Chapter 629: 107. The Solution
“I am myself; I am the thought of thought.”
“I am the song to which none can listen; I am the eye that cannot perceive.”
“May I ask, what am I?”
After Eil had returned to his true form and fallen into sleep, he did not know how much time had passed. When he crossed the Competitive Gate, Lust Gate, and Performance Gate back to the Knowledge Gate and arrived at Hela’s palace entrance, the riddle of the door emerged once more, seeking the same answer from Fisher, who already knew it.
At that moment, Fisher felt a twinge of curiosity. Why did Hela place such a riddle at the entrance as a key to opening the door, and why was the answer to the riddle “soul,” a term that sounded so mystical?
“Soul.”
With this thought in mind, Fisher silently recited the answer to the riddle before the door. As his formless words rippled like water across the mirrored door, a gap slowly opened in the center of the great door, revealing the space inside.
Inside was brightly lit, a stark contrast to the previous desolation Fisher had encountered. At that moment, the angel who had been away for a long time finally returned to this place.
Fisher walked in and saw the paintings that he and Eil had taken down were now neatly hung back on the walls. Except for the largest painting that depicted Fisher’s sleeping face, every size of frame had been mounted. Under the bright light above, they appeared quite beautiful.
He did not see Hela, but instead spotted a backup set of paints and an unfinished sheet of white paper in the hall on the first floor.
The white paper was tinted with a shade of gray, seemingly a draft before painting, but Fisher could not discern what she wanted to draw.
“Hmph~”
As Fisher examined the unfinished artwork while searching for Hela, a muffled “hmm” sound suddenly echoed from behind him. He turned to see a single-humped camel curiously sizing up this unfamiliar visitor.
“It’s you.”
“Hmph~”
Fisher quickly recognized what this creature was because this camel, like the crown on its head, was a gift he had given to Hela thousands of years ago.
Unlike the inanimate crown, Fisher had previously thought that she had perished during the long passage of time, not expecting her to be well.
“You’re still here, and you look quite well. I wonder how Hela managed that.”
Fisher reached out to pet her head, but she hesitated and pulled her head back slightly. After a second or two, she seemed to recognize Fisher’s scent, gently leaning in to nudge his hand with her head, showcasing her melodious voice again:
“Hmph hmm~ Hmph hmm~”
“The life artifact of Sorobato within her has completely merged with her. In some sense, she has become an angelic artifact, not just a camel, which is why she has been able to accompany me for such a long time.”
Just as Fisher smiled and was about to stroke her head, Hela’s voice suddenly came from behind, answering his curiosity.
He turned to find Hela, dressed in a flowing white veil, leaning lazily against the stairs on the first floor, smiling as she looked at him. Her crown atop her head was tilted, and her ethereal wings drifted behind her, radiating morning light as they pulled another piece of furniture down the stairs, seemingly intending to place it on the first floor.
“I was napping earlier and heard you come in. Just in time, I wanted to ask you for a hand.”
Hela, barefoot and floating above the ground, slowly descended the stairs, casually placing the furniture in the center. She didn’t look in Fisher’s direction but beckoned with her hand. The morning light then pulled the large painting of Fisher’s sleeping face from the second floor. Fisher noticed that she had added a new frame to the painting; the previous one seemed to have been damaged when Eil’s cat removed it.
Fisher reluctantly took the painting that morning light had relayed to him but couldn’t help but ask,
“Can’t you just use that morning light to hang it directly?”
“It’ll be crooked. Just a little favor, please. Plus, there’s a reward once it’s done~”
Hela said, playfully brushing her creamy white veil.
Fisher accepted the oil painting handed to him by the morning light but didn’t mention anything about the reward; she probably just wanted him to help. Not knowing what to say to her, he had to engage in this action to pass the time before getting to the main topic.
Since he was going to say goodbye, at least given his relationship with her, he ought to mention that he would be leaving this place for a long time without seeing her.
“When was this painting made?”
“This one? It was painted thousands of years ago, when that little thing by your side came to the dynasty searching for the mysteries of its heritage.”
“I see.”
However, at that moment, looking at the oil painting that was about to be hung on the wall, gazing at the image she had etched of him, Fisher perhaps could finally realize that she had been waiting for him for ten thousand years.
“Aren’t you going to ask why I painted this?”
“To upset Eil?”
“Hahahaha, if I wanted to upset her, or any woman you know, I have countless ways to do so. Why would I use this method?”
Hela was smiling as she rested her chin in her hand, watching Fisher’s silhouette, waiting for the “why” that he would utter next. Shortly after, Fisher indeed inquired,
“Then why?”
“Because you looked adorable while sleeping, and when I tried to pull my hand away, you wouldn’t let go, just like a little baby.”
She extended her five fingers, exactly the ones Fisher had tightly held back then. It sounded very sweet, but Fisher shot her a somewhat embarrassed glance, as this was an unconscious action; he didn’t remember a thing.
“Just for that?”
“What else could it be?”
Fisher sighed and hung the painting on the wall, aligning it perfectly with the axis, before turning to look at Hela, who had already sat at the table holding a pot of hot tea. A plate of butter cheesecake was also placed on the table before her, the timing of its appearance unknown.
“Ding ding, this is the reward~”
“When did you bring this out?”
“From Baemon’s treasury. Over the course of these ten thousand years, I’ve saved a little, so even though I live here, I can have what I want. I can even change the style to a purely Nali style.”
Hela snapped her fingers, and the surrounding walls began to change style, just like that fluid door, almost instantaneously transforming the entire palace into a luxurious villa in the sunny suburbs of Nali. The sound of a carriage passing outside could even be vaguely heard.
Fisher looked around, witnessing the hometown he had not seen in a long time. After a moment of silence, he continued,
“I’m about to leave the Southern Continent and return to Nali.”
“Oh, for Elizabeth?”
Hela smiled, stirring the hot tea in her hand, causing the steam to swirl and become more fragrant.
“My teacher has passed away, and there are other leads on completion manuals in Nali. I need to hurry and read all of them before the crevice burns out.”
“Indeed, Nali does have the leads for the completion manuals you will be looking for next. Your teacher Heilson has a granddaughter who appeared a few years ago. You should go find her; you might discover something helpful.”
“Granddaughter? It shouldn’t be Heilson’s biological granddaughter Vaili, right?”
Heilson had only one son in his life, who served in the royal army. He later passed away during the war with Shivali, leaving behind a pregnant wife at home; after learning of her husband’s tragic news, the widow’s health rapidly deteriorated, ultimately dying in the delivery room.
This is why Heilson cared so much for his granddaughter. Knowing she liked sweets, he did everything he could to satisfy her little requests, silently eliminating side effects afterward.
The low-ring magic [Gum Lasso], which shocked the medical community of Nali, was invented by Heilson to prevent his precious granddaughter from getting cavities. Although eventually, his granddaughter Vaili still became overweight due to sweets, prompting Heilson’s old friend Damien to often complain, hoping she would exercise more. This shows how much Heilson treasured Vaili.
Over the ensuing years, despite suffering the pain of losing his son, Heilson did not retaliate by developing large-scale lethal magic for the Nali military. Instead, he frequently sent envoys to Shivali to promote peace between the two nations; even during the final negotiations that led to peace, his name was included in the negotiating team.
Because mightier weapons and larger wars would only cause more fathers to lose their sons. No matter how things were done, no method could bring back deceased children. Only peace could halt further losses, providing solace to those in Nali worried about their loved ones enlisting.
Heilson was a wise magician; Fisher had always believed so.
“Yes, and she’s a granddaughter adopted after you left. She is very important; you should be able to meet her this time.”
“What do you mean by that?”
Fisher was just about to question why she knew so much when Hela already took a sip of her hot tea and began to explain first,
“Didn’t you always want to know why I sent those obedient succubi into Nali? They are my eyes and ears, gathering information that others do not know when I am occupied. After all, I am not omniscient; I have to care for the plan while also keeping an eye out for your arrival, so…”
“I get it.”
Fisher paused for a moment, slightly relieved from his internal confusion, nodding in acknowledgment. Hela nudged the plate with the cake in front of him, gesturing for him to enjoy the dessert.
“Give it a try. Not everyone has the chance to taste food made by me. By the way, if you have any questions, feel free to ask me; I’ll give you answers.”
Fisher took the little metal spoon from the cheesecake, gently scooping a corner of the butter cheese cake into his mouth. The moment a faint sweetness burst forth, the crushed hazelnuts also awakened the desire to chew between his lips and teeth.
It was hard to tell she had such wonderful culinary skills; it was even more memorable than the creations of the chief pastry chef in the Golden Palace. Even the camel peeking curiously from behind seemed tempted to see what delicious food Fisher was having.
Meanwhile, Hela, smiling brightly, watched him as if waiting for his feedback.
“Delicious.”
“If it’s good, eat more; it’s nourishing.”
“What?”
“Just a joke.”
Hela held onto her hot tea, and Fisher asked while savoring the cake,
“What connection is there between Ch and Mother God? You previously used Ch’s power to release Barbatos and Ag, so how could you break Mother God’s seal?”
“You should know that Mother God interfered with the laws of this world during the mythical war using her authority, and the consequences of her actions were extremely severe. The boundaries of extraterritorial material began to collapse, and the ‘material walls’ that Ouyun had built over thousands of years turned to ash overnight, leading to the collapse of the Holy Realm; in the Spirit Realm, Dalasgon’s authority was damaged, which meant he couldn’t retrieve the blessings tainted by chaos that Fei had given. But what you should know is that, conversely, Mother God also paid a price to break through the barriers of reality.
“Like Dalasgon, who guards the crevice, her authority was also damaged. The injury to the authority cannot be restored for thousands of years; otherwise, Dalasgon would not be unable to reclaim the blessings he gave even now. While the gods at that time considered her an enemy to be erased, Ch believed that Mother God would one day help this world through its difficulties. So, Ch made a bold decision: she ventured into the Spirit Realm to repair the damaged authorityof Mother God’s body, which had its consciousness erased by the gods.”
Fisher furrowed his brow and questioned, “What happened after that? Ch’s rank should not be above demigod, right? She was only at Nineteen Rank thousands of years ago; could she face the true god’s body?”
Hela shrugged and replied, “No one knows how she thought or accomplished it; in any case, she went and never returned. But from the outcome, she must have succeeded. The newfound authority of Mother God was undamaged and resonated curiously with Ch’s power. Only when I was observing you did I discover this. Originally, I planned to use the base to release them; however, with Ch’s power, there was an additional layer of insurance. More importantly, since I also have the items left by Ch, that incarnation of Mother God cannot detect my presence, allowing my plan to proceed smoothly.”
So that’s how it was.
Fisher had always wondered why Renee looked exactly like Ch; even the authority within Renee bore a striking resemblance to Ch.
Now it seemed highly likely that the boundless authority still in the process of resurrecting consciousness consumed Ch’s fragmented power. Given the nature of the boundless authority, it was likely that the nature of Ch’s powers, under the influence of boundless authority, multiplied infinitely, eventually impacting the boundless authority itself along with the image that Renee ultimately chose for her incarnation.
It’s worth mentioning that Fisher had always known that the black-haired sorceress he saw was not Renee’s true appearance; what he was seeing was merely her non-true god consciousness incarnation walking in reality.
Reference to the “moon” imagery of Mother God, Fisher sometimes even wondered if Renee’s true form was a massive, round ball.
This was just speculation, not to be taken seriously; he should still regard the sorceress as the image of Renee.
Returning to the main topic, Fisher had previously thought that Renee had seen Ch somewhere, hence why she chose this appearance for her incarnation. But when he mentioned Ch before, Renee didn’t seem familiar with her, which left Fisher feeling puzzled.
Through Hela’s explanation, Fisher finally understood the situation of the mythical war and what happened to Ch.
Did Ch believe Renee would help this world through its difficulties in the future?
As the conversation continued, Hela had answered all of Fisher’s two questions, and there was only a small piece of hazelnut butter cheese cake left on his plate.
Initially, he may have thought that Hela sending those succubi to Nali was related to Elizabeth, but it now seemed entirely unnecessary. Hela had always been focused on matters related to the Apocalypse Prophecy, which was entirely unrelated to Elizabeth, making her unworthy of Hela’s attention.
He nodded, placing the last piece of cake in his mouth. As he chewed, after much hesitation, he finally asked Hela a question,
“Raphael has entered the Mythical Rank, so the child in her womb has lost its connection to the Spirit Realm and is about to become stillborn. Is there any way to save it?”
If Sir Book were present, he would have let out a sharp screech and begun to lavishly promote Baemon, yet for some reason, Fisher simply wanted to ask her, hoping to receive a corresponding answer from her.
Hela looked at Fisher, took a sip of her hot tea, and then softly said,
“Since you already know the principle of the problem, you should also know the answer to the solution. The darling child about to be born from Raphael will lack a soul, so the only solution is to travel to the Spirit Realm and bring back a fragment of a soul from the Sea of Souls to place into the embryo.”
“Is the Sea of Souls in the Spirit Realm? Can’t it be from other places?”
“Unless you want your soon-to-be-born child to become a shell possessed by another person. Only the souls from the Sea of Souls in the Spirit Realm are pure. Though in some sense they have still gone through countless reincarnations, everything about them will be cleansed by the tangible Sea of Souls, which is the pure consciousness awaiting birth. This is the precious nature of the Sea of Souls. However, the journey there is extremely dangerous; you need at least Nineteen Rank to go there and bring your child’s soul back to their mother’s womb.”
After finishing her hot tea, Hela said this calmly.
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(End of Chapter)
