Volume 6, Chapter 56 – Forbidden Spell: Space Confinement!

“Ugh… ah…”

Her voice caught in her throat, unable to come out. Nola, with tense muscles, took a small step back. It wasn’t until she put some distance between herself and the old man dressed as a priest that her uneasiness gradually disappeared.

She was a seventh-rank Holy Son. Even deep in enemy territory, there was no need to be overly nervous; that was a reaction only the weak would have.

If gods and Darkborn, who were outside the rules, were set aside, the seventh rank was already a top-tier combat force on the World Tree Continent. Nola seemed unimpressive simply because Fia, used as a comparison, was strong beyond standard. To put it more bluntly, if Chazo didn’t have the backing of the Demon General of Absolute Death, Nola alone could sweep through Cold Night and become its queen.

Once realizing she could kill the old man in front of her at any time, Nola calmed down. She looked up and down at this strangely dressed demon.

Wrinkled purple-black skin, pitch-black horns in the shape of a goat on his head, and slowly flapping gray wings indicated these weren’t decorations. No matter how one looked at it, the racial characteristics were those of a demon. Yet the old man wore white priest attire with gold patterns embedded on the pure white robe. Except for the lack of a cross or hexagram symbol, saying this was church attire would be perfectly fine; it revealed holiness and solemnity everywhere.

Are there priests among demons too?

Suppressing this question, Nola raised her chin slightly, looking down at the frail old man with the posture of a superior.

“Are you a Darkborn?”

She hadn’t forgotten her purpose in entering the light screen; she came to find her Goddess. When passing through the light screen just now, she didn’t feel traces of teleportation magic, which meant this was indeed the Weeping Mountains.

Her Goddess was a Darkborn, so it was understandable that other Darkborn were around her residence. The demons living here should be the Goddess’s servants—Nola really wanted to comfort herself with this reason. But her reason told her this possibility was small; her Goddess wouldn’t lock up weak people with shackles.

It was just that, if these demons were villains, why could they commit despicable acts right under her Goddess’s nose? Did she misunderstand the meaning of the scene before her, or was there another reason?

Missing too much intelligence, Nola couldn’t understand the current situation. Plus, the old man didn’t release hostility, so she couldn’t act recklessly or judge the old man’s good or evil arbitrarily. Taking the Wandering Knight and the Knowledge-Seeking Demon General as examples, Darkborn were also divided into good and evil. Not all Darkborn were enemies; as long as communication was good, they could also become partners.

This was also the reason why her faith didn’t collapse upon learning her Goddess was a Darkborn. Whether her Goddess was a god or a Darkborn couldn’t change the fact that she was saved by the Goddess. Beastmen weren’t like humans who wore different colored glasses because of the other party’s race. When she was desperate in the Weeping Mountains back then, it was the Goddess who saved her. If she were to raise her sword against the Goddess in ungrateful revenge just because the Goddess’s true identity was a Darkborn, such conduct would be simply unreasonable.

Might as well ask this old man about what I don’t understand. If the demons here haven’t done evil things, I can let them go with peace of mind. If they are doing unrighteous acts, I’ll smash this place immediately.

Firm will flashed in her eyes. Nola held the Flame Greatsword diagonally, questioning in a stiff tone.

“Can you answer a few of my questions?”

“Of course, Miss Holy Son of Cold Night. If you aren’t in a hurry, I can also show you around here. If you are willing to help us after seeing it, that would be even better. I am the person in charge here; you can call me Galil.”

The old man calling himself Galil showed a kind smile, making Nola feel a trace of friendliness. Galil hunched his back and gestured “please,” then flew to the ground. Nola hesitated for a moment before following. As her feet touched the solid ground, the rotten wind Nola smelled earlier became stronger. The aura of death filled the air everywhere, sending a chill across her skin.

This isn’t a place suitable for the living to stay long.

She glanced at her Flame Greatsword. Before entering the light screen, the Flame Greatsword didn’t emit a trace of light, but at this moment, it emitted dazzling light like a fireball. This meant the light screen might have the effect of isolating detection magic, and the level was so high that even the Flame Greatsword couldn’t break through.

“Is Miss Holy Son here to find Lord Helian?”

Two points Nola didn’t understand appeared in a short sentence. Nola raised her eyebrows, following the old man slowly toward the palace ahead. There were several palaces of various sizes here, each palace-like building connected by gray stone slab roads, like an ancient city.

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“How do you know I am the Holy Son? Who is Helian?”

“Oh…” The old man looked enlightened, smiling amiably while stroking his beard. “It was the weapon in your hand and your race that told me your identity. Apart from the Holy Son of Cold Night, no second person fits these two characteristics. As for Lord Helian, she is the master of this land. It was Lord Helian who granted you the Flame Greatsword.”

“Ugh.”

Nola froze instantly.

Helian was her Goddess’s name.

Thinking carefully, not even knowing the Goddess’s name and having to be told by someone else was truly shameful.

Seeing Nola’s embarrassment, the old man stopped, his face full of surprise.

“Could it be you don’t know?”

“…Lord Goddess never mentioned it to me.”

“Hoho, so that’s how it is. I misspoke.” The old man revealed a gentle smile, comforting Nola while moving forward. “Miss Holy Son need not be ashamed. Lord Helian is known to everyone among us Darkborn. My Lord must have been worried that if she told you her name, and you accidentally revealed it, it might bring you trouble. You know, those people from the Holy Kingdom of Milcandis will come looking for trouble immediately if they hear someone has connections with Darkborn.”

“I-Is that so…”

Lord Goddess actually thought for me to this extent.

It’s just that I’ve never heard the name Helian.

She hurriedly changed the topic to cover up her ignorance.

“What is the relationship between Galil and Lord Goddess? The Lord Goddess I’m talking about is Lord Helian. Is this Lord Goddess’s residence?”

“I should be considered the executor of Lord Helian’s orders. This is not Lord Helian’s home, only a temporary residence. If you have words to tell Lord Helian, I can convey them for you.”

“Convey? Lord Goddess isn’t here?”

“Lord Helian has many things to be busy with; even I cannot disturb her at will.”

Nola’s heart sank. Not disturbing her now might mean parting forever. She couldn’t help getting anxious. As if seeing through the urgency in Nola’s eyes, Galil thought for a moment and changed his words.

“If you are in a hurry, you can wait here for a moment. Lord Goddess has to come out of the palace eventually. At that time, you can personally explain the answers you want to know to Lord Goddess. Is this okay?”

“Okay!”

Nola agreed excitedly. As long as she could clarify to the Goddess that she didn’t mean to offend just now, she could leave here with peace of mind. Galil struck while the iron was hot, the smile on his wrinkled face becoming even brighter.

“Please follow me.”

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“Wait a moment, I’ll just stay outside.” The architectural style here made Nola extremely uncomfortable; her subconscious refused to let her enter the enclosed environment. She nodded her chin toward the people walking with shackles in the distance. “What are they doing? Why has Lord Goddess never mentioned this place to me?”

“This…”

Even the always composed Galil couldn’t help hesitating upon seeing the shackled team. He raised his chin, pondered for quite a while, and finally sighed heavily.

“Lord Helian has her reasons for not telling you. However, since Lord Helian is about to leave this place, I suppose there’s no harm in telling you. This is the experimental site where we strive to save the World Tree Continent.”

Save the World Tree Continent? Experimental site?

Nola naturally felt puzzled.

“Please follow me.”

Galil continued to gesture “this way.” That smiling face revealed pride and self-satisfaction. Nola had seen this expression on beastman craftsmen; it was the look of being extremely satisfied with one’s masterpiece.

“It’s reasonable that you don’t understand. After all, it’s an unprecedented feat. To ensure its normal progress, we invested unknown amounts of manpower and financial resources, keeping it secret from outsiders. Hmm… Does Miss Holy Son know what Chaos is?”

“A mixture of the resentment of dead gods and the blood of Darkborn—that’s the book definition. Actually, the Chaos I saw was no different from black slime.”

“You have actually grasped this step. Even among us Darkborn, very few have seen Chaos with their own eyes.”

Galil stroked his chin lightly, looking at Nola with a bit more appreciation in his eyes.

“The Chaos swarm keeps us away from the land of abundance. They devour all elements and magic essence they can touch. Wherever they pass, not a blade of grass grows. If not for the miracle laid down by the gods blocking Chaos, even the World Tree Continent we live on would hardly escape disaster today. Haven’t you been curious? Since the World Tree Continent is a world protruding from the Prime Continent, why hasn’t Chaos climbed up the cliff and devoured us completely? After all, the number of Chaos is endless; piling up together to climb up isn’t completely impossible.”

I never thought about it.

Nola answered honestly in her heart. Who would care about something they had never seen and had nothing to do with? Worrying about Chaos climbing up from under the World Tree Continent was no different from worrying about being killed by a meteorite; pure baseless anxiety. Better use this time to think about what to eat for dinner.

Galil didn’t expect Nola to answer him. Like chanting, he narrated with a tone and rhythm different from ordinary people.

“Now the gods’ whereabouts are unknown. Without the gods’ maintenance, Chaos will one day break through the gods’ miracle and come to our World Tree Continent. We couldn’t contend with them even when the gods were present; how can we talk about being enemies with Chaos with just us left? When that day really comes, we will only have the fate of being slaughtered by Chaos.”

“Wait, don’t you think you worry too much? Leaving aside what the gods’ miracle refers to, I only saw Chaos for the first time yesterday. God knows if they can climb up. Nothing happened in the past ten thousand years; surely nothing will happen now.”

“No, they have already found the way to the World Tree Continent. As long as the time is ripe, they will appear in front of us at any time. At that time, how to save our own lives will become a difficult problem. Chaos is endless. How does Miss Holy Son think we can defeat them?”

Galil stared into Nola’s eyes. Sharpness unfitting his age flashed through his cloudy eyes.

Nola couldn’t help feeling embarrassed. She hadn’t even considered Chaos climbing onto the World Tree Continent, let alone how to defeat Chaos. In her view, just kill them one by one like dealing with monsters. But this answer obviously couldn’t satisfy Galil.

Not only that, the demons on the street and flying in the air had noticed her now. Their scrutiny made her quite uncomfortable. The surrounding tall buildings also made her feel doubly oppressed. If she didn’t absolutely trust her Goddess, even with Galil’s amiable attitude, she would leave here no matter what.

As if giving Nola time to think, Galil withdrew his gaze and moved forward without a word, heading straight for the team advancing slowly with shackles. This awkward atmosphere continued until Galil led Nola across the city, catching up with the large demons escorting humans, beastmen, and elves.

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Before she knew it, they had reached the end of this brownish-red world, the abyss Nola saw initially.

Calling this an abyss was really inappropriate; comparing it to the end of the world was more apt. Across the cliff was an endless brownish-red sky, while thick clouds rolled beneath her feet. The desertified ground seemed like it would crumble and fall if stepped on with a little force, making Nola dare not walk too far forward.

The large demons began to unlock the shackles for the mixed team of humans, elves, and beastmen. Accompanied by a dull thud , a leather bag over ten meters high, sewn from leather, was smashed onto the ground. This leather bag had been carried by a twenty-meter-tall giant demon at the head of the team. Now the giant demon intended to release the contents of the bag.

“What are they doing?”

Nola asked subconsciously. From the moment the bag hit the ground, she felt intense discomfort, and the Flame Greatsword in her hand became even more glaring. If not for the people in the team showing no reaction at all, she would have already rushed up to separate the people from the demons.

“They are dedicating themselves to the creatures on the World Tree Continent.”

“Dedicating themselves? What does that mean?”

Sensing something was wrong, Nola’s eyebrows shot up instantly.

But Galil remained unmoved, as if talking about an insignificant matter.

“The sacrifices themselves won’t necessarily die. Besides, look, they are neither crying nor running away. They willingly risk their lives to complete the experiment for me. What touching dedication. What we should do is send them blessings, not stop them.”

Because Nola didn’t listen to him at all and chose to take a step toward the giant demon, Galil frowned. He took out a silver divine staff from somewhere and blocked Nola’s path horizontally.

“Wait. It was my fault for not telling you the answer just now. Once you hear my explanation, you will understand all this. Rather than fighting Chaos, isn’t merging with Chaos a more perfect choice?”

“Gaining a stronger body, not suffering from hunger and cold. More importantly, even if jumping into the Sea of Chaos, one won’t be eroded by Chaos, but will instead think that’s the most suitable place for survival. Now the experiment has reached the final stage. The Crystal Golem and Fog Demon in the Illusion Barrier are successful examples. Although there were failures devoured by Chaos, their sacrifices were worth it. Their failures allowed me to correct problems and start over. Now, as long as the sample size is expanded to ensure everyone can merge with Chaos, wouldn’t the threat of Chaos be perfectly solved!”

By the end, Galil’s voice was incomparably high-pitched, his whole body trembling from fanaticism and excitement. His eyes seemed to look into the distant future, his whole face overflowing with the joy of desiring approval. Nola even felt he might start dancing at any moment, like a madman with a crooked mouth talking nonsense.

No, this is a madman.

My initial intuition was not wrong; this old man is no good at all!

At this time, the demons had untied the huge bag. Even dozens of meters away from the demons, Nola could see the churning, boiling-like black slime at the mouth of the bag.

Definitely not a good thing.

Nola glared at Galil with sharp eyes, the Flame Greatsword pointing straight at Galil’s neck.

“Order your demons to release those people. I’ll only give you one chance.”

Not frightened by Nola’s action, Galil tilted his head.

“Oh my, are you going to betray Lord Helian? This is all Lord Helian’s will.”

“I don’t believe Lord Goddess would harm the weak. Take back your lies. Lord Goddess already told me she would go beneath the World Tree Continent to fight a decisive battle with Chaos herself.”

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Nola’s eyes were full of firm will. Just as she said, she absolutely didn’t believe her Goddess would associate with Chaos, nor did she believe her Goddess would grant Chaos to the Crystal Golem and Fog Demon to attack her. This didn’t make sense at all.

The only possibility was that this old man in front of her was lying. Even if there were many inexplicable things in this—such as why her Goddess allowed this old man to exist here—it couldn’t change the fact that she firmly believed her Goddess was kind.

Being foolishly straightforward had its benefits; her faith wouldn’t be shaken by just a few sentences. She could suspect she didn’t have much status in the Goddess’s heart because the Goddess was too gentle and loved everyone equally, but she wouldn’t believe her Goddess would commit evil deeds because that was the deity who granted her a second life.

Galil pressed the divine staff against the Flame Greatsword, trying to push it away gently, speaking unhurriedly.

“Precisely because Lord Helian knew you would lose your reason like now, she used the excuse of a decisive battle with Chaos to comfort you. As a Holy Son, you are a unique sample. Shouldn’t you take the lead and dedicate yourself to Lord Goddess’s plan, trying to merge with Chaos? This is why I brought you here—”

Crack.

Before Galil could finish speaking, Nola cut his divine staff in two with one strike. Then, before Galil could react, she grabbed Galil’s collar and lifted his hunched body.

She narrowed her eyes slightly, glaring at the madman in front of her.

“No one is allowed to blaspheme Lord Goddess. I will make you pay for your arrogance!”

Not giving Galil a chance to refute, Nola threw the wide-eyed Galil into the air and swung her sword to cut him in half at the waist. However, a deep purple figure suddenly darted out from the side, blocking between her and Galil.

Clang!

The sound of metal clashing was deafening. Sparks from the weapons illuminated the surroundings. Nola, whose hands were numb, saw the comer’s appearance clearly in an instant. She couldn’t mistake this face so close at hand.

The comer was Helian.

How is this possible?!

The person with wide eyes became Nola. She even forgot to apply force with her hands, then was swept away by Helian’s sword, falling diagonally onto the ground. But even so, she had absolutely no intention of fighting back. Her brain buzzed as if a bomb had been thrown in, completely losing the ability to think. Her face turned pale, staring blankly, not knowing what to do.

But Helian didn’t pursue. Instead, she turned back to grab Galil, who was thrown into the air, and activated teleportation magic directly. Galil panicked; he struggled to wave his limbs, trying to break free from Helian’s hands, but he was no match for Helian. He could only watch helplessly as he was sent into the teleportation gate.

“Helian, are you crazy! Capture her quickly!”

“You should thank me for willing to use a familiar to save you. Those two mad dogs are behind. If you want to live, go with my familiar!”

“Mad dogs? Calling me names, at most I’ll just teach you a lesson. But including Claire too… today is your death date.”

As if chasing Helian for a long time, a black figure holding Claire gradually appeared in the air. Fia raised her left hand. White runes flashed frantically in her crimson eyes, and vast magic power like a flood spread from her whole body.

“[ Forbidden Spell: Spatial Confinement ]!”