When Cheng Shi opened his eyes, he found himself not back on his rooftop but standing before the entrance to a building.
Moonlight canopied above, its gentle glow pooling at his feet, tracing every ornantal pattern on the doors with crystalline clarity.
The building was far too familiar. The instant Cheng Shi recognized it, cold sweat erupted across his body and he froze.
The Evil Infant Inquisition!
He was standing once more before the doors of Dolgod's Evil Infant Inquisition!
Only this ti, the Inquisition hadn't been abandoned to decay or reduced to ruins by "heaven-sent fire." It looked immaculate — exquisitely crafted, magnificent, grand — as if freshly completed.
Cheng Shi stood before the doors to the inner hall on gold-lined flagstone. Before him lood jade-inlaid gates, firmly shut.
He swallowed nervously. Without a word, he retreated two steps.
But he failed.
This was clearly not the real Evil Infant Inquisition. The sprawling outer courtyard no longer existed behind him. After a single step backward, his spine struck an invisible wall that bounced him right back to the doorstep.
His heart sank. He scowled deeply.
'This is bad — they want
to open the door?!'
'But... should I?'
'What's hiding inside?!'
'Uma Sinners' vengeance? A trap laid by the Theocracy of Growth?'
'No — the trial is over. By all logic, people and things lost to history shouldn't be able to touch
anymore. So...'
'This has nothing to do with them. It has to do with Them!'
'Which one?!'
'Which deity has summoned ?'
Given the previous trial's subject matter, the first na that ca to mind was Birth.
But his impression of Birth wasn't one of theatrical mystery.
Rembering that indescribable Divine Pillar, Cheng Shi figured that if Birth wanted him, He'd simply drop the Pillar on the rest area rooftop — not dump him in front of so ornate door.
So who else could it be?
Could it be... Corruption?
That didn't fit either. Corruption was said to preside over the Sea of Desire, manipulating all worldly emotion and appetite.
If it were Him, Cheng Shi wouldn't still be agonizing. Under amplified desire, he'd probably have already pushed through the door.
He racked his brain but couldn't form a single reasonable hypothesis. In the end, he could only pin it on his own Benefactor.
'Lord Benefactor... it's not You, is it?'
'This inexplicable sense of being toyed with reeks of the Fun God's handiwork.'
'But what do You want
to do?'
'Push open this door and have an audience?'
'That's a fresh one. Saw my last trial and decided to incorporate "current events" to manufacture fear?'
'Fine, fine, fine — whether or not You're behind that door, whether or not You're even watching, I don't have just one Benefactor. I refuse to believe the great Fate would lead
astray!'
"The paths of coming and going — all are destined!
Praise Fate!
Your radiance shall guide
upon the fixed path and shelter
from all misfortune."
After bellowing Fate's prayer at the top of his lungs, Cheng Shi gritted his teeth and reached out...
to scatter dice across the floor behind him.
'A steady heart must never be abandoned. I learned that from Squinty Eyes!'
Only after evenly carpeting the narrow ground with dice did he reach toward the Evil Infant Inquisition's great doors once more.
But just then — perhaps because Cheng Shi had taken too long to react — the door was pushed open from the inside.
"Hummmm—"
"Click, click—"
Cheng Shi's reflexes were razor-sharp. The instant he saw the door budge and heard the creak of hinges, he leaped backward to the farthest possible point, back pressed against the air wall, ring clenched, scalpel drawn, battle-ready.
He sensed soone behind the door. This ruled out the Fun God hiding inside — but the problem was, he couldn't imagine what kind of "person" could bring him here after a trial.
'Don't tell
it's another one like Kataro — so deity's spokesperson?'
While Cheng Shi's taut nerves raced, the door opened slowly.
The crack between the two panels widened, bit by bit, until the hazy moonlight illuminated the hall within. A figure — strange yet familiar — gradually ca into view.
When that sculpted, flawless face appeared, Cheng Shi's brain detonated with a thunderclap.
His body locked up. Pupils constricted to pinpoints. Nerves bowstring-taut.
He stared at the figure before him in utter disbelief and couldn't help but gasp:
"It's you! Turadin?!"
Yes — the person who'd pushed open the inner hall doors of the Evil Infant Inquisition was Turadin.
But he also didn't look like Turadin.
Because he bore almost no resemblance to when Cheng Shi had first t him. Now, long hair cascaded free, brows and eyes were sharply defined, his build was tall and lean, his bearing ramrod-straight.
A bewitching smile adorned his face. His arms opened wide, as if greeting a long-lost friend with delight — yet upon closer inspection, the gesture more closely resembled a worshipper expressing devotion to so lofty deity above.
More than that, "Turadin" wore a black robe trimd in gold and moon filigree, eyes closed, murmuring so unheard lody. Bathed in moonlight, his appearance grew ever more... saintly.
But this "sanctity" was unlike any holiness Cheng Shi had ever encountered.
This lofty, sacred, solemn figure evoked not reverence, not fear, not even the self-abasing awe of inadequacy. Instead...
it stirred desire. The urge to defile.
Yes — to defile!
Fury, hatred, possessiveness, ecstasy...
Wrestling, slaughter, embrace, passion...
Countless desires tangled and surged into Cheng Shi's skull, turning his eyes instantly bloodshot, forcing him to gasp for air.
And at this sight, "Turadin's" smile grew all the more enchanting. He didn't step from the inner hall. He simply watched Cheng Shi's face and smiled as though welcoming an old friend.
"My brother, you seem to have forgotten — I've changed my na. I'm no longer called Turadin.
I'm called...
Aph Ros.
And, my brother — it was you who told
His divine na. It was you who pushed
into His arms. It was you who taught
His will.
And now, reunited with an old friend — why aren't you happy?"
'Happy my ass!'
Cheng Shi couldn't even spare the energy to fake a smile. He was pouring every fiber of his being into suppressing the desire raging inside him — desire more ferocious than anything he had ever experienced — because he was terrified of what he might do if he let go.
But he still clenched his jaw and ground out a reply:
"Who the fuck is your old friend.
The Aph Ros I know... is a woman!"
...
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