novelraw Chapter 550: Life Completion Manual (One)
Chapter 550: Life Completion Manual (One)
Inside the cold, damp shipyard, two or three droplets of water from some unknown source occasionally dripped from the ceiling. The murky water droplets splattered upon hitting the ground, emitting a rhythmic, crisp "ticktock" sound.
In front of the dock, Fisher carried an unconscious Demon Attendant in each hand, casually tossing them onto the hull they had prepared earlier. He then turned to pull up the iron chains securing the dock, revealing the ocean outside reflecting the sun in the sky.
Subsequently, he walked back and gave a gentle push, slowly sending the hull out into the ocean beyond the shipyard, leaving them to their own Fate.
These two were merely sent by the Demons to deliver a message. Actually, the matter itself had nothing to do with them; whether to kill them or not didn't matter. Fisher simply wasn't willing to give the thirsting knowledge in the Soul Completion Handbook an opportunity, so he decided to let them go.
He immediately headed toward the shipyard's entrance, searching for Sir Book Artifact Eimhart, who had been flicked away by Helaire to who knows where.
Fortunately, even gravely injured, this fellow would let out a groan or two. Following his raspy voice, Fisher soon found the equally unconscious Sir Book Artifact in front of an already sealed window.
"Wake up... Wake up."
Fisher reached out and gently slapped his tightly shut, single-eyed book cover, but he just wouldn't wake up. Thus, feeling helpless, Fisher grabbed his book spine and began shaking him.
"Smack, smack, smack!"
Well, gotta say, this actually worked. As he was shaken, Eimhart groggily opened his single eye, mumbling dazedly,"Bai... Baimon?"
"She's gone."
"Go... gone?!"
Upon recalling that terrifying individual, the previously disoriented Eimhart immediately fluttered his pages and flew up. Fisher also simply let go of his grip on his spine, only to hear him press Fisher with questions,
"What happened with you two just now?! What did she come for? Did she want to snatch you away?"
"No, we merely talked about some things related to previous events."
"You... you absolutely must not believe her! Don't believe a single word! She's definitely lying to you!"
Looking at the floating Eimhart again, and confirming he wasn't damaged by Helaire, Fisher redonned the Prayer and Blessing Tower robes, ready to head back inside the Prayer and Blessing Tower.
But before taking a step, Eimhart had already flown in front of him, blocking his path.
"Hey! Fisher! Did you hear what I said?! Everything Baimon says is total bullshit! You absolutely cannot believe a single word, a single term from her!"
"Mhm, I know."
"You... you... you better not assure me verbally while actually thinking inside your head, 'Ah, wifey is worrying about me', 'Ah, wifey is too good to me', such stupid nonsense! Baimon is not like those little Demi-Human ladies you know; she's a bona fide Demon! A devil! A guaranteed Demon! A Demon more demonic than Demons!!"
Eimhart landed on Fisher's shoulder and anxiously persuaded him,
"That fellow definitely wants to eat you, the kind that eats you clean and doesn't even spit out the bones!"
"Mhm, I understand."
"Your mom...!"
Eimhart had no idea of Fisher's true thoughts right now, because his face remained calm, revealing no specific musings.
Eimhart was merely worried he would be deceived by that wicked woman. In his eyes, Baimon and the other ladies Fisher knew were absolutely not on the same level or tier. The slightest carelessness would cause him to fall into the abyss...
So, what was Fisher thinking right now?
Was Helaire telling the truth?
Logically speaking, everything Helaire said was completely reasonable: because Gui had vouched for him in advance, that was why she had taken special care of him the first time he traveled back from the future. Furthermore, he had indeed met Gui, and she had shown him an extraordinary friendliness; she didn't even show the slightest anger upon discovering he tied her to the Demi-Human Completion Handbook.
Moreover, Gui had indeed said he was very special. This could be reflected in the fact that reading more than one Completion Handbook hadn't caused him any trouble, in those eerie songs encountered when entering the Mythic Rank, and perhaps in his ability to leap into the ocean of Chaos without suffering the corresponding corruption.
Perhaps, precisely because of his uniqueness regarding Chaos, Gui said he was the key to resolving the World-Ending Prophecy, which led him to formulate the idea of using Chaos to resolve a World-Ending Prophecy likely caused by Chaos.
Helaire didn't want him to do this; she opposed his continued use of Chaos. After all, it was an extremely dangerous concept. A slight lapse could lead to severe consequences, just like those Transferred Persons.
The logic was perfect, and Fisher also believed her actions and thoughts were understandable. But in the details, Fisher still felt something was slightly amiss.
Even if Gui wanted to guide him into the Chaos Mythic Rank back then, to further contact Chaos, and even told Helaire about this, hoping for her help... Fisher simply couldn't imagine what on earth caused Helaire, who had no interest in the future, to agree to help Gui.
Judging from Helaire possessing that mirror of Gui's, a connection between her and Gui was certain. It was just that regarding the reason and how they reached a consensus, Fisher always felt Helaire was still hiding something.
There was another problem as well: the sigil of Renee on Fisher's body back then. He was one hundred percent certain he didn't detonate the sigil himself; it was Helaire's doing, aiming to send him back to the present, and it coincidentally deviated.
Fisher didn't know the specific properties of Renee's sigil, and also thought it possible that his prior intimidation of Duke Tao in the Tree Continent caused a change in the sigil's power, teleporting him back to a time four and a half years later.
But was it really such a coincidence?
He coincidentally returned exactly four and a half years later, coincidentally to a time when Demons ran rampant in Naris' army, and coincidentally returned right next to Naris' factory producing Cardinals...
Even if Helaire had Gui's endorsement, how was she able to trigger a chaotic sigil left behind by the True God-tier Renee?
Of course, there was another possibility. In order to further understand the World-Ending Prophecy and devise a solution for it, Gui might have already come into contact with the essence of Chaos beforehand.
After all, as Helaire said, Gui told her about the nature of Chaos and related knowledge. Perhaps precisely because of this knowledge, she was able to trigger the sigil on his kidney...
But, what about the Mother Goddess at that time?
The moon representing the Mother Goddess was born the moment he left. Could the birth of this "Epitaph Writer"—acting as the conclusion of the World-Ending Prophecy—be related to Gui or Helaire?
The more he thought about it, the more his head ached.
He had too little information. For some unknown reason, he always felt an indescribable, chasm-like information gap before Helaire, one he couldn't bridge no matter what.
Perhaps the key to finding the answer was "Renee". She was the successor to the Mother Goddess, and also possessed a True God tier. Perhaps she would know the secrets within, except ever since the Lark used for contact vanished from his wallet, he also didn't know where she went or how to contact her.
She might still be staying at the Stormsea waiting for his return, or she might have returned to the Spirit World. In short...
Simultaneously, even if Helaire had withheld some truth from him, her actions and intentions were very real.
She used some method to release two Demon-kin, and their target was precisely Raphaela.
As for why these two Eighteenth-Tier beings didn't directly kill the mere Fourteenth-Tier Raphaela, Fisher believed the reason might lie in "timing".
Just as Helaire said, she was waiting. Waiting for the moment the "World-Ending Prophecy" officially commenced. Then, she would kill this "initiating" key and subsequently take him away.
Regardless of when the World-Ending Prophecy arrived, Fisher couldn't let Raphaela die; this was something he absolutely had to do.
Furthermore, Fisher was very concerned about who exactly the "fish that escaped the net" Helaire mentioned referred to.
It was the first time the usually nonchalant and playful her harbored such intense resentment toward someone. Moreover, it seemed his current predicament was connected to this fish that escaped the net. Naturally, he would also be curious... Of course, searching for her would also have to wait until this current matter was resolved.
However, since the overall objective was clear, then...
He comforted Eimhart, who became exceptionally emotional every time he encountered Baimon, and who had been even more frightened after facing her directly this time. Fisher also didn't want to bicker with him, so he let him rest and recover on his own.
Extricating himself from the cloud of doubts surrounding Helaire, Fisher caught sight of some shredded flesh and blood left behind by the two departed Demon Attendants in the shipyard out of the corner of his eye. These remnants reminded him.
"Agreas, huh..."
Gazing at this familiar power, Fisher suddenly changed his mind.
Tonight, he perhaps needed to first study Erwind's Life Completion Manual.
He had a lingering feeling that something had once occurred between Erwind and the Demons. Perhaps he could find the key to dealing with the Demons within it?
Donning the Prayer and Blessing Tower cloak, Fisher walked out the door. His retreating figure soon vanished at the end of the road outside the shipyard.
The sky gradually darkened. Just as Raphaela had said earlier, facing the impending southward march of the Green Dragon Court and Naris Human Coalition Army, the entire Red Dragon Court began operating at high speed.
Returning to the Prayer and Blessing Tower, Fisher saw neither Raphaela nor Jasmine. The one receiving him here was the pitiful married Draagnewt woman, Mill. She coincidentally brought news of Raphaela's and Jasmine's whereabouts,
"Lord Raphaela is inspecting armaments at the military camp. I heard there are also drills and reviews tomorrow morning. Lady Jasmine, on the other hand, is inspecting provisions and assigning duties and arrangements for after the war... Anyway, Fisher, make do for tonight. Lord Raphaela asked me to temporarily take care of you."
"Alright, thank you. Please pass on to them that the Demon matter has been resolved, by the way..."
At this point, Fisher instructed Mill to inform Raphaela and the others about the two Demon Attendants and the sex party they caused using Agreas' blessing, so they could handle the aftermath properly.
Fisher didn't feel disappointed at not seeing Raphaela and Jasmine—absolutely not because he had just come back from "fooling around" with Helaire. More importantly, he needed to read the Completion Handbook. Who knows what might happen during the process; it was best not to be disturbed.
Fisher had a simple dinner and then returned to his room carrying Eimhart, who was still recovering from the shock and blabbering about how dangerous "Baimon this and that" was.
"I've thought about it all afternoon. Do you think there's any possibility—I'm just saying possibly—that Baimon is after that forbidden knowledge on you?"
Fisher glanced at him and followed his line of thought,
"You don't need to worry about that."
"What? Why?"
"Because she doesn't want me to read these things, and the direction of my actions is opposite to her advice. I'm going to read this knowledge tonight. This process will be very dangerous, as you know. I need you to keep an eye on me and prevent others from disturbing me. Can I count on you, Eimhart?"
Eimhart opened his mouth, hesitating for a moment before flying up and saying to Fisher,
"Alright... I don't know why, but I always feel very assured as long as you act contrary to Baimon. Who asked me to be the Great Eimhart? I'll help you watch the surroundings. You... you must be careful."
"Alright."
Eimhart flew up and stood on the ventilated windowsill revealing the Dragon Court's night view outside, as serious as standing guard. He looked at Fisher for a moment, then at the outside for another, terrified that someone would disturb Fisher.
Fisher also took a deep breath, retrieving the two Completion Handbooks from his chest—needless to say, in Eimhart's eyes, Fisher's action of retrieving the Completion Handbooks was entirely grabbing empty air.
Fisher first glanced at the Soul Completion Handbook he was extremely familiar with, then intently looked at another quaint volume.
He had never read this handbook obtained from Erwind, nor had he ever thought of reading it previously. But now, he had no choice but to open it to find out the truth.
Under the light of the nearby oil lamp, he slowly opened the cover of the Life Completion Manual.
Greeting his eyes was a line of ornate, floral script that Fisher had never seen before. However, through the Completion Handbook, Fisher understood its meaning:
"Dedicated with my final words to my wife,"
"Lance Albert"
Just upon opening this "Life Completion Manual", Fisher immediately noticed its format differed from the Soul Completion Handbook.
He still remembered the previously read Soul Completion Handbook. It recorded the various events Caleb Uz encountered after descending upon this world from his perspective, very similar to a diary collection. It lacked a specific format, and both the brushwork and content appeared extremely casual. Aside from soul-related content, it also recorded many trivial matters from the ancient Femabaha Dragon Court era, instantly bringing Fisher closer to that middle-aged man named "Caleb Uz".
But this "Life Completion Manual" before him was completely different.
Following the title page written in floral script was the table of contents. Hard to believe, though, this Life Completion Manual—which appeared roughly as thick as the Soul Completion Handbook from the outside—actually contained only four chapters. And what surprised Fisher the most was that the literary genre of the Life Completion Manual was a "poetry collection".
In other words, this first Lord of Life named "Lance Albert" recorded all that forbidden knowledge using four long poems.
In addition to these, there was an afterword, but Fisher didn't foolishly flip straight to the end.
This "poetry collection" before his eyes was not just some extracurricular reading borrowed from the Nari Royal Library on a whim. It was a collection of knowledge that could be termed a "scourge".
Starting from the table of contents, he could directly see the titles of the four poems: The first poem was titled "The Mountaineer", the second poem was titled "Left Hand", the third poem was titled "Daughter", and the fourth poem was titled "Treasure".
Fisher didn't know the exact content of these poems. He merely flipped the pages backward one by one, soon entering the content of the first long poem.
To Fisher's surprise, the content of this poem actually wasn't as long as he had imagined, roughly consisting of only seven or eight hundred words or so. Moreover, like many poems, it contained repetitive verses. What truly occupied the pages were dense yet exceptionally neat, elegant handwriting completely filling the margins beside each word and sentence.
Fisher recognized those words; he didn't need the Completion Handbook's help to translate. It was Schwari; seemingly analysis and interpretations of the poetic verses left by a certain owner of the Life Completion Manual.
The poetic verses only spanned three or four pages, but these interpretations comprised over a hundred pages. No wonder this Life Completion Manual looked as thick as Caleb Uz's travelogue from the outside.
The first poem's content was quite long. Fisher roughly perused the content and discovered that this poem recorded a very interesting story.
It told of an experienced mountaineer who was attempting to scale every mountain range in the world. He climbed day after day, until one day he finally accomplished this feat. However, on the day his goal was achieved, he didn't feel satisfied. On the contrary, it felt as if he had chosen the wrong goal, brimming with regret.
He was incredibly perplexed, so he traveled ten thousand miles to find a locally and widely renowned sage, seeking guidance on this problem.
The sage listened to his problem, looked him up and down, then shook his head and said,
"The reason you are dissatisfied is because there is still one mountain in this world you haven't climbed to the top."
"Such a mountain actually exists? This is simply absolutely unprecedented. I have clearly walked across every inch of land in this world; even the tall mountains hidden in the depths of the ocean haven't escaped my eyes. And now you tell me there's still a mountain I haven't climbed? Please tell me its location."
"But climbing this mountain is very dangerous."
"I insist."
"Alright, please go back. After a night's sleep, you will know the location of that mountain."
Thus, the mountaineer returned home half believing and half doubting, lying on his bed, quietly waiting for night to arrive.
Soon, night fell, and he fell into a deep sleep too.
It was in his dream that he encountered a majestic high mountain he had never anticipated. That high mountain seemed thousands of feet high, overlapping layer upon layer, piercing straight into the clouds, filling his eyes with an indescribable magnificence.
Just upon seeing this mountain, the mountaineer confirmed that this was exactly the lofty peak he would exhaust his entire life to climb.
He must climb this high mountain!!
The mountaineer gleefully began scaling the high mountain in his dream.
The first high mountain was no different from the high mountains he had climbed before, merely more treacherous and more spectacular. It had five protruding, dirty-looking mountain peaks, and six profound ravines plunging down from high above. It possessed four isolated cliffs crafted by nature's uncanny workmanship, and silver waterfalls cascading down like ribbons from the universe.
The process was extremely difficult, but relying on his rich experience, he still reached the summit of this mountain range. Panting for breath, he looked back, only to discover there were actually two more colossal mountains behind it, one taller than the other, ascending to an unknown destination.
This mountaineer didn't want to admit defeat and wanted to continue climbing. However, just at this moment, human facial features grew out of a boulder beside him, and it suddenly spoke,
"Sir, sir! I am a stone residing here. It's been a very long time since anyone else has come up here. Someone like you is truly rare; it almost made me forget I am a stone."
"I'm off to continue climbing, goodbye."
"You want to continue climbing forward?"
"Yes."
"Listen to my advice. This is the absolute limit a human can climb. The two mountains ahead, each taller than the last, each more treacherous than the last—you cannot climb them relying on yourself alone. It's enough for humans to reside at the bottom of this mountain; why do you insist on climbing higher?"
"No, I must continue to climb higher."
"Alright then, I can only wish you good luck. I've heard Angels and God reside on the final mountain; if possible, please meet them for me."
"Okay."
Thus, the mountaineer continued upward.
Lightning flashed and thunder roared on the second peak. Because he had climbed too high and too deep, lightning at close proximity began to batter his bones, striking his fragile bones into fine powder, making him unable to stand, forcing him to climb on his knees. Initially, he couldn't adapt, but soon found his rhythm, so he continued to climb.
Soon, a heavy rain curtain fell from the sky. The moment those raindrops touched him, they completely corroded his recognizable appearance and flesh, dissolving them, washing away along with the water flowing on the ground. He lost everything—his skin and organs, his memories serving to identify and exist—yet he still furiously climbed.
Until he passed through cliffs as sharp as knife blades, through jungles as scorching as hell, and finally arrived before the third mountain peak.
In front of the third mountain peak was a tightly closed gate. An Angel sitting beneath God guarded this place. Seeing the mountaineer who had climbed here, the Angel asked,
"What sort of thing are you?"
"I am a mountaineer."
"I am asking, what species are you? I cannot identify it."
"I am a human."
"Truly rare, a human actually. Coming from the mountain's base?"
"Coming from the mountain's base."
"Where to?"
"To the mountain's summit."
"Alright. But if you want me to let you pass through here, I need you to offer me a treasure."
"What kind of treasure?"
"It must be brighter than the gemstone on a king's crown; it must have existed longer than the sun and the moon; its value must be more immeasurable than the ocean and the earth, yet it must be more precious than any other existing treasure."
"I do not understand your meaning, Lord Angel."
"What I want is a Treasure."
"..."
Ever since that mountaineer sought guidance from the sage, this matter quickly spread. The following morning, many people—extremely curious whether the mountaineer had found that final high mountain—came out of admiration, seeking to visit him.
But coinciding without prior agreement, all they saw was the mountaineer lying quietly on his bed, devoid of breath.
His appearance was hideous, his body exhausted and emaciated, as if he had just endured an unprecedentedly arduous climb. Judging from the final outcome, he appeared to have failed.
No one knew where that rumored final mountain was. Besides the mountaineer's body, people rummaged through his entire room and bed...
But, they gained nothing.
"Fisher! Fisher!"
In the cramped room, Fisher—who was staring intently at that poem—began to sprout numerous hideous-looking eyes all over his body. Dripping, fresh blood constantly poured from those wildly darting, bloody eyeballs. Soon, it wasn't just those eyes, but Fisher's seven orifices...
Eimhart flew over in panic, watching him stare intently at the completely empty tabletop—he couldn't see the Completion Handbook Fisher was reading right now, and naturally didn't know what on earth he had just read. He only deduced from his appearance that it was extremely terrifying.
"Guglu... guglu..."
At this moment, unprecedentedly, it wasn't the soul inside Fisher's body that mutated, but rather his initially honest-to-goodness physical body that began to act up.
Perhaps not acting up?
Eimhart also didn't know. He only felt at this moment that Fisher's body seemed exceptionally exhausted, and those hideous external changes were merely symptoms produced by this exhaustion.
It was as if he was climbing with tremendous effort, consuming the vitality of his body.
But even more strikingly, both his hands and feet began to dissolve amidst the intermingling eyeballs, as if intending to completely melt onto the tabletop and the floor.
"No, Fisher!"
Thus, Eimhart watched anxiously as the Fisher before him dissolved bit by bit. Flying around frantically, he continuously muttered to himself,
"Fast... hurry, think of a way! Great Sir Book Artifact, are you just going to watch 'Fisher' turn into 'Fisher-chan' with your own eyes!?"