Chapter 207: He is, my lover (Two-in-one)
The Abyss, the bottom of the abyss.
This is the outer side of the world, a territory that beings from the Prime Material Plane have never set foot in.
To the beings of the Western Continent, everything about the Abyss is unknown.
Even in the imagination of the vast majority of Intelligent Races, and even Mythical Creatures, the inside of the Abyss should be a dead, silent purgatory, a barren place where no life exists.
But in reality, it is not so.
Just as in the Elemental Plane, which is filled with high temperatures and where flesh and blood beings cannot exist, there are still Elemental Life forms such as “Fire Elementals” and “Hellfire Lords.”
Life is the most tenacious miracle in this world.
No one knows where the life in the Abyss comes from. Perhaps it is from the beginning of the world, when the boundaries between the outer and inner sides of the world were not as distinct and insurmountable as they are now, during the chaotic period.
Or perhaps it comes from certain pivotal moments of epochal changes and the ebb of mystery, when they mistakenly entered the inner side from the outer side of the world.
But no matter what—
Even within the most treacherous Abyss, there are still sparks of life.
An ice-blue plain.
An ancient city, shrouded in a faint night, stands on this desolate, ice-and-snow-covered land.
Occasionally, pedestrians wearing long robes and hooded caps enter and exit this ancient city.
Sometimes, the howling cold wind would blow open the hoods of their robes, revealing the long, slender, pointed ears of the pedestrians in this ancient city, which are different from those of humans.
This is a city belonging to the Elf Race, and it is also called Snow City by the elves.
“It is said that more than five hundred years ago—”
“This place was not like this.”
“The Royal Court where we are now was just a scorched land within the Abyss, flowing with magma and flames.”
The melodious sound of wind instruments echoed on the icy snowfield, accompanied by the singing narration of a Gray Elf bard.
“Until one day, the sky shattered, and this city, laden with a great Holy Spear, descended from outside the Abyss into the current world.”
“Since then, the originally scorched land flowing with lava and flames has gradually turned into the snowy plain it is today.”
“Is this true?”
An elf from the audience asked beside the marble city wall.
“Whether it’s true or not, what does it matter? It happened five hundred years ago.”
The Gray Elf bard strummed his strings.
“However, since the Leader said so, it should be true.”
“But this goes against common sense.”
An elf raised an objection: “What happened to turn a purgatory flowing with lava and flames into the snowfield it is today?”
“Who knows?”
The Gray Elf bard continued to strum his strings, his words carrying a chant-like rhythm: “In the world of the extraordinary, anything is possible.”
“I heard that powerful Legends can, by their own will, unconsciously interfere with the surrounding nature, causing reality around them to converge towards their Mental Landscape and become distorted.”
“And what if there is a great being sleeping here, one who is more powerful and more noble than a Legend?”
“If that were the case, then the manifestation of their Mental Landscape might not be a temporary and unsustainable distortion… but a permanent revision and overwrite of the surrounding environment.”
“Rewriting reality with one’s own inner world… a great being who transcends legends.”
The previous elf was stunned: “Besides the Leader, is there such a strong person sleeping in our city?”
Clearly, apart from the mysterious and unfathomable Leader, who only appeared occasionally.
Even within the Council Hall, which held the power of the Royal Court, all the Elders of various races had only just reached the Legend stage.
“I’m not sure. It’s just some vague speculation found in ancient scrolls.”
The Gray Elf bard also shook his head in confusion.
As a bard, he had read more books and heard more rumors than ordinary people, so he appeared more knowledgeable.
As for the authenticity of those rumors and ancient scrolls, hundreds of years had passed, and it was naturally impossible to verify them.
Frankly, he himself found these rumors hard to believe.
After all, the ability to unconsciously rewrite reality, from a purgatory to an ice and snow-covered snowfield, by relying on one’s own will and Mental Landscape manifested from the Inner World—
Such power was beyond the imagination of most residents of the Royal Court.
“Although these are just rumors—”
“They are not entirely fabricated lies.”
A crisp voice suddenly sounded.
It was a Gray Elf also wearing a long robe.
However, unlike the white robes worn by the two people who had been conversing, this Gray Elf maiden wore a jet-black robe.
“Elder Liliana.”
“Elder Liliana.”
Upon seeing the black-robed Gray Elf maiden, both the Gray Elf bard and the other residents who were listening to the bard’s story by the city wall stood up simultaneously and spoke respectfully.
Liliana.
An Elder of the Gray Elf clan in the current Council Hall.
At the same time, she was the strongest person in the Royal Court, second only to the Leader.
Although they were all Legends, they were not on the same level as other Legends; there was a qualitative difference.
It was said that Elder Liliana was born before the Royal Court fell into the Abyss and had personally experienced that great change.
Moreover, according to ancient records in the Grand Library of the Royal Court, before that, the Gray Elf Race, as a marginal race in the Royal Court, did not have the qualification to participate in the Council Hall or interfere with the highest-level decisions of the Royal Court.
It was not until the Royal Court fell into the Abyss and Elder Liliana rose to prominence that she secured a place for the Gray Elf Race in the Council Hall with her own powerful strength.
Furthermore, she was also the elf closest to the mysterious Leader in the Royal Court.
Although Elder Liliana’s appearance was still that of a maiden, the age of elves could not be measured by their outward appearance.
Within the Elf Royal Court, apart from the Leader, everyone showed respect to Liliana.
For the Gray Elf Race, this was genuine respect and admiration.
However, for other branches of elves, it might simply be a matter of “submitting out of fear.”
“No need for formalities…”
“Neither the Leader nor Sister Heiser likes too many formalities.”
The Gray Elf maiden waved her hand.
She turned her head slightly and looked at the Gray Elf bard who had spoken earlier.
“Your speculation is actually not wrong.”
“If it weren’t for that, do you think a powerful being like the Leader would stay in the desolate Royal Court for so long… just for us weaklings who are insignificant in her eyes?”
“The reason why the Leader has stayed here for five hundred years, in this deserted place that can only be described as desolate and barren at the bottom of the Abyss—”
“It’s all just for…”
“Someone.”
“For… someone?”
The bard spoke bewilderedly.
“Elder Liliana, who is the person you mentioned that the Leader has stayed here to protect for five hundred years?”
As soon as the words left his mouth, he regretted them.
This clearly involved great secrecy, a secrecy that Elder Liliana also tried to avoid mentioning.
It might even involve the fundamental reason for the Royal Court’s fall into the Abyss more than five hundred years ago.
However, his bardic curiosity and thirst for knowledge drove him to ask the question without thinking.
To his surprise, the Elder before him did not frown in displeasure or refuse as he expected.
Liliana’s gray-black beautiful eyes also showed a hint of complex emotion.
“I don’t know.”
“I only saw him once when I was very, very young, still a little girl.”
“At that time, the Royal Court had not yet fallen into the Abyss. It was an island in the vast sea, shrouded in eternal darkness.”
“And at that time, the lives of the Gray Elf Race and the entire Royal Court were not as abundant as they are now… the bloodline of the entire Elf Race was cursed with impurity, and for the vast majority of elves, their lifespan did not exceed two hundred years, nowhere near as long as it is now.”
A hint of reminiscence flashed in Liliana’s beautiful eyes.
She seemed to have returned to herself as a little girl in a Gray Elf settlement, hiding behind her elders, and seeing the human youth with black hair and black eyes beside Sister Heiser for the first time.
More than five hundred years had passed since then.
The little Gray Elf girl who once looked up at the starry sky had now become the pillar of the Elf Royal Court, a true Legend.
And whether it was Sister Heiser, the Golden Elf who took good care of the Gray Elf Race—
Or that human youth with black hair and black eyes, they had been out of contact for a long time.
Within the Elf Royal Court, they had long since become a few lines of text in ancient scrolls, the stuff of vague legends.
“Frankly, I’m very curious too.”
“What kind of charm did that person possess.”
“That made the Leader and Sister Heiser so unforgettable of him.”
Liliana’s gaze fell outside the ancient city wall, into the swirling snow, with a hint of curiosity and inquiry.
“And what kind of person…”
“Could have a Mental Landscape with such a scene.”
Normally, people’s Mental Landscapes were dignified and magnificent palaces, or gardens full of flowers, in short, beautiful things, representing the so-called “ideal resting place.”
But that human’s Mental Landscape was a snow-covered plain with incessant wind and snow.
That Mental Landscape was so strong that the scene in his heart even manifested in reality, permanently overwriting the magma and sea of fire into the current snowfield.
What did this snowfield mean to him?
Was it his homeland?
It wasn’t until Liliana passed through the portal of Snow City.
And arrived at the palace shrouded in faint night at the center of the Royal Court.
Her mind was still lost in reminiscence.
It wasn’t until the cold, shadowed doorway came into view that Liliana came back to her senses and gently knocked on the door.
“Enter.”
A pleasant and elegant voice came from within the door.
Upon hearing the reply, Liliana pushed open the door and walked in.
As soon as she entered, she was greeted by bright and clear sunlight.
It formed a stark contrast with the shadow and night that permeated the entire palace.
Bright sunlight streamed down through gaps made of glass in the dome.
The sunlight illuminated the ice-covered throne.
Seated on the throne, the youth’s profile was illuminated by the faint morning light, with defined and deep contours, his skin appearing almost transparent.
His eyes were slightly closed, as if he were taking a nap.
If—
One were to ignore the pure silver spear piercing through his chest.
The black-haired, black-skirted maiden was leaning slightly against the side of the black iron throne.
She held a wet towel in her hand, as if she had just wiped his cheek.
“How is it, Lily…”
The black-skirted maiden slowly raised her crimson-gold eyes.
“The simulated sunlight source I created… it’s no different from the real sun, right?”
Liliana nodded: “No different, Leader.”
In fact, she had not seen much real sunlight, only glimpsing a brief moment of daylight when the Holy Spear pierced the night during the fall of the Lost Island into the Abyss.
However, that fleeting light was enough to make Liliana remember it for a lifetime.
“That’s good.”
The black-skirted maiden nodded with satisfaction.
“My Authority specializes in darkness and shadows; the sun and light are precisely the fields I am worst at.”
“To adjust the quality of the light to be indistinguishable from the real sun, it took me several years of simulation and adjustment… Fortunately, the result is quite good.”
“However, there’s nothing that can be done about it…”
She leaned slightly to the side and looked at the sleeping youth on the throne.
A fleeting radiance flashed in her crimson-gold vertical pupils: “After all…”
“A vegetative state that has been dormant for too long…”
“If he doesn’t get enough sun, his complexion won’t look good.”
“Leader…”
Liliana opened her mouth, wanting to speak but stopping.
At this moment,
Her curiosity about the relationship between the black-skirted maiden, her leader, and the human youth on the throne reached its peak.
However, in the end, Liliana suppressed the urge to ask.
She remembered what Sister Heiser had told her long ago: “Children shouldn’t ask too many questions about things they shouldn’t know.”
However, in the next moment,
As if she could see through Liliana’s thoughts,
The black-skirted maiden looked down at Liliana before her, and a sly curve suddenly formed on her flawless, exquisite face like ice and snow.
“Lily…”
“Are you curious about Shaya and my relationship?”
Liliana suppressed the urge to nod and shook her head: “No, Leader, I’m not.”
Knowing too much has never been a good thing.
Those who understand, understand.
However, the slyness in the black-skirted maiden’s words became even more intense.
“It’s okay, Lily.”
“It’s not something that can’t be seen in the light of day.”
She looked at the youth on the throne behind her, her lips curving slightly.
“Shaya—”
“He is my lover.”
