novelraw Chapter 365: Moon Princess
Chapter 365: Moon Princess
"My god, is this the legendary Frostwood Sycamore Tree? So it wasn't a tree at all, but an architectural complex built by the Phoenixes inside the True Ice. How deep must this be? Thousands of meters deep, right?"
As the spectacular scene suddenly appeared before their eyes, Eimhart hastily jumped up from Fisher's embrace. Flashing with golden light, seeming to record the full view of the Frostwood Sycamore Tree, he shook his head and clicked his tongue in wonder. Even someone like him who had traveled the world was seeing such a magnificent creation for the first time.
Both Fisher and Valentiina were shocked by the grand architecture sealed within the True Ice Mountain Range. This was also Fisher's first time seeing a complete architectural complex built by the ancient demi-humans. Who would have thought they would drop such a bomb right off the bat?
The greatness of the Fafnir Dragon Court in the Southern Continent only had scattered Dragon-kin tribes and ruined walls left in reality. The golden palaces of the Whale-kin could not be seen by anyone in the deep sea, let alone the so-called Demon Dynasty buried in the Abyss, of which only a name remained. This was the first intact building still existing in the present world and witnessed by Fisher with his own eyes that symbolized their past glory.
"Are there... still Phoenixes inside?"
Valentiina stared with her mouth agape for a long time, scanning up and down before finally squeezing out this feeble question.
"I don't know either, but we'll find out once we go in. Valentiina, get down first, I have something to give you."
"Eh, what?"
Fisher also shook his head, recovering from the sight before him. He immediately put Valentiina down from his back, then took out a ring flashing with the light of a [Soul] circle head from his pocket. Amidst Valentiina's blushing face, he placed it on her ring finger. The size was just right, wrapping around her fair and soft skin.
"I designed this for you. It's a magic that can isolate curses, so it shouldn't be able to detect you once we go inside, but I want to test it.""M-magic, huh. I thought... but I'm still very happy. Thank you, Fisher."
Valentiina's previous ring was taken by those Naris agents, and she hadn't been able to get another one until the Holy Matrimony. Although Valentiina was very understanding and didn't mention it, at this moment, when Fisher placed a ring on her ring finger again, she couldn't help but smile, looking extremely pleased.
Seeing her simple yet satisfied smile, Fisher unconsciously smiled as well and said,
"Later, if there's a chance, I will give you a real wedding ring, Valentiina."
"Okay, but that ring must also have your magic carved on it. I'm already used to having your magic crest on it."
"Mhm, definitely."
Eimhart curled his lips. His good mood from just having recorded the true form of the Sycamore tree vanished without a trace, and the feeling that he shouldn't have tagged along grew stronger and stronger, making him too lazy to even look back at the scene behind him.
Fisher smiled lightly and activated the protective magic on her ring. An invisible soul shield spread out from the ring, simply isolating the connection with the Spirit World inside and outside the shield.
He took out the Fluid Sword again, letting the tip of the blade turn into a tiny silver needle, and pricked her index finger.
As a bead of blood seeped from her finger, Fisher and Valentiina vigilantly observed their surroundings. But the surroundings remained quiet. Even after several minutes had passed, nothing happened. Only then did Fisher breathe a sigh of relief, put away the Fluid Sword, and say,
"This is good, let's go."
The next moment, he gently lifted Valentiina's bleeding index finger and put it in his mouth. Her soft finger, enveloped in a slight metallic taste of her blood, was thoroughly savored by him. Valentiina blushed quite embarrassedly and gently patted his head, but she didn't withdraw her hand no matter what, simply whispering,
"Fisher... don't do this..."
Eimhart couldn't hold back anymore and turned his head, rolling his eyes at Valentiina, and repeated in a sarcastic, ambiguous tone with a raspy voice,
"Fisher~ don't do this~"
These words angered Valentiina, who was back on Fisher's back, so much that she glared at that book friend. But Fisher was more serious, only explaining,
"Just to stop the bleeding. Let's head out."
"Just to... ouch!"
Eimhart wanted to repeat Fisher's words sarcastically again, but before he could finish, he was grabbed by Fisher's ruthless iron hand and stuffed back into his pocket.
He wriggled in Fisher's pocket, stuck out one of his eyes again to look at the road ahead, curled his lips, and repeatedly spat out sarcastic remarks in his heart.
Carrying Valentiina on his back, Fisher walked along the tangible True Ice Mountain Range toward the shadow of the building. On the side of the True Ice peak facing Fisher, many statues of different images were placed neatly and orderly.
Those statues varied in material and carving techniques, seemingly carved by the various races of the North themselves into their own images. All of them maintained the same posture of kneeling on one knee, looking up at the Sycamore tree ahead. Leaning on both sides in the forward direction, they formed a path leading into that building like guards.
Fisher squinted and sized up those statues. Many of the races he had seen, hadn't seen, those that had long perished, or had long left the North were all present here.
Dozens of demi-human species like Unicorns, Frost Deer, Dwarves, Sheep-kin, Owl-kin, Ice Kites, Mist Cats, and so on... there were males and females, and also...
Following the statues, Fisher suddenly saw a male statue wearing fur clothing among the statues of races with unfamiliar appearances. He was also kneeling on one knee, gazing at the True Ice Mountain Range ahead.
That was a statue representing humans, appearing here so unobtrusively at this moment.
Here and now, a heavy sense of history pushed Fisher to turn his head and look forward. At the end of the road, a huge black door over twenty meters high stood on one side of the True Ice mountain range, linking the architectural shadow inside the True Ice with the space outside. This was evidently the entrance to the Sycamore tree.
At the top of that door, a pair of exquisite, huge wing statues with a carving technique completely different from these statues extended out, like a Phoenix spreading its giant wings toward the sky.
Following the radiance of the aurora and moonlight, the shadow formed by those wings spread all the way, giving shelter to Fisher, Valentiina, the various races beside them, and the statues of the six clans at the very back, just as the Phoenixes had done in the past.
"Click-click-click!"
As they inched closer to that giant door, a mechanical structural sound that Fisher had never heard before suddenly rang out. Under the slight trembling of the ground, the giant black door before his eyes also slowly opened a crack toward Fisher, revealing an incredibly pitch-black, profound space inside.
Fisher took a deep breath and walked forward without stopping, passing by that pair of giant wing statues and entering the gloomy building before him.
But at the same time, that giant door could no longer be closed.
"It's so dark here, Fisher..."
Passing through that massive door, the space inside the Sycamore tree was extremely dark and quiet. The Phoenixes liked to use this unknown pure black mineral Fisher hadn't seen before to construct buildings, which led to a space that was already lacking in light becoming so dark you couldn't see your own hand. Let alone Valentiina, even Fisher, whose vision had been greatly enhanced, couldn't see the environment here clearly.
Fortunately, among the magic he had prepared earlier at the Troll-kin's place, there was one with illumination functions. He took out two necklaces, tied one to his hand and another to Eimhart's body, and then had Eimhart fly up so they could roughly clearly see the surrounding environment.
As the two magical lights shone, the scene nearby immediately became clear. This seemed to be an extremely spacious hall, about the size of a football field, the height matching the door, roughly twenty meters tall.
Standing at the entrance looking in, that sense of emptiness immediately arrived along with the light breeze from deep within the Sycamore tree, felt by Fisher and Valentiina.
At the exact same time, at the back of the neck of Valentiina, who was still being carried by Fisher, the originally black lines flashed with a faint cyan cold light bit by bit, but that cold light was quite dim. It was covered up the moment Fisher's illumination magic lit up, and even Valentiina herself didn't notice anything.
The spacious hall was very empty. Fisher walked forward for a distance, carefully observing the area in front of him, only to find nothing but darkness.
"It's very dark here, and the inside of the Sycamore tree is too broad. Which way should we go..."
Fisher quickly walked to the end of the hall. Finally, many tightly closed smaller doors appeared here, with no text written on them. And the main door standing in the very center was tightly shut. No matter how much force Fisher applied, he couldn't open it.
"You're quite robust, little one. What did you eat growing up?"
Just as Fisher was tentatively checking if he could open the main door, Valentiina on his back suddenly reached out, rubbed Fisher's pectoral muscles, and then smiled as she said this.
Fisher was slightly stunned and turned his head in disbelief alongside Eimhart.
"Valentiina?"
"Hey, enough with you two! What time is it, and you're still flirting here? Keep playing, keep playing! The great Eimhart is going to leave you far behind!!!"
But Valentiina on Fisher's back was also extremely shocked. Flushing red, she waved her hand and quickly explained,
"No, it wasn't me! Just now, I don't know why, but I spoke on my own. Fisher, there's something weird here... Mmhmm, were you looking for me?"
Valentiina's panicking voice came to an abrupt end. The next moment, under Valentiina's extremely shocked gaze, her mouth uncontrollably began to speak again.
Fisher frowned, and Eimhart also flew up to his shoulder in disbelief, inferring,
"This is bad, Fisher. Could she be possessed by the spirit of some dead Phoenix?"
"Fisher... boohoo, I can't control it..."
Fisher hastily put Valentiina down from his back and vigilantly surveyed their surroundings. But right then, Valentiina suddenly spoke again,
"Mhm, don't worry... Actually, what this ugly thing said is quite right. I am indeed a spirit, and I have waited for you for a very long time."
"Your mom! How dare you call me ugly, I'll fight you!"
Eimhart had been triggered harshly enough by Valentiina today, and now he was being called an ugly thing by this unknown spirit using Valentiina's appearance and voice. As the saying goes, if this can be tolerated, what cannot be! He was already fuming with anger and couldn't help but want to ram this fellow to death right here, right now!
But right before he was about to spin and crash into Valentiina, this girl, whose eyes were filled with panic, slightly smiled at the corners of her mouth. Then, her words—which shared Valentiina's voice but carried a completely different feeling—entered both of their ears,
"Let me introduce myself. I am Habakfest. Of course, you can also address me the way other races are accustomed to calling me. Just call me the Moon Princess."
Eimhart, who was spinning and crashing toward Valentiina, kept spinning and then took a turn right before her, quite naturally flying back up to Fisher's shoulder. He also shockingly looked at the Moon Princess sitting on the ground speaking through Valentiina's mouth,
"You are the Moon Princess? You haven't died... Oh, no, you said you are a spirit. You are already dead?"
"Moon... Moon Princess, why are you in my body, still using my body to speak?"
Facing Valentiina's voice that wanted to cry but had no tears, the Moon Princess smiled faintly and said,
"Sorry, this feeling shouldn't be very pleasant, right? Sometimes I might even take over your words, but I won't stay in your body for too long. I have died a long time ago. I could temporarily revive in your body only because of a certain holy artifact acting through the bloodline of my descendant... Let's speed things up, this person is..."
"Fisher."
Just as the Moon Princess looked at him, Fisher interrupted his vigilant observation of Valentiina's current state and explained himself this way.
"Ah, Fisher... Good. Since you can both appear here, it means the Trolls followed the instructions I left behind before I died, and the general situation aligns with the future I saw. Then, Fisher, carry me on your back first. The main door and many doors behind it are locked when the Sycamore tree is closed. I'll just lead the way."
Although the Moon Princess said so, Fisher remained motionless, still vigilantly looking at the Moon Princess hiding inside Valentiina.
"Where are you taking us?"
"Don't worry, I won't harm you. The schemes I left before my death were complicated, bringing you to the Sycamore tree definitely has a reason. Now is the time to achieve this goal... let's set out first. I'll explain to you as we walk. Anyway, the journey to our destination is very, very far, seeing as the Sycamore tree is incredibly massive. Furthermore, it seems I sense something very powerful approaching here."
Originally, Fisher didn't plan to move at all. But when the Moon Princess said the last sentence, Fisher's expression instantly changed, and he hoisted Valentiina, who was sitting on the ground, onto his back.
"Which way?"
"Hehe, just go through that door."
The Moon Princess pointed to a small door in the distance. Fisher and the floating Eimhart exchanged a glance, then rushed in that direction. Fisher reached out and pushed the door, indeed finding that this door could be opened. He pushed open the door leaf, and inside appeared another small hallway leading to who knows where.
"This is not where we live yet. The entrance you used to enter the Sycamore tree is the entrance for beings other than Phoenixes to enter. It was an additional expansion built later by my second elder brother. The designed architecture and rooms were also for the convenience of other races. Keep walking forward. The place we're going is very, very deep."
Fisher turned his head to glance behind him. Valentiina was looking at him feeling like crying but shedding no tears. Obviously, the feeling of constantly having her mouth snatched away wasn't very pleasant. But he still glanced at the giant door hundreds of meters away; Erwind would be here soon. He didn't hesitate anymore, carrying Valentiina on his back and sprinting all the way deep into the corridor.
"What exactly do you want us to enter the Sycamore tree for... also, can you stop touching my pectoral muscles?"
"What's wrong with touching a bit? You should have already performed the Holy Matrimony according to my instructions, right? I'm also using her body, y'know. Are you shy?"
Fisher was rendered utterly speechless by the Moon Princess using Valentiina's body. He took a deep breath, ultimately stopping himself from forcing her incessantly wandering hands back. With the Moon Princess guiding from behind, he continuously passed through pitch-black, profound corridors one after another. Wherever they went, there was nothing but pure black and dead silence, as if they were the only ones in this place.
"Alright, stop looking. There are no Phoenixes or anyone else here anymore. Except for my last bloodline on your back, every single other Phoenix has died... Don't you want to know why we all died?"
The running Fisher didn't turn his head, only saying,
"Mhm, what exactly happened back then? Why is there a curse inside the Sycamore tree?"
But the Moon Princess didn't answer his question first. She rubbed Fisher's pectoral muscles harder. Just now, as if she had finally touched enough, she withdrew her hand. Fisher had thought she was being a dirty old ghost taking advantage, but he didn't expect the Moon Princess behind him to suddenly sound sort of surprised, seemingly having confirmed something,
"Huh. At first I thought it was an illusion born from having been dead for too long. Only now do I find out, you, this fellow... you seem to have the scent of an old friend of mine..."
"An old friend? You mean your teacher? That Elf?"
Facing Fisher's confusion, the Moon Princess shook her head and continued,
"You even know about my teacher? From the Trolls? ...However, the person I'm talking about is not my teacher, but an interesting human..."
The Moon Princess seemed to recall the figure of a certain person. Even now, thinking of that person, she seemed to suppress a smile. After a reminiscent smile, the Moon Princess continued,
"That old friend of mine was a perverted human who was especially interested in demi-human species. You, fellow, look quite serious and proper, you're not the same type as that person. It should just be my illusion, no harm done, no harm done."
Fisher's pupils shrank slightly. His steady, mad sprint came to an abrupt halt. The degree of this shock even made Valentiina on his back sway a bit, leaving them stopped right in the middle of the pitch-black corridor.