Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

---

Chapter 78: Rapid Person Search

That night.

Two flatbed carts stopped at the edge of the woods. A black pinecone magic device that maintained combustion had been tossed into the campfire. Tongues of flame lightly licked over the firewood, producing crisp crackling sounds.

Inside the tent, Father Kalen tossed and turned.

The two squirrels sleeping in the crook of his arm were startled awake. They raised their fluffy tails and looked at the priest with concern.

Ever since he had “lost consciousness” in the underground ruins, Kalen had always felt a strange lightheadedness, like he had just recovered from a serious illness. For example, at this moment, his body was clearly exhausted, but his mind wouldn’t settle no matter what.

…Or perhaps his subconscious was restless because of the topic of the “Stargazers Society.”

He gently brushed the tips of the squirrels’ ears with his fingertips and took a few breaths of the crisp night air. His mind became increasingly clear. The two squirrels jumped to the edge of the flatbed cart. Under the moonlight, four round, shiny black eyes blinked.

Father Kalen grabbed his coat and finally jumped down from the cart.

It was a windless night, and the campfire flames pointed straight toward the heavens. The night sky was clear, and the stars spread across it were as distinct as diamond fragments. The moon was just a little shy of full.

Father Kalen liked weather like this. It made the boundaries of shadows tangible and clear. The shadow of a tree’s crown fell beneath his feet like a carpet before an altar.

The priest quietly walked to the center of that shadow, his back to the moon and stars, and knelt on one knee. Moonlight caused his own silhouette to merge with the tree’s shadows, deepening the darkness beneath Kalen’s kneeling form.

“May the Lord of Shadows bless us. May the journey to the capital be without wind or waves.”

“May His Veil shroud us, unseen and unharmed.”

Kalen prayed devoutly. His ears were filled with the rustling of leaves, like some response from the night.

“Shadow is the cradle of all things, and night is the supreme barrier. He equally protects all misfortune and suffering… He will surely watch over my brother…”

…But where exactly was Hermit?

The night was as deep as water, and in the wind, there was still only the rustling sound, as well as the faint, threadlike chirping of insects.

In truth, he knew that none of this felt quite right.

Those discordant details were hidden beneath everyday life, like tiny wooden splinters stabbing into flesh.

From the current situation, V.O.R would send three letters to his prey, and only the final one was the farewell letter. In the letters, he, or she, would hide the seed of the Abnormal Fruit inside a “god name.”

When the envelope was opened, the name of the god would disappear. The entire process was instantaneous. The victim would be planted with the Abnormal Fruit by the third letter, forming their own Divine Realm.

The Fallen Child, the Perfected Creation, the Prisoner of Dreams… none were exceptions.

However, Hermit hadn’t received the first two letters.

At the scene where he received the farewell letter, Hermit had left behind a pool of blood that looked like he had struggled. Kalen hadn’t discovered anything abnormal nearby, let alone some Divine Realm.

In Kalen’s memory, Hermit hadn’t even been a genius.

Hermit was two years older than Kalen. Their parents had died early. For as long as Kalen could remember, he had always toddled unsteadily after Hermit, following his older brother to cut grass, herd sheep, and do odd jobs.

Whenever night fell, Hermit would carry sleepy Kalen home on his back, then cook him a bowl of hot goat milk porridge. Occasionally, there would even be minced meat in it… Kalen had always followed his only relative around, and he had never seen Hermit use magic or possess any unusual power.

However, unlike other children who yearned for magic, Hermit was unusually resistant to Magibase and never went to participate in the summoning ceremony at all.

Everyone said that even a weak Magibase was fine. Even if one could only use basic magic such as lighting fires or condensing water, their quality of life would be much better.

But Hermit still refused to attend the summoning ceremony. Not only did he refuse himself, he also didn’t allow Kalen to summon a Magibase, even though Kalen had been born with a miraculous talent that drew animals to him.

“This is the test given to you and me by the Lord of Shadows.”

Hermit explained mysteriously to Kalen, “You possessed an exceptional talent, Kalen. Once you grow up, the Lord of Shadows will grant us extraordinary power.”

“Before that, we cannot receive those powers of unknown origin.”

Kalen believed this implicitly.

Because Hermit knew many wondrous stories—stories that not even the priests in the city knew. The legends of gods that Hermit told him were far more vivid, far more fascinating… and far more terrifying than those dry scriptures.

Amid the glow of other people’s magic, the brothers huffed and puffed as they carried old wooden buckets to the creek in the woods for water. When heavy snow flew, Hermit stretched out his purple, frozen fingers and tremblingly used a fire striker and flint to start a fire.

And in the deepest part of the night, Hermit would lead him under the starry sky to pray, requesting protection from that god hidden in the shadows.

During those years, Kalen’s time flowed slower than a stream, and his life was clearer than its waters.

All of Hermit’s peculiarities were childhood truths Kalen took for granted. He had never questioned them and had only assumed the world should naturally be that way.

Yet, that wasn’t the reality.

Amidst the cool breeze the felt like a flowing stream, Kalen rubbed the bone rings on both his fingers.

As his investigation progressed, the fog before his eyes hadn’t dispersed. Instead, it had grown thicker. He didn’t understand his closest kin, who had hidden secrets from him, and he didn’t understand his abnormally behaving teammates either.

Regarding that face identical to Kendrick Karn’s, that “Salaar” had come up with many absurd excuses.

During the trip underground, Professor Gentry’s reaction had been obvious enough. No matter how slow Father Kalen was, he could tell that “Salaar,” or at least his physical body, was Kendrick Karns.

Myss was even lazier about hiding himself. Father Kalen had never seen such abnormal power before. The priest often had a subtle illusion that he was walking toward a bottomless abyss.

…However, none of that mattered.

All along this journey, he was still carrying out the will of the Lord of Shadows. He was bound to keep walking forward.

Even if he had to travel with demons, he would bring his kin back. Somewhere in the shadows, Hermit was surely waiting for him.

Father Kalen stood up and patted the bits of grass from the hem of his coat. Only then did he raise his head and look toward the vast river of stars.

In a daze, the priest suddenly remembered some distant night.

It had been the same early winter season, the same cold night by the edge of a forest… and the same sky full of stars.

Hermit poked at the little campfire with a branch, and the fragrance of roasted potatoes drifted into Kalen’s nose. Kalen didn’t want to look too greedy, so he raised his head and looked toward the brilliant starry sky.

“The stars are so beautiful,” Kalen praised.

“Many beautiful things are dangerous.” Hermit poked the potato with a sharpened branch. “Just glance at them casually. Don’t look too closely.”

“Why?”

Kalen asked in confusion. “Last time, I heard Jack say that someone in the city specially makes… makes some kind of lens, so you can see them more clearly.”

Hermit’s movement of turning the potato paused.

He raised his face. The campfire lit up his flaxen hair, exactly the same as Kalen’s, and his water-blue eyes. Hermit was strikingly handsome, but unfortunately, two ugly scars marred the perfection of his face.

“Kalen, listen to me. Remember this.”

Hermit spoke slowly, enunciating each word. “The most foolish and hopeless act in this world is ‘stargazing.’”

A sharp pain throbbed at Kalen’s temple, and a piercing ringing came to his ears.

His vision blurred and cleared by turns. In front of him, within the dark tree shadows, a deeper, darker outline appeared, exactly like the older brother in his memories.

Kalen opened his arms and staggered two steps forward, but that shadow disappeared again.

Wind rose in the night, and the flames that had been calm just now swayed wildly, scattering countless sparks.

…It had to be a lingering aftereffect from the trip underground, Kalen thought.

They would enter the capital during the day. Once he found the notes of the Order of Shadows, all abnormalities would surely be answered.

He walked toward his own flatbed cart.

When he passed by the cart of the other two “mysterious people,” Kalen couldn’t help taking a look.

He saw Myss lying in Salaar’s arms, his limbs wrapped around Salaar like an octopus, sleeping especially sweetly.

Salaar, meanwhile, had both arms tightly around Myss, unconsciously assuming a protective posture. At the slightest movement, Salaar could instantly shield Myss beneath him.

Their breathing intertwined, and their faces carried a wondrous serenity, as if the ones they embraced in their arms were an entire world.

Kalen’s gaze softened.

He lightened his steps and lay back down on the soft straw. A few more squirrels came over and squeezed beside him for warmth.

“Good night,” he said to them.

The squirrels still raised their fluffy tails, their eyes blinking.

……

Serpentia City was magnificent and imposing.

Even from far across the horizon, everyone could see the castle spires of Aufon’s capital. Sunlight pierced through the thick clouds and turned into sword-like beams, making one unable to help holding their breath.

“What a huge lump of city,” Myss remarked.

Salaar looked at the erect spires of castles, finding himself plagued by certain, rather inappropriate, associations. He decided to forget that description.

“It’s much more spectacular than it was in my time,” he murmured softly.

Back then, people wouldn’t build castles too high. Everyone preferred to expand downward. In Salaar’s memories of Aufon’s capital, only the royal palace castle looked halfway decent.

As it turned out, today’s Serpentia hadn’t only built many new castles, but also absurdly exaggerated city walls. When Salaar brought Myss into the city, they attracted countless curious gazes.

“I already said, I can help you change your eye color.”

Tass emerged from Myss’s pocket watch and vigilantly looked around, afraid that some colleague might shoot Salaar dead.

“But Myss doesn’t have an extra hair ribbon, so it wouldn’t match well.” Salaar said this lightly and pointed at the lapis-lazuli scarf tied to the ends of Myss’s hair.

“What, color coordination is more important than your life?”

Tass immediately revealed an indescribable expression.

His expression wavered between “how did humans evolve into this for reproduction?” and “you two are utterly enslaved by your own desires.”

Myss, meanwhile, glanced at his mortal enemy in amazement.

As expected of Saint Salaar. In order to one-up him, he didn’t even let this kind of detail slip past!

“…The Karns family isn’t some third-rate small fry. This kind of trick won’t delay them for too long,” Salaar added with an air of grave seriousness, noting the varied looks on his companions’ faces.

Seeing that the group had devolved into chaotic chatter, the priest hurriedly interjected. “How are we going to find Miss Magnolia?”

“We just need to send her a message,” Salaar said.

He took a bag of sand from his pocket. While Tass and Kalen were still stunned, Myss already knew what this kid planned to do. He had seen this particular brand of reckless absurdity—if not a thousand times, no fewer than eight hundred—back when they were sealed together.

For the first time in his life, Myss felt a little sympathetic toward that lady named Magny… Magno… or whatever her name was.

Salaar gave Myss a toothy smile and raised his hand high.

Whoosh!

Brilliant golden magic wrapped around the sand and stones, flying into the sky and exploding into incomparably huge text.

[Magnolia Karns, hurry to the city gate to pick me up. Your Dearest Cousin☆]

It was early morning, and the sun hadn’t fully risen. This line of glowing words was more glaring than dawn itself. If it merely glowed, that would have been one thing, but the text also shimmered with vivid, kaleidoscopic iridescence—a sight so garish it was painful to look directly at.

Even in the early morning, the streets were far from empty.

Seeing such a huge spectacle from the Karns family, nosy passersby rushed forward one after another to see who had done such a deed.

Tass and Father Kalen rapidly averted their gazes, one looking left and the other looking right.

Myss: “…”

Damn it. He knew it would be something like this! He knew it!

When Salaar had commanded armies inside the seal, he had often used such a trick!

At first, Salaar had only used vivid warning colors like “blood red.” The orders he conveyed had also been unusually brief, mostly prearranged symbols.

But after Salaar lost all his teammates, he began using this thing to draw pictures in the dark. That blinding rainbow effect was something this guy had researched later, and the memory of it was etched into Myss’s mind with agonizing clarity.

Heaven knew how speechless the Archdemon had been the first time he saw that pile of huge arrows flashing with rainbow light.

After discovering that all those arrows were pointing toward Salaar himself, Myss realized in shock that he could become even more speechless. Countless giant-colored arrows had floated up and down, while the black dot at the end hopped around happily. Myss didn’t want to witness such an absurd scene a second time.

If one was tormented by this guy, even the Chaos Archdemon would find it hard not to develop emotions. Let alone humans.

In less than five minutes, an enraged figure broke through the crowd and rushed in front of the group.

---

The author has something to say:

Myss: This is the biggest “prankster” in the human world. Can you maintain eye contact with him for ten seconds?

Myss: Therefore, it is very reasonable that I developed emotions!

Myss: [fireworks] [fireworks] [fireworks] [chin-propping emoji] [fireworks] [fireworks] [fireworks]

---

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

---

Chapter 77: A “Nightmare”

When he heard the phrase “Stargazers Society,” Father Kalen looked as if he had swallowed a live fly whole.

“No matter the country, the ‘Stargazers’ of the Stargazers Society are top-priority wanted criminals.”

The priest’s tone was heavy, and his emotions were unusually intense.

“Those people are like a plague. They appeared out of nowhere twenty years ago, and they haven’t vanished since.”

“No one knows who their leader is. On every country’s wanted notices, there is only a masked person. They can’t even confirm whether that person is male or female, old or young. They hide like that behind the curtain of the Lord of Shadows… those fanatics who defile the shadows…”

“What exactly did they do?”

Salaar raised his eyebrows. “Forget other countries. In the Aufon Kingdom, isn’t the Church of Candance known for its ‘tolerance’?”

“Tolerance isn’t indulgence, sir. They aren’t spreading another faith, nor are they living in ‘mutual noninterference.’ They publicly attack all gods.”

Father Kalen said solemnly.

“The Stargazers fundamentally deny the existence of gods. They firmly believe that the magical enlightenment three hundred years ago was an outright conspiracy, and that the various churches, for the sake of their own interests, are encouraging this conspiracy.”

“The Stargazers Society goes around claiming that magic is bait, and that the Magibase is a cage. If humanity continues to indulge in this power of unknown origin, humans will only step into the abyss of the apocalypse.”

Salaar couldn’t help glancing at Myss. Myss puffed out his chest, as if the word “apocalypse” was a shining golden medal.

Lord Archdemon prepared himself to receive Salaar’s displeased gaze. In the end, this guy only looked at him calmly once, then swiftly withdrew his gaze, with a force weaker than being licked by a small animal.

What’s going on? Had Salaar not eaten?

Myss unhappily deflated his chest and continued listening out of boredom.

To be honest, he had no favorable impression of the Stargazers Society, but he didn’t particularly dislike them either. In a certain sense, that group was right. The human world was indeed about to welcome the apocalypse.

“Could the Abnormal Fruit be related to them?” Myss went straight to the point.

The Stargazers Society was constantly shouting about subjects like magic and gods, and the Abnormal Fruit happened to be connected to both.

“I don’t know.” Father Kalen lowered his eyes.

The priest’s loathing for the Stargazers Society was written all over him, but his words were quite objective. “We have never had deep contact with the Stargazers. But as far as I know, records related to Abnormal Fruit existed before the Stargazers Society appeared.”

Then never mind.

Myss instantly lost all interest in the Stargazers Society.

Kalen, however, cautiously continued, “My brother and I both once suspected that V.O.R might be related to the Stargazers Society.”

“However, during a certain cleanup of an Abnormal Fruit, we fought Stargazers. Judging from their attitude, V.O.R shouldn’t be a Stargazer. The Stargazers Society wholeheartedly wanted to seize the Abnormal Fruit and use it as magical reagents… or evidence that magic is harmful? I’m not certain.”

Now it mattered again.

So the Stargazers Society was his competitor for Abnormal Fruit. Myss decided to start hating them.

“…Oh, that group of paranoid lunatics who research ‘magic foundations’. I remember them.”

Tass rubbed his chin. “There was a Stargazer in a certain minor noble’s household. The family head found me and wanted me to quietly get rid of this ‘heretical madman.’”

“Funny thing is, the reason they gave was pretty similar to the Karns family’s. They said that Stargazer studied human sacrifices and used virgin blood as consumable material.”

Hearing the key phrase “human sacrifices,” Myss pricked up his ears. “And then?”

“After investigating, I found that the guy was living alone in the mountains, drawing his own blood for research. He was a forty-something-year-old virgin.”

Tass exaggeratedly spread his hands. “Someone like that isn’t on my target list, so I refused in the end.”

Myss felt a sudden wave of anticlimax; he had thought, for a moment, he found a kindred spirit of Kendrick Karns.

“Believe it or not, that guy made a magic device as big as a house. It was stuffed full of all sorts of gears, alchemical flesh, and gemstone lenses. He believed that all magic was fundamentally the same, and he was trying to disprove the various churches’ theory of ‘divinely bestowed magic.’”

“Actually, the contraption he made was rather convincing. But not long after I refused, he was still killed. Clearly, not every assassin has firm principles like I do… Ah.”

Tass seemed to think of something. He suddenly shook his wings and flew right in front of Salaar’s nose.

“Speaking of which, since the Karns family wants your life, I’m definitely not the only assassin they hired.”

Myss grabbed Tass’s trembling wings in one hand. “Tell us something we don’t know.”

“The one who hired me is called Owen Karns. The eldest son of Thurston, second son of Ratliff. Among the eight heirs, he’s a good-for-nothing second only to Kendrick.”

Myss: “…”

Why were there so many difficult-to-remember new names? They flowed through his mind like lukewarm water, leaving no trace.

Tass sighed.

“Let me put it this way. The head of the Karns family is Salaar’s—or rather, let’s just pretend he’s Kendrick Karns—grandfather.”

“Kendrick’s parents died early, leaving him with only one full-blooded older brother. The other six heirs of his generation are all children of Kendrick’s two paternal uncles.”

The Dragon Fae recited the details as if counting family treasures.

“The Karns family head ordered that whoever kills Kendrick Karns can inherit the share of property that originally belonged to Kendrick. As far as I know, including Owen, four heirs are very interested in this proposal.”

That was a lot of people.

After listening for ages, Lord Archdemon only grasped one key point. Salaar, no, Kendrick, had no father or mother, and only had four cousins who wanted to slaughter him.

…Damn the Karns family. Could they not give people simpler names?

The more Myss listened, the faster his drowsiness rose. Salaar had already taken precautions and stood behind him, in case Lord Archdemon collapsed on the spot.

“That information is enough, thank you. I’ll keep as low a profile as possible.”

Salaar gave a dry cough, interrupting Tass’s extremely detailed—so detailed it was somewhat unnecessary—intelligence sharing.

“As for the United Library, its security is still solid.” Father Kalen comforted him. “No assassin, no matter how bold, would cause trouble on royal territory.”

Tass nodded along. “Indeed. After all, Miss Magnolia has no interest in murdering her cousin.”

“Mag… Mag what?” Myss was bewildered.

“A Karns family heir, one of Kendrick’s cousins. She is a great scholar at the United Library and has quite a good reputation.”

Tass looked at Salaar in surprise. “Your boyfriend didn’t tell you?”

Myss: “…”

Myss ignored the word “boyfriend” and forcefully swallowed the urge to retort. “No. They probably aren’t close.”

Salaar nodded with extreme sincerity.

If Tass hadn’t specifically mentioned that name, he wouldn’t even have remembered this matter. In Kendrick Karns’s chaotic memories, his cousin Magnolia was no different from air.

……

The next morning.

“What is this?”

Myss held his breath and focused, staring at the… crude thing in front of him.

Salaar: “A flatbed cart filled with straw.”

“Of course I know it’s a cart.” Myss paced back and forth in dissatisfaction. “What I’m asking is, why is a ‘flatbed cart filled with straw’ appearing here? What happened to the promised luxury carriage?”

Two flatbed carts covered in thick straw were stopped in front of them, and the drivers’ eyes were gleaming.

“The people gathered nearby are all commoners. There are no luxury carriages to rent. Ordinary carriages have at least six seats and won’t depart until they’re full. And the floorboards are covered in mud and spit marks. You wouldn’t like that.”

Salaar said calmly, “I thought about it. Rather than spending a heavy sum to reserve an ordinary carriage, we might as well reserve this. The next week will be sunny, so there won’t be any problem.”

Myss made a soft hum and approached the cart to sniff it.

The straw was dry, soft, and sparkled with a pale golden glow under the sunlight. The flatbed cart had just finished delivering flowers to the new market here, and there was a faint floral scent among the straw.

To avoid damaging the flowers, the wheels were wrapped with specially made cork. The cart bed was about the size of a double bed, with more than enough space. In other words, he could lie on his hero cushion the whole way!

Myss’s spirits instantly lifted.

“As long as you let me lie on you, I’ll agree,” he offered on the spot.

“All right,” Salaar agreed immediately.

Myss: “…”

He couldn’t shake the feeling that something was slightly off about Salaar, though he couldn’t put his finger on what it was.

Fortunately, after the cart began moving, Salaar changed back into the usual Salaar.

The priest was tall, so he took Tass and the pocket watch and occupied one flatbed cart on his own. Myss, meanwhile, comfortably lay down on his hero cushion, enjoying the faint floral scent from the straw.

Salaar lay on his back, facing the blue sky, one hand raised toward it.

As he moved, Myss heard a faint rustling sound of friction. He turned his head and saw the bottle of “Resolve to Elope.”

Beneath the clear azure sky, the tiny scarlet hearts squeezed into a pile. The color could be called pleasing to the eye. This thing seemed to be sweet-and-sour raspberry flavored. Myss smacked his lips and suddenly wanted fresh raspberries again.

“Why take that thing out?”

Myss tugged at Salaar’s nose. “Are you eating it now, or after we get to the capital?”

Seeing that Salaar’s expression didn’t change much, Myss suddenly had a flash of insight. “…Or is it because that magic artifact merchant claims to be an atheist, and you suspect he’s a Stargazer?”

Salaar nodded lightly.

Myss immediately turned his face and harshly interrogated the bottle of medicine with his gaze. But after staring at it for ages with his dilated pupils, he didn’t see anything suspicious. The magic inside was designed very delicately, but that was all.

So he buried his nose back against Salaar’s chest and fell silent.

Salaar silently looked at the medicine bottle for a while, then put it back into the bag and casually stroked Myss’s long silver-white hair.

Myss couldn’t help narrowing his eyes.

Previously, when he had used Salaar as a cushion, there had been at least some helplessness in Salaar’s eyes. By now, that helplessness had strangely disappeared.

And Salaar had started touching him all the time. His movements were careful, and his strength was just right, stuck precisely at the boundary where Myss felt comfortable and wanted to resist, yet was too lazy to resist.

Myss’s eyelids grew heavier and heavier. Sunlight filtered through them, producing a warm golden glow across his vision. Fork lay limply around his wrist, sleeping soundly as it basked in the sun.

Behind him was a relaxing stroking sensation. In front of him was Salaar’s scent, the smell of sun-dried straw, and the fragrance of flowers. The road leading to the capital was smooth, and the wheels were soft. Myss had the illusion that he was lying on a floating bed.

Not good. This must be a… new… method… of… attack…

Myss’s head sank, and he fell asleep.

Salaar lowered his head, a smile on his lips. He lightly pressed his lips against the top of Myss’s hair and his arms quietly tightened.

The azure light of the sky reflected in his eyes, making those lapis-lazuli eyes seem less dim. However, that brightness failed to dilute the sharpness in his gaze.

[Magic is bait, and the Magibase is a cage. If humanity continues to indulge in this power of unknown origin, humans will only step into the abyss of the apocalypse.]

…The Stargazers Society’s viewpoint was truly fascinating.

“Simulating magic fluctuations is extremely difficult, Salaar.”

In his memory, that familiar voice said, “Magic circuits are like fingerprints. Everyone’s is different.”

“I know, Madam.”

“We can’t borrow other people’s experiences, and human lifespans are far too short… Everyone is groping around in the dark, trying to find the path that belongs to them.”

The woman said gently, “Right now, everyone is using ‘half-baked magic.’ Once someone succeeds, magical theory will surely undergo a qualitative leap.”

“I know, Madam.”

The young Salaar lifted his head, his voice still quite childish.

“However, the differences between people are quite large. Even if there is a successful precedent, the same circuit may not necessarily work on someone else.”

“Hehe, child, a ‘leap’ doesn’t mean giving everyone the same copy.”

That voice was full of laughter. “Once we know the theory, we will have endless research topics, newer and more diverse magic systems.”

“If only the distributor truly knows the reasoning within, while everyone else can only blindly follow… placing everyone’s safety in the hands of one person, that is the true apocalypse.”

“…”

“Then what about me, Madam?”

“Why do all of you place your hopes in me?”

How had that lady answered him back then? Salaar tried hard to look, tried hard to listen, but everything was blurring.

His nose hurt a little.

“…Sa…”

“…Bastard…”

“…Hateful guy…”

Myss’s voice grew closer and closer, clearer and clearer. Salaar opened his eyes and found that Myss was tugging his nose.

Salaar: “…?”

Only then did he realize in a daze that at some point, he had fallen asleep beneath the warm sunlight.

“Where did you put the raspberry candy?”

Myss was groping around on his body. “You still have some on you, right? Hand it over. I want to eat it.”

“Say ‘please.’” Salaar rubbed his eyes.

“Please what? It’s all your fault for waving that bottle of medicine around.” Myss bared his teeth. “Less nonsense. Hand it over.”

Salaar sighed and took out a piece of candy from his inner pocket. He carefully peeled away the wrapper and held it in front of Myss with both hands.

Myss leaned in to bite it. Unfortunately, Salaar’s fingertips were pinching it very tightly, so this bite failed to take it away. Instead, he firmly held Salaar’s fingers in his mouth.

Myss glanced at him unhappily, lazily propped himself up, and went to pry open Salaar’s fingers. Only after eating the candy ball did he lie back down in satisfaction, exhaling a long breath with the scent of candy.

From beginning to end, he was careful not to meet Salaar’s eyes.

Actually, Myss hadn’t wanted candy until just now.

Salaar had fallen into deep sleep. His body had twitched slightly in the dream, and his heartbeat was a little faster than usual. Myss had been jostled awake by him, and when he raised his eyes, he saw Salaar’s tightly furrowed brow and slightly pursed lips.

Without a doubt, Salaar was dreaming, and it wasn’t a good dream.

Myss thought back for a while and discovered that inside the seal, Salaar had rarely shown such a state. Even when companions had died one after another in front of him, Salaar’s emotions had remained as steady as rock.

Now, the indestructible Saint Salaar was actually having a nightmare. This uncomfortable appearance was even more wretched than when he had been pierced through by Myss’s tentacles.

Served him right!

Myss buried his head again with complete peace of mind, determined to continue sleeping. However, the afternoon sunlight was too bright, and Salaar’s heartbeat was far too noisy.

Myss raised his head again to look at that familiar yet unfamiliar face.

He suddenly felt a surge of anger. Salaar had never, not even once, shown such a pained expression because of him. What made that nightmare worthy? It actually dared to usurp his own exclusive privilege to torment Salaar!

Salaar’s love had to belong to him, and Salaar’s pain also had to be possessed by him.

“Salaar!” Myss reached out and pinched Salaar’s nose. “Bastard, wake up!”

A thin layer of sweat emerged on Salaar’s forehead, but his eyes were still closed.

“Hateful guy, if you don’t wake up, I’m going to punch you there,” Myss threatened.

That was terrifying pain he had personally experienced. It would definitely be extremely effective. If not for the fact that he wanted Salaar to fall in love with him, Myss would have already punched.

Salaar finally woke up, and a dazed look flashed through his eyes.

Oh, he was awake. How should he explain? Myss belatedly thought.

The reason “I was worried about you” was too mushy, and he couldn’t accept it at this stage. “You annoyed me” was too crude and wouldn’t help his great seduction scheme.

Thinking of the bottle of “Resolve to Elope” from just now, Myss had a flash of inspiration and asked for raspberry-flavored candy.

Now the candy ball had entered his mouth, and the sweet-sour taste seeped into the tip of his tongue. Myss burrowed back into his warm cushion. He heard Salaar’s heartbeat return to normal again.

Very good. Now Salaar belonged only to him again.

……

For the next few days, life was so leisurely it could make a person sprout moss.

During the day, Myss lay on the cart, enjoying his soft cushion. At night, the driver would cover the flatbed cart with a tent-like rainproof cover, then light a campfire beside the cart and cook bacon onion soup.

“We’ll reach that…capital city…tomorrow morning. Will there be any problem entering the city directly?”

Myss held a bowl of onion soup and blew on it hard with his mouth. The wood burned red, wrapped in gray-white ash. The tongues of fire spat out countless sparks, yet none were as bright as Myss’s eyes.

Myss could sense a gaze like fine rain falling on his face.

“The Karns family will find out sooner or later. It’s better to go to the United Library as quickly as possible.”

Salaar sat beside Myss. His eyes looked at Myss, while one hand tore bread into pieces and threw them into the soup bowl.

An owl rested on Father Kalen’s knee, and the priest was gently stroking the bird’s feathers. “Approximately where is the United Library located? I can ask my little animal friends to check first.”

Silence.

Father Kalen looked toward Myss, who sat opposite him. Myss looked toward Salaar. Salaar looked toward Tass, who simply wore a look of utter disdain.

“Why are you looking at me? I don’t know either! …Kalen said before that no assassin, no matter how bold, would cause trouble on royal territory!”

“Besides, the United Library isn’t open to outsiders at all. Why don’t you ask me how to get to the king’s bedroom while you’re at it?”

Myss: “Oh. How do you get to the king’s bedroom?”

Tass: “…”

Tass plunged headfirst into the pocket watch’s gemstone and refused to come out.

Seeing Myss eagerly preparing to dig at the gemstone, Salaar patted his shoulder. “Don’t torment Tass. There’s actually a simpler method.”

He looked around at the companions sitting by the campfire, and a mischievous smile appeared on his face.

“I think, out of politeness, I should greet ‘my’ dear cousin Mag.”

---

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

---

Chapter 76: Among the Grass

Myss succeeded.

For the first time in three hundred years, Salaar felt such utter despair.

He was only a gear obstructing the operation of Night Scourge. The many pains he felt must surely be useful to the human world.

Wounds deep enough to reveal bone would heal. The world would continue after his death… Nothing had been settled yet and hope for the future still remained.

But this was different.

Salaar finally realized that he truly couldn’t control that love. He could heal every injury, but only this festering wound on his heart couldn’t be erased.

Everything was for the sake of ending the Night Scourge. Then what was he supposed to do with his corroded heart?

Salaar wouldn’t submit to this pain. Giving up had never been his choice.

As for the other choices… Myss knew next to nothing about human love. As long as Salaar deliberately guided him, he could at least satisfy his own desires. Salaar could hear it. In some dark corner of his heart, a voice wailed amid the searing agony of his love: Seduce him. Indulge. Myss must pay the price.

“No,” Salaar answered soundlessly.

Knife climbed onto his wrist and silently watched Salaar. Under the moonlight, those blue eyes were like two stars.

“‘Love’ should be something beautiful,” he said to it. “Even if I’m in such a sorry state, this is still my first love. I don’t want to sully it.”

“You two won’t have a good ending.” Knife flicked out its tongue.

“What a coincidence. Most people’s first loves don’t have good endings.”

Salaar looked toward the vast starry sky. “I have pursued a certain result my entire life. If I insist on judging even this kind of matter solely by the result, that would be too pitiful.”

“So, what do you plan to do? …Keep pretending you aren’t moved, and smother your feelings into the grave?”

Knife moved closer, its thin voice like an interrogation. “Since you’ve decided to move forward, there should at least be a direction.”

The night wind roamed freely through the wilderness, and the tentacle lilies rustled and swayed.

Salaar stretched out his foot, the tip of his boot touching the tender tentacle closest to him. The tentacle reflexively opened, then tapped him twice more.

The motion didn’t have much force. Salaar only felt a little ticklish at the tip of his foot. On his back, Myss’s breathing sped up slightly, and he mumbled twice in his dream.

A nearly sorrowful happiness climbed up Salaar’s spine, and he let out a long breath.

“When dealing with an enemy, one should use the cruelest method.” Salaar withdrew his gaze from the tentacle.

“I intend to ‘truly love’ him.”

He wanted Myss to be like him, to have a wound in his heart that couldn’t heal, and to feel this torment of despair.

Even if, in the very end, humanity couldn’t contend with Myss. As long as that wound could make Myss hesitate for one second when he destroyed the world, hesitate for one minute…

That would be the last bit of time the so-called “Saint Salaar” won for the mortal world.

…And it would also be the epitaph for his tragic love.

Salaar slowly put Myss down. His movements were very gentle, and Myss remained asleep.

Moonlight wound through that long hair. The night was dim, but Salaar could still clearly see the lapis-lazuli hair ribbon at the ends of Myss’s hair, as well as his rosy cheeks and lips.

Salaar gently brushed away the strands that had drifted onto Myss’s cheek, lowered his head, and kissed him.

The tip of his tongue decisively pried open the gap between Myss’s teeth. This time, Salaar kissed with great composure, as though drawing a sword and thrusting it at his own fate.

Myss’s hands groped around and skillfully hooked around Salaar’s neck. Only then did he open his eyes slightly. As the dream ended and his power scattered, all those pitch-black tentacle lilies vanished.

Myss didn’t resist the kiss.

He lazily stretched his body among the wild grass. The tip of his tongue curled lightly, and it was hard to tell who was tasting whom. Their breaths mingled together and kept heating up.

Myss’s magical garments rustled against the grass. Perhaps his emotions were somewhat unstable, but the fabric at his shoulders and neck scattered like the tentacle lilies, revealing his bare shoulders.

Salaar’s fingertips brushed over the skin exposed to the cold wind. His enemy had become his instrument strings, trembling lightly beneath his touch.

It was an incomparably long kiss. Even a warrior like Salaar, who excelled at controlling his body, kissed until his breathing fell into disorder.

During the brief gap to breathe, Myss gave a few quiet hums, sounding quite satisfied. Who knew whether he was satisfied with the kiss or satisfied with Salaar’s infatuation.

Just as Myss turned over and prepared to climb onto his hero cushion, Salaar decisively stood up.

Myss: “?”

The night wind immediately scattered Salaar’s remaining warmth, chilling Myss into a shiver.

“We should head back.”

Salaar extended a hand toward him, his gaze gently and persistently wrapping around Myss.

Myss licked the wet corner of his mouth and didn’t move.

He discovered, not particularly surprised, that a certain part of him and Salaar had changed again. Myss subconsciously raised his fist. Thinking of the unforgettable pain from last time, he resentfully lowered his claws again.

How did humans handle this again…? At least in the slave’s memories, humans didn’t like handling it in front of other people. His memories about this matter lacked detail, so for the moment, he didn’t know where to begin.

Was he supposed to just go back like this?

Myss didn’t care about human notions of shame, but if he punched himself, his body would feel terrible. Leaving it alone also felt terrible…

“Hey, Salaar, tell me how to handle this.” Myss demanded as he sat unceremoniously sprawled out on the grass.

His body temperature was still on the high side, and his breaths turned into clouds of white mist.

“Say ‘please,’” Salaar said, crossing his arms.

“How polite.” Myss feigning ignorance. “Very good. I permit you to assist me.”

Salaar chuckled softly and crossed his arms even tighter.

Myss’s eyes turned. “How about this? You deal with yours here and let me see how you do it.”

“That won’t be necessary.” Salaar tugged at his pants. “It’ll take quite a while to walk back. It can go down on its own.”

Myss let out a disgruntled huff and stuck firmly to the ground, staring at Salaar unhappily.

Lord Archdemon didn’t mind hardship, but he truly didn’t want to suffer for no reason. There would be plenty of days ahead. Was he supposed to pay this kind of price every time he tempted Salaar in the future?

As he thought about it, Myss flopped back onto the ground with a thump, clearly taking the stance of, if you don’t teach me, I won’t get up.

Salaar sighed with exasperation. “You said that for those centuries in the seal, you were always watching humans. I thought you knew the details. My companions never deliberately restrained themselves.”

Myss retorted indignantly, “I didn’t watch them. I only watched you. You never did this kind of thing, so I thought you didn’t have that function.”

“If I’d known this earlier, I should’ve looked at more of that taxidermist’s memories. When we reach the next city, I’ll go observe other humans—”

Salaar drew in a soft breath.

After a long while, he slowly sat down in the grass and patted his thigh. “…Forget it. Come here. I’ll teach you.”

Myss moved over in victory and sat on Salaar’s lap.

Salaar’s body heat wrapped around him from behind, blocking the cold night wind. Salaar’s legs were harder than his chest, but they felt much better than the dry grass.

Salaar’s left arm circled his waist, and his right hand reached over lightly. Myss cooperatively released part of his magic. The tips of the grass brushed lightly in the wind, grazing the skin of his thighs.

Salaar’s chin rested against Myss’s shoulder, his body abnormally tense. His palm was far rougher than it looked. Myss’s breathing abruptly grew rapid, and he instinctively gave a few convulsive jerks, a layer of hot sweat seeping from his back.

Salaar shifted his arm. His left hand cupped Myss’s restless head and held him fully embedded in his embrace.

Myss couldn’t move, so he could only stare fixedly at that hand motion that was rising and falling.

His body temperature rose again, and his urgent panting turned into flickering white vapor. Myss felt that trembling was a little embarrassing, but he couldn’t stop his body from spasming. As a show of force, he opened his mouth and bit Salaar’s left hand, which was holding his chin.

The web between Salaar’s thumb and index finger was bitten, and a tiny bead of blood seeped out.

Salaar’s body remained as unyielding as iron. The only change was the strength of his grip of his hands by a few degrees. Finally, unable to endure any longer, Myss instinctively reach out and licked Salaar’s bleeding wound.

The tongue against the wound was searing, and for a fleeting instant, Salaar’s movement froze.

What followed bore little resemblance to “teaching”; it felt more like a swift decisive combat operation. By the time the “anomaly” was resolved, Myss was nearly choking on his ragged breath.

Salaar, meanwhile, sprang to his feet with such suddenness that he nearly sent Myss flying.

“All right. Let’s go.” The Great Hero swiftly turned around, and the light of a cleansing spell brushed over his right hand.

Myss’s mind was somewhat blank, his thoughts as if soaked in fog. He had wanted to run in front of Salaar and see this guy’s condition, but his legs were weak, and he simply couldn’t catch up with Salaar’s steps.

When they found the priest and the Dragon Fae again, Salaar looked completely normal, whether in expression or body, as if nothing had happened just now.

On the contrary, Myss’s face still had a lingering flush, and his steps were unsteady, earning him a meaningful look from the Dragon Fae.

As night had fallen, the priest rented two decent tents, and the group decided to camp out right where they were. As the only “couple” in the team, Myss and Salaar shared one tent.

As for why Myss had woken up in the wilderness, Salaar’s explanation was that “your magic was a little out of control, and I was afraid of attracting Professor Gentry’s attention.” Myss accepted it for the time being.

But no matter how it was explained, Myss still felt annoyed, as if he had been left at a disadvantage.

In just that short time when he had failed to keep an eye on Salaar, Salaar had secretly changed. Compared with his loss of composure in Hope Dungeon, Salaar’s emotions had stabilized quite a bit, and he had turned back into that tenacious and annoying bastard.

What they had done just now was undoubtedly something human lovers would do. Yet Salaar had quickly calmed his emotions, leaving only Myss alone in utter disarray.

How exactly was he supposed to defeat this guy?

While Salaar turned around to arrange the sleeping bag, Myss resentfully stretched out a finger and gave a hard poke at Salaar’s waist.

Salaar: “—!”

With just that one poke, Salaar jolted from head to toe as if electrocuted, and his ears were quickly stained red.

He turned his head to glance at Myss and heaved a fierce sigh at his mortal enemy’s face.

Myss: “?”

Myss felt a sense of balance being restored.

The next second, Salaar stuffed him from head to toe into the sleeping bag and ruthlessly tied two knots in it with a belt, turning him into a freshly made Myss cocoon.

“Sleep.” Salaar tossed the Myss cocoon toward the inside of the tent.

“What about you?” Myss struggled to poke his head out.

Salaar: “I’ll curse you in my heart for a while. I’ll sleep once I’ve cursed enough.”

“…Oh.”

……

The next day was clear and sunny, and Professor Gentry prepared to leave one step ahead.

The Archmage stated that this exploration had “yielded no results, and only Roman’s lost landmark nails were found.” He and his students planned to return and hold a funeral for the “missing” Roman.

He left behind letters of introduction addressed to the United Library. For the group of four, everyone had one.

The only flaw in an otherwise perfect situation was that this exploration had been too short, not even lasting a full week. According to the contract, Myss and Salaar could only receive a total of one thousand gold rings.

Upon hearing that they didn’t have storage accounts, Professor Gentry gave them a pure-gold signet ring.

“This is a savings ring from the Dawn Guild. There are one thousand gold rings inside,” he explained. “Once you reach Serpentia City, go to the Dawn Guild and verify it. Then you can use it freely.”

A little troublesome, but Myss could understand for the time being.

One thousand gold rings in cash would be quite heavy. Professor Gentry couldn’t possibly carry such a massive sum with him, and Myss didn’t want to shoulder large bags of it either.

According to the agreement before the exploration, Salaar’s share of the payment nominally belonged entirely to Myss. The moment Salaar received the gold ring, he handed it to Myss.

“Thank you for taking care of us these past few days. We learned quite a bit.”

After watching Myss happily fiddle with the ring for a while, Salaar nodded to Professor Gentry.

“I should be the one thanking you.” Professor Gentry sighed softly. “If not for you, we would have been destined to gain nothing. We might even have died down there.”

He lowered his head and looked at the soil overgrown with weeds. Only they knew that beneath the thick earth and stone, there was a Divine Realm hidden away like a fairy tale.

The Magibase elephant let out a long cry. Myss raised his head just in time to see Professor Gentry crouch down, his palm gently stroking the grass, much as one might affectionately ruffle the hair of their favorite student.

After a long while, the Kingdom Archmage withdrew his hand, and a few bits of grass slipped from between his fingers.

“Thank you,” he repeated solemnly.

Beverly and Asp were in low spirits. They had forgotten the dreamlike underground Divine Realm and only remembered that “the depths completely collapsed.” With red-rimmed eyes, the two bid farewell to the group through the carriage window, only treating the entire expedition as a disappointing failure.

The team watched Professor Gentry board the carriage, and the wheels raised clouds of dust.

From beginning to end, Salaar didn’t mention that magic artifact merchant.

So far, the magic artifact merchant named Kai hadn’t harm them. Professor Gentry meeting someone else wasn’t something he was obligated to report to strangers like them.

But if someone said all of this was coincidence, Salaar absolutely wouldn’t believe it.

Kai was definitely not a simple magic artifact merchant. Wherever he went, traces of Abnormal Fruit always appeared.

Although Kai called Gentry “Uncle Gentry,” neither his appearance nor his aura bore any resemblance to Professor Gentry. If one had to find a common point, Salaar could only think of one.

They both didn’t believe in gods.

Around them, the lively gathering continued. People spread tales of good luck that no longer existed and regarded it as a miracle.

“At this rate, a village will develop nearby.” Tass related with great interest. “In another decade or so, maybe it’ll become a town.”

The priest nodded pleasantly.

Assuming you’re still alive in a decade or so, Myss wrinkled his nose. Salaar shot him a sidelong glance, then stepped forward to block Myss’s hostile gaze.

He raised his head again and looked toward Professor Gentry’s carriage. The carriage had already turned into a faint black dot on the horizon, like a grain of sand sinking into the center of a lake.

Yet the ripples it raised didn’t disappear.

“Speaking of which, I have a question I’m extremely curious about.”

Salaar turned toward Kalen and Tass.

“How much do you two know about that ‘godless’ Stargazers Society?”

---

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

---

Chapter 75: A Dark Interlude

Tass dipped a piece of soft cloth in clean water and began happily wiping his wings.

Father Kalen felt guilty because he had “performed poorly” in the Divine Realm. Tass, on the other hand, had no such concerns at all. As a Dragon Fae assassin who took money to do a job, he wouldn’t give his clients excessive goodwill. At least, that was what Tass himself believed.

He had thoroughly enjoyed this underground adventure. No one in the team had died or been injured, not even losing an arm or leg, and they had also obtained new information about V.O.R.

At the moment, the priest was taking a nap in a nearby bush, while Tass was using the dozing priest as a seat.

A few wild rabbits curiously ran over and looked the priest up and down, completely ignoring Tass.

Perhaps magical lifeforms were more special. Small animals were generally uninterested in Dragon Fae. Antis had once explained to him that, in the eyes of flesh-and-blood animals, a “Dragon Fae” was closer to a magical phenomenon.

But life itself was also a natural phenomenon; Tass remained unconvinced.

He hummed a little tune as he wiped his dark red, pearlescent scales and the delicate tips of his wings. The sunlight was just right, and his fine scales shimmered with a perfect color, like a noblewoman’s finest silk.

As he wiped, Tass’s brows began to furrow.

His wings seemed to have turned black. The color of those scales had darkened slightly, though their beautiful luster remained the same.

Tass used more force with his hand, but the soft cloth was still perfectly clean… What was going on? Was he sick?

Although such dark scales were undeniably beautiful, Tass felt somewhat uneasy.

Dragon Fae scales came in as many colors as flowers, and even pink and pale green individuals were fairly common. Tass’s wings were a deep crimson—an intense shade of blood lilies—a red of absolute purity.

But now they were somewhat blackened… Since records began, there had never been a black Dragon Fae.

It just so happened they were going to Serpentia, so he could contact his kin at the capital’s jewelry shops. Tass dispiritedly put down the soft cloth and looked toward the gradually darkening evening sky.

He didn’t care about Divine Realms or gods. His own health was the most important thing!

…Speaking of which, human courtship activities really were troublesome. The circus should have ended long ago, but Myss and Salaar still had not appeared.

Bored out of his mind, Tass took out a fried bean and crunched on it, glancing at Father Kalen from the corner of his eye.

After being put through that ordeal by the Prisoner of Dreams, Father Kalen was somewhat weak, with symptoms a little like excessive blood loss. At the moment, he wasn’t sleeping peacefully. His brows were tightly furrowed, and he was murmuring something.

“Hermit,” the priest murmured. “Hermit…”

Father Kalen’s tone was uncharacteristically strange. It was suppressed and bitter. “Brother… The Order of Shadows… you madman…”

Father Hermit, Father Kalen’s brother, had disappeared because of V.O.R. Tass knew about this. But in his impression, this hulking priest had always been deeply dependent on his older brother.

What, then, was with that strange tone?

Tass reflexively thought about it for a few seconds, then decided to politely stay away from other people’s family matters.

When he finished eating the fried bean, Salaar and Myss finally returned from their courtship activity. The sunset on the wasteland had painted a bloodstain-like band of light, and the two of them were walking over from within that smear of blood.

Salaar was easily carrying the sleeping Myss on his back. Myss’s gray-white braid slipped down from his shoulder and drifted lightly in the wind.

Seeing Tass’s hesitant expression, Salaar said, “He’s too tired. If I wake him up, I’ll have to listen to him mutter the whole way.”

Tass: “…”

Too tired? Isn’t your healing magic incredibly potent, kid? Why pretend to be innocent?

Human courtship activities really were too troublesome, and the Dragon Fae was too lazy to expose him. He stared into Salaar’s eyes and deliberately slowed his movements, then ruthlessly pinched Father Kalen’s nose.

Father Kalen woke up at once.

The wild rabbits beside him woke up too and fled in a panic until they disappeared.

“How was the circus?” The priest wiped his face and stood up.

“Not bad. We saw some novel things.”

Salaar spoke softly, still not putting down the sleeping Myss.

In his sleep, Myss’s arms were tightly wrapped around Salaar’s neck, as if he wanted to imitate a collar with his arms.

The priest smiled gently. “As long as it went smooth—”

Before he could say the word “ly,” Tass cried out loudly.

In the deepening dusk, more than a hundred pitch-black points of light rose.

With Myss as the center, they hovered around the two of them within a radius of about ten meters. The black points flew around casually like living things. Sometimes they twisted into fine threads, sometimes they formed black webs, and some condensed into lumps, becoming four-legged monsters resembling headless rabbits.

“What’s going on?”

In the suddenly dense magical turbulence, Tass choked and coughed twice. “Damn it, can’t we get something normal for once—”

The instant his words fell, those things that seemed to be headless rabbits rapidly melted, turning into eyeless crows of normal size. They flapped their wings and hopped around the four of them. “Salaar, hateful! Salaar, soft!”

The crows occasionally forgot they were crows, and their wings and heads would be misplaced for an instant. Fortunately, their memories were decent enough that they didn’t end up sprouting body parts belonging to other animals.

“Salaar, noisy! Salaar, warm!”

The crows called out in voices that strongly resembled the rabbit Jinx.

Salaar: “…”

Salaar looked at the crows hopping at his feet. “This is our little secret, so be quiet.”

The crows: “Oh—!”

They stopped speaking. They only hopped in circles around Salaar, who was carrying Myss. The sky grew darker and darker, and this bizarre scene began to challenge the nerves of everyone present.

A thin layer of sweat broke out on Father Kalen’s forehead. “The divine power of dreams? But this is clearly Mr. Myss’s power signature!”

“He may have been contaminated by the power of the Divine Realm. We have to wake him up quickly!”

Salaar made a sound of thought and blinked. “I’ll handle it. Just in case, you two should keep your distance first.”

“No. Perhaps my experience can help.”

The priest seized this chance to make up for his mistake. Tass had just flown a few steps away, and at the sight, he awkwardly stopped in midair.

Salaar shook his head firmly. “I understand Myss. I’ll handle—”

Halfway through, the corners of his mouth rose. “I want to be alone with him.”

The moment he finished the final word, the crows all turned their heads in unison, their sharp beaks pointing toward Father Kalen. The priest looked at those eyeless birds, becoming even more convinced of his own view. This was simply like a recreation of the rabbits in the Divine Realm, only more grotesque and crude.

Could there also be an Abnormal Fruit on Myss? But he hadn’t discovered any sign of it…

The priest thought for a few seconds, and when he returned to himself, the two people were already gone.

“Salaar runs faster than a rabbit,” Tass mercifully added. “That guy doesn’t count as reckless. Occasionally, you should trust the young ones a little. Elders who interfere too much will be disliked.”

“If you absolutely have to do something, help me check this. My wings changed color, and I suspect it’s related to the Divine Realm…”

……

Salaar carried Myss on his back and walked beneath the night sky. His back was to the sunset as he lifted his head and stepped forward into the mouth of night.

The crows lined up behind him in a row, staggering along with quick little steps.

“Salaar… Salaar!” they called quietly.

Myss was still sleeping soundly on his back, more deeply than usual. The night wind was cold, but Myss’s body was warm, even warmer than usual. Salaar’s back was slightly damp with sweat.

His spine was pressed tightly against Myss’s chest. Myss’s body twitched from time to time, and his mouth made soft murmuring sounds. He was dreaming.

Myss’s power was changing along with his dream, evolving like an instinct.

Perhaps interrupting this process would be a good idea. As long as Salaar released his hands, Myss would wake in the fall.

But Salaar didn’t. He merely slowed his steps and waited for those hopping crows to catch up to him and surround him.

He still wanted to see more, to know more.

“How astonishing… After only experiencing it once, you can actually do this much.”

Salaar was skilled at analyzing all sorts of magic, whether human or “divine.” As long as he could personally come into contact with those powers, he could reproduce them.

For example, the previous “Song of Motherly Love” and “Song of Perfection,” as well as the “Song of Luck” he had just obtained from Roman.

…But Myss’s “imitation” was different.

It wasn’t a one-to-one replication, but rather an approach that utilized his own unique methods to achieve the same effect. Just as horses and wooden carts could both carry luggage home, yet they were absolutely not the same thing.

Myss had no interest in understanding the myriad emotions of humanity, but he was learning knowledge from the outside world and doing it at a remarkable speed.

Perhaps Myss’s judgment hadn’t been wrong. This “body-swap ritual” of unknown origin would only bring the human world an even more terrifying enemy.

Salaar still believed that the survival or destruction of the world was everyone’s business, not something that rested only on his shoulders. The problem was, he couldn’t use that as an excuse to shirk responsibility and simply wait for Myss to become stronger.

“I also have to find a way to take another step forward.”

Salaar bounced the sleeping archnemesis on his back slightly. “Otherwise, I’ll have to look up to you all my life again…”

“Salaar, smaller than a sesame seed!” The nearest crow agreed.

Salaar raised his eyebrows at it. “Well said. Then can all of you turn into, uh, Myss’s true body?”

“Not showing, not showing!” the crows cried contemptuously.

What a pity. It seemed this power wouldn’t unconditionally realize everything. Even asleep, Lord Archdemon’s mind wasn’t so easy to fool.

“At least don’t look like crows.” Salaar said sadly, “We’re in our own little world here. Crows always make me think of Kalen.”

The crows froze.

“Didn’t look carefully at rabbits, don’t remember.”

“Bards say birds are good, snakes are bad.”

They chirped and muttered explanations, sounding extremely aggrieved.

“Forget those bards, for heaven’s sake.” Salaar laughed despite himself. “If you want me to be deeply attracted to you, you only need to be yourself.”

The crows fell silent.

Their forms melted again, becoming crawling tentacles.

Soft, glossy tentacles gathered in groups of three and five, extending their tips from the grass and swaying gently together. Under the moonlight, they seemed to be standing in a field of black lilies.

The rabbits on the wasteland were badly startled by these strange things and hurriedly fled.

Salaar stopped walking.

In the distorted sea of flowers, his eyes stung slightly and his throat felt dry.

At this moment, that pitch-black and hopeless world completely overlapped with the quiet wasteland.

Compared to the nap at the circus, this illusion personally created by Myss felt more like that nonexistent peaceful ending… A languid god basking beneath the moonlight; the apocalypse that had never descended, a scene Salaar didn’t dare to imagine and couldn’t.

“Hehe…” Myss laughed smugly in his dream. “Flowers… good…”

The smile on Salaar’s face vanished without a trace.

He did want to see more, but he shouldn’t have seen this. A dream mixed with deadly poison, a wish that made him unable to help sinking into it.

“Look…”

On his back, Myss was still murmuring, his damp, hot breath brushing past Salaar’s ear.

“Look… at… me…”

---

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

---

Chapter 74: The Ending You Desire

The underground banquet would continue forever, and the revelry aboveground hadn’t dispersed either.

When they parted, Roman told them that he had originally wanted the rabbits to hold a lively banquet after his teammates were saved, to serve as his funeral.

Now, this endless banquet would become his means of deceiving V.O.R. Roman had decided to seal off his Divine Realm as much as possible and study the new subject of “Godhood” together with his companions.

In other words, the surface would no longer receive the Prisoner of Dreams’ divine power. There would no longer be any “luck of this place and time.”

But the people aboveground didn’t leave. They were still enthusiastically spreading tales of the good luck found here. Myss saw little Labi again, the boy who had sold them the rabbit’s foot. Labi’s business was still as good as before, and his grimy little face was full of smiles.

Myss couldn’t understand it. Could it be that his perception was wrong, and Roman’s divine power had still remained?

He dug out the rabbit’s foot and pocket watch again, placing them under his nose and sniffing them in turn. The smell of the Abnormal Fruit in those things had already been faint to begin with, and now there wasn’t even a trace left.

“Stop sniffing. Your judgment is fine.”

Seeing Myss sneeze three times in a row from the rabbit fur tickling him, Salaar couldn’t help speaking. “In my view, true luck can only be created by people themselves.”

Myss was blunt. “Speak plainly.”

“Labi is quick-witted and bold. His business is bound to thrive regardless. The so-called ‘luck of this place and time’ only made him more confident.”

Salaar looked toward Labi, who was darting around like a rabbit, as well as the courtship squad persistently chatting up pretty men and women.

“Even if they encounter setbacks, they’ll believe ‘this is part of the luck.’ People will accept reality and firmly pursue their dreams… In my view, the power brought by that kind of belief is far greater than that wisp of divine power.”

Seeing that Myss still looked as if he half understood, Salaar laughed. “From the current situation, do you think Roman’s team was lucky or unlucky?”

To be honest, Myss wasn’t sure.

They had transformed Roman, trimming Roman’s magic circuit with broad, sweeping strokes. Now Roman could be counted as a “disabled” god. As for how far he could go next, only Roman himself would know.

But Myss knew with absolutely certainty that if Roman had chosen to submit to V.O.R, he would only have died underground in madness together with his teammates.

“I understand.” Myss suddenly realized.

Salaar looked relieved. “Yes, the funny thing about luck is…”

“Meeting the body-swap ritual was actually especially lucky for me!”

Myss interrupted him happily. “I learned many magic techniques and thoroughly understood your weaknesses. All of this is the prelude to my victory—”

Salaar: “…”

Salaar sighed. “As long as you’re happy.”

He bought a roasted corn from a nearby stall, broke it in half, and fed one half to the excited Myss.

Myss took one bite and burned his tongue on the corn. However, after eating a huge pile of Salaar-flavored mushrooms, corn sprinkled with herbs and coarse salt seemed exceptionally delicious. He endured the heat and stubbornly gnawed at it.

As a result, Lord Archdemon did indeed quiet down.

“I bought sandwiches with sausage and smoked chicken.”

Father Kalen appeared with a smiling face, that large band-tailed wood pigeon standing on his shoulder again. “The disturbance in Semper City is calming down, and everything is fine at Antis’s residence.”

The pigeon puffed out its high chest and cooed several times. The sandwich in the priest’s hand had been pan-fried, and the bread gave off an enticing toasted fragrance. One glance was enough to tell it was the most premium variety.

With half-eaten corn between his teeth, Myss looked toward the “Abnormal Fruit sniffer” he had adopted.

As for “being controlled,” the priest claimed to have no memory of it.

According to Father Kalen, he had directly lost consciousness in the prison cell. Then, when he closed and opened his eyes, he had seamlessly arrived at the rabbits’ lively banquet. For this, he had solemnly apologized to them.

Strictly speaking, having his mind controlled by a god couldn’t be considered Father Kalen’s personal failing. Never mind Salaar, even Myss was quite tolerant about this.

However, as the “elder” in the team, after returning to the surface, the priest still felt somewhat guilty.

He knew there was no point in apologizing over and over, so he simply bought them plenty of delicious food, attempting to calm the two “youngsters” nerves.

“…And this. The best viewing seats at the circus. A couple’s ticket.”

The priest said, “Tass and I will go do some divination and see where there’s ill omen. Oh, right, Professor Gentry will stay in the carriage for two days. He said you can look for him anytime if anything comes up.”

Salaar graciously accepted the two colorful parchment tickets. “Thank you. We’ll go watch. But regarding the next destination, I, no… we have something to discuss with you.”

Hearing this, Tass poked his head out and, while he was at it, broke a kernel off Myss’s roasted corn and held it in both hands to gnaw on.

The priest looked nervously at Salaar and Myss. “If you two don’t want to continue cooperating…”

“No. We want to designate the next destination,” Salaar said solemnly.

Oh, that matter.

Myss glanced at Tass, who was stealing corn kernels, then quickly gnawed all the remaining corn into his mouth.

This concerned the body-swap ritual. Even though the details had originally come from Professor Gentry, Myss had listened to every word without missing a single one. That information wasn’t as… secretive as they had imagined, but it was indeed quite valuable.

“Divine Blood. A special alchemical material passed down from the Night Scourge period.”

Professor Gentry had said this. “It was excavated from several massive dungeons. Its production method has been lost. Most Divine Blood is preserved by the royal family and research institutions, while a few poorly preserved scraps have flowed into the hands of nobles.”

“This thing has a strange infectious power. It’s said that if it is diluted with a special potion and given to a pregnant woman, she can give birth to a child akin to a god—with a strong body, powerful magic, and extraordinarily beautiful appearance.”

…But that was ultimately only “it’s said.”

According to Professor Gentry, some great nobles with many offspring would have their lovers take this “Divine Blood potion” in order to obtain extraordinary descendants. There were also noblewomen who, in order to “give their children the best,” would secretly take this medicine.

Twenty years ago, this practice had once been extremely fashionable among several great noble families in the capital.

However, the vast majority of people didn’t obtain the result they wanted.

Some gave birth to physically strong offspring, but the child’s magic was almost exhausted. Others gave birth to powerful magical geniuses, but they quickly died young after receiving their Magibase.

Of course, there were also children whose appearances were absurdly beautiful, but they were born with low intelligence, and a few had terrifying disabilities.

“The Karns family secretly possessed Divine Blood. Kendrick Karns was undoubtedly a ‘Child of Divine Blood.’ Back then, they once privately came to me for help.”

Professor Gentry’s expression was somewhat complicated. “As for Mr. Myss… the situation is more complicated.”

“The Divine Blood of the Nebula family was once stolen. The thief was a pregnant maid. In order to give birth to a ‘Child of Divine Blood,’ she drank a potion that a certain family member had prepared for his lover, then fled overnight.”

“When the Nebula family found her, she had already given birth. A beautiful boy with gray hair, red eyes, and a deformed right leg.”

At this point, Professor Gentry paused slightly.

Salaar mercilessly continued, “Let me guess. They privately executed the maid who stole the Divine Blood, then handed the boy over to their vassals at the border to see whether he had any magic talent.”

“A few years later, they discovered the child wasn’t only physically disabled, but mentally as well, so they simply sold him off.”

Professor Gentry nodded heavily.

“That slave merchant once came to the capital and tried to sell that child. The upper nobles more or less all knew about the Nebula family’s ‘little accident’ and gossiped about it for quite a while… That was when I learned of it.”

“Both of your physical bodies are Children of Divine Blood. They are not normal humans. I thought this information might be of some use to you.”

Rather it was an immense use. Myss was absolutely delighted.

Professor Gentry only thought they had chosen human bodies—which he viewed as inherently “flawed” —and wanted to use this information to sell them a small favor. This Archmage had no idea at all that they had been unwillingly body-swapped. This matter was far more serious than a mere “flaw” or “hidden danger”.

Kendrick Karns and the slave were both so-called “Children of Divine Blood.” This was absolutely not a coincidence.

“If the two of you are interested in Divine Blood, you might as well go to Serpantia’s ‘United Library’ and take a look. I am willing to provide a letter of introduction for the two of you.”

Professor Gentry glanced at Myss, who was beaming. “However, the Karns family may cause trouble for Mr. Salaar. I cannot protect you openly. Please understand.”

……

“…I must return to Serpantia to resolve the issue with the Karns family.”

By the time the words passed from Salaar’s mouth, they had magically changed shape. “Otherwise, they’ll keep causing trouble for us. The next assassin may not be as reasonable as Sir Tass.”

Father Kalen had no reason to doubt him. He slowly furrowed his brow. “The Karns family has considerable influence in the capital. If you don’t have a reliable place to stay—”

“We’ll go to the United Library. Professor Gentry is willing to provide everyone with letters of introduction.”

Salaar had already prepared for this.

“Then there’s no issues.” The priest nodded calmly.

The United Library was a royal research institution directly under the Aufon Kingdom, and great nobles could not interfere with it. Even the Karns family couldn’t openly hunt guests of the United Library.

“Hermit once said that the United Library preserves the exploration notes of the Order of Shadows. I can apply to borrow them as well. Perhaps I’ll find new clues.”

Tass had no objections either. According to Sir Dragon Fae, as long as they could find that bastard V.O.R, he was fine going anywhere.

After the pleasant little team meeting, Salaar bought two more roasted corns and brought Myss toward the circus tent.

“The tickets were already bought. Don’t waste them.” The Great Hero declared righteously.

“Isn’t it just a bunch of humans performing?” Myss glanced at the hand-painted poster beside the tent, completely unable to understand.

Compared to stepping on big balls and tightrope walking, throwing flying knives and taming lions, Salaar’s antics inside the seal were far more entertaining to watch.

If he smashed down a slightly larger tentacle, Salaar would do eighteen flips on the spot and still land gracefully on both feet. When this person had nothing better to do, he had also tried balancing ten empty wooden bowls on his head at the same time to train the stability of his steps… And when his madness truly seized him, Salaar would even use ventriloquism to dub the tentacle potted plant on the windowsill.

In truth, Lord Archdemon had absolutely no interest in human performances. But if humans insisted on performing, Myss couldn’t stop them.

“It’s just to watch the atmosphere.” Salaar cleared his throat. “Although in my imagination, I should watch it together with someone I like—”

“I suddenly really want to watch human performances,” Myss interjected with a pleasant smile.

Salaar looked at Myss as if he wanted to speak but stopped himself. In the end, he shook his head and bought another jar of raspberry jam with honey added.

The circus in this place certainly knew how to run a business. The venue was cleaned very thoroughly, and they even burned specially blended herbs so people couldn’t smell the odor of the animals or the audience.

The couple seats had been arranged in the place with the best view. A rough carpet, two wooden chairs with backs, and a small peach-pink tent with soundproofing magic around it, and they dared charge them sixty silver shields. Tickets for normal seats only cost two silver shields!

Good thing we aren’t the ones paying for this, Myss thought.

Looking up, a woman dressed in exaggerated clothes was entering the ring with a lion, and a wave of muffled cheers broke out around them.

But in Myss’s view, apart from size, there was no essential difference between a lion and a cat. They were both fragile lumps of meat wrapped in a layer of fur.

Surrounded by the small tent, Myss began to feel sleepy again. He tossed the half-eaten roasted corn to Salaar and snatched the jar of jam from Salaar’s arms.

Salaar was used to it. “After we finish watching this, we should still have some time. Is there anything you want to do?”

This guy had recently become very fond of using the word “we.” Who knew what had gotten into him.

Myss scooped up a spoonful of cool raspberry jam. “Anything I want?”

Salaar: “Anything.”

“Then find a place to lie down and let me sleep for a while,” Myss said. “These past few days, we haven’t had a proper rest…”

He missed his hero cushion.

After the words left his mouth, Myss realized that he had been thinking about Salaar’s new verbal habit so much that he had also been led astray.

Forget it. In any case, Salaar couldn’t possibly—

“All right,” Salaar said.

Myss stopped eating jam and looked at Salaar suspiciously. Salaar had agreed so readily that he suspected there was a scheme.

“If you don’t want to watch the circus, you can sleep now. Just close it.” Salaar pointed at the peach-pink tent.

In the tent next to theirs, there was a man and a woman. The tent had already been drawn shut. Under the crude soundproofing magic, fragmented moans could be heard.

Myss clicked his tongue. “Didn’t you want to watch the circus…”

“I said the circus is just about the atmosphere. With a layer of cloth between us and it, the atmosphere won’t disappear,” Salaar said.

Then what else was there to say?

Myss took a deep breath, swallowed the jam in two or three bites, and pounced straight at Salaar.

Salaar cooperatively lay down on the carpet, and Myss skillfully sprawled over him. Amid that warm and familiar scent, Myss fell asleep in the blink of an eye.

At this distance, Salaar could see the faint bluish color beneath Myss’s eyes.

This trip had indeed been quite exhausting. Salaar subconsciously wanted to erase Myss’s fatigue, but a few seconds later, he slowly withdrew his hand.

Salaar stared at the sleeping Myss for a while, then moved his gaze to the top of the small tent.

The tent curtain hung down, and the performance onstage disappeared from view. The audience’s cheers became even more indistinct, as if they had sunk to the bottom of a sea of people.

The lighting was dim in just the right way, and all around them were lively human voices. Myss slept deeply and quietly, as if everything had already ended and the human world was destined to endure forever.

Unfortunately, Salaar knew they couldn’t possibly have such a peaceful ending.

“Have you ever thought about the ending after you win?” Salaar murmured softly.

Myss gave a tiny “mm” and moved against him. “You… would die…”

“Yes. I die, and the world no longer exists either.” Salaar smiled.

Myss’s breathing quickened for two seconds. His brows furrowed, and he rubbed his face hard against Salaar’s chest.

“I’ll leave you half a life… to be my cushion… That works too…”

“No. I’ll live and die with the human world,” Salaar said, his voice soft, yet cruelly unyielding.

Myss opened his eyes slightly, full of reproach. “Damn it, when you bring someone to watch the circus, do you have to say such buzzkill nonsense?”

“Question after question, endlessly. All useless nonsense. If you win, won’t I still die?”

“It’s different.” Salaar stroked Myss’s long hair. “After executing you, I…”

At this point, he abruptly stopped, then smiled again. “Never mind. Go to sleep.”

Myss licked the jam from the corner of his mouth and closed his eyes while cursing inwardly.

He had a strange dream.

He dreamed that the entire human world had vanished, and he tied Salaar with a rope as the two of them floated in boundless darkness. Myss smugly tugged on the rope, but Salaar ignored him and didn’t even look at him.

A thin layer of sweat broke out on Myss’s body. Although he was lying on a familiar cushion of flesh, his chest felt scorched and restless, and his sleep wasn’t comfortable at all.

A living Salaar was a nuisance, so much so he couldn’t help but fantasize about his demise; yet a dead Salaar offered no warmth, his breath tainted by the stench of decay.

Truly a dilemma.

……

Backstage at the circus, inside a tent.

Professor Gentry silently entered the tent and stood behind a certain employee whose face was covered in greasepaint. That short employee stopped moving and slowly turned his head.

“Long time no see, Uncle Gentry. I knew you’d be alright!”

Kai stood up and gave Professor Gentry a big hug.

Professor Gentry affectionately patted his back.

“But this place isn’t very suitable for a talk. Let’s save it for another day. A lot has happened recently, so I must properly invite you for a drink!”

Kai’s gaze swept toward the outside of the tent, then—subtly, imperceptibly—withdrew it.

Outside the tent, in the grass, the little snake Knife tilted its head.

---

The author has something to say:

A new arc begins! To the capital— [OK]

An unsolved mystery: does the Order of Shadows actually exist? [dog head]

---

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

---

Chapter 73: A Secret Conversation

As he rose from his seat, Myss struggled for a full three seconds.

All the mushrooms at the banquet were condensed from the Prisoner of Dreams’ divine power, equivalent to high-purity energy in mushroom form. He hadn’t gotten the Abnormal Fruit, so eating more mushrooms still counted as a consolation prize.

But he couldn’t accept Salaar and Professor Gentry whispering to each other in private. A scheming human like Salaar would hatch all sorts of convoluted schemes with no one watching him.

Lord Archdemon bit down on a few more pieces of mushroom and decided to go observe. The job of watching the priest fell onto Tass’s tiny shoulders.

Tass was chewing slowly on a green mushroom the size of an enoki and didn’t object.

“I have two proposals.”

The three of them were led by the rabbits to a separate storage room, and Professor Gentry spoke crisply.

“The first proposal is that I die here.”

He said it calmly, as if the matter had nothing to do with him.

“I have discovered too much valuable information, and I won’t obediently hand over my memories.”

“My power can’t compete with the two of you, but I still have time to kill myself. If I die here, the other Archmages will definitely wonder what happened.”

Salaar gave a noncommittal hum and crossed his arms.

Professor Gentry’s power belonged within the scope of humanity, but his Magibase was deep, and neither his combat experience nor his store of knowledge could be underestimated.

If a man of this caliber had resolved himself to die, they would indeed find themselves in a difficult predicament.

“In that case, we’ll kill your students too. Don’t you care?” Myss asked directly.

Salaar couldn’t help glancing at Myss. Lord Archdemon was chewing mushrooms with smacking sounds, his eyes holding a clear sort of curiosity.

Myss was genuinely curious, just like a child curious about what would happen after tearing apart a butterfly’s wings.

He couldn’t care less about whatever emotional issues the butterfly might have.

“I care, just as a general cares about his soldiers. But every war has its casualties.”

Professor Gentry’s demeanor remained remarkably composed. “Explorers are not tourists out sightseeing. The moment they took their first step into this place, they knew what they might encounter.”

Myss gave a light “oh” and began focusing on chewing mushrooms again.

…As if he had discovered that when a butterfly lost its wings, it became a writhing strip of flesh, and he had no interest in that scene.

“The second proposal?” Salaar focused his mind and did his best not to look at the mushroom dangling back and forth by Myss’s mouth.

“Let me keep my memories and my life and leave this place. I am willing to provide the two of you with information. For example, Kendrick Karns, as well as the special traits of this slave, the physical body the two of you are using.”

…Not bad.

Myss stopped chewing and instantly came back to himself.

Salaar, meanwhile, raised his head slightly. He looked expressionlessly at Professor Gentry, carrying that aura Myss was extremely familiar with, the aura that belonged only to someone in a superior position.

“I have heard something about the accident in Ring Town. I once met Kendrick Karns. On the right side of his neck, there were two small red moles. As for the white-haired slave he bought, I also happen to know a little about him.”

Professor Gentry couldn’t help sighing.

“There are no traces of magical control on the two of you, but a person’s temperament wouldn’t change so completely. I can only guess that something went wrong with what he was researching… a truly catastrophic mistake.”

“Speak plainly,” Salaar said without denying it.

Professor Gentry: “It’s merely a guess, of course. The two of you are the divine kin—dependents if you will—from an unknown realm. You’re similar in nature to the existence that created the Abnormal Fruit, but you have different allegiances.”

Salaar still didn’t deny it. He only glanced at Myss from the corner of his eye.

“So?” Myss could not help blinking.

Looking at the matter as it stood, both he and Salaar had been stuffed into ordinary human bodies, and their powers hadn’t fully recovered. The positioning of “divine dependents” was actually relatively accurate, and he didn’t feel offended.

“First there was the Red Amber, then there was Roman’s experience. The two of you seem committed to destroying Divine Realms, and I also don’t wish for the Divine Realms to exist. I confirmed V.O.R’s matter from Roman. The human world shouldn’t become an experiment field for unknown existences.”

Professor Gentry lowered his voice. “Indeed, I don’t know what your true objective is. But so far, our interests are aligned.”

The old professor’s voice was extremely sincere, so sincere that it couldn’t contain the slightest lie.

However, Salaar wasn’t moved by that sincerity. He continued to question him calmly. “Compared to us, whose origins are unknown, you could very well join hands with the other Archmages.”

Professor Gentry let out a short laugh. The emotions within it were far too complex for Myss to distinguish.

“I am the weakest of the seven Archmages, whether in magic power or authority. I’m afraid my words don’t carry that much weight… You should know, the Archmages are not on peaceful tea-drinking terms with one another.”

Professor Gentry returned to his aged appearance, and his voice sounded even more weathered than before. His magic foundation, the giant elephant, lowered its head, its trunk gently curling over his white hair.

“Not every genius wishes for the Divine Realm to disappear. Some people believe this is an opportunity, that they can glimpse knowledge that doesn’t belong to mortals.”

Myss listened to this much with great reluctance.

Fine. According to this explanation, the Archmages more or less all knew Divine Realms existed. It was just that some idiots who didn’t know the height of heaven or the depth of earth thought this was a good thing. Not only would they not obstruct V.O.R, they might even help that guy.

…Of course, it was also possible that V.O.R had put on a human skin and was hiding among the seven Kingdom Archmages.

Gulp. Myss swallowed the last mouthful of Salaar-flavored mushroom and tugged at Salaar’s sleeve.

Salaar casually cast a soundproofing spell. “I’m guessing you and I are thinking the same thing. It would be best for us to keep this guy around.”

Myss: “Mm.”

Salaar let out a long breath. “If we clash head-on, we can’t bear the risk of being noticed. And he knows information about these two bodies. There might be clues about the body-swap ritual…”

After Salaar had only analyzed for a few sentences, Myss’s attention scattered, and he openly zoned out. When it came to matters he wasn’t interested in, Lord Archdemon had always been physically incapable of seeing them.

Fork simply lay on Myss’s shoulder, one eye looking at the sky and one eye looking at the ground, sleeping soundly.

Salaar: “…What kind of expression is that? Isn’t this what you were thinking?”

“Oh? Oh.”

Myss looked at him innocently. “I was just thinking, this guy hates the Divine Realms, and he also runs around everywhere all year long. He can be used as a half-Abnormal Fruit sniffer. Just let him run wild on a loose leash—free range.”

Salaar: “Haa… In any case, I can’t completely trust him. We need an extra constraint.”

Myss immediately tensed, and his relaxed eyes became bright and sharp. “What do you mean? Don’t tell me you’re going to make another contract?”

What, did Salaar have to sign a contract with everyone? Myss pinched the dozing Fork awake and felt it wasn’t as cute as before.

Fork yawned widely at Salaar, revealing its tiny sharp teeth.

“How could that be?” Salaar laughed despite himself. “Hmm… You could think of it as a unilateral secrecy curse.”

“He can keep the knowledge. But without our permission, he can’t reveal us to anyone, nor can he record us through any method. If he violates this, he will lose all memories regarding us.”

“I won’t be bound by anything. Don’t worry.”

Although that wasn’t what he was upset about, this was fine too. According to what the Professor had said just now, he had no reason to refuse.

Myss rubbed the Fork’s head, tacitly agreeing.

When they walked out of that small storage room, Professor Gentry’s steps were light, as if a heavy burden had been lifted.

On the inside of his left arm, there was an oath mark like a burn scar.

……

For the rest of the time, the rabbits held an incomparably grand banquet.

They used mushrooms as drums and even dug flutes and harps out from all sorts of corners. Salaar personally took the field and played a beautiful melody with that damaged harp.

Myss, meanwhile, focused all his attention on devouring mushrooms. He harbored deep grievances on not getting to eat the Abnormal Fruit and was determined to eat enough to make up for the loss.

There was only one small regret. He piled the mushrooms into cake, pressed them into steaks, and rolled them into balls, wishing in his heart for the taste that would please him most. Then he tasted Salaar-flavor, Salaar-flavor, and more Salaar-flavor.

…Absolutely hateful.

The survivors weren’t idle either. They joined the ranks of the rabbits and began repairing these ruins filled with malice.

“The dismantled traps can be transformed into other things.”

Sean’s complexion was still pale, but his spirits had improved a lot. “As long as the Professor sends down the necessary materials, we might be able to build a radio magic device.”

“There are also a great many ancient books in the study, enough for us to research for years…”

“We can just treat this as closing the door and settling down. I happen to have a research topic I want to work on…”

“Even if I can’t survive, I can build myself an incredibly cool tomb…”

The others also chimed in noisily. No one was despairing, and no one was collapsing. They spoke confidently about everything, as if every dream would eventually come true.

In the corner, Roman gazed at the lively banquet from afar, a satisfied smile on his face and his eyes a little moist.

Professor Gentry stood beside him. The Professor, on the contrary, was the calmest person among the group. He looked at the three people who were still unconscious and said nothing.

“Right, Professor.” Roman withdrew his gaze. “There’s something I must tell you.”

He hesitated for a moment, then continued, “That priest calls himself a believer of the Order of Shadows. In my opinion, he seems more like the legendary divine favored.”

“My rabbit bit through his hand and tasted his blood. His blood isn’t right, and his power is also extremely strange.”

Professor Gentry listened quietly.

“He was very willing to provide power to me, even willing to be controlled by me. If not for him, my condition might have been even worse. I might not even have held out through that…”

This newly born underground god thought for a while for a suitable word. “…That operation.”

“He was willing to provide you with power?” Professor Gentry raised his eyebrows.

“Yes. He communicated with me through that rabbit…”

Roman still remembered the shock of that moment.

Not long ago, he had come into contact with power that could allow him to continue burning, and he had smoothly controlled that priest.

Actually, even at that time, he had already been somewhat astonished. This person clearly possessed such a special power, yet mentally, he didn’t resist at all. This truly didn’t make sense.

However, after that priest was guided into the incubator by him, something entered his spirit.

It was like an auditory hallucination, or a dream.

Roman clearly had his eyes closed, yet he “saw” a blurry figure.

It was right there, deep inside his mind. He couldn’t see that thing’s facial features clearly, nor even its gender.

“How admirable, how pitiful.”

The other party’s voice seemed to press close to his ear. “I know you have no ill intent. I will do my best to help you.”

Why? Roman thought.

Logically, that priest shouldn’t even know of his existence. Even if he knew, he had absolutely no motive to help him.

“Don’t mind it. Just a small gesture of solidarity—from one prisoner to another.”

That voice spoke, carrying an ancient and heavy exhaustion. “I hope you can survive, just as I hope I can survive… Treat it as me taking a bit of hope from you. Don’t refuse, all right?”

Warm power flowed into Roman’s body, and the effect was immediate. Roman’s previously somewhat hazy consciousness cleared by several degrees.

Who are you? He asked carefully in his mind.

That black shadow didn’t respond. Amid the chaos, he only heard a sigh.

“Remember, don’t tell anyone else about this.”

I can hide it from my friends, but I won’t hide it from my teacher, Roman replied openly and honestly.

Yes, this black shadow was likewise “friendly.” But Roman wouldn’t obey Him in everything just because He had gained the priest as an intermediary.

“Gentry the ‘Colossal Elephant’? Fine. You may tell this one person the truth, if that will allow you to lower your guard.”

That voice responded peacefully. “I hope everything goes smoothly, child.”

Then He disappeared, as suddenly as He had appeared… just like V.O.R.

…After listening to all of this, Professor Gentry remained silent for a long time.

He only raised his head and looked toward Salaar and Myss, who were making a mess together. In the end, his gaze fell on the unconscious priest and didn’t move away for a long while.

“I’ll handle it.”

Professor Gentry rubbed his slightly cool fountain-pen staff. “You must also keep your promise to that existence. Don’t tell anyone.”

“All right, Professor. But…”

“I know what you want to ask.”

Professor Gentry’s tone was somewhat grave.

“Unfortunately, I have also never heard of any ‘Order of Shadows.’”

---

The author has something to say:

This arc is over!!! [let me see]

---

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

---

Chapter 72: Scarlet Blood Beads

No. Perhaps the thing he feared most had already come to pass long ago.

Of course Salaar could maintain his rationality. More than three centuries of darkness had polished him down. He was better at staying clear-headed than anyone else in this world.

But he couldn’t deceive his own quickening heartbeat, his scorching desire, or the gaze that he found himself unable to tear away from Myss.

This mutated feeling was like a terminal illness; it tainted every corner of his being. Salaar could only watch helplessly as it worsened, guessing which day it would bring its verdict.

Now, the verdict had arrived.

How awful. He could have grown old and died before it came.

However, unlike what Salaar had imagined, he didn’t recall the horrifying history of the Night Scourge, nor did he turn his thoughts towards the greater good or the solitude of his imprisonment within the seal.

…He suddenly remembered an utterly ordinary afternoon.

At that time, he was still a young man, his field of vision as clear as the afternoon sunlight.

Salaar sat atop a chair made of stacked books, both hands stained with ink. The parchment was filled densely with characters and numbers.

Back then, he was surrounded by countless records of the Night Scourge, wholeheartedly studying its pattern of influence.

That brief and ominous term had run through his entire life, just like a wingless bird chasing the stars, just like a stone sinking to the bottom of the deep sea, just like the countless predecessors who had thrown themselves into it.

People witnessed it, recorded it, resisted it, and left countless tiny scratch marks throughout history.

He was the same. He fell asleep thinking of the Night Scourge and woke up dreaming from it, never letting go for a single second.

The smell of ink and parchment wasn’t very pleasant, but Salaar didn’t notice at all.

Lunch was plain water mixed with honey and bread filled with candied fruit, and he hadn’t touched a single bite.

He focused on calculating the formulas before him, his pupils moving along with the tip of the quill. The room was very quiet, with only the brilliant golden sunlight and the rustling sound of the pen tip scratching across parchment.

Suddenly, Salaar’s elbow moved and knocked over the honey water at his side.

The water stain soaked his precious calculation paper. Salaar hurriedly went to wipe it, and the glass rolled along the edge of the desk, falling and shattering across the floor. He bent down again to clean up the shards, and the sharp glass pierced his finger. A bead of blood immediately emerged.

“Diffusion… biological signatures…”

Salaar studied the rapidly seeping blood and, heedless of everything, sat back in place. His calculation speed became a few points faster. Fresh blood flowed down the pen shaft and mixed into his pen tip, yet he still didn’t notice at all.

Only when he wrote down the word “life” did the tip of his pen pause.

Salaar knew full well that the “Natural Disaster Theory” was more widely accepted. A natural disaster meant people were powerless. Everyone only needed to consider how to survive. No one had any obligation to solve the source.

There had once been many organizations dedicated to researching the Night Scourge. However, as the long river of history flowed slowly onward, people decided to turn toward the more practical matter of “Night Scourge sheltering.”

The group he belonged to could be considered one of the last remaining holdouts.

His predecessors had crossed abandoned markets, traversed deserted canyons, and rushed toward the most desolate ends of the continent, all for the sake of chasing that deadly darkness.

They firmly believed in the “Magic Interference Theory,” left behind countless records, and swore to find the source of it all.

But what if the source of the Night Scourge was a living thing?

This guess made Salaar’s heart beat nonstop and his mouth go dry. He reached for the honey water, only then realizing that the cup had shattered and he was still bleeding.

He sucked the blood from his fingertip, and for a moment, a strange thought occurred to him.

If one day he truly discovered that enormous lifeform, what would he say to It?

[Everything is for the sake of ending the Night Scourge.] …Not suitable. That was something to say to himself. It wasn’t suitable as an opening line.

[For the sake of ending the Night Scourge, I must kill you.] …Not suitable. He couldn’t defeat such an existence beyond common sense. It would already be good if he could buy a little time.

[I am Salaar, and I represent humanity in negotiating with you.] …This one wasn’t suitable either. Perhaps the other party was a completely different form of life and wouldn’t care about his name at all.

A new problem. Salaar had found himself uncharacteristically captivated, hesitating for a long while before resuming his calculations.

He needed to choose a declaration of war that was neither humble nor arrogant and required no response. When that thing cried out, assuming the source of the Night Scourge cried like that, he would solemnly say it aloud and add a footnote to this long, arduous chase.

He thought about it for an afternoon, a week, a month…

In the gaps when he was tired from calculations, Salaar always considered this matter.

This kind of fantasy had no value, but it could always make his heartbeat stutter a few beats. That feeling was very novel, like carrying another tiny heart in his chest.

Finally, late one night, Salaar suddenly sat up in bed.

If one day he truly discovered that enormous lifeform, he would tell It—

[No matter what, I will watch you until the final moment of my life.]

In the end, Salaar still rejected it.

It was only useless imagination. The source of the Night Scourge might not be alive, might not understand his words… might not care about the life or death of a mere insect.

The next day, he calmly began calculating again, still using the “Magic Interference Theory” as his research direction. The cut finger had already healed, leaving no scar behind.

Only after that, whenever he saw something red like fresh blood, Salaar would always be distracted for a moment. Even though he had long forgotten the reason.

…Now he remembered, Salaar thought as he looked at Myss’s scarlet eyes.

That had been the very first time in his long life that he had ever felt “fear” toward Myss.

And only now did he know that every one of his gazes had been met with a response.

The priest and Asp had fainted, and Beverly was delirious. The survivors were busy paying attention to Roman, while Professor Gentry was watching them… It should be fine…

Salaar felt a little thirsty again, though this time he didn’t need honeyed water. What he craved was a kiss.

“…After coming into contact with him just now, the Prisoner of Dreams actually isn’t that strong. His aura counted as a desperate burst that didn’t care about his life, while you always held back in the seal and never fought with your life on the line.”

Teacher Myss lowered his voice and kept chattering nonstop. In every sense, Salaar couldn’t get a word in.

“Besides, the Abnormal Fruit was attached to him. His power is quite hollow. Although you are far, far inferior to my main body, you have absolutely no need to be shaken by his aura. He and you aren’t on the same level…”

Salaar: “…”

Lord Archdemon seemed to believe that Salaar had been stimulated by the Prisoner of Dreams’ divine power and lost confidence, so he was busily giving him a little class on power levels.

Saint Salaar had a breath lodged in his chest, and the scorching dryness turned into the urge to smile.

“Ah.” He sighed with deliberate affectation, as if he was about to shed tears. “The human world changes too quickly. Perhaps a human who surpasses me has appeared. You will definitely have a new opponent. It’s time for me to consider something else—”

“No!” Myss immediately panicked, even forgetting to suppress his voice.

Salaar pressed down hard on the corners of his mouth. “Is there a difference? You said it yourself. I’m far, far inferior to you…”

“That’s right—”

“As an outdated old fool, I should hand the responsibility over to someone like Roman…”

“You wouldn’t dare—!”

Myss didn’t know why he was so agitated, yet his indignation felt extraordinarily righteous, without the slightest wavering. He glared fiercely at Salaar, his gaze incomparably direct.

Salaar turned his head and let out a soft chuckle.

His fear made all his hair stand on end, but he simply couldn’t help being fascinated by this joy.

Just like many years ago, when he wrote the word “life” with blood-tinted ink.

……

Two hours later, everyone had moved to the rabbits’ banquet hall.

The rabbits were controlled by Roman’s subconscious. They were especially close to this “Rabbit King” and happily released all the survivors.

Only the priest and Jinx were still fused together, fainted in a heap along with Beverly and Asp.

According to Roman, he had been on the verge of death, but the Priest’s body radiated a remarkably soothing energy.

With Professor Gentry within arm’s reach, he wanted to absorb a little power, hold on a bit longer, and also consolidate his image as an “evil god.”

“I’m truly sorry.” He lowered his head toward Salaar and Myss. “No matter what, I used him. That is a fact.”

“Once I recover for a few more hours, I’ll be able to remove the rabbit…”

Even in such a peaceful environment, even after just breaking free from long torment, Roman’s tone remained cautious, border lining tense.

“He’s useless on his own. Handle it however you like.”

Myss didn’t care at all. As long as the Abnormal Fruit sniffer was alive, that was enough.

Only then did Roman breathe a sigh of relief. His gaze turned toward Salaar, and a few traces of pleading entered his eyes. “If possible, could you please treat my companions—”

“No.”

Professor Gentry interrupted him directly. “In order to heal you, these two used up a great deal of energy, and we still don’t know how long they’ll need to recover. This request is far too rude.”

“Professor?”

“Previously, I made an error in judgment, Roman.” Professor Gentry insisted firmly, “Your power hadn’t reached the level of a ‘god,’ and your physical body remained alive the entire time. That is why these two were able to successfully heal you. As for the others’ situations, you should know better than anyone.”

What kind of utter nonsense is he spouting? Myss was displeased.

Previously, the situation had been urgent, so he and Salaar hadn’t hidden their power. As long as this Archmage had any brains, he could definitely discern their extraordinary nature.

As for countermeasures, Myss had already thought of one. Before leaving this place, he would have Salaar hit him hard with mental magic, and once they got out, they would throw the blame onto the Abnormal Fruit. In any case, they had already tested the depths of this Archmage. Two against one, plus a surprise attack, would be easy.

…As a result, Gentry was publicly denying their strength right in front of them.

Myss had just opened his mouth when Salaar stuffed it full of a Salaar-flavored mushroom.

The mushroom was quite large, filling his mouth to the rim. Myss furiously chewed, seething with indignation.

“It’s thanks to those two snakes.”

While Myss had been hit with the mushroom silencing curse, Salaar took over. “They’re treasures from the Night Scourge period. We have always used them as staffs. We can’t bring people back from the dead, Mr. Roman.”

“It’s indeed ancient alchemical magic…”

Roman was silent for a moment and looked dejectedly at Fork devouring mushrooms.

Sean patted his shoulder. “Don’t mind it. The fact that we could live this long is already thanks to you.”

“After you get out…”

“You had best stay here, Roman,” Professor Gentry said in the tone of a teacher.

Roman and his teammates: “?”

“You retained part of your power, and you no longer need to send rabbits outside the Divine Realm. In that case, you can maintain a smaller ‘Divine Realm.’”

“Externally, I will ‘seal off’ these ruins. Sean and the others can continue living here. I will find a way to deliver supplies to you and search for a better solution for you.”

Professor Gentry explained it in an unhurried manner. “…As long as all of you have the patience to wait.”

Roman’s eyes widened slightly, and for the first time, color appeared on that pale face.

“I’m not leaving.” Before the others could speak, he rushed to answer first.

Salaar gave Professor Gentry a meaningful look.

Beverly and Asp were already muddle-headed, so they would be easy to handle. If he wanted to use mental magic, the most troublesome one would be Roman, who possessed divine power.

Moreover, if Roman left this place, V.O.R would immediately notice. If Roman stayed, then on the surface, it would look like Professor Gentry had merely carried out a failed expedition.

Although he wasn’t sure whether V.O.R would “watch every second of every minute” like Myss, this was already the most reasonable countermeasure.

This Archmage had cleared away all possible concerns for them. This was undoubtedly a show of goodwill.

For now, it seemed Professor Gentry knew of gods and knew of Divine Realms. He knew what it meant that Myss and Salaar had “successfully healed Roman,” and he was also clear about the possible methods they might use after exposing their strength.

Then next—

“Mr. Myss, Mr. Salaar, I would like to speak with the two of you alone.”

Professor Gentry put down his fork and spoke with great sincerity.

---

The author has something to say:

In any case, here is a young man’s first stirring of love. (???

---

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

---

Chapter 71: The Trick of Insects

—Huh?

Myss let out a startled sound inside Roman’s memories.

Seeing this far, he suddenly realized that Roman Gerard wasn’t completely without merit.

In a certain sense, he was a little like Salaar.

As one of the world’s foremost explorers and Professor Gentry’s proudest student, this guy, even as his mind collapsed, had actually not stopped thinking.

Amid immense grief, Roman preserved a piece of metal-like, cold, hard rationality, and his thoughts moved at an increasingly astonishing speed.

[He had watched everyone walk toward the abyss. He understood nothing. He could do nothing…]

The entrance had collapsed for no reason, the magic suppression followed them like a shadow, and all his companions had fallen one after another. This was definitely not simple misfortune. It was more like active interference.

He hadn’t discovered any clues. That meant the existence capable of doing all this was far more powerful than an Archmage, such as—

[Roman’s gaze moved wildly, then suddenly locked onto the crumbled paper ball not far away.]

—such as an unknown existence that had arrived belatedly in the middle of their desperate situation.

[Roman slowly withdrew his gaze and walked toward Sean. His steps were orderly and heavy, as if he were walking toward his own execution.]

No matter what, V.O.R’s target was him.

If he refused, in order to make him “willingly” cooperate, everyone might fall into an even more tragic situation. He had to agree first… Of course, only on the surface.

“I’ll leave alone.”

Roman “obediently” stretched out his hands and poured magic into Sean and Fiona’s bodies. “Everything will get better. Trust me.”

A snow-white elk appeared behind Roman—a creature of immense size, gentle demeanor, and breathtaking beauty.

Using the massive flow of magic as cover, Roman quietly cut apart his own Magibase.

Cutting one’s own Magibase was no different from spiritual self-mutilation.

But as a powerful mage, Roman was equally aware that the Magibase, as his spiritual organ, could in turn affect his mental state. V.O.R most likely had the ability to interfere with magic. He had to maintain the greatest possible clarity.

Amid piercing pain, Roman showed no unusual expression. He only lowered his head slightly.

By the time V.O.R’s final letter arrived, Roman and his Magibase had only the most basic connection left between them.

The instant the letter paper entered his hand, something burrowed into his body along the paper and climbed onto his Magibase.

It contained what could be called terrifying magic power, like a strange seed. After coming into contact with Roman’s magic circuit, it seemed to activate, beginning to unreasonably absorb the power scattered around it.

It incited his strongest obsession at that moment, waiting to cast his will into Law.

As the price, he would lose his normal sanity. Roman’s spirit simply couldn’t bear the burden of such explosively expanding divine power, and after making his wish, it was doomed to shatter beyond recognition.

At that moment, Roman understood.

His wish would come true, in an extremely twisted way.

In this barren wilderness with nothing at all, underground and surrounded by dangers.

Deep in the dark ruins, there would only be a half-baked mad god with nothing left but obsession, and the human companions bound by Him within the Divine Realm. Everyone would be trapped in eternal night, guarding His so-called “dream”.

…Provided that Roman hadn’t cut apart his Magibase.

Roman Gerard was long past the age of believing in fairy tales.

In despair, a supposed omnipotent and omniscient god fell from the sky. They tested his sincerity with the suffering of his friends and promised him a vague, illusory hope?

What a joke.

If they were going to talk about hope, then it had to be hope lit by his own hands.

At that moment, Roman understood.

His wish would come true, in a way V.O.R absolutely would detest.

…The excoriating agony continued.

Roman’s magic circuit rapidly twisted, and his body swelled and distorted. A terrifying magic power spread outward along with Roman’s wish.

The Divine Realm descended, the magic suppression vanished, and abundant magic soothed every person.

It seeped into the gradually cooling bodies of Sean and Fiona and drowned the other dying survivors. It forcibly supported people’s physical bodies and maintained the operation of his companions’ magic circuits.

“Please send me… to the center of the castle… the master bedroom…”

Roman pretended that his mind was collapsing and begged with his the “last shred of his sanity”. “I can’t… let them… see what I look like…”

V.O.R responded to his request. A force came from the darkness and easily pushed him into the master bedroom wrapped in traps. It was just like a human stretching out a finger to casually toy with a little insect on an experiment table.

Roman let out a cold laugh in his heart.

The moment his body took shape, he gave the Divine Realm its law, a gentle will that no one would suspect.

In the Divine Realm of the “Prisoner of Dreams,” every dream that He had the power to realize could come true.

…Including His own hopes.

In the gray ruins illuminated by bone-burning lamps.

Countless brightly colored mushrooms with gentle light grew out. They were saturated with pure divine power, waiting to realize people’s humble wishes.

…It wasn’t enough.

In the ruined master bedroom, within the incubator closest to Him, soft white clumps appeared.

Countless guide rabbits would appear here. They would step on every hidden trap, ensuring everyone’s safety.

He secretly scattered his will among them, carefully “imprisoning” his companions and performing one relaxed, lively fairy tale after another for them.

…Still, it wasn’t enough.

A fairy tale needed a theme. He needed a happy farewell funeral.

So the rabbits needed to prepare a banquet that would never arrive, using this as an excuse to leave the Divine Realm and explore.

The silly rabbits ran back and forth. Faced with this childish and foolish fairy tale, V.O.R didn’t become suspicious.

The farther the rabbits were from the Divine Realm, the harder they became for Roman to control, and countless rabbits were destroyed near the surface.

But it didn’t matter.

He frantically squeezed the Abnormal Fruit’s power. He only needed the “Dream Power” to seep outward, even if it was only a little.

People would be drawn here by those tiny bits of smoothness and luck. This location would become known to all curious explorers, and it would even attract the Professor’s attention.

…And those guided here by the rabbits would inevitably receive His divine power, ensuring that everything went smoothly and safely.

‘—Roman had almost succeeded,’ Myss thought.

He really had waited until Professor Gentry came—even dragging Saint Salaar and the Chaos Archdemon along for the ride. If not for the survivors forcibly staying behind, Roman would have been the only sacrifice.

Myss withdrew his magic threads in a foul mood.

In order to infect the outside world, Roman Gerard’s squeezing of the Abnormal Fruit had been terrifying. This time, he and Salaar were left with nothing but the mere rind.

“Hey, you people actually knew long ago, didn’t you?”

Myss questioned Sean and the others in displeasure. This group of guys had shouted that Roman had been taken away by a monster and had completely fooled them.

Roman dreamed of rescuing the survivors, while the survivors prayed that he would survive.

They pretended to be full of vitality and cooperated with the rabbits in performing the fairy tale, maintaining a nonexistent hope for Roman.

“After all, we saw V.O.R’s letters. Combined with the scene here, we could more or less guess… Little Roman has always been very simple. He didn’t even know to change the rabbits into some other animal.”

Sean stroked the warm crystal eggshell. “We just thought, if this place can realize wishes, then if we wished for him to survive, it might help him somewhat, right?”

“What happened?” Salaar strode to Myss’s side.

“Professor Gentry’s ‘Time Reversal’ deceives the past, while Roman’s ‘Wish Fulfillment’ deceives the present. He can only make things look better. He can’t change their essence.”

Myss said angrily, “This group of people led us here only so we would save Roman.”

His enemy’s reactions had always been quick. Salaar was stunned for two seconds, then let out an enlightened “ah.”

Myss could not help glaring at Professor Gentry.

This human had definitely guessed too. No wonder he had said nothing the entire way.

Salaar followed Myss’s gaze. Professor Gentry lowered his eyes, his expression still soaked in grief.

Just now, while divine power had been surging, Salaar had deliberately observed him. Professor Gentry had no hidden power. Without a doubt, he was only an ordinary human.

Salaar pondered for several seconds, silently stepped forward, and tried to heal the cold survivors, as well as the dying god. However, his healing magic disappeared, as if it was cast into the sea, meeting with absolutely no response.

“We can take out our Magibase.” Fiona finally spoke, her voice carrying the wet stickiness unique to dead flesh. “We were all very powerful mages. Five people’s worth of Magibase should have enough magic power…”

“This isn’t a question of whether there’s enough magic power, Fiona.” Professor Gentry finally spoke. “Mortal magic cannot heal a god, just as a rooster’s blood cannot be transfused into a human.”

Fiona bit her lip, and her complexion actually grew even paler. The smile on Sean’s face slowly vanished, and his pupils dimmed like wood carvings.

“For now, it seems we can only take the five of you away.” The Professor’s voice was dry. “I will do everything I can to preserve your bodies. If we add a powerful seal, you can last one or two weeks. You can see the sunlight again and take care of some… unfinished business.”

For a moment, the room fell into silence. The Prisoner of Dreams’ firelight gradually steadied, and candle tears slowly fell.

Myss snorted.

It seemed V.O.R’s “carelessness” toward Roman hadn’t been without reason.

That guy had known from the very beginning that Roman couldn’t refuse and couldn’t be saved. No matter how an insect struggled, in the end, it couldn’t withstand the crushing stomp of a giant.

The more Myss thought about it, the more annoyed he became. Not because he felt wronged on behalf of this group of humans, but because V.O.R had been calm and unhurried, everything going smoothly, while he and Salaar had struggled for so long, only to end up getting nothing.

The Abnormal Fruit only had a few mouthfuls of dregs left. They had to gain something, right?

“Salaar, heal Roman,” Myss said.

“I tried. It didn’t—”

“Heal Roman with me.” Myss’s tone carried an unquestionable air. “This guy’s momentum before was only a bluff. He isn’t as strong as you think.”

“What kind of joke is this? You could even injure me, but you can’t heal him? How is that possible?”

The sentence came out of nowhere, but Salaar understood.

He stared fixedly at Myss, a trace of astonishment in his eyes.

Myss was testing him, from an angle Salaar had never considered. Mortal magic couldn’t heal a god. If he really could heal Roman…

To be honest, Salaar had never thought of this possibility.

More than three hundred years ago, he had indeed been the only one who could injure Myss. But other people’s magic still had some effect. The strongest few, at the very least, could scrape through the oily skin of the tentacles.

Moreover, he would age, and he would die.

Even if he had once approached the concept of “godhood” with a mortal body, he couldn’t possibly be a true god.

When Salaar didn’t reply immediately, Myss let out a short, scoffing laugh.

He leaned close to Salaar’s ear, his tone carrying sweet malice. “Great Hero, when did you become such a coward?”

“Even if he’s a god, he’s an incomplete, half-baked mess. This poor wretch who got force-fed an Abnormal Fruit can compare to me?”

Salaar exhaled. “How do we cooperate? I remember you’re not very good at healing.”

Myss wordlessly pointed at his own eyes, then at his empty chest, gesturing the shape of the communication magic device from Semper City.

He put on a disdainful look, but his round red eyes glanced at Salaar’s face from time to time, his pride overflowing.

Salaar laughed despite himself.

The Night Scourge was destined to destroy everything. This sentence had been branded into his mind so deeply that he had forgotten other possibilities.

Myss could see the endpoint of all magic. He could cruelly pierce through the Fallen Child; he could also help him preserve the magic core of a communication magic device and remove the useless parts.

Now, they only needed to take it one step further. Cut away the unnecessary burdens and heal the most important parts.

“Don’t worry about Gentry. I’ll think of something.” Once he had recovered his wits, Salaar offered just a single remark. “Pleasure working with you, Great Genius.”

“Not a pleasure working with you, Old Fool.” Myss huffed and his pupils began dilating. “As for the rest of you, stay where you are. I’m saving your precious captain.”

Under everyone’s shocked gazes, the two of them raised their hands decisively.

Pitch-black magic rose into the air, and brilliant golden magic attached itself to it. Like light, they pierced into the cracks of the crystal egg and stabbed into the Prisoner of Dreams’ body.

Salaar’s magic felt strangely hot. Its wrapping and embrace were just as awkward as a hug. A hug was clearly his method of attacking Salaar, and Myss gave an uncomfortable shudder.

Brilliant golden light filled the crystal egg; the gloomy master bedroom now seemed to be holding a blazing midsummer sun.

Under the nourishment of the golden light, countless cracks slowly closed. Divine power flowed again. The withered white hair became glossy, and luminous white flesh grew inside the weak empty shell.

Myss curved the corners of his mouth.

His Salaar was indeed inseparable from the concept of “god.”

This was more like it. This was correct. His opponent should be the strongest existence in this world.

“How should we deal with the Abnormal Fruit? Any suggestions?”

Upon touching the Abnormal Fruit, Salaar shook the sweat from his head.

There was only that tiny bit of Abnormal Fruit left. The residue was still linked by threads, almost merged with the Prisoner of Dreams, and peeling it away would be extremely troublesome. Next, they had to be very careful…

“Merge it completely into him,” Myss said. “Can you integrate his magic circuit? Try it.”

Merge it in?

Salaar was so shocked he almost interrupted the spell. “I thought you wanted to heal Roman.”

“No, what I want to heal is the ‘Prisoner of Dreams.’”

Myss said, “The Abnormal Fruit has already been consumed to this extent, and Roman himself has divine power too. He can suppress it.”

Salaar: “…”

“I’ll point out every key point in the magic circuit for you.” Myss muttered, “You’ve researched magic for so long. You should have at least a few ideas, right?”

Salaar: “…………”

“No one’s asking you to restore all of his power. Modify his magic circuit to be a little more energy-efficient. As long as it can save his life, that’s enough.”

As Myss spoke, a bit of eagerness entered his tone, and his blood-red eyes flickered with light.

Salaar: “………………”

What kind of nonsense was this?

Even more absurdly, Myss had an instinctive understanding of the essence of magic, and this train of thought was theoretically feasible.

“Let’s do it.” Salaar took a deep breath.

Not far away, Professor Gentry watched everything with full concentration.

Magic threads wound around, and golden light flashed. They cut away the god’s flesh and created bone-chilling cracking sounds.

During the process, the pitch-black magic threads changed constantly. First, they skillfully formed into a surface, then tentatively gathered together, as if imitating Roman’s magic constructs.

After dozens of failures, the fine threads became sharp, sturdy black blades. Myss smugly raised his eyebrows.

Salaar made a thoughtful hum. Golden light fluctuated endlessly, and his magic trembled gently, tapping out an unfamiliar melody.

A trace of uplifting, lucky aura entered the healing, and Salaar winked at Myss in satisfaction.

Myss’s eyebrows collapsed, and his whole face wrinkled up.

Under Myss’s guidance, the remaining Abnormal Fruit was precisely separated by Salaar and fused into Roman’s heart. It replaced Roman’s Magibase and was perfectly embedded into the trimmed magic circuit.

Layer after layer, the two peeled away the white flesh, then the ice-crystal-like crystal eggshell, and finally Roman’s own flesh and blood.

Black was stained with brilliant gold, and flesh unfolded layer by layer, like a white flower blooming.

At the very end, the only remaining “stamen” wriggled on its own and finally took shape. The shrunken version of the “Prisoner of Dreams,” who had lost the eggshell, fell onto the four-poster bed and looked just like a… human.

The Prisoner of Dreams still emitted the aura of divine power, only it was no longer as majestic and hollow as before. His whole body was shockingly white, and long white hair draped over his entire form. His appearance was exactly the same as Roman in Myss’s memories.

Those slightly pinkish red eyes opened a little, filled with shock and confusion.

Salaar lowered his hands, his heart surging with stormy waves.

Such a reckless healing treatment had actually succeeded… His power really could interfere with divine power, and not only against Myss.

And Myss, he—

Salaar turned his head and looked at the Archdemon beside him.

Myss almost immediately felt his gaze and instantly turned over, snorting hot air at him.

“What kind of expression is that?” he stared at Salaar, his gaze quite calm, as though all of this was only natural.

“I just didn’t expect it to succeed.” Salaar stared closely at that familiar yet unfamiliar face. “Maybe it had something to do with the Prisoner of Dreams’ divine power.”

“Divine power? What are you barking about?” Myss clicked his tongue unceremoniously. “Of course you would succeed. How could you possibly fail? …Listen, you can only fail with me.”

Myss skillfully hugged him, his breath very warm, carrying the sweaty heat from exerting himself during the healing. Their magic had intertwined for too long, and their skin was as sensitive as tender flesh on a wound. Salaar suppressed a shiver.

“These wastes only know how to deceive the past and fool the present. Deception is something only the weak do.”

“…You and I are the same. We rule the future.”

Myss hugged him tightly, his tone still completely justified, as though this should naturally be the law of the mortal world.

Salaar stared fixedly at Myss’s face, which was close at hand, and didn’t respond.

He loved those words so deeply that they nearly consumed all his senses.

That wasn’t admiration as an enemy, nor was it resonance as someone strong… That matter-of-course “we” ultimately sent a tremor rolling through his body.

“Hey, Salaar… are you listening?”

Myss ignored the stunned crowd, ignored the newly born god, and cupped Salaar’s cheeks with both hands.

In the dim room, Salaar was clearly reflected in Myss’s eyes. Only Salaar.

“My judgment is absolutely correct! …For these three hundred years, I’ve been watching you every second of every minute.”

Salaar realized in astonishment that in the reflection of Myss’s eyes, he was actually smiling.

At the same moment, his heart pounded wildly as if near death, as though enduring pain even more tragic than death.

Myss was right. The Prisoner of Dreams’ divine power hadn’t offered any protection to ensure his smooth passage.

At this moment, he was finally able to confirm it. The thing he feared most had, in the end, come to pass.

---

The author has something to say:

These past two days have been a little rushed, like I’ve been scrambling and rolling along. That’s not good.

For key chapters, I always can’t help revising them over and over… [melting]

In any case, congratulations to Mr. Salaar for being frightened. (???

---

Kinky Thoughts:

Oh, here I thought we were going to get another BE. Why couldn’t Myss save Antis and Iver *sobs*.

---

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

---

Chapter 70: Prisoner of Dreams

No sooner had those words left his lips…

The white flame above the god shook violently, and the magic fluctuations surged even more fiercely than before.

Salaar’s hand hadn’t yet left Professor Gentry’s shoulder when Myss acted first.

Countless fine threads of magic shot out, invading again through the crack in the giant crystal egg, aiming straight for the god’s body—

Myss might not have been the first to realize the truth about the survivors, but he was definitely the first to notice the god’s weakness. It was a subtle, cloyingly sweet scent of decay, like mead laced with blood. He unexpectedly liked it.

He didn’t care about human emotional entanglements, nor did he care what Professor Gentry thought of him. He only cared about the truth of the Abnormal Fruit.

The pitch-black magic threads roughly seeped into the god’s body and suddenly dropped their restraints. The god’s loss of control came to an abrupt stop. Myss lifted his diffused pupils, and the magic threads drove deeper.

Unlike the previous two probes, even though the god suspected to be Roman was already on his last breath, Myss still encountered enormous resistance. Just as he was about to frown, a gentle melody sounded by his ear.

Salaar’s Mother’s Song.

Amid the soothing, tender music, the god’s tense power loosened for an instant. Myss took advantage of the opening and went straight for “Roman’s” memories.

In an instant, everything was exposed beneath the flames, like a tomb exposed daylight again, or a diary brushed free of dust.

Myss could confirm at a glance that these were indeed the memories of Roman Gerard.

He only needed to flip through the memories of Roman’s team being trapped. He didn’t even need to skip much.

…For this six-person team, this should have been an ordinary investigation.

Roman Gerard and all of his team members were longtime friends who knew one another inside and out.

They had once fooled around together on campus, laughing at one another’s failed papers or failed romances. After stepping out of the ivory tower, they had traveled far and wide together, investigating those lost Night Scourge dungeons.

During that time, the team had encountered plenty of dangers. Pick any two people from the six-person team, and they would have a life-and-death bond between them. Those crises and that blood were like nacre wrapping grains of sand, gradually polishing them into the world’s best exploration team.

They had the best scholar, the best doctor, the best logistics support… the best captain.

Before entering the “Rabbit Hole,” the team members took no chances. The logistics member carefully calibrated all the magic devices, and the other team members confirmed each one again in turn.

“This ‘Rabbit Hole’ sure is deep. I wonder which family made it.”

Sean emphasized in a half-joking tone, “Everyone be careful when we go down. Especially you, Captain. Don’t really start frolicking like a rabbit. If this place was made by some crazy city lord, watch out or it’ll clip off your foot.”

“Shut up. My luck isn’t that bad.” Roman jokingly punched Sean on the shoulder.

Despite saying that, he still tightened the half-long white hair at the back of his head and made sure every button on his gloves was where it should be.

“When are Beverly and Asp finally going to graduate?”

Fiona chewed on some sweet-and-sour dried fruit. “Beverly’s explosion magic is absolutely amazing. If she’d been with us last time, we wouldn’t have ended up in such a sorry state.”

The burly man in charge of logistics said, “I’ve been waiting for Asp for two years. Haa.”

Roman: “Beverly’s temper is as explosive as her explosion magic, and Asp tends to panic at critical moments. The two of them are still young. They need more polishing. That’s how the Professor explained it.”

“To be honest, I’ve already filled out both of their registration documents. I’m just waiting for the Professor to release them…”

“Stop acting like such an old-timer. You’re not that much older than them, Little Roman.”

Sean burst out laughing. “All right, all right. Hurry up and lead the way.”

“It’s Roman—or rather, Captain Roman,” Roman corrected him sternly.

In the end, before he finished speaking, he was the first one who couldn’t keep a straight face and smiled.

Amid the team’s relaxed commotion, the stone door at the entrance slowly closed. The sealing magic device began operating, ensuring that uninformed passersby wouldn’t accidentally enter and disrupt the arrangements.

Even though all around them was endless wilderness, with only a few rabbits quietly hopping across the grass.

Discovering the stairs, examining the paintings, entering the underground filled with caverns…

Myss carefully confirmed every step and discovered that this team was extremely capable. They laughed and joked, but their behavior pattern was exactly the same as Gentry’s, without the slightest slackness.

“It’s the Hope family’s dungeon.”

Standing at the intersection of countless caverns, near the place where Myss had accidentally fallen before, Roman lowered his voice.

“The Hope family loved bloodshed, especially alchemical traps and alchemical lifeforms.”

Sean’s tone changed from teasing to a serious report. “There have never been any records of Hope Dungeon before. Captain…”

“Retreat!”

Roman made the decision immediately. “Ancient alchemy is difficult to deal with. We must reassess the risks.”

His body was heavy, and his head felt dizzy, as though someone had sucked away the air nearby. His magic became as viscous as syrup, difficult to mobilize. Something was wrong with this place.

As captain, he had to be responsible for the lives of all his teammates.

“Follow the footprints and withdraw. Watch out for collapses.”

Roman raised his voice. “Pay attention to the instrument readings, especially the magic vibration index. Absolutely do not—”

Crack.

A cracking sound came from beneath his feet, followed by the weightlessness of stepping into empty air. Everything came so suddenly.

Roman was dazed for an instant. Clearly, all the instrument readings had been fine… Why?

A metal hook extended from his sleeve, while his other hand urgently cast a spell. However, the hook couldn’t catch onto the sand and stones. His magic was also affected by some kind of interference and failed to take shape.

The entrance to the cave was still collapsing.

The ground beneath everyone seemed to have come alive. Sand and stones slipped, boulders fell, and it opened its huge mouth, instantly swallowing everyone into the collapsing opening.

Roman gritted his teeth and flung several dried mushrooms downward.

The mushrooms rapidly expanded, and their soft caps cushioned everyone below. The people made a dusty but soft landing. When they looked up again, the opening above had already been blocked tightly.

“Everyone’s magic device readings were interfered with. The deviation was very small, but fatal. It absolutely wasn’t a natural influence.”

Sean’s voice was somewhat tense. “Also, this place suppresses magic quite strongly. I’m afraid the effects of magic…”

Roman let out a long, heavy breath. “It may be ancient alchemy. We have to find a way out as quickly as possible.”

Magic device interference, weakened magic, plus a completely unknown environment. For explorers, the combination of these three was nothing short of fatal.

Myss looked at it from every angle, and his frown grew deeper and deeper.

From beginning to end, Roman’s responses had been perfect, and his teammates hadn’t dragged him down. Yet in just a few short hours, this world-class team was trapped.

If one had to say what mistake Roman had made, it was that his deduction had been wrong.

Perhaps ancient alchemical magic devices could disturb magic. But they couldn’t grow arms and legs and destroy those landmark nails meant to “prevent magic interference.” Something must have been actively attacking them.

After all, Roman, like Professor Gentry, had made preparations in advance and nailed down many landmark nails. Yet when Myss came in, he hadn’t seen even half a speck of light.

Myss pulled at the magic threads and analyzed the memories with all his strength.

Next, this team’s predicament wasn’t much better than Salaar’s army in the seal.

With no rabbits to guide them at the landing point, they could only continuously adjust the disrupted magic devices and wander through this complicated, deadly darkness.

On the first day.

“Watch your feet!” Roman’s warning came one step too late.

Amid the sound of metal grinding, there came the sound of bones breaking. The logistics man cried out in pain, and blood soaked through his pant leg. It was an alchemical trap hidden among the sand and stones, with almost no magic fluctuation.

The magic devices were inaccurate. Roman had investigated the area with all his strength, yet he had still failed to find this one.

“Just a broken shinbone—a small injury. I can handle it even without magic.” The logistics man was sweating all over from the pain. “I’m in great shape.”

Fiona strode forward. Her hand pressed onto the wound, and the bracelet wand lit up with a faint glow. However, that light soon faded away, barely managing to stop the bleeding.

“…The magic suppression is too strong. I don’t have enough magic.”

“Hold on.”

Roman took a deep breath and spoke in a tone full of hope. “The range of the magic suppression can’t be too large. As long as we get away from this area, everything will get better.”

“Of course, brother.” The logistics man smiled with a sweat-covered face.

Roman nodded, restraining the urge to treat him personally. He had to conserve his magic and investigate danger more carefully.

On the third day, the short man accidentally triggered a poison gas trap, and his respiratory tract and lungs rapidly rotted. It was an unprecedented new type of trap, and the cost of learning it was nearly a life.

The magic suppression still hadn’t disappeared, but there was another injured person. Fiona, who was in charge of medical treatment, hurried back and forth. Her Magibase fox was so tired that its steps became unsteady.

Sean took the initiative to carry the short man on his back, and the team continued searching for the underground river here.

“I’ve calculated the magic source. The magic fluctuations are strongest to the southwest.”

Roman announced this in a voice full of hope, trying hard to hide the bitterness in his words. “Large-scale magic fluctuations mean the magic suppression is weakening. And that place is most likely the center of the ruins, so it must be near a water source.”

“Haha, my luck has always been pretty good.” The short man coughed up dark pieces of flesh. “We agreed to live to eighty together. I remember.”

On the seventh day, the scholar in the team also had her foot injured by a magic trap. Her condition was even worse than logistics’s. That alchemical magic device had instantly incinerated her right foot, reducing it to charred rubble.

Fiona wrapped the injury with reddened eyes. They had done their utmost pressing on, covering a vast distance, yet everyone’s magic still showed no signs of being replenished. A faint stench of decaying wounds began to appear in the air, but their situation hadn’t improved in the slightest.

As seasoned explorers, everyone more or less began to have an ominous premonition.

“Don’t worry. At worst, after we find the water source, we’ll build a temporary shelter.”

“When the time comes, Sean and Fiona can take care of the injured, and I’ll go alone to search for a way out. As long as we hold on long enough, there will always be a way.”

Roman squeezed the hope in his tone with all his strength. Just as he desperately squeezed out his suppressed magic to eliminate those almost endless traps.

One tiny, inconspicuous omission could take away his companion’s limb or life.

But this damned place was full of traps in every direction, and he always missed something… always.

The scholar chuckled softly. Her voice was gentle and steady, as though that severed foot hadn’t brought her any pain at all.

“Speaking of rabbit holes, I remembered a story my mother once told me.”

She used a mild voice to soothe all of her friends. “A story about a little girl who fell into a rabbit hole. In that story, she met a rabbit that guided her way.”

“I’m a little over the age limit, but I did fall into a rabbit hole for the time being. Maybe an old rabbit will pop out and guide us.”

…On the fourteenth day, they reached the center of the ruins.

When they saw the ruins illuminated by faint light, everyone subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief. However, that relief lasted only a few short minutes.

Here, there were only cold bone-burning lamps, even more vicious and obscure arrays of traps, and the bones of predecessors from different eras. Through their broken and twisted tragic states, they showed the team the same ending.

Even worse, that deadly magic suppression hadn’t weakened in the slightest.

Looking around, dozens or even hundreds of caves led into darkness. They were like the dim eye sockets of skulls, and no one knew which patch of darkness hid the exit.

Roman knew they were running out of time.

The short man’s fever wouldn’t stop, and he kept coughing up pus and blood. He wasn’t dead yet, but he was giving off the distinctive rotten smell of a corpse.

The logistics man dragged his ruined leg, his body trembling nonstop from weakness. The scholar sat in the corner, her injury badly rotted… Fiona’s magic had almost dried up. She stared blankly at her weakened companions, and everyone heard the footsteps of death approaching.

“Captain Roman, take half the supplies and go.”

Sean looked into Roman’s eyes and patted his shoulder.

“If you move alone, you’ll have the best chance of leaving this place alive. Fiona and I will stay behind to take care of the injured and try to hold out as long as possible… After you successfully escape, bring people back to rescue everyone.”

Roman looked at Sean, and pain finally appeared in his eyes, like blood seeping from a wound.

All lies.

The short man wouldn’t live past three days. The logistics man and the scholar both had broken feet. Even if they knew where the exit was at this moment, it would be very difficult for them to leave smoothly.

But if Sean and Fiona left together with Roman, Roman would have to split his attention to look after the two of them, which would only increase his consumption…

“You’re telling me to abandon everyone and escape alone.”

Roman’s voice was dry and hoarse. The hope in his tone had vanished completely, leaving only pain and anger.

Sean looked at him calmly. “Otherwise, we’ll all be wiped out.”

“Only if you get out can the abnormalities of these ruins be made public… Only then can more explorers be saved.”

“Actually, you know what you should do, Captain Roman,” he said. “You’re the greatest explorer in the world.”

“The greatest explorer?”

Roman’s eyes grew slightly red. “It’s been half a month. I still haven’t even figured out the cause of the magic suppression, and you want me to run away like a coward?”

“My words represent everyone’s wishes.” Sean took a deep breath and did his best to keep his voice steady. “Think about it. Even if we die, at least we can still die together. If you’re unlucky, you’ll only die alone in some cavern.”

“So don’t make that face like you’re getting the better end of the deal, Little Roman.”

“I…”

Roman gritted his teeth. “…I need a moment to myself.”

Not long after he left, something slowly floated down from the darkness, landing squarely in front of him.

A brand-new letter, sealed with glaring scarlet wax.

This was absolutely not something that should appear in a place like this. Roman didn’t hesitate in the slightest. He stood where the letter had appeared and called for Sean and Fiona.

Before figuring out how dangerous this thing was, he wouldn’t bring it anywhere near the injured.

“There’s nothing wrong with the letter itself.” Sean sniffed the wax seal. “It was written recently. You said it fell from the sky? The sky?”

“Open it and take a look,” Fiona murmured, her lips twitching weakly. “Maybe it’s the work of some Archmage…”

Roman swallowed and opened the envelope.

[Stimulate the limits of your magic and use that magic to nourish your friends. You can preserve their lives.

Mr. Roman, you are a true genius. Even in the direst of straits, one must always hold on to hope.

 —V.O.R]

“Nonsense.” Sean’s face was pale. “They went to all this trouble just to send this? This guy is just watching us make fools of ourselves!”

Roman stared at the ink on the letter and said nothing.

“Roman, Captain Roman!” Fiona summoned all her strength. “If you dare divide out your magic, everyone will only die faster.”

“I know.” Roman put away the letter paper, and his heart pounded nonstop.

This letter had appeared just as inexplicably as the weakening of their magic. The other party must be an abnormally powerful existence. If… If he really could…

No. He couldn’t.

The Professor had explicitly forbidden it. No matter how tempting an invitation from an unknown existence was, he absolutely couldn’t respond.

Roman steadied himself, forcefully crumpled the letter into a ball of paper, and casually threw it aside.

The three of them turned around and walked back toward their base together.

Roman’s steps were a little slow. He couldn’t help looking at the paper ball as it slowly rolled away.

Fiona walked at the very front, wishing she could get farther away from that eerie thing. “I’ll prepare some water. As for that letter, we need to talk more about it…”

Click.

Fiona’s footsteps abruptly stopped. An ominous soft sound came from beneath the stone tile under her foot.

From a crack between the stones not far away, an ax blade shot out horizontally.

It was pure and cold, without the slightest magic fluctuation.

Sean was closer to Fiona, and he immediately threw himself forward. Unfortunately, that ax blade had no magic fluctuation at all. He was one step too late. The rusty ax blade directly tore open Fiona’s neck and cut Sean’s arm.

In her efforts to save her dying companions, the healer had completely drained up all her magic.

At this moment, she couldn’t even use the simplest blood-stanching spell.

Blood surged wildly. Sean subconsciously went to hold his falling friend, only to discover that his arm felt as cold as if it were being corroded. In just a few short seconds, that chill rapidly spread through his entire body.

“Don’t come over… Don’t touch us!”

The unknown toxin paralyzed Sean’s tongue. He used all his strength to shout at Roman, who was more than ten steps away.

Roman’s mind went blank.

No, perhaps it wasn’t blank. He knew that everything was over.

Fiona’s body was convulsing, and warm blood bubbles emerged from her neck. Sean held her body, his face an ominous blackish purple, his gaze gradually scattering.

He widened his eyes at Roman and moved his lips, as if saying “no.”

No? Did he not want to die? Or was he telling Roman not to be sad?

In that instant, Roman could almost hear the sound of his nerves snapping. He watched the rise and fall of their breathing vanish, while the jokes from when they had first stepped into the Rabbit Hole echoed by his ears.

He had been disturbed by that letter. He had failed to clear away all the traps nearby…

It was his mistake, his responsibility. He had watched everyone walk toward the abyss. He understood nothing. He could do nothing…

Roman’s gaze moved wildly, then suddenly locked onto the crumpled paper ball not far away.

Immediately after, he slowly withdrew his gaze and walked toward Sean. His steps were orderly and heavy, as if he were walking toward his own execution.

“I’ll leave alone.” Roman pressed his hands to the two people’s wounds. “Everything will get better. Trust me.”

He squeezed out his own magic without regard for his life and poured it into Sean and Fiona’s bodies. A snow-white elk appeared behind him and gently lowered its head.

Roman wasn’t a mage who specialized in healing.

Even with such powerful magic power pouring into them, it could only barely keep the two of them alive. Fiona and Sean had their eyes tightly closed. As soon as his magic stopped, their heartbeats would immediately cease.

“Roman?” From inside the temporary base came the confused calls of the injured.

“It’s fine. Fiona and Sean suffered minor injuries. I’m helping treat them.” Roman’s voice had never been so full of hope.

After saying this, he calmly raised his head and looked up at the thick darkness above.

“What should I do?” he asked, almost soundlessly.

A letter floated down again. It landed on Sean and Fiona’s bodies, which still held warmth. Blood soaked through one corner of the envelope, making it look just as scarlet as the wax seal.

Roman freed one hand and decisively opened the envelope.

[If you are willing to thoroughly dedicate yourself in exchange for a sliver of hope for your friends,

I will help you realize this dream and turn these ruins into a land of dreams. 

—V.O.R]

His companions were doomed to die; he should leave this place. The invitation from an unknown existence was full of danger. He shouldn’t respond. Such basic truths were as natural as one plus one equaling two.

And yet, the world’s greatest explorer lowered his head toward the darkness.

A third letter slowly drifted down, as though something were watching him from within the darkness—

[Farewell, Mr. Explorer, my dear friend.

Prisoner of Dreams, we shall meet again in the season of harvest. 

—V.O.R]

---

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

---

Chapter 69: The Burning God

Professor Gentry’s “rewind” magic was colorless.

His wand swept through the air, stirring up rings of transparent ripples. He drew another circle, and the crystal eggs containing the priest and the bones rapidly regressed, revealing their cracked, dust-covered forms.

Salaar immediately took two steps forward and supported the priest, who almost fell to the ground. The rabbit Jinx was still firmly stuck to his body, still looking half-awake and half-asleep.

Two steps away, the skeletal remains gave a light clatter.

The survivors were standing right beside the crystal egg, especially Sean, who was right next to the eggshell. Everyone thought he would catch the captain’s remains.

But he didn’t. Neither did anyone else.

The bones collapsed and rolled down. The skull rolled past the five people’s feet. The survivors wore smiles on their faces and didn’t even bother to glance at it again.

At the same time, from the shadows deep inside the master bedroom came an ominous scraping sound.

The oppressive magic fluctuations intensified. Myss unhappily rubbed his arm. It felt as if an invisible hand was pushing him outward.

Suddenly, the survivors moved.

They supported one another’s weakened bodies, stepped over the scattered bones on the ground, and advanced toward the source of the magic fluctuations.

They didn’t care about the fleshy tissue sticking to their bodies, nor did they care about the hazy, dreamlike crystal eggs. Without looking back, they walked into the darkness.

“Sean, Fiona—” Beverly almost cried out.

She was Professor Gentry’s student after all. Even though reality was this absurd, she didn’t immediately chase after them.

Asp anxiously turned his head and looked at Professor Gentry.

He said nothing, but even Myss could guess what he wanted to say.

The priest had already been rescued, and Captain Roman had been confirmed dead. The monster in the darkness was about to awaken. Even a complete fool could see now was the absolute perfect moment to retreat. No matter what was abnormal about the survivors, as long as Professor Gentry was willing to act, they could absolutely force those people to leave.

Though truthfully, Myss was in no particular hurry.

Hope Dungeon wasn’t going to grow legs and run away. If he wanted to pick the Abnormal Fruit, it would be better to wait until the priest was in better spirits and the situation in the Divine Realm was clearer. If Professor Gentry retreated now, it wouldn’t be too great a loss to him.

…However, Professor Gentry didn’t respond to Asp.

He sighed softly and pointed the fountain-pen wand at himself.

Another dense ripple of air appeared, and Professor Gentry’s appearance slowly began to change.

The wrinkles on his face completely disappeared, and his slightly curled white hair turned a deep gray like elephant hide, exactly the same color as his pupils. His slightly larger nose made those eyes look extremely sharp. His body, which had never been shriveled to begin with, became even sturdier, and the muscles beneath the fabric swelled slightly.

“Professor, this…” Asp nearly bit his tongue.

“Keep up.”

Professor Gentry spoke in a youthful voice.

At the moment, he looked to be only in his early twenties, right at the peak of his physical condition.

Beverly and Asp both looked as if they were facing a great enemy. Beverly’s measuring-tape staff and Asp’s sampling-shovel staff were gripped in their hands almost at the same second.

Without looking back, the three of them chased after the survivors.

Salaar was still carrying the priest. For some reason, despite his astonishing regenerative abilities, the priest remained fast asleep. The rabbit clinging to his body was too bizarre that Salar didn’t dare to rashly attempt to remove it.

His gaze shifted slightly, and his free hand did its best to grip the snake staff tightly. “Be careful.”

“His magic isn’t true temporal regression. It can’t change fundamental reality. He’s deceiving his own body, forcing it to exert the strength it had when it was young.”

Myss understood.

In other words, this Archmage was using magic to overdraw his body. Once the magic was released, Gentry would undoubtedly pay a heavy price.

This wasn’t preparation to “drag the survivors back.” This was preparation to face the Master of the Divine Realm.

It was far too reckless. Did this guy even realize what he was doing?

“You follow behind me. The moment there’s a problem, I’ll immediately grab you and retreat.” Myss spoke cautiously and glanced at Jinx in passing.

He had a strange sense of déjà vu. At this moment, they were chasing after the survivors a little like they had followed the rabbit Jinx not long ago.

Salaar silently nodded. He looked back at the wide-open exit of the room, his face showing more contemplation than doubt.

Tass shook his wings uncomfortably, his face a little green. But he said nothing and only slipped into the pocket watch on the priest’s body.

The survivors were either ill or crippled, so they were hardly moving fast.

Yet Professor Gentry controlled his speed with subtle precision, following behind them step by step, maintaining a distance where he was on the verge of overtaking them, but did not quite catch up.

Step after step, the group moved through the tunnel constructed from white flesh. The stench of blood in the air grew stronger and stronger, and the glow of the crystal eggs was dizzying.

Myss began to feel suffocated.

It was pure pressure, only a little weaker than Salaar at his peak. The problem was that neither he nor Salaar was anywhere close to their respective peaks currently.

The unknown pressure scraped over his nerves like a blade, and Myss’s cold sweat crawled uncontrollably from his pores. Salaar’s breathing became rapid. Myss guessed that was most likely not because of the fatigue from carrying the priest.

The stone tiles underfoot seemed to have turned into cold, damp mud. Myss’s steps grew increasingly difficult. His body drew closer and closer to Salaar’s, ready at any time to pick up his enemy and run.

If necessary, he would even be willing to abandon the troublesome priest.

This was definitely not pressure that a human body could withstand… Was this what a fully mature “god” was like?

Looking forward, Professor Gentry’s steps were still relatively steady, but Beverly’s and Asp’s legs had already begun trembling. Asp especially was staggering with every step. If Beverly hadn’t reacted quickly, he would have fallen flat on his face.

Beverly wasn’t much better. She couldn’t control her choked sobs and had to use all her strength to suppress her voice, as if there was a war waging between her mind and body.

The beast Magibases of the two students didn’t even dare remain outside. They all withdrew their forms and returned into their masters’ bodies.

Yet at the very front, the survivors’ steps didn’t slow in the slightest.

“Professor…” Beverly whispered with a trembling voice. “Professor, something’s wrong.”

“I can blow up the path at the very front and stop Sean and the others… Let’s retreat first. Something is wrong with this place…”

Asp could no longer speak. His throat made a faint clicking sound, as if he was having an asthma attack.

Professor Gentry still said nothing.

Under the radiance of the lighting magic devices, Myss could see the gleam of sweat on his skin. This Archmage was clearly also enduring it with sheer willpower.

“Banquet… Banquet… hehe…”

In that terrifying dead silence, only Jinx on the priest’s body was still making sounds. Its deformed ears twitched—undoubtedly it was having a wonderful dream.

Finally, this short yet long pursuit reached its end.

After seeing what lay at the end, Asp screamed and fainted on the spot, his body slowly sliding down along the white web of flesh.

Beverly collapsed to the ground, breathing with a whistling sound. She barely managed to stay conscious, but black-red blood flowed from her ears and nose.

“Close your eyes, Beverly. Don’t force yourself.” Professor Gentry sighed. “Your lesson can end here.”

“No…” Beverly stared with bloodshot eyes at the five survivors, who were still moving forward.

Myss, meanwhile, was watching the target the survivors were advancing toward: the existence that had brought Beverly and Asp to the verge of collapse, the Master of this dungeon Divine Realm.

It was an incomparably huge crystal egg that was suspended by the tough web of flesh. It hung vertically above a decaying four-poster bed.

Inside the crystal egg, a giant was curled up with his arms around his knees in a fetal position, his face buried between his knees.

The giant’s skin was shockingly pale. Snow-white hair surrounded his body like smoke. It filled the dark gaps, making him into a patch of pure white.

However, the structure of his body was extremely distorted, like soft wax that had been reshaped. Through the crystal eggshell that looked like a layer of ice, Myss could only make out a vague structure.

At the top of the crystal egg, there were beautiful cracks like a spiderweb.

The giant’s left arm was wrapped around his knees, while his deformed right arm was raised high. A thin, twisted finger protruded from the crack, burning with a cluster of pale flame.

From time to time, milky-white mucus dripped along the cracks and fell onto the four-poster bed below, turning into wriggling snow-white flesh. The four-poster bed was covered in white flesh, like accumulated wax drippings that were piled up.

Even more mucus drifted toward the smaller crystal eggs around it, slowly filling in the empty spaces inside them. A few eggs the size of fists were already full, vaguely revealing the appearance of baby rabbits.

Professor Gentry extended his wand without the slightest hesitation, and a ripple floated toward the enormous crystal egg.

The next second, along with a burst of exploding air, Professor Gentry was thrown backward. Salaar took two steps forward and barely blocked the Professor’s back with his body.

The pinnacle of human magic, one of the seven Archmages, Professor Gentry’s magic had no effect at all.

It was easily dissolved by that thing, like a reef scattering a wave.

Salaar placed the unconscious priest among the soft threads and looked intently at that strange god.

“You two really are… not simple…”

Professor Gentry coughed twice and glanced at Beverly, who was clutching her head and muttering chaotically in place.

“Then aren’t they even less simple?”

Myss snorted and looked toward the survivors walking toward the giant. “Those guys are definitely being controlled by this thing. They led us all the way here, and you actually fell for it!”

Professor Gentry had been acting mysterious the whole journey here, refusing to say a word. Myss had thought this guy had a backup plan, but when the moment of truth arrived, the Professor had proven utterly powerless.

Professor Gentry lightly shook his head. He looked at the burning god with eyes stained completely blood-red but still didn’t explain.

Myss instinctively looked toward Salaar and discovered that Salaar was still thinking, remaining equally quiet.

“Banquet… Banquet…” Only Jinx kept murmuring nonstop in the priest’s arms. “The banquet is about to start…”

Humans were troublesome enough.

Since Roman was dead, there were only two possibilities for the origin of the Master of the Divine Realm.

Either an exploration genius before Roman had been trapped here and received V.O.R.’s invitation letter, or the Abnormal Fruit had already appeared at the end of the Night Scourge under Hope’s rule.

The second possibility was especially shocking. It might even be related to Salaar. Myss felt an absolute imperative to uncover the truth.

Myss raised his wrist and used Fork to shoot out a fine thread.

He did his utmost to suppress its presence, making it look unlike an attack. Gentry was too useless. He had to test this thing’s depths.

Whether because he was too much of a genius, or because the Master of the Divine Realm disdained such trivialities, the magic thread smoothly climbed onto the shell of the crystal egg and quickly invaded the crack.

In the next instant, the earth abruptly trembled.

The white flame burning at the fingertip of the Master shook violently, like a dying candle in a gale. It made an ominous, soft sound, and its light instantly dimmed by more than half.

The large and small crystal eggs around them flickered nonstop, and the unformed little rabbits inside kicked uneasily. The fleshy threads around the crystal eggs twitched wildly, and the majestic pressure instantly became chaotically disordered.

Professor Gentry let out a muffled groan and almost collapsed onto Salaar. Amid the storm-like chaotic fluctuations, his magic became unstable, his face sometimes old and sometimes young.

Only, whether that face was old or young, it carried an unchanging heaviness.

“The banquet… Oh no…”

The rabbit Jinx moved in the priest’s arms. It twisted its deformed body and pressed closer to Father Kalen’s chest, like a child drawing warmth.

“No… The banquet…”

Myss shuddered and instinctively withdrew the thread in an instant.

Salaar finally spoke. “What is it?”

“This thing…” Myss frowned at that terrifying god and lowered his voice. “This thing is an empty shell. It’s about to die.”

Beneath that incomparably powerful fluctuation, the aura of the Abnormal Fruit was pitifully faint, exactly like sugarcane pulp after they had been chewed dry.

That terrifying pressure from earlier had now changed in nature. It seemed more like a beast putting on a show of force for its enemies when its oil had run dry and its lamp was spent.

But why?

If the Master of the Divine Realm wanted to live a few more days, it would have been better to simply scare them away. It had no need to control those survivors and lure them here… Wait.

If not for the survivors insisting on advancing, and if Professor Gentry hadn’t acted as if possessed and refused to stop them, they would have already left this place when faced with such a powerful and unknown existence.

If these were not the wishes of the Master of the Divine Realm, then the ones that were truly wrong were—

Myss held his breath and looked toward the five survivors.

Sean stood at the foot of the four-poster bed, with his four physically incomplete companions behind him. Under the god’s chaotic pressure, their expressions didn’t change at all.

They wore stiff smiles and looked at the weak god before them. Only now did Myss realize that those stiff smiles weren’t forced. Rather, they… could only smile like that.

Their bodies were this weak, yet they remained unmoved under the pressure of a god. There was only one kind of person in this world who could do that.

The dead.

Silence spread through the air.

Myss was clearly not the only one who had realized this, nor was he the first person to realize it.

The wide-open exit of the Divine Realm, the clearly marked traps, the rabbits who cared for humans, the god who made dreams come true.

And the miraculous “survivors” who played along with this crude fairy tale.

“We won’t be fooled by a pile of bones. If you want to play an evil god, you’re eight hundred years too early.”

Sean stretched his hand toward that weak god. It was too far away, and he couldn’t touch it.

He calmly withdrew his hand and gently pressed it against his chest, his smile not fluctuating in the slightest.

“The fairy tale is over. It’s time to wake up.”

“The ones who should leave this place aren’t us, Captain.”

---

The author has something to say:

The truth will be revealed in the next chapter. I’ll hold back and make the next chapter a long one—!

For these two, the true battleground isn’t in combat—it’s in **** [doge emoji]

---

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