The sabertooth tiger brought over a cup of tea in its mouth. "How are you feeling?"
Tan You drank two consecutive glasses of water before smiling. "My head still feels like it’s being pricked by needles, but it’s not as bad as before. As the temple’s mascots, aren’t you two busy?"
The raven cawed twice. "Everyone’s busy rebuilding the temple, and we can’t help much, so we’d rather keep you company. Adina, it’s really been a long time since I’ve seen you like this. It reminds me of when I first met you, as weak as a newborn chick."
Tan You gripped her teacup, thinking the raven had gotten cocky. "Do we really have to trade insults? For all these years, I’ve been careful not to hurt your pride. When I first met you, you were as bald as a..."
"Alright, that’s enough, don’t say it." The raven flew in front of Tan You. "I misspoke. I apologize."
It was quite fond of Tan You. Tan You had seen it at its absolute lowest, yet she had never once attacked it, not even in jest. She was always especially careful to protect everyone’s pride.
To be honest, every single Holy Beast here had been in a wretched state when they met Tan You. You could say those were embarrassing Chapters in all their pasts.
"Adina’s awake? May we come in?" The Great Elder’s voice sounded from outside. He had likely rushed over as soon as he heard the news.
"Great Elder, please come in. I’m awake... cough..." Tan You called out, unable to suppress another cough. Her coughing fits had rarely occurred after she became a Four-star Mage, but now she was experiencing one again.
The Great Elder and several core elders of the temple walked quickly into the room. They saw Tan You already dressed in her Magic robe, her long golden hair scattered over her shoulders and back, making her face look even paler.
Perhaps because of the coughing, the corners of her eyes were a little red, giving her the ethereal look of a sickly beauty.
"You don’t need to get up. The Priest said you need to rest well." The Great Elder took a step forward. "I came this time to ask you... members of the Edmonds family have been visiting frequently these past few days. What are your thoughts on this?"
Tan You found it amusing. "I made things perfectly clear in front of everyone that day. What are they still coming here for? Let me guess... It wouldn’t be Dennis and Danit, would it? Dumont and Catherine are far too proud to stoop so low."
"Yes, it is them. They come early every day and only leave at night." The Great Elder sighed. "What do you think?"
"I have no thoughts on it," Tan You said, her playful expression vanishing. "People like us, without the protection of a family, are like rootless duckweed drifting on the water. We fought alone, bled, and struggled desperately to defy our fate. They never endured the hardships we faced, so they have no right to share in our glory."
"Well said! Adina, your temperament is exactly to my liking." The first to cheer was that same sinister-looking Mage. Tan You looked at him, a sudden smile playing on her lips. "When I see you, I feel a sense of closeness, but it’s not the kind of kinship one feels with a Mage of the same element."
She sniffed the air. "I smell the stench of corpses on you."
He stared intently at Tan You, not missing a single change in her expression. "I am a Necromancer."
"Oh," she said. To his surprise, Tan You’s expression was perfectly calm, showing none of the disgust, fear, or terror typically associated with hearing the title ’Necromancer’.
"Necromancers, you know. Infamous across the continent." Worried that Tan You might be ignorant, he made a point to explain.
"I’m not that sheltered," Tan You smiled. "I know that Necromancers can transform the living directly into undead puppets they control, and that they have a bad reputation on the continent. But so what?"
"One’s talent is destined from birth. As long as you don’t go out of your way to harm people or cause trouble for others, then your existence is valid. Besides, if even the Divine has no issue with your existence, who in this world can claim to stand above the Divine?"
"Adina, you really are special." Fiers finally broke into a genuine smile. "You are an accepting person."
"Everyone here is accepting," Tan You said, looking at the Mages standing around him. "Otherwise, how could you all fight side-by-side? Anyway, I’ve always lived by one principle: I am already in this world, so no matter how much it might reject me, I have to live my life well for myself."
"Well said! We all have to live our lives well!" the other Mages cheered in unison. Their voices were so loud they sounded nothing like the frail Mages of legend; the sound wave seemed powerful enough to blow the roof off.
A smile touched Tan You’s eyes. "As for Dennis and Danit, please help me turn them away. We were never on the same path to begin with. Since we went our separate ways long ago, there’s no need to get entangled again."
"I really don’t want to see them. It’s like they don’t understand plain language."
The Great Elder nodded. "Alright, I’ll send them away for you. You’re right to do this. Simply being born into the same family doesn’t make you kindred. Being like-minded is far more important."
"I understand," Tan You nodded as well. "I find the Mages in the Imperial City very strange. They aren’t diligent in their cultivation; they spend more of their energy scheming and fighting for fame and fortune."
"It feels like they’ve put the cart before the horse. Compared to external things like reputation and power, I yearn for true, formidable strength."
"Everyone has selfish desires. Aren’t the gods the same?" the Great Elder said. "If it weren’t for selfish ambition, how could the Divine have been sealed in the end? The war between Light and Dark, to put it bluntly, was just the God of Light’s selfishness at work."
Tan You thought of how the Dark God had crushed the God of Light’s avatar that day, and her interest was suddenly piqued. "Now that the Divine has returned for revenge, I imagine those other gods who plotted against him won’t have a pleasant end, will they?"
"The Divine doesn’t seem like the good-natured type to me. He seems like the kind to hold a grudge over the smallest slight." She had spent several months in close proximity to the Dark God, after all. Though he always had a smile on his face, ’who knows how dark and twisted his heart really is.’
The Great Elder didn’t dare discuss the Divine he worshipped, so he could only try to change the subject. "The temple records state that the God of Light secretly allied with several other gods, excluding the Abyss God. Otherwise, how could he have been a match for the Divine?"
Tan You understood. "So, are we about to witness the twilight of the gods?"
"Yes. For them, it will be a dim and gloomy twilight," Davidson said softly. "But for us, it is the dawn of our rise."
Tan You felt a surge of excitement just thinking about it. "It’s a shame I have to recuperate. I can’t help with the temple’s affairs, so I can only trouble you all to handle it. Rebuilding the temple isn’t a one-person job, after all..."
"You have already done so much. The primary credit for the Divine being able to see the light of day again belongs to you," the Great Elder said with a serious expression. "Just focus on your recovery. Leave the rest to us. We’re not in a hurry. Believers have already started arriving at the temple to report in these past few days. The more who come, the faster the construction will be."