Stray

After isolating Telaranea mind network, Nemo and Oliver retreated to the corner together.

This time it wasn’t because of their aversion of the Sage of the Abyss himself, but the scene in front of them was too weird. Aging, death from starvation, and a long-dried up corpse; any of these factors would make it significantly more difficult to obtain the memories of the dead. After all, no one could make the dead speak. The complexity and tedium of the matter was comparable to recovering the contents of a book from a pile of burnt-out paper that had been reduced to ashes.

Telaranea was very careful.

In front of them, he took a little flesh from the demon’s eye inside his body and used it as material for the magic array. After disposing of the purple flesh, the demon took out a dragon breath stone dagger and inserted it into his arm without hesitation.

In order to prevent the wound from healing too quickly, Telaranea didn’t even pull it out. Black blood with a faint redness kept gushing out from the wound and dripped to the ground.

The Sage of the Abyss ignored it.

He carefully smeared the magic array with his own flesh and blood. The decayed floors, furniture, and walls quickly became bloodstained and was painted with weird symbols. The headless mummified body was placed in the corridor, while the decayed head full of eyes was placed in the center of the array.

The superior demon worked tirelessly, and the massive blood loss made his skin turned lime gray. In contrast, as the array became complete, the smile on Telaranea’s face became more satisfied.

The entire scene was extremely morbid. If they added a few candles, this was a perfect setting for a cult festival.

Nemo squeezed himself into the corner again. The sacrifice of the Abyssal Church didn’t make him as uncomfortable as this. Oliver simply closed his eyes and decided to save is mental health before his nerves completely collapse.

The sun had not yet risen and the sky in the early hours of the morning was getting brighter.

The birdsong gradually became clear as Telaranea finally completed his preparations. The demon bowed his head deeply in the formation very politely, and then the array began to light up from all around giving off a dim red light that appeared on the blood-smeared lines.

The hazy brilliance gathered towards the deformed head and then wrapped around it. In the uncomfortable halo, the head began to deform and melted like hot wax. The weird liquid melted into the lines of the magic array, as if it would dissipate in the next second.

However, in the second that the head completely melted, the array suddenly contracted. The lines and symbols composed of flesh and blood seemed to come to life and quickly gathered in the center of the room. They shrank into a ball, emitting black and red smoke, and slowly formed a thin old man who they couldn’t see his face clearly.

The blurred figure formed by the blood mist floated to the side of Telaranea, and the demon opened his arms tenderly, as if welcoming a friend who he had not seen for many years.

The figure of blood mist passed through the body of the Sage of the Abyss, and really disappeared this time.

The faint light of the early morning reflected the moldy window frame. The room was empty and lonely, with no traces of blood left. Telaranea stood motionless in the shadow on the other side of the room. His head hung very low, and Nemo couldn’t see the expression on his face clearly.

The quietness was completely out of line with Telaranea’s style.

He stretched out his hands vigilantly; the dark shadow gained momentum between his fingers. Oliver had already opened his eyes. The leader of Tumbleweed grabbed the hilt of the Rest in Peace and had on a serious expression.

The sun was about to rise and the scene of the house became clearer.

The Sage of the Abyss finally raised his head. In the first few seconds, he looked pale, pained, and confused. On top of that, the handsome young face carried some weird emotion that Nemo couldn’t make out.

Telaranea moved. He stepped over the pile of corpses in a bumbling manner and stopped in front of the storage cabinet close to the window, then the demon opened the cabinet door and took out the contents with both hands…

Nemo held his breath. The movement of the dark shadow suddenly increased.

However, it was just a woman’s black veil.

Nemo remembered this style. He once saw a very similar one on Hagen Ingram’s head, but the one in Telaranea’s hand was more exquisite and outdated.

The slightly yellowed and faded, dusty gauze veil was adorned with a dark red rose that had been finely air-dried and magically fixed in form.

“Hagen, unlike me, you must still be so young.” Telaranea said in a weird accent as he stroked the old veil. “I saw the truth. Have you seen your God?”

Dying memory. In the moment before death, there would be an outburst of regret, pain, and relief, as well as nostalgia.

Nemo didn’t let down his guard. The old man didn’t come back to life with the body of Telaranea. In front of them was the last thoughts and feelings of the dead; a sad echo.

If the Sage of the Abyss was just an ordinary person with a normal mind, his spirit would definitely be overwhelmed at this moment, and he would most likely fall into chaos. As the only demon who could control multiple bodies at the same time, Telaranea should still have some hope of quickly regaining rationality.

But all of this was premised on the discovery of the old man being mediocre. Those eyes that have witnessed “God”; if there was anything left behind…

A pale flame suddenly rose on the black gauze veil. The tongue of fire rolled over the carefully processed bright roses and worn-out fabric. The gauze veil was quickly burned until nothing was left. Telaranea patted the dust on his hands and breathed a long sigh of relief. He didn’t look at Nemo or Oliver; his expression was blank.

The Sage of the Abyss walked back to the narrow window and looked out the window again.

“Telaranea…” Nemo didn’t understand if this was considered unusual, so he had to ask out loud.

“Shh.” The demon made a quiet gesture.

Nemo closed his mouth abruptly and waited quietly for another ten minutes, but the superior demon remained motionless in front of the window, allowing the early morning sun to cover his face.

“Telaranea.” This time it was Oliver who spoke.

“I understand very well. In theory, even if I can live for a long time, I won’t be able to learn everything in this world.” The demon finally turned his head, with a horrifically calm face. “…But this is the first time I have realized this so vividly.”

“You know?” Nemo sighed. “I mean, was there something in his last memories that he saw…”

“Yes.” Telaranea looked out the window again. “Although it was only for a moment, it was enough for me to understand.”

“Can you tell me…”

“Can’t.” After the creepy calm, the smile finally slowly returned to the demon’s face, but Nemo could feel the subtle difference. The Sage of the Abyss was still enthusiastic, but there was a little heavier emotion in that enthusiasm.

Half despondent, half despair.

“I can guess the reason why this gentleman doesn’t want it to spread out. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t plan to be as considerate as he is, worrying about the consequences of the world’s scholars knowing the truth— I… Well, I can only pay tribute to him in this way. This is the only thing I can do now.”

Although he admired Telaranea’s decision a bit, Nemo was more anxious at this moment. This meant that after going a big circle, the two of them found almost nothing.

As if seeing his anxiety, the Sage of the Abyss finally left the window. He walked up to the two of them with very serious expressions.

“I must admit, I got a research topic that was enough to amaze me, and this was thanks to you. To be honest, Mr. Ramon, Mr. Light, a few days ago, I was indeed very interested in the power of the two of you… but now, they are no longer my priority.”

Telaranea put his right hand on his chest and saluted the two members of Tumbleweed solemnly.

“In exchange, to be fair, I don’t want to let the two leave empty-handed. I will give you a piece of information. A piece that will be very useful.”

The red-haired young man raised his head. His face has changed back to the demon’s signature smile, but the thorn behind the smile was put away and it no longer looked so offensive.

It was impossible to hold down Telaranea and force him to speak through torture. Nemo wiped his face hard and looked at Oliver. The latter was squeezing his hand and nodded slightly.

“Please go ahead.”

“Don’t try to peer into the Abyss.” The tone of the Sage of the Abyss became solemn.

“The Demon King of this generation is extremely dangerous, and it is not to be confused with the previous ones.”

Nemo almost didn’t tense his expression and he tried his best to steady his emotions so that his reaction wouldn’t look too abnormal. The great Demon King’s lover didn’t look much better, but Oliver’s resilience was obviously much stronger, and he even had time to squeeze out a question…

“Why do you say that?”

However, the answer of the Sage of the Abyss turned the somewhat awkward atmosphere into an ice cave in an instant.

“Not long ago, near the bottom of the Abyss, my companion and I saw the Demon King with our own eyes.”

In the distant capital of Alban, Ms. Savage’s mental state was also not very good.

“Deli, tell me, do I still look human?” Ann pointed to her face solemnly. She rejected the nightgown with excessive lace and uncomfortable necks, wore simple linen pajamas, and even crossed her legs high.

The little princess in a simple long dress nodded equally solemnly.

“Do I look stupid?”

This time Delia shook her head firmly and vigorously, almost getting rid of Cat Whiskers who was on her hair accessories.

“Yeah, you see, I’m still a normal human being— Why are those bastards so anxious to think about a lover for me? I thought I’d been assigned to a breeding farm.” Ann looked like she wanted to spit, but her eyes slid around the gorgeous soft carpet, and she held back resentfully.

“It’s killing me. I can poke down those guys with a single finger. If I really like a type… Even the stupid boys in Tumbleweed are much more pleasing to the eye. Speaking of this, Deli, I know your marriage contract with Godwin Lopez has been terminated. Do you like that guy?”

“We don’t have much interaction.” Delia thought for a moment, then replied politely and cautiously. “I don’t think we are interested in each other.”

“Well, it can be regarded as one of my prejudices. In a sense, the men of the Lopez family are a bit dangerous.” Ann picked up another envelope. The strong smell of perfume made her face wrinkled and she sneezed a few times. She then threw it into the trashcan without even looking at it.

“Bullshit love. I guess they don’t know how many noses I have and dare to let the juniors in their family write love poems.” The female warrior roared. “Just remembering those boring rules and regulation is bad enough. Can those slimy old things save me some trouble? The normal letters these days are from Mr. Mad Dog’s war report. It’s the only normal one!”

“The marshal beautifully defeated the invading army on Willard’s side,” Delia said carefully. “Maybe you can reward him appropriately.”

“Uh-huh, it’s estimated that it has also left a psychological shadow on the enemy.” Ann shrugged. “Obviously the process of defeating the prince went smoothly, but I don’t know where he is dissatisfied. The war report, tsk, sounded like he was mentally abused in some way.”

Delia looked at the prospective queen who was sitting on the table in pajamas, gnawing on a chicken leg while throwing a love letter with her oily hand, and decided to remain silent wisely.

Ann had just filled a trash can, however, another letter burrowed its way out of the golden letter box on the table.

The female warrior took a deep angry breath and planned to continue throwing—

“Huh?”

She stopped moving and wrinkled her nose.

This time there was no expensive and pungent perfume smell on the envelope. Instead there was an elegant and soft scent of incense, that was also mixed with the sweetness of boiled milk. Ann raised her eyebrows, turned the letter over, and then almost fell to the floor with half of the chicken drumsticks in her hand.

Delia glanced at the envelope pattern, also holding her breath. Then she lowered her head in a regular manner and gently rubbed Cat Whiskers crawling on her hand with her fingers, no longer looking up at the envelope.

“Don’t worry. You can read it if you want.” Ann’s voice sank. “It’s the Pope of the Laddism Church, Mr. Quinn. He just wrote to send his greetings.”

“Greetings?”

“‘I have to borrow your companions for the time being, dear Miss Savage.”

The “greetings” received by soon-to-be-loaned ones weren’t so polite.

“Unlike last time, this time it’s a real surprise.” Jesse Dylan patted his chest and blocked the knight commander at the door of the inn room.

Adrian’s gaze swept over Jesse’s outfit and his expression twitched a little. The blond young man was wearing an exaggerated apron, tied his blond hair neatly behind his head, his face was full of a confident smile, and the corners of his mouth were still stained with a little cream.

“Hmm,” the knight commander responded helplessly.

“I made a cake. Although there’s no oven here, I am confident in my magic control.” Jesse gestured. “Believe me, I may be the best cook in the world. You seemed to like it last time, and this time at least we won’t have to eat it in pieces—”

Before his voice fell, there was a loud bang in the small kitchen attached to the guest room, followed by the sound of kitchen utensils falling to the ground.

“…” After rushing to the kitchen, Adrian raised his eyebrows slightly. “And what a surprise.”

Jesse’s face was livid.

“Under normal circumstances, people usually don’t want to predict the fate of a cake.”

He muttered under his breath while pulling out a solemnly looking, creamy golden eagle out of the smashed cake. The golden eagle shook its wings and dropped an envelope.

“I think its necessary for me to change this habit. Sometimes it’s good to have a bit of victimization paranoia.”

“The envelope style is that of the Laddism Church.” Adrian calmly pointed out. “It’s a summoning order.”

“Thank you for reminding me. I’ve written down the account for the cake.” Jesse slapped the envelope on top of the table with a cold face.

The former Knight of Judgment subconsciously went to get the letter, but his hand reached halfway before it turned in a different direction. Adrian reached out and wiped off the cream stuck to the corner of Jesse’s mouth, then frowned before he tasted it.

“I’ll pour some tea.” He nodded calmly. “Maybe we can eat while reading it.”

“Oh.” Jesse touched the corner of his mouth and raised his eyebrows. He glanced at the creamed covered golden eagle flying out the window and slapped the letter on the table again.

“Well done, dear Mr. Quinn. Sure enough, let’s settle the account.”

The author has something to say:

Tela: I saw the Demon King.

Ollie: Actually, I saw him too. (Whisper)

Nemo: ……

——

After Adri learned how to play with the cat (…) he calmly teased it.

Jesse: Praise Mr. Pope.

Pope: ?