Truth be told, I really hate sunlight, because it is so warm that I can't tell whether it's a dream.
Igola opened his eyes from his wheelchair. Flecks of radiant light dotted his eyelashes, casting a dreamy, enchanting filter over everything before him.
He saw Yaxiu embracing two young women, and beside them was even the phantom of a maiden holding a silver lantern. Even though their surroundings were a battlefield of crumbling ruins and broken walls, they looked as if they were sitting on lush green grass beside a lake, bathed in the greatest blessings of the world. The forest blew a gentle breeze their way, the mirror-like lake reflected their fleeting moment, and even time itself turned tender toward them, stretching this instant out as long as possible so that every beautiful story would have time to catch up with them.
He raised both hands, pressing his index fingers and thumbs together into a rectangular frame that captured them within it, as if trying to preserve the scene in his memory forever.
The red-haired girl was naturally the Sword Princess whom Yaxiu had spoken of countless times; the black-haired girl was naturally Diya, the Yisu Empress; and the maiden's phantom was likely the resurrected Silver Lantern. These were the companions who haunted his dreams, the lovers he had spared no effort to see.
Though he had no idea how Silver Lantern had turned from a god back into a human, Igola wasn't surprised in the slightest. The moment Yaxiu swore to return to Dark Senluo, Igola knew that even a god couldn't escape the scumbag's clutches. If he didn't already know for certain that this world had no male veelas, he would have genuinely wanted to test Yaxiu's lineage.
Igola glanced at the vast, boundless sky. Without needing anyone to explain, he could deduce the truth behind the shattering of the Starry Sky canopy on his own.
The very first shattering of the starry sky in the Nation of Stars was likely the splendid rebellion launched by the Sword Princess and the others against the Kingdom of Stars. The fundamental reason they were ultimately able to leave Ruby Mountain was that the starry sky on Fanxing's side had been shattered, causing the canopy that sealed the interior and exterior of Ruby Mountain to collapse along with it.
A bunch of lunatics, all of them. On Yaxiu's side, he had used his own Soul Kingdom of Heaven to batter the cage meticulously set up by a Divine Lord, while on the Sword Princess's side, they had challenged a divine miracle that had shrouded the earth for a millennium with their mortal bodies—and the reason behind it all was merely that a Divine Lord had separated them.
How amusing. The Divine Lords' plans fell short at the final hurdle merely because they stood in the way of a romance—or rather, several romances.
One wondered if the Divine Lord of Stars now regretted ever provoking Yaxiu.
Even though reuniting required overcoming so many hardships, and even though reuniting would only bring more trouble, it seemed they feared never seeing each other again in this lifetime far more.
However, this also meant that Yaxiu was about to face the greatest challenge of his life.
Before, it was at least a long-distance relationship, where conflicts could be buffered. But now that they were all gathered in one place, Igola was genuinely curious how he could possibly reconcile the conflicts between his lovers.
The possibility of lovers getting along in harmony was a fantasy that only Yaxiu could harbor.
He never bothered to think about what kind of women he had gotten involved with. As his therapist, Igola's understanding of the Sword Princess and the others was even more accurate than Yaxiu's own. Setting aside the Sword Princess, Diya—who seemed frail and meek—was by no means an easy target.
Entangled in the thick of it, Yaxiu was blind to it all. But watching from afar, Igola acutely realized that Diya's repeated displays of weakness—saying things like 'I only hope we can all be together' and 'I'm willing to share your love with the Sword Princess'—were actually subtle manipulations of fanning the flames under the guise of yielding.
Diya knew she couldn't compete head-on with the Sword Princess; in an outright clash, she had no chance of winning. But taking a step back not only won Yaxiu's pity, it also left the Sword Princess as the sole spoiler of unity.
Furthermore, Diya knew full well that the Sword Princess could never accept such a compromise. If the Sword Princess stubbornly persisted, it might wear away at Yaxiu's feelings, ensuring that Diya would emerge as the ultimate victor in the end.
And the newly added Silver Lantern was an even heavier heavyweight. As a woman whose resolve was so unyielding that she wouldn't waver even under the guilt of destroying the world, the probability that she would meekly wash her hands to cook soup, never vying for favor and never engaging in infighting, was infinitely close to zero.
If Igola had to give his honest opinion, the women who were truly suited for Yaxiu were actually types like Rose, Feili, and Niya.
Strange as it sounded, a man like Yaxiu—a walking emotional dumping ground—was truly a devastating scourge to good girls. Even if Feili and the others felt wronged, they would still accept the fact that Yaxiu's heart was shattered into countless pieces. Those who are favored always act without fear.
Their reunion this time was not the end of disaster, nor was it necessarily the beginning of happiness.
A battlefield beneath the embroidered canopy, tormenting each other for eternity.
Though Igola was curious about how Yaxiu would end up, the fate that bound them together had run its course.
His sorcery spirits activated soundlessly. Absorbed in the sight of the true sky, the Four Pillar Cultists took no notice.
Igola rose from his wheelchair. The deceiver walked over to the necromancer and asked, "You felt the issue with your imaginary wings too, didn't you?"
"Yeah." Harvey pushed open the coffin that had carried him. Seeing the corpse sleeping inside, a smile immediately spread across his face. "Long time no see, Alice."
"You think she can help you?"
"No," Harvey said, slinging the coffin onto his back. "But I don't create family out of a desire for repayment. In the legends of necromancers, every time we create an undead, another family member waits for us on the other side of the veil of death. That is the origin of the term 'family.' For now, I take care of Alice, but in the future, Alice will take care of me. By staying with family, I receive family's protection."
"Having undead waiting for you in Hell—doesn't that sound more like a curse?"
"If you view death as a parting, then yes, indeed," Harvey said. "But in the worldview of a necromancer, death is merely a journey we must eventually embark upon. Just like growing up, it isn't a farewell to the past; it's just that we walk different paths in the future."
"Those who can accompany us up to the present may not necessarily accompany us into the future. My only regret is that none of you died; otherwise, you could have become my family in the future too."
Igola laughed. "Walking this journey with you to the end has pushed me to my limit. Spare me after death and set me free, please."
"Still, family..." He shoved his hands into his pockets and tilted his head back, feeling the sunlight caress his sculpted, handsome face. "What a noun completely alien to people of the Blood Moon. To think a necromancer would actually crave such a thing. We mind sorcerers only want wealth and power, reveling in the joy of trampling on others' dignity. The only thing we cherish is ourselves; everyone else is an enemy."
"That's because you've never felt the embrace of the dead," the dark-skinned, curly-haired man said. "Even in a coffin, sleeping alone feels very empty. As long as you have experienced warmth, even if it's cold, our free will will still crave the same thing."
"I certainly wouldn't."
"Is that so? Yet during our travels, you could sleep soundly even on a motor train." Harvey smiled. "I still remember Yaxiu once complaining that you could be found hiding anywhere except in bed."
"As long as family is by your side, you can sleep soundly even in a coffin."
He added, "When we're no longer by your side in the future, make sure you get good rest too."
Igola was both amused and exasperated, never expecting he would stoop to being looked after by Harvey. He arched an eyebrow and shot him a sideways glance. A female Four Pillar Cult sorcerer nearby caught the breathtaking charm in his gaze and stared blankly, mesmerized. Fortunately, under the influence of his sorcery spirits, she overlooked them, though she had no idea why her heart was pounding so wildly.
"Let's go."
"Not going to say goodbye?"
"If we say goodbye, we won't be able to leave."
Igola and Harvey left soundlessly. Yaxiu was completely unaware, for they never intended to let him know in the first place.
During their journey through the Stars, they had already privately reached a consensus: they would undergo the demigod promotion ceremony on their own.
If the demigod promotion ceremony were a test of raw strength or the like, they might have sought Yaxiu's help. But the ceremony tested a sorcerer's talent, willpower, and knowledge—and even if you beat their heads to a pulp, they would never admit Yaxiu was superior to them in those areas.
Igola and Harvey still harbored pride in their hearts. Since the trials of Hell were unavoidable, they would attain the rank of demigod with heads held high!
More importantly, Igola had privately asked Weixi whether it was possible to receive help in the demigod promotion ceremony. Weixi had answered that if it was dealing with the sneak-thieving ghouls in Hell, any Divine Lord could help; but if someone directly intervened in the promotion ceremony to help shoulder and share the burden... the pressure of Hell, it could only be another legendary sorcerer eligible to undergo the promotion.
"Yet almost no one does that," Weixi had said. "The Void Realm never allows sorcerers to take advantage of loopholes. The more people who promote to demigod together, the difficulty of the promotion scales exponentially with their numbers. In the thousands of years I've lived, there has never been a single successful case of a joint promotion. On the other hand, there are plenty of examples where enemies broke in during a promotion, resulting in everyone dying together."
With the Soul Kingdom of Heaven in Yaxiu's possession, virtually no sorcerer throughout history had a lower difficulty of promotion than him. But if he were to help Igola and Harvey, things would be entirely different.
With the trials of Hell multiplying exponentially, let alone helping them, even Yaxiu himself might barely be able to survive.
Igola and Harvey weren't refusing to ask for Yaxiu's help out of mere pride; rather, if Yaxiu insisted on helping, the situation they faced would likely become far worse.
They were willing to bet their lives on Yaxiu, but they preferred even more to seize their own destiny! Not every road could be walked in company; sometimes, it was better to walk alone.
They were not without chances of success. In the Angel Hunt, they had obtained multiple seventh feathers, and in the Dream Treasury, they had also acquired numerous inheritances to bolster their soul foundation.
More importantly, on their final journey through the Stars, they had taken part in the Demon War—a conflict monumental enough to be recorded in history—and had naturally stepped into the legendary realm.
Legendary was an ethereal realm of sorcery, for the term was never meant to describe purity like Silver or Gold, nor did it define an outcome like Sanctuary. It was used to encapsulate a life.
Only when a sorcerer lived a legendary life by means of sorcery could they possibly step into the legendary realm. And a so-called legendary life meant daring to change the world. Yet changing the world inevitably meant defying the old, entrenched forces—such as nations, such as systems, such as Divine Lords!
Therefore, Igola had no right to criticize the Sword Princess. Every sorcerer who could become a legend was a reckless fanatic knowing no reverence—including him!
They had fought side by side with demons and wrecked the arrangements of Divine Lords; even supreme existences had been their enemies. How could they fear a mere trial of Hell?
If they conquered Hell, it was only natural; if their lives came to an abrupt halt, they would harbor no regrets!
Beyond that...
Igola stepped over the rubble and cast one last glance at the figures on the stage.
If Yaxiu were still alone, they might have stayed—at worst, dying together. But since Yaxiu had found the haven he had always longed for, there was no need for them to remain.
If they succeeded, then there would be a time for reunion in Hell; if they failed, they could slip away without making a sound. Yaxiu had already lost so much; they were better suited to be forgotten.
"Ah, he still seems to owe me a wish."
"Right, and I owe him a pair of coffins as a wedding gift. Why don't we—"
"Forget it... Harvey, forget it. Spare them. Let's go."
Chapter 998