Before the sky collapsed, at a corner of the Endless Sea.
Teest only felt as if he had been doused in grease and set alight. His organs were burning, his skin was cracking, and his brain was boiling inside his skull.
It had begun.
Nol had officially started to repair his magic circuits, modifying the crude mix that made up the "Supplement Demon". But they both knew this was going to be difficult, much more so than when he had worked on the General.
Even as a Supplement Demon, the General was still a creature belonging to Nol. She would continue to roam the land of Tahe, using powers 100% derived from the system. For Nol, healing the General was like repairing a machine he had designed himself. He was well acquainted with its principles, so it was hard for him to make mistakes.
But Teest was different.
Although Teest originated from his creation, he had now become a far more special existence.
The system couldn't fully control Teest, and Nol couldn't refer to existing magic circuits. He had to design an entirely new magic circuit based on Teest's unique power characteristics.
Every time he miscalculated, every time he corrected a mistake, it caused Teest immense pain.
…As it should.
But Teest just looked at him, with a sweet smile. As if the sharp power cutting through his body wasn't sharp at all, but a caress from a god. His expression was relaxed and peaceful, just like every day when he woke up beside Nol.
All was silent around them. Teest didn't even groan. He just looked up at the gradually dimming sky. The evening glow spilled down like blood while his figure was shadowed by Nol's.
[You need to be tougher, honey.]
Teest could feel the intense pain inside him, as if Nol wasn't pulling at his circuits, but at his very nerves. He silently suppressed his agony, sending his thoughts to the God in the sky.
[Believe me. Compared to the fools of the Eternal Church, your methods are like a mother soothing her baby.]
Teest watched the wounded God of Creation, covered in dirt and blood. Those clear blue eyes focused on him as if they were the only two people left in the world.
Teest liked that gaze, but he wasn't fond of Nol's current state—the man was too focused, completely forgetting his own pain.
Under the golden threads, the mighty beast was still beautiful. The "mistakes" climbing along the threads on its body created one festering wound after another.
[Circuit Manipulation], a skill that could interfere with the magic circuits of other beings.
But modifying a twisted target like the "Supplement Demon" required a designated "Living Sacrifice" to bear the "mistakes"—these "mistakes", like the original Demon King corruption, were born from contradictions in the laws and were difficult to erase.
Before the transformation was completed, Nol personally took on the role of the "Living Sacrifice".
As the sun slid down the sky, Teest's circuits were nearing completion. His pain had faded, while Nol's decay and rot deepened.
Teest felt a shiver on his back. That strange tremor suppressed the pain, worry, and urgency.
It was just them here, the golden threads seemingly stitching the two together. They shared the same pain, the ache like the plunder and push of tongues during a kiss. Time stretched infinitely long, with each second feeling like eternity.
To him, the burning pain of his entire body became pleasure. The shock was so intense, it nearly overshadowed everything, almost making Teest forget the thrill of driving a blade through the throat of a cultist for the first time.
The blood-red twilight enveloped the scarred god, and that intoxicating gaze continued. Being shaped by a god while conscious felt sweeter than a kiss, more intimate than the entanglement of bodies.
For a moment, Teest couldn't tell if his blood was boiling from pain or from excitement.
…So that's how it is.
To him, there would never be anyone more special than Nol in the world. There had never been before, and there would never be in the future. He no longer needed to prove anything, to question anything. This moment was enough to leave a permanent mark.
As the moon was about to rise, Teest completely forgot his pain and opened his arms to Nol again.
Let's embrace, honey.
In those blue eyes, Teest saw the blazing golden flames. Following the gradually fading silhouette, those flames outlined the god's form, vaguely sketching a similar monstrous shape.
That was a strange outline—a cunning, ever-changing shadow.
As the sun finally set, in the last ray of light, the beautiful black beast hovered mid-air, and beneath it on the icy surface, lay a platinum-colored flame "shadow".
The shadow, with its eerie sense of combustion, leapt towards the god above. It was hard to say whether the action was predation or an embrace. It tightly wrapped around the wounded, weakened beast, its featureless head pressing closely against the beast's head.
The moon rose and all was dim. Only that chaotic shadow still burned, causing a moment of disarray.
The circuit modification ended, and in that moment, the being known as Teest truly came into existence.
Nol hadn't expected Teest's true form to turn out like this—a platinum shadow gradually tightening and condensing, then reverting back to the naked Teest.
With a flicker of light, Teest was clothed in the armor hidden within the pendant. The white armor pressed against Nol's rotting skin, which felt cold yet comfortable.
At this moment, the severe pain that eroded Nol made it difficult for him to think. Thanks to the system, he was stronger than Teest at this moment, or else those deadly "mistakes" would have killed him on the spot.
So far, so good, and next…
Teest kissed the terrifying wound in front of him.
Countless golden threads shot towards the sky, piercing through the clouds, through the night. They accurately connected to a vulnerability at the edge of the sky—the marks they had left during their last moon exploration.
In the next second, the threads ignited with blue fire.
They pierced through the shell, through the membrane protecting the "moon's eyeball". In an instant, those golden threads connected Nol with the essence of Star Stealer Sol.
Star Stealer Sol would soon notice something amiss, but it didn't matter. A moment was all they needed.
Initially, Nol had considered using Star Stealer Sol as the living sacrifice. The problem was the time it took to heal Teest; if he had connected to Star Stealer Sol from the start, Star Stealer Sol would have noticed something wrong.
But that didn't mean there were no other methods—
In the end, a living sacrifice was just a container for mistakes. As long as some unfortunate soul took the damage, it was fine. The system didn't limit switching. "Beating the drums and passing the flower*" should work.
*It's an idiom referring to a situation where people are trying to avoid taking responsibility/blame and passing it on to another person (AKA passing the buck). It comes from a Chinese game where a group of people sit in a circle with one person chosen as the "flower holder". That person passes the flower to the person beside them, and so on, while someone beats the drums. When the music stops, whoever is holding the flower is eliminated, and the game continues until only one person remains (similar to hot potato).
Now, like a snake injecting venom, Nol transferred all the "mistakes" accumulated in his body to the essence of Star Stealer Sol.
"Three."
After the transfer, Nol immediately reverted to his human form and was caught in Teest's arms.
Star Stealer Sol's main body received the "mistakes" well. This strike couldn't really finish it off, but it was enough to inflict terrifying damage.
"Two."
Teest kissed Nol on the cheek, and at the same time, tens of thousands of golden threads broke simultaneously, burning fiercely.
Star Stealer Sol's consciousness was on Enbillick, and by this time, Bissus City should have been sealed by Drake. Even if Star Stealer Sol noticed something was wrong with its main body, there would still be a lag in its reaction time.
"One."
Nol hooked his arms around Teest's neck for one last kiss before the battle.
The tip of his tongue was still numb from the intense pain, and he tasted only a warm breath.
It seemed like everything went smoothly in Bissus City. Star Stealer Sol didn't notice the anomaly in time.
The azure-gold flames intertwined endlessly, burning through the traces Nol had left initially. The hard shell camouflaging the sky cracked open, and the shells hiding the four moons fell towards the ocean.
Perradat's concealment arrived almost at the same time, perfectly weakening the influence of Star Stealer Sol's main body, allowing everyone to witness the anomaly.
"You did very well."
Teest, holding Nol in a princess carry, tore open a space magic scroll in high spirits.
"In a life-and-death situation, of course, we have to strike hard."
Before the words fell, the figures of the two disappeared above the sea.
...
Bissus City.
Beside Enbillick, the residents of Bissus City ran to the church to hide. The bishop and knights of the Temple of Life stayed outside, and most Players didn't move, looking up at the eerie scene in the sky.
The quest didn't update. The scene was too horrifying, yet the Goddess remained silent. They weren't sure if this was an actual attack or just a "patch" as a prelude to the quest.
The four ugly "moons" connected by twisted, rope-like flesh strips looked both like nooses and mutated, wrinkled umbilical cords. At the crack in the sky, its slimy, viscous surface kept swelling with pus, then bursting with a powder-purple liquid. The thing twitched non-stop, and as it struggled unconsciously, the crack in the night sky became more evident.
The elite members of the Saints Guild present all recognized these four damn moons.
…Absolutely, those were the strange moons that appeared with the birth of the new Demon King.
The moment he saw the moons, Enbillick finally realized the problem. His main body was injured, severely injured—his connection with his main body had been blocked by a protective shield, and the enemy took the opportunity to attack his main body!
Enbillick summoned the system in horror, checking his status. God knew what those two did, but with just one hit, his HP dropped by 30%.
30%!
Even in the war of the two gods two hundred years ago, he had never been so severely wounded. A fiery rage ignited in Enbillick's mind instantly.
Enbillick was in a hurry to start the war for a simple reason—both Nol and Teest were growing too fast. Given time, they would only become stronger.
Enbillick was quite certain that, up to this point, those two's strength was still not as good as his. He had even confirmed this with the system's stats panel. But Enbillick still handled everything cautiously and wasn't overconfident.
He had hoped to win quickly and beautifully, but now he had suffered such humiliation.
Indeed, he should have killed "Xu Yue" cleanly from the beginning!
No.
He could no longer be passive. He had to force those two out, not let them continue attacking his main body…
Yes, facing such crazy opponents, maybe he should have been more brutal from the start. For example, start a conspicuous massacre here.
Crack!
Under everyone's gaze, the monster in the sky moved. Those four ugly eyeballs trembled non-stop, and a beam of black and red light bombarded the city's magical protective shield—Mr. Drake's protective shield naturally couldn't withstand the hand of a god, and it instantly shattered and dissipated.
Another beam of light struck, but just as it reached the ground, it dove into a circle of blue fire. Beyond the circle of fire was the dead silence of the corner of the Endless Sea.
That fatal attack was swallowed up by the ocean.
Near the circle of fire, Drake swung his long sword, and many blue flames ignited and dissipated with his movements. This time, Enbillick saw it clearly—that was the power to break through space. That was…
"Ha!" Enbillick laughed in anger.
Was it the influence of the "God of Creation returning in a state of undead"? There seemed to be more and more undead being resurrected.
[★Main Quest "Demon Lord Subjugation" Update★]
[Emergency! There's a breach in the city's defenses, and darkness is invading. You failed to promptly eliminate the Demon King's cunning scouts; thus, the quest has been altered. The invaders will soon bring the Demon King's army. Please kill the impostor "Hero Drake" and save Bissus City from imminent danger.]
[Time Limit: Before sunrise]
[Quest Completion Conditions: Kill the target NPC; target NPC will change as the event progresses]
[Quest Reward: Divine Skill x 3; Holy Equipment Class Set x 1]
[Failure Penalty: Main quest difficulty significantly increases]
[Mission automatically accepted]
The target NPC at the forefront, strikingly, were two familiar names—
The fake "Drake", the mad Avra.
Come, let the battle begin.
"It seems you're really in a hurry."
Behind Enbillick, a light voice came. "You forgot to limit the Player level. We saw it too."
Teest's voice was tinged with laughter. "The 'Mad Monk' should be the primary target."