The Yellow-Haired Villain in Soaring Phoenix's Novels Also Desires Happiness

The solar disk was black, like a deep hole that devoured all things, eerie and terrifying.

Yet the corona surrounding it was a holy, pure white.

Solar disk and corona, pure black and spotless white, the uncanny and the sacred.

Two elements that were utterly different, yet unexpectedly complemented each other, had fused together just like this, entwining with one another, shaking the heart.

It was like an eye, hanging silently above the sky, overlooking all things.

“Black Sun...”

Gaius raised his head, nearly forcing those two words out through his teeth.

“Is this that old bastard’s work too?”

In his view, Muen Campbell absolutely could not have created something this bizarre. Something that could almost already be called a “god” was not something a fifth-rank brat could possibly produce.

It had already exceeded ordinary understanding, exceeded the understanding of this era.

Perhaps only some method from a thousand years ago could create something like this.

But why?

Gaius did not understand. Why would that old thing create such a thing?

This did not fit her plan at all. Could it be that, over these years, her plan had undergone some change he did not know about?

“No, now isn’t the time to talk about this...”

Gaius’s expression was ugly. Whether or not this thing was part of that old thing’s plan, he absolutely could not let it continue like this!

“Stop!”

He roared furiously at Afrella, who was still guiding the believers in the city to pray.

“Do you know what you’re doing? Although this thing is still only an embryonic form, an infant right now, if you let Him grow this quickly, who the hell knows what He will become? Maybe He really will become a new Evil God!”

“He is not an Evil God!”

Afrella kept her eyes tightly shut and said with certainty, “He is our savior. He is the one who brings salvation!”

“You don’t understand anything! On the level of gods, the so-called distinction between good and evil is nothing more than...”

Gaius’s lips opened and closed rapidly, but only the first half of that sentence existed. He clearly said something in the second half, yet it could not reach Afrella’s ears at all.

Obviously, that second half had touched the Pact of Silence again.

“Damn it!”

The veins on Gaius’s forehead bulged. He began regretting why he had not, just now... no, before the plan even began, specifically found that Muen Campbell first and slapped him to death!

Who could have known that bastard would be this much trouble? And just now, he had actually been thinking of pulling him into the fold?

If time could be turned back, the thing Gaius most wanted to do now would be to slap himself from a few minutes ago and shout, hurry the fuck up and do the important thing, stop blabbering with this bastard!

But regret was meaningless now.

“Repentance!”

“Here.”

The Witch of Repentance, covered in blood, drifted over. From the look of her, she had clearly gone through an intense battle just now as well.

“Control the largest number of people you can control and sacrifice them early. Let the Lord of the Stars descend ahead of schedule!”

Gaius said, “I will also make this city’s timelines return early! And immediately activate the stripping from the mortal world!”

“But... then our plan will have failed.” The Witch of Repentance frowned. After struggling so hard to reach this point, losing {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} the entire game like this was truly a little difficult to accept.

“No. It has not failed yet.”

Gaius said expressionlessly,

“Do you see that black sun? Use that black sun as the sacrifice instead. I believe the Lord of the Stars will be satisfied all the same. Once the Black Sun is devoured by Him, we can continue according to our original steps afterward. It will be the same.”

What the sacrifice was did not matter.

What mattered was that the Lord of the Stars could pay the power required to alter the timelines, and that He would be satisfied with the sacrifice.

From His perspective, no matter what the hell that black sun was, it should be far more attractive than the souls of several million humans!

“Understood.”

The Witch of Repentance nodded lightly, then flew to the highest point of Saint Haze Palace.

Her toes tapped lightly. Her skirt swayed, as if in a dance step.

Very soon, an invisible ripple spread outward.

Ancient Magic — Arasax’s Red Dancing Shoes!

Under the control of Ancient Magic, living corpses climbed up from the ground one after another and began praying toward the sky!

Without Saint Peron V’s help, the range affected by the Ancient Magic did not cover the entire city. The number of praying living corpses was only a few tens of thousands, far from the entire city in the plan.

But as a primer, it was already enough!

Boom!

The city trembled.

As the endless void surrounding the city gradually dispersed, the scene of reality grew clearer and clearer. A brilliant starry sky began to appear above the city.

He was at the other end of the sky, facing that black sun from afar, but now He was clearly drawn by the Black Sun and was gradually approaching it.

He did not even have time to harvest those tens of thousands of souls on the ground, rushing so impatiently toward that irresistible delicacy.

Beyond the world.

A brilliant field of stars flickered.

That field of stars was so beautiful, the starlight linking together to form a magnificent galaxy.

But if someone could muster the courage, ignore the consequence of immediately going mad, look directly at that field of stars, and observe them carefully, they would discover that they did not possess the beauty one saw in a hurried glance.

Indescribable mutations and distortions spread between the stars. Occasionally, one or two stars would accidentally turn over, revealing countless wide-open pupils and hideous mouthparts on their backs.

Those pupils were scorching and greedy, and those mouthparts opened and closed, constantly chewing on something.

—Perhaps what they were chewing on were the real stars.

Evil God, Lord of the Stars.

He had come in response to the summons, but now He had no attention to spare for those delicious souls.

Because something far more beautiful, something far more attractive to Him, had hooked away all His attention.

A black sun.

That black sun hung high in the sky, appearing so majestic and magnificent.

But even that black sun seemed so tiny compared with this brilliant field of stars. Those dark rays had only just spread before being pressed back by the starlight.

One-sided suppression.

Because the Black Sun was still only an embryonic form, an infant. He had only just been born. He could not possibly fight a true Evil God.

Although that black sun was not an Evil God corresponding to the Lord of the Stars, that youth and powerlessness were like a fledgling that had just broken its shell. To the Lord of the Stars, that poisonous snake that had been starving for so long, it had incomparable attraction.

And so the Lord of the Stars was incomparably delighted. Starlight fell from all across the sky, weaving into twisted wrist-tentacles. Without the obstruction of the world’s barrier, they very quickly enveloped that black sun completely.

The Black Sun ground onward. Black flames burned across the sky, devouring patch after patch of starlight.

But mere starlight was of no importance to the Lord of the Stars at all, so He allowed the black flames to devour it.

The starlight wrist-tentacles connected with one another, lifting the Black Sun up, intending to send Him into the Lord of the Stars’ true body.

Like a mother gently cradling swaddling clothes, drawing an infant into her embrace.

But at this moment, what awaited the “infant” was not a warm embrace.

It was the deathly silent hollows between trembling stars that chewed everything to pieces.

The Lord of the Stars also looked forward to this feast that, to Him, was far more delicious than several million human souls...

He was about to devour the Black Sun...

Everything was within Gaius’s expectations.

The newborn Black Sun could not resist an ancient god. Having only just been born, He was about to turn into pitiful dust among countless stars...

Dong!

However, just then, a magnificent bell suddenly rang out.

Within the Black Sun, some kind of image emerged.

The moment that image appeared, the Lord of the Stars’ act of devouring actually stopped.

He seemed to have been drawn in by that image as well.

It looked like someone.

Seated high upon a throne built from the bones of the world.

Behind the throne was a stretch of deep darkness, as if only that person and his throne existed here.

He... or He, propped His cheek on one hand and slept quietly.

Suddenly, He seemed to sense something and opened His eyes.

No, those were not eyes.

They were... burning, grinding solar disks!

The solar disks were looking down upon the stars with contempt, rumbling.

[Get lost.]

...

...

“Ha. See? No matter what you did, it was all futile.”

Looking at the stars in the sky gradually devouring the Black Sun, Gaius refused to move his gaze away even though his body was already showing signs of being eroded by Pollution, and he revealed a heartfelt smile.

In the end, he had still won.

This was normal. This was reasonable!

His planning had been so long, his arrangements so meticulous, his sacrifices so enormous.

How could all of it be completely ruined because a mere yellow-haired brat had barged in and stirred things up?

He was Gaius, Holy Lord of Salvation, the one who represented the will of the world. How could he possibly lose the whole game because of a single brat?

Impossible. Absolutely impossible!

Absolutely...

Boom!

The stars abruptly trembled.

“H-How is that possible?”

Gaius’s eyes suddenly widened, his face full of disbelief.

Because what was happening upon that sky should clearly have been the natural order of big fish eating little fish. That newborn Black Sun should have been devoured without any accident by the Lord of the Stars at His peak, with nothing obstructing Him.

But the scene happening before Gaius’s eyes was... the Lord of the Stars had retreated.

He retreated... retreated... retreated...

Retreated?

Why?

Gaius could not understand.

The Lord of the Stars clearly did not seem to have met any fierce resistance. The advantage was entirely His. So why would He retreat?

Could this fight be lost? Even if Saint Peron V were swapped in, he could not possibly lose!

But the Lord of the Stars still lost.

Not because of insufficient strength, but...

Because of... fear?

Only then did Gaius discover that the field of stars was trembling. Though He was a lofty Evil God, an emotion like human fear had visibly surfaced in Him.

He was afraid.

Afraid of that black sun.

“No. He is not afraid of that black sun.”

Gaius abruptly reacted.

“What He is afraid of is something He saw inside that black sun.”

The Black Sun’s own power naturally was not enough to make Him afraid.

The only explanation was that He had seen something even more terrifying in the deeper reaches of that pitch-black solar disk.

Something so terrifying that even an Evil God would feel fear.

What exactly had He seen?

Of course, Gaius could not know.

But the outcome was already decided.

The Lord of the Stars retreated, even leaving behind a large amount of starlight and wrist-tentacles to be devoured by the Black Sun.

That black sun became even larger, almost occupying half the sky above the city.

He looked down coldly, and then... black flames ignited.

Black flames rose from the corners of the city, then rapidly spread everywhere.

The black flames burned everything. There was nothing they did not burn. All things, everything, gradually vanished into the flames.

Very soon, He would devour this entire city as well!

“Do you see now? This thing you summoned will ultimately destroy this city, and even... destroy the world!”

Gaius chuckled, though no one knew whether he was mocking these foolish people who had offered up their faith, or mocking himself, who had failed completely.

But in the end, with a sweep of his wide sleeve, his entire body floated up. He actually took the initiative to meet that black sun.

“No, He won’t.”

But at this moment, Pero still clasped her hands tightly, praying devoutly to that black sun, and as if refuting Gaius, she said softly,

“I believe in him. He won’t.”

“...”