Chapter 366: 141. The God of the Northern Sky (5k)
“Do you like Subhumans, human?”
Fisher suddenly recalled the mysterious contributor of the Supplement Handbook for Sub-Humans in his arms, the Trans that used characters somewhat similar to the Magic Lord. He had previously speculated that if that person was someone who really liked Subhumans, then among the Immortal Subhumans, he must have known someone. To his surprise, the Moon Princess, who had long since passed away behind him, actually knew him.
“Ah, you indeed know her. No wonder you humans can grow so sturdy; it turns out you have connections with that pervert. But this is also why my prophecy indicated that you would appear here.”
“She?”
Although Valentina’s mouth was under the control of the Moon Princess, she still listened attentively alongside Emhart, clearly curious about who the Moon Princess and Fisher were talking about.
Fisher fell silent for a moment, then continued to run forward while asking, “Tell me about that human. It’s very important to me.”
“Alright, let me think. It’s been so long since I saw that peculiar human. He was a very strange person, clearly very capable, but he spoke nonsensically. I met him when I went down the mountain to search for my teacher. Can you guess what the first thing he said to me was?”
“What?”
“Ahem, ‘Your phoenix wings are so big and still on your back. Do your underwear have a special design, or how do you keep your chest bound? Ah, yours are so big, can I touch them?’ That’s the line.”
“…”
Fisher fell silent, not knowing why, but he felt that the one who wrote the Supplement Handbook for Sub-Humans was indeed someone who could say such things. On the other hand, the Moon Princess couldn’t help but laugh as she recalled it. She extended a finger and continued, “See? Isn’t he strange? Moreover, that guy is elusive; he likes to travel and explore different places, casually forming bonds with others. Sometimes he wouldn’t return to the Northern Region for decades, and like you, he was incredibly talented, so much so that he hardly seemed human.”
“Although I haven’t met him many times, he has helped me a lot, which is why I regard him as my friend. You should know that my mother, I, and several brothers have weapons forged with the assistance of the Holy Spawn. However, if we were well acquainted with the Holy Spawn, later battles wouldn’t be so fierce.”
“It was said that when he heard we were going to war, he claimed he had a sister in the Holy Realm who could forge some suitable weapons for us. I thought he was just boasting, but years later, he actually brought back a few precious holy objects to the Parasol Tree and also forged some for other races, like the slime rings, the bluebird feathered garments, and the giant troll’s ice spear. He just gave them away without asking for anything in return, not even allowing me to finish thanking him before he hurried off to travel elsewhere.”
Emhart was shocked and muttered, “No wonder I was puzzled at first why the Holy Spawn would forge weapons for you, and so many at once. Wait a minute, who exactly are you talking about? Perhaps I know his name.”
The Moon Princess shook her head and said, “Unfortunately, I don’t know his real name. One, our meetings were always short; two, he spoke in such disarray that it was hard to have a proper conversation. In any case, our relationship continued in that bizarre manner until I eventually passed away. However, I do know that he seemed to come from the sea because the first time I met him, he rode a very large crab, which he said was a gift from a friend from the depths, and it pleased him greatly.”
“A crab… mount?”
Fisher raised an eyebrow, suddenly recalling the Crabfolk Rena he had encountered at sea. She mentioned that her father went to work riding a large crab named “Haru.” It seemed that the contributor of the Supplement Handbook for Sub-Humans indeed had good relationships with many races. Currently, it was known that he had connections with Angels, Subhumans from underwater, and Phoenixes. But what about Demons?
“Hmm, and the last time I saw that guy was when my child was born. He helped me with one last favor. You may not know; since birth, I have suffered from disease. My legs were disabled, and my body was weak. In the end, it was my teacher who helped me return to normal. However, I did not have such good fortune with the offspring born from other races.”
“My child was, from birth, a stillborn.”
Although the Moon Princess spoke calmly, everyone present was slightly taken aback, clearly shocked by her words. “My husband was an ice kite from a life tier far below mine. He died in the war against the stars but miraculously left our bloodline inside me. I cherished this hard-won bloodline more than my own life. But, the fortune from heaven has its limits; the flaws in my bloodline cruelly took away her fragile life.”
“My kin could not save my child despite their utmost efforts, while that guy rode away without a backward glance on his crab, not long after returning with a Whale Folk who was said to be a sworn brother. That Whale Folk gentleman is an excellent doctor; he miraculously managed to control my child’s life force, pulling her back from the brink of death.”
Whale Folk? Do they possess the blessing to heal? Or do they manipulate life force like Jasmine?
“My child had no consciousness because the Spirit Realm recognized her as a stillborn at birth and didn’t grant her a soul. However, under my careful care, she still grew, possessing the best qualities of both her father and me. It’s just unfortunate that the time I could spend with her was far too short.”
“And that’s all the story I have with that human. It’s not long, but it’s quite memorable. She should have closer relations with her sworn siblings. If you meet them later, you can ask them for more.”
“Thank you.”
Fisher expressed his gratitude after listening, while Emhart flew about beside him, still in shock, unable to believe what he had just heard. “Such an outrageous Whale Folk? Why do I keep hearing these things today that I’ve never heard of before? By your account, even a life that the Spirit Realm hasn’t granted a soul should have long expired. How can it still grow up? But it really happened, my Holy Spawn.”
Fisher didn’t speak, continuing to run forward under the Moon Princess’s guidance. He began to understand why the Moon Princess never brought her child out in front of her kin.
Now, Fisher felt that these Phoenixes, who coexisted with the Northern beings, couldn’t possibly look down on Half-bloods as the legends had suggested. The Moon Princess not presenting her child outside the Snowflake Castle was entirely because that child lacked consciousness, merely a living shell. Whether it was fate, this child without awareness had unexpectedly preserved the last bloodline of the entire Phoenix race.
This also explained why the Turan Family, a bunch of humans who didn’t even know magic, could subdue the descendants of Phoenixes and steal her bloodline. Otherwise, even a typical Phoenix’s Half-blood could simply flap their wings, and they would be blown away.
Valentina kept silent, listening to avoid competing for the mic with the Moon Princess, but she clearly had similar thoughts to Fisher, reflecting on her own family.
As Fisher dashed through long corridors and enclosed rooms, many Phoenix-standard items were arranged neatly in the rooms and halls, showing no sign of past errors. Only the dead silence and darkness proved that the owner had long since left.
“Just ahead, open this door in front to reach our residence. Be careful; our design is quite different from humans and may be a bit tiring.”
Fisher looked at the small door before him, pushed it open without hesitation to continue his sprint, but as soon as he opened the door, he nearly fell into a bottomless abyss.
He paused at the doorway, seeing behind the door what appeared to be a circular space about a thousand meters long with an unknown depth. The walls of the space were intricately carved with beautiful sculptures and murals, covered with tightly closed doors. Occasionally, there were bridges and platforms, and at the top was a nearly transparent mineral. Looking up, you could even see the moonlit sky outside.
On Fisher’s back, the Moon Princess, who was gazing into the bottomless space through Valentina’s body, smiled slightly and said to Fisher, “You should know that we Phoenixes have the ability to foresee the future. This ability is awakened through [Perfect Ice], which is not a natural mineral but something we create. The myriad gods gave life to the world but inadvertently created three tyrants. My ancestors originally lived next to a tree tyrant but were oppressed by her and her offspring, so they fled from their homeland.”
“Fortunately, the tyrants also fought among themselves. In one earth-shattering war, the roots of the giant tree were stolen and tossed into an unknown corner. My ancestors then made their home by following the scattered roots. We created Perfect Ice based on the power of the roots, continuing the foresight we gained through watching the giant tree.”
“But this ability isn’t omnipotent. Apart from when it’s first bestowed, it can only be seen when Phoenixes are unconsciously stimulated. Moreover, only Phoenixes with stronger individual abilities can see further into the future. The child on your back and most Phoenixes can probably only see within a month’s future.”
“When my father died, my mother saw in the future that there would be a horrific war in the Northern Region; when my brother married, he saw the second vision about the exact time and place the stars would land, which is why we prepared for war in advance. But after that war ended, my other brother’s son died; he saw an even more distant future where another war was coming, a war of mythical beings.”
The Moon Princess’s voice wandered back in memory, slowly revealing the truth buried beneath the Parasol Tree. “In the war against the stars, we witnessed for the first time the horror of mythical beings. Unlike us who have crossed tiers of existence, they possess the unfair favor of the gods. The order created by the gods fixed the positions and abilities of living beings; many weak but real lives in the Northern Region could be crushed within a second in the war by mythical creatures, as if they had never existed in this world. This original bitterness was further catalyzed into panic and anger by the prophecy of a future war with mythical beings.”
“The wings of the Phoenix appeared so fragile under the terror of myths. The war of stars drained the vitality of the Northern Region, yet a terrifying battle awaited us in the future. The feeling of helplessness, of watching the Phoenixes and the Northern beings perish, bred despair and desperation.”
Fisher narrowed his eyes; the Parasol Tree remained shrouded in darkness. Only the words spoken by the Moon Princess through Valentina’s voice echoed. “And the arrival of that Demon God was the last straw that broke the camel’s back. Her appearance at the victory banquet told us the harsh reality; it didn’t even require mythical beings to wage war. Just she alone could crush the beings of the Northern Region. This feeling of having a knife at our throat made us remember the pain of our ancestors who were chased around by tyrants in wars. We did not wish for us and the Northern beings to repeat this fate; we want to escape this terror. Ultimately, we found a way in the bodies of our former enemies.”
“In the war, my sword could harm spiritual bodies. Thus, I used it to sever an arm from a star. Part of that fallen body came from the Spirit Realm, a world unbound by the order of the reality. We wanted to use that fallen part as the key to open the Spirit Realm, to break free from the constraints of reality by leveraging the transcendent power there. This way, we could survive the future mythical wars, and the beings of the Northern Region could live on.”
The Moon Princess did not continue with the next words, but Fisher seemed to have a sudden epiphany, piecing together clues from the past that all led to the murmur of the term he spoke aloud: “Spirit Realm Pollution.”
The Moon Princess leaned against Fisher’s arm, closing her eyes unwilling to face her once-vibrant homeland now plunged into silence. She sighed softly and remarked, “Because Phoenixes can foresee the future, we have achieved many things, yet we are also trapped by every prophecy we have drawn, forced to advance under the oppression of mythical terror. We ignore a very basic, fundamental question: why would those benevolent stars, who like to observe our world at all times, suddenly invade the Northern Region?”
“Their tier is too high, and they have no need for worldly desires. Hence, their reasons for descending are simple; they are here as [refugees]. In the Spirit Realm, there exist beings far more terrifying than they, making their survival exceedingly difficult. They have no choice but to leave their home in the Spirit Realm and clash with us in reality.”
Emhart was silenced in fear, while Fisher’s brow furrowed deeply, his heart racing as he quickly articulated the rest of the Moon Princess’s thoughts. “You used Chaos beings, that is, the bodies of stars, as the key to open the gate to the Spirit Realm, wanting to leverage the power of the Spirit Realm to escape the constraints of the ranks and elevate your entire race to mythical beings. However, the entity that terrified those stars has now set its sights on you. That’s why your entire race was annihilated in an instant; that curse was something birthed after your entire race was polluted, and the foundation of your race’s pollution should still lie within the Parasol Tree, right?”
The Moon Princess nodded, smiling as she said, “Yes, in some sense, we did escape the constraints of reality, but ultimately what we gained was inevitable chaos. The pollution consumed the consciousness and bodies of our entire race, blending them into a trend that was hard to avoid. It was a crazed existence living in the Spirit Realm, a being that could be considered a god, attempting to use our entire race’s bodies as the base for its descent.”
“My mother and I regained our senses in the final moments; she encased the chaotic essence in eternal ice on the throne with her sword. Subsequently, she was also incorporated into the chaos and perished. I was heavily injured and close to death. Before dying, I once again saw the future and transmitted my last will to the races just outside the Parasol Tree, but I died before I could completely activate the mechanism. The Parasol Tree was not fully sealed, which led to the incomplete [Base] frequently escaping to chase after the last Phoenix not integrated into the base, which is me.”
“But I am already dead. Its target of pursuit has shifted to the inheritor of my bloodline. You must descend to the lowest level, where the roots that were discarded here lie. By harnessing its great power, you can completely form a closed loop in this space as insurance, and also open the door to the sealed base, to deal with that incomplete descent.”
“But I must remind you, Mr. Fisher, I sense another existence reaching the doorstep of the Parasol Tree, making its way deeper. Before you descend to reach the root control console, it’s best to make your decision. Once the base absorbs my last bloodline, I am unsure what will happen. However, the existence in the Spirit Realm can certainly be referred to as a god. In a sense, did it satisfy some of our former desires by borrowing our lives to descend?”
The Moon Princess showed a faint, sarcastic smile, resting on Fisher’s shoulder while gazing at the darkened stars above. She murmured, “In the past, many of the Northern beings we protected praised us under the name of gods. At that time, we were indeed far from deserving such praise, yet at least we intended to protect them. But now, once the base overtaken by madness is fully realized, it might truly become the [God of the Sky] sweeping through the Northern Region.”
Please vote, tip, and support; it is very important to me!
Thank you so much for your support!
()
(End of this chapter)
