If a person is doomed to die, should you tell her the news, or keep it from her?
Before, Yaxiu had thought like Vichy and the others—that there was "no need to tell," just as no one minded whether a shadow was absent on an overcast day. But the deeper his interactions with Feili and Rose became, the more that thought tormented him.
He had countless reasons to absolve himself. After all, none of this was his doing; the Divine Lord of Stars had created All Stars on a whim, and would soon destroy All Stars on a whim as well.
A single thought from a God fell like a mountain upon everyone's shoulders.
Besides, for the past 1,668 years, the Country of All Stars had remained safe and sound. It just so happened that this year, the Prime Angel had finally been locked into this cage, setting the gears of destiny in motion.
One generation was bound to be unlucky, and it just happened to be this one.
Yaxiu was merely an accidental witness to the tragedy's close, like an observer gazing upon the end. None of it had anything to do with him. He could have remained as calm as still water. Just like the more than one million mortals in Canaan City who had perished in the dragon's belly, he had felt nothing at the time; he had even faintly felt that the Divine Lord of Stars was quite protective of her people, deliberately creating an illusory Country of All Stars to bear the disaster.
Yet after spending a month in Jiashe, this comforting thought had gradually fermented into a poison that ate at his heart.
It wasn't just Rose and Feili. It was everyone he met—fans who admired Heath, corporate drones working hard to get by, mothers taking their children to the aquarium... If playing a game meant pursuing "realism," Yaxiu had actually been hoping for All Stars to show some "falseness," so that he could truly treat this world as nothing more than a game, a fleeting illusion.
Yet the Country of All Stars had no sun, and so the shadows had never discovered their own unreality.
"You really are the softest legendary sorcerer I've ever seen." Vichy tapped the glass wall. Inside, a shark glanced at her and hurried away. "Actually feeling sad over the fate of phantoms."
"You win. Not a small win, not a moderate win, but a massive victory. Happy now?" Yaxiu didn't linger, walking straight toward the next pavilion.
Vichy quickly kept pace, pressing her advantage. "You should understand that you are utterly powerless, right? Unless the Angel Hunt lasts an entire lifetime, in which case All Stars could indeed carry on existing, but then you'd never be able to leave."
"I know."
"Conversely, the harder you strive to return to reality, the harder you work to bury this world. We outsiders are naturally opposed to it. You don't even have a reason to help them. They are nothing more than a bunch of shadows that never existed, while their real bodies are safe and sound back in the Stars."
"I understand."
"You..." The more Vichy spoke, the more enthusiastic she became. Soon, however, she noticed that although Yaxiu looked low and dejected, there was also a faint trace of relief on his face. She immediately caught on. "Are you using me to relieve your mental burden!?"
Vichy's words were like tearing the scabs from a wound. While they deepened the pain each time, they also forced Yaxiu to confront the wound itself. Especially when the criticism came from Vichy, the person he disliked the most, Yaxiu could no longer evade it and was forced to accept the arrangements of fate.
Yaxiu countered, "Didn't you enjoy venting your mouth off, though?"
"I would never let you take advantage of me just for my own enjoyment, Master," Vichy said. "Let's get back to Feili. That little lamb seems to pierce your heart the deepest—or is it that you just don't want to hurt yourself, and that's why you refuse to accept Feili's love?"
"If we're talking about reasons, there are far too many," Yaxiu said. "She knows I like the Sword Princess and the Witch, and she knows I've always wanted to go back and reunite with them. What normal woman could ever accept having the person she likes hold someone else in his heart—and more than one, at that?"
"From the very beginning, it was impossible for me to give her the love she wants. Even if I truly accepted her, I would only be hurting her."
"...So you do understand after all. I took you for the type who comfortably indulged in building a harem..." Vichy remarked. "Though, if you're willing to let me join, I wouldn't mind helping you mediate between the Sword Princess and the Witch to make them serve you obediently. Of course, not over these few days—I still can't bring myself to endure that."
"Besides," Yaxiu ignored Vichy's rubbish entirely, "I don't think Feili actually likes me."
Vichy pondered. "Though you might not see it, every single day this month that Feili came to see you, she wore matching lingerie. Even back in my era, the hidden meaning behind such an act was blindingly obvious."
"What I mean is, the one she likes is Yaxiu Heath. But I'm just Yaxiu."
"Are you sure you really want to debate metaphysical philosophy with a soul demigod?"
Yaxiu explained, "Yaxiu Heath is a prodigiously talented creator, a wealthy young businessman, and a high-society figure with extensive connections. Whomever he wants to make famous gets made famous; whomever he wants to make successful can skip decades of struggling."
Understanding dawned on Vichy. "You think Feili is only in love with your money? Just as I was coerced by your enslavement, you think she's merely been charmed by wealth and power, forcing herself to flatter a devil like you?"
"...It's not to that extreme, but her understanding of me is definitely distorted. Heath's halo of success might have given her the wrong idea. That's why I think that once she realizes who I really am, she'll quickly lose interest. After all, how many loves truly last forever?"
"Makes sense." Vichy nodded. "Any woman who knows your true colors and still likes you must be out of her mind."
Yaxiu kicked Vichy from behind right on her backside and snorted. "Who are you calling crazy!"
Vichy rubbed her rear, her lips twitching faintly as if muttering an Eternal Twilight elven curse.
"And then? Have you done anything to scare her off?"
"I donated ninety percent of my personal wealth, keeping only ten percent to sponsor the police department and hire underground assassins. Although the company is still around, I've handed full authority over to Rose. The profits are being invested into sunset industries, drastically shrinking the assets," Yaxiu said. "While I won't go hungry, it's certainly far from luxurious wealth."
"Not bad. Anything else?"
"Not much else..."
"You stay home all day without studying or training, spending your time watching shows and playing video games, only going out occasionally to hunt for food—wasn't that intentional?"
"...No."
"Wow." Vichy offered a remarkably tactful response: "I'm really growing more and more curious about what kind of people the Sword Princess and the Witch are."
Yaxiu said, "People you can't compare to in any way."
"Well, at least in soul, prophecy, and taste, I should be a cut above," Vichy said. "Still, now that you've shown your true colors, why does Feili seem to be growing even closer to you? Could it be that she simply, purely likes you?"
"Besides, you reeled off so many reasons just now, yet you overlooked the most important one—do you like Feili?"
Yaxiu: "Only as a friend."
Vichy: "Then do you think you can truly be friends with someone who genuinely likes you?"
Yaxiu gave no answer and quickened his pace out of the aquarium. Vichy caught up and walked alongside him, then kicked Yaxiu's backside from behind.
Yaxiu pursed his lips and glared at her. Vichy didn't fear him in the slightest, grabbing his arm and teasing, "Master, answer me. Master, say something. Master, can you really treat Feili as just a friend? Master—"
Plip.
When the first drop of golden rain struck Vichy's face, both Yaxiu and Vichy froze.
Soon, a gentle golden wind and rain descended. At the same time, sensing the tremors of sorcery power, sorcerers throughout the city turned their gazes toward the city center in unison.
A colossal white bull materialized within the golden storm at the heart of the city. Though it was already immense, to the sorcerers it felt far too gaunt—so thin that its entire form could be taken in at a glance. And though not a single wound was visible on its body, it gave everyone the distinct impression that it was battered and covered in scars.
It didn't move. It simply raised its iridescent tail and swung it in a forceful circle. Tiny specks of color cast from the rainbow tail fell with immaculate precision before every person, transforming into an empty golden holy grail.
Amidst a tremor of sorcery power inaudible to mortal ears, the white bull slowly dissolved. Yet Yaxiu could not shake the feeling that it had deliberately turned its head to look straight at him, reminding the cult leader of that Golden Fish that had uniquely targeted him before.
Damn it, was the representative of the Four Pillar Gods sitting right at the very bottom of the discrimination ladder here?
However, even though the white bull vanished, the golden rain did not end.
Before everyone—including Yaxiu and Vichy—hovered a floating golden holy grail.
The holy grails were completely empty. Yet as the golden raindrops slid down their inner walls, they swiftly transformed into a rainbow nectar.
In that instant, the sorcery spirits within their bodies grew restless, roaring and urging them to drink the rainbow nectar down immediately. But the two of them looked up at the sky. At this moment, the night over Jiashe was dyed as bright as day by the golden rain.
The second Angel Hunt had begun without warning.
Unlike the first, there was no need for them to fight over the reward; it had been delivered into their hands in advance.
All they had to do was wait for the holy grails to fill with rainbow nectar.
Only, could such a good thing truly exist?
Right then, they saw pillars of light erupt across various parts of Jiashe: red, orange, green, cyan, blue, and purple. Blocked by buildings, Yaxiu and Vichy couldn't tell where the distant pillars of light had appeared. They could only recognize the closest green pillar, which seemed to rise from the forest park.
"What is that?" It was the first time Vichy had ever exposed her ignorance.
It was hardly surprising; back in her era, such things had not yet appeared on the Time Continent.
"If I'm not mistaken, those should be the most common creatures on the Time Continent..."
Yaxiu murmured, "The Six Nations Legions!"
Chapter 865