Elias understood what Alex was expecting, but the wish the boy made was too simple and belonged to the distant future; it was truly difficult to cause any immediate physical change.
"Alex." he opened his mouth to affirm: "An Angel's promise is law, unchangeable and unbreakable. I will not break my promise."
"So You have to go now?" Alex asked, a bit of regret rising in his heart. He thought, since the wish had been made, a supreme existence like Elias also had no reason to stay in this dilapidated house anymore.
That was also good; before the aggressive Arbiters came to check tomorrow morning, he wouldn't need to get a headache thinking of a way to hide this tall, magical white skeleton anywhere.
"Correct." The Angel of War stood up straight and stretched, his bones grinding together making a rattling sound: "I still have important matters to attend to in my realm."
Alex hurriedly picked up the scarf again, intending to see this Angel off for a segment of the way. Just as he was about to wrap the scarf around to hide the birthmark, Elias's reminder from earlier suddenly echoed in his head.
[It is not a curse.]
"Elias..." Five cold, bony fingertips unexpectedly reached out, gently covering Alex's lips, stopping him from speaking further.
"Alex, you must not call my name directly," he said sternly: "Understood?"
Alex was startled, hurriedly blinking continuously to signal he understood, his heart pounding.
The skeleton let go of his hand: "Apologies, Alex, I have offended you. But the true name of a deity contains power; calling it directly will bring damage to the soul for a mortal like you."
Alex quickly nodded repeatedly, his face turning slightly pale from fear.
"What did you want to ask me just now?" Elias patiently waited for Alex's question.
"This..." Alex pointed to the black mark on his neck: "You said it is not a curse, so does that mean I don't need to cover it anymore? Can I live openly?"
Elias did not answer immediately. Although he had known early on that Alex would ask this question, and had even hypothesized in his head what kind of answer he should give him so as not to delve into dangerous supernatural matters while still being clear and easy to understand, when this human child opened his mouth to ask truthfully with eyes full of hope, Elias could not utter a cruel answer.
Elias could have simply not cared about the life or death or emotions of a tiny human boy. To him, Alex was so weak he could be ignored and not counted in the flow of history, but through this brief and sincere conversation, the Angel had deduced from the boy's few sentences the misfortune and suffering he had to endure.
Powerful deities usually paid absolutely no attention to the life or death of humans, who were as weak as ants and grass, but Elias, the god of war and sorrow, could not refuse the light of longing at the bottom of the boy's clear eyes.
The feeling of expectation coming to nothing was truly unpleasant; even so, he could not deceive himself, nor did he want to give the boy a false illusion only for him to be filled with disappointment later.
"Alex, you must not take off the scarf," he said, his voice carrying a bit of a mandatory command: "Just keep covering it."
Alex had already formed a guess about this answer during the moment Elias's silence dragged on.
"Is that so..." Alex mumbled, the smile on his lips stiffening. In truth, when asking this question, he had a moment of expecting that Elias might tell him that he didn't need to wear this stifling old scarf anymore, that he could hold his head high and walk under the sunlight.
But this thought only existed for a fleeting moment. In the moment Elias was silent, Alex already knew the answer, but he was still a bit sad, his chest aching.
That mood was like watching a brilliantly colored soap bubble flying suspended in the sunlight, incredibly beautiful, only for it to suddenly burst into pieces without a trace.
A fleeting fairyland descended, bringing a fragile, aimless, hovering hope, finally shattering before Alex's eyes, falling onto the tip of his nose, leaving behind a fleeting coolness of harsh reality.
A beautiful soap bubble had popped.
Alex sighed inwardly, swallowing his disappointment.
"I know." He deftly wrapped the scarf again, tying the knot carefully, his movements practiced just like the hundreds and thousands of times he had done it every day before.
"Can I see You off for a short way?" Alex looked up and asked Elias, his eyes earnest. He still wanted to be with this strange Angel a little longer. Not for anything else, he just felt that for incredible things like this to happen in his dull life, the probability was too tiny, like a miracle. If he missed it this time, he would truly have to wait until he died to meet him again.
Elias did not refuse this small and sentimental request. He nodded slightly.
Alex pushed the wooden door open and stepped out of the house first; the cold wind rushed in, making him shiver.
Leaving the range of the warm light of [Karamor's Tear], he once again felt the covetous, scrutinizing gazes that were indescribable coming from the surrounding darkness. Alex shrank his neck back in fear; fortunately, Elias immediately stepped out behind him.
The moment the tall skeleton appeared, a divine pressure spread out, and all those evil gazes vanished without a trace, as if the darkness itself had to revere him.
The Angel of War walked slowly, the sound of bones ringing out rhythmically, reaching the empty patch of land full of wild grass in front of the house.
"Alex." The Angel of God turned around, looking at the thin boy standing huddled in the wind: "Good luck with this life."
As his voice trailed off, a brilliant red halo like blood and fire suddenly radiated from the bare white skeleton. From the inside out, Alex once again felt that cruel and majestic aura, causing the surrounding space to seem to tremble.
Elias was enveloped by layers of the red halo, looking like a true god of war. Alex raised his head, squinting to look intently at the rare miracle. He suddenly felt a bit worried; what if this unusual halo attracted the Arbiters or other citizens? But such trivial worries did not stay in his head for too long, because Elias's figure was gradually becoming ethereal, dissolving into the void.