Chapter 17

"Isn't that stupid?" Ansbillis said.

This was not the answer Zophy expected, and he was momentarily stunned, not sure how to respond.

"You'll see it for yourself," Ansbillis continued.

"Hey, I'm on your side," Zophy chased after Ansbillis, who was walking away. "Remember? I was the one who brought Oceania to you. If you can't remember, I can remind you three times a day... Hey, sister-in-law! You look great today."

Ansbillis stood in front of Oceania, glaring at him with hostility.

"Don't look at me like that," Zophy said. "We have the same interest in getting rid of Godwin." He made a cutting gesture with his hand.

Ansbillis smiled at him and said slowly, before Godwin could be happy, "The last time you hung out with a wizard, he was found dead in a sewer three days later."

Zophy stiffened, then exaggeratedly shouted, "That wizard only took a bath once every thirty days. His hair smelled like seaweed, and his neck looked like a duck's neck. Could you stand it? Friendship requires a period of adjustment. You and I just didn't pass that period. You're different. We've known each other for so many years, almost five hundred years. We understand each other so well."

He tentatively reached out to punch Ansbillis, to show intimacy, but Ansbillis spoke slowly before he could, "Then you should know how stupid your current behavior is."

As Godwin's number one fan and most fervent devotee, Zophy's desire to kill Godwin was as incredible as the seven archangels wanting to kill God.

Suddenly, there was movement outside the house.

Zophy turned his head alertly, but Ansbillis lifted his foot and kicked him out of the door. He tumbled twice on the beach before coming to a stop. Three fallen angels descended from the sky and landed beside him, but their eyes were fixed on Ansbillis, who was inspecting the broken door.

"He stole something," Ansbillis said, and before Zophy could refute, he forcefully closed the rickety door.

The three fallen angels looked at Zophy, who was crouched on the ground, trying to escape.

Zophy chuckled nervously and said, "The weather's so nice. Why don't we go for a cup of coffee together? I know a really good place."

Sending Zophy away did not make Ansbillis feel at ease. On the contrary, he felt more acutely that Godwin was nearby. He could be hiding in the sea, buried in the sand, or even trapped in the wood of this house. Godwin's eyes were everywhere, watching his every move.

Zophy's failure would only accelerate Godwin's action.

But at this moment, Ansbillis felt neither the excitement of a chess opponent nor the fear of anxiety. It was as if his passion, his enthusiasm, had all settled down with his love. The thing Oceania liked to say to him the most was, "Be calm." He didn't understand what it meant. When blood was rushing through his body, he had to be more wooden to sit in the refrigerator and feel the taste of calm?

Now he understood. Being calm meant doing whatever you love to do, while I do what I should do. However, this kind of calmness would never appear in his attitude towards Oceania. He should always be aware of Oceania, whether it wakes up or not, and when it wakes up.

He touched Oceania's face, kissed its lips, and smiled, saying, "Even if you're unhappy, there's nothing I can do."

"Who made my luck your misfortune?"

He stayed close to Oceania, not even letting the black cat out of his sight.

The black cat was unhappy with his action of putting the litter box by the bed. Once, to avoid his gaze, it even crawled into the rose bushes and was scratched twice. The smell of blood emanated from the small wounds, which the black cat licked but couldn't conceal.

Ansbillis waved at it while sitting on the bed, looking confused.

The black cat lowered its body and wagged its tail, trying to please him.

"Even if you try to act like a dog, it won't work," Ansbillis said with a smile. "If you can't learn to be obedient, I can only teach you to be afraid."

The black cat's fur slowly puffed up, and it became vigilant all over.

Ansbillis confronted it for a moment, then suddenly stroked his chest, saying, "Your eyes make me sad."

The black cat darted out as fast as it could, but before its paw touched the door frame, its tail was easily caught.

Ansbillis held it upside down and examined it from top to bottom. "You're fat, looking like a mutated mouse."

The black cat struggled in protest.

"You should lose weight," Ansbillis said.

He created a circular cage and put the black cat inside. "You can waste your excess energy on boring exercise like a white mouse."

The black cat turned around and protested by showing its big round butt.

There was no news for half a month, which surprised Ansbillis a little. As far as he knew, Godwin was not a patient person. He didn't like hot pot or barbecue, his favorite food was salad, and he hadn't made a move yet. There were only two possibilities: either he was plotting something or he was busy with other things.

Guessing was pointless, just like wasting brain capacity on something irrelevant. One Oceania was enough.

Ansbillis held Oceania in his arms, lying in bed, enjoying the harmonious and warm scene reflected in the mirror above his head.

How beautiful it was.

His hand gently stroked Oceania's back, moving down...

"Meow." The black cat sleeping at the end of the bed stood up, stretched lazily, jumped onto his thigh, stepped over his knee, walked over his thigh, stepped over his navel, and stepped on his chest.

Ansbillis looked down at him, not hiding his annoyance.

A black cat jumped between the two of them, flipped its body, curled up its limbs, and exposed its soft and tender belly.

Ansbillis rubbed its soft flesh on the belly: "You've gotten fat."

As soon as the words fell, the black cat's belly "gurgled" with a sound.

Ansbillis pressed its belly with his fingers and raised an eyebrow: "Why don't you just turn into a pig?"

The black cat twisted its body, lay on its side on the bed, and looked like it had given up on life.

Ansbillis sat up, picked up Oceania, and stepped down from the bed in big strides. He turned back and smiled slightly at the black cat, who continued to lie on the bed and pretend to be dead: "Now come with me, or I'll come back with a knife and kill you later."

The black cat rolled over and stood up, stretched lazily, and jumped off the bed, following him with elegant small steps.

After feeding the cat food for several days, Ansbillis finally had a conscience and decided to improve its diet. He opened a can of sardines, mixed in two scoops of mashed potatoes, tasted the flavor with a spoon, and proudly said: "Perfect."

The black cat smelled the scent and jumped to the side of the stove obediently, waiting.

"You're the best-behaved at this time every day." He scooped the food into the cat bowl and heard a knock on the door. He muttered to himself, "You'd be even better if you could open the door."

The black cat turned around the cat bowl and showed its backside to him.

Ansbillis grabbed its neck and threw it into the living room, then picked up Oceania and put her on the sofa. He was about to open the door when the door panel fell down. It wasn't violent destruction, but it was already broken.

A fallen angel still maintained the posture of knocking on the door, his expression changed from surprise to embarrassment: "I'll pay for it."

Ansbillis said without hesitation, "Ironwood."

"You're Ansbillis?" The fallen angel's eyes looked normal as the story of Ansbillis and Oceania's love story from heaven to earth did not spread to hell.

Ansbillis crossed his arms and looked at him.

The fallen angel said, "Zophy has been arrested. He confessed that you were his accomplice and a member of the Nine Inverses Society."

"As wise as you are, of course, you wouldn't believe his nonsense," Ansbillis said.

The fallen angel smiled, showing a hint of pride in the corner of his eye: "He also confessed to many other names. Even Lord Lucifer and Lord Barr were not spared." He paused, "But you still have to come with me."

"I am a vampire," Ansbillis said.

The fallen angel shrugged and stepped back.

Behind him were a vast expanse of black wings. Preliminary estimates were that there were at least twenty to thirty fallen angels.

Ansbillis frowned.

"He confessed to many names, and we don't have much time." The fallen angel hinted that he wouldn't keep him for too long.

"Okay." Ansbillis turned around with a smile, and his face immediately fell.

"How dare you threaten him!"

Anger controlled his limbs, his torso, and every inch of his skin, all burning with fury.

But his thoughts remained remarkably calm, especially when he saw Oceania quietly sitting on the sofa. His soul and body were constantly pulled in opposite directions like a balance.

His body urged him to rush forward regardless of anything, tear off the fallen angel's wings, make them unable to fly again, and forever fall into hell!

However, his head reminded him that he must ensure Oceania's safety. He was no longer a reckless person.

Ansbillis stiffly walked to the edge of the sofa, squatted down, tightly held Oceania's hand, and leaned his whole face into his palm. He thought he had a disease called "skin hunger," and only Oceania could cure him.

"Is it done?" The fallen angel was impatient. They still had a lot of things to do. Who had the time to stand here and watch a dumb play, and it was an inexplicable emotional scene!

Ansbillis stood up, put Oceania on his back, and then waved at the black cat.

The black cat jumped off the sofa and climbed onto his arm, walking all the way to his shoulder.

"Let's go."

The fallen angel did not lie to him. Zophy did bite out many names, all strange creatures—in his cognition, except for vampires and humans, all other creatures were strange. Of course, fallen angels and angels were also, who would carry the ingredients for grilled wings on their shoulders?

He kept a cold face and kept his distance from them.

Ansbillis had an extremely handsome appearance. When he smiled and showed his elegance, everyone thought he was a noble young man with a good education and good conduct. But when he became cold-faced and did not hide his inner darkness, he was like a lone traveler wandering in the dark world, arrogant, cold, and difficult to approach.

He was satisfied with the current situation. As long as he treated other creatures as dead objects, he and Oceania would still enjoy a world of two people and a cat.

Transparent people, dwarves, Titans... their team was getting larger and larger, and the number of fallen angels became relatively thin.

A dwarf sat on the shoulders of a transparent person and approached him cautiously: "I never thought I would see noble vampires here. I thought only weak creatures like us would submit to them."

What a clumsy attempt to sow discord.

Ansbillis glanced at him with a smile but not a smile and said perfunctorily, "I never thought so either."

"We are innocent and wrongly accused. I have no idea who Zophy is, I have never even heard of him!"

Seeking resonance.

Ansbillis said, "Oh, innocent."

The dwarf sighed, "Even so, who would believe us? The demons who live in hell won't waste their time trying to distinguish between the guilty and the innocent. To them, the lives of insignificant creatures like us are not worth their time."

Ansbillis put himself in their position and nodded, "There is that possibility. If it were me, I would do the same."

The dwarf lowered his voice, "We can't just sit and wait for death."

"Hmm?"

"I've already contacted most of the team, and they will participate. We have the advantage in numbers and can definitely defeat them and escape. Of course, the condition is that we have the help of a powerful vampire like you."

Ansbillis said, "I have to take care of my lover."

The dwarf pretended to just notice that something was wrong with Oceania and asked, "What's wrong with him? Is he too tired?"

Ansbillis gave him a sinister glance, "I hate it when people look at him."

The dwarf quickly averted his gaze and said, "Anyway, we will take action tonight."

They did take action that night, on a night when the moon was full and bright. The Titans uprooted trees and smashed them at the fallen angels, who retaliated angrily. The dwarf's makeshift catapult launched projectiles from a distance. The invisible men relied on their physical advantages and fired cold guns in the dark.

The scene was chaotic.

Ansbillis held Oceania and sat on a tree branch in the distance, expressionless as he watched the bloody scene before him.

The battle lasted for half an hour and gradually tilted in one direction. Despite the numerical advantage of the alliance of different races, the fighting power of the fallen angels far surpassed theirs.

Giant bodies fell one after another and could not stand up for a long time.

The catapult was smashed by a large stone thrown back at them.

The invisible men had their skin pierced and fled with bleeding wounds.

The result seemed to be without suspense.

Suddenly, the dwarf who had invited Ansbillis to take action looked in the direction where Ansbillis was hiding. His black eyes glimmered with excitement, and with a desperate spirit, he led the remnants of his army towards Ansbillis.

Ansbillis frowned displeasedly.

"My lord, we did as you instructed... my lord!" The dwarf shouted and attracted the attention of the nearby fallen angels.

Even if Ansbillis left, he would not be able to clear his suspicion.

Ansbillis squinted his eyes, and when he opened them again, his pupils were filled with a blood-red color. He bared his fangs, grinned at the dwarf who was foolishly running towards him, and then leaped forward! The dwarf's neck was within reach, and with one bite, Ansbillis could taste the delicious blood and make the other pay for his folly.

Meow.

It sounded like a black cat was meowing.

Ansbillis grabbed the dwarf's shoulder, slowly opened his mouth...

And then forcefully swung his fist!

Immediately -

The dwarf disappeared.

The titan disappeared.

The invisible man disappeared.

The fallen angel disappeared.

The forest they were in disappeared.

In front of him was a familiar small wooden house with blue-and-white porcelain patterns he had personally selected hanging by the window. The wind lifted a corner of the curtain, blowing in with the unique humidity of the sea.

He turned his head and saw Oceania sleeping peacefully on the couch opposite him, as usual.

The black cat was sitting on his thigh, tilting its head, and staring at him with its bright yellow-green eyes.

Everything was the same as every day of his life this month.

So, was what he just experienced just a nightmare?

...

No, it wasn't.

He stood up, walked to the window, which faced the direction of the sea. The azure clear sea was now a bloody red color, the seawater seeping onto the beach, gradually spreading towards the wooden house.

It was Godwin who had arrived.

What had just happened was not a nightmare, but a warning of his impending arrival.