novelraw Chapter 385: Lord of Death
Chapter 385: Lord of Death
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~"
Far away from Saint-Nazareth, within the borders of the Sardin Woman's Country, inside the Defiled Church in Hearthome Castle of McDowell, Fisher hung up the phone and slowly shifted his gaze away from the cramped confessional in front of him.
At this very moment, because of Death's pursuit, his body had weakened to the extreme, just like a terminally ill patient who was beyond all cure lying on a hospital bed waiting for his end. In fact, the situation he faced was even worse than a terminal illness. Death was not only devouring his vitality but also accelerating this process in every possible way.
Seven days ago, when he left the Wutong Tree for the Giant Troll-kin camp, Fisher told Darivuvu, Kokolia, and the Slime race, who were waiting for their news, that the curse inside the Wutong Tree had been eliminated and that Valentiina had fallen into a deep slumber with the true blood of the Phoenix. They decided to stay there and continue waiting for the awakening of Valentiina, the last Phoenix Race. They hadn't forgotten their loyalty to the Phoenix, and whatever happened next would have to wait until Valentiina woke up.
After hearing about Fisher's current state, the two Giant Troll elders and Eimhart reread all the ancient texts they could find, but none of them contained any clues about [Death]. Anyway, up until now, Fisher had no idea how the Demon God Agreas, who was imprisoned in the Abyss, created the Death Rune, nor did he know exactly how it worked.
All in all, after struggling for a few days, Fisher truly felt that he might be destined not to escape this calamity.
Before leaving, to express their gratitude to Fisher, the Slimes decided to give him three free teleportation opportunities. Fisher had roughly thought it through: once to Pirate Harbor, once back to Saint-Nazareth, and the last time to the Southern Continent to see the people he still cared about one last time, and then he would be able to face death peacefully.
The Slimes agreed to his request, but before that, he still had to roughly confirm a few loose ends left in the Northern Border. He first went to the Snow Fox-kin camp, where he saw the Snow Fox-kin he already knew had been saved by Erwind, as well as Balzac, Filis, and Sertil, who were preparing to leave the camp, and briefly explained the situation inside the Wutong Tree.
Filis was going to other places to continue working as a mercenary and didn't plan to leave the Northern Border for the time being. Sertil planned to return to the West Continent to continue pursuing her degree. She was very young and would definitely achieve something in mechanics in the future.
Balzac didn't make it to the Wutong Tree, so naturally, it was impossible to write the academic paper about the Wutong Tree. However, he already had another topic to write about, which was the research on "the evolutionary stimulation of diseases by the Panacea Potion." This research was extracted from the conversation between the Snow Fox-kin Patriarch and Erwind. He didn't know if it counted as academic plagiarism, but if it succeeded, his chances of returning to Schwari would be very high.In short, everything in the Northern Border seemed to have a positive trend except for Fisher. He also smoothly arrived at his last stop in the Northern Border, the Defiled Church in McDowell at the southern tip of the Sardin Woman's Country. Here was his last friend in the Northern Border, the Moon Rabbit-kin nun Ilos.
The Slimes were currently waiting for him in the city of McDowell. If he decided to leave the Northern Border, he could go there to find them, and they would teleport Fisher to wherever he wanted to go. Fisher met Ilos here and saw that her church had been renovated with Valentiina's prior help. She had also installed a cross-border telephone, saying it was added so she could contact friends she met during their travels in the future. That was when Fisher acting on a whim decided to call Elizabeth first.
At the door of the confessional, Fisher let out a long breath and didn't put down the phone in his hand for a long time. In his arms, Eimhart pressed against him half-dead. Obviously, he had previously tried his utmost to think of a solution for Fisher. Under such efforts but to no avail, that kind of hope would turn into despair.
After a long time, Fisher put down the phone, patted Eimhart's book cover with his hand that had become as thin as a skeleton, and asked hoarsely,
"Where is Ilos?"
"...Outside. Why are you so annoying? You finally meet again, and the news you bring is that you are going to die. She is probably very sad too, right?"
"I don't want this either. You know I love ladies, so I also feel unsatisfied passing away just like this. But many times there's simply no way, and right now I can only think about the good things that might happen after I die to relieve my own nervousness."
Staying in his arms, Eimhart glanced at him and muttered softly,
"Only admitting that you are a scumbag now. It's really late."
Fisher smiled slightly and didn't deny it. Instead, he thought of Heidelin, who had disappeared in the Snow Fox-kin tribe earlier. During this period, Eimhart had told Fisher about Heidelin from the Wutong Tree being Baimon. Fisher also guessed that she must have some layout in the Northern Border, but after all, her level was too high. Even if she had some purpose, he wouldn't know, let alone now when the situation had taken a sudden turn for the worse.
He shook his head and stopped thinking about it. About a week had passed since the one-month time limit set by Erwind. Although he could still live for about three weeks, he could clearly feel that his body's condition was deteriorating every day. Probably, in the end, he wouldn't even be able to move. To meet the people he wanted to meet, he had to hurry up.
"Let's just leave it at that. We should prepare to set off. Me staying here is only causing trouble for Ilos... By the way, Eimhart, I'm quite curious about where you'll go after I die. You haven't told me about it before."
"...None of your damn business."
While swearing, Eimhart burrowed into Fisher's arms and retreated back into the pocket he usually preferred to stay in.
Just as Fisher raised his eyebrows and was preparing to continue questioning, a rush of footsteps suddenly came from the direction of the church's main hall. He looked up, only to see the Moon Rabbit-kin Ilos, wearing a thick nun's habit with slightly reddened eyes, walking over. Fisher opened his mouth, prepared to say something, but didn't expect her to speak first,
"Mr. Fisher... Um, someone seems to have come outside, saying he's here to see you..."
"See me? The Slimes?"
Fisher pondered in confusion for a second. The Slimes had agreed with him to stay in McDowell and wait for him, so they shouldn't be in such a hurry. But if it was someone else, who could come looking for him?
Eimhart, hidden in his arms, poked out one eye. Fisher fell silent for a moment before nodding at Ilos, who was secretly wiping her tears. As he walked toward the main hall ahead, he replied,
"I understand. Thank you."
At the end of the main hall, the statue of the Mother Goddess, bathing in the sunlight falling from the sky and casting an affectionate gaze, quietly watched Fisher as he coughed continuously and slowly walked toward the main door. Ilos wanted to step forward to support him, but he blocked her away. At the entrance of the church in front of him, the massive door opened a crack, not only revealing the ice and snow outside but also a strange figure.
It was a very tall young man who looked quite strange at first glance. The man was about 1.9 meters tall, with slender limbs and a thin figure, and he had an extremely severe slouching habit. With black hair and black eyes, he looked like a typical Carduan. The black hair on his head was shiny and a bit disorganized, looking like it hadn't been washed in a long time. A little bit of white snow fell on him, dyeing the pure black leather jacket he wore in the completely opposite color.
The man's face was pale, and underneath his dark eyes were bruised eye bags and dark circles, making him look lifeless and lacking any energy. Along with the cold wind rushing in from outside the door, as Fisher coughed, he first smelled a strong smell of alcohol. He didn't know how much alcohol the man in front of him had consumed.
"Cough, cough..."
Just as Fisher was coughing, the man standing at the church door noticed him at the same time. He knocked on the door with his hunched back and asked in a drunken tone,
"Can I come in?"
"Who are you?"
Without getting Fisher's consent, he squeezed in through the door gap like a piece of paper, breathing out hot steam and burping an alcoholic burp, while slowly closing the main door behind him.
"It's too cold outside. Let me come in to warm up first. May the Mother Goddess bless you... By the way, I forgot to introduce myself. Mr. Fisher Benavides, my name is Holland Dionisio. You can just call me 'Holland'. Of course, you can also customarily call me the Creation Society's..."
His hunched body slowly turned its head, and extremely obvious shadows easily blocked half of his face. At the same time, he smiled sinisterly at Fisher in front of him,
"[Lord of Death]."
Fisher's brows slightly furrowed, and his left hand subconsciously moved to the hilt of the Fluid Sword fastened at his waist. However, because he was currently so weakened by Death's torment, being even less than a Zero-Tier, he simply didn't have the strength to fight back if the Creation Society sent someone to retrieve the three Completion Handbooks on him at this time.
But he didn't panic. While vigilantly looking at the slender and tall Lord of Death in front of him, he turned his head and spoke softly to the confused Ilos beside him,
"Ilos, go to the second floor. No matter what happens, do not come down, and don't remember anything you hear."
"But..."
"No buts. Go immediately!"
Ilos was startled by Fisher's suddenly raised voice. She carefully glanced at Fisher, who kept panting even after saying just this one sentence, and the strange man dressed completely in black. She pursed her lips, and finally nodded her head and turned away.
The Lord of Death yawned and watched Ilos turn away without making a move. Instead, as if he was tired of standing, he sat down on the wooden bench nearby. Under the affectionate gaze of the Mother Goddess, he burped and very disrespectfully propped his feet on the bench in front of him.
"There's no need to be so nervous, Mr. Fisher. I am the second person sent by the Lord of Fate to support you after the Lord Cardinal. We are not enemies."
Fisher sneered and sat down coughing on a bench not far opposite him.
"Support? Only now after I've already defeated Erwind? Then your timing is truly impeccable..."
The Lord of Death curled his lips, innocently spread his hands toward Fisher, and said,
"Can you really blame me for this? I just arrived in the Northern Border two weeks ago. I finally chased you all the way from the Woman's Country to Mya, only to find you all went up the snow mountain, climbing faster than monkeys one by one. I'm just a human, alright? I don't possess such immense capabilities like you all. I couldn't bear it when I was halfway up the mountain, so I went back down. I really couldn't help it. I really couldn't help you..."
"I don't know what the Lord of Fate was thinking, sending a newcomer who just joined the society like me to do this kind of job. Just like you right now, I am completely a Zero-Tier human. If we really fought, I rekon I'd be floored by you in just one round... Look, you already took down my senior, the Lord of Souls, before I even got to pay my respects to the boss, and then you killed another big shot, the Lord of Life, before I ever got the chance to know him. Shouldn't I be the one who's scared of you?"
The Lord of Death smiled, pointed his finger at the continuously coughing Fisher in front of him, and then took out a small wine flask from his arms, taking a large gulp from it.
On the contrary, after hearing what the Lord of Death, Holland, said, Fisher narrowed his eyes and pondered carefully, but his hand hidden at his waist constantly holding the hilt of the Fluid Sword still didn't loosen up.
"You managed to end it without my help, and although your condition looks quite miserable right now, I still feel a bit bad about it. Furthermore, I've roughly guessed the true purpose of the Lord of Fate sending me here... Let's just do it this way: what questions do you have? You can ask me anything about our society and the Completion Handbooks, and once you've finished asking, you must do me a favor. After that, this thing belongs to you."
As he kept speaking, the Lord of Death pulled out a square book from his arms. On the ancient book, the line of text "[Death Completion Manual]" was so striking, and Fisher indeed felt that it was a genuine Completion Handbook.
"Death... Completion Manual?"
"Spot on. This is also where my title of Lord of Death comes from, and it's the solid proof that I was scammed by that old undying Lord of Fate. This thing is of no use to me. To you, however, that might not be the case. You've been locked onto by [Death]. Even incomplete death cannot be easily shaken off. Perhaps there might be a solution in here... What do you say, want to make a deal?"
"...What favor do you want me to help you with?"
The Lord of Death took a sip of strong liquor, dizzy and confusedly pointed at his own head toward Fisher, and said,
"Kill me."
"Are you drunk?"
"I am not. And you should also know that if the previous owner doesn't die, this thing cannot circulate at all. So quit dawdling, chop off my head and kill me, and you'll be able to grasp the hope of continuing living."
"The Lord of Fate sent you to your death, in reality giving me the Death Completion Manual. She predicted I would be pierced by the Death Rune?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. You can interpret it that way. Come and test it quickly."
Fisher silently observed the Lord of Death with rather peculiar behaviors, and he was a bit unable to guess the intent of the Lord of Death, or rather, the Lord of Fate.
The Lord of Death stretched his neck, waiting for a long time without seeing the Fisher in front of him make a move. He clicked his tongue somewhat impatiently, thrust one hand into his chest, and murmured,
"In that case, you can't blame me for... this."
Fisher raised an eyebrow, watching as the hand he had reached into his chest was suddenly about to be drawn out. Clutched in his hand was a short firearm. In the split second that firearm appeared, Fisher's body remained completely motionless, but from the front of the hilt of the Fluid Sword clutched in his hand, a flexible, twisting blade suddenly shot out, swiftly tracing a broad arc in front of Fisher.
"Squish!"
The blade effortlessly sank into the Lord of Death's neck. Accompanied by a flash of silver light, the firearm he gripped instantly plummeted to the floor. In immense agony, he grasped his unceasingly bleeding neck, shook twice, and then staggered to the ground.
"Cough, cough..."
Fisher coughed, scrutinizing the Lord of Death lying on the ground, his body twitching continuously. Out of the artery the blood spilled at an extreme velocity; shortly thereafter, a massive pool of blood formed beneath his body.
But a second later, a miraculous occurrence took place, as if some sort of irresistible mighty power was taking effect on his body. The continuously draining blood was swiftly retreating back into his body, and the flesh and blood severed by the Fluid Sword eerily flew back and recombined in mid-air, returning into his body once more.
The Lord of Death's face, pale from massive blood loss, swiftly regained its color once again. His rolling white eyes twitched and simultaneously returned to normal. He didn't exhibit much surprise; instead, he reached out to rub his neck. Upon making contact and confirming it was entirely unscathed again, he sighed and properly sat up from the overturned wooden chair.
"It seems it still won't work, Mr. Fisher... If only you hadn't used up that Death Rune when dealing with the Lord of Life, I was really banking on that thing to die."
Witnessing the spooky scene of simultaneous death and resurrection unfolding before his eyes, Fisher's extremely sensitive soul rapidly swept over the Lord of Death's body from top to bottom. The outcome showed that it was exactly as he'd stated: he was a thoroughly completely ordinary human, with frail physique, not possessing any trace of prior magic practice... nor projecting the type of mad aura from having analyzed a Completion Handbook...
The Lord of Death right before him is a completely normal human?
"Are you doubting whether I've read the Death Completion Manual? Rest assured, no sane bird would read this crap. If it weren't for the fact that I have to die to transfer it to you so you can read it, I'd desperately want to just give it to you immediately right now..."
Feeling Fisher's scrutiny, the Lord of Death dusted off his black leather jacket. With immense disgust, he glared at the Death Completion Manual placed on the table, speaking in such a manner.
"How... how did you manage that?"
"Hehe, you must have acquired a modicum of basic understanding concerning the various gods of this world, right? For instance, the God of a Hundred Faces, or The Gate, and whatnot..."
Hearing this, Fisher coughed, continuing to supplement his words.
"Mm, I'm aware. There are several others too."
"That's grand. Then, have you ever heard of the deity presiding over [Death]? A divine being retaining equal authority with any other deity, presiding over all rules pertaining to fading away within this world."
"I haven't."
The Lord of Death propped up the long bench he'd accidentally tipped over when taking a hit from the Fluid Sword a moment prior, proceeded to take another sip of strong liquor, and said to Fisher directly across from him,
"That doesn't matter. From today onward, you'll comprehend. He is the deity presiding over death, [Hela], [Unconscious God], [Destined Death Rule], [Ultimate of All Things]... and also the primary culprit behind the wretched plight you and I are currently immersed in."