Volume 8, Chapter 59 – The Fake

Passing through the Hall of Reverent Light via teleportation magic, Fia arrived at the second Nursery. Then, plunging into the intricate ant tunnels, and using the fact that the undead hadn’t yet surveyed all the passages, she silently made her way up to the Interception Hall. In this brazen manner, she infiltrated the kingdom of the dead.

Disguised by [Cloud Moon of the Illusory Sea], Fia could easily avoid undead detection. Although her living aura was too thick, causing undead to become alert and even shout whenever she got close, as long as she then used [Blink], an improved version of [Spatial Leap · Major], she could shake off any undead that sensed her presence. Having learned from being tracked by vampires through scent, she wouldn’t stumble over the same issue again.

As for how to make the first Venex confess honestly once found, Fia had already figured out the answer. Even Claire couldn’t be exempt from [Peerless Beauty] combined with [Art of the Sage]. The first Venex, a memory entity without magic power, would be even less able to resist. As long as she could meet her, she wasn’t worried about obtaining information. The only concern was that forcibly twisting someone’s will was unpleasant, but compared to dawdling until it was too late and regretting it, this was safer. Time waited for no one; who knew when the enemy hidden in the shadows would launch a lethal sneak attack?

In just a quarter of an hour, Fia arrived before the gray hall.

The kingdom of the dead was as quiet as ever. A little more flowing aurora had appeared in the sky, meaning that in just one short day, many more people had died.

Fia, blending herself with the air, slowly circled around the side of the gray hall. She tried to observe Lucitine sitting on the throne inside through the windows, but because the windows were designed so only those inside could see out, Fia couldn’t catch sight of Lucitine or Ruth.

What was she doing now?

Fia couldn’t help but wonder.

Now that Lucitine knew she and the Eye were on the same side, given Lucitine’s hatred for Chaos, she should have led people to explore the second Nursery beneath the anthill, not obediently stay in the palace. Her emotions had been too violent yesterday; she certainly hadn’t listened to her explanation—it was already at a point where nothing said would matter.

Compared to Lucitine, Ruth was more suited to be the Queen of Death.

Anyway, I’ll stop thinking about this and head to the immortal sanctuary first.

Sighing inwardly, to avoid being detected by aerial ghosts due to rapid airflow, Fia drifted unhurriedly towards the lake. This process lasted less than half a minute. As she slowly flew towards the lake, Fia frowned.

Something was strange.

The surroundings were too quiet.

The kingdom of the dead wasn’t as bustling and lively as living cities, but it wasn’t this devoid of sound either. Usually, there were still sounds of conversation and the clanking of street repairs. Now the air was eerily quiet, making Fia feel like she was walking through a ruined city after a disaster, so strange it sent chills down her spine.

Observing carefully, the ghosts floating in the air were also strange.

Fia was hiding her form with [Cloud Moon of the Illusory Sea], but if she got too close to an undead, her living aura would still be detected. Right now, there was a cyan ghost slowly drifting nearby, even at the Fifth Tier. Yet this ghost seemed not to sense Fia at all, still moving slowly and mechanically with vacant eyes.

Fia tried to cough. The cyan ghost still didn’t react. This was clearly not normal.

Strange…

Fia tested other ghosts the same way. The answer was that none of them sensed her. Even when Fia directly revealed herself, the ghosts paid her no mind.

When she first came, these ghosts, sensing her fresh living aura, would follow behind her. Now they had no reaction at all. Their state was clearly off.

It reminded her of the Venexes in the immortal sanctuary, suspended motionless in the air, infected by the first Venex’s emotions.

A bad premonition rose in her heart. Fia lingered no longer and headed straight for the lake condensed from death energy. Just as she was about to land on the lake surface, she noticed another thing: in fact, not only the ghosts floating in the sky, but even the corpses and skeletons walking on the ground were fixed in motionless poses. They sat or stood by the roadside, as if time had frozen. Only the azure flames still burning in their eye sockets showed they were still alive.

Fia forcefully pushed a standing skeleton. It fell to the ground with a clatter, its whole body as stiff as a statue.

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Apart from the flowing auroras in the sky, the entire world was frozen.

The bad premonition grew stronger. Fia’s nerves tensed.

That unknown enemy had sown discord to separate her from Lucitine. She wasn’t here last night. Could the undead losing consciousness now be the work of that unknown enemy?

As a result, making the undead lose consciousness was also a method of eliminating them.

“No…”

Both intuition and reason told Fia this was impossible.

The undead she had seen in the Interception Hall reacted to her living aura. This meant not all undead had lost consciousness; maybe only part of the kingdom of the dead was affected. Plus, the undead in the Interception Hall didn’t show the panic of their queen being attacked. Perhaps the nearby undead had been consciously stripped of consciousness by Lucitine, the Queen of Death. As for her reason for doing so, only Lucitine herself knew. Maybe it was to complete some large-scale magic.

Moreover, if this were the work of that hidden enemy, being able to set up such a massive scale magic in just one night, one that even Ninth-Tier Lucitine couldn’t react to, then there would be no need to sow discord between her and Lucitine. She left the kingdom of the dead every night; that would be the perfect opportunity to strike.

That said, the eerie situation still made Fia uneasy.

Should I go inside the palace and check?

No…

Once inside, she would definitely be detected by Lucitine. Then infiltrating the immortal sanctuary again would be even harder. Better to go to the immortal sanctuary first and get what she needed. Afterwards, through the memory sharing among Venexes, she could make Lucitine completely understand the past.

Decision made, she hesitated no longer. Treating the motionless undead around her as nothing, she enveloped herself with [Aegis of the Firmament] and leaped into the black lake, heading straight for the bottom.

Whether because of the barrier of [Aegis of the Firmament] or some other reason, the thick death lake water didn’t entrap her. Aside from the pitch-black field of vision, Fia felt like she was swimming in ordinary water—Fia couldn’t swim, but simply propelled herself forward using [Torrent] as propulsion. Following her memory, she reached the lakebed. Her palm touched the rough, cold metal door.

She infused it with magic power, then slowly pushed it open from both sides.

First came the white light leaking through a small crack. The dull, heavy sound of the metal door being pushed open grew clearer. The surrounding viscous death energy didn’t consequently flow into the immortal sanctuary; it was blocked by an invisible barrier, only lingering at the entrance.

Pushing the door open just wide enough to slip through, Fia, holding her breath, successfully entered the immortal sanctuary. This time, her field of vision was even wider than last time, enough to see everything within fifty meters.

Then she frowned. Her right hand touched Laevateinn’s hilt. Her center of gravity lowered. She had already entered combat readiness.

The world illuminated by white light was empty, not a single Venex in sight.

Fia cautiously continued inward. The result was that even when she reached the place where the first Venex should have been, she couldn’t see a single Venex.

Things within the immortal sanctuary wouldn’t perish. Not seeing any Venex now meant they had been killed not long ago and hadn’t had time to respawn.

Did Lucitine do this?

No, Lucitine had said she wouldn’t return here, and certainly wouldn’t kill herself for no reason. The most likely culprit was still that hidden enemy. Thinking more cleverly, perhaps even the possibility that the first Venex was key to turning the situation around had been factored into the other party’s plan.

—It was simply impossible.

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Not because she was unwilling to admit defeat, but because this possibility lacked objective basis.

First, knowing that Lucitine’s hatred for Chaos came from the depths of her soul was information she had gathered while chatting with Lucitine in Blossom. To then connect the depths of the soul with the first Venex, one would also need to know about the immortal sanctuary and the fact that the first Venex, as a memory entity, still existed.

The viper-like Venex had said before that she was the first outsider to step into the immortal sanctuary. So, besides her, rightfully no one knew this clue. Even if the other party had the ability to use Chaos as eyes, it wouldn’t work.

If the other party truly possessed this information, then she would have to consider whether her opponent was a god of this world, and a true one at that, omniscient and even capable of predicting the future.

[Wind of Exploration], [Mana Vision], and [Seeker’s Enlightenment] all sensed no presence of Venexes. The Venex memory entities had indeed been killed.

“Hmph.”

Fia snorted coldly. The other party was clever, but don’t forget this was the immortal sanctuary. As long as she waited here, she would eventually see the first Venex. And if the one secretly delivering the killing blow wanted to make the Venexes disappear again, they would undoubtedly run right into her. Then it would be a contest of whose fists were harder.

Smoothing out a few wrinkles in her black dress, Fia closed her eyes.

It wasn’t yet nine in the morning. Taking this time, she could go to the palace above and check on Lucitine.

If she could listen to her explanation, of course that would be good. If she couldn’t, she would quietly return to the immortal sanctuary—maybe she should explain it to Ruth instead, telling her it was the other side’s plan to sow discord. Anyway, she just needed to confirm what was going on with the undead’s strange behavior. She couldn’t let the mouse hidden in the shadows succeed.

Leaving the immortal sanctuary the same way, Fia returned to the surface. Since she needed to negotiate with Lucitine, Fia simply cancelled her concealment and strode boldly towards the main gate of the gray hall.

Along the way, the undead were all motionless like statues. Even the messengers at the gray hall’s entrance paid her no mind.

It was so strange it was hard to believe this was Lucitine’s doing.

Thinking of the Venexes who had disappeared from the immortal sanctuary, Fia’s nerves tensed again. Her right hand unconsciously touched Laevateinn’s hilt.

Finally, she flew up the long, wide steps and placed one hand on the main gate of the gray hall.

Once she pushed open this door, she might face Lucitine’s reprimand.

It really gave one psychological pressure. She’d have to settle this score with that hidden enemy.

She used force with her right hand. Then, her ruby-like eyes widened.

The door, made of anti-magic stone, didn’t budge an inch.

She had pushed the door knowing it was heavy, using what could be considered just the right amount of force. Fia frowned, then switched to using enough strength to swing a dragon around by its tail. The result was the door still didn’t budge.

“Tch.”

Fia’s eyes sharpened.

[Strength Boost III]

Dazzling gold condensed in her right hand. Fia stopped pushing and instead poured all her strength into a single, heavy punch against the stone door.

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“BOOM!”

An explosive roar like a volcanic eruption. An earth-shaking rumble, carrying a visible shockwave, echoed through the kingdom of the dead. The stone door before Fia was blasted into a massive gap. Debris flying into the hall even created countless impact craters in the walls and ceiling.

Then, Fia finally caught a glimpse of the people inside the gray hall.

A lancer completely enveloped in pitch-black armor, and Lucitine standing opposite her. The lancer’s armor was covered with scratches. Lucitine on the other side wasn’t much better; her right shoulder, which held her sword, was pierced by a hideous black lance, leaving a horrific wound. Gushing blood soaked most of her dress.

As for the Thirteen Attendants and Ruth, standing further away, they just stood rooted to the spot as if they hadn’t seen the battle in the hall at all.

“Oh? Ran right into me, huh?”

She didn’t know if this was the mastermind or a proxy, but that didn’t stop her from using it as a punching bag.

Her accumulated anger finally found an outlet. Abandoning Laevateinn, Fia clenched her golden-glowing fists together. Her knuckles emitted a series of popping cracks. Along with them came a chilling smile.

Time to carve up this rat!

◇

A short time before this.

Lucitine, as usual, sat high up on the red throne. The Thirteen Attendants and Ruth stood guard as usual on either side. The hall was eerily quiet.

However, Lucitine’s heart wasn’t as calm as usual. She kept changing her sitting posture, as if no position was comfortable. Even though her behavior and the occasional dissatisfied sounds from her throat drew the Thirteen Attendants’ secret glances, she didn’t notice at all. She just kept frowning, lost in thought.

She was regretting.

Admittedly, asking Fia to leave had come from her own mouth and was her true feeling at the time. But now she felt she might have gone too far. At the time, Fia seemed to explain that these Chaos were not of the same ilk as the Chaos under the abyss. However, at that moment, she had focused on Fia conspiring with Chaos to deceive her, coupled with her inner hatred for Chaos, which led her to say those harsh words.

Looking back now, she might, perhaps, maybe shouldn’t have been so resolute.

The undeniable fact was that once the World Tree Continent reached a life-or-death crisis, she would still cooperate with Fia—the prerequisite was that Fia stood with the World Tree Continent. Yesterday’s behavior was simply digging a hole to bury herself in the future.

No, allying with Chaos was unforgivable.

Lucitine shifted her chin from her right hand to her left, deeply frowning. She fell into deep self-contradiction.

If it were for her own good, she could forgive Fia’s deception. But exclusively meddling with Chaos was an act that could never be forgiven under any circumstances.

She had fought Chaos for tens of thousands of years. Just because Fia said “these are my people,” she was supposed to forgive them? What kind of absurdity was that? Even for the sake of the overall situation, one should consider the feelings of the undead, the victims. Besides, what she couldn’t tolerate most was Chaos. Just hearing that word made hatred churn inside her.

—Speaking of which, where did this hatred actually come from?

Lucitine, resting her head on her left hand, lowered her eyebrows in thought.

Since her consciousness was born, she had held an instinctive hatred for Chaos. Just as she had thought on the way to the nursery, this hatred didn’t simply stem from the ten-thousand-year war. The reality was she had only taken over the kingdom of the dead for less than three years. The memories of the war were all in the other Venexes’ heads. She had no real sense of the war lasting ten thousand years, nor did she truly understand how much damage Chaos had caused. It was simply an instinct to repel Chaos.

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She knew this instinct came from the depths of her soul, and had vaguely speculated that this hatred was probably the accumulated resentment of successive Venexes. However, after seeing that the first Venex also hated Chaos so deeply, she couldn’t help but waver at her own speculation.

When the first Venex was in power, there were no Chaos beneath the kingdom of the dead. Yet she hated Chaos even more than she did. It was baffling.

And since ‘replacement’ was a fixed removal of the memories of the current consciousness controlling the body, retaining only combat experience and common sense convenient for the successor to govern—equivalent to turning back time, restoring a hundred-year-old to an eighteen-year-old state—then, could the first Venex proactively choose which memories to retain in the body? For example, proactively inserting her personal enmity towards Chaos?

In this way, the reason successive “selves” hated Chaos would be explained.

The method to verify this guess was simple: she just needed to prepare for one ‘replacement’ and then observe the successor’s attitude towards Chaos.

But only a fool would willingly ‘replace’.

She had finally obtained a living body. Before she could fully experience the wonder of being alive, she would have to hand over this hard-won gift to the next self? She couldn’t even dream of such a good thing.

Then, Lucitine paused slightly.

Hard-won body, ah…

It was a gift given by Fia, yet she had treated Fia like that. She should be grateful Fia hadn’t given her a punch to wake her up at the time.

But she had already expressed her dissatisfaction with Chaos. Why did Fia have to stay with Chaos? Was she not attractive enough? Surely she was much better looking than those burly black antlered humanoids.

“Haa.”

Finally, Lucitine couldn’t help but let out a long sigh.

The key was what to do next. Without Fia’s help, the Chaos in that large cavity alone could flood most of the kingdom of the dead. The weight of this entire mountain pressing down on her shoulders made Lucitine feel like even breathing was difficult.

“Ruth, was I wrong?”

Lucitine asked listlessly. After the air was silent for a full three seconds, Lucitine, lost in thought, frowned.

Ruth still hadn’t responded. This had never happened before. Subconsciously, Lucitine looked down towards the foot of the throne. Then her pupils violently contracted.

Standing at the main entrance of the hall was a figure clad in pitch-black armor, holding a hideous black lance. Lucitine felt a familiar aura from this person, similar to her own.

The black armor’s hostile atmosphere made Lucitine narrow her eyes. She rose from the throne, trying to summon the scales sword. But to her panic, the sword, which rightfully should respond to her summons, didn’t answer.

Not only that, but Ruth and the Thirteen Attendants all stood rigidly as if their consciousness had been seized, making no move to stop the black armor.

At some point, the black armor had already walked to the foot of the throne. It pointed its hideous black lance at Lucitine. A muffled, hoarse voice came from within the armor.

“It’s my turn now, fake.”