Chapter 212: 148. Death Rune
“Erwind is very cunning. He intentionally exposed his whereabouts, leading me all the way to another human city, only to catch a few of his avatars. And something happened at home; Ag has been urging me to return. Thankfully, I thought about seeing you one more time before I left, and as a result, I caught a whiff of that guy’s stink here.”
Eil stretched out her hand to push on Fisher’s muscles. With her perfectly timed squeeze and massage, the bones within Fisher’s body returned to their rightful places with crisp crackling sounds. Fisher winced in pain, barely managing to inhale, and could only furrow his brows while looking at the huge pit in the sky.
“Erwind belongs to a very mysterious organization and possesses a miraculous artifact that is either a relic or something else. Ag said that those bizarre pieces of knowledge were granted to him by that artifact. You have a similar scent on you.”
As Eil spoke, she gently cupped Fisher’s cheeks with both hands, her lazy and charming face staring directly into Fisher’s eyes. Taking advantage of his inability to resist, she gently squeezed and kneaded his face into a new shape.
“You knew right from the start?”
“Yes, I mentioned from the beginning that I sensed an unpleasant smell on you.”
Eil looked down, her long red hair overly draping across his forehead, sending a tickling sensation through him. Her actions were more excessive than usual. When Fisher instinctively turned his head to glance at the sleeping Jasmine beside them, he suddenly speculated that Eil might be acting this way just because she saw Jasmine nearby.
However, before that thought fully formed, Eil forcefully grasped his chin, twisting his neck to force him to make eye contact with her.
“No wonder I thought you were going to kill me when we first met.”
“I thought you were one of Erwind’s cronies, but upon closer inspection, that’s not the case. That’s why I stayed by your side at first. You don’t really think some worthless human currency could lure me away, do you?”
“I thought it was my charm that attracted you.”
Fisher joked, but Eil yawned, lazily laying on him as if using him as a comfortable soft bed, then casually said,
“That is part of it, yeah, it’s quite comfortable here.”
Fisher sighed and glanced again at the sleeping Jasmine nearby, feeling that the current situation was somewhat strange.
Suppressing that odd feeling, Fisher began to explain, “Several months ago, in the Southern Continent, I defeated a human with strange powers, from whom I obtained that miraculous artifact. At first, I studied its contents, but I soon realized that the knowledge it held could drive a person mad, so I gave up on researching it.”
Eil seemed to completely ignore his words, comfortably closing her eyes. A deep “gurgling” sound like bubbling magma came from her throat, which, based on what Fisher knew about her, indicated that she felt quite comfortable. So, she probably wasn’t paying any attention to what Fisher was saying.
On the other hand, perhaps she had already determined, during her time spent with him, that she hadn’t misused the completion manual; otherwise, she would have already harmed herself.
They maintained their ambiguous posture until, after a few seconds, Fisher keenly noticed that the bone-piercing pain had faded, and his fingers could move freely again.
A slight vibration continued in Saint Nali’s urban area, indicating that Anna was still moving within the city. Fisher looked around the quiet treasure house and suddenly remembered that Xiatu had also vanished to attract those monsters, and he still needed to find her.
So, Fisher reached out and patted Eil’s back, prompting her to stretch comfortably as her arrow-like tail twitched slightly.
“I—”
“Don’t say anything. Even if you want to pursue some warmth with me, there isn’t time. Ag has been urging me to return, and I need to set off now.”
Eil flashed a mischievous smile and playfully bit Fisher’s finger, then slowly rose. She yawned widely, and as she released a breath, the air above her head shimmered from the heat, like a fire dragon breathing fire. But as soon as she remembered that Ag was urging her, she became as irritable as an employee being rushed by a boss.
“So annoying! Just thinking about having to run back is so frustrating. Why can’t I sleep a little longer?”
As she spoke, she reached behind her to retrieve a slightly shorter dagger. When it touched her skin, it emitted a deep black ominous glow. Once Eil secured the dagger, she casually tossed it to Fisher.
“That guy Erwind is like a cunning rabbit hiding in a burrow. He rarely shows up, and his appearance in human society this time was an accident. It seems he’s collaborating with some human. I was worried he wouldn’t appear again; now it’s fine. Since he wants to cause you trouble, there’s no need to draw him out again. Giving you this thing will protect your safety, which is killing two birds with one stone. Awo.”
The Abyss.
Fisher suddenly remembered the massive pillar of fire he had seen earlier. Eil seemed to be the embodiment of that fire pillar, and in his peripheral vision, he noticed many similarly bright fire pillars behind it.
“Erwind cannot be killed by ordinary means. His true body is long gone to who knows where, and the remaining avatars are countless. You saw earlier that there is one sure-fire method, which is to use this.”
“This is the Death Rune?”
Fisher also sat up. Earlier, Erwind mentioned that she carried the Death Rune, which was clearly the strange short dagger he had seen before.
“Smart! But how do I explain this thing to you? This world is like a doll entangled in countless threads. The doll is its surface, and the threads behind it are its essence. Then, Ag used a certain method to cut off a small part of one of those threads, which transformed into this dagger. How about that? Does that make sense?”
Eil stroked her chin, pausing for a second as if she thought of a brilliant explanation. Her eyes brightened, and she proudly placed her hands on her hips as she explained the principle to Fisher.
“Do you want to hear what you’re saying?”
Although Fisher found the specific functioning of the principle somewhat confusing, he still keenly captured the concept Eil wanted to express, so he tentatively said,
“So, as long as this weapon pierces him, regardless of whether it hits an avatar, he will ultimately die?”
“Yes, you understood! Good job.”
“…”
Eil patted Fisher’s shoulder in admiration but raised a finger to add,
“Even Ag cannot maintain the stability of this rune, so this dagger can only be drawn once. Once used, it must ensure that it hits.”
“I understand.”
Fisher cautiously stowed the small dagger in his pocket and then stood up, looking toward the still quiet treasure house.
“I have another companion in the treasure house. I need to find her.”
“Alright, I will help you find her and then take you both back to the surface. After that, I will leave.”
“Got it.”
She still had Ag urging her. Even though it had been a while since they last met, Fisher still held her back, responding only like that.
Before Fisher could move, Eil had already taken it upon herself to hoist the sleeping Jasmine onto her shoulder, looking as though she were carrying some cargo. When Fisher looked over, she pushed him forward with her tail.
“You’re injured and still want to carry someone? Hurry up and find help.”
But why did it seem like she didn’t want to let him carry Jasmine herself?
Fisher thought suddenly.
He planned to find Sir Book Emhart first. As a result, he spotted the small book nestled in the corner. Silently approaching the small book lying in the corner, he discovered that it had its eyes closed and was softly muttering something.
“Oh, Demon, oh, Monster, it’s just too terrifying!”
“…”
Fisher grabbed him, nearly scaring him into the air.
“Ah! God, Fisher, you’re still alive? Thank goodness you’re still in one piece. I thought our deal was about to be canceled.”
“Do you have any idea where Xiatu went?”
“Oh, I heard hoofbeats coming from the hall earlier. She should be over there.”
Originally, Emhart was quite excited, circling around Fisher joyfully. But upon flying into the air, he saw Eil, who was carrying Jasmine behind Fisher. Eil paid him no mind and lazily yawned. As a result, Emhart thought she was going to eat him and hurriedly shrank into one of Fisher’s pockets.
His pocket was already full; if not for Emhart’s ability to shrink, he would absolutely not fit.
“That little guy is interesting. He once ran into the Abyss and was caught by Baemon, who tore many pages from his book before letting him go.”
“Baemon?”
“That’s a demon with a pretty twisted sense of humor. In ancient times, she loved making deals with humans and had a good sense of aesthetics regarding art, so she had a good relationship with the Angel breed. Sometimes, she disguises herself as an angel to bestow creative inspiration to humans, thereby extracting the fallen nature of artists. Humans generally refer to her as the ‘Queen of Angels.’ However, the angels have never acknowledged this title, as they do not have a good relationship with humans.”
A demon disguised as an angel? And she even roughed up Emhart?
No wonder he was scared out of his wits; it turned out there was a historical connection.
“I didn’t expect there to be a demon so friendly with angels. I thought angels and demons were fundamentally opposed. At least that’s how it is in human myths.”
“She has a good relationship with angels; it’s not like demons and angels generally get along. The relationships among demon breeds are quite loose; no one controls anyone else. The only one that has some authority is Ag. He has a lot going on, and other demons tend to avoid him. If it weren’t for the favor I owe him, I wouldn’t have awakened from my slumber.”
Upon mentioning Ag, Eil impatiently curled her lips, seemingly very annoyed with that demon.
“Moreover, the disparities between demons are vast. Only seventy-two can truly be called demons; the rest are either slightly capable demon servants or little demons who don’t even have consciousness and merely eat and drink all day. After all, there must be balance between lives.”
“Is that so?”
If the place where the demon breed resides is the Abyss, then could the map obtained from Eil’s research somehow lead to the entrance of the Abyss?
While pondering Eil’s words, Fisher continued to move forward.
Before long, the entrance to the hall they had entered appeared before them. The place originally used for storing treasures was now close to being in tatters, with the stench of dissipated human-worms wafting all around. At the entrance of the hall, Fisher finally saw the Centaur girl sprawled at the door.
“Xiatu!”
Fisher shouted her name, but she gave no response. He uneasily reached out to touch her neck, and after confirming that her breathing remained steady, he finally breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, Xiatu was still alive.
Eil, carrying Jasmine, glanced at Xiatu lying on the ground and then turned to look at the arrows and knife marks embedded in the surrounding walls. Her tail raised slightly, and a hint of admiration appeared in her eyes.
“She’s a bit exhausted, but it’s nothing serious. Hmm, I quite like the battle aura on this girl. In the past, I might have generously rewarded her a little.”
Eil’s personality was very strange for a demon; compared to other demons, she resembled a pure warrior. Earlier, in the virtual shadow, Fisher had also seen many warriors kneeling before that fire pillar, pleading for her fighting spirit. Such occurrences likely happened often in ancient times.
Eil yawned and lightly extended her finger toward the Centaur girl in front of her. In a miraculous turn of events, in the next second, the Centaur girl stood upright as if she had been given a stimulant. Despite her blades being dulled, she instinctively struck a combat stance.
“Despicable monster! Come on!”
She panted, but the surroundings were devoid of the previously relentless human-worms. After catching her breath for a while, she finally slowly calmed down.
“Fisher?”
“It’s over, Xiatu. Calm down.”
“Over? Jasmine… Anna? This is…”
“This is my other companion, Anna. She…”
Before Fisher could finish his sentence, the entire cave began to tremble. It wasn’t the treasure house’s problem, but a strong tremor from above the ground, suggesting that Anna had likely drawn near the Saint Nali urban area.
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(End of Chapter)
