Ice Rock City Inn, the double room of Sister Noli and Teesti.
Teest decisively combined two single beds into a double bed, then sprawled across the center of the bed, pretending to be a human-shaped tape that stuck the two beds together.
In front of him, the communication crystal flickered non-stop.
"It was my lack of consideration. I didn't report all the information." On the other side of the communication crystal, Fischer said cautiously, "Demons are hard to kill. I thought… cough cough."
He thought they had thoroughly interrogated Crimson. After all, they never asked Fischer related questions. By the desk, Nol helplessly patted his face.
"Stop beating around the bush. Get to the point," Teest said impatiently.
"Regarding you, the Pope indeed issued two oracles—" Fischer hurriedly tightened his tone. It was evident he was sitting very upright.
"The diamond hidden in the vineyard, the gold buried under the snow. God smiles upon the favored lineage, and he has witnessed this smile for seven years. The world should be careful. He will bring endless destruction and chaos."
"Following the river of fate, returning to the land of ashes. Walking through the chaotic times and corpses of Demons—the darkness in his soul remains. His hands can slay everything, and he will follow the God of his choice."
High Priest Fischer said word by word, afraid the two on the other side couldn't hear clearly.
"What is this?" Teest directly interrupted the communication, flopping down. "I thought there would be more exciting content, but it's all things already known. That old fox is really good at making things mysterious."
Nol casually wrote down the two oracles, the tip of his pen dotting on the parchment.
Now it seemed, the oracles were more straightforward than he thought. The first oracle seemed nonsensical, but actually provided many key points—
The Chosen One was in Grape Collar and nearby areas, with ancient lineage, aged seven.
The diamond and gold not only hinted at the Flama family, who were in the jewelry business, but also represented Teest's hair and eye color. As long as Teest was confirmed as the "inauspicious White Demon", "endless chaos and destruction" could also be explained.
The Chosen One captured by the Eternal Church would definitely be transformed into a Supplement Demon. Not dying from the potion transformation—it basically confirmed they caught the right person.
Teest's second oracle was even more direct.
It explicitly indicated Teest's time travel, returning to the burnt-down church in Grape Collar, participating in killing Demons. Afterward, Teest received the "King of Eternal Sleep", following him, the God of Creation, which also matched the content of the oracle.
No wonder Painter was interested in the ending of the oracle.
As it stood, regardless of where the oracle came from, it was destined to be fulfilled in some way.
The pen tip ignited a blue fire, and the parchment with Teest's oracle was burned to ashes by Nol.
Thank heavens, Teest's oracle didn't mention anything bad. At least not like the deceased Priest Bonds, who carried the bad ending of "dying under God's gaze".
As for "bringing endless chaos and destruction"…
Nol couldn't help but turn his face. Teest switched to lying on his back, limbs spread out. He instantly noticed Nol's gaze, conveniently lifted his face, wearing his signature innocent smile.
…Forget it. He would take good care of his knight.
…He didn't want to hold hostility towards Teest over such vague stuff.
Nol's mind hadn't finished turning, yet his body had already leaned forward, kissing Teest's forehead. The latter stretched his body lazily towards Nol, swapping the position of his forehead for his lips.
Mr. Demon King intended to stop at a light taste, but then the back of his head was firmly held by two hands, his breath tinged with the scent of honey apple juice.
Nol simply closed his eyes, focusing on enjoying the kiss. With deep kisses and light pants, Nol's body leaned lower and lower. The homemade necklace slid out from the collar, and the wedding ring clinked against the key and the tri-colored bead, making a jingling sound.
The sweet and intense kiss suddenly stopped. Nol opened his eyes in confusion. For a moment, he thought his gaze was reflected back by those golden eyes—somehow, Teest looked equally puzzled.
Maybe it was the Mad Monk's fickleness again. Nol took the opportunity to sit up, wiping his slightly swollen lips.
Nol: "We…"
"I just remembered, there's something I haven't finished saying to Fischer Reginald," Teest suddenly said. "We need to finalize the action plan first. I don't want to be distracted by this."
As soon as the words fell, he activated the communication crystal again, as if fleeing from something.
The communication crystal hadn't lit up for the second time before Fischer immediately connected. "Yes, My Lord. Do you have new instructions?"
Nol: "..."
No wonder gods like zealots. They are too useful.
"We're going to infiltrate the Oracle Sacrifice. You arrange it," Teest ordered bluntly.
Fischer hesitated several times. "My Lord, I indeed obtained the qualification to assist in the sacrifice. But, if I may be so bold, even if you are interested in the Oracle Sacrifice, I wouldn't recommend both of you getting involved."
"What do you mean?" Nol lay down beside Teest, curiously interjecting.
"Before every winter solstice, the Pope needs to depart from Ice Rock City, heading to the altar in the Claw Scar Mountains," Fischer patiently explained. "Usually we would take the route from Gratice—Isle of Wails—Claw Scar Mountains, but this time…"
Nol spread out the map, and their heads came together.
The Kingdom of Alka was a huge island nation, located to the east of Gratice and Shiva. Separated from the continent by the Tears Strait, the Isle of Wails was in the middle of this strait, nominally belonging to Alka.
Normally, the Church would take a boat down the Tears Strait, picking up sacrifices at the Isle of Wails on the way, and taking the sea route to reach the Claw Scar Mountains near Old Gemino.
The Temple had been strictly monitoring the Kingdom of Alka recently… Thinking about it now, it was hard to say whether they were fully searching for the "Hero Team" or intentionally interfering with the Eternal Church's Oracle Sacrifice.
"…This time we need to head south along the land route from Gratice—Shiva—Old Gemino's coastal border." Fischer continued, "This journey will be very tough. And even though I can assist in the sacrifice, I don't have the qualifications to follow the Pope deep into the altar. He will definitely go alone. There's no room for operation—unless he voluntarily abdicates, willing to teach the process to a new Pope."
'Indeed troublesome,' Nol thought.
Zealots weren't ordinary people, so they were difficult to coerce. This Pope was an old monster, so who knows what tricks he had up his sleeve. Moreover, the oracle concerned the secrets of the two gods, and there might be dangerous mechanisms…
"That means, there's no rigid rule that 'only one person can enter' the altar," Teest said.
"Uh, that's correct…"
"Then it's simple. We'll follow the team." Teest fiddled with the communication crystal. "You find an opportunity to swap identities with me—before the Pope acts alone, I'll just kill him."
Nol: "…?"
Fischer: "…?!"
"If I take him down, if successful, he can slip away with Fischer. If he really dies, I can control him for a while, letting him lead us into the altar."
Teest shook his finger; his tone was so calm that it was chilling. "See, how simple that is."
Fischer: "You…"
The Eternal Pope had lived too long. He never thought someone could kill this old bag. Teest's words, indeed, could be realized. But, if the Pope suddenly disappeared, what would happen to this ancient and massive Church?
"Please reconsider. The Eternal Church will definitely lose control… and those Demons…" Fischer murmured.
"So what?" Teest replied without hesitation. He continued to play with the communication crystal, watching it roll around. "Do I look like I care about order?"
The round communication crystal rolled on the bed, held down by two pale fingers—Nol, with mixed feelings, picked it up and gently placed it back in front of Teest.
On the other side of the crystal, Fischer was completely silent. Nol could guess what he was thinking.
…The world should be careful. He will bring endless destruction and chaos.
Teest was smart. He surely knew the kind of chaos storm assassinating the Eternal Pope would bring in this tense situation. But he didn't care—the Mad Monk never cared about these things.
Before, Nol always felt that Teest's behavior was a bit odd. Today, he finally understood the subtleties.
The Mad Monk he first met would complain softly about his own pain, hiding the chaos in his heart. Now, Teest would secretly hide his wounds in front of him but no longer deliberately conceal his true nature.
A slight sting came from one side of his cheek. Nol turned his head, meeting Teest's gaze.
From this angle, the hanging golden hair blocked most of Teest's face. His golden eyes peered through the strands of hair, looking straight at Nol without blinking.
It wasn't probing, just curiosity.
…His mad yet gentle knight.
Nol felt an urge to laugh. Teest, Painter, Eugene, Fischer… Apart from the neighbors, it seemed like everyone gathered around him was mad, each in their own flamboyant way.
Following the principle of "birds of a feather flock together", maybe he himself was the biggest lunatic.
Nol let out a long sigh. "This plan has no major issues in its overall direction."
Fischer: "You also—"
"But." Nol cleared his throat. "I have two objections."
Beside him, Teest tilted his head, his eyes widening slightly.
"First, I don't want the Demons to get out of control, nor do I want trouble for the Eternal Church."
Nol's brain worked at full speed, crafting the next "plot". "After everything is over, let the Pope announce 'abdication in accordance with the oracle'. Fischer Reginald, you will be appointed as the next Pope."
Fischer: "Ah?"
Isn't this person taking the crafting of oracles too comfortably?
The position of Pope, which he had yearned for for decades, was now set as if it were a joke?
"Once you're in position, use the name of the oracle to reign in the actions of the Eternal Church—stop all human sacrifices, creating Supplement Demons, and so on. Don't worry, the Eternal Son won't bother about such trivial matters."
The heavyweight Chosen One was snatched by mortals, yet Lord Anstis didn't make a peep, let alone for a matter like this?
"As for the Demons, I will give them some harmless tasks to distract them," Nol said, tapping his fingertips randomly on the blanket.
The Eternal Church had no way to restrain Demon Players, but Nol knew very well.
Those people sought power and also money. He could, through Fischer's mouth, give them some treasure reward-focused, tough side missions to divert their attention from "slaughter leveling".
"This…" Fischer swallowed. "To stop those things, we need an excuse."
"The Demon King has been reborn, so thus the cycle of fate. The battle of the two gods is in the distant future, and God will return to His throne."
Nol improvised an oracle on the spot. "…In short, under the guise of paralyzing the Temple, let them lie low and wait for the return of God."
Fischer: "…Okay."
You're really enthusiastic about crafting oracles.
Half of his brain screamed, "This guy is too blasphemous," while the other half screamed, "Worthy of whom my God follows." Mr. Fischer's head was filled with screams, but he could only voice his agreement.
Teest propped up one cheek, a smile appearing in his eyes. "I really like the way you manipulate the world… Alright, the first issue is successfully resolved! What about your second objection?"
Nol sighed, hanging up the communication. "My second objection is your safety."
"Painter was Pope for only a few years. The Eternal Pope has been in position for over a hundred years. The Goddess of Life doesn't care about Painter, but that doesn't mean the Eternal Son doesn't care about the old Pope. The assassination of the Pope, I will do it with you."
Teest blinked, nodding after a few seconds.
"Also, hand over your weapons and armor." Nol poked Teest's shoulder. "I'll see if there's anything that can be improved."
With multiple clanging sounds, the weapon "Betrayer", shield "Curiosity", and armor "Knight's Will" were instantly piled up, neatly appearing in front of Nol.
Nol carefully wrapped them up. He took out Kando, directly connecting to the uninhabited glacier in the Cold Sea.
"I'll be back before dawn," he said.
The blue fire extinguished. Teest rolled on the bed. He lay at the intersection of the two beds, extending his right hand, palm towards the dim ceiling.
'Something's off,' he thought.
Facing this entirely new field of "emotions", Teest thought hard and finally came to the conclusion—
Nol stopped.
Nol always liked to consider a lot, from the future of the world to the safety of his kind to their relationship. Nol knew him too well, so he stopped a few steps away.
A safe and sweet distance, the most stable distance. Whether for the soft-hearted God of Creation or the loveless Mad Monk, this was the best choice.
Normally, the Mad Monk would indeed like this kind of stable balance.
But Teest didn't like it.
Teest extended his left hand again. He raised both hands and reached towards the void, slowly tightening them.
"This won't do," he muttered, frowning in distress. "…Need to be closer."
...
Above the uninhabited glacier.
"Why don't you return to Paradise? It's freezing here!" With no one around, Kando finally opened its eyes.
"I don't want to give the Temple any clues."
Nol exhaled a white breath—Teest's knight trio set was spread out on the crystalline snow. Nol couldn't help but stretch out his hand, gently tracing the outline of the armor.
"Alright, alright." Kando grumbled. "Haa, I still prefer warmer places… What are you doing with that guy's armor?"
"Modify it," Nol said. "Their performance can't keep up with Teest's abilities. It's inconvenient for him."
He previously had no authority to significantly alter system items, but now with [Creator], he could try some experiments.
Kando: "Hey—he still needs protection? You two are almost as tough as dragon-hide monsters!"
Nol ignored Kando's teasing. "It's always good to have a backup plan."
"That's true." Kando gave him a sideways glance. "Don't say it. You two are progressing faster than I thought."
Nol gave him a look as he took out a feather pen. He dipped the pen tip in his own blood, and with the magical glow, wrote rows of dense characters on the surface of the weapon.
As he expected, bottomless cheating mods won't work. To strengthen the weapons, stronger materials had to be mixed in, like the blood of a False God.
The modification of the "Betrayer" went smoothly.
Considering Teest's attack mode, Nol planned to enhance the "death"-related attributes, perfectly matching the profession. In less than an hour, the "Betrayer's" attributes were transformed.
[Betrayer: This weapon can switch between two custom forms. Attributes grow with the owner's level; the weapon has necromantic traits, +30% damage to living beings; when the level difference with the enemy is ≥ 10, the weapon can ignore [level difference] % of the enemy's defense (up to 100%).
※This weapon can only be used by Teest.]
The last level difference reduction in defense took half of Nol's blood to successfully add. Although he didn't think the old Pope's level would be higher than False God Teest… But, there was always a chance, right?
After strengthening, the "Betrayer" still looked battered and worn, but its color had faded a bit, like a layer of gray-white filter was added to it.
Following that, Nol hit a wall with the shield "Curiosity" and the armor "Knight's Will."
Modifying these two items felt awful in his hands. No matter how hard he tried, the outcomes were… excessively random. His ideal creations always ended in failure, then failure again.
Could it be that Teest's soul is so uniquely dark that his belongings can only be enhanced with malicious attributes?
But both the armor and shield were meant for "protection", so they could only be imbued with positive buffs. Taking a step back, "Curiosity" was made by Teest himself. It shouldn't be this stubborn!
Soon, [Creator] had drained all of Nol's mana. He sat down on the glacier, gasping for breath in frustration.
On the snow, "Knight's Will" displayed a steely gray, silently narrating its refusal. "Curiosity" was slanted in the snow, looking exactly like a rough pot lid.
Infuriated to death, Nol pulled out "Curiosity". He suddenly noticed that the feel of this shield was off—it had become much more fragile than when it was first made.
The core of this shield was made from bone material from the "Demon King's Minions". The corruption power within it vanished along with the Demon King, leaving empty magic circuits.
…But, it seemed like Teest could use the power of corruption?
Nol stroked his chin, decisively breaking down "Curiosity" into ancient silver and bone material—since Teest rarely used the shield, and "Knight's Will" was also made of light ancient silver armor, it might as well be mixed together.
He mixed the remaining bone material with blood, blending it into the molten ancient silver, then he drew circuits of corruption power in the light armor. Although Nol couldn't activate it, a mere replica was still doable.
This time, his approach was correct.
With meticulous drawing, the light armor gradually contracted and writhed, transforming into a new form.
It turned into a portable breastplate, made of bone-like silver, shimmering with the white of fresh snow. It lost the form of full-body armor, but its attributes were very pleasing, enough to protect Teest's vital heart.
Teest, who loves light and convenient items, would definitely like it.
After a flash, the system named this new piece of armor.
[Seeker: God's sole knight. You chase the truth, and the truth chases you.
※Jointly produced by Teest & Nol.]
Perfect.
In the gradually deepening night, Nol breathed a sigh of relief—if it hadn't been successful, he would have had to restore the shield back to its original form.
The white breastplate shone in the shadows.
There was a strangely familiar feeling. It seemed like he had seen this item before, more than once.
…It must be an illusion.
The author has something to say:
Below, I've organized the oracles of the four Chosen Ones, not mentioning the already deceased Priest Bonds—
Teest: The world should be careful. He will bring endless destruction and chaos. His hands can slay everything, and he will follow the God of his choice.
Eugene: With a heart full of zeal, he will ascend the highest place and behead the False God with the sword of faith.
Fischer: He follows the Deepest Darkness and will witness the most glorious Eternity.
Former Pope of the Temple of Life, Painter: [Not disclosed]
The above is the core of the oracles (that is, the most valuable part of the prophecies); the complete oracles also have some clues pointing to identities. Please refer to Teest's complete oracle (lol).
Since these characters are all confirmed, I won't repeat parts related to "confirming identities", only writing the core.