TBR CH68

Chapter 68: Psalm of Adoration

As always, Edwin silently opened his eyes at the first glimmer of dawn. The light gray mist in his eyes swirled slightly, and then the muscles all over his body tensed for a moment. He subconsciously lowered his gaze to look at the person in his arms. The god still had the appearance of a demon, his arm around his shoulder, his soft hair soaked in the comfortable warmth of the bedding, scattered over the Bishop’s body.

He groggily opened his beautiful pomegranate-red eyes and said softly, “Good morning, Edwin.”

For a moment, Edwin wished this moment could last a little longer, long enough for him to firmly etch every detail before him into his mind. This thought was a little bitter, but more sweet.

He couldn’t pretend he wasn’t afraid. Edwin knew that “human” and “god” were a pair of words that could never be juxtaposed, no matter what. Just as Satha had mocked him for deluding himself into thinking he could defeat a devil, the different races in this world were clearly ranked. Humans were the most numerous and widely distributed race on the continent, but they were also the most fragile, a race without innate magic.

He had seen the condescending gazes of those self-proclaimed superior races. In their eyes, the lower races were like gravel, like ants, like dust. Yet before a god, even these races had to bow and scrape.

How absurdly wild was the ambition of a human who fantasized about possessing a god.

But Edwin stood at the beginning of the path and looked towards the end. He trembled as he welcomed the new, sharp winds blowing towards him, looking up at the crown bestowed upon him at the end of this brand-new road. At the end of the road was not someone else, but Tar, also called a god. He knew this road would still be full of thorns and blood, and he also knew he would be rewarded much on his climb.

The god understood his ambition. The god acquiesced to his ambition. The god returned his ambition with a smile, allowing him in advance to put on his own shackles.

However, the Bishop’s demands of himself did not stop there. He had always been so arrogant, never believing in any coercion fate had done to him. Now that he had regained his power, for the first time, he felt he could go much higher, and his ambition would only continue to expand. So no one could stop him from moving forward.

He treated his ambition with great caution, yet was unusually firm, like a starving venomous snake that could swallow an elephant in one bite.

Edwin let down all his defenses. His gray eyes were gentle and soft. He responded to Tar’s good morning. Neither of them could say who had approached the other first. Perhaps both were responsible. They kissed. Edwin had always thought what he had before was good enough, that it didn’t matter even if Tar wasn’t moved. But it was only in these two days that he understood how intoxicating it was to be loved so seriously and firmly by the demon. The whole world melted in his eyes, which were full of love.

Tar could always give him a better reward.

Edwin closed his eyes during the kiss. For a moment, the Bishop thought coldly, no matter what the price, he would ultimately stand with his god.

Edwin still had to go to morning prayers as usual. The Bishop suppressed the further desires brought on by the kiss, his breathing still a little unsteady, and began to fasten his troublesome buttons. What was more troublesome was Tar. The demon had suddenly become very interested in his silver buttons and volunteered to try and help his lover get dressed. As his hands went through the buttonholes, they inadvertently rubbed against Edwin’s body.

Edwin could only hold his breath.

By the time he had indulged him, time was almost up. It was just like every morning before. The demon stayed in the room, watching Edwin leave, and had already calculated the time of his return. Perhaps he would brew a hot, strong cup of tea in advance. The Bishop couldn’t help but look back at him when he reached the door.

That gaze was a question mixed with a little expectation, coated with a thin layer of reproach.

Tar suddenly realized he had completely let down all his disguises in front of Edwin. So, there was no need to “lock” him in the room for safety anymore, nor to worry about him being easily exposed while walking in the Holy See. Furthermore, nothing could lock him up. The Bishop had of course guessed that he had not obediently stayed in the room before. The question was, where would Tar go today?

The demon put his hands behind his back, pretending to know nothing as he met Edwin’s gaze, a sly smile in his eyes. It was not until Edwin was defeated first, turned his back, and his footsteps were already in the corridor in front of the door, that Tar spoke from behind him. The end of his words seemed to have an ambiguous hook, hooking the Bishop’s heartbeat little by little. “I’ll come see you.”

Edwin had already curled his lips.

Even earlier, because he had guessed that Tar would not disappoint him.

The god moved silently through the white and tall buildings of the Holy See. The shadows submerged him. In the darkness, he saw Edwin paying extra attention to everything along the way. The Bishop walked in the sunlight. The bright daylight illuminated his face, his dark curly hair, and his light gray eyes. He looked like a handsome statue of a god. To those believers, he was no different from a god.

He acted very humble, very composed.

But in reality, he was very greedy, very arrogant. Some people completely disbelieved the rumors, while others believed but had long since dared not speak.

Tar sometimes deliberately let Edwin see him. The demon blinked in the shadows, waving at his Lord Bishop. The gray mist in the Bishop’s eyes surged obscurely, yet he was forced to maintain normal actions in public, restrained and ascetic. He walked past the awe-filled gazes of countless people, representing their highest faith as he stood on the preaching platform, holding the holy scripture, and lit the clean candle representing God’s blessing.

Under the watchful eyes of all, the candle flickered twice.

But it was harmless. Afterward, a light sufficient to comfort people’s hearts rippled out. The smoke had a calming effect. It looked brighter than usual, indicating that their Bishop was pure and devout, destined to become the future pillar of the Holy See, and even God had doubly blessed him.

Edwin straightened his arms, a strange light flashing in his eyes. Yes, no one had seen the candle go out for a moment. It was he who had relit the holy candle with his own power.

He was the greatest traitor to the God of Light, and even God could do nothing about him.

After the morning prayer officially began, Edwin knelt before the statue of the god. The statue of the God of Light was forged from pure white marble. To the Bishop, it was just a piece of stone. Only this time was different. This time he felt all the blood in his body flowing clumsily and slowly in his veins. He slightly raised his eyes to look at the statue. The huge marble meant the shadow was also huge.

The Dark God stood in the shadow of the statue, looking down at him. His dark red eyes flickered, showing a hint of a smile.

In fact, a priest was not supposed to look directly at the statue of a god when reciting prayers, to show respect. Edwin followed this rule and looked completely normal. Tar thought with some regret, the Bishop was still kneeling on the ground, not even raising his eyes to look at him. His gray eyes were hidden in the shadow under his face, but his voice was still very steady.

So the god stared at Edwin unscrupulously. The Bishop’s mastery of everything he showed on such occasions was actually very charming. He must have skillfully memorized all the doctrines, although half of them were human interpretations—

Tar suddenly noticed the content of Edwin’s prayer: “…I must love God, and for this, I will not hesitate to harm my body, sacrifice my life, and dedicate myself. The love for God must be without reservation. All humans should worship their god. I, like everyone else, will raise the torch of love above my head, to please God…”

The Bishop had changed the prayer on the spot. He was now reciting a psalm from the classics that exhorted people to love God. The person who created it was said to be the earliest Holy Son of the Holy See. The words of the prayer were fervent, sincerely expressing love for God. He just calmly recited these sentences. The people attending the morning prayer were only slightly surprised that Edwin had changed the text, and were soon immersed in the strange atmosphere.

Before the Bishop, a bright light shone in the god’s eyes. He knew who Edwin was swearing to.

“…Forever loyal to you, my god.”

The last sentence seemed to linger in the sanctuary for a few seconds before dissipating. Tar lowered his head and saw the human now getting up, holding the ruby scepter that symbolized power. The bright, pigeon’s-blood-like jewel glittered between his fingers, like a flame. But this was no match for the flame in his eyes. He finally looked up without concealment. His light gray eyes completely reflected the god’s true appearance.

He was not swearing loyalty, but more like declaring his ambition.

And the god whispered, with a hint of mischievous bad intention, breaking the atmosphere completely. “I will also love you forever, my dear Bishop.”

“I need you to do me a small favor.”

Tar said. He and Edwin were walking by the rose garden. The Bishop could no longer distinguish whether it was the fragrance of the flowers or Tar’s scent. It was actually very strange. He had never paid attention to such a fleeting thing as scent before. Before meeting Tar, he had never even properly smelled a rose.

“Alright,” Edwin nodded almost without hesitation. “As long as I can do it.”

“By rights, I shouldn’t reveal too much,” the demon’s fingers were intertwined with the Bishop’s. He seemed to be concentrating on undoing the dead knot between their fingers, so the Bishop’s hand was always being poked restlessly. “But you guessed this yourself, so it doesn’t count. Edwin, you are really exceptionally smart.”

Before this conversation began, Edwin had asked Tar a question that had been swirling in his mind for a long time, just that he couldn’t find a suitable opportunity to let it leave his tongue. When the holy candle had been decisively extinguished in his hand, he had felt a sense of relief, just as he had when he discovered the power of Light had completely left his body. Yet he was still in the Holy See, and was just one step away from the position of Pope. Even if the God of Light was lax in observing humans, He should not tolerate such an obvious traitor like him to ascend to the high position of speaking for Him in the mortal world.

The Bishop gave his hand to his god and asked him, at this moment, the God of Light had not immediately launched his revenge against him. Was there a struggle of divine power behind it?

“He even deliberately extinguished your candle,” the demon just looked at the Bishop with his bright and innocent pomegranate-red eyes. “I think this already counts as tripping you up, so what follows is all a legitimate counterattack.”

Edwin was almost amused by him. The God of Light deliberately extinguishing a human’s candle, this was not without precedent, but at this moment it sounded a bit petty and comical. And the argument about a legitimate counterattack was even more absurd.

But after a few seconds, the Bishop sighed. “You know I’m not referring to that.”

“Alright,” Tar held out for a look’s time and then decided to surrender. He had long decided to hide nothing from his lover. But this matter could not be spoken directly from the god’s mouth, because it involved a secret agreement between two deities. This was also the reason why he had ambiguously told Edwin “I need your help” in the end. “…I can only say this much, but don’t worry, Edwin,” he blinked. “What I’m most worried about is that you’ll be angry because I can’t speak directly, so I’ve decided to admit my mistake to you in advance.”

He gently scratched the palm of Edwin’s hand. Who admits a mistake like this, still holding the other’s hand, touching it intimately, like a feather lightly touching his heart? The Bishop tried to tighten his lips, but found he couldn’t suppress the smile at the corner of his mouth. He stared at the god for a short while, as if sighing, as if satisfied, then said softly, “Will I get any reward?”

“Hmm,” Tar said. “That depends. The good news is that your Pope is dying. In fact, he’s just hanging on by a thread right now, but the God of Light is temporarily maintaining his life, holding onto a pitiful last bit of hope. After this matter is over, everything will develop in sequence like dominoes.”

“Sounds good.”

The Bishop judged the death of the most venerable old man in his church so, without even wrinkling his brow. It would undoubtedly become a big news of national mourning, but the news had been floating in the wind for a long time, and people would not be too surprised by it.

“But you said this first,” Edwin raised his eyes, a look of someone who was at ease with what he was about to possess. “That means there’s a better reward.”

“Alright,” the demon turned to look at Edwin in front of the new rose garden. To outsiders, the Bishop was just inspecting the Holy See. For the two of them, it was a rather romantic stroll for two. Tar stood with his back to the rose bushes. No matter how brilliant the flowers were, they could not compare to him in catching the eye. His eyes were more beautiful than the roses, his pure black hair like the thorns of a rose, looking soft, but in reality dangerous and charming.

Edwin stopped his steps.

The Bishop looked as if he had been attracted by the roses on the roadside. The gardener working in the distance couldn’t help but feel honored at this moment. The Lord Bishop had stopped for the roses he had planted. What a great honor.

Tar was a little demon who was very proficient in the human heart. At this moment, he looked at Edwin very slyly, tilted his head. “Actually, it’s not much of a reward. I don’t think you’d necessarily be interested. But…” He sensed the Bishop was about to retort, so he continued without keeping him in suspense. “People often say that whether a promotion is good or not is not as important as whether the next employer is good or bad. The Pope of the Church of Light is of course a good job. I just wanted to ask if you have any intention of job-hopping?”

“I do,” Edwin said in a low voice, sparks dancing in his eyes. “Which one?”

“Whatever you like,” Tar said. “I’m not kidding. I haven’t fully decided yet either. But you can do whatever you want. I’ll cooperate with you one hundred percent. If you need another church, other ambitious places, or want to become a billionaire or something. I always feel my plan is not good enough, and I still have to see what you have in mind.”

The decision was handed over to him by the god. Edwin felt certain wishes evaporating from between his blood and flesh, while Tar stood before him, expressing his full cooperation, willingly. He knew he had started thinking about it a few days ago, but this thought had been planted in his heart for more than just a few days. Countless years ago, when Edwin first embarked on this path of constant ascent, confusion and questions had arisen in his heart. He had once wondered if there was another path he could take.

Now, the path was laid out before him, shining like a wish.

“I probably have an idea,” the Bishop hesitated for a moment, deciding to go back and draw up a proposal. He was accustomed to doing things without leaving any oversights, and he would treat the future of the god and himself with more caution. But he knew what the new sparks stirring in his heart at this moment meant. Edwin closed his eyes, then opened them.

The old gardener in the distance thought, how beautiful are the roses I planted, that the Lord Bishop would stop there, as if grateful for this divinely bestowed beauty.

Edwin looked at Tar among the rose bushes, grateful, although he knew they were no longer in a relationship of thanking each other.

“Tar,” he finally said, feeling his voice was dry, so he smiled and cleared his throat. “This is enough for me to do countless things for you. You know, actually, I don’t need any reward at all.”

Edwin looked both eager and restrained. Tar stood before the flower bushes, and Edwin was in front of him, with the buildings of the Holy See behind. Even if those buildings were tall, they could not hide the mountains in the further distance. The mountain range surrounded the capital in the northwest direction. At this time, under the bright sunlight, it was inlaid with a golden edge, looking like a crown placed for the Bishop.

The god liked these omens very much. Although fate was an ethereal existence, the scene before him pleased him. Edwin looked at him like that, and Tar suddenly felt that the small verbal trap from before might have been worth it…

“My dear Bishop,” he curled his lips, using the most intimate address to confuse a rational person’s heart. The effect was as successful as ever. “You seem to have misunderstood. This is not the reward I’m giving you for asking for your help. I just spent a little time discussing the future with you, the future we will share together. What’s more, it will obviously be more troublesome for you to arrange—what I mean is, the reward is actually something else.”

“What?” Edwin said softly, just out of surprise. He felt his heart tighten again, but it was all in a positive sense. Nothing bad would happen in front of Tar. He held his breath, imagining if children who received birthday gifts were this filled with surprised apprehension when they opened the packaging.

“Dragon’s Ridge,” Tar gave him a smile sweeter than sizzling honey mead. Edwin suspected the alcohol content in this sentence was higher than the tavern’s signature. Otherwise, how could he feel dizzy in an instant, like a hopeless young man facing a lover’s date invitation, stammering and wanting to repeat the word, to confirm—

“Yes,” the demon winked at him. “Edwin, I also want to see the meteor shower on Dragon’s Ridge with you once.”

Noah sat on the exquisite and magnificent carved bed. He had just been running around the Holy See trying to find out information, and the anxiety of getting nothing had crept onto his beautiful face. His brows were tightly furrowed. He was almost about to suspect that the whole thing had not happened at all.

In fact, he had indeed forgotten everything. If not for the system clearly repeating it in his mind, barely allowing him to regain his memory, the events of that morning would have been silently covered up for the Holy Son as well.

“…The problem is that the situation is not much better now,” Noah realized his voice was too sharp due to anxiety, so he deliberately lowered it in an instant. “First was the bright white light, then the black mist symbolizing the Dark God. What on earth can this explain?”

“At least it explains that the Dark God has regained consciousness,” the system was still a cold, mechanical voice, even more distant. It did not get along well with this host, and also knew very well that the other would not listen to its advice. If Noah had done a good job, it would have been fine—in fact, he had done nothing worthy of criticism for some time—but now there was clearly a problem. This sentence of his had no tone, yet it inexplicably stung his host.

“I don’t need you to remind me of this,” Noah frowned even more tightly. “What was the white light for? Did someone want to strike first? Hey, do you think it’s possible someone found out about our plan in advance and intended to kill Tarksius right before we did? The Holy See is not lacking in such devout believers, and the Holy Knights may not be as tight-lipped as I imagined.”

This was indeed a possibility. However, to release this level of light, one would have to be at least at the level of a Pope, Bishop, or Captain of the Holy Knights. The Holy Son had already asked around. Everyone claimed not to have seen the former two at the ceremony, but both the Pope and the Bishop were resting alone due to being unwell. The Bishop had even postponed the King’s visit.

Great Archbishop Edwin was highly suspect.

Moreover, he also had a necessary reason to kill the demon and the means to obtain information from the Holy Knights. After all, a bishop making a deal with a demon was not very glorious. If the demon survived, the threat to him would rise linearly.

“But there’s still something strange…” Noah murmured. “If the Dark God really regained his memory and abilities at a critical moment, why didn’t he kill the people on the scene but erased their memories instead? And, why didn’t Tarksius come to me? Whether before or after losing his memory, I should have left a good impression on him.”

“Are there other possibilities?” the system asked. “Perhaps it wasn’t the Bishop who appeared that morning, or perhaps that light wasn’t necessarily hostile to the demon. And one more thing, I heard that even if the torrent of time is restored, there will still be aftereffects. Anything is possible.”

“Yeah,” Noah said, with deliberate mockery. After things went wrong, he showed greater aggression, as if eager to prove himself, so he had to refute others. “Maybe the Bishop fell in love with a low-level demon and couldn’t wait to throw everything away to die for him—”

His expression said how foolish he thought this idea was, just as a lame joke.

“I mean, thinking about so many absurd possibilities is meaningless now. Isn’t the God of Light coming?”

Something must have gone wrong somewhere, but it might not be completely out of control. Even if he felt uneasy, the Holy Son was still not completely pessimistic about the future. This world was progressing quite well. Although he wanted to possess the love of both gods, if there wasn’t enough time, capturing just one wouldn’t be too much of a failure.

He sat on the jewel-encrusted chair, grooming himself, because the system had told him the God of Light’s footsteps were gradually approaching. So he had to hurry. At least the God of Light’s obsession with him seemed to be on the right track. It only needed a gentle push. Although it had taken longer than he had imagined, the end was finally not so far away.

Noah put on a good and gentle smile, as if the person before him was his whole life.

And the God of Light was very satisfied with this appearance of his believer and lover. This human had the most beautiful face and the most sincere heart for him. This was the reason he had been gradually immersing himself in it. Although the god felt a little improper, because he had never put so much effort into a beautiful toy before, there was an inexplicable force in his heart that dragged him to constantly make gestures of love. But this force was hidden too well. He only had very little time to realize this.

And, as the time spent with Noah accumulated, he less and less often felt that feeling of being unable to control himself.

Recently, he had even had the thought of sharing his divinity with the youth before him.

However, this idea was still some distance from being put into practice. The God of Light held the youth in his arms, listening to him coo like a fledgling bird, expressing his admiration and love for him, swearing loyalty over and over. He only felt the anger he had felt from Tarksius gradually dissipate in the Holy Son’s gentle words. If he were to choose a human to love, he should of course choose one like this, delicate and beautiful, who believed in him with all his heart. And Noah was so inseparable from him, he would definitely not disappoint him in the gods’ bet.

Thinking of this, the God of Light softened his voice, coaxing the human on his chest. “I need you to do something for me,” the god said so. “But I can’t give you the details. This is a bet between gods, my dear, but I believe you will not fail my expectations. Rest assured. I believe no one can be more devout to me than you.”

The voice of the youth in his arms suddenly paused unnaturally.

The God of Light lowered his head. His golden eyes reflected Noah’s face. His most intimate little lover’s face had suddenly turned pale, as if frightened, stammering and asking for more details. This reaction made the God of Light feel displeased again. But, it was also possible that his Holy Son was too self-deprecating. He always needed careful nurturing.

So, the God of Light patiently repeated himself.

He did not know Noah’s mood at this moment. Noah felt confused and bewildered, but above these two emotions, there was another emotion that was even more heart-stopping, which was the premonition of a huge misfortune about to fall on his head. In the original world, before Noah was about to be captured, he had also suddenly had this emotion. It was difficult for him to completely understand this as a coincidence. My god, everything was originally under control, but now it was suddenly as if he had fallen into a cloud of fog—

But, Noah knew very clearly that when a person foresees that misfortune is about to befall, there is no room for struggle, just as at this moment, even if he was uneasy, he had to try his best to coax the God of Light, trying to ask for more details.

“Of course I’m willing,” he said, his face pale, but he smiled sweetly at the God of Light. “I love you so deeply. This sincerity is absolutely impeccable and will not fail your expectations of me.”

The youth’s peerless beauty made his pale face look like an expression of nervousness and shyness. The God of Light looked down at the Holy Son with satisfaction, only feeling his love for him had increased by a few points. There was nothing to worry about. Tarksius had only one believer, while he had countless believers willing to sacrifice for him. He believed in his own judgment.

Unfortunately, among all who knew about this bet, only he believed so firmly.

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