Time for Fire Sorrow only stopped for half a second, an insignificant amount of time for someone who had lived millions of years and seen the end and beginning of countless eras as well as the fall of nations and the rise of others.
However, that half a second could only be ignored when fighting someone much weaker... It certainly could not be ignored when she was facing one of the generals of the Demonic Army.
When Fire Sorrow's senses returned to her, the first thing she felt was surprise since just before falling prey to the effect of the Absolute Frozen Domain she expected to never feel or see anything ever again.
Soon, however, Fire Sorrow heard Lilith's voice as her vision cleared.
"...Fire Sorrow, if this was me from a year ago you definitely wouldn't be alive."
Fire Sorrow focused her eyes on Lilith who was staring at her from two arms length away with her sword half an inch short of her throat and made no attempt to move or continue attacking.
First of all, she simply wouldn't be able to move her Mana and activate any skill faster than Lilith could move half an inch forward and pierce her throat.
And second but not least, the fact that Lilith didn't kill her despite everything that had happened made Fire Sorrow slowly start to calm down a bit.
"But, Zemin really changed me." Lilith forced a smile and slowly put down her sword as she said with a sigh, "I know he might be the reincarnation of the Heavenly Wolf Sirius, I also understand that this is the reason why you who were always indifferent to the lives of others and never mixed with Lower Existences suddenly decided to protect one."
Even though Lilith had lowered her sword and Fire Sorrow was free, she did not attack nor did she try to put distance between the two.
Now that her negative emotions had been burned away by her Domain, Fire Sorrow could think things through more clearly.
"I really fell in love with him... is that so hard to believe?" Lilith shook her head as a bitter smile crossed her face. "Well, looking back at my past I guess it really is hard to believe."
"...Why didn't you kill me?" Fire Sorrow frowned and asked in confusion.
"A small part of it is because I feel grateful that you teach me magic, but now that we're square I don't anymore." Lilith pointed out in an indifferent voice. Then her voice gained a bit of concern as she slowly said, "But most of it is because Zemin might feel sad if he really is Sirius and someday gets his memories back."
Just as Bai Zemin had told Shangguan Bing Xue in the past when she was bent on killing her father, letting the emotions of the moment take over in situations that required making decisions of utmost importance was not very smart. At the end of the day, emotions affected logical reasoning, and they could lead people to make choices that in an eternity of time they might regret but never undo.
Fire Sorrow fell silent and lowered his head to think for a moment. Lilith's last words showed her genuine concern for Bai Zemin, it was impossible for Fire Sorrow not to notice.
"Fire Sorrow, come with me to Earth and see for yourself if I'm really affecting that little scoundrel's mind or heart." Lilith invited with an honest expression on her face, "If it's you I'm sure you have your ways of finding out if you really want to."
Fire Sorrow's face flushed slightly embarrassed as she listened to Lilith's words because only now was she realizing that she really had been ruled by emotions, especially jealousy.
Perhaps, the thought that the person she had been in love with for millions of years being in a romantic relationship with someone else was less pleasant than Fire Sorrow suspected...
'But, that person is no longer that person... Even if that child was once him.' Fire Sorrow closed her eyes as she sighed complicated emotions.
A few seconds later, she looked at Lilith and said calmly, "Alright, let's do as you suggest. But, let me warn you something first."
Lilith looked at her silently, and Fire Sorrow continued, "If it turns out that you really are serious about your feelings and are not affecting his heart and mind passively then I will apologize to you and fulfill one request of yours, whichever one you want. However, if I find out that you are lying to me and using him... I will definitely kill you in the worst possible way."
Just as Fire Sorrow said earlier, she was warning rather than threatening.
Threats were for the weak and were used to try to instill fear in their opponents.
On the other hand, warnings were promises that might or might not be kept depending on the other party.
Did Fire Sorrow have the power to carry out her promise-in-waiting? Lilith didn't doubt it at all.
"Then so be it." She nodded at the same time as she winced.
Seeing this, Fire Sorrow sighed and took out a high-ranked general recovery potion, "Drink this. It will help a little."
Lilith accepted the potion without compunction because she had already consumed all the ones she had before to speed up her recovery as much as possible.
"Hex of Greater Healing."
The effect of the high-ranked general recovery potion along with Fire Sorrow's healing coupled with Lilith's extremely pure nature's wood-type energy-filled healing skill quickly increased the speed at which the damaged records recovered, and thus the latter's expression began to visibly improve at the same time as her Mana recovered in real time.
The two launched towards the blue planet in the distance, unhurriedly flying at normal speeds instead of jumping through space and get there as soon as possible.
Lilith didn't want Bai Zemin to see her in this state because she wanted to avoid worrying him, and Fire Sorrow didn't want him to have a bad impression of her.
Fire Sorrow was certainly aware that she might have made a mistake and attacking the beloved person for whom she wanted to protect might not be a wise choice.
But was it really possible to blame her entirely? She simply had too many reasons to think badly of Lilith, and even now she didn't trust her word 100%; that's how important Bai Zemin had become to her at this point... or more precisely, the possibility that he was the soul of the Heavenly Wolf Sirius.
"I'll pretend I'm fine, you use some magic on me so he doesn't find out about my poor condition."
"...That's fine with me too."
"Heh."
"...What are you laughing at?"
"Keep acting confused if you want, but then don't come banging on my door crying. You remind me of a certain little ice princess who doesn't know what she wants."
"Are you talking about the Lower Existence called Shangguan Bing Xue?"
"Oh? I see you've already gotten to know the little brat."
"...And I see that you seem to be not very fond of her."
"Fond of that brat? Me? Stop joking."
"By the way, what's the deal with that Firmament Fragment?"
"... If what you want to know is if it was me who buried Petra World and all the Fifth Order angels there then yes, it was me."
"But why?"
"For some reason it seems that no Higher Existence can see Earth until now, but I think an angel saw it not long after the world began to evolve... I'm not quite sure myself, but I couldn't risk it."
"I understand... If by any possibility they were to find out what that child is capable of it could bring him no end of trouble in the future."
"That's just the way it is. So, if you want to report it to His Majesty then go ahead, I don't mind. If the worst comes to the worst I'll just quit the Demonic Army, it's not like I'm going to die of old age anyway."
"...That's probably what you're looking for, isn't it? Some kind of excuse to fly away from the nest and land in a different one."
"...Who knows..."
"You..."
* * *
As the two female Higher Existences who minutes ago had been fighting with their lives on the line for nearly two continuous days and launching extremely devastating attacks chatted friendly on their way to the now not-so-small bright blue planet, preparations to retake the naval base on the coast of Shanghai that had once been part of the People's Liberation Army's navy forces.
"There were more than 250,000 troops stationed there before the apocalypse broke out, so I think it is correct for us to assume that they have all become zombies if they are still alive." Shangguan Bing Xue pointed to the star mark on the map on the table.
"But, weren't there more than 10 warships stationed there?" Feng Hong noticed immediately and didn't hesitate to expose everything he knew thanks to being part of a big family in the past. "There was even a US Navy aircraft carrier if I remember correctly. That's not to mention the military vehicles and heavy machine guns around the entire base... I think that's more than enough for at least a group of humans to survive."
"That might have been the case until a few days ago, but I'm afraid not anymore." Sun Ling sighed. She pointed to the waters on the map and said slowly, "Leaving aside the fact that even the strongest of past weapons have no effect against Third Order mutant beasts except nuclear missiles, the sea creatures of the Pacific have practically taken over the base now."
"...What the hell do those water monsters want?" Feng Hong frowned tightly as he listened to Sun Ling's reasoning.
Sun Ling shook her head to indicate that she had no idea.
"They probably want the power of warships?" Bai Zemin casually commented, "Especially the power of the American aircraft carrier."
"That's..." Sun Ling wanted to refute him but found no valid reason to do so, and the more she thought about it the more it made sense: "... While it's true that warship power isn't of great use against Third Order mutant beasts, they still can damage them a bit, and Second Order ones would have to be careful."
"And a nuke missile could seriously injure a Fourth Order powerhouse if the attack hits the target." Shangguan Bing Xue nodded.
She looked at Bai Zemin and said in a serious voice, "Our satellite caught an image 12 hours ago, take a look for yourself."
"An image?"
Feng Hong and the others exchanged confused looks as this was the first time they heard of this.
Except for Sun Ling, none of them seemed to be very clear on what was going on.
Bai Zemin took the photograph that Shangguan Bing Xue extended towards him, and although it was somewhat blurry and unclear as there were many waves and fog, there was something that was unmistakable right in the center.
"...What the heck is this thing?"
Bai Zemin had seen all sorts of monsters since he came into contact with the mysterious Soul Record. From insects the size of a house to wyverns and dragonkins that were relatives of the legendary dragons and huge snakes that were almost a kilometer long.
But this was the first time his eyes seemed to be looking at a real legendary monster.
He looked at Shangguan Bing Xue and said in amazement, "Is it just me or does this thing look quite like the Leviathan of the Seas?"
The Leviathan of the Seas was a mythological creature, the legend described it as a giant dragon-like monster that stretched for miles and swam in the deepest parts of the planet. It was also said to be one of the most powerful demons in hell as a reference to its extremely destructive power.
"I don't know if that thing is the real Leviathan or not, but it certainly looks too much like it." Shangguan Bing Xue nodded.
"... This thing is in the Fourth Order no matter how you look at it." Bai Zemin muttered to himself as he looked at the image in his hands with narrowed eyes.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
We have been in the top 1 GT for 10 months in a row, and it means a lot to me to see that my effort pays off. Many thanks to you, who still donate your golden tickets and support Blood Warlock
Time for Fire Sorrow only stopped for half a second, an insignificant amount of time for someone who had lived millions of years and seen the end and beginning of countless eras as well as the fall of nations and the rise of others.
However, that half a second could only be ignored when fighting someone much weaker... It certainly could not be ignored when she was facing one of the generals of the Demonic Army.
When Fire Sorrow's senses returned to her, the first thing she felt was surprise since just before falling prey to the effect of the Absolute Frozen Domain she expected to never feel or see anything ever again.
Soon, however, Fire Sorrow heard Lilith's voice as her vision cleared.
"...Fire Sorrow, if this was me from a year ago you definitely wouldn't be alive."
Fire Sorrow focused her eyes on Lilith who was staring at her from two arms length away with her sword half an inch short of her throat and made no attempt to move or continue attacking.
First of all, she simply wouldn't be able to move her Mana and activate any skill faster than Lilith could move half an inch forward and pierce her throat.
And second but not least, the fact that Lilith didn't kill her despite everything that had happened made Fire Sorrow slowly start to calm down a bit.
"But, Zemin really changed me." Lilith forced a smile and slowly put down her sword as she said with a sigh, "I know he might be the reincarnation of the Heavenly Wolf Sirius, I also understand that this is the reason why you who were always indifferent to the lives of others and never mixed with Lower Existences suddenly decided to protect one."
Even though Lilith had lowered her sword and Fire Sorrow was free, she did not attack nor did she try to put distance between the two.
Now that her negative emotions had been burned away by her Domain, Fire Sorrow could think things through more clearly.
"I really fell in love with him... is that so hard to believe?" Lilith shook her head as a bitter smile crossed her face. "Well, looking back at my past I guess it really is hard to believe."
"...Why didn't you kill me?" Fire Sorrow frowned and asked in confusion.
"A small part of it is because I feel grateful that you teach me magic, but now that we're square I don't anymore." Lilith pointed out in an indifferent voice. Then her voice gained a bit of concern as she slowly said, "But most of it is because Zemin might feel sad if he really is Sirius and someday gets his memories back."
Just as Bai Zemin had told Shangguan Bing Xue in the past when she was bent on killing her father, letting the emotions of the moment take over in situations that required making decisions of utmost importance was not very smart. At the end of the day, emotions affected logical reasoning, and they could lead people to make choices that in an eternity of time they might regret but never undo.
Fire Sorrow fell silent and lowered his head to think for a moment. Lilith's last words showed her genuine concern for Bai Zemin, it was impossible for Fire Sorrow not to notice.
"Fire Sorrow, come with me to Earth and see for yourself if I'm really affecting that little scoundrel's mind or heart." Lilith invited with an honest expression on her face, "If it's you I'm sure you have your ways of finding out if you really want to."
Fire Sorrow's face flushed slightly embarrassed as she listened to Lilith's words because only now was she realizing that she really had been ruled by emotions, especially jealousy.
Perhaps, the thought that the person she had been in love with for millions of years being in a romantic relationship with someone else was less pleasant than Fire Sorrow suspected...
'But, that person is no longer that person... Even if that child was once him.' Fire Sorrow closed her eyes as she sighed complicated emotions.
A few seconds later, she looked at Lilith and said calmly, "Alright, let's do as you suggest. But, let me warn you something first."
Lilith looked at her silently, and Fire Sorrow continued, "If it turns out that you really are serious about your feelings and are not affecting his heart and mind passively then I will apologize to you and fulfill one request of yours, whichever one you want. However, if I find out that you are lying to me and using him... I will definitely kill you in the worst possible way."
Just as Fire Sorrow said earlier, she was warning rather than threatening.
Threats were for the weak and were used to try to instill fear in their opponents.
On the other hand, warnings were promises that might or might not be kept depending on the other party.
Did Fire Sorrow have the power to carry out her promise-in-waiting? Lilith didn't doubt it at all.
"Then so be it." She nodded at the same time as she winced.
Seeing this, Fire Sorrow sighed and took out a high-ranked general recovery potion, "Drink this. It will help a little."
Lilith accepted the potion without compunction because she had already consumed all the ones she had before to speed up her recovery as much as possible.
"Hex of Greater Healing."
The effect of the high-ranked general recovery potion along with Fire Sorrow's healing coupled with Lilith's extremely pure nature's wood-type energy-filled healing skill quickly increased the speed at which the damaged records recovered, and thus the latter's expression began to visibly improve at the same time as her Mana recovered in real time.
The two launched towards the blue planet in the distance, unhurriedly flying at normal speeds instead of jumping through space and get there as soon as possible.
Lilith didn't want Bai Zemin to see her in this state because she wanted to avoid worrying him, and Fire Sorrow didn't want him to have a bad impression of her.
Fire Sorrow was certainly aware that she might have made a mistake and attacking the beloved person for whom she wanted to protect might not be a wise choice.
But was it really possible to blame her entirely? She simply had too many reasons to think badly of Lilith, and even now she didn't trust her word 100%; that's how important Bai Zemin had become to her at this point... or more precisely, the possibility that he was the soul of the Heavenly Wolf Sirius.
"I'll pretend I'm fine, you use some magic on me so he doesn't find out about my poor condition."
"...That's fine with me too."
"Heh."
"...What are you laughing at?"
"Keep acting confused if you want, but then don't come banging on my door crying. You remind me of a certain little ice princess who doesn't know what she wants."
"Are you talking about the Lower Existence called Shangguan Bing Xue?"
"Oh? I see you've already gotten to know the little brat."
"...And I see that you seem to be not very fond of her."
"Fond of that brat? Me? Stop joking."
"By the way, what's the deal with that Firmament Fragment?"
"... If what you want to know is if it was me who buried Petra World and all the Fifth Order angels there then yes, it was me."
"But why?"
"For some reason it seems that no Higher Existence can see Earth until now, but I think an angel saw it not long after the world began to evolve... I'm not quite sure myself, but I couldn't risk it."
"I understand... If by any possibility they were to find out what that child is capable of it could bring him no end of trouble in the future."
"That's just the way it is. So, if you want to report it to His Majesty then go ahead, I don't mind. If the worst comes to the worst I'll just quit the Demonic Army, it's not like I'm going to die of old age anyway."
"...That's probably what you're looking for, isn't it? Some kind of excuse to fly away from the nest and land in a different one."
"...Who knows..."
"You..."
* * *
As the two female Higher Existences who minutes ago had been fighting with their lives on the line for nearly two continuous days and launching extremely devastating attacks chatted friendly on their way to the now not-so-small bright blue planet, preparations to retake the naval base on the coast of Shanghai that had once been part of the People's Liberation Army's navy forces.
"There were more than 250,000 troops stationed there before the apocalypse broke out, so I think it is correct for us to assume that they have all become zombies if they are still alive." Shangguan Bing Xue pointed to the star mark on the map on the table.
"But, weren't there more than 10 warships stationed there?" Feng Hong noticed immediately and didn't hesitate to expose everything he knew thanks to being part of a big family in the past. "There was even a US Navy aircraft carrier if I remember correctly. That's not to mention the military vehicles and heavy machine guns around the entire base... I think that's more than enough for at least a group of humans to survive."
"That might have been the case until a few days ago, but I'm afraid not anymore." Sun Ling sighed. She pointed to the waters on the map and said slowly, "Leaving aside the fact that even the strongest of past weapons have no effect against Third Order mutant beasts except nuclear missiles, the sea creatures of the Pacific have practically taken over the base now."
"...What the hell do those water monsters want?" Feng Hong frowned tightly as he listened to Sun Ling's reasoning.
Sun Ling shook her head to indicate that she had no idea.
"They probably want the power of warships?" Bai Zemin casually commented, "Especially the power of the American aircraft carrier."
"That's..." Sun Ling wanted to refute him but found no valid reason to do so, and the more she thought about it the more it made sense: "... While it's true that warship power isn't of great use against Third Order mutant beasts, they still can damage them a bit, and Second Order ones would have to be careful."
"And a nuke missile could seriously injure a Fourth Order powerhouse if the attack hits the target." Shangguan Bing Xue nodded.
She looked at Bai Zemin and said in a serious voice, "Our satellite caught an image 12 hours ago, take a look for yourself."
"An image?"
Feng Hong and the others exchanged confused looks as this was the first time they heard of this.
Except for Sun Ling, none of them seemed to be very clear on what was going on.
Bai Zemin took the photograph that Shangguan Bing Xue extended towards him, and although it was somewhat blurry and unclear as there were many waves and fog, there was something that was unmistakable right in the center.
"...What the heck is this thing?"
Bai Zemin had seen all sorts of monsters since he came into contact with the mysterious Soul Record. From insects the size of a house to wyverns and dragonkins that were relatives of the legendary dragons and huge snakes that were almost a kilometer long.
But this was the first time his eyes seemed to be looking at a real legendary monster.
He looked at Shangguan Bing Xue and said in amazement, "Is it just me or does this thing look quite like the Leviathan of the Seas?"
The Leviathan of the Seas was a mythological creature, the legend described it as a giant dragon-like monster that stretched for miles and swam in the deepest parts of the planet. It was also said to be one of the most powerful demons in hell as a reference to its extremely destructive power.
"I don't know if that thing is the real Leviathan or not, but it certainly looks too much like it." Shangguan Bing Xue nodded.
"... This thing is in the Fourth Order no matter how you look at it." Bai Zemin muttered to himself as he looked at the image in his hands with narrowed eyes.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
We have been in the top 1 GT for 10 months in a row, and it means a lot to me to see that my effort pays off. Many thanks to you, who still donate your golden tickets and support Blood Warlock
