'Why does this scene feel so strangely familiar?'
Overcome by a strong sense of deja vu, Lucian lowered his gaze and pondered seriously for a long moment before finally arriving at the answer.
'Ah... the script...'
In all the previous scripts, it had always been him saying goodbye to his lovers before turning around and leaving on his own. Yet now, the roles had somehow become completely reversed, with Cipher unexpectedly taking over his role instead.
Lucian could not help but let out a helpless sigh, increasingly feeling that it was finally time to come clean about everything. If Cipher genuinely misunderstood the situation and suddenly disappeared without ever returning, the aftermath would definitely become awkward and troublesome later on.
"You're leaving?"
"Just because you're scared I'll see through the lie behind the Dawn Device, you're really gonna ditch me like this?"
"You bad kitty."
Upon hearing Lucian so casually reveal her enormous secret, Cipher was completely stunned, her entire body freezing rigid on the spot.
How did he know?
From what he recalled, she clearly hadn't mentioned a single word about the Dawn Device and had only spoken about the scales of the Law Titan, so how had he managed to figure everything out so effortlessly?
How was she supposed to deceive him now?
Just like that, the plan Cipher had painstakingly prepared had not even truly begun before it was already completely dead.
Realizing that her entire lie had already been seen through from the very beginning, Cipher's eyes instantly filled with shock, panic, and an overwhelming helplessness that came from having every thought inside her thoroughly exposed before him.
Her originally flushed and languid face from after their intimacy turned pale in an instant, while moisture rapidly gathered within her beautiful eyes, where crystal-clear tears continuously swirled inside them, trembling as though they could spill down her cheeks at any moment.
"How... How'd you guess?" Cipher asked softly in a voice carrying an obvious hint of sobbing, sounding both anxious and deeply aggrieved. "You already know... then... then my lie can't come true anymore! No... the Dawn Device... it can only keep shining for another three hundred years... the world's gonna fall into..."
In the end, she still could not force herself to continue.
Just speaking those few words had already exhausted nearly all of her courage. If she had known things would turn out like this, then perhaps she truly should not have come back at all.
As countless thoughts of self-blame and helplessness continuously dragged Cipher deeper into a whirlpool of despair, a pair of warm and powerful arms suddenly wrapped firmly around her before gently yet irresistibly pulling her entire body into a solid embrace, that reassuring body pressing tightly against hers and instantly surrounding her with an overwhelming warmth.
"You dummy. I'll always stay with you. Even if the world gets destroyed tomorrow, I'm gonna die with you."
Lucian's voice was gentle and low, while his tone carried endless indulgence and tenderness.
Because the two of them were still completely bare, without even a single piece of fabric covering their bodies, as they pressed tightly against each other, they could feel each other's warmth even more clearly, the heat of their skin blending together in the quiet atmosphere.
Cipher's grip around Lucian's arm tightened even further, as though she was afraid that the moment she let go, everything she had just heard would disappear like an illusion.
"Mm..."
In the end, a suppressed sob escaped softly from her throat, and soon after, the tears she had desperately been holding back finally rolled down her cheeks one after another.
Yet this time, it was not because of fear, helplessness, or despair, but rather because Lucian's words, words that conveyed that even in death they would still remain together and never be separated, had completely broken through the final defenses surrounding her heart.
"Besides, with me here..." Lucian paused briefly before subtly shifting his tone. "...Even the sky itself won't fall."
As his calm words fell, Lucian immediately activated Godly Bandage, and in the very next moment, countless white bandages burst forth in rapid succession like surging streams of white light.
Right afterward, Lucian slowly raised one hand and pointed toward the Dawn Device hanging high in the sky, and in that instant, all the bandages surged upward at once, tearing through the air as they flew directly toward it before wrapping around it layer after layer, completely sealing its enormous body without leaving behind even a single uncovered spot.
Several seconds later, when the countless bandages finally scattered and disappeared into the air, every single corner of the Dawn Device had already been restored to pristine condition, looking exactly like it had long, long ago—fresh out of the factory, without even the slightest trace of damage or age remaining upon it.
Just like that, the 'Dawn' that maintained light and order while resisting the black tide, the light whose countdown toward extinction had already begun because of the Worldbearing Titan's fall, was reignited by Lucian into an unprecedented state of brilliance and stability.
If before it had resembled an old man whose oil had nearly run dry, then now it was like a deity standing at the absolute peak of its prime, overflowing with seemingly limitless energy and vitality!
Meanwhile, witnessing everything unfold directly before her very own eyes, especially after seeing that the entire process had been carried out so silently and effortlessly from beginning to end, Cipher could only stare blankly at the sky outside the window.
Her gaze remained fixed upon the renewed Dawn Device that now radiated dazzling brilliance across the sky, clearly looking capable of continuing to shine for hundreds, or even thousands, of years without ever dimming again.
"What... ability is that...?"
Tear tracks still lingered on Cipher's face as she stared ahead in profound shock, her blue eyes widening with complete disbelief.
"Lucian… Y-You fixed the Dawn Device?! Just like that?!"
In her eyes, it had looked easier than fixing a simple toy.
"Yeah, what can't your man do?"
Lucian responded casually as he looked at her stunned, almost adorably dazed expression, but then, unable to resist any longer, he lowered his head and gently kissed the corner of her eye, where a few warm tears still clung.
"Waa!"
Cipher could no longer hold herself back and desperately pressed her head against his chest, clutching his shoulders tightly as though she were afraid he might suddenly disappear.
"You scared me to death, meow!"
"I thought… I was gonna lose you!"
"I thought… I'd have to wander around alone again and wouldn't get to live with you anymore!"
Right after uttering those words, the usually cheerful cat finally broke down completely, crying her heart out without holding anything back. Crystal-clear tears streamed endlessly from her eyes, soaking both Lucian and the bedsheets beneath them.
Lucian said nothing and simply continued comforting her in silence, gently stroking her head, rubbing her soft ears, running his hand along her tail, and lightly patting her round hips in a slow and reassuring rhythm.
It was a quiet form of comfort, yet more than enough for Cipher at this moment.
Several minutes later, after her emotions had finally calmed down, she slowly lifted her head and looked at him with blue eyes still shimmering with moisture, filled entirely with dependence, relief, and reassurance.
"You said just now that you'd always stay with me… but I think 'forever' is kinda too far away…"
As she spoke, Cipher grabbed Lucian's hand and interlocked their fingers tightly, as if she were desperately trying to grasp onto her entire world through that single touch.
"I just worry… when the next sunrise comes, will you still be by my side?"
Her emotions had swung up and down far too violently tonight, leaving her heart exhausted and restless. At this moment, all she wanted was to hold onto the warmth within reach and the person standing before her.
Forever?
Such a thing was simply too vague and too intangible.
Compared to some distant and endless promise, what she truly wanted was much simpler.
From now on, all she needed was to open her eyes every morning and see Lucian still there beside her, close enough for her to reach out and touch.
Lucian, feeling as though his heart had been lightly struck by her soft and uneasy words, gently cupped Cipher's face with both hands and spoke with a helpless yet tender smile.
"I can't guarantee I'll be by your side every sunrise... but I can guarantee we'll always be together."
He was telling the truth.
He would still have to leave once the script ended, so staying together every single day wasn't very realistic. However, with the power of Abundance granting longevity far beyond that of ordinary lives, the time they could spend together would become unimaginably long, stretching far beyond what ordinary people could ever hope to experience.
"Mm… that works..."
Cipher looked at Lucian's extremely serious expression and heard the sincerity in his voice, causing the final trace of unease and gloom lingering in her heart to completely dissipate.
In the next moment, a sweet, relieved smile slowly bloomed across her face once again, but immediately afterward, her blue eyes suddenly shifted slightly, as though she had abruptly remembered something extremely important.
"Wait, that's not right!"
Cipher instantly pouted, then stretched out her hand and angrily poked Lucian's firm chest several times, looking both dissatisfied and wronged at the same time.
"You lied to me! You said you couldn't fix stuff, said you're only good at stealing and breaking things!"
"But then you fixed the Dawn Device in, like, just a few seconds!"
"Did you already know everything? Were you messing with me on purpose? Watching me panic! Watching me cry! Watching me... Watching me stupidly offer myself up as some farewell?!"
Lucian looked at the little cat in his arms, who had only belatedly realized what had happened and was now puffing herself up, showing not even the slightest trace of embarrassment at being exposed.
Instead, he smiled before calmly nodding in admission the next moment.
"Yeah, I already knew everything," Lucian admitted calmly, a faint hint of mischief appearing within his smile. "Who told you, you bad kitty, to even think about leaving me? Even the Demigod of Trickery can get fooled sometimes, huh..."
"You... You jerk!"
Cipher was instantly so angry that her fluffy cat ears stood completely straight up, while her long tail continuously slapped against the bedsheets behind her in agitation.
"You're the worst! I'm gonna bite you!"
Overcome with embarrassment and anger, she suddenly lunged forward without the slightest hesitation and bit down on Lucian's smooth, well-defined shoulder!
Of course, she didn't use any real force. Instead, she looked more like an angry cat grinding her teeth while acting spoiled. In the end, she only managed to leave behind a faint ring of warm, moist bite marks on his skin.
Lucian was immediately amused by her completely unthreatening 'attack,' but the tingling sensation spreading across his shoulder instantly reignited the heat within him that had only just barely subsided moments earlier.
"You dare bite me?" Lucian said in a low, deep voice before letting out a chuckle filled with amusement. "Looks like the lesson just now didn't sink in deep enough, huh?"
Immediately after saying that, his large hand slowly slid downward along Cipher's smooth, delicate back, his palm moving unhurriedly across her slender figure before accurately settling on her perky butt, where his fingers gave it a firm yet not overly forceful squeeze.
As soon as his palm pressed against that soft, elastic sensation, his eyes narrowed ever so slightly, and a faint ripple quietly surfaced within his otherwise calm gaze.
He could only describe the feeling as excellent—smooth, soft, elastic, warm, and extraordinarily comfortable to the touch, to the point that it almost made him unwilling to let go.
"Ah!"
Cipher let out a soft cry of surprise, her delicate body trembling ever so slightly from the sudden contact as the blush that had only just faded instantly returned to her cheeks, spreading all the way to the tips of her ears once again.
"W-What are you doing?!"
Gritting her teeth in embarrassment, Cipher instinctively tried to curl herself up and hide within his embrace, but Lucian held her tightly within his arms from beginning to end, leaving her completely unable to move, no matter how much she struggled.
"What am I doing?"
Lucian slowly lowered his head, his hot breath gently brushing against Cipher's sensitive ear as his deep voice sounded beside it in a low, dangerous tone.
"Obviously, it's to make my kitty remember this real damn well: you're absolutely never allowed to even think about 'leaving' me ever again, no matter what the reason is..."
As he spoke, his fingers tightened slightly, as though emphasizing every single word.
In the very next moment, before Cipher could even react, Lucian captured her soft lips in a domineering, forceful kiss that allowed no refusal whatsoever, instantly swallowing every word she had yet to say.
Outside the window, the night had already grown deep, and the quiet moonlight silently poured into the room like flowing water.
===
Early the next morning, the first pale light of dawn quietly emerged along the distant horizon, gradually dispelling the lingering darkness of the night.
Warm morning light streamed gently through the window lattice, casting soft golden rays across the quiet room as they fell upon the pensive Lucian and the still-unconscious Cipher resting beside him.
Just as Lucian silently pondered what he should do next, the familiar voice of the Godly Script System suddenly echoed within his mind.
[DING! Congratulations on completing the script!]
[In ten days, the script will come to a close, and the host will leave the current world.]
===
[A bonus chapter for every 300 Power Stones.]
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