novelraw Chapter 758: Avatar
Chapter 758: Avatar
That "Bodhisattva", who seemed like a being of great wisdom and a grand sage, compassionately and kindly lowered Her head, looking at Fisher whose arm was twitching slightly in Her hand. Concurrently, numerous twisted tentacles sprouted unprovoked from within that palm, stroking past Fisher's face, eagerly tasting his flavor as if already capable of experiencing the wondrousness of the property within his body from his body's surface.
"Alright... let me see just what kind of mysteries are hidden inside your body, Fisher."
The Dream Illusion smiled. Subsequently pinching Fisher, She brought him bit by bit closer to Her own enormous, beautiful face. However, Fisher grew increasingly uncomfortable due to nearing the massive source of Chaos that was the Dream Illusion.
He clenched his teeth, his peripheral vision looking toward Ramastia and the other deities who were suppressed by the scarlet power inside Her body.
The gap in the Barrier behind him had already been expanded by Ouyun to the point where it was sufficient for the Dream Illusion to pass through. Along with the slow entry of that Outer God, the entire periphery of the Spirit World began to tremble. To Fisher, it felt as if the entire world was experiencing a sense of collapse.
This world was a tottering building, and right now it was arduously accommodating the Dream Illusion entering it.
"Crack, crack, crack, crack, crack!"
The increasingly expanding Ultimate behind him made Fisher's consciousness increasingly clear. At this moment, Ouyun once again shattered the Barrier, sending the Dream Illusion's conscious Authority into the Barrier.
Indeed, the Barrier hadn't completely shattered and still existed. However, the collapse of the Barrier's fundamental properties meant that the Ocean outside the Barrier could equally send conscious Authority inside. Even if the Ocean's own mass was much more powerful than the Dream Illusion's, making it harder to enter the Barrier, it was nonetheless feasible.
And the so-called using the Barrier to block the Ocean was nothing but an idiot's daydream...So, what the Dream Illusion is doing is...
"Are you gambling?"
Fisher narrowed his eyes. Looking at the incomparably massive "Bodhisattva" before him, he suddenly spoke up like so,
"Are you gambling that the property in my body can help You rival the Ocean?"
"..."
Pinching Fisher, the Dream Illusion suddenly fell silent.
While at the Ultimate behind Him, the Dream Illusion's main body's movement of entering the Barrier quickened once more. It seemed His main body absolutely had to enter the Barrier to thoroughly research Fisher's property.
But listening to Fisher's words, the Dream Illusion's expression turned playful, unexpectedly admitting it bluntly,
"...Smart. But you merely don't understand yet that this dispute arriving at this point is already a dead end for both me and this small world... The Ocean doesn't care at all about the grievances between us and Ramastia and the others. Or rather, in Her eyes, we are all nothing more than ants blocking the way. When Heon discovered your existence and shared it, we were bound to inevitably meet a terrible end. Reaching today, I already have no path of retreat left..."
"To this universe, knowledge is a curse that can make deities pay with their lives... Perhaps the destruction the Ocean descended upon this world didn't fall when They stole the Sea of Souls, but rather when They discovered that the Sea of Souls possessed that precious property within your body..."
"Rumble!!"
The Barrier behind further expanded, and the Dream Illusion's massive frame finally had the majority of it squeezed into the tottering Barrier.
"...We can make a deal."
Fisher furrowed his brows. After pondering for a long time, looking at the Dream Illusion whose imposing aura had ascended anew before him, he suddenly spoke like so.
"Oh? A deal?"
Hearing this, the Dream Illusion grew interested. With a compassionate and kind countenance, She lifted Fisher before Her incomparably massive eyes.
"Since you and this world have equally fallen into the Ocean's dead end, reduced to prisoners within the Barrier, then at least for now, we are locusts tied to the same rope..."
The Dream Illusion's Bodhisattva face grew increasingly compassionate and kind, yet the scarlet color swirling at the bottom of Her eyes grew increasingly dense. She merely said,
"Continue."
"I possess Azanroth's Hidden. During contact with the Barrier, He told me the method to mend the Barrier. By not hesitating to ally with Ouyun to destroy the Ultimate and squeeze into the Barrier, You inevitably run the risk of the Ocean following closely behind. Mending the Barrier can give everyone a sense of security..."
"...Interesting. What do you want?"
Fisher took a deep breath, raised his eyes to look toward a certain dark corner behind, and said to the Dream Illusion,
"The Ocean has more than one avatar inside the Barrier. Kill all Her avatars to preserve this world, and I will give You the method to mend the Barrier and the property within my body. Right now that property is inside my body, and I have ways to prevent You from researching it..."
Did Fisher actually know a method to prevent the Dream Illusion from researching the property?
He didn't, but he bet the Dream Illusion also didn't know the method to research the property in his body. Especially since the Dream Illusion had only just attempted to use power to invade Fisher's body during Jasmine's dream, only to vanish without a trace as a result.
He gambled that the Dream Illusion, who was staking everything on a single venture right now, actually had lingering trepidation, and therefore had to trust him.
Smiling, the Dream Illusion remained silent, seemingly appearing to be in thought.
"Crack, crack, crack, crack!"
At this moment, Her incomparably massive scarlet twisted frame was extremely arduously burrowing through the gap of the Ultimate.
Just as Ramastia and the others described, it was unknown just how powerful the Authority of the Dream Illusion's main body was. Merely by Her manifesting in the Spirit World, all sounds and all existences seemingly were about to be eroded by the Dream Illusion.
But the gap of the Ultimate seemed to have already expanded to its limit. Precisely because the Dream Illusion's main body was too powerful, it resulted in that even though Ouyun had almost doubled the Ultimate's gap, it still wasn't enough to support Her passing through. Yet He hesitated whether to continue destroying the Barrier to expand the Ultimate.
Once the Barrier shattered, they would all be finished.
A drop of cold sweat unknowingly rolled down Fisher's forehead. Meanwhile, Ramastia, who was firmly suppressed by the Dream Illusion, looked toward the scarlet mist gathering at the door of the Ultimate and spoke softly to Fisher using Teresa's voice,
"Do not trust the Dream Illusion... She is a deity without the shadow of civilization... Her heart has always only contained Herself. Therefore Her Authority is merely the dream visualizing Her inner heart... Do not trust the Dream Illusion... She is merely an empty False God right now. With a fish dies net breaks struggle, we might not necessarily fail to put up a fight..."
"Rumble!!"
Along with Ramastia and Anabatos' intense struggle, the scarlet mist entangling Their bodies also began to grow thin. Yet a massive weight very quickly arrived again, forcing Ramastia's body to bow down anew.
Is there still energy to spare...
At this moment, the Dream Illusion could simultaneously suppress Ramastia, Anabatos, Dalasgon, plus the Twentieth-Tier Fisher. It was unknown how much spare energy was left inside the body of the False God.
Therefore, Fisher brought up the deal of killing the Ocean's avatars again, using this to probe Her limits.
The Dream Illusion didn't reply, merely looking at Fisher, or rather looking at the Ultimate that had expanded more than double after Her main body entered.
Beyond the gap of the Barrier, darkness mingled with dotted starlight was revealed. That was the true universe; that was [Outside the World].
At this moment, the outside of the Barrier was exceptionally deathly still. A vacuum without a medium perhaps reasonably should be so, but what was more terrifying than deathly stillness was a certain oppressive feeling akin to glaring like a tiger.
It was as if some existence akin to a Reaper was currently outside the Barrier, quietly staring at that gap, waiting to enter and settle accounts with this audacious fool, the Dream Illusion...
After being silent for quite a while, the Dream Illusion opened Her mouth again,
"Hehe... You group of little cubs suffered the poison of civilization, which is why you violated the pact between us, monopolizing the opportunity we sought for so long to have an audience with the Hidden. And as if that wasn't enough, you then went on to seal the Ocean's Treasure away. Is this perhaps the brilliance of civilization?"
The Dream Illusion smiled teasingly as She looked at the unspeaking Fisher in Her hand, nodding at him and saying,
"...Alright, I agree to your terms. We shall establish a contract: two demands. I will fulfill one first, and you pay the remuneration; then you fulfill one, and I pay the remuneration..."
"I will first kill the Ocean's avatar, and you fulfill the promise of handing over the method to mend the Barrier; subsequently, you first hand over the property, and after successful research, I will fulfill the promise of preserving this world."
Fisher nodded in agreement without hesitation. Immediately after, he saw the Dream Illusion smile faintly and raise Her eyes to look toward the gloom in mid-air. That was where Renee was being entangled by the Ocean's avatar.
She gave a "Hehe" chuckle. Thousands of fair arms instantly materialized behind Her, either picking or provoking, carrying Fisher and soaring into the air toward that direction.
Simultaneously, within Her palm, Fisher arduously pulled Eimhart, who was seemingly uncomfortably pressing against him, out of his embrace. Looking at him panic-strickenly gazing at the incomparably massive False God body nearby, Fisher feigned composure as he patted his spine, subsequently aiming his book cover toward a certain direction in the darkness below.
Eimhart additionally thought Fisher was going to chuck him out, but discovered Fisher was death-gripping his spine, seemingly merely making him look in that direction.
His singular eye focused its gaze, and he spotted Xuan Can and Gou Wen floating in the void of the Spirit World nearby, having been gathered up by Dalasgon.
"..."
He widened his eyes, subsequently turning his head back to look at Fisher behind him. The two exchanged a rather tacit glance.
Immediately after, as the Dream Illusion dragged Fisher closer and closer to the gloom in mid-air, Fisher's hand shook. Eimhart was then left behind in mid-air as if shaken loose.
The book-sized Eimhart was practically equivalent to dust for the currently thousand-foot-tall massive False God. She merely smiled, wholeheartedly placing Her attention on that mass of darkness floating ahead.
That was the purest aura of the Ocean.
"Ocean!!"
She didn't open Her mouth. Instead, the thousands of palms behind Her sprouted mouthparts and eyeballs, opening their mouths toward that darkness.
As the decadent Buddhist chants pierced through the entire Spirit World, red lotuses seemingly from the other shore also began to sprout on the surface of that thick mass of darkness.
But in the next moment, the lotuses that had just sprouted seemed to be instantly swallowed by the darkness, transforming them into thick dark liquid...
Subsequently, that gloom seemingly noticed the Dream Illusion carrying Fisher charging toward Her. Although the darkness still didn't seem to recover immediately because Helaire's avatar had just been killed, the darkness without conscious control instinctively displayed its inherently immense power to launch a counterattack against Her.
At the exact same time, Reality, Demon Dynasty.
"We'll be there after passing through this door."
"This door..."
"Ah, your guess is correct. They were all forged by the Chaos from outside the world ten thousand years ago. Looking at it now, the power forging these ten doors sealing the Demon Dynasty and Hela actually didn't come from Heon, but from... the Ocean."
Lord Tao walked expressionlessly ahead of Valentiina, Alajina, and Raphaela. Aside from them, she brought no one else.
This battle involved very high Ranks. Even if others came, it would only be a drag.
Actually, Alajina shouldn't have come here either, but because the Demon Dynasty's ten doors would isolate the Cardinal's signal, she could only personally bring the Cardinal engraved with the Slime Mark to enter. At the critical moment when they couldn't leave, she could manipulate the Cardinal via Alajina to take them and run. After all, the others couldn't operate this kind of high-tech gadget.
Rubbing her lower abdomen, Raphaela looked at Lord Tao pushing open the "Gate of Victory" ahead with practiced ease. She merely felt that having such an old monster who had survived for ten thousand years leading the way made this trip much easier. There was actually a method to quickly open the Gate of Victory.
One must know, Raphaela had heard Jasmine narrate the difficulties of her and Fisher entering the Demon Dynasty.
Thinking of this, she rubbed her lower abdomen while raising her eyes to look at the text on that mirror-like Gate of Victory. She couldn't help but mutter,
"Fifth Sea..."
"Yin Nature?"
Valentiina also raised her eyes to look at the text on that massive door, subsequently asking Lord Tao softly,
"Was this text engraved by demons, Lord Tao?"
"It shouldn't be..." Lord Tao seemed to also be seeing text on it for the first time. After thinking for a moment, she chose to give up thinking, "Who knows if it has anything to do with the Ocean... Forget it, let's go. Chief God said that the Ocean's avatar is hiding in Paimon's Palace..."
"Rumble!!"
As a result, having only just entered the Demon Dynasty, before the words could be finished, the entire Dynasty began to shake, the earth trembling and mountains swaying.
"What's going on, did she discover we came?"
Lord Tao furrowed her brows, sweeping her gaze over the surrounding magma. Her fair nose twitched twice before she shook her head,
"It doesn't seem like it... It's more like there's a problem outside. Moreover, this smell... Spirit World contamination? No, why would the smell of Spirit World contamination be felt down here? Unless..."
As they brainstormed, Raphaela and Valentiina had already spoken to Lord Tao in unison,
"Something happened in the Spirit World?!"
"Ah, well, who knows. Probably."
"Then... then what are we waiting for, hurry up and head out! If Fisher is..."
Lord Tao helplessly rubbed the back of her head. Looking at the distinctly agitated two ladies before her, she also had to quicken her pace, bringing them to hurry toward Paimon's Palace.
After undergoing the previous turmoil, the entire Demon Dynasty appeared exceptionally quiet. Demon Gods like Barbatos and the such had all fallen into a deep slumber. Therefore, Raphaela didn't have the opportunity to meet Eliog again. It was unknown if this should be considered lucky or unlucky, but in any case, they could successfully arrive at the entrance of Paimon's Palace.
At this moment, Paimon's Palace was tightly shut. On the mirror-like door was engraved a riddle Fisher had seen more than once, reading,
"I am the 'I' of me, I am the 'think' of thinking."
"I am the unlistenable song, I am the unperceivable eye."
"May I ask, what am I?"
Lord Tao stroked her chin, subsequently saying softly,
"Soul."
"Crack, crack, crack, crack!"
As if the password was correct, the door gently opened, revealing the dim scene inside.
Lord Tao's nose twitched slightly. She snapped her fingers, and the peach blossom atop her head lit up and flew into the space, searching for the whereabouts of the Ocean's avatar.
And with the opening of Paimon's Palace's main door, the lights inside automatically brightened, displaying the spacious interior as well as the meticulously framed oil paintings hung on the front wall.
And on every single oil painting were depicted scenes closely related to Fisher.
"Twelve scrolls of oil paintings, every scroll bearing milord's name".
Merely seeing this scene, the faces of the three ladies standing behind Lord Tao turned black simultaneously. It was as if these paintings were akin to silent mockery, hurling insults at the three who entered.
It could only be said to be extremely insulting.
"Well, well, well..."
"..."
Fortunately, the wise Lord Tao was immune to control.
She merely gave a light cough, pulling the attention of the three ladies behind her back to reality. Looking at the peach blossom flying back from the depths of the palace, her complexion was somewhat grim,
"Nothing at all? How is that possible..."
It was still Raphaela, holding her lower abdomen, who first snapped back to reality. She looked at the muttering Lord Tao and asked,
"Did you not find her?"
"Mn... my peach blossom has already searched the entire palace. Secret passages, hidden rooms... searched everything, yet found nothing at all in the end..."
Valentiina surveyed the surroundings, speculating, "Is it possible She knew she was exposed, so she relocated in advance?"
"If that were the case, there should be traces left behind. Lord Ramastia said this avatar is extremely weak, but possesses the capability to infinitely create independent clones. An extremely weak clone walking around inside the Demon Dynasty should be very conspicuous. But along the way here, we didn't even see a single Little Demon..."
"..."
The entire palace was temporarily silent. However, Alajina behind them suddenly realized something. Turning her head back to look at the main door behind them, she then suddenly spoke softly,
"The Cardinal's signal can be used."
"What?"
Valentiina's reaction was the largest. She hurriedly walked to Alajina's side, leaving a thoroughly bewildered Raphaela standing there.
After all, Raphaela was merely a Dragon-kin from the Southern Continent who had only just learned to use a phone recently. The first time she saw a Cardinal was in Saint-Nazareth. She completely didn't understand what this meant, so she had to open her mouth to inquire,
"So, that Cardinal having a signal... does that prove something?"
"Originally, one shouldn't be able to receive the Cardinal's signal inside the Demon Dynasty, because the isolating effect of those ten doors is at play. But being able to receive it now can only prove that we actually aren't inside the Demon Dynasty right now? That's not right..."
Hearing this, Lord Tao narrowed her eyes. She looked at that tightly shut, mirror-like door and stroked her chin. Immediately after, she said tentatively,
"We're heading out once more."
"Crack, crack, crack!"
They walked out of Paimon's Palace once again, arriving within the Demon Dynasty. Yet having only just stepped out of that mirror-like door, the light of the Cardinal in Alajina's hands vanished anew.
"It really is like this... It's this door..."
Looking at the Cardinal in Alajina's hand, Lord Tao suddenly realized, looking toward the large door sealing Paimon's Palace. Subsequently, they arrived before the door once anew, facing that riddle which felt like an explicit hint...
"Was the previous answer... wrong?"
Lord Tao stroked her chin, agonizing over the answer in her heart.
While Valentiina behind her pursed her lips. Tentatively walking up to that door, she opened her mouth,
"Heidelin..."
"..."
No reaction.
Valentiina was somewhat disappointed. While Raphaela, holding her lower abdomen, thought for a moment before speaking softly,
"Ocean."
"Buzz..."
This time, as if another correct answer had been inputted into the door, the door gently opened, while the interior appearance was entirely different from what they had seen previously...
Right now, the interior of the palace was almost completely empty, pitch-black. Darkness that seemed capable of swallowing all light in the universe filled the entire palace. Like the ocean, it was boundless and bottomless.
Only exactly in the center of the palace hall was placed the sole light source...
That was, a baby stroller shimmering with dotted luminescence.
It was clearly a symbol meant for nurturing life, yet right now it was completely empty inside, looking exceptionally grotesque.
"Baby stroller?"
Valentiina murmured as she opened her mouth, and Raphaela also unconsciously reached out and rubbed her lower abdomen again.
While Lord Tao was extremely vigilant. She even began to suspect in her heart whether an avatar of the Ocean would pop out of thin air from inside this baby stroller. Could it be possible that those independent clones were nurtured precisely from within this baby stroller?
"...Let me see if there are any living things inside."
Lord Tao took a deep breath, taking out the glowing peach blossom atop her head from earlier again. But before releasing it, Raphaela had already summoned the Dragon Blood Longspear from her hand,
"No need, Lord Tao... She's here..."
Lord Tao froze slightly. Raising her eyes to look ahead, she discovered that a middle-aged woman wearing the attire of a Naris Inner Court Official, with her black hair coiled up and bearing a smiling face, had walked out from that darkness at some unknown time.
She just stood there quietly behind the baby stroller, supporting the handle of that completely empty baby stroller, as if there was an infant soundly sleeping inside right now.
But there was clearly nothing inside...
"The Ocean's avatar..."
Lord Tao narrowed her eyes, looking at that smiling Naris Inner Court Official.
And from behind that Naris Inner Court Official, one dark silhouette after another walked out at some unknown time...
Those dark silhouettes included men and women, of varied ages, different attire, and different races. It was as if they were merely shadowy background figures within the darkness. Aside from the almost identical smile worn on their faces and those scattered blue-gold pupils that were extremely bright in the darkness, the rest were basically entirely different.
But Valentiina still covered her mouth feeling somewhat unwell. Because, within that darkness, she saw a familiar face,
"Heidelin..."
"Eldest Miss."
All the avatars opened their mouths toward Valentiina simultaneously, speaking in unison like a chorus, causing Valentiina's breathing to tremble even more incessantly.
Ahead, Lord Tao didn't turn around, merely sighing a breath before silently raising her hand, revealing the pink peach blossom in her hand bearing an increasingly dangerous aura.
Simultaneously, her complexion turned slightly cold. Looking at the shadowy silhouettes standing within the darkness before her, she said in a cold voice,
"Ocean, the time of this avatar of Yours has come, did You know?"
Just as the words landed, a terrifying beam of light bloomed from the peach blossom in Lord Tao's hand, violently plunging into the shadowy silhouettes.
"Rumble!!"
The leading Diane was directly blasted apart, and behind her, the forms of countless avatars were scattered wildly into the air. Just as Ramastia's intelligence stated, this avatar was the weakest.
But beyond Lord Tao's expectations, those avatars whose bodies were already severely broken even after falling to the ground still maintained their smiles. Not only had they not died, they were conversely continuously recovering...
"Oh? What a pity, Elf. As long as the other avatar inside the Spirit World doesn't die, our other avatars will never die, and that includes our consciousness..."
That Diane who stood up once anew reattached her head to her neck, standing beside that completely unharmed baby stroller smilingly anew, saying this with deep meaning.
Spirit World, the Ocean's avatar, amidst that patch of gloom.
Panting for breath, Renee withdrew the blooming moonlight on her hands, looking at the body of the blonde short-haired female slowly being reborn from within the gloom.
That was the Ocean's avatar recently killed by the Dream Illusion's sneak attack, Helaire.
Panting, Renee gave up on herself somewhat and sat in the patch of darkness. Looking helplessly at the manifesting anew Helaire, she told her,
"You've finally manifested, Ocean... My power cannot break Your avatar, and Your avatar also cannot do anything to me. You are merely planning to lock me up here, preventing me from going to aid Fisher, right?"
"Sorry, I didn't intentionally leave you hanging here, because this avatar had only just been killed. As for why I pulled you in..."
Helaire gave a helpless smile. Looking at the cold-faced Renee before her, she smiled and asked,
"Silly child, you don't really think sending you inside the Barrier ten thousand years ago was merely to test the properties of this Concealment Barrier, right?"
Renee froze slightly, immediately after furrowing her brows,
"Heh, Fisher is right. Every single word of Yours is a lie, impossible to trust."
"Well, it's fine if you don't trust me. Because fundamentally, long before this Barrier was born... no, even when Azanroth was born, I knew Him, knew the things He could achieve, like the back of my hand..."
Helaire neither agreed nor disagreed. She merely smiled and said,
"It appears Fisher hasn't told anyone the method to mend the Barrier. Because his nature is kind, he wouldn't do so until the absolute final moment when he has no other choice..."
"There is only one method to mend the Barrier, and that is to sacrifice the Authorities of all deities within the Barrier, equivalent to the lives of all deities within the Barrier."
Renee opened her mouth. Looking at the smiling Helaire before her, she denied,
"Fisher holds no affection for Them. Rationally speaking, the root of all these disasters started precisely because of Ramastia and the others..."
But as she spoke, her expression suddenly stiffened again.
Yes, Fisher indeed had no identification with these deities. If it was like this, he should have straightforwardly stated the method to mend the Barrier right back then...
Unless...
Unless...
The smile on Helaire's face grew increasingly profound. Teasingly walking up to Renee, she whispered to her,
"Unless... merely the Authorities of these little thieves Ramastia, Dalasgon, Anabatos, Hela, and Ouyun are inadequate, but rather requires adding the Authority I sent in to be barely adequate."
"I..."
"And now, the Dream Illusion is about to enter the Barrier. She has staked everything on the property within Fisher's body, because She Herself is also clear that the moment She knew that property existed, She already possessed no path of survival... Fisher is a rational existence, but this time, he has chosen to stake everything to follow the bet..."
Smiling, Helaire squatted down before Renee, telling her softly,
"He wants to use the Dream Illusion's Authority to replace your Authority to mend the Barrier. For this, he chose to also use the property within his body as a wager. He has perhaps already realized that the moment that property leaves him, he will likely meet a terrible end..."
"But in return, you will survive."
Helaire spoke like this, a trace of indiscernible meaning carrying in her eyes.
(End of Chapter)