"By the way, who exactly is your father? Do you know?" Nolan asked curiously.
"...He was the Serpent God worshipped by the Giants. In an ancient war, Mother defeated him, then split his power in two," Messmer said after thinking for a moment.
"Mother used his power through an ancient ritual, and that was how Melina and I were born. What was sealed inside my body was the remnant of his flesh."
Miquella really had guessed right. Nolan wanted to praise that golden-haired Empyrean, but unfortunately, he was not here.
"Um..." Messmer hesitated.
"Mm? What is it? Is there something else?"
It was Nolan's first time raising a child, and he showed all the patience a proper father ought to have.
"I think I saw Melina by your side earlier. I... want to see her."
Messmer spoke a little stiffly. Although he had suddenly gained a father, he had not forgotten his sister.
"Of course you can see her, but we have to go outside first. She's outside," Nolan said calmly.
"Outside?" Messmer asked in confusion, and the world went dark in an instant.
In the blink of an eye, all the firelight brightened again. It was still that dim little room, still the noble goddess statue, but the enormous flame was gone.
Messmer looked up. His unfamiliar father stood beside him, his hand moving away from the top of Messmer's head.
"Pulling you from your own dream into my spiritual world isn't exactly easy. That contact was necessary."
Nolan lifted his hand. He had even paid Trina a considerable price for the right to dream.
"Was that a dream just now too? Was it your dream?" Messmer sat up, still somewhat dazed.
Messmer seemed to see that dream world again, and his pupils suddenly widened. In that world, even being alive felt meaningless.
"Yeah. How did it feel?" Nolan blinked.
"Despair. But I could also see hope. Even if it was very small, it truly existed," Messmer said.
The figure on the throne seemed carved into his mind. No matter how hard he tried to forget, it would not fade. It was a painful kind of hope.
"You could see hope in a world like that? That's better than me. Maybe I'm just too pessimistic. I've always thought that world was beyond saving." Nolan scratched his head.
"Because what I saw was you. Of course a person can't see himself." Messmer wanted to say it, but he did not open his mouth.
He was not certain whether that figure was the man before him. The figure had been too indistinct, filled with despair and sorrow, burned beyond recognition by fire that was both terrifying and beautiful.
That image did not quite match the rather unserious man standing in front of him.
"How did we end up here? How did you get in?" Messmer looked around at the warm little room he used to remember his mother.
This was his refuge from reality, located at the very heart of Shadow Keep. He was somewhat worried about how this father had brought him inside.
Messmer trusted his soldiers and knights, but trust did not mean they could stop a Lord who had defeated a Demigod and devoured a god.
Messmer felt much lighter. With the evil serpent gone from his body, he had undoubtedly lost a trump card in battle, but it also meant he had finally set down a heavy burden.
"Simple. I put a sword to your neck, told them not to act rashly, and then walked in." Nolan spread his hands and shrugged.
"..."
Messmer did not know what to say.
After a purge, every surviving warrior in the Piercing Army was completely loyal to him.
Because of that, the righteous army that had once launched the holy war had now practically become his private force.
By holding him hostage, Nolan could indeed strut through this city without anyone stopping him.
"Wait here. I'll go call her." Nolan glanced toward the door. It really had not been easy to send away those goddesses, Empyreans, and Demigods.
He turned around, leaving only his back in Messmer's eyes.
...
The moment Nolan stepped out of Messmer's little room of self-isolation, Trina was the first to appear on him. Nolan called for Melina and had her go inside to meet her brother.
Although she was reluctant, and although the impulse from the red blood inside her made her want to run away, she still walked in under Nolan's gaze.
"What did you two even talk about?" Trina glanced at the tightly shut door, then lay on his shoulder and poked Nolan's cheek.
She was sprawled over Nolan's right shoulder, while the little doll Nolan had just taken from Melina sat on his left.
The petite Ranni widened her eyes and stared at that aunt of hers, whose whole body was wrapped in Knight Armor. The armor was covered in scars left by Dagger slashes.
"You won't believe this, but I really have become Messmer's father now," Nolan said seriously, leaning close to the little Goddess's ear.
"Didn't you say you were going to expose that woman Marika's lies? How did it turn true?" Trina shouted as she shook herself, hammering Nolan with her tiny fists.
"Don't get so worked up. Could you at least pay a little attention to a Goddess's dignity? Everyone is looking over here," Nolan said helplessly.
This little Goddess really had no respect for her own mother. At least Miquella still used honorifics for Marika. Between the two of them, which one was supposed to be the gentle side?
Trina had already drawn plenty of attention, and now that she was making such a fuss, she instantly pulled the gazes of all the Messmer soldiers surrounding them.
Their lord had been captured, so of course they could not stand by and do nothing. But they could not win a fight, and the other side had a hostage. In the end, they could only remain locked in a standoff in this narrow passage.
"Then hurry up and tell me what happened. If you don't give me a reasonable explanation, this Goddess is going to be upset!" Trina puffed out her cheeks.
"You're so cute," Nolan said honestly.
"I... I wasn't asking you to praise me! Don't try to muddle through!" Trina turned her head away.
Nolan sighed, put one hand on his waist, and rubbed his chin with the other.
"It isn't as complicated as you think. After I exposed Marika's lie about 'abandoning his wife and child,' Messmer cried on the spot. I comforted him a little, and then I became his father."
Nolan gave a condensed version of events.
He truly had not abandoned his wife and child. Messmer truly had cried. He truly had comforted him. And Messmer truly had called him Father.
He could pat his chest and say every word was true. He had only omitted a few unimportant details.
Trina immediately gave him a look that said, "Do you think this Goddess is an idiot?"
"You think this Goddess would believe that kind of nonsense?"
"But I'm telling the truth!" Nolan looked innocent.
"I don't believe it. I'd sooner believe Messmer betrayed Marika than believe he'd really let you be his father."
Trina did not believe him at all. Or rather, no normal person would have believed him.
"My Goddess doesn't trust me? How heartbreaking. Then how about a bet?" Nolan asked with a smile.
"How?"
"Whether what I said is true or false will be decided when they come out." Nolan pointed at the little room behind him.
"Once the result is clear, the loser agrees to one request from the winner. No refusing."
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