You're Breaking the Rules!

"You said earlier that you, the Witch, and Vichy formulated the Personality Analysis Model together." With his eyes closed, Yaxiu listened to the Silver Lantern god's heartbeat. "I had no idea about it, which means Sword Princess definitely didn't know either... While monitoring changes in our personalities, you were also searching for Sword Princess's weaknesses, weren't you?" "Sword Princess doesn't specialize in the mind or soul factions," Weise said calmly. "There simply wasn't any need to involve her... You can't say that whenever we don't bring her in on something, it means we're ostracizing her, can you?" "Besides, you favor her so much," she added, a faint trace of jealousy edging into her voice. "What difference does it make whether we ostracize her or not?" "Then what about Vichy?" "What about Vichy?" "It's true that the Witch might suggest opening the national treasury completely to us—to her, we're far more important than the Gospel Realm," Yaxiu said. "But she isn't a bad person. Since I allowed Vichy into our team, even if the Witch hasn't fully accepted the Spectre Prophet, she wouldn't treat Vichy purely as a tool or an enemy. "Given her personality, she would never have come up with the idea of making Vichy plunder the treasury all by herself and bear all the guilt alone—unless someone was constantly hammering into her head how dangerous and exploitable Vichy is. "Gradually, the Witch stopped viewing Vichy as a companion or even as a person, seeing her instead as a valuable gem, a stain to be discarded when the time comes. "Among us, the only ones capable of manipulating the Witch without her noticing—apart from Daedalose and Vichy—would be you, the one who once wreaked havoc across Senluo." The Silver Lantern did not speak. She only tightened her embrace around Yaxiu, as if wishing she could knead him into her very body. "Your greatest brilliance wasn't manipulating the Witch, but hiding your selfish motives behind the common good." Yaxiu continued, "With Fanxing as our enemy, plundering the treasuries of various nations to bolster our strength truly is the most cost-effective approach. Even if I'm reluctant, if Fanxing exerts even a fraction of her power against us, my moral bottom line would inevitably yield to our survival. "Having Vichy handle the plundering makes all the more sense. After all, she's the expert among us. Besides, pillaging inevitably involves killing; Sword Princess and the Witch might not care, but keeping their hands clean is always better if possible. And since you are a god, the only demigod available to deploy was Vichy... provided I didn't go myself. "An irreproachable proposal. When the Witch first brought it up, I even thought it sounded fine. Let Vichy bear all the sin while we remain clean..." Weise asked, "Then what selfish motive could I possibly have?" She had already tacitly admitted to guiding the Witch's thoughts. "Even if my reason could accept it, emotionally I would still be repulsed by Vichy harming the world again, even if she did it for our sake," Yaxiu said. "I would even feel it was my fault—I'm the only one who can keep her in check, yet I would be the one letting her loose to bite people. "Under the dual weight of guilt and repulsion, I might at best view Vichy as a prisoner, a companion, a comrade-in-arms, but I could never develop any intimate relationship with her. "I don't know what other plans you have. All I know for certain is that once Vichy was pushed out of the running, your next target would be Sword Princess," Yaxiu said. "Make Vichy clash with Sword Princess? Manipulate the Witch into a confrontation with Sword Princess? I can't guess. "And if only the Witch were left in the end... you'd surely have a way prepared to deal with her, too." After a brief silence, Weise said softly, "So in your eyes, am I just a wicked woman trying to ruin your relationships?" "Are you?" Yaxiu held her tighter, listening closely to her accelerating heartbeat. "Driving everyone else away so that only I remain by your side is one possibility." Weise took a deep breath and answered calmly, "But there is another possibility: that everyone willingly stays by your side." "What do you mean?" "You can't suppress the conflict forever. The longer you put it off, the thicker and sharper the iceberg becomes. One day, it will collapse under its own weight, and the raging tide will destroy everything," Weise said. "I only wanted to help you train them in advance... If they're willing to make concessions, I'm actually willing to be with them too, as long as you're happy. "Of course, whether they choose to stay or not, I want you to dote on me more." Weise gently bit her lower lip and hugged him tightly. "Besides, what's wrong with wanting the person you love to dote on you more?" "Nothing," Yaxiu murmured in her embrace. "How could there be anything wrong with that?" "Now that you know, will you hate me?" Weise reined in her silver glow, her heartbeat turning slow and heavy. "Or do you still see me as the Silver Lantern who sought to bring ruin upon you day after day?" "I don't hate you. I'm just afraid." Weise was slightly taken aback, a bitter smile touching the corner of her lips. "I suppose that makes sense. Having someone like me around, meddling in your life with daily schemes and intrigues—anyone would be afraid, wouldn't they?" "No, I'm not afraid of you meddling in my life." Yaxiu looked up at her and said, "I'm afraid that because of me, you will stop being yourself. "Remember the first time we met? I had obtained the power of the Great Art of Myriad Calamitous Fires and was representing the Sanctuary of Calamitous Fire to fight the Four Pillar Cult. The moment we met, you slapped me flat on the ground." Weise couldn't help letting out a giggle. "You were quite arrogant back then." "I'm not saying you were righteous back then. Later, you defected from the Four Pillar Cult, and we hunted you all the way. Along the way, you wreaked havoc on several cults and survived countless brushes with death, yet despite every obstacle, you remained unswervingly devoted to your ideal of destroying the world," Yaxiu said. "Even back then, whether as a companion or an enemy, I felt you truly deserved to be called the Silver Lantern... You were as breathtakingly beautiful as a brilliant silver light." Weise froze, looking touched yet guilty. She turned her head to avoid his gaze and said weakly, "This seems to be the first time you've ever said something like that to me..." "I'm not praising you, be serious," Yaxiu said grumpily. "That's why I was so happy to see you could be reborn. No matter how troublesome it might be, I will definitely reshape a body for you, because I want you to have a fresh start. "In the past, the path of the Silver Lantern was laid out for you by the Grey Fox divine era; you had no choice. But with this rebirth, you won't be bound by anything anymore... You can finally choose your own life. "And what are you devoting your thoughts to now?" Yaxiu gave a wry smile. "Plotting every scheme under the sun to compete for my affection... Granted, compared to destroying the world, turning your attention to me might count as forsaking evil for good—after all, at most you're only tormenting me. "But I am someone who saw the World-Ending Silver Lantern. I still remember that silver light illuminating the Silent Spiral." He nuzzled gently against Weise's chest. "As the person you love, I might feel a secret thrill of pride, but mostly I feel regret and fear... I'm afraid that I will become a blemish on you, obscuring your brilliance. "If you become dim because of this, that would be an insult to the World-Ending Silver Lantern." Yaxiu took a deep breath, catching the faint fragrance from the azure ribbon. "The Silver Lantern that pierces through eternal night shouldn't lose its luster because of me." Yaxiu's expectations of Weise were different from the others. If Sword Princess was someone to progress alongside, and the Witch still needed to grow, then the Silver Lantern was supposed to be the pathfinder guiding everyone forward. In terms of decisiveness, vision, wisdom, and experience, only Vichy among the operators could match her—but unless Yaxiu had lost his mind, he would never let Vichy lead the team. And so, seeing the Silver Lantern become like this over him, Yaxiu felt truly disheartened, even starting to wonder if he really was a trash can—causing a perfectly fine Silver Lantern to grow tarnished and dim on his account. "...Do you really think that?" Weise asked softly. "In the Senluo Dead City, when you confessed to me—if I hadn't pretended to be asleep back then and asked you to leave with me, to abandon the world-ending plan," Yaxiu countered, "would you have come with me?" After a moment of silence, Weise shook her head firmly. "No!" Having exchanged their truest feelings, both seemed to relax, their soul bodies melting against each other. Weise pondered for a moment before suddenly asking, "Did you know that many of the six-winged divine lords of the past didn't possess six-winged gods?" "Huh?" Yaxiu blinked. "Is upgrading a god really that difficult?" "Extremely difficult," Weise said. "Wild six-winged gods are exceedingly scarce and nearly impossible to capture, while upgrading a five-winged god takes tens of millions of years. Most divine lords relied on world secret realms to simulate the might of a six-winged god. In modern times, however, basically every divine lord has a six-winged god. "The Supreme of Stars has only just entered the seventh layer of the Void Realm. It's utterly impossible for a seven-winged god to be born naturally now, and upgrading a six-winged god to seven wings is unimaginably difficult. Therefore, for a very long time, she won't be able to have a seven-winged god." Weise cupped Yaxiu's face. "The Senluo Azure Lord truly was extraordinary. The Great Art god mechanism He devised not only makes it easier to produce gods with composite authorities, but more importantly, once a god possesses subjective agency, it becomes possible for it to advance upward on its own." Yaxiu's heart stirred. "Could it be that you want to..." "Even if I obtain a sorcerer's body in the future, I fear the Silver Lantern and I will still be one and the same," Weise said. "I want to try advancing to a six-winged god, or perhaps even a seven-winged god. That way, in the future war against the Supreme of Stars, I can be your shining Silver Lantern." A seven-winged supreme and a seven-winged god were entirely different concepts. If a seven-winged supreme was like a highly industrialized modern nation, then a seven-winged god was a strategic weapon. Without strategic weapons, a modern nation could still crush enemies with conventional military might, but if two modern nations went to war, the one with strategic weapons would inevitably hold an absolute advantage! "But upgrading a god must be exceptionally difficult, right?" Yaxiu was somewhat worried. Even though the Silver Lantern had gained new authorities in the Hell trials, she was still only a five-winged god at present. "Extremely difficult. It's a path no one has ever walked before, and even now I only have the faintest inkling of how to proceed." Weise gave a radiant smile. "Yet it's precisely because it's difficult that the challenge is worth taking." Yaxiu opened his eyes wide and looked at her, smiling. "Will it turn out to be an illusion this time too?" "If you can't keep up with my speed of advancement," Weise pulled his head close, her lips curling into an amused smile, "then I'll let you live in my illusion forever. "By the way, while I'll be focusing on advancing, I won't slack off when it comes to competing for your favor either." "Huh?" "You agreed with me just now, didn't you?" Weise chuckled softly. "What's wrong with wanting the person you love to dote on you more?" Bang! The study door was flung open. Weise practically shoved Yaxiu away in an instant, turning her head to see a furious Witch pulling Sword Princess into the room behind her. "Weise, you're breaking the rules!" Diya shouted. "Get off Yaxiu this instant!" "What rule did she break?" Yaxiu asked, utterly bewildered. "Come out so we can talk, Weise," Sonia said, gesturing with her hand before turning to leave the study. Yaxiu tried to follow them out, only to be pushed back down into his chair by Weise. "This has nothing to do with you. Weren't you supposed to be looking for traces?" "I was, but... does it really have nothing to do with me? What rule did you break just now?" "Don't pry into girls' business." Weise's eyes curved into crescent moons. Leaning down, she planted a gentle kiss on Yaxiu's cheek, then vanished from the study as a flash of silver light, reappearing outside the door.