It was an eager, even somewhat flustered kiss, carrying a distinct clumsiness.
As if trying to block out all the unspoken questions—the ones he couldn't answer, or didn't want to face.
Or—
Perhaps he also wanted to make up for the vast, empty distance of over a millennium.
The deity's warm, broad palms cupped her cheeks, his long fingers sinking into her pitch-black hair.
Su Cheng was a little surprised.
They stood in the shadows beneath the weeping willows. She looked up at him; those grayish-blue eyes were backlit, resembling distant mountains locked in morning mist, or storm clouds gathering lightning before a downpour.
Within them brewed a deep emotion akin to longing.
His silver hair, like crystallized moonlight, cascaded down like water, brushing against her cheekbones and neck, bringing a faint ticklish sensation.
He pressed hard against her lips, clumsily prying open her teeth, seemingly driven by some burning impulse and desire—
His other hand, almost stiffly, wrapped around her slender waist, completely enclosing her in his arms.
This seemingly predatory kiss somehow felt a bit comical due to his terrible technique and rigid movements.
Su Cheng: "Your kissing skills don't seem to have improved."
She mumbled indistinctly amidst the clash of their lips and tongues.
That messy kiss was like a clumsy performance; she didn't even want to fight him seriously.
The silver-haired young man looked down at her, a certain aggrieved anger welling up in his grayish-blue eyes. "Why would I have improved?"
Su Cheng: "...Good point, you've got me there."
He looked at the girl's reddened lips, his expression extremely subtle. He looked even angrier, as if he might erupt and hit someone at any moment.
Or perhaps not.
Su Cheng thought with exasperation, but this guy just gave off that kind of vibe. She wondered if it was a lingering effect from the original novel.
Su Cheng: "Charles—"
The silver-haired young man kept a cold face. "Do you have to call me that?"
Su Cheng: "Why? You don't like this name?"
The God of Purity looked at her expressionlessly. "I don't like the past that this name represents."
"Alright, Cessia," Su Cheng twitched the corners of her mouth. "It's a bit weird. It feels like a word you'd only call out during prayer, not like a person's name."
His expression remained unchanged. "I ceased to be human a long time ago. I died at—"
Su Cheng: "The Battle of the Dark Gate?"
He paused for a moment.
Su Cheng: "I saw the broken sword you left behind somewhere. Although I didn't know it was yours at the time, it left quite an impression on me because your name was obviously human, yet you beheaded an ancient dragon. I thought it was amazing. Honestly, I thought you would die at the hands of one of the Seven Deadly Sins."
He had been listening quietly, and when praised, the curve of his brows softened a bit.
At the last sentence, mockery surfaced in his eyes again.
"Jellal, Luxara, Gradon, Volesius—"
He scoffed lightly. "They were all defeated by me. Even combined, they couldn't kill me. The one you really want to mention should be Hephis?"
Su Cheng knew that was Horowitz's name after becoming a god. "...You mean he could kill you?"
He fell silent for a moment. "I don't know. Even though I loathe the man, I must admit his talent in magic was peerless. So if we were locked in a fight to the death, I think we might perish together."
"That's quite interesting," Su Cheng couldn't help but say sarcastically. "The God of Light cursed him and took away his power. He remained in a weakened state, was besieged by holy knights, and finally had his body burned to ashes by holy fire. I don't want to make any judgments, because I know they might not be innocent of similar deeds. It's just a pity you couldn't experience that magic for yourself."
Cessia: "..."
Judging from his expression, he obviously knew how the Grand Magus died.
Su Cheng originally thought he would fly into a rage, fight her on the spot, or kill her once.
However, although he wasn't very happy, he didn't look like he was going to lash out, and his gaze became even more subtle.
Cessia: "...Do you know why he was cursed?"
Su Cheng blinked. "The God of Light thought no one could beat him, and letting him live would cause you a lot of losses, or didn't want you to sacrifice yourself because of it? Assuming you were the only one on your side who could kill him?"
Cessia remained noncommittal. "That is at best a side benefit. After the Siege of the White Night, Hephis destroyed many of the Church's temples and desecrated His Holiness's holy statues."
Su Cheng couldn't help but widen her eyes. "What kind of desecration?"
Cessia: "............"
He shot her a look that said she was hopeless.
Su Cheng facepalmed. "Sorry, to you, smashing a statue is also considered desecration, right?"
He nodded silently, then glanced at her again. "Not everyone is you."
"Huh?" Su Cheng looked deeply wronged. "I was just sighing in my heart, I didn't even—never mind. You mean no one else has ever done that?"
"Why do you think he is the God of Pride?" He chuckled softly. "No one dared to provoke the Supreme God's authority like he did, not even those old friends of yours..."
Su Cheng suddenly remembered her first meeting with the God of Lust.
Lusha had also chosen the God of Purity's prayer room, rather than a place with a statue of the God of Light.
She suddenly understood a little.
"Oh," Su Cheng said in realization. "So the God of Light had to retaliate—and, Sir Horowitz was probably a thorn in your side anyway. Two birds with one stone, right."
Cessia stopped talking.
Su Cheng reached out and hooked a strand of hair falling by his ear. "How did it feel after you merged with those memories? You didn't really miss me for a thousand years, did you?"
The silver-haired young man lowered his head slightly, seeming as if he wanted to speak.
Su Cheng jumped up and kissed him.
Wrapping one arm around the back of his neck, she delivered a deeper kiss with more explosive power and retaliatory intent, her lips sealing his mouth with pressure.
"..."
He seemed a bit stunned. When her teeth bit his lower lip, he couldn't help but part his mouth slightly, and then he felt a cool tongue slip inside.
Her force quickly receded, skillfully and accurately sweeping through every corner of his mouth, licking between his gums and teeth, then curling around his tongue in a lingering tangle.
The last bit of air between them was squeezed away.
He couldn't help but reach out and hold her.
Silver-white and pitch-black hair intertwined, like a tied knot.
Slender, cool fingers slid down the side of his neck, like a tough, cold blade, slicing open the collar stuck below his Adam's apple.
Her nails, tinted a pale watery red, traced across his collarbone like razor blades, caressing his broad, solid shoulders before touching his firm, resilient pectoral muscles.
Su Cheng stroked his bulging chest that filled his shirt. The body under her palm was the manifestation of a deity's will, its warmth nothing more than a gathering of power.
She could no longer feel a real heartbeat.
Charles had been dead for many years, in a true past she could not touch.
More buttons popped open as she tugged at them with her fingers.
The full pectoral muscles and the deep cleavage rose and fell with his breathing. The taut lines of his waist and abdomen were incredibly defined, condensing an indescribable sense of power.
Su Cheng turned her head and saw a swan taking off with flapping wings, suddenly feeling that something was not quite right.
"Speaking of which, where did that guy go just now?"
"..."
Cessia once again showed a look of disbelief.
"Sorry," Su Cheng said without a hint of apology, "I was just wondering if we should change places, or hurry up. Otherwise, if we get interrupted later—"
"...I don't think he is unaware of what is happening here."
He sighed softly and said in a somewhat strange tone, "Besides, the time depends on you. If you want, we could go on until this exact day next year without a problem."
Su Cheng: "?"
She could not imagine this guy saying something like that!
Could it be that because he merged with that memory, he had actually been corrupted by her?
Su Cheng could not help but pinch his face. "You aren't Lusha in disguise, are you?"
The next second, her back was pressed against the trunk of the willow tree.
"...What an intimate form of address."
The silver-haired young man looked down at her, flames of anger igniting in his gray-blue eyes. "Do you like him that much?"
"There are quite a few people I like. I brought him up because he's more likely to do this kind of thing—"
Her midsummer words once again disappeared into kisses.
The hot midsummer wind blew across their faces, and the weeping willow branches by the water swayed gently.
The hard, thick, green branches on the bank then slightly touched the lake water, like a feather sweeping across silk, the ripples on the water surface shattering the reflection of the clouds.
Amidst the swaying silver ripples filling the pool, the tips of the branches were wetted by the lake surface, gleaming with water in the sunlight.
The wind grew fiercer, the entire tree began to sway slightly, and the branches trembled slightly as they submerged into the water.
The lake water, warmed by the scorching sun, eagerly climbed up the texture of the branches, submerging the knots and bumps of the twigs.
The branches gradually touched below the shoal, and then pushed straight through the clustered pebbles at the bottom, causing fine bubbles to rise on the surface.
The willow branches sank into the sandy ground beneath the shoal, the leaves probing into the wet and muddy earth, the lake water forming whirlpools due to the wind's vibration, rolling up broken waves.
The fresh scent of aquatic plants and the dampness of the soil brewed into a thick, sticky atmosphere in the air.
As more branches and leaves plunged into the lake, the mud and sand under the shoal were constantly stirred and churned up; every collision surged with distinct sounds of splashing water.
The solid rocks below swayed slightly, dark dust splashed up from the lake bottom, and the splashing water droplets wetted the lush grass leaves on the bank.
Su Cheng leaned her head back against the trunk, feeling the willow leaves brush past her ear, the water-stained branches withdrawing from the lake.
A few seconds later, she suddenly realized that she had hardly sensed much of the power aura exclusive to deities.
It was as if—
They were just an ordinary couple who had come to the bank for a date and then could not help but become intimate.
Someone was probably doing this on purpose.
"...There are quite a few people in town who like you."
Su Cheng looked at the deity so close at hand. "You know, someone even told me before to treat you well, and I didn't even know her. Why didn't you ever try dating someone?"
He fell silent for another few seconds. "I was very busy. In my free time, I preferred to be alone. Besides... I couldn't find that kind of feeling."
"A spark?"
"Something like that," he hesitated for a moment. "At the time, I read some stories described in books, which might have given me some expectations and fantasies. But in reality, when interacting with those who expressed affection, I felt we couldn't connect."
"What about those mercenaries or clerics who passed through your town?"
He shook his head silently. "...They were mostly trouble. Except for you."
"Alright," Su Cheng sighed softly, "I have to tell you, considering you seem to be quite... You know you and I are not the same kind of people, right? Besides, you're not human either. I don't think there's any part I need to take responsibility for."
Cessia glanced at her. "Obviously. If you think I would think that way, then you underestimate my understanding of you. Even Charles wouldn't have such a thought."
"Alright," Su Cheng was utterly speechless. "I can understand why Charles wouldn't think so. After all, back then you always thought I was pining for someone else."
The silver-haired young man let out a heavy sneer.
Su Cheng: "...I just thought you wanted to see me, so I had Ian bring you over. You even pretended to be a unicorn. That means you're either here to get revenge on me or hoping I'll make some kind of choice."
"What?"
That strange emotion appeared in his eyes again, as if he was suppressing some kind of anger. "I'm not—I completely didn't—"
The silver-haired young man took a deep breath, looking as if he was about to explode on the spot.
He took two steps back, as if unable to bear it all anymore, and simply dissipated into the air.
Su Cheng stared blankly at the spot where he had left.
"Honestly, I thought I had seen enough people with weird tempers, but he still seems to rank near the top..."
She muttered under her breath.
"And here I thought that was exactly the kind of trait that attracted you."
A deep, pleasant voice came from the side.
Su Cheng turned her head to meet a pair of pale golden eyes.
Ian had returned at some unknown point. "Also, your buttons are fastened crookedly."
