Volume 8, Chapter 68 – Within Expectations

Teleportation magic doesn’t instantly transport you from one point to another upon use. Instead, for one to two minutes, you find yourself in a hazy, shifting starry sky. The stars in this sky trail long afterimages as Fia moves at high speed, giving one the sensation of shuttling through a tunnel.

In most cases, this kind of drifting, trance-like sensation can cause symptoms of motion sickness. However, Lucitine was a Ninth-Tier powerhouse; the effects of motion sickness on her were negligible. In comparison, Fia was the one feeling puzzled now.

The reason was that Lucitine was currently silent. In the past, Lucitine would have been like a curious child, constantly asking questions about the world of the living, such as how elves reproduce using [Mana Surge], or whether sleeping in the same bed as a member of the opposite sex would create a baby. Today’s silence was truly abnormal.

Could it be that she hadn’t responded to Lucitine’s confession this morning, and Lucitine thought she had been rejected and was feeling depressed?

Fia quietly turned her head to glimpse Lucitine’s profile under her black veil. However, Lucitine’s expression was very natural, with no signs of depression or preoccupation. Looking closely, one could discern a thoughtful look in her eyes.

Full of an intellectual aura, not at all like Lucitine. Clearly just minutes ago, she hadn’t been like this.

But if she wasn’t clinging to her, she was happy to have some peace and quiet. Those questions were too embarrassing to answer. Fia gently held Lucitine’s hand, quietly waiting for the teleportation to end.

Until Lucitine suddenly asked.

“Fia, are you also Chaos?”

“Huh? Why do you say that?”

Starting off with an explosive statement, Fia couldn’t help but think inwardly that this was indeed the Lucitine she knew.

Lucitine rested her right fist on her chin, striking a thoughtful pose.

“None of the successive Queens of Death have ever seen Chaos speak. Yet they can coordinate with each other. Besides them making sounds we can’t hear, or having a means of communication similar to [Message] magic, I can’t imagine how they usually contact each other. Fia, being an elf, can command them, which made me wonder if Fia might also be Chaos.”

“How could that be? I’m a genuine elf. What Chaos looks as cute as me?” Fia explained quite honestly. She raised her left hand, which was holding Lucitine’s, and playfully pouted. “Look at the clearly visible slender blood vessels and delicate skin on the back of this hand. These are features only a beautiful girl has. As for the means of contact Lucitine mentioned, I can only communicate with them through a trick, which is by using this.”

Fia shook her fair right hand. The ruby ring on her pinky, constantly glowing, was particularly conspicuous.

“I don’t know about the Eyes under the abyss, but the Eyes under the anthill indeed connect with each other through thought. By relying on this ring, I can hear their thoughts. As for how I convey my own thoughts to them, I just need to use ancient Elvish… It’s strange, come to think of it. Why do Chaos use ancient Elvish as their language of communication? I still haven’t found a suitable explanation to this day. They call me Father God, saying that not only is my magical aura the same as the Father God who once saved them, but also that whoever holds this ring is their Father God. I think this method of judgment is too arbitrary, but they find it perfectly normal.”

“Could it be that reincarnation really exists… For example, Fia was born once ten thousand years ago and then died of old age. The current Fia is Fia after reincarnation.”

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“You’re the Queen of Death. Shouldn’t you understand reincarnation better than me?”

“No… Fia has also seen the reincarnation ceremony. It’s simply crushing souls; it can’t be called reincarnation. More importantly, how do the Absolute Evil and the Sovereign you mentioned before command Chaos? Fia said they use Chaos as tools to enhance strength. Since Fia commands Chaos through the ring, what about them? With the World Tree barrier blocking them, where do they obtain Chaos?”

Lucitine’s string of questions made Fia pause.

Honestly, she hadn’t considered this aspect. In the past, due to insufficient intelligence, she didn’t know about the existence of the World Tree barrier. So she had thought the Sovereign and Absolute Evil had simply gone down to the abyss themselves and plucked up some Chaos. Now, knowing about the World Tree barrier, how the two of them obtained Chaos, and even dangerous items like the Chaos Seed, became quite thought-provoking.

“Well… the Sovereign and the Absolute Evil are somewhat different. The Sovereign can’t make Chaos obediently follow his commands like I can. He simply puts Chaos and humans together, letting Chaos devour humans, hoping to find a way for humans to maintain their self-awareness after being devoured by Chaos. The Absolute Evil relies on something called a Chaos Seed. As long as a demon swallows a Chaos Seed, they can gain the power to control Chaos. However, this power merely raises someone by one tier; it doesn’t allow a leap from the First Tier to the Ninth Tier.”

“I’m not sure how they obtained Chaos and the Chaos Seeds. Only by finding them can I know the answer—Does Lucitine want to eliminate them?”

At the end, Fia looked at Lucitine. Her ruby-like eyes showed no emotional fluctuation.

Lucitine thought for a moment, then answered firmly.

“If they don’t repent, they are my enemies. Honestly, even now, just hearing the word ‘Chaos’ makes hatred churn inside me. Only by reminding myself that those Chaos belong to Fia’s command can reason suppress the unpleasant feeling. This reason does not apply to the Sovereign and the Absolute Evil.”

“More importantly, I heard from Ruth about the deeds of the Absolute Evil and the Sovereign. If you hadn’t found me recently, Fia, I’d probably already be on my way to deal with the Absolute Evil. Him publicly tearing up the agreement with the undead and attacking Ruth is a crime I cannot tolerate. As for the Sovereign, turning humans into Chaos is an unforgivable act.”

“I see…”

Fia nodded thoughtfully. It wasn’t that Lucitine had no hatred for Chaos, but that her regard for her outweighed her hatred for Chaos.

Did this mean that after that cheesy confession, Lucitine’s feelings for her had become serious? Fia was a bit uncertain, unsure how to confirm—rashly asking would certainly be seen as narcissistic.

What if Lucitine truly harbored feelings that could be called ‘like’ towards me? What should I do…

Biting her lip lightly, Fia agonized.

Agreeing outright would be too casual. In two months, her wedding would be held. Adding another fiancée during this period—how lacking in moral principles would that make her look… Just imagining the nobles’ pointed fingers in her mind gave Fia a headache.

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—No, knowing those old fossils, they certainly wouldn’t dare to point fingers. Instead, they would praise her to her face with statements like, “Truly worthy of Her Highness the Princess, you really turned the tables,” “Her Highness the Princess is full of charm,” and “The royal family will henceforth flourish from now on.” Although, based on the elven custom of preferring many children and grandchildren, these words were positive and full of enthusiastic praise. Fia could even imagine Yelido and Yulisha beaming with joy. However, such statements sounded to her like insults, and sarcastic ones at that.

No, even if she were to take that step, she couldn’t agree just because someone confessed. She was an elf princess, not an easy person. At the very least, she should spend more time with Lucitine first before making a decision.

Fia nodded in profound agreement inwardly. Then, as the light before their eyes grew brighter, an empty square appeared before them.

They had finally arrived inside the Hall of Reverent Light.

In their field of vision was a retro pyramid city. In the wide square, Antler Chaos could be seen everywhere paying homage to the massive statue. Not all Antler Chaos took human form. Due to insufficient strength, the vast majority were in forms similar to slimes or oozes, only able to drag their bodies and crawl slowly. The only difference between them and slimes was the small azure antlers on their heads.

Although the city was full of Antler Chaos, there was no trace of daily life. It was eerily quiet.

“Father God.”

Seeing Fia appear, the four blue-eyed Chaos waiting beneath the statue immediately stepped forward and knelt on one knee. This sight made Lucitine’s breath catch. If Fia hadn’t tightened her grip on Lucitine’s hand, Lucitine would have subconsciously summoned the scales sword and entered combat mode.

Four blue-eyed Chaos meant four Ninth-Tier powerhouses. The pressure released by these four approaching together made Lucitine, who had long been enemies with Chaos, feel her scalp tingle and her heart race as if it might leap from her chest. To use a more common explanation, it was like seeing four bloodthirsty giant bears take a step forward together while you were just an unarmed ordinary person who had wandered into a forest. Your first reaction would naturally be to panic and flee.

Not to mention the other Antler Chaos in the square pausing to pay homage to the statue. Such a grand and massive city made Lucitine feel insignificant.

For the first time, she realized that Chaos weren’t as savage as she had imagined. They had civilization, not just beasts that could live by digging a hole anywhere. The streets, houses, and even the ordinary Chaos flowing in the canals before her eyes all proved that Chaos possessed creativity. They could work together to construct complexes of astonishing scale underground.

In this square alone, there were over a hundred Eighth and Ninth-Tier Chaos. And according to Fia, the Hall of Reverent Light was just one of their dwellings. They also had places like the first Nursery and the second Nursery for cultivating ordinary Chaos.

For the undead to have held out against such an enemy for ten thousand years was simply a miracle.

Lucitine couldn’t help but break out in a cold sweat for herself. If not for the Chaos merely wanting a place to live, rather than wanting to exterminate the undead, she couldn’t imagine how the undead could have lasted ten thousand years, let alone expel the Chaos from the anthill. Furthermore, Fia had stumbled into becoming the leader of these Chaos, and she had even gained Fia’s favor. Calling it the undead’s incredible luck would be no exaggeration.

And I had committed the stupidity of expelling Fia…

For a moment, Lucitine’s understanding of Fia deepened even more. If it were her, she would cling to the Chaos’s thigh without a second thought. Why go to all the trouble of slowly easing the conflict between Chaos and the undead? Fia was practically from another world.

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Lucitine swallowed hard, producing a dull gulp.

Unaware of Lucitine’s thoughts, Fia, after confirming that Lucitine was fine—though a stiff expression couldn’t be called fine—naturally took Lucitine’s hand and stepped forward.

“Where is Milan? It should be time for the report.”

“Father God, Milan has encountered a little trouble and needs some time before he can return.”

“Trouble? You can report in Milan’s place. Go ahead.”

The Eye possessed thought connections that span space. What Milan knew, the other Eyes also knew. Their only difference lay in expressive ability. When Milan conveyed messages to her through thought, his language was clear and easy to understand. When other Eyes conveyed messages, they were less clear, with many emotional expressions added to their thoughts, requiring Fia to interpret them herself.

“Yes. A few hours ago, Milan discovered that some of the nutrients in the second Nursery had mutated. No matter how we manipulated them, we couldn’t turn these nutrients back into nutrients under our control. We detected the traitor’s aura on this mutated portion. Considering the traitor should be near the second Nursery, Milan ordered a search and encirclement, while he himself came to the Hall of Reverent Light to await you. However, on Milan’s way here, the Eyes encircleing the traitor were also infected by a frenzied thought and could no longer communicate with us. Milan believes they have already betrayed. The battle situation is now at a stalemate.”

“Huh?”

Fia frowned. The rising tone and questioning inflection in her voice made Lucitine beside her tense up as well.

“You mean, the Eyes Milan considered to have betrayed are now fighting Milan, and because they are tainted with the traitor’s aura, they have become our enemies?”

“Please forgive my poor explanation. The situation is exactly as you say, Father God. We distinguish friend from foe through thought connection. If we cannot connect via thought, they are outcasts who have left the mother body. If the outcasts are willing to disintegrate and return to the mother body’s embrace, that’s one thing. But they refuse to disintegrate; they are already no different from traitors.”

Disintegrate meant death. According to this blue-eyed Chaos, it seemed that the Eyes infected by the dark red Chaos had lost their connection with Milan. Milan decided to deal with these Eyes, but they didn’t obey his commands, so a fight broke out between them.

The worst-case scenario she had imagined was indeed happening. But at least for now, the triggering of the Eyes being controlled/betraying certainly required a prerequisite condition; it wasn’t happening without warning.

Paying constant attention to changes in the Eyes was indeed the right choice.

She had to find and root out that irritating maggot before the situation escalated.

“Did you send reinforcements?”

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“No. Milan reported that the situation is urgent. The power the traitor committed is stronger than imagined. Any Eye could have their mind altered upon contact. He ordered us to interrupt communication with the second Nursery and not to go there until you appeared.”

For Milan to speak to his equal companions in a commanding tone, the situation must be even more critical than described.

Her eyes already extremely serious, Fia drew the Moon Key from her waist.

“Take me there—just you alone is enough.”

“Yes.”

As she finished speaking, the space echoed with the cluttered sound of Antler Chaos communicating. Then, the blue-eyed Chaos who had reported to her left the ground in flight, heading straight for a passage at the edge of the underground city. Relieved, Lucitine, while looking at the Chaos still kneeling on the ground before her, leaned closer to Fia and asked quietly.

“Where is he going?”

“Underground the anthill. They’ve encountered considerable trouble. I need to go there immediately—it’s very dangerous there, Lucitine. Go back to the surface first.”

“No. I’m going with you.”

“This isn’t a sightseeing trip.”

“Of course I know it’s not a sightseeing trip. But the underground of the anthill is my territory, isn’t it? Since it concerns me, I must go and inspect it. And don’t be fooled by how much you’ve been helping me, Fia. I am, after all, a Ninth-Tier powerhouse. I’m not just a burden who holds you back. Now that Fia needs help, I must contribute, not just stand by and watch. I can’t accept running away from a fight. I can help you too.”

Lucitine’s eyes were full of determination and hope. The words “want to help” were already written on her face. Fia could even feel a hint of the queen’s dignified aura.

Time was of the essence. Fia nodded seriously.

“Don’t regret it. Follow me.”