Chapter 87

Angels are not as soft and beautiful as imagined and created by humans. They are God's warriors who must be absolutely obedient and fair. In fact, they are a rather cold and solemn group.

As the archangel, Tan Ning must abandon all emotions.

But all the rules and regulations that we set for ourselves will always be broken by an exception.

The demon orphan, lost in the divine realm during the chaos, was so young, so innocent, and the look she gave him was filled with innocent, tender trust. Even the Archangel couldn't suppress his pity.

Once a heartless race develops emotions, it is the beginning of disaster.

Especially when this feeling is directed towards the most inappropriate person.

Tan Ning prostrated himself in front of the temple, waiting for the Lord God's final judgment.

The golden-haired god looked down at him for a long moment, then said gravely, "You shouldn't make such a mistake."

He is His personal guard, loyal, brave, and invulnerable. He has remained the same for thousands of years.

But he was defeated by a little devil.

Tan Ning lowered his head deeply: "It's my fault, I will take responsibility. You don't have to worry."

The gods wanted to show leniency to the archangel because of his past contributions and hard work, but the judgments of the divine realm have always been based on fairness. If they did not impose severe punishment, it would be difficult to appease the public anger and even more difficult to maintain the prestige of the gods.

Tan Ning was very clear about this and did not want to put the gods in a difficult position.

"Even if we go to 'The Mist'?"

The god's golden eyes looked at him.

"Even if we go to 'The Mist'."

He has already realized something.

God sighed and said, "This is the only way. However, this is not just a punishment. You need to do something for me. In the 'mist'..."

Tan Ning looked up suddenly.

After hearing the words of the god, his expression became more serious: "Yes, Lord God."

After leaving the temple, the angels watched him from afar, whispering to each other, and never looked at him with the admiration and worship they once had.

It would be a lie to say that he didn't care at all, but compared to his colleagues who had clear likes and dislikes, Tan Ning glanced at the flowers over there full of pink lilies and golden roses, and a heavy sense of loss, completely different from before, gripped his stomach.

There will never again be a child hiding there, just to smile with joy the first second they see him.

He will never be able to leave the fog again in his life.

…never see that child again.

The archangel, who had never bent his back even after being captured and tortured by the demons for seven days and seven nights, fell down due to the sudden and unbearable pain. He tightly clutched the clothes on his chest and breathed deeply, but still could not escape the pain of suffocation.

…

The blood moon in the magic mirror can actually store a large amount of memories. As the masked man untied the chains, Wannian's heart was forcibly filled with that person's emotions, which were suppressed with great effort but still surged like waves.

Cherish. Miss. Farewell.

The memories are not coherent, or can be said to be fragmented, but the emotions fill every corner of the heart as smoothly as water.

When he came to his senses, his face was wet.

He looked up blankly and touched his face, which was full of cold tears.

Now, even if he didn't want to admit that he and Tan Ning were the same person, it was too late. The insertion of memories was like the invasion of another soul. It didn't matter whether he was him or not; they were one from then on.

Wannian stumbled and fell to the ground. Looking at the liquid remaining on the back of his hand, he asked blankly, "...Are you sad?"

For the child you once raised?

For your destroyed and scattered race?

For your shattered faith?

It's rare that I cry purely for myself.

Regardless, the current situation wasn't suitable for him to be melancholic. He needed to confront the masked man who had forcibly changed his trajectory, and he needed to leave here—

"uncle……"

The soft baby voice gave Wannian a start.

When he came to his senses, he found that Li Jue had entered the magic mirror's space at some point. It was only Li Jue.

"you……"

He wanted to ask how the little guy got in, but then realized it wasn't that important; he had long noticed that Li Jue's identity was extraordinary, far exceeding the authority of ordinary systems, and there was no place in the world that the baby couldn't go.

"Uncle, sad?"

The little cub lay on his knees, looking at him with worry in his eyes, and put his warm little hand on his cheek.

Wannian wrapped his little hand in his palm, moved his lips as if to say something, to comfort the child not to worry about him.

But before he could finish his words, tears started to flow again.

He could no longer tell whether it was his own sadness or Tan Ning's.

He couldn't tell whether he was Wannian or Tan Ning.

He held the child in his arms and buried his head in his small shoulders, like a drowning man clinging to a piece of driftwood.

It sounds a bit strange, but for me who just received such a shock, Li Jue's existence is like a reassurance and the best comfort.

The child imitated other parents' coaxing ways, patting his back with his little hands and muttering: "Uncle, be good, be good~ Don't cry, don't cry! Baby is here~"

His tone was very serious, as if Wannian, who was several decades older than him, was the one who needed more protection and care.

Wannian wanted to laugh, but his facial muscles were so stiff that he could only cry, so he could only remain silent and hug the little guy tighter.

After a long, long time, he finally calmed down and let the child go.

Li Jue blinked: "Uncle Wanwan."

"……Um?"

The little cub looked at him seriously: "Cub wants to leave his birthday wish to you."

Wannian was surprised.

He was the only human among this group of monsters, the only one. Because he was human, he could best understand the place where Li Jue had lived and how society worked. He also knew how important birthday wishes were to a four-year-old. It was almost like a fairy wand and magic.

And Li Jue actually wanted to grant him this wish.

Wannian trembled and tried hard to force a smile, although he realized that the smile was uglier than crying; fortunately, Zizi did not despise him.

"No need, baby, it's such an important thing, just dream what you want to dream."

"I want Uncle Wanwan to be happy." Li Jue stretched out his index finger and poked the corner of his mouth, trying to change the downward curve to an upward one. "That way, I will be very happy too!"

Wannian stared at him blankly, his throat was so dry and hoarse, as if his throat had been taken away.

The little angel shook his head, causing the feathers on his wings to flutter off, and proudly announced: "My wish is really~~coming true!"

Therefore, whether Wannian wants to integrate Tan Ning's memory, or completely separate them into two unrelated individuals and consciousnesses, or completely escape Mephistopheles' cage with only a half-understood truth.

Just think about it for ten thousand years.

Li Jue can help him do it.

Wannian buried his face in his hands, his shoulders trembling, as if he was laughing and crying.

Should I say that I have fallen to the point of needing comfort from a four-year-old child, or should I say that I have the honor of being favored by the baby?

He asked his heart, which one should he choose?

Does he want to be Tan Ning?

Or continue to do it for ten thousand years?

If he doesn't want both identities anymore, becomes frustrated again, and starts over again, can Li Jue do it?

The small system's birthday wish has the power to change everything.

"Are you...Baby Cub?"

The sudden sound of someone joining in startled the adult and the child. They almost forgot that there was a third person in the room.

Li Jue turned his head to look at the source of the sound, biting his thumb and said curiously: "The mirror can talk!"

Even through the mask, you could tell the guy stiffened. "I'm not a mirror."

The little cub didn't listen to his sophistry: "Mirror, mirror, how do you know me?"

"You are very famous. No one else can enter here without my control." The masked man realized something was wrong after he finished speaking and corrected himself, "I am not a mirror."

"Oh, I see." Li Jue nodded, "Then mirror, mirror, why are you here?"

"Because this is my territory... Again, I'm not a mirror."

"Mirror, mirror, why are you wearing a mask?"

“………………”

Wan Nian felt like laughing. This seemingly menacing big boss, who refused to show his face, was just as helpless against the little guy as everyone else.

There is no point in arguing with such a young child. The more you deny, the more you will reinforce the impression in his mind.

The masked man gave up his identification and looked down at the little kid. Vines slowly extended from behind the mask. "What's so good about you that makes them so obsessed with you?"

Li Jue flapped his wings and said confidently, "Because the cub is cute!"

He turned back to look at Wannian, as if seeking approval. The adult nodded solemnly. Yes, it was indeed very cute.

"Have you stayed here at Mephisto long enough? I'd love to take you back for a checkup, but unfortunately, it's not my turn yet," the masked man said. "However, the place you're going to next is right next to mine. I'll keep an eye on you, little system."

"Okay." Realizing that he was about to change his workplace, the little boy sighed like an adult and raised his little face. "Mirror, mirror, what's your name?"

The masked man answered irrelevantly: "Little System, we will see each other soon."

After he finished speaking, his figure slowly faded from the mirror until the entire mirror disappeared, as if it had melted into the air.

"The mirror is gone." The little angel said to himself, "How will the child recognize him?"

Wannian comforted him, "You'll recognize him when you get to him. You're a communication post system, so you'll have a special mark on the big boss."

"Zizi doesn't want to leave." Li Jue curled his lips.

His birthday is still going on. He finally got his parents together and finally got his brother and uncle familiar with this world. Why are they leaving again?

The adult touched his little wings and said, "Go to a new world and make new friends."

The little cub felt that what he said made sense, and his mood improved again. He put his worries aside and threw himself into the adult's arms, his eyes shining: "So, what is uncle's wish?"

Wannian looked at his innocent little face and suddenly remembered one of the reasons why he wanted to create his own world (even though Mephisto said that it was the wish of his soul as Tan Ning to revive the angel race, but, never mind) - only by becoming the big boss would he have a legitimate reason to meet the boss and communicate with the post system.

Now he is still in a cold war with the little devil, and it is difficult for him to ascend and create a complete sub-world by his own strength.

But if he was the Archangel, would everything be different?

How he hoped that one day, Zizi would appear not to find someone else, not to pass by him, but to come for him.

If it's for this.

Even if it's just for this.

Love, hate, and identity all seem insignificant in the face of the power that holds the entire world.

If he was really a powerful archangel, this was clearly a godsend opportunity. How could he let it slip through his fingers?

In addition, there was one point in the fragmented memories that the masked man had poured in that concerned Wannian: before the Lord God deprived the Archangel of everything and brought punishment upon the "Mist", he had specifically instructed him on this matter.

In the "fog", if there is something that He cares about, He will feel at ease only if Tan Ning, whom He trusts the most, is the one to handle it.

Is there any connection between the "Easter" that Mephistopheles and the masked man want to start, the evil god they want to awaken from the "fog", and the thing mentioned by the Lord God?

He will only know all this when he regains all his memories.

Wannian took a deep breath and said, "I've thought about it."

Li Jue curled her eyes: "Okay."

He flapped his wings and flew up. Now he was getting more and more proficient in controlling his own wings, which were completely different from his previous ones. He no longer stumbled and fell down because of the loss of balance like he did at the beginning.

The blood-red moon was still rotating slowly in the same place, but when the cub flew nearby, it was gradually stained with a light golden light as sweet as cream.

Now, it looks like a truly bright and full moon.

Half of the angel's wings and half of the devil's bat wings closed together to wrap the little cub inside, but he did not fall down. It was as if he was floating in the air by the gravity of the moon.

Li Jue clasped his hands together and muttered, like a little angel statue - no, he was the little angel now.

"Dear God."

The baby closed his eyes and made a wish seriously in a baby voice.

“Although I don’t know who you are, and I’ve never seen you before.

"But, but, today is my birthday~

"Dad said that children who have birthdays have magic.

"So, please, fulfill my wish!"