Chapter 536
Bram Stoker
Cardinal Loki remained silent for a long time after hearing the youth’s words.
“…Human?”
Cardinal Loki couldn’t help but let out a sneer. “Can you even consider yourself human, Bram?”
“If everyone who sees me thinks I’m human, then I am human.”
The youth, known as Bram, merely smiled carelessly.
He lay on the sofa with his legs crossed, looking up at Cardinal Loki, who stood in the center of the room, with a smile. “If you can be called an elf, then I can be called a human, can’t I?”
“—It should be the opposite,”
Cardinal Loki said coldly. “If I can be called an elf, then you should be called a Child of the Moon. And don’t lump me in with you… I have been forgiven by the Candlemaster.”
“Oh, forgiveness.”
The youth mimicked him with a strange gesture, sticking out a pinky finger and speaking in a falsetto voice, “My, oh my, forgiveness!”
“—Bram Stoker!”
Cardinal Loki was instantly enraged, and his pupils ignited with crimson flames. His hair, like a gas stove, billowed and expanded into a larger mass of fire.
The entire room was filled with red gas, and the temperature soared visibly.
He clenched his fists, took a half-step forward, and roared in a low voice, “If you’ve come to the Church just to humiliate me, then get out immediately!”
“This is my room, you’re the one who should get out,”
Bram said nonchalantly, lazily.
Hearing this, Cardinal Loki turned and left without another word.
“—But if that’s the case,”
Bram’s drawn-out words caused Cardinal Loki’s steps to slow down and stop. “Then the future punishment from the Bear Heavenly Envoy will be none of my concern.
“As I just said, Utgarðar-Loki—the former Patriarch of Supreme Heaven. Even if you betrayed Supreme Heaven and managed to get a position as a Cardinal in the Church, you are still a Giant. Supreme Heaven’s divine blood flows within you.”
The youth looked at Cardinal Loki, who had his back to him, and sneered. “Betrayal? How naive, it’s not so easy to shake off your connections. Every past you don’t want to remember will haunt you like a nightmare.”
“…That’s not betrayal,”
The Cardinal with flaming hair said slowly. “Back then, no one knew that after the Heavenly Throne of Supreme Heaven collapsed, it could be rebuilt. You were just a Short-lived, you didn’t experience that era. You have no idea how strong the White Dragon King’s pressure was.”
“So you ran away, betrayed your homeland, your bloodline.”
Bram said cheerfully. “Fled from battle— and more than just that, right? You weren’t purged by the Church, so you must have made outstanding contributions to this war.”
“This is called abandoning the dark and turning to the light,” Cardinal Loki turned around and said sternly.
“If you truly thought so, you wouldn’t be playing tricks with ‘Controlled Fire,’ Prince Loki.” Bram said.
“…And what about you, great writer?”
Cardinal Loki retorted. “You are from Avalon, yet you serve Supreme Heaven now. Haven’t you also betrayed your homeland and your origins?”
“Oh no, no, no, no. At a time like this, I am no longer from Avalon. I am very flexible. Because I am also no longer human… I am a noble bloodline, an evil omen predictor. A descendant of Count Dracula—that Child of the Moon with dragon blood—”
As the creator of the bestseller “Dracula,” Bram Stoker said leisurely on the sofa.
“Child of the Moon? Hah.”
But Cardinal Loki only looked at him with a mocking expression. “It’s just something stolen. You, who have no talent for the Path of Love, dare to call yourself a Child of the Moon?”
“And what about you?”
Bram’s expression also turned cold. “Come on, Lord Cardinal. Our meeting is based on the mercy of the Grey Heavenly Envoy. The power from ‘Lies’ allowed me to steal the blood of a Child of the Moon, and it also allowed you to steal an elven body… But in the end, that’s all lies.
“Lies are only facts when they are needed, and at other times they are nothing but lies— I don’t usually identify myself as a Child of the Moon. Every Goblin and Troll who knows me thinks I’m human; no matter how they test me, I’m still one hundred percent pure-blooded human.
“And you, Lord Cardinal? Do you still remember that you are actually a Giant? A Giant who can pierce the ceiling here just by standing up? How long has it been since you returned to your true form?
“Or… are you afraid of being discovered by the Bear Heavenly Envoy that you are still alive and being punished for your cowardly act of fleeing from battle, thus you dare not admit your Giant identity?”
“—Sharp-tongued!” Cardinal Loki berated.
“Indeed, after all, I make money by writing books. If my insults aren’t hurtful, wouldn’t I be disgracing my ‘verbal daggers’?”
Bram said smugly.
It was clear that Cardinal Loki would not leave now.
Despite his extreme reluctance, since Bram had arrived with the Bear Heavenly Envoy’s orders, he could no longer escape.
If he fled again, the Bear Heavenly Envoy’s claws would come to punish him personally.
At that time… would the Candlemaster still protect him?
He was, after all, just a Giant, not a true elf.
Cardinal Loki sighed and sat down opposite Bram.
“Speak,” he said coldly. “What exactly does the Bear Heavenly Envoy want from me?”
“I’ll say something important first,”
Bram didn’t answer his question, but said, “The Bear Heavenly Envoy is about to return to the position of Pillar God—do you know that?”
“…Which one?”
Cardinal Loki’s heart stirred.
His first reaction was—who was abdicating?
The Silver Crown Dragon was at its peak, and almost all the Monarchs of the Material Realm were maintaining the existence of the Power of Authority. In such a situation, it was almost impossible for Supreme Heaven to reclaim its original position.
Not to mention the other Pillar Gods… there was no sign of decline at all.
In this situation, it was impossible to defeat a Pillar God head-on. At most, they could only abdicate willingly.
“Father Serpent,”
Bram replied. “This is a secret of the highest level from the Dream Realm—Father Serpent is planning to abdicate.
“Because He has reached the peak of the highest heaven, and there is nothing left to surpass except Amber. He has also grown tired of infinite self-transcendence, so He intends to abandon the position of Pillar God and recreate a feat of transcendence. If my Lord, whose Supreme position is vacant, can obtain a fragment of the Ring Heavenly Envoy scattered in the human world, He can enter the River of Mutation and become a new Pillar God.”
“Did you hear that yourself?”
“You don’t really believe I’m a Dream Traveling Monk, do you?”
Bram sneered. “That’s just marketing to boost novel sales. Besides Authority, Transcendence, and Adaptation, I truly have no other Paths. Moreover, even if I were a Dream Traveling Monk, I wouldn’t be able to hear something like this.”
“That sounds terrifying,”
The Cardinal with flaming hair commented. “The triple path of an established professional—are you really not crazy?”
“Who knows. Maybe I’m already crazy, maybe… I went crazy when my father forced me into the Inspection Department back then.”
Bram’s pale face showed a strange smile. “But I can do anything. I’m flexible, unlike you. As a successor who has also read the ‘Spider Silk Grimoire,’ my understanding of lies is much deeper than yours, senior.”
Cardinal Loki no longer questioned where he had heard this, and for now, he simply treated it as a lie.
So he simply asked, “So? Where is that fragment of the Ring Heavenly Envoy you mentioned?”
“It’s in the Church,”
Bram replied. “This is the Bear Heavenly Envoy’s command to you—find him. Find that Avalon person named Eivass Moriarty.”
“And… kill him?”
Cardinal Loki asked in a deep voice, subconsciously clenching his fists.
“No, then you will mark his soul with a ritual or a curse, and my Lord will personally devour him in the Dream Realm. If this is handled well, it will not affect your current identity at all.
“I heard your Pope is in a coma? Then isn’t this the best time? She can’t see anything, and it will be over.
“—By the way, this has nothing to do with me, don’t think about letting me help you. I came to the Church to deliver this message because I happen to have business to discuss.”
Saying this, Bram nodded toward the old Troll by the fireplace. “A certain Lord specifically requested him from the Church for trade… Anyway, the final payment hasn’t arrived yet, so I’ll use him for now. Although Eivass seems immune to curses, he should also sense something. With him as bait, that guy will probably come looking for us himself.
“However, this bait can’t be given to you, it would be bad if you damaged it. I still need to sell it.”
“Hah, a great writer trading Trolls.”
Cardinal Loki sneered.
Bram remained completely unfazed. “Also, there’s a price for asking me to deliver this message. My Lord promised that after I find you, I can collect the final payment from you.”
“…The final payment?”
Hearing this, Cardinal Loki’s heart skipped a beat, and he said in a deep voice, “What do you want?”
“Don’t be nervous. What I want is your demon blood, that divine blood from Supreme Heaven, which has been sealed by the Candlemaster.”
As he said this, the famous writer’s pupils turned blood-red. “Just let me take a bite, senior Loki.
“Quietly, let me steal your [Power], your [Name], your [Identity]— At this moment, it’s a win-win situation, isn’t it?
“Leader of Controlled Fire, Lord Cardinal… You don’t want your followers to know that you are actually a Giant, do you?”
In the room, gray spider silk had already entangled everything.
(End of Chapter)
