Cecil glanced down at Veau from her cage, seeing the odd expression on Veau's face. During the entire time she had seen him, this was her first time seeing such an unguarded look on his face.
It made his attractive yet feminine features seem more charming.
Veau stepped forward, taking the scroll from Mir's hand and he opened it, reading its contents.
Cecil was in a perfect position to peek at the contents of the scroll. Alas, it was written in the language from the heavenly and demon realm, which she could never understand.
However, whatever was written on the scroll clearly captured Veau's attention.
[ Translation in progress...
Please wait while we configure it into your language... ]
[ Translation completed!
Please take a close look at the scroll, Cecil Lan~ ]
The contents suddenly appeared in a language that she understood, and Cecil blinked in shocked.
"I, Edmund, the Supreme God, chosen by the heavens, hereby declare that the angel, Eona, be--"
Cecil and Hana let out a tiny shriek, the cage around them had disappeared. Cecil was interrupted from her reading session, and she gasped, looking up as she saw Veau clutching the scroll in his hands.
"Where did you get this from?" Veau asked softly, his usual relaxed and lazy tone gone.
"After the war, the demons invaded the heavenly palace and destroyed it completely. There was a hidden room in the archives and a seal was placed over it, where only an angel was allowed inside. The room is the only place standing in the palace, and it is completely indestructible."
Veau let out a breathy laugh, though it was without humour.
"That old bastard, he should have just quietly remained dead," Veau lifted the scroll up, disintegrating it with his dark magic. "Why did he have to make a hidden room in the archives, and be so protective over it?"
"Eona--"
"Don't speak of that name." Veau growled out menacingly, his eyes back to his demonic form.
In that split second, Mir threw something at Veau, and Veau blocked his attack. The next second, Mir appeared by Hana's side and Cecil reacted too slowly, reaching out to grab Hana but she only grabbed empty air.
Before anyone knew it, Mir appeared was at edge of the cliff, holding Hana captive.
Hana gasped, recovering from her shock of travelling within a short distance so quickly.
"Let me go!"
"Hana!"
Isleif and Xue stopped fighting.
Veau took a second to process the situation before he sighed. "You angels have always enjoyed scheming."
"Supreme God."
Xue panted lightly, narrowing his eyes at Mir.
"Once the Supreme Goddess walks past this fog, I assure you, her memories will return, and so will her powers."
"Don't you dare--"
"Everything will go back to normal." Mir lowered his head.
Mir spun around with Hana in his arms, wanting to push her forward towards the fog. Somehow, he seemed confident that she wouldn't fall through the fog, that would ultimately lead to her death.
Xue gasped, rushing forward as he disregarded his opponent.
Isleif smirked to himself, taking the opportunity of the distraction to snatch Xue's spear away. Within a split second, Isleif thrust the spear in his hand towards Xue's chest.
"Xue! Watch out!"
Veau shook his head, wondering where this fight had gone to.
Xue was someone who had gone through rigorous training for hundreds of years, hence, he was still able to react in time to a surprising attack like that. He avoided the spear aiming for his chest, though the spear was too close and ended up nicking against Xue's side.
Mir, upon hearing Cecil calling out his lord in an urgent voice, spun around in alarm. He furrowed his eyebrows at the cut on Xue's waist, though he was relieved it wasn't anything serious.
Cecil glanced between them all, concerned, and she finally looked at the fog passing the horizon.
This place, Death's Edge, was a place described briefly in the novel.
Cecil didn't know much about it, other than it was a place of death for humans who come here in search of treasures or in search of a peaceful death. However, after Mir revealed more information of this place, Cecil finally realised why it was a significant location in this world.
If Hana left us now, forcibly, I am not sure how Xue would even react.
Would it speed up the original ending of the novel?
What should I do? What should I do?!
There needs to be a distraction for Xue to save Hana! And for Xue to get the upper hand!
Cecil knew she had no more points to spend, and thus, she couldn't rely on throwing confetti into the air now. Moreover, there was nothing useful in her storage ring to create a distraction.
Xue glanced coldly at Isleif, and the red-haired man smirked.
"Don't get distracted, Xue. You are my main host, I expect more."
"Truly, once wasn't enough," Xue disregarded Isleif, glaring at Mir. "You are doing it twice, betraying me."
"You got it wrong, Supreme God, I am planning to return everything to normal, even the Supreme Goddess--"
"Hana has lost her memories and her powers, she is considered a mortal now," Xue stated, the fury evident in his eyes. "If a mortal fails the test, all that awaits them is death."
"That..."
"You will kill her."
"That's true." Veau nodded in agreement.
Hana used her shawl to strike Mir, and Mir avoided the shawl. Xue quickly turned things around at the same moment, summoning back the spear to his side, giving Isleif two fierce jabs.
Isleif was forced to back off.
Xue swung the spear in his hands, facing Mir as he hurled the spear at Mir. It happened so quickly, Mir struggled to avoid the spear, stumbling back onto the edge as his shoes touched the fog, not sinking through it.
Cecil rushed forward at the same time, holding her vine daggers, wanting to drag Hana back safely since Xue was preoccupied with both Isleif and Mir.
The moment Mir noticed he was standing on the fog and not sinking through, a malicious thought crossed his mind.
No matter what, Hana Katae will pass the test, and she will bring the Supreme God back to the heavens.
No matter what.
Mir's face twisted and he reached out, pulling Hana back.
He was clearly confident Hana will not fall through the fog and die, even though she was considered a mortal now.
Cecil gasped, seeing his actions.
Not good!
Cecil shot out her vines for Mir instead of Hana, wrapping around his hand that was almost touching Hana. She instinctively called out to the thorns around the vines as well, wanting to prevent Mir from touching Hana at all.
Her plan worked, causing Mir to flinch as he squeezed his eyes close, his movements halting. The thorns pierced through his skin, and it was certainly worse than before.
Cecil was determined to hurt him.
He let out a pained yell, trying to fling off the vine from his wrist as he stumbled back further.
The strength of someone from the heavenly and demon realm, was different from that of mortals, especially if one didn't control them right in the situation. Mir used his full strength to fling the vine off, causing him to flip Cecil over in the air as she was still clutching tightly onto the dagger.
Cecil gasped in shock, her hand loosening around her dagger.
The differences in our strengths are too much...!
Alas, before anyone knew it, Cecil was already sinking through the fog unlike Mir who was still standing safely on it.
"Cecil Lan!" Xue exclaimed in alarm, dashing forward.
Isleif was paralysed at how the situation escalated.
"Cecil!" Hana exclaimed in horror.
Veau raised his eyebrows in surprise.
Mir was pulling the vines off his wrist, wincing as he turned around.
Cecil didn't even have a chance to mutter a word out, her entire body falling through, her eyes wide in disbelief.
At that moment, time seemed to pass slowly in Xue's mind.
The only thought that crossed through Xue's mind was the death awaiting her at the bottom of the cliff.
At this rate, she will die.
The next thought that crossed his mind was how he was like a mortal right now, just like Cecil and Hana.
I am considered a mortal too.
The final thought was to...
Jump in.
Save her.
Xue breathed out shakily, still dashing forward and he threw himself off the cliff.
"Supreme God!"
"Xue!"
Isleif was still rooted to the spot.
Veau furrowed his eyebrows, his expression inscrutable.
Xue was right in his assumption that he was a mortal, and his body sunk right through the fog, following right after Cecil. The rest of the world had been drowned out by him, and the only thing replaying in his mind was his mother dying right in front of him.
However, his mother was now replaced by a certain raven-haired woman.
That frightened him more than anything else.
Xue had never been so afraid in his entire life, be it in his previous life, or this current life.
Within the dense fog, Xue could catch the silhouette of a woman in front of him and he stretched his hand out.
***
The four people on the edge of the cliff were still trying to recover from the shocking event that had just occurred.
Hana couldn't believe she had witnessed two people she treasured so much in her life just disappearing before her eyes like that.
Isleif could only replay the image of Cecil falling through the fog before his very eyes, and he couldn't even move from his spot.
Mir, on the other hand, couldn't believe that Xue would throw away his life for a mortal, a woman that appeared randomly in Xue's life. He hadn't even met anyone like that during the time when Xue was still training to claim the throne of the Supreme God.
The vine and dagger had disappeared, going back to Cecil's side, but he was still in too much of a shock to heal himself, the blood dripping down from his wrist to his arm. It was surprising that even his blood could stay afloat on the fog, and not drop through it.
Veau was the first to recover as he widened his eyes in realisation. "This is bad."
He waved his hand as he teleported, standing beside Mir. Just like Mir, he could stand on the fog. Without another word, he shoved Mir aside and closed his eyes, garnering the attention of the three other people there.
The three of them watched in shock as Veau changed right before their very eyes. His short, cobalt blue hair started to grow longer, cascading past his shoulders. The next moment, a pair of wings started to sprout out from his back, just like Mir, except that it wasn't a pair of white wings.
It was a pair of giant, black-greyish wings with sharp edges, the ends of the wings containing a glowing red hue.
Veau opened his eyes, and his sclera became completely black and his irises a familiar crimson red.
Mir could feel a pressure pressing down on him, it was just like when the past Xue wanted to unleash his full powers right before him in a mock battle. He gulped, stepping back from Veau, holding back the snarl in his throat for Veau pushing him.
Hana was afraid as well, her face growing slightly pale.
Veau remained silent, crouching down as he pressed his palm on the fog, his hand wrapped in a ball of black mist. Within a few seconds, a column of fog had been blasted away, all the way to the bottom of the cliff, leaving a huge hole in the fog for anyone to pass through.
"You destroyed the--" Mir gasped in amazement before Veau interrupted him.
"It's only temporary," Veau rolled his eyes. "I am powerful, but not that powerful."
Veau began to make his way down the column he had created, until he felt someone tugging him by the sleeves of his robes. He glanced back, raising his eyebrows at the rather pale Hana behind him. Surprisingly, she was the first to recover among them three and she had rushed her way to Veau's side after seeing him creating such a column to jump down.
Moreover, contrary to what Xue thought, she didn't fall through the fog.
"What do you want, Hana Katae?"
"Ta-take me with you!"
These words from her slapped Mir awake.
"Supreme Goddess! What are you planning to do--"
"Saving Xue and Cecil!" Hana exclaimed.
Veau shrugged, pulling Hana by the collar of her shirt and jumping down the column.
Hana's screams were heard, resounding throughout their surroundings.
Mir panicked, bringing out his wings as he jumped in along with Hana as well. "Supreme Goddess! It's not safe with him!"
In the end, the only person left at the edge of the cliff was Isleif.
"Cecil Lan." Isleif frowned, jumping down as well.
The fog gradually trickled in, closing up the gap left by Veau and the entire area of fog was back to normal.
Death's Edge had returned to its calm state, as if five people hadn't thrown themselves down into the place, where it led to the one's demise. Where no one had ever returned alive, safe and sound.
***
Pt. 1
《 start 》
You will die, without a doubt.
No, you can't.
You cannot die without my permission.
If you die...what about me?
What...what should I do?
You have already implanted yourself so deep into my heart, and if you leave me...
I...I do not know what to do.
I will not understand the purpose to become happy.
Not anymore.
《 stop 》
***
Pt. 2
《 start 》
She is just a woman.
She is just a beautiful woman.
A beautiful woman I just met.
Yet, seeing her disappear before my eyes like that...I am feeling a strain in my heart I have never felt before.
Even if you have to die.
Even if you must die.
You can only die by my hands, and only I am allowed to kill you.
《 stop 》
***
Pt. 3
《 start 》
Only mortals who fails the test drops down into the fog.
They drop to their demise.
However, as expected, Xue decided to jump in to save her as well.
With Xue there, the woman will surely survive.
With Xue there, the two of them will be able to walk out of it alive.
...that's bad.
《 stop 》