Chapter 307: 82. The Magic Lord’s Ring
As dawn broke in the Nebarun Kingdom, the lift next to the Unicorn Whale at Nebarun Harbor creaked to life again. Heidi Lin, already waiting at the lift’s entrance, greeted the moment with a gentle smile, just as she did when she first met Fisher.
“Creak, creak, creak!”
“Welcome back, young lady and everyone. Huh?”
As the large doors of the lift opened, the cold of the Northern Region rushed toward Heidi Lin, lifting the strands of her black hair at the temples and reflecting the cold white light outside off her emerald green hair crown. In Heidi Lin’s eyes, the atmosphere inside the lift seemed somewhat dull.
The newly arrived Mr. Fisher stood together with Sister Ilos. Fisher was meditating with his eyes closed, while Ilos had her hands together in prayer. Upon seeing Heidi Lin at the doorway, she instinctively wanted to greet her but hesitated due to the silence in the lift.
Balzak, with his arms crossed and a somber expression, gently shook his head in response to Heidi Lin’s gaze. Usually carefree and loud, Felis had also quieted down, leaning against the wall on the other side, her ears twitching occasionally.
The faces of everyone present displayed different emotions, but one conspicuous mechanical figure was notably absent.
Heidi Lin seemed to understand what had happened, letting out a soft sigh. Her gaze finally settled on Miss Valentina, who sat quietly in the middle of the lift. Though her expression was blank, she seemed particularly cold.
At that moment, Valentina appeared neither calm nor dazed; even the habitual motion of rubbing her ring was absent, and her pale hands tightly clutched her skirt, not letting go even upon returning to the Unicorn Whale.
Heidi Lin covered her chest with one hand, bowed her head solemnly, and spoke softly to Valentina, “Young lady.”
Before she could finish, Valentina raised her hand and looked up with her pale silver eyes, addressing Heidi Lin, “Go prepare breakfast. We didn’t rest at all last night. After breakfast, everyone can arrange their own plans. The Moon Rabbit Tribe’s mark is already in hand, and we have many tasks to attend to regarding Haldor. I have already entrusted my family to properly bury him; he will sleep back in the Turan family’s fortress, in the name of my teacher.”
Fisher, behind Valentina, opened his eyes. Her calm and steady leadership as the head of the group was evident, as she spoke without any signs of being affected. Only Fisher, standing behind her, keenly noticed her slightly trembling shoulders.
Her black hat was slightly askew, but there was no one behind her to adjust the wheelchair’s armrest or straighten her hat.
“I understand. I will go prepare right away.”
“Okay, everyone, after breakfast, please take some time to rest. We will meet again tomorrow.”
After Heidi Lin bowed and left, Valentina did not linger either. She maneuvered her wheelchair deeper into the corridor of the cabin and soon disappeared. The members present let out a slight sigh of relief, and Balzak and Felis left without exchanging a single word.
Everything they experienced last night felt like a huge stone, bringing an even greater chill than the swirling snow outside. It underscored why seeking the legendary Frost Parasol Tree was a particularly risky venture for everyone.
“What a pity. Although Mr. Haldor looked strange, I could feel the fervor hidden in his words. May he rest under the protection of the Mother God.”
Ilos continued the prayer ritual that had not been completed in the lift, while Fisher rubbed his shoulder. In his arms, Sir Book (Emhart), who had been hiding all night, perked up and teased Ilos beside him, saying, “Stop your futile prayers; the Northern people, except for you, all worship the Frost Phoenix. If the Mother God truly takes his soul back to the celestial realm instead of under the wings of the Frost Phoenix, it would indeed be a problem. Ha ha, just a joke. However, it is truly a regret. I have roamed this world for so long, recording so many things, only to realize that the hardest pain in the mortal realm is parting.”
“Humans and most subhuman races ultimately prefer to huddle together for warmth. No matter how much they claim they do not need others, when certain moments come, only their own hearts know the bitterness. Fortunately, I’m just a great book; I don’t need to experience that feeling. You all need to extricate yourselves from this state quickly and get some good rest.”
Ilos pursed her lips but ultimately nodded at Emhart and the silent Fisher as a farewell. For some reason, since last night, Mr. Fisher hadn’t said a word; perhaps it was because of Mr. Haldor’s matter?
Not wanting to disturb Fisher, she prepared to leave. Emhart, watching her retreating figure, suddenly remembered something and reminded her, “Remember to give Fisher the medicine I prepared for him.”
“Hey? Okay.”
It wasn’t until Ilos disappeared that only Fisher and Emhart remained in the corridor. Emhart sighed, looking at the thoughtful Fisher beside him, and complained, “Why do I have to remind you to take your medicine? Have you taken me for your accomplice in your misdeeds? Huh, I would expect you to react more violently; you’re usually quick to take action.”
Emhart floated in front of Fisher, watching him think, when a small idea crossed his mind. So, he tentatively called out to Fisher a few times, “Scumbag? Trash? Huh, how strange! I—ahh, I’m wrong, let go!”
“Shut up.”
Fisher’s face darkened as he grabbed the cheeky Emhart. He had been deeply thinking about what had happened last night; the amount of information he received was overwhelming and required careful sorting, alongside considering future countermeasures.
He dragged Emhart into his room, his expression far from pleased.
Now, the problems before him were numerous, and the waters were deep, with many obstacles, making things particularly tricky for Fisher.
First among these was the towering figure of Erwind, a defector from the Creation Society. According to Fisher’s earlier estimates of his strength, Erwind was certainly not at the thirteenth rank or higher; otherwise, he would not have been suppressed by Eil’s soul projection. However, it now seemed otherwise.
The Mechanism reminded him that Erwind entered the Frost Parasol Tree to attain the Mythical Rank, which was the fifteenth rank. Thus, it was very likely that he had reached the threshold of the Mythical Rank through the Life Completion Manual, and even if weakened by the Mechanism, he would likely recover quickly.
Fisher, whose base rank barely reached nine, was at a disadvantage, being five ranks lower than Erwind!
Erwind had obtained the Life Completion Manual long before Fisher and had acquired much more forbidden knowledge.
More crucially, Erwind did not care about the madness brought on by reading completion manuals.
The Mechanism, or the Creation Society, knew that reading a second completion manual could lead to madness. Erwind could not possibly be unaware; this only indicated that his obsession with moving forward was extraordinarily strong, allowing him to largely ignore risks.
The ultimate truth.
That was Erwind’s true intention.
Now, with the Mechanism captured by Erwind’s exploit, given the current situation of the Creation Society, no one besides the Mechanism was willing to listen to the nominal leader, Fate Lord. The communication link between himself and Fate Lady had been severed, and even if the Creation Society wanted to help him, it would have to wait for them to contact him proactively. Fisher could not possibly rely on their elusive assistance.
Fisher brought Emhart to his room and hung the heavy clothing he had draped over Haldor on the coat rack. Looking at the still warm clothes, the scene of Haldor before his death gradually sunk into Fisher’s heart.
In his final moments, Haldor said nothing but kept murmuring Valentina’s name until his consciousness faded, repeatedly reminding Fisher of his promise to help Valentina.
Fisher fell silent for a moment and turned his gaze away from the coat rack. His chaotic thoughts gradually calmed down.
In any case, he had no choice but to move forward with the Turan family; the Frost Parasol Tree might hold clues about Renee, who had been missing for so long. Even for the sake of the long-lost Renee, he had to investigate, and despite the immense pressure, Fisher felt he still had hope; he was far from being at a dead end.
Firstly, Erwind was unlikely to come after him quickly. With the Death Rune given to him by Eil, the terrifying effect of instant death would likely prevent Erwind from engaging in a direct conflict with him; Erwind was not a brute; otherwise, he would not have waited until the last moment to act back at Saint Nali.
The safest method for Erwind to kill him and seize the Soul Completion Manual would be to wait until after attaining the Mythical Rank. If the Mythical Rank were as terrifying as Jasmine’s mother, Xu, even with the Death Rune in hand, it would be ineffective; it would be the real end of everything.
As long as Erwind had not yet stepped into the Mythical Rank, there was still room for maneuver.
Fisher sat at the table, methodically laying out everything he had on hand, his mind racing like lightning.
The Supplement Handbook for Sub-Humans had recently brought him considerable improvements, but it hinged on constant study of subhuman females. Now that Valentina needed to find the mark, it was inevitable that he would intersect with those affiliated families, presenting an opportunity.
Not only was there the additional reward from the Snow Mountain affiliated family, but Fisher, who was fighting against the odds, had made up his mind that he must record and study any undocumented subhuman female he encountered; this was the only way to maximize his chances of victory.
Another asset he could leverage was Feilon’s Soul Completion Handbook. Previously, he had paused his studies due to its madness-inducing tendencies, but now, it seemed he had no choice but to continue. Otherwise, if Erwind were to kill him, there would be no chance to go mad later.
Fisher’s gaze swept over the two completion manuals on the table, then skipped past the short dagger-shaped Death Rune, finally landing on the ring he received aboard the Flying Fish, which had strange text inscribed on the inner side: “唐沢あすか.”
Yes, this ring played a crucial role in last night’s battle; it appeared to enhance not only the power of the magic rune inscribed on it but also significantly amplified certain magical powers.
Why was it said that certain spells would be strengthened?
Because when Fisher used the Weaver and other protective spells, the ring showed no reaction; it only reacted when he used the Elimination Light, leaving him curious about the rules under which it enhanced magic. He would have to investigate that later.
Fisher had used the eleven-ring Elimination Light before, but the power clearly could not match the intensity from last night. The reason, of course, was due to this ring, and inexplicably, even Chaos beings lurking in the Spirit Realm viewing the proceedings reacted with fear to the magic enhanced by this ring.
As a projection reaching the level of Mythical Beings, the adversary could not possibly be afraid of a spell that hadn’t yet attained the Mythical Rank; the only possibility was that they were frightened by the aura emitted by the ring in Fisher’s hand.
Fisher lifted the ring, holding it under the room’s light. The rough, seemingly crude ring had that line of text from another world glaringly visible.
This eerie magical enhancement ability and the foreign text inevitably led Fisher to entertain a possibility.
Could it be that this ring was a possession of the former president of the Creation Society, the Magic Lord, who had gone missing?
Fisher could not understand what the text meant and could not translate it with the completion manual, but just from this small item in his hand, he felt that the former president of the Creation Society was not an ordinary person.
To be able to instill fear even in Chaos beings. Could the disappearance of the Magic Lord also be related to the Spirit Realm?
Feeling somewhat weary, Fisher lay down on his bed. A night of battle and sleeplessness made it hard for him to keep going, so he had to relax his mind and prepare to rest.
Emhart finally took advantage of this opportunity to slip out of his confinement. He had initially wanted to shout a couple of things but inadvertently caught sight of Fisher’s fatigued eyes and mouth, which opened and remained silent for what seemed like an eternity, murmuring in his heart,
“That rascal. Hmph, once you’ve rested up, the great Sir Book will settle the score with you.”
Fisher fell asleep quickly. Emhart, peering at Fisher’s uncovered body with dead-fish eyes, let out a silent sigh, ran to the foot of the bed, and bit down on the blankets to cover Fisher up. Once he finished all this, he quietly lay down beside Fisher and began staring at the ceiling in boredom.
As time went on, Emhart became more and more agitated, sitting up and glaring at Fisher quietly, grumbling,
“Geez, why do I feel like I owe you something? Can’t we just get on with things?! Every day… ugh, it’s so annoying!”
“…”
Unfortunately, Fisher had already fallen asleep and could not hear his quiet complaints.
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(The End of This Chapter)
