Chapter 723: 23. Hungry
“I’ve caught you.”
Clearly, no matter how one judges, the woman in front of me with a Northern Region face is just a being of the mortal rank. Even if at this moment, Renee’s true body is still near the Ultimate and unable to use her power, she isn’t someone I can bump into.
But for some reason, when the woman in front of me smiled while gripping my wrist, an unprecedented sense of panic surged within Renee’s heart. The shock of just having learned her true origins intertwined with the momentary fluster, causing her pupils to constrict as she looked at the back of her hand held by Heidi Lin.
“You…”
“Realizing you can’t phantasm? Thought I couldn’t catch your incarnation? The incarnation is the deity’s consciousness, and consciousness is the essence of the soul. How could I not catch it?”
Renee’s expression shifted slightly. She took a deep breath and began to struggle, but Heidi Lin smiled slightly and said,
“You haven’t felt the burning heat of his soul? How about tasting it yourself?”
Taste?
Renee paused slightly, only to see Heidi Lin smile as she held Renee’s hand, which began to emit a faint white light.
“Buzz!”
When she was with Fisher, due to Renee’s shyness, she would instinctively avoid him whenever he approached, using phantasm or complete disappearance techniques, making it impossible for Fisher to catch her.
But now, in front of a female enemy, she felt no shyness and was firmly caught by this person using strange means, so Renee’s consciousness remained completely present.
As a faint white light flickered on Heidi Lin’s palm, a wave that felt familiar to her soul instantly transferred through her hand into Renee’s consciousness.
This is…
Renee’s pupils constricted as she first felt the scorching heat surge in her heart like lava.
It seemed that this lava wanted to devour her soul, wrapping her up; every inch of heat felt like electric shocks skimming across her skin, bringing the sensation and breath of Fisher as if he were right next to her.
Renee’s face instantly turned bright red. In disbelief, her body weakened, almost kneeling to the ground, and even her incarnation started to show extremely uncomfortable gasping movements.
“Hahaha.”
Her face flushed, and from afar in the spirit realm, the originally cold moonlight began to flicker, resonating with her current mental state.
But the heat wasn’t burning; it felt like it wanted to tightly wrap Renee up to dispel her ancient solitude, driving away all the gloom within her heart.
Renee never thought that the temperature that erupted in that moment would be so tempting.
But Heidi Lin, like a smiling demon, hid that blissful and scorching temperature behind a door, resembling a stingy businessman who only opened a tiny crack and, before the “novice Renee” could fully feel the warmth seeping through, closed the door again.
For just a brief second, the white light on Heidi Lin’s hand completely disappeared, leaving the warmth that had just immersed Renee to vanish in an instant, causing her to momentarily freeze, her angry red face glancing at the still smiling Heidi Lin.
“You… vile and despicable… are you trying to tempt me in this way? Let me tell you, I am who I am. I am not your authority, and I am not my predecessor. I am Renee now, and I will always be Renee. Even if my authority comes from you, I will not do anything for you.”
Indeed, at this moment, Renee was certain that this person in front of her truly had some deep connections with the ocean. Even though she had confirmed multiple times that Heidi Lin’s current rank was really low, her understanding of souls and infinite authority made it impossible for Renee to deny the truth of what she said.
Infinite authority may indeed come from the ocean.
So naturally, as one of the foreign gods who invaded this world, the ocean’s purpose in offering its unconscious authority to the barriers is probably to hope that she will assist it in destroying this world, right?
So at this moment, her coming to find herself is also for this purpose.
Renee’s consciousness was disturbed by the sensation of Fisher’s soul shared by Heidi Lin, but her purple eyes remained unwavering.
“You want to use Fisher’s touch to tempt me? No way!”
Upon hearing this, Heidi Lin sincerely shook her head and softly said,
“I merely pity you.”
“Pity me?”
“Yes. Pity you, who thinks you are ahead of everything, but in reality, you haven’t felt any good things at all. Just giving you a little charity. How about it, amazing, right, Fisher?”
“…”
Pity me?
Give me charity?
Renee’s blush slowly faded, and the veins on her forehead started to show. Dangerous light burst forth from her purple eyes, as if she wanted to devour Heidi Lin completely.
She is Renee.
To be honest, those women related to Fisher had never been considered by her. Not only because of their rank but also because psychologically she always felt that competing with them was meaningless and beneath her.
Essentially, isn’t this also a form of charity?
But today, someone unexpectedly appeared to offer her charity?
Although, indeed, she had never tasted Fisher’s essence before, and to be honest, the previously shallow taste lingered a bit, making her want to… that…
But!
This is not something you can give me.
Renee’s expression suddenly turned cold. The fact that the other party held her wrist was, for her, a form of restraint, a perfect opportunity.
No matter what you are, ocean or something else, I, Renee, don’t care and do not need your charity.
“What’s wrong, in a hurry?”
“Hehe.”
Heidi Lin noticed the change in Renee’s expression, and out of the corner of her eye, she also saw the moonlight in Renee’s hand gathering.
The moonlight was completely different from the power that had gathered earlier. It was evident that Renee was genuinely angry and had begun to use the power of the authority that was still stationed in the barriers.
Heidi Lin shook her head, her smile unchanged.
“Your authority was once mine. I know every move you make. Why not relax and let me breathe a little easier?”
“You are after my authority. Yes, you are the ocean; your abilities cannot be weak. Because the Soul Supplement Handbook was sealed by Fisher, your power’s manifestation is also blocked by the barrier?”
“Guess whether it is or not?”
Heidi Lin’s expression was somewhat intriguing, but she resembled a puzzle, and even her words seemed to be answering none of Renee’s inquiries.
Renee felt that Heidi Lin was likely here for her authority.
To seize Fisher’s essence and use his properties to approach her. This entire chain formed a complete combo.
“Buzz!!!”
Sure enough, the next second, a kind of soul-sucking force emanated from Heidi Lin’s hand, and Renee vaguely felt that something on her was being taken away by her.
Renee’s expression turned slightly cold, and she hurriedly sealed the strength of her authority, blocking her consciousness from getting close to her authority.
At the same time, she shouted coldly, and her body suddenly exerted force. With a blinding moonlight flashing by, the entire beach let out a huge roar.
“Boom!!”
In the midst of that massive explosion, Renee swiftly opened Heidi Lin’s hand. Then, with a twist of her wrist, she smacked her palm against Heidi Lin’s chest, but Heidi Lin’s figure twisted strangely, producing a phantasmic sensation just like Renee, making that palm miss.
Incarnation?!
Renee’s pupils constricted. She never expected that the woman in front of her would be the same as herself, an incarnation of a deity, a direct manifestation of consciousness!
But why does her incarnation resemble that of a human, with a soul that also looks like a human soul?
“Bang!”
There was no time to think because Heidi Lin’s smiling body resembled a solid form again and broke through Renee’s defenses, crashing towards her.
“I’ve got you again.”
Heidi Lin’s palm took on a claw shape, getting closer to Renee while at the same time, a bit of purple radiance from her own body was being absorbed by Heidi Lin, looking like she was about to reach Renee’s true body.
“Crack crack crack!”
Just as Renee was preparing to phantasm and avoid being touched by her strange means, suddenly the space on the side of the silver beach shattered.
Both Renee and Heidi Lin seemed caught off guard by this sudden situation and turned to look. They saw Fisher, eyes closed, gripping the Fluid Sword, slicing through from the shattered space into the battlefield.
“Buzz!”
The cold light in his hand flashed, and the elongated Fluid Sword blade was pointed right at Heidi Lin’s neck, just a slight push would penetrate, making Heidi Lin, who was approaching Renee, halt immediately before the sword blade.
“Fisher?!”
Renee’s expression brightened. She hurriedly floated her body to Fisher’s side, looking at him with some disbelief.
“How did you make it over here? Just now, you were also trapped by the pollution she released, weren’t you?”
“Ah.”
Fisher didn’t answer immediately. Instead, his head twitched strangely before he slowly opened his eyes. After that, he seemed to turn back from a puppet holding a sword to the Fisher they knew.
He glanced quickly at Heidi Lin, who also appeared somewhat surprised, then lifted his other hand, pointing at his own temple, and said to Renee,
“Isn’t this what you taught me? To overcome the pollution of the spirit realm, you need to empty your thoughts. I tried it, imitating Senior Ashley’s method to manipulate my brain using the Chaotic Being, and thought of nothing at all to cross the spirit realm pollution to come here.”
With the cold light at her throat, Heidi Lin, wearing a warm smile, raised her index finger and added,
“Actually, not all thoughts were stripped away, otherwise you wouldn’t have immediately raised your sword to block me upon arriving here. You only stripped away all thoughts but the ones to find Renee and protect her, right?”
“…”
Floating beside Fisher, Renee was slightly taken aback. She looked at him, thinking she should feel moved, but perhaps because Heidi Lin had so improperly shared Fisher’s soul’s touch with her, in this moment, when she looked at Fisher, it felt as though she could sense that near, burning sensation.
Her throat surged slightly, and her gaze inevitably swept over him from head to toe.
Unknowingly reminded of something, her face turned slightly red, and she quickly averted her gaze.
Renee, were you tempted by that ocean?
At this moment, Fisher had clearly rushed over to protect her, so why are you still thinking about that kind of thing?
What to do with him like this and that…
Are you hungry?
Renee shook her head, but the desire awakened within her soul could not settle down, especially with Fisher, this plate of “delicacies”, right beside her.
“Are you okay, Renee? Did she do anything to you just now?”
“… No! Nothing at all!”
Fisher turned with concern, but Renee seemed to wake from a dream. She hurriedly shook her head and said,
“That’s good.”
“…”
Watching Fisher breathe a sigh of relief, Renee suddenly felt a bit embarrassed because the more he did this, the hungrier she felt.
Seeing that Renee was fine, Fisher finally turned around, his brows slightly furrowing, and the Fluid Sword came closer to Heidi Lin’s neck.
“Heidi, what exactly do you want to do?”
“What are you talking about, son-in-law? I’m Heidi…”
“How long are you going to keep pretending?!”
This exclamation came from Fisher’s cold voice, abruptly cutting off the words Heidi Lin was about to say.
Heidi Lin maintained her smile, but the glimmering blue-gold light in her eyes stirred slightly, as if to swallow Fisher’s reflection mirrored in them.
“It seems you’ve learned quite a bit from Ramastia.”
Fisher frowned, hesitating for a moment before saying,
“I’ve always hoped to learn from you, but I’ve never heard the truth from you. I no longer expect to hear any truth from you now.”
He raised his sword, gently pressing it against Heidi Lin’s neck, slowly stepping forward, driving the blade forward, making her have to step back, moving farther away from Renee.
“The creator of the Supplement Handbook for Sub-Humans put the precious attributes stolen from the gods into my body to counter your attempts to take it away; since you came for the precious attributes inside me, then you should only target me and stay away from others.”
“Be careful, Fisher. She is the Incarnation of the Ocean. Though her rank is low, she possesses the nature of an incarnation, allowing her to phantasm.”
Upon hearing Fisher’s words, Heidi Lin’s backward motion suddenly halted. She abruptly halted in place, but Fisher’s blade still had forward momentum, so the sharp blade of Fluid Sword slightly pierced her fair skin, causing a few drops of crimson to flow down.
“Drip drip. Drip.”
Fisher’s eyes subtly shifted, and he hurriedly stopped the forward movement of the Fluid Sword, looking at the still smiling Heidi Lin and hearing her say,
“Is that what you think?”
“… That is what I think.”
Fisher’s gaze fell for a moment and he spoke thus.
According to what he heard from Ramastia, indeed, the gods were at fault first, and they admitted it. They stole the seemingly ownerless Sea of Souls and hid it within the barrier for the creation of all beings.
Thus, from the moment the world and beings were born, they were stained with the original sin committed by the gods.
Even if the Sea of Souls is now returned to the ocean, even if the gods self-destruct to atone for their sins, the reincarnation of souls within the barrier will cease to exist. Because all living beings still active in the world, whether humans, subhumans, or chaos races, are part of the Sea of Souls.
So if the Sea of Souls is to be returned, should those be returned too?
Or is it just that the precious properties and authority wrapped in the Sea of Souls are enough?
If that’s the case, Fisher would feel a sense of relief. If he could just hand himself over to eliminate a reckoning from an exceedingly powerful deity, that would be quite a profit.
But many times, stealing something from others is not just about returning it.
Even Nali’s law has extra penalties for the crime of theft, let alone for such a powerful deity?
Because of the mistakes made, they were punished with an end-of-world retribution, and as the beings and the Sea of Souls are deeply bound, to resist the fate of destruction, they can only be forced to fight back.
Fisher cannot say that living beings are wrong for fighting against destruction and punishment to survive. Starting from his position, for the people he cared about, he could not give up.
Fisher also cannot say that the ocean is wrong. The gods committed a mistake, and if she punishes them and wants to retrieve what was stolen from her, she must inevitably destroy this world driven by the flow of the Sea of Souls.
Could it be that Fisher would exploit the emotional bond he has with her?
Emotion.
A deity like her probably wouldn’t have such a thing. She pays attention to him solely because of the precious attributes within him.
Since the conflict cannot be avoided, then it must go on like this.
Fisher forcibly shifted his gaze away from the trickling blood from the wound on Heidi Lin’s neck and told himself that this is just the incarnation of the ocean. Killing her here wouldn’t affect her in the slightest. Why should he worry about her feeling pain or worry about her injuries?
Don’t forget, she came here targeting Renee!
With this thought, Fisher’s hand gripping the sword hilt grew steadier. He firmly held the Fluid Sword against Heidi Lin’s neck, seemingly wanting to completely separate her from himself and Renee.
“Is that so?”
Heidi Lin smiled, remaining unyielding. She instead looked at Renee and sighed,
“Looks like today you won’t let me succeed; however, that’s fine. To a certain extent, it counts as a success.”
“Crack crack crack.”
Along with her manipulation, the surrounding silver beach began to transform into a faint crimson mist. The mist gradually dissipated in mid-air, revealing the dim appearance of the outside shelter.
Heidi Lin lifted the pollution barrier.
At this moment, the shelter suddenly fell silent, the hustle and bustle and shaking caused by the invasion of spirit realm pollution vanished, making Heidi Lin murmur to the direction outside above,
“Has that area already been resolved by Hamon Hamon? It seems the actions are still…”
“Whoosh!”
Just as Heidi Lin’s words had yet to finish, in the astonished gazes of Fisher and Renee, a massive serpent’s tail suddenly burst forth from the darkness behind, smashing through her body of extreme low rank like a cannonball, exploding a mist of blood in front of her.
Heidi Lin’s eyes widened, her face instantly pale. She turned to look, only to see the snake-like figure of Hamon Hamon had appeared behind her without her noticing, with Gouwen wearing a similar expression of astonishment.
Hamon Hamon, with an unexpressive face, raised the serpent tail, lifting the pierced Heidi Lin into the air, twisting to meet her gaze, and then abruptly withdrew the serpent tail that had pierced her body, tossing her to the ground, crimson blood instantly flowing everywhere.
“Whoosh.”
Watching Heidi Lin lying on the ground trembling and rapidly losing life, Hamon Hamon said expressionlessly,
“Merely arrived back in time.”
Renee raised her hand, looking incredulously at Hamon Hamon and said,
“You… you killed the incarnation of the ocean? She…”
Lying on the ground, Heidi Lin gasped, continuously bleeding from her body, which was indistinguishable from that of a human.
She trembled, staring at the ceiling, whimpering.
Fisher frowned, his hand tightly gripping the Fluid Sword trembling slightly. After a moment of hesitation, he gritted his teeth and approached Heidi Lin, looking down at her wound,
“You…”
“Hehe… Fisher…”
Heidi Lin partially opened her mouth. As blood continued to flow out, her blue-gold pupils gradually widened until finally, her eyes returned to a dull gray.
She lost her life, becoming completely still.
“Crack crack crack.”
Then, her entire body began to fracture, surface crisscrossed with cracked lines.
A second or two later, she completely turned to dust, disappearing from the spot.
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*(End of this chapter)*
