Chapter 612: 90. The Beginning of Destruction (Two-in-One)
When Fisher returned from the depths of consciousness, his soul could only focus on two simple things.
The first was pain, almost boundless pain.
Because the essence of that black mud was in fact a kind of chaos forming a base for existence in his body, directing a horrific force toward the ultimate beyond the spirit realm. Therefore, it represented the purest form of chaos, wanting to shred everything remaining on Fisher—his body, his soul.
The second was a singular belief in rescuing Raphael.
To focus solely on this thought in this moment, disregarding gains and losses, to achieve this goal without hesitation, was the only way to maintain basic action amidst the pain. Otherwise, if the goal was not clear, Fisher might very well shrink back at the moment he felt that endless suffering, even ultimately giving up.
So at this moment, Fisher was completely unaware of Hela’s fluctuations outside. He hadn’t even had time to think about how Raphael came to this place; he could only think of saving Raphael and their child in her womb.
But at this moment, in endless pain, wanting to rescue Raphael from the darkness was futile, because the black mud trapping Raphael was essentially himself. Every time he wanted to extend a “hand” to save her, he would unwillingly find that his hands dissolved within it, unable to rescue her no matter what.
What to do?!
Even a second passing felt overwhelmingly anxious to Fisher because it meant Raphael had to endure another second of such suffering. Just thinking about this made Fisher momentarily forget the pain he himself was enduring, wanting to exchange it for a method to save Raphael.
“Do you know you are very special?”
At that moment, this phrase, which others had said to him more than once, suddenly surged in his mind, akin to inspiration pointing out a possible path for him.
So, where was his specialty?
He could read multiple supplement handbooks, he could face the authority of fate to change everything and return to the past, and even when Renee’s power erupted directly in his chest, he didn’t die?
Wait, if he didn’t die even when Renee’s power erupted in his body, then by similar reasoning, he could take that chaotic nature and compress it into his body, then let it explode within him, shifting its external effect from Raphael to himself!
The moment this thought emerged, Fisher immediately wanted to put it into practice, for time was of the essence; the longer he stayed inside, the more trouble could befall Raphael and their child.
But just when it came time to do this, he realized how difficult and painful it truly was.
The black mud, spreading out to about a hundred meters, also expanded to the painful extent he could feel. But once he attempted to retract it by a meter, that pain would multiply. Just trying to do so now made him unintentionally scream, and his already unclear consciousness became even more muddled.
“Ha…ha.”
He suddenly fell to the ground but continued to retract the black mud, pulling it into his body.
“So this is your punishment for me, right? I still owe you a punishment, and this is how you collect it, right, Fisher?”
Clearly priding himself on being strong and having reached his thirties, Fisher was now as fragile as a child in a swaddle under such torment. He only wanted to cry, even wanting to find a weapon to end himself, but then he suddenly remembered the words Raphael had said with tears held back.
He indeed felt guilty; it was his greed that caused all this. He truly was insatiable and needed to pay this back.
Even now, as he recalled that he had just hugged the thought of “Would it have been better without the Supplement Handbook for Sub-Humans,” he felt even more guilty, because without doing that, she would have died in Feilon City, and everyone else would have perished while he remained ignorant.
He dared not foolishly claim that his feelings for her were love because that word was far too noble, making him feel unworthy of it, so he could only keep feeling indebted.
Indebted to her, indebted to her mother.
That intense pain gradually receded, driven away by a burning passion within him. Amidst the increasingly persistent black mud, a kneeling “humanoid” became more pronounced, like Fisher’s soul, a human.
The black mud surged, while he became like a whirlpool, recklessly contending with it.
“Splash…splash.”
From all directions came the rhythmic sound of waves crashing on the shore, layered like enemies, yet also like lovers, gazing upon the existence that contended with it.
However, Fisher was truly in so much pain; he was in such agony that the hard-earned “humanoid” could no longer control itself and crawled to the ground, screaming with a cry. Yet he dared not pause the process of containing the black mud, so he could only chew and swallow this feeling down.
“Mmm.”
He grasped at the ground with his hands, his mind a daze, and he suddenly found he couldn’t remember how to awaken his consciousness.
Right, if Raphael was going to have a child with him, then it must also be a Dragon Race, right? Hmm, although human blood flowed in it, cross-species reproduction generally always leaned more towards the mother’s race. Fisher had researched this quite thoroughly.
So if it was his child, what name should he give it?
Unlike humans, Dragon Races could have differently colored scales; would he inherit his mother’s unique red scales, or would it be common, indistinguishable from other Dragon Races?
Hmm, that would be good; if it were a little boy, perhaps naming him Gonkaro would be nice, as it was the name of Fisher’s favorite human philosopher when he was young; if a little girl, maybe Anais, which is also the name of a philosopher.
In Nali’s tradition, the greater the admiration for someone, the more likely naming a child after them could confer all their virtues.
However, according to the Dragon Race’s tradition, his or her name should end with “er.”
Moreover, according to dragon tradition, names should be designated by the elders of the Evergarden, specifically Aria.
How unfair is this; does his child not even have the right to a name?
“Ha, ha.”
Fisher’s form twisted and trembled increasingly. His thoughts were once again severed by pain. As the expanding black mud began to retract again, his consciousness seemed to sense something distant yet perhaps close, as if watching from beyond the ultimate of the spirit realm.
“.”
Fisher recognized it【He】, for it had appeared when He ascended to myth; His appearance always accompanied a kind of ineffable song that seemed to stem from the void, but at this moment, those songs had suddenly ceased, as if indicating that He was in a bad mood.
Do deities have feelings?
Fisher didn’t know, or rather, because he couldn’t reach out, all he could do was guess about the deities, as he guessed Ramastia was a temperamental old woman who, after all, once turned into a water snake and sprayed water at him.
But that existence was real【chaos】, an exterior god lurking outside the ultimate, and according to the authority delineation of the Soul Supplement Handbook, He should be the
Ocean.
“Ugh!!!”
Yet despite this, Fisher still did not stop his actions, wanting to release Raphael from the black mud.
His humanoid form grew ever more distinct, even the blurred yet hideous features began to form. At his chest, a gaping black hole was continuously drawing in chaos from around.
Quick, all contained within himself.
Like this.
“Buzzing!!!”
Amidst the multitude of ringing in his ears, Fisher’s vision was rapidly whitening, even giving him the illusion that Teresa was coming to take him away to paradise.
The ocean quietly gazed at him, not competing for the black mud base, allowing him to gradually swallow that base into his body. Finally, Raphael, submerged at the bottom of the black mud, would see daylight, revealing her pale face, which seemed to have entirely lost temperature.
Before Fisher’s heart could rejoice, her body, that fire suppressed by the black mud meant to be destroyed, could no longer be contained, bursting upward toward the void.
“Boom!!!”
The portal above was instantly destroyed; however, the distance from the ground to the sky was non-existent for that fire. It rose continuously, wherever it went, it would ignite, as if wanting to incinerate something beyond space entirely.
At this moment, what was burning was the realm known as Dalasgon, which guarded this world beyond reality: the crevice.
“Boom!!”
The surreal fire soaring upward quickly spread beyond the sky, slowly expanding above the Southern Continent. The flame of the soul finally ignited at this moment, scorching away the dark clouds above until they revealed not a clear sky but a crimson mist, as if dispersing in the universe.
“Kononinnihamugasmujin s, mu shuj smu hisashi mono s gaarimasu.”
Below, the people already driven away by the gale of mythical rank feared the flames might scorch them or thought it was some strange natural disaster. However, once the fire passed through them and transformed into a ring of fire above the sky that slowly expanded outward, they felt no pain; it was as if a void, heavenly murmur echoed within them, making them all shudder, gazing upward at that mist seeming to swallow the universe.
“What on earth is that?”
“Buzzing!!!”
Amidst the swirling crimson mist, countless pinpricks of light glittered with a dangerous glow, as if some existence light-years away had noticed the disturbance and began to stir.
Yet at this moment, the beings below were completely unaware, not even realizing the center of disaster was unaware of the specific situation above.
Because, as the blessing and Raphael were released by Fisher, he still hadn’t fully contained the base within him, yet watched helplessly as the burning blessing began to tear apart Raphael’s soul, and that soul flame continued to burn her soul, making her on the brink of death.
“No, no… Raphael!”
Fisher, whose body was still distorting, watched as Raphael’s dragon horns began to fade, her blood gradually turning blue, and the panic of losing her surged in his heart, making the chaos within him grow even more restless.
He helplessly extended his hand, wanting to stop that soul flame from scorching Raphael’s soul, but as soon as he reached out, his hands were still filled with that terrifying black mud, making him dare not move forward, fearing to worsen the situation.
“Fisher, focus on yourself, I will help her.”
At this moment, a pair of pure figures clad in white robes and barefoot suddenly spoke softly beside him, causing Fisher, filled with chaos, to calm down instantly. He turned to look through the black mud still surging on his face, and there was Hela, wearing a somewhat complex expression.
“Hela, you…”
Before he could finish speaking, he felt the black mud constantly oozing from his seven orifices. He knew Hela was right, so he could only trust her, shifting all his focus back into the chaos within himself.
And Hela raised an eyebrow, lowering her gaze to the increasingly weak Raphael. Yet, she hadn’t moved her hand.
Under her long golden lashes, her indifferent gaze seemed to judge everything, deciding the fate of every soul.
“Sizzle…sizzle.”
“Ugh!!!”
Her fingers tapped continually as she watched the soul fire burning like a fizzling fuse leading to an end, but the fierce roar from Fisher behind her, accompanied by the chaotic struggle within him, stopped her movements abruptly.
In the next moment, she violently raised her right hand, pointing it at Raphael below.
At some unknown time, a portion of golden soul, which mysteriously appeared in her hand, had been terrifyingly taken from an individual linked by blood to Raphael.
At this moment, simultaneously in her palm, the traces belonging to “Aria” were being erased bit by bit, quickly transforming into a soul power resembling that of Fei and Raphael.
Immediately afterward, Hela coldly waved her hand, and the soul fire burning on Raphael instantly vanished. Then her fingers gestured lightly, allowing that pure soul power to fill Raphael’s body, causing her originally blue blood to gradually return to normal and starting to breathe heavily, alleviating the pain of the soul burning within her.
With the blood of Fei already in her, Raphael’s soul became even stronger. Her body shivered slightly, as if sensing some opportunity in the unseen, leading countless forces in accordance with the rules of this world to surge forth from within her, linking her precarious soul and body until they ultimately merged into one.
This was a sign of myth occurring.
“.”
But Hela had completely lost interest in looking at Raphael. She turned around to face the tormented Fisher, who was tightening his embrace amidst the black mud.
Strangely, at this moment, the chaos, which was incompatible with all of the world’s rules and other authorities, was gradually merging with him while he endured the pain of life and death, inching away to become a part of his body, slowly receding into a perceivable realm.
“Ugh!!!”
He could no longer control his shouting, plunging everything within himself until it was compressed into Fisher himself. Suddenly, an invisible wave of soul erupted from his body, spreading for miles.
At this moment, far away in the Western Continent, within the borders of Cardu, in an unknown deep space, a place outlined by countless golden strings and filled with bells seemed to sense this invisible wave, causing all the bells to tremble violently, producing an incredibly piercing sound, awakening the consciousness resting within.
“Ding ding ding ding ding!!!”
The azure light of the mechanism lit up, and an oddly shaped column-like machine raised its plump head, surveying its surroundings momentarily before saying in an emotionless mechanical voice,
“Miss Ashley, David Number Two reminds you that the bells you set have sensed a wave; the specific location is: Southern Continent.”
“Shut up.”
“Okay, Miss Ashley.”
“.”
Following the direction of the voice, one could see at the end of the countless golden strings a woman clad in a white long robe standing still, quietly feeling the swaying of the bells behind her head.
Yes, all those golden strings were her hair spreading out.
Before this mysterious woman stood an extremely ancient, gigantic stone tablet engraved with six different languages, with the top two being the largest.
The contents of the upper two were: [Ocean of Consciousness], [Crimson Dream].
The following four stones read: [Usurped Vessel], [Disordered Guidance], [Impure End], [Spreading Non-Self].
Every tablet flickered with sparkling light, but at this moment, amidst the noisy shaking of a thousand bells, the top left stone labeled [Ocean of Consciousness] suddenly dimmed.
The woman sitting in front of the stone slightly froze, then lowered her head as if the features hidden beneath her golden hair began to tremble.
In front of this extremely spacious stone surface, sparkling with a few golden lights, she softly said,
“Asuka, can you see?”
“.Miss Ashley, the lord will definitely not see. The reason is as follows: She is currently in an uncertain state of life and death; the likelihood is she is alive, but she could also be dead. If she is dead, she will definitely not see; but if she is alive, she is not here, so she also will not see. In summary…”
“Shut up!”
“.Do you need David Number Two to stop talking?”
“.”
At this moment in the Performance Gate of the Dynasty, Fisher, who had finished gradually integrating the black mud into his body, felt the chaos within him finally quieting down and sighed in relief after confirming it wouldn’t overflow.
But the sensations from the injuries still lingered on his body, and he hurriedly looked down at Raphael, sensing that her breath was healthy and seemingly undergoing some transformation. Only then did he feel a bit reassured.
Yet this wasn’t the end; he quickly turned to look at Hela, who was still gazing blankly at him. It was she who had saved Raphael’s burning soul.
Upon looking at her, Fisher’s throat quivered, his voice turning incredibly hoarse as he was about to speak.
“Hela, I…”
“Boom!!!”
Just then, the entire dynasty suddenly shook violently once again. Fisher and Hela’s expressions changed simultaneously, because Fisher felt a deeply familiar sensation.
Death.
And an explosive death!!!
It was almost exactly like that time in the Ideal Nation, even more frenzied!
What on earth was happening?
Hela frowned, looking upward, and Fisher followed her gaze, abruptly spotting a portal of nothingness swinging wide open for some unknown reason, as if representing some loosened seal.
It was the door of Performance Gate!
“Hahahaha, I did it!! I can die now!! Hahahaha!!”
In the midst of that illusory door, a withered figure, wrapped in bandages and with a frenzied expression, was excitedly emerging from within, pleased with his own creation.
“Solomon.”
“Not good, that stupid guy actually opened ten doors!! Death is awakening!”
“No… I…”
Hearing Hela’s extremely serious voice, Fisher was about to rise to stop it, but before he could stand up, he felt utterly exhausted, his eyes rolling back as he fell unconscious, collapsing to the side.
Hela effortlessly caught his collapsing body in her arms, holding him tightly.
But on her face, the expression that had originally seemed “unexpected” in front of Fisher vanished in an instant, replaced by a somewhat complex calmness.
“Boom!!!”
The entire Demon Dynasty shuddered before the awakening death, with Princess Hela embracing the completely unconscious Fisher, as the ethereal dawn behind her flickered, dragging Raphael, who was on the verge of becoming a myth, toward the edge of the Performance Gate.
In the next moment, the magma of the entire dynasty boiled, indicating that the terror that had been sleeping for ten thousand years beneath it was awakening.
“Cough, Baemon,”
Hela, expressionless as she held Fisher, walked while dragging the floating Raphael beside her, unaware that Ag, the demon god, lay heavily injured on the ground beside her.
At this moment, she covered her wounded body and slowly sat up from the ground. First, she cast a hateful glance at Raphael behind her, gritting her teeth as she spoke,
“You deceived us; the blessing on this Dragon Race cannot help us achieve freedom. Instead, it has burned the crevice!! Now the crevice outside is slowly collapsing; what on earth are you trying to do, Baemon?! Cough cough.”
Hela, holding Fisher, kept her expression hidden from Ag for the time being, but a few seconds later, she smiled sweetly and, like a pure angel, looked at Ag and said,
“Right. I deceived you.”
“.You beast.”
Ag, covering her body, cursed begrudgingly, then bit her teeth and continued to stare at her, saying,
“You opened ten doors without permission, letting death return to the world. You just fixed the soul of this red dragon using another dragon’s soul, then, with power below a true god, extinguished the soul flame burning on her blessing. These are things that even demigods cannot easily do. Your mastery over souls is even greater than Dalasgon’s… What on earth are you?!”
“You’ve misjudged, Ag.”
“Ha, I hope so.”
Ag let out a cold laugh, then stared coldly at the smiling Hela, continuing to say, “What about Fisher? Are you doing all of this for him? Only to watch him sacrifice everything for this not even a myth Dragon Race? He would willingly die for her rather than fulfill your wish! The two of us were only used by you for four and a half years, while you? For these thousands of years, everything you have been waiting for and preparing for has all turned to dust; how ironic, cough cough.”
“.”
Hela watched her with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes, but Ag was about to say more when suddenly, her form instantaneously shattered, her neck, limbs, and abdomen all sliced through in an instant.
Her head, caught mid-word, dropped to the ground, rolling around in shock and horror before being dragged back to Hela’s face by the ethereal dawn.
“You…”
In the name of Ag’s “curiosity,” she hadn’t even realized what had attacked her or caused her injuries. Filled with rage, she was pulled in front of Hela, listening to her softly say,
“.Thinking of your nature at this moment? Thinking that provoking me would make me show you a power you’ve never seen?”
Ag froze slightly, and the anger on her face slowly ebbed to a calm expression. She sneered, retorting sarcastically,
“Otherwise? I had already realized it was meaningless when the chaos from his body unfolded and the blessing bloomed. It was just that back then, neither I, Barbatos… no, no one in this world could predict that you would turn out to be this kind of existence, or rather, once known, no one could live. Right? Rather than this, I would prefer to satisfy my nature just once before the end.”
Hela thought for a moment, shook her head, and responded,
“Not entirely; there was once a person who escaped from my hands. Though I let her go, it was also because I was forced by her scheme.”
“Oh, now I’m curious to know who that is.”
“Is that within your scope of curiosity?”
Hela smiled, looking at her without directly answering, but continued,
“To me, there is no death; the soul only reincarnates. You are the same. However, you indeed won’t ‘die’ because I still need you to help suppress the chaos, even if only in name.”
Ag fell silent, for at this moment, her fate was no longer in her control. She let out a final sneer toward Hela, saying,
“You scum.”
Hela waved her hand at her as if in farewell, and soon countless dawns cascaded down, casting the numerous pieces of her dismembered body and head into the lava below, transforming them into a pillar of fire for the dynasty.
But this was ultimately a poison to cure thirst; even at this moment, not even all of the demon gods could repress the death that had been suppressed for so long.
The entire dynasty shook more violently until a pillar of fire burst forth from the lava, completely breaking through the ground above the dynasty and allowing death’s aura to gradually spread.
Looking at the awakening authority of death, Hela remained calm, perhaps in her eyes, such a disaster had already become trivial.
For extinction had begun.
Above, at the outer edge of the shattered crevice, the swirling crimson aura continued to surge, as if myriad gazes were directed towards a spot in the dynasty below.
Beyond the ultimate, the vague song once again pierced through and resonated with the ultimate.
“Lala…lala la.”
But this time, its meaning became particularly clear, allowing all existences within the spirit realm to hear that familiar pulsing. It was a curse that had lingered in this world for millennia but had only now begun to unfold.
That song celebrated,
“The soul fire will ignite first, burning everything of the world to silence.”
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(End of this chapter)
