Did Medici know Adam gave Evah a Conqueror characteristic?
Of course not.
He and Adam had long fallen out. Tolerating the True Creator and Adam's limited cooperation regarding Evah was already his limit. There was no way he'd go out of his way to ask Adam for intel.
And given their current relationship, even if Medici tried, he'd probably come up empty.
Evah, satisfied, savored Medici's shocked expression before saying with a straight-faced grin, "This is where you're supposed to say, 'Who asked you?' to complete the gag."
"Hah!" Medici let out a reflexive sneer. After the initial shock, he seemed to piece something together, eyeing the young man up and down with a knowing look. "So you called me here to brag about some new deal you struck with Adam?"
Medici didn't buy that Adam would just hand over a Conqueror characteristic to this mysterious creature for no reason. There had to be a bigger play.
"I did make a deal with Adam," Evah said with a smile, not denying it. He toyed with the sealed Conqueror characteristic like it was a squishy stress toy.
Only then did Medici notice what Evah was holding. As the former Red Angel, he should've spotted the Conqueror characteristic instantly, but its previous owner had clearly done something to it, sealing its aura completely. Not a trace leaked out, making it look like an ordinary toy.
"But, Little Red…" Evah looked up at Medici, grinning. "You've probably guessed part of why Adam gave me this Conqueror characteristic, haven't you?"
"He knows I'd be happy to trade it to you. I'm actually quite fond of you."
Medici's expression turned subtle. He wasn't dumb; he'd considered the possibility, which made it all the more ironic.
The corner of his mouth twitched, his tone dripping with sarcasm. "Did you call me here just to mess with me? Or are you playing messenger for Him this time?"
"Just telling it like it is," Evah said, shrugging. "As for being a messenger…"
He burst into laughter, as if he'd heard something hilarious, and looked at Medici. "Why would I play messenger for Adam? Your beef with him has nothing to do with me. He didn't turn me into hotpot, and we're not exactly buddies."
"If you two got into a fight, I'd be thrilled to watch from the sidelines with popcorn," Evah said, dead serious.
"Tch!" Medici scoffed, not the least bit surprised. He'd long pegged this guy as a jerk on par with Amon.
He glanced at the Conqueror characteristic in Evah's hand. "Name your price. What do you want to trade it for?"
Evah smiled but didn't answer right away. Instead, he pivoted, as if changing the subject. "Medici, what do you think of Tudor?"
"Tudor? Hah, a lunatic," Medici said, his expression cold and sour, clearly triggered by some bad memories tied to the name.
"And what about the Primordial Demoness?" Evah asked, still grinning.
"What's to say? A twisted, crazy freak. If not for Her, the Demoness pathway wouldn't be all men," Medici said, his reaction less intense but still laced with his usual snarky sarcasm.
Evah wasn't surprised. He pressed on, smiling. "Did you know Tudor and the Primordial Demoness had a kid?"
"What?" Medici froze, visibly stunned. As someone turned into hotpot early, trapped as an evil spirit in an underground ruin for over a millennium, the Red Angel was out of the loop on explosive gossip like this. He had no way to hear it.
Evah continued, unhurried. "Not only did they have a kid, they were genuinely in love! Well, their love wasn't exactly normal, but for high-sequences, it's pretty rare."
Medici's brows knitted together, his expression as if Adam was crawling all over him. He was clearly thrown by the bombshell. After a long pause, he sneered, "No wonder the Primordial Demoness… So they were already hooking up back then!"
He was referring to his hotpot incident. As the Red Angel, he'd been hunting Einhorn and Sauron while keeping an eye on the Primordial Demoness's schemes. Her distractions pulled his focus, leaving him blindsided by Tudor, Adam, and Amon's ambush, turning him into stew.
Evah neither confirmed nor denied it. He just smiled, watching Medici grit his teeth. After a moment's thought, he pulled two apples from somewhere and offered one to Medici.
"Want an apple?" Evah asked, already crunching into his own.
Medici, thrown off by the question, felt his mood stutter but took the apple anyway, biting into it with a crunch.
Then he saw Evah whip out a camera from nowhere and snap a photo of him.
"What's wrong with you?" Medici said, genuinely baffled, unsure of Evah's angle.
"It's The Red Angel Eating an Apple! Not quite a legendary moment, but still worth commemorating!" Evah said, spouting nonsense Medici didn't get. He stowed the camera and continued casually, "Little Red, do you know how Tudor died?"
"You do?" Medici shot him a look. He'd already clocked that this mysterious creature knew secrets most didn't.
"Of course I do. Tudor wasn't killed by Adam directly, but Adam definitely nudged him toward death," Evah said with a grin, taking another crunch of his apple. After chewing and swallowing, he added, "Feeling a bit touched?"
"Hah, touched? You're not suggesting He killed Tudor to avenge me, are you? That's disgusting and fake. With that paranoiac's style, He'd only push for Tudor's death if it served Him," Medici said, sneering. He bit viciously into his apple, like he was tearing into someone's flesh. "I just regret not killing Tudor myself."
"Sounds like you really get Adam," Evah said, smiling. Then his tone shifted. "You might still get your shot at revenge."
(End of Chapter)