After leaving the Headmaster’s office, Allen walked side by side with Livia along the tree-lined path of Saint Nora Academy.
The summer campus scenery was just right, with tall Plane Trees filtering the Sunshine into fine golden specks that scattered across the ancient stone pavement.
Gothic spires stood silently in the distance, and the air carried the fragrance of grass and earth, mixed with the laughter of students far away.
But that faint, ever-present thin mist that clung to the Capital, like water stains attached to a painting, lent this otherwise bright scene an indelible layer of unease and oppression.
To outsiders, this was undoubtedly a picture-perfect scene.
The newly promoted Top Student of the year, walking side by side with the legendary unreachable ice queen.
The two occasionally spoke in low voices, occasionally exchanged smiles, and that intimacy and tacit understanding drew frequent sidelong glances from passing students—some envious, some jealous.
However, beneath the sweet veneer of this “date” were two hearts filled with hidden agendas and surging undercurrents.
Livia’s behavior today was far too strange.
Allen racked his brain but couldn’t figure it out.
Just because he’d held her hand last night while teaching her to cook a decent meal? Her affection could spike from one all the way to overflowing?
This wasn’t Science.
Her inexplicable intimacy, and that strange obsession of “I will definitely make you Happy”—all of it left Allen completely baffled.
He had vague suspicions, but he instinctively resisted thinking about it—the possibility that Livia might actually have fallen for him.
This was too absurd.
From Livia’s perspective, having been saved and helped by him, developing feelings was understandable.
But from Allen’s perspective, he’d long grown accustomed to his identity as a Small Fry Villain, and had never imagined that “Happiness” could be an option in his life’s Script.
What was happening now?
A Villain from a farming story aspiring to become the mastermind behind the scenes, suddenly dragged into a Love Comedy set, becoming the core of a love triangle? Squeezed between the Yuri CP he’d been championing?
This script’s direction was bizarre no matter how he looked at it.
Allen knew very well that what connected him to Livia wasn’t the sleeping Creator, but the Evil Gods who truly wove and manipulated the threads of Fate.
Everything in development seemed to have a traceable pattern—Livia’s affection for him could even be explained as a natural progression.
But as a transmigrator, a skeptic whose very identity was shrouded in mystery, Allen trusted nothing, not even himself.
He began to survey the situation with a chess player’s mindset.
This world was shifting from revolving around Livia to revolving around him.
He was transforming from an insignificant pawn into the most crucial King on this board.
And Livia had shifted from an enemy piece to the most powerful Queen on his board. Her existence, in a sense, determined victory or defeat.
The problem was that on this chessboard, aside from himself, almost no one’s allegiance was clear.
The real world wasn’t a game—there was no clear affection meter to check.
On this opaque board, friend and foe were hard to distinguish, and could even switch at any moment.
With such a difficult endgame, Allen’s chances of victory were extremely slim.
For that reason, to seize that fleeting possibility, he couldn’t just play the King—he had to play the Knight too, striking unexpectedly and breaking convention.
Whether King or Evil God, they had all sent this “Queen” named Livia to his side with their own purposes.
Allen wasn’t thinking about how to play this move—he was putting himself in their shoes, wondering how they wanted him to play it.
Such a powerful piece, in his hands, would naturally unleash terrifying effect.
To make good use of Livia, he first had to secure her, make her completely serve his purposes, and truly become his blade.
But…
The Queen was indeed a very powerful piece, but in high-level games, she was often used as bait to trade material and lure the enemy’s main force.
Perhaps this was the Evil Gods’ true scheme.
It was like a player who, through diligent practice, had honed his own signature skill.
Then one day, he got crushed by the tech-users. To get revenge, he started using tech himself.
As a result, it was like opening the door to a New World—he became addicted to this power that wasn’t his own, winning again and again, feeling the joy of crushing his Enemies.
He would gradually forget his original Hatred of tech-users, forget his identity as a “legit player,” and eventually believe that cheating was his rightful due.
When the day came that he could no longer cheat, could he return to those early days of hard practice?
Allen’s power derived from “Star-Chaser,” and even the Future Sight he’d grown accustomed to, was essentially exactly this kind of cheat.
The more he relied on these powers, the easier it was to fall into the Enemy’s Trap.
And Livia’s existence was the beginning of his wishing for and relying on these powers.
Now, with this overbearing protagonist Livia also serving him, this enormous advantage instead snapped Allen back to clarity.
His previous thinking wasn’t wrong.
His true power wasn’t divine Blessing, wasn’t those supernatural forces—it was the wisdom, rationality, and fortitude of being Human.
Compared to that battlefield-invincible Feng Aotian, Allen preferred his own strength to be advanced weapons that could be reliably replicated and continuously put into Production, along with an iron tide composed of countless excellent soldiers.
His career was just getting started; he had no time to get mixed up in this deadly Love Comedy set.
Besides… the endpoint of this Love Comedy would be one hundred percent Tragedy.
So, young lady, why are you doing this?
Why develop such unnecessary feelings for him? Wouldn’t it be better to just be a powerful fighter and partner?
Would becoming lovers even add to character stats? In the original story, your strongest form was on the lone-wolf single path!
Livia’s acting skills had improved rapidly lately. Sometimes Allen genuinely couldn’t tell whether she was acting, teasing him, or showing genuine emotion.
A man’s biggest taboo was feeling good about himself, holding onto the thought of “does she like me?”
Allen glanced at Livia, who was equally preoccupied, and decided not to delay any longer.
He had to test the waters.
Meanwhile, Livia was also contemplating what her feelings for Allen truly were.
God’s Messenger.
This identity, she’d had a premonition. After all, that divine power that purified all evil—she had experienced it firsthand.
But when the guess was confirmed, her heart grew even heavier instead.
The gods existed, after all—the Evil Gods were watching this world with predatory eyes.
But that merciful Creator, as the legends said, had never answered the prayers of the faithful.
If He had remained silent, Livia could have understood it as timing not yet right, or a test of faith.
However, when she learned that Allen, her former nemesis, was that long-overdue “God’s Messenger,” what she felt was a bewildering absurdity.
On one hand, she understood many things now.
No wonder the Evil Gods saw Allen as the “Demon” that must be eliminated.
He carried the burden of saving the world, while she, in past cycles of Reincarnation, had repeatedly snuffed out Humanity’s last Hope with her own hands.
On the other hand, there was an even deeper confusion.
She had seen fields of corpses, heard countless wails. She herself had prayed to the Lord in Despair, only to receive the seduction of the Star Choir.
Did this world, riddled with wounds, truly not deserve the Lord to open His eyes and look upon it once?
Why must He wait until the end of days before grudgingly bestowing this belated Salvation?
What truly unsettled Livia’s heart was Allen himself.
She suddenly understood Marianne’s inner turmoil and sorrow, and why Allen always kept everyone at arm’s length.
What he carried was far heavier than she had imagined.
Her grand declaration of making him and Marianne Happy now sounded utterly ridiculous.
Even after being saved by him, she still couldn’t do anything.
She could tell that Allen didn’t acknowledge his identity as “God’s Messenger,” and she understood that deep down, he was still a mortal. He felt pain, felt sorrow, felt exhaustion.
If the Lord was merciful, why was He so cruel to His own Messenger?
Having him die ninety-nine times, then suddenly pressing the Fate of the entire world onto his shoulders alone?
She, Livia, was guilty. She deserved to suffer.
But Allen?
What had he done wrong? A man with such inherent kindness in his bones, driven mad, pushed to the brink.
Even after falling into the abyss, he ultimately completed his own Salvation through Death.
Livia stole a glance at Allen’s profile.
His brow was slightly furrowed, deep in thought again. Was it for the Academy’s Reform, or for Humanity’s future?
He agonized over everyone’s Happiness, yet excluded only himself.
Who could bring him Happiness?
He had long stopped believing he deserved it, that heart wrapped in layers of barriers, not letting anyone close.
This realization made Livia’s chest tighten again and again, until breathing became difficult.
Just then, their gazes collided without warning in midair, and as if shocked by electricity, they both hurriedly looked away, each staring elsewhere.
An air of awkwardness lingered between them.
Allen suddenly stopped walking and took a deep breath.
He had to end this ambiguous tug-of-war quickly and prepare for the next step of his Plan.
“Livia.” His calm Voice broke the silence. “I don’t know what you’re thinking, but I’d guess it’s related to ‘God’s Messenger,’ right.”
Livia’s body stiffened slightly.
“Some things need to be made clear,” he turned around, looking directly into her eyes, those deep pupils devoid of any ripple.
“My power doesn’t come from that Creator, but from an existence called ‘Star-Chaser.’ I only figured this out recently myself.”
“I’m just borrowing the title of God’s Messenger to complete the mission of saving the world. I’m not some righteous partner. I’ll eventually pay the price for this power too.”
“So, I just hope that before that day comes, I can do everything I possibly can. Whether it’s confusion or pain, I don’t have time to consider it.”
“I’m just a mortal. There are things I can’t do. If I’m ever defeated by the Evil Gods, you must hold on to your convictions and keep moving forward.”
His gaze turned sharp, as if trying to see through her soul.
“I’m curious—or rather, I don’t quite understand. What do you really think of me?”
A pure, practical question meant to formulate his next Plan.
He needed a clear answer to define her position.
The moment those words fell, Livia suddenly lunged at him.
Before Allen could even react, he was caught in a soft yet stubborn force that made him instinctively step back half a pace to steady himself.
She clung to him tightly, burying her head deep in his solid chest, and in a tone that barely suppressed trembling yet was impossibly clear, blurted out the one irrational sentence capable of destroying all his plans:
“I like you, Allen.”