The shadow wolf was still carrying the unconscious Dia Blanco in its mouth, whining softly. Teest remained still, and the siren, drenched in sweat, showed no intention of running away.
"What?" The rumbling sound of collapsing almost drowned out Teest's question.
"Go, Teest," Nol urged.
He summoned a skeleton dragon and climbed on it. He no longer cared about his wounds. Every bit of mana was now precious.
Teest didn't speak for half a minute, then finally said in his usual tone, "How much mana do you have left?"
"Just enough to not ensure your safe departure," Nol replied. "I told you, I won't let you die here."
"Well, there's no choice then, and I didn't plan to die here today either." Teest shrugged, his golden eyes still greedily fixed on Nol.
"So there's no way," Nol said, tugging at the corners of his mouth, wincing as he touched his neck wound.
[You know what to do, right?] He intentionally turned his sentence into a telepathic message. Maybe this was their last chance to use telepathy, Nol thought.
[Of course, keep going amidst the collapse and jump down using the debris,] Teest answered without hesitation. [First try to run as far as possible. If things look bad, abandon these guys and teleport out.]
[Sounds perfect,] Nol responded.
The person he liked was the Mad Monk. This once was his greatest dilemma, now his greatest fortune—Teest had given him faith, and faith didn't require the "object of belief" to be by his side.
"Goodbye, Teest," Nol said. "I hope we have the chance to meet again."
Nol hesitated, not mentioning the gold wheel.
How wonderful it would be if he really died here. It could become his tombstone. But if Teest wanted it back, he wouldn't stop him.
Their relationship had always been like this, hadn't it?
Teest examined Nol, from his tired face to his battered body, especially around the heart area. Finally, Teest stepped back half a step, nodding politely.
"Goodbye, Nol," he said.
The explosions had reached a level that shook mountains, and the surrounding corruption boiled and bubbled wildly. The skeleton dragon spread its wings and plunged into the darkness.
On the platform, Teest still hadn't moved while the shadow wolf whined anxiously beside him. The siren's face, which had been filled with panic, now showed no fear as he leaped off the wolf's back.
"Please leave, unique Chosen One." He knelt halfway, his words full of devotion and passion.
Wings belonging to a dragon emerged from his back as the fabric on his back fluttered wildly, accompanied by the sticky sound of flesh stretching. The siren—or perhaps he shouldn't be called a "Siren"—Fischer spread his arms, his face full of smiles, without a hint of panic.
"If you don't mind, I can take you away from here."
Teest glanced at him. "A Supplement Demon. Did you eat one of your own kind?"
"A small trick, My Lord. We have a few 'Paradise monsters' back there."
Fischer smiled and lowered his head, his eyes no longer youthful but rather cunning like an old man's.
"High Priest Fischer Reginald, at your service."
High Priest, a position second only to the Pope, with only two in the entire church.
Teest couldn't help but look at him again, already figuring out how to deal with this guy.
…But he just didn't feel up to it.
"Lord Crimson failed, so now I'm responsible for bringing you back. You are very important to us."
Seeing Teest's lack of enthusiasm, Fischer continued aptly. Both ignored the rapidly collapsing platform around them, as if it were just a light drizzle on a sunny day.
The collapse accelerated, but the explosions below became slow and weak. Nol must be trying to handle it.
'With the little mana he had left, who knows if he could succeed,' Teest thought irritably. And here he was, with a High Priest buzzing in his ear, annoyingly distracting.
"We always act together. That monster was taken down by him just now. How are you so sure it's me?" Teest said absentmindedly, "I'll tell you a secret: actually, he is the Chosen One of your god. He just jumped down. You still have time to follow him."
"You're joking, but I have my ways of judgment." Fischer leaned forward, his posture respectful.
"Since you've come to me, I admit, I was the one who burned down the Immortal Church of Grape Collar." Teest raised his hands, really wanting to kill something. "I super hate you guys. It would be better to fight sooner rather than later."
…That time, he kissed Nol under the blazing church. Teest remembered Nol's expression at that time, preferring to see that expression again rather than this guy before him.
Would he never see it again?
"It was you who burned it, then it's God's will, the predetermined fate," Fischer said gently.
"How cooperative," Teest muttered, playing with his sword, his other hand quietly clutching a ball of gold thread. "Even if I'm the Mad Monk, you still want to take me back to your den?"
"I had my suspicions." Fischer smiled, his already striking eyes protruding even more. "If you like torture, I will bring every high-ranking member to you. If you want power, I can personally help you cut off the Pope's head… If you seek the truth, we are willing to pave all the paths for you."
"Just come back with me and admit you belong to the Eternal Church."
Wow. Teset's eyebrows twitched.
Compared to these guys, he thought his mental state was great, not understanding what Nol was dissatisfied with before…
Nol reached out to him in the midst of the blue flames, saying he needed him. In this relationship, Teest always felt he would be the first to leave, but in the end, Nol left first.
In the end, Nol still guessed his choice—that guy always guessed his thoughts.
It wasn't fair.
Teest moved a step to the left, avoiding a particularly large collapse. The stone platform tilted slightly, shaking violently. The shadow wolf shivered, nudging Teest's back with its mouth.
"This is not a place for a long talk. Please allow me to take you away."
In the endless darkness, Fischer opened his arms to Teest, his gaze as devout as if welcoming the Eternal Son's own son.
'The vicinity is no longer safe,' Teest thought casually. He needed to find out how Fischer found him. Next, he could kill this guy directly, or use him to destroy the Eternal Church, or…
Teest twirled his hair ends, listening intently. The base of the stone platform was clean, signifying the collapse was nearing its end. The corruption hadn't spread, and the area near the chasm was still silent. Nol was still holding on.
Realizing this, Teest felt a sinking feeling in his stomach.
"Everyone here likes to sigh, making me want to sigh too." Teest walked towards Fischer, muttering. "Let's go. You don't know what you'll catch if we stay longer."
"At your command," Fischer replied joyfully. "I promise, I will safely take you away from here."
…Someone had promised before.
One step—Teest's heartbeat was a bit chaotic.
Small explosions began to occur below the chasm. Had Nol fallen, or not?
Two steps—he wondered if his nerves were stuck to the soles of his shoes. Otherwise, why would each step feel so awkward? He was always looking for an invisible hand.
The wedding ring still hung on his chest. He seemed to have gotten used to its weight.
Three steps… Teest couldn't help but sigh loudly. A nameless anger was bouncing in his chest.
Damn it, how could Nol dare to leave him so easily?
"Do you know?" Teest stopped in his tracks. "Someone once told me that some people's emotional connections are like 'sickness'. When nothing happens, it only feels ordinary."
Fischer looked at him confusedly.
"I didn't understand it at the time, and I think you won't either," Teest said. "Let me put it in a way you can understand—"
The "Betrayer" was enveloped in full murderous intent. A bright light flashed. Too close to react, Fischer was bisected by the light that cut from head to toe. One half of him wobbled and fell, while the other half barely stood.
"—I haven't done my evening prayers yet," Teest whispered into the ear of the half-standing person.
The stone platform completely collapsed.
"Ben, run!" Teest pushed off the falling stones. The shadow wolf, taking advantage of the stone's shadow, scampered away towards the side of the rift. Teest, however, pushed downward, plunging into the darkness.
The inexplicable heaviness and sadness fell with the stones, leaving Teest feeling unusually light.
…And annoyed.
If Nol was already dead, he wanted to witness his death with his own eyes to complete the final evening prayer. If Nol wasn't… well, they would first deal with this damn problem, and then he would properly unleash his anger.
As Teest was contemplating this, a white light suddenly exploded in the darkness.
In the next instant, before he could dodge, he fell directly into someone's embrace.
…..
A while back, Nol sat on a skeleton dragon, hovering in the middle of the rift.
The explosion's black smoke obscured everything, and the air was filled with murky corruption. Nol, enduring the discomfort, raised his magic staff without hesitation.
Blue flames burned fiercely, rapidly expanding the circle of fire. With Nol at its center, it spread out in a perfect circle beneath the floating castle.
Beyond the circle of fire, a dark gray sea covered in ice appeared. Thus, in the deep night, amidst the rift and the collapsing castle, a circular ocean emerged.
It was the icy frontier at the edge of the Endless Sea from Nol's memory—where the ice was a thousand feet thick and the seawater remained stagnant all year round, theoretically causing the least impact.
The falling corruption hit the ice layer and quickly froze into black and red ice blocks. With no more corruption colliding from above, the explosions in the chasm below him gradually subsided.
Save me, save me, save me…
The source of the corruption continuously steamed up from the bottom of the rift, causing Nol's head to throb with noise.
Save me, save me, save me…
The mana of "The Complete Recipe Book" was down to 3%. The stone platform above continued to collapse slowly, and worse, he could still feel Teest's presence.
Why is that guy still there?
Nol's head was spinning, and his whole body was in pain. But as soon as he tried to catch his breath, the circle of fire violently constricted, and large debris falling into the rift nearly blew away Nol's skeleton dragon.
Now with only 2% mana left and a third of the castle still above, Nol wondered what Teest was up to… What happened to being the most reassuring?
Nol gritted his teeth, forcing himself to expand the circle of fire. The debris striking the distant frozen sea made a teeth-grinding impact and cracking sound.
"Kando, if you want to live, I'll throw you out of the rift later." Nol squeezed out the words through clenched teeth, sweating profusely. "Just giving you a heads-up…"
"You're calmer than I expected," Kando replied slowly after a while.
"My life's flashbacks are about to come out. I have no time for panic." Nol gave a bitter smile, trying not to look at the dark abyss below. "To throw, or not to throw?"
"You know very well, you might not last until the end." Kando glanced at him with its one eye.
"Just answer the question. Will you die?" Nol couldn't care less about manners now—he was almost at his limit. Why hasn't Teest left?!!!
That guy might not care about getting hurt, but he wasn't one to give up on life easily. Could it be some trick by Fischer. Damn it, did he leave too early…
"Let me see until the end," Kando whispered softly.
1%.
The skeleton dragon couldn't hold up and disintegrated into fine bones. Nol struggled to stay mid-air, watching his mana drain away rapidly. "The Complete Recipe Book" turned gray quickly, showing signs of breaking at the edges.
'This is the end,' Nol thought.
Facing this disaster, he did his best, and even if he had to do it all over again, he couldn't have done better.
He was true to himself, and the neighbors in The Manor could continue to sleep in the system. As long as they were alive, there was hope.
He could give up.
Coming to this dangerous world, Nol had prepared himself for death. If he couldn't make it back… it would be like encountering a car accident or sudden death.
He had to give up.
The Lost Tower was taking shape. Witch Lynn and Officer Luo were smart people, and they had connected with Anakin… It didn't matter if he wasn't there.
Let everything come to an end. He was about to let go of that pressure and…
Damn, why hasn't Teest left yet?!
If he gave up here, that guy would definitely be affected.
He couldn't die yet.
Nol almost crushed a tooth as he switched the source of his mana from the "Dragon Corpse Notebook" to the "Lich's body". The body of a Lich itself was magical material, so it could do the job!
The mana of "The Complete Recipe Book" quietly stayed at 1%. Nol's legs began to vanish.
'Hurry up and leave,' Nol frantically thought to himself, his eyes fixed in the direction where Teest was.
The circle of fire voraciously drained his mana, and Nol's legs began to turn to dust. Then his waist, his abdomen. In the dark void, only half a person hung there, like many other remnants.
Hurry up and leave. Get away. Didn't we agree not to sacrifice our lives?
As the erosion reached his chest, Nol switched the source of mana to his left arm.
'I can't lose the gold wheel in my chest. I can't throw it away,' he thought dully. Losing most of his body, Nol's HP plummeted, and his thoughts became increasingly blurry.
The castle's collapse seemed endless.
Just one more second, just a little longer. He had to let Teest leave, to let the person he liked survive…
His left arm vanished, then his shoulder, his right arm. Finally, the Staff of Sacrifice pierced through the crumbling "The Complete Recipe Book", inserting itself into the gaps of his bones.
Only a head and a heart with a coin embedded in it remained suspended in mid-air. Nol thought he could end quietly, but at this moment, he struggled so hard.
They were so close. How could he let go?
"Of course, I will follow my god, as long as we're always ready to flee."
Nol remembered. When he said this, Teest was standing in the sunlight, smiling happily at him.
But he left Teest in the darkness.
Nol began to burn the remaining flesh, tongue, vocal cords, eyeballs. He stubbornly preserved his head and heart—he hadn't yet said sorry. There were things he still needed to figure out.
…Why haven't you left?
"Hey," Kando suddenly said.
"…Hm?"
"Bite me."
"…Huh?!"
"I admit it. You win! We've come this far. I can't just watch you perish." The black candle grumbled. "Just bite—ow!!! Damn it, why are you so harsh!"
Nol, in a daze, bit off a tear of the candle. The black candle instantly shed a few more tears, blinking desperately.
'It's useless,' Nol thought. [Fallen Death] required eating corpses, but since the candle asked, he might as well take a bite…
A "ding" notification sounded.
Almost in the same second, the system's prompt eagerly boomed into Nol's ears.
[You have met the special evolution condition.]
[You have achieved: Full level of the "Lich" race; Carrying dragon remains for 1,000 hours; Possessing dragon skills; Granted flesh and blood voluntarily by dragon lineage.]
[Special race "Dracolich" evolution unlocked. Do you wish to evolve?]
Was there even a choice? Nol's mind was a mess. He couldn't remember information about the Dracolich.
But it didn't matter. The Mad Monk was clinging to his mind. Even if the system asked him to evolve into a four-cornered chicken, he'd go for it for that one-time "evolutionary state recovery".
"Yes!" He silently screamed, still fiercely maintaining the circle of fire.
The blue fire turned into a near-white pale flame. The white light instantly broke through the darkness. "The Complete Recipe Book" completely turned into light particles, merging into Nol's body. Light threads emerged from the void, wrapping his remaining body into a cocoon of light.
It was painful. Every part of his body felt as if it was being ground and then reforged. For a moment, his body became immensely large, then gradually shrank, taking on a human form.
Nol's torso and limbs fully recovered. His hair grew absurdly long, hanging down towards the chasm, blown about by the storm.
"Thanks, Kando!" Nol shook his head wildly. He felt horns on the top of his head, but he wasn't quite sure… Whatever. It wasn't important. He was still alive!
Nol was fully restored. His pitiful 100 MP instantly drained, but now he had this body—
As a magical material, the Dracolich, compared to the Lich, was like rocket fuel to coal briquettes.
Nol, burning his newly grown long hair, sustained the falling that was nearing its end.
The white light dispersed, and his eyes turned into vertical pupils, fixedly staring in the direction of Teest. After the light, a familiar figure dove down—following the last remnants of the castle, Teest plunged straight downward. There was blood splattered on him, and his eyebrows were filled with anger.
Nol's heartbeat had never been this fast.
To hell with life, loyalty, and love. Watching Teest rapidly approaching, his hair stood on end from the thrill.
Nol timed the moment and retracted the circle of fire, catching Teest in his arms. Their bodies collided, and the familiar warmth blended together. The sense of fulfillment after death felt like rebirth.
He had to admit defeat. Nol tightened his arms, not wanting to let go, and he wouldn't ever again.
"You promised me a bonus. You can't back out now," Teest seriously demanded as they fell.
"Sorry, I didn't think… What?" Nol almost bit his tongue.
It was still the same—the Mad Monk he knew.
Nol couldn't help but laugh out loud, hugging Teest's waist, rapidly crashing into the depths of the chasm.
"Aren't you going to slow down? If you're intent on crashing, then I'll teleport away." Teest clung to Nol as the darkness rapidly enveloped them.
"Don't go. I'll compensate you with two rewards."
Nol grabbed Teest's long hair. With a swish, the wings of the Dracolich opened, protecting them both in the middle.
"Let's hear them." Teest felt the base of the wings.
"The first," Nol looked towards the rapidly approaching bottom of the valley, "to wrap up this disaster and verify the truth below. The rest, once we leave here together, I'll tell you."
He emphasized "leave here together."
"Alright, you…" Teest was about to continue when his lips were suddenly caught by Nol's.
It was a kiss.
"I need you. I like you. I swear I won't leave you behind." Nol held the person in his arms tightly. "Will you still come with me, Teest?"
"Of course."
Those blue eyes still shone brightly. In the midst of the fall, Teest closed his eyes contentedly.
"You're mine now," he whispered softly.
...
Nol deliberately controlled their speed. It took them about five or six minutes to reach the bottom of the cliff.
It was pitch black, but fortunately, they both had night vision. Teest carefully wrapped himself in magic, standing firm amidst the surging corruption.
He hesitated for a rare moment. "This is…"
Beside him, the relaxed look on Nol's face completely disappeared.
In front of them lay the remnants of at least two civilizations.
Part of it resembled the castle, sparkling with a strange white glow, its shapes shockingly symmetrical.
The rest looked newer in material but more ancient in design—golden flying eaves, crimson walls, and scattered blue stone bricks. A carved wooden round table and white folding chairs lay toppled together, utterly out of place even to Teest's unfamiliar eyes.
They clearly came from different civilizations.
"Nol…"
"This isn't from Earth." Nol gazed at a relatively intact piece of ancient architecture, murmuring dreamily. "It looks similar, but it's not… The real dynasties didn't have this form. There are many creative beautifications, like…"
"…like Tahe."
Corruption slowly flowed over his feet, but Nol seemed oblivious. He caressed the fragments, his voice frighteningly soft.
Alien weapons, modern text. Nonexistent architectural forms from Country C, remnants with a sense of technology that seemed even older.
…Apart from "Earth" related, there was another possibility. How could he have forgotten?
These are two "works".
Two already destroyed stories, lying quietly in their graves, leaving only their remnants.