novelraw Chapter 517: Unbridgeable Chasm
Chapter 517: Unbridgeable Chasm
At this moment within the Sanctuary, listening to Asuka Karasawa's voice laden with weeping and laughter transmitting over from the other side, Fisher fell silent, involuntarily retracting his face a moderate distance away from the Cardinal's position.
He momentarily spiraled into a daze; a trace of ambiguous radiance flickered across his eyes that hadn't blinked for a concerning duration.
He merely felt that perhaps right now, the Asuka Karasawa who had finally marshaled her courage with agonizing difficulty remained ignorant regarding exactly how astronomical a weight the vow she had established carried; and she similarly remained ignorant regarding exactly what point in time Fisher had traversed back from to arrive here.
Perhaps even Fisher himself lacked certainty of it; he uniquely possessed the capacity to yield a vaguely outlined range.
He estimated it guaranteed eight thousand years, perhaps further back... nine thousand years, or perhaps even...
Ten thousand years.
One ought to know, even Fisher himself had currently only lived for thirty years. Thus, evaluated under the paltry lifespan perspective and imaginative capacity of a human, that timescale stretched excessively profound, blurring its boundaries to the point where visualizing a corresponding conceptualization emerged as an impossibility.
If one announced that Asuka Karasawa had already achieved an age of ten thousand years by the era Fisher inhabited, no recipient characterizing this declaration would formulate a concrete concept; they would uniquely deduce that it should constitute a devastatingly lengthy period.
But if one announced that Asuka Karasawa had already achieved an age of one hundred years, the imagery levitating into your mind invariably constructs an ancient elder with a trembling chassis, thoroughly depleted teeth, and a vicissitude-baptized face smothered in wrinkles.
And at that specific time, Asuka Karasawa had already endured the lifespan equating to one hundred such vicissitude-baptized elders...Thus exactly at this moment, the puzzle continually turning over within Fisher's contemplation circled exactly this: relative towards Asuka Karasawa, did this undeniably manifest as a vow, or a curse?
Exclusively due to him indifferently brushing over the "let our paths converge anew in the future" she proposed with a casual "alright," followed subsequently by patting his buttocks and abandoning the scene, he was fated to leave her loitering around waiting here foolishly, chained to her one-sided wishful thinking, waiting an astonishing ten thousand years...
He didn't harbor worries directed towards the possibility of the opposing party expiring from old age or parallel concepts. Predicated upon the intel harvested via Erwind's mouth, Fisher grasped the knowledge that the Lord of Fatethe bona fide first-generation Transferred Personhad commenced masquerading as the Magic Lord starting an extensive period ago. It appeared Transferred Persons universally harbored some sort of methodology, or alternatively a Trait, granting them authorization to subsist for a harrowing duration of time, ostensibly bypassing death by old age altogether.
Consequently, Fisher's anxieties at this moment uniquely zeroed onto the cage entitled "lengthy years". He harbored zero inclinations to permit the opposing party's immaturity and hot-bloodedness to dictate the establishment of such a venomous testamentone she paradoxically remained thoroughly ignorant of its toxicity.
Subjecting the matter to repetitive hesitation, even the notoriously greedy Fisher exhibited restraint at this explicit moment. He sluggishly approached the Cardinal anticipating his reply situated across from him, softly opening his mouth directed towards Asuka Karasawa to verbalize,
"...Asuka, promise me. Regardless of circumstances, you absolutely must uncover the return path leading home, even if our paths perpetually fail to converge following your acquisition of the answer."
"Eh? Why... Is it because... Is it because of Angel Helaire? Thus... Teacher Fisher is explicitly rejecting me..."
Evidently, Asuka Karasawa translated this piece of counsel from Fisher serving conceptually as a rejection; therefore, right now, her original tone already dyed with sobbing grew increasingly downcast.
Fisher abruptly felt that it sincerely would have been terrific if he had authentically manifested as such a devotedly single-minded man.
It was singularly a pity that he inherently possessed self-knowledge; he was not.
Consequently, he shook his head and offered an explanation pointing towards Asuka Karasawa,
"No, Asuka. It is because you lack the knowledge mapping exactly how much time must pass when our paths converge anew. If it's one year... ten years... I fear you might preserve the capacity to endure it. But what if it's one hundred years, one thousand years... or even ten thousand years?
"Asuka, I do not wish for the mutually treasured sentiments threading our relationship of teacher and student to mutate into a curse. I genuinely hope that you'll secure liberation, evolving increasingly stellar. I swear I will absolutely exhaust my everything uncovering traces of you... even if the ultimate news harvested merely broadcasts your departure from this world, I'll equally discover peace of mind..."
The opposing side stalled for a fraction of a moment. Following closely after, her soft, sticky voice transmitted over once more,
"...Does that mean Teacher Fisher wasn't rejecting me, right?"
Fisher smiled helplessly. How could he possess zero capability regarding segregating the fact that the words cascading following the opposing party's fractional stall actually manifested as a joke? He uniquely called out the opposing party's name anew, endeavoring to yank the topic's trajectory backwards,
"Asuka..."
"Alright, alright, I understand, Teacher Fisher..."
Reaching across from the other side, Fisher intercepted the audio of her breaking into a smile through her tears. Promptly following up, she inhaled a profoundly deep breath, stating,
"I promise you, Teacher Fisher, I will take proper care of myself. Furthermore, aligning closely with this period, I will similarly execute attempts trailing towards other pathways returning me home. If... I'm postulating an if, that exact day authentically arrives where I stumble upon the pathway returning home prior to the convergence of our paths. When that occurs, I will adhere strictly towards Teacher Fisher's instructions and depart for home... Eh, speaking of which, why did Teacher Fisher abruptly commence calling me by my name out of nowhere; I possessed absolutely zero preparation regarding this..."
"...Because I previously perceived you exhibiting marginal shyness when Margaret addressed you by your name. I hypothesized that the naming customs anchoring your side ought to mirror the Carduan's with diminutive margins of deviation; exclusively individuals harboring close ties authorize themselves to mutually address one another via names... Margaret betrayed the name she addressed. Allow me acting as a substitute at the very minimum..."
"You're not a substitute at all."
Fisher's sentence fractured prematurely, intercepted by Asuka Karasawa's minute mutter transmitting over from the other end.
Visibly characterizing audio so indistinguishably minute, yet filtering through Fisher's reception, it emerged with such striking clarity. He hypothesized Asuka Karasawa ought to be hovering positioned exceedingly close to the audio-transmitting Cardinal; exclusively conforming to exactly this would germinate exactly such an effect.
And reality manifested flawlessly parallel with his hypothesis. At this precise instant, Asuka Karasawa was essentially pasting half of her diminutive face onto the Cardinal. It was simply the enchanting pink hue progressively creeping from her cheeks reaching squarely into the roots of her ears that inflicted a brush of warmth upon it.
Derailing past her reckless sobbing from moments prior, it emerged that merely dropping precisely such a sentence sufficed to inflame her blushes.
It was uniquely regrettable that Fisher possessed blind eyes preventing him from capturing visual coverage spanning Asuka Karasawa's digits across her hands and feet wholly curling inwards from shyness at this moment. He uniquely possessed the methodology mapping past her introverted and immature chassis tightly wrapping around herself into the scorching heat leaking forth from within...
"Fish..."
Prior to Asuka Karasawa's trembling words formulating an exit from her mouth located over on the other side, prior to Fisher identically tasting the flavor of that tantalizing shyness...
But explicitly intersecting at this instant, dropping precisely besides both their ears simultaneously was Michael's audio, thoroughly devoid of fluctuations, simulating a complete absence of any incorporated sentiments,
"Are you done chatting? How much longer?"
"A-A-A-Archangel Michael?! Have you... have you been eavesdropping this entire time?"
"...What else did you assume? Given David was forged by me, the Cardinals were assembled by me, and Mikhail's eyes were replaced by me, shouldn't it align flawlessly with 'as it should be' that I'm capable of hearing absolutely everything? Does your side harbor any objections regarding this, Transferred Person?"
"Eh... no... I... that..."
Fisher appeared utterly devoid of shock, yet over on the opposing side, Asuka Karasawa hovered on the brink of imitating a boiling kettle; her mouth shuddered unceasingly, ostensibly shocked into an untangling knot.
While Asuka Karasawa strenuously taxed herself attempting to formulate her vocabulary, it eventually evolved into Fisher who parted his lips operating to extricate her from the siege,
"We'll conclude momentarily, Archangel Michael."
"You had best expedite yourselves, Gabriel is currently navigating the path returning back as we speak."
"Alright."
Michael's voice underwent an abrupt end. Fisher even harbored suspicions questioning whether scenarios proceeded identically when he engaged in online chatting alongside Mikhailsimulating severing the communication line while surreptitiously continuing to monitor the commotion on the other end from within his backstage.
"Alright, Asuka, is there anything else you want to say?"
"Eh... eh... I... I don't have anything else to say... I just... just wanted to administer a preventative vaccination to Teacher Fisher in advance!"
Asuka Karasawa was excessively shy, thereby necessitating a spike in her vocal pitch to fortify her courage.
"Preventative vaccination?"
"Ah... Yes... that is..." Traversing explicitly through Fisher's bewildered confusion, she actively initiated a stuttering explanation from her end, "Didn't Teacher Fisher dictate previously... if we potentially witness an opportunity granting our reunion within the future, a shockingly staggering stretch of time must invariably pass beforehand..."
"Exactly."
"Then if such a formidable duration has passed... by that sequence of time... by then, I might similarly feature marginal alterations; I might divest myself of my current idiotic behaviors... I might evolve astonishingly formidable, astonishingly courageous, astonishingly mature, astonishingly beautiful, and similarly... Mnn, I don't possess clarity regarding this either, but I should mimic Angel Helaire's traits! But regardless of the specifics, it'll unavoidably manifest entirely different separating from the current iteration. By that specific sequence of time... if Teacher Fisher encounters me anew... can you please not... impose alterations onto your attitude directed towards me... explicitly mimicking exactly our current situation right now... behaving explicitly mimicking right now works perfectly fine..."
Why did her reference point inevitably circle back targeting that fellow Helaire?
Did Asuka Karasawa's obsession directing towards Helaire plunge explicitly that deep?
Although rationally speaking, evaluating that specific individual through all spectrums of meanings, she authentically qualified precisely belonging to the exceedingly profoundly memorable categorization...
"Firstly, nobody evaluates you acting as an idiot right now. Secondly, disregarding exactly what appearance the subsequent iteration of you evolves into within the future, I will permanently mimic our current attitude explicitly."
Because returning exclusively into the future truly possessed zero variations targeting Fisher, exactly mimicking solely a singular second's passage in time.
"That's... wonderful... Thank you, Teacher Fisher... Explicitly before you, I am perennially positioned acting as your student..."
Amidst the faintly rolling ocean waves, she executed a fractional stall. Ultimately, she softly breached the silence for the final duration,
"Then this concludes it, Teacher Fisher..."
"I... I will permanently continually like you..."
Even bridging proximities exclusively this minuscule, her shyness nonetheless suffered submergence via the electronic audio. Fisher slightly blanked out; subsequently laying aside the Cardinal that natively sustained a deprivation of transmitting further audio echoing across a lengthy interval.
He embraced the Cardinal, anchoring himself onto his original spot for a commendable stretch. Eventually turning his head back, he steered his course returning specifically towards Michael's workshop. Arriving explicitly aligning with his impatient expression, propping up his chin utilizing a singular hand, steering his gaze shooting outwards exploring the Fifth Heaven's exterior surveying the Sun Ring's sky.
"Right..."
Fisher swept the opposing party a glance, laying the Cardinal occupying his embrace squarely onto the pile of Relics situated alongside. He executed a fractional stall; moments succeeding maneuvering explicitly for parting his lips directed towards Michael, his audio experienced an immediate interception via the latter,
"Cease your racket, I intercepted the vocabulary constituting the negotiations tethering you alongside that Transferred Person little girl, yet I possess absolute zero fascinations aimed at researching it, equally lacking any intent towards tweaking our transaction. Contrasting fiercely worrying explicitly about this point, your efforts would harvest significantly greater value redirected towards harboring anxieties characterizing the Gabriel slated to descend momentarily brandishing unmistakable animosity... Or perhaps allocate some worries explicitly towards precisely how that feeble little girl devoid of any capacity regarding slaughtering a chicken survives explicitly subsequent to your departure."
Fisher retrieved a minuscule scroll explicitly from within his embrace. It constituted the completed iteration finalized in advance detailing prolific quantities mapping magic theories,
"Angel Michael, are the Cardinals equipped with capabilities transferring the contents securely fastened onto the pages directing explicitly towards that destination authorizing her digestion of the materials?"
"...Bypass such troublesome ventures. Plentiful functions woven inherently into the originally designed Cardinals remain imperfect; are you treating it akin to some wishing machine? Fast forward past a segment of time, I will dispatch Cardinals to explicitly 'snatch' Mikhail back, exactly executing subsequent to your 'escape'. Position that item securely explicit beneath a Cardinal; conforming to that specific timeline I'll tag it alongside... assuming I conjure the capacity to pluck it explicitly from my memory."
"I'll leave it in your hands then."
How could Fisher possibly digest the notion asserting a Nineteenth-Tier Archangel equivalently formidable as Michael would experience amnesia over any trivial affairs? This solely manifested as an explicit substantiation detailing his intrinsic habit of withholding himself from 'talking to himself'. Furthermore, Fisher equally swallowed the faith trusting his capacity towards strictly adhering to his vow, safely guarding the item's voyage explicit towards Asuka Karasawa's destination.
Who possessed the foresight mapping the explicit Archangel Michael harvesting his rock-bottom poorest impression during the inaugural rendezvous involving the Seven Archangels unequivocally turned out precisely as the most amicable entity explicitly among this flock of Archangels.
Possibly this predominantly banked primarily explicit off Mikhail's inherent radiance. In the explicit absence outlining his existence, constructing predictions mapped Angel Michael's amenability to negotiations plummeting considerably.
"Adding explicitly onto this list, intelligence arriving solely explicitly fractions of moments prior: your Angel Helaire procured an appointment finalized via Lord Chain of Heaven explicitly acting as the novel God's Emissary. Furthermore, soaring probabilities dictate an assignment tethered explicitly towards the Ideal State explicitly latching squarely onto her chassis; precise specifics mapping the intelligence remain explicitly obscured bypassing my clarity. However, the explicitly cementable segment details Lord Chain of Heaven reprimanding Helaire anchoring squarely upon the preceding affairs; attributing exactly towards this, that assignment registers completely devoid characterizing any rewarding ventures, operating strictly amidst grueling torments. Heh, yet possibly specifically evaluating a fellow identically mimicking exactly her, explicitly bypassing exactly how grueling the conditions surface, she universally preserves the capacity locating joy amidst the sorrow... Alright, assemble your preparations, Gabriel is explicitly slated momentarily descending launching her return securely hauling explicitly that encompassing specific book trailing alongside her. I've strictly assembled preparations authorizing combat from my end; pinpoint the explicit timing spanning specifically explicitly off your end..."
He ponderously transitioned maneuvering his chassis towards a standing upright posture. Extracting multiple variations explicitly mapping weaponry alongside armors securely from within the pile of Relics stationed explicitly aside, they autonomously defied physics flying explicitly towards him stripped inherently traversing any wind, idling explicitly anticipating Michael's explicit selections. Confounding seamlessly exactly parallel, he explicitly cast an expressionless gaze directed explicitly targeting the Fisher strictly inhabiting explicitly before him, offering a stern forewarning,
"Succeeding an explicit misstep maneuvering the timing, your explicit outcome possibly equates plunging instantly succumbing towards death, while I harbor exactly absolute zero responsibilities regarding parsing liability."
"I understand."
Fisher's expression simultaneously adopted marginal severity. Disregarding every other parameter, Gabriel explicitly acted primarily as a mother suffering explicitly through the forfeiture of her child; absolutely zero entities possessed capabilities extending guarantees circumventing whatever insane atrocities she held authorization executing.
If crossing hands functionally transitioned strictly into an inevitability, even subsequent to securing Sir Book Artifact bypassing explicit obstacles, he inherently faced the sheer obligation accelerating the ticking clock urgently launching his departure explicitly from the Sanctuary securely charting his return exclusively bypassing the modern era. Yet explicitly tethered prior to navigating that exact sequence, he universally harbored an explicit desire extracting an explicit reunion securely targeted towards Helaire explicitly for one final iteration.
Bypassing essentially explicitly exactly how prolific the quantities of repetitions his counsel adopted, they perennially fell strictly deficient of sufficing. He harbored the expectation Helaire possessed an explicit capacity navigating thorough vigilance executing modifications explicitly directed strictly at rectifying her excruciatingly terrible personality; exclusively banking perfectly explicit explicitly onto these actions supplied any authorization authorizing her securely surviving explicitly through the ensuing wars...
"Buzz buzz buzz!"
Exactly at this moment, above the celestial canopy, in that desolate and incredibly quiet Deep Space, a stream of light wrapped in countless illusory eyes was rapidly weaving through several planets.
That stream of light carried a peerlessly strong pressure. Michael beside him gestured for Fisher to go out, while he himself hid the Relics lined up behind him that were also ready to follow him out. It seemed Michael's plan was that if negotiations failed, he would immediately resort to snatching it by force.
"Fisher!!"
As that stream of light drew nearer, until it was close enough to the invisible medium Aether lingering around the entire Sanctuary, a voice Fisher could not be more familiar with abruptly rang out from above.
Fisher's expression also changed slightly. He hurriedly ran out of Michael's forge, looked at the sky and shouted,
"Eimhart!"
"Boom!"
The next moment, that spinning stream of light abruptly plummeted to the ground. Although there was no extremely obvious sense of impact, the light entwining the fallen figure gradually dissipated bit by bit, reverting back into the unknown number of illusory eyes behind the figure.
Those eyes continuously twisted, all looking towards Fisher not far away like a kaleidoscope. And before those illusory eyes was the Archangel with long pale brown hair, Gabriel.
It was just that, unlike the sluggish and hollow face when Fisher first met her, right now, spots of rainbow-like radiance flickered in her eyes, akin to the pure light of wisdom of this world, though that light was still dim, tottering unsteadily like a candle in the wind.
And securely heldno, rather, restrainedin her embrace were two items: one was Eimhart, who for some reason was looking at him with an extremely sad and sorrowful gaze, and the other was the crystal formed from the corpse of her child who had long since died.
"Fisher! Wuwuwu!"
Eimhart's words dissolved entirely into indistinct wailing before he could even open his mouth. And Gabriel's arms, tightly embracing him, remained motionless like a copper wall and iron bastion, separating Fisher and Eimhart like an unbridgeable chasm.
Beside them, Michael wore an "as expected" expression and even shot Fisher a glance from the corner of his eyes, while Fisher's brows also gradually furrowed.
Right at this moment, the Gabriel before their eyes finally slowly turned her head to look at Michael, asking him slowly and clearly,
"Why did Michael call me?"
"...I have to say, this is the first time you've called out my name since your child left you, Gabriel..."
Michael smiled slightly, then turned his head to look at Fisher behind him.
"As for what exactly it is, let this Transferred... no, Fisher explain it to you in detail."