novelraw Chapter 416: Resurgence (6k)
Chapter 416: Resurgence (6k)
"This is Angel Urs under Archangel Raguel of the Fourth Heaven. The majority of angels living in the Fourth Heaven, which oversees laws, act rigorously, and he is no exception. After all, I completely don't know how to forge Gospel Relics, so I could only have Angel Urs act on my behalf. He will serve as a good teacher..."
After changing their clothes, before Fisher had the time to converse with Gou Wen, Helaire smilingly brought them before an androgynous angel standing at a forging table. That angel focused intently on the forging furnace before them, paying zero heed whatsoever to Helaire's words as well as the group of people including Fisher she brought over.
Angels proficient at forging seemingly basically all maintained an intently focused attitude, paying practically zero heed towards matters of the external world. Naturally, he also wouldn't give Helaire any face, merely continuing with the matters at hand.
The ignored Helaire wasn't annoyed either. Smiling at Urs, she said,
"Sorry for the trouble, Angel Urs. This is the will of Lord Sariel and Lord Michael. You merely need to speak about the forging method for Gospel Relics and a little bit of the details, it won't delay you for too long."
"..."
Angel Urs instantly returned to reality from that state of 'nothing existing outside the mind'. Sweeping a glance at the harmless-to-people-and-animals Helaire beside him, he subsequently waved his hand at Fisher's group. With absolutely zero preamble, he immediately opened his mouth to say,
"Forging a Gospel Relic is an extremely complex process. In actuality, the process boils down to three parts: 【Constructing Gospel】, 【Forging Artifact Form】, and 【Attaching Gospel】. Among them, Constructing Gospel is the most crucial step; it determines the attributes of this Relic. And the source of the Gospel is the material you carry in your hand, also known as the 【Resonance Object】."
Fisher looked at the Magic Material in his hand. It seemingly was still his first time realizing the Magic Material in his hand harbored such marvelous utility, and also his first time learning of its alternative name. Urs swiftly continued,
"To put it simply, living beings and materials all originate from the Authorities of the gods. An extreme minority among them might accidentally harbor a tiny sliver of residue left behind by Authority, and every type of residue might induce the most myriad of manifestations. And the fundamental step of Constructing Gospel lies in utilizing continuous and massive amounts of energy to extract the residual rules within, combining them with our sculpting to transform them into a 【Gospel】 capable of being attached to an object.""The second step lies in forging a vessel to hold it based on the type of Gospel. The third step is Attaching Gospel. This process produces massive amounts of dissipating energy and is extremely unstable. Ordinarily, some kind of medium is required to complete this process; in the past, we utilized water, now we utilize the Aether manufactured by Lord Michael."
Looking at the Relic forging process simply reiterated by Urs, Fisher abruptly realized something: although both forging Relics and inscribing magic required Magic Materials, in actuality, Magic Materials served completely different efficacies within the processes of the two.
When forging Relics, Magic Materials served the primary role as a Resonance Object for rules. In other words, the essence of Relic forging was actually a process akin to 'Merging with the Dao', dissolving rules into an item. It itself completely strictly adhered to the operational methods of rules within the world. By analogy, it was extremely akin to humans mining iron ore from the wilderness, subsequently forging it into all sorts of weapons and tools.
Yet magic was diametrically opposite. According to the efficacy of Magic Materials Fisher mentioned previously, it served as a stabilizer during the process of inscribing magic. Without Magic Materials, inscribed magic would be extremely difficult to control, thereby inflicting unexpected consequences.
And the essence of magic was utilizing the soul to trigger the systemic vibrations of the World's Echo to destroy rules; applying Magic Materials was entirely to restrict the degree to which it destroyed rules.
"Even forging the lowest tier of Relic requires a minimum of seven days. The forging duration for the rest of the Relics should also be multiples of seven. If possible, it's best if the hours, minutes, and seconds also maintain multiples of seven, that would be for the best."
Half-understanding, Asuka Karasawa to the side shot a glance at the deeply pondering Fisher beside her, subsequently shooting another glance behind at the drowsy, seemingly entirely uninterested Gou Wen. Hesitating for a moment, she raised her hand and said,
"Uhm... why is that? Is there some special reason?"
"No, solely because the forging process is relatively tedious, generally requiring over seven days. Of course, if you are an existence akin to Lord Chain of Heaven, then pretend I said nothing... As for the hours, minutes, and seconds, this is merely because we angels favor the number seven."
"..."
Speechless, Asuka Karasawa pursed her lips. Turning her head to look at Fisher, she discovered his eyebrows were creased increasingly tight, seemingly completely unable to comprehend what he was pondering over right now.
In actuality, Fisher merely suddenly realized an issue. Which is, judging from the techniques angels used to forge Gospel Relics, the so-called 'Order' could actually be materialized. It seemingly originated from the great Authorities of the several Creator Gods; conversely, the source used by magic to disrupt Order to thereby produce effects seemingly originated from the soul, or rather the Spirit World, representing 'Chaos' which stood strictly opposed to Order.
So, the first layer of the question: Since 'Order' can be materialized by Authority, can 'Chaos' accomplish the same? And what exactly does the Authority it materializes represent?
Thinking up to this point, Fisher's breathing abruptly hitched. Unconsciously stretching out his hand to touch his chest, there still resided a continuously rotating inverted figure-eight symbol originating from the Authority Renee claimed was independent of the several Creator Gods, as well as the terrifying Scarlet Mist within the Spirit World attempting to meddle with Reality...
Setting aside the specifics of the chaotic Authority for now, let's consider the second layer of the question.
If one were to imitate the methods angels used to forge Gospel Relics, using the Authority representing 'Chaos' to construct a Gospel and smelt it into a vessel, what would happen?
No... even just thinking about it, it seemingly wouldn't be very feasible. Because judging from Fisher's past experiences, the existence lying in the direction of Chaos—whether it be the Scarlet Mist, the Completion Handbook, or magic—were all fundamentally exceedingly difficult to control. Even if one were to replicate the forging method, it was highly likely the very first step would spiral completely out of control, either detonating or having other terrifying matters occur.
Then, what exactly is the Chaos residing within the Spirit World? And what kind of interconnected relationships exist between Transferred Persons, magic, Completion Handbooks, and the Mother Goddess, which are all intimately connected to it?
"Ba-thump! Ba-thump! Ba-thump!"
Amidst such pondering, Fisher abruptly bafflingly felt a sensation of extreme heart palpitations. The fine hairs on his body stood on end one by one as if locked onto by some sort of danger. His complexion paled slightly. His own heartbeat resounded by his ears like thunder, causing him to space out for a moment.
"Mr. Fisher? Mr. Fisher?"
It was ultimately Asuka Karasawa's scrutinizing voice that snapped him back to his senses. By the time he reacted, his back was already drenched in cold sweat, causing him to feel rather puzzled for a moment, unaware of where exactly went wrong... As if he had returned anew to those fright-filled days of being pursued by Death...
The Gou Wen behind also noticed Fisher's amiss complexion. His fingers twitched twice, but quickly, he raised his eyebrows, his expression morphing into puzzlement.
"Eh, your body doesn't have a single abnormality, ah, you're still very healthy... Why did your complexion turn this ghasty so suddenly?"
"...It's nothing, I'm already fine."
Yet in less than a second, Fisher's state warmed up bit by bit, as if the heart palpitations from a moment ago had never occurred.
He silently memorized the Relic forging procedure Urs mentioned just now into the bottom of his heart, responding like so.
The Helaire to the side also tapped her head, sporting an incredibly puzzled look. She turned her head to look at the Sun Ring floating above, rapidly spotting the Michael flying back from the Sixth Heaven. Narrowing her eyes, she smilingly voiced her thanks to the Urs standing to the side. Subsequently, looking at the Fisher carrying the Magic Materials, she spoke up.
"However, even if you want to forge a Relic, it also requires an exceedingly long amount of time to practice. Our time is tight, we don't have this time oh. It's been a long time since I left this boring place called the Sanctuary. I'm already somewhat unable to wait, what do you guys think?"
Listening to Helaire's excited words like that, those unaware would have assumed she was the outsider imprisoned within the Sanctuary.
Fisher hoisted the materials in his hand, saying to Helaire,
"It's fine, I didn't take these to forge Relics, rest assured. I see Angel Michael has returned, we likely have to meet him first before we can depart, right?"
"Exactly. However, he'll most likely agree; Lord Sariel and I both think so. Just don't know if he procured any interesting information from the Vortex of Wisdom. We just need to head over and take a look right now."
"Alright, let's set off."
Asuka Karasawa pursed her lips, secretly reciting a Buddhist chant. Helaire, on the other hand, opened her mouth to bid farewell to the Urs who seemingly harbored zero desire to engage with them. Consequently, they headed towards Michael's forging workshop once more.
"You still haven't told me what your true purpose for coming to the Sanctuary is?"
Halfway there, Fisher abruptly remembered something and asked the Gou Wen beside him. Gou Wen smiled. Turning his head to look at Fisher, he opened his mouth to explain,
"Fisher, you should know about the traits of our Whale-kin. I've also mentioned it prior, we possess Blessing and Curse—two diametrically opposed attributes. And because the curse of the Whale-kin stems from a deep-rooted negativism, the majority of tribesmen find it difficult to control and easily harm themselves, especially for infants and youths with weaker self-control. This has always been the pain of our tribe for a long time."
"Previously, I had always been researching how to suppress the curses of our tribesmen. Ultimately, via experiments, I finally thought of a marvelous method, and furthermore, experimental proofs demonstrated it is viable."
Looking at the Gou Wen sporting a gentle smile before his eyes, Fisher abruptly realized something, opening his mouth to say,
"Attendant Sea Beasts?"
"Eh, you knew that ah... Oh, I forgot, you are...咳咳 (cough cough)."
Looking at the Fisher before his eyes, atop his excitement, Gou Wen shook his head. He didn't continue interrogating with words that might disturb the Destiny Rule. Instead, he continued,
"Exactly, via Attendant Sea Beasts to bear the burden of the curse. This way, the survival rate of newborn Whale-kin children can drastically increase. Thus, we spared no effort relocating our entire tribe to where the Sea Beasts reside, a very, very deep ocean trench. But the problem lies exactly here. Ever since our entire tribe relocated inside, bizarre occurrences have frequently transpired, causing the entire tribe to feel rather restless."
"Fisher, can you imagine the sound of a child abruptly talking in your ear while sleeping? Then when you look around, there's nothing whatsoever. In the past few years, my tribesmen have been unable to sleep soundly day and night. You should know the Whale-kin is a race that can slumber for extremely long periods once asleep. Furthermore, I was the one proposing the tribesmen relocate here, and my wife also exerted massive effort to reach a generational mutual-symbiosis agreement with the Sea Beasts. No matter what, I don't want to give up."
"And earlier, my wife inadvertently discovered a peculiar divine temple standing upside down on a stone wall within a cavern un-submerged by seawater deep within the ocean trench. Beneath the divine temple lies an abyss seemingly bottomless, seemingly leading to a very, very deep place, with lots of unknown-material-made black substances hanging above it. My heart indeed harbors a bit of unease. Previously when I headed to the Eastern Continent, I perused their ancient texts but couldn't uncover any useful information. Hence why I came to the Sanctuary, wanting to head to the Vortex of Wisdom in the Sixth Heaven to see if angels know what exactly lies hidden within the depths of that strange palace..."
Fisher opened his mouth. His demeanor of focused attentive listening from earlier gradually morphed into something abstract, ultimately morphing directly into a disdainful 'Is that it?' expression.
"Did... did you guys attempt communicating with the voice in your heads?"
"Uh, aside from my wife loudly hurling curses at that voice, the rest didn't dare respond, afraid of suffering some curse or something..."
The more Fisher listened, the more familiar it sounded. Jasmine had previously introduced the divine temple within the ocean trench to him, mentioning that the Whale-kin would head there every once in a while to offer sacrifices later on. And speaking up to this point, the origin of that voice in the Whale-kin's heads as well as that mysterious palace became roughly clear.
That palace was a divine temple dedicated to worshipping Ramastia. Jasmine didn't specify who built it. At any rate, ever since the Whale-kin went there, that palace had always been there. And hidden at the bottom of the abyss beneath that palace was the true body of the Chief God Ramastia. Across the long river of time, it seemed only Xuan Can had directly faced Him.
However, the current timeframe was at least over nine thousand years from the era he lived in. Who knows if the mother of the renowned Jasmine from later on had been born yet right now.
"Then it's nothing."
Seeing the Fisher before him suddenly lose interest, a baffled Gou Wen shot a glance around, lowering his voice to ask,
"Wait, you know what existence is speaking to us? Also know the origin of that palace?"
"Mm, He bears no malice towards you guys. On the contrary, He probably likes you folks quite a bit. After all, only you people can hear His voice. In actuality, as long as you guys take the initiative to open your mouths and converse with Him, you'd know the truth. There's zero need to travel all this distance to the Sanctuary. That divine temple is where He is worshipped, beneath it is His true body. So it's best you absolutely don't go down. Ordinarily, you guys can bring a few items to offer as sacrifices or something..."
"He?"
Hearing this pronoun distinct from any other epithets, the smile on Gou Wen's face also morphed increasingly helpless.
He seemingly also guessed that his tribe right now seemingly ran to set up home on the head of that great Chief God. However, he couldn't quite be certain yet of the attitude the He Fisher spoke of harbored toward his tribe.
But this already counted as a piece of good news. After all, he came to the Sanctuary exactly for the purpose of acquiring this answer.
Although Asuka Karasawa remained unable to comprehend the vast majority, ever since she conversed with Fisher that night, she no longer rejected this world as vehemently. At least she'd silently memorize some nouns regarding this world. For example, right now she roughly knew the Whale-kin seemed to live within the deep sea.
"Lord Michael, you've returned from the Sixth Heaven. By coincidence, there's a small matter I need to report to you."
By the time Helaire brought Fisher's group back to Michael's forging workshop, contrary to their expectations, Mikhail was actually here as well. Spotting Fisher's group entering, he even extended a greeting. Evidently, this wasn't his first time coming here.
Michael sat on his seat, the Prosthetic Arm and eyeball dismantled from Mikhail's body placed right beside him. Looking at the arriving Helaire, he opened his mouth to ask,
"The Elf King's longevity celebration?"
"Exactly. Sixty years have passed, and by coincidence, there's roughly an exact month before the Elf King's sexagenary birthday again. Furthermore, according to the observations of Lord Remiel from the First Heaven, there seems to be some sort of unforeseen event transpiring over at the Jianmu Palace. It has been shut for a very long time. Perhaps by coincidence, we can utilize this opportunity to investigate and find out the truth?"
Helaire reiterated Sariel's intelligence to Michael. Propping his chin up, Michael issued a cold sneer. Looking at Helaire, he said,
"Remiel and Sariel wear the same pair of pants. Remiel speaking equates to Sariel speaking. He wants that teardrop as well. In his dreams."
"Then I shall head off to refuse Lord Sariel, Lord Michael."
Helaire acted exactly like a fence-sitter, saying such without an ounce of hesitation. But Michael didn't provide immediate affirmation. He merely swept a glance over the three people behind her, asking,
"You are acting as the envoy this time?"
"Mm, exactly."
"...Actually, sorry for the trouble, being willing to accept this arduous chore. If I haven't guessed incorrectly, Sariel definitely wants these three to go with you. With these few entourages who aren't at the Mythical level, investigating the Jianmu Palace will also be a bit easier. It's just... I agree to you guys, and I will simultaneously provide you with assistance. You solely have to be responsible for bringing the information back. I will contest with Sariel for the matter of the teardrop. But there's one condition: take him along."
Michael pointed at a somewhat astounded Mikhail, subsequently opening his mouth expressionlessly to explain,
"Bringing one of my people is comparatively more fitting. If there is any intelligence at that time, I can know of it at the very first moment..."
Mikhail gave Michael a fake smile. Exasperated, he said,
"I've already helped you build the machine tools. From herein, you'll be able to automatically mass-produce the products of our world. The agreement has already concluded, you should set me free right now."
Michael chuckled. Pointing at the massive planet outside, he said,
"You should rejoice I'm not an angel who tampers with the contents of transactions. According to our transaction contents, I could thoroughly toss you directly out of the Sanctuary and leave you to fend for yourself... But this is indeed the final matter. Beneath the Sanctuary is the ocean. Even if you went down, you wouldn't be able to travel very far. Following them, you can reach the Tree Continent. Help them finish celebrating the longevity, bring the information back to me, and you can go wherever you please then."
Subsequently, Michael tossed the lonely Prosthetic Arm placed to the side to Mikhail, appending a sentence,
"I modified your Prosthetic Body. But your psychological illness arose due to the inability of humanity's inherently fragile nervous system to adapt; it's also linked to your own experiences. Don't utilize it frequently after equipping the Prosthetic Body, if you don't wish to relapse into madness."
"...Thanks."
Mikhail remained silent for a moment. He raised that Prosthetic Body up, equipping it onto the port hidden beneath the white robes wrapping his body amidst Asuka Karasawa's immensely astounded gaze. Following the resounding of a crisp sound, the mechanical stria upon Mikhail's face lit up bit by bit. Several illusory subtitles also surfaced before his eyes.
【Registrant: 00001】
【Right Arm: Novosibirsk Wind Particle Cannon Bionic Limb docking successful, operation normal.】
【Hardware modification detected. Network connection failed. No viable solutions temporarily.】
【Prosthetic Body Willpower Threshold: 34%. No Blocker detected. Please beware of risks regarding loss of control courtesy of exorbitantly high processing power.】
"Phew..."
Mikhail heaved a sigh of relief. That robust mechanical right arm spun several circles, causing starry eyes to light up on Asuka Karasawa beside him. This cool mechanical arm instantly made her think of those cool appearances resembling things like Gundams or Evangelion Unit-01... Although she was a girl, in actuality, she didn't fancy animations like Sailor Moon; she fancied this genre of animations more.
Fisher's pupils constricted slightly whilst staring at those illusory visible subtitles. Reason being, he abruptly astonishingly realized the interface Mikhail saw before his eyes bore roughly ninety percent resemblance to the interface within his Demi-Human Completion Handbook. It was just that his page could solely be seen by himself...
Although previously Fisher felt the contributor to the Demi-Human Completion Handbook harbored hundred percent malicious tastes. Otherwise, why would she—despite not participating in the Creator's Society whatsoever—plagiarize their naming conventions to draft up a bizarre handbook? Even the interface was constructed mimicking Mikhail's equipment.
"This Prosthetic Body, so cool."
Mikhail stretched out his Prosthetic Body, simultaneously taking over that Prosthetic Eye. But he didn't equip it, subsequently storing it into his pocket instead.
That item was the Microcomputer he utilized. But equipping it would massively increment his Willpower Threshold. It was highly probable it would cause him to relapse, thus there was zero necessity to equip it for the time being.
Mikhail, amidst his silence, actually also felt somewhat astonished. Ordinarily, when equipping this Prosthetic Body, without Blockers to suppress the Prosthetic Body from intruding upon his nerves, it would cause his Willpower Threshold to incessantly approach 60%. Yet passing through Michael's modifications, the Willpower Threshold solely reached 34%. And this issue had troubled their company for upwards of a decade without a finalized solution...
But he didn't rashly open his mouth to question this angel bordering on a terrifying echelon either, maintaining his silence.
"Ah, with human intellect, it's indeed difficult to imagine... Helaire, there are also a few 【Space-Time Capsules】 here, primarily for storage. You take them as well. The gifts for the longevity celebration are here as well, already placed within this Space-Time Capsule."
Following customary conventions, the gifts prepared by the Sanctuary were always provided by Michael. This time was no exception either.
"Thanks, thanks. Ah my, how truly generous..."
Helaire moved forward, catching Several circular Relics floating mid-air. One look at that beaming joyful appearance and one would know this thing was abnormally precious. However, Fisher, who was unacquainted with the values of Relics, didn't have the luxury of time to focus on the values of these Relics. Cause abruptly, a bout of peculiar heart palpitations emanated from his chest once more.
"Ba-thump! Ba-thump! Ba-thump!"
His own heartbeat resounded by his ears like thunder. Only when this sensation acted up for the second time did Fisher become incomparably certain as to what the origin of this sensation was...
Whereas the Michael before their eyes—who had wrapped up his arrangements—had his pupils twist slightly as well. Exactly simultaneously as Fisher produced the abnormality, he abruptly looked toward him, as if spotting something bizarre.
He creased his eyebrows, subconsciously opening his mouth to say,
"Death?"
Within Michael's eyes, that rule of Death incessantly entwining Fisher's side was mutating bit by bit. Turning bizarre and peculiar, yet incomparably heavy and lethal. To the extent it coerced even him into feeling chills running down his spine.
The Death desperately pursuing Fisher, at this precise moment, seemingly due to some unknown reason, had staged a resurgence donning an even more formidable posture.