Chapter 72 Rewind Magic (4) At this moment, she was in Xia...
Tartarus looked down at her, seemingly lost in a brief daze.
Looking at his stunned, beautiful face, Xia Ying couldn't help but think to herself: The Lord of Demons has never shown such an expression before.
She reached out and touched his cheek as if possessed, as if the calm surface of water had suddenly shattered. Tartarus abruptly closed his eyes, turning his head away helplessly, as if he were actively pressing his hand against Xia Ying's palm.
The six-winged priest's platinum hair flowed through Xia Ying's fingers as she carefully traced Tartarus's features, finally settling on his lips.
She sensed a subtle tremor in her fingertips, and a vast and complex emotion flowed towards Xia Ying through that brief moment of contact.
"Don't you dare read my mind!"
Tartarus pushed her hand away at that moment, his face flushed with anger.
Xia Ying looked at him, not angry at his slightly rough behavior. She was still savoring and discerning the feelings she had just experienced.
"The guilt of betraying the gods tormented you day and night with pain and worry, but because of my appearance... you have long felt peace and tranquility."
Xia Ying's voice became increasingly certain.
"Tartarus, you like me!"
Tartarus looked even angrier. He glared at Xia Ying and turned to leave.
Xia Ying immediately followed. Tartarus turned around and glared at her. Xia Ying, feeling a sense of vengeful joy, innocently and matter-of-factly said, "Why are you looking at me? Didn't you want me not to leave?"
"..."
Tartarus did not refute. Just as Xia Ying was enjoying the rare moment of embarrassment that the future Demon Lord was experiencing, he suddenly grabbed her and cast the shrinking spell once again.
Xia Ying couldn't believe she had fallen twice in the same spot, and immediately jumped up in anger: "How despicable! You ambushed me!"
The priest, having won back the game, raised the corners of his mouth, cradled Xia Ying, who had been reduced to a tiny person, in his palm, and returned to his residence.
Unlike the extravagant lifestyle of the Demon Lord, Tartarus, as a priest, lived in an extremely simple and austere place, with even his stone bed resembling an altar.
He placed Xia Ying on the stone slab and began to change his sacrificial robes. He had only taken off half of the clothes when Tartarus suddenly stopped and looked back. Sure enough, he saw Xia Ying resting her chin on her hand, admiring him as he changed.
"What's wrong? Keep going." Seeing that the other person had stopped, Xia Ying urged, taking the initiative. "Don't you like me? What's wrong with letting me see?"
"..."
Tartarus was speechless more today than in the past few centuries. He went back to the bedside, covered Xia Ying with a thin blanket, and then quickly changed his clothes while she was busy pupaing and protesting loudly.
As Xia Ying struggled to crawl out of the covers, Tartarus had already changed into white mourning clothes. He gently placed Xia Ying by the window, used a sacrificial square cloth as a blanket for her, and then lay down on the stone bed himself.
Tartarus closed his eyes, trying to fall asleep: "I need to rest as soon as possible; the war of the gods could end at any moment..."
Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly sensed a surge of magical energy, followed by a heavy weight on his body, and Xia Ying's voice rang out nearby.
"Priest, I want to make a deal with you." Xia Ying, freed from the magical restraints, leaned down and smiled at Tartarus. "I will assist you in dealing with your god, and in return, you grant me one request. How about it?"
Tartarus stared at her silently.
Xia Ying continued trying to persuade him: "Don't worry, my request is easy, it's just that the time frame is quite long. To prevent you from forgetting or going back on your word, I need to make a contract with you..."
“You are indeed a deity,” he suddenly said. “I sense an aura in you that is very similar to His, and only a deity can perceive the mind of a priest.”
This is probably because she herself is a fragment of a god. Xia Ying thought about it and felt that this made sense.
"Let's put that aside for now, let's talk about the contract..."
“Although you are still very weak, if I fail, you will be the only god who can stand against Him,” Tartarus said. “I do not want you to fight alongside me.”
Xia Ying said eagerly, "You will succeed, I can already see that future!"
"Foresight is indeed something that cannot be changed, but even gods cannot see the entire future in every detail."
Tartaros said.
"That's why I was able to risk the survival of my people to rebel. And even if you're certain that the gods will die, you can't know every single detail... I can't know which decision led to the predetermined end, so I can only trust my own judgment at this moment."
Seeing that the negotiations were about to break down, Xia Ying wanted to continue arguing, but Tartarus's hand had already gently covered her eyes.
As sleepiness washed over her, Xia Ying's consciousness gradually blurred, and she slowly lay face down on Tartarus's chest.
Before she completely fell into a dream, Xia Ying only had time to hear the other person's last words.
"Sleep now, young god."
####
Time slipped away silently in her deep sleep, and before she knew how much time had passed, Xia Ying suddenly woke up.
Once she regained consciousness, her first thought was to look for Tartarus beside her, but the stone bed was cold, and it seemed he had been gone for a long time.
"Oh no...!"
Xia Ying ran outwards, the settlement was extremely deserted, and she didn't encounter any of the gods along the way. When she arrived at the entrance, she found it still tightly closed, but the sounds of fierce fighting on the ground still reached her ears.
The battle between Tartarus and the gods has begun!
Without time to think any further, Xia Ying swung her sword and broke through the magical blockade at the entrance. She flew into the sandstorm and just happened to see Tartarus pierce the heart of the god.
The colossal god collapsed like a mountain, spitting out curses: "Tartarus! I curse your undead to never rest, to sink into the depths of the River Styx, burdened by the sin of god-slaying! I curse the souls of your people to be born flawed, unable to escape the fate of being corrupted by endless desires!"
His curse fell like poisonous rain, bringing filth to every corner of the earth, and then, just as Xia Ying saw at Lilith's tea party, the last god died, turning into three fragments, waiting for the time to be revived in the long passage of time.
Tartarus's pure white wings were stained black, and he fell from the clouds into the River Styx, where he quickly sank.
Xia Ying ran towards him, but sank into the river as soon as she stepped into the River Styx. She quickly changed into the [Spring of Persephone] and used the river waves to grab Tartarus, who was about to be submerged.
Tartarus weakly raised his face: "It's no use. Priests who lose their gods will all die from the loss of their lives..."
She lifted Tartarus by the back of his neck, lowered her head, and touched his forehead.
"You will die without a god, so let me become your god."
At this moment, Xia Ying truly acknowledged her divine identity. The divine fragments residing within her body were activated, and Tartarus's fragmented soul, broken from losing its master, was mended, and life force returned to his body.
At the same time, Xia Ying's divine fragments triggered a rejection reaction from the world. She felt a force pushing her away from this world and quickly grabbed Tartarus's hand.
Time was running out, and her body had faded to almost transparent. Xia Ying struggled to utter her last words: "Of course! It would be even better if you could be gentler to me when we meet again!!"
As the echo of those words faded, her figure shattered completely.
Tartarus spread his black wings, broke free from the River Styx, and soared into the sky.
He gazed for a long time at the rushing River Styx, but in the ceaseless black waters, there was no longer any trace of the existence of the newborn god.
A roll of parchment appeared in the void and slowly drifted down.
Tartarus took the parchment, branded his name on it, and whispered, "The contract is made."
#####
This time travel was exceptionally abrupt.
Xia Ying was almost like a baseball being hit out of her original world, crashing and scrambling through the river of time before finally rolling into a completely new coordinate point in a very disheveled state.
Xia Ying suddenly felt a strange sense of familiarity, as if this moment had been repeated countless times in her mind.
She turned her head and met Xia Kaiyun's smiling eyes.
“Hello, Xia Ying,” she said to her. “You’ve finally arrived.”
Xia Ying did not answer.
She first looked out the window and saw the long coastline through the glass.
Then she looked in the rearview mirror and saw herself sleeping soundly as a young child.
Then, she finally became certain.
She was on the day Xia Kaiyun died.
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Author's Note: Howl's Moving Castle (not really)
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