Clockwork Bride

Page 93

Angela was lost in thought, not needing to speak.

But if the father and daughter next to them just stay there without saying a word, the atmosphere could get a little awkward.

So in the end, it was Peacock King who spoke first, saying, "This is for you."

With a flick of his right hand, a sheet of white paper flew towards Kallen. These days, there are still quite a few places that use physical paper… after all, digitizing everything has its problems. So, although Kallen was startled, she immediately reached out and caught it.

Then she looked down and found that the paper was covered with two pages of tiny Sanskrit characters, all of which were the key points of the practice. Ten years had passed, and her father's handwriting had become even more vigorous and upright. One side of the paper was titled "Five-Colored Divine Light".

Even Karen felt a chill run down her spine when she saw the name.

People, through misinformation, regard the famous Five-Colored Divine Light as a supernatural power, but in reality, it is not like that. It is actually a powerful technique that uses great magical power to control the five elements. The peacock feather, with its flowing yellow, black, blue, red, and white divine light, symbolizes the five elements that constitute the world: earth, water, wind, fire, and space.

Rather than an offensive technique, it's more like an all-powerful divine skill. Mastering it grants control over the five elements, allowing one to soar through the heavens and plunging into the earth, making one virtually omnipotent. However, its primary purpose is actually self-defense. It can subdue all things in the world, ward off all poisons and demonic obstacles, and even be used for healing.

"...Dad, you...you're giving this to me?"

So even Karen frowned when she saw this piece of paper.

"I don't have time to practice such advanced things right now..."

Peacock King raised an eyebrow: "You may think you don't need this kind of thing, but let me put it this way—your genes were originally designed for combat, but you used your mother's alchemical talent to transform them and use them to convert pollution and purify the environment, which is already amazing in itself."

"By the same token, if you diligently practice and modify this Five-Colored Divine Light technique, you should be able to extend its protective power to yourself. Your boyfriend might be able to summon the protective power of this technique to himself when he invokes divine power. Do you understand what I mean?"

Karen shut her mouth and obediently put the paper away.

"Practicing martial arts means discarding the dross and studying the essence. The most important thing is to persevere. As long as you persevere, you will definitely achieve something. Otherwise, you will give up on yourself."

So the Peacock King continued speaking slowly.

"The ninja who grabbed your boyfriend and slammed him to the ground earlier was probably one of Dakini's subordinates. He might come back to haunt him later. But she looks like a vengeful spirit or ghost. One hit from the Five-Colored Divine Light should leave her without even a trace. It's fine if my son-in-law, the Peacock King, doesn't practice martial arts, after all, his talent is in witchcraft; but it's absolutely unacceptable for him to lose to a vengeful spirit ninja in martial arts."

He took another sip of tea, his expression calm, but his tone carried a hint of arrogance.

Peacock King only has one daughter, Karen—it's not that he couldn't have more children with Hela, but for powerful deities like them, having too many children would be dangerous and create more vulnerabilities. If they were like normal capitalist gods who don't treat their children as human beings, but as mere tools, that would be fine. But Peacock King and Hela are both people who value their children highly, so they dare not have too many children.

However, given this, why doesn't he feel jealous seeing his runaway daughter constantly protecting her boyfriend? This leads to another, more complex reason: Peacock King is not human, nor has he ever been human; he is a non-human monster who descended to this world in ancient times. He fell in love with and married Hela, so he usually presents a masculine image, playing the role of an old father. In reality, he is neither yin nor yang, a freely changing deity, and has no concept of human same-sex repulsion.

The Peacock King himself may not be quite clear about the situation yet, but in fact he is indeed related to Angela—and a very close one at that.

And look at Angela, when has she ever disliked the girls around Hayden?

So, in the eyes of the Peacock King, this young boyfriend dared to say to her face that he was willing to die for Karen's dream—wasn't that admirable? Overall, the Peacock King found Hayden rather pleasing to the eye.

Now, Karen felt unworthy of the honor, feeling both embarrassed and touched, a mix of emotions.

So the Peacock King changed his audience: "My fellow countrymen, my daughter is the most precious treasure I have in this world. I hope that while you are serving that young man on earth, you can also take care of her."

He spoke calmly to Angela beside him.

"There are very few compatriots who are still free and clear-headed these days. So as long as my daughter is doing well, I wish you all the best in your modern life."

Hayden wasn't there, but Karen couldn't help but prick up her ears when she heard this. She had originally thought that Angela was neither an old god nor a new god, but now, judging from her father's tone, could Angela actually be an old god as well?

However, Angela's power was clearly abnormal... But Kallen didn't intend to tell her father this, lest it cause more trouble.

“Miss Karen is a very important person to Master Hayden. I will naturally do my best to protect her.”

Angela said with a smile,

"I must admit that, despite the ups and downs, today is an unexpectedly good day overall. I have seen many things that make me happy and many changes that make me happy."

These words finally made Peacock King frown: "...Speaking of which, what was your name in the past? I always feel like we're...very familiar."

“I don’t remember,” Angela answered frankly. “Master Hayden now calls me Angela.”

Upon hearing this name, even the Peacock King was somewhat surprised: "Wow, that young man's mastery of ancient magic is quite impressive. He actually knows what we were once?"

However, Hayden probably just picked it randomly, based on his gut feeling. The question is, who would know this truth?

Anyway, Angela didn't answer the question directly.

“I don’t remember my own name, but I remember you, Peacock Angel (Melek Tauss). You’ve changed a lot.”

She simply continued to speak frankly.

“I remember your anger, coldness, pride and resentment. But now you are a good father, a good husband, compassionate and loving, and even very close to being a good child.”

Angela seemed quite happy when she said this.

"If even you can change things, then there is still a lot of hope for this world."

These words almost made the Peacock King spit out the tea he had just drunk.

Who are you?!

The astonishment on his face was something Karen had never seen before.

--------------------------

The next morning, Hayden was fully enhanced and released from the alchemy furnace.

Hela didn't directly transform him into a god—that would require too many materials and time, or simply changing his body, which couldn't be done in a short time. She also didn't randomly give him strange supernatural powers. That would be troublesome too, and if the attributes didn't match, it could easily waste his original talents.

Overall, Hela simply amplified Hayden's frail physique and willpower as a mortal by a large margin, emphasizing physical endurance and resistance to various mental abnormalities.

"If we have enough materials and time, we could really try to refine you into a human-shaped golden core."

After Hela finished fiddling with it, she looked at the data report and said to Hayden with great interest,

"But there's plenty of time, we can talk about it later—in any case, the most important thing is to protect yourself and stay alive. Living is an opportunity, and surviving is the most important thing! Do you understand?"

What else could Hayden complain about? He could only hurriedly nod to the goddess of the underworld.

Not long after the food came out of the oven, he, Karen, and Angela returned to New Yatu city from the Peacock Palace's teleportation station.

As for the earth dragon that Hela asked Karen to take with her, it was too large to be transported through the standard teleportation station, so it had to be packed up and then transported.

Back on solid ground in New Jersey, Karen recounted her conversation with Hayden to the latter part of the previous night, and they spoke privately within the safe enclosure.

“Angela seems to have frightened her father.”

She frowned and said,

"He later told me that if Angela did anything that might pose a threat to me, I should tell him immediately."

噫

"This... isn't that strange, is it?"

Hayden could only rub his forehead.

“We all know Angela is a bit… strange. But we also know she’s not an enemy.”

Karen can certainly relate to this.

Instead of worrying all day about what Angela really is, we should focus on the present... and think about the future.

Hayden clenched his newly enhanced hands as he spoke, then looked up at the massive Space Needle outside the window of the New Yatu teleportation station, contemplating what lay ahead.

Thinking about the future.

As the Peacock King said, a storm is coming.

What exactly is this so-called "storm"? And what do they need to prepare for?

Karen didn't speak, but she was clearly thinking the same thing.

Hayden knew that Karen was probably not as calm as she appeared. She might not be afraid of death, but it was unlikely that she was completely without tension. However, despite the impossibility of being completely fearless, she still presented herself as fearless.

So Hayden felt very warm inside.

Even the bravest person cannot withstand all difficulties alone.

Conversely, no matter what kind of crisis may arise, as long as like-minded partners work together, there will always be a way.

"...Speaking of the future, Hayden, what you said to my parents before clearly caused them to have a serious misunderstanding about our relationship. And you don't seem to have tried to explain those misunderstandings."

After a long silence and a moment of thought, Karen suddenly spoke, and her voice rose slightly.

"So, what exactly are you... um..."

Then her voice started to get quieter and quieter, and then she stopped talking altogether.

Hayden knew perfectly well what Karen was trying to say. He was a thirty-year-old freelance mercenary, not a high school student.

To say he had absolutely no feelings for Karen would be a lie. But to say it's all settled... just doesn't seem quite right.

Hayden, who is usually a self-assured and stubborn guy, suddenly became conflicted and timid at this moment.

Just being by her side made Hayden realize he was far from being good enough. Compared to this divine young lady, he was clearly too weak. A celestial being like the Peacock King could kill Hayden with a single glare.

Perhaps Hayden has Angela's protection, or perhaps even the Peacock King would be afraid of Angela's true identity. But... Hayden is not Angela after all.

What should we do about this problem?

The simplest way, of course, would be to laugh it off—the problem is, Hayden isn't really stupid. Half of this whole mess was caused by his attempt to cover it up. Abigail and Karen didn't trust him before because he was so dishonest. If he tries to get away with it this time, Hayden really hasn't learned anything.

So upon careful consideration, it seems he only has one solution.

"No matter what happens in the future, I will support you. There's just one fact I've always been reluctant to admit."

So Hayden spoke up.

"Karen, compared to you, I am far too weak. So weak that I might be wiped out by a single glare from a god."

"If I were to die to achieve my dream, I would die without regret. But I don't want it to put too much psychological burden on you if I fail. You won't die. If you can keep pursuing this dream, in a way..."

At this point, Hayden couldn't help but recall what Professor Albion had said about the transmission of life more than six months ago.

"In a way, it means that I have also lived on and fulfilled my dream of making medicine affordable for the poor."

These words immediately made Karen frown: "Wow, what do you mean by that? You mean if you really become my boyfriend and then get killed by another god, I might have a mental breakdown and be unable to fight anymore? You really have too much of an ego, don't you?"

Hayden obediently shut his mouth and dared not speak again.

Karen also turned her head away, no longer looking at his face.

After a long pause, she finally spoke, "Actually, you've already helped me up once when I was on the verge of collapse."

……ah?

"It was when Adam got married a little over a year ago. I was already exhausted at that time. I was working as a corporate slave while struggling to find a starting point for getting things done, and I couldn't help but start to wonder if I was being foolish."

Karen turned her head and glanced at Hayden.

"It wasn't until a year ago that I finally realized, wow, there are people as silly as you! And you actually managed to get a Clockwork Wife—although you only recently told me that Angela isn't real—but at that time I genuinely felt that since you had the ability to achieve your dreams and not bow down to the world, then of course I could too."

Hayden was speechless.

But Karen's tone had softened: "So, Hayden, there's something I have to tell you now—you're actually stronger than you think. Even without Angela's help, you've already accomplished many remarkable things. Do you understand?"

Hayden nodded obediently.

"very good."

So Karen said, leaned over and kissed his cheek—then immediately turned and teleported away, leaving Hayden standing there dumbfounded.

He touched his face blankly, not even knowing what to say, but he felt that the unspoken fear in his heart had disappeared a lot.

As for what happens in the future, and how his relationship with Karen will develop...

...Let's just let nature take its course for now.

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[Strength - Upright]

[Grand Arcana, Card Number 8]

[Keywords: strength, courage, confidence, patience]

You will pull out the dragon's teeth and trample the lion under your feet.

Extra: Death

Time: One hundred years ago

Location: An island in the far east of Japan

This country is particularly strange, even in this strange world and in this strange age of capitalist theocracy.

Most of the feudal god-kings in this world have been overthrown in the rise of new capitalist gods. Fierce anti-feudal bourgeois revolutions have broken out all over the world, and in each case, the old gods have been slaughtered, their heads rolling and rivers of blood flowing.

Although some old gods were incorporated into the new gods during bourgeois revolutions, they were a minority; there were also exceptional cases where they joined the new capitalist god group early on and then betrayed the old king to take power at crucial moments, but there was only one such case—we'll discuss that in the next volume. Moreover, even in the place where that exceptional case occurred, a fierce war broke out between the old and new gods. The old god-king was still killed by the new gods.