After denouncing the Blood Moon team once over, Yaxiu and Igola continued sorting through the intelligence from the previous night.
In truth, there wasn't much to say. Once the storm of flying silver feathers picked up, Igola and Harvey were swept away. While they had the Colorless Dream Secret Poison, they lacked the Golden Fish Secret Poison and the Rainbow Tail Secret Poison, which meant it was impossible for them to burn through their silver sorcery power and golden sorcery power.
Yet this was hardly a bad thing. When the storm finally abated, they had plenty of sorcery power left to condense their sanctuaries, unlike Yaxiu, who looked drained to his core just trying to uphold his.
They had originally considered joining the contest atop the mountain, but the moment they saw the Crystal Sword Light miracle unleashed by the legendary sword sorcerer, they knew they fell short of the minimum threshold for such a high-stakes arena. Later, when they spotted Yaxiu's Heart Sword circling near the mountains, they decisively beat a retreat.
"While we can't rule out the possibility that the sorcery spirit abilities granted by their demon happen to be swordsmanship, it's far more likely that another legendary sword sorcerer was indeed present," Yaxiu analyzed. "After all, based on Heath's notes, setting aside the fallen Senluo Azure Lord, there should be five factions participating in the angel hunt."
"The 'thieves' from the Blood Moon, Gospel, the Abyss, and Paradise, along with the 'guards' sent by All Stars to escort the ritual. The thieves definitely have demons—without one, a thief wouldn't have the capacity to compete at all. As for whether the guards have demons, that remains to be seen."
Igola said, "Setting aside whether Yejian truly likes Harvey, from Harvey's description, Yejian lacks even a shred of childish naivety; every gesture of his is remarkably mature. And Yinzhi, whom I encountered, may seem like a slightly ditsy, cute high school girl, but the deep-seated poise and composure radiating from her bones are far beyond anything an ordinary person could possess."
"Amilo and Tiramisu—both legendary sorcerers—carry themselves as subjects before the demons. At least, I got the distinct impression that Amilo obeyed Yinzhi's orders without question. If the demons were merely ordinary mortals, I don't believe legendary sorcerers would ever be so compliant."
Rose chimed in, "Could it be that the legendary sorcerers' families were taken hostage? Or someone has leverage over them?"
"While I appreciate your line of thought, Miss Rose," Igola replied, "legendary sorcerers are mere passersby in this world. They don't have weaknesses like that."
Yaxiu pondered. "Our information is still insufficient. We can only be certain that demons are not merely tools for sorcerers. On their side, the demon is genuinely the sorcerer's master."
Igola stared at Yaxiu. "Then Feili..."
"She's just an ordinary mortal," Yaxiu said with certainty. "Perhaps there is some kind of 'soul-seizing ritual' at play, where those legendary sorcerers merged the souls of other demigods into the demons. That would explain why they show such reverence."
"Given how closely the gods are watching this angel hunt, it's entirely reasonable for Them to dispatch demigod subordinates to oversee the battle."
"There are probably many demons in the Country of All Stars, but only demons whom legendary sorcerers have acknowledged as masters through a special ritual serve as the mouthpieces of the various gods."
Igola agreed with Yaxiu's deduction, but raised another possibility: "Could those demons actually be the gods Themselves?"
Yaxiu fell silent for a moment before retorting, "So the Omniscient Weaver is the sparkly pretty girl you met, and the Blood Moon Ultimate Lord is a little black-haired boy who has a crush on Harvey?"
Igola thought it over seriously, then waved his hand. "So this is what it feels like when you play the fool... Disregard that nonsense I just spewed."
Truth be told, whether the demons harbored the souls of demigods or the gods Themselves made little difference to them—both were existences they could only gaze up at in awe.
From the very beginning, this angel hunt was never a game they were meant to take part in. Just like the Grand Investiture of the Six Nations on the Time Continent or the Dream Heaven of the Distant Sky Realm, the gods ruthlessly vied for every inch of land and scrap of resources in the Void Realm, leaving sorcerers like them with no choice but to steer clear.
If someone told them that the gods raised Lalafells on the corpses of sorcerers in the Knowledge Sea, they wouldn't be surprised in the least.
Though the angel hunt had been fraught with extreme peril, it had provided Yaxiu and Igola with tremendous stimulation.
This was perhaps the closest they had ever come to the gods. Everyone they encountered carried the divine will of a god. Even Yaxiu Heath was an undercover agent sent by the Four Pillar Gods, lying low in All Stars for three years, and then another three.
They were not even chess pieces, yet they could not stifle their yearning toward the players behind the board. Fully aware that this was not power they had any right to covet, they were nonetheless unable to suppress the greed in their hearts.
Creatures known as sorcerers were all moths destined to burn to ashes in the flame.
While the sorcerers were lost in their reverie of supreme power, Rose applied hand cream to herself, took Yaxiu's hand, rubbed it gently, and asked, "Do you smell rotting corpses?"
Yaxiu said, "It's coming from the basement. Harvey ordered those corpses through you, remember?"
"I haven't forgotten. I just didn't realize he would actually keep them around," Rose said. "I assumed he was going to eat them, or at the very least treat them with preservatives."
Igola added, "Strictly speaking, he uses preservatives to preserve the skin, but leaves the internal organs untreated."
Rose asked, "Why?"
"Because decay is the core aesthetic of death," Yaxiu explained. "If he weren't trying to accommodate our sensibilities, he wouldn't even bother preserving the skin. Every stage of life has its own beauty—infancy, childhood, youth, middle age, old age... Death is no different. Retaining warmth, hypothermia, livor mortis, decay, maggots, bare bones... each phase slowly pulls back the mystical veil of death."
"Exactly so," Igola nodded. "Living with him, foul odors are completely routine. I've already grown accustomed to eating jelly with that stench in the air."
Rose said, "I see."
After a brief silence, Yaxiu looked toward Igola. "Are we broken too?"
The deceiver said nothing, offering only a mournful glance in reply.
"I already understand that the boundaries of your roleplay game are exceptionally broad," Rose said, "but I will not accept such an overpowering stench where I live."
Igola was somewhat surprised. "I thought you were indifferent to everything."
"I'm indifferent to Yaxiu's requests, though even with Yaxiu, there are excessive demands I wouldn't accept," Rose said seriously. "Of course, I don't intend to disrupt your game. I'll buy the villa next door under Yaxiu's name and have Mr. Harvey move over there. Then no matter how foul or filthy he makes it, it won't matter to me."
Yaxiu and Igola felt their hearts leap at the suggestion.
They could hardly even remember what life had been like before Harvey. Yaxiu had it worst; the only period he had lived in cleanliness and comfort was his time in Shattered Lake Prison, and ever since, he had been accompanied by the stench of corpses. As for Igola, a neat-freak deceiver, his sense of smell had been battered into numbness—proof enough of the sheer destructive toll Harvey exacted on their little group.
If they could kick Harvey out, they wouldn't have to share a roof with corpses, wouldn't have to witness a 'Ghoul Feast' in the living room in the dead of night where cockroaches, bugs, and spiders devoured each other, and wouldn't have to listen to Harvey's corpse trivia while eating!
Damn it, they should have evicted this guy ages ago! Why did it take Rose's reminder for them to realize it?
"Deal!"
Yaxiu made a swift decision. "Once Harvey gets back, Igola, you do the talking!"
"Why me... fine," Igola said. "Everyone tramples over Harvey anyway, so what's one more kick from me? I'll do it!"
Right then, someone opened the front door and stepped inside. "I'm back."
It was none other than the heinous Archibald Harvey!
Seeing the necromancer returning with bags and packages in hand, Igola cleared his throat. "Harvey, we have something to tell you."
"Sure, just let me put these things away first," Harvey said. "While picking up surgical equipment, I passed by a supermarket and bought a lot of jelly and red wine on the way. They're the kinds you like, Igola."
Igola turned toward Yaxiu. Yaxiu drew a finger across his neck and mouthed, *Crush him, quickly.*
Just then, Harvey set a large bag beside the basement door. Igola asked, "What's that?"
"Air fresheners." Harvey knocked on the basement door. "I thought such a long corridor would keep the smell at bay, but it didn't work after all, so I bought a bunch of air fresheners. That should take care of it. Since we have such a nice place to stay, I should pay attention to hygiene. It's the least I can do."
Igola turned back to Yaxiu again. Yaxiu chopped his hand against his own neck, mouthing furiously, *Don't go soft on him! Crush that pest!*
"All right, what is it?" Harvey sat down on the armchair across from Igola and asked.
Igola measured his tone carefully. "Well, it's like this. We're planning to buy the villa next door as well..."
"Is it for the large bathhouse in the villa next door?" The dark-skinned man with curly hair pondered. "I know you don't like sharing a bath with us, Igola, but there's no need to buy an entire extra villa just for that. Besides, I gained a lot of inspiration from Tiramisu's rancor sorcery procedure, so I'll be working in the basement from now on. I won't use the villa's bath, so you can rest easy."
The necromancer let out a soft sigh. "During this angel hunt, I was practically useless. If I hadn't run into Tiramisu and Yejian, I would have died in there... But unlike a man bound for death like me, your lives hold far greater value, and people outside are waiting for your return."
"Die when it's time to die, but when it isn't, fight with everything you have to stay alive." Harvey looked at the two of them. "And in truth, I really am reluctant to die just like that. I still want to witness the rest of your life journeys."
"If only for your sakes, I must master our final necromancy troop type as soon as possible—the Blood Moon Corpse King."
The deceiver's mouth twitched, as if countless words were stuck in his throat.
Suddenly, he dragged Yaxiu forward. "Actually, Yaxiu is the one with something to say to you."
Yaxiu looked utterly helpless. Glancing around frantically, his eyes fell upon a black box at Harvey's feet. "What's that?"
"A freshly made 'Ghoul Feast,'" Harvey patted the black box. "I'm about to create a lot of family members, so naturally, I need to prepare dinner for them."
Yaxiu finally found an opening. "You used cockroaches and bugs to make a Ghoul Feast in the house again? Harvey, if you keep this up—"
"No, I made it in the sewers." Harvey looked at Rose. "Earlier, Rose mentioned an orphanage in Jiashi, so I made a point of setting up the sorcery procedure in the sewers over there. I stopped by to collect it on my way back today, which means there won't be any snakes, bugs, or rodents in the surrounding blocks anymore."
He shrugged. "After all, we Blood Moon folks are essentially all orphans."
Yaxiu opened his mouth, unable to utter a single syllable.
He yanked Rose in front of him. "Actually, Rose has something to say to you."
Rose looked at Yaxiu and Igola, then at the bewildered Harvey. A faint ripple finally stirred across her perpetually tranquil face. With a helpless sigh, she said, "We've ordered another batch of corpses for you."
"Really? That's wonderful!" Harvey beamed like an excited child. "I've never been this wealthy in my entire life!"
*Damn it! This necromancer is obnoxious thirty-one days a month, so why on earth does he have to be so endearing today?!*
Yaxiu scratched his head. "Let's get back to discussing last night's angel hunt. Harvey, do you have anything else to add?"
Harvey glanced at the whiteboard and shook his head. "Nothing, unless you want to learn the rancor sorcery procedure Tiramisu taught me."
"Which means that aside from Harvey, we came away from this frenzy completely empty-handed," Igola said in a low voice.
"Not necessarily..." Yaxiu offered a noncommittal response.
*Boom!*
The villa's front door was kicked wide open. Turning around, they saw a flame-haired young woman in a maid uniform striding in.
"You finally decided to come back, Weixi," Yaxiu said calmly. "I thought you'd vanished for good."
He frowned slightly. "Didn't I tell you that I don't like you having red hair too?"
"Of course I'd come back, my dear master," Weixi said, brimming with pride and high spirits. "If I didn't come back, how could I bring Master his reward?"
She walked over to Harvey and gave him a kick to signal him to move aside, then insolently dropped into the armchair, locking eyes with Yaxiu.
Yaxiu narrowed his eyes. "What reward?"
"The reward is—" Weixi slipped off her short boots, placed her feet on the coffee table, and rolled down her black stockings from her thighs, revealing smooth, dainty feet. "Master, you may choose to lick my feet right now, and perhaps I'll show you some mercy in the future."
Yaxiu was so exasperated he chuckled. "Did whatever spoils you snatched from the angel hunt allow you to break free from the Ruby Chains?"
"No," Weixi laughed. "But it's close enough."
"Because what I obtained is the key to supreme power—the Seventh Imaginary Wing!"
Chapter 845