The Emperor and the Devil (2)

Lu Mingze froze for a moment, then smiled. "If you were talking to your uncle's chubby little kid, saying 'Mingze, I'm Sunset' would probably bring you closer."

"Mingze, I'm Sunset." Lu Mingfei corrected himself as soon as he realized his mistake.

The boy sighed. "...You really don't have any dignity or shame left now."

Lu Mingfei did not mind being judged that way. Right now, he just wanted to be alone and stare blankly into space. He did not want gods, Buddhas, or anyone else coming to pick a fight with him. "Life has worn down my edges. Try getting tortured for two years. Who has that much energy left to keep acting proper?"

Keeping up a proper act all the time was exhausting. Even pretending in front of a girl you liked was tiring, unless you were naturally proper—a truly upright man.

As he sat there, his back rested against the side of the phone booth, and he stared mournfully at the boy.

It was strange. Just when you wanted to be alone, someone like this suddenly crawled out of nowhere—using your cousin's name, acting bizarre, and seeming to know you quite well.

Yet he could not bring himself to hate him. He still felt the comfort and safety of being alone; having one more person around felt no different from having no one there.

The two of them fell silent. Neither looked at the other. Lu Mingze stood straight, leaning against the glass of the red-roofed phone booth, while Lu Mingfei plopped down onto the gray curb beside it.

The hands of the clock tower showed no intention of moving at all.

If you stared blankly for too long here, you would lose your sense of time.

Lu Mingfei gradually pulled his wandering mind back from the clouds. He was not proactive when it came to adapting to changes in life, but once he realized there was nothing he could do, he usually accepted new things after spacing out for a while.

"Hey, you black-hearted... devil bro, were those dungeon-game dreams about the future your doing?" he asked softly.

He remembered that the note he had given the other party in Genji Heavy Industries was "black-hearted turtle bastard profiteer Little Devil." Hiss—suddenly, that did not seem like such a distant label.

"Starting with such a serious question? Of course not."

Lu Mingze innocently spread his hands. "If big brother hadn't let me out, it would be difficult for me to even occasionally leave prison to visit family."

"Did you suspect me because you saw the dream attribute on my status panel?" He pointed at the data above his head. "It really wasn't me. Although authority and power are basically the same... the gap between you and me is even greater than the gap between Jormungandr and Fenrir."

"You can see my status panel?" Lu Mingfei became a little wary.

"In dreams, we sometimes share a viewpoint. Temporarily, I mean."

Lu Mingze's obliging willingness to answer everything only deepened Lu Mingfei's suspicions. As the saying went, there was no such thing as a free lunch, nor was there kindness without reason.

[Reward settlement successful]

[Clear requirements met]

[This stage complete]

[Cleared with an exceptionally high rating. Bloodline EXP +600]

[First clear. Bloodline EXP +400]

[Defeated 2 enemy BOSS units, 1 elite unit, and 0 regular units. Bloodline EXP +6038]

[Total Bloodline EXP: 7038]

[Rank: S-Rank Mixed-Blood (9526/10000) → Super Mixed-Blood (16564/50000)]

[The following permanent improvements have been obtained]

[Luck: D- → Luck: D+]

[Pseudo-Dragon Bone State permanently active]

[Offense: S+ → SS-]

[Speed: S+ → SS]

[Constitution: SS- → SS]

[Combat Technique: A- → A]

["Emperor Word Spirit" unlocked for use]

[Legendary item drop]

[Earth and Mountains' Old Covenant x1]

[Precious item drop]

[Pride (genuine Seven Sins item) x1]

[Common item drop]

[Mercury-Heart Alchemical Bullet (Old) x526]

[Dragon King's Girl's Human Observation Diary x1]

[Fenrir's Tomato-Flavored Potato Chips x1]

[Fourth-Generation Species Scale Fragments x23]

One run of this was worth N runs through Genji Heavy Industries. He now even had two Word Spirits.

"Word Spirit: Blood Sickle" and "Emperor Word Spirit."

Once the rewards appeared, Lu Mingfei shifted all his attention to them. "Emperor Word Spirit" sounded like an absurdly overpowered Word Spirit. He seemed to have used it when fighting Fenrir. It had to be the sort with high burst damage, a wide range, and low cost.

No, you could not tell just from the name. "Word Spirit: King's Authority" also sounded ridiculously overpowered and cool, but when he saw Gen Chisei use it, it had seemed rather down-to-earth.

The only regret was that this dungeon did not drop Evolution Potions.

Under normal circumstances, he already possessed the physical abilities he had once gained by taking Evolution Potions to their limit, even when most of their effects had not erupted. Super Mixed-Blood... perhaps it meant the same thing as Emperor, though there might be some differences.

The system's current assessment was that he was a fairly standard Super Mixed-Blood overall. His own direct impression was that, compared to Gen Chisei, an Emperor, he was only stronger, not weaker.

Lu Mingze casually leaned closer. "The truly valuable thing that dropped this run was Earth and Mountains' Old Covenant."

This actually made Lu Mingfei less wary. He asked in confusion, "You can see the settlement rewards too?"

There was no need to guard against someone you could not guard against anyway.

Whatever. He gave up.

Could this guy be some kind of "second personality" or "superego"? Something fantastical, yet scientifically plausible?

"In dreams, we temporarily share a viewpoint. If you don't want me watching, I won't look anymore." Lu Mingze shrugged.

Lu Mingfei thought for several seconds. "I don't mind you seeing the rewards, but don't leave things half-said. What does Earth and Mountains' Old Covenant do? If I take this, can this sheet of tadpole-script-covered paper turn me into the King of Earth and Mountains?"

He had already taken Earth and Mountains' Old Covenant out of his inventory. It was a sheet of withered bark paper, covered in scribbled text made of intricate patterns. The patterns resembled the outstretched branches and leaves of ancient trees.

Calling it tadpole script was already giving it too much credit.

Lu Mingze nodded without hesitation.

"Huh?"

It really could transform him... Lu Mingfei looked down in a daze.

Then from now on, he would be Lu Mingfei, King of Earth and Mountains.

Without keeping him in suspense, Lu Mingze sat down on the curb beside him and began explaining in a gentle, unhurried tone.

"This is a flaw left behind at the beginning of creation. Each throne of the Four Great Sovereigns possesses a corresponding 'Old Covenant,' a reservation of authority."

"The complete elemental controllers of the first four domains can cancel all Word Spirits. But even if the Sovereigns devour one another, they still are not complete. They are merely controllers of nine-tenths of the elements, forever unable to compare to the Black King and White King... The White King's Mind Authority is more or less the same, but Mind Authority is the fifth Elemental Authority, far beyond the others. Controlling half of it is already outrageously impressive."

"By using the Old Covenant, you can temporarily possess the remaining one-tenth of Earth and Mountains' authority. It isn't single-use, either. But with your current strength, even after using it, you would at most count as a Second-Generation Species with stronger attack techniques. You cannot hatch a powerful dragon body. This thing is the lock code for the Four Great Sovereigns' shackles, not some Evolution Truster-style transformation device."

Lu Mingfei thoughtfully rubbed the rock-gray bark in his hand, which was slightly warm. No wonder Jormungandr and Fenrir's Earth and Mountains' authority didn't add up to a complete amount.

But since it had dropped from the dungeon, it should have been farmed from the BOSS.

What did that mean? It was like someone had locked up an inheritance left for you, then secretly tossed the key onto your body as well. If you were capable, you could find the key, unlock it, and happily claim the inheritance. If you were not, then leaving you the inheritance would be pointless anyway.

Were all dragons this twisted? Jormungandr and Fenrir were probably among the more incompetent kind.

"Dragon slayers fundamentally do not understand dragons. Dragons, like humans, were merely children who first arrived in this world. Naturally, children must be treated in special ways." Lu Mingze suddenly seemed a little sentimental about the subject. Resting his cheek on one hand, he did not know what he was thinking.

Lu Mingfei hesitated, but still asked one question that had been bothering him. "Dragon Kings... I mean, are there only eight of the Four Great Sovereigns and Eight Great Kings?"

Perhaps because he vaguely suspected something about himself.

He wanted to ask whether there was a King of Cowardice and Giving Up, or some similarly reasonably named existence. If there was, then he would unquestionably take the title.

But in the end, he chose not to ask directly. He felt he would not get a straightforward answer anyway. Even when dealing with devils, you had to beat around the bush. Devils were all insidiously wicked, like Mephistopheles, the "spirit that forever denies" in Faust.

"Ah, I just remembered something very important."

Lu Mingze suddenly changed the subject instead of answering. His bright eyes blinked. "Big brother, it'll be my birthday right after this sunset."