CHAPTER 98: CHAPTER 098 BULLYING HELA! GWEN’S PERFECT KNEE PILLOW!

He said "removing the hands and feet."

In truth, it was cutting the connection between the book and Chthon.

He said "cutting the connection.

In truth, it was purification.

Wanda, Gwen, and Hela all stared with their mouths slightly open.

"It can be done like that?"

From what they knew, the Darkhold’s side effects were notoriously severe. Once you used it, there was almost no way to avoid its corruption.

Even the Sorcerer Supreme was no exception. Whether it was Stephen or the Ancient One, both had their minds tainted after using dark magic. The side effects were undeniably strong.

Unfortunately for the Darkhold, it had run into Lorien.

No matter how powerful it was, it couldn’t compare to even a single fragment of the Phoenix Force. And the purifying power Lorien could unleash was something the Darkhold could never hope to resist.

Holding the Darkhold in hand, Lorien focused under the watchful eyes of the three women.

In his heart, he murmured, "Purification."

The next moment, holy flame ignited in his palm.

Under their gaze, the Darkhold let out a soft whoosh. It was as if it had been baptized—its surface flashed faintly, like something had been cleansed away.

Lorien flipped through it once, then handed it to Wanda.

"Alright, Chthon has been completely banished. There’s no way it can return to Earth."

Wanda accepted the book in a daze, turning a few pages. Gwen and Hela leaned over for a look as well.

As a goddess, Hela was the most astonished.

"An Elder God... gone, just like that?"

"Mm-hmm," Lorien gave a short hum before adding, "A fallen god tossed into another dimension, nothing more."

"It’s about the same as your current situation—only it was much stronger than you."

Hela: (╥﹏╥)

That one stung. She’d been used as an example too many times today, and always on the losing end.

Meanwhile, Wanda kept studying the Darkhold. Gwen, not understanding a word, just looked on for the sake of joining in.

After a moment, Wanda frowned.

"There’s a lot of very evil magic in here."

"Yes," Lorien nodded. "So don’t practice any of those spells. Even if your spirit and soul aren’t corrupted, your will could still fall."

Wanda snapped the book shut and looked at him seriously.

"I swear I’ll never learn those spells."

"I know." Lorien reached out to pinch her serious cheeks. "If I didn’t trust you, I wouldn’t have handed you the Darkhold."

"Mm!"

That drew a smile from her—happiness born from being trusted.

...

With the Darkhold in hand, their trip to Westview was nearly over. They’d come here both to travel and to retrieve the book. Now, only the last bit of sightseeing remained.

"Let’s go," Lorien clapped his hands. "We’ll enjoy the rest of the afternoon here, then head back to New York."

Leading the way out of the basement, he was followed by Gwen, who glanced up at the sun and sighed.

"Time went so fast. Two days already, and I’m still not done having fun!"

"Don’t worry," Lorien said, taking her hand. "You’re graduating soon, and you’ll have vacation time. Plus, don’t forget—you can form your own team in college. If you rack up achievements, the school will be eager to shove the diploma into your bag."

Gwen thought about it and nodded.

"Then I’ll hurry up and get into college!"

"Soon. No rush."

Lorien, in truth, was looking forward to that too. Hela had already experienced elementary school. Gwen was about to go from high school to university. At this rate, he was working his way through the entire education system... Ahem.

...

They crossed the town again, eventually finding themselves back at the sea of flowers.

"This place is still the prettiest," someone remarked, and everyone agreed.

Wanda took out the blanket and spread it on the ground. Gwen immediately sat down and patted her thigh.

"Lorien, come lie on me."

"..."

Lorien and Wanda exchanged a helpless glance before Lorien smiled faintly and lay his head in Gwen’s lap.

Ah, Gwen’s knee pillow.

Wanda’s knee pillow was soft and smooth, like resting on a plush pillow. Gwen’s, on the other hand, had a springy firmness—her toned, shapely thighs looked like they could be bitten into. Resting on them felt like lying on a latex pillow.

That was the difference.

"Hehe~~"

Gwen beamed as she fussed over him—tidying his hair, brushing away imaginary dust, gently touching his face. She kept sneaking proud glances at Wanda, but Wanda didn’t react.

Instead, she came over and sat quietly beside Lorien, close enough that their shoulders touched, and enjoyed the spring breeze with him.

A short distance away, Hela was... killing butterflies. Yes, actually killing them—without divine power, just with raw physical skill.

"Don’t kill too many, Hela," Lorien called. "A few is fine."

"I’m killing ten!" she yelled back.

"..."

Fine. Ten it was. At least she hadn’t said she’d wipe them all out. Lucky butterflies.

...

The four of them rested there, creating a picture-perfect scene.

More than that, there was a calm in their hearts, as though their souls had been cleansed.

Gwen looked at Lorien, eyes closed in quiet enjoyment. She glanced at Wanda, who was also resting.

Then, mimicking her exactly, Gwen began repeating the same gestures Wanda had done the other day—down to every detail.

Wanda heard the sounds behind her and pressed her lips together, but in the end, she let it go. She’d done the same thing yesterday—why stop Gwen now?

Besides, after last night’s "punishment" for trying to hog him, she wasn’t eager to risk another round. That "punishment" wasn’t just exhausting—it had felt like she might actually die.

The memory made her shiver involuntarily.

But Gwen seemed to be getting bolder, her movements firmer, her sounds louder—like waves of pressure rolling in.

Finally, Wanda couldn’t take it anymore. Still keeping her eyes closed, she gave two quiet coughs.

"Mmhmm."

"Hmph~!"

At the sound of Wanda’s soft cough, Gwen finally stopped and let out a smug little hum, as if to say, Let’s see if you dare to try that again.

Eating was fine—but you had to know how to share. You couldn’t just keep it all to yourself. After all, this was their cake. Wasn’t it?

Wanda stayed silent. It seemed she understood.

...

A moment later—

Clack, clack.

The sound of running footsteps came from the distance.

Wanda and Gwen both sat up and looked toward the source.

It was Geraldine and Jimmy, the two S.W.O.R.D. agents.

Panting from the run, they approached and said,

"Sorry to bother you."

"Have you noticed any signs of fighting in Westview today?"

Fighting?

Wanda and Gwen exchanged a look.

For Wanda, tossing someone away hardly counted as a fight—especially when the other side hadn’t even resisted. Agatha hadn’t so much as lifted a hand before being thrown into space.

As for anything else, neither of them had felt any trace of battle.

Both shook their heads.

"No."

With the confirmation, Geraldine and Jimmy frowned even deeper. But after a brief pause, they said,

"Sorry to trouble you—we’ll take our leave."

Then they hurried off.

No doubt they had figured out that Agatha was a dark magic witch, most likely based on the sudden change in terrain and the hidden basement that appeared.

But that didn’t matter. The Darkhold was already in their hands—who was going to take it back now?

In fact, not only was the Darkhold secure, even the Book of the Vishanti was in Wanda’s possession.

For an ordinary sorcerer, that was beyond imagining.

And it wasn’t just a stroke of luck—it was overwhelming fortune and crushing temptation. For most mages, even a single page from either book would be enough to study for a lifetime.

If you didn’t have the talent, what good would a fully-loaded Infinity Gauntlet do you? Could you snap your fingers? No—you’d be dead before you could try.

...

The rest of the afternoon passed without anyone else disturbing them.

Hela was still a short distance away, killing butterflies—yes, literally killing butterflies—with nothing but physical effort.

Gwen pulled out her phone, plugged in her earphones, put the right one in her own ear, then tucked the left one into Lorien’s ear so they could listen together.

Wanda sat cross-legged at Lorien’s side, the Book of the Vishanti resting on her lap as she raised both hands to practice the spells within.

Each of the four was either resting or studying, not bothering one another, yet all sharing in the same thing—enjoying life.

This was exactly the kind of life Lorien longed for.

"Unperturbed by honor or disgrace, watching the flowers bloom and fall in the courtyard."

"Unconcerned with staying or leaving, watching the clouds roll and unfurl in the sky."

...

4:00 p.m.

They were still in place. Wanda had shifted from sitting upright to leaning against Lorien while she practiced, and Gwen took the chance to "wave" at Wanda again—boldly.

Wanda dared not say a word.

6:00 p.m.

Wanda had changed positions again, now lying on the blanket with her legs kicked up while practicing magic. Gwen, meanwhile, was still "waving" at Lorien. Her lips were almost sore from the day’s efforts, but she showed no sign of stopping.

"I’m just happy~!" she grinned.

7:15 p.m.

The sky was dimming, the surroundings growing hazy—it was time to head home.

Lorien opened his eyes, stretched lazily, then stood and dusted himself off.

"Let’s go home. We’ve rested long enough today."

Wanda closed the Book of the Vishanti and stored it away with the blanket in her magical space. Gwen stood, stretched, then propped one leg onto Lorien’s shoulder in a display of impressive flexibility.

Lorien held her calf, pulled it slightly closer, and murmured quietly,

"We’ll try this sometime."

Gwen glanced at Wanda, then "quietly" replied—deliberately loud enough for Wanda to hear,

"I don’t know how yet, but I can learn. You can teach me plenty."

Lorien’s eyes lit up.

"Then I’ll have to be your posture teacher."

Gwen batted her eyes.

"Alright, teacher~!"

The playful, slightly sultry tone hit him like a rush of heat, and he nearly lost control.

But this was out in the open.

Lorien quickly set her leg down and called out,

"Hela, time to go home!"

He looked around—no sign of her.

From somewhere far off came her voice,

"I’m over here~!"

Unable to see her, Lorien snapped his fingers.

Snap~

In an instant, Hela reappeared, holding a pitch-black tree branch.

Lorien: "?"

"What are you doing with a stick?"

Hela lifted it proudly and swung it through the air with a few sharp whoosh whoosh motions.

"How about it? Doesn’t it look like my Nightsword?"

Lorien: "..."

Wanda and Gwen burst into laughter.

Lorien couldn’t help but think she was being childish. She was too old for this—kids could get away with it, but her?

"Let me see."

"Here."

She handed it over without hesitation.

Taking Hela’s "Nightsword—branch edition," Lorien gave it a few test swings.

Whoosh, whoosh~

It was surprisingly sturdy, with a nice whistling sound when swung. The black was deep and rich—not that washed-out grayish-black you sometimes saw.

It actually looked... pretty convincing.

"Not bad."

"Right?" Hela stood with her hands on her hips, beaming.

"But now it’s mine."

"?" Hela’s smile froze.

It didn’t disappear—it just moved onto Lorien’s face instead.

"Give it back!!"

"You’re a bad guy, waaah!"

"You tricked a little girl out of her stick~!"

Seeing that Hela was on the verge of tears, Lorien coughed twice and quickly returned the twig—no, the "Nightsword"—to her.

"Here, here. Just teasing you."

Hela snatched it back and jabbed Lorien twice with it.

"Super bad guy!"

Ahem, ahem... wasn’t it fun?

Still, the branch really was nice. Lorien couldn’t deny he’d had the urge to keep it for himself. If it was something you’d made yourself, it wouldn’t be as special. But if it was something you just happened to find in perfect condition—well, that made it priceless.

It was all about the joy of it.

"Ahem, alright—grab your things, we’re heading back to New York."

"Let’s go~!"

Hela swung her Nightsword as she walked ahead, chopping at the air, clearly planning to take it home.

Which was fine—what’s a trip without bringing something back?

...

The four of them returned to their rental first, packed their belongings, and gathered in the living room.

Sure enough, Hela was still holding her "Nightsword."

Lorien lifted a finger.

"Got everything? Then let’s go home."

Snap~

In an instant, they vanished.

The next moment, they were standing in the northern New York tower.

Gwen hefted her things and waved.

"I’ve gotta head back. I won’t be here for dinner—bye~!"

Lorien and Wanda waved in return.

"See you tomorrow."

After watching Gwen leave, the three went inside, switched to slippers, and headed in.

Click.

The door opened, and both Lorien and Hela made for the sofa—though Hela plopped down on the thick carpet with her game console, while Lorien sprawled across the couch.

"Ahhh~"

Wanda looked over, puzzled.

"What’s wrong?"

"Nothing," Lorien waved her off. "Just been away from home too long. A bit tired."

Wanda: ???

She didn’t get it. They’d rested for ages that afternoon—why was he tired?

What she didn’t understand was Lorien’s attachment to home. Or more accurately, to staying home.

He could go out, sure, but not for too long. Otherwise, it felt like his soul was wandering. Only at home could he truly recharge.

As the saying goes, a mansion or a palace still isn’t as good as your own home sweet home.

Lorien wholeheartedly agreed.

Wanda didn’t get it—but that was fine.

She put away what she’d brought back, combed her hair, and headed toward the bathroom.

"I’m going to soak for a bit."

Soak?

Oh, I’m definitely coming for that.

Lorien waved casually.

"Go on."

Five minutes later, he followed her.