novelraw Chapter 571: The Flaw of the Demon Gods
Chapter 571: The Flaw of the Demon Gods
This was the second time Fisher had come to the Dragon Court's coastal defense line. The last time was when Ingrid was taken hostage by two Demon Attendants to force a confrontation. Compared to back then, the defense line was guarded much more strictly now. To prevent panic among the public, they had sealed off the area where the demons had previously held their rituals.
However, because Jasmine had vouched for him beforehand, Fisher encountered absolutely no obstruction at all and brought Eimhart along to arrive here.
After inquiring with the guarding Dragon Court soldiers, he found out that they had arranged for Holland to stay in a stone building at a border post.
The coastal border post was a tower-like structure about a dozen meters high. One was built every few hundred meters, and the defense line was constructed using these stone border post towers as base units. This stone tower wasn't far from the place where he had previously met Ingrid. When Fisher climbed the tower, he could even see the giant crater on the distant beach, still a patch of scarlet red—the landscape left behind after the demons' ritual failed.
"Sir, the Priest ordered for the person to be arranged inside."
"Alright, thank you."
Fisher wore the robe of the Prayer and Blessing Tower, his face covered by a hood. Between the slightly crossed collar at his chest, Eimhart's single eye, which was observing the outside world, was faintly visible.
After the soldier leading the way nearby turned around and left, Fisher gently grasped the door handle. The moment he slowly pushed it open, an extremely thick and pungent smell of alcohol rushed out from inside.
Fisher raised an eyebrow, leaving the door open to let the smell inside disperse a bit. Then, slightly covering his mouth and nose, he walked into the room.
Directly facing the door in the room were two windows with a decent view. Outside the windows were the ocean and the beach. Looking from here, one could exactly see the traces of the demons' ritual from before.In front of those windows, two wooden chairs were placed slightly askew. Sitting on one of the chairs was a man with a hunched body but who still appeared to have an extremely long figure and limbs. Unlike the heavy black windbreaker he wore in the Northern Border, he was currently wearing a khaki autumn jacket. On his head was a light brown Gentleman's Hat, but owing to the heavy smell of alcohol, the hat sat askew, making him look rather comical.
He held a steel Wine Flask tightly in his left hand. When Fisher came in, he was observing the traces left by the demon ritual outside the window while simultaneously about to bring the Wine Flask to his lips to drink the alcohol inside, but the sound of the door opening behind him interrupted his action.
The next moment, he leaned straight back onto the wooden chair. The wooden chair let out a "creak" under the pressure of his lanky body, tilting backward slightly uncontrollably.
Taking advantage of the angle of the tilt, his head also tilted back bit by bit, revealing a face that was extremely pale with thick dark circles underneath his eyes. A small flush of tipsy redness bloomed on his cheeks.
It was exactly the Creator's Society's Death Minister, Holland.
He didn't have much spirit, but he still squeezed out a gaunt smile for Fisher,
"Hey, long time no see, Mr. Fisher."
Fisher glanced at him, then slowly walked to his side, pulling out the other empty chair to a certain distance. In passing, he opened the closed windows to let the air circulate; he was about to be smoked to death by the smell in the room.
"I didn't expect you to arrive this fast."
"The moment I received your message, I rushed over on the first instance... Plus, I wasn't in the West Continent at the time; instead, I was quite close to the Southern Continent, so rushing over took about exactly this much time."
Fisher shot him a glance. Four and a half years had passed, yet he still looked no different than when he was in the Northern Border, maintaining an appearance of being half-dead and half-alive. His mental state was clearly not quite normal either, but completely contrary to that was the strange feeling on his body of having lost his affinity with death.
He took another sip of wine, making Fisher unable to stop from asking,
"You weren't in the West Continent? Then how did your landlord contact you?"
"Landlord?"
Holland was slightly taken aback, and then he seemed to realize something. Thus, he smiled, nodded, and said,
"That landlord naturally has her methods of contacting me... Speaking of the matters in the phone call, regarding the information you told me, you didn't lie to me, right?"
"I indeed have some clues regarding your death. I wonder if you have heard of the name [Demon Dynasty]?"
Holland raised a hand and fumbled at the stubble on his chin that hadn't been groomed for a long time. He fully mobilized his alcohol-polluted brain, and after thinking for a moment, he suddenly smiled slightly. Taking a sip of wine, he said,
"Actually, I also know you didn't lie to me because before coming here, I had already told the Lord of Fate about this matter..."
"..."
Fisher's words paused for a moment; his train of thought was interrupted by his words.
In reality, Fisher didn't want this matter to pass through the Lord of Fate. It wasn't entirely because of his distrust of her caused by the colored glasses he used to have towards the Creator's Society either.
In the past, because of Pherone and Erwind, his impression of the Completion Handbooks and the Creator's Society was extremely poor. However, after returning to the past and learning about Chaos and those Transferred Persons, that feeling faded little by little.
He gradually realized that Karasawa Asuka, who created the Creator's Society, and those Transferred Persons were actually not at fault. If one truly had to blame something, he feared they could only blame Chaos, blame the Chaotic Knowledge in their minds—that was the true source of disaster.
But right now, the reason he didn't want the Death Minister to greet the Lord of Fate was entirely because the task he promised the Lord of Fate hadn't been completed yet.
He still wasn't sure of Karasawa Asuka's whereabouts. Based on the Source Magic Book left behind by the Mother Goddess, he could only roughly deduce that her level was extremely high, and her relationship with Renee's Previous Incarnation, the Mother Goddess, was pretty good.
Perhaps those Chaos-kin would know some clues. Coincidentally, he also planned to inquire about the secrets of magic advancement through the Chaos-kin later.
However now, since the Death Minister had already told the Lord of Fate this news and he still came anyway, it was already enough to indicate a part of her attitude.
Fisher thought for a moment, then looked at the Death Minister and asked in return,
"...What does she think?"
"What does she think about what? About the war with the Red Dragon Court, or about the probability of my death?"
"Both."
"Mm, in fact, the two don't conflict either. The Lord of Fate didn't previously anticipate that the Demon Dynasty would be connected to my death. It was only when you told me in the Northern Border last time that the Death Rune was crafted by the Demon God Agreas that I finally found roughly a little bit of a goal to strive toward. But the Lord of Fate knows very little about the Demon Dynasty. Generally speaking, for an immortal geezer like her who possesses a profound understanding of the Chaotic Knowledge of fate, there are very few secrets in the world to her. Yet, unfortunately, the Demon Dynasty is exactly one of them."
The Death Minister curled his lips and spread his hands, saying,
"Because of this, she didn't expect that Erwind would enter the Demon Dynasty, even poking a massively huge hole for us. According to her, since the Mythic War, there haven't been any existences who still remembered this group of 'scourges.' Thanks to Erwind, those Demons didn't consider ten thousand miles far and chased to kill her even if their true bodies couldn't leave..."
Fisher furrowed his brows a bit, then seemed to realize something and said,
"The Lord of Fate thinks that the group of demons hunted Erwind because of the Chaotic Knowledge from the Completion Handbook on her body? Just like how other Mythical Species treat Transferred Persons?"
"Probably so. I don't know either. That immortal geezer speaks very cryptically; every sentence she says is like a puzzle without an answer where you don't even know what she's talking about. When I'm with her, my desire for death also becomes absolutely unprecedentedly strong..."
"...It's impossible that it's for this reason."
Fisher shook his head and shared the information he had obtained with him.
"The Demons are supporters of Chaos. They are not the same concept as existences like Angels and Elves; the edicts of the several Demigods have absolutely no effect on them. There must be another reason why they chased after Erwind, even if it was a personal grudge sparked by her using Demon Gods for experiments... But I'm more inclined to believe that she obtained some secret from Agreas, and that secret is something Agreas doesn't want others to know."
"It looks like you indeed have a great understanding of the Demon Dynasty, as if you've lived there before. Fine, but Erwind has already been killed by you. Chatting about these Psychos with abnormal brains has no meaning anymore... What I mean is, the Lord of Fate isn't too sure about the matters of the Demon Dynasty either. She just thinks that she can let me come over and try. What I need is a solid confirmation from you."
"...Slumbering beneath the Demon Dynasty is the true body and Authority of the Goddess of Death, Hela. The reason the Demons formed is because of Chaos, and the reason the gods can tolerate the existence of Demons who believe in Chaos is that the Demon Dynasty is currently situated right above the Authority of Death, protecting it. I don't know how your immortality was formed, but if there's anything in this world that can let you die, I'm afraid it's only the Authority of Death."
Upon hearing this, Holland's eyes lit up slightly. He was just about to stand up, looking poised to strike, but halfway through, he suddenly became dispirited and listlessly sat back down.
"Sigh, I totally forgot, the Southern Continent is currently fighting a war. According to the Lord of Fate's deductions, the surface entrance of the Demon Dynasty is located somewhere further north; there are still several intact Dynasty Portals there. But right now, the Northern Dragon Court is so fierce. The Lord of Fate even suspected there's a fierce person like you taking part, otherwise, even combining the Crimson Dragonewt and the daughter of the God of Destruction wouldn't have returned in a crushing defeat... So, how do we get to the Demon Dynasty?"
"...Within the Northern Court, there are two Eighteenth Tier Demon Gods, namely Agreas and Barbatos. Mm, if the situation is worse, there might even be an Eighteenth to Nineteenth-Tier instigator. This is exactly the reason why I asked you to come over and help you search for death; I need the Death Completion Manual on your body to contend against them."
"Demon Gods..."
Upon hearing that there might be three Eighteenth Tier Demon Gods as enemies, Holland still lacked interest. He wasn't afraid of how fierce the enemies were at all; he even hoped the enemies were fierce, so fierce that they could beat him to death alive.
He merely felt distressed as to how they should successfully smoothly enter the Demon Abyss under the surveillance of three Demon Gods.
"This is troublesome. Ah, so there are two or three Demon Gods on Naris's side. No wonder the Red Dragon Court was beaten into scurrying off like fleeing rats... But the problem is, exactly what method did Naris use to make them obediently work for them? Eighteenth Tier... I'm afraid that even ten Narises tied together wouldn't be able to defeat a single Demon God, right?"
"...Does the Lord of Fate not know this?"
It must be said, Fisher right now truly doubted the Lord of Fate's abilities a little.
It was said that the current Lord of Fate was the only surviving First-Generation Transferred Person besides Karasawa Asuka. This meant that her completion handbook had never changed hands, and she herself was also a human from outside the world.
He didn't know whether it was because the impression Margaret left on him was simply too profound, causing him to subconsciously believe that the Lord of Fate probably also possessed abilities similar to hers. But this state of knowing nothing at all truly broadened Fisher's horizons.
However, the Death Minister's answer was also very frank. He quickly replied,
"Ha, of course she doesn't know. But it's not that she cannot know, but rather, she doesn't dare to know. Her condition has always been very... delicate. You should be able to imagine that an old monster like her who has lived for an unknown amount of time cherishes her life very much. Unluckily, much of the knowledge and abilities within the Completion Handbook are very dangerous.
"Once she utilizes those pieces of knowledge for an extended period, I'm truly terrified she'll turn into some indescribable monster. Actually, in my eyes, she is already only a step away from that outcome... I watched with my own eyes as she sliced off a portion of her own brain and body, then threw it away, all to forget the information she once gleaned from Fate. Another time, she accidentally cut the wrong spot while slicing her brain, and couldn't speak or walk for a very long time afterward..."
This is very reasonable.
For some reason, hearing him explain it this way, Fisher instantly understood.
No wonder this First-Generation Transferred Person could live for so long. This method left Fisher speechless.
With no other choice, he could only roughly explain the situation of the two Demon Gods to the Death Minister, including the fact that their purpose for working for Naris was to obtain a certain object from Raphaela related to the activation of the World-Ending Prophecy in order to liberate their Demon compatriots.
As for the method of entering the Demon Dynasty, Fisher actually did have an extra clue.
While speaking, Fisher slowly pulled out the Demi-Human Completion Handbook and opened it, taking out a scroll that had been stored inside for a very, very long time.
He still remembered that when he was in Saint-Nazareth, he had once researched Eliog and obtained a map related to the Demon Abyss from her.
He never had the chance to open and read it all this time, but looking at it now, it had a use.
Written on it in quaint script was,
"Submit to the Desire's Abyss"
But right as he was speaking and had just taken out this scroll, an extremely sharp and high-pitched voice suddenly came from the Death Minister's body.
That voice didn't sound like a human voice, nor did it match any animal Fisher had ever seen. It was just extremely ear-piercing and grating. Yet, he heard that voice suddenly interrupt Fisher's words, asking him,
"Where did you get your intel from?"
Eimhart, who was in his clothes, was startled by the voice and hastily shrank back. Fisher's movements also paused slightly as he looked at the Death Minister, whose face was similarly frozen in shock.
He then saw on the back of the hand holding the Wine Flask, a giant mouth glowing with a faint golden light had grown out of nowhere. It took up almost the majority of the area on the back of his hand, and the sharp voice from earlier came exactly from this mouth.
After freezing slightly, the Death Minister seemed to realize something. He spoke to the mouth emitting the golden light,
"Immortal geezer?"
The mouth opened and closed, then replied,
"...It's me."
It was the Lord of Fate.
"You were eavesdropping on our conversation?"
The mouth didn't reply to the Death Minister again. It merely continued asking Fisher,
"Where did you get your intel regarding the escape of the two Demon Gods from the Dynasty?"
"The instigator behind this matter."
"Your woman?"
That mouth spoke with a certainty as if possessing foresight, making Fisher unable to continue. He had no choice but to add a sentence,
"...One of them."
"Regardless of what, she must be lying to you. Or else, she is even lying to those two Demon Gods."
"What does that mean?"
"It means, those two Demon Gods never escaped from the Dynasty in the first place."
That mouth struggled a bit, then with a "pfft," it drilled out from the back of the Death Minister's hand, hollowing out the entirety of his palm holding the Wine Flask. The five bloodstained fingers and his Wine Flask fell to the ground one by one with a patter.
However, the Death Minister didn't feel a hint of pain. He merely looked speechlessly at the entirely completely empty palm and the golden mouth floating up and enveloped in golden light. Then, without saying a word, he reached his other hand under his jacket, pulled out a short sword, and slit his throat.
"Pfft."
His head fell to the side, and he went limp on the table. But death did not come. And so, a bizarre phenomenon reoccurred before Fisher's eyes: his severed fingers flew up from the ground one by one into mid-air, and the blood spraying from his neck slowly retracted back into the blood vessels. He would be completely healed very soon.
That mouth paid no attention to the grotesque phenomenon behind it, merely continuing to explain to Fisher,
"The demons' seal was personally crafted by the Mother Goddess using her Authority. This was also the only time she ever used her Authority during the Mythic War, and it was exactly this act that thoroughly incensed the other deities, to the point that they didn't hesitate to ultimately go to war against her in the Spirit World. However, it must be said, disregarding the risks brought by using a True God's power within the world, everything the Mother Goddess did was beneficial to the righteous gods. Because of the war among the Mythical Species, the demons' contamination on living beings reached an absolutely unprecedented degree...
"Those fortunate living beings who didn't participate in the war or weren't affected by it were targeted by the demons. The Mythical Species and Demigods were trapped in the whirlpool of war, barely able to fend for themselves; where would they have the time to deal with these demons who never participated in the war? Consequently, they began drawing out the Fallen Self-Nature of living beings utterly unrestrainedly, the majority of whom were humans. Drawing out the Fallen Self-Nature not only enticed living beings toward corruption and self-destruction, but more importantly, this process would breed the contamination of Chaos; this is the truly severe problem.
"But at the time, there was no faction that could free up its hands to deal with these demons. In the end, it was the Mother Goddess who couldn't bear it any longer. She violated the rule that deities cannot directly intervene in the world and used her Authority, locking the true bodies of the demons deep within the Dynasty. At the same time, the intervention of her Authority also caused a calamity the world had never seen before. The outer layer and the Crevice of the world both began to destabilize, making the first-generation Lord of Souls believe he saw an opportunity to enter the Spirit World, but in the end he..."
Fisher furrowed his brows, seemingly having understood a bit of the Lord of Fate's meaning.
"You mean, the Mother Goddess's seal can only be broken by power at the level of a True God? Without the intervention of a True God, it's impossible for them to be free, right? But I met face-to-face with one of the Demon Gods, Barbatos. His strength is absolutely at the Eighteenth Tier; this is undeniable."
"...The Mother Goddess's seal was cast upon the entirety of the demons, rather than sealing their individual true bodies. Right now, the true bodies of the two Demon Gods have left the Dynasty, but they haven't escaped the Mother Goddess's imprisonment. It's just that someone used a certain method to create a loophole, making them mistakenly believe that they have escaped the Mother Goddess's infinite imprisonment."
Fisher pondered over and over, exactly what method did Helaire use to let Barbatos and Agreas escape?
At her peak, Helaire only possessed the Nineteenth-Tier. She wasn't even a Demigod. A surviving Angel, where did she get the ability to break the Mother Goddess's seal?
But right in the next moment, Eimhart inside his clothes suddenly twitched, and simultaneously, an inspiration burst forth in Fisher's mind.
Fisher and Eimhart opened their mouths in unison, saying the answer,
"That Base!"
Yes, when in the Northern Border, when the Spirit World Contamination was about to descend upon the world using the body of the Phoenix, an existence stole it away. This forced the contamination to descend using Erwind's body, which allowed Fisher to kill her with the Death Rune, thwarting His descent, while simultaneously causing himself to be pursued by death.
At the time, Eimhart hadn't been pulled into Dream Magic. When he woke up, he told himself that it was Baimon who stole the Base. But because he was being pursued by death at the time, and moreover he didn't know Helaire yet, he didn't take it to heart, much less consider what she would do with the Base.
Looking at it now, the purpose of that Base, which was tainted with the aura of a True God, was glaringly obvious.
"Base?"
"It was the platform formed from the flesh and blood of the entire Phoenix race used to allow the Spirit World Contamination to descend. Back in the Northern Border, it was taken away by her."
"The entire Phoenix race... Then that makes sense. Even if their entire race was combined and supplemented by some aura of Spirit World Contamination, it still couldn't possibly be on par with the Mother Goddess's Authority. That power cannot equal a True God, but to let the true bodies of those two out is indeed possible."
Fisher already understood the Lord of Fate's meaning. His heartbeat quickened bit by bit, as if he had seized the flaw of those two seemingly invincible Eighteenth Tier Demon Gods.
"In other words, we can enter the Demon Dynasty and take away the Base interfering with the Mother Goddess's seal. When that happens, they will once again be imprisoned by the Mother Goddess's seal, right?"
"That's indeed the case, but I cannot determine the specific location to enter the Dynasty. Moreover, didn't you just say that aside from the two Demon Gods who were let out, there's also an instigator you are deeply involved with? Are you sure she won't throw a wrench in the works?"
Fisher remained silent for a moment, then slapped the scroll recording the location of the Demon Dynasty onto the table. Immediately after, he spoke with absolute resolve,
"...Even if she tries to stop me, I must still do this."
Of course, Eimhart knew who he was talking about. Just thinking of that smiling expression under the name "Baimon" scared him into hiding even deeper in Fisher's clothes, as if afraid of the cold.
The Great Sir Book Artifact has decided to follow the very brave Mr. Fischer Benavides and hold high the banner of "Resisting Baimon." Of course, the person carrying the banner absolutely couldn't be him.
This fellow Baimon eats people without spitting out the bones; it's only Fisher whom she would let chew twice, otherwise he would have long been eaten clean and dry down to the marrow.
However, he was unwilling to believe in such a terrifying thing like Baimon developing feelings for Fisher. He was more inclined to believe Fisher still held utilitarian value to Baimon, which was why temporarily camping out a bit was definitely the right move.
The Death Minister nearby had already successfully resurrected, his flesh and blood returning to their original places bit by bit. Subsequently, he lowered his head, picked up the dropped Wine Flask, and curled his lips while asking them,
"Can you not appear using this method every time, immortal geezer? Although I won't die, the feeling of my fate being parasitized and stolen is truly very unpleasant... Wait, where were you guys chatting to?"
Within that mouth, rows of sharp teeth rotated continuously. A small hole was drilled into every tooth, allowing bright red silk threads to pass through.
The silk threads constantly wove in and out of the bloody mouth, forming complex rope knots and a scattered layered feeling, whose specific meaning was unknown.
Hearing the Death Minister's question, all the rope knots within the "Lord of Fate's" mouth trembled. Following that, she spoke to Fisher,
"We... just finished talking about your matters. I was just about to ask about the Magic Lord's matters..."
Fisher was slightly taken aback, but the Lord of Fate's next sentence already faintly drifted out,
"I have a premonition that you already have a bit of a clue regarding the Magic Lord, am I right, Mr. Fisher?"
"It's even possible that you've already personally met her."