Chapter 40: Let’s Go Eat Hotpot Together!

"Thanks for the compliment. I've always been very good," Evah said, winking. Seeing Medici on the verge of exploding, he finally stopped teasing and got serious. "Just kidding. I actually want to ask for your help with something, Mr. Medici."

"Help?" Medici raised an eyebrow, flashing a cold smirk. "Why should I help you?"

"Because I let you see the Ancient Sun God?" Evah replied with a cheeky grin.

"Wasn't that your deal with the Lord? I recall someone saying I was just a bonus," Medici shot back, crossing his arms.

"Then how about because I can make it so you see the Ancient Sun God again?" Evah continued, still grinning.

"Tch!" Medici gave Evah a long look, then broke into a bold smile. "Alright, spill it. What do you want the great me to help you with?"

"I need an item related to the high Sequences of the Hunter pathway," Evah said, laying out his request at a leisurely pace.

Medici listened quietly. Then, with a flick of his hand, a card appeared—the Blasphemy Card of the Red Priest pathway.

"You came for this?"

"Strictly speaking, no. But if you're willing to give it to me, I'd happily take it," Evah said, smiling.

Medici didn't respond directly. He toyed with the Blasphemy Card, then smirked and tucked it away. "If it's not, then you're not getting it."

Instead, he pulled something else from who-knows-where and tossed it to Evah.

"Catch."

Evah caught it—a red, gem-like object with a faint metallic tang of blood.

Holding the "gem," Evah guessed what it was and looked at Medici. "Aren't you worried I could use this against you, Mr. Medici?"

"If you've got the guts, go for it," Medici said, his tone brash, as if he were still the War Angel in his prime.

Evah just smiled, confirming the gem's identity. It was a stone infused with the blood of the former War Angel, much like how a single drop of the Ancient Sun God's blood created the Unshadowed Crucifix. While Medici, as an Angel King, wasn't on his Lord's level, the blood he left behind at his fall was still no ordinary thing.

This perfectly met the auxiliary material requirements for the Actor potion.

"Of course I wouldn't," Evah said, pocketing the gem with a smile. As for whether Medici might have tampered with it, Evah wasn't concerned.

Any tampering would be neutralized once mixed with a fragment of Nyarlathotep's power. Evah wasn't the least bit worried.

He'd long sensed that Nyarlathotep's rank was extraordinarily high. Even a mere fragment of its power, like the gray fog, had a purifying, sterilizing effect.

Which got him thinking, if Nyarlathotep's power encountered the corruption of this world's Outer Gods, could it counteract or even eliminate it? Evah's mind wandered, sparking some wild ideas. As for whether these ideas might be dangerous… well, he wasn't too fussed.

A Mischief- maker gotta have the guts to chase thrills, even at the cost of life and limb.

"So, we really can't go eat hotpot together?" Evah snapped back to the moment, once again raising this highly constructive question, though the other matters were clearly not urgent.

Medici: …

This kid's dead set on eating that hotpot today, huh?

It's hard to say what the War Angel was feeling just then, but Ouroboros, who'd been silent until now, finally spoke up. "What's a hotpot?"

Medici's brow twitched. Before he could stop him, Evah's eyes lit up, and he launched into an explanation. "Hotpot's a red-colored dish…"

By the time Evah finished, Ouroboros looked thoughtful. A few seconds later, he turned to Medici, resolute. "Then let's go eat hotpot together, Medici."

"Big Snake, you've caught this kid's bad taste too?" Medici said, utterly exasperated.

"The Lord instructed me before I came. Unless it's something critical, I'm to accommodate Mr. Evah's requests as much as possible," Ouroboros replied earnestly.

"Ha!" Medici might've actually laughed from sheer frustration. He gave Evah a long look, then leaned back, crossing his legs. "Fine, let's eat then. I'm curious to see what this hotpot nonsense you're on about is!"

Normally, as an evil spirit, Medici couldn't leave this underground mausoleum at his current stage. But with Ouroboros, the Amgel of Fate, present, that was no issue.

Evah leisurely led the two Angel Kings to one of his safehouses in Backlund. The safehouse was stocked with pre-prepared hotpot ingredients and cooking gear, proof that someone had planned this all along.

And indeed, he had. Whether or not he could convince Medici to join him for hotpot, Evah had intended to treat himself to a feast afterward. It was about the ritual of it.

So, in this unassuming villa, two Angel Kings, two conquerors, and one weak, pitiful, helpless Sequence 9 gathered around a table, cooking hotpot.

If word of this scene got out, no one would believe it. Yet it happened.

"Come on, everyone, look at the camera! It'd be a shame not to snap a pic of such a memorable moment," Evah said, pulling out a pre-prepared camera and aiming it at the table. The silver-haired Destiny Angel awkwardly wielded chopsticks, picking up a slice of meat roll. After popping it in his mouth, he slightly furrowed his brow, likely from the spicy kick.

Medici, one hand clutching a beer-filled glass, used chopsticks with the other to fish ingredients from the pot. Unlike Ouroboros, who preferred milder flavors, the War Angel had a heavy taste, devouring the spicy side without so much as a flinch.

Sauron and Einhorn, trapped in Medici's body, had plenty to say about his taste preferences but couldn't seize control, forced to endure Medici's rampage through the spicy pot.

Click!

The flash went off, capturing the moment. Pleased, Evah snapped a few more shots, even asking Ouroboros and Medici to take turns photographing him with the other for duo shots, maxing out the keepsake quota.

When the hotpot feast wrapped up and the gathering neared its end, Evah turned to Urronius. "Mr. Ouroboros, can I ask what the True Creator sent you here to do?"

"The Lord instructed me to bring Medici back and to inquire about your needs," Ouroboros said, hiding nothing. He looked at Evah. "What do you want, Mr. Luo Lin?"

The friendly vibe from the meal vanished in that moment, and everyone reverted to their initial roles as collaborators.

(End of Chapter)