Chapter 40: A Brief Reunion

Belial suddenly found himself unable to move. To be precise, he could no longer command the body of Longinus.

How could this be? He had forged a pact with Longinus!

Ambrosia—the disguised fallen angel—replied, "You know that Longinus is a saint, and a demon must never attempt to possess a saint, for saints do not fall. Especially since he drank the blood of the Son, he is the natural enemy of demons."

Belial felt the soul of Longinus burrowing inside his body like the bones of that blue fish, piercing his nerves and neutralizing his demonic power. Like falling into a pool of piranhas, Belial was being chewed to pieces bit by bit by this ferocious and peerless hunter.

The Holy Lance?

Ambrosia said, "I truly thank you for stopping Azrael's weapon for me. If it had been me fighting Azrael, I could not guarantee I would have done better than you."

Filled with extreme rage, Belial felt a burning pain in his chest and demanded, "Can a pact just be brushed aside like this? This was a pact made with a demon! I am a Grand Duke of Hell!"

Ambrosia replied, "Remember Solomon? When we stood against God, what did a pact even matter? It is not the first time he deceived us with pacts, just as we—just as you have always deceived mortals with pacts."

Belial receded from within the body of Longinus, departing the mortal realm to return to the bottomless abyss that sealed him. Just as in Rome, Chang'an, or Jerusalem, Belial was once again facing exile.

Belial's fury caused him to burst into laughter as he said, "But this time I know you are the one pulling the strings. I suspected it before, but you hid your tracks well. Next time, you won't escape. I will personally tear you into minced meat, savor the taste of your soul, savor the taste of betrayal!"

Ambrosia's expression remained indifferent, and without another word, Belial was defeated and fell once again in the blink of an eye.

"I" had returned. I, Hu Han... Longinus was back once more.

Returning to my own body felt somewhat surreal. I was still savoring the aftertaste of that omnipotent power, which left a vast sense of emptiness in its wake—a yearning to seek and to fill.

Yet, at least I was myself again.

Ambrosia picked up Constantia and said, "Belial is gone, but Lasombra's power is not. I believe that in this brief span of time, your understanding of the shadows has grown much deeper."

I asked, "Are you and I very close?"

Ambrosia replied, "One could say very close. You are the one who slew the Son, and I am the Antichrist they preached about. We were once even very good friends. But you will forget my identity and only remember that I am Ambrosia."

I said, "I keep feeling that it might be a very bad idea for you to take this... this Constantia away. Should I stop you?"

Ambrosia smiled and said, "I released you from Belial's demonic clutches. You ought to be grateful to me."

I retorted, "One thing at a time. It is true that you freed me, but after all, I have no idea what you intend to do by taking her away. Besides, wasn't it the power of the Holy Lance that drove Belial away?"

Ambrosia said, "Then you should thank Azrael. He exhausted Belial, allowing the magic of the Holy Lance and the blood of the Holy Lance to surpass Belial's pact."

I pondered for a moment and said, "You lied. You were here long ago. When Cappadocia sealed Kaymakli, you had already begun your actions."

Ambrosia said, "Centuries ago, I was extremely weak. The only thing I could do was temporarily seal Azrael rather than make an enemy of him."

"What about the sealing stones? Since you once had the ability to come and go as you pleased, why do you now need the sealing stones to come here?"

"Times have changed. I have lost the means of my first return and can only rely on the contingency left behind by Cappadocia himself. I am here to seal Azrael's creation once more."

"You destroyed the Cappadocia clan, causing a century of slaughter with countless people dying because of you. Do you feel no regret?"

Ambrosia asked, "Since when did you acquire such a lofty sense of justice, God-slayer?"

I said, "Shouldn't you give me some benefits? At least act as hush money or something..."

Ambrosia chuckled a few times and said, "We are accomplices."

I asked, "What accomplices?"

Ambrosia said something, but as soon as I heard it, I forgot. Who on earth was he? Were we really close? Why did he have to put on such an unfathomable and profound air? Was he merely a necromancer? Or was there some deeper mystery hidden beneath? Why was he holding Constantia in his arms? What was his relationship with Constantia? Could it be that he had traveled thousands of miles simply to carry off a beauty?

I felt that I might have known him a long time ago, though I couldn't pinpoint when. I suspected he had carved away a part of my memory, yet I had no evidence.

Shortly after, Ambrosia vanished.

He didn't even tell me how to get back to San Francisco from Europe.

I found Typhon and the others. Fortunately, they had managed to avoid the cave-in. Typhon had her blood drained by Constantia, and recovery would likely take a very long time. But none of that was the issue; the real problem was how we were going to get back.

Setting aside Typhon, Chris, and the Broken Bell, even Lamia looked at me with unfamiliar eyes, as if I were a maniac who had just exploded a child's head with a single punch.

Wait, they had witnessed me dealing with Constantia; perhaps they had seen the entire battle.

Maybe Ambrosia had tampered with their memories too, but I still remembered this part, and they should have remembered it as well.

They did not know that Belial's power was gone; they thought I still carried the power of the beast.

In an instant, my waist stopped aching, my legs stopped hurting, my back straightened, my chest expanded, my intelligence seized the high ground, and my emotional intelligence soared forever. I stood before them like the statue of David, my gaze solemn and wise, my expression profound and mysterious. At that moment, the smile of the Mona Lisa paled in comparison to my indescribable aura, and Leonardo da Vinci's masterful brush could not capture even a ten-thousandth of my majesty.

In their eyes, I had become a god.

Having become a god, I naturally had to maintain my image.

A sneer from Lamia knocked me right off my pedestal. She said, "Relax, you're still an idiot."

How could this heartless woman always undermine me in front of others?

Typhon asked, "Where did you get that power?"

I conjured up a lengthy speech in my mind, one that could paint this source of power in wildly exaggerated terms while remaining magnificent yet understated, handsome yet seemingly unaware of it. However, I suddenly realized that the ceiling-level combat powerhouses in stories were always unfathomable and vague; the more one said, the easier it was to lose that sense of awe.

I said, "I've always had it."

Chris asked, "You've been hiding it all along?"

I sighed and said, "I never wished to boast. Very well, I am indeed the one who defeated Abel, the destroyer of the god-slaying men, the savior of the end times, the hope of humanity, the solitary wanderer of the endless desert, the conqueror of the sea of stars. You may call me Fish-Bone Longinus, but do not worship this name as you would a deity. Oh, no, no, I do not care for that. For I am nameless; I am the frost-bitten remnant blade, the sun-obscuring broken saber..."

Before I could finish, they had already set off to find the exit, which made me furious. Even if they didn't revere me, they should at least offer a few words of flattery, especially my wife—didn't she understand the phrase "a wife follows her husband's lead"? I caught up to them and pinched Lamia's leg, to which she casually backhanded me with a light slap. This cold, cruel reality made me feel that the world might as well end sooner rather than later.

I had saved the world, yet I didn't even have the right to touch my own wife?

Typhon said, "That scoundrel Norris is dead. Although he was spineless, he was an important pillar of the Black Coffin."

Chris said, "Marquis Legrand has long been eligible to enter the Senate; this is just the right opportunity."

I appeared behind them and coughed.

They ignored me.

Typhon said, "Norris left behind immense wealth within the Black Coffin, and how to divide it is another headache. Legrand and Michael already wield strong influences; we must secretly clear out Norris's assets."

I coughed again—no, twice.

Chris said, "It's useless to talk about this now. If this truly is the Cappadocia Mountains, we might not return to the Black Coffin for a hundred years."

Finally losing my patience, I said, "Don't you have any words of gratitude to offer?"

Typhon said, "Ah, right, once we return to the Black Coffin, I'll immediately pay off the forty million I owe you."

I raged, "What? Is that all you have to say?"

Typhon smiled and said, "Do you think forty million is too much?"

I shouted loudly, "I single-handedly took down Constantia! Is that only worth forty million?"

Typhon replied, "If you're unsatisfied, you can kill me at any time, of course. If you don't kill me, that's the price I'm offering."

Filled with deep frustration, I said, "Show me a little respect at least. Forty million sounds so pathetic; forty-five million would sound much more sincere..."

Typhon, Chris, and Lamia burst into laughter simultaneously. I had no idea what was funny about me; I was an unadulterated god-slayer! Even if the title felt somewhat undeserved right now, they didn't know that. Logically speaking, shouldn't they be worshiping me and treating me like Guan Yu?

Chris said, "I admit you are the strongest human I've ever seen. Perhaps, as you said, even all of us combined wouldn't be your match."

Typhon said, "Yet I've never seen such a comical powerhouse, arguing with me for half a day over a mere forty million. Are you pretending to be an idiot on purpose? If that's the case, then you aren't terrifying at all; in fact, you're quite advantageous to us."

It was utterly infuriating. I had tried my absolute best to appear wise, yet they were looking at me as if I were a moron? If I hadn't lost Belial's power, I would have leveled the entire mountain just to give them a taste of my might.

Lamia hugged me tightly and said, "No matter what, you are my husband. You haven't changed, and you will never harbor any malicious intent toward me. Of that, I am firmly convinced."

Right, I had Lamia. She was the wife I deeply loved, and for me, that was already enough.

Typhon said, "You are now the strongest person in the Black Coffin, perhaps even stronger than that mummified ancestor. But discussing this here is pointless; we must first find a way home."

Both points she made were entirely correct. Typhon, Chris, the Broken Bell, and Lamia had witnessed my combat prowess firsthand. With them as my witnesses, I would stand unshaken as the pinnacle of the Black Coffin's might. Even if it were a bluff, no one would dare to question it.

The key point was that we had to return to the Black Coffin.

This actually wasn't difficult. As we drew near the cave exit, I unexpectedly noticed that the aperture where the sealing stone had opened was still right there, and it was entirely possible to pass through using shadow magic.