TBR CH76

Chapter 76: Wish Granted (End)

The development of the Dark Church was as smooth as expected. It would be more accurate to say that Edwin had resolved all the factors that could have caused problems in advance. New churches appeared on this long-desired land. Regardless of race, age, or talent, one could choose to make an equivalent exchange here.

The god did not demand faith, nor did he set a limit on development, only requiring a 100% fair reward. A completely self-consistent system was in place to run this matter, and strongholds were established throughout the continent. And, as Great Archbishop Edwin said, one must always maintain respect and awe for the new god, because it was He who had brought new power to the world.

Tar’s footsteps echoed on the gleaming obsidian floor. The young demon stood under his own statue, carefully examining it. Before he could make any comment, the sound of flipping pages suddenly echoed in the empty temple.

A book with a hard black cover inexplicably appeared from the air. The clean white pages flipped rapidly. Tar casually grabbed the black book and happened to see the words on it: “The statue is carved very much like you, but at first glance, it still feels a little strange.”

“Of course,” the red of the demon’s eyes was as clear and rich as wine, something a statue could never replicate. “A statue is just a symbol. It is very similar to me, yet completely different, just as those who worship a god do not understand their god at all. Fortunately, people will no longer bow down to a piece of stone.”

“I heard the God of Light’s power has weakened a lot.” These large words appeared on the black book again.

“Oh, that’s what he deserves,” Tar tapped the pages with his finger carelessly. The black ink words trembled. The Dark God pretended not to notice its slightly aggrieved meaning. “You’re not going to tell me some nonsense about the balance of the world’s luck, are you? I haven’t even asked you how things are going on your side.”

The black book was the incarnation of the world’s consciousness. It naturally had to consider the balance of the world. Originally, in this world, the Dark God had strength but lacked the power of believers, just enough to contend with the God of Light. Light and dark had reached a balance. However, now, the power of Light was clearly weakening bit by bit, which obviously changed the situation.

However…

The black book still chose to keep quiet on this issue.

The situation had changed, but not necessarily for the worse. For example, as the God of Light’s brilliance gradually faded, many scattered lights lit up like stars on the continent, gradually connecting into a starlight that could sway and illuminate most places. These new lights miraculously relied on the power of darkness to be born. As they grew, the darkness also became more profound.

It was as if a piece of soil had been provided, on which both light and darkness could grow freely.

Even though all the power was still too weak at this moment, the world’s consciousness, for some reason, knew that if things continued this way, the seemingly precarious balance would exist in this world more stably than ever before.

The black book cleverly came up with an answer to convince itself to shut up on this issue, but it had to answer Tarksius’s next question: “In fact,” black ink flowed on the paper, like a hastily written defense, “I had already made all the preparations, and things did indeed develop this way. It basically went very smoothly—”

“It’s just that there was still an accident?” The world consciousness did not see the trace of mischief flowing in Tar’s deep red pupils, so it spoke for itself even more eagerly. “It’s not your or my problem. I also didn’t expect the system to be so deranged. It actually deprived the child of luck of all his luck in advance! So… so in the end, it was just a little bit short of completely eliminating it, but it was still that little bit short.”

At that time, it had clearly just looked like Noah had had a dream, but the system had taken this opportunity to completely abandon him. The system and the host were so estranged, even the black book had not expected it at all.

Noah prided himself on being smart, but in the end, he was outsmarted.

In retrospect, every decision he made after that was wrong. Every struggle dragged him into a deeper abyss. Even the priests sent by the God of Light without positioning props had come very close to finding him many times. He could not relax his nerves for a moment. It wouldn’t have been so bad originally, but the complete loss of his luck value made him lose his luck.

“What are you afraid of?” From this angle, the demon stood with his back to the statue behind him. The identical red pupils and the long black hair that made one feel danger, the world consciousness’s writing speed involuntarily slowed down. The ink dripped on the edge of the letters, blooming into water-drop-like marks. Then, the black book simply gave up and stopped writing, erasing all the words on the pages.

It wasn’t its fault, but, Tarksius was clearly very scary and troublesome—

The black book thought guiltily. At that time, it had confidently told the other party that as long as the Dark God took care of the God of Light’s side, the system would flee in panic, and the trap it had set up in advance would definitely solve all the problems completely. It had been worried that the Dark God would not cooperate, but Tarksius had completed the task very well, yet it was on its side that things had gone wrong.

Tar sighed softly, gently tapped the pages with his knuckles, and for the first time put down his sharp, thorn-like sarcasm and talked frankly with the world consciousness. He also hadn’t expected to scare the other party like this. “We are in a cooperative relationship. Actually, my previous attitude was also a problem,” not many people could resist the sight of a demon seriously apologizing, especially when being watched by those bright red eyes. “If it weren’t for you, perhaps I would have had to destroy myself in the end to stop that kind of sober sinking. I should say thank you. I believe your explanation. This was just an unexpected special situation. Overall, didn’t we still achieve victory? This cooperation wasn’t so bad either. If you need my help in the future—”

Tar’s fingers paused. He was surprised to feel a slight dampness on the pages. “You’re not crying, are you?”

The black book quickly held back the tears that were about to fall. Regret was suddenly replaced by the satisfaction of being recognized. What’s more, Tarksius’s recognition seemed particularly special after so many things.

It spun around twice. The black book itself was not aware that a book spinning in the air was actually quite an interesting sight. Finally, it awkwardly admitted, “I think you’re quite good too. Although a small part of the system’s consciousness still escaped, this world was a fruitless effort for it again. The system ultimately used all the luck value it had obtained to resist my attack in exchange for the chance to escape. Now those stolen luck values have also been returned. From now on, it will only become weaker, and it will be easier to find it.”

Tar curled his lips. “Sounds not bad.”

“You really,” the world consciousness couldn’t help but write so, “are very different from the original Dark God. You still have the temperament of a god now, and you also have the power of a god, but just… more alive?”

The black book itself wasn’t very sure of what it was saying, but Tar understood what it meant.

A smile spread in the black-haired, red-eyed god’s eyes. He looked towards the temple door, where light footsteps were heard. Edwin’s pace was always at this frequency, so familiar it was as if it were carved into his heart.

The god said so, “That’s because someone let me find my original self.”

The Great Archbishop of the Dark Church had a special schedule. According to the newly drafted church regulations, Edwin had to accompany the god on a tour of the continent every year, spending at least six months on this rather meaningful activity.

Now, Edwin had to fulfill his duties.

The Bishop wore a black robe. Since he had personally handled all the affairs of the new church, this robe was not much different from his past style. There were still many buttons, tightly covering most of the skin on his body. Edwin preferred this kind of attire, restrained and ascetic. He came back from the Holy See and skillfully walked to the front of that hidden courtyard.

The magical restrictions on the door had no resistance to his approach. He turned the handle downwards and walked into the courtyard.

“Good evening.”

“Good evening,” Tar’s eyes shone brightly under the honey-golden light. The demon put down a device similar to a searchlight that he was holding. Beside him, there was a large pile of similar things, scattered around him in a mess. A huge box was placed on the ground against his legs, already filled with all sorts of travel supplies.

Fortunately, they didn’t have to worry about where to put their luggage when they traveled. The box would automatically shrink, small enough to be hung on a keychain. The demon had wanted to spend a huge sum of money to buy such a magical item a thousand years ago. Now it seemed it was indeed very convenient.

“Clothes, bedding, toiletries, quill pens…” Edwin’s gaze moved further away. “Books, a tea set, and roses? Is that a wine rack, and on it is… the signature honey mead of ‘The Azure Mystery’?”

“Actually, there’s all kinds of wine,” Tar blinked. “Edwin, imagine this: on a lonely night, surrounded by a silent wilderness or a bottomless cave, everyone says there are werewolves or a deadly curse. Don’t you want to try a few more new and strange kinds of wine with me? Traveling and getting drunk go well together.”

“…Including barbecue?” Next to the wine rack was a small mountain of foil-wrapped barbecue, definitely steaming hot. In the magical item, all food could be kept just as it was when it was put in. The strong scent of rosemary mixed with grease slowly spread on the surface.

“Ah,” Tar said with a smile. “You can have barbecue when you drink. But there’s so much here because Adelaide just came here to pack together. Do you remember, our first stop is Dragon’s Ridge. He said he wanted to bring more specialties from the capital back to share with his clansmen, and by the way, apologize for his past behavior.”

“He’s still not gone?” Edwin shifted his gaze slightly to the next room. Through the thin door panel, the black dragon shivered in fright and couldn’t help but cover its tail again.

Under the Dark God’s instruction, Adelaide had dutifully served as Edwin’s practice tool until Edwin’s power had grown to the point where practicing on him was no longer of much use. The black dragon’s elders took back the forgiven Adelaide and healed most of his wounds. The dragon race’s healing skills were quite good.

He was now just short of his tail not having grown back properly. After all, his tail had been cut off by the enraged Dark God back then.

However, although the black dragon had been reflecting on himself, he showed the positive virtue of remembering the food but not the beatings. Adelaide probably didn’t have the option of holding a grudge in his brain. He still came to visit “his friend” Tarksius from time to time, the kind that knocked on the door properly. Five out of ten times he would be rejected, but there were always times he could get in.

Compared to Tarksius, the black dragon was actually more afraid of Edwin.

There was something harsh and impersonal about the Bishop. Most of the time when he looked at him, it was no different from looking at an object. Plus the few days he had been attacked as a practice tool, the black dragon had really suffered physical pain. Therefore, whenever Adelaide saw him, he would subconsciously want to hide. Sometimes when his brain didn’t catch up, he would couldn’t help but say “Don’t kill me.”

A rare hint of helplessness flashed in Edwin’s light gray eyes. He pretended not to notice the black dragon’s heavy breathing due to fear through the door, lowered his eyes and walked towards Tar. The demon had tied his pitch-black, silk-like long hair with a ruby hair tie today, which was convenient for packing things. This was one point. It was also convenient for making Edwin’s heart flutter.

The Bishop reached out his hand. His fingertips were pulled by Tar, and then his whole person half-voluntarily lost his balance.

He was surrounded by the rich scent of roses, a scorching temperature, a heart and another heart separated only by two thin layers of skin.

“It’s a little late today. Were you delayed by something?” Tar casually stroked Edwin’s hair. It had a soft touch, and still held a bit of the coolness of the night outside. The hug did not last long. They were leaving the next day, and both still had things to prepare. But even if it was just an instant hug, it was still very sweet.

“I discussed a business deal with the Dark Elf King, Ansel.” Edwin and the demon sat side by side on the edge of the bed. Their hands, due to their proximity, inexplicably became intertwined. Tar pried open their clasped ten fingers, then held them back one by one, just to find the most ambiguous posture. Edwin barely maintained his patience and talked about the day’s events.

Ansel was a smart dark elf, but he had a bit of the mental paranoia that leaders often suffer from. Edwin described him as somewhat like Prince Angelo, of course, a younger version.

Tar couldn’t help but laugh when he heard the Bishop’s description.

People all praised the beauty of elves. Dark elves also had beautiful appearances. Prince Angelo was already in his fifties when he died, but in Edwin’s eyes, the two were pretty much the same. And the royal family of the elf race had always had a high opinion of themselves, believing they possessed noble bloodlines and should have everything. This was indeed very much like Prince Angelo.

“He expressed some doubts about whether I, as a human, could be competent as the bishop of the Dark God,” Edwin said. In fact, dark creatures had wanted to believe in Tarksius for a long time, but unfortunately, the Dark God had not given them the chance at that time.

“And then?”

“And then I defeated him. The problem was solved.”

“Wow,” Tar commented. “Sounds not bad. I think I’m starting to like you more and more, Edwin.”

The Bishop pursed his lips. A flickering flame was faintly lit in his light gray pupils. Tar finally found a posture that perfectly fit their two palms together. He admired it for a short while and was about to let go, but Edwin instead grabbed his palm.

“Want to say ‘me too’?” Tar beat him to it, then smiled slyly. “You’ve said that before, so you have to say it differently.”

His light gray eyes were clearly not a damp mist, but the smoke and dust produced after a blazing fire was lit. Edwin’s gaze followed down from those jewel-like eyes. The demon’s neatly tied hair, his slightly curled lips, and their clasped hands. Further down, the demon wore patent leather boots, suspended in the air, swaying from time to time.

Edwin pursed his lips, feeling a little dry in his mouth.

He grabbed Tar’s hand, as if he had caught a precious butterfly that visited his dreams every night. The Bishop hesitated for a moment, and instead of choosing to raise his hand further, he bent down and kissed the back of the god’s hand.

This meant “I love you more and more too.”

Adelaide had long since quietly climbed out the window. The black dragon was not so bold as to dare to secretly listen to them. The two were sticky like this for a while, and then suddenly realized they still had things they hadn’t packed. But it wasn’t a big problem. The key to packing was how many things they could remember. Stuffing things into a huge, bottomless space was not difficult at all, and there was no need to even choose.

This item had also been useful when Edwin had defected.

After all, that room held too many various memories, and neither Tar nor Edwin wanted to leave a single one in the Church of Light. There had been a corpse and Tar hidden in the closet. A puzzle the demon had put together hung on the wall, and a cabinet of books. This was not a very moral act. These books had library cards attached, but they were also taken away by the Bishop for his own private use.

It was not until very late that the lights in the house went out.

Strangely, even after the lights went out, the human and the god in the house did not rest. Inside, the sweet scent of roses permeated every corner of Edwin’s body, as if a large bouquet of deep red flowers had bloomed on his body.

The easiest way to get to Dragon’s Ridge was to choose a suitable means of transportation.

The most suitable means of transportation was of course the black dragon Adelaide, who could carry people steadily on his flight by spreading his wings.

Adelaide had no complaints about this arrangement. He was now immersed in the joy of receiving a new piece of news. The elder of the black dragon race had returned to the dragon tribe in advance, and then, under the guidance of the remnant consciousness of the dragon ancestor, had inspected the contract status on Adelaide. Strangely, the citrine that had originally proven Adelaide and Noah were eternal partners had silently shattered into a pile of powder in the main hall.

That is to say, Adelaide didn’t have to be single for the rest of his life.

This was probably because when Noah had first sworn the contract, he had been worried that his feelings would definitely not meet the contract’s standards, so he had secretly tampered with the ceremony. In other words, with his death, the sleight of hand had also completely disappeared. A contract that had never been established naturally no longer served as a shackle.

When the black dragon learned this news, he almost cried with joy. Tarksius had to knock him on the head twice, otherwise, with his happy and unrestrained flying posture, although neither of them would be shaken off, sitting on his back was simply like riding a madly galloping magical beast.

“I’m so happy, Tarksius,” until they reached their destination, the black dragon landed on the familiar ridge, and tucked in his wide wings, he was still immersed in the afterglow of this good news, and couldn’t help but let out a dragon’s roar. The Dark God raised his eyes with a look of disdain, motioning for Adelaide to go wherever he should go.

Of course, the dragon race had warmly invited them to go to the dragon’s habitat with Adelaide, but Tar still planned to stay at Dragon’s Ridge for one night first. What’s more, it was said that there would be a rare meteor shower tonight.

Edwin stood under the azure sky. The air here was cold, as if there were ice chips, but in the biting cold, there was also a hint of pungent sweetness. He had never left the capital, let alone come to such a faraway place. Under the dragon’s wings, people and animals, houses and towns flew by at high speed, shrinking to a tiny dot in his pupils.

In a place higher than everything else.

In a place farther than he had imagined.

He stood on such a land, and Tar stood before him. The dragon had already flapped its wings and flown towards its homeland, a small mountain of “specialties” still piled on its wings. Now, in an instant, this world magically unfolded before him. There was no boundary between heaven and earth. It stretched out vast to both ends. He stood on such a land.

This land was not much different from the land of the capital. It could grow plants, could be stepped on. The only difference was the amount of certain components. Perhaps a botanist could explain it.

But people were bound by these lands with subtle differences.

Humans had human lands, demons had demon lands. A priest had his corner of land. And a child born of a human and a demon had his land for this life marked out long ago. He was held back, blocked by countless obstacles, and thought by everyone to be impossible to walk out of. But let’s see. Things would not be as fate had written.

Edwin suddenly understood why Tar was a born traveler. His fate also seemed to have been written long ago, so he constantly fled, walking to farther places, trying to be an enemy of fate. How beautiful this world was, yet there was no home for him.

They were originally similar people. It’s just that Edwin had met Tar, and when the young demon was wrapped up by fate and pushed to the edge of a steep cliff, and reached out to hold onto the cliff’s edge, he had not waited for anyone to pull him up.

Tar suddenly felt Edwin reach out and grab him.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” the demon smiled. “When I was just locked in the bottle, I always thought about where I wanted to go again after breaking the bottle. Every place I remembered could help me get through a long period of time, although in the end, these times were also insignificant. But Dragon’s Ridge was one of the places that supported me for the longest.”

Tar mentioned that past lightly. The Bishop listened to him with the most focused state, his light gray eyes looking at him without blinking, his heart aching beyond measure. Any ordinary person, after being locked up in a certain place, would most want to go back to his home. But for Tar, there was no place that meant home.

“Just thinking about it,” Tar said, “makes me feel free. This is such a magical place, because it’s far enough away, on the edge of the continent, and yet strangely like a symbiosis of desolation and prosperity. On that side of the ridge is the dragon’s homeland, and on the other side is a small human settlement, but they are very welcoming to travelers and immigrants. Standing here, you can’t see any living creatures on either side. It’s too high here.”

Tar comfortingly rubbed the palm of Edwin’s hand with his knuckles.

“Don’t worry,” his smile was like the most intoxicating wine, making one willing to do anything for him. “I always thought it was because I didn’t want people to find me that I missed this place. But actually, I’ve only just realized now that what I wanted was someone who could find me even if I was here.”

“It’s getting dark,” Edwin always became a tongue-tied human in front of Tar. He took a moment to find his voice. “I mean, I’m very willing, really willing.”

They rummaged through their luggage on the top of the mountain, set up a huge tent, and lit a bonfire. The orange-yellow flames licked at each other’s eyes. Tar used a found branch to pierce a piece of barbecue and heated it over the fire. Soon, the snow and ice under their feet melted, revealing the black frozen soil, wet and reflective.

Until Tar suddenly called out, “Hey, Edwin, the meteors are here.”

Just as Tar had once described to him, the stars came like snowballs, rolling down from the distant sky. But the mountain peak they were on was so close to the end of the sky, so these white stars were practically scraping the low sky as they drew beautiful parabolas, touchable with a stretch of the hand.

The destination of all the stars was the dragon race’s Starfall Lake.

And on that lake, black dragons were circling and dancing at this time. Tar took a careful look and suddenly burst out laughing. “Originally, only the dragon’s coming-of-age ceremony was held on Starfall Lake—I guess the dragon elders specially prepared this performance for us tonight. It’s just a pity for Adelaide…”

He had told him that this performance carried the significant risk of being hit on the head by a meteor throughout.

And, this performance did not attract too much attention. Soon, their attention was no longer on the distant lake, but on each other’s eyes, which were right in front of them. The god reached out and easily caught a snowball-like meteor. It was cold to the touch, and then began to get scorching hot, but this kind of damage was not enough to shake a god.

“Edwin,” Tar said lightly, “it is said that if you make a wish to a meteor, the meteor will take away your wish and realize it. But I don’t really trust meteors. You can make a wish to the star in my hand now, and I will realize it.”

Edwin hesitated for a moment, then took advantage of a loophole. “I want you to make a request to me that you hope I will fulfill.”

The Bishop wanted to fulfill Tar’s wish, with all his might, any one. And he had already received enough, more than all the wishes he had ever made in his life. Such luck had befallen him, and had never left.

“That’s cheating,” Tar leaned over and pressed his shoulder, his breath warm and moist against the side of his neck. “Right now, what do you want?”

“Then kiss me,” Edwin said without blinking, quickly making this wish.

“I’ve also heard that lovers who kiss under a meteor will be together forever—” The demon smiled and kissed up Edwin’s pale neck, until his skin flushed a petal-like light red. “By the way, I don’t really believe meteors have this kind of magic, so this rule will also have to be realized by me.”

Neither humans nor demons believed in fate.

And it was precisely because of this that they could always get what they wished for.

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