Chapter 491 – 108. Easter
Regarding the matter of the horn for the time being, it was concluded with “Hela will handle it,” but before that, Fisher confirmed the details of dealing with it multiple times.
The power of this horn is quite strange; although it can significantly enhance its own rank, it is not without cost. Fisher’s thoughts had just been tampered with, and he suspected that Gouwen’s thoughts had also been altered to some extent. For example, just a moment ago, he was so eager to find that lost item, and now he seemed indifferent.
The three of them, plus a camel, were enveloped in Hela’s morning light as they flew back. Fisher looked at Gouwen, who was sitting in front, and quietly shared his speculation with Hela, who seemed indifferent and said,
“Isn’t it great? Look at how he fought with Sorobato just now; it was a mess, and he’s been searching for that thing outside for four whole days. Even if that holy artifact had an effect on him, it might not necessarily be a bad thing. At least now he is obediently coming with us, right? And you can study the specific effects of that thing, isn’t that a win-win?”
You really are something.
Fisher glanced at Hela, who was smiling and making suggestions, and thought to himself.
However, he really didn’t plan to expose the matter just yet; Gouwen’s current state was too poor, so it was better to take him back to the Ideal Nation for some recuperation.
Fisher glanced at Gouwen in front, who was humming with his arms crossed and seemed relaxed. After a pause, he spoke,
“You’ve thoroughly finished off Sorobato this time, right? Haven’t you taken care of everything? Aren’t you going back to see your wife?”
The ragged Gouwen’s ears perked up at the words, and then he turned his head to look at Fisher, smirking dismissively, and said,
“Heh, you don’t know. I’m the one who calls the shots at home. If I want to play a bit longer outside, I’ll go back when I want; she wouldn’t dare say a word. Do you believe that she’ll end up begging me to come home?”
“…”
Fisher pressed his lips together, about to say something, but looking at Gouwen’s carefree demeanor, he swallowed back the words and silently sat back down next to Hela.
He suspected Gouwen’s mind had been damaged by that horn.
Hela laughed, and under her guidance, they soon returned near the Ideal Nation. Although the environment below was mostly unchanged, Fisher felt that something seemed to have appeared here.
At this moment, his eyes flickered with writhing ∞ symbols. With the enhancement of his power, he quickly discovered that dozens of large trees, scattered like stars, had appeared far beyond the Ideal Nation. By those trees stood quite a few subhuman races wearing Tree Continent clothing, all around the Fourteenth Rank.
Those large trees seemed not to be physical entities but rather shapes formed from strands of light. Fisher did not recognize their origins or purposes.
But when he saw that group at the Fourteenth Rank, Fisher quickly recalled the earlier incident where the Duke of Peach had cast a wide net for recruitment in the Tree Continent, and it seemed this was the work he had them doing: planting some kind of tree.
“What are they doing?”
“Oh, that,” Hela replied to Fisher’s question, squinting to look over there. She then turned back to explain to Fisher with a smile, “Those are the ‘Eye Trees’ planted by the elves, a kind of mark from the power of the World Tree. The World Tree is the only one among the three demigods that cannot move its own body, so the Divine Ones handed over the Loom of Fate to her, giving her power superior to that of her two brothers.”
“Now that the Loom of Fate has been stolen, the World Tree, which cannot move its body, needs another way to accurately transmit her power; these ‘Eye Trees’ serve that purpose. Presumably, the Duke of Peach recruited those subhumans for this task, after all, not anyone can transport these Eye Trees. It would be too obvious if the elves transported them, so they had no choice but to resort to this strategy.”
Fisher looked at the distant dozens of Eye Trees and couldn’t help but ask,
“Where exactly is the main body of the World Tree? It doesn’t seem to be in the Tree Continent; otherwise, she definitely wouldn’t have turned a blind eye when we escaped.”
“You guessed right. The World Tree, like the other two demigods, has its fixed guarding place. To be precise, she resides within the world’s ‘Pillars’. What you see is merely her shadow cast from the dimensional rules, which is why we couldn’t touch her at that time. Previously, as the eldest and most stable maintainer among the three demigods, she rarely showed her power. The Dragon God used to get scolded by her for frequently flying back from the crevices, which is why they often quarreled.”
“But now, with the Elf King’s death and the stolen Loom of Fate, she has been thoroughly enraged. These Eye Trees, serving as a link to her dimension, are proof of that. The reincarnation of G is soon to be at an end; she should deal with matters here. It’s already a certainty that she will come to handle this, and once planted, the Eye Trees cannot be uprooted unless the World Tree herself decides otherwise. Chuan and Margaret should have felt the approaching danger.”
Fisher stroked his chin, realizing he had a lingering question,
“Can the wrath of a twenty-rank demigod be blocked by just one Loom of Fate?”
Hela shrugged, smiling at Fisher,
“The exact nature of a true god’s item cannot be known, and whether it can block her I’m not sure. But honestly, how does that concern us? As long as she finishes her business, we can take the Tear Drops and report back, right? You should be considering what comes after, like plans after expelling death.”
Plans after expelling death?
Of course, he would return to the time and space he should be in, where he still needed to meet Renee, handle matters with Elizabeth, give Valentina her rightful ring in the egg, fulfill his punishment with Raphael, and carry out his promises with Jasmine. Also, he had to deal with the various issues with Eil and Captain Alagina, and then as he previously thought, once that was completed, he would wash his hands of it.
Everything after expelling death seemed so beautiful, but what was he to do about this angel before him?
“…Although it may sound a bit disappointing, I should return to the place I originally came from, where there are many people I care about.”
“People you care about? What people? As long as you think it in your heart, home is wherever, so why cling to one spot? Just like me, I want to live freely and enjoy myself, you know? Fisher, as someone who’s been through it…”
“…”
Up front, the completely dazed Gouwen had started to deliver his grandiose speeches again. Fisher looked at him incredulously, and with a slight flash of symbols in his hand, he waved out a gust of wind that knocked the already weak Gouwen out cold, falling into the morning light below and startling the camel under Hela.
Hela continued to smile at Fisher, disregarding Gouwen, instead tilting her head and suddenly asking,
“So, is that why you didn’t leave with the song back then?”
Hela’s words were subtle, while Fisher’s reply was very candid,
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“Well then, it seems your plans after all this are already predetermined. No matter how hard I try, I can’t compare to those women you care about. If you don’t choose me, I’ll just have to find you myself.”
Fisher raised an eyebrow slightly, and with an ambiguous expression, the earlier feeling of concern for this troublesome angel falling away in the future surged in his heart once again.
Hela might really be very cunning, but in the future war where the World Tree, Heavenly Lock, and Dragon God all wither, in the fate where the Holy Realm and Tree Continent completely vanish, it seems she would have no way to resist, right?
If she were really to come find him, then she should have met him long before he was born, a long, long time ago. Yet he only got to know her after returning to the past. Doesn’t that, in a sense, prove that she is bound to die in the future?
At the moment this thought emerged, Fisher’s breathing slightly paused. After a brief moment, he said,
“…Hela, how about you come back with me?”
“Oh, you don’t fear the other women you know tearing you apart?”
Hela grinned mischievously, spreading her arms wide and mimicking an “interesting” scene in an extremely aggrieved and melodramatic voice,
“Oh my, Fisher, chased by death, is going back to the past to expel death. I’m so worried about him; I’ll wait here for him to come back. I wait and wait and wait, and finally, ‘bang,’ how wonderful, Fisher’s back! But wait, he’s holding a beautiful angel I don’t recognize at all! That angel glances at me, and disdainfully says, ‘Hey you, your Fisher is mine now; you and those other women can just roll away!’”
After finishing her imitation, she smiled brightly at Fisher beside her and said,
“If that’s the case, what do you think those ladies would react, and what would your fate look like?”
Fisher’s face darkened, but he understood the rejection in Hela’s words. He did not refute her, only silently gazed ahead, momentarily at a loss for words.
In the silence, he finally spoke,
“I don’t know what their reaction would be, but I might just die.”
“Hahahaha.”
Hela burst into laughter at Fisher’s comment. She crossed her legs atop the camel, and soon they saw a lush area enveloping the outline of the Ideal Nation. She did not continue the topic of “should Hela go back with Fisher” but simply said,
“Don’t worry, you won’t die; even if the world perishes, you’ll be fine.”
“My life is that great?”
“You bear heavy reproductive capabilities, stirring trouble with so many women. If your life were not great, you would have been killed long ago, right?”
As the morning light slowly descended, just before they reached the outskirts of the Ideal Nation, Hela laughed and replied like this.
Fisher and the others did not fly directly to the vicinity of the Ideal Nation. Since Hela’s current identity was Cain, they finally walked honestly back to the Ideal Nation.
The barrier at the entrance seemed to recognize their identities, so Fisher entered the Ideal Nation without any hindrance. Just as he came in, Fisher noticed that the scene before him had changed significantly from before.
The originally very simple and crude imitation of Tree Continent architecture had become more exquisite at this moment. Strangely, various oddly shaped items were hanging from it, likely reflecting the various preferences of different races. For example, some races had ancient reproductive cults, so they hung some XX-like objects on the buildings that looked rather unrefined; more were animal bones or wildflowers, making the Ideal Nation look like a mixed culture of many races.
From a distance, the stone tower also had some white flowers similar to lilies hanging from it. The top of the tower was not shimmering with golden light, indicating that Margaret and Tang Zeming Asuka were likely not there at the moment.
“What’s going on here?”
Fisher, carrying the unconscious Gouwen, remarked as he gazed at the scenery before him.
“Oh, it seems that with the help of little Tang Zeming, the speed of controlling the Loom is unimaginably fast. What was originally estimated to take a week might be finished in a few days. So to celebrate, that Trans is preparing to celebrate the festival of her world, of course, a modified version; otherwise, that pack of hyena-like subhumans wouldn’t have hung up big XX at the entrance.”
“Is that so?”
“Fisher-sensei!! You’re back!!”
At that moment, a voice filled with delight suddenly came from the direction of the stone tower. Fisher turned to see Tang Zeming Asuka, dressed in a white robe, running toward him with a small basket.
As she got closer, Fisher noticed that the basket was filled with some kind of bird eggs, only they seemed to have been artificially painted with red pigment.
Behind the running Tang Zeming Asuka, at the entrance to the stone tower, stood the Trans, Margaret. It seemed that earlier, Tang Zeming Asuka was with her, or rather, she had been with her these days.
“Tang Zeming…”
Tang Zeming Asuka, with her flushed little face, appeared ready to leap straight at him, but perhaps seeing that Fisher had an unconscious Gouwen on his shoulder, or perhaps catching a glimpse of Hela smiling beside Fisher, she ultimately did not do so. Instead, she pantingly walked up to Fisher, scrutinizing him and the Gouwen he was carrying, and asked,
“Fisher-sensei, seriously, where have you been these past few days? Mr. Mikhail returned, and both you and Mr. Gouwen were out, yet when I asked Hela, she said nothing. Seriously, it caused me so much trouble…”
“We’re fine now; how about you? What do you plan to do with those red eggs?”
“Oh, these, these are the Easter eggs prepared for tomorrow, and I’ve sewn some rabbits too. They can be used when the festival comes tomorrow. Um… don’t worry, I’ve been working hard these past few days, and I should finish at the latest by the day after tomorrow. Then we can take the Tear Drops!”
Tomorrow, huh…
It coincidentally would be the seventh day as agreed with Hela.
Fisher looked in the distance at Margaret, who seemed to notice his gaze. She smiled and waved her hand at him.
In the distant residential area, several plump snake people, who had been brought back by Chuan, were seen. It appeared that since they were brought back, they had adapted quite well.
“Where did Mikhail go?”
“Oh, Mr. Mikhail? He’s been in his room talking to himself. I thought something had happened to him. Oh, and Neceria, she’s been alone most of the time, occasionally going out to play or something.”
“Ha, Mikhail is definitely chatting with Michael. Ever since that broken eye of his started to communicate with him, they’ve been having nonstop talks. Earlier, he even told me to pay attention, it seems Archangel Gabriel had left the Wisdom Vortex of the Holy Realm, also bringing your precious holy item.”
“Left?”
Fisher frowned and glanced at Hela beside him, clearly a bit worried about Emhart, who was following Gabriel. But Hela appeared very relaxed and replied,
“Don’t worry, this might be a good thing. Lord Gabriel hasn’t shown such a significant reaction in a long time; it might just be related to that holy artifact. Besides, Lord Gabriel is a very peaceful angel, and even in her madness, she hasn’t done anything. What’s more, she’s calm now, so you can rest easy.”
In fact, Emhart had become somewhat likable after spending time with him; even Valentina enjoyed teasing him, which showed he was quite easygoing.
However, Fisher couldn’t determine if Gabriel’s condition was deteriorating or improving under Emhart’s influence, and it was also possible that under Emhart’s influence, Gabriel might come to find him, which would at least confirm his condition.
After such a long time without seeing him, Fisher felt that he probably missed him.
As they walked, Fisher’s pupils flickered slightly, and at this moment, having entered the Mythical Rank, he keenly sensed that someone else was watching him.
He turned his head and, at an extreme distance, discovered Chuan standing among the buildings.
Despite being nearly a mile apart, their eyes coincidentally met at this moment.
Fisher almost forgot that since he had entered the Mythical Rank, they would surely be able to sense it.
Chuan certainly noticed Fisher’s state at that moment, which made him appear rather surprised. But soon, he withdrew his gaze, showing no other emotions.
“Fisher-sensei, make sure to have a good rest tonight, tomorrow is Easter. I’ve prepared a lot of fun things and delicious food. Margaret also taught me some French dishes. I’ll cook them for you; how does that sound?”
“Ah, no problem.”
Fisher managed to pull back his attention as he finally returned his focus, responding somewhat dazedly to Tang Zeming Asuka.
Under Margaret’s influence, the atmosphere in the Ideal Nation was rather pleasant, just like that of a grand festival, warm and joyful.
Tomorrow was a holiday Fisher was not familiar with, Easter. And after tonight, Hela would be a true female angel.
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(The End)
