novelraw Chapter 410: Sin of Reproduction (5.5k)
Chapter 410: Sin of Reproduction (5.5k)
"She went mad... because of a wish?"
Gou Wen stroked his chin. Asuka Karasawa was frightened, while Fisher continued and asked Helaire,
"What wish did she make? Was it related to forbidden knowledge?"
Hearing Helaire's words, the first thing Fisher thought of was the forbidden knowledge carried in the Completion Handbook. This knowledge brought its owners outstanding abilities, but simultaneously brought them madness. Could it be that Gabriel desired forbidden knowledge from the Holy Grail, causing her madness?
Hearing the so-called "forbidden knowledge" from Fisher's mouth, a strand of profoundly unintelligible meaning flashed through Helaire's beautiful irises. Subsequently, her smile grew even deeper. She shook her head and said,
"Forbidden knowledge? Though I don't know what you're talking about, you must know that all living beings in this world are 【Believers of Order】, and Archangel Gabriel is no exception. Obviously, she wouldn't do something so dangerous. We basically all know the full details and process of the wish she made to Archangel Sariel..."
Fisher didn't know if it was intentional or not, but he felt Helaire had slightly emphasized the term "Believers of Order." But before he could delve into it, Helaire continued speaking.
"She asked the Holy Grail for a child."
"A child?"
"Yes. Didn't I tell everyone earlier? Although angels have no gender, our personalities have distinct leanings. Angel Gabriel is precisely such an angel who innately leaned toward being female. She probably desired to be a mother from very early on. Who knows, but in the end, the wish she made to the Holy Grail was indeed so."Fisher opened his mouth. Even Asuka Karasawa couldn't understand what difference there was between her wish and her madness. Gou Wen, however, raised an eyebrow, seemingly thinking of something.
Fisher was somewhat puzzled and asked,
"I don't understand. Why would she need to use a wish for a child? Or did she simply never consider uniting with someone else?"
Smilingly, Helaire didn't answer. She looked at Gou Wen behind Fisher and said to him,
"Isn't this Whale-kin a doctor? He should know more about this kind of thing than I do. How about letting him explain it to you?"
Fisher and Asuka Karasawa both turned their heads to look at Gou Wen, only to see him smile helplessly, shrug, and say,
"Ah, no problem, Mr. Fisher. It's like this. I don't know if you're aware of the two concepts proposed by humans: Life Rank and Breeding Rank."
"I know."
Asuka Karasawa tilted her head bewilderedly, entirely clueless. She couldn't understand a single noun they were speaking of, but she didn't interject to interrupt Gou Wen's words either.
"That's good. But humans are roughly completely ignorant of what we're about to discuss next, because the disparity in tiers for humans is far, far too distant from the Mythic Rank. There are also not many presently existing Mythical Creatures, leading to few opportunities to summarize them. Therefore, generally speaking, the rules they summarize are applicable in most cases, except they are absolutely inapplicable to Mythical Creatures."
"For any Mythical Creature, reproduction becomes exceedingly difficult, even if their Breeding Ranks are extremely close and they belong to the same race. You know that Mythical Creatures distort existing rules to a certain extent, but overall, there's still a high probability of having a child. The step that truly becomes the shackle hindering Mythical Creatures' reproduction is actually the process where the Spirit World locks onto the mother's body and injects a soul into it."
"The descent of a new life has three stages. First, a 【Base】 capable of receiving a soul must be formed in reality, which is the fertilized egg inside the mother's womb. Secondly, the Sea of Consciousness in the Spirit World locks onto this base and injects a soul into it. Finally, the base and the soul bind together, allowing them to grow as a part of a new life..."
"The terrible thing about Mythical Creatures is that their flesh and souls are fused together. This signifies that it's difficult for the Spirit World to lock onto the base, and difficult to inject a soul into the fertilized egg. Naturally, the birth of life is out of the question... No matter how the parents nurture that part acting as the base, what is ultimately birthed will only be a 【Stillbirth】."
Fisher's pupils contracted slightly upon hearing this, because he suddenly thought of a certain incident he had heard of.
As a Mythical Creature, the Moon Princess had also once conceived a child with her husband. However, upon birth, it was a stillbirth without a soul. Fortunately, she was acquainted with a contributor of the Demi-Human Girl Completion Handbook at the time. Then, the Completion Handbook's contributor brought back a Whale-kin doctor from the ocean, and then took that stillbirth...
Hm?
As his thoughts ran, Fisher suddenly looked up in disbelief at the Gou Wen standing before him, wearing a gentle smile.
It seemed this guy before him was a Whale-kin as well, and also a doctor.
Could it be possible that the sworn brother Whale-kin doctor of the Demi-Human Girl Completion Handbook contributor was Gou Wen?
Come to think of it, the contributor of the Demi-Human Girl Completion Handbook was a woman. Judging from how strict Gou Wen's wife was with him, wouldn't his wife have objections to the contributor?
"Mr. Fisher? What's wrong?"
Snapping out of it, Fisher shook his head and said,
"It's nothing, just suddenly thought of an experience related to this matter. I've previously seen examples of Mythical Creatures failing to birth children. Combining it with what you said, I finally know the reason now."
Gou Wen cast an understanding look at Fisher, then looked at the nearby Helaire, saying,
"It's fine. It took me a long time of research to understand the specific principles behind this matter as well. It's not just you who didn't know; most Mythical Creatures don't know about this either, until they fail to reproduce and finally notice the clues."
Smiling, Helaire nodded and echoed with open hands,
"I actually just found out about this today myself. After all, angels and elves basically have no desire to reproduce anyway. But as smart as Lord Gabriel was, she definitely knew about this. Otherwise, she wouldn't have gone directly to Lord Sariel for a wish but would have randomly sought out another angel to reproduce with instead... But regrettably, even as smart as she was, she still miscalculated one thing."
"Chief God Ramastia not only restricted our reproduction ability, but also when granting a portion of the Authority of Creation to Lord Chain of Heaven, the World Tree, and the Dragon God, He restricted the total number of Mythical Species. Currently, there are 94 angels and 106 elves in total. Presumably, the Chief God originally intended for the three Lords to share these quotas, but the Dragon God Fafnir was too proud and couldn't be bothered to create life, so all these quotas were completely occupied by Lord Chain of Heaven and the World Tree..."
"Therefore, let alone the Dragon God lacking the intention to create life, even if he possessed the most Authorities of Life among the three, no matter how much effort he expended to create life, a third Mythical Species would never appear. Consequently, even if Lord Gabriel bypassed the blockade on our reproduction ability in the first step and utilized the Authority of Life to create her child, she still couldn't escape the rules laid down by Chief God Ramastia."
Helaire sighed, opening her mouth to say,
"Her child was indeed born, possessing a healthy soul and body. It was the only naturally-born little angel flowing with her bloodline, and all the angels in the Sanctuary adored her child very much... That is, until her child died an early death several months later due to the rules. The pain of losing her child drove her into madness. In fact, strictly speaking, Lord Gabriel isn't considered mad; she simply hasn't moved on from the passing of her child, even though almost a hundred years have already passed."
"On the elevated platform earlier, the crystal she cradled in her arms was the shed remains of her departed child."
Hearing Helaire's words, Asuka Karasawa standing behind Fisher pursed her lips and forcefully clenched her fists, barely stopping only when her fingertips turned somewhat white.
"Is that so..."
Fisher also sighed. However, since he had no acquaintance with Gabriel whatsoever, he naturally didn't feel overly regretful. He just learned about the reproduction knowledge of Mythical Species for the first time.
"Still want to know little secrets about other angels? I know quite a lot, actually..."
Hearing this, Fisher wasn't polite in the slightest, moving straight towards intelligence on Pandora.
"Information concerning Angel Sariel, could you tell me a bit more?"
Helaire still maintained her smile. She suddenly raised her index finger and playfully wagged it at Fisher.
"Zero points, zero points..."
Fisher wasn't a dense man, especially after gaining a slight understanding of the temperament of the Helaire before his eyes.
"...Are you telling me that you actually just want me to ask for your little secrets?"
"Take a guess?"
"..."
Helaire waved her hand, turning around to leap down the cylindrical passageway in front of them. Very quickly, she dissolved into a stream of light and vanished from the spot, leaving the three of them remaining in the empty Seventh Heaven, looking at each other in blank dismay.
Time trickled by. Intercepting our gaze from the Seventh Heaven slightly downwards, we arrive at the extremely unique Sixth Heaven amidst the chilling cosmos.
There weren't a massive amount of beautiful and complex buildings in the Sanctuary's Sixth Heaven, unlike the other Heavens that housed various functional facilities or forging grounds. From the moment Archangel Gabriel took over the Sixth Heaven, there had never been but one purpose here—to store wisdom.
As Gabriel's territory, the Sixth Heaven had never hosted other angels. Previously, when Gabriel was still lucid, quite a few angels or Archangels would come to ask her questions. But ever since she lost her child, this place became as empty and icy as her heart.
The so-called 【Vortex of Wisdom】 was practically the place Gabriel used text to store thoughts and wisdom over thousands of years. In the general sense, it was somewhat akin to a library. Naturally, it also possessed methods to observe the ground; otherwise, Gabriel wouldn't be able to sit in the Vortex of Wisdom yet still know so many things happening on the surface.
In the center of the Vortex of Wisdom, stacks of scattered books were piled high. The tall and wide stone bookshelves housed countless thick, square tomes. Floating amidst those layered bookshelves was a frail-looking yet still graceful angel with a vacant look in her eyes.
She lacked wings on her back, only possessing one illusory eye after another that seemed to continuously tremble and weep. Her frail real body curled up in mid-air, tightly hugging the oval crystal in her embrace.
"Sleep... sleep... be good, baby."
"..."
The ethereal, coaxing hum of a lullaby ceaselessly echoed through the library, making a square figure standing on the Vortex of Wisdom's windowsill look quite desolate. That figure fearfully gazed down at the scenes outside the windowsill, its duck-like voice constantly muttering words.
"Wu wu wu, Fisher, you absolutely have to be fine... Motherfucker, there's a psycho here! She's not sleeping and keeps singing; it's scaring the life out of the great Sir Book... You absolutely must hurry and save me."
The one speaking was precisely the great Sir Book, Eimhart.
He pitifully shivered his body, standing on the windowsill as if terrified of the cold. Finding no other alternative, he flew up, heading toward a bookshelf.
That Gabriel in the center of the room was at an exceedingly high Tier, having already reached the peak of the Nineteenth-Tier. Any simple motion she made gave Eimhart an incredibly intense sense of oppression. Thus, he found a spot to hide, praying for Fisher to hurry and save him.
Yet as he flew, his eyes kept darting toward the books placed on the surrounding bookshelves, just like a starving person faced with a plate of exquisite delicacies, unable to stop swallowing their saliva.
These books... they all feel so fragrant... I've never read them before either...
What exactly is the content talked about in these books...
Floating in mid-air, Eimhart cast an extremely struggling look at those tomes. Stutteringly, he flew beside a bookshelf, took a look at Angel Gabriel who was still floating in mid-air murmuring softly and weeping, blinked his eyes, and then uncontrollably flew toward the books on the bookshelf.
"I'm locked up here anyway. As long as I don't go out, it shouldn't be anything major. A waste not to read it..."
Eimhart engaged in such self-deception. Following this, he heartily plucked a book out of the bookshelf and placed it on the floor, ready to press down on it and read to his heart's content at any moment.
"Hmm, Tapir-kin? There's this kind of demi-human? ...Hmm, sounds like it feels very similar to the Elephant-Man Species of the Southern Continent, with a long trunk."
"Knowledge of human society and Tiers is here too... By the way, what era exactly is this right now? It should be very early on. If the World Tree is still around, it ought to be before the 【First War of Living Beings】... Hmm, which means it's at least nine thousand years ago. Did humans already have theories on Tiers at this time?"
Eimhart stuck his butt up as he stared at the open pages of the book before his eyes. The text presented on it was bizarre, appearing to be an efficient language unique to the angels. The handwriting was golden and exceedingly neat, seemingly penned personally by a certain angel.
As Eimhart read, he looked toward a weird, telescope-like Holy Artifact placed at the edge of the library. That Holy Artifact pointed straight at the ground and could even look toward the sea of stars in space. It seemed it was exactly the tool Angel Gabriel used to observe the ground.
"Clatter..."
Just when Eimhart was completely engrossed in flipping through the book, he seemed completely unaware that behind him, a human-like shadow was continuously expanding. When he reacted, his entire book was suddenly lifted by an odd power.
"Wu ahh ahh ahh! Let me go! Let me go! If you don't let me go, I'm calling Fisher over... Wu ahh ahh! He has quite a way with dealing with ladies, wu ahh ahh..."
Eimhart spun many circles in mid-air, dizzily blurting out a bunch of words that even he couldn't understand. Only after several seconds did he barely come to a halt. Dizzily looking around, he realized he had been dragged to the center position amidst those numerous bookshelves. That terrifying angel holding the crystal was currently looking down at him expressionlessly from high above.
With a 'swish', cold sweat dripped from Eimhart's head... well, if he had any. But he was roughly very flustered. In an instant, he went limp on the ground, transforming into a harmless-to-people-and-animals book and playing dead.
"..."
Gabriel stared blankly at Eimhart below, completely devoid of any intent to attack. Instead, as if frightened by the moving book before her eyes, she clutched the crystal in her embrace even tighter.
"Don't be afraid... don't be afraid... baby, we won't look at this ugly thing..."
"Your mother! Who are you calling an ugly thing?!"
As soon as the playing-dead Sir Book heard this sentence, he instantly rebelled. Nobody could call the great Sir Book ugly! He was the creation of a great Holy Progeny; calling him ugly meant cursing the Holy Progeny and insulting the dignity of the Holy Progeny. He would absolutely...
Oh, the one calling him ugly was the Holy Progeny. Then never mind.
Eimhart immediately fell silent. However, raising his head to look at the terrifying angel before him, she actually turned her body in mid-air while hugging the crystal, completely turning her back to him. Truly acting like she was disgusted by his ugliness.
"...Hmph, the great Sir Book can't be bothered to stoop to your level."
Eimhart mumbled in an extremely tiny, tiny voice. Seeing that Gabriel seemed to have zero intent of paying him any heed, he carefully inched his way out, bit by bit, preparing to fly back toward the book he was reading earlier.
But behind him, the mid-air floating Gabriel began to turn back slowly, lovingly looking at the crystal held warmly in her embrace. Look vaguely, and a skinny shadow whose exact shape was indiscernible was curled up in the center of that crystal.
"Good... baby..."
Eimhart turned his head to glance at Gabriel behind him. After waiting for two seconds, he once again flew toward the book in front.
"Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack!"
But right at this moment, an extremely terrifying sound suddenly echoed from outside the library. A terrifying scorching heat akin to the apocalypse baked the Aether ocean enveloping the Sanctuary, turning it restless, carrying the sun's high temperatures accompanied by deafening, massive noises.
"Dong dong dong!"
All the bookshelves in the Sixth Heaven began shaking. In an instant, the transparent windows all around were illuminated by blinding sunlight that made it impossible to keep one's eyes open. Eimhart also discomfortingly narrowed his eyes.
"Your mother, it's so bright!"
The Fifth Heaven's Sun Ring began to operate. However, Eimhart didn't know what happened below. He had merely stayed in Gabriel's library the whole time, worrying about Fisher's situation.
"Don't be afraid... don't be afraid... baby, wu... baby..."
The entire library shook violently. The Peak Nineteenth-Tier Gabriel was actually terrified by the massive noise caused by the Sun Ring's shaking right now, her face turning pale. With reddened eye sockets, she attempted to reach out to cover the eyes and ears of the crystal in her embrace, deeply fearing the blinding light outside would frighten her child. Yet after searching for a long time, she still couldn't find any eyes or ears to touch on that smooth, round crystal.
And so, under such torment, Gabriel's body trembled with fear increasingly profoundly. The hundreds of illusory eyes floating behind her all turned white as well, as if denoting her shuddering and unease.
"Don't be afraid... it's fine... don't cry, don't cry... baby..."
Eimhart turned his head to look at the flustered Gabriel holding a stone behind him. Where was any crying to be heard? But looking at the extremely blinding sunlight outside, he sighed and flew before the library's windows. Biting down on the hanging curtains, he lowered them one by one. Only after the windows in all directions were entirely covered by the curtains did he lie panting on a bookshelf to rest.
"Sigh, my fate is truly to suffer hardships. Aside from wandering half my life, and aside from being tied up by that terrifying fellow Baimon, after finally experiencing a better life staying by Fisher's side, he gets kidnapped... This won't do! The angel by his side is Baimon! I must go save him... Anything involving that fellow's appearance definitely means nothing good. You absolutely must keep your lower half in check, do not absolutely get involved with her, I beg of you, sigh."
No one knew of the hardship endured by Eimhart, who even up to this point was still muttering about Fisher. But at least Gabriel, who was now isolated from the blinding sunlight, had quieted down somewhat...
Unknown if it was an illusion, her vacant and sorrowful eyes finally trembled a bit, and the murmurs from her mouth also finally subsided. The illusory eyes behind her also returned once again to their originally beautiful appearance.
"Baby... so good..."