Following Yaxiu's return from Hell, the world underwent many changes.
The first was that the concept of the 'Six Hells' had almost entirely vanished.
Previously, people hadn't known about the Six Hells in the sense that they didn't know the fifth layer of the Void Realm was the Six Hells. However, they were still familiar with Hell as a literary concept. In fact, there were even sorcery spirits derived from the concept of Hell, such as the exceptionally rare fire sorcery spirit 'Hellfire,' the ascetic sorcery spirit 'Hell Transformation,' and the mind sorcery spirit 'Hell's Paradise.' Works featuring Hell as a motif were innumerable. After all, once people had full bellies, they always pondered three questions: Who am I? Where do I come from? Where am I going? Contemplating the destination of death was an inevitable pursuit for intelligent beings.
Yet now, everything regarding 'Hell' had disappeared. If sorcerer civilization were condensed into a book, the current situation was as if someone had completely torn out the page for 'Hell,' wiping the concept clean from everyone's minds.
When Yaxiu explained to Sonia and the others what Hell was, he even had to start by teaching them the word itself. However, when he laid out the premise of Hell, Weise and Vichy's immediate reactions were: "Using this as a core religious premise would definitely take off!" and "Brilliant, why couldn't I come up with such a great idea?"—giving Yaxiu a taste of the shameless joy of a plagiarist.
It took him a long time to get them to accept the premise of Hell, an effort no less difficult than getting them to accept that the 'Yaxiu-Igola-Harvey trio' truly existed. Fortunately, the team's focus over the past half year had revolved around Hell, so the moment Yaxiu pointed it out, everyone felt an intense sense of dissonance, like a completed jigsaw puzzle missing its very center piece.
Perhaps they didn't truly grasp what Hell was; they had merely defined that 'blank space' as Hell.
Aside from the monumental matter of Hell, another change was comparatively trivial: their memories of Igola and Harvey had finally returned. It went without saying for Diya, Weise, and Vichy, who had interacted with them, but even Sonia recalled Yaxiu constantly rambling about those two foolish inmates who always gave him trouble and needed his care.
"So," inside the game room of the Yisu Imperial Palace, Sonia bit on her orange juice straw and asked with a complicated expression, "do they like you?"
"Even if we're close, you can't make such disgusting jokes." Yaxiu wore a look of utter revulsion. "One of them is a dark-skinned necrophile and the other is a narcissistic Veela. If they like me, what does that make me? A Veela corpse?"
"The Sword Princess has never met Aunt Bogin or Uncle Harvey, so it's only natural she'd have that misunderstanding," Diya said. "Those of us who have met you three wouldn't think that at all."
"That's a relief," Yaxiu sighed, relaxing slightly. "I really don't understand how anyone could misunderstand—"
"We think you like them too," Weise chimed in.
"To think you're an indiscriminate garbage bin." Vichy clapped with a deadpan face. "Truly worthy of my master."
"So we're mutually affectionate now?" The corner of Yaxiu's mouth twitched. "It's fine if you slander me, but if you're going to slander them, leave me out of it!"
"Except other than that, it's really hard to explain why they treat you so well." Sonia handed him the orange juice. "Did you really not sell your charms?"
Yaxiu took a sip and found the straw clogged with pulp—Sonia wanted him to suck it clear. He threw up his hands and stammered, "Can't it just be that they respect me like a father?"
In truth, while Sonia and the others were half-teasing, the other half was genuine bewilderment: the gifts Igola and Harvey had given Yaxiu were simply too lavish.
The spatial ring Igola had slipped onto Yaxiu naturally returned to the mortal realm with him. If Diya hadn't been unable to resist asking which Veela had gifted him a ring this time, Yaxiu would have almost forgotten about it.
Diya had even hit the mark: only two people had ever given him rings—one was Freya and the other was Igola, both of whom were indeed Veelas. And the gifts inside the spatial ring went so far beyond everyone's expectations that the entire group had stood frozen in shock for several full minutes.
"Let me test it!"
Vichy picked up an extra-large bottle of knowledge essence from the table and chugged it straight down. Without a second thought, Sonia covered Yaxiu's eyes while Weise covered his ears, completely shutting off his sight and hearing. When they had first drunk knowledge essence in the bath, the stimulation had forced them into their most vulnerable, alluring, and embarrassing states—a shared dark history between them. There was no way they would let Yaxiu witness such a scene.
Yet Vichy's skin merely flushed a soft peach pink as she forcefully suppressed the physical stimulation brought by the knowledge essence, not even tearing her clothes. Taking a deep breath, she spread her void wings, saw her hell wings grow substantially, and said slowly, "Yaxiu, these are the real deal."
"Why does this conversation sound so strange...?" Yaxiu brushed aside Sonia and Weise's hands and cast an admiring glance at Vichy. "Is this the willpower forged from completing the six-winged trial all on your own? Truly worthy of the Spectre Prophet."
"Hmph." Vichy smiled with reserved pride, saying nothing more. Sonia and Weise were struck with awe, feeling that they had truly been outmatched by the maid in terms of willpower. Only Diya noticed Vichy quietly slipping a hand beneath her skirt, taking off a pair of dripping-wet panties, and tucking them into her spatial ring.
"Even though Vichy only verified one bottle, I don't believe Igola and Harvey would deceive me, nor do I think we'd fail to tell the difference. So..." Yaxiu clapped his hands lightly, looking at the hundred-odd extra-large bottles of knowledge essence before them. "These knowledge essences are all genuine."
"With this amount, let alone fivefold hell wings, it's more than enough to push all of us to sixfold hell wings, with plenty left over for me to conduct experiments," Weise said. "Yet based on your previous two excursions, scouring the first three layers of Hell only yielded a dozen bottles. But they... did they strip Hell bare?"
"If we don't push for sixfold hell wings, this knowledge essence is enough to quickly grant over ten newly promoted demigods the intermediate combat power of fourfold hell wings—even a God-Leader wouldn't have more than ten angels; Fanxing only has seven Law Angels," Sonia said. "They essentially gifted you an entire angelic legion."
"Guessing that your affections were mutual was already a very mild line of thought," Vichy remarked dryly. "I almost wonder if they're your slaves as well—who would hand over such an astronomical fortune so freely?"
"I think we shouldn't make wild guesses," Felix said earnestly from the side. "We should use logic to eliminate the possibilities one by one. Whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.
"First, I believe the Observer only likes women!
"Second, Igola and Harvey truly treat the Observer wonderfully!
"Therefore, there can only be one answer." Felix raised a finger. "Igola and Harvey are actually the women Yaxiu has known the longest—"
*Thud!* Daedalose knocked Felix unconscious with a heavy blow, bowed slightly to everyone, and dragged her to a corner to rest.
Yaxiu sheepishly lowered his hand and sat back down, only to turn around and find everyone staring at him with suspicious eyes. He snapped in exasperation, "Diya, haven't you guys met them before?!"
Weise said faintly, "But back when you were in Black Robe Town, anyone could turn into a woman..."
"And there are plenty of transformation miracles," Vichy counted on her fingers. "Magical Girl Transformation, Divine Maiden Transformation, Demon Ninja Transformation, Rhapsody Transformation... You know, they say many men's ideal partner is their bro turned into a woman. In fact, that line of thought has become quite a trend: conquering a woman is for the weak; conquering a man is for the strong; but conquering a man and turning him into a woman makes one the strongest of the strong."
The corner of Yaxiu's mouth twitched. "So you're determined to saddle me with two more sweethearts today, aren't you?"
"Actually, I've always been curious." Diya propped her chin in her hands, looking at Yaxiu. "What kind of roles do Aunt Bogin and Uncle Harvey play to you?"
Yaxiu curled his lip. "What else could they be? A target-dummy deceiver and a leftover-spawn necromancer."
"Yet you care about them so much. They must have virtues you acknowledge." Diya blinked. "What exactly do you respect about them?"
"Well..." Yaxiu scratched his head, crossing his arms in deep thought. "Apart from murder, arson, blackmail, extortion, and defiling graves, their virtues... If I had to say, it would be that both can remain utterly devoted to their goals. Even though some of their traits are pretty revolting, the way they never care what others say earns my respect. And in critical moments, they've never once let me down."
"To summarize," Weise said, "'devotion to ideals,' 'confidence unbothered by the judgment of others,' and 'trust forged in facing life and death together.'"
Yaxiu nodded, agreeing that the summary was very fitting. But as he listened, something suddenly felt off.
Felix, eavesdropping from the side, also found it strange. "Why do these three virtues sound like..."
Sonia, Lisidiya, Youlan Weise, and Vichy spoke in unison: "Isn't that just describing me?"
The four operators froze. They exchanged glances, and their eyes turned back toward Yaxiu with increasingly complicated expressions.
Are you choosing lovers by the standard of bros, or choosing bros by the standard of lovers?
Chapter 1238