novelraw Chapter 514: Gabriel
Chapter 514: Gabriel
Within the Second Heaven, dense with golden radiance, inside a building shaped like a gigantic egg, Archangel Raphael sat with his legs crossed, suspended in mid-air. He gazed at the golden pages constantly flipping in his hands. Evidently, these books were extremely precious; even the text recording knowledge upon them glimmered with a golden light that transcended the mortal realm, making one involuntarily mesmerized by them.
Before his eyes, Helaire lay flat within a constantly churning golden liquid. These were Relics used by angels for examination and healing, capable of simultaneously analyzing the corporeal body and soul of a Mythical Species integrated as one.
While receiving Raphael's examination and treatment, Helaire continuously recounted the situation in the Ideal State at that time,
"Lord Sariel snatched the substance of Chaos that Fisher gave me for safekeeping and tossed it into the Holy Grail. She wanted to use that thing to break free from the rules set by Lord Chain of Heaven, hoping to use it to create her so-called 'Earthly Divine Kingdom.' But what neither they nor I anticipated was that the substance of Chaos not only corrupted the rules set by Lord Chain of Heaven but also corrupted the Holy Grail itself. This led to a complete eruption of Chaos intermingled with their wishes and Lord Chain of Heaven's power... Lord Raphael, are you listening?"
Helaire let out a yawn, looked at the Archangel suspended in mid-air up ahead, and asked thus.
Raphael, in turn, lifted his gaze to look at her, then reached out and beckoned with his hand, retrieving the scattered pages in the sky into his hands bit by bit. At the same time, he stared fondly at the pages in his hands and stated,
"For some unknown reason, Gabriel took that Transferred Person's Relic and left the Sanctuary. She departed from the Vortex of Wisdom and still hasn't returned even now. However, because of this, I can now see all the interesting contents she previously recorded in it."
"...And?"
"You chose your own gender, Helaire. To be honest, I'm actually quite curious. Exactly what kind of feeling is this... Just treat it as a conversation between doctor and patient, share with me. Is there anything special about it?"
Helaire wasn't in a rush either, surprisingly starting to seriously deliberate over the special aspects of it."Well... if I had to say, I feel there hasn't been too much of a change. The only exception is when I'm beside Fisher. During those times, it becomes hotter."
"Oh, that Transferred Person. The taste of a male is truly interesting. It seems he's quite satisfying, able to reignite flames even for an angel detached from the mortal realm."
"Indeed, this brings us to mention his waist..."
"Stop, stop, hold on..."
Raphael somewhat helplessly called a halt to Helaire, who was surging with enthusiasm to share her bizarre experiences with him. This Angel Helaire was indeed a number one eccentric within the Sanctuary; she clearly lacked no desire to share even when it came to matters like this.
After stopping Helaire, who still felt unsatisfied and wanted to express her fondness for that Transferred Person, Raphael leaned a little closer to the golden liquid securely enveloping Helaire's clothes. Having observed for a brief moment, he continued,
"I'm just curious about Lord Chain of Heaven's reasoning for designing us with optional genders."
"Because this wasn't my design; rather, it was a natural inclination carried over after I created you all using Mother's power. To me, physiological gender symbolizing reproduction is meaningless, which is why I wanted to impart this ideology to my creations. Even though it was ultimately successful, due to the incompleteness of the Authority of Life, youmyself includedwill harbor this inclination to revert back to primitiveness."
As Raphael's words slowly fell, a flat voice indistinguishable in gender explosively echoed beside the two angels' ears.
Helaire's gaze shifted upward slightly before soon spotting an extremely tall, androgynous figure bearing four pairs of wings of divine light standing within the shadows behind Raphael.
He simply stood quietly in the spot previously unnoticed by Helaire, as motionless as a statue. Only his indifferent pair of eyes, seemingly leading into Deep Space, stared straight at the Helaire before him. It was akin to an array of chains sealing the firmament, surging with an aura of absolute prohibition.
This was one of the three Demigods created by Ramastia, the Chain of Heaven.
He had also sensed the anomaly in the Ideal State and thus returned from guarding the Boundary of Matter to the Sanctuary to deal with the occurrences here. Furthermore, it seemed that the Chain of Heaven had been lingering here from the very beginning, listening to the information Helaire was reporting.
"Lord Chain of Heav..."
Helaire's complexion instantaneously grew tense. She struggled, attempting to stand up from within the golden liquid wrapping around her, but the Chain of Heaven only slightly raised his hand, and a formidable force promptly shoved her back amidst the giant egg.
"Shh, don't move... Raphael, how is her physical condition?"
"Lord Chain of Heaven, Helaire's body has been mostly corrupted by Chaos. Although I can restore her appearance back to how it was in the past, internally, she is already leaps and bounds away from her past. But speaking of which, it's quite interesting. Having investigated the new life forms currently forming at the bottom of the Ideal State, their current structure is very similar to hers. They are similarly lives formed from Lord Chain of Heaven's power while polluted by the power of Chaos..."
The Raphael beside him lowered his head and responded exceptionally respectfully.
Upon hearing this, the indifferent Chain of Heaven swept his gaze over the Helaire before him. Under her cautious gaze, he abruptly raised his hand. Countless chains shimmering with golden radiance hurtled out from the void, aiming strictly at her as if fully poised to pierce completely through her in the very next second.
Helaire nervously closed her eyes, resembling an unbearably fragile and pitifully delicate baby chick.
"Helaire, you lied."
"Lord Chain of Heaven, I..."
"I gave the Holy Grail to Sariel. She did indeed betray me, and the Chaos did indeed shatter the Holy Grail's rules. But it didn't erupt out, did it? So what exact reason ultimately caused the Chaos to erupt?"
Facing the multitude of terrifying chains, Helaire was truly scared out of her wits. Pausing momentarily, she finally confessed,
"It was because of me... It's my fault... Lord Sariel... She wanted to use the Holy Grail to create her Earthly Divine Kingdom, aiming to use up the Holy Grail's wish. But Fisher... He was still being pursued by Death... It was because of this that I was forced against my will to fight with her and Remiel for the Holy Grail, which ultimately caused the Chaos inside the Holy Grail to leak out... This is all my fault..."
Beside them, Raphael, whose head had remained bowed, opened his eyes. He couldn't help but shoot a glance at the currently trembling-like-a-sieve Helaire before him, seemingly harboring a speckle of sympathy within his eyes.
There lacked entirely any emotion within Chain of Heaven's eyes. But in the next second, the multitude of chains encircling Helaire retracted one by one.
"Do you like that Transferred Person this much? Enough to even risk such danger for him?"
Helaire didn't reply, simply looking at the Chain of Heaven with begging eyes. Yet he merely stood in silence, staring at the Helaire before his eyes. Only after a long while did he finally continue speaking.
"Helaire, even until today, I still remember the process of creating you. I still recall how every single one of you angels looked when you were born. I also remember searching within the Sea of Souls of the Spirit World for an incredibly long time. Ultimately, closest to the brightest direction traversing into the Material World, I discovered a wisp of a warm and powerful soul. Different from the other muddled, chaotic souls, every single wisp of your souls was extraordinarily robust, bearing a unique sigil entirely your own. Your sigil incessantly repeated, 'Helaire,' hence I brought you back... You ought to know, this type of treatment was only present when my Mother created me..."
"Lord Chain of Heaven, your great kindness is something I will never forget for as long as I live..."
"Heh, if bestowing your births was a great kindness you would never forget for as long as you lived, then Sariel and Remiel would have never betrayed me... You made a mistake, and there will be corresponding punishments. From now onwards, you will take over Sariel's position as God's Emissary. At the same time, you are incredibly similar to the newly born lifeforms in the Ideal State in the lower realm. I want you to go down, enter among them, become a member of their ranks, and manage them on behalf of the Sanctuary. I want you to inject responsibility into their spirits and thoroughly stabilize the Authority of Death. Can you do that?"
The Chain of Heaven slowly stood up, looking at the pitifully miserable Helaire nodding ceaselessly before him. Ultimately, unknown whether he had learned from Pandora and Remiel's lesson, he didn't offer any further words. He simply turned around and slowly returned to the shadows while his voice concurrently drifted over,
"That Transferred Person, Fisher. He will serve as the sole surviving Transferred Person, designated for us to understand and dissect Chaos. But you had best guarantee he is worthy of the feelings you paid. I gathered from the World Tree and Tao an understanding of his affairs in the Tree Continent. He is not someone easy to deal with. He is very dangerous."
Helaire's expression slightly paled, but she still covered her chest and guaranteed to the Chain of Heaven,
"I will ensure he poses no threat to the Sanctuary, I swear upon my life."
"You had best be able to guarantee it... By the way, prepare a new name in advance."
The Chain of Heaven had already vanished from his spot, his destination unknown, merely taking away the suffocating pressure that had followed him like a shadow.
With his departure, Helaire's pale complexion finally somewhat eased. However, perhaps having not yet recovered from the shock of her "punishment," right now, she only covered her chest while ceaselessly panting.
Raphael didn't offer any straightforward consolation. He simply floated up once more, pinched the book stolen from Gabriel's Vortex of Wisdom, and continued reading,
"It's fine here now, you can leave... Or do you want to contemplate here about the name you'll use in the future to interact with those newly born lifeforms in the Mortal World?"
Helaire struggled to crawl out from the healing Relic. Afterwards, she silently readjusted the crooked gemstone Crown upon her head and returned over her shoulder while humming a song with her back facing Raphael,
"There's no need. I've already thought of one. Thank you, Lord Raphael."
Seeing how terrified she was merely moments ago only to be singing a song right now, Raphael somewhat bewilderedly asked,
"Are you alright? Were you frightened by Lord Chain of Heaven?"
The face of the currently humming Helaire was tainted with a blurred shadow, as muddy as a nocturnal ocean. Yet the next second when she turned her head, the only thing left on her face was a bitterly gentle smile akin to the morning light. She stated,
"Ah, my apologies... I involuntarily sing whenever I become emotionally agitated. This helps alleviate a little pressure..."
"I still have something to do. I take my leave, Lord Raphael."
...
Simultaneously, amidst the Deep Space of the Material World, upon a desolate planet an unknown distance away from the Sanctuary, Eimhart was vacantly staring into the incomparably lonely universe before him. Blanking and spacing out, a scorching tear involuntarily slipped past his book cover. Following closely after, as if on the verge of collapsing, he frantically tossed and turned across the ground,
"Wuwuwu... Fisher... Are you and I truly about to separate just like this? Ahhh!"
"Ahhh! I don't want something like that to happen! Snnk!"
At this moment, on this desolate planet, only the place Eimhart was currently situated grew a multitude of tangible flora. They flourished vigorously under the illuminating rays of other stars forged by Ouyun. Naturally, the primary factor allowing them to survive should be attributed to the Relic Gabriel forged; it enveloped this place entirely, forming a secret base amidst the Deep Space.
This was Gabriel's favorite activity before she went mad. The Angel of Wisdom, fond of exploring knowledge, frequently observed and contemplated amidst the boundless Deep Space. Many books in the Vortex of Wisdom were completed during this exact process.
Of course, this place was always quiet in past times. Only right now was there an extra crybaby, Eimhart.
The surroundings brimmed with the most exquisite architecture from various races and cultures, among which were nestled a considerable number of treasures and precious books. These items, originally tantamount to rare delicacies, held no attraction for the current Eimhart. Only when a pair of warm hands lifted him off the ground and embraced him to her bosom did he finally settle down.
"Nob... Be good... Nob..."
Her gentle voice functioned almost as the solitary lullaby within the universe. Even the weeping Eimhart was frequently coaxed to tranquility by her, as if he bore an innate fondness for this angel who had lost her child.
It was merely a pity that the moment he thought about separating from Fisher, he couldn't help but feel sorrow surging anew from within.
"Ahhh, Fisher... Without me, what are you going to do? You'll definitely be incapable of controlling yourself and your lower half... Without me, you'll definitely be killed by the other ladies in mere minutes, ahhh..."
His wailing, deathly tone prompted Gabriel to involuntarily tilt her head. She tightly embraced Eimhart in her arms, permitting him to weep within her embrace. Only after a long period had passed did Gabriel finally speak once more,
"Nob... Tell me about... Fisher."
Eimhart's weeping expression momentarily froze. He lifted his head to look at the Gabriel before him and sobbed out,
"What is there to talk about concerning that guy... By the time I flip open the list of names I recorded, you'll know..."
Perhaps because they had interacted for too long, not even Eimhart realized that Gabriel's responses were growing increasingly rich and distinct. Her expressions and movements had become more vivid, seemingly already a lengthy distance away from her originally sluggish and muddle-headed state.
Eimhart's belly surged continuously. Following closely after, lines upon sentences of golden text popped out from within him, seemingly acting as a recapitulation of certain information.
"Cough cough, Whale-kin Jasmine, this guy's student. I guess she counts as the first name I recorded. Well... how should I say it? Objectively analyzing her, this girl is slightly slow, and her person is also very kind-hearted. It's just that sometimes she always... uh, turns dark. I personally bore witness to her attempting to knock the back of Fisher's head and drag him into an Ocean Trench like a salted fish. Well... I reckon she's probably sleeping in the sea right now, utterly clueless that her teacher, Fisher, is fooling around everywhere outside."
"The Human, Elizabeth... Ah, this lady is interesting. I feel her competitiveness can rank second on the list. Good heavens, honestly speaking, I have yet to encounter such a terrifying lady. She is simply unlike a human, wholeheartedly wishing to forever chain Fisher by her side, then give birth to two teams of children capable of hosting a ball game in Naris... I'm not joking, she is indeed an exceptionally formidable lady... Alright, I have to admit, Fisher, being able to deceive her heart into his hands, is also quite remarkable. This brat possesses quite a bit of skill... She's probably currently the Queen in Naris, dealing with various affairs every single day, while occasionally dispatching people out to prepare to capture back her taboo gigolo."
"A mixed-blood between a Human and a Giant Troll-kin, Alagina... My impression of this girl is that she's extremely earnest and genuine. I wonder if it's because she features the bloodline of Giant Troll-kin, but her treatment toward Fisher has always been... well, very gentlemanly. Allowing this stinky brat Fisher to take tremendous advantage of her... Right now, I reckon she's still catching fish on the sea acting as a pirate... oh, or perhaps heading into the Stormsea to search for treasures. She probably suffered quite a mighty psychological blow from Renee..."
As Gabriel listened to Eimhart, she silently brought him outside the house and sat amidst a patch of beautiful flowers.
"Phoenix, Valentiina. Oh, this little girl... Fine, although she bullies me occasionally, she's actually very beautiful, simply an amalgamation composed of the most beautiful affairs in the mortal world, making one unable to resist wanting to cherish and protect her. Ugh, it's just a pity she has now transformed into an egg and hasn't hatched yet. Good heavens, Phoenix Races generally appear to be quite colossal right? That little girl wouldn't have become huge as well, would she?"
"And then there's Renee... Whatever, I'll pass on evaluating this one..."
Eimhart stayed beside the crystal hugged by Gabriel, concurrently recounting the ladies and intriguing affairs he had encountered alongside Fisher during their adventures. The sadness from moments prior was finally washed away bit by bit amidst his past memories, letting him burst anew with his originally merited vitality and smile.
On the other hand, the Gabriel beside him solely observed him silently for the entire duration, completely unlike a stone statue devoid of reactions.
She appeared entirely akin to a mother unable to comprehend anything yet taking pleasure in listening to her child's speech, maintaining amiability precisely in such a way while intermittently letting out some 'mmhm' sounds that could be considered a response.
Unknowingly, Eimhart prattled on for quite a long while. It wasn't until even he, a Relic, felt his mouth go parched and his tongue dry up that he revealed any sign of stopping.
"You have no idea. Back then, when Alagina and Renee appeared simultaneously, oh my little heart... It almost jumped out of my book cover... assuming I had one. But that guy Fisher actually didn't panic in the slightest, smoothly fully separating the two of them?! Can you believe that..."
Eimhart glanced at the Gabriel before him. Following a momentary pause, he somewhat abashedly muttered under his breath,
"Alright, perhaps you can't... Ma... Mama... Do you want to say something? It's somewhat awkward with me being the only one talking."
Gabriel merely tilted her head and stared fixedly at him.
Eimhart rolled over within her embrace and subsequently gazed towards the distance. He abruptly discovered an exceptionally hazardous Relic hanging up in the sky just like that. That Relic was a treasure sword suspended aloft, its hilt linked with the power of the faraway stars. Eimhart held absolutely no doubt that if that thing were to fall down, the place where they currently resided would indubitably be thoroughly demolished.
"Uh... Good heavens. Are we just staying beneath such a dangerous Relic? Mama... What is that used for?"
Gabriel raised her head and looked above. The form of that Relic reflected within her previously vacant eyes.
She hadn't spoken for a prolonged period, leading Eimhart to originally believe she wasn't going to talk anymore and prepared to continue talking about Fisher's affairs. Never did he anticipate that Gabriel would abruptly open her mouth,
"That is... a Relic I use for committing suicide..."
Eimhart suddenly froze on the spot. He blankly stared at the Gabriel before him, who raised her head with grief gradually pouring forth within her eyes.
"In the past, I pursued a sheer abundance of knowledge and fortunately managed to record them down. I hoped to reap joy from this and attain the meaning of existence... But when I reached the end following the pursuit of knowledge... I felt no meaning whatsoever... I tried myriad things to reclaim and fill this absent portion... much akin to those compatriots of mine who devoted themselves wholeheartedly to forging. They too are empty, only they themselves don't know it..."
"Previously... in order to attempt to remedy this emptiness... I tried raising countless things... Animals, creatures possessing wisdom... But along with the fleeting passage of time, this original pulsation also perished alongside it. I perceived the clues I was seeking from them. But due to our disparity and barrier... that missing fraction persistently evaded arriving by my side. It wasn't until I requested an offspring flowing with my bloodline from the Holy Grail held under Sariel's custody... A true angel, your older brother..."
"He was a gift endowed to me by the heavens. The first time I laid eyes upon him, the vacancy within my heart was filled by his innate reliance towards me, by the various possibilities concealed within his body. I gave him everything that I had. During that period of time, I truly lived extremely happily. But alongside his theft from my side... what was originally used to compensate for that missing child... took away more than just that vacant void. He took away my everything... hollowing out my entire world completely..."
Eimhart parted his mouth. When Gabriel lowered her head, only then did he discern that the pair of incomparably intelligent eyes from moments prior had appeared to have wrung dry, the flowing tears descending from within them having been bestowed by this new font.
Perhaps he was indeed the second gift bequeathed to her by the heavens.
Once upon a time, before encountering Fisher, Eimhart was similarly solitary within the world, searching for his origins. He traversed mountains and rivers, crossed oceans, and even braved danger to enter the Abyss where Demons congregated. All was merely to seek a microscopic traceto find that Holy Progeny who originally forged him; to find his missing fragment of memories.
Despite ultimately finding nothing, and further obtaining the knowledge that the Holy Progeny had long ceased to exist, fortunately, he encountered Fisher.
The joyful times spent alongside Fisher enabled Eimhart to forget that regret and loneliness, even leading the terror regarding Baimon to be diluted by the anticipation of reuniting with him.
However, Gabriel wasn't like this. Deprived of her own child, she remained devoid of any substitutes. It was no wonder she resided in madness for such a prolonged duration, only acting ordinarily again after encountering Eimhart.
We ask, would Gabriel, having firmly grasped onto this speck of hope with excruciating difficulty, obediently let go of her hold?
Thus, this explained why Gabriel, despite accommodating any request of Eimhart's, solely upon sensing his intention to leave her to seek Fisher, unhesitatingly brought him away from the Mortal World and arrived at an obscure nook embedded within the universe.
She was afraid that any entity or factor would rob the precious treasure she had obtained through painstakingly harrowing struggles.
Sensing that Gabriel truly regarded him precisely as her own biological child, Eimhart couldn't definitively conclude his joy or sorrow. It was merely that he experienced hesitation for a fleeting moment.
"Thud! Thud! Thud!"
At this exact time, from a direction within the upper universe, a radiant divine light aggressively irradiated towards this direction.
That appeared to be Archangel Michael's power. Eimhart still remembered how that loathsome angel had previously tormented him, hence maintaining profound familiarity with that power.
Was Michael... attempting to contact Angel Gabriel?
Yet Gabriel merely looked composedly at the Eimhart before her, firmly holding him and that crystal in her arms without moving an inch.
The eyes behind her swayed ceaselessly, subsequently erupting with a horrifyingly formidable stream of energy. Faced with the approach from any other individual or information, Gabriel straightforwardly unleashed her entire arsenal.
Her pupils slightly constricted. Following closely after, jerking her hand back in an aggressive sweep, an intangible wave of power diffused out from the void, forcefully plummeting into the two satellites orbiting the exterior of this planet, blasting off a ravine thousands of meters deep upon the satellites.
The vacuum exterior was exceedingly still, yet the flora and ground in her vicinity commenced a ferocious shudder. Even the radiance bearing Michael's relaying message had been dispersed by her strike.
The Michael positioned a vast distance away appeared equally startled by her stress reaction. It was only after a lengthy duration spanning a considerable time frame that another pillar of Michael's radiance transmitted over.
While Gabriel coldly cast an empty, hollow look sequentially upwards once more, Eimhart, nestled within her embrace, could bear it no longer and threw himself against her chest, yelling loudly,
"I know... I know, Mama!!"
"I won't leave... You don't need to cross hands with anyone!!"
"I'll stay behind... I definitely won't leave... I merely wish to set eyes on Fisher for one final time... Just once!"
Gabriel's movements paused minutely. She stared blankly downward at the Eimhart cradled within her chest, appearing slightly hesitant.
Yet Eimhart had already thought traversing through it all. Were they to continue down this course, the Gabriel withholding him from leaving and Fisher seeking him would assuredly spark a conflict. The conclusion presented itself evidently clearGabriel wouldn't easily relinquish her grasp, unperturbed utilizing violent clashes with Michael to accomplish this.
Eimhart harbored zero inclination for Fisher to suffer harm due to this. Concurrently, perhaps he fostered empathy for Gabriel as well. He profoundly understood what sort of feeling it was when an absconded fragment could nowhere be discovered.
He wished to discover his creator, yet flipping through the entire world bore no traces. She sought to reclaim her child, yet owing to the dichotomy binding life and death, it remained forever irredeemable.
Though Gabriel wasn't Eimhart's creator, and Eimhart similarly wasn't Gabriel's child, it was only after encountering Gabriel that Eimhart managed to reignite his former pursuit and longing towards the Holy Progeny.
"Mama, I won't leave from now on... I'll perpetually remain by your side, wuwuwu..."
"Allow me merely this singular occasion... Let me go and set my eyes on Fisher just this once... Subsequent to that... I won't ever depart, I promise."