Mysterious space.

Dark, gloomy clouds stirred into violent vortexes, shrouding the area like a dome. The vast land stretched infinitely, covered in fluctuating ridges and pulsing phosphorescent light.

It was a Blue Spine Parasite.

The massive Astral Beast lay prostrate on the land, breathing rhythmically like it had fallen into a slumber. Upon close inspection, it appeared to be missing a tentacle. It was slowly regenerating the limb.

In a corner of the mysterious space, numerous pale, distorted figures wearing long black robes discussed the unexpected events today.

“Quiet. The pawn I planted in the Church of Heavenly Father responded.”

The leading figure opened his eyes. He was Smedley, a familiar of the Lord of Envy, one of the Seven Demon Lords of Hell. His eyes lit up with a sickly yellow glow as he conversed with Hodgson.

“How is it? Were you made? Who’s after us?”

“It’s an envoy sent by the Papal State,” Hodgson said with frustration. “You went overboard. Although I tried my best to keep a tight lid, the Papal State still found out.”

“That’s normal. I told you that there was no fooling the Papal State in the Chosen Land. You should’ve been prepared for that.”

“This isn’t the time to talk about blame. The envoy has grown suspicious of me. My poor excuse isn’t going to be effective,” Hodgson said. “To prove my innocence and to make sure that you can still contact me, I had the angel crack down on a few sects. They weren’t caught, were they?”

“We suffered some losses, so our preparations will no longer work.”

“Then what do we do? Can the Lord of Envy not descend? What about the Gate of Hell?” Hodgson asked hurriedly. It sounded like he could not bear the thought of his faith being kept from descending.

“Calm down. Just because our preparations have gone to waste doesn’t mean that I have nothing else,” Smedley said darkly, sounding pleased with himself. “It’s important. To be on the safe side, try to keep the Papal State busy.”

“That’s easier said than done. The envoy has already contacted the Papal State. I cannot stop the church from moving.”

“You can’t even do something that simple... Fine, I’ll speed things up. The Gate of Hell will open, and our great master will descend to the human world.”

“Where is the Gate of Hell going to open in your new plan?”

“Still in the Republic of Erland.”

“Where in the republic? I must be there to bow to Master Envy at the moment of descent.”

“Ha, getting impatient again.”

“It’s not funny, damn it!”

“I don’t know the exact location until I’ve done more work,” said Smedley. “I’ll contact you later. The only thing you can do is to keep the Papal State busy.”

Hodgson was going to ask more questions, but Smedley cut off the contact immediately. Hodgson couldn’t even find his way back to the mysterious space.

Back in Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, Wayne learned everything from Hodgson’s thoughts. He said in resignation, “Good news is that we’ve confirmed where the Gate of Hell will open—still in the Republic of Erland. Bad news is that the scope is too big, and we cannot zero in on their location. We also don’t know if the demon familiar actually trusted Hodgson with the truth.”

Mona and Umar stayed silent. They hadn’t found the exact location of the mysterious space, either. They only knew its rough whereabouts. However, the mysterious space continued to float in the Astral Plane, its location constantly changing. Tracking it would only alert their targets.

“Let’s keep looking. The Gate of Hell will take a lot to open. There has to be breadcrumbs for us to follow...”

***

That night, Wayne moved his luggage into Saint Patrick’s Cathedral. He was now flipping through the outline of Kristen’s power fantasy novel.

Kristen had only written half of the outline after a whole day of writing. When Wayne remained quiet for a long time, she said nervously, “How is it? Is there any revision I should make?”

No revision needed. It’s easier just to toss it out. Wayne swallowed his comment. Kristen lacked talent in writing. It would be fine for her to write for fun, but there was no point in publishing her writing. She didn’t have one single problem—she was lacking in every way that Wayne couldn’t pinpoint what was wrong with her work.

“Senior, I still think you’re better at romance novels.”

“It doesn't work, does it?” Kristen said dejectedly.

Wayne grabbed her hand and pulled her onto his lap. “That’s not what I said. You’re just not good at this particular thing. As long as you find your niche, I’m sure you’ll succeed and become an author of best-sellers.”

“But I’m not good at writing romance novels. My own relationship is a mess.”

Kristen rolled her eyes at Wayne. Given how much of a mess her romantic life was, she couldn’t even draw inspiration from herself.

“It doesn’t matter. Think about it, the readers may like a story featuring me as the male lead.” Wayne extended his thumb with a satisfied look on his face.

Kristen clicked her tongue. It wasn’t because he was good that the scumbag hadn’t been left with nothing; he had simply encountered women who were willing to let him fool them. Take Kristen as an example, she had once promised to continue liking him even if he were a demon. Wayne didn’t disappoint her; his scumminess was quite demonic.

Wayne urged Kristen to write a character drama based on him, featuring a noble scion from high society as the protagonist. Just throw in some magical elements and give enough instant gratification, and the book would sell.

Kristen refused to do it. If she was the one writing the story, the noble scion would be loyal to one lover, and the character would become out of character.

“Fine. I’ll modify the outline for you. The protagonist suffers too much in the beginning. He should suffer, but not too much. Otherwise, the power fantasy will become tragedy porn, and readers will lose the drive to keep reading...”

“Look here. Just add enough suffering to portray his downfall, and you have to create anticipation for the readers in the prison scenes. Make the readers desperate to see his revenge...”

Inside the room, Wayne was helping Kristen with the revision of the outline; he did most of the writing, while Kristen provided only her pen name.

Meanwhile, Mona was sitting on the sofa outside the room. Thinking back to what had happened today, she felt like she had already been broken.

She had received many strange, disjointed memories, which had come with her growing power. The memories impacted the way she viewed the world and even influenced her rationality and decision-making.

For example, she should be in that room with Wayne rather than sitting on the sofa on her own.

“Are they Saint George’s memories? Why can’t I talk about them? Master cannot detect them, either...”

“If the memories continue to grow, will I still be myself?”

Mona developed a serious aversion to the newly emerged memories. There had been many times that she lost control and acted on her memories, which terrified her. She feared that she would become more and more aloof and distant from Wayne.

In response to her strong aversion, the cross-shaped Eye of Judgment on her back slowly opened, forcing her to course-correct. After some push and pull, Mona found it increasingly difficult to hold on. She gritted her teeth and stalked toward the room with difficulty.

“Boss, there’s something important I must talk to you about.”

“Huh? Now?” Wayne cocked his head. When he noticed Kristen tensing up in his arms, he tightened his hold and gave her no chance to flee.

What are you so shy about? You’re sisters.

“Boss, um...” Mona was having difficulty voicing her thoughts, so she reached out telepathically and offered an upgrade version of their humiliation roleplay: in the future, she would act as an angel descending to the human world, pridefully refusing to be tamed, while Wayne would act as an evil demon and...

If they wanted to be kinky, they should do it thoroughly.

As expected of you, Wayne thought. You’re becoming more and more of an expert. What have you been reading? Classic wuxia or campus romance?

That sounds like wuxia.

Wayne found it way too advanced for a romantic like him, but for Mona, he was willing to accept sacrifice.

That night, Mona succeeded in suppressing her change. The Eye of Judgment stayed far away, not daring to force her further to accept changes.

Let’s talk. Don’t stoop lower in depravity.

***

The next day, Kristen sat at the desk and wrote away with resentment. Last night, she was relegated to spectator and didn’t even get a taste. She wasn’t actually hungry; she just felt ignored.

Damn secretary, we agreed to take turns and ensure mutual profit, but you’re pushing the boundary on your own.

I’m gonna write you into the story.

Wayne woke up early and went to the cathedral fully refreshed. Hodgson, who had made amends for his mistakes, remained as the Archbishop rather than being suspended for investigation. Following Wayne’s order, he contacted Smedley every once in a while.

Smedley was a mistrustful familiar. Hodgson tried twice and failed to get the exact location of the Gate of Hell. He didn’t dare to push further.

“Boss, you can’t rely on the clergy people who only know how to make a profit for the investigation,” Mona advised. “We should be acting, too.”

“They may not be dependable, but there are many of them. They will surely find something by casting a big enough net. We only have to wait for updates in peace.” Wayne studied the map, looking for other possible inverted pentagrams.

“Boss, have you considered that you may just run into the demon by taking a walk?” Mona asked seriously.

“That’s impossible. You speak as if I’m some kind of demon-nip—” Wayne was about to talk back when he saw Mona’s point. Dragonheart Island was the middle-of-nowhere, yet he had encountered the Blood Tyrant as soon as the demon descended. His encounter with the Thousand-eyed Demons was even more absurd. Pursuing the demon from Cambrook County to Londan, and he got randomly scouted by the demon.

“Am I a demon-nip?”

“Yes.”

“That’s rude, Mona. Please at least hesitate,” Wayne mumbled, patting her on the bottom. “I’ll listen to you. Let’s drive outside. I’ll see how much I attract demons.”

“Boss, where are we heading?”

“Here.” He pointed on the map at the Sanctuary Sect’s headquarters, which they had wiped out yesterday. He raised an eyebrow, “You said that I attract demons. Then let’s go back the way we came from. If there is another evil god in Ford, I’ll admit you’re right.”

A group of clergy members was stationed at the base they had just cracked down on yesterday, forming a tight defense. The demon couldn’t have returned after going into hiding just because the most dangerous place should be the safest place, could they?

Ha, impossible. No demons are that stupid.

I’m winning this!