Chapter 149: An Angel's Perspective on Fallen Freedom

Chapter 149: An Angel's Perspective on Fallen Freedom

"I told you, that was just saving face for you in front of others."

Angel Leng refused to look at Angel Yan upon the throne, turning her head away in displeasure.

"According to your words, then, we're on the same side."

Angel Yan walked up to Angel Leng, brought her pretty face close, and chuckled softly.

Angel Leng shoved her away instantly, taking two steps back, the very picture of haughtiness.

"Hmph, who's on the same side as you?"

"Oh my, a partner of over seven thousand years of fighting side by side isn't even considered part of the family? My heart is broken."

Angel Yan put on a look as if she were about to burst into tears, speaking with grievance.

In response, Angel Leng gave her the look one would reserve for a mentally disabled child.

"That act of yours doesn't work on me, and there's no male god here to comfort you..."

"No, I need the comfort of my good sister, the pressure is just too much."

Angel Yan froze for a moment, then her expression grew somewhat gloomy as she spoke softly.

"I don't like women. You should go find the Galaxy Power for comfort instead, just like the legends of Ferezer—the Thunder God of War loves seducing men."

Angel Leng continued her sharp-tongued assault to strike down Angel Yan.

Yet Angel Yan didn't show the slightest sign of anger; even the gloom on her face slowly dissipated as the corners of her mouth curled up.

Noticing this, Angel Leng felt a bit puzzled as to why Angel Yan hadn't retorted this time.

"What's wrong? Did I hit a nerve, leaving you speechless?"

"No, I just find it comforting to listen to you speak."

Angel Yan shook her choice, staring directly into Angel Leng's eyes as she spoke softly.

Angel Leng's expression turned surprised before she broke eye contact, turning her head away once more.

Angel Yan reached out, gently grabbed Angel Leng's chin to turn her back, locked eyes with her, and poured out her inner thoughts.

"Ever since I sat on this throne, both A'Zui and Moyi have grown somewhat distant from me. I feel like there's an invisible barrier between us now."

"Why are you telling me this? That's your business, it has nothing to do with me."

Though Angel Leng understood the sentiment deep down, out of sheer habit of her proud demeanor, she asked softly.

"Only you, Leng, haven't..."

"What? Surely you aren't going to confess your love to me? Starting to seduce the Goddess now, are you?"

Angel Leng didn't let Angel Yan finish, cutting in with direct mockery.

It wasn't that she didn't want to hear it—she knew precisely what Angel Yan wanted to say—she simply refused to admit that her bond with Angel Yan was genuinely close. After all, they had been competing for seven thousand years; she was used to it.

Having her retorts blocked twice, Angel Yan finally felt her face darken. In the past, it was always *she* who left Leng speechless and unable to step down.

Today, she had wanted to open her heart and share her true feelings, only to be met with such ungratefulness. Did her dignity as Angel Yan mean nothing to her?

"Fine, fine. If I don't roast you, you feel uncomfortable. But I don't feel like bickering today, so hurry up and leave. You're starting to annoy me."

"You want me to leave, so I'll just leave? Wouldn't I lose all my face then?"

With that, the wings behind Angel Leng fluttered slightly, lifting her less than a centimeter off the ground as she slowly drifted away.

Watching Angel Leng slowly make her exit, the corners of Angel Yan's mouth curved upward, and she remotely revoked her wing flight permissions.

"Angel Yan!"

An angry roar echoed from the entrance of the grand hall. Ignoring it entirely, Angel Yan flew straight overhead, passing right above Angel Leng.

The council hall was a restricted flight zone, which was the very reason Angel Leng hadn't dared to fly high; as for why Angel Yan could soar freely, that was the exclusive privilege of the Queen of Angels.

Switching scenes, let us turn to the castle where Yun Yang was temporarily staying.

An angel flew leisurely over, though she showed no intention of heading toward the front entrance.

Instead, she flew toward the balcony with its drawn curtains, seating herself naturally on the railing.

With a gentle wave of her delicate hand, sunlight flooded into the room, illuminating two somewhat terrified faces.

Yun Yang and Du蔷薇 (Rose) cried out in synchronized shock, then scrambled in a panic to pull the quilt over their bodies.

Keisha, however, looked at the two of them with utter calm, showing not a shred of awkwardness.

Since she wasn't awkward, the two individuals in the bed certainly were.

"Sister Kele, don't you think you should avert your eyes?"

Rose stammered with a slightly flushed face.

"Avert my eyes from what?"

Keisha kept her gaze fixed straight ahead, continuing softly.

"I might not mind, but this person is a man, you know."

Rose pressed Yun Yang a bit further down beneath the covers before speaking up.

"I've lived for thirty thousand years. What kind of wild storms haven't I seen? I really don't mind."

The corners of Keisha's mouth curled into a teasing smile.

Rose desperately wanted to say that *she* minded very much, that this was *her* man and couldn't be put on display for others to see, but shyness choked the words back in her throat.

With no other choice, she ruthlessly shoved Yun Yang deeper into the quilt, then sat up and pinched the two upper corners of the blanket to completely block Keisha's line of sight.

"Hurry up and get dressed! This is all your fault for refusing to wake up."

While Yun Yang was in the middle of hastily putting on his clothes, Keisha caught sight of the crimson mark lingering on Rose's neck and spoke once more.

"My, my, young people play so intensely these days. Would you two care to try practicing celibacy?"

Rose froze initially, baffled as to how Keisha could possibly know, before catching a glimpse of the red mark on her own fair skin.

She viciously kicked Yun Yang under the covers, though a genuine smile bloomed across her face.

"There's no need for that, Sister Kele, we really don't need to."

"Oh? Sounds like someone's gotten a taste of the forbidden fruit. All the more reason to practice celibacy, then. A hundred years isn't too long, care to give it a try?"

Keisha covered her mouth with a light laugh, continuing to tease the couple.

Fully dressed, Yun Yang poked his head out from behind the quilt and chuckled mischievously.

"Hehe, celibacy probably isn't happening. Old Li is still waiting to hold a grandson, after all."

"Go die!"

Yun Yang received yet another kick. It wasn't particularly painful, but he still let out an exaggerated "Ouch" and looked at Rose with a wronged expression.

"What's wrong? I was just telling the truth."

Rose, however, didn't reply. She glared fiercely at him, tossed the quilt aside, and began getting dressed herself.

With the quilt thrown aside, Keisha's eyes fell once more upon the visible marks left on Rose's body.

"You really don't know how to cherish someone gentle, do you? If I'm not mistaken, hmmm—are you still just a little baby?"

"Ahem, I feel like you're driving without a license here."

Yun Yang coughed dryly to cover up his embarrassment. He had to admit, during that night, he truly had been tempted by the greatest evil in the known universe.

So... he had simply launched a main assault on the high ground. He really couldn't be blamed for that.

"Driving? I have wings, I've never driven such mechanical contraptions."

Keisha blinked in confusion before offering a completely straight-faced, literal explanation.

At this, Yun Yang and Rose exchanged glances and burst into roaring laughter.

Keisha realized she had just walked right into a trap; even with her supreme composure, she felt a slight wave of annoyance.

"What did you mean by 'driving' just now?"

Keisha decided she had to ask. After all, she couldn't just stand there and be mocked without knowing why.

The two laughed for a moment longer before stopping at Keisha's inquiry. Yun Yang remained silent, but Rose took it upon herself to explain the modern slang.

Once Keisha understood the meaning, she said with an expression of absolute certainty,

"Yes, I am driving."

Now it was the couple's turn to be dumbfounded. You're just admitting to it like that? Shouldn't you feel at least a little bit awkward right now?

Seeing their blank expressions, Keisha couldn't hold back her laughter.

"Haha~ You two are allowed to, well... am I not allowed to drive a bit?"

After the brief episode of playful chaos, the three of them moved to the living room and settled in for a gaming session.

During the champion selection screen, Yun Yang glanced across at Keisha and asked casually,

"Kele, what is your view on freedom?"

"Freedom? Every life should possess freedom."

Keisha locked in an angel character, voicing her perspective on freedom offhandedly.

"Then why does Morgana's fallen freedom get defined as evil by Keisha?"

Yun Yang posed the question that had been weighing on his mind; after all, Morgana's philosophy did possess a certain logical coherence.

Hearing this, Keisha's brows furrowed slightly. She lifted her head to look at Yun Yang, almost invoking the Eye of Insight, but managed to restrain herself.

"Were you brainwashed by Morgana?"

"No. As you know, I made a trip back to the solar system—the Chiyou Star System, specifically—and went aboard Demon Number One. She discussed her philosophy with me."

Fearing Keisha would misunderstand, Yun Yang quickly offered an explanation.

"What did she tell you?"

"About fallenness and freedom, from the demons' perspective."

"You can interpret her philosophy on your own terms. Let me explain why I... why we angels define her as a demon."

Both Yun Yang and Rose grew intrigued, sitting up straight with eager ears.

Keisha began to operate her in-game character while speaking,

"Regarding fallenness, she was correct; I have nothing to critique there. As for her freedom... while we despise it, it isn't quite enough on its own to be labeled as pure evil."

Here, Yun Yang chimed in,

"I can't fully agree with her version of freedom either. Unordered freedom far too easily plunges the world into chaos; ordered freedom is the true path."

Rose nodded in agreement with Yun Yang's statement.

Keisha gave a slight nod before continuing,

"The reason she was defined as evil wasn't because of her philosophy, but because of her actions. Seventeen thousand years ago, Morgana propagated her philosophy within the mortal-turned-demon civilization."

At this point, Keisha paused to secure a triple kill before resuming,

"In less than three thousand years, that mortal civilization evolved into a god-defying civilization."

Yun Yang couldn't help but interject,

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"Not at all. Because of her philosophy of fallen freedom, that civilization fell into three thousand years of continuous internal strife, leaving less than one percent of its population alive."

Keisha's tone grew somewhat heavy as she spoke.

"Those survivors had demon genes forcibly implanted into them, turning them into the demons you see today. Afterward, she recklessly spread her ideology and demon genes further, causing several other civilizations to collapse, leaving their populations decimated as well."

"That certainly sounds evil."

Yun Yang mused, concluding that defining Morgana as evil was entirely justified.

"Yes. Her evil doesn't stem from her philosophy, but from her utter disregard for life, her arbitrary tampering with others' genes, and reducing them to monsters driven entirely by instinct and desire simply to research better demon strains."

Keisha's voice rose slightly with conviction.

"Life is precious, valuable, and noble. It should not be trampled upon at whim or treated as mere experimental subjects. Because of this, we broke apart, and I defined her and her subordinate civilization as demons."

Yun Yang nodded thoughtfully, absorbing the information.

Rose, however, furrowed her brow and asked,

"Did you just say *you* defined them as demons?"

Keisha blinked, instantly realizing her slip of the tongue, and coughed twice to cover it.

"Ahem, I meant our Queen Keisha defined them as demons, and likewise, all of us angels defined them as demons. It amounts to the same thing."

"Hey, Rose, dive into the backline—target that Styx sniper!"

Yun Yang suddenly shouted, catching Rose off guard and successfully diverting her attention from the slip.

"Got it, let's go together."

Keisha shot Yun Yang a look of silent approval.