The Handbook for Completing Demi-Human Girls

Chapter 594: Location of the Base

Passing through the Gate of Carnal Desire, the pink hue that had lingered in that ambiguous atmosphere a moment ago slowly receded. It was as if the intense heat radiating from the lower abdomen gradually retracted, replaced instead by a slight chill washing over their faces and bodies, which seemed rather untimely within the Demon Dynasty...

That was the sensation of a gentle breeze brushing past their bodies.

"Ah, we are about to reach the Gate of Expression. We're finally passing through Fisher's paradise."

Seeing the steep stone walls ahead begin to transform, shifting little by little from pink to a deep azure, Eimhart—standing on Fisher's shoulder—couldn't help but take a breath of the cool breeze coming from the distant cave. Even his originally somewhat dull book expression eased up a little.

Jasmine covered her mouth and chuckled softly, but soon asked in confusion,

"So, Sir Book Artifact, regarding the previous two gates, the desires for 'Victory' and 'Carnal Desire' are both very easy to understand. But what does 'Expression' mean? It doesn't sound like any sort of desire at all."

Eimhart pondered for a moment, seemingly considering how to explain this topic. Beside them, the Lord of Souls also just opened his mouth to take over the conversation, but unexpectedly, Fisher suddenly said,

"The so-called desire for 'Expression' actually refers to a person's desire to gain external recognition. In the Scripture of Creation, people fell from the sky down to the surface and were afflicted with ten severe illnesses, 'Expression' being one of them... The Mother Goddess said: 'As punishment, you shall lose yourselves, you shall run tirelessly in the gazes of others, until you are exhausted and drenched in sweat yet growing weaker and smaller.' That speaks exactly of this desire."

The Lord of Souls shot Fisher a somewhat surprised look, clapping his hands together as he praised and said in disbelief,

"What proficient knowledge of the holy texts... It's just that, Mr. Fisher, this is an original sentence only recorded in the source text of the Scripture of Creation within the Cardo Holy Church. I only caught a glimpse of this holy text belonging to us believers through the Destiny power of that undying old man after joining the Creator's Society. Yet you..."Holland scanned Fisher from top to bottom. The more he looked at him, the more certain he was: this Naris man before him was absolutely not a believer of the Mother Goddess.

In Holland's eyes, believers of the Mother Goddess always carried a strange feeling about them. It was a feeling unrestrained by external objects; even a guy like him who sought death daily like a walking corpse had this feeling, yet Fisher uniquely didn't have it.

But the bizarre part was that he seemed to know the Scripture of Creation completely by heart, even able to have phrases from the vast-as-the-sea source text at his fingertips. This was an ability that the vast majority of believers didn't possess.

Fisher raised an eyebrow, asking in confusion,

"Source text?"

"Yes, the ancient treasure guarded by the Archbishops resting atop the deepest Seat of God in the Cardo Holy Church. Legend has it that it contains the very first teachings bestowed upon humanity by the Mother Goddess. But because of its obscurity and the mysterious power it harbors, it's not something ordinary people can study. Only believers of the rank of Cardo Archbishop or higher who enter the Holy Church hold the qualifications to listen to the Archbishops or even the Pope, teaching its contents..."

The Lord of Souls shrugged, casually bringing his hand down to instinctively touch his wine flask along with the motion, only to find nothing. He froze in place—wondering if he had accidentally lost it just now when surrounded by that group of rosy skeletons...

This made him feel even more terrible than being unable to die.

"...But these are just the teachings I was taught since childhood by the nun who raised me."

"Wait, are you serious? Could that nun who taught you have been some Holy Maiden from the Cardo Holy Church traveling incognito who found you, and seeing your unique constitution and considerable wisdom, decided to recite the most profound and mysterious source text of the Mother Goddess in the entire world to you?"

"She was just an ordinary Naris nun."

"And you weren't besieged in your sleep by the Judgment Knights sent by the Cardo Archbishops?"

"...She never made enemies. She only had friends, remained unknown to the public, and didn't know many people."

"That's weird, then how did she know of such precious knowledge..."

"Are you certain that what I just recited is from the source text of the Scripture of Creation?"

"Incredibly certain and absolute, because I begged that undying old man for a very long time to see this thing. It was hard-won, thus leaving a deep impression in my memory."

"...I see."

Listening to the Lord of Souls's expression that looked as if his worldview had suffered a shock made Fisher realize that this so-called "source text" he spoke of was indeed extremely precious. But how did Teresa, an ordinary, unknown nun from the countryside coming to Saint-Nazareth, obtain such a thing?

Teresa was indeed very important to Fisher; she used to be Fisher's only family in this world. So when he discovered she possibly didn't die a "natural death", his mood uncontrollably grew irritated.

Now suddenly learning yet another piece of additional information from the Lord of Souls draped a thin veil of mystery over that ordinary, devout believer.

This was just another brief interlude, but Fisher's mood still hadn't recovered, just like before.

As previously mentioned, this wasn't merely suspicion toward Nun Teresa's cause of death but also because of Helaire's deception.

Sometimes deception was like cockroaches; when you expose one of them, then you had to ponder whether in all she had said and done in the past, were there lies told time and time again that still hadn't been exposed to this day.

Renee naturally also liked deceiving Fisher in the past, but the motives were different after all. Renee did it to protect and tease him; she practically wouldn't cause any plausible harm to others.

If Renee's lies were like colorful bubbles lingering around you that popped with a single poke, then Helaire's lies might be like a massive Schwari high-yield bomb hanging on you, where a slight movement would blow everyone near you sky-high, except you...

What's more, he already had Elizabeth as a precedent, making him feel somewhat disappointed with the misplaced trust he had given her previously.

At least back then, when he recklessly leaped into the Sea of Chaos to save her regardless of everything, he did so without any thought of cost or return, yet what he got back was still undisclosed deception.

His mood was consequently a little low, but only a little. Aside from his inner thoughts, he didn't display them outwardly, only inevitably leaking out a bit of a low pressure aura announcing to everyone, "I'm in a bad mood."

Right amid the fierce winds of the "Gate of Expression", Fisher caught sight of a thick, crooked-neck tree growing crookedly atop a deep azure reef at a glance. He didn't know what species that tree was to be able to grow in such a place.

And amidst that deep azure tree whose branches were shaken by the healing gale, a modest wooden cabin sat right atop that tree.

"Ha, that must definitely be Barbatos's residence!"

Eimhart declared as such. The few people beside him looked his way, seemingly implicitly asking how he knew.

Such eager looks for knowledge evidently satisfied the great Sir Book Artifact's "desire for expression". He was heard coughing twice proudly, saying,

"Heh heh, this is something you don't know. This thing was a gift from Agreas to Barbatos; it's an aberration she cultivated by imitating the true bodies of the elves. Furthermore, seeing as Barbatos's residence at the time happened to be rather dilapidated, he used the wood sprouting incessantly from the tree to build a new house."

Jasmine rubbed her chin and asked, "So, Agreas and Barbatos are also close friends, right?"

"False, the relationship between them can only be said to be ordinary, mere acquaintances. But that fellow Agreas loves giving people gifts to build good relations. Even for those Demon Gods she rarely bumps into or pays mind to on normal days, she would prepare gifts... hmm, Baimon should have received one too, although I don't know what it is."

With that said, they very quickly arrived in front of that giant tree. Fisher reached out and touched the bark of the tree. Because three Demon Attendants were sent over by Agreas previously, he also possessed a profound memory of Agreas's power of flesh and blood, which was akin to the power of the Life Completion Manual. Moreover, Erwind had even obtained clues concerning "Treasures" from her.

But the moment his hand touched this tree right now, a power of life and destiny imbued with vigorous vitality transmitted over. This gentle power brimmed with Order, on the contrary making Fisher—who had been exposed to the power of Chaos for too long—appear somewhat unnatural.

This is genuine elven power, and it also falls under the domain of Agreas's power?

"Is this also Agreas's power?"

Fisher began to analyze the "power" of that future enemy, seemingly unable to understand how something so diametrically opposed to the power of Life Chaos could originate simultaneously from her, a Demon God.

And the Lord of Souls behind him seemed to have understood his puzzle, softly spitting out a single word: "Curiosity".

His words instantly gave Fisher inspiration. Fisher, who was intimately familiar with the Scripture of Creation, immediately thought of the description of this desire within the classics: "You shall tirelessly obsess over newly born things, even if they are that dangerous; you shall glare like a tiger while spying upon their secrets, even if it brings about your shattered bones."

"Agreas is the powerful Demon God behind the Gate of Curiosity. This means she harbors a fanatical obsession for novel powers she has never seen before. Perhaps this is the only way to explain how she can concurrently possess so many powers that originally should be contradictory."

Fisher gave a hypothesis. With one hand resting upon the tree, he simultaneously unfurled Solomon's Dynasty Scroll on his chest with his other hand. In it, among the list of Demon Gods behind the Gate of Curiosity, the very first name bearing the brunt was Agreas's name, along with a few lines of words that could corroborate Fisher's viewpoint,

"Agreas"

"Earl, First Pillar behind the Gate of Curiosity"

"Warm-natured, loves to explore, encompasses all rivers, accommodates elegant powers"

In other words, the powers upon Agreas definitely weren't limited to just the two types he saw now?

While Fisher was taking advantage of the time to figure out the powers of these opponents, the Lord of Souls beside weren't idle either. He glanced at the wooden cabin tangled high up by the tree, then glanced to the side of the tree. Not planning to go up either, he merely opened his hands, letting those corpse birds hidden in his clothes fly up into the sky one by one, heading into the cabin.

"Chirp chirp twitter!"

As the Lord of Souls's pupils also turned white bit by bit, a flurry of noises also rang out from the wooden cabin that had been silent for who knew how many years. It wasn't until a moment later that he crooked a finger, letting those birds exit the cabin. At the same time, he also said to Fisher and the others,

"There aren't any special auras inside, just some weapons and clothing. It can be considered a very rudimentary place; the Portal shouldn't be in there."

"The Portal...?"

Just as he was muttering, his hand resting on the tree seemed to have caressed a slight indentation above, different from the other folds of the tree. He narrowed his eyes and looked, only to discover that a certain spot above the tree was currently emitting shining runes one by one along with his touch—precisely the symbols of a Demon God.

In this instant, Fisher's soul seemed out of body yet not out of body as his field of vision elevated bit by bit, akin to overlooking this massive, overlapping Dynasty from the perspective of a deity.

The areas behind the several gates with varying unique colors, as well as a faint sense of connection from the surface forming bit by bit.

"Professor Fisher!"

Watching Fisher freeze in place after touching those runes, Jasmine abruptly reached out and grabbed his body, wanting to pull him away. But she didn't expect that at the exact same moment she touched him, she suddenly experienced the same field of vision as Fisher.

"W-what is this?"

She mumbled a sentence. With a vacant gaze at the scene before her and that distant connection coming from the surface, she was startled by this bizarre perspective.

"Fisher and Jasmine seem to have already entered the perspective of the Portal... this tree, it's this tree!"

"Ugh, this tree is Barbatos's Portal. He only has this one Portal, which is exactly the tree before our eyes. And the one producing a connection with us is his corresponding Portal up on the surface."

Fisher quickly thought of the answer. While feeling the rough and thick bark of the tree before his eyes—which probably possessed a Mythic Rank—he pondered over the knowledge Pisces had bestowed upon him.

Perhaps he could use this Mythic Rank Portal to experiment with Mythic Rank magic right here?

He was only a tiny bit of progress away on the Soul Completion Handbook from being able to discern which Circle Heads were situated under the same Authority. The remaining read on that Soul Completion Handbook wasn't much anyway, and besides that tiny acceptable anomaly just now, he was perfectly fine otherwise.

If not, why not finish reading the Soul Completion Handbook right here, and then research the new Mythic magic that would gain his assistance?

Just as Fisher was pondering this matter, Jasmine—who was holding his clothes and staying in that "deity perspective" overlooking the Dynasty beside him—shook her head after hearing his words. She murmured a sentence toward Fisher,

"No... Professor Fisher, I'm not talking about this Portal, but the other one..."

"The other one?"

Fisher froze slightly. Pulling himself away from the Portal perspective of Barbatos's Portal, he looked at Jasmine behind him, who was still roaming within it, waiting for her next words.

And not failing Fisher's expectations, she seemed to have seen something within it that Fisher couldn't see. Even her azure eyes shimmered with a hint of crimson, reflecting the appearance of the object she saw.

Subsequently, she quickly told Fisher,

"Professor Fisher, that Base... I've sensed the specific location of that Base! Baimon didn't hide it in another place; she just placed it right beneath her own palace."