Igola's Daughter

[Happiness Board, Rank 9: The Happiest Child] Upon seeing this ranking, the Funeral members let out a collective sigh of relief—there was surely no way they would show up this time, right? While the possibility of them appearing as the "parent generation" couldn't be ruled out, the futures of Yaxiu and his companions seemed clear: one was a career-driven master fraudster, one was a drifter with no interest in the living, and one had just crawled out of Hell. Where would they find the time to have kids? Was Yaxiu supposed to have children with a Veela in Hell? [Profile: Leya Bogin is the daughter of Anfiel Berdette and Igola Bogin. From birth, she was destined to be the heir to the Berdette family, the master of Mengfeila, and the sole inheritor of the Dominance Faction. Moreover, after Archibald laid all members of the Berdette clan to rest, Leya would be completely freed from the curse of their bloodline. Pampered by her parents and elders from an early age, secretly protected by Four Pillar Cultists whenever she ventured outdoors, she lived a carefree, joyful li... fe...] Just like the previous ranking, the introductory text suddenly warped, and the entire page was blotted out in black. Blood-red ink pooled across it to form a name everyone was sick of seeing: [Yaxiu Heath]. Yet at that moment, no one cared about the anomaly on the Gospel leaderboard anymore. Instead, they all turned peculiar gazes toward the swindler. Igola showed no surprise on his face, only a pensive expression. Right at that moment, gray flames suddenly erupted across the left half of his body. Though they didn't scorch his clothes or flesh, they swiftly spread like wildfire, attempting to engulf his entire frame! "What's going on?" This sudden attack instantly put everyone on high alert. Banjie and Annan immediately scanned their surroundings, while the swindler—despite half his face being engulfed in flames—remained entirely unperturbed. "Don't panic. Yaxiu, give me a hand." Seeing Igola reach out with his right hand, which had practically turned into a torch of gray fire, Yaxiu grasped it without hesitation. With a whoosh, the gray flames traveled along his arm onto Yaxiu, eliciting gasps from the others. But Yaxiu felt only a slight chill. The gray fire then flowed back into Igola, but this time, it quickly went out, as if nothing had ever happened. "Just now, Evalin activated a Dominance miracle, attempting to catch me off guard and warp my cognition, forcing me back to Berdette to become their son-in-law," Igola explained. "I must admit, the miracle is remarkably innovative. To think such an abstract concept as 'cognitive distortion' could be manifested as burning fire, utilizing the phenomenon of combustion to accelerate the process... Excellent. I've already learned it." "So was having me hold your hand a necessary step to solve it?" Yaxiu asked. "Do I have an effect that removes mind control?" "No, I just wanted to scare you a bit," Igola replied. "Wait, Big Sister Evalin is urging Aunt Bogin to go back right now, and Aunt Bogin's daughter showed up on the ranking..." Lisi said. "Could Big Sister Anfiel already be pregnant with baby Leya?!" "Igola, you scumbag! Eating your fill and skipping town!" Yaxiu sucked in a sharp breath. "You actually managed to... in just a few days?! You definitely used hypnosis, didn't you?! Teach me!" "Who was the one who abducted me into that car in the first place?!" The corner of Igola's mouth twitched. "Besides, I have a rough guess as to what's going on with this ranking... Eldest Miss probably figured it out too. If you bunch of artiodactyls still have your brains pedaling off on a bicycle after we finish reading the leaderboard, I'll explain it to you." "Mm," Annan nodded as well. "This Gospel ranking will defy everyone's expectations." With the two people responsible for raising the party's collective IQ both speaking up, everyone continued watching the ranking. By now, the projection had switched to visual footage, showcasing little Leya's blissful life from the moment she was born. Doted on by her caring mother from infancy, she grew up freely at Berdette Manor. Occasionally, her father would take her outside to behold magnificent landscapes and witness the hardships of the mortal world. As a result, she cultivated fine qualities such as a kind heart and compassion for the weak. Born wealthy, she consciously developed a restrained nature; deeply perceptive of human nature, she excelled at empathetic understanding. Aside from a touch of wilfulness and mischief, Leya embodied the very finest virtues of both parents. Watching it truly stirred a yearning in anyone's heart—Igola, do you have any more family planning in the works? If I reincarnate right now, can I reserve a spot? [When eight-year-old Leya was playing in the garden, the scene suddenly flickered, and Yaxiu abruptly materialized behind her.] ["Leya, nice to meet you," Yaxiu said. "I am Yaxiu Heath..."] ["I know, Uncle Yaxiu!" Little Leya tilted her head up. "Aunt Evalin and Mommy mention you all the time! Are you here to see Daddy?"] ["Nope, Leya. I'm here for you." Yaxiu crouched down before little Leya. "I'm here to abduct you."] [Leya tilted her head and reached out both hands toward Yaxiu. "All right, let's go! Where are you taking me to play?"] ["Why do you look so used to this? You're completely taking the wind out of my sails," Yaxiu chuckled.] ["Because Uncle Harvey and Aunt Annan suddenly take me out to play all the time too." Leya twitched her nose and pouted. "Aunt Annan takes me all over the Gospel to play, and Uncle Harvey likes to show off whatever new necromantic breeds he's invented recently..."] ["How do you like it?" Yaxiu asked with a grin. "I heard Igola takes you out a lot too. Which of them do you think is the most fun?"] ["They're all really fun!" Leya answered crisply. "Daddy takes me out too, but mostly so I can learn how to manipulate people and orchestrate situations. Commoners, the rich, humans, elves, men, women, the strong, the weak... He doesn't want me to exploit others, but a daughter of Bogin needs to know how the world works. And even though my last name isn't Berdette, I still have to master their motto: 'Fuel their desires, grant what they need.'] ["Aunt Annan, on the other hand, has lots of friends everywhere. When I follow her, I get to meet all kinds of interesting people and see lots of wonderful sights. And while Uncle Harvey only takes me to various graveyards, I see something new every time. It feels like he's advancing in the necromancy faction every second. Not long ago, he even successfully created the first Blood Moon Corpse King... My aunts and uncles are all super amazing!"] ["Is that so? But I think none of them are as amazing as you," Yaxiu said. "Harvey's necromancy faction is indeed formidable, but not even we can appreciate the charm he sees in death. Igola's mind control has reached perfection, but we find his callous ways hard to swallow. As for Annan, don't even get me started—I don't like traveling, and I can't understand the fun of running around all over the place at all."] ["Only you possess a pair of eyes capable of appreciating every kind of beauty," Yaxiu smiled. "It must be the blessing of all the Berdette ancestors that allowed such a perfect child to be born. The truly happy ones ought to be Igola and Anfiel."] ["Then you and Aunt Annan should hurry up and have one too," Leya remarked playfully.] ["That's why I can't let the Gospel ruin you," Yaxiu said, his smile fading. "I'm going to abduct you."] ["Let's go, then! Where to? Uncle Yaxiu's hometown?"] ["There's no need to go anywhere. When I say abduct, I don't mean physically," Yaxiu said. "Leya, did you know that you are the happiest child certified by the Gospel?"] ["I know." Leya nodded. "I know that I really am the happiest child..."] ["No, you aren't happy. Your current happiness is merely a shackle placed upon you by the Gospel," Yaxiu said. "Have you ever wondered why you're so perfect? You are confident yet not arrogant, intelligent yet humble, elevated above others yet compassionate toward the weak... As a child, you've hardly ever let anyone down."] ["Isn't that a good thing?!"] ["Of course it's good. But if you were placed in an even more competitive environment—for example, my and Igola's homeland—guess what would happen?" Yaxiu spread his hands. "You wouldn't let anyone down there either. You would swiftly become an accomplished powerhouse envied by countless people."] ["The Gospel says your happiness stems from your family, from your environment, and from luck. But your happiness actually stems from yourself. Because whatever they teach you, you learn. That's why you learned humility, compassion, appreciation, and introspection... But what if they had taught you something else?"] [Leya stared blankly at Yaxiu, as if she didn't understand what he was saying.] ["Why did the Gospel make you the happiest child?" Yaxiu said. "Because it doesn't dare weave an unhappy future for you. If you were merely to tap into your innate talent, you could grow to the point of threatening the Gospel itself."] ["Sanctuary is merely your starting point; Legendary can only give you brief pause; even angel is not your terminus."] ["In the past fifty years, you are the only genius whose sheer talent is enough to threaten a god."] ["Leya, you were born a devil. Any disaster will serve as your nourishment. To you, defying destiny and overturning heaven is as instinctive as eating or getting dressed."] ["You were made the happiest child because the Gospel is doing everything it can to suppress you. It's not that Igola and Anfiel failed to notice your talent, but that the other path is simply too long and arduous. So they too followed the Gospel's arrangements, doing all they could to let you live a happy and peaceful life—because they love you."] ["'Fuel their desires, grant what they need' is not only the motto of the Dominance Faction, but also the underlying rule of the Gospel. Even a scion of Berdette, even the greatest swindler in history, cannot escape this mold."] ["...Why are you telling me this?" Leya asked.] ["Because I'm going to abduct you," Yaxiu said, standing up. "And now, I have succeeded."] [After Yaxiu left the garden, Leya sat dazed among the flowers. The scene suddenly deepened into pitch darkness. A brilliant radiance paved a road stretching right up to her, but Leya turned her head toward another path in the gloom—one paved in blood.] [In the end, she stepped onto the dark, blood-drenched path. She matured and grew rapidly, slowly manifesting Silver Wings, Golden Wings, Seven-Colored Wings... Even as she grew ever more breathtakingly beautiful, the childish innocence drained from her face, replaced by an abyss-like, forbidding aura and an unshakeable gaze.] [Happiness Board, Rank 9: The Happiest Child] [Profile: Leya Bogin is the daughter of Anfiel Berdette and Igola Bogin. Due to being led astray by Yaxiu Heath, this ranking is invalid.] [Reward: Voided.] [Culprit: Yaxiu Heath.] Because the amount of information was simply overwhelming, everyone fell silent for a time. "Daddy," Lisi looked at Yaxiu with a resentful pout. "You've never praised me like that..." "I need a reason to praise you," Yaxiu said. "Am I supposed to praise you for eating so much and so fast?" "Then why did you lavish so much sickening praise on a little girl you'd only met once?!" Lisi stomped her foot in exasperation. "Are other people's kids really that great?!" "Uh, well..." Yaxiu cleared his throat. "Lisi, you were born a devil. Any food will serve as your nourishment. To you, eating and sleeping are your natural instincts..." "That's way too half-hearted!" While deflecting Lisi's annoyed complaints, Yaxiu looked toward the swindler and said with utmost earnestness, "Igola, I swear, I would never do that to your daughter—" "No need to explain," Igola said. "Just like I won't explain why the version of me on the leaderboard married Anfiel and had a kid. Let's keep watching." ... "Leya—your child, Leya—has the talent to become a god!" Inside the Berdette main residence, the blue-haired girl hopped about in excitement, hugging her younger sister. "Did you see that? Your child will be completely freed from the curse of our bloodline! Don't worry, Anfiel, I'll definitely dominate Igola and bring him back so the two of you can have Leya! Then we'll raise Leya to become a Legendary—no, an angel!" Anfiel knew her elder sister's joy was genuine, but her intention to use Leya was equally real. Although Anfiel had been taking turns wearing the "Kingdom Coin" that protected one's willpower with her sister over the past few days in an attempt to restore her to normal, Evalin's willpower wasn't actually flawed. She had merely severed emotion from reason so thoroughly that even the most blazing passion could not sway her cold-blooded calculations. "Sister Evalin," Anfiel waited until her sister calmed down before speaking up. "I think you'd best not get your hopes too high—" "Don't worry. Once I tie Igola up and drag him back, I have plenty of ways to make him breed—manual extraction, electro-stimulation, cycling through all kinds of miracles!" Evalin raised her head proudly. "Even if it doesn't work, it will!" "I don't doubt Mr. Igola's abilities in the slightest, but the biggest issue right now is the future ranking." "Hm?" Evalin blinked in surprise. "What's wrong with the ranking?" Right then, the Book of Gospel updated. Anfiel looked down, her expression instantly turning exceedingly bizarre. "Take a look and you'll see." Evalin glanced down. [Happiness Board, Rank 8: The Happiest Wife] [Profile: Archibald Harvey's wife, Na'erbeier Harvey, is the happiest wife...]