Chapter 570.2: Hero (2)
Chapter 570.2: Hero (2)
With a heavy heart, the Mother Goddess turned Her attention back to Roel.
She diverged Her mana into millions of invisible threads that carefully wrapped themselves around Roel’s body, keeping him safe from all harm in the world. At the same time, She also took back his authority over the God’s Envoys.
“I’m sorry, Mother. The gap between the Savior and me was too huge. I had to fuse my soul with the God’s Envoys to grasp the power to oppose him. Only one of them survived the fight…”
“You did well. It’s better than what I could have done.” The Mother Goddess wiped away Her tears and shook Her head. “You are the only one who has truly hurt Him in the past thousand years. Even I have never accomplished that.”
“…It’s thanks to Edavia. I would have only been able to temporarily destroy His body otherwise.”
“That might be so, but isn’t she part of your power too?” the Mother Goddess said as She gently tousled Roel’s white hair. “Beneath that child’s friendly exterior is an aloof heart. She’s not the kind to intervene in matters that have nothing to do with her. It’s a miracle that you were able to convince her to make a move. And there’s also them as well.”
The Mother Goddess raised Her head and looked at the aurora, who appeared to be worriedly pacing around Roel. A hint of incredulity flashed across Her eyes.
“They hardly interact with mortals at all. The authority I bestowed upon the High Elves only granted them the right to restrict their activities. How did you…” The Mother Goddess’ words slowly trailed off.
Roel revealed a bitter smile. He couldn’t explain the Crown’s Stones, as they were a paradox in this timeline, but he did have some ideas about Edavia’s mindset.
“I have a feeling that Edavia only helped me because she projected the sentiments she felt for someone else onto me.”
“!”
The Mother Goddess widened Her eyes as She grasped the deeper meaning behind those words, but She quickly pulled Her attention back to the present.
“Let’s not talk about this now. Let’s return.”
“Mm.”
“But before then, you should receive the treatment you deserve,” the Mother Goddess said with a faint smile.
“Hm?”
Confusion could be seen on Roel’s face, but the Mother Goddess didn’t bother explaining.
A silver moon rose into the sky, casting gentle moonlight on the two of them. Their bodies slowly rose from the ground, with a beautiful aurora accompanying them. Roel’s viewpoint continued to rise, giving him a bird’s-eye view of the surroundings.
The sky that was previously dominated by the Dragons and the Wingmen was now completely empty except for the ascending Roel and the Mother Goddess. There was a brief moment of peace before deafening cheers rippled across the entirety of Dragon’s Gorge.
The cheers started from the soldiers who were closest to Roel and the Mother Goddess when they started ascending, then swiftly infected the entire battlefield. The Dwarves, who were busy looting precious materials from the battlefield, dropped the weapons in their arms. The Gnomes, who were camping in the trenches, jumped out to join in the commotion.
Wherever one looked, soldiers could be seen waving their weapons with fevered emotions.
The survivors of that tragic battle chanted Roel’s name, offering their blessings to the hero who had bravely stepped forward during the Mother Goddess’ departure to subdue the undefeatable enemy and save all of them.
Even in his feeble state, Roel was still moved by this sight.
He forced himself to remain awake to imprint this scene into his eyes. The night wind tugged at his white hair as a heartened smile emerged on his lips.
It was then that the Mother Goddess finally spoke up.
“You are their hero tonight. Even I have to take a back seat here.”
“I am just doing what I should.”
“And sometimes, that’s more than enough.”
“…”
Roel fell silent. He looked at the cheering crowd with all kinds of emotions surging through his heart. He was glad that he had stepped forward despite the odds. This was probably what his ancestors would have also wanted to happen.
My mission should be finished now, right?
Roel’s consciousness began to fade as soon as this thought surfaced in his mind. The Mother Goddess noticed it and quickly stepped forward to gently support him.
“Tired?”
“Just… a little…”
“Let’s go home, then,” the Mother Goddess told him gently.
The silver moon suddenly radiated an intense light. Under the bright luminescence, their silhouettes gradually grew indistinct before disappearing altogether.
…
Today was destined to be an extraordinary day for those working in the Moonsoul Tower.
From early morning, they had already caught wind of news that their soldiers were struggling over at Dragon’s Gorge, which brought about a tense atmosphere. The chief strategists of the races convened and held meeting after meeting.
The panic only worsened in the afternoon. The Savior had somehow managed to slip into the High Elves’ quarter to destroy the Mother Goddess’ hidden ace—the divine scepter to awaken the God’s Envoys.
Even Micher, the chief of the High Elves, despaired upon hearing that news.
Much to everyone’s astonishment, the Kingmaker stepped forward and put his soul on the line to establish a connection with the God’s Envoys. Upon receiving the power of the God’s Envoys, he marched off to Dragon’s Gorge to reinforce the struggling frontline soldiers.
Trepidation swiftly spread within the Moonsoul Tower shortly after the Kingmaker left. It dawned upon them that they had committed a fatal mistake by defying the Mother Goddess’ order.
The Mother Goddess had issued a formal decree for them to prioritize the Kingmaker’s safety above all things else. She had even granted special permission to Micher and the others to resort to restrictive measures should the Kingmaker insist on endangering himself.
Yet, they chose to turn a blind eye to Roel’s action.
They knew that their reserve army wasn’t strong enough to turn the tides around, and their only hope lay in Roel and the God’s Envoys. Not even Adola could bring herself to stand in Roel’s way when the survival of the Mother Goddess’ entire faction was on the line.
By this point, Micher and the other Race Sovereigns had come to a realization.
He won’t be returning.
A normal person would have never fused their soul together with the God’s Envoys. The fusion of the souls was easy enough to pull off, but undoing it was practically impossible. Roel’s choice was an act of desperation.
And he made this choice when their faction was clearly in an utterly disadvantageous position, evident from how the sun refused to set even when it should have been nightfall.
A desolate atmosphere settled upon the Moonsoul Tower.
Micher looked more haggard than ever as he watched the setting sun rising back to the center of the sky. He thought about the animosity he had directed at Roel since the latter’s arrival at the Moonsoul Tower, and guilt tortured his soul.
It was only late at night that the silver moon finally reappeared in the sky.
Shortly afterward, the Mother Goddess and the Kingmaker returned to the Moonsoul Tower.
When the Mother Goddess returned with news of their victory, everyone in the Moonsoul Tower breathed a huge sigh of relief before roaring in delight. However, the mood quickly dampened when they noticed the hero of the battle lying in a precarious condition in Her arms.
In the sky garden located at the peak of the Moonsoul Tower, the Mother Goddess’ body trembled ever so slightly with Roel in Her arms. Her feigned composure had finally shattered after Her child lost consciousness. Tears rained down from Her crimson eyes as Her heart ached over Her piteous child.
Powerful mana pulsations rippled from the Mother Goddess as a result of Her intense emotions.
The Moonsoul Tower released a faint luminescence once again as it struggled to protect itself from the Mother Goddess’ might. It was a familiar scene, but none of the race leaders uttered a word. They vaguely understood the Mother Goddess’ feelings.
How could the Mother Goddess remain calm when Her child’s life was hanging by a thread?
A quick diagnosis showed that not even a tenth of Roel’s body and soul remained.
In fact, the only reason Roel was still alive was his Crown Origin Attribute. He had partially gained the authority of the Creator by increasing the purity of Sia’s soul within him during the battle with the Savior. This authority spared him from the concept of death.
But just because one was unable to die didn’t mean that one was alive. Only one outcome awaited those who had fallen into Roel’s plight—eternal rest.
The Mother Goddess couldn’t accept such an outcome, which was why She returned to the Moonsoul Tower in search of a solution.
“Do any of you have ideas on how to treat him?” the Mother Goddess asked the trembling crowd before Her.
The race leaders rushed forward to inspect Roel’s condition. The conscience-stricken Micher took the lead, and the chief of the Blood Clan, who specialized in medical treatment, quickly followed suit.
They still vividly remembered the aftermath of the Mother Goddess’ previous rampage, and it frightened them to see how She was in an even more unstable mental state than before. Their hearts beat anxiously as they inspected Roel’s condition.
Moments later, they glanced at one another with despairing looks.
The severity of Roel’s condition was beyond what the Race Sovereigns had ever seen. Nevertheless, Micher was still able to find a few aspects where they could tackle this problem, and he was determined to treat the Kingmaker to make it up to the latter.
“O great Mother Goddess, I am willing to offer our High Elves’ Philosopher’s Stone to heal the Kingmaker’s body as compensation for my previous insolence.”
“Micher…”
The Mother Goddess’ anxious expression finally lessened a little.
The Philosopher’s Stone was a mystical medium capable of bringing forth miracles. While it was not necessarily more effective than the Mother Goddess’ powers, it had its own advantages.
The other race leaders keenly noticed that the Mother Goddess’ mental state had stabilized a little after Micher made his proposal, so they quickly did the same to avert a possible calamity. From the Progenitor’s Blood and God’s Spine to the Heart of Purgatory, the race leaders anxiously offered their most valuable treasures as if they were handing out flyers.
Placating the Mother Goddess took precedence here. It was pointless to keep these treasures when the world was going to be destroyed by the Mother Goddess’ rampage, after all.
Indeed, the Mother Goddess did calm down considerably after seeing how proactively the race leaders were trying to help Roel. There was no guarantee that these valuable materials would be useful, but they added another sliver of hope for Roel’s recovery.
However, the greatest problem also surfaced at this point—Roel’s soul.
Not a single one of the treasures offered by the race leaders had the ability to heal the soul, yet that happened to be the greatest hurdle that stood in the way of Roel’s recovery. Micher and the others were completely helpless on this matter.
The Mother Goddess pondered for a long while before sighing softly.
“Looks like I can only resort to that.” The Mother Goddess looked at the moon with a determined gleam in Her eyes. She lightly pressed Her lips to Roel’s forehead as She murmured, “My child, I won’t allow anything to happen to you. I promise.”
The Mother Goddess and Roel’s silhouette began to fade under the moonlight before disappearing from the sky garden.