Chapter 688: 166. Nali
“Ashely-senpai, open your link with the Outer Authority and release its power.”
“I know, it’s just…” Ashley sat cross-legged atop the crevice’s illusory bubble, her expression somewhat troubled. She held her head, saying, “I’ve gotten used to suppressing its existence for the past few millennia, so it’s a bit…”
“…”
Fisher glanced at her helplessly, while the Duke of Peach beside her seemed to be advancing at an unknown pace.
Suddenly, a wave of distortion surged across her body, and her previously pale complexion began to destabilize. Her skin rippled like a water surface pelted by raindrops, causing a shiver down Fisher’s spine. He knew this was a sign of the Chaotic Being’s increasing activity.
The Chaotic Being was using her as a base for its manifestation, and Fisher was to extract it from the Duke of Peach.
He gently pressed his hand on the Duke of Peach’s head. The swirling chaos became even more agitated, reflected in the Duke of Peach’s changing expression.
“Uh! Is it done, you small fry! I—”
“…”
Fisher remained silent, closing his eyes as his fingers gradually morphed into the tentacles of the Chaos Race. Yet, this was merely a facade; deep within his being was a nature that enabled the Authority to manifest and the Sea of Souls to coalesce.
In the next moment, Fisher transformed into an illusory hand that swiftly penetrated the Duke of Peach’s brain. Before he could make any moves, the base that the Duke had morphed into erupted with countless streams of blood, within which appeared myriad limbs, flowing past Fisher and moving towards his back.
Success!
Fisher’s eyes widened. Unlike his earlier attempts to absorb the manifested power during his time in the Demon Dynasty, this already-formed Chaotic power had completely separated from the Duke of Peach.
This was unexpected for Fisher, yet he felt an acute sense of caution from these Outer Gods towards his nature.
However, this caution did not stem from a sheer power disparity but rather from an apprehension of the unknown.
“Uh!!”
The chaotic power exploded forth as it formed, with the Duke of Peach collapsing upon the bubble, covered in injuries, her long ears twitching in pain. But her Mythical Rank recovery ability allowed her to heal rapidly.
She shot a surprised glance at Fisher and painfully remarked, “No wonder you were able to trigger the True God’s power at your chest and travel back through time. With such abilities, you truly fear nothing.”
“Boom!!”
At the same time, Ashley had yet to exert force, and her entire form floated up as countless streams of glittering pure gold threads surged from her body, looking chaotic and tangled like a ball of threads.
The Chaotic Being had already separated, and the other guiding forces began to disengage as Fisher had planned.
“Boom!”
At that moment, in the extremely distant “bubble cloud sea”, the crevice connecting to reality was continuously fracturing, revealing a giant eye of Heow’s avatar.
Its massive pupil surveyed the vast crevice space, and the next second, it fixed its gaze upon Fisher.
A vague voice thundered in Fisher’s ears, “Incomprehensible; how can such a thing as you exist in this world?”
Even amidst its incomprehension, Fisher keenly sensed a surge of emotion in Heow’s words.
At this moment, the Duke of Peach was not fully restored, and the chaos within Ashley had yet to descend; both sides seemed to be waiting.
Fisher glanced at the massive distorted shape gathering beneath the giant eye, formed from the blood of the Chaotic Being, and couldn’t help but feel mocking as he asked, “Aren’t you gods? Is there something you don’t understand?”
But apart from the earlier fluctuation, Heow’s avatar showed no other emotion. It looked down upon Fisher with a hint of pity in its voice, “The names of deities are bestowed by countless civilizations in the universe to represent incomprehensible and unparalleled beings. Yet, even if this title is conferred upon our civilization, within your confines, and amidst most species in the starry rivers, you can still be called a god.
“Of course, you cannot comprehend; the universe’s mysteries are an invisible road with no end. Even if we have distorted the ‘rules’ of any civilization to a certain degree—our power has reached heights unimaginable to any civilization—before us remains an impenetrable darkness.”
At that moment, beneath Heow, the sea of the Chaotic Being had solidified into a humanoid form resembling the Duke of Peach, except in place of her originally cute features were limbs and cells flowing like stars, looking incredibly unsettling.
“Buzz!”
Beside them, the countless knots detached from Ashley, heading toward Heow, transforming into a mass of shapeless, erratically moving golden lines.
Ashley fell to the ground, clutching her chest. The madness suppressed in her mind and the sensation of her limbs splitting apart evaporated as if she reverted to the form she had just before arriving.
She disconnected from the chaos, and those chaotic elements existed independently of her.
She may have felt ecstatic internally, but she couldn’t muster a smile.
With a complex gaze, she looked at Fisher beside her, suddenly feeling her eyes redden. She drew out the Fate Completion Manual from her arms and slapped it onto him, causing him to pause slightly.
He glanced at the Fate Completion Manual in his arms. Shouldn’t he be pleased to be rid of this? However, Fisher felt she was far from happy.
In fact, Ashley was thinking that if she had easily freed herself from the tormenting chaos, then if Fisher had remained a little longer, Tang Zeming Asuka wouldn’t have been so disturbed by the chaos for so long.
If Ashley’s thoughts found their way to Heow, Heow would certainly declare that they were nothing more than delusions, impossible to realize.
Now, the Outer Gods’ caution towards Fisher stemmed from him sealing the power of the ocean. Thousands of years ago, the Outer Gods were unaware of Fisher’s true nature, and even he himself didn’t know. Even if he could, he would have to undergo fierce opposition, and at that point, Asuka—the vessel—might as well explode.
It should be noted that initially, the Outer Gods were suspicious of the ocean’s existence. Even with the legacy of the Soul Supplement Handbook, based on its long-term manifestations, it still could not be confirmed that the source of that power was indeed the legendary ocean.
Look, even the little bit of power that Dream displayed had given the gods headaches for thousands of years that couldn’t be solved. How could the power exhibited by the god you speak of be anything less than exaggerated?
In the end, this?
As the vessel, Jahl Uzz had his memories sealed for a thousand years by Asuka. Once he unlocked Asuka’s memory magic, he went down in a blaze like a demigod. To be precise, he hadn’t quite gone down; he had been lying in his lair for several thousand years.
Heow drove Margaret mad, incited conflict amongst the elves and angels, almost awakening the sleeping Heow, causing the authority of death to fall into chaotic sealing, thereby giving birth to the Demon Race; the Chaotic Being had not only obliterated the World Tree but had also driven the Duke of Peach—an elven leader—insane—setting off the mythological war; the source of the Completion Manual triggered the final demise of the angelic race, delivering the final blow to the Heavenly Lock.
See, comparing the accomplishments of the Soul Supplement Handbook to the consistently stagnant sources of the Fate Completion Manual isn’t that far off.
Hence, the gods have always been skeptical about the existence of the ocean, just as Dream had said during the deal with Elizabeth a few years ago.
Until the flames of the soul began to burn in the crevice, the core of the world started to fracture, and Dalasgon lost consciousness from the flames. The barriers began to tremble, forcing the gods to gather at the ultimate place to prevent the proliferation of chaos, only then did they realize that the ocean had left deadly loopholes from millennia of fighting against Fei—like a volatile molecule waiting for an explosion.
The Outer Gods had confirmed that the ocean surely existed, and its power seemed to have truly been sealed by Fisher.
From here, the apprehensive Outer Gods had no choice but to shift their focus to creations outside the Completion Manuals, deciding to descend directly to avoid the influence of Fisher’s nature and to handle the vessel of this nature with strength.
Heow’s giant eye wavered slightly, and the two divine avatars nearby had already reached their peak state. However, because the chaos knowledge did not fully bloom as the Completion Manual’s essence, they could barely reach Nineteen Rank, unable to form the unique “law” of this world.
Three Nineteen Ranks confronting Fisher was clearly more than sufficient.
“Since we are ready, Ashley-senpai, Duke of Peach, we can only count on our full strength next.”
“…Tsk, dying once is troublesome; that small fry is not even comparable to the me from ten thousand years ago.”
The Duke of Peach coughed slightly. She originally wanted to display her complete form like before and have the peach blossoms behind her head swell. However, standing beside Fisher, she puffed her cheeks. After two tries without growing larger, she simply gave up, choosing to face the enemy in her pre-adolescent form.
“Okay, let’s handle our respective chaos as we decided earlier. As for Elizabeth’s, I’ll leave that to you.”
Freed from the chaos, Ashley was still a bit unaccustomed. Fortunately, the best way to suppress chaos is to refrain from using its power, leaving her many other means to fight.
Her fingers hesitated for a moment, then she waved her hand, summoning a staff inscribed with countless symbols from the void, tossing it to Fisher.
“Here, this.”
Fisher caught the staff, taking a glance at the dense magic overhead, and sensed something.
“This can’t be…”
“Yeah, this is something Asuka left behind. She often engraved spells on it. In the past, she didn’t need to inscribe spells; she just closed her eyes to meditate to manifest magic, so the supply was quick. But since she left, it diminishes with every use, and I kept it. Your Fluid Sword remained in the Spirit Realm; you are her teacher; now that it’s a fight to the death, this is perfectly suitable.”
“.”
Fisher looked at the magic staff in his hand helplessly. Although he had taught magic to Asuka, in hindsight, the magic he understood and Asuka’s magic were truly two different things.
Magic has always been an industrial tool, a consumable for crafting, just like how a blacksmith who crafts swords isn’t necessarily adept at swordsmanship; most mages are frail, spending vast amounts of time in the back crafting supplies for use.
Yet Tang Zeming Asuka didn’t need to spend time inscribing; her magic manifested directly in her imagination upon awakening her chaotic power, just like what he saw in the Spirit Realm’s pollution, cheating in a fundamentally unreasonable way.
He smiled slightly, grasping the warm wooden staff, moving his palm over the text that appeared out of thin air, only to suddenly feel a line of words.
Looking down, it was actually an angelic onomatopoeia.
“Nali.”
“.”
Fisher suddenly realized that what Tang Zeming Asuka wanted to inscribe was actually the term for “Nali” in the Nali language. She had heard him say this word in Nali, and when he told her it was his hometown, she had committed the pronunciation to memory.
She had no idea how long she would need to wait throughout history for humans to mention the realm of “Nali”.
His pupils constricted slightly, as if he suddenly understood why Tang Zeming Asuka was so determined to protect humanity, even entrusting the Mother to ensure they learned magic to defend themselves.
Her protection for a world seemingly unrelated to her was likely not merely out of kinship, but out of worry that humanity was so weak; how could they possibly stand a chance in a world dominated by mythical beings?
If survival itself was so challenging, could that seemingly unattainable human realm of “Nali” ever be born?
Thus, she resolved to help humanity learn the magic to protect themselves, even seeking her friend, the Mother, to guard humanity; otherwise, it would be difficult to explain why the Mother in the Spirit Realm suddenly tossed aside the idea of secluding and protecting humanity, even risking sealing all the Demon Races.
She had always been waiting for herself.
Fisher tightened his grip on the staff, and ahead, the combined powers of the three divine avatars had fully manifested, unleashing terrifying auras within the crevice.
The Duke of Peach and Ashley took deep breaths and stepped forward. Heow remained motionless, silently observing Fisher in the distance until his aura became increasingly concealed, almost fusing with the crevice itself.
It was a secret.
No, it was Dalasgon’s authority!
“Dalasgon.”
Fisher murmured, causing Heow, the Chaotic Being and the Shattered Guidance, to be taken by surprise. The next moment, the entire crevice began to stir restlessly.
Heow’s giant eye looked up at the sky, realizing that Dalasgon’s consciousness had yet to awaken. He was astonished, staring at the existence before him capable of wielding authority.
What exactly is the nature dwelling within this entity?
Before Heow could ponder further, the avatars suddenly felt their bodies heavy; their entire existence struggled to maintain itself, being repelled by the crevice.
As Dalasgon’s authority awakened, the nature of the crevice isolating the world intensified, significantly affecting the foreign authority avatars.
Their power began to wane; their ranks dropped.
Nineteen, eighteen, seventeen.
No wonder he dared to release their power instead of killing off the other base.
Heow’s vague voice resonated in the ears of the Chaotic Being and Shattered Guidance avatars—a reminder,
“There’s only one target, Dalasgon.”
Having said that, the two avatars beside Heow charged towards the sky from two directions, specifically aiming for Dalasgon, while the Duke of Peach and Ashley beside Fisher also moved to prevent their approach to Dalasgon.
Heow remained immobile and relayed the message to Elizabeth below, instructing her to bring forth Pandora’s illusion to avoid unforeseen changes.
But Fisher had already figured out Asuka’s magic through exploration. Noticing Heow’s pause, he took a deep breath and lifted his palm, approaching Heow like a bolt of lightning.
“Boom!!”
Heow stood still, while beside him, a grotesque pair of wings filled with dirty oil stretched out, resembling a large eye sporting a chicken’s wings absurdly.
It was not that the wings were inferior; it was merely that Heow’s avatar was excessively massive at that moment.
With a slight flap of those wings, numerous clumps of the filthy oil coalesced, surging downward with a terrifying aura like falling meteors.
Fisher’s pupils contracted, and he swiftly pushed off the bubble beneath him, evading narrowly as clumps of oil exploded beside him, subsequently penetrating the fragile crevice and plunging into reality.
The rotten, malodorous oil struck the city of Saint Nali, emanating distorted black matter resembling swarms of flies, causing immense panic.
In Heow’s ears, Elizabeth’s furious roar erupted,
“What are you doing?! Are you trying to kill all my people? What’s that stuff dropping into the city?”
Elizabeth had no Fisher beside her; she remained the base of death, able even to share sight with Heow.
Heow ignored Elizabeth below, calmly responding, “The illusion is up; you are alone and defenseless. Those creations are here to help you deal with your troubles; stop whining. Besides, life dies, and new worlds can proliferate; I can no longer hold back with Fisher, whom you advised me to spare; otherwise, it poses a risk.”
“.”
In front Heow, Fisher, who was evading amidst a storm of His powers, could also be seen by Elizabeth afterward as the battle reached its peak, so Heow sent her a precaution.
After all, Heow did not understand Elizabeth’s lowly biological reasoning. Now they were fighting to the death, and while she was supposed to reset the new world order, why remain so worried about an old order? How foolish.
He thought so, and the giant golden pupil suddenly split into countless varying sized round pupils. Soon after, twisted and decaying limbs of unknown lineage extended from them.
Then, like a tide, the rotting corpses crawled out from Heow’s eyes, surging toward Fisher like a tide of corpses.
But with a flick of his staff, a scarlet beam flashed, and several spells exceeding the power of seventeen ranks erupted, piercing through the creatures before him, leaving a massive hole in Heow’s body, gushing forth oily blood.
“Pfft.”
Fisher twirled the staff in his hand, ready to pursue the advantage but suddenly felt a chill on his back. A shiver ran down him, noticing his shoes had grown heavier. Looking down, he found his shoes were creeping into a stone-like ash.
He tumbled beside the extraterrestrial corpses, flipping over them to use them as a shield against the increasingly potent golden light below.
“Boom!”
Pandora’s illusion had arrived!
With the naked eye, all the corpses turned to stone. Fisher realized he could not remain here any longer and jumped up again, being dragged higher and higher by the countless bubbles of crevice.
The moment Pandora’s illusion broke into the crevice, it was also affected by Dalasgon’s authority, causing her body to become heavy, and her rank began to fall.
Dalasgon!
Fisher had never been more grateful to the gods, especially knowing Dalasgon still owed him a favor. Now that half his body was nearly buried, it was the right time to repay that debt.
He gritted his teeth, lightly letting go of the crevice bubbles pulling him up and suddenly shooting down like lightning towards Heow!
求求投票、打赏和支持，这对我来说十分重要！
万分感谢支持！
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(The End of This Chapter)
