rid of the shock in her eyes. “…Forget it. Maybe I should sympathize with myself first.”

She scratched her short hair, irritatingly. “Oliver, can I tell Delia? That child is very sensible, and I want to tell her the truth. Maybe she would want to see the world first or something…”

“Of course.”

Oliver nodded, grabbed the back collar of Telaranea, and pulled back the Sage of the Abyss, who was leaning against the black wooden box.

“Telaranea, although I won’t use your plan, there are a few details about your proposal that I am very interested in… Is it convenient to talk about it?”

Two days later, at night, the world still wasn’t destroyed.

Oliver sat at the wooden table, looking through the ancient books that seemed to be somewhat old in his hands while quickly drawing weird arrays on a piece of parchment. The white nightgown was completely soaked in sweat and attached to his body, but he didn’t seem bothered by it at all.

After quickly memorizing the runes on the second half of the page, Oliver stood up again and clenched his Rest in Peace. A thin gray mist wrapped around the sword’s body, and then an extremely complicated three-dimensional array was formed in the entire space.

Points of light were swimming along the traces of the gray mist, but they moved slower, and finally dissipated in the air. Oliver’s power seemed to be directly sucked away by some invisible monster. He knelt weakly on the carpet as sweat continued to flow down his forehead.

After less than three seconds of rest, he gritted his teeth, stood up again, and built the maze-like array from scratch.

Under the lack of physical strength and magic power, Oliver’s eyes blackened. He wasn’t sure how long he hadn’t slept. He had barely slept the first night since the moment Nemo left him and had tossed and turned all night.

He had tried to force himself to lie in bed during the night, but he was still awake due to extreme physical and mental fatigue.

Anyway, now he could no longer be regarded as a pure human being. With his current strength, Oliver didn’t think he would die from lack of sleep.

[Starting tomorrow, you need to fight against me.] The white behemoth in his memory had a serious voice. [This time I won’t hold back. If you don’t get serious, you will definitely be killed by me. Well, in a sense, that is one of the solutions to maintain the peace on the surface.]

Combing through his memories, Oliver smiled bitterly. He abruptly shook his head and rubbed his eyes, which were slightly painful because of the salty sweat.

[The situation between me and you is too different, and time is limited as well. I can’t teach you by hand how to use the power, but you have the qualifications, and your survival instinct should be able to awaken it. I still say, for now, you can still reject this and choose a mundane life.]

Oliver propped up his body and dragged himself back to the table. With a clear memory, he tried to remember his feelings and the failed plan itself. Sweat dripped on the parchment, blotting out a piece of ink.

Beside him were piles of parchment paper full of handwriting that were crumbled up.

[I heard that you are still asking Telaranea for advice on attacking our noumenon. I hope you plan to use it to fight me instead of killing the Pillar of the World.]

Jesse’s voice in his memories became more unhappy.

[Taking the liberty of assuming the other’s thoughts in the name of ‘love’ and using them to commit selfish acts—this one of the most tiresome human behaviors to me. If I find out that you are using me…]

[I love him.] At that time, he gave Jesse only one answer.

Oliver grabbed the water cup at the table and poured a glass of cold water into his parched throat. Then he wiped his mouth and continued to study the spell that theoretically could kill the Pillar of the World.

Just as the leader of Tumbleweed frowned, gnawed at the nib of the quill pen, and hesitated about how the next rune should be arranged, there was a knock on the door of the room.

It was the sound of human knuckles knocking on wood, so it wasn’t Bagelmaurus who was looking for him. Hearing the knocking method, it wasn’t like his swordsmanship instructor Adrian Cross. Ann and Jesse weren’t the types who knocked, so Oliver was at a loss at the identity of this guest, and he didn’t bother to use a discovery spell to spy.

“Come in.” He responded in a much simpler way.

Delia Alastair walked into the room with small steps in her day dress. The spider that Nemo transformed was lying on her shoulder, looking a little sluggish.

“…Please wait a moment. I have to change clothes.” Oliver quickly drew the bed curtains on one side, cast a cleaning spell on him, and then quickly changed into a more formal nightgown.

“I was rude, Mr. Ramon,” Delia said, looking away politely. “I’m just here to ask you a question, and I’ll leave when I’m done.”

“Ask away.” Oliver buttoned up his collar and carefully drew the bed curtains back.

“Ann told me everything.” Delia fiddled with the thin legs of Cat Whiskers. Her tone was a little stiff. “I don’t understand. Why don’t you kill the Pillar of the World?”

Oliver suddenly woke up from his groggy state. He never thought that Delia would ask him such a question directly.

“I don’t know much about you, but you don’t seem to subjectively deny the type of suggestion made by the other party because of Mr. Telaranea’s origin. As a member of the royal family, I think Mr. Telaranea’s suggestion is perfect.”

Oliver opened his mouth before he thought that it wasn’t a good time to explain.

“Let’s hear your opinion first, Delia,” he responded calmly.

“No matter how important Mr. Light is to you, it is also for you alone. To be rude, you are putting the world at risk for your love. Not to mention that Mr. Light is probably no longer there. Even if he is, I don’t think he will be happy that he will lose control one day and cause innocent people to die as a result. On the contrary, if he doesn’t care about the survival of life on the surface at all, then you should consider the sanity of this relationship.”

She pointed to her eyes. “’The pressure to cause the death of innocent people’… At least as far as my sense of responsibility as a human being is concerned, I have a say.”

“You’re a brave warrior, Mr. Ramon. I believe that the person you love must be as noble as you, and this pressure will make him extremely painful—and according to the proposal of the Sage of the Abyss, if you are willing to use that plan to kill the Pillar of the World. Mr. Light will not suffer from the death of his body and can even survive for hundreds of years. Isn’t that enough?”

“In the worst case, you find that Mr. Light is no longer there, but you have already saved the surface. From any point of view, this is a brilliant idea. I can’t figure it out, and Ann can’t explain it to me clearly, so I’m here to ask you—Why? Why choose the riskier path instead?”

Cat Whiskers curled up its legs and shrank itself up. Delia Alastair was small, but just standing there, her aura was much stronger than Ann’s.

Oliver’s heart was extremely calm, and he didn’t feel angry or offended. He took a few steps closer, hesitantly stretched out his hand, and patted Delia on the shoulder.

“Sampson Alastair once considered a similar issue.”

There was no irony in Oliver’s tone, but he was extremely serious.

“Flint Lopez has a smart mind, and he is also watertight in terms of his life. He should understand better than anyone else the coldness of reality and the cruelty of war and what people ask for is nothing more than fame and fortune. Why should he pursue a useless dancer and no longer serve the country?”

“Let him be free for a few years and let him be immersed in the sweetness of love and then design the accidental death of that dancer and send his own condolences at the right time—Flint Lopez will naturally collect his heart, remember the most important thing about himself as a man, and turn back to build his career. In his mind, that would probably be a pretty brilliant idea, too.”

Delia tensed her face tightly. “I’ve seen a lot…”

“I am not as knowledgeable as you, and I may not understand your pain.” Oliver raised the corner of his mouth. “That’s the problem, Delia. As human beings, none of us can empathize with each other’s emotions.”

“I am not qualified to unilaterally conclude that ‘If Nemo is still there, he must suffer for it, and he is willing to give up his body and almost unlimited life span for mankind’. This is a decision that only Nemo can make by himself. I shouldn’t speak on behalf of him and then kill him.”

Ann’s metaphor is good, Oliver thought to himself. It was like a mayfly fell in love with a sleeping dragon and was lucky enough to get a glimpse of the other party’s dream.

He had no right to think that he had the right to turn the dragon into a mayfly like himself because of that gentle look in his eyes. Even if the dream was fleeting, even if he had to become a dragon slayer…

“But aren’t you lovers? Sometimes lovers just have to think more about each other, right?” Delia’s voice sounded urgent and finally showed a bit of stubbornness unique to her age.

“It’s because I love him that I can’t do that even more.”

“This is about the whole of Alban, the whole world…”

“Bad things will not become worse because the whole world recognizes them. Delia, you’re very smart. Do you think Prince Eldric has no affection for you?”

“…No, but…”

“Will what he claims to have done ‘for you’ make you happy?”

“Of course not.”

“So I won’t do that either. I respect my lover. If my lover becomes my opponent, I respect my opponent.”

Delia stopped talking. She clenched her lips and stared at Oliver unconvincingly.

“Ok.” After a while, she took a breath. “Thank you for your advice, I will think about it.”

“I believe you will be a good emperor.”

“If Alban can continue to exist.” Delia still pursed her lips tightly.

“Yes.” Oliver laughed softly. “If I can survive in the next few days, it will. One last point, Your Royal Highness. Another reason why I didn’t choose the Sage of the Abyss plan—I now have a more suitable idea.”

Behind him, the sky outside the window turned slightly white, and there was a glow on the horizon.

A few more days passed.

The bottom of the abyss had changed from eternal night to eternal day since Nemo propped up the illusion.

The roadside town in the fantasy was as empty as usual in the perpetual good weather.

Nemo was still sitting close to the door, as if preparing to receive non-existent guests. His hands and feet were already full of books, and although he remembered every word in them, he still looked through them carefully.

How long had he been sitting here by himself?

There was no need to eat or sleep. Large memories of emotionally weak feelings were mixed into his thoughts and Nemo began to doubt the time that had passed. Although it was a good idea to sleep, he was a little worried—in case he woke up and found that hundreds of years had passed, and Oliver Ramon had already passed away…

Nemo sighed softly and closed the book in his hand.

If only he and Oliver had taken a magical photo, even if he couldn’t create a vision of Oliver in his mind, it would still be easy to copy a photo with his memory.

Nemo stood up slowly and decided to get himself a copy of “The History of Magic Camera Technology”.

At this moment, his wrist suddenly softened, and the book in the fantasy slipped to the ground, making a muffled sound.

His body became a little weak and his strength was vanishing rapidly, much like the state of a human suffering from a bad cold. Nemo didn’t pick up the book and instead walked straight to the door of the library and looked out…

His powers began to be plundered and he couldn’t maintain the stability any longer. The Roadside Town in his fantasy began to collapse from the periphery, slowly moving towards the center, and the shining fragments were swallowed up by the surrounding darkness.

Oliver Ramon didn’t choose to stay ordinary for peace and to start a new life.

He decided to take matters into his own hands.

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

---

Chapter 250: Let Me Refuse

“Interesting, Mr. Ramon. You look like you haven’t slept all night.” Telaranea pointed his fingers at him and leaned back against the sofa backrest in the reception room. He cocked his legs and moved freely and calmly.

“It’s just ordinary insomnia, so I just went out for a walk.” Oliver sat down opposite him; his tone steady. “…It’s been a long time since I saw you, ‘Mr. Thorne’. It seems that you have completed your research in that cabin.”

“Not exactly. You see, neither you nor your companions like me very much, and I’m not here specifically to be a guest.”

The Sage of the Abyss narrowed his dark green eyes and looked at Oliver on the opposite side.

Oliver Ramon’s aura had changed a lot.

When he first met Ramon in Garland, he only regarded him as a naïve and foolish young man. It was better to say that he and Nemo Light were on the same page. Their faces were full of “will die in the first three missions of the Black Chapter”.

Although speaking for himself, Oliver Ramon was indeed one of the most talented humans he had ever seen, but “talent” was rarely a decisive factor.

After walking through the world for thousands of years, Telaranea had seen countless geniuses who had done nothing in their lives and returned to dust, never even discovering their talents. Ramon had missed the best growth period—if only luck was on his side and Mr. Ramon was willing to abandon the naiveté that was only holding him back. Even if he couldn’t join the ranks of the top powerhouses, he still had a chance to become a famous warrior that the Mercenary Guild could name.

If he was unlucky, he would quickly die from his own meaningless benevolence.

The Sage of the Abyss originally thought so.

Very interesting. Telaranea couldn’t help but smile on his face. Not only was Ramon still alive, but he was also turning into some kind of creature that he couldn’t measure…

The leader of Tumbleweed had the fatigue unique to humans lacking sleep on his face, but his strength wasn’t weakened at all, and he looked extremely sober. The young man’s unique sense of youth completely disappeared. The original sense of gentleness was still there, but under that soft temperament, there was no longer innocence, but an unfathomable undercurrent.

And a chilling sense of oppression.

For a moment, Telaranea almost thought that it was one of his own kind in front of him.

No, a little stronger. Although he had forgotten the memory obtained from the Withered Castle, the Sage of the Abyss could still infer a few things through the report from Horizon. Oliver Ramon destroyed the Withered Castle. By virtue, it may not be simply just from his power awakening…

Was the experiment of the flesh-and-blood furnace successful in the end?

Telaranea pushed the glasses on the bridge of his nose and smiled more meaningfully. “Old rules. I’m here to exchange information. We have also done business several times, and you’re a pretty good trading partner.”

“What a coincidence. I was planning to pay you a visit.” Oliver took a sip of tea and glanced at the small door in the corner of the living room from the corner of his eyes. “Why don’t you go first.”

On the other side of the small door.

“Don’t squeeze!” Ann mouthed as she bared her teeth. “Jesse Dylan, I don’t care if you are Zenni or something else, do me a favor. Will it kill you to return to your human form.”

“If you are willing to share a room with a naked me, my queen,” Jesse sputtered, looking away, having difficulty in the small space. “I told you; next door was enough. You have to eavesdrop here.”

“The mute array is limited.” Adrian stood calmly, even though his whole body was about to be overwhelmed by the long white fur. “After all, this is one of the few arrays allowed in the royal castle. Even if Jesse could ignore these taboos, he wouldn’t be able to completely cover up the fluctuations of spells.”

“That’s because I’m still in my recovery period.” Jesse didn’t sound very happy. “If it weren’t for… Forget it.”

The white beast squeezed Adrian into the corner with bad intentions, but the knight remained motionless for a long time.

“Shh, shh—” Ann, apparently not interested in admiring the half-naked god, extended her index finger and gestured over her lips.

“…I saw the true face of God, of course, in the memory of that Gatekeeper.”

Telaranea’s voice came from the crack of the door.

“Similarly, I also experienced a sense of oppression by God himself. Interestingly, when my other body moved near the entrance of the Abyss, I felt the same intimidation. That feeling of striking straight to the soul, I would never be mistaken—Considering the time and place, half of the reconnaissance team happened to be moving around there at that time.”

Oliver was silent.

“So, I investigated the matters related to this reconnaissance team. Jesse Dylan and Adrian Cross happened to be in that team, and they were also one of the few people who survived and were still sane.”

“What do you want to say?”

“I don’t think a team that had just escaped from the depths of the Abyss, scarred and bruised, would have had the presence of mind to choose that point in time to spy on God, so I’m leaning towards another explanation—What they did drew the wrath of the creature known as ‘God’.”

Adrian, who didn’t know the details, raised his eyebrows and looked at Jesse. The latter put his huge head on the corner of the wall and refused to look at him. Ann rolled her eyes and put the sullen gray parrot on her relatively loose left shoulder.

“I want to know the details.” Telaranea’s tone became more eager. “Ah, you don’t seem surprised… After all, if the flesh-and-blood furnace was successful, you too should be qualified to observe ‘that thing’. It seems that you have already seen it and know the specific situation of this matter.”

Oliver’s face didn’t change. In terms of qualifications and vision, he thought he was no match for the Sage of the Abyss. At the moment, he didn’t want to spend time doing useless dealings with Telaranea.

“Yes,” he admitted simply.

“It seems that you have a great bargaining chip.” The eyes behind Telaranea lenses were slightly moistened with excitement. “Excellent, excellent—What do you want to know? Anything I can give, anything that can be done.”

Oliver tugged at the corner of his mouth. He stood up, walked to the wall by the window, and opened the black wooden box that looked like one of the decorations in the room.

Telaranea almost moved. The fear engraved in his bones made his feet soft and reason forced him to maintain a relatively decent sitting posture.

A black wooden box that could fit two adults was carved with countless ornate charms. At first glance, it could be considered a work of art. When the wooden box was opened, a huge demonic skull was exposed.

The multiple eye sockets were empty, and the teeth were long and sharp. Even if there was only a faint fluctuation of magic left, the cold air of murderous intent still made people unable to help but back away.

Oliver stretched out his right hand and gently stroked the white skull. Then he retracted his hand and made a few simple gestures in the air.

“I temporarily suppressed the remaining magic fluctuations.” Oliver turned around and looked at the pale Sage of the Abyss. “You can take a closer look.”

“Ulysses’ skull.” Telaranea stood up a little unsteadily as blood welled in his pale cheeks. “If Auror… Sorry, a gaffe. Let me see.”

The Sage of the Abyss walked to the black wooden box and looked at the mutilated skull inside with awe. Sunlight passed through the window and dripped into the shadows along the pale bones.

“You are much more interesting than I thought.”

Telaranea looked like he wanted to touch it. He stretched out his hand hesitantly, and then retracted it.

“…But as the only child of Flint Lopez, it’s not surprising that you know some secrets.”

“This thing used to be able to connect the surface and the Abyss. I’m pretty sure. Now it doesn’t have much power left, and I want to repair its circuit—You should be more familiar with how abyssal magic works than anyone else.” Oliver didn’t intend to discuss his life with the demon, so he directly asked.

No, his lover was actually more familiar. He added bitterly in his heart.

“Well, it was handled by the humans of the Holy Church, which mutilated it quite a bit. This is indeed a difficult task.” Telaranea’s gaze stuck to the skull. He raised his hand impatiently and drew a series of strange black spells in the air.

Then the smile on the face of the Sage of the Abyss disappeared.

“I might be able to restore its abilities, but like I said, it’s in too bad of a condition. Even if I fix the spell circuit, the circuit won’t last long—a few days or a month, and it will fail again. Since I’m going to do business, I must tell you in advance about the possible risks.”

“……”

The demon inserted his fingers into his slightly long red hair and tucked them behind his ears. “In addition, after the circuit is restored, it will be directly connected to the Demon King’s consciousness. If you want to use this to test the status of the current generation of the Demon King’s abilities, connecting to its consciousness will not be very useful.”

“It’s ‘him’,” Oliver whispered, sighed, and raised his voice again. “I understand. Please fix the circuit.”

“I refuse.” Telaranea shook his head.

Oliver frowned.

“…You’re hiding something from me. I don’t do business that has too much crispness or the information is extremely vague. I need to know what you really want, and more comprehensive information will help me fix it better.”

Telaranea suddenly stretched his face closer. His dark green eyes were like muddy river water.

“Yes, I am indeed willing to give everything for knowledge about God. However, the risk of repairing the Demon King’s circuit is extremely high. Perhaps I can secure a better price. I’m the only person in the world who can fix it, Mr. Ramon. I am very sure.”

“…By the way, I know very well that you’re now equivalent to a ’God’ in its baby stage. Even if I don’t have a memory, I have my own source of intelligence. If you want to use this as a bargaining chip, I have to say, you’ll be very disappointed.”

Oliver pondered for a moment.

“I need to think about it for a while.”

“This is what business looks like.” Telaranea smiled more brightly.

Oliver lowered his head and rubbed the Demon King’s skull, which had become a little warm from the autumn sun. With his fingers, he was stroking it as if it was the skin of a lover.

He looked at it sadly and tenderly and was silent for a long time.

“It’s okay to tell you the truth, but we must first make a contract. I must make sure that you will not hinder our plan after learning the truth.” Ten minutes later, Oliver finally raised his head again.

“Let me refuse again.”

Telaranea rubbed his lower lip with his knuckles, smiling like a slick hunter.

“Oh, don’t get me wrong. I don’t want to be your enemy, Mr. Ramon. The reason is simple—the contract between us will likely not work.”

Oliver showed a polite expression of doubt.

“You are a ‘God’ who has not yet grown up and has infinite possibilities, and I am just an ordinary superior demon. Even if our strength is barely close now, as long as you willed, you can leave me far behind. Fundamentally, we are not the same level of beings, and such a contract is not solid—you can completely unilaterally break it whenever you want.”

“I don’t trust you,” The Sage of the Abyss admitted magnanimously.

They were playing a game again.

Oliver was startled, then closed his eyes, trying to think about his next move.

“I can,” before he could think of countermeasures, a familiar voice came.

The gray parrot pecked at the broken glass and squeezed himself out of the decorative window above the small door.

“…You and I are both demons.” Bagelmaurus raised its chest a little tremblingly. “Our contract is equal!”

“Mm-hmm.” Telaranea patted the parrot’s head like an elder. “How can you guarantee that Mr. Ramon will not treat you as an outcast? You know, once Mr. Ramon violates the contract, it is you who will pay the price.”

“I don’t know!” the gray parrot shouted. “Ramon is a complete idiot. I… I might be an idiot too. Anyway, I wanted to kill him at first, so we can just count this as payback.”

Saying that, Bagelmaurus snapped and ran to Oliver. Oliver bent down and held it in his hands. The parrot’s pointy claws scratched his palm a little.

“…I’m just saying that,” the gray parrot muttered, trembling even more severely. “You—you won’t really betray me.”

“I swear, Bagelmaurus.” Oliver spoke with no hints of sarcasm. “Swear on my future.”

“That’s more like it.” Bagelmaurus puffed out its chest. It seemed that it had already begun to regret its impulsive behavior. “Let’s do it, Telaranea.”

The dim brilliance of a demon’s contract filled the reception room in the early morning.

Two hours later.

Telaranea, who learned the truth, behaved calmer than everyone else.

“I have to say, my impression of you has changed a lot, Mr. Ramon,” the Sage of the Abyss said with emotion. “You are a real lunatic, and I like lunatics.”

With the matter being spoken of, the people hiding behind the small door had already come out. Telaranea’s gaze stayed on the white behemoth for a long time.

“The investigation of Tumbleweed is definitely Horizon’s most failed mission.”

After that, he stood up and supported the wooden box containing the Demon King’s skull with both hands.

“…Actually, you don’t have to worry like that, Mr. Ramon. Even if it is me, I don’t want the surface to immediately fall into chaos or head towards destruction. After all, there are still so many puzzles in this world. It would be a pity if they’re all destroyed.”

“So I’ll give you an idea.”

The Sage of the Abyss stared at the bones in the box.

“It can ensure the stability of the surface and reunite you with Mr. Light. Even if Mr. Light is gone, it can at least ensure that the world will not be destroyed.”

As if he had guessed what the other party wanted to say, Jesse uncharacteristically lowered his body and showed his fangs threateningly. “Shut it, Telaranea.”

“You didn’t tell them, did you? I thought you were on their side, Lord God.”

Oliver straightened his back, and a layer of hot sweat suddenly appeared on his back. “…Please speak.”

“It’s very simple. I’ll fix the magic circuit on this skull, and Mr. Ramon will use this time to become stronger. Considering the vigilance of the Pillar of the World, you have to control the degree of power extraction. It doesn’t need to be to the extent of defeating it, just enough.”

The Sage of the Abyss spoke faster and faster.

“Then it’s up to you to summon—No matter what the method, whether it’s calling Mr. Light or inducing a sensible Demon King. As long as the Demon King’s will can be summoned to the skull, the connection between it and the body can be cut off. Through the cooperation of your companions, you can take the opportunity to kill the body of the Pillar of the World… Ah you should have an impression. Do you remember the mission of the Abyssal Church? The white demon of the Church of Silence?”

Oliver nodded lightly while remaining expressionless.

“Yes, as is the case with Mr. Colestoro, since the consciousness is not in the body, the Pillar of the World cannot feel the pain caused by death, and naturally it won’t have death throes. After killing the body, you only need to prepare a corresponding container and hold its will—Spend the rest of your life with Mr. Light or destroy the container and completely erase the Demon King’s consciousness. You can choose according to the situation.”

Having said that, he glanced at the young man in front of him.

“Go on.” Oliver still had no expression on his face.

“In this way, it is a win-win situation. Next, you only need to ensure that the corpse of the Pillar of the World will not decay too quickly. Even if you don’t care, I think it can last for tens of thousands of years. You see, if Mr. Light’s consciousness is still alive, you can continue to live happily, and he no longer has to worry about his possible destruction of the world.”

Jesse turned his face and stared at Oliver tightly, his pupils almost shrinking into two invisible crevices.

The leader of Tumbleweed didn’t respond to this gaze. Oliver looked at the Demon King’s skull a few steps away, and fell into a long silence, as if thinking about something.

“…Thank you for your suggestion.” Oliver sighed after a long time. “You can start repairing here.”

“Oh, you are such a smart person.” The Sage of the Abyss clapped his hands.

“Ramon!” Jesse bared his fangs. “You—”

Adrian and Ann were silent. Their faces didn’t look very good either, while the gray parrot sat dumbfounded in place, as if it hadn’t had time to take in what was said.

“However, Telaranea, you may have misunderstood what I meant.”

Oliver added with a smile. He finally retracted his gaze from the Demon King’s skull, which flickered, revealing a glimmer of hope.

“Let me refuse that suggestion.”

---

The author has something to say:

Ehhehe (???

How could Ollie agree—?

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

---

Chapter 249: Companions

Oliver extinguished the light in the bedroom. It was late at night, and the lights in Doru, the capital of Alban, were gradually fading. The stars twinkled in the azure night sky, and the moonlight illuminated the complex decorations in the room. The silver statue of Zenni on the table glowed with a hazy white light.

Sighing, focusing the strength in his eyes, Oliver looked out the window again…

The true appearance of the world was once again revealed. The monster that obscured the sky was still there. The sky turned into terrible darkness, and in a flash, there wasn’t a single star left.

Oliver thought for a few seconds and closed the thick curtains.

The guest rooms of the royal castle were several levels higher than the dormitories of Clementine Academy. The beds were soft and comfortable, and lying on them was like floating on warm water. The elegant aroma of a sleep aid lingered at the end of his nose, but Oliver wasn’t drowsy. He habitually touched his side, and there was nothing on the cool sheets.

There is no other breath around, no familiar warm body.

Although physically and mentally exhausted to the limit, he still couldn’t sleep. Unlike when he escaped from the Withered Castle, he wasn’t afraid of being swallowed by nightmares. Now he couldn’t even dream anymore.

Oliver opened his eyes wide in the dark, looking at the exquisite embroidery on the bed curtain. After going over and over for more than ten minutes, he sat up, simply put on his nightgown, and left the room.

There was a kitchen on standby all day in the royal castle for guests from various countries and customs. There was a restaurant not far from the guest room area. Although he wasn’t hungry, Oliver still wanted to find something to do.

Once he was free, the memories in his mind began to roll uncontrollably. Emptiness coursed through his bloodstream, corroding his veins and internal organs, while sucking away his tears. He had to find something to make himself feel better, so he no longer felt like a completely cold and empty shell.

For example, a bowl of soup or a glass of hot milk.

He pushed open the embossed, brightly stained-glass wooden door, only to find that he wasn’t the only visitor to the small restaurant.

The new king of Alban, Andrea Alastair—or Ann Savage—was sitting at a table in the corner, pouring wine glass after glass.

The table was full of empty bottles, and the waiter next to her nervously tried to clean it up, but Ann casually waved him away at will.

“Many thanks but stand down. I’m used to it.” She sounded very sober and in a low mood. “You don’t need to worry about these. Five more bottles of ale, plus a little crispy cornbread and dried bacon, and add extra pepper to the cornbread.”

The waiter was shocked by the king’s thanks and coyly retreated. Ann sighed fiercely, knocked on the empty bottle with her fingers, looked around casually, and caught a glimpse of Oliver.

“Captain.” She reluctantly smiled and raised her hand as a greeting. “Sit.”

Oliver pursed his lips and sat down opposite Ann.

Ann tugged at the corners of her mouth and pushed the bottles of wine on the table to the wall, barely clearing an empty area on the table. There were still some unfinished fried nuts on the table, and she pushed the small plate to the center.

“I remember you can’t drink,” she muttered, “Would you like something else?”

“Wine’s fine. Now if I don’t want to get drunk, it won’t let me get out of control.” Oliver took a clean wine glass for himself.

Although he wanted to get drunk as hell, he had countless things to do next besides the necessary sleep, leaving no time for indulgence and decadence.

The female warrior didn’t say much. She picked up the silver bell in the corner of the table, attached magic, and shook it gently. “In addition to the things just ordered, add a bottle of light apple wine, and—”

“Fried mushrooms,” Oliver added softly.

“A plate of fried mushrooms.” She put down the bell after speaking.

“Thank you.” Oliver’s tone was solemn.

“It doesn’t take much effort.”

“It’s not thanks for this but thank you for your willingness to provide us with this. After all, Abbas Alastair, he—” Oliver raised his eyes and his voice became more serious.

“Abbas was my favorite brother.” Ann threw a nut in her mouth and chewed on it. “He was the only normal elder in my shitty childhood. I do love him, just as you love your father.”

The teleportation array on the cart by the table lit up, and Ann brought a tray of wine and snacks that appeared out of thin air to the table and pushed the pile of wine bottles to the side against the wall.

“My father killed your mother and caused your father to suffer deeply, but you and Nemo didn’t leave me alone because of this. There is no need to put on that expression—yes, I know, the situation is different. The Demon King killed my brother, which I regarded as my enemy.”

Oliver’s fork was heading to the frying mushrooms when it stopped in mid-air.

“But it’s impossible for things like people’s hearts to contain only one emotion.” Ann smiled bitterly and took a sip of wine, “But I watched you guys walk all the way until now… How should I put it. You’re just like my brothers. I don’t know what the real Demon King looks like, but at least I admire Nemo Light.”

“Ann…”

“Oliver, let’s put it this way. I don’t think my brother is an outright victim. It’s not like the Demon King’s counterattack was ‘wrong’, but to say, ‘I don’t mind Nemo killing my brother at all, and it’s all in the past’, that would also a complete lie—sorry, I don’t plan to lie to you about this, even if it will make you feel better.”

“I understand.” Oliver slowly chewed the fried mushrooms that burned his mouth a little.

Just as he would still be a little disgusted with the Alastair family—he knew very well that it wasn’t Ann’s fault, but every time he saw that surname, he still couldn’t help feeling irritated.

“Yes, if the mind understands the truth and the heart can keep up, then life will be much easier. Abbas is dead, and I have no right to forgive anyone for him. All this mess nowadays is just because I want to feel better in my own heart. Now that I know the original body of the Demon King … On the one hand, as the king of Alban, it is my duty to give support to the prophetic Hero.”

Ann had a piece of jerky in her mouth, and her voice was muffled. She raised her head. Her amber eyes weren’t clouded by alcohol, and they were still extremely sharp.

“On the other hand… As a friend, if you want to make this matter clear in a dignified manner, I want Nemo Light to talk to me face-to-face. Until then, I won’t give you any answers.”

The Queen of Alban paused for a few seconds, put down the glass heavily, and emptied the bottle at hand…

“So Oliver, I will give you all the support you want. In exchange, you have to promise me that you will bring that bastard to me.”

Oliver’s lips quivered a little as a thousand words rushed to his throat.

He just barely squeezed out a “yes” in the end.

“Let’s have a toast next.” Ann shook the full wine glass in her hand. “The thought of being a flea on a giant dragon, and this dragon is planning to take a magma bath… I just want to throw away the throne immediately, take Delia, and spend all my money to have some crazy fun. Unfortunately, like I said—I have a pretty good idea of my little conscience, but I at least have to face it.”

“To psychological trauma.” Oliver laughed, took a few sips of apple wine that caused his face to flush to the naked eye.

“To psychological trauma, but speaking of psychological trauma, that bastard Dylan… I will go and have a good talk with Salter tomorrow. Religious expenses should be cut.”

This sentence was like a summoning spell. The door of the small restaurant opened again, and a head squeezed in, followed by a huge hairy body.

Although the door wasn’t small, the door frame still made an overwhelming, cracking sound.

Jesse Dylan still maintained the appearance of a behemoth. He glanced at the two people in the corner, swept away a table and chair unceremoniously with his tail, and then tapped the ordering bell with the tip of his nail.

“A bucket of mead, fifteen pounds of butter cookies,” he requested solemnly, “and ten pounds of candied berries.”

“…Can you restore your human form, Dylan?” Ann gritted her teeth, “I’m starting to miss you before.”

The huge beast glanced at her faintly and didn’t respond. The mead was sent up first, and Lord Zenni bit open the lid of the barrel, and then directly inserted his long mouth into it.

“I thought he was going to lick it, alright? I really hope that the old coots of the Laddism Church can see this scene with their own eyes,” Ann commented without emotion.

Just as Jesse was drinking mead and waiting for his dessert, the door of the restaurant was opened again.

Adrian Cross looked speechlessly at the god who stuck his head in the barrel, the Queen of Alban, who was almost buried by wine bottles, and the insomnia Hero, who sipped on fruit wine without saying a word.

“How rare. You would actually come here at this time, Cross.” Ann hiccupped.

The former commander of the Knight of Judgement was amazingly self-disciplined. If conditions permitted, Adrian tended to go to bed on time at ten, yet the current time was close to three in the morning.

“Can’t sleep.” Adrian was very honest. “I saw Bagelmaurus while walking. It’s not in a good mood. I want to order some biscuits…”

The cookies Jesse asked for were packed in a large plate that was supposed to hold a roast pig. It piled into a golden pile, almost crushing the cart, but for some reason, he was still burying his head in the barrel.

Adrian naturally walked to the corner and sat down beside Oliver. He put the sluggish gray parrot on the table and touched the white fluffy tail beside him.

Jesse swept his tail to the other side in an instant, and the sound of drinking suddenly became loud.

The former Chief Justice smiled and didn’t say much. He poured himself a glass of water. “Mr. Ramon, please be restrained. I remember you have arrangements for tomorrow.”

“Nn.” Oliver agreed less than crisply, with a hint of uncertainty. “Mr. Cross…”

“I will not report to the Holy Church.” Adrian obviously guessed Oliver’s question.

The pointed ears of the behemoth exposed outside the barrel slowly stood up.

Adrian cracked a nut and handed it to the grey parrot. “Don’t get me wrong. My thoughts have not changed. I will not pretend to know because Mr. Light or you are my companions.”

“Then you…”

“If this news leaks, according to the current situation, I believe the surface will be more inclined to execute you now. Once you are executed, and the Demon King won’t give up his plan to destroy the surface, or the still conscious Mr. Light becomes angry as a result, the consequences will be unimaginable. This is my judgement as a knight.”

“Why? Shouldn’t the surface offer Ramon up?” The gray parrot pecked at the nuts absent-mindedly.

Ann stretched out her fingers and rubbed the grey parrot’s head. “No, even if the Pope of the Laddism Church is willing to shelter Oliver, if someone spreads the news to the masses… A rebellious human caused the Demon King to want to destroy the surface. That vague prophecy will probably change from a ‘Prophecy of the Hero’ to a ‘Prophecy of the Destroyer of the World’. After all, in everyone’s concept, the Demon King has never really touched the surface.”

“Yes, the fewer people who know, the better.” Adrian nodded. “Even the Pope will have his own position. Even if his heart is in the right place, what he ultimately wants is stability in the world. According to the teachings of the Laddism Church, Mr. Ramon would most likely be asked to kill himself immediately as a way to ‘protect’ the surface and become a ‘saint’.”

Oliver only felt a little choked on the fried mushrooms in his throat.

It’s not that he hadn’t thought about this approach. If he and Nemo were just ordinary friends, if he hadn’t made that promise to Nemo, maybe he would really be willing to do so.

But not now.

“And that’s not fair,” Adrian continued, smiling in a rare moment. “This matter is not without a turning point. As your companion, Mr. Ramon, I can’t trust the Demon King, but I trust you.”

Oliver’s eyes reddened a little, and he took several large gulps of cider to suppress the sourness in his eyes.

“Thank you,” he said.

“The most we can give you is our will and material support.” Adrian slipped the gray parrot another nut. “Jesse’s the one who can really help.”

The behemoth’s ears instantly pressed back to his head.

“I know.” Oliver sighed lightly. “If it weren’t for him, it would be impossible for Nemo and I to have gotten together so soon.”

“Although it’s okay to forage for food somewhere else, it’s still pretty nice here.” Jesse finally pulled his head out of the barrel. He came out and licked the wet fur next to his long mouth. “But Ramon, I have to warn you. It’s too late for you to change your mind now. Once I start to help you gain strength, the Pillar of the World will definitely notice. He hasn’t moved yet, but once he does…”

He quickly glanced at Adrian, who was drinking water, and then began to eat butter cookies, creating cracking sounds.

Oliver, meanwhile, chewed on a fried mushroom and looked like he was thinking of something.

“I—I can go and check on Light’s condition,” the gray parrot suggested in a low voice.

“No.” Oliver immediately rejected it. “In case the rational part of the Pillar of the World… Well, in case the Demon King really dispels Nemo’s emotions, you may be killed by him immediately. Take a step back. Even if he doesn’t kill you, such a message will be unreliable.”

“You don’t trust me!” The gray parrot’s tone sounded aggrieved. “I—I’m not afraid of death. The corewen flat snakes are very good at escaping. I have the flesh of the Demon King in my body. He won’t go too far on me… right?”

“It’s because I trust you.”

Oliver stared at the tip of the silver fork in his hand.

“According to Dylan’s explanation, assuming that the Demon King devours Nemo’s will, he will have all the information related to Nemo.”

“Considering my feelings for Nemo, if the Demon King wants to minimize the loss, keep the surface and continue to study. Then he can pretend that ’Nemo is still there’, and possibly try to trap me alone.”

This almost cold guess made Ann’s mouth stop chewing on the jerky, and she looked at him with a bit of sadness in her eyes.

“I have to take into account all the circumstances,” Oliver murmured. “Bagelmaurus, you have the flesh of the Demon King, which is a very important card for us. Don’t be impulsive, okay?”

The grey parrot buried its head in its wings and stopped talking.

“Calm down and think about it, Dylan has a point.”

Although the alcohol in the fruit wine was steaming his brain, surrounded by clearly stated companions, Oliver had never been so sober.

“…As long as I start to absorb power, the Demon King will definitely find out. However, the surface is still very quiet at the moment, whether it is because Nemo is still there or because the Demon King has other plans. This is all a good phenomenon.”

The faint power came out from the leader of Tumbleweed.

“Since Dylan thinks that ‘not doing anything’ is the best solution—without considering the possibility that Nemo is still there, depending on the current situation, the Demon King may also be observing my reaction and trying to be cautious.”

Jesse nodded, swallowed the candied berries, and licked his nose.

“Then I can use this in turn to buy some time. I think I can find a way to look at the opponent’s chessboard to determine whether the opponent is the Demon King or Nemo.”

“But if you want to confirm Nemo’s situation, you must go to the bottom of the Abyss. That would be too risky.” Ann calmly pointed this out. “Listen to the gross… I mean, Dylan’s statement. If you want to do it, the safest way is to do it on the surface.”

“I know, but maybe there is a way to connect the surface with the bottom of the Abyss. I can spy on it myself.”

Oliver showed a sincere, nostalgic smile. “I used to talk to him like that.”

“If you mean Ulysses’ head.”

Jesse interrupted mercilessly and licked the sugar stuck to his nose again.

“That skull in Roadside Town could be regarded as how the Demon King was able to climb to the surface. From the moment Light came to the surface, it completed its mission, and the magic circuit began to fail. After all these years, it’s impossible for it to still have an effect.”

“…But that circuit did exist,” Oliver said. “It’s like a communication crystal that loses energy, right? If you find a way to inject power, there’s still a chance it’ll work.”

“That’s an abyssal spell. I’m afraid I can’t help you.” Jesse looked lost in thought, as if he was also thinking about the feasibility of this plan. “After all, it’s something made by the Demon King himself…”

“I think I know who to ask.” Oliver emptied his wine glass.

As it turned out, his target came to the door the next day himself.

“Thorne of the Steel Wolf?” Ann frowned at the servant who came to report. “That guy Fenrir has always come straight for me. Why—”

“I think he came to see me.” Oliver, who was already prepared, carefully inserted his Rest in Peace into the ukulele, and then carried it behind him.

“Let’s go, Ann. Let’s go meet Mr. Thorne… No, let’s go meet the Sage of the Abyss.”

---

The author has something to say:

Ollie: Since there is shocking information as a bargaining chip, why not ask the magical Tela?

Jesse: …

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

---

Chapter 248: Doomsday Chess Game

Adrian Cross was in a complicated mood.

There were countless incredible situations on the battlefield. As an experienced warrior, he had the ability to forcibly stabilize his emotions. Unfortunately, all his calmness today was spent on Jesse Dylan.

Jesse Dylan confided in the truth, completely revealing his true emotions for the first time.

The supreme guide that people admire, the “Zenni” with a long white beard and the appearance of a serious old man, didn’t exist. However, as a believer, Adrian’s heart was filled with relief and liberation.

His belief that was identified as “deviating from the right path”, the strong fortress with only one stone brick missing, finally became complete in the absurdity of the facts.

For the first time in his life, Adrian was satisfied with the fact that he was “born into this world”—as he wished, the world wasn’t absolutely chaotic and ruthless. In a sense, the existence of Jesse Dylan made it a lot more romantic.

Those mischievous jokes, those provocative statements, and those specious behaviors suspected of secretly guiding Tumbleweed all had explanations.

Simply as “Zenni”, he was already satisfied at this moment. Originally, what he had was distant, unrequited feelings and nothing more.

But he looked at the beautiful blue eyes of the behemoth with a slight confusion, and he always had the urge to touch it.

Adrian couldn’t analyze this subtle emotion—not exclusive desire, not admiration, not closeness out of gratitude. He was conscious of his own transience, the other’s antiquity, and the fact that the world they were viewing was fundamentally different.

Yet the sight of his God’s taut, shaggy face and chastened chin resting on the table, Adrian found that the previous soft emotions were still there, not broken along with his previous heart.

It was mixed with laughter, helplessness, peace, and satisfaction, as well as the expectation of wanting to continue watching.

Whether warm or absurd, unpleasant or joyful. The emotionally drenched memories turned into a light and soft net that held his entire heart in place. After all these days of entanglement, was he still really a “simple believer”?

The former Knight of Judgement’s face was calm, and he pressed his right hand to his chest relatively naturally. The miraculously resuscitated heart was beating vigorously, a little too fast.

But before he could fully figure out the definition of this relationship, another one exploded, as if a bomb had detonated.

“He is what you call the ‘Demon King’… and to this day, I still love him.” For his own question, Oliver Ramon gave such an answer.

Adrian moved his gaze away from his head resting on the round table, as quiet as a specimen-like beast-shaped god, and subconsciously pinched his brows. Unexpectedly, it made sense. If Mr. Light was just an ordinary superior demon, there would be no reason for him to follow them for so long.

If Nemo Light was the new generation…

But Oliver didn’t end the topic there.

“Nemo is the Demon King, the only Demon King. Every generation of Demon King killed by the previous expedition from the surface was just… a small piece of Nemo’s flesh. Not his original body.”

The handsome and depressed young man turned the teacup in his hand uncomfortably, looked in Ann’s direction apologetically, and continued to speak out crazy words with his mouth.

“Just like Bagelmaurus here, it is just the flesh that carries its ontological consciousness. The corowen flat snake, which is its body, is now unconscious and sleeping in the depths of the Abyss. The same is true of the Demon King.”

Adrian crossed his fingers and frowned. The last joking expression on Ann’s face disappeared. She hugged her arms and bit her lower lip.

No one else asked a jokingly rhetorical question, and no one even made another sound. The two veteran warriors of Tumbleweed simply cast their emotionally drained eyes over to him, gesturing for him to continue.

“That’s why Nemo was able to see through Dylan’s identity and tell me. In fact, he… after he discovered this, his first reaction was to tell you. I stopped him, and the fundamental problem with this matter lies with me.”

Oliver squeezed the delicate handle of the teacup tightly.

He had no reservations, from when Nemo began to suspect that he was the Demon King, to when Nemo sacrificed himself to send the reconnaissance team out of the explosion of the destruction array. Oliver explained everything in full. His voice was smooth, and his narration was skillful and organized.

As if he recalled it millions of times.

“…I can understand that.”

While Oliver picked up the teacup and moistened his throat with cold tea, Adrian spoke. He tried to digest the information that had just entered his brain, and it gave him a headache like a blade poking into his head—just bearing the identity of Jesse Dylan, his mind was already struggling on the edge of chaos.

“If you inform me of this in advance, I must report it to the Holy Church. Assuming that Mr. Light is really the Demon King I know, he can’t be stopped by just one person. Even if the person of prophecy really appears…”

Having said that, he frowned and looked at Oliver.

Ann didn’t speak. She was expressionless, and the fingers of her right hand, holding her arm, gently tapped her upper arm.

“He didn’t lie about Nemo Light,” Jesse finally spoke. “Also, you two, more or less, have caught on, right? Guided by the ‘king’, blessed by the ‘gods’, following the “star” light—Now all three of us are at this table. Mr. Ramon is the man the Laddism Church has been looking for.”

Then the beast licked his nose.

“…I should have said that. But I don’t want to give you false hope—everyone remembers the Bluebirds of Vincent Town, and the prophecy can be rewritten.”

Oliver suddenly raised his face. “False hope?”

“You see, until now, you haven’t had the heart to tell them the reality. Let me do it. Don’t talk about our dear leader now, even I am not Mr. Light’s opponent.”

“False hope… Because the prophecy may only be aimed at the Demon King who is a ‘flesh’, does it not include the body of the Demon King?” Ann asked with a stoic expression. Her tone was as if she was engaged in a real negotiation. “I want to know the details.”

The female warrior no longer showed all her emotions carelessly. At the moment, her sharp temperament had been absorbed, and Oliver couldn’t see her feelings at the moment.

“Wait.” Oliver stretched out a hand and interrupted Ann’s questioning.

“Next, I want to say a very important thing. Regarding Nemo’s ontology, personally, I don’t want you to know. I’m just here to tell the truth. That’s enough. We may be able to skip this topic.”

The icy-blue beast pupil turned around and looked at him with interest.

“You know who Jesse is—It’s enough to know that you have fought with God,” he repeated.

“I want to understand, no matter what it is.” Ann insisted, “Oliver, I can probably guess your concern. It was because of this that your father lost his fighting spirit, right? But I think… no, I need to know.”

Then she turned to Adrian’s direction. “Cross, this is my personal problem. I don’t want to involve you; you can avoid it.”

The knight commander didn’t move. He sat quietly in his position, not looking like he was going to get up.

Ann moved her eyebrows and turned to Jesse’s direction again. She cleared her throat, raised her chin, and her tone was neither humble nor overbearing. “To be honest, personally, I’m not that curious. I don’t want to know the true appearance of the Demon King at all—but now I need to be responsible for the people in this land. Even if we are all just, um, humble people.”

“Please tell me, Jesse Dylan,” she insisted on not calling him “Zenni” with a little hardened pride.

This time, Oliver didn’t try to stop Jesse from speaking again.

“Land? Under the rock formation of more than two dozen kilometers, his body is there.”

Seeing that Oliver was unresponsive, Jesse shook his fluffy tail and continued the interrupted topic without the usual schadenfreude in his voice.

“You and your subjects are stepping on his body, Miss Savage.”

God’s explanation was quite simple, and Jesse directly displayed part of the information in the air.

In the illusion, the white monster curled up tightly, not as quiet as a living thing. Several wide wings cover the back, like petals covering a flower bud, with an inorganic beauty. At this size, the soil layer covering it was almost too thin to be visible, and the entire surface was like a colorful sheet of sugar paper.

Oliver noticed the obvious difference—different from what he had seen. In the picture shown to the two of them, Jesse Dylan hid his physical appearance.

For the next half hour, the meeting was deadlocked.

Adrian Cross stared into the void, obviously lost in thought, and Ann still didn’t show the slightest emotion. She just turned her head sideways and looked through the large window of the conference room to the golden leaves swaying and flashing in the wind outside the window.

The two veteran warriors didn’t scream or collapse. The two of them were just mixed with a little ash-like silence in their temperament, and their bodies were motionless like stone carvings.

Jesse glanced at the knight commander in front of him a few times, and his tail swayed even more anxiously.

Oliver didn’t say a word anymore. He held the teacup that had already been emptied and waited quietly for his companion to come back to their senses.

He knew the possible psychology of his companions. They all thought that what they saw of the world was all that they had seen.

The sky wouldn’t fall, and the earth wouldn’t crack. People had inexplicable self-confidence and believed that they could get through each day as they deserved. Most of the things to worry about were wars and epidemics. As for those earth-shaking, apocalyptic disasters, they only existed in the absurd stories of the bards.

They firmly believed that they would die in an ordinary way, and they rarely really thought about the crimes they had committed.

But reality would not cease to exist because people chose not to see it. The monster he loved had been curled up under the ground for billions of years, and he had only just learned this a few days ago before he even had enough time to collect his thoughts and stepped onto the surface.

Children ran by laughing in front of him; vendors drove carriages, worried about business; young people kissed behind the bushes and hugged each other carefree, but he looked at the land under his feet, wondering if the world would be doomed in the next second.

The ignorant were fearless, but those who didn’t understand fear may live more safely and happily.

How cruel.

Seeing that the time was about half an hour and the silence was spreading indefinitely, Jesse took the lead in speaking.

“Mr. Light is not the first Pillar of the World I have ever seen. To be precise, he is the second one. Oliver Ramon, I have seen a very similar situation, but last time, the ‘God of Nature’ who was born unexpectedly like you didn’t have the slightest love for the Pillar of the World.”

The white beast habitually showed its fangs, but then he seemed to think of something, and immediately retracted his teeth, looking a little uncomfortable.

“Then what?” Oliver snapped the teacup in his hand, but the fragments failed to scratch him.

“Unlike the cautious Mr. Light, the Pillar of the World once slept for so long that it failed to find that the life that broke the upper limit of power had appeared. You should know by now that as a true kindred spirit of the world—if you want, your utilization rate of power will be dozens of times higher than that of Light and myself. The same was true of that ‘God of Nature’.”

Jesse’s voice was cold and calm.

“That newborn ‘God’ couldn’t wait to become stronger, and then discovered the truth of the world like you. He was frightened and desperately extracted the power of life on the surface, trying to kill the Pillar of the World that was still sleeping as soon as possible to ensure that the world would last for a long time. Ah, the “surface” over there regarded him as a hero and the last hope.”

Oliver clenched the fragments in his hand unconsciously. Adrian was still thinking, but Ann’s gaze retracted from the window and turned to the side again.

“He did succeed, diving from the surface for several years to set it up. The newborn God completed a spell destructive enough, like a potent poison. Something like a drug. Under the gaze of all those with power on the surface, he activated the spell—and that spell hurt the Pillar of the World.”

Jesse narrowed his eyes.

“It woke up, writhed in pain, and twitched for a long time before it died. Long enough to completely crumble the thin layer of rock on its body to powder.”

“……”

“Yes, that world was destroyed, so as a spectator, I had to leave that huge corpse and look for the next world suitable for survival. This time I was supposed to watch from the sidelines until the end.”

The long white tail intentionally swept over the direction where the knight commander was.

“As someone who has been here, let me give you a piece of advice, Oliver Ramon. You don’t want to hurt the Pillars of the World underground, but you also want to ensure the peace of the surface, right? What a greedy guy.”

“If you really want both, then don’t continue to become stronger, don’t continue to fight, and don’t develop your dependents. Now it seems that with the Pillar of the World possessing all the memories of Nemo Light, you still have a bit of hope—at least in Light’s memory, your image has always been restrained and gentle. Don’t spoil this information.”

“If, just if, the one underground still has a little bit of logic close to feelings, he might look at that memory and not immediately regard you as a threat. Your best choice is to ‘do nothing’.”

Oliver clenched his fists. The fragments in his palm finally stung him, and the bright red liquid slowly oozed out along the gap in his fist.

“…If you are willing to give up everything for the so-called ‘true love’, you will not be here now to have a meeting with your team members. You should have rushed to the bottom of the Abyss regardless of it and confirmed Mr. Light’s situation.”

Seeing that the other party didn’t answer, the god on the surface added mercilessly.

“You know very well in your heart, Mr. Ramon—you know the fact that ‘Nemo Light is probably gone’.”

“No.”

Oliver squeezed the fine porcelain pieces out of the wound one by one and opened his mouth firmly.

“Because I promised Nemo that if he really wants to destroy the surface, I will kill him. You are right, Dylan. I want to rush to there right away. I want to say, ‘I believe my Nemo must still be there’… I still believe so.”

“Trust is a good thing, but reality will not respond to my wishful trust.” The leader of Tumbleweed looked at the old scars on his hand that had already healed. Those were the scars left to him by the Withered Castle that he stubbornly kept.

“Since I made a promise to him—there’s no point in shouting trust at this time. It’s my obligation to consider the worst possibility.”

This is no longer a matter between him and Nemo. Whether he wanted it or not, the “world” has become a bargaining chip. This chip was too heavy, and it made his heart ache.

He couldn’t even abandon himself easily and escape from this game.

Just as he had dreamed when he was a child, he eventually became a “Hero” who could influence the world, but this made him so miserable that he couldn’t breathe.

“With all due respect, whether you admit it or not, now you and the ‘Demon King’ are playing a game. The worst part is that you can’t see your opponent’s chess pieces. You can only feel what you have lost on your side.”

Jesse wagged his tail harder, obviously not satisfied with Oliver’s answer.

“If you choose to ‘become stronger’, strong enough to kill your opponent, you must plunder a lot of power from the Demon King. The Pillar of the World will be aware of this plunder—guess how he will respond? Let me tell you, once he recognizes you as a real threat, he will immediately rush to the sun.”

“Take a step back. There’s really a miracle happening, Nemo Light’s feelings are still there. Guess how he will react? As I said before, he probably needs to choose between ‘Oliver Ramon’ and ‘Other Life on the surface’—if he thinks you are going to attack him, and he’s not sure that you can kill him with one blow, in order to maintain the existing civilization on the surface, he’ll request to have a deathmatch with you.”

The white behemoth specially emphasized the pronunciation of “miracle”.

“Of course, of course. If you want, it’s okay for one party to take the lead in giving up their life, but that is probably not the ending that the two want. Let me say it again, Mr. Ramon. The current calm is a good thing. Your best choice is to ’do nothing’, and then pray that the Pillar of the World will ignore your existence.”

Oliver was silent for a long time this time.

“I can’t pray.”

A few minutes later, he replied thusly.

“…I won’t use death to escape.”

Adrian raised his head and stared at Oliver steadily. Ann sighed for a long time. “Do you have any ideas, captain?”

“Not yet.” Oliver stood up, walked in front of Jesse, and looked directly at the blue beast’s pupils. “But I will think of it.”

“I only know one thing, and that is that I am not strong enough to fulfill my promise. A simple question—at present, I’m the only one who has the potential to kill him and end the possibility of destruction, right?”

“Yes.”

“Very good.” Oliver touched the hilt of the Rest in Peace with his right hand. “Then there is only one choice for me—in any case, I need to become stronger. Jesse Dylan, I need your help.”

The white behemoth finally lifted his chin from the round table. He twitched his nose and thought for ten minutes.

“Yes, but you might be killed by me first,” the beast said carelessly, “Even so, are you willing?”

“Yes.”

---

The author has something to say:

In fact, this is not a question of simply rushing down to save Nemo. _(:””∠)_

The information between them is transparent~ If Ollie isn’t strong enough, he may be killed by the Demon King just by looking at the situation (.

Naïve trust… He has already fallen once, and this time the price is too high.

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

---

Chapter 247: Restless

Jesse Dylan knew very well that the moment he decided to take this human being back from death, it would be difficult to hold on to his identity. If the other party was an ignorant child or an ignorant commoner, he could come up with countless excuses for coaxing.

Adrian Cross was different; he had fought everywhere as the commander of the Knights of Judgement, so he was probably the person who was most familiar with “death” itself in the entire world.

No religion, no matter how exaggerated, would dare to claim that “God will bring back the dead”.

After all, even Nemo Light couldn’t heal the bodies of humans who had begun to gradually die. He could keep that body alive, but the thing that survived would never be the original “human”. Although his Morning Star didn’t know about this, combined with the previous manifestations of “Jesse Dylan”, his identity wasn’t really too difficult to guess.

Jesse rubbed his cheeks with both hands and looked at the person standing opposite.

Adrian Cross stood upright, his black monk uniform clinging to his upper body, making him look like a black dagger nailed to the ground.

His eyes, as always, were calm and solemn.

“I have a question for you, Zenni.” The devout believer was calling for his God. It wasn’t a test but rather a taboo, but Adrian’s tone was full of affirmation.

However, the star in his mind still didn’t flicker. This human wasn’t normal.

Jesse knew this a long time ago, but now that he saw the calm Adrian, he couldn’t help repeating it to himself. Out of some subtle emotion, he rescued Adrian and forcibly continued this meaningless observation.

However, his frustration didn’t diminish but grew stronger.

He didn’t know what expression to use to face this human being at first. Having watched countless people, he even knew how to deal with the craziest and most unreasonable. A “beautiful” face from a human perspective was his weapon, and with the right expression, he was unbeatable.

Perhaps he should sneer, should show disdain and arrogance. Or maybe he should put on a clean smile and fool the headstrong knight again.

But Jesse rubbed his face for a long time, only to feel that everything had suddenly become boring.

Forget it.

The white mist flickered, and the beautiful young man in untidy clothes disappeared again. The huge white beast lowered his head and looked down at the human in front of him, with no expression on his hairy face.

“Ask.” He responded without emotion.

“Why?” The human raised his head, his expression still damn calm.

A simple question. Jesse snorted.

Why did he come? Why did he save him? Why did he do things that were intended to shake him… The answer was all the same.

“Because of boredom,” Jesse replied, hanging the enormous beast’s head lower.

At this distance, as long as he opened his mouth, he could easily smash the opponent’s skull, just like biting a cherry. Jesse thought carelessly, and this thought made him unconsciously murderous, and he didn’t even bother to hide it.

The answer was undoubtedly cruel, and the murderous spirit was also extremely obvious, but Adrian didn’t blink.

“I am not the ‘God’ you love, and I don’t love you either.” After a pause for a few seconds, Jesse continued. “I told you, right? Don’t die so easily. You didn’t keep your end of the bargain, and now the game is over.”

His words were extremely cold, but his expression was still the same.

Unable to calculate, unable to speculate, unable to see through human thoughts, the sense of loss of control made him a little bored. Jesse shook his tail—the huge white tail directly knocked the small table aside into tiny pieces of wood, and the vase on the table smashed into the bits, shattering into several large pieces.

The water in the vase spread on the carpet. The color of the thin coral-red carpet gradually darkened, seemingly making the flowers and fragments lie on top of a pool of blood.

There was no anger or disappointment. Adrian just smiled.

“You don’t love me, I know,” he said, frighteningly calm. “I always knew. Whether it was the initial encounter, the previous Black Chapter Jesse, or the current you, but there is one thing I don’t agree with.”

Jesse retracted his tail to his side, and the beast’s pupils closed into thin slits in the sun.

“You are indeed the ‘God’ I love.”

“It’s just self-righteous love. This isn’t what I really look like. It’s better to be an atheist… Believers who have seen my true appearance, none could maintain their sanity. No matter how firm their faith is, the ending is all the same,” he responded indifferently.

“I see,” Adrian replied calmly, without half wanting to prove his meaning.

Restless.

Jesse shook his tail again, this time smashing the window on the side. The castle itself was high, and the cold autumn wind suddenly poured into the room.

Adrian Cross was still the same. No matter what exaggerated things he did, this human was always calm and collected.

Perhaps things have come to the point where he should let this human who didn’t know the height of the sky see his true form. Even if this human didn’t seem to enjoy much and failed to be defeated by human instinctive desire, he would waver in instinctive fear.

He didn’t know why, but Jesse didn’t really want to do that.

At any rate, he wasted a piece of flesh. If Adrian really went crazy so quickly, it wouldn’t be good for him. He tried to explain it to himself this way. This was supposed to be his ace, his last resort. Before that, he still had time to find another way to make that anomalous star flicker.

He still didn’t want to admit defeat, especially to a human who had only lived for about 30 years.

The long-haired tail swept slowly, unhappily, and the room was a mess. Adrian was still staring at him, not knowing what he was thinking.

Finally, the human acted.

The former Knight of Judgement stretched out his arms and put his hands on both sides of the long wolf-like mouth.

This action made the side of his nose itchy, and Jesse wrinkled it quite distractedly, showing his long fangs. So far, he wasn’t even in the mood to maintain his human form, let alone pretend to be kind.

The source of his frustration, the young knight, leaned forward slightly…

It wasn’t with dedication-like piety, nor was it mixed with fanatical obsession. Just like kissing the petals of a flower, Adrian Cross gently kissed the fangs.

The soft and warm lips brushed the sharp teeth like the tip of a knife, and they closed at the touch.

“Thank you for your honesty. I think you got one thing wrong.”

After retracting his hands, the human knight said with a smile.

“It has nothing to do with your appearance, personality, or motivation. I did ask you the reason, but it was just curiosity, not expectation. I don’t need you to respond to anything, nor will I embellish any facts. I live my way, just as you live yours.”

There was no prayer gesture, no formal rituals. He just continued to smile.

“Just to confirm that you do exist—For me, this is already a kind of romance.”

After that, he even stretched out his warm fingers and touched the cold nose of the beast, with a smile in his voice. “May the glory of Zenni last forever.”

Incorrigible.

Jesse just wanted to shake his head when the door was opened again, and Ann took the lead in entering the room.

The female warrior’s serious gaze swept across the wrecked bedroom, turned around the huge beast a few times, and finally pierced Adrian by the window.

“Cross,” Ann pointed to the white beast solemnly. “Where did this thing come from—”

Looking at her mouth shape, she seemed to want to habitually spit out the word “beast”, but after not seeing her for more than a month, the Queen of Alban was obviously tortured enough by etiquette training that she swallowed the word abruptly.

“Where’s Dylan? Has he been eaten by it?” she continued to ask seriously.

“You are so humorous, lovely lady,” Jesse responded dryly.

Ann hitched her breath.

“Follow me, Oliver will be there soon. I first need someone to explain this to me.”

She glanced at the long, soft, snowy white hairs and staggered hard.

“…I hope you’re not counting on running around my house naked right now, Dylan,” Ann added seriously.

“……”

Less than ten minutes later, Oliver led the gray parrot through the door. He first turned around to thank the maid who led the way politely, closed the door of the conference room, and finally turned his head.

There was a large round table in the wide room, and the servants had prepared snacks and drinks in advance. It was just that there were only two people sitting at the round table that could accommodate at least twenty people.

In addition to the usual demeanor, the former knight commander drank tea quietly while the queen was tugging at the white fur with a stern face. A huge white beast was resting its long mouth on the wooden table, glancing at Adrian’s expression for a while, and squinting at the plate full of snacks.

Oliver wouldn’t mistake who Jesse was. Now his opinion was clear as fire and ice regarding the difference between Dylan and other creatures. He simply nodded and put Bagelmaurus, who was on his shoulder, next to the plate of snacks.

“I don’t like to eat this.”

The gray parrot finally opened his mouth, sounding terribly depressed.

“I like lighter-flavored ones. Light never gave me the wrong stuff.”

“……Sorry,” Oliver murmured.

The gray parrot lowered its head, walked soulfully over to another plate of treats, and then stuck its whole head in, moving like an ostrich.

“It seems that I’m the only person in this room who is surprised by this thing.” Ann pointed to Jesse, keenly grasping the point. “I need an explanation.”

“I died in the previous mission.” It was Adrian who spoke first.

The former Knight of Judgment added some milk to his teacup, and then pushed the snack tray next to him to Jesse’s mouth.

Jesse retracted his gaze and moved his mouth away.

“…This joke isn’t funny.” Ann’s expression was blank for a moment. “Cross, you’re not suitable for telling jokes.”

“I’m not lying. You should have heard of the spell taught by the Laddism Church called Meteor Execution.”

“Meteor Execution? ‘Shatter the heart so that only death can stop it’. Of course I know, but that’s impossible—”

“Jesse Dylan saved me.” Adrian took a sip of tea. He didn’t sound like he was in a bad mood. “In other words, Zenni saved me.”

He glanced at Ann. “I’m not speaking metaphorically. It’s in the literal sense.”

When Ann was listening to him, she was still tugging at the white long fur that felt very good in her hands. As soon as she heard him say this, she quickly retracted her hand with a whoosh, as if teeth had suddenly spawned from those hairs.

“What?” She did a double take.

“This is Zenni.”

“I see, I haven’t woken up yet.” Ann sounded very sure of herself as she leaned back into the soft back of her chair and tilted her head up. “Good night, everyone.”

Oliver reluctantly smiled. “Ann.”

“If this is a joint joke,” Ann opened one eye and looked over at Jesse, who had rolled his tongue at the snack plate. “You’re all screwed, you hear me? It’s over.”

She tried to relax her tone, but no one showed an apologetic smile on their faces, or jumped up and declared that it was just to liven things up. Even Bagelmaurus continued to bury its head in the macaroons without moving a muscle.

“…Are you serious?” After five minutes of silence, Ann’s voice trembled a little.

“Nn.” Oliver lowered his gaze. “Sorry, Ann, I’ve been hiding it from you. If I’m not mistaken, Mr. Cross should have just learned about it, and Bagelmaurus and I knew about it earlier. You know, this matter… is not easy to talk about.”

“Zenni.” Ann looked erratically at the white beast with his mouth on the table. “Although I am not religious, this is too… I mean, even though I believe in the existence of God, but…”

She was shocked to hear her voice, her expression twitching a little.

Oliver carefully pulled out a chair and sat down, trying not to make too much noise. Ann’s mouth opened and closed, opened and closed, like a fish struggling for air in the desert.

“You told Bagelmaurus, but you didn’t tell me.”

After struggling for more than ten minutes, her voice became more indistinct.

“Why? I am definitely more trustworthy than that parrot—Don’t deny it, since you know it, Nemo must know it too. If Cross is just finding out, wouldn’t it be just the two of us who were kept in the dark?!”

“Yes, I’m sorry.” Oliver didn’t defend himself.

“And you, Cross.” Ann’s tongue seemed to have lost control, and she didn’t even have the right intonation. She spoke like she was drunk. “If that’s Zenni, you… How could you be so…”

“This isn’t the first time we have met. If you are interested, I can tell you after the meeting.” Adrian sighed, pushing away the nose of the beast that was also approaching with doubt. “I mind other questions more.”

He looked at Oliver with burning eyes.

“I don’t think Mr. Dylan… Zenni will tell you who he really is, or Mr. Light. Bagelmaurus isn’t a top superior demon, and it’s impossible for it to find out by itself. Then it should have been discovered by the two of you.”

Ann blinked and shook her head abruptly so she could try to collect her thoughts.

“And although this is sensational, it is not a ‘bad thing’ that cannot be told to us.”

Adrian’s gaze became sharper and sharper.

“Since you didn’t tell us, it means that the way you two found out wasn’t very convenient for the two of you to speak of. Miss Savage and I are very aware of the abnormality caused to you by the Withered Castle. If you’re the discoverer, there’s no motive to conceal it from us. Now that Mr. Light is in the Abyss and you’re in such a situation…”

“I’ll just ask directly, Mr. Ramon. Who exactly is Nemo Light? …Or, what is he?”

Oliver held his breath, persistently staring at the Tumbleweed members while holding a teacup in his hand, and finally raised his face.

There was no hesitation, no doubt. Oliver took a deep breath, and when he spoke again, his voice was extremely clear.

“He is what the surface calls the ‘Demon King’.”

He said this in a very solemn tone.

“…And to this day, I still love him.”

---

The author has something to say:

Jesse: ??? Your attitude.

Jesse: Do you remember you slept with me? (……

Knight Commander: …

——

Ann: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! FML you’re kidding, right??!

Jesse: This is the right attitude (***)

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>