novelraw Chapter 739: Four
Chapter 739: Four
Spirit World, Sea of Souls.
"It's these four whirlpools, right?"
Anabatos's voice echoed from the illusory space above, while below, Fisher and Renee both crouched down, carefully observing the four completely empty whirlpools. Their shape and texture were roughly similar to the one Fisher had left behind.
Fisher nodded, reaching out his hand to feel the outline of the whirlpool below. In a deep, fluid-like Sea of Souls, these solid whirlpools appeared exceptionally abrupt.
"Alright, then we'll begin now."
"Buzz!"
As Anabatos's voice echoed, the sensation of an Authority fluctuating spread out. Above the dark space of the Spirit World, an aurora poured down like a curtain, slowly covering the scenery from all directions.
The originally lifeless Sea of Souls seemed to experience a reversal in time, as all movements proceeded in the opposite direction of what Fisher had witnessed. Had Fisher not previously seen Tao Gong use a similar method, he probably would have felt shocked as well.
"Let me look for it. When were these whirlpools born? Ah, I found one. The one closest in time."
Following Anabatos's guidance, Fisher and Renee turned their gazes toward one of the whirlpools marked by Anabatos's aurora. Illuminated by the aurora, a translucent, illusory soul was slowly crawling out from that whirlpool."This is a scene I replicated from the timeline back then. I actually learned this trick from that guy Dagon... Hmm, wait. That feeling is back..."
Fisher was just about to ask Anabatos what feeling it was, but the next second, the illusory soul crawling out of the Sea of Souls suddenly smiled and looked in his direction, though he wasn't sure if it was just an illusion.
"!"
Even though the facial features of the illusory soul shadow were extremely unclear, Fisher was exceptionally certain that it was looking at him. This feeling of being watched made Fisher and Renee pause for a moment. Immediately after, the golden aurora enveloping this pocket of space began to flicker on and off. The projected scene also started to collapse, turning into a cluster of chaos...
"There, it's that feeling. It's basically certain now; this most recently left-behind whirlpool is the work of the Ocean..."
Renee breathed a sigh of relief, rubbing her chin as she said to Fisher,
"But it's not a complete loss. At least we can confirm the true identity of this whirlpool, and it's not like we didn't see its shape at all. The soul just now should have been one of the Ocean's incarnations. I'm not sure if it was hiding something, but I feel like this incarnation is very weak."
Anabatos chuckled and said to Renee, "Because an incarnation of a deity always carries the aura of that deity's Authority. For deities like us who possess only a single Authority, even if our incarnations take on countless forms, our traits remain fixed. However, the Ocean is different. The number of Authorities it possesses is unimaginable. It is as it should be for its incarnations to have different characteristics."
"If this incarnation doesn't give you a sufficient sense of oppression, it definitively means it is exceptional in other aspects."
Looking at the collapsing form of the incarnation, Fisher pondered for a moment before suddenly asking Anabatos,
"When did this incarnation leave?"
"Let me see. About two hundred years ago, roughly."
"That recently?"
"Yes. As for the other ones..."
As Anabatos spoke, the surrounding aurora shifted once more, covering the other whirlpools.
As expected, whenever this whirlpool was about to appear, the power of Anabatos's Authority would be affected, becoming extremely blurry and intermittent. Furthermore, as the time of the whirlpool's birth grew more ancient, this situation became increasingly severe.
"The fourth whirlpool was born a few hundred years ago, while the third whirlpool was born more than ten thousand years ago."
"Bzz..."
The golden light replicated, revealing an extremely blurry figure dressed in a white robe... But in less than a second, all the images disappeared due to distortion.
However, even though it was only for a brief moment, Fisher already had a guess in his mind. The instant he saw that figure, his pupils shrank slightly, and he said to Renee and Anabatos,
"That's the Chain of Heaven."
"Chain of Heaven..."
"Yes. This should be when he came to the Sea of Souls to select a soul to create an Angel. Among the Angels, there is one named Helaire. I met her over ten thousand years ago, so I understand her quite well. I'm certain she is the incarnation selected by the Chain of Heaven that infiltrated the Sanctuary."
"Oh? You understand her quite well just because you met her?"
Anabatos's voice, full of profound intent, echoed from the sky. Fisher was stunned for a moment, then turned his head to look at Renee behind him, perfectly meeting her resentful gaze.
"...Yes, that liar. What 'Ocean'? It turns out she only knows these tricks of hiding and deceiving everywhere. Let's look at the next one, Anabatos." Renee snorted lightly, evidently holding a great deal of prejudice against Helaire.
She practically knew all the other women Fisher was close to, but no one else had ever made her take it to heart to this extent.
It was probably because none of the other women had ever been her match; no one could bring her the same sense of oppression as Helaire.
"Buzz buzz buzz..."
Anabatos's golden light flashed again, moving sideways while covering the whirlpools on both sides. The time these two whirlpools appeared was even earlier than Helaire's birth, and they were relatively close in time. The earliest one even dated back more than twenty thousand years ago, which was very close to the time just after they finished creating this world and began creating life...
As expected, the images of these two whirlpools were completely indiscernible. Not a single useful piece of information could be seen.
But now, they could already be certain that the birth of these four whirlpools was connected to the Ocean.
The Ocean indeed hadn't just carelessly tossed its treasures into the universe and completely ignored them. From the very beginning, it had left incarnations within the Sea of Souls. After the Sea of Souls was stolen and brought inside the Barrier, its incarnations hidden within it completely awakened.
"It's already very clear now. All four of these incarnations are still alive today. Based on the information you acquired, Fisher, all we need to do next is focus all our efforts on eliminating the Dream Illusion's contamination and the Ocean's four incarnations..."
Upon hearing this, Fisher showed some hesitation. "Wait a moment, God Anabatos."
"What's the matter?"
"Earlier, I actually had a slight doubt. Are these four definitely the only incarnations it left behind in the Sea of Souls? Is it possible that there are others hidden in there?"
After all, these deities hadn't discovered the Ocean's Sigil hidden inside when they brought the Sea of Souls over, so a bit of extra caution was reasonable. If, after enduring countless hardships, they actually managed to achieve their goal, only to lose the whole game due to this tiny omission... he probably wouldn't be able to rest in peace.
"Heh, it should just be these four. As you saw, when those Mythical Species were created, they were powerful souls selected from this very place. Then, do you have no doubts about where those souls went after they died?"
"...Body and Soul Unity."
Fisher seemed taken aback for a moment, remembering something, and murmured softly. Anabatos's tone carried a hint of approval as it continued,
"Correct. Because the Mythical Species possess Body and Soul Unity, their deaths are true deaths—the kind where their soul dissipates along with them. The reason we didn't discover the Ocean's incarnations previously was entirely because there were too many powerful souls in the Sea of Souls. Its incarnations hid among them, concealing themselves very well. But now..."
"This world has experienced so many great wars. The Mythical Species have completely vanished, and the even more powerful Chaos-kin have also left the Sea of Souls. There are no longer any places in this sea that can accommodate its hiding. As for those Chaos-kin, we all understand their thoughts and grievances. Back when they worshipped the Mother Goddess, we already understood them thoroughly. The Ocean probably wouldn't hide among them either..."
Towards the end of its sentence, Anabatos suddenly changed the topic, saying faintly,
"However, if it's just to be safe, you can kill all of them if you want to."
"What?"
Renee's pupils shrank. Just as she was about to speak, Fisher shook his head. Hearing that Anabatos wasn't actually intending to kill all the Chaos-kin, he could only reassure Renee,
"He is just joking, Renee."
"..."
Renee glanced at the sky, ignoring that annoying squirrel god. Suddenly remembering something, she said to Fisher,
"Right, don't forget. In addition to these four incarnations of the Ocean and the Dream Illusion, there's another place of Chaos within the Barrier..."
"Oh?"
"The Demon Dynasty sealed away by my previous incarnation. Ten thousand years ago, the outburst of the Authority of Death was suppressed by Chaos. If we want to expel all external Chaos, what should we do about the Chaos there? My intuition tells me that the Chaos there has a certain connection to the Ocean."
"Well, you're right, but not entirely."
Anabatos's golden light slowly retracted. After pondering for a moment, it said to Renee,
"We have reviewed the Demon Dynasty many times. The Chaos triggered by that Transferred Person, Margaret, is essentially derived from Heon as well. Which means, in theory, she was the true first-generation owner of the Death Completion Manual. And this is the reason why the Chaos she triggered could seal the Authority of Death so compatibly..."
"Heon's power shares the same origin as Hela's. Heon's Chaos sealed Hela, and the only one present at the scene who could seal Heon's Chaos at the time was the Ocean."
Fisher squinted his eyes. When it came to the matters sealing the Demon Dynasty, he suddenly thought of something.
"The Ten Gates of Desire."
He still remembered that when he entered the Demon Dynasty, he went through the Gate of Victory. Inside, he even saw a gender-swapped version of himself and Eimhart.
Anabatos also expressed agreement, saying,
"The power of those ten doors came from the Ocean. Back then, none of us knew where such a powerful force originated from. But combining it with what you just said, that the Barrier was breached from the inside, I actually have some thoughts..."
Anabatos's aurora fell once again, pointing toward the direction of the two earliest-born whirlpools.
"The power of those ten doors and the power that broke through the Barrier are the exact same, both coming from one of these four incarnations. Moreover, it is most likely from one of the two earliest-born ones, because their Chaos reaction is the most intense..."
Fisher understood what Anabatos meant and analyzed,
"Therefore, the Chaos of the Demon Dynasty is essentially the Chaos of these four of the Ocean's incarnations. As long as we kill the source of this power—all the incarnations—the only Chaos left there will be Heon's power, which shares the same origin as Hela's. What's more, Heon is already dead now."
"Exactly. This is a piece of good news and bad news. The good news is, just as you said, we can solve the problem once and for all. But the bad news is, one or more of these four incarnations possess the powerful force capable of piercing the Barrier for protection..."
"Pandora and Remiel..."
A name buried in the dust of history for ten thousand years suddenly escaped Fisher's lips.
That's right. Back then, these two Nineteenth-Tier Archangels died a baffling and unaccountable death. He had always believed that the outburst of Chaos in the Ideal State claimed their lives. Helaire was also present at the time. He simply trusted Helaire too much, and Helaire's apparent rank was merely sixteenth or seventeenth, so he genuinely never thought in that direction.
But looking at it now, the one who killed those two Archangels was probably Helaire.
And combined with Pandora's Prosthetic Eyes...
It was Helaire who created those prosthetic eyes...
If so, could Elizabeth's situation be connected to her...?
Fisher took a deep breath and stood up. In his mind, the image of that smiling, evil Angel with blue-gold eyes had already become increasingly blurred.
But at this point, did it matter if it was blurred or not?
She had already become the final and most terrifying obstacle to this World-Ending Prophecy, about to become the gravedigger who would bury this world. What right did Fisher have to think about anything else?
"..."
"We have to find those four incarnations..."
After a long silence, Fisher, having opened his eyes, stated this fact calmly.
"That might be a bit troublesome. For it to have hidden for so long, it must certainly have a set of fixed disguises, and it rarely uses its own power, otherwise it would have been exposed long ago."
"Unless there are certain occasions where it absolutely must intervene, forcing it to tear away its disguise."
Fisher squinted and said to Anabatos,
"The Demon Dynasty. When I was sealing the Soul Completion Handbook... at that time, it was definitely present. There must also be traces it left behind in the Demon Dynasty..."
"But you are currently unable to enter Reality. You can only rely on those girlfriends you left behind in Reality..."
"I am worried they will encounter danger. If possible, please help me find a way to overcome the pursuit of death, so I can go find it myself."
"You... taking everything upon yourself, aren't you tired?"
Anabatos sneered and sarcastically remarked. Renee pursed her lips and was about to say that her incarnation could go instead, but right at that moment, Anabatos's voice echoed again.
"Where do you have the time and energy for that? Do you actually think we are the only ones making progress? The World-Ending Prophecy is fundamentally a race between the tortoise and the hare, a matter of life and death. In this death race, even if the Ocean was previously ambushed by a contributor of the Demi-Human Completion Handbook, it has definitely reacted by now. Not to mention, you just spoke out the information that guy was unable to say... Right now, heh... the Ocean has probably already begun its move."
"An empty space..."
Anabatos laughed coldly, observing the now extremely empty Spirit World. It suddenly asked Fisher with a tone of inquiry,
"Haven't you guys noticed yet? Ever since you left the Angel's Shelter, the Spirit World Contamination has become as dead and quiet as a corpse."
"..."
Fisher furrowed his brows, turning to look at the Spirit World outside the Sea of Souls. Yet he saw that the crimson contamination, which was previously surging everywhere, had now completely frozen, motionless as if paralyzed.
Like water freezing into ice, like a living organism turning into a sculpture, and also like...
The brief tranquility before a storm is brewing.
Within the quiet Scarlet Mist, at Gelsemium's Shelter.
Inside the deep green protective barrier, those alien concubines had already retired early, even Lady Bojiang had fallen asleep.
Yet Jasmine remained tossing and turning, unable to sleep. After getting onto the bed, she secretly climbed back up, cupping her cheeks with some baby fat outside, staring blankly at the scene outside.
The Scarlet Mist outside was extremely quiet, causing Jasmine to constantly wonder, without reason, where her teacher Fisher and her father had gone...
They've been gone for so long, why haven't they come back yet?
"Knock, knock, knock..."
Just as Jasmine was spacing out, a series of light tapping sounds suddenly echoed across the deep green protective barrier, as gentle as snapping on a door. It snapped Jasmine out of her reverie, causing her to turn her head and look everywhere for the source of the sound.
"Who?"
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."
But everything around was quiet. Time seemed to freeze, leaving only the restless Jasmine in place, feeling baffled...
'Was it an illusion?'
'It seems she should get some rest; she was thinking too much...'
Jasmine gently patted her cheeks, stood up, and cheered herself on inwardly.
'Jasmine, don't overthink it. Even if you're not a Mythical Species right now, as long as you don't cause trouble for Teacher Fisher and her mom and dad, just don't overthink it...'
"Hmm, it looks like Fisher has already discovered it..."
Just as Jasmine stood up, preparing to return to Gelsemium's Laboratory to rest, a slightly helpless female voice suddenly rang out from behind her, causing her body to freeze in place as if she had been electrocuted.
"..."
She opened her mouth, turning her head with pupil shrinking, only to see an angelic beauty with short, golden curly hair, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the log she sat on, resting her chin in her hands with a worried expression just like her.
"You... you..."
When she saw this figure, Jasmine suddenly felt a headache, as if an incredibly familiar, extremely fearful, yet deeply envious figure had broken through layers of obstacles and appeared in her field of vision...
But... but... she should be seeing her for the first time, right?
However, she didn't know how many times she had repeated the name of this figure, making it so familiar...
She is...
"Hela..."
"Ara, you still remember me, Jasmine..."
The Angel before her was slightly taken aback, and then the smile on her face became increasingly seductive. In those blue-gold eyes, there was a warm feeling, and she smiled softly,
"Or rather, long time no see..."
"Asuka Karasawa?"