Luo Xi, head of the Church's Inquisition and a candidate for pope, had heard that the king's ninth-in-line heir was frivolous, willful, cruel, and ambitious. After the Church rescued him from a ritual to summon an evil god, he had shut himself away, and people suspected he was possessed.
Holding great power and aspiring to the papacy, the inquisitor would never allow an evil god to wreak havoc under his watch. He resolved to arrest the noble himself.
But the pale-skinned, red-lipped young noble was idly playing with a dazzling array of gems. When he saw Luo Xi, he approached gracefully and took his hand, his expression sincere and guileless. "Your Excellency, I may be greedy and vain, and disliked by the emperor and hated by my siblings, but there is one thing I ask you to believe."
"I have ambition for this world alone, and no ill will toward it."
As he spoke, the young noble lightly traced a finger across the inquisitor's palm.
(In the scene above, the noble boy is earnestly pretending to flirt. It's anyone's guess whether it works.)
After going to great lengths to get into a university in another province, Zhang Xuan thought he could finally escape his awful relatives. But on the very first day in his dorm, he transmigrated into the body of a noble who was using a ritual to borrow power from an evil god. He was supposedly the king's nephew, and ninth in line to inherit the throne.
Good news: the evil god has already sent over the power. Now you can take out all the weaklings around you and escape!
Bad news: Hurry up and seize the throne, then sacrifice the country to repay your debt. If you can't pay it back, your life is forfeit!
One more piece of bad news: The Church is powerful. If the Inquisition discovers you're a follower of an evil god, you'll be killed!
Zhang Xuan thumped the ground. "Never take out an online loan!"
Every night at midnight, Zhang Xuan transmigrates to a steampunk world on the brink of despair, undergoing an industrial revolution. Its vast cities are home to countless dangers, including the Church, the Inquisition, secret cults, and foreign races. Plague spreads, the world is falling, the sun will eventually sink, and the apocalypse is inevitable.
Zhang Xuan sets short-term goals: manage his territory and seize the throne.
Then a long-term goal: kill his creditor, the evil god.
Bonus goal: Keep an eye on that cold, aloof, fatherly inquisitor and see when he finally realizes he's willing to fall into eternal damnation for me.
After all that, Zhang Xuan still has to return to the real world during the day to study hard, work on his thesis, and earn money for living expenses.
Who works harder than he does?
A few things to know
The protagonist owes the evil god an enormous debt. As someone who considers himself an honest man, he once made dodging the debt his life's mission.
A cold, fatherly artificial human seme with a hidden dark side x a bright, sunny evil-god uke who diligently plots to seize the throne
The seme and uke join forces to seize power: one takes the throne, the other the papacy. This scheming couple offer their love to an endless apocalypse.
Handsome seme, beautiful uke, with a four-year age gap / Lovecraftian horror, travel between two worlds, steampunk, mystery, and adventure
Though the seme and uke are theoretically on opposing sides, the romance is meant to be sweet, with them doting on each other.
Core theme: Explore the unknown, face fear, and live bravely and earnestly
