When Crimson first took action, Nol was still analyzing the situation. Then, he witnessed blood continuously flowing from the young Teest's forehead, with the horrifying sound of a skull hitting the rock echoing in his ears.
In a split second, without weighing the pros and cons or hesitating, murderous questions were thrown one after another into history—
Can I kill him?
Can I break his arm?
Can I pierce his palm and cut his wrist?
...
Based on the sensation of his arm disappearing that time, Nol made rapid judgments, thinking, this will kill, this will kill, and this will too. However, Nol's questioning didn't pause for half a second until he found an answer that wouldn't immediately put him in mortal danger.
At that time, Crimson was lying on the ground, preparing to use the system items again. the young Teest knew nothing about the Player's "system space" and was relaxing and talking to Piel.
The adult Teest turned his face with a smile, seeming to want to say something, but he wasn't as fast as Nol—the moment he got the answer from "fate", the letter opener as long as a nail pierced Crimson's skin.
For Crimson, this physical damage was at most like a mosquito bite. Unfortunately, the effect of the letter opener "stripping Player privileges" wouldn't be diminished by size differences.
Without the system, Crimson's preparation to use the tool abruptly failed. Before he could react, the young Teest's golden thread strangled him.
Blood splattered.
A drop of blood smeared Nol's face, staining half of his cheek red. The tip of the letter opener shimmered in a crimson light, and the flesh of Nol's right hand disappeared and reappeared as the Lich's regenerative ability contended with the punishment of fate. Perhaps his disturbance of fate this time was relatively minor, and in the end, his pale skin covered the bones, leaving Nol's right hand intact.
'Crimson is dead,' Nol thought. This was the result he wanted.
And he was calmer than he had imagined.
It was as if he originally thought his fondness for Teest was just "an uncontrollable liking", but he was more impulsive than he thought.
"What were you about to say?"
Nol didn't care about the blood on his face. He first cleaned the letter opener and carefully put it deep into his robe before turning to Teest.
Teest said, "I originally wanted to tempt you to do it for me, but it seems I was a step late." He glanced at his younger self with a voice as sweet as honey.
Teest naturally remembered the first victim of the golden thread. But in his memory, that victim looked nothing like the Crimson he had seen—it might be some magical effect or Nol's letter opener—he wasn't sure.
But he preferred the latter option.
So Teest quickly prepared his enticing words, but his tongue wasn't as fast as Nol's blade. He thought that facing a genuine kin, his innocent husband would hesitate and struggle, but then he saw a decisively quick strike.
Whether they were residents of Tahe, monsters of Tahe, or compatriots from a distant world… for Nol, there seemed to be no difference between these beings.
And just now, he was above them.
The smell of blood permeated, and a few steps away, Nol rubbed the deep red on his face. A subtle stimulation climbed up his spine, and Teest let out a silent sigh.
"You're not bad."
The young Teest knew nothing about the scene next to the shattered corpse. He pushed away his blood-soaked hair while tapping his toe on Crimson's forehead, playing with the head like a soccer ball. "Just so happens I've got an extra head. Hey, do you want to live?"
Piel finally managed to stop his dry retching. He covered his eyes tightly, not daring to look at the mess everywhere. "I-I don't want to die. Don't-don't kill me…"
The young Teest laughed. "Look at me."
Piel slightly opened his eyes, looking at Teest not far away. The young Teest's eyes were curved, the golden pupils shimmering.
As if anesthetized, Piel's expression gradually eased. He relaxed a lot, and he stopped sobbing. "What is this?"
"A little suggestive magic. I don't have time to listen to your stammering," Teest said. "If you want to live, follow me. I'll take you to see someone."
He snapped his fingers, and Crimson's remaining flesh instantly dissolved, leaving only white bones. Teest gathered the bones and covered them tightly with straw.
Then he walked out of the cage, stepping over Piel, who was lying on the ground. The latter scrambled to his feet, his claws clicking as he followed behind Teest.
Inside the cage, the adult Teest bent down slightly and extended his hand to Nol as if inviting him to dance. "Please."
Nol glanced one last time at Crimson's remains. After a few seconds, he placed his hand in Teest's palm. Teest smiled gleefully, pulling Nol closer by the hand and embracing him around the waist.
Threads of golden silk tightened, and the two of them followed the golden trail, jumping onto Little Piel's back.
A few minutes later, they stopped outside a cage. The creature inside looked very familiar to Nol—a deformed girl with her head situated in the middle of her back and limbs bent in four different directions.
"Hey." The young Teest tapped on the cage. "I need to adjust my plan."
The girl crawled closer like a spider, blinking her mismatched black eyes. "Act… soon… Why…?"
"Because some idiot made the Church patrols stricter." The young Teest leaned casually against the cage. "The original plan won't work. Let's add someone—when the time comes, he can be the decoy to distract the guards."
Piel: "Huh?!" Even though he was only eight, he knew he was meant to be bait.
"No time… to use his bones…" The deformed girl shook her head. "My regeneration… isn't that fast…"
"Coincidentally, some fool sneaked into my cage. He's not from the Church. I can use his bones to forge mine. Didn't you make two? You can use my original one for this kid," Teest remarked, eyeing Little Piel's half-griffin body. "But you might need some additional bones. I think there's time."
Hearing this bloody topic, Little Piel bristled. "What bones?"
"Oh, she is… well, a monster with strong regenerative powers." Teest pointed casually at the girl in the cage. "Don't be fooled by her appearance. She's been in this dungeon for over a hundred years. Besides me, she's the only one here with any sanity left."
In the cage, the deformed girl turned her pitch-black eyes, looking straight into Little Piel's face.
"Bones…" Piel hastily backed away, muttering some keywords.
"She has no combat skills—just an incredible ability to regenerate. No matter what part is cut off—even her head—she can slowly grow it back. The only downside is that the regenerated parts might reappear in random places."
It took a moment for Little Piel to react, his already pale face turning even paler.
"It's just as you guessed." The young Teest shrugged. "In the past two or three years, she's been saving up bits and pieces, secretly amassing enough for two skeletons—when everything goes south, they can act as our doubles."
"I… must… leave this place…" The girl in the cage spoke. "I must… get out…"
The young Teest clapped his hands. "Alright, we plan to act tomorrow at dawn. Do you want in?"
Little Piel bit his lip, looking at the countless cages in the darkness. "What about the others…?"
"They've all gone mad long ago," the young Teest said indifferently. "Answer my question. Are you in or out?"
Piel curled his claws and took a deep breath. "I'm in!"
...
At dusk, the people of the Immortal Church once again came to the dungeon. Little Piel had already run back to his cage. The cage bars were repaired by the all-powerful fairy mage Nol, and the visitors didn't notice anything unusual.
Following the instructions of the adult Teest, Little Piel pretended to be in a deep sleep in his cage, unresponsive to any call. The Eternalist cautiously walked around the cage and soon left the dungeon.
Nol sat beside the griffin's tail, his back to Teest, his staff stuck in the straw, lost in thought.
He carefully healed Little Piel. As an exception, Teest gave Piel fresh cream, sweet onions, and dried meat. After a hearty meal, Piel pretended to sleep until he actually fell asleep.
Nol waited a long time for the "delayed murder PTSD", but when he realized he was still calm, he gave up. Just as Nol was about to eat something, he saw Teest's smiling face.
His smile was filled with pride and anticipation, much like someone at a birthday party thinking, "You'll definitely like the gift I prepared."
Nol still couldn't understand what Teest wanted to convey. Did the Immortal Church look especially beautiful when it burned? Was watching it once too short?
Of course, it might be that "their return to the past" was a necessary condition for the young Teest's successful escape, Nol thought.
"You look like you need a hug," Teest said.
"Actually, I don't." Nol raised an eyebrow. "I killed Crimson, not Piel. Do I look devastated?"
"Not really," Teest admitted, "but I want to hug you."
Mr. Lich always surpassed his imagination, each revelation like a fluffy marshmallow. Teest suddenly understood a dragon's obsession with gold.
"I need a hug," Teest corrected. "I'm so excited about what's coming. I just have to hug someone."
'What a weird reason,' Nol thought, chuckling as he opened his arms.
Teest moved over from the straw and hugged Nol around the waist. He felt a warmth that shouldn't belong to the undead and sighed contentedly.
"…Teest."
"Hmm?"
"Why do you hate cakes?"
Nol, playing with Teest's hair, finally asked. No matter how he saw it, the upcoming events wouldn't include "cake".
Teest applied some force with his arms, pulling Nol onto the straw. The black candle remained silent, with only the blue fire quietly burning.
"It's just a bad bedtime story,"
Teest held up his arms beside Nol and patted his waist in a soft manner.
"The day the Eternal Church took me away, my parents sold the most expensive jewelry in the store. Mom gave me some change and a gold wheel. The change was for bread, and the wheel was my gift…"
Teest's voice was soft and gentle, with Piel's body rising and falling beside him, but they couldn't soften this stone-hard story.
The family made a big deal at home, and his brother who participated in the knight's training was just about to come home. The Flama family couldn't help but celebrate.
As usual, his mother asked Teest to go to the store to buy some bread, but this time it was special. He could buy a few small cakes as snacks.
"I bought a big bag, one for each person in the family," Teest said. "At that time, I was trying hard to be a normal kid—but unfortunately, in the end, I didn't get a bite. Not long after I left the store, I was caught by those Eternalist. The bread and small cakes were all trampled on…"
'So that's what happened,' Nol thought.
No wonder Teest's reaction was so intense. It turned out that even the Mad Monk could have psychological trauma.
"…To me, they symbolize the 'shame of losing everything'." Teest's voice deepened. "So I hate them—of course, I don't hate their taste, just their bad omen."
Okay, maybe not psychological trauma. Nol corrected silently in his heart.
"Last time it was the same," Teest continued muttering. "You just took out the cake, and you were pressed against the glass shards by that man. I thought…"
"You would lose me?" Nol instinctively continued the conversation.
Teest blinked, suddenly stopping mid-sentence, appearing somewhat perplexed by his own words. Nol regretted what he had just said. It sounded rather inappropriate.
"Yes." After a moment, Teest turned away, facing the other direction.
"I thought I was going to lose everything again," he mumbled dreamily.
Nol opened his mouth, his cheeks and neck flushing hotly, as if he had been suddenly scorched.
He stared at the back of Teest's head. After a while, Teest sneaked a glance at Nol, their gazes meeting directly. Teest pretended as if nothing had happened and turned his head back.
'That was an awful tease,' Nol thought. Worse yet, Teest's tone didn't sound teasing at all.
…He hoped the developments at dawn would momentarily make him forget about all this.
"Wake up. Wake up!"
At 3 a.m., the young Teest went to Little Piel's cage. "The brave griffin knight is setting out!"
"Huh?" Little Piel groggily got up, traces of drool still at the corner of his mouth.
"I'm going to burn this place down. My spell can't be interrupted. I'll help you open the door later. Just rush straight to the main hall. If you can distract the guards to the main door, my plan will basically succeed."
The young Teest's face gleamed with excitement. "In thirty minutes, I'll meet you by the main door. Don't worry. The corridors near the door are intricate. Just keep dodging the pursuers."
Thirty minutes?! But with Mr. Fairies and others around, perhaps he could come up with something.
"Is there anything I should be careful of?" Piel cautiously asked.
"Not dying carelessly?" The young Teest continued, "But, I bet you won't die that easily. You've been too lucky, either because of sheer luck or someone's helping you. Either way, you can last for some time."
"Can I… run away in advance?" Little Piel gulped. "We can just run, and you don't have to come and pick me up…"
He didn't dare to directly ask, "What if you die?"
"Oh, you can't escape."
In the darkness, those golden pupils were like those of a wild beast. The young Teest was smiling, but his eyes held no mirth. "I've activated the primary defensive spell here. Until all threats are neutralized, this church will be completely sealed."
Piel's mouth hung open, combining "burn this place" and "completely sealed", it didn't sound good. He hoped this scenario would be in a bakery oven, not in a cult's base.
If they weren't careful, wouldn't they be burnt alive here?!
"Alright, I admit. It's a bit risky," the young Teest lamented softly. "But I don't want to let even one go. I have to pay a little extra price for that."
With that, the young Teest slit his wrist, and blood flowed over his skin. With a click, Piel's cage automatically opened, and the distant sound of moving stone doors echoed.
"Run," the young Teest said to Little Piel.
The young boy's face, usually delicate and beautiful, now twisted, reminding Piel of a snarling beast.
Piel, scared, darted out like a cannonball—the adult Teest and Nol tightly gripped his wing roots, hiding beneath his dark fur.
Nol turned his head and watched as the young Teest raised his wrist, chanting an arcane and complex spell. The air was thick with the scent of blood, turning almost solid, and a dark red whirlpool began forming on the ground.
Beneath the young Teest's feet, pools of blood accumulated. The blood emitted steaming vapor, turning into a golden-red flame beside his feet. Teest finally lowered his bleeding hand and walked towards the exit, leaving behind a trail of burning footprints.
He still clutched that tiny bundle of golden thread.
The floors, the air, the walls—deformed whirlpools merged into the shadows, spreading like mold towards the dungeon's exterior.
From the depths of the whirlpool came distant sounds of flesh squeezing.