The system's teleportation was no easy ride. Yi Chen had been dizzy and barely able to stand ever since he arrived at his destination, but just as he was about to fall, a slender yet strong hand gently steadied him.
"Kid, you're back?" Yan looked calmly at the person she had longed to see day and night. A rare smile appeared on her face.
At the familiar voice, Yi Chen tried to shake his head clear, doing his best to wake himself up. After a while, he finally answered:
"Yeah. I'm finally back."
"You look exhausted, kid. Get some rest." Yan helped Yi Chen sit down beside her, then leaned a little closer, hoping he would rest his head against her.
"Okay," Yi Chen mumbled. Then, quite naturally, he turned onto his side, rested his head on Yan's shoulder, and closed his eyes. A pleasant fragrance lingered beneath his nose, and before long, he was snoring softly.
"Ah, kid, you know, I kept waiting for Fan Xing to appear, through countless dawns after that. But why did you never send word..." Yan murmured, gently stroking the face of the person beside her. Then she looked up at the stars again. The slight curve of her lips showed that her mood had shifted.
The long night stretched on, its end weighing on the heart. A lonely lamp cast a distant shadow, waiting only for someone who cared.
With the person she had been waiting for by her side, the long night no longer felt so lonely. The two leaned against each other until dawn drove away the darkness and morning came.
As the first rays of sunlight fell upon the earth, Yan opened her bleary eyes. She gently turned to look at the still-sleeping Yi Chen, then reluctantly woke him.
"Kid, demons are approaching. Get up and fight."
Hearing Yan call to him, Yi Chen forced his eyes open and barely managed to overcome sleep. He had never imagined the system's teleportation service would have such severe aftereffects. His head was still spinning a little, from yesterday until now, but he steeled himself and stayed alert.
Then he seemed to suddenly remember something. He turned to Yan and stammered:
"Um... Yan... I didn't mean to take advantage of you. My head was spinning too much last night... I..."
At that, Yan's smile turned sly.
"Kid, I'd say we kind of slept together, so you'll have to take responsibility..."
"..." Yi Chen turned his head away without answering, putting on an expressionless face.
"Oh, kid, you don't look very willing. What, is being my male god such a hardship?" Yan spoke as she slowly moved closer to Yi Chen. Her expression shifted from gentle to stern, then to... murderous.
"Hey, Yan, don't... don't do that. Calm down. What's that? Demons? I'll go kill them." As Yan drew closer, Yi Chen grew increasingly flustered. The tips of his ears had started to turn red.
But then his sharp eyes spotted two ugly winged creatures approaching them. He guessed they were demons, and immediately came up with a plan to use killing them as an excuse to get away. Unfortunately, things didn't go as he hoped.
Just as Yi Chen was about to charge out, a Sword of Flames shot past him from behind. Its blade pierced one demon with pinpoint accuracy and emerged from its back, then flew through the other demon from the opposite side. Just like that, the two menacing demons lost their lives with ease.
After spinning through the air a few times, the Sword of Flames was caught by a slender hand.
"Um... Yan, those are the demons you specifically woke me up to kill?" Yi Chen turned to her, stunned.
Yan didn't answer. Holding the Sword of Flames, she seemed to exude even more heroic spirit than usual. Her gaze was fixed on Yi Chen, and there seemed to be some inexplicable emotion in it.
"Didn't you just kill them with a flick of your hand?" Yi Chen said, still confused. Demons like these didn't seem worth waking him up for, he thought, but Yan replied with a hint of annoyance:
"Was it wrong to wake you up because my shoulder was getting sore from having you lean on it?"
"Uh..." Yi Chen awkwardly rubbed his nose.
"Enough, I'm done teasing you. I'm not in a hurry. After all, I, Angel Yan, have chosen you as my male god. We can take our time getting to know each other." Yan put away the Sword of Flames and took a deep breath to calm herself. Then she walked over to Yi Chen, patted him gently on the shoulder, and smiled.
"These are just low-level demons. They used to be the native inhabitants of this planet, but they were infected by the demon virus and turned into this."
"Infected by a demon virus? Does that mean demons didn't exist from the start?" Yi Chen asked in confusion. He had always thought demons, like angels, were born that way. But now Yan was telling him that demons were transformed humans?
"Not at all. Demons didn't originally exist in this world. Under the influence of Morgana's corrupt ideology, some people and other creatures willingly shed their former skins and became these ugly things."
"Kid, do you know why we angels hunt demons?" Yan asked.
"Why?"
"Because of Morgana. Because... well... a certain technology allows her to preserve the genetic information of demons, so she can revive the dead. Otherwise, why do you think demons have been able to fight us for so long? We've been through so many battles and lost so many sisters..." Yan's voice suddenly grew heavy. Anyone would be devastated to lose sisters they had spent every day with.
After a while, Yan gathered her thoughts and continued:
"Still, resurrection goes against the laws of life, so it isn't recognized by the Justice Order."
"The Queen always tells us that civilization is a kind of joy, a kind of happiness. The more advanced a civilization is, the more harmonious people's relationships become, and the deeper their sense of happiness.
"And what makes a person human, rather than a beast, is humanity. When people become beasts, they lose not only their intelligence and technology but also descend into self-destruction. How could they ever develop high-level technology?"
"Do you know, kid? The Queen often says that death itself isn't frightening. Loneliness is."
"The end of life is simply death. The meaning of death is either rebirth or eternal rest. Death isn't the loss of life; it's simply stepping out of time."
"We don't fear death. We take pride in dying in the war against evil."
That morning, Yan told Yi Chen a great deal. Most of it was reflections from her seven thousand years of life. After listening to her, Yi Chen couldn't help but look at her.
This angel, who was always teasing him, had been through so much. She, and the other angels, were always busy. Though they sometimes seemed to stand above everyone else, they also loved protecting less advanced civilizations. Perhaps that was the angels' compassion—a quality most civilizations could never experience...
Yesterday I looked up this novel and was surprised to find it wasn't on Qidian or Q Yue anymore. T_T Is this what happens when you stop updating...?
Before you continue