Let me know if there are errors.
The moonlight illuminated the halls of the palace of the Thalivielle Kingdom.
Arnold and Laethea walked the halls silently, their destination: Lian's lab.
"Laethea" is Angelica from the future who became the Goddess of Destiny.
She came here for two reasons—
1. Find the Goddess of Fate so that her powers don't end up in the wrong hands.
2. Help Arnold get the best "ending", both for himself and the game.
Of course, she knows about his crimes but also knows they're necessary to control the events that will lead to a better ending. Laethea, who tried to convince him she was the real Angelica, told him of various events that have happened, are currently happening and will ever happen.
For example, she knows he killed Suarif and that he planned to awaken Luke by force. Due to his identity as a "highborn", a mortal blessed with omniscience from another world, she knows his actions are necessary so she didn't reproach him for them.
Laethea also said that she can't tell him certain things as using future knowledge to satiate curiosity can have dire consequences. This doesn't apply to things that already happened in the game and that were discovered by him.
But telling him who's a player will have some domino effects on both their life and his life. He's not too concerned with that right now since he has a big quest coming up and wants to focus on the World Tree.
"Uhm, is it necessary to walk like this?" Laethea, her ethereal face flushed, asked as she referred to his arm around her thin waist.
High Elves had very strange but unique bodies. She had a thinner waist than any human before their organs had no room left, plump hips no different from a healthy human woman, long legs and slender fingers.
You wouldn't think they're actual elves but aliens who bred with elves.
"Don't you think it would be suspicious of us to walk together and chatting like old friends despite meeting only today?" he remarked.
"B-But they'll assume I'm a slut who craves humans…"
"It's a better excuse than coming up with one on the spot. Do you think they'll believe we have the same bird watching hobby?"
"…" she trembled slightly.
"That reminds me, were we ever in a relationship?"
"You were consumed with conquering the realms and I ascended to the divine realm to help Hero Luke fight against you. Victoria was the only woman you ever gave the time of day. How can I not just meet with the enemy but have relations with him?"
"Hmm, that's a bummer."
"What is?"
"I was thinking we could have a three-way with your younger self."
"…" she narrowed her eyes at him.
He chuckled, "I'm joking. Unless you want to sit and watch?"
"Of course I don't! It would be like watching, uhm, what do the earthlings call it?"
"Por—"
"A-Actually, don't use that vulgar word here…"
"You're very innocent for a goddess from the future." He laughed at her bashfulness.
"This is how I maintain my humanity." She harrumphed.
Just as they reached the far end of the hall in the west wing where Lian's lab was, the door to the lab opened, revealing a heavily dishevelled Lian with severe eyebags. Her usually elegant visage was completely destroyed by her unkempt hair and wrinkled clothes. For some reason, she looked a little younger by about five years even though he remembered her looking in her thirties.
'She must've used one of her potions and pills to reverse her aging.'
She was carrying a basket of potions in her hands. Her tired fish eyes sprang to life when she saw the two of them.
"…Sir Arnold?"
**
Lian had to take the potions to Setariah (they're for the raid party) so Arnold and Laethea remained in the lab waiting for her for a few minutes.
When Lian returned, she ran up to Arnold and hurriedly knelt.
"I-I'm sorry that I'm so useless! Please forgive me for my inability!"
"…?" he cringed at the sudden scene, "What do you mean…?"
"I…" she hesitantly lifted her upper body while still kneeling, "…I couldn't reproduce an Ascension Pill without a magic beast's heart… The recipe for one is too complex and the materials here are too inefficient… If I could go to other realms, I could secure other materials that might get me closer to it!"
She's right about there being useful materials in other realms. But most of those places are very dangerous. It's a "high risk, high reward" even for gathering herbs.
The developers must've been huge cultivation fans to make picking herbs such a difficult mission.
"…You're saying that even after all this time, you haven't been able to make anything of use to me?"
"N-No, that's not it." she flinched at his cold gaze and quickly got up and ran to a shelf filled with boxes with labels of what kind of potions they were. She retrieved a small jade-colored box and brought it to him.
'What's this unnatural energy?'
It was like he was being bathed in internal energy. It felt similar to going into your "Sea of Subconscious" to meditate. Arnold last did this years ago but the sensation was still so vivid.
"Such strong energy." Commented Laethea, "She really is the Divine Doctor we were told stories of…"
Lian opened the jade box. Inside were a dozen green pills pulsing with vitality.
The sensation grew stronger once the energy was released.
'This woman really apologized for not answering my expectations while she made something like this!?'
· Pill of the Ancients
· Description: Does not fill the user with internal energy but by consuming this elixir and meditating in nature, Player Anrold will be able to absorb the lifeforce of the surrounding vegetation
· This lifeforce or spiritual energy can be converted into internal energy by the medicine
The World Tree forest is known to have the most abundant spiritual energy in the entire nine realms. Were restrictions not placed on demigods, many powerful beings would've travelled here just to absorb the spiritual energy.
In order to absorb spiritual energy, you need elixirs that can use its own energy to convert the spiritual energy into internal energy.
While Lian didn't make him the ultimate elixir that could grant him Aether, she still gave him something that can allow him to increase his internal energy when he runs out.
He's a patient person so meditating won't be an issue if it means recovering all that internal energy he used up.
Lian timidly lifted her head, probably expecting a scolding.
This woman doesn't know her own talents. Or maybe she does but she lacks common sense for this world. No wonder Ko Johun kept her in his palace to help him breakthrough. There are probably only a few people in the entire nine realms that could be her equal. But she's an actual Divine Doctor from a different timeline and is blessed by the Spirit King who watches over the Spirit Realm and allows her to pick the herbs there.
"You've exceeded my expectations this time, Lian."
"R-Really?" through her dishevelled hair, he spotted a smile surface on her face, "But… I couldn't do what was asked of me even when I was so confident I could do it."
"It's fine." He took the jade box and looked at the pills closely. Their fragrant scent calmed his mind, a contrast to the horrors the empire is going through right now.
"What do you want as your reward?"
"I-I couldn't ask for something like that as you've saved me and the people I cared about." she bowed, "I just hope I can continue to work under you, Sir Arnold. You possess the God of War's peerless martial spirit and will one day awaken your own martial spirit, becoming even stronger. I would like to be beside you once you become one of the strongest warriors in the realms."
Gederick's martial spirit, huh? He hasn't given his own martial spirit much thought. Technically he hasn't reached Equilibrium yet since he's not in his own body right now. It's still at Lyra's castle.
But if he goes back into his body, will he awaken his own martial spirit, thereby possessing two martial spirits and attaining a second awakening?
He's curious how strong he'll become.
"Ugh!" a pain suddenly struck his chest and he coughed up blood.
"A-Arnold!"
"Sir!"
He collapsed on his knees then screamed inwardly.
'What's going on in there!?'
-I beat the evil spirit but she's giving me trouble so I can't absorb her internal energy and lifeforce yet!
Gederick manifested, surprising Laethea and Lian.
"I-Is that Gederick…?" Laethea remarked seeing the God of War's avatar.
-Humph! You're lucky my spirit has degraded over the past ten thousand years otherwise you would've never beaten me!
A little girl manifested beside him, wearing an elegant gown fit for a royal princess. Jewellery was on her delicate ankles and neck. Her jet-black hair was done into pigtails, making her look more like a mischievous royal than an evil spirit that terrorized the martial world thousands of years ago.
"You should give up…" breathing deeply, he slowly got up and told her, "You won't win against me in this kind of battle."
-How do you know that, human? You've barely lived twenty years while I am close to a million years old. Before this world, I fought alongside the Demon Battle God Rodion in another dimension!"
'So, this spirit is from another cluster of realms…?'
The nine realms aren't the only realms in the universe. But the game never explored the others and no one thought of mentioning the distant worlds outside the nine realms.
But it doesn't matter. He's not interested in her origins.
"I'm a Transcendent."
Her cute big red eyes widened, "A mortal with a god factor!? Wait, how do you even know you are one? It's not like you can prove it!"
"God factor? No, to me that means I have infinite potential and have no ceiling even past level 100."
She suddenly shut up and bit her lip.
-"Dammit, why did I have to end up confronting another one of you… That Half Elf boy was troublesome enough."
"Stop speaking in riddles and give me your million-year-old internal energy. If you do that, I promise to find you a suitable physical body so that you can serve me in the future."
-Liar! You're just a conman looking to get rich! Besides, while I don't have all my power, all my internal energy can't be controlled by a mortal or demigod! I see you're a dragonkin. But without that ritual that makes you a dragon, you won't survive, hahaha! And since you killed Suarif Elipus, the ritual can't start unless there's a fifth dragon lord!
'Is she speaking the truth, system?'
--Analysing the facts… Answer: Yes, it would seem so. The only way to awaken a dragon lord is to have the lifeforce of five dragon lords present to do the ritual. Five dragon lords have a lifeforce equal to the Dragon God, who created this ritual.
"You said I can't use all your internal energy, right?"
-Errr…
"So, I can use as much as I want before I hit my limit?"
-T-That's not the case at all! Y-You'll certainly die if you take even a drop of my internal energy! Hey, why are you smirking!?
"Gederick, deal with this woman."
-You think it'll be easy!? I will do everything in my power to stop you!
"Let's see you be so cocky when I awaken my own martial spirit."
She could barely handle Gederick's martial spirit but if there was another one, she'd have no way to resist.
-Dammit!!!! Let me out—
He waved his hand, forcibly sending them back inside him.
"…"
"…"
Laethea and Lian exchanged a glance, but neither said a word.
Meanwhile Arnold opened the jade box and took out one of the pills. It smelled fragrant, like rose water.
The moment it touched his tongue, a spark travelled up to his brain and it felt like he was submerged in spiritual energy.
In fact, the spiritual energy became visible to his naked eyes—green translucent waves that coiled around him.
"How is it…?" Lian asked worriedly.
This woman vastly underestimates herself. Maybe she's too used to making crazy medicines that something like this looked almost ordinary in her eyes.
Arnold wanted to cry tears of blood and thanked his past self for bringing this woman with him.
--Analysis: Internal energy has risen from 2% the maximum amount to 8%.
That was from a single pill.
The number was steadily climbing by the decimal. It seems the act of biting the pill pulls in the most spiritual energy. but after that the conversion is slower.
Arnold heard that in order to get the most effective results, he needs to meditate, like those cultivators in Chinese novels do.
It's not unfamiliar to him since he did this in his training days.
"It's great, Lian."
Hearing that, her eyes sparkled.
"So, what are you going to do now? Will you go back and fight for the empire now that you've recovered?" asked Laethea.
"I have more important matters to attend to. Things are close to ending now that Luke has awakened."
All that's left is for Lauran to awaken. It's a shame Shirley, Alitus, and the others didn't have scenarios to awaken. But there's always the next arc.
It will be a shame if he has to hurt more people just to get the best results.
**
With age comes wisdom and arrogance gradually withers.
Confidence is only certain if one knows you can win.
…
Mumulbur stood before a demonic portal in the outskirts of the slums in the sewers.
Demons stood around him, showing caution as there were already several demon corpses, all of them greater demons who thought he was a simple undead skeleton that they can kill.
'There's no choice for me but to ally with the demon lords again if I want to fulfill my goal.' He glanced at the portal. A powerful energy signature was approaching; one he could only assume belonged to a demon lord.
He allied with the demons twice: the first time during the Valkyries' descent into the mortal realm and the second during the war. This time will be the third.
He sees no reason why he should risk himself when his goal is simply to get that Transcendent vessel with the potential of infinite life energy and growth.
There may be others but he's sure there isn't another mage like her. Perhaps in the next century but he's not going to wait another decade.
Mumulbur has many enemies and the heroes will certainly chase him down. He doesn't want the likes of them breathing down his neck.
'That girl ran to Freya's side but luckily Hero Luke went there too so their confrontation with the demon lord will be inevitable.'
Meaning, he'll get a chance to slip through the cracks like a snake and catch the baby mouse while its parent fends off another predator.
The demon portal began to pulsate.
'Hmm, this familiar pressure…'
The space surrounding the demonic gateway fractured. A heavy atmosphere slammed into the sewer, so dense that the stone floor groaned and split into a web of splintered fissures. The remaining greater demons—predators who moments ago held themselves with vicious pride—got on their knees, their bodies trembling.
Even Mumulbur, a creature without flesh or blood, felt the ghostly chill in his marrow freeze solid. The crimson flames resting deep within his eye sockets flickered dangerously, straining to maintain their form against the oppressive force bleeding into the sewer.
From the pulsating vortex stepped a towering silhouette wrapped in miasmic shadow. Malzorath Doom had crossed the threshold.
At the center of his hulking shoulders sat his main head, a visage carved from obsidian bone, engulfed in violet-black flame. Floating in a dark orbit around it were two identical heads, suspended by visible coils of dark energy. Three pairs of glowing eyes burned through the dark, and three jaws opened in unison, releasing a silent, echoing scream that vibrated through the soul rather than the air.
The main burning head locked its blazing gaze onto the ancient necromancer, while the two orbiting heads twisted violently toward the shadows of the tunnel, sniffing the air for prey.
"That darn Lilith girl..." Three distinct, guttural voices spoke as one, shaking the very roots of the city above and giving humans the greatest fright of their lives. "She dares summon me to a sewer?"
Though he wasn't actually capable of it, Mumulbur could feel himself smiling at his "bait".
"Great Lord Malzorath. We meet again."