Chapter 53
Compared to the main square, the Papacy offers an even better vantage point for viewing the cathedral.
That is the iconic tower in the eyes of the world.
Many people say that it is the Pope's residence and that ordinary people cannot approach it.
When Veris first heard about it, he remained silent for a long time. He didn't have any particular fondness for sleeping in high-rise buildings, and those high-rises looked rather narrow. Although he wasn't picky about bedrooms, why would he choose to sleep in a tower when he had better options?
However, it must be said that this rumor has attracted many people to spy on the tower.
Veris did indeed set up a magic circle near the tower to prevent entry.
This rumor has spread so widely that it has become accepted information.
In fact, Veris just felt that if someone broke in, and the windows upstairs didn't have any iron bars, it would be a sin if someone accidentally fell out.
There's only one hour left until the New Year.
Veris activated the magic circle, and Sylvain cast a cleansing spell. The two of them climbed the steps. The interior of the tower was about the same size as Albion's small attic. Veris hadn't been used to it before, but now, standing here, it seemed surprisingly spacious.
He chatted with Sylvain, mostly about official business.
"The entrance exam for the Royal Capital Academy will be in two weeks. I will go there, but not as the Pope."
"Are you going to take that ninth-tier mage as a student?" Sylvan looked up at the young man walking ahead.
Veris hummed in agreement. "We don't know what professions they'll choose yet. Allen is a descendant of dragons, and if he wants to participate in the entrance trials, his identity will definitely be exposed. Murphy doesn't need to participate in the trials; after all, he's a powerful mage, so he can have that privilege."
“Aster is a born warrior. Fikris has met him and is very satisfied. He said he wants to take him on as a student.”
The tower's steps were almost at the end, and fireworks filled the sky, their delicate light falling.
“Arnold…he probably wants to be a pharmacist.”
Sylvain paused slightly. "The same choice you made back then."
Veris turned around and reached out his hand to him. Sylvain took his hand, and the two walked together to the highest platform of the tower. The entire capital was brightly lit. Not only in the southern district, but also in other districts, fireworks were being set off, and the sounds of musical instruments accompanied by cheers could be heard from afar.
"Let's not talk about official business anymore." He smiled.
The New Year's bells rang, their sound echoing throughout the capital, resonating with the distant chimes of the palace bells.
The cheers grew even louder.
The Orlando calendar ended in 287.
The Orlando calendar begins in 288.
Veris grasped Sylvan's hand and looked at him earnestly: "Make a wish, Sylvan."
The continent of Icarus once had no concept of a New Year. Veris remembered the day he found Sylvain and made that the New Year. Every year on that day, he would happily pull his best friend aside and have him make a wish.
Sylvain's wishes were all the same.
He said he hoped they would be together forever.
Fireworks lit up the night sky. It was supposed to snow tonight, but Veris used a little trick to make the snow wait until dawn.
Unseen magic floated in the night sky, reversing the celestial phenomena; even a ninth-tier mage wouldn't dare say they could do it.
Sylvain looked down at his lover, his heart tingling. He couldn't describe the feeling, only that his heart was swelling and his brain was pounding with excitement. The joy of this moment overwhelmed all the malice he had received in the past.
"I have two wishes."
"Hmm? Then His Holiness the Pope will have to consider it before granting your request."
“We’ll be together forever.” Sylvain’s fingers slipped between the fingers of his other hand, their skin touching. The man’s body temperature was a little low, just like in his memory; he could never warm up.
Veris looked at him with a smile and said, "Are you sure?"
Those deep green eyes were also fixed on Veris, as if they could see through all his thoughts.
Silence spread, and Veris's smile gradually faded. Just as he was about to ask when, he suddenly realized something and froze.
Crimson runes appeared and swirled around them. Veris turned his head, his eyes reflecting the familiar yet unfamiliar symbols.
They floated, as if trying to blend in with the surrounding fireworks.
In that brief silence, Veris thought he was going to regret it.
The young man before him had the same gentle expression as before. He took his hand, stepped back, and leaned down to gently kiss the back of his hand.
"I swear by my divinity,"
"I will love you forever, until my godhood is annihilated, and there will be no hell in this world."
Tens of thousands of years.
Sylvain first set the rules to regulate the cycle of reincarnation in Hell.
This is the second time He has set rules, and we are bound only to His rules.
Veris quietly felt the warmth on the back of his hand. His magic was unstable, and suddenly a thin layer of snow began to fall from above. The snowflakes, carrying a cold wind, blew into the platform.
“Human lifespan is long, Sylvan, you’ll regret this,” Veris said with a strained voice.
“I slept in hell for ten thousand years, but after meeting you, it felt like only a few decades had passed in the blink of an eye.” Sylvain looked up, his green eyes reflecting Veris’s face.
He grasped Veris's cool fingertips and pressed them against his cheek: "You have absolute faith and domination. You are the only supreme god in this world. You can do anything to me."
In a calm voice, he said something resolute: "If one day you no longer like me, please kill me, Veris."
Veris stared at him intently.
The crimson runes gradually dissipated, the rules were established, and the newly formed godhood was still fragile. This time, the establishment of the rules would temporarily slow down Sylvain's recovery of divine power.
Over the centuries, he had witnessed too many cruel twists of fate, and he began to question whether the awe-inspiring stories told by the Mother Goddess truly existed in this world.
He is no longer the passionate Veris he once was.
"The creation of your reincarnation back then was a grave mistake."
Veris's voice trembled slightly.
Sylvain wiped away the tears from the corner of his eyes and whispered, "I know."
"This is not your fault. This is an inevitable outcome. It just makes my resurrection more logical."
He doesn't need to possess anyone's body; his soul is one with everyone.
Veris used a forbidden spell to enable Sylvain's reincarnation; once a god dies, he is dead, and there is no possibility of reincarnation.
The consequence of this... was the resurrection of the Seven Gods.
Sylvain said seriously, "Before the age of magic has completely fallen, killing the other gods is the best thing to do."
Divine power and magic are two different systems.
The sources of divine power are faith and the power bestowed by the rules at the origin, which is the primordial divine power.
Ending this resurrection of the seven gods is also simple: just obliterate all the resurrected divine essences.
Veris has already captured the divine essence of the Earth God. Yannis is hiding deep within Arnold's soul. He was only caught once, during the Albion incident, but Arnold escaped.
The Twin Gods of Time and Fate need to be found using divine artifacts; it's unknown which timeline they're hidden in.
The sea god has appeared, but Veris's senses are not very stable, suggesting that the sea god's divine nature was originally weak.
His attitude was subtle from beginning to end.
He might as well catch a fool like Ambrose who had run into his trap.
However, the Twin Gods had already appeared, but he delayed dealing with them, saying he would find time to capture them, but in reality, he didn't include this matter in his plans at all.
He... had his own selfish motives.
With the end of the Seven Gods' resurrection, he feared that Sylvain would also die.
Consider it time he stole.
After hearing his concerns, Sylvain smiled and asked, "And what about you?"
Veris also possesses the divine personality of the god of love.
The white-haired youth stood at the railing. The cheers outside were not as loud as before. Many people had been playing all day and felt tired, so they went back to rest.
The fireworks have ended.
He scoffed, "I'll just erase the divine status myself in the end."
“No need.” Sylvain squeezed his hand and explained gently, “I don’t belong to your pantheon. The revival of the Seven Gods was inevitable. It’s just that you chose an unfortunate time. The revival of the Seven Gods was not caused by me.”
Veris was taken aback: "But your divinity..."
Sylvain: "My divinity has never died."
The divine essence merely resided within Veris. Hundreds of years of faith and baptism ensured its power. The resurgence of the Seven Gods caused some primordial divine power to stir, and Sylvain's divine essence unconsciously stole some of it. Veris decided to detach his divine essence, also because he realized that the divine essence belonging to Sylvain within him was strengthening.
He thought it was because the Seven Gods had revived.
After the divine power was stripped away, and with Sylvain forcibly taking away a portion of the divine power, the restoration of power was just around the corner, and the evil god's memories were gradually unlocked.
“Actually, I respond every time you flip a coin,” Sylvain said.
Veris touched his nose somewhat awkwardly. He used to ask all sorts of questions, serious and not serious, and he would flip a coin whenever he was bored. He never expected Sylvain to sense it.
Sylvain looked at his reddened ear tips and smiled: "But I have no memory of that time, and I wasn't lucid. I only remember that there was always a voice asking me random questions."
He never left.
"Then why did you react that way back in Mercury?" Veris asked, looking at the person next to him with suspicion, as if remembering something.
This time it was Sylvain's turn to be silent. He was indeed not very lucid at that time, but he knew some of his memories and thought that his reincarnation was a... bastard.
"When did you start using those swear words?"
Sylvain: "..."
They had heard it before during their adventures, but Veris had always forbade Sylvain from saying it, calling it too rude.
Veris is very protective of his new friend, almost like a parent raising a child, and he absolutely forbids Sylvain from doing anything he disapproves of.
Sylvain never argued back, but silently kept it in mind.
"Could it be that Lortheran taught him?" Veris muttered.
Sylvain finally came up with a reason: "It was said by someone who came to hell to be reincarnated before."
Verist paused. Sylvain, who ruled Hell, was in charge of some vulgar language. It was normal for him to hear some foul language. At that time, his divine nature was probably not clear, so he would unconsciously say some words he had heard before.
After making the connection, Veris nodded reluctantly.
"You haven't told us what your second wish is yet." The fireworks are all over, everyone else has gone home to rest, but they're still here.
Sylvain looked at him: "You can't work all night."
Veris: "...Can we get another one?"
He often works day and night with irregular schedules, and it's common for him to work anytime, anywhere. Sometimes he'll take out his work to look at it if he remembers something he hasn't finished. Of course, his work also includes keeping an eye on the brave team and other things that require them to be out and about.
If he hadn't been healthy, he probably would have died before the new country was established.
Veris responded with righteous indignation: "It's precisely because I can't die that I can act so recklessly!"
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Author's note: Making up for yesterday's post.
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