novelraw Chapter 696: Just Once
Chapter 696: Just Once
In the Crevice above the firmament, the awakened Fisher immediately grabbed the equally severely injured Chaos-kin below into the Crevice using its power. At this moment, he was actually also nearing the end of his strength.
Earlier, Heon's power had corrupted his body. Even though he had taken Gou Wen's medicine at this moment, his recovery was still slow. But even so, he still looked at the Chaos-kin before him.
If it wasn't absolutely necessary, he believed there was no need to fight.
The five Chaos-kin before him were all already severely injured. His side was roughly the same. Even with the assistance of Dagon's Authority, the ones before him were five Demigods; whether they could win was hard to say.
"Pisces, stop... The Outer Gods have failed. No matter what you do, it's merely venting your anger. Instead of this, why don't we practically solve the problem?"
The five Chaos-kin, their forms twisted by Xuan Can's sword strike, merely lowered their gazes to look at him. Just as countless tentacles were about to extend, they suddenly froze simultaneously.
After waiting a moment, Pisces surprisingly spoke to Fisher with fluctuating emotions in a voice rich with melodic beauty,
"That Whale-kin... went to our homeland... and kidnapped my compatriots..."
"Whale-kin? Kidnapped?"
Fisher, who was still standing by in full battle array, blanked slightly. Looking back at Lord Tao and the others behind him, he found them equally bewildered.But soon, a flash of inspiration crossed Fisher's mind. He frowned, asking him,
"You mean, Gou Wen?"
"That traveling doctor... the God of Destruction's husband... By the way, does he think massacring our other consciousnesses will make us stop?"
Pisces sneered coldly, raising a hand to scatter specks of starlight containing his still-intact Law,
"We have endured long enough... Now, even if reduced to ashes and smoke, we will never return to that pollution-riddled place again..."
"Then what? After you destroy reality and wait for the Outer Gods to trample the gods, will you be free? I have already protected the Crevice from the Outer Gods' attack, and I also have a lead on the Spirit World Contamination... Stop, Pisces. I can save you all."
The compound eyes on Pisces abruptly grew bright. Although he seemed to fall silent, the specks of starlight representing his Law in his hand burned ever more vigorously.
Behind him, Lord Tao's small fists clenched bit by bit. Raphaela also felt the pressure from the Demigods; raising the tail behind her, she assumed a combat stance.
But bizarrely, after a moment of silence, the light of the Law in Pisces' hand suddenly dimmed again. With a slight movement of the tentacle in his hand, he spoke to Fisher,
"Alright, we will trust you once."
"?"
Fisher was also somewhat astonished, because this group of Chaos-kin earlier clearly didn't look like they were preparing to accept peace talks. Yet suddenly, that tension of drawn swords subsided, making the Lord Tao behind him also raise an eyebrow.
Fisher naturally wouldn't think the guys before him suddenly lost their minds. Instead, he felt an extremely ominous premonition blooming in his heart,
"You... received other conditions."
"Smart..."
The light of the Law in Pisces' hand extinguished completely. Swaying the tentacle in his hand, he continued speaking to Fisher,
"That human Empress used a spell that the Outer Gods told her, which the Spirit World Contamination fears, as a bargaining chip to tell Gou Wen. He told us that spell. After testing, that spell is effective. As for whether you can save us, save this world... although I trust you after the battle with those divine avatars just now, but... the number of people you want to save is so vast, we are probably not within the scope of your consideration..."
Since an agreement had been reached, Aris, Lord Tao, and Raphaela behind him all simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief. Yet Fisher's body remained taut; instead, that sense of unease in his heart grew increasingly stronger. Staring intently at the floating Chaos-kin, he asked,
"...Besides that?"
"What besides that?"
"Besides that spell just now, what other conditions did Elizabeth pay?"
"..."
Pisces looked at him, finally revealing the answer,
"That human Empress's prosthetic eye, and her life."
"Thump!"
Hearing this, Fisher's breathing hitched. He hurriedly turned around and manipulated the Authority of the Crevice. Amidst the continuous rotation of bubbles all around, the scene below was zoomed in bit by bit.
He saw that on the plaza before the ruined Golden Palace below, countless Nari people knelt on the ground, tightly surrounding the small circle formed by the Northern soldiers in front of the Golden Palace. A terrifying Law Fisher had faced before was already unfolding.
Fisher had experienced that filthy aura more than once. It was the aura of the Authority of Death, yet simultaneously somewhat different.
What was the same was that because Hela and Heon shared a single Authority, the power formed by His avatar naturally carried the aura of Hela's Authority of Death. But what was different was that, due to devouring a part of Fisher's nature, the scent of Usurping Life and threads of destiny also appeared within it.
With the threads of destiny, faintly, all the kneeling Nari people present were actually connected in the same destiny, becoming a single entity.
It actually worked. Who told Jasmine this method?
But just as Fisher breathed a sigh of relief, he saw that the Law centered around Elizabeth and the pair of prosthetic eyes abruptly opened an illusory black hole-like object, leaking a dense aura of death from within.
Fisher's pupils shrank, and behind him, Pisces also let out a mocking voice,
"Previously, Heon's Law probably only bloomed within the Crevice, right? Don't forget, in reality, there's still the Authority of Hela, who shares the same origin with Him. Such a Law will connect to His main body's Authority. Now they are using this shattered Law to repair the God of Destruction's. The aura of the Authority of Death will corrupt them as the vessels..."
However, amidst that black vortex, all the kneeling humans furrowed their brows, merely enduring the torment within the rendering of the Authority of Death...
But what about Elizabeth?
She was actually sinking downward?
"You should know. According to the program set by Hela before death, regardless of who these people are, it isn't time for them to die yet... The desire for survival will turn into a sharp blade combating the Authority's corruption. But that human Empress's desire for survival is already a candle in the wind... Fear, regret, sorrow, and pain will turn into food for the Authority, truly dragging her down into death."
Fisher watched Elizabeth continuously sinking into the Authority of Death below. That feeling that seemingly could snap his heart assaulted him once more.
Dragging his heavily strapped body, he stood up, almost subconsciously walking downwards.
Lord Tao and Aris beside him blanked slightly, hastily reaching out to grab his sleeve. Lord Tao even said directly,
"You're crazy, small fry! That below leads directly to the Authority of Death; that's where the True God's main body resides. Not to mention you are covered in injuries right now, even if you went down fully intact, you might not necessarily make it back!"
Aris also nodded, frowning as she said,
"I told you long ago, the moment you decided to leave her and step onto the journey, your destiny was certainly set... She is obsessed with the new order. She is probably long dead to you in her heart, just waiting for the new order to turn you back into what you were before. She doesn't care about the current you at all. What difference does it make if you go?"
After she finished speaking, it was Raphaela behind them who opened her mouth, seemingly wanting to say something.
But Fisher, hearing all this, merely turned to look at Aris, gritting his teeth, saying word by word,
"Do you think I believe in fate?"
"You..."
"I also don't want to explain anymore. Regardless of whether I bear responsibility for her turning into what she is now, but..."
Fisher paused, looking at Lord Tao and Aris before him,
"Lord Tao, Valentina didn't want you to die. I saved you for Valentina; Aris, you care so much about Asuka, and I wanted you to see her again. I saved you for Asuka. But Elizabeth... I want to save her... I want to save her, even if just once... just once."
Aris pursed her lips, and the hand gripping his clothes unconsciously let go. After a moment's thought, she could only say,
"Truthfully, I dragged you down in this operation. I'm alive entirely because of you. Naturally, I have no right to boss you around... Perhaps you really can do it. You could save me and Lord Tao, perhaps you really can save everyone."
Lord Tao clicked her tongue. Because the peach blossom tying her flying immortal bun had already been removed, her black hair now fell disheveled.
She was actually still unwilling for Fisher to go, not for anything else, simply for Valentina's sake.
What if something catastrophic happened to him down in the Authority of Death? She truly wouldn't know how to explain it to Valentina.
He saved her, and as a result, she lived while he got himself killed?
This...
She really had to persuade him. Lord Tao's little head suddenly had a flash of inspiration, looking toward Raphaela behind her.
Right, isn't there another Dragon-kin related to him here?
Although not Valentina, Lord Tao could tell this Dragon-kin had a child. Since this woman carrying his flesh and blood was right beside him, wouldn't it solve everything to have her persuade him?
"What we outsiders say about this small fry's idea doesn't count. Let her speak."
After speaking, Lord Tao ran behind Raphaela, even pointing at her, causing Raphaela to blank slightly. But this wasn't enough; she even ostensibly fanned the flames behind Raphaela,
"Let me preface this: that leads directly inside the Authority of Death... no one knows what it looks like inside; it's very dangerous. This small fry might go and never return. Yup... that's right..."
Fisher turned to look at Raphaela, perhaps with a pleading look in his eyes.
Raphaela covered her lower abdomen, lowered her gaze, and began considering.
Instinctively, she didn't want Fisher to go.
Let alone for the sake of other women, just considering the risks involved: what if Fisher unfortunately met with an accident? The soul of the child in her womb hadn't been retrieved yet, and it was still a stillbirth...
However, it felt despicable to say, but she actually hadn't told Fisher that the final distance when she came up to deliver the medicine earlier was actually insufficient. She was completely incapable of coming here to save his life; it was Elizabeth who made up for that final stretch of distance.
What Aris said was wrong. That Elizabeth didn't disregard Fisher; on the contrary, she cared deeply.
And as for Fisher... even if no one told Fisher of Elizabeth's doings, even if in his eyes she remained the villain who committed a grave mistake, this mutual understanding of worrying for each other's safety was precisely the proof that they had deeply loved each other.
The scorching heat of that love still retained its lingering warmth even today.
If Raphaela refused, this would not only fail to live up to Elizabeth sending her up here to save Fisher's life earlier, but it would also fail to live up to Fisher's past love.
There were regrets with either choice. How could Raphaela make a decision when asked to do so?
Since that was the case, then leave the answer entirely to her soul.
Raphaela suddenly remembered how she watched Fisher's back from inside the carriage back then. At that time, she was actually constantly thinking about tearing off this human's hypocritical mask.
But only at the very end did she realize that he never viewed her as a lowly demi-human, nor did he show favoritism just because the ones carrying out the invasion were his compatriots. He possessed kindness toward all living beings. That kindness to save everything drove him to let go of her, who might have been a factor of destruction back then...
Truthfully, precisely because of Fisher, Raphaela, who was blinded by hatred at the time, changed her view of the world and became optimistic. And as for Jasmine, without Fisher, she probably would have gone mad too, right? It was Fisher who protected her innocence, preventing her from drowning in sin...
She didn't understand Fisher's feelings right now, but merely felt that if Fisher hadn't saved her back then, resulting in her death or her recklessly initiating a massacre, bringing early destruction or plunging lives into misery, then he would certainly have regretted his choice.
Regarding Elizabeth, Fisher probably thought the same way. The only difference between herself and Elizabeth lay in time.
She met Fisher far too early. She was lucky to meet him as he slowly learned many truths and stopped being euphemistic and evasive, nothing more.
This feeling of warmth and kindness was the reason Raphaela was deeply attracted to Fisher. What reason did she have to personally extinguish it?
Furthermore, even if she said "no," he would definitely still go.
After thinking for a few seconds, Raphaela finally gave a relieved smile. Lowering her gaze, she said,
"Fisher, be absolutely careful. Our child is still waiting for you..."
Fisher looked at Raphaela before him, hesitating slightly, seemingly wanting to say something to her. But at this moment, Raphaela suddenly lifted her emerald eyes, the expression on her face leaving behind only a radiant smile.
She stretched out her hand to Fisher, proactively speaking,
"You can go, but don't forget... when you return, you owe me a punishment!"
"..."
Fisher blanked slightly. Looking at Raphaela's outstretched claw, he naturally remembered the game they played when they first met.
That was merely an experimental game out of bad taste, yet he didn't expect the boomerang to hit his head today.
But, even so, so what?
Fisher also reached out his hand, grasping Raphaela's, and said softly,
"Just once."