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"Great God of War, symbol of iron and blood, Dominator of chaos and strife. I'm going to restart my character, so whether you're busy or not, hurry over. The sooner we finish, the sooner we're done…"
After completing his usual, not-at-all-pious "prayer," Lin Ruo casually found a tree to lean against and wait. Beside his feet were three metal boxes. The important tools he needed for this restart, the Unshadowed Crucifix and the life scepter, were in two of the boxes. The other box contained the Materials for the Arbiter potion he would be concocting next.
After waiting for a while, Lin Ruo felt some movement in the Spirit World before his eyes. Sure enough, the next second, after a distortion of colors, Medici appeared before him.
He hadn't possessed the Numinous Episcopate member from last time; he was still in his evil spirit state. Not only that, Lin Ruo also noticed that the scars on both sides of Medici's face, symbolizing Einhorn and Sauron, were gone, leaving only extremely faint traces that were barely noticeable unless one looked closely.
Lin Ruo blinked, a smile tugging at his lips as he already guessed what had happened. He said, "It seems your problem has been resolved."
"Heh, what else?" Medici chuckled, crossing his arms, his smile more unbridled than ever. "You think I'm like you, unable to handle such a minor issue."
"Yes, yes, Grandfather Medici is number one in the world, there's nothing you can't handle…" Lin Ruo made no attempt to hide his perfunctory attitude, his expression clearly saying "Ah, yes, yes, yes." Then, changing the subject, he asked with a smile, "So why were you tricked by Little Crow and that paranoid fellow back then?"
The scene suddenly fell silent.
"Heh!" After a second's pause, Medici sneered and said, "That's nothing compared to you. How amazing you are, your characteristics were even tricked away by that paranoid fellow, and now you're so disheveled that you don't even dare to meet Little Crow."
"Were my characteristics tricked away? That was clearly a transaction, alright!" Lin Ruo retorted in exasperation. Although he had no memory of this, it didn't stop him from speaking with righteous indignation.
As for Amon… hmm, that's not important!
Lin Ruo, whose mood had soured a bit from thinking of a certain mischievous child, pouted and looked at Medici, saying, "So what about Sauron and Einhorn? What did you do to those two guys?"
He was a little curious about this question. After all, if one were to be precise, the relationship between Medici, Sauron, and Einhorn could be described as "very complex." Lin Ruo was genuinely very curious how Medici would deal with those two clowns.
"They're right here." Medici said, pulling out a handkerchief that Lin Ruo was very familiar with from his pocket. Lin Ruo recognized it at a glance as the spoils he had dropped when he fought Ince earlier.
"Those two idiots are staying inside this." Medici tugged at the Ince handkerchief in his hand, looking quite pleased.
Lin Ruo's gaze fell on the Ince handkerchief. He said, "I thought you would kill them."
"No need for that. They're just two idiots. Keeping them can still bring me some fun." When Medici said this, he seemed to not hide the pride emanating from his bones.
He never felt that Sauron and Einhorn could pose any threat to him. He felt that way before, and he still felt that way now.
Lin Ruo, hearing his words, looked up at him, then smiled and said, "Medici, sometimes I truly feel that when the Creator entrusted me to your care, it was because of your humanity."
So passionate, so dazzling.
Medici's humanity was different from Klein's, different from his own. Medici didn't have their love for Mortals, but his humanity was indeed equally dazzling.
Perhaps this was the characteristic of a Hunter?
"Perhaps…" Medici paused, uncharacteristically not refuting, and put the Ince handkerchief back into his pocket.
Why didn't he kill Sauron and Einhorn?
Perhaps it was because he didn't feel they would pose a threat to him.
Or perhaps… it was because of that companionship spanning a thousand years?
Medici didn't feel he had much affection for those two idiots, but he also truly had no interest in killing them.
"Didn't you say you were changing paths? When do you plan to start?" Medici said again, his tone gradually becoming sarcastic. "Or is our little dark baby regretting it at the last minute? Don't worry, if you really regret it, just tell me directly. I won't mock you."
"I wouldn't regret it even if you did!" Lin Ruo looked up at him, retorting without much weight.
Then Lin Ruo slowly bent down and opened the metal box containing the Unshadowed Crucifix, taking out the Unshadowed Crucifix within. Without being activated, the Unshadowed Crucifix naturally wouldn't cause any harm to Medici, who was an evil spirit. However, the latter's gaze instantly fixated on the cross Lin Ruo had taken out.
He looked for a long time, his eyes complex, as if nostalgic, mixed with some other emotions.
Finally, Medici said softly:
"…You still kept it, Little Black. I thought you had thrown it away long ago."
Without any sarcasm, without any hint of mockery, Medici's tone in this sentence was so calm it didn't sound like something he would say.
Lin Ruo, holding the Unshadowed Crucifix and waiting for his characteristics to be expelled, looked at Medici upon hearing this, somewhat puzzled. He asked, "Why do you say that?"
"You don't remember? Yes, you really don't remember." Medici looked at the cross, his eyes still complex, and said, "It used to be an ornament that the Creator always kept with him. It was given to you as a birthday gift in the third epoch. The Creator… the day the Creator fell, you were covered in blood when you went to save the Creator. You were still wearing it then…"
"After everything ended, you were unconscious for a long time. When you woke up, you threw away everything on you that was stained with blood…"
"I thought you had thrown it away long ago, after all, during that time you were always unwilling to accept that fact, and unwilling to admit that the True Creator was still the Creator."
Medici remembered that time again, remembering the fall of the Creator, and Lin Ruo, who was more disheveled than ever after everything had fallen apart.
Medici knew that in that upheaval, that disaster, the one most affected was probably Lin Ruo, who had once regarded all the Kings of Angels and even the Creator as family.
Lin Ruo had not participated in the Rose Redemption and didn't know why all that happened, didn't understand why the three Gods betrayed them so easily, and even more so, didn't understand why the Pure White Angel, who had such a good relationship with him, would deliver a fatal blow when he was completely unprepared.
He had a good relationship with everyone, so when everything happened, he suffered the most profound betrayal.
Medici was even worried that Lin Ruo wouldn't be able to recover then, but fortunately, Lin Ruo eventually did.
However, since then, except when facing him, Lin Ruo had never again entrusted his back to any friend.
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