novelraw Chapter 466: Give One and Receive Three
Chapter 466: Give One and Receive Three
"..."
Fisher stared intently at the arrow in her embrace. In merely an instant, his chest roared like a rumbling engine, his breathing shoved heavier by the flames. Subsequently, the scorching heat brought by those flames formed a push that reason found hard to resist, making Fisher's body subconsciously stand up, his gaze locked tightly on the evil Angel reclining sideways on the hammock.
In just a second, the distance between Fisher and Helaire had closed to arm's reach. The silk thread linking him and her also transitioned from taut to slack.
Fisher grabbed her bright wrist with one hand, lifting it above her head, passing through the faintly flickering, seemingly ethereal halo above it. Amidst her smile that was like aged wine, Fisher finally uncontrollably lowered his head, biting down hard on her lips, while Helaire also seemed unsurprised as she titled her head up slightly, gently responding to Fisher's offensive.
That fire of reproduction seemed impossible to contain, driving Fisher's movements to cross the boundary of danger and land upon Helaire's skirt hem. Just as those movements were about to go a step further, one of Helaire's hands gently pressed onto the back of his hand.
Fisher froze slightly. With a dark gaze, he wanted to raise his head slightly to express his dissatisfaction. But Helaire's other hand gently caressed his cheek. Like a magnet with weak magnetism, she kept his kiss by her side once again.
This kiss, brimming with interaction, was filled with magical power, making Fisher's soul nearly leave his body. Following the areas her fingers stroked over, everything there seemed to detach from his physical body, no longer belonging to Fisher.
That feeling of being poisoned surprisingly made Fisher feel his legs give way for the first time. This sensation greatly astonished him; even one hand uncontrollably braced against that hammock suspended in mid-air to avoid the awkwardness of not being able to stand.
Not until Helaire's smiling eyes opened a fraction did she seemingly notice Fisher's state. Thus, she tapped a finger lightly on his chest, pushing him away slightly from this whirlpool-like kiss.
Fisher gasped for breath for a moment, retreating a slight distance while panting. The Helaire lying on the hammock, however, was full of smiles. Only then did she look quite innocent and flustered, covering her chest and exclaiming in shock."Oh my, oh my, are you going to do something bad to a convalescing patient?"
"...Isn't this entirely your fault?"
Facing Fisher's accusation, Helaire didn't evade at all, and that innocent expression came to an abrupt end alongside it.
Smiling, she extended her fingers and traced Fisher's chest. That faint, ghost-like touch continuously circled the spot Cupid recently shot.
"Because you were too cute just now, I couldn't resist teasing you... Who knew your reproduction desire would be so immense, nearly exploding with a touch, unable to endure for even a moment? Constantly holding on under the oppression of such desire must be very difficult, right? Because this desire isn't just a physical torment; it's an enormous test for your inner heart."
"..."
Facing the smiling Helaire before him, Fisher was momentarily speechless.
Actually, he had realized the matter regarding this reproduction desire amplification very early on. Just as Helaire said previously, the desire to reproduce wasn't purely a physical sense of oppression. If it were purely that, he could just resolve it by himself whenever the feeling arose.
The problem lay in that the desire to reproduce essentially wasn't about wanting to do that sort of thing, but rather an unrestrained urge to possess the opposite sex.
Previously, when he merely treated it as a physical poison and resolved it with Eliog, he found himself constantly longing for the Eliog he had shared intimacy with. He also discovered that only such possession, akin to capturing a city and seizing land, could satisfy the fiercely burning fire of reproduction within his body. This meant that if he did nothing but shoot blanks, it would at most relieve the fire of reproduction for a few tens of minutes. Because with Fisher's Fourteenth-Tier physique, he could do that sort of thing all day long.
Only total possession in a psychological sense made Fisher feel satisfied. This allowed him to stop burning with the fire of reproduction for a very, very long time... well, assuming the Demi-Human Completion Handbook didn't add any more Reproduction Power, of course.
These almost beast-like thoughts constantly battled Fisher's reason, causing him to feel such torment and conflict. Helaire had rejected Fisher's further advances just now, and Fisher hadn't pushed it either. Instead, he breathed deeply to suppress himself; this was the manifestation of his struggle.
And that struggle within silence fell completely into Helaire's scattered blue-gold pupils. The smile on her face deepened little by little. Subsequently, she turned her body slightly sideways and spoke to Fisher.
"Unfortunately, I can't do it right now, because I haven't completely transformed into a female yet. Optimistically, only a few days have passed... but don't fret too much, it's only about a week more."
"I know."
Hearing Helaire provide a specific timeframe, Fisher subconsciously felt a surge of heat in his heart, but quickly calmed down little by little. Under her smiling gaze, Fisher merely glanced at the arrow linked to him in her embrace. Looking at the silk thread connecting him and Helaire, the thought he had at the First Heaven earlier was brought up again.
If the Sanctuary was destined to collapse one day in the future, Helaire was destined to die. Then, what would happen if he told Helaire about the future right now?
According to Gou Wen's words, if he mentioned the future, it was highly likely he would be perceived by Destiny, and he would definitely be purged.
But if he didn't speak... he had never heard from Eimhart in the future about an Angel named 'Helaire' being alive. Does that mean Helaire would definitely die in the future?
Fisher was somewhat conflicted for a moment, his thoughts becoming increasingly tangled until, after several seconds of silence, he felt the arrow on his chest move. Casting his gaze, he saw it was indeed the Helaire lying on the bed swaying the silk thread linking them both.
"Why the sudden long face? Could it be you can't endure even these few days? That truly is difficult. How about we do it like that night?"
Smiling, she sat up and looked at Fisher bewitchingly. Yet facing her seduction, Fisher remained entirely unmoved.
"Am I so desperate?"
"Mm... yes."
"Seriously?"
"Seriously."
Smiling, Helaire cupped her chin. Her bare feet, however, generously draped themselves over Fisher's thighs and swayed back and forth, as if relaxing leisurely. But how could an already restless Fisher tolerate such impudence? He quickly reached out and grabbed her tender feet to prevent her from moving. Yet when holding her feet, that fire flared up fiercely like kindling had been added.
Great. Being beside her, there were no signs of it calming down.
Fisher shook his head. Taking advantage of the opportunity while she wasn't moving and his reason remained, he suddenly spoke up.
"Helaire, you know where I come from."
This was a declarative sentence, because she had already spoken about it with him previously in Lord Tao's barrier.
"I know."
"In that case, I want to tell you a story..."
Cupping her chin, Helaire smilingly lifted her bare foot. Unable to control her feet at all with his hands, Fisher's chin was propped up by one of her small feet, cutting off what he was about to say.
With a dark face, Fisher quickly restrained it again and viciously asked.
"Are you going to listen or not?"
Helaire squinted with a smile, looking extremely pleased. Fisher didn't know what she found so amusing, but he only heard her say.
"Truly adorable. Did something happen in the future that made Fisher actually use this clumsy method of making up a story to tell me? Furthermore, you should know that doing this might have serious consequences, right?"
"...I vaguely know."
The smile on Helaire's face grew deeper and deeper. She sat up straight little by little, but the two feet resting in Fisher's palms adorably curled, seemingly stretching lazily.
"Since you already know everything, you shouldn't speak of it even more so. You still have goals to complete, right? Wouldn't it be regrettable if something went wrong before that? Furthermore, just as I said previously, I don't like certainty, because only unknown things are fun. Therefore, even if you want to tell me the future, I definitely won't listen."
Seeing her in an unconcerned mood of merely seeking amusement, Fisher became angry, but after a moment of silence, Fisher realized that indeed, exactly as she said, doing this would carry enormous risks and the gains might not outweigh the losses.
Just like at the beginning, when he wanted to stop Asuka Karasawa from learning magic to prevent the creation of the Creator's Society in the future... yet when she unveiled her seemingly god-given magical aptitude for the first time, he realized: no matter what he did, he couldn't change the fact that she would learn magic one day. No matter how much he hid it, with her ability to perfectly replicate anything with a single glance, she could probably enlighten herself on magic while sleeping one night.
He could only teach Asuka Karasawa to the best of his ability, attempting to use his meager power to guide the torrent of fate. Then, for Helaire, this was probably the best choice too.
Fisher was no longer prepared to be this direct. He planned to let Helaire know unknowingly through other methods when he left later or when everything ended... Hmm, thinking carefully, he seemed to have failed Renee again, failed his promise to her when he left.
He condemned himself again internally, but on the surface, he merely smiled and shook his head, saying to Helaire.
"You're overthinking it. I really just wanted to tell a story."
"Oh? What story are you going to tell?"
"It's a fable: a long, long time ago, there was a crow in a tree. It stood on the tree and sang every day, merely thinking of current happiness, never considering the future. One day, it saw the fish in the pond swim away one after another; yet it continued singing. After that day, it saw other small animals beneath the tree all escape; yet it continued singing. On the third day, its brethren also escaped; yet it continued singing. Until the fourth day, the tsunami came, and it drowned thusly in the water... It's over."
Fisher looked expressionlessly at Helaire and spoke thus.
Helaire froze slightly. Afterwards, the smile on her face grew harder to suppress, until she finally held her stomach and lay down unable to bear it, saying to Fisher.
"Hahahaha... Fisher, has anyone ever told you that your storytelling skills are terrible?"
"...You're the first to say so."
"Then has anyone ever told you that you are truly adorable?"
"...You're also the first to say so."
The smile on Helaire's face intensified. Her scattered, blue-and-gold pupils stared straight at the Fisher before her. After a second, she sat up with a smile and leaned close to Fisher little by little.
Fisher had been holding her feet the entire time, pressing against her toes and soles like a massage. But as she leaned in bit by bit at this moment, his body still stiffened slightly.
Fisher's reactions to all of Helaire's movements were stronger than ever before. It was as if this Angel possessed some magical power, rendering a veteran of a hundred battles like him completely defenseless.
Under these circumstances, Helaire gradually embraced Fisher, and her red lips slowly approached Fisher's cheek.
First, she kissed Fisher's earlobe. Placed there, the kiss darted into Fisher's brain like an electric current, subsequently flowing through his entire body like a river. Only then did she part her lips, allowing her warm breath to meet his, speaking softly.
"Want to experience the joy of the unknown?"
"What?"
"Let's play a game, okay?"
"Okay~"
Fisher answered carelessly and casually. Believing she was playing some trick again, he responded in a deadpan tone like coaxing a child.
Seeing Fisher demean and brush her off in this manner, the smile on Helaire's face deepened. Giving Fisher's earlobe another kiss, she drew his attention back to her.
"There are generous rewards, you know~"
Fisher felt a flush of heat in his heart. Turning his head to look at her, he said.
"Elaborate."
"This game is called 'Give One and Receive Three'. To be more specific, it is [One Price, Three Rewards]."
"...What's the price?"
"Take a guess?"
"...And the rewards?"
"Take another guess?"
"Are you crazy?"
Looking at the sour-faced Fisher, Helaire couldn't contain her laughter anymore. She gave Fisher a kiss to smooth out his expression, then seductively reclined on the hammock, asking.
"So, want to play?"
Fisher let out a sigh, seemingly touched by her casualness as he nodded and said.
"Fine, whatever you say."
Helaire's smile grew brighter and brighter. Affected by her, Fisher surprisingly also developed a modicum of interest toward this baseless, headless, and tailless game.
When did he become a person who sought amusement like this?
As expected of spending a long time with this fellow. Previously, he'd even subconsciously tease the adorable Asuka Karasawa. He had to lay the blame on this fellow Helaire.
Just as Fisher wanted to say something else, he suddenly felt a sharp gaze. He looked up in slight astonishment, only to see the dark-faced Gou Wen standing at the doorway of the room; it was unknown when he had appeared there.
With a dark face, his gaze was like a knife, as if wanting to hack Fisher into a thousand pieces.
Simply because the Fisher currently sitting on the hammock in the room was ambiguously holding the feet of the adjacent Helaire in his hands. That intimate appearance was obvious at a glance no matter how you looked at it. The most outrageous part was those two idiots also placed an arrow each on their chests, completely ignoring what the hell they were doing.
"Oh, Gou Wen, you're here. Has the situation with Mikhail stabilized?"
Helaire still smiled and waved at Gou Wen as if greeting him. Fisher also raised his eyes to look at him, but only saw his hands clenching tight, his expression growing darker. Gnashing his teeth, he said.
"Yeah... he's doing very well... it seems you guys are doing very well too."
"We're doing alright, thanks to Fisher's care."
Helaire waved her hand, feigning modesty while fanning the flames and adding oil to the fire; she almost caused Gou Wen's inner universe to explode.
However, looking at the about-to-explode Gou Wen before him, Fisher was also full of confusion. He didn't understand why this fellow was so bafflingly concerned with his private life. Could it be he was that furious simply because he revealed that he might have an affair with a Whale-kin in the future? Do Whale-kin share a genetic networking structure like the Phoenix Race? Is the collective identity of Whale-kin really that strong? To care so much about an unknown Whale-kin named Jasmine in the future... acting like she's his daughter...
But since there was someone else present, it was impossible for Fisher to continue like this with Helaire. Slowly letting go of Helaire's feet, he stood up and walked toward Gou Wen beyond the door.
"I was also preparing to head to the Fifth Heaven to check on Mikhail's condition. Since you have nothing else to do, get some good rest here. Remember to head off and see Pandora later."
"Mm-hmm."
Helaire waved her hand to say farewell. She didn't take back the arrow on Fisher's body; yet that arrow vanished without a trace, its whereabouts unknown. It wasn't until Fisher was slowly walking toward the gloomy Gou Wen that Helaire behind him seemingly remembered something, saying to Fisher.
"By the way, Fisher, remember to remind me after seven days... Also, this doesn't count as one of the three rewards, okay~"
It had only been a few seconds, yet Fisher had practically forgotten her joke-like game. However, he remembered that seven days from now seemed to be the day Helaire would fully transform into a female. From this, one could tell what "remind" exactly meant...
Fisher nodded. Just as he was about to say something, the dark-faced Gou Wen beside him dragged Fisher away.
Not until they completely walked out of the corridor did Fisher look at the Gou Wen beside him with a puzzled expression and ask him.
"Wait, don't you have a wife already? Why are you so concerned about my private life?"
Gou Wen was stumped by his sudden question. He opened his mouth, and after several seconds passed, he spoke to Fisher with bloodshot red eyes.
"I am a doctor! What's wrong with caring about your health?! Being unrestrained and reckless like this, you'll inevitably suffer a great loss sooner or later, you know?! You can't act like this, understand?! You must maintain your integrity!"
"..."
Fisher's expression became abstract instantly, not knowing what to say.
Although Gou Wen's reminder wasn't wrong, and he also knew continuing like this was the path to death, why did it just feel a little off?
"...What about Mikhail? Has Michael healed him?"
Seeing no way to continue the conversation, Fisher had no choice but to change the subject, turning to ask about Mikhail, who was sent to the Fifth Heaven.
He indeed wanted to go to the Fifth Heaven to check on Mikhail; showing concern for his condition was primary. In addition, he also wanted to see if it was possible to get to the Sixth Heaven and see the long-captured Eimhart, to confirm his status.
Eimhart might be foul-mouthed, but his guts were truly miniscule. He was the type of book that could bark loudly but had zero ability to withstand pressure. Spending every day alongside a crazy Nineteenth-Tier Archangel, Fisher believed he probably wouldn't feel "Happy here without thinking of Shu" like he did.
Hearing this, Gou Wen's expression turned a bit more serious. Subsequently, he sighed and said.
"I don't know either. Michael took him alone to treat him and wouldn't let me go over. After delivering him to the Fifth Heaven, I had no choice but to come down. Oh right, where's little Karasawa? Wasn't she with you?"
"...She should be just outside. Didn't you see her?"
"No, I didn't."
Hearing this, Fisher immediately hastened his pace, returning outside the hall with Gou Wen. He and Gou Wen swept their gazes around but didn't find Asuka Karasawa's figure. They thought she had performed her traditional art again, but soon they saw Asuka Karasawa's figure at the rear edge of the Second Heaven's stairs... right beside Raphael's forge.
At the same time, beside her was precisely the Archangel of the Second Heaven, Raphael.
"That's right, exactly like that, you have great talent."
"Whoa... thank you."
When Fisher and the others approached, Asuka Karasawa was conversing with Raphael beside the forge. Worried, Fisher immediately called her name.
"Karasawa!"
"Teacher Fisher, I'm over here!"
Hearing Fisher's call, Asuka Karasawa hastily looked up with joy and ran toward him. Naturally, she also saw the Gou Wen beside Fisher.
"Mr. Gou Wen, you came down from the Fifth Heaven? I didn't see you just now."
"Ah, I was in a rush too. I thought you were with Fisher, so I didn't look sideways."
"Just now, I was watching Archangel Raphael forging Holy Artifacts, and he said I should give it a try, so I went over..."
"Forging Holy Artifacts?"
Fisher raised an eyebrow, turning to look at the forge beside them, only to see something seemingly taking form within the roaring furnace. Seeing this, Raphael also smiled slightly. Looking at the item in the furnace, he said.
"She has talent beyond imagination and will quickly be able to master the method of forging Holy Artifacts. Just now, with my help, she was already able to discover the Gospel hidden in the materials. If she trains further, perhaps she can also become a Master Forger."
"Hehe..."
Hearing Raphael's praise, Asuka Karasawa embarrassedly scratched her head. But youth couldn't hide things; although her expression was modest, her nose was actually about to stick up to the sky, which Gou Wen beside her found extremely amusing.
"But you guys probably have other things to be busy with. Forging isn't urgent and can be discussed later... Little girl, this is the original blank you just forged, keep it safe. Although it merely has a shape and no Gospels, it can still have them attached to it later on."
"Okay! Thank you, Archangel Raphael!"
Hearing this, Asuka Karasawa immediately took a step forward. Raphael also smiled slightly and pointed a hand toward that burning forging furnace.
Following a wave of heat, that furnace opened a small gap. Very quickly, an extremely scorching object flew out from within.
Under the guidance of Raphael's power, the object continuously cooled in mid-air until it completely settled at room temperature, falling into Asuka Karasawa's hands.
But the instant he saw that object, Fisher seemingly froze slightly, apparently somewhat rather astonished. Even when the smiling Asuka Karasawa presented it to him, he still hadn't completely regained his senses.
Because he clearly saw... that original blank was an unshaped ring.
"Mikhail, let's leave this place in the future, okay? Leave New Russia, leave Novosibirsk Wind..."
Before Mikhail's eyes, an illusory shadow containing an excited voice appeared. The figure of that shadow was so familiar yet so foreign, causing him to be somewhat faint momentarily.
He still remembered the words that shadow had spoken to him, the joy and pain it brought him, making him want to knowingly smile or speechlessly weep whenever he recalled it.
He couldn't clearly remember the appearance of that person anymore, simply because she had left for far, far too long, and he himself was far, far too distant from her...
He simply remembered the feelings he and she shared, remembered how he addressed her.
He addressed her as...
"My dear."
Mikhail still hadn't opened his eyes, yet his right hand seemingly wanted to stroke the other party's face by instinct. Within the phantom of the dream, that shadow with a gentle smile finally drew closer and closer under his call and outstretched hand, until it took hold of his trembling outstretched hand.
The moment that palm was held tight, Mikhail's restless heart finally settled down.
He was somewhat wanting to weep, but the corners of his lips curled into a smile involuntarily.
"My dear, I really miss you so much..."
"..."
That hazy dream grew clearer little by little like emerging from the water's surface. That blurred, warm shadow also drew closer bit by bit, until it was unveiled by an earnest beam of light, exposing its true appearance.
Appearing before him was a handsome, androgynous, red-haired beauty. He was looking at him expressionlessly, looking at his chest firmly held by the outstretched hand. It felt as if time itself had grown quiet, resulting in no action being taken.
Mikhail blinked his remaining left eye. His outstretched hand even squeezed in disbelief, but only touched a flat surface devoid of any sexual characteristics.
But a second later, his scalp prickled. The consciousness that was muddled due to injury fully awakened. At this moment, he finally seemed to realize exactly what he had done.
"Michael?"
"..."
Mikhail hurriedly withdrew his hand, wanting to retreat and sit up, yet seemed bound in place by countless chains.
Looking down, he finally discovered many tubes connected to his body, their purpose unknown.
Countless memories flooded into his brain, including the matter of him being hit by Lord Tao and completely fainting at the time.
"I survived? Or... am I dreaming? Dreaming of Michael?"
Sneering, Michael slowly stood up and said to him.
"You'd better be dreaming, otherwise take a good moment to think about how to compensate for what happened just now."
"...Which matter?"
Mikhail's brain seemingly overheated. He froze up and asked this foolishly at the same time.
Yet upon seeing the wrinkled spot of the white robe at Michael's chest—which he had forcefully clawed at—he parted his lips again, unable to utter another word.
"Oh..."
(End of this chapter)