The Handbook for Completing Demi-Human Girls

Chapter 457: Truth

Hearing Tsubaki's words, Fisher suddenly realized who the Elf-kin he had bound within the barrier earlier was. It turned out to be one of the three earliest-born Elves, the youngest, Gui.

Having figured out the other party's identity, Fisher's suspended heart didn't settle down, because there were still two genuine issues placed before him that merited consideration.

The first was: why did Gui look exactly identical to Renee, who would have extremely deep ties with the Mother Goddess in the future?

The other matter was: if Tao and Gui, both belonging to the three children, appeared within the Royal Capital at this moment, did it also mean that the situation within the Royal Capital had actually become very serious?

After finishing his explanation, Tsubaki slowly walked up to the door. His right hand stroked the door, little by little grazing over its uneven surface, his expression somewhat profound.

Only, at this very moment, when he decided to push open this door, his life was also about to usher in a major turning point.

As an Elf, he clearly knew that this action was an extremely severe act of overstepping, an irretrievable offense against the King.

"..."

Faced with such a monumental choice, he fell into inevitable hesitation.

And Margaret behind him saw his hesitation. Pausing for a moment, she still spoke."Lord Tsubaki... if you feel forced, it's fine to stop here. But even if you are hesitating, please go behind the door and let me inform you of His Majesty's deeds before you make your decision, alright?"

Tsubaki froze slightly. Upon hearing this, he didn't look back, instead shaking his head and saying.

"No, I am also somewhat curious about everything here. Why did Jianmu Palace suddenly become so empty? And exactly for what reason did His Majesty keep you Transferred Persons by his side..."

Perhaps it truly was as Earl Tsubaki said—he was simply curious about the deeds of the Elf King, whose lifespan was nearing its end and who lived in seclusion within Jianmu Palace, which was why he made his decision.

But in Fisher's eyes, there should be another reason.

Because of his differences from his kin, and because of the exclusion and insults caused by his compassion, he had been suppressed in such an environment for a very, very long time. Hence, he thirsted for change; it just so happened that the Transferred Person Margaret gave him exactly this opportunity.

"Crack, crack, crack!"

Just as Tsubaki made up his mind to see the truth within the Elf King's sleeping quarters, he also resolutely pushed open the giant door before him.

And the instant that giant door was pushed open, Fisher and the others initially didn't see any visible form. What they first felt were countless gentle yet space-and-time-fluctuating streams of golden light.

The surrounding air deformed as if roasted by high temperatures. Surrounding time seemed to instantly slow down, then become extremely fast the next instant.

In this instant, whether it was Fisher, Mikhail, or Asuka Karasawa, all felt a pure, absolutely unprecedented sense of shock.

That dazzling golden light hung in the air like a sun, displaying terrifying power beyond imagination for any rank.

"That is..."

Under the illumination of that golden light, both Mikhail and Asuka Karasawa felt somewhat breathless. Even Fisher began to feel uncomfortable, as if some part of his body had ignited. Fisher looked down, only to discover that whether it was the Demi-Human Completion Handbook, Life Completion Manual, or Soul Completion Handbook, all began to heat up, seemingly feeling as if they had nowhere to hide under that golden brilliance.

That was the radiance of exceedingly pure Order, diametrically opposed to Chaos.

Among the few people, only Tsubaki was completely unscathed. He stared blankly at the sun-like creation suspended above the Elf King's sleeping quarters. Even he could recognize at a glance that it wasn't a great item the Elf King, Lord Tao, or even their Mother could create. That was...

"[Loom of Fate]..."

Tsubaki muttered in disbelief, providing an explanation for Fisher and the others behind him who were suffering quite a bit, explaining exactly what the illusory pure substance wrapped in that golden brilliance was.

"Im... impossible. The Loom is the most precious treasure bestowed upon Mother by the Chief God Lords. Why would it be by His Majesty's side?"

Fisher squinted and struggled to look at that golden brilliance, finally faintly making out the rough appearance of that golden brilliance.

As it turned out, it was a pure golden, ruleless, twisted, indescribable aggregate composed of golden bubbles. It looked like thousands of suns gathered, condensed, and continuously dispersed to form a chaotic physical entity. And linked below that golden physical entity which made it difficult for Fisher to look at directly, like an umbilical cord, was a delicate teardrop creation. It was identical to the item gifted to Fisher by the Demi-Human Completion Handbook. Clearly, that was the legendary [Tear of the World Tree].

So, the Loom of Fate and the Tear of the World Tree were inextricably linked together.

"Because, the Elf King's lifespan is reaching its limit, Lord Tsubaki. Your Mother bestowed the heavy responsibility of looking after the children to the Elf King, yet she granted him the least blessings. Perhaps out of guilt towards her child, or perhaps worrying that after this most important child left, the Li he created would collapse, thereby causing infighting among Elves, the World Tree wished to prolong his life in this manner."

"Those who possess the Loom of Fate can comprehend destiny, obtaining unimaginable wisdom and power, and additionally acquiring a portion of the True God's Divine Authority. As a precious creation of the God with the Authority of [Destiny], it naturally can also exert certain effects on other Rules..."

Margaret looked at that massive golden orb of light ahead, opening her mouth word by word.

"Therefore, the Loom of Fate can aid him to the greatest extent in continuously evading the pursuit of death. Consequently, the World Tree secretly bestowed this most precious divine creation upon the Elf King. But aside from this, the Elf King also combined other methods to fight against death. The first is needing Transferred Persons. He said there is an aura of Chaos within my body that can counteract the Rules of death and life; the second is..."

Right as Margaret spoke, layers of pink petal rain suddenly drifted down from the sky above little by little.

Those were peach blossoms.

Those blooming peach blossoms fell from the sky petal by petal, flower by flower. Like falling onto a calm lake surface and creating ripples bit by bit, they blew away the surrounding phantoms of destiny little by little.

The imagery before their eyes, forcibly maintained by some power, stagnated bit by bit, blurred, and dispersed little by little. Looking closely, the power maintaining the imagery of this phantom of destiny at this moment was unexpectedly very similar to the power that shielded it previously; both were that golden light of destiny.

And as the permeating peach blossoms falling from the sky drifted down little by little, blowing apart the phantom of destiny of this time and place bit by bit, the scenery before them also changed accordingly.

Still before Fisher and their group's eyes was that slightly ajar [Supreme Gate], opening the passageway to the Elf King's sleeping quarters. But at this moment, the extremely dazzling golden light of the Loom of Fate was no longer inside.

"Teacher Fisher, what happened?! Why... have Margaret and Earl Tsubaki disappeared?"

Fisher looked at Jianmu Palace around them, which was much more desolate and dilapidated than the phantom of destiny. A profoundly ominous premonition suddenly arose in his heart.

He didn't speak, instead reaching out his hand. He watched helplessly as the peach blossoms falling from the sky landed in his palm petal by petal. Those slightly cool peach blossom petals carrying a faint chill were immediately perceived by him.

And at this moment, Fisher's heart also instantly sank to rock bottom. He seemed to have already understood the ins and outs within.

"..."

He closed his eyes and sighed, while simultaneously tightly clenching the peach blossoms in his hand.

Asuka Karasawa behind him sensed the low pressure radiating from Fisher and dared not speak. Mikhail still looked around, asking Fisher.

"Fisher, what exactly is the situation right now? Why is this scenery constantly changing? Is this another layer of Lord Tao's phantom of destiny?"

Hearing this, Fisher shook his head. Gritting his teeth with a cold expression, he looked towards the open Supreme Gate, then stepped over the main doors and walked inside.

"...Follow me."

Mikhail immediately followed. Asuka Karasawa pursed her lips and swept a glance around. Realizing Margaret and Tsubaki had truly vanished, she also immediately hesitated no longer and followed Fisher's group ahead.

And just as they stepped inside the Supreme Gate, devoid of that blinding illumination from the Loom of Fate, they could clearly see the scene within the Elf King's sleeping quarters.

On the spacious floor before the sleeping quarters, a kind of extremely giant tree was planted densely. The trunks of those trees exhibited a bizarre leaden-black color, yet a hint of scarlet redness faintly emanated from deep within.

The trees had no leaves, yet they were covered in round, red fruits.

Asuka Karasawa leaned in closer. Originally, she was still somewhat curious about what fruits those were, but it was at this closer distance that she suddenly discovered a clue.

Through the gaps faintly revealed between the heavily wrinkled bark of those trees, Asuka Karasawa saw eyes, fingers, and other organs densely packed within the wood.

Asuka Karasawa's face instantly turned pale. A nauseous feeling immediately surged into her heart. Covering her mouth, she retreated several steps and squatted on the ground dry heaving.

As a result, only when her face was aimed at the ground did she suddenly discover that within the Elf King's sleeping quarters, even the blue bricks on the ground had been dyed scarlet red, let alone the soil beneath.

"T-T-Teacher Fisher, those trees! Ugh!"

Mikhail's scalp also went numb as he looked over. He swept his eyes over those giant trees in disbelief, immediately becoming somewhat dumbfounded.

"These aren't trees. They seem to be a kind of parasite... parasitic on piles of corpses inside? They bear fruit by absorbing nutrients from those corpses? That should be it, but I don't know the exact principle. Beneath this ground are entirely the branches of these things, and there are even more corpses underground..."

Fisher slashed a blade onto the bark of a giant tree with his Fluid Sword. The resulting gash immediately sprayed out a fine blood mist, followed closely by a mixture of various demi-human or human organs and the sap of that parasitic plant flowing out from within.

Looking at the massive amount of flowing liquid, Fisher finally knew why not a single living creature could be seen in such a massive Jianmu Palace, and he finally knew why the Elf King had favored demanding slaves so much these past few years.

With a cold face, his gaze like a knife, he looked up at the round, red fruits one by one, saying word by word.

"This is what Margaret meant, the Elf King's third method of sustaining his life. He utilized some secret Elf method, combining living creatures and these plants to cultivate life-sustaining fruits, enhancing his physique by consuming them. With the three methods above, no wonder he could live for so long while being chased by death..."

Asuka Karasawa covered her mouth and said with a pale face.

"How could it be like this... ugh! But if it was like this half a year ago, then what about the Elf King in reality? What exactly happened to Margaret, Earl Tsubaki, and the others..."

Hearing this, Fisher's expression grew increasingly cold. He looked up at the sleeping quarters, walking step by step toward that desolate sleeping quarters. From within those sleeping quarters, heavily weakened dry coughing faintly drifted out.

As he stepped up the stairs step by step, Fisher also became increasingly clear exactly what the situation was now.

"Reality? Lord Tao lied to us from the very beginning. The item lost from Jianmu Palace was absolutely not some Tear of the World Tree. Even if that item is extremely precious, before the item Margaret truly stole, it can only be considered a drop in the ocean sold along with it.

"The true item Margaret stole is a divine creation, the [Loom of Fate]. No wonder they had to hide the news so well. A True God status item leaked out of the Tree Continent; they absolutely must cover up the truth no matter what..."

Fisher looked at the peach blossoms constantly drifting down around him. Inside, he was actually incredibly anxious. Because at this very moment, everyone among them had fallen into an extremely dangerous trap, a death trap set by Lord Tao.

"Margaret stole the Loom of Fate and erased this segment of the past. To an Elf, this is an absolutely irretrievable grave crime. Given Lord Tao's vast supernatural powers, although she might not know who the traitor on the inside was, she definitely knows where Margaret went. The reason she still hasn't made a move to snatch back the Loom of Fate must be because Margaret used some method to maintain a strategic balance, making these Grand Dukes unable to act."

No matter how Fisher guessed, he felt it was outrageous. No matter how he calculated, it was impossible to discern this step. But his pace didn't stop. He looked around constantly along the way while simultaneously running toward the Elf King's sleeping quarters. At the same time, he also had to explain the truth to the two companions behind him who seemed disconnected and still didn't clearly understand exactly what had happened.

"So from the very beginning when she met us, she concealed the truth. She indeed doesn't know who the true traitor is, but she definitely knows where Margaret went. And there are only three true reasons why she wanted us to enter the barrier. One is to see if we can help her find the true traitor. Of course, it doesn't matter if we don't find them, because her primary purpose is the latter two...

"To use our hands to kill the Elf King. And also, to kill us."

Asuka Karasawa was instantly stunned in place. Her high-schooler reasoning had completely overloaded her brain, leaving her unable to comprehend the current situation for a long time.

"Kill... kill the Elf King?! How... but we haven't even met the Elf King, how do we kill..."

Fisher expressionlessly walked before those pitch-black sleeping quarters. He looked at the solitary, massive bed within the grand hall, and the bony, emaciated figure on that bed who, although struggling on the verge of death, still possessed a terrifying rank.

Fisher was silent for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said word by word.

"You will meet him immediately. Because at this moment, we are already in reality."