Chapter 73: Western Fantasy Romance (XV)

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Chapter 73: Western Fantasy Romance (XV)

Had it been at any other time, upon encountering someone who did not fear the Demon King’s killing intent, Caelir might even have praised their courage. But at a moment like this, no matter how great that courage was, they would be nothing more than a corpse in the next instant. During this past year, he had seen with perfect clarity just how important Aesop was to Servius.

Although Servius had not needed to cultivate his way from an ordinary demon to the rank of Demon King, the process of accumulating his strength had been far from easy. This was especially true because he had insisted on preserving a trace of the power of light. To others, the power of light brought only benefits, but for the Demon King, the opposite was true. As long as even a single trace of the power of light remained within his body, every time he gathered his strength and restored his complete form, he risked losing control of his own power.

And Servius had undoubtedly lost control more than once. As familiar as he was with the power of darkness, he was equally unfamiliar with the power of light. Whenever the two powers came into contact, that sliver of light within him had nearly been extinguished time and time again. Yet he had always persevered. There was only one person who could make him go that far: Aesop.

Sure enough, Servius found Minea, who now bore the title of Aesop’s fiancée, especially displeasing. Not that he had ever found her pleasing to begin with. In the past, he had mostly ignored her. Otherwise, the three of them could never have lived together peacefully for so long in the Yas Forest. But now, his red eyes held only that single figure, and the killing intent radiating from him was directed solely at her.

“Your Majesty Servius, don’t you think taking action against a mere human would diminish your status?” Never before had Minea felt death so close. Had she not kept her internal energy circulating continuously through her body, she doubted she would even have been able to move her limbs. She would have stood there like a puppet, capable only of humbly awaiting death. The difference between the gods of this world and humans was simply too great. In truth, it was the same in every world. Those at the top could toy with the lives of those beneath them. But she would never become someone who submitted to fate.

“Besides… why are you targeting me? Aesop belongs to His Majesty Sathalia. As his fiancée, I naturally do as well. Even if judgment is to be passed, it should be His Majesty, the Divine King, who judges me.” Minea’s voice still carried an unconcealed arrogance, as though everything remained firmly within her grasp. She believed that since the three gods had no intention of harming Aesop, and since he still held value to them, they could not possibly lay a hand on her, Aesop’s fiancée.

In her eyes, everything the three gods had done was merely an attempt to compete for Aesop’s influence over the Kedor Continent. Though she was not a god, she understood what the power of faith represented. The greater the power of faith a god possessed, the stronger that god became. The contents of those rings had revealed far too many things, things that someone at her level should never have known, and taboos that even the people of the Kedor Continent were forbidden to touch.

“Aesop belongs to Sathalia?” The killing intent surrounding Servius vanished without a trace, as though it had never existed. The corners of his lips curved into a faint smile, carrying a hint of seduction. Minea, who had been watching his face the entire time, was momentarily captivated. But in the next instant, she no longer had the leisure to savor that fleeting beauty.

“Minea Griffin, congratulations. You’ve succeeded in angering me.” Servius wrapped a hand around Minea’s throat and slowly tightened his grip. The smug expression that had adorned her face moments before gradually flushed red from suffocation. A faint trace of fear appeared in her proud eyes, yet she still refused to show it. That flawless face, made even more striking by its hint of resolve, was all the more capable of captivating others.

A hint of disdain flickered across Servius’s eyes. This human actually thought she could enchant him with such a cheap seduction technique? If not for that technique, he might not even have remembered that she had once tried to beguile Aesop in exactly the same way. Simply allowing her to die would be letting her off far too easily.

“Servius, are you planning to let Aesop witness the methods of demons?” Sathalia spoke. The celestials despised demons not merely because their attributes were naturally opposed. A much greater reason was that the two races approached everything in completely different ways. As the saying goes, those who follow different paths cannot walk together. Demons looked down on the hypocrisy of angels, while angels could never accept the ruthlessness of demons. Deeply influenced by the principles of light, Aesop differed from the true race of light only in strength. In the way he thought, he was virtually no different.

Sathalia glanced at Minea, who had been thrown onto the carpet by Servius almost the moment he spoke. There was little warmth in his eyes. ‘Fiancée… did that mean she was Aesop’s possession?’

Thinking of the bonded couples among the celestials, Sathalia’s fingers tightened slightly before he looked away. He could not guarantee that, in the very next moment, he would not purify this thing that offended his eyes.

“Although trying to change a god’s decision is somewhat beyond your place, there is one thing she said correctly. Aesop now belongs to the Holy Church, which means he belongs to us celestials. And in the future, he always will.” The smile on Sathalia’s lips became more genuine. “More than that, Aesop will soon break through the Divine rank and become the first god of light in many years to do so.”

What Sathalia had once been somewhat uncertain about, he now declared with complete confidence. Once Aesop became a god of light, he would truly be one of the light. Whether he chose to remain in the mortal world or return to the Divine Realm, it would no longer be something the Demon King, Servius, had any right to interfere with. Even if the Demon King’s mark remained upon Aesop’s body, what of it?

Gods naturally belonged in the Divine Realm, for every element there was far richer than those found on the Kedor Continent. Sathalia had deliberately phrased it as a choice because he did not know Aesop’s true thoughts. In other words, he did not wish to make the decision for him, nor did he wish to force him with an unquestionable command. Perhaps it was because that rare display of firmness had caused their first unhappy parting, or perhaps it was something else.

∇ Capture Target Sathalia Campbell Favorability: 80.

A thread of crimson energy appeared at Servius’s fingertips and silently entered Minea’s body. On the surface, it would have no effect whatsoever. But the moment she thought of Aesop, pain would spread through her entire body, leaving not a single inch of skin untouched. Nor would the pain be the end of it. Her body would begin to decay from within until nothing remained but a skeleton. Yet her soul would remain forcibly bound to that decaying body.

Such was the curse. It forced a person to watch themselves become an undead creature. They would never die, nor would they ever enter reincarnation. If they wished to end it all, there was only one way: complete annihilation, body and soul alike.

An undead skeleton infused with a trace of Servius’s power would naturally be nothing like those lowly skeletons. She would retain the strength she possessed before death, with her remaining bones becoming the vessel that stored her power.

By then, her body alone would be capable of withstanding attacks from Saints. Moreover, because she cultivated more than magic alone, the toughness of her skeletal body would be far more than a simple case of “one plus one equals two.” Demons had never known how to spell the word mercy. Before provoking a demon, one had better be fully prepared.

A shadow passed through Servius’s red eyes. Aesop could belong only to him. From the moment he branded him with the Demon King’s mark, no one else would ever be allowed to take him away. Since there was a fiancée, then she could remain forever an unmarried fiancée. There could never be a second person of equal importance in Aesop’s life. The place of his wife would remain forever vacant, because… he wanted Aesop to become his Queen.

A faint smile appeared on Servius’s lips. The truth that had once been hidden behind a veil of mist now lay completely before him. It was not possessiveness. It was not ownership. What he wanted was every right that belonged to Aesop himself. Not the bond between ruler and subordinate, nor friendship, but the love shared between lifelong partners.

Even if Aesop was a man like himself, even if he belonged to the very race of light that he despised most, it could not change the fact that he had fallen in love. Affinity had never determined everything, yet he knew that it was now his greatest obstacle. Simply because Aesop had grown too accustomed to the light. It had become part of his very life, an eternal faith that could never be erased.

∇ Capture Target Servius Joy Favorability: 95.

“Aesop, do you wish to become a god?” Servius vanished from where he stood and reappeared behind Aesop. Resting a hand on the back of his chair, he enclosed Aesop entirely within the range of his protection. At the same time, he claimed every bit of the space around him.

‘Aesop…’

Now, merely whispering that name carried a meaning unlike before.

“Who among those who practice magic or martial arts doesn’t wish to become a god?” Miao Lichen did not turn around. He glanced at the hand gripping his arm, yet nothing in those sky-blue eyes revealed how much he cared. Aesop did wish to become a god. Although the Holy Scriptures recorded it only vaguely, they still hinted that only by becoming a god could one attain true eternity.

The longer a human lived, the more they feared death. Aesop was gifted enough that, as a Saint, he still had a long lifespan ahead of him and had no need to worry about it. That did not mean, however, that he felt nothing toward the word eternity. Not to mention the power represented by the Divine rank. Everyone on the continent understood the gulf between an Archmage and a Saint. The gap between a Saint and a god was an even greater chasm. Even without considering longevity, that power alone was enough that no one could refuse it.

“The stronger you become, the more you will come to hate the power of darkness.” Servius’s voice remained completely flat, as though he were merely stating a fact, yet it carried a distinct chill. “But… I don’t want you to hate me. Being the Demon King is an identity I can never cast aside, so the only thing I can do… is…”

“Servius, I can’t abandon the light either. It is my faith. Unless… I die…” Miao Lichen spoke lightly, yet the determination in his words was unmistakable. Rising to his feet, he walked toward the door. Everything had already been set in motion. All that remained was to wait for the final outcome. Demons were creatures forever loyal to their instincts. Even affection, or love, would eventually reach the limit of compromise.

His fingers emerged from beneath his red robes. His fair skin was almost translucent, while golden light shimmered at his fingertips. Faintly, it seemed as though the wings of an angel could be seen. Areya stared at the scene before her, almost forgetting to breathe. Only when she met those emotionless sky-blue eyes did her heart finally settle. He… was still here, rather than vanishing like an illusion in the next moment.

She looked toward the room behind him. At that moment, she wished more than anything that no gods had ever existed in this world. If that were the case, he would be the strongest person alive, and no one could force him. The Demon King, Servius Joy; the Divine King, Sathalia Campbell; and perhaps even the Elf King, Caelir Andreas. Since they were gods, why did they interfere in the affairs of mortals? Was it truly only for faith…?

Caelir, whose presence had remained faint until now, glanced at the two kings facing one another before pushing the door open and walking outside as well. Ignoring Areya, he came to Aesop’s side and likewise stretched out his hand toward the sunlight. It was not the scorching heat he remembered, but a gentle warmth, like the caress of the breeze he loved most. In Aesop, he saw a sense of tranquility, one even more captivating than his beloved wind. It reminded him of the first trace of wind element he had touched when he first became conscious. Though both wielded the light, Aesop was ultimately different from Sathalia.

As an observer, he saw everything clearly. The calmness in Aesop’s eyes had never changed. It could even be called stillness. It was as though Aesop had already arranged his own ending, and that ending happened to be exactly what he desired most. A faint smile curved Caelir’s lips. Both Servius and Sathalia were so proud, yet had they ever imagined that they had stepped into the scheme of a mere human? Even he himself had long since become one of the pieces on the board. Still, he was a willing piece, because he was curious about the final answer.

Was Aesop doing all this to become a god, or was it for something else? Though he appeared to be passive, when had the decisive step ever not been taken by him of his own accord?

Servius seemed to have forgotten that gods of light always liked to achieve their goals while wearing the most radiant appearance. Aesop was no exception, despite not yet having become a god. Having lived for a hundred years amid the turmoil of the mortal world, he was even more skilled at it than Sathalia, to the point that he had drawn Caelir into the game as well.

∇ Capture Target Caelir Andreas Favorability: 70.

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