“Don’t be afraid, Vivi… I’m here.”
Lyte held the fragile girl tightly in his arms, his words deliberate, each one gritted through clenched teeth.
“I knew you’d come. That’s why I wasn’t scared.”
Noi’s voice was a faint whisper, but the wild thumping of her heart found solace against the boy’s fiery chest, gradually settling into a calm rhythm.
The air between them grew heavy with unspoken intimacy, lingering until they both realized they’d been lost in their own world, oblivious to everything else.
Lyte subtly loosened his grip on Noi, and her eyes dipped, her sensitive frame keenly aware of the warmth slipping away, leaving a hollow ache in her chest.
They walked side by side to Andy, checking his breathing and injuries.
Noi cast a healing spell and a newly learned purification spell, then described Andy’s unusual symptoms.
“Is there anything we need to do?” she asked.
Lyte pondered for a moment.
“If it’s due to a potion or an ability, your purification spell should suffice.”
After moving Andy to his bedroom, Lyte discreetly set up warning traps at the door and windows before leaving with Noi.
Not long after they departed, a graceful figure draped in a black robe descended from the air onto the villa’s balcony, gliding toward Andy’s bedroom.
“A barrier, huh?”
The woman in black touched the barrier on the door, momentarily stumped.
“Second Captain, stop watching the show. You’re the real anomaly here. If you don’t help, my plan’s going to fall apart,” she called into the void.
As her words faded, a man in black attire materialized in the hallway—none other than the Second Captain of the Sin Domain.
With a lift of his rune-covered hand, chaotic energy eroded the entire door.
The barrier, unable to alert its creator, crumbled into nothingness.
“Let’s make this quick,” he said, vanishing into the void once more.
The woman smirked and stepped into the bedroom.
Draining her soul’s energy, she unleashed her ability on the unconscious Andy once again.
***
“This is from Simon. Keep it safe.”
Xing Chen, covered in tiny kittens, struggled to hand a bag to Noi, then applied his B-class speed to chase after a scampering puppy.
As dusk settled over the church, children gathered for their weekly scripture recitation, guided by the diligent novice nuns.
Xing Chen had brought a batch of small animals to consult Grandma Corrine for tips on handling the rambunctious creatures.
A mischievous child had opened all the cages Xing Chen brought, sparking a frenzy of chasing down the animals.
Grandma Corinne sat on a bench, effortlessly soothing a brown puppy sprawled across her lap, its belly exposed to her rough, comforting hands, its tongue lolling contentedly.
Though tempted to join the animal-chasing chaos, Noi, clutching her gift, decided to seek Tina’s advice first.
After leaving Andy’s mansion, Light had escorted her to the church’s entrance before heading to his rented room.
Chenxi was swamped with administrative duties, as the bishop was still away at the Kashua Diocese headquarters, Sharei was perpetually slacking off, and Tina was an inconsistent worker, leaving all the paperwork to her.
“A gift? For Lyte, huh?” Tina teased with a grin, assuming Noi was picking out something for him.
With Lyte absent, it was easy to suspect Noi was hiding her shyness by asking now.
“Uh… well, sort of,” Noi admitted, realizing she could secretly prepare a gift to surprise Lyte.
Beyond gratitude and winning him over, an inexplicable emotion stirred her to act.
“For someone you don’t know well, a standard gift works fine,” Tina advised.
“For a closer acquaintance, observe their preferences and tailor it to them.”
Noi nodded, already wondering what Simon might like.
One gift recipient sorted, she pressed, “And for someone really close?”
Tina tapped her chin, feigning a scholarly air despite her empty head.
“Uh, let me check my manga.”
She rummaged through her plain nun’s habit and pulled out a Star Alliance-produced romance manga.
“Here, page 330… the heroine says, ‘If you truly love me, you’ll be happy with anything I give you.'”
Snapping the book shut, Tina added, “She’s got a point. Follow your heart. The Star Alliance leader has a saying: ‘A feather sent a thousand miles weighs little but carries deep meaning.’ Or, you know, take Lyte for a stroll on Wagner’s beach.”
That saying sounded oddly familiar…
The words, both familiar and absurdly out of place, spilled from the red-haired priestess of this alien world, giving Noi a surreal sense of being back on Earth.
Before Noi could ask more, the church’s heavy doors creaked open.
All the novice and full nuns were present, save for the bishop and Sharei.
Only one person could open those doors.
The Honorary Knight pulled the massive doors ajar, and a young hero doubling as a guardian knight stepped in, his jet-black holy sword marking his identity.
A hopping gray puppy collided with Lyte’s ankle, bouncing back and flopping onto its back, its chubby body and stubby legs making it impossible to right itself.
Lyte crouched, flashing his flawless smile, picked up the puppy, and stood, coming face-to-face with Xing Chen, who’d also come to catch it.
The air crackled with tension.
The black-haired boy in a fitted shirt wore a smile as cold as ice, while the flame-haired youth in a phoenix-tailed robe remained calm as still water.
The difference?
Lyte held one puppy, while Xing Chen juggled two, the cats once clinging to him now scampering to a new climbing post named Lyte.
“You…” Xing Chen began, only to be cut off by a soft, ethereal voice.
“My knight, you’re here!”
The two paused their silent standoff, brushing aside their earlier awkward temple encounter.
Lyte swapped his icy grin for a lighter one.
“Nothing to do, so I came to keep you company. Why so many animals?”
Xing Chen replied, “Not many, just twenty-six. Wanna help catch them?”
As he spoke, Xing Chen set down his puppies, eager to show off his newly learned calming skills, only for them to dart to Noi’s feet, basking in her radiant, holy aura.
‘What a bunch of sycophants…’ Xing Chen sighed.
‘Half a day of feeding them milk, and they still flocked to Noi’s saintly glow.’
With Light and Noi’s maxed-out charisma, the animals were soon rounded up into their cages.
The children, tired of chasing pets, settled back into their chairs, reciting scriptures under the novice nuns’ guidance.
In the echoing church, Xing Chen sat beside Grandma Corinne, writing down the pet-care tips with old-fashioned pen and paper.
As for Tina… she was already browsing takeout options for dinner.
Noi gently urged the children to focus on their scriptures, with Lyte standing protectively by her side.
Once the novice nuns took over the playful kids, Noi pulled Lyte to sit shoulder-to-shoulder on a bench.
After a quiet moment, the children’s tender voices chanting in the background, Noi spoke.
“So… in a few days, Do you want to go to the beach together?”
I’ve never seen the sea in my life.
And this is my first time asking…
Noi gazed hopefully at Lyte’s chest, too afraid to meet his eyes and see rejection.
Seeing her caution, Lyte chuckled, making her tense up.
“Sure, let’s go. Got a swimsuit ready?”
“Um… you want to see me in one?”
Lyte sucked in a breath, his mind conjuring an image of Noi in a bikini, his nose practically bleeding.
An awkward sensation stirred below, and he leaned forward, arms on his knees, admitting honestly, “Yeah… I’d like that.”
Noi’s lips curled into a sly smile, noticing his discomfort and humming triumphantly, though her eyes darted away shyly from the bulge in his jeans.
On their bench, the saintess and hero flirted, while on another, Xing Chen, exhausted from note-taking, rubbed his shoulders.
Grandma Corinne set down her puppy and said, “Xing Chen, you seem distracted.”
“Huh? Am I?”
He feigned protest, but Corinne, with a century of wisdom, saw through him.
“You don’t love this life.”
Her sharp words silenced him.
He tried to embrace this existence, but an inner obsession urged him forward, the conflict tearing at him.
Corinne glanced around, ensuring no one was listening, and spoke gently.
“I know you’re a Qilin. I’ve heard what the Church does to shape-shifting immortals like you.”
“You’re likely the only immortal not in hiding. Do you really intend to face the entire Church alone?”
Xing Chen stared at the church floor, his gaze empty.
The path was grueling, but he had to walk it.
His immortality came from the blood of his clan and other immortals, their sacrifices and resistance flowing through him, proof of their existence.
His protection under the Empire relied on the four Guardians pressuring the royal family, securing his title as a Guardian of the Four Symbols, shielding him from the Church’s persecution.
No one knew why the Church collected immortal blood, a secret buried in history’s dust, known only to a few.
“Dong~”
The church bell tolled.
Xing Chen stood abruptly, bid Corinne a brief farewell, entrusted the animal cages to the novice nuns, and walked off alone.
He couldn’t face that question.
Tina, juggling two takeout bags, passed the forlorn Xing Chen as he left, glancing at him curiously but not dwelling on his mood.
She strode into the lively church, shouting, “Dinner time, everyone!”
***
“Ding-dong~”
The doorbell echoed through the empty villa, the door unmoving.
To complete their task, Noi and Lyte returned to Andy’s home the next morning.
Noi frowned and asked, “What’s going on? Where is he?”
Lyte said nothing, already scaling the wall to the bedroom window.
The barrier was intact, but through the glass, he saw the front door corroded, traces of chaotic energy lingering.
This was bad.
His barrier’s were meant to bait intruders, but he hadn’t expected to hook a shark that snapped the line.
Lyte leapt to the front lawn, vaulted the wall, and met Noi’s questioning look.
“Alert the Demon Suppression Division and the church. A humanoid anomaly is active in Wagner Town. Andy’s gone.”