**Chapter 554: 32. Night of the Sorceress**
Suddenly, Renee in front of him disappeared. He felt that rich fragrance dissipate little by little with the sea breeze, drifting toward the Dragon Court. Fisher’s expression gradually became more serious as he gazed at the bright moon in the sky, which bore a somewhat ambiguous meaning.
“The Apocalypse Prophecy, this is the first time I’ve heard of it. Did you know about this Apocalypse Prophecy all along, Fisher?”
Emhart, who stood on his shoulder, appeared rather curious and wanted an answer from him.
In fact, Fisher had rarely spoken to others about the Apocalypse Prophecy. He had only mentioned it to Valentina and Raphael. Jasmine brought it up on her own, so it didn’t count.
He discussed it with Valentina on that night in the Northern Region when she wanted to take her own life for the sake of everyone; at that time, Emhart was sleeping. When he spoke to Raphael, he had temporarily given her to Fashir and Keshil. And when he mentioned it to Jasmine, he was at Mill’s place taking care of Ingrid.
In summary, he had almost missed every opportunity to discuss it, which is why this was the first time he had heard such an Apocalypse Prophecy.
Of course, he wasn’t sure if it was just his illusion, but he always felt that he had heard this term somewhere before, a feeling of strange familiarity.
“Ah, I actually knew about this Apocalypse Prophecy a long time ago. It is precisely because of this that I embarked on my journey and met Raphael and the others.”
“I see. It’s just a pity that I can’t see those chaotic pieces of knowledge; otherwise, I could provide you with some help. By the way, what do you think about what Renee just said? Just like Baemon, she wants you to let go. Although I don’t like Baemon, this time I think she’s right. Reading this knowledge is too dangerous and could very likely put you in peril, just like now.”
Fisher certainly knew this. After hesitating for a moment, he sighed deeply, then looked at the several Completion Manuals that were shadowing him, and couldn’t help but say,
“I know, but even if the Apocalypse Prophecy in my hands is false, these women who are closely related to me will inevitably be caught up in the destruction of the Apocalypse. Even if Renee says that she and those deities have a way to resolve the Apocalypse Prophecy, specifically, can this prophecy be resolved easily without cost? If there’s a price to pay, I’d rather be the one to pay it than for them to.”
“Dammit Baemon!”
Perhaps this phrase had little to do with the context at the moment and yet, it felt like an exclamation of Emhart’s whenever he was agitated, and it never sounded out of place.
Fisher chuckled helplessly and shook his head, saying, “Moreover, even if I want to continue reading the Completion Manuals to help Raphael and the others, it doesn’t seem easy now.”
“What do you mean? Did you see anything from those chaotic pieces of knowledge just now?”
“Um, in fact, I didn’t completely lose control just now. I didn’t even touch the true essence of this Completion Manual, let alone read it fully. To completely read this Completion Manual, I need to find the [Treasures of Life]. Remember when we were at Saint Nali? Erwind was secretly manipulating Blake using the technique of [Meat Planting] to turn [Anna] into a monster. According to Erwind, that was the failed treasure.”
“So that means…”
Fisher’s gaze darkened for a moment, confirming Emhart’s unspoken guess,
“So that means, if I want to read this manual, I have to use the technique of Meat Planting like Erwind to destroy lives similar to Anna’s. ‘If you want the treasure, you must discard kindness; if you want to climb without breaking the rules, you must desecrate life.’ That is Erwind’s exact words.”
Emhart pressed his lips together in fear and couldn’t help but ask, “So what are you planning to do now? You can’t be serious about doing that; it could be the chaotic knowledge tempting you. You must not fall for it.”
Fisher glanced at Emhart and emotionlessly retorted, “Aside from those ladies being my sins, do I seem like someone who would do such things? The current problem is that the available Completion Manuals in my hands are only two. If the Life Completion Manual cannot be read by me, I must seek other Completion Manuals. Otherwise, I will only reach rank sixteen, which is still far from rank eighteen.”
This was the predicament Fisher was currently facing. Although both Renee and Hela advised against reading the Completion Manuals and not involving himself in the Apocalypse Prophecy, Fisher could not just let it go and allow destruction to befall those he cared about.
Even if he was determined to do so, the Completion Manuals he had on him still only allowed him to read one Soul Supplement Handbook.
Under the grim gaze of the dark ocean, both the person and the book fell into a brief contemplation. At this moment, however, Emhart suddenly thought of something and looked at Fisher with bright eyes, saying,
“Hey, Fisher, do you remember when we were in the Northern Region? Um, at that time, you had just been chased by death, and we were coming back down from the snowy mountain to that Moon Rabbit Tribe’s Healing Rot Church. You met someone who looked very much like that Erwind. He seemed to be from the same organization as Erwind, called um…”
Hearing his words, Fisher seemed to recall that person and raised an eyebrow, continuing what Emhart did not finish, “The Death Lord, Holland Dionysius, that immortal Keshil.”
“Yes, that’s the name! If Erwind is also from that organization, then it’s highly probable that everyone in that organization has a manual recording forbidden knowledge.”
“You’re right, that helps a lot, Emhart. If that’s the case, Erwind’s manual can be temporarily set aside, and we can focus on the other manual from the Death Lord.”
“Of course, I am the great Emhart!”
“But this matter must not be told to Renee, under any circumstances.”
“Ah?”
Emhart had just been proudly lifting his head, ready to accept praise, but upon hearing Fisher’s words, he froze. He glanced at Fisher, then at the eerily silent coast beside him, and lowered his voice,
“Right, Renee doesn’t allow you to read these. I was still foolishly trying to think of ideas for you; I’m such a sinner! But even if I don’t say anything, it won’t help; she’s the reincarnation of the Mother, more outrageous than a Demigod like the Heavenly Lock, so perhaps she already knows what we’re talking about here.”
Fisher looked around before shaking his head and saying, “No. If she wants to know about our situation here, she must do so through the Hart Bird, but there isn’t a single Hart Bird nearby.”
“Hart Bird? Okay, if that’s the case, I will keep it a secret.”
That said, as Fisher looked at the quiet sea, he felt a little puzzled.
There were really no Hart Birds around here. Generally speaking, whenever Renee appeared, she was always followed by a flock of Hart Birds. The last time she suddenly appeared in the Northern Region was the same.
Every time he saw the Hart Birds appear, Fisher knew that her gaze and figure might be nearby. Following those Hart Birds’ flight, one could always find a hint of fragrant smell, and following that fragrance to the end would lead to Renee.
Perhaps this time she was too busy, or maybe, as a sorceress, there was no longer a need for her to maintain disguise in front of Fisher, so she could not be bothered to bring those purple Larks along?
That being said, Emhart indeed provided Fisher with a viable thought. The Death Lord Holland does not need the Death Completion Manual, nor would he read it. If he wanted it, he would definitely give it, but unfortunately, there was no such thing as a free offer for Completion Manuals; one must wait for the previous owner to die before the Death Completion Manual could be transferred.
Now it seemed Fisher had two prerequisites to obtain the Death Completion Manual. First, he had to find the Death Lord, and second, he needed to provide a path to death for someone like him, a “non-dead person.”
Fisher was somewhat confident about the first. First, this guy left a phone number for himself. He didn’t know where it was from, but it was still a clue. At the very least, the Fate Lord had sent him to find the missing Tang Zeming Asuka, so she would most certainly pay attention to him. And with her capabilities as the acting president of the Creation Society, it shouldn’t be difficult to find him. So the first prerequisite was not an issue.
The problem lay in the second point. How could he provide death for the Death Lord?
Fisher pondered for a moment, recalling the incidents during the Ideal Nation, and it seemed he had grasped at some ethereal clues.
But before he delved deeper, a faint fragrance drifted to his nose.
He quickly snapped back to reality, and even Emhart on his shoulder coughed, appearing somewhat tense, so he hurriedly quieted down.
“Here, I brought your clothes back.”
Sure enough, the next second, bathed in the clear moonlight, the sorceress in black gauze reappeared before Fisher. She turned her head and didn’t look at Fisher but wore a faintly mischievous smile, holding several pieces of clothing in each hand.
As soon as Fisher saw the clothing, Renee threw them at him, covering his body, and then she turned her head.
“What is this?”
Fisher was slightly taken aback, then he incredulously picked up several colorful garments. Upon inspection, they were all women’s clothing, and they appeared rather peculiar, made for Subhumans.
“Hmph, I couldn’t find other clothes, so just deal with it. Anyway, there are no outsiders here, just us, so even if you put them on, we won’t say anything.”
Fisher’s face turned dark, but seeing the cunning smile on Renee’s face, he knew she was just being playful.
He sighed and began tossing the clothes into the sea one by one, while he stood up and said,
“Even if I wanted to wear these, they are just too small. There’s no way, so I can’t wear them for now.”
“W-w-w-what do you mean, not wearing?!”
Renee’s previously proud expression instantly turned chaotic when she saw Fisher gradually standing up. Her gaze seemed to go out of control, flipping constantly as if she didn’t know whether to look or not, her brain and body fighting for control in contradiction.
Her face immediately turned red, and she raised her hands to cover her face and body, saying to Fisher,
“W-what happened to you in the past? I remember… Angels wear clothing! W-who did you learn this from?!”
“What do you mean learn badly? Didn’t you say? There are no outsiders here, it’s all our people, so if I don’t wear…”
“Shut up, shut up, shut up!”
Renee was so embarrassed that she couldn’t take it anymore. She closed her eyes and bit her teeth, and like performing a magic trick, conjured another set of male robes from her hands and tossed them in front of Fisher. He hurriedly caught them, discovering that the robes were up to par with his size and looked quite suitable.
It seemed as he had thought, Renee had long prepared a fitting outfit; bringing the women’s clothing over was just to tease him. She hadn’t expected that Fisher would see through her trick, causing her to lose her composure just by standing up.
He turned to put on the robe, while Renee had already turned away to hide and not look at him.
Emhart didn’t expect that Lady Renee could be this unexpectedly innocent. He stared blankly at Fisher beside him, while Fisher was not surprised at all; he walked over to Renee and said,
“Alright, I’m dressed.”
“Really?”
Renee turned her head, only fully turning to face him after she confirmed he had earnestly put on the clothing. At this moment, Fisher had completely transformed back into human form. This was the first time Renee had a good look at him after being apart for four and a half years.
He stood there, confidently letting Renee observe him thoroughly, as he was also observing her.
In the past, he had followed that fragrance several times to find the elf, who looked just like Renee except for her pointed ears. He knew that Tsukki and Renee were different, but he couldn’t articulate what that difference was. It was only at this moment, seeing the real Renee, did he realize how different they actually were; even with the same face, he felt there was something fundamentally different about her.
He looked at her and unconsciously opened his mouth,
“Welcome back, Renee.”
“You are the one who came back, idiot.”
Renee looked at Fisher, who suddenly said this seriously. She smiled slightly, walked closer to him, playfully pinching his abdomen, and said,
“Indeed, you just mentioned how those deities plan to resolve the Apocalypse Prophecy, what is it?”
“I cannot tell you.”
“Why?”
Upon hearing this, Renee pondered for a moment before responding,
“Because of fate. The threads of fate are very sensitive. Who knows how you will react or what actions you might take after learning the specific method? If telling you disturbs the threads of fate, then it would ruin our plans, so let us true gods take care of this matter.”
“Then… for the past four and a half years, have you been in the Spirit Realm?”
“Where else could I go? I always thought you would return from the storm sea, so I kept paying more attention to that side. Other than that, I stayed in the Spirit Realm; it has been the same both before and after I met you; I have my duties to fulfill.”
“What about the Spirit Realm’s pollution? How is it doing?”
Renee looked at the sea breeze and the moonlight above, smiling as she said to Fisher, “. It’s still the same.”
“The same?”
“It means barely moving. Four and a half years is insignificant for an existence like us. The injuries it suffered may require a much longer time to heal, but don’t worry. However, even so, we must not let our guard down. An extinction is imminent, and everything should be taken with great caution. I also need to remain vigilant in my duties.”
“So you will have to return to the Spirit Realm afterward?”
Renee did not reply to Fisher. She merely looked out at the distant sea, suddenly spreading her arms and playfully saying to Fisher,
“This place is too narrow; you can’t see anything but the sea. Would you like to go with a sorceress who is too beautiful to be true to a farther, more beautiful place?”
“…”
Fisher raised an eyebrow, turning to gaze at the Dragon Court behind him, but before he could turn his head fully, Renee had already ethereally floated up, bringing with her a waft of warm fragrance and softness that turned his head around.
As he returned to look at her, she puffed her cheeks at Fisher and said,
“What? Worried that those Dragon Race and Whale Race will come to check on you at night and find you missing?”
“Not really. I’m just worried that I might never return.”
Considering that Renee previously mentioned not wanting him to become involved in the Apocalypse Prophecy, Fisher was fearful that she would forcibly take him far away, away from the turmoil here, but evidently, that was impossible.
“Alright, bad sister is now going to take you away, to an unknown place, and then cut off your organs to sell.”
She leaned in closer to Fisher, ominously stating this.
“Pop.”
But Fisher simply raised his eyes to look at her and, without thinking, abruptly attacked forward, planting a kiss on her cheek.
“!”
Instantly, the floating Renee recoiled as if a balloon had been pricked, retreating a considerable distance, her face red as she covered her cheek. Anyone who didn’t know would think she had been stung by a wasp.
“Fisher, you… you can’t just suddenly…”
“Sorry, I just…”
“Alright, no! You’re not allowed to say any more!”
She predicted that Fisher was about to say some reckless sweet talk, but at that moment, her cheeks were already red enough, and her heart was racing too fast; she couldn’t bear to hear more such words. She simply said,
“Come with me; I’m taking you to a beautiful place.”
With that, she floated away as if escaping, drifting farther and farther from the Dragon Court in the expansive moonlight.
Watching her increasingly distant figure, Emhart turned to Fisher with deadpan eyes and said,
“Suddenly I don’t want to go with you anymore; how about I just go back and sleep instead?”
“Can you sleep without me?”
“…I can already predict what will happen next. I don’t want to be a third wheel and watch you two embrace under the moonlight in such a beautiful moment.”
Fisher smiled slightly, pulling him into his embrace as he replied,
“I won’t do that.”
“Heh, as if it’s like the first day I met you.”
“You don’t understand your Lady Renee, nor do you understand me in front of her.”
Before Emhart had a chance to respond, Fisher took a deep breath. He looked at Renee’s figure growing farther away and suddenly recalled Erwind’s words.
He had originally intended to leap directly, but suddenly halted. Behind him, a pair of peculiar wings resembling those of a phoenix slowly grew, their blood and bone creaking loudly enough to startle Emhart, who poked his head out and gasped,
“My god, is this something you just learned? I can only say that Miss Valentina will be overjoyed.”
“This is just a clumsy imitation. I haven’t fully grasped Erwind’s Completion Manual yet. Don’t even mention the content after the myth gates; I haven’t fully penetrated the first two mountains.”
“Mountains? What mountains?”
“…Nothing.”
He did not explain the content related to the Life Completion Manual to Emhart. Being lifted by the wings, with a deafening sound, he was suddenly propelled upward by the frost wings behind him, quickly crossing the skyline and following after Renee, who was using the sorceress’s body.
“Fisher, come this way!”
The moon in the sky remained still, as if it had entirely lost its spirit apart from being bright, only casting its clear light upon the sea. In contrast, the floating sorceress ahead looked more like a moon in the night, so bright and dazzling.
They journeyed from the southern sea of the Dragon Court southward, surging and pursuing each other, not knowing how long had passed until the moon had reached its zenith when a faint glow gradually floated upon the sea in front of them.
Renee kept descending, and Fisher, who was not quite used to flying with phoenix wings, adjusted his movements to descend as well.
The once dark ocean now turned a clear light blue here, seemingly proving that this place was not deep. In the vast ocean, a few sharp high mountains and small islands suddenly emerged, lush and hiding mysteries untouched by civilization.
Moonlight descended from the heavens, and on this cloudless night, the uneven sea surface displayed a starry sky. Through the towering mountains on the islands ahead, a sprawling cluster of islands slowly revealed itself.
This place was immensely quiet; at this moment, only the sound of waves crashing against the rocks could be heard.
On a small oval island beneath the mountains, a blue pool emitted a faint glow, hidden among the greenery like a sapphire in the ocean.
Fisher was so busy enjoying the beautiful scenery before him that he forgot to pursue Renee’s figure. When he looked up again, he found that Renee had vanished without a trace.
“Renee?”
He involuntarily broke the silence with his call.
“I’m here!”
Just a second after he asked, the ethereal Renee appeared behind him, tapping his shoulder and prompting him to look at the beautiful sight below.
“What do you think? Is it beautiful?”
“Very nice. By the way, where is this? It seems we have flown quite far away.”
“Does it matter where we are as long as we are out here to have fun tonight?”
“True.”
“But you should have been here before.”
“I’ve been here?”
Fisher looked at the island located farther than the Southern Continent, thinking that perhaps the most adventurous explorers of the Western Continent hadn’t even come here, which made him feel even more puzzled.
“Yeah, didn’t you say you visited the homeland of the elves in the past?”
“?”
Fisher turned to look at her, seemingly in disbelief, “Are you saying…”
“Ah, yes! This is the remaining part of the Tree Continent, which sank during the Mythical War, Fisher.”
Renee and Fisher’s gazes fell upon the sharp mountains and the sparse islands before them. No matter how one looked at it, the area of these islands was merely a fraction of that of the Tree Continent, the giant continent that Fisher had once personally traveled to and explored.
Compared to before, the islands here were just a tiny portion, a drop in a vast ocean of the original Tree Continent.
Only then did he vividly feel the changes over the course of ten thousand years.
For some reason, he suddenly thought of Tang Zeming Asuka, the girl who said she would wait for him to reunite ten thousand years ago.
If the continent had become like this, shrinking continuously amidst the passage of time and war, from its original vitality to its current narrowness and silence, then what about these worldly affairs for an individual?
“…Did we come here just for the views?”
“Yes, but not entirely.”
Renee floated next to Fisher, looking at the sapphire-colored pool on the island and gently pointed to her red lips, saying,
“Beneath that pool, there are actually some remnants left by the elves. I went in to take a look, but I showed no interest at the time and just left after a glance.”
“But didn’t you just say you saw an elf who looked exactly like me in the past?”
“Her name was…Tsukki, I believe?”
求求投票、打赏和支持，这对我来说十分重要！
万分感谢支持！
(Chapter End)
