Chapter 80
When humans have nightmares, they often dream of hell and the devil, even if it is just imagination.
So what will we see in the nightmares of hell and the devil?
Mephistopheles, Lord of Hell, cannot answer on behalf of his fellow devils, as he hardly dreams.
Strictly speaking, he doesn't dream because he rarely sleeps: the devil doesn't need to rest and recuperate, he has no time to have fun all day long, so sleeping is a waste of time.
There is another reason that the little devil doesn't want to mention.
Even though he was in a sub-world he had created, and even though all the NPCs around him were extensions of his will, Mephistopheles still couldn't find a single corner where he could sleep without being on guard.
There was one place in the world where he could feel safe. It had been there long ago, but it would never be there again.
——That’s what he thought before he opened his eyes and saw the pure white.
Mephistopheles looked around in confusion. He clearly remembered that he had fallen asleep on a skeleton bed with... that person; how come he was in a different place when he opened his eyes?
His sub-world was dark and gloomy, made up of decay and blood. How could there be such a clean light?
The sky was a dazzling, boundless white, dotted with clouds as soft as cotton candy. The ground around them was paved with jade, and pink lilies and golden roses grew on both sides of the road, creating ripples of fragrance in the wind.
The gurgling river water is crystal clear, shimmering with silver light. One or two birds fly over the water, bringing transparent fallen leaves with them in the sparkling waves.
There is a huge crystal on the spire of the tower-shaped building in the distance, scattering the sunlight into a dreamy glass glow, painting the entire static space.
Time does not pass here, and the faint chanting of hymns creates an eternal tranquility.
Mephistopheles not only did not feel that this place was unfamiliar, but rather it looked quite familiar, bringing back many long-lost memories.
Is it a trick?
In the world of Hell, is there anyone with enough power to overwhelm his "core" and attack him?
Or is it just a dream?
The little devil was able to think calmly at first, but when the bell rang slowly seven times, the chanting stopped, and a group of people walked out of the tower-shaped building, a tense string in his head suddenly broke.
He saw it.
The man who was surrounded by the crowd - no, these guys with bird wings and halos on their heads were not humans.
He has a handsome face and is serious. He wears single-rimmed gold-rimmed glasses with the chain hanging down, outlining the sharp lines of his profile. Even his pair of snow-white wings are much more imposing than those of others.
They had probably just finished their business and were still talking. The man spent most of the time listening, his lips pursed and expressionless, a commanding presence without even anger.
His eyes swept over intentionally or unintentionally, and Mephistopheles was about to hide, but he was already seen.
The little devil held his breath, not knowing how the other party would react.
The man was not surprised to see him, and a hint of smile appeared in his originally cold eyes.
He said to the people around him, "That's all for today. You can go back first."
Everyone bowed their heads and responded, "Yes, Archangel."
After the angels had left, the archangel folded his wings and walked over, waving at him who was still hiding in the golden rose bushes: "Are you waiting for me?"
He smiled, his voice soft.
I'm afraid if those subordinates saw it just now, they would be surprised that the usually cold Archangel has such an unknown gentle side.
Mephistopheles had nowhere to hide and had to stand up. The crushed rose shook its petals and recovered.
He thought he had grown taller after not seeing him for many years, but just like in his memory, he still had to look up at the man. He opened his eyes wide and asked in disbelief, "How come you..."
yeah?
Whose voice is this?
It's thin and tender, and sounds like a little kid.
The only cub he knew was Little System, who was not here, and his voice was softer and sweeter than the one he had just heard.
If it wasn’t Li Jue, then which kid was talking?
The man was stern in front of his subordinates, but he was much more lively here. Seeing the little devil stunned, he couldn't help but laugh: "What are you thinking about?"
Mephistopheles was surprised when he finally saw his own reflection in the other's pupils.
He no longer looked like a 17 or 18-year-old boy as he had for hundreds of years, but now he was a child, not much older than a baby.
Before he became the hell demon that everyone would shudder at the mention of in the future, he was just an ordinary, even somewhat weak demon cub.
He was still so small, so he had to look up to see the tall man. He saw large patches of pure light coming from behind, so bright that it made him want to cry.
This is not hell, but heaven.
The man standing in front of the future devil of hell is none other than the archangel who commands the three thousand white-winged legions and is known as the "first warrior" under the Lord God.
For millions of years, it has firmly occupied the brightest and most untouchable part of Mephistopheles' memory.
"Stop being in a daze and let's go."
The man's wings were in a very relaxed state. The two of them walked along the riverbank covered with pink lilies. The birds resting among the flowers sang melodiously, and the sweet breeze filled their smells.
"By the way, I still don't seem to know your name." He looked down at the demon cub, "Do you remember your name?"
This scene had actually happened before. Mephistopheles, like himself at that time, shook his head in confusion.
The man thought for a moment and said, "How about calling him Mephistopheles?"
The kids have no objection.
This name was originally given to me by the other party, but I just experienced it again.
Such a peaceful stroll together is a precious memory stored in Mephistopheles' heart that has been missed so many times that it has been worn away and faded.
I didn't expect it to happen again, even if it was in a dream, it really makes me miss it.
Mephistopheles walked a little behind the man, looking at the slightly fluttering corners of his clothes and his simple, slender fingers, and he felt an urge to hold their hands.
But he didn't dare.
My hands are already stained with sin and blood, how can I defile the most innocent heart in the world?
Even the devil who has committed countless evil deeds will sometimes be afraid.
"That." The child called out to the person in front of him in a thin voice.
The archangel stopped and turned to look at him, his glasses chain hanging down like a string of rusty tears. "What's wrong?"
The demon cub twisted his fingers: "Can you please not abandon me? Uh, I mean, I mean, if possible, you..."
Mephistopheles, who was very eloquent, didn't know how to make his words more tactful.
The other person smiled, touched the child's soft hair, and did not hesitate as he had imagined: "Okay."
Mephistopheles' eyes widened: "Really?"
"Yeah." The man said firmly.
The Archangel needs no extra explanations and always keeps his promises.
Mephistopheles couldn't remember how long it had been since he felt happy from the bottom of his heart because of someone's words.
The joy is so pure, because of one person, because of a feeling that can be called "love".
He flapped his little wings behind him and mustered up his courage: "Tan Ning..."
"Call me brother." The man reached out and poked his chubby face. He sounded a little serious, but the smile between his eyebrows did not diminish. "Be polite."
But I don't want to treat you as my brother.
Mephistopheles thought.
From the first moment I saw you, I loved you——
*
Mephistopheles wakes up.
A severe headache that threatened to tear him in two seized all his senses. He suddenly changed from a cub back to a teenager, and for a moment he was unable to adapt to the normal perspective.
He bit his lip hard, almost to the point of bleeding, waiting for the pain to stop being so sharp and unbearable.
Mephistopheles raised his eyes and stared at the person who was so close to him without blinking.
The face was exactly the same as the one in the dream, except that it lacked the vigilance and discipline of being on duty, and had more freedom and unrestrainedness that was almost a luxury for the original archangel.
Mephistopheles looked down inch by inch, slowly sketching the face he had longed for for thousands of years.
The older one was sleeping soundly in his arms. The excessive exhaustion from last night had wiped out his usual alertness, and he was completely unaware of the burning gaze fixed on him.
Are you him?
Mephistopheles thought.
Are you the Archangel Tan Ning, who is favored by the Lord God, or an unimportant little boss in the ocean world?
Are you his reincarnation, or do you just happen to look like him?
However, these heartbreaking, paranoid questions could not be answered even if all the torture methods used on the souls of Hell were used for ten thousand years.
Mephistopheles knew better than anyone that even if it was really Tan Ning in Wannian, all his memories would be erased after his rebirth - he would no longer remember that he was an angel but raised a demon orphan with his own hands, nor would he remember that he risked being punished for treason to save the child, which led to his proud wings being broken and being exiled to the "mist".
He won't remember anything.
Only Mephistopheles remembers those warm, sweet and cherished memories from tens of millions of years ago.
What is even clearer than these is that since the birth of the world, no one has ever walked out of the "fog".
The Archangel had long since turned into a drop of smoke, a gust of wind, and a wisp of tear in the "fog".
Tan Ning will never come back.
No matter how highly realistic it is, it is just a fake that cannot replace the original.
But even if it's a fake...
Mephisto's eyes darkened and he tightened his arm around Wannian's waist.
Even so, he would never let go.
The little devil's tail, which was originally wrapped around the human's leg, suddenly stood up, and the pointed arrow of the tail looked left and right like a radar, as if it had received some signal.
Mephistopheles whispered, "Is anyone there?"
The tail bent and made a nodding gesture.
He has clear goals and things that must be accomplished, and he cannot indulge in the pleasures of life.
It takes enough self-discipline to be in charge of a huge sub-world. The little devil sighed in his heart, took a last look at Wannian Ninghe's sleeping face, and left the bed after the neural spine skeleton opened.
He put on his clothes and opened the door. A headless ghost servant was already waiting outside.
"What's up?"
Mephistopheles' tone was impatient.
If you dare to disturb his tender moments, you'd better have a valid reason.
The ghost servant naturally heard that his master was in a bad mood, and the bones of his hands crossed in front of him were tightly entangled together: "My lord, there is news."
Mephistopheles raised an eyebrow: "What level?"
The ghost servant replied respectfully, "It is level one, sir."
The little devil set different levels for his communication device, and very few people can be placed at level one.
Apart from the Sea Monster King and the Golden Dragon who occasionally asked for photos of their cubs, and Wannian who stayed by their side almost all the time, the only one who could be ranked at level one was...
He pulled up his shirt, making sure no strange scratches would show up on camera. "I understand."
Mephistopheles walked into the Count's study, which had until recently belonged to him. Those bound books had now become a register of the souls of Hell. Each name seemed written in blood, leaving a gruesome trail of blood as the ink dripped, and they trembled in pain under the scorching heat of the Eternal Lamp.
The little devil sat down at the desk, and the image of another person gradually became grainy and appeared in the air.
The man was wearing a mask, half of which was painted with an extremely hideous face, and the other half had no pattern at all. A thin vine was climbing out from his eye socket.
He said gloomily, "You're late, boy who's in charge of the crucible and bone soup."
If it were any other day, Mephistopheles would have retorted and called him a bunch of nicknames.
But he wasn't in the mood today. His handsome and innocent face was even gloomier than the other man's. "Master Yuan, are you so idle that you don't have anything else to do?"
The man frowned beneath his mask. "How's the progress on your end?"
The little devil said listlessly: "That's it."
The man was silent for a moment and concluded: "You've softened your heart."
"No. Sacrifice also takes time." Mephistopheles said expressionlessly, "I hate being rushed."
"I hate people who aren't punctual, too." The vines in the man's eyes slowly moved along his mask, like a snake ready to bare its fangs. "We've almost finished preparing the sacrifices. Boy, you don't have much time left, so don't be so leisurely and talk about love. I can wait, but Easter won't."
He logged off after saying this, and the image dissipated into the air.
Mephistopheles remained sitting there, staring into space. After a while, his tail drooped and he closed his eyes tiredly.
*
I slept for ten thousand years until noon, but no sunlight came in. A crescent moon of blood still hung outside the window, and the world was in eternal darkness.
The night of hell never ends and the day never comes.
His whole body ached, so he took three steps at a time and slowly, slowly, slowly moved himself down the stairs.
Whether it's a middle-aged man versus a young man, or a human versus a demon, his old waist really can't stand it.
The layout of Custer Castle has not changed. Away from the main building, there is still a garden in front and a lake in the back. However, the originally colorful and soft flowers have all become ferocious carnivorous plants that will swallow up even a skeleton bird passing by. The once clear lake water is now extremely turbid, and no one knows how many corpses are sunk in the bottom.
Wannian pressed his sun button and missed the ocean world again.
There is no change day after day, which is a bit boring, but it is peaceful and can be quite self-cultivating.
After the internship is over and he's familiar with the process of being a boss, he'll leave, regardless of whether he gets promoted or not. He still prefers a sunny place.
However, where there is sunshine, the little devil is destined not to stay long.
They are not of the same kind. They have been together for a while for various reasons, but they will eventually go their separate ways.
Thinking of this, Wannian's thoughts became a little messy, and he simply discarded the unnecessary thoughts.
He staggered into the garden like a wounded man (strictly speaking, he was a bit), saw the man-eating vines twisting and dancing in ecstasy, saw the skeleton fish that jumped onto the shore crawling darkly, and then saw a pure golden color, like the warm sunshine in early spring.
Huh?
Why is there sunshine here?
Wannian narrowed his eyes and caught a glimpse of a familiar little cub among the blooming lights and colorful lights.
The half-blooded little angel rode on the Soul Devourer, holding its collar with both hands and tail as reins. A pair of very different small wings fluttered as the black beast jumped, overlapping with the Soul Devourer's own wings. It was unknown which one would take off first.
At first glance, it looks like a bullfighting challenge that humans would play, a combination of a ferocious beast and a brave warrior. In fact, Miaoling's movements are not big. She is always paying attention to the situation of the little guy on her back, and the cub is also at ease.
The small system is the most beautiful light in this dark and cramped world.
Not only the hell world, but also the entire infinite space.
When Wannian saw Li Jue's smiling face, the haze in his heart immediately dissipated and he cleared his throat: "Is it fun?"
"uncle!"
Li Jue turned around when he heard his voice and happily reached out to him for a hug, forgetting that he was not on flat ground and fell off the beast's back without paying attention.
Miaoling, Lingxi and Wannian all rushed over to catch him reflexively, but they didn't expect the little angel to flap his wings vigorously and actually fly up.
The different wings made him unbalanced, and he flew in a trembling curve, and the hearts of the people on the ground were in their throats.
Li Jue, however, was having a lot of fun, groping to adjust the angle, and successfully landed in the arms he had been waiting for for ten thousand years.
The man held the petite angel cub in his arms, and the negative emotions accumulated in his heart were diluted by the warm body temperature and the light sweet fragrance of pear blossoms.
Human beings always pray for God to appear and angels to come.
So, is this what it feels like?
"Uncle!" The child's eyes curved into crescents, and he put his arms around his neck and said happily, "My dear, you're so hot!"
"Amazing. Are you tired?"
Little ones who are just learning to fly are just like children who are just learning to walk and are not familiar with using this new part of their body.
Wannian reached out to rub him, but when he was about to touch the devil's wing that was closer to him, some not-so-pleasant memories of last night came to his mind. He decisively skipped it and touched the other half of the angel's wing.
Well, the furry ones are easier to rub.
Li Jue felt a little itchy when he tickled her, and she giggled and snuggled into his arms.
Several snow-white feathers fell off, choking Wannian and making him sneeze.
"Uncle Wanwan, where is Brother Meimei?" Li Jue asked.
In the eyes of the little cub, these two adults always appear together, and when one is not around, of course he has to ask the other.
Wannian was unable to answer.
He hadn't seen Mephistopheles since he woke up, and he didn't know where the boy had gone.
Although they... well, it can be said that it was a consensual relationship and they both got what they wanted. There was no coercion, nor was there any sticky relationship between lovers, so there was no need for any special comfort in the morning afterward.
But there is still a subtle feeling of being used and discarded.
Fortunately, he wasn't the kind of person who would get upset over something like this. He pinched Li Jue's nose and asked, "Do you miss him?"
The little angel's halo lit up: "Looking for my brother!"
Wan Nian didn't react for a moment: "What brother?"
The baby's thoughts jump around and he speaks whatever comes to mind. People who don't know him well enough will find it difficult to keep up.
At times like these, Ling Xi needed to step in and act as a translator for the conversation: "We'd like to ask Mr. Mephistopheles where His Royal Highness the Holy Son went. Does Mr. Wan know?"
Wannian was really not quite sure. Before the Vatican's guards arrived at Caster Castle, he didn't know that there was such a setting in this sub-world.
Li Jue hugged his neck and acted coquettishly: "Uncle, let's go find Brother Meimei!"
For obvious reasons, Wannian didn't think he wanted to see Mephistopheles right now, but Baobaozi's request was hard to refuse.
He thought of an excuse: "Do you know where he is?"
Zizi shook his head.
Wannian was just about to say let's wait when someone poked his midfielder.
When I looked back, it was Miaoling’s big head.
Well, of course the soul-devouring beast fed by the Hell Devil himself can be located.
Miaoling curled her tail and put the cub on her back.
He also rolled up Ayaka and placed her behind Li Jue.
Wannian saw that both cubs were seated, but the black beast was still standing there, staring at him with a familiar pair of peach-pink eyes, as if waiting.
Wan Nian's mind raced through several corners, and he pointed at himself in disbelief: "Me too?"
Miaoling nodded her big head again.
Wannian froze: "...I can't do that. I'm an adult..."
Miaoling was as impatient as its owner. Before he could finish his words, it swept his tail and knocked him down. Before his face really came into close contact with the ground, it changed the angle and strangled his waist. It rolled him up and put him on its back in the same way, but much more roughly than with the cubs.
There were still white feathers dropped by the little angel on Wannian's hair, and now his face was covered with Miaoling's black hair. He looked quite dusty and resignedly hugged the two cubs in front of him.
The little ones welcomed him. Li Jue grabbed Miao Ling's collar and shouted loudly like a little tour guide, "Xixi and Uncle, sit tight! We're about to start!"
Wannian was just about to ask how to sit steadily when he saw Miaoling erect his ears, arch his waist, gather strength, and suddenly jump up at an angle close to vertical, actually crossing the lake that was tens of meters wide, as if he wanted to run directly to the moon.
“Aa ...
The terrified screams of the adults and the excited cries of the cubs mixed into the background sound, which inspired Miaoling to become even more determined. She flapped her wings and flew up, soaring in the chaotic night.
The three people on his back had no protection whatsoever. The only point of support was Li Jue's little hand holding onto Miao Ling's collar. The little guy looked like he would let go at any moment because he was too happy.
Wannian was afraid of falling. He was the only real human being among those present. He did not have the racial advantages of Miaoling and Lingxi, nor was he a small system like Lijue. He was just an ordinary pirate leader in the vast ocean and could not withstand a fall.
He clutched Miaoling's fur tightly, apologizing in his heart and hoping not to hurt it too much, but he didn't dare open his eyes in the whistling wind.
My goodness, do I even need to devour my soul myself? I was just scared out of my wits!
Miaoling seemed to sense his fear and deliberately poked him with her tail, creating the effect that she was about to throw him down at any time, intimidating and teasing him at the same time.
I've never been so angry.
It really is...it really resembles its owner!
In the rustling evening breeze, someone snapped his fingers crisply.
The Soul-Devouring Beast, which had been wandering aimlessly in the air, suddenly became alert and dived down at a right angle again.
Wannian was stunned, and the terrifying feeling of weightlessness gripped his whole body - what he feared came true, and he was thrown out - at this moment they were at least dozens of meters away from the ground.
That's it.
If it falls down, it will definitely be smashed into a round and flat piece.
In the few seconds before death, Wannian's mind had already run through a slideshow, from his former superior to his current boss, from a subordinate in a pirate group to a baby cub, from the ocean world to the hell world.
All these thoughts boiled down to one sentence: What king of the new world? What promotion and salary increase? I can't even last a day in this crappy job! Resign… Resign!
The next second, the rapidly falling human body was firmly caught by someone's hands. A pair of black bat wings that were big enough to cover the moon and the sky wrapped him up powerfully and carefully, like catching a gift to be opened.
The boy's heart-shaped pupils were particularly charming under the blood-red moonlight. He didn't look down at him, but held him down with an expressionless face: "Uncle, you are really embarrassing."
Wannian: “…”
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
