The fallen angel Lucifer.
Zhe Zilin didn’t know much about Western gods, but Lucifer was one of the few he remembered clearly.
Before his fall, he had been the most beautiful and highest-ranking archangel in all of Heaven. After his rebellion failed, he plummeted into the abyss of chaos and became the King of Hell.
In psychology, there was the Lucifer Effect — the way good people could gradually corrupt and turn dark under the right environmental pressures.
Osha’s current anxious personality was exactly like that. At any moment, she could fall from angel to devil and destroy everything around her.
Although Zhe Zilin hadn’t spent much time with Osha, he could guarantee one thing: as long as she never learned about his relationship with Ailia, she would remain the gentle princess she appeared to be.
If Osha needed a trigger to fall from angel into demon, there was no doubt that trigger was Zhe Zilin himself.
So before the King of the North was buried, he had to find a way for Ailia and Osha to meet calmly.
When two women fought, the destruction could easily reach world-ending levels. That was what worried Zhe Zilin the most.
Hair-pulling and shouting insults he could still mediate, but one was the World-Ender Witch and the other was the spokesperson of the fallen angel. Trying to stop them would be no different from suicide.
A night of constant tension had left Zhe Zilin mentally and physically drained. He slowly slid down against the wall and sat on the floor.
At least now that Leon was dead, no one would stand in the way anymore. He still had a chance to find some kind of balance between Ailia and Osha.
In his mind, the system’s voice rang out.
[Congratulations! You have completed the quest: Kill the Eldest Son of the King of the North]
[Reward Obtained: Witch God’s Magic Book — With the “Wizard’s Potential,” you only need to chant the spells recorded in this magic book to release magic with a 100% success rate.]
……
[You have gained 800 experience for killing the Eldest Son of the King of the North]
[You have gained 20 experience for killing the gate guard]
[Swordsmanship Title: Magic Swordsman LV2 → Magic Swordmaster LV3]
[Name: Zhe Zilin]
[Strength 50: (An ordinary swordsman has 10 Strength. You can now face five swordsmen in direct combat)]
[Agility 60: (An ordinary swordsman has 10 Agility. You can now parry simultaneous attacks from six swordsmen with ease)]
[Magic Power 30: (A top-tier mage can learn 15% of the world’s magic)]
……
[Next Quest: Fulfill Osha’s Three Wishes]
[Wish One: Find Leibang Ed]
[Wish Two: Return to the day you first met]
[Wish Three: Put the Contract Ring on her once more]
Zhe Zilin closed his eyes to rest, listening to the pleasant chime of the system rewards.
He opened the system’s item tab. Inside was indeed a crumpled magic book.
When he tried to examine the Witch God’s spells, he discovered he could only flip through the first two pages. That meant he could currently learn only two spells.
Since Ailia was still beside him, he didn’t want to reveal the magic book’s existence just yet.
What surprised him most, however, was the upgrade to his swordsmanship title.
Killing Leon had given him a full 800 experience points. He hadn’t expected that.
Killing Leon had actually been easier than killing the gate guard — the man hadn’t been particularly strong.
Zhe Zilin guessed it was because of Leon’s status. As the future King of the North, his death carried real weight.
The jump from Magic Swordsman to Magic Swordmaster brought a massive boost to all his attributes.
Now he could effortlessly kill five gate guards.
If he added magic into the mix, combining swordsmanship with spells during battle, even ten guards wouldn’t stand a chance.
When an opponent was fully focused on defending against his fierce swordplay, a sudden magic attack would catch them completely off guard. Even if they were prepared, blocking it would be extremely difficult.
Magic Swordmaster — this was ridiculously underhanded!
But Zhe Zilin wasn’t excited. The next quest was absurdly difficult.
Wish One he could understand: confess to Osha that he was actually Leibang Ed, and the task would be complete.
Wish Two, however, made no sense at all. What did it mean to “return to the day you first met”?
He could reload after death, but he couldn’t time-travel!
Besides, he had no idea what had actually happened on the day he first met Osha.
He could only guess that Wish Two meant recreating some scene from that day, giving Osha the real feeling of returning to the past.
At least the first two wishes didn’t seem dangerous.
But the third wish — putting the Contract Ring on her again — would cause Ailia’s Contract Ring to shatter.
He couldn’t afford to provoke the spokesperson of Lucifer.
Could he afford to provoke the World-Ender Witch?
What a joke.
Zhe Zilin opened his eyes, a bitter smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
I’m a Magic Swordmaster now. I can even fight the half-orcs and ogres in the forest. Maybe I should just leave while it’s still dark and slip out of North City.
But the thought was quickly dismissed.
Ailia had the Contract Ring. Even if he fled to the ends of the earth, she would still be able to sense his location.
And Osha had traveled all the way from the Royal Capital to the North. She could just as easily chase him to any corner of the world.
Run? There was no running from this.
Zhe Zilin’s smile grew more and more pained until he wanted to cry but had no tears left.
Ailia looked at him with concern. “Ed, you look terrible. Are you hurt?”
She leaned closer, wanting to check his body for injuries.
“No, I just feel like life is full of hope and sunshine.”
Zhe Zilin let out a long sigh.
“If life is full of hope and sunshine, why are you sighing?”
Ailia was confused.
“Kids shouldn’t ask questions they’re not supposed to know the answer to.”
Zhe Zilin pushed himself up and glanced out the window. A faint white glow had appeared in the east.
The night was retreating, and light spilled over the hills onto the snow-covered ground.
With this matter settled, there was no time to rest. He still had to continue with the next stage of the quest.
Sometimes, when Zhe Zilin was so exhausted he wanted to stop, all kinds of reasons kept pushing him forward.
If he still refused to move, his life would be threatened. It felt as if every step was tightly linked to the next — he had no choice but to keep walking, one step at a time.
So he had to keep going, and he had to do it well.
Zhe Zilin instructed Ailia, “Now that Snow is dead, no one is watching you anymore. When you’re offering prayers, make sure to rest properly. It’s not like your own father died — there’s no need to push yourself so hard.”
Ailia let out a soft laugh. She liked this kind of straightforward, humorous concern. It moved her deeply.
“Ed, you should rest well too.”
She noticed how heavy his eyelids were, how he looked ready to collapse at any moment, and how the usual spark had faded from his eyes.
Ailia knew he had run all over the place tonight and done many things. He was exhausted.
Zhe Zilin had done all of this for her, and Ailia believed it.
Just as Zhe Zilin opened the door and was about to step out, she grabbed his arm, stood on tiptoe, and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.
“Thank you, Ed.”
Zhe Zilin turned back. This time Ailia didn’t lower her head.
She gathered her courage and looked straight at him, even though her face was as red as the morning glow in the east. She was waiting for his response.
“Mm…”
Zhe Zilin opened the door and took one step outside.
“One kiss isn’t enough to send me off.”
Ailia lightly bit her lip, wanting to say more, to do more.
But Zhe Zilin didn’t give her the chance.
He said softly, “Live well. Then everything I’ve done will have been worth it.”
With that, he closed the door behind him, his feelings strangely complicated.