novelraw Chapter 429: The Illusory Morning Light
Chapter 429: The Illusory Morning Light
Sunlight descended from the firmament, dyeing that translucent World Tree possessing identical enormity as the planet into an extremely dazzling golden color. Two golden orbs upon the firmament locked onto several rapidly traversing giant birds, subsequently rapidly flying out from the direction of the World Tree, completely swallowing them clean within a split second, un-leaving even a speck of residue.
"Brother Fisher, you identically must come visit the Hiiragi Fiefdom as a guest next time. We have a highly beautiful Demi-human Race there called the Heavenly Fox Species, possessing nine tails, with fluffy white fur, ears upon their heads akin to cat ears. They are truly beautiful and handsome, you will definitely like them. Next time you come, I will let them entertain you, as well as many other species."
Tsubaki informed Fisher's group that as long as they went to the Phoenix Race's encampment, found the Phoenixes, and reported Tsubaki Earl's name in addition to their request to travel to the Royal Capital, they would safely guide Fisher's group to the Elf Royal Capital.
Upon hearing Tsubaki's arrangements, Fisher's group no longer lingered the following early morning, preparing to seize the time to depart from the Tsubaki Fiefdom. Marquis Hiiragi identically, constrained by the Royal Capital's ban, had to immediately return to his own kingdom.
Currently, as the two parties parted ways at the entrance of the Tsubaki Fiefdom, the young Marquis Hiiragi, having completely sobered from his drunken state, still cast a quite sorrowful glance at this truly rare bosom friend and comrade, offering him an invitation thus.
"...Definitely next time."
Fisher pondered impassively for several seconds. Seemingly due to needing to fully maintain his persona, he appeared attracted by the Demi-human Race the other party mentioned, yet inevitably had to give up due to practical issues requiring immediate resolution, appearing quite helpless.
"Farewell..." Marquis Hiiragi nodded, sitting back within a chariot intertwined and twisted together from numerous curved branches. This carriage could float out of thin air; who knew if it would directly float to its destination like this.
Resultingly, right as his front foot was about to depart, he apparently recalled something. Hesitating for a moment, Hiiragi still sincerely advised Fisher,
"Right, the rule of Death has currently become highly bizarre. Changes in Rules are uniquely related to the Lord True Gods. This is clearly a major matter concerning the world, yet the Royal Capital subtly instructed us to remain within our respective kingdoms and maintain silence. This signifies that the King or Lord World Tree highly desires not for this matter to be known by the Sanctuary or Lord Dragon God. Since you are emissaries of the Sanctuary, going to the Royal Capital is immensely dangerous... If possible, return first. Waiting until the situation here stabilizes before coming to offer birthday congratulations won't be too late."Fisher stared blankly slightly upon hearing this, yet matters had already arrived at this point; he possessed no path of retreat left.
Not exclusively because he was still being pursued by Death, Eimhart remained in the other party's hands, and he additionally vaguely felt this fluctuation of Death harbored some unspeakable connections.
"Thank you for your reminder, but we have no choice but to go to the Royal Capital."
"...Then please be extra careful, farewell."
"Goodbye."
Hiiragi smiled slightly, speaking no further. His hand lightly patted the wooden vehicle beneath him. Very swiftly, the branches upon the vehicle directly wound upwards, wrapping around Hiiragi sitting within the carriage. The ground beside it identically immediately extended identical branches, consecutively wrapping the clad-in-armor guards he brought along.
Under Fisher's quite astonished gaze, those wrapped branches retracted downwards bit by bit, very swiftly disappearing entirely.
He blankly watched the branches that retracted into the ground and completely disappeared, involuntarily furrowing his brows, continuously pondering the words Marquis Hiiragi just spoke.
Simultaneously, a breathing sound seemingly carrying fragrance abruptly transmitted beside his ear. That gentle breeze perfectly brushed against every inch of Fisher's ear, bringing an itching sensation akin to ten thousand strands lightly scratching. His pupils shrank slightly. Turning his head to look, he exclusively witnessed Helaire smilingly hovering barefoot in mid-air with her hands behind her back, looking at him,
"Eh, your ears seem a little sensitive oh~"
With Renee's previous foreshadowing, Fisher's immunity towards this kind of teasing was already extremely high. Furthermore, he was currently still in a "reformed" state, even less likely to follow Helaire's conversational lead. Instead, he spoke to Helaire,
"The Elves are highly bizarre. Such an incident occurred on the Tree Continent, yet their Royal Capital wants them to refrain from spreading it outside as much as possible. But changes in Death are matters of Rules; logically speaking, it couldn't be concealed... Unless, the change in Death exclusively occurred upon the Tree Continent. But how is this possible? Hela, the God of Death, is an unconscious True God, how could such subjective differences manifest?"
"Mmhmm, you're correct. Last night I contacted Lord Remiel, who is acting as our inside contact outside the continent. He told me that neither the Sanctuary nor the Dragon Continent experienced such changes. He reported this matter to Lord Sariel, who firmly believed something transpired in the Royal Capital or the World Tree, hence letting us travel to the Royal Capital to Find Out the Truth."
Fisher looked at Helaire, stating,
"The current Tree Continent is panicked by the slightest sound. Outsiders like us appearing in the Royal Capital, aren't you afraid of dying there?"
"Mm, but thinking carefully, isn't it precisely this kind of chaotic situation that's interesting? The more nervous and endangered a person is, the more profound the amusement experienced."
"Helaire..."
Fisher furrowed his brows, growing dissatisfied with her currently still playful attitude. It was one thing for her to coast through this entire duration without contributing; now that the situation was laid out, she still wanted to brush him off with this pallid excuse of "amusement". Currently, he indeed cared less regarding the disparity in rank, directly calling her name.
Resultingly, she wasn't angry in the slightest, instead gazing with quite some interest at the currently somewhat annoyed Fisher, bearing an extremely delighted appearance.
Yet before Fisher could grow further enraged, her playful smile retracted bit by bit. Although still maintaining a curved arc, the underlying meaning was completely different.
She extended a single finger towards Fisher's ear. Fisher subconsciously intended to dodge, yet before her existence of the Mythic Rank, all his movements appeared somewhat pallid.
Fisher thus watched her face, while the fine hairs upon his body seemingly perceived the gentle breeze of her extending hand. Even without gazing, he perceived her extended hand was about to reach his ear.
Yet, evidently Fisher's body and senses had already reminded him countless times: this woman before his eyes was about to touch his ear. But the finger she extended stubbornly refrained from touching him, merely remaining beside his ear separated by an extremely short distance, maintaining a distance of appearing to touch yet not touching,
"We are somewhat In a Dilemma currently, but leaving is absolutely impossible. Even the interior of the continent possesses such strict commandments, let alone how its borders would be. Rather than this, it's better to gamble, travel to the Royal Capital and excavate the truth. This way, the Nineteenth-Tier Lords Remiel and Sariel will exclusively possess a reason to protect us, and the Sanctuary, possessing equal volume as the Tree Continent, can uniquely tilt due to your Value."
"Heh, Angels excel at looking down on everything. You can identically provide information to them at any time. By then, let alone the promise Pandora made, it would be fortunate if she didn't reduce us to abandoned pawns."
Helaire smilingly retracted the hand placed beside Fisher's ear, simultaneously shaking her head significantly, stating,
"Isn't there still me here? I won't let you guys be reduced to abandoned pawns... Your ears are indeed quite sensitive oh, Fisher."
"..."
This woman is truly...
Helaire didn't explain further to Fisher. Naturally, her words just now were additionally heard by Gou Wen and Mikhail. They respectively weighed the credibility of Helaire's words. Exclusively Asuka Karasawa, this silly, fair, and sweet girl, remained completely unaware of the current situation. She merely witnessed that even a reliable adult like Mr. Fisher was somewhat outmatched beneath Angel Helaire's offensive...
She somewhat envied Helaire's aura and formidable strength. Although Angel Helaire was usually somewhat cynical, she possessed ample aura at critical moments. She identically wanted to become such a person.
Yet Asuka Karasawa hadn't completely extracted herself from the excitement of formally acknowledging Mr. Fisher as a teacher to learn Magic last night. She was somewhat absent-minded just now. Lacking even a foundational comprehension of Magic, she was perhaps still fantasizing about whether she could transform into a legendary magical girl or something.
"If there are no objections, we're setting off oh. The Phoenix Race's encampment is very far from here, I must employ some methods to teleport over."
"I have no objections."
Gou Wen raised his hand to vote quite honestly. Exclusively Mikhail heaved a sigh, stating,
"I was originally already free, I shouldn't have agreed to Michael to wade into this muddy water. But since I'm already here, I additionally can't leave."
Speaking of which, he was indeed the most miserable one among them. Originally, having already honestly worked for Michael for half a year, viewing freedom was imminent, yet due to the winds and waves ignited by Asuka Karasawa and Fisher, these two uninvited guests, he resumed business.
Helaire glanced at him with a smile, the morning light within her hand growing increasingly bright. Before that illuminated morning light was about to completely swallow all of them, she stated,
"Mmhmm, so if you didn't leave, wouldn't there be none of this mess? Besides, you lack anywhere to go anyway, perhaps Lord Michael would continue to shelter you?"
Mikhail stared blankly slightly. Who knew what he recalled, his forty-year-old face surprisingly unprecedentedly surged with a hint of embarrassment,
"Better forget it..."
Gou Wen cast a curious glance at Mikhail, seemingly wanting to ask exactly what his situation with Michael was. Previously, starting from Helaire asking him to steal Michael's belongings, he had felt something wasn't quite right.
Yet before he had time to ask, Helaire smiled mischievously and without warning activated the light within her hand. Within a split second, it swallowed them entirely, disappearing from sight.
And far away from where they disappeared, upon the city walls of the Tsubaki Fiefdom that had just experienced the earthquake, that black-haired Elf Tsubaki was quietly gazing in that direction, seemingly contemplating something...
That warm morning light wasn't a genuine, tangible existence, but the sensation it brought was overwhelmingly comfortable.
It was like guarding the coastline all night, staying up until completely drained, and in a moment of extreme fatigue, witnessing the morning sun slowly rising upon the distant horizon. It was like just awaking, when consciousness was extremely blurry, being awakened by a gentle radiance. It was like being in one's twilight years, clearly already incapable of walking, yet still feeling vibrant upon seeing the sun.
Yet despite these lights clearly being so authentic, Fisher simultaneously experienced an indescribable illusion and sense of contradiction, as if those lights were solely illusions, identical to Angel Helaire's extremely vile personality.
That morning light very swiftly disappeared from sight. When Fisher opened his eyes, he was already quietly lying upon a verdant hillside. Blankly sitting up, he turned his head to look around, exclusively witnessing Asuka Karasawa, who was identically clutching her head and sitting up not far away.
"Teacher Fisher, hiss... my head seems to have been bumped."
Fisher hurriedly stood up. Gazing at the sky, he discovered the sun's position hadn't noticeably moved; meaning, time hadn't changed. They were merely instantaneously transported by Helaire's morning light to an extremely distant place.
They ought to be very close to the Phoenix Race's encampment now. Tsubaki Earl had previously informed Helaire's group regarding the Phoenixes' current encampment location.
But the problem was, why were only himself and Asuka Karasawa left now? Where were the other three?
If it were someone else, Fisher would definitely think perhaps there was an error with the teleportation. But regarding Helaire, Fisher invariably never refrained from speculating with the greatest malice towards her.
She definitely intentionally scattered them.
"Karasawa, are you alright?"
Witnessing Asuka Karasawa continuously holding her head and groaning, Fisher frantically walked to her side, examining her head for her, yet failed to discover any obvious wounds. Perhaps she merely bumped the ground when teleporting down. After a short while, she was mostly recovered,
"Mm, eh, wait, where are Angel Helaire and Mr. Gou Wen's group? Did we not teleport to the same place?"
"Mm, currently it appears thus."
Fisher nodded, looking somewhat helplessly at the quiet surroundings. Intuition told him the distance between them currently might still be relatively far, otherwise there wouldn't be not a sliver of movement after several minutes.
"Let's hope Helaire indeed transported us near the Phoenix Race's encampment. Since the destination is identical, we can directly go there to assemble, no need to expend thought searching for them... The Phoenix Race resides within the 'Wutong' Fiefdom. The monarch here is highly tyrannical, we must be slightly careful. Let's go."
"Mm-hmm."
Before Asuka Karasawa could completely recover her wits, Fisher had already formulated the corresponding decision, prompting her to frantically stand up, patting her white robe, and saying to Fisher,
"Let's set off, Teacher Fisher."
"No rush, we still must first figure out which direction the Phoenix Race's encampment lies..."
Fisher surveyed the surroundings. This place was entirely primitive jungle everywhere; momentarily, it was somewhat difficult to find the appropriate direction.
Heaving a sigh, he sat down in place, extracting his Engraving Knife, ready to resolve the issue using magical methods. Among Magic, there existed crests adept at tracking trails, perfect to utilize currently.
Right as he was about to fetch a suitable stone to engrave Magic, he abruptly recalled something, gazing at Asuka Karasawa who was staring fixedly at him with wide eyes before his eyes,
"I'm going to engrave Magic to pinpoint the direction now. Since you are going to learn Magic with me, I'll utilize this time, leveraging the opportunity of engraving Magic, to convey some foundational knowledge regarding Magic to you."
Fisher raised the wind magic Gale Tornado he previously engraved upon the leaf, which identically was the one Asuka Karasawa replicated upon the wall last night, speaking to her,
"First is the definition of Magic: Magic is a deliberately designed omnipotent tool capable of assisting humans in achieving various specific objectives. Any function you can imagine, it possesses. Currently spanning over seven thousand known forms of Magic, naturally excluding certain Magics that Magicians designed privately and didn't disseminate.
"Magic can theoretically achieve whatever effect you desire, but causing a Magic Crest to possess the effect you desire doesn't mean simply scribbling your thoughts into the crest will actualize it. It is achieved through the various components of the crest, forming the ultimate effect as a complete whole. Overall, whether designing a brand new Magic is successful or not, the Magician's theoretical proficiency occupies forty percent, the remaining sixty percent depends entirely on luck.
"And regarding why Magic possesses such properties, this is determined by the fundamental nature of Magic. The fundamental rule of Magic's operation is: utilizing the magical energy contained within the soul, via specific channels and methods (namely Magic Crests), to pry the World's Resonance from the Spirit World, triggering various changes within reality..."
Fisher paused for a moment, still recalling the evaluations regarding Magic he had read previously. He identically pondered that perhaps he bore the responsibility of guiding the future Magic Lord onto the correct path, hence he weighed his words, still supplementing,
"Thus foundationally, Magic is an extremely dangerous forbidden art. Utilizing it absolutely necessitates care and caution."
Asuka Karasawa attentively listened to Fisher's instructions before her eyes. Although having anticipated it long ago, undeniably, as long as it was learning, there would be pain. Yet she still summoned concentration far exceeding a hundred times that of usually studying math in high school to memorize Fisher's instructions.
Accompanying Fisher's teachings delving deeper bit by bit, within the quiet wilderness, there exclusively remained Fisher's intermittent teaching voice and the Wooden Fish sound of appropriate cadence invariably resonating.
"Thump thump... thump..."
(End of this chapter)