Chapter 1080
Their Love
Unicorns are the holiest of creatures.
As mounts befitting even the lowest Cardinal, they are practically the embodiment of the Church—some poets even use unicorns to refer to the Church.
A unicorn requires at least Fourth Tier devotion energy and the aura of a Pillar God. On top of that, it must be ridden by a pure maiden; even a Cardinal, regardless of their mastery over High-Tier Divine Art, will be rejected by a unicorn if they are male or a married woman.
Isabel, however, is pregnant and undeniably no longer a pure maiden. Alistair, on the other hand, is not even female; “Number 14” within him has already split off and become Alastair. In theory, he should not be able to even touch a unicorn without being attacked.
Yet, Alistair discovered this by accident during wedding rehearsals—he was not rejected by the unicorn, Pansy.
Not only that, he can even take on someone who would normally not be able to ride a unicorn. To be precise, as long as he is near a unicorn, it will not be distressed by contact with anything impure, and he himself does not even need to ride it.
Pansy herself finds this strange.
But she did state that as long as she is with Alistair, she feels no aversion or discomfort—a unicorn’s aversion to impurity is physiological. They are distressed not only by contact with impure individuals, but even by contact with wastewater.
However, their abilities also allow them to purify wastewater they touch. This is also the origin of the rumor that unicorns can purify the hearts of others.
Alistair is also unsure why this is the case. It only confirms one thing: Alistair’s ability to ride a unicorn is unrelated to the existence of “Number 14.” Furthermore, Pansy said it has nothing to do with the Child of the Candlemaster. She, as a unicorn, frequently interacts with the Heavenly Candlemaster Envoy in the Dream Realm. The Heavenly Candlemaster Envoy is also a Child of the Candlemaster, yet lacks this peculiarity.
Therefore, the only remaining special quality Alistair possesses is likely his “Divine Entity” status.
After testing this with Isabel a few times, Alistair decisively abandoned his original plan of riding a Pegasus and decided to ride a unicorn instead.
This will make their wedding a unique miracle!
—Unprecedented and unparalleled.
Undoubtedly, it will be remembered by the world—
When the unicorn flies, it emits iridescent light wings. These, mingling with Isabel’s long train, transform into the aurora in the sky.
It did not land on the ship but flew steadily to the very front. Following it, the guests boarded the Church’s warships, seven of which lined up in a cone shape, trailing closely behind the unicorn.
Isabel’s long train seemed to transform into some kind of beautiful illusion, or perhaps transparent butterfly wings. It grew longer and longer, not just a few meters, ten meters, or dozens of meters—but extending for hundreds of meters.
Like glowing jellyfish drifting in the deep sea, the train directly layered over the colorful light wings that appeared as the unicorn flew.
The sun rises in the east and sets in the west, the fleet sailing from east to west. At this hour, the morning sun is directly behind them.
The bright summer sunlight bathes them and the light wings, refracting and scattering into a spectacle of rainbow hues.
The sky shatters like stained glass in the cathedral dome, and the entire sky before them transforms into a religious-style mural painting. But this mural, like a comic strip, is in motion—
In a dimly lit shrine with flickering candlelight, a young girl kneels and prays before nine idols. But the gods offer no response.
The long and short candles lit around her extinguish one by one, plunging the already dim shrine into deeper darkness. The expression on her face grows increasingly fearful.
Behind her, a vague, ferocious, and indescribable monster grows larger and closer to her.
The candles extinguish faster and faster, and the monster approaches her with increasing speed—
But just as the monster is about to consume her, a fair hand suddenly extends from behind her.
Like a god, it bursts forth with radiance, dispelling all darkness.
Under the illumination of this light, that twisted and ferocious monster halts, shrinks, and finally vanishes completely.
The next moment, the girl, who had been closing her eyes, covering her head, and waiting for death, raises her head with a bewildered look and turns around.
The shrine has disappeared at some point; she is now in a wasteland, drenching in a steady drizzle. The religious mural painting has also changed into a comic-like brushstroke.
At this moment, an umbrella suddenly appears above her head.
The golden-haired youth standing behind her, who had driven away the monster and was wearing a priest’s robe, offered a gentle smile, reserved and distant, and gave up two-thirds of his umbrella. This even caused a part of his own body to get wet from the rain.
The girl turns her head, realizing something. Her eyes gradually well up with tears, and then she breaks into sobs.
She suddenly hugs him, causing the youth to freeze. The umbrella even slips from his grasp in the strong wind.
The next moment, new illusions begin to appear all around—
“—I will protect you. That is my mission.”
A deep voice echoes, and two indistinct figures embrace.
Then, those two blurry figures come into contact with all sorts of enemies. They either fight side by side, or one protects the other. The figures gradually become clearer.
“Do… do you need my help?”
Isabel’s voice, trembling and hesitant, is barely audible.
But soon, she lowers her head and dismisses herself: “No, perhaps not… I’m a bit worried about messing things up…”
“—I do need you, Isabel. I need you very much.”
Alistair interrupts her, extending his hand towards her.
Isabel looks up as if in a trance, seeing his eyes shining with brilliance like the morning sun, his smile gentle.
She sees Alistair lecturing in a classroom, his face full of confident smiles, spirited and bright-eyed; she sees Alistair wielding a Holy Sword and defeating demons; she sees Alistair sitting in a wheelchair, smiling as he raises a pistol and repels an assassin hiding in the shadows with a single shot…
One painting after another is drawn by her, each one depicting Alistair’s confident smile.
In every painting, behind him is a fiery red-purple sunset.
They soon cover the entire sky, large and small paintings all featuring Alistair, with no trace of Isabel to be seen.
But Isabel, the one painting, her eyes grow brighter and brighter.
Her face is no longer timid, no longer fearful. She transforms from a curled-up ball to sitting up straight, then to standing.
—The next moment, sharp claws tear through the wall made of Alistair’s paintings, and a terrifying evil spirit attacks her.
But this time, Isabel, now a little girl, is no longer afraid.
She raises her gun to face the monster attacking her, her back straight, and thrusts the muzzle deep into her mouth, slowly pulling the trigger.
—Bang!
The sudden gunshot, accompanied by the sound of shattering glass, causes the entire illusion to break.
(End of Chapter)
