Nol responded to the kiss unconsciously—it felt more like a taste of victory than a kiss. Teest kissed him with focus and delight, their warm breath dispelling the surrounding stench of blood.
Tiny sparks danced on their lips, and a shiver rolled down Nol's body, making his heels go numb. Like clinging to a piece of driftwood, he reached out and wrapped his arms around Teest.
Pleasure, desire, distress, curiosity, shock…
Emotions rained down on him like a storm, penetrating deep into his mind.
Behind the adult Teest stood the young Teest, silently gazing down at his hands, cut by golden threads, standing beside a headless corpse.
Golden flames spread to the hall on the west side. The blood-streaked golden threads seemed to be part of those flames, captivating anyone who looked their way.
In the flickering flames, Nol thought hazily, 'Teest has had true Player privileges for over a decade…'
'How is that possible?'
Nol had some vague guesses about the young Teest.
The young Teest didn't wear a Player's earring and wasn't like a normal Player.
Nol suspected that "Teest gained monster recovery skills through potions". Perhaps some unlucky Player transmigrated and was made into a potion for a Supplement Demon.
723 years after the Players arrived, the system officially started. A bug in the system mistakenly identified Teest, who had Player skills, as a "Player", granting him true Player privileges.
This theory seemed plausible. But now, all his speculations had been overturned.
The "full recovery" was a passive skill of a Player that could be hindered by debuffs, but "resurrection" wasn't a skill.
No game would ever write "after a Player dies, they can restart the game" as a skill. This power belonged solely to the system and couldn't exist independently from it.
The only explanation was that the system had existed for a long time. Teest's Player privileges—whether complete or not—were recognized by the system at least twelve years ago.
Or maybe even earlier, before the young Teest became a Supplement Demon? Or perhaps from the moment of Teest's birth?
The Flama family seemed merely human. The mystery of Teest's privileges must be deeply related to the truth about the "system".
Nol finally closed his eyes, tasting a faint sweet and metallic flavor in their deep kiss.
…The Mad Monk had achieved his goal once again.
Nol's lips tingled from the long kiss, his temperature and breath became inseparable from the other's, and his mind was filled with everything about Teest.
Both body and spirit were bitten and kissed by the same person, as if being corroded.
When the kiss ended, both were slightly out of breath. Teest kissed the tip of Nol's nose and said, "It's time."
As he spoke, the young Teest behind him fell weakly. The swirling shadows on the ground vanished, leaving only the blazing golden fire. Burning wood and decorations fell from the ceiling onto the scattered bodies below.
Little Piel finally closed his wide-open mouth and hurriedly fluttered his wings to support Teest. The young Teest's body was limp, completely unconscious.
Piel tried to carry Teest on his back, but the body kept sliding down. Piel adjusted his position, draping Teest's arm around his neck.
"Miss, let's run," he said urgently to the four-legged girl.
"Alright… the protective magic… should be lifted," she replied as she made her way towards the small door that led to freedom.
But in Piel's eyes, she seemed to be turning back into the church. There must be an enemy spell at the exit. Piel hurriedly quickened his pace, blocking the four-legged girl's path.
"Follow me," he said anxiously, the purple of his Eye of Truth particularly vivid. "Trust me and come with me!"
With that, he hurriedly ran towards the exit he saw—a side door hidden under layers of illusion.
The four-legged girl hesitated for a few seconds before deciding to turn back. The adult Teest took Nol's hand, and they headed in the same direction.
As they maneuvered past armor, corpses, and monster limbs, the light seemed to get closer…
Clang—!
The armor next to the side door shook, and a sword fell for the third time, landing near Piel's feet.
The side door opened once again.
About a dozen Eternalist entered, wearing black robes and masks, with layers of protective magic surrounding them. Piel shrank back in fear, almost dropping the unconscious Teest.
But, strangely, they didn't seem to want to stop them.
The cultists split into two lines, walking into the fiery chaos like a stream splitting around a rock. They positioned themselves at various points in the burning church, silently observing everything—especially Teest, who Piel was supporting.
"Observers from the future," the adult Teest whispered in Nol's ear. "They actually wasted so much 'Time Reversion Potion' on me. I'm almost flattered."
Nol murmured, "How can you be sure?"
"Because they are all killable," Teest whispered back. "Do you have a better suggestion, honey?"
Nol touched his lips, realizing that they couldn't let these cultists go since they had seen the faces of the young Teest and Piel. Even if they couldn't change the past, they could potentially cause trouble in the future.
He sighed. "Don't let them go. Act after the children have left."
Piel moved forward nervously, his energy drained, and with Teest's heavy unconscious body, they were slow. Eyes from every direction were fixed on Piel's back, as if waiting for something.
Finally, the three of them arrived in front of the wide-open side door.
Little Piel carefully stepped over the sword on the ground. At that moment, mixed in with the crackling of burning sounds, there was a soft "puff" noise.
The chandelier at the entrance of the hall snapped from its rope, falling straight towards the group, drawing many eyes downward with it.
It was an incredibly ancient chandelier, with sharp spikes protruding from its base, resembling an inverted crown.
Everything happened so fast—too fast for one to react. In the light reflected by the sword, Little Piel had just enough time to make one move—
He turned around, shielding Teest and pushing the girl beside him. With all his might, he lunged, trying to push the two out of the chandelier's range.
He succeeded, as the three of them tumbled to the floor not far away. But he failed too. Little Piel forgot how long his body now was—the griffin half of him couldn't move away in time and was brutally crushed by the chandelier, blood gushing everywhere.
In this gruesome scene, he merely added a layer of brightness to the dark bloodstains.
As he fell, a look of surprise was still evident on Little Piel's face. He landed on his side, his eyes fixed on Teest and the four-legged girl. Just then, a weak Teest managed to open his eyes, meeting Little Piel's gaze.
The cultists from the future hid amongst the flames and smoke, and the young Teest didn't notice them. His eyes scanned the standing Eternalists, the open side door, and Piel's body impaled by the chandelier.
"What a pity," he mouthed, struggling to prop himself up.
Knowing many ways to torture, he naturally knew which wounds could be healed and which could not.
The four-legged girl also got up. With her mismatched eyes, she looked at Piel for a moment, then slightly bowed her body, as if paying respects. "May your departure… be painless…" she said hoarsely.
More debris fell with a rustling sound, and gold flames charred corpses everywhere. The air became scaldingly thick, emitting a pungent stench of burning.
This time, the tearful Piel didn't cry. With the massive loss of blood, his eyes became more and more distant. He lay still, his breathing increasingly shallow, as if unable to grasp the reality.
The moment Nol realized Little Piel was injured, he immediately cast a healing spell.
But magic wasn't omnipotent. The rate of flesh recovery couldn't catch up with the speed of blood loss, and the boy's life was rapidly leaving his body.
Nol gripped his staff, attempting to heal with more concentrated, advanced magic. But fate intervened again, as if Death itself stood by Little Piel's side, pushing away Nol's hand.
It ended up like this after all.
Little Piel was destined to come to this Immortal Church, destined to become a Supplement Demon, just to save the frail young Teest at this moment.
Piel had to live up to this moment, and only up to this moment. A Supplement Demon with the Eye of Truth was too unique, and if he survived, he would severely disrupt the established past.
Fate truly was cruel and comical.
"Goodbye, Griffin Knight," the young Teest murmured, shifting his gaze away from Little Piel.
He helped the four-legged girl and moved towards the door without looking back.
Their silhouettes disappeared into the light, leading to freedom. Outside, it was already dawn. The morning light shimmered as the darkness receded.
Little Piel couldn't even lift his hand. He strained his eyes and finally found Nol and Teest not far away.
"Mr… Fairies…" Amid the flames, he called out in an almost inaudible voice.
"I want candy…" It seemed Little Piel realized his predicament, but he didn't scream for help. Instead, he looked at the nearby sword with a faint longing. "It hurts so much…"
He deliberately lowered his voice, as if afraid the sword would mock him.
"You see, what did I say?" Teest pulled out a honey candy from his pouch. "This kid will become a Supplement Demon and then die on this day. I've been through all this. Don't be sad."
As he spoke, he placed the candy in Little Piel's mouth.
"But you didn't see the moment he died," Nol whispered, stopping his healing magic.
"This kid isn't a Player. With wounds like this, no one can save him."
Teest stuffed the candy into Little Piel's mouth, clapped his hands, and said, "Alright, let's deal with these stupid spectators now… What are you doing?"
Nol pulled out a shiny little thing from his pocket.
It was a Player's earring.
Teest recognized it. It was something Nol acquired from a Player's corpse during the "Night of the Hunt" dungeon. Nol had been keeping it close ever since, and now it looked as tiny as a sesame seed.
"Didn't I tell you? This belongs only to its respective Player. You can't use it on him."
"I know," Nol said, placing the little golden earring on Piel's fingertip.
It wasn't over.
He just wanted to continue resisting, just like he wanted to finish off Crimson quickly.
After killing Crimson, Nol pondered fate's reaction.
If he hadn't acted, Crimson wouldn't have let the young Teest see his "Player appearance", thus avoiding future problems. But at that time, Crimson already planted his blood curse. He could've used illusions to mask his face and fake his death to escape.
However, if that happened, the interactions between Teest and Piel might not have gone as smoothly.
He changed a part of the past involving "key figure" Teest. But since his actions didn't cause a significant impact, the laws of time didn't outright kill him but just warned him with pain.
This minor interference might become a vague, somewhat specious memory in Teest's mind.
Fate wasn't absolute. It could be compromised.
So, he struggled till the end. Maybe the universe and time were the absolute truths, but the 'system' was also an unshakable rule of this world—a rule he wrote.
Using the earring as the core, Nol quickly wrote the code. If the young Teest could get Player privileges, why couldn't Little Piel?
Teest didn't kill anyone. He stayed by Nol's side, greedily watching everything. Piel's breathing became weaker and weaker, and his heartbeat faded away. Nol, no longer caring if his identity would be exposed, did everything in his power—
Erase the identity information inside the Player's earring…
Reassign the owner identity of the Player's earring…
Invoke the system's basic 'resurrection' rights…
Fate remained silent.
With the earring at its center, the magical formation spread out like a spider web, almost covering the entire burning church. The power of the Dragon Corpse Notebook was almost exhausted. Nol bit his lip. After the formation lit up, those few seconds felt like centuries.
Fate remained silent.
Finally, Nol heard the familiar system prompt in his ear. It was still weak and slow, accompanied by a very blurred and disturbing noise.
[…Received Player identity call request…]
[…Applicant confirmed…]
[…Sorry, your current power is insufficient. You cannot use developer rights temporarily…]
Damn it! Nol nearly snapped his staff in frustration. Piel's breathing had stopped, and his heartbeat was barely audible.
Without wasting any time, Nol quickly rewrote the magic.
Remove the complete rights application. Only partial Player rights will do…
[…Sorry, your current power is insufficient…]
Excluding the "resurrection" right, giving up all other rights…
[…Sorry, your current power is insufficient…]
Further modify the "resurrection" count, reducing it to one…
[…Sorry, your current power is insufficient…]
Drenched in sweat, Nol tasted blood on his lips. Candle Kando looked at Nol with full attention.
…Is it just because he was too weak? Was he supposed to be able to do it?
Nol looked at Piel in despair.
[…The purpose of your request has been analyzed. Do you need system hints?] The system's weak voice echoed again.
"Yes!" Nol almost shouted.
[…A solution has been retrieved from the database… In the case of insufficient power of the applicant, it is recommended to adopt 'system hosting' to a designated living body…]
[…This mode will retain all the current states of the target. You can choose a more suitable environment to deactivate the hosting, or…]
With interrupted voices, the code on the ground changed on its own, transforming into a brand new magical formation.
Without waiting for the full introduction, Nol thrust his staff onto the formation, using the last of his power to activate it.
The earring on Piel's fingertip emitted a dazzling golden light, spreading rapidly over Piel's body, engulfing him.
When the light dispersed, only blood stains, a piece of candy, and a bloodied longsword remained.
[…Execution completed…]
[…Looking forward to meeting you again…]
Holding his staff with both hands, Nol barely supported his body. A smile curled on his lips, wanting to burst into laughter.
Once the "time reversion" effect wore off, they could return to the distant future twelve years later. He could release Piel in the Lost Tower. There, with Witch Lynn and former Dr. Julie and diverse neighbors in a perfect and stable environment, Piel could surely survive.
And the history of these twelve years would remain unchanged.
The evidence was that fate remained silent about everything.
Nol flipped off the raging flames. In the firelight, dark onlookers were faintly visible.
"Kill them, Teest," Nol said. "I'm sorry. I'm out of magic and can't help."
Teest stood still. It was hard for Nol to describe the look on his face. He looked thrilled, like a high schooler who just received a bouquet of flowers on Valentine's Day. The excitement on his face didn't fade but became more obvious.
"Honey, you said you were just one of the lower participants in game design."
He drew his long sword, and with a casual swing, the collapsing church was filled with a flurry of golden threads, and fresh bodies fell into the flames. Teest didn't even look at the panicked visitors from the future. He just smiled and gazed at Nol.
"But now, I believe 'you' are lying."
The author has something to say:
Little Piel, the candy before death, *smacking lips* *smacking lips*. Ah… what happened to it? (System interference)
Nol's horse is shaky!