TBR CH44

Chapter 44: Waking from a Midnight Dream

Edwin basically returned to the Holy See under the cover of night.

The guards at the gate respectfully pulled open the heavy, silver-gray great gates for him. His bishop’s robe was tinged with the chill of the night dew.

Tar followed behind him, his face covered tightly. The guard only caught a glimpse of their backs.

The Bishop was not so bold as to allow a demon to show his face in the Holy See of the capital. Once they reached a secluded place, Tar slipped into the deep shadows in the corner of the wall.

If not for the moonlight always casting its silvery-white brilliance upon the world, the demon’s range of activity might have been larger.

It was not until the door was unlocked that Tar silently appeared in Edwin’s room.

What he saw was a little surprising: the room was now clean, with no corpse, no bloodstains. The carpet had been replaced, the color a compromise between the garnet red suggested by the demon and the bishop’s original dark red, closer to the red of a rose.

Speaking of roses… the roses Tar had plucked in the morning had not been disposed of.

Perhaps the person he had entrusted thought it natural that roses would not be associated with a bloody murder. The Bishop’s desk remained as it was, the quill pen placed to one side, the ink on its tip already dried.

I might have to buy another pen holder, Edwin thought.

Tar, however, was marveling at the changes in the room. The demon’s exquisite leather boots stepped on the rose-colored carpet. He curiously pulled open the wardrobe to inspect its contents. Even the cabinet had been meticulously tidied and sprayed with perfume, the scent making one’s nose itch.

Truly remarkable.

Tar asked with a hint of joking, “Bishop, have you tamed some magical house-elf?”

Of course not. It was the people he could still use.

Edwin had managed his connections for many years. Many people survived under his protection, people who would absolutely not betray him at this stage.

While using the power of these people, Edwin had also carefully maintained a distance. For example, a weakness like summoning a demon, he could not confide in anyone.

If he were to lose power one day, anything could happen.

But at least for now, they were still wary of the price of betrayal. And some of them were quite useful.

Tar was currently rummaging through Edwin’s pile of books, but unexpectedly saw a very familiar book.

The demon smiled nonchalantly, casually picked up the large book with a black cover, and waved it at the Bishop. “Have you seen this book before?”

The Bishop squinted, feeling it was a little unfamiliar, and motioned for Tar to bring it over for him to see.

Stroking the thick black spine gave one the strange feeling that the book was “alive.” When opened, however, the book was empty, consisting of countless blank pages.

“No,” he said. “Throw it away. It might not be safe.”

He had no extra energy at this moment to study a wordless book. Tar, however, curled his lips, his smile growing sweeter. Edwin heard him seem to whisper something to the black book.

If he had not misheard—”Hey, the Great Archbishop said to throw you away. I think that’s a great idea…”

The black book, as if it had a mind of its own, actively twisted its spine, then inexplicably began to flip its pages. Although there was no wind, it still spread its pure white pages before the demon’s eyes.

Edwin walked over, still seeing nothing.

But at this point, he was sure this was probably one of the demon’s tricks.

Since it was Tar’s thing, Edwin didn’t care much. The soul contract prevented them from acting, directly or indirectly, with the purpose of harming each other. He was not worried that this book might hide some enemy’s conspiracy.

Then, at this time, he should still…

Edwin’s actions stagnated for a moment. He wanted to sigh deep in his heart.

This was the second night. Forgive him for still not being able to get used to it. But he had been sleepless the previous night. It was now curfew time, and the continuous operation of the past two days had already made him very tired.

This problem, which he could temporarily avoid talking about yesterday, now resurfaced as an issue.

“I’m going to sleep.”

Edwin’s gray eyes turned to the demon. The other was currently poking at the pages of the black book. Hearing this, he looked up at him with a puzzled expression. “Okay…? I won’t make any more noise.”

It sounded uncertain. Edwin himself also felt the act of reporting was a bit foolish. But what he was worried about was not being disturbed. Edwin lowered his eyes and thought for a moment, then pulled down the deep purple curtains by the bed.

Indeed, it was not so easy to explain.

The lights in the room flickered for a moment, then went out. But this did not affect the demon’s vision.

He looked down at the black book. It was filled with the words the World Consciousness had accumulated over the day and wanted to say to him.

The Dark God created a small-scale isolation formation around him. The sounds from outside the formation could still be transmitted inside, but the sounds from inside would not leak out at all.

Tarksius let out a sigh, but it was accompanied by a low and dangerous smile. He lamented, “You’re a little late.”

…Why was the first thing he said a criticism?

The pages of the World Consciousness flipped with a rustle. It was a little dissatisfied, but had to admit that the Dark God’s plan was a success.

Lines of ink appeared on the pages: “You did very well today. The system has temporarily stabilized. Next, I will conduct further observation and reading of it. In this process, you may have the opportunity to meet the other conquest targets of the Child of Luck and expose his true face.”

The demon, however, rolled his pupils. In the almost lightless room, his eyes, like glass, refracted a barely perceptible, cruel luster.

The World Consciousness had a bad feeling—”I don’t think… I’ve agreed to help you yet.”

Feeling the black book in his hand exhibit a “stiff” state with its inorganic medium, the mischievous demon was obviously very satisfied with the effect of his words. “But besides sending the Child of Luck and the system you mentioned to their deaths, I don’t have any other wishes for now. Hmm, since I’m already here, I might as well give it a try.”

The black book performed an on-the-spot resurrection.

It seemed very excited, as if it couldn’t believe that Tarksius had agreed to help it without proposing any deal. And the other party saw its meaning and sneered, “I can’t guarantee the effect, nor can I guarantee whether I will kill the Holy Son and his group of foolish conquest targets.”

Foolish conquest targets—The black book subconsciously thought of the dragon Adelaide. No, no, that’s not important. The Dark God means he won’t be so dedicated to doing this, since there’s no strong cooperative relationship between them.

That would be fine too.

The World Consciousness deflated a little, but this was already much better than it had imagined.

It was just about to discuss some subsequent miscellaneous matters with the Dark God when it saw him make a shushing gesture, his slender fingers pressed against his lips, while his other hand just gently waved, and the formation he had just drawn with divine power disappeared without a trace.

…What?

For a moment, the room fell silent.

Then it also heard it. From under the deep purple velvet curtains came the pained and terrified gasps.

The curtains were thick and soft, making no sound when pulled aside. Tar stood by the bed, his eyes lowered, looking at Edwin who was showing a struggling expression in his sleep.

The Bishop had taken a long time to fall asleep. He had been prepared to toss and turn all night, but he was still too tired.

Through the gap in the bed curtains, he had vaguely seen Tar just sitting there, not moving at all. This had given Edwin a hint of reassurance, and had also caused him to finally be torn into a drowsy dream by heavy fatigue.

A drowsy… uneasy, painful, terrifying dream.

The nightmare that had troubled him day and night finally arrived as scheduled, making it impossible for him to break free.

When the Bishop was awakened, he obviously still didn’t quite understand the situation. He blinked slowly and confusedly, his palm subconsciously rising to cover his left chest, where his heart was.

In the bloody dream just now, the flesh here had been torn off, revealing only the snow-white ribs.

He had desperately wanted to wake up, but had almost never succeeded. It was the same this time. That beating heart was as if it were being treated like garbage, crushed once again by the terrifying existence conjured up in the dream.

No, perhaps not this time.

Just a little bit more, and the twisted dream would have crushed his consciousness again.

Then he was awakened from the nightmare. His gray eyes lost focus for a moment, revealing a hazy and fragile side.

It took Edwin a short while to realize he was no longer in the dream. His face was soaked with sweat, exceptionally pale in the darkness. His dark curls were damply sticking to his neck.

After another short while, his uneasy aura gradually calmed down, and only then did he clearly see the pair of beautiful pomegranate-red eyes before him.

It was Tar.

His chaotic thoughts finally began to operate slowly. The fortune of escape and an even deeper fatigue swept over his whole body.

Edwin embarrassedly raised his hand to cover his eyes. He was obviously still not fully awake, in a hurry to hide his vulnerability, but too late to think that he was instead revealing his vulnerability even more.

He had thought of this possibility before going to sleep today. He had been troubled by nightmares ever since he could remember, and he guessed that when he was in pain in his dreams, he would probably have corresponding manifestations in reality.

It didn’t matter before, since he had always lived alone, but this time was different. He should have been prepared.

The Bishop took a deep breath, and his deep gray pupils returned to calm. If it weren’t for Tar, he would have continued to struggle in the nightmare, still enduring pain. So—”…Thank you.”

Although it would be harder to fall asleep again, it was better than being trapped in the dream just now. Would the next dream be worse? Edwin couldn’t be sure.

He took his hand down and glanced at Tar, wanting him to leave quickly.

“Do you often have nightmares?” the demon asked unexpectedly. He seemed to be really thinking about this question, waiting for Edwin to give him an answer.

This was too pathetic.

The Bishop tried to directly pull the velvet curtains, politely expressing his resistance. But his behavior also revealed the answer to the question.

The demon before him, unexpectedly, reached out and blocked the closing of the curtains, preventing him from continuing to sink naturally into the next dream.

“I’m tired,” Edwin said. “Humans are creatures that need rest.”

This statement had a hint of cold humor.

But Tar was afraid the Bishop was really worried he didn’t have this common sense.

“I mean…” As time passed, the Bishop’s eyes gradually got used to seeing in the dark. Edwin could clearly see Tar’s outline. The demon’s hair was soft, his appearance beautiful. The horns at this moment did not look very sharp, probably because there was no hostility. Tar looked like a soft and harmless large bolster pillow.

This metaphor startled Edwin. Perhaps he really was too tired.

Tar finished his sentence, “Although I’m a low-level demon, there are some things I can do. Bishop, I think I can offer you some help?”

Edwin’s lips moved slightly, as if he wanted to say something, but he did not make a decision immediately. He looked at the demon before him with some suspicion, but saw Tar extend his palm, casting a hazy shadow on his face.

“Don’t move. Let me cover your eyes.”

The Bishop hesitated for a moment and did not stop this seemingly absurd plan.

Although he didn’t hold much hope for the plan’s success, but…

As the demon’s palm snugly covered his eyes, a rich and intoxicating scent of roses came over him. This fragrance was like the richest wine. Just a light sniff was enough to make one drowsy.

A sweet, dark sleep, along with the shadows seen by his covered pupils, swept over his consciousness.

Edwin hadn’t even had time to react before he fell into a peaceful sleep.

This would be a dreamless night.

This was something that had not happened for many years, and it had descended upon him again today.

When Tar sat down at the table and opened the black book again, he saw, as expected, the World Consciousness’s confusion.

“Why are you a little concerned about that human? You don’t seem like the type to care about these things.”

Having been inexplicably left hanging for a while, the World Consciousness took this time to think.

In the previous world, the two people he had cooperated with had been in love with each other from the beginning. It had seen it clearly. Although as the Heavenly Dao it could not understand the existence of emotions, it was considered reasonable.

But what a malicious god Tarksius was, the black book, as the first victim, also knew most thoroughly.

For most of the day, the Dark God had been with this Bishop of the Church of Light.

…And seemed to be in a rather good mood.

However, it soon felt it shouldn’t have asked this question. Tarksius’s first words were a jab. “Don’t you think he’s much more interesting than you?”

At this moment, rather than a harmless little demon, the Dark God shamelessly displayed his original form. What flowed in his dark red eyes was the divine power of arrogance and malice intertwined.

It was as if all things in the world were below the dimension he was in. His voice was soft, yet somewhat chilling. “His soul is so special, ambitious yet limited everywhere, longing for depravity, yet untainted by any power. The God of Light cannot have this person. Even if I were to sign a contract with him using my true form, destroying everything he possesses, I would not be able to destroy his will.”

“I am interested in his soul. I want to see what kind of position he can reach.”

This statement sounded like the prelude to a bloody soul smuggling incident.

It also sounded a bit like the cliché of a demon tricking a human’s soul.

But there was still something not quite right. The black book flipped its pages in the air, seeming still confused, but did not ask any questions.

Tarksius lowered his head and slowly smiled. “Of course,” the god said. “You are right. The reason is more than that. But you probably wouldn’t understand even if I told you, because I myself cannot fully understand this twisted feeling.”

These words were spoken lightly and dangerously, seeming to involve some secret that even Tarksius was unwilling to speak of directly.

The black book thought with some depression, how would it know—

Wait, wait a minute. It could see Tarksius’s past, so it seemed it had indeed guessed a little, why Tarksius would feel Edwin was a special human.

Looking at the three words “contract book” that appeared on the pages, the Dark God lightly touched the ink marks. The freshly written words stained the god’s fingers.

The god didn’t care. “You guessed right. He found and shattered something, although it all came too late.”

“What he shattered was a… long-broken golden bottle.”

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