Stray

There were indeed various strange religions on the surface, and there were also many sects that believe in certain weird, strange evil gods. Nemo wasn’t very interested in demons before. Due to the special objects that the Abyssal Church worship, Nemo had avoided books relating to them. Oliver had heard a little about them, but his understanding was shallow at most.

There were many religions that preached doomsdays and destruction, and the Abyssal Church was one of the most successful. Unlike other cults that accepted devotees to form small, concentrated circles, they generously open their arms and shelter all humans who were involved with demons.

This was equivalent to standing up and directly fighting against the other normal religions on the surface.

But they succeeded. It wasn’t because of how reasonable the teachings of the Abyssal Church were, or because they were truly blessed by the Demon King. Superior demons didn’t want their prepared flesh to be hunted down daily, so while they had little interest in human religion, they didn’t hesitate to support them occasionally.

The number of demon warlocks were small, but the quality was amazing. Not only that, the large number of demon worshippers also had lots of backbone, thus the Abyssal Church was able to gain a foothold in this way. In the past few hundred years, it had even achieved a level rival with the Laddism Church.

“…What is Bagelmaurus doing in that kind of place?” Seeing Nemo’s face blank, Oliver decidedly took over the conversation. “A superior demon wouldn’t seek the protection of the Abyssal Church.”

“This kind of information is indispensable in the Abyss,” Adrian explained. “Superior demons prefer the ‘butchers’, and powerful intermediate demons are very popular in the Abyssal Church. According to Mr. Light’s previous statement, Bagelmaurus’ body is a superior demon. Even if the power of its flesh on the surface is only intermediate, it will get very generous treatment in the Abyssal Church. If it’s lucky enough, they may even have the means to restore it.”

“Seems like it has a bit of brain left in it.” Jesse shrugged. “Except for the fact that it ran away, this decision is quite wise.”

“The main purpose is to find information. Nemo can take time to talk to the parrot.” Ann glanced at Nemo who didn’t seem to have a reaction yet. “Task. Choose a task first, so that next month’s quota could be settled.”

“Wait.” Nemo seemed to have finally digested the current situation. “Since a superior demon will not patronize at the Abyssal Church casually, can I only go as a demon warlock? But the way I look…”

“You’re forgetting what you are again,” Ann sighed. “It shouldn’t be difficult for a superior demon… If White II can do it, you can learn from it.”

Nemo thought for a few seconds, then he solemnly stretched out his right hand and stared at it until his face flushed.

“…What are you doing?” Oliver found that he couldn’t concentrate on looking at the task list, so he couldn’t help asking.

“Mimicry,” Nemo said very seriously, but his hand was still a normal hand, and it looked unchanged. “But it wasn’t successful.”

“I won’t ask what you wanted to do,” Oliver coughed dryly, “but… the fuller goat… Forget about that, okay?”

Nemo withdrew his hand bitterly. “I have to find a way to make myself look like a demon warlock.”

“It’s not a good idea to grow goat hooves. You’ll look stupid,” Ann said. “After all, it’s a deformation… Well, Nemo, can you change your eyes back to the appearance of a demon?”

“What?” Nemo shook his hand and raised his brows.

“Didn’t you notice?” The female warrior raised her arms. “When you were seen by Nadine, your pupils became the same as those of the Seymour Worm.”

Nemo pressed his temple, but he didn’t feel that he had undergone any incredible changes, so he had to hold in his breath and concentrate, desperately recalling how he felt that that time.

“Is that so?” He raised his head, the pupils of his eyes slowly cracked.

Oliver drew out his sword almost at the same second, and a white barrier with a slight blue sheen filled the entire room in an instant. The warm air of the room suddenly dropped a few degrees. Nemo looked at his new boyfriend incomprehensibly, trying to express his doubts in his expression.

“Suppress the aura, Nemo—” Oliver suddenly propped the scabbard on the ground to support his slightly shaking body. “Lopez is also in the inn!”

Ann’s face had turned white as a sheet of paper. She gritted her teeth and plunged her spear into the floor, but she still slid down along the spear until her body fell flat on the ground. Jesse seemed to have expected this as he calmly sat down on one leg and support his cheek with one hand. Adrian had the worse reaction. He barely could stand as blood gushed from the corners of his nose and mouth.

“But I don’t know to how to suppress it right now… Sorry, Mr. Cross.” Nemo was stunned by the sudden burst of blood and his tone became more flustered. “Wait a minute. I’ll think of a way—”

Oliver threw away the scabbard with a clang and stepped forward with great strides. He grabbed Nemo’s shirt and decisively pulled him in and kissed the corner of Nemo’s lips.

It turns out the method this was a very effective method. Nemo’s demon pupils and aura was scared away. He froze in shock, as if Oliver had stabbed him with a sword instead of giving him a kiss.

The former Chief Justice finally found his breath. He wiped the blood off his face with the back of his hand and sighed. Jesse blew out a few whistles as he watched the scene unfold and even wanted to applaud.

“…You didn’t do this at Nadine’s that time.” Ann stood up, propped up by her spear, as she said dryly. Her voice was still a little weak. “This is much more powerful than Pandorater. As expected from a fully complete superior.”

“That should just be the tip of the iceberg that leaked out.” Adrian’s showed a wry smile on his blood-stained face. “After all, Mr. Light is not consciously manipulating it.”

If Mr. Light intended, he could even kill them unsuspectingly with just his sense of oppression alone. Adrian wiped the newly oozing bloodshot corners of his mouth with his thumb. His heart was mixed. He had never had such thoughts before, but in just a few seconds, at the moment when his back was instantly soaked in cold sweat; the thought that could be considered cowardice flashed through his mind…

Fortunately, Nemo Light was not their enemy.

“You have to control it; you can’t take Mr. Ramon with you.” Jesse didn’t bother standing up. He looked at Nemo whose ears were completely flushed with interest. “But I have to say, that the effect is good. Although the ‘deformation’ is not obvious, it just looked like a demon warlock.”

At the same time, Godwin Lopez stopped the movement of his hands.

For a moment, a ridiculously powerful aura swept across him like a storm. Even if it wasn’t malicious, the degree of strength that can only be described as “impossible”. It had an amazing deterrent power that even the Commander of Horizon, who had ample experience on the battlefield had a moment where his knees went soft. Fortunately, that moment was too short. It wasn’t even longer than half a second, like a nightmare that suddenly passed through reality leaving a cold and piercing illusion.

The holy sword suddenly vibrated violently.

It wasn’t his illusion. It was definitely the aura of a superior demon. Godwin frowned and took the sword from its scabbard. The beautiful brilliance of his Breaking Dawn was different from the previous warmth it had. It was not mixed with a little ominous blood color.

However, the aura disappeared completely. Godwin tried his best to explore the radius of dozens of miles and even used magic arrays, but he found nothing.

However, Godwin had discovered something else.

“Come in.” He greeted in the direction of the room door. “The door is unlocked.”

“Mission report, Commander.” Debby Light handed a stack of parchment paper over with both hands. “Just the conclusion and your signature— What are you going to do with it?”

“Deal with it according to the suspension of the mission and classify it into the file where the mission target disappeared halfway.” Godwin put away his sword and flipped through the report. “It’s well written, but not objective enough. There’s a lot of avoidance about Nemo Light and Oliver Ramon. Don’t let personal affairs intervene with work, Debby.”

They did enough detective work before performing the mission. The strongest nearby was just a group of intermediate demons called arthropod lizards. They nest in the middle of the desert, and they didn’t need to make a special trip to clean them up for the time being. Caleb Village was such a small and remote place that it was difficult to even find a low-level demon.

Then there was only one possible source of it.

“Nemo Light… I remember he’s a demon worshipper?”

“Yes.” The young female mage lowered her head slightly. “His medium is a parrot-shaped demon. It seems that its strength is comparable to an intermediate.”

“But during their escape from Hailam, some people said that he called himself a ‘demon warlock’.” Godwin’s tone was flat. “I don’t like to judge by rumors and speculation alone. There’s currently no evidence in this regard. Debby, you are a very important member of Horizon— tell me, is he?”

“To be precise, I don’t know, but personally I don’t think so.” Debby bit her lip, but her tone was sincere. “As I said, commander, if you need it, I’ll stake my reputation to guarantee his personality.”

“I see, don’t be nervous,” Godwin said calmly, his emerald eyes sweeping the report page again. “I have no right and no intention of restricting your meetings with your loved ones, Debby.”

The aura of the superior demon wasn’t hostile, which was interesting. Godwin narrowed his eyes slightly.

Debby looked relieved. Although their mage was smart and powerful, she was still a young and emotional. Nemo Light didn’t seem to have any deformation of a demon warlock, but if the source of the aura was from him…

A superior demon had always been able to easily obtain the memories of the host, and Debby never seemed to have considered the possibility that her brother might no longer be “him”. However, this was only a guess. Godwin put the report on the table and rubbed his forehead with his hand.

He had no evidence.

“I will supplement the report. You don’t need to rewrite it.” Godwin’s expression was calm. “Go and rest.”

After the door of the room closed, the leader of Horizon meditated for a moment and added a few words at the end of the mission report.

[There are doubts about the identity of the members of the Black Chapter team, so it’s recommended to evaluate again. Communicative feedback: friendly.]

His pen paused, before he crossed out “friendly” and changed it to “attitude unclear”.

In a room not far away.

The Black Chapter team tossed around the theme of “How to pretend normally without revealing their teammate” all afternoon, completely forgetting about the task selection. After the oppressive storm, the remaining few had a new understanding of what a “complete superior demon” was. In order to express the respect of the human side, Nemo gained the right to sleep on the sofa that night.

Ann was given the only bed, and Adrian Cross laid down on the floor very calmly. Jesse was almost driven out of the room by everyone. After he repeatedly promised that he would personally apply the mute array, they reluctantly drew a place for him on the floor by the window.

Nemo opened his eyes and stared steadily at the ceiling in the dark. He now knew how to control his aura while maintaining his demon’s pupils, but he was afraid that he would forget the essentials of control when he woke up, so he had to practice before going to bed.

A hand lightly patted his arm in the dark almost causing him to let go of all the aura of a superior demon again.

“Hey,” Oliver whispered as he laid on the edge of the sofa. “What happen during today… Sorry.”

“For what?”

“I kissed you without permission.”

“Come on. We’re not thirteen years old.” Nemo rolled over and faced him, trying to maintain the demon form of his pupils. “You’re not afraid.”

“…I forgot to be afraid at that moment,” Oliver muttered in a low voice. He widened his eyes slightly under the moonlight. “And you were panicking.”

“Mr. Cross looked like he was going to spray out all his blood,” Nemo protested. “I was afraid I would really hurt him.”

“So what do you want me to be afraid of?”

Nemo stared into the pleasant emerald eyes in front of him and could feel the corners of his mouth curled up uncontrollably. “Then prove it, Mr. Ramon.”

Unwilling to be outdone, he patted the sofa and shrunk his body inward. “There’s room for two here.”

Oliver squeezed in gracefully. He wrapped one arm around Nemo as if it was natural and pressed his forehead against Nemo’s collarbone without a single hesitation. After finding a relatively comfortable position, he indistinctly whispered something, and quickly fell asleep.

The warm breath sprayed on his chest and Nemo knew that Oliver wasn’t faking his calmness. This time, he confidently ran his fingers through the soft light brown hair, lowered his head, and smelled the scent of Oliver’s hair. Oliver’s weight and body temperature were real, and it pulled him into a daze.

Nemo couldn’t sleep that night.

The night was thick and then slowly faded. Sparse birdsongs sounded outside the window signifying a new day was coming. The sofa wasn’t large, and it was crowded for two people to sleep on, but Oliver slept comfortably without turning much.

As he slept, the other person on the sofa kept staring silently at him with his soft gaze, without ever looking away.

The author has something to say:

Grey parrot: Life’s too suffocating. I’m going to feel what it’s like to be everyone’s father.

Nemo: ???

Kinky Thoughts:

I’m getting diabetes from all this sugar.