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

Chapter 55, Creation

“The flames of the Withering King…”

Mu En instinctively looked at his wrist.

Though normally, there were no signs, when a flicker of fire ignited in his pupils, he could clearly see the fingerprint-like markings extending from his cuff.

That was the mark left by the Withering King on him.

Although that power was no longer merely given, but rather the “divine favor” obtained through important information exchanges with the Black Book, Mu En still held a grudge against it.

After all, it was an evil god.

But he had to admit, the power of the divinely favored was indeed very strong.

From Anhe and Celicia, one could see that strength. If he wanted to gain power at the fastest speed, this was undoubtedly the shortest shortcut.

“Actually, the reason I started learning magic was to separate myself from this power.”

Mu En forced a smile and said:

“But I never expected I would end up accepting it, did I?”

“Didn’t I say? Power itself knows no good or evil; what matters is the one who wields it. Even the power of an evil god is the same.”

As Meila spoke, she gently curled her finger, and a delicate flower floated up, landing in her hand.

She caressed the flower, making it bloom even more vibrantly, and then, with a swift motion, crushed it.

“So, if one day you find this power unsatisfactory and turn to the Withering King for more…”

In that moment, a chill surged.

Mu En’s vision suddenly turned blood-red, countless flowers blooming in a frenzy, transforming into blades dripping with blood.

Teacher Meila stared at him quietly, her expression calm, but Mu En felt a frantic buzzing of death’s premonition.

“I will personally kill you.”

The blood-red faded, and the sea of flowers swayed, breathtakingly beautiful.

As if everything were an illusion.

But only the sweat-soaked back made Mu En realize that if he truly threw himself into the embrace of the Withering King, Teacher Meila would undoubtedly not hesitate to slay her new disciple.

“That won’t happen.”

Mu En wiped his cold sweat and said earnestly:

“Don’t I already have Teacher Meila now?”

“…”

Meila was slightly taken aback, then chuckled softly: “It seems the rumors weren’t false after all?”

“Mm?”

“It’s nothing. Do you have any questions about the weapon? Time is tight, ask quickly.”

“Questions?”

Mu En wielded the short blades, feeling that with the enhancement of these two daggers, his long-dormant dagger combat skills were showing signs of reaching a higher level.

“I don’t have many questions left, but are there any precautions regarding my usual use of them, Teacher Meila? Like how often should I maintain them or something?”

“Generally, living weapons have self-repair and cleaning abilities, so you don’t need to worry. As for precautions…”

Meila thought casually for a moment and said:

“Just don’t wave them around in front of the people from the Church of Life, and you should be fine.”

“Oh, I see. Then I definitely won’t… Hey? Wait a minute.”

Mu En reacted, his eyes widening as he asked:

“What’s the meaning of waving these around in front of the Church of Life? Is there something about these two weapons that they can’t stand?”

Mu En felt a bit flustered; after all, it was that church. Once provoked, it would be a huge trouble.

“Not much.”

Meira shrugged indifferently:

“It’s just that the materials for these two blades are the holy swords of the Church of Life. Naturally, it’s not good for those petty believers to see them.”

“Oh, I see. So it’s just remelting the holy sword into short blades, huh? Sounds like nothing… nothing strange at all!”

Mu En shouted in horror:

“Which holy sword? Teacher Meira, you’re not telling me it’s one of the five holy swords of the Church of Life, are you?”

“Five? Aren’t there seven?”

Meira looked a bit puzzled:

“Did they lose two more while I was sleeping? Well, it doesn’t matter; there are only four left now, right?”

“Is it really that holy sword?”

Mu En’s hand gripping the knife trembled slightly. “Why… why do it this way? Wouldn’t it be better to just use it directly?”

Every man has a dream of wielding the holy sword to slay evil, and Mu En thought that if he could use the holy sword, it wouldn’t be impossible for him to retrain in swordsmanship.

But he never expected Teacher Meira to go this far and directly refine the holy sword?

If the Church of Life found out, it might be fine for Meira, a top-tier big shot, but he, Mu En, would definitely be tied to a cross and burned alive!

“There’s no choice; the holy sword has the church’s mark on it. It’s quite troublesome to break, so I just melted it all together.”

Meira looked as if the vault’s lock was too difficult to pick, so she simply smashed the vault instead.

“…”

“Relax, it’s not as terrifying as you think.”

Seeing Mu En still in a daze, Meira continued to reassure him:

“After all, it’s been melted down like this. Unless you happen to run into a powerful figure like an archbishop, it won’t be easy to spot any clues.”

“…What if I really am that unlucky?”

Other things aside, Mu En had never been afraid of bad luck.

Maybe he’d go out flaunting with the two knives and just happen to bump into the archbishop of the Church of Life gathering for a team-building event.

“In that case…”

Meira thought for a moment:

“You could try to fight back desperately.”

“Oh? Does Teacher Meira have a backup plan?” Mu En’s eyes lit up.

“No.”

Mela said seriously:

“It’s just that dying this way is more dignified.”

“……”

……

……

“Alright, the pleasant chit-chat time is over. Shall we get to the point?”

Mela stretched lazily, her small face now considerably serious. She looked at Mu En and asked:

“Do you know the essence of divinity?”

“The essence of divinity?”

Mu En was taken aback, not expecting Teacher Mela to dive into such profound topics right away.

But…

“Divinity… isn’t it just divinity?”

Mu En recalled the original book and found that its descriptions of divinity were rather vague.

This made Mu En somewhat annoyed.

Indeed, one shouldn’t read a novel halfway; at the very least, one should finish it. Otherwise, if one really were to traverse into the world of the book one day, they wouldn’t even know such an important setting.

“The so-called divinity is…”

Mela was about to explain but suddenly froze, tapping her head and sticking out her tongue:

“Ah, I almost forgot! I’m one of the seven who signed the initial silence pact, so I can’t talk about this.”

“Eh?”

Mu En was stunned, then looked at the maliciously cute white-haired midget with indignation:

“Teacher Mela! Do you know what the two types of people I hate the most are?”

“Hmm?”

“One type is those who only say half of what they mean, and the other type…”

“The other type?” Mela tilted her head, waiting for the continuation.

“……”

“……”

……

“Alright, back to the main topic.”

Mela expressionlessly retracted her petite fist and looked at Mu En, who was writhing on the ground like a maggot, clutching his abdomen, and asked:

“You’ve been in here for a while. Have you noticed anything different from before?”

“Different?”

Under the influence of Teacher Meila’s midget-like sheer veil, Mu En struggled to lift his head and looked around.

The sky, uncertain in its truth, remained a deep blue, and the gentle breeze blowing from afar was still fresh and pleasant. If one were to say there was a difference…

“Flowers.”

Mu En said:

“It’s the flowers. The flowers now are different in color from when I first came in.”

When Mu En first entered, the sea of flowers was a riot of colors, but now, all the flowers in sight were a uniform pure white.

“That’s right, the flowers are different.”

Teacher Meila nodded in appreciation of Mu En’s keen observation and then asked:

“Do you know why they are different?”

“Because…”

Mu En thought for a moment: “These flowers can change color?”

“Good thought, but that’s not the reason. The flowers are different because they have truly changed.”

“What do you mean?” Mu En felt a bit dizzy from Teacher Meila’s roundabout explanation.

Meila did not answer. Instead, in response to Mu En’s puzzled gaze, she picked up her watering can once more and began to water the flowers.

The flowers, nourished by the water, became increasingly vibrant, and even the leaves seemed to stand taller.

No, it wasn’t just seeming.

In Mu En’s astonished gaze, all the flowers around Teacher Meila began to bloom and stretch at a visibly rapid pace, and then, after a moment of splendor, they quickly withered.

The sea of flowers vanished, transforming into desolate land.

Then, from that bare black soil, new tender shoots sprouted rapidly.

Sprouting, branching, leafing out, the flowers bloomed.

Fiery reds filled Mu En’s entire field of vision.

And then, they withered again.

“What a pity, I still can’t grow the pink ones I want.”

Meila sighed softly, then looked at Mu En:

“Have you discovered something?”

“This is…”

Mu En was still in a daze, but having faced even the evil god directly, he quickly regained his composure:

“Time?”

“Good insight. This is the power of time.”

Meira said:

“Although I can’t tell you exactly what a deity is, there is one thing you can know: among the many powers possessed by the gods, there exists neither time nor space.

In other words, these two laws of time and space are, in a sense, without a master.”

“Without a master?”

Mu En couldn’t help but widen his eyes.

Because from Meira’s tone, it seemed as if these two laws, which even deities cannot control, could be controlled.

“So—

Next, keep your eyes wide open, my dear disciple.

Look at your teacher, my lifelong effort!”

Meira spread her arms as if to embrace something, her head full of white strands, moving without wind.

The ground suddenly trembled, as if experiencing the transformation of the ages; the black earth beneath their feet quickly disappeared, revealing a massive mechanical structure hidden beneath, exuding a fierce beauty.

Tens of thousands of gigantic gears interlocked, colliding and sparking brilliantly.

Millions of mechanical structures, driven by colossal magical power, operated with precision.

It was as if a planet made purely of machinery and gears appeared beneath their feet, and in that moment, Mu En couldn’t help but tremble at her own insignificance, even forgetting to breathe.

It was as if, before this fierce yet beautiful ultimate creation, all things in the world—even the rules… could be rewritten by it!

“Look!”

Standing at the very center of it all, the white-haired midget girl shouted fervently.

Behind her, the outline of a gigantic clock faintly emerged, its hands shifting, counting the long passage of time.

“This is the pinnacle of alchemy and magic.

The combination of idealism and materialism.

A work that has taken a thousand years of painstaking effort.

The true core of the Great Machinery.

The supreme creation that even deities would tremble before.

Artificial authority.

—The Eternal Clock.”