Volume 6, Chapter 53 – The Perceived Truth

The powerful recoil made even the Fog Demon stumble. The Chaos on the Fog Demon’s surface rippled violently. Immediately after, like a snowman melting, the Fog Demon’s body quickly collapsed and disintegrated.

“Ugh?!”

The Fog Demon twisted its neck with difficulty, but there was nothing behind him. As for Nola opposite him, although she didn’t know what happened, the Fog Demon freezing on the spot was the best opportunity to strike. She poured explosive power into her legs. The Flame Greatsword, carrying a shriek that cut through the air, slashed heavily at the Fog Demon’s head.

Sssrk.

Like the sound of tearing cloth.

The Fog Demon was split in two down the middle. His eyes were full of disbelief, widening as if to fall out of their sockets. Even without making a sound, Nola could feel the Fog Demon wanted to ask what exactly happened.

In just a few seconds, the Fog Demon turned into a pool of transparent liquid and fell. Fia emerged from the void immediately after. She exhaled lightly and flew close to the ground toward Nola. The latter’s fiery red hair was stuck together by sweat on her forehead, and her heavy panting clearly showed she had undergone a hard battle.

“Are you alright?”

“Thanks to you, not injured. If it were just me, even if it wasn’t mutual destruction, it would have been a difficult win. The slime on this thing was too tricky, so hard that even the Flame Greatsword struggled to cut through.”

Wiping the sweat off her face with the back of her hand, Nola took a deep breath to calm her pounding heart. She looked at the Fog Demon turned into a pool of liquid in the distance. The ugly scene of transparent liquid mixed with black slime made it hard to associate with a former seventh-rank powerhouse. Although the Fog Demon was her enemy, as a fellow powerhouse, Nola still felt sorrow. If he had just stayed in the Illusion Barrier, everyone could have been at peace, and maybe even stood face to face for a chat. Yet he insisted on running out, ending up in this miserable state.

“Slime? As a Holy Son, you don’t know what this is?”

Fia looked at Nola as if she were a fool, while paying attention to the liquid on the ground. Previously, those ghosts turned into powder-like ash upon death, not liquid like this seventh-rank ghost. More importantly, [Wind of Exploration] reported that the magic power in this pool of liquid still remained at the seventh rank. The Fog Demon might not be completely dead.

Ultimately, the death of an undead required life force to cancel out negative life. Right now, the surrounding environment didn’t look like life force had been absorbed at all.

Nola nodded with a complex expression.

“I’ve never seen them before. They seem to have self-awareness, possessing the Fog Demon but not belonging to him. The Crystal Golem I fought last night was like this too; the black slime on its body suddenly attacked and could change form in mid-air. Has Fia seen them?”

“This is Chaos.”

“Huh? Chaos? This is it?”

Nola’s voice suddenly pitched higher. Her head snapped toward Fia, her wide cat eyes and mouth full of shock. She pointed at the flowing black slime, stuttering.

“Th… this is the thing that drove gods and Darkborn everywhere, forcing them to flee from the world below to hole up on the World Tree Continent? Even I can eliminate something of this level!”

For a moment, joy appeared on Nola’s face. She felt she could help her Goddess and solve her Goddess’s problems.

Fia waved her hand, dispelling Nola’s fantasy.

“This thing alone is nothing. Their tricky part lies in numbers. Have you seen the sea? The quantity of Chaos is vaster than the ocean. They occupy every corner of the Prime Continent and can be described as endless. Nola can defeat them, but if Nola has to fight without eating, drinking, or sleeping, how long can Nola last? Not to mention Chaos devours everything it touches; there are no elements or magic power there for you to replenish. This is the main reason Chaos could force back gods and Darkborn.”

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“This…”

Nola’s hopeful face froze instantly. Scolded by Fia, she puffed out her cheeks like a child, looking Fia up and down with suspicious eyes.

“Fia speaks as if she has seen the Chaos below. Even though I only know what Chaos is and have never seen Chaos with my own eyes.”

“Of course I’ve seen it, and more than once. I am a smart elf; don’t compare me with you, kitty.”

Unfortunately, recording crystals couldn’t be used in places where elements were depleted; otherwise, she could have recorded the Sea of Chaos with a crystal.

However, even if recorded, it couldn’t be shown to others casually. That was truly a scene of despair and suffocation. Even her orbital bombardment couldn’t eliminate it all at once.

Fia began to explain the Chaos she had encountered to Nola, explaining that Darkborn had mastered the method of manipulating Chaos, while using [Firestorm] in her hand to release the possibly not-completely-dead Fog Demon.

“Ugh.”

When the flames of [Firestorm] dissipated, Nola’s face suddenly turned pale. Her right hand clutched her chest instantly, and her body swayed like frail paper in the wind.

“What’s wrong with you?”

Fia frowned, her hand also resting on Nola’s shoulder with concern. To avoid sudden attacks from dead ghosts, she kept [Wind of Exploration] on. She was certain nothing attacked Nola during this time.

“A feeling of strength being drawn away… Should be because of the Fog Demon’s demise. He was too strong; to completely eliminate him requires more life force than ordinary ghosts.” Nola glanced at Fia beside her. Seeing Fia completely fine, her expression became incredibly weird, and her face turned rosy. “Don’t you feel it? When an undead dies, besides absorbing the life force of the killer, it also absorbs the life force of nearby beings. How come you seem completely fine?”

Actually, Nola had another sentence she didn’t say: “It’s fine if your strength is greater than mine, but why is your life force as an elf stronger than mine as a beastman?” But that would seem like admitting she was useless and inferior to Fia in every way, so she stopped at the critical moment.

Fia’s beautiful eyebrows rose instantly, and pride appeared in her eyes.

“My life force is so abundant that even all the undead in the Netherworld wouldn’t be enough to fill it, let alone a mere seventh-rank ghost.”

“Don’t talk big. If the Queen of the Kingdom of Death hears you, you’ll regret it.”

“Who regrets is still up for debate. As of now, nothing can challenge nanomachines yet.”

“Na… nanomachines? What’s that?”

“Too troublesome to explain. Stup—Nola should just be Nola honestly.”

As if teaching her stupid student, Fia pursed her lips and patted Nola’s shoulder with the air of an elder.

Then, her eyes sharpened instantly. She pulled Nola backward roughly, her right foot stomping heavily on the spot where Nola stood previously.

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Boom!

Golden light mixed with [Strength Boost] kicked up countless flying stones. The earth seemed to be smashed fiercely by a giant. A huge crater spread with Fia as the center, and thick smoke from the explosion rose slowly.

The thing attempting to attack Nola slowly revealed itself.

This was Chaos separated from the dead Fog Demon. It turned into a venomous snake about a meter long, raising its upper body. The slight swaying of its head was no different from a venomous snake flicking its tongue.

Even though I used [Firestorm] to purify the Fog Demon, a small part of Chaos, which should be more fragile than the Fog Demon, still survived?

Although she knew Chaos, like Darkborn and humans, had varying strengths, this was the first time Fia saw Chaos that could withstand [Firestorm]. What was more puzzling was that the Chaos in front of her was only third-rank. It should have been purified by [Firestorm] no matter what; a small piece shouldn’t remain.

Ssshh Ssshh—

The sound of rocks being corroded by Chaos rang out continuously. The eyeless Chaos stared firmly at Fia. For some reason, Fia felt Chaos was memorizing her appearance. An ordinary person would definitely have started trembling with fear.

Good that you remember. Scram far away when you see me in the future.

If she weren’t worried that [Overload] combined with [Orbital Bombardment] would increase the power index to the point of piercing the entire planet, she would have cleared the Chaos on the Prime Continent without needing the gods to accumulate power.

Not retreating, Fia gave Chaos enough time to remember her, then raised her hand toward the Chaos a dozen meters away.

“[Lightning Spear].”

A sizzling sound cut through the sky. The snake-shaped Chaos tried to dodge, but the speed of [Lightning Spear] was far beyond its comparison. Under Fia’s gaze, the snake formed by Chaos was pierced through the torso by the [Lightning Spear]. Then, its body condensed and shattered in the crackling lightning strike, finally disappearing completely.

“That was the true form of Chaos?”

It wasn’t until Fia withdrew her hand that Nola recovered from her tension. Although the snake-shaped Chaos was weak, the death chill and hostility it emitted were palpitating, as if something more terrifying existed on the other end of the snake, glaring at her through it. Even as a seventh-rank Holy Son, she couldn’t help but feel danger and fear.

“So weak that even I can easily eliminate it, yet I felt fear from it…”

“It’s not ordinary Chaos; much stronger than what I encountered before. Where is your Flame Greatsword? Take it out and let me see.”

“Here. What about it?”

Nola displayed the person-height Flame Greatsword in front of Fia. Fia glanced at it, thoughtfulness appearing on her exquisite features.

The Flame Greatsword didn’t glow, meaning there were no Darkborn around. Except for the Chaos seen in the Sea of Chaos, the Chaos she saw in the past always appeared with Darkborn. Now, without Darkborn commanding Chaos, Chaos running out on its own was disturbing.

It couldn’t be that the emerald barrier protecting the World Tree Continent was breached by Chaos, allowing Chaos to climb up from below—this hypothesis didn’t make sense. When she went to the Sea of Chaos to test new magic, there was absolutely no sign of Chaos climbing up along the continental shelf, let alone contacting the barrier protecting the World Tree Continent.

Moreover, except for special Darkborn who could use Chaos, Chaos would corrode everything it touched, even ghosts who were undead were no exception. But now, Chaos possessed a seventh-rank ghost and became part of its body. This was also an inexplicable point.

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In short, she must check it with Claire tonight.

“Nola said just now that the Crystal Golem encountered yesterday also had Chaos on it. Did that Chaos corrode the Crystal Golem’s body?”

“No. But that Crystal Golem’s behavior was as strange as the Fog Demon’s. Obviously intelligent and knowing Brinkat City is my territory, yet it insisted on forcing its way through. Oh right, it said ‘will’ direct it forward…”

Seeming to think of something, Nola’s voice paused, and her expression turned ugly.

“The Fog Demon said Lord Goddess granted it the power to leave the Illusion Barrier. Could that Crystal Golem also… In the first place, how could the Fog Demon not even know he was undead? How can a person not know what they are? This doesn’t make sense at all!”

“As long as he was in the Illusion Barrier from the moment he gained consciousness, he naturally wouldn’t realize he had been confused by the Illusion Barrier all along.”

Fia chose her words carefully. She didn’t want to linger on this topic. Using [Flight], she slowly flew toward the corridor bridge, leaving Nola behind.

However, Nola continued to pursue this question. The goddess revealed by the Fog Demon concerned her greatly. She felt like she touched something but was separated by a layer of paper, seemingly instinctively refusing to accept that answer.

She quickly caught up with Fia, her purple cat eyes full of urgency.

“In other words, even as a Holy Son, have I been kept in the dark by the Illusion Barrier? My failure to see through the Fog Demon’s true form means I was also deceived by the illusion?”

“I don’t understand what you’re trying to express.”

“The Illusion Barrier is something created by Lord Goddess. How could Lord Goddess not even trust me!”

Rather than questioning Fia, Nola’s wavering eyes seemed more like seeking solace, hoping Fia would tell her a reasonable explanation.

If not for Nola’s recent cute and dishonest performance, Fia would definitely have told Nola truthfully that she had actually been confused by the Illusion Barrier all along. Even if Nola couldn’t accept this fact, she would have to face it sooner or later. Telling her early or late made no difference.

However, the current Nola had become one of her important people. Although reckless, her straightforwardness and lack of cleverness revealed lovability. Her pitiful appearance of always wanting to compete with Fia and then meeting failure made one unbearable to bully her. She had lost enough. In the end, she was just a girl who hadn’t come of age yet. Appearing strong was just due to a sense of responsibility.

Fia didn’t want to deceive Nola, but in this situation, she had to lie. Feigning calmness, she looked ahead and said in a relaxed tone.

“The Goddess might have forgotten to make you immune to the Illusion Barrier. Nola having to rely on the Flame Greatsword to determine direction every time you go to find the Goddess means the Goddess might not have taken this matter to heart at all, right? Maybe it’s not that she doesn’t value you, but due to other reasons, like not wanting Nola to disturb her often, or maybe the Goddess actually can’t make Nola immune to an Illusion Barrier of this level. The Goddess is your benefactor who saved your life and granted you a God-Given Weapon; there is no reason to play tricks on Nola.”

“T-That’s true…”

Fia’s words made Nola suddenly realize, and the urgency in her expression receded rapidly like a tide.

Until she realized another problem, her expression froze instantly.

“Wait, since the Fog Demon’s true form is undead, that means the characteristic of the Flame Greatsword glowing upon meeting Darkborn is correct. Every time I stepped into the Illusion Barrier in the past, the Flame Greatsword would glow immediately. And I was always in an illusion. In other words, the scenery in the Illusion Barrier wasn’t the forest I usually saw, but a place full of undead or even Darkborn? Those monsters attacking people were all undead?”

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“No…”

Lying here would be easily seen through by Nola. Fia tried to fabricate other words to divert Nola’s attention. But before Fia could speak, Nola grabbed Fia’s wrist. The cat eyes staring at Fia were full of determination.

“Tell me the truth, Fia. If you still consider me a close friend, tell me the truth. Is the answer what I said?”

“This…”

“You hesitated.” Nola gritted her teeth, disappointment and pain revealing in her eyes. She applied force with her hand, so much so that Fia felt pain. “There is no problem with the Flame Greatsword. Lord Goddess lives in a place full of undead… The stronger the Darkborn, the greater the reaction of the Flame Greatsword. Being able to identify Lord Goddess’s direction through the Flame Greatsword means Lord Goddess is a powerful Darkborn, not a true god…”

“Calm down. Haven’t you never seen what your Goddess looks like? Are you so sure your Goddess is a fake?”

“Precisely because I haven’t seen her!” Nola lowered her head, her expression exceptionally dim. “That Stellacryst Beast named Calista wasn’t wrong…”

She realized the truth after all.

Fia sighed long and deep in her heart.

Nola’s appearance at this moment was like a homeless cat in heavy rain. Fia couldn’t help feeling annoyed. She patted Nola’s cheek, frowning.

“No matter what, the fact that Lord Goddess saved your life hasn’t changed. Darkborn also has good and bad ones. Does being a god or not matter much to you? As long as they treat you well, even a Darkborn can be gotten along with. Besides, no one has seen your Goddess now. Whether she is a Darkborn or not is still up for debate.”

“That is true, but why did Lord Goddess deceive me? Making me think I am a Holy Son?”

“Maybe there are unspeakable difficulties—”

“No need to comfort me, Fia. I want to calm down alone for a while. Can you please not follow me temporarily?”

Not a stiff expulsion tone, but full of pleading. Nola bit her lower lip tightly, her cat ears and tail drooping, like a cat that lost a fight.

Things having reached this point, better let Nola calm down alone first. Fia sighed quietly.

“Leave commanding the soldiers to clean up the battlefield to me. You go back and rest.”

“Thanks.”

Answering Fia feebly, Nola lowered her head and slowly flew into Brinkat City under the gaze of all soldiers.