novelraw Chapter 373: Hunting the Giant Dragon
Chapter 373: Hunting the Giant Dragon
"Dong~ Dong~ Dong~"
That broken church bell toll pushed time to flow backwards bit by bit. Within Fisher's past dreamscape, in a scene un-interfered with by Erwind and Valentiina, the nun dressed entirely in black pulled the scowling little Fisher behind her all the way to the gates of the church school. Only after seeing no other children around did the nun pull the little Fisher from behind her to the front.
"Fischer Benavides, you've caused trouble again, haven't you!"
Little Fisher turned his head entirely to look in another direction. That silent, stubborn look made Sister Teresa somewhat furious, but she didn't open her mouth to scold the little Fisher before her anymore. She merely reached out gently and turned his averted face back bit by bit to look at her, then asked,
"Tell me, what exactly happened just now? Why was Priest Kala from the Cathedral so angry that he collapsed on the ground?"
Looking at Sister Teresa before him, little Fisher gently batted her hand away, then sat down beside her and said,
"That guy is a pervert. He kept hugging Lir and even wanted to reach into his clothes, but I caught him. I saw he was wearing a ring on his ring finger, and there was dog hair on his church robes; I guess he has a wife and children at home. Plus, he has no traces of having studied magic, so he should belong to the church administrative staff, governed by the Decree Council. I threatened him that I'd tell his family and the Decree Council about him harassing Lir, unless he gave me and Lir a hundred thousand Nario each, and then he collapsed from anger."
Sister Teresa stared blankly at the little Fisher opening his mouth while cupping his chin before her. She reached out to poke his head and cried out,
"Goodness gracious, you actually dared to extort our higher-ups... Where did that hundred thousand Nario go?"
"It's all Priest Lyman's and your fault. If you hadn't come over, the money would have been in our hands..."Little Fisher rolled his eyes at Sister Teresa before him, then curled his lips and muttered softly, though he didn't dare speak too loudly, afraid Sister Teresa would make him copy the meaningless "Scripture of Creation" again.
Looking at the little Fisher before her who was only six yet already elusive, Sister Teresa sighed and then said,
"Then what do you need so much money for? Two hundred thousand Nario, that's exactly three full years' worth of subsidies for our school. You little brat really dared to fleece him..."
"Mhm, I plan to first fix the bell tower I broke, and then renovate the school building. With the remaining money, I want to deposit it in the bank or use it to invest... those bishops make a huge profit eating, drinking, whoring, and gambling, let alone those bosses and New Party members keen on business and pioneering. The funds allocated by the Golden Palace for the Schwari war have also been embezzled quite a bit..."
Fisher tapped his cheek with his finger, turned his head, and looked very seriously at Sister Teresa before him, saying,
"It's still more earning than you guys foolishly conducting sermons, witnessing weddings, and writing prayers, right? So tiring and you can only earn at most a few dozen Nario. You have to memorize the prayers and wedding witness oaths you write every night until very late. You guys are too stupid; if you could get rich and make a fortune like this, the textile workers next door on Newt Street who have to work a whole week in the factory before coming back for just one day would have long become billionaires."
Cupping her chin, Teresa looked at the little Fisher seriously conducting analysis before her and suddenly asked,
"Actually... Fisher, you look down on us a lot, don't you?"
Fisher looked at the smiling Sister Teresa before him. The excitement from imagining earlier also receded a bit. He shook his head and said,
"I don't look down on you."
"Then that means you look down on everyone else besides me, hm?"
"A little bit, I suppose."
"Wow, you really dare to say it, you little brat!"
"Uwaah, let go of me! Teresa... Ugh!"
Teresa abruptly reached out and hugged the head of the little Fisher before her, pulling him into her embrace and then patting his forehead with her hand, though the force wasn't very heavy.
Little Fisher thought he was going to be punished again, but Sister Teresa didn't continue hitting him. Instead, she covered his eyes with her hand, looked up at the interior of the school—which was utterly chaotic because a high-ranking priest from the church's upper echelons who came to inspect was rendered unconscious with anger by a little brat—and suddenly laughed softly,
"In Fisher's eyes, this world must be very absurd, right? The things you hate the most on a daily basis are the church scriptures I teach you; you secretly tell the other kids that everything the church says is a lie, is that true or not?"
Little Fisher pouted and softly said,
"Anyway, it's not my fault they didn't memorize the scriptures later on. I did memorize them."
"So, then, this is precisely the reason you look down on everyone else... because of their ignorance. Priest Lyman, the priest in charge of the school, secretly likes to drink; the bishops above who appear holy outwardly actually commit nothing but filthy acts; even those parliament members who appear incorruptible outwardly are making a huge profit one after another. These are the ignorance that makes you look down on them, isn't it?"
Sister Teresa removed her hand covering little Fisher's eyes. She didn't look at little Fisher, merely gazing at the sky,
"Today I won't tell you any Mother Goddess stories. Let's talk about the math book you've been reading recently... Fisher, in your eyes, who counts as a good person?"
"...You, um, Lir, and little Annie, Gacerdo. Maybe Priest Lyman counts? Also Auntie Gray who sells candy across from the school, she used to often give out snacks for free to the kids at school, and..."
Little Fisher counted on his fingers and thought for a bit, finally listing a few people who could be considered "good people." Counting carefully, it wasn't many; perhaps because of his lack of understanding, he only mentioned about ten people. However, Sister Teresa laughed, seemingly somewhat surprised,
"That many? I thought in your eyes, I was the only good person... Then, if even in our church school of just over a hundred people there's a tenth who can be considered good people, then exactly how many good people are there among all of humanity? Moreover, are you sure these people you listed are definitely good people? Auntie Gray swindled all her ex-husband's money when she was young and then fled to Saint-Nazareth, oh; so does she count as a good person?"
"If I said that was because her ex-husband wanted to sell her daughter, that's why she did it? If I further said that after she came to Saint-Nazareth, she forced her own daughter to marry a wealthy merchant much older than her—do you still think she is a good person?"
Sister Teresa lowered her head and smiledly held up a finger at Fisher,
"This question seems a bit too difficult to consider and cannot be answered right away. Let's quantify this question, shall we? This is the number one. If this 'one' represents absolute kindness and wisdom, while its corresponding 'zero' is absolute evil and ignorance, how exactly do you think we must act to achieve this 'one'?"
Fisher within her embrace pondered quietly, while Teresa, holding up a finger, also retracted her hand at this moment and pondered alongside him. But as time ticked by minute by minute, her expression also became increasingly troubled.
"Oh my, then just what kind of individual is the person represented by this 'one'? Little Fisher, you are very smart, so do you think you can become this 'one'? If you cannot, then who do you think can become this 'one'?"
"Regrettably, the way each of us views this world is different, and the criteria for judging this so-called 'one' also vary. Yet, it is invariably impossible to construct such a perfect existence in reality; or rather, if such a perfect entity truly existed in this world, it definitely wouldn't be human, because even gods commit grave mistakes, let alone us who are far inferior to gods..."
Staying within Sister Teresa's embrace, the little Fisher buried his face into her chest with a bit of a headache, from which a muffled, indistinct voice transmitted,
"Mhm, sounds like trying to make everyone become smart is way too difficult. I'm tired, let it all be destroyed... as long as you aren't destroyed, Teresa, that's fine."
Teresa backhandedly cupped little Fisher's face that was buried in her chest, looking at him and said,
"Do you still remember the story I read to you when you were little, about humans hunting a giant dragon?"
"The Mother Goddess allowed humans to undergo painful trials in the mortal realm. One day, a giant dragon came before humans. Seeing how they suffered and bound themselves, it seduced them, offering to bestow its dragon blood upon them, causing them to abandon their human identities and gain absolute rationality and power, so that there would be no ignorance and fragility."
"At this time, a grand sage of humanity stepped out and said to the giant dragon, 'Although what you say is very correct, giant dragon, if we do so, could we still be called humans? Could we still be called children of the Mother Goddess?' Thus, the rejected giant dragon flew into a rage out of shame and wanted to destroy all of humanity, but didn't expect the Mother Goddess to hurl down a giant spear from the sky dome, killing the giant dragon."
Fisher curled his lips, looking at Sister Teresa speechlessly, and said,
"This is definitely a made-up story, right?"
"Mhm, I know that. But the principle here is quite obvious, isn't it, little Fisher..."
Teresa's golden hair hung down little by little along her nun's habit. She slowly extended her fist toward the little Fisher before her, smiling and saying,
"For humanity, a truth that solves everything once and for all does not exist, nor does perfection achieved in a single bound. Imperfect existences are what humans are, and the wise must lead such existences incapable of perfection to continuously and infinitely approach that perfect 'one'..."
"Little Fisher possesses such surpassing talents and will definitely walk ahead of everyone. The ignorant will call you 'rebellious', those walking different paths will call you 'mortal enemy', and the unclear correct path before you will be like a 'giant dragon' full of seduction..."
Her fist placed before Fisher remained completely motionless. The ripples of the dreamscape spread out bit by bit, yet it seemingly left a profound mark within the young Fisher's heart. She merely said,
"Even if the Mother Goddess might not exist, your steadfastness as a human remains hidden within your heart all along. That is the true longspear that slays the seductive giant dragon; it is a weapon unique to us weaklings... Therefore, what you did today when facing a bad person was right, how could I punish you?"
"Alright, alright, let the two of us sneak back so as to not let Priest Lyman catch us... What do you want to eat tonight, I'll cook it for you. Oh, by the way, it seems Priest Lyman recently bought a few books about magic, specially prepared for you. Those are works authored by the Grand Mage Mr. Helson; you must thank Priest Lyman properly later..."
The figure of Teresa leading the little Fisher grew further and further away, until that beautiful dream illusion drowned out her back view, no longer visible. Only that intermittent, broken tolling of the bell transmitted consecutively,
"Dong! Dong! Dong!"
"Dong! Dong! Dong!"
At the exact same moment, as the bell within that dreamscape tolled again, it interrupted the tender moment between the Valentiina who had transformed into a Phoenix and the Fisher in her arms, because before them now stood an extremely powerful enemy.
"Fisher, are you alright? Sorry, I just saw the Base of the Phoenixes, they gave their bloodlines to me, so I came a bit late..."
"It's fine, as long as you're safe..."
Fisher sat up from Valentiina's embrace. He first glanced at Erwind, who had quickly and fully recovered after Valentiina's strike. He roughly estimated Valentiina's current soul strength; her soul had completely transformed into the appearance of a Phoenix. Judging from her attack speed just now, she should also be at the 12th or 13th Tier. However, such an attack was still entirely ineffective against Erwind, just like scratching an itch...
No wonder even Eliog had to bring the Death Rune to deal with him. But this was the Crevice within a dream; the Death Rune couldn't be brought in. Fisher wanted to construct it but was afraid his brain would explode directly.
Fisher fell silent for a second. Twisting his head, he looked at the receding figure of Sister Teresa leading the young him. Only after the gates of the church school were completely closed did he redirect his gaze onto Erwind before him,
"Valentiina, right now I need a bit of time. A 14th-Circle magic isn't enough to kill him; I need a magic with even stronger power."
"Sigh, wait... your current condition is very poor, do you want to..."
Valentiina spread her wings, vacating space for him to take a combat stance. But she evidently also noticed that Fisher's soul condition wasn't good right now, and thus she spoke up to remind him so.
But Fisher merely shook his head. Looking at the fluttering Erwind draped in the pure white cape before him, he said,
"If we rest any longer, the two of us will have to die for love right here... You be careful, I need a little bit of time."
"Mhm."
After saying this, Fisher began to slowly construct two entirely different Circle Heads in his hands, namely [Lightning] and [Destruction]. The process of engraving dual-circle-head magic required utmost vigilance; even Teacher Helson had to be simultaneously cautious. Valentiina didn't ask further, merely violently raising her wings to look at Erwind in the distance.
A great battle was on the verge of outbreak.
Valentiina abruptly spread her wings and took off into the sky, while Erwind's bird-beak mask remained utterly motionless. He merely kept staring at Fisher standing there; sensing his rapidly recovering mana, he murmured,
"Such soul recovery capability, is it the Soul Completion Handbook or the Magic Completion Manual?"
After speaking, he spread his hands, completely ignoring Valentiina who was about to launch an attack on him, merely charging straight toward Fisher.
"Stand back!"
In mid-air with her wings spread, Valentiina broke through the wind and attacked. Erwind lightly tapped the ground, his entire body becoming slender and elusive like silk threads. His physical body scattered strand by strand, every silk thread fluttering in the fierce wind brought by Valentiina's attack. Then, those silk threads tightly grabbed her flying wings, viciously dragging her down to the ground.
Momentum kept her advancing at extremely fast speed over the ground, sliding forward and dragging out an extremely long distance,
"Having just became a Phoenix... no, you who just got rid of your disability haven't even learned how to run yet want to fly, that's far too wildly imaginative."
Erwind's cold voice transmitted over. Hurled to the ground, Valentiina's pupils shrank and she immediately flapped her wings. The next second, an extremely thick, long blood-flesh whip came head-on, smashing and shattering the ground to pieces.
Suspended in mid-air, Valentiina discovered that Erwind, who launched this strike, completely ignored her. Instead, he made a beeline and ran madly toward Fisher, as if he didn't put her in his eyes at all.
This bastard...
Valentiina raised her hand, consuming soul energy to form a handy longsword in her grasp, then spread her wings and took off once again. Calmly watching the continuously approaching Erwind, Fisher also abruptly retreated backward, the magic light pinched in his hands swaying slightly as well.
"Clang! Clang! Clang!"
Crisp collision sounds exploded before the rudimentary church school. From Erwind's back precipitously erected countless crab-leg-like hard organs, blocking and slashing at Valentiina attacking from behind with extreme speed. Meanwhile, he continued to pursue Fisher before him. The ground of the dreamscape cracked bit by bit, and just as this stalemate was about to continue, Erwind's body suddenly paused. His entire body twisted ninety degrees, one hand grabbing the sword in Valentiina's hand.
"Crack, crack, crack!"
That fragile weapon abruptly broke, and Valentiina, who hadn't completely mastered flying techniques yet, completely lost control and crashed toward Erwind,
"Caught you."
Seeing she couldn't dodge in time, Valentiina gritted her teeth, shouted loudly, and once again flapped her wings. An extremely strong motive force pushed Erwind and Fisher to fly up together. In mid-air, Erwind retracted the blood-flesh limbs he had grown earlier and instead generated a pair of giant wings, racing against Valentiina who was flying while carrying Fisher.
As two sonic booms resounded one after another, Erwind behind Valentiina instantly arrived in front of her several times faster than her. That speed was so fast it exceeded Valentiina's imagination. In her pupils dyed with the colors of True Ice, that cold, emotionless bird-beak mask grew closer and closer. This meant that Erwind, who originally only wanted to seek out Fisher, finally harbored killing intent toward Valentiina as well.
"You sought death yourself; don't blame me."
Valentiina's pupils shrank slightly. Only until now did she realize exactly what kind of monster the enemy Fisher was facing was. But obviously, to only wake up now was too late.
Erwind's hands elongated like iron pincers and grabbed Valentiina's wings. The next second, a massive force transmitted over, wanting to tear her apart entirely along with her wings and body. Fisher, being carried by her in flight, noticed this scene. Gritting his teeth, he flipped his body over, taking the initiative to head toward Erwind.
"Erwind!"
Seeing Fisher approaching on his own initiative, Erwind violently slapped Valentiina's back with a palm, smashing her deep into the ground. Subsequently, the fleshy wings on his back shuddered as he grabbed the approaching Fisher, smashing all the way through the rudimentary church school below.
"Rumble!"
"Cough, cough!"
As massive clouds of dust splashed up, the exact center of the entire school was smashed with an incomparably giant crater. Yet, the space did not shatter again. Caught underneath, Fisher bled from almost all seven orifices. Not only was he smashed by Erwind, but his own mana consumption was indeed excessive.
"Fisher, do you truly understand what the meaning behind the Completion Handbook's existence is? It is a path leading to 'The Ultimate Truth,' the sole answer that can help humanity shake off ignorance and frailty. I abandoned so much, waited so long just to reach that place... I believe that relying on the truth, I will lead all of humanity to shake off the pursuit of ignorance. Only on that day, when everyone has become rational and no longer commits mistakes due to desires, will I be completely satisfied."
Pressed onto the ground by him, Fisher coughed. He did not answer Erwind's words, instead looking at the school center blasted open by his massive force all around. Beside the still intact bell tower nearby, the figure of the nun in black attire was so familiar.
Only until this moment did he suddenly feel that, no matter how much he didn't want to admit it, that nun had still subtly exerted an immeasurable influence on him. Those church classics he always sneered at had actually been memorized into his mind early on.
Following closely, he seemingly spoke words he would never have spoken before. He said to Erwind,
"I too have witnessed the filth you speak of. I too have recognized the ignorance of the many people inferior to us. But ultimately, in the end, I did not walk the same path as you. Because I was fortunate enough to encounter those shining people despite their ignorance. She made me deeply realize that fragile living beings incapable of reaching perfection yet constantly approaching it day after day—that is humanity itself. And you, Erwind, have already departed far from the concept of humanity."
"I empathize with you because of the misfortune of the events you've encountered, and I cannot agree with you because of the different choices you made after being seduced by a giant dragon... However, as you know, condemning in speech and writing by scholars is not what we should be doing now. Coming directly with pain or death is a bit more straightforward."
Fisher lay collapsed on the ground with a faint smile. He gazed at the receding figure of the nun leading little Fisher away. In his eyes, Teresa's appearance shifted bit by bit. She was as bright and sunny as she was in his childhood. In the dream, she seemingly noticed the grown-up Fisher lying within the massive crater, and she also seemingly saw the fully formed dual-circle-head magic grasped within his hand...
The formation of that magic symbolized that Fisher had already transformed into one of the extremely few magic masters in the human world. Following Helson, he was the second human magician existing in the world capable of constructing dual-circle-head magic.
Teresa, leading little Fisher, smiled proudly at the grown-up Fisher, then extended her hand toward him, seemingly saying,
"Throw your unwavering spear at the giant dragon that seduces humanity!"
Erwind looked down in astonishment, only to see that within Fisher's hand, a radiance rivaling the Mythical Rank had already formed. Its esteemed name was,
10th-Circle Dual-Circle-Head Magic, [Killing Dragonspear]!