am-books Chapter 247: A Happy Ending
Chapter 247: A Happy Ending
Chapter 247: A Happy Ending
The priests and paladins Sophia had with her had followed Faust to the camp, and Sylver, and Edmund were left alone with the ex-high-priest. Enough light shone through the crack in Tulis shell that they could see each other without much issue.
Out of necessity, Sylver was sitting down on a metal chair Edmund had created out of his sword. Edmund stood directly behind him, on his left, and Sophia stood, floated, about 5 steps in front of the two men.
Her wings of silver feathers were currently grouped as if they were an enormous chandelier, a fair distance behind Sophia.
Sylver had to lift his head to meet Sophias eyes.
She had Sylver had to make an educated guess that she looked happy because he could only vaguely see her body, and looking directly at her face made his eyes itch. But he was fairly certain he could hear a smile in her voice, even if said voice was causing the inside of his ears to heat up.
Im not sure how to proceed from here, Sophia said.
Both Edmund and Sylver chuckled.
You get used to it, Sylver offered.
Sophia didnt laugh.
Or chuckle.
Im only asking on the off chance this is all a strange combination of coincidences Did you do something to the moons? Sophia asked.
Strangely enough, Sylver got the feeling that if he said no, Sophia would choose to believe him, and wouldnt press the issue further.
But the fact that Sylver got that feeling meant that it was safe to tell her the truth.
Yes... Edmund did most of the legwork, but I was the one who organized it and asked him to do it, Sylver said.
Even if Sophia were to attack them, it wasnt as if she could win against Edmund.
Not one on one.
Especially given that her magic revolved around fire of all things.
I see And you... did it because you made a deal with the demon? Sophia asked hesitantly.
No. I made the decision after we sent it back to the demon realm, Sylver explained, but he could see that the answer only further confused Sophia.
There was a pause before she spoke.
What? she asked. There wasnt even any anger in her voice, just pure confusion.
Instead of answering, Sylver waited for the inevitable follow-up question.
Why? Sophia asked.
He waited a moment just in case Sophia wanted to repeat herself, as people often did in these sorts of situations.
Someone I care about is missing, and this will help me find them, Sylver explained.
What? How? How could this help you find anything? Sophia asked. From her tone, the question seemed almost rhetorical.
It will stir things up and will reveal where theyre hidden, Sylver said.
Sophia absentmindedly tried to float closer to the duo, but a single creak from Edmunds sword stopped her.
What did you do? Specifically, what did you do to the moons that the small one flashed red? Sophia asked. Edmund spoke before Sylver could.
We altered the speed at which it rotated. By an estimated 3 days, but its more likely a lot less than that, a day, maybe 12 hours even. As to why it flashed red, we dont know, Edmund offered.
Always the optimist.
You understand that it will take years for the teleportation networks to be reconnected? Sophia asked.
I know, Sylver said dismissively.
And that-
Sophia, Sylver interrupted with a raised hand and just short of a shout. I am aware of the repercussions. I took them into account before coming to this decision. More importantly, its already done. We barely had enough power to do it, undoing it is just plain not possible right now, Sylver explained.
Sophia didnt say a single word for a solid 5 minutes.
She just floated there.
While she did that, Sylver felt the metal coil inside him gradually disintegrate into a fine dust. By the time Sophia spoke, the needle was only covered by Sylvers the darkness he used to give his chest volume and his robe.
I dont know how to respond... I dont even know how to react. You potentially ruined the world just to find somebody... Its... Its... Sophia said as the chandelier of metal behind her clinked in unison with her voice.
Keyword there being potentially, Sylver added, as Sophia lifted her face and stared directly at him.
It felt a lot like trying to stare at the sun.
This might be the most romantic thing I have ever seen, Sophia said, as Edmund lifted his hand up to his face and pinched the bridge of his nose.
Of course it is, he mumbled to himself, as Sylvers face broke into a grin.
Youre insane, obviously, but damn... Putting the entire world in danger, just to find someone you care about, Sophia said with a grin to match Sylvers in her voice.
Almost half a million women in Arda and you picked her, Edmund said quietly into Sylvers ear.
Dont be so dramatic, we picked each other, Sylver whispered back.
I mean, damn. Its like something straight out of a romance novel, Sophia said, as the grin on Syvlers face only grew bigger.
Edmund continued to shake his head.
***
After they were done discussing what had happened, Sophia, Sylver, and Edmund joined Faust at their makeshift encampment.
The priests and paladins had questions and were beyond curious, but at the same time, they seemed content to simply do as Sophia said.
Whether it was blind devotion or the kind of unhesitating trust Faust had for Sylver, Sylver couldnt say for certain. But they would keep their mouths shut either way.
Now that he got a better look at them, Sylver noticed a couple of odd things. The first was that the priests all had small grey spots growing on their forearms and the bottom part of their necks.
While they rested, Sylver saw one of them scratch their arm, and a tiny silver point came out of the grey spot. The point looked like a miniature version of the floating feather-shaped daggers Sophia used.
The paladins on the other hand were doing something Sylver hadnt seen in a while. He didnt believe it at first, but as the woman sitting closest to Faust reached out to grab the teapot, Sylver saw veins growing inside her armor.
Their flesh was fusing to the metal garments they were wearing.
If this was anything like what Sylver had seen, in a few weeks these 7 women would be permanently encased in blessed metal. In Sylvers experience, the kind of people that went down this route were abused would be the polite word to use.
He hated the idea of it now, as much as he did back then, but just as before, it wasnt any of Sylvers business, and he respected their decision to go through with it.
While they ate and drank, Sylvers shades cleaned up the surrounding area, crafted passable tents, along with makeshift mattresses, and as the morning sun gradually replaced the moons, the priests all went to sleep, while Faust, Sophia and the paladins went to hunt the remaining feral vampires.
Edmund needed to rest too, but he had a question to ask first. The same question Faust asked before Sophia interrupted them.
Now what? Edmund asked in the language only he and Sylver knew. On the off chance, one of the priests in the nearby tents were listening in.
Sylver fiddled with the empty cup in his hand.
Her shell is above water. Its only a matter of time until a passing ship spots her, and then there will be adventurers adventuring inside her guts, Sylver said, as Edmund rolled his shoulders and rubbed his hands together.
So, one of us would need to stand guard. And he would need to stand guard until Edmunds voice trailed off as the logic of what he was saying no longer made sense to him.
Until the person who isnt standing guard does what? Finds a way to heal a demi-god? Sylver asked.
In the sense she once heard a prophecy about it. And apparently the Sun Demon had been a looming threat in Eira for the last 500 years. And every real summer solstice, the people in the know held their breath on the off chance this would be the year the Sun Demon was actually going to do something.
Sophia spoke about it in the same way someone might talk about a fictional character, something less than a myth, a rumor, as opposed to a real living world-ending threat.
Sylver was tempted to tell Sophia he knew the demon was real for a fact, but that would involve either telling her about the ancient dragon he had freed into the world, or telling Sophia to trust the word of a clairvoyant child.
Sylver trusted Chrys, but he trusted her the way... He trusted her, while keeping in mind that it wasnt out of the question that her paranoia had manifested into an actual prophecy. Or that Aurick and company were doing something to alter the future Chrys was seeing, as a ploy to steer Sylver into helping them.
Granted, the dragon had no reason to lie, but with the language barrier between them, it wasnt impossible that it had been referring to an event that happened in the past. If something made a sun-sized hole in Eira, there would be some evidence, but if something could erase the Ibis from history, filling up a large hole with dirt wasnt impossible.
A couple of volcanoes, some seas move around, and the hole is sealed.
Truth be told, Sylver would be ecstatic if the Sun Demon turned out to be a myth.
And given the initial source of the information, he was tempted to believe Sophia and carry on with his life as if the Sun Demon wasnt going to burn the world to shit in a mere 13 years.
But, that kind of wishful thinking had bitten Sylver in the ass far too many times to count.
Far too many times.
So, until he had definitive proof that the Sun Demon was just a bedtime story to scare children, he was going to continue to act as if it was as real as the Moon Demon.
***
It was nightime by the time Syvlers body was healed up enough for him not to turn feral. Without the metal ribcage, he had to restructure his insides a fair bit, there was a lot more room, but there was also a ton of exposed vital organs.
Exposed in the sense someone would need to get through skin, flesh, bone, and enchanted bone, to touch them, but as powerful as Sylvers body and magic may be, it was very far from indestructible. For extra effect, he wrapped some of Moras string around everything vital, just in case.
Faust showed the first sign of life when Sylver told him that he could go to where Anastasia was. He offered to stay here, to keep Edmund company if nothing else, but Edmund insisted that he should go be with his fiance.
Sylvers talk with Sophia before leaving was fairly short.
The priest woman was determined to bring Sobek back to life, and she trusted that whatever Sylver was going to do wasnt going to hurt Sobek. While they waited for Sylver to do his thing, Sophia and her 14 followers planned to wait and pray, until Ra told them to go somewhere else.
Obviously, Sylver didnt tell her about the Eldar tree that they were going to use as sacrificial glue, but Sylver got around that by explaining that Zelvash was a talented druid, and was the best person to consult about awakening Sobek.
Both moons were high in the sky when Sylver reached the surface.
Faust double-checked that the bag full of letters for Lola and the others in Arda was secure, and after a quick hug goodbye, the old cultivator vanished into thin air.
Given her recent increase in power, Sylver couldnt so much as shake Sophias hand, let alone do the thing hed been wanting to do since the moment he saw her. But, without Lolas special ring, there wasnt much he could do about it other than complain.
The steam that was rising out of Tulis shell didnt travel all that high, before it fell, and traveled down her shell. The gas acted very strangely because it didnt diffuse as it reached the seawater below, it persisted.
If it carried on like this, Tulis shell would be just short of invisible inside a cloud of fog. Unless someone was specifically looking for it, they would have a hard time spotting her shell from above.
It was possible this was Tuli instinctively hiding, the way a snake might play dead, but it was much more likely that this was just Sylver reading too much into steam acting unnaturally. It was steam that came from a demi-god, so it was hard to say what natural steam was meant to do in such circumstances.
Sylver used [Fog Form] to fly as high as he could before he summoned his wyvern.
The shadowy beast spread its wings, and in three powerful flaps, built up enough speed to fly. As it climbed up towards the clouds, Sylver searched around for a good spot among its spikes and settled into a comfortable sitting position.
Everything was sore, his body, his mind, his soul, and he was exhausted beyond any sense of the word.
He was exhausted before they came here, and what made it so much worse was that Sylver and Edmund came here on holiday. The vast majority of the items in his [Bound Bones] were cutlery for a beachside picnic, swim trunks, drink mixing equipment, and other similar miscellaneous items.
Sylver tried to relax, but with every flap of Wills wings, he couldnt help but shake the feeling that hed forgotten something.
[Mutating Override (IV) rank up available!]
Choose 1 from the following:
Mutating Override (V)
-Decrease the MP cost by 20% when overriding undead biological matter.
-Decrease the MP cost by 20% when overriding living biological matter.
-Increase the malleability of [Necrotic Mutilation] by 50%.
The first two were obvious, but what did it mean by malleability?
Given that the decrease in MP cost was going to show up again, Sylver picked the 3rd option. For no reason other than he was extremely curious to see what the system was going to do.
[Skill: Mutating Override (V) [F]]
Skill level can be raised by overriding primal energy field.
I Mutate biological matter by overriding its primal energy field.
II Decrease the MP cost by 5%.
III Increase range by 10%.
IV Decrease the MP cost by 25% when overriding personal primal energy field.
V
Increase the malleability of [Necrotic Mutilation] by 50%.*Quantity of MP required dependent on rate, volume, and complexity of primal energy field being overridden.
Sylver heard a ringing noise, far, far away from him, that was somehow simultaneously inside his head.
[Skill [Necrotic Mutilation] has been removed!]
[Skill: Black Mass (IV) [D]]
Skill level can be increased through use and conversion.
I Manipulate biological matter.
II Empower a creature or item using manipulated biological matter.
III -Increase the range of [Dead Dominion] by 50% for [Black Mass].
IV [Petty] Souls can be infused.
*Quantity of conversion dependent on biological material.
The [Necrotic Mutilation] that was spread throughout Sylvers robe instantly began to tighten and contract, and he quickly forced it out of his robe, and onto one of the spikes on Wills back. The glowing green liquid appeared to be boiling, and with every bubble, less and less green glow remained.
When it finally settled down, Sylver was left with half a bucket full of, the very aptly named [Black Mass]. It had the appearance and consistency of ink, except there wasnt any shine or reflection to it, even with the light from the moons illumination, it looked like a 3-dimensional shadow.
As Sylver reached out towards it with his magic, he as usual couldnt believe just how smooth the connection was. He felt as if he had been using this spell for millennia.
It wrapped itself around his finger and proceeded to travel up his arm, and before Sylver could finish the thought, the material solidified into a perfect imitation of the gauntlet Sylver had been thinking of.
A half thought later, he was holding a replica of the ax Salgok had given him.
But more interesting was that Sylver felt an empty space inside the material, and like a child putting the cube through the square hole, Sylver directed one of his [Petty] shades into the empty space.
At first, nothing happened.
Then the axe came to life and fell onto the floor in a black puddle. It lay like that for a few seconds, and under Sylvers direction, without him manipulating the material itself, the shade took control of the [Black Mass] and produced a thick spike.
The spike extended higher, and as Sylver reached for it, it turned into the axe it had originally been.
Sylver channeled his mana into it, and the axe became heavier, sturdier, sharper, and most importantly, was able to float on its own.
Well now Sylver said to himself, as he liquefied the axe, and wrapped the half bucket full of [Black Mass] around his torso.
As Wil breached the clouds, Sylver smiled to himself and began to experiment with his new toy.Gét latest novel chapters on nov(e)lbj/n(.)c/om