CH 40

facing the loyal and unwavering trust of the holy knight in his superior, the elf ‘princess’ couldn’t express his bitterness.

he bit his lip and tried to turn the situation around, shaking his head with tears in his eyes. “no, it’s not like that. i just… i believe in you.” lucifer, with eyes as gentle and embracing as the sea, looked at sofia. his clear voice flowed slowly, tinged with a hint of helplessness and patience. “perhaps i misunderstood for a moment. did you just want to capture the fallen leaves in front of me?”

sofia: “…”

pei xia was somewhat angry, and he grabbed lucifer’s arm with a bit of force. he said, “your grace, you’re too naive and too soft!”

lucifer innocently looked at pei xia. “pei xia, didn’t you say he’s our friend? i believe a friend wouldn’t do anything out of line.”

pei xia said awkwardly, “you can’t judge a person by their appearance. i’m sorry, your grace; i was too careless. please take care of yourself.”

lucifer couldn’t help but smile. he glanced at the disgruntled sofia from the corner of his eye and said sadly, “could it really be like that? i still can’t believe it.”

pei xia couldn’t help but feel frustrated. lucifer had been quite clear when hobson and the archbishop had ulterior motives. but now, in front of sofia, he seemed to have lost his mind. are all straight men so gullible when faced with a beautiful ‘woman’s’ appearance?

too much! straight men!

pei xia said firmly, “in any case, you and princess sofia need to keep your distance!”

he forcefully positioned himself between the two.

“fine, we’ll listen to you, pei xia.” lucifer stood behind pei xia and threw a disdainful and cold smile at sofia from across the space.

sofia gritted his teeth and swayed his body as if a delicate daisy in the bitter wind and rain. “fine, let’s leave it at that. some things are hard to explain.”

with a hint of sadness, he turned away and continued to lead the way. pei xia watched his somewhat frivolous and staggering figure, and his heart was slightly shaken.

could it really be just a misunderstanding?

lucifer timely added behind him, “i think, since princess sofia still has his own beloved in his heart, he won’t fall for someone else. pei xia, let’s sincerely wish them well.”

pei xia was even more exasperated, “you’re too naive.”

the human heart is so complex, it’s not that simple. just earlier, sofia mentioned wanting to try someone else.

this straight man with homophobia is really something. in a previous life, pei xia used to surf the internet and often came across hilarious and ridiculous news stories, most of which were caused by gullible straight men.

the typical straight guy was scammed by an online girlfriend who turned out to be a burly man, the naive straight guy couldn’t have children with his wife and only later discovered she was a crossdresser, and the naive straight guy fell in love with a cross-dressing boss, and upon learning the true identity, he said he wanted to try a same-sex relationship.

no, this is not good at all. pei xia quietly gripped the hilt of his sword.

as a gay man, let him protect the chastity of the pure young man!

up ahead, sofia swayed but didn’t say anything in the end.

after walking for a while, sofia arrived at a hidden cave. he composed himself and said, “i fell into the underground world from here in the beginning.”

“your highness, please lead the way.”

even though his mood hadn’t been great all along the way, pei xia decided to temporarily set aside his biases and focus on the task at hand.

sofia looked into the cave with a complex expression. the inside of the cave was very dark, and he led the way while lucifer conjured a small ball of light for illumination.

as they walked, sofia’s expression turned melancholic, and he appeared somewhat distracted. suddenly, he stumbled on a rock, causing him to sit on the ground.

“your highness, are you okay?” pei xia furrowed his brow and squatted beside him, using the light from lucifer’s orb to examine sofia.

seeing that sofia didn’t have many injuries, he breathed a sigh of relief and couldn’t help but offer a reminder, “your highness, please don’t let your emotions get the best of you at times like this. i don’t know what happened between you and the dark elf king, but we are in the middle of a war.”

“sorry.” sofia raised his hand to massage his temple and said, “i’m just feeling a bit unsettled.”

pei xia thought for a moment and said, “you need to remember your responsibilities at all times.”

sofia let out a soft sigh, and a glint of coldness suddenly flashed in the corner of his eye. he said, “or maybe i should try a temporary infatuation?”

pei xia: “???”

can you really do a temporary version of that kind of thing?

to prevent me from making mistakes and burdening everyone at a critical moment, sofia raised his sharp chin and said resolutely, “i’m willing to make an effort!”

pei xia: “…”

with only three people present, who will sofia choose?

tears welled up in sofia’s eyes, and he smiled faintly, saying, “please don’t trouble yourselves; i’ll try on my own, and it won’t affect anyone.”

his words seemed to make sense, but pei xia suddenly shook his head, feeling that something was off.

“then, who do you want to try with?” lucifer walked to sofia’s side, smiling as he used the holy light to heal the wound on sofia’s foot.

sofia’s gaze shifted lightly as he looked at pei xia. “i choose…”

lucifer: “choose me.”

he gently took sofia’s hand, helping him stand up smoothly. with a soft smile, he said, “it’s okay, your highness. i’m willing to help you through this difficulty.”

sofia’s mouth twitched, giving him a sharp look. “but, i simply can’t have any other thoughts about you.”

“are you saying i’m not good?” lucifer looked at him with slight surprise.

pei xia instinctively interjected, “how could that be? your grace, you’re the most perfect light mage in the world. no one would think you’re not good!”

after he spoke, he paused and suddenly realized what he had just said, feeling like…

sofia could only grit his teeth and say, “of course, i don’t think you’re not good. it’s just…”

“in that case, choose me.” lucifer held pei xia’s hand and said with righteousness, “pei xia is a simple child. if you choose him, it might trouble him.”

sofia/pei xia: “…”

in the end, pei xia silently cursed the straight guy several times in his heart, wondering where his homophobia had gone.

although lucifer probably wouldn’t be interested in men, it still irked pei xia a bit. he had been diligently disguising himself here every day, while sofia could simply crossdress to earn lucifer’s sympathy.

it was just too unfair!

pei xia pretended to innocently stand between the two, attempting to obstruct sofia from looking at lucifer.

finally, as they delved deeper into the cave, they reached the complex underground world.

vast caves connected to one another, illuminated by bioluminescent mushrooms and strange plants. hanging from the ceiling were tree roots and other things.

dark elves dug into the walls to create their homes, occasionally coexisting with goblins and other creatures, as well as summoned minor demons.

led by sofia, they stealthily made their way to the palace of the dark elf king, avoiding the eyes of the dark elves.

“it must be said that while living underground, the dark elves still maintained a degree of elegance. the palace was adorned with glowing gemstones, lending the place a dim yet unique beauty.”

“yes, but inside, there was an aura of malevolence,” lucifer mumbled.

sofia nodded solemnly. “the dark elf altar is inside.”

the palace was a structure with open columns on all sides. they avoided the guards and headed toward the direction where lucifer felt the malevolent energy.

perhaps they didn’t expect outsiders to venture here, as the guards of the dark elves seemed lax.

gradually, the number of people ahead dwindled, and they spotted a tall, circular altar. a deep trench surrounded the altar, with only a stone bridge connecting it to the outside.

standing atop the altar was the dark elf king with dark purple skin and blood-red eyes!

he muttered incantations to the bloodied offerings on the altar, and dark power began to swirl around the runes. lucifer whispered, “this is bad; he seems to be attempting to summon a major demon. we can’t afford to delay any longer!”

in fact, they had arrived at the perfect moment, any later and it would have been too late!

pei xia immediately drew his sword and looked serious. “your grace, should we go in directly?”

it seems like this is the only way.

“wait a moment,” sofia suddenly interrupted them and said, “please let me try first.”

“how do you plan to try?” lucifer raised an eyebrow lightly.

“i’ll distract him; i have some questions i want to ask him,” sofia replied.

pei xia couldn’t help but feel a bit awkward, it appeared that sofia’s attempts to move on from his feelings hadn’t been very successful.

sofia gazed ahead and walked out from behind the protective stone columns. his footsteps startled the dark elf king on the altar. the dark elf king immediately turned around, his expression showing surprise.

“sofia, why have you come?” noah asked.

“i’ve come to stop you, noah! why have you initiated this war? why like this?” sofia gazed at him with tears in his eyes.

noah looked at him coldly and replied, “then what about you? why did you lie to me, and why did you leave after the deception?”

“i didn’t intend for it to go this way.” sofia shook his head in sadness. “tell me the truth, noah. is this war because of me?”

“tell me, let me know why all of this is happening!” sofia demanded.

noah had been watching sofia all along. he turned halfway, giving a cold snort. “i admit that part of the reason is indeed because of you, sofia. but you don’t have to think of yourself as so significant. you’re just a catalyst. perhaps i should even thank you. you woke me up from a comfortable slumber and made me realize that dark elves shouldn’t continue to languish underground.”

“noah, this war will harm many people!”

“and what of it? there’s no such thing as a bloodless battle.”

in the end, it was all because of sofia. pei xia couldn’t help but be amazed and exchanged a glance with lucifer.

lucifer sighed, “love is truly complicated. love, when mixed with other elements, can become especially tormenting.”

pei xia was somewhat surprised by what he said. “you seem to have quite a lot of thoughts on this.”

“of course, how could you expect me to have no interest in love?” lucifer leaned against him, chuckling softly.

pei xia stammered, “i thought your heart and soul were entirely devoted to the god of light.”

“deities are a matter of faith,” lucifer replied slowly, “but from birth, humans have desires. i am also interested in…desire.”

he spoke earnestly, but it left pei xia inexplicably blushing and flustered. why did he have to be so, well, so explicit?

“your excellency, what should we do next?” pei xia quickly changed the subject.

“don’t rush, take it slow.”

lucifer then whispered to sofia, hinting for him to move towards the side of the stone bridge with his back to it, attempting to divert the dark elf king’s attention.

sofia nodded gently to indicate his understanding. then, while engaging in a confusing conversation with noah, the two elves started a tangled exchange that pei xia found headache-inducing.

at this moment, lucifer discreetly poked his arm and leaned in close to his ear. “get ready to move.”

pei xia nodded, and then crouched down, following lucifer as they sprinted toward the stone bridge.

meanwhile, the dark elf king, noah, released his tyrannical statement, “regardless of whether it’s you, the tree of life, or the sapphire forest, i want them all!”

sofia trembled, his voice hoarse as he said, “give it up. your alliance with demons won’t end well for you!”

“heh,” noah sneered as he turned and looked at lucifer and pei xia. “so, is this the reason you came back? you, this cold-blooded and cunning woman, always up to something. now, you’ve teamed up with outsiders to defeat me?”

sofia said, “noah, please stop this.”

“in your dreams!”

noah not only didn’t stop, but he also intended to continue summoning a great demon. in this critical moment, lucifer rushed forward and promptly purified noah with a beam of holy light.

noah let out a miserable cry as he tumbled into the ditch he had dug himself.

so, why exactly did he dig a ditch around the altar? just for aesthetic reasons?

pei xia ran bewilderedly alongside lucifer. as he watched lucifer intently destroying the altar, he couldn’t help but ask, “your grace, if you can easily defeat the dark elf king, why didn’t you directly come out and purify him?”

the holy son furrowed his brows and said, “don’t you find their love story interesting?”

pei xia: “…”

lucifer, radiating soft yet potent holy light, painstakingly broke the runes on the altar one by one. he stood upright, facing the somewhat speechless pei xia, and inquired, “what’s the matter? do you think i’m not the kind of person who enjoys same-sex love stories?”

facing the holy son in such a context, pei xia felt things were getting strange. “i thought you might not be fond of same-sex love stories.”

even though he was equally curious and gossipy, this just felt out of place for a straight, non-lgbt-supportive guy like lucifer.

lucifer looked at him with a hint of sadness and sighed softly. in the dark underground world, white holy light enveloped him, making him appear pure, untainted by any dust.

as the holy light depleted, lucifer’s complexion became increasingly pale, and he swayed slightly.

pei xia reflexively raised his hand, ready to support him at any moment. however, at this moment, lucifer took two steps backward as if somewhat apprehensive and said, “this is what i wanted to talk to you about. there seems to have been some misunderstanding between us, pei xia. i heard everything you said to sofia. do you really think i don’t like men?”

pei xia: “ah?”

lucifer smiled tenderly and said, “i don’t reject same-sex emotions, but it seems like you have this image of me in your heart. pei xia, could it be that you’re the one who dislikes same-sex relationships?”

pei xia’s immediate reaction was, ‘oh no, of course not! i’m gay myself!’

his second reaction was, ‘so, you’re secretly homophobic.’

pei xia’s thoughts were racing: ‘this doesn’t make sense! isn’t lucifer the double-standard, straight guy who only flirts with girls? what’s going on? did the original story’s character setup change into this?’ pei xia was utterly confused.

and this moment of confusion, as if it wounded the crystal heart of the holy son, lucifer, his brows furrowed, and he weakly took two steps back before stumbling into the deep trench.

pei xia instinctively rushed over, witnessing lucifer plummeting into the abyss. he looked up and, with a bitter smile, extended a long and slender white hand, as if seeking someone’s rescue.

pei xia shouted, “your excellency!” and without hesitation, he leaped down.

he grabbed lucifer’s hand, then embraced lucifer’s body, ready to offer some comforting words and explain that he was gay too.

but they both landed with a soft thud.

pei xia didn’t feel much pain from the fall. he looked up at the sky, realizing that the little trench wasn’t so deep. it was just that the surroundings were too dark.

however, despite the shallow ditch, there was some pain. pei xia finally lowered his gaze and found that he had landed on top of lucifer.

“your excellency!!!”