novelraw Chapter 576: Before That
Chapter 576: Before That
The faint moonlight slanted, remotely echoing the candlelight inside a certain room within the Royal Court of the Prayer and Blessing Tower. Together, they laid out brightness, providing Illumination to the thick paper scrolls either spread open or stacked together on the office desk. Along with it, the face of the blue-haired girl who was solemnly staring at the paper scrolls also became exceptionally clear.
This girl was exactly the Whale-kin Jasmine, who had come to the Dragon Court for more than a few years.
"Ugh..."
On both sides of the girl's long blue hair, a pair of slender black ears flapped slightly. Stirring up a bit of cool breeze, yet it couldn't fan away the somewhat heavy exhaustion on her face.
As a Priest of the Red Dragon Court, she had many matters to handle, especially now that the war was approaching. Although there were many officials below like Mill helping out, many trivial yet crucial things required Jasmine to implement and supervise.
All these tasks would subsequently be handed over to the Bat-kin Patriarch Emre and his wife. They were also people Raphaela trusted deeply, having followed Raphaela to establish the New Dragon Court as early as five years ago.
Jasmine's learning speed was very fast. She had been here for barely a few months and had already completely mastered the Dragon Court language, with Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing completely unimpeded.
The work before her eyes was almost completed, and the time to dispatch troops was also approaching closer and closer. This inevitably made Jasmine feel somewhat unsure in her heart—although ever since Fisher returned, she and Raphaela hadn't met in private again, the Dragon Court's affairs were still exchanged through official documents, so Jasmine was incomparably clear about the subsequent arrangements of Raphaela and the Red Dragon Court.
Only abruptly, she recalled the war from two and a half years ago again. That maddening gale, that simply invincible enemy, that human general Barbatos.
Unlike Raphaela, Jasmine had stayed by Xuan Can's side since she was little. Even if Xuan Can couldn't be considered an excellent educator, and couldn't teach Jasmine profoundly yet simply about many things, staying under the subtle Influence by Sight and Sound of a Demigod, Jasmine still very clearly felt the heavenly disparity between her mother and other living beings.Mythic.
She indeed knew of this concept. She knew Fisher had already reached the Mythic, yet she, this Whale-kin who had left the Ocean to protect him and prevent him from falling into the world-destroying vortex, was still unable to see the threshold of the Mythical Rank from start to finish.
She didn't have her mother's talent.
Then what talent did she actually have?
Could it be she had nothing at all?
Jasmine spaced out. Looking at the tea water in the wooden cup beside her that had already gone cold, she fell silent for a moment. She still moved back a little, lifting her overly broad chest away from the support of the desk surface, shaking with elasticity.
She was somewhat bewildered, blankly staring at the water source in that cup. Only after a long time did she softly speak up, calling out,
"Lord Ramastia..."
"..."
But unsurprisingly, Ramastia still didn't reply to her. Ever since several years ago, Lord Ramastia's consciousness no longer left the Ocean. If she wanted to contact Him again, Jasmine would probably have to return to the Deep Sea.
But in that case, Jasmine would definitely be discovered by Xuan Can, and then whether she could come back again would be hard to say.
However, according to Jasmine's state of Stopping to Make Progress like this, she'd probably be caught back by Xuan Can before that destruction arrived anyway...
"Ugh, what exactly should I do..."
"...What should you do about what?"
"What should I... eh, eh, eh?"
Jasmine rubbed her temples, subconsciously replying like this. But following immediately, she realized something and hastily looked towards the doorway, just so happening to see that figure fierce as fire revealed amidst the faint candlelight.
Yet at the doorway of her room, Raphaela was seen having changed into a set of black casual dress. Her claws were propped on the door frame, yet her entire person hadn't stepped into Jasmine's room, instead looking like she was waiting outside the door.
Jasmine hurriedly stood up, looking at Raphaela at the doorway Unbelievably.
Perhaps it was the crushing defeat left behind from the frontal confrontation earlier, perhaps it was the guilt of secretly rendezvous with Fisher and fearing being discovered, or perhaps there was a bit of joy from reuniting after a long time of not seeing each other?
Therefore at this moment, even though Jasmine was clearly in her own room, she appeared rather constrained,
"Ra... Raphaela, you've come?"
"...Mm. Can I come in, Jasmine?"
"Of course."
Raphaela smiled faintly, slowly walking into the room where Jasmine worked. Facing the night breeze from outside the window, her rose-colored long hair was also blown to her back by the gentle breeze, swaying slightly.
There were many unlit candles on the candlestick beside them. Raphaela noticed it and asked,
"Why didn't you light the lamps?"
"When in the sea, we don't need overly bright light. I'm already used to it like this..."
"Won't it be very dark like this?"
However, Raphaela extended her two fingers and placed them above those candles. With a slight rub, the heat bursting forth from them caused the candles to ignite, consecutively lighting up the other extinguished candles, slowly driving away the shadows within the room, and illuminating Jasmine's face not far away at this moment.
Jasmine cowered slightly, but following that light, the appearance of the Dragon-kin before her was also exceptionally clearly displayed before her.
Raphaela's appearance was just as bright and passionate as when they first met, as if aiming to illuminate everything in the room like those ignited candles.
Unlike Jasmine who was staring at Raphaela, the first thing the slowly approaching Raphaela saw was the various Dragon Court official documents laid out on her desk.
When she saw those official documents, Raphaela's advancing footsteps also stopped in place. She paused for a moment before continuing to speak about another matter,
"I brought Fisher to see my mother earlier."
Jasmine froze slightly upon hearing this. Following closely, she pursed her lips, yet didn't say any words, merely silently waiting for Raphaela's ensuing words.
And from the corner of her eyes, Raphaela saw Jasmine only remaining silent. There was no surprised expression in her jade-green eyes, merely continuing to say,
"Jasmine, you are someone from outside the Dragon Court. By right, everything here should have originally had nothing to do with you, but..."
"...Raphaela, are you chasing me away?"
Raphaela looked at Jasmine with a somewhat surprised expression, but following closely, she shook her head, smiling as she said,
"How could I? In my heart, you have always been my good friend. Furthermore, I meant to say, the Dragon Court's matters should have had nothing to do with you, but all these years you've constantly been helping me. Without your assistance, I wouldn't have reached today. I'm very grateful to you, and also very much respect your friendship... About Fisher's matter, I don't blame you, Jasmine.
"If there's anyone to blame, I can only blame him, blame him for being an amorous Nali Person. And blame me, blame me for lacking capability, lacking enough confidence to monopolize him. You told me a lot about your feelings with your teacher previously, of course I know the affection of him saving you from peril. I believe you can also understand the respect and tacit understanding between him and me... It's just, neither you nor I expected that the person we yearned for was the exact same person, thus creating the current awkward situation."
Jasmine also lowered her head somewhat ashamedly. The candlelight beside them flickered, casting a swaying shadow over both the other party's face and her own,
"Raphaela, I..."
"I brought Fisher to see my mother only because I didn't want myself or him to have any regrets. I wanted to tell him my feelings for him, and I also didn't want my Tail-Compatible Partner to merely be my Wishful Thinking, having to deceive even parents and ancestors. If possible, I even wanted to hold a wedding with him and Make our everything Public... But you also know, the current situation of the Dragon Court is no longer sufficient to allow me to do this. Barbatos and his army are about to march south. Two and a half years ago, his terrifying strength left a deep impression on me up until today. Frankly speaking, I also don't know how to deal with him..."
Raphaela raised her claw covered in scales. It was currently trembling slightly, as if her muscles were also recalling the agony of engaging in frontal combat with that terrifying enemy back then and being shattered instantly.
Even though under Jasmine's healing and the passage of time, Raphaela's injuries had now fully recovered, that terrifying strength had traveled along her muscles all the way down into her heart, rendering her shuddering just from recalling it.
Could it be that this rumored "Dragon Queen" was so cowardly as to be intimidated by a single enemy?
Actually it was not so. If she truly had her guts burst from fright, she wouldn't be Calm and Composed in front of the Dragon Court, her family, and Fisher, even if this Calm and Composed was merely her facade...
It was just that, that terrifying strength resembling a natural moat was undeniable. According to Fisher's words, she hadn't even seen the door to "Mythic" yet, but had to engage in frontal combat with an Eighteenth Tier existence among them. Such a disparity in strength, as long as it was a person, they would feel the disconnect and undeniable despair.
Demon...
So that was the legendary Demon.
Raphaela didn't know why Demons would collude with humans and that group of puppets. But there weren't that many whys on the battlefield. Since they were enemies, the only thing Raphaela could ponder about was how to defeat the other party.
Yet having pondered over a hundred times, there was not a single method. This was the source of Raphaela's feeling of powerlessness.
Jasmine noticed Raphaela's slightly trembling hand. She was also a personal experiencer of that war, and also the one who saved the heavily injured Raphaela. Of course she knew what kind of existence they were facing.
Once again, she recalled her own mother.
When she was young, her mother told her that when she had not yet reached the Mythical Rank, she once had a conflict with an Angel, a Mythical Species. They fought until the sky was dark and the earth was dim in the sea. Although in the end she sustained heavy injuries and lay at the bottom of the sea for a long time, she said she was exceptionally thrilled at that time. Even though she failed, she didn't feel frustrated in the slightest, even wanting to wait for her injuries to heal before charging to the Angel's lair to fight him again.
In the end, not long after her injuries healed, when she excitedly prepared to fight again, her father had already avenged her in advance, making her quite take it to heart.
Hence, even if her mother encountered an enemy a hundred times, a thousand times stronger than that Angel later on, she always felt it was never more gratifying than that battle at the bottom of the sea back then.
And what about herself?
Encountering that kind of Mythical Species, she only thought of running away!
Although looking at it from an after-the-fact perspective, escaping with the injured Raphaela was a wise move, and successfully running away was already A Stroke of Luck in Misfortune.
But Jasmine herself was clear: back then, it wasn't a decision made after rationally weighing the options, but an irresistible fear originating from the Soul.
At that time, she only thought of escaping, so scared she didn't even dare to take one look at the other party. Running away until even her brain went completely blank, remembering nothing, only remembering running wildly all the way.
It was simply a world of difference from her mother...
Jasmine also didn't know how to comfort Raphaela. She pursed her lips, merely saying,
"Those existences are Demon-kin, only I don't know why they escaped from the Demon Dynasty. But earlier, didn't Fisher say he had..."
As she spoke, Jasmine gradually hushed her voice, subsequently carefully glancing at Raphaela. Because by right, the matter of her secretly meeting with Fisher in private shouldn't be known to Raphaela. The part including Fisher saying he would handle the matter of those two Demons was also told to Jasmine during their private meeting; wouldn't saying it out loud like this expose everything?
However, upon hearing this, Raphaela merely glanced at Jasmine and didn't nitpick on the matter of the two secretly meeting.
Perhaps it was because of the commotion Jasmine made that she heard while pretending to sleep this morning, making her certain that even if the two met, they wouldn't do any bad things; or perhaps it was because Raphaela's feelings for Jasmine natively went deep enough. Now that the two were alone, she also wouldn't go and harshly criticize the sister who had gotten along with her for four and a half years.
Actually, if they truly were to count the time spent getting along, the time Jasmine spent staying by Raphaela's side was far longer than Fisher's.
It was just a pity that emotional matters couldn't be quantified by the length of time.
How many people, just because of that pitiful Fleeting Glimpse, would thereby become Unable to Eat or Sleep Peacefully, and an illusory shadow would reside in their hearts from then on; yet how many people, even if they spent day and night together with the person beside them, sharing the same pillow and sleeping together, instead each Harbored Dark Designs, each having their own thoughts.
Although the time spent getting along with Fisher was brief, it was truly too stunning. It could even be said that if Fisher didn't have that bad habit of having too many romantic attachments, Raphaela would even feel that no matter how long the passage used to record the feelings between them, it wouldn't be considered excessive.
She believed it was the same for Jasmine. Back when she initially left the Ocean and was unversed in the ways of the world, getting embroiled in a perilous situation where relatives were nearly killed and she had no one to turn to, Fisher who saved her from fire and water became an indispensable part of her.
Jasmine's words Came to An Abrupt End, yet Raphaela had already understood her meaning, and then shook her head saying,
"Of course I am willing to believe Fisher, even if he himself also feels his ability still cannot catch up to that Barbatos. He said, the other party doesn't only have one Demon akin to Barbatos; there is still another one there, meaning the Agreas who sent that human journalist over back then?"
"There's still... another one?"
"Mm. I don't even dare to imagine just how terrifying two Demons of that level of existence would truly be... I believe Fisher might already have a method to deal with them. After all, with a personality like his, if there wasn't a bit of a clue, he absolutely wouldn't utter words like going to resolve it..."
"Then what is Raphaela worried about?"
Raphaela hesitated for a moment, then turned her head to look at her,
"I'm worried about the method he's going to use."
"...Method?"
"Mm. Whenever I think of Fisher currently helping me, I sometimes have some nightmares, dreaming of some... dreams whose specific content I don't quite remember. I've forgotten what I saw, but I still remember my feelings in the dream—that unease and fear. I don't know if this is because of those powerful Demons or because of my suspicion towards him..."
Raphaela paused for a good few seconds, and subsequently finally supplemented her unfinished words,
"I believe in his feelings for you and me. Therefore, I suspect he might make inadvisable decisions to save us, resorting to taking Risks in Desperation using heterodox and incorrect methods. If it's like this, the price he will pay will be something I find hard to accept. Even if he truly defeats the demons in the end, I will also feel it isn't worth it for him."
"What method would he use... Raphaela, have you asked?"
"I asked, but it was all very vague. He merely said he will go to the Demon Dynasty, the lair of that group of Demons, the place that group of Demons escaped from. But I don't believe just relying on this method can avoid confronting them. After all, for that group of Demons to appear in the human Allied Army to serve Elizabeth is already very abnormal. Among this, there must definitely be other secrets we don't know about."
"Demon Dynasty..."
"Mm, I don't know where that place is either, but I heard Patriarch Emre and the others mention in the past that the Demons inhabit very deep underground."
"So, what does Raphaela want Fisher to do? Do you want him to give up on helping you? This is fundamentally impossible, and I also have no way of accepting it. If the war fails..."
"Of course he won't agree, Jasmine. In a few days, I will lead the army to the frontline, and he presumably will also set off. I still have matters at the frontline that need my attention, but you, Jasmine, I hope you can go to the Demon Dynasty together with him."
"Eh, me?"
Jasmine instantly became nervous. She looked towards Raphaela, deeply afraid this was her method of testing her, but lifting her eyes to look, she only saw Raphaela's turned profile.
Her back faced the candlelight; only her jade-green eyes emitted brightness,
"Mm, you."
Jasmine cowered slightly, whispering softly,
"I thought... Raphaela cared very much about me and..."
"Mm, care very much, oh."
"Then you still..."
"But there's no other way. I'm afraid this right here is my dead end."
Raphaela shook her head. Looking at the Dragon Court outside the window that seemed to have obtained a momentary tranquility Before The Storm, she spoke to Jasmine in a low voice,
"In this war, both you and I know the situation. Even without those two Demons, because of the defeat two and a half years ago, our power has greatly reduced, and in terms of troops, we are far inferior to the Pseudo-Court and humans, let alone they still have Naris backing them. Even if our abilities are far superior to the ordinary, we are nonetheless not a match in front of the Demons... Therefore, I must consider the outcome after failure.
"Back when I was defeated and retreated, many clansmen were Burdened With Families and Left Their Hometowns, retreating to this corner of land alongside me. If defeated in battle, I have no face to abandon them and Go Far Away with Fisher and my family. I will die here, buried here together with my soldiers. But you are different, Jasmine. You originally weren't a Demi-human of the Dragon Court; you can leave freely, which can also be considered a guarantee for me.
"Although I still Take it to Heart, compared to the likes of Elizabeth, I much prefer entrusting Fisher to you. I want you to follow him into the Demon Dynasty, to stop him when he is forced to make incorrect decisions because of me and the Dragon Court, to avoid making him pay the price. And then, even if it fails, you can also bring him and my mother to leave here..."
Jasmine pursed her lips. Feeling Raphaela's concession at this moment, yet she didn't feel any joy at all. She gritted her teeth, hesitated for a moment, then looked at the Ocean outside the Dragon Court, and subsequently said,
"I... I'll go beg my mother to let her come help us."
Raphaela merely quietly looked at her, subsequently shook her head, and said to her,
"You told me before about your promise with your mother... A powerhouse like her will of course feel compassion due to your identity, but that is with regard to your safety. Returning to seek your mother, besides never being able to return again, she will not agree to anything... Don't do foolish things, Jasmine."
Jasmine reached out and tightly pinched the hem of her Priest robe. It was just that right at this moment, she again quite hoped she possessed a power as mighty as her mother's.
She perhaps hoped Raphaela would get into a dispute with her over Fisher's matter like before, and didn't hope she would so calmly recite her posthumous explanations and arrangements to her like this. Like a destined slide, only able to helplessly watch it slide down and plunge into the abyss.
"Then it's settled, Jasmine. Remember the words I said; these matters are entrusted to you..."
Raphaela smiled faintly, subsequently turning sideways to look at her. Of course she also saw her hesitation and unwillingness. Hesitating for a moment, Raphaela still stepped forward and gently held Jasmine's hand, enveloping her slightly cool skin in fiery heat.
"Raphaela, perhaps there are still other ways. Fisher, he..."
"I also hope so... However, if I can survive, then you and Fisher will be in trouble."
"Raphaela, you know I..."
Raphaela gently squeezed Jasmine's hand, crushing her subsequent words back into her mouth. Following closely, only then did she finally say,
"...Thank you, Jasmine."