Chapter 1047 - Karlis’s Resolve (1/2)

In the Hall of Revival within the crystal obelisk, everything within the hall had been bound in manifested Holy Light shackles as if time itself had passed. Whether it was the escort guards from the Order of the Ashes trying to unsheathe their heated blades from their hip or the High Judge who kept mustering his combat aura to shrug free from the shackles, everything was suppressed by a gentle energy. Though they were not harmed at all, they were stripped off any freedom of movement at the same time.

Meanwhile in the air, Igor, who was now fully revived and had cleared away every trace of Chaos in range of his senses, hence slowly landed on the ground.

He raised a hand and frowned slightly.

”This is quite jarring…isn't this body a little too young?”

The body was only sixteen—actually fifteen, at best. Even if the mind and body was at its peak relative to one's peak and reflexes were at its sharpest, it was actually just right for the clergy. On the other hand, the physical body was only an appearance for Legendary champions, and they were always at their peak in any given moment and any given time.

There was no need to become so young at all, really.

”Well, it is actually nothing. I am resurrected after all, and the rest is trivial.”

Lowering his hand, the blonde youth form of Igor moved his hand to stroke his chin, although the beard he was used to have was not there. Still, he maintained his thought process.

”It is weird, come to think of it…I clearly remember being obliterated so entirely by an attack from a Demi Saint Evil God that not even my soul remained—my soul fragments would have been infected by the Chaos, and reasonably speaking, not even the Seven Gods could have brought me back. It is probably only the with purpoted power which the Sage revived the Seven Gods that I could be pulled by force back into the world of the living…”

Be that as it may, it would have taken the Sage some effort to do such a thing if he actually wanted to as well.

”So, Joshua had actually become so powerful.”

Igor looked up and around himself, at the familiar silver crystal, the simple interior structure and adornments, along with the familiarly adorable scrawling left by Silver Fairies, and could not help but show a faint smile. ”I should say thank you when the time comes—even if I am more than a hundred and twenty thousand years late for that.”

With the information left in the Restoration Beam, Igor learned that the crystal obelisk was an advanced revival equipment that Joshua had used in the past to revive the many heroic spirits of civilizations within the body of the Evil God of Death. At the same time, he also knew that to restore him, the crystal obelisk had combined the countless and unimaginably miniscule fragments in his soul to the point that it was identical to his living state, a process which had taken over a hundred thousand years…

Or to be precise, 129,600 years.

It was a cosmic number, even for a champion such as Igor who was an Ultimate Legend—he himself did not live any more than a quarter of that period, but he was not panicking.

After all, the obelisk existed, and the fact that he could be revived was evidence that Joshua was still there, while the Mycroft civilization—or indeed the heirs to the civilization—was still alive, along with all beings of Order.

And as long as Order still stood, everything was the same. He was not so greedy as to desire for everything to be same after a hundred and twenty thousand years had passed, but he only hoped that the Flame of Order was still burning, that humans could bask in its warmth and radiance to live in happiness.

”That being said, what is going on with these little guys?”

Organizing his thoughts since those brought back from the dead had always tend to have overflowing emotions, Igor turned to the followers of the Order of the Ashes, as well as the one who had awoken him with Silver Fairy-accented Mycroft Basic…

Uh, a mixed-blood Silver Fairy? I mean, another one? Could intermarriage between humans and fairies have become the norm?

”…what is with the lot of you?”

With a twitch of Igor's mind, everyone was freed from the shackles of the Holy Light. Still, there were certainly none who would dare to make a false move, since everyone present was no idiot. In the company of a prehistoric champion who was at least High Legend or perhaps even stronger, none dared to even breathe a little too loudly, be it the hostile members of the Order or friendly Alpha.

”Right, let me put it in another way—why are you guys inside this crystal obelisk? Where are the Silver Fairies who should be standing watch, and Joshua's security measures? And what era is it now, and which civilization or faction do all of you belong to?”

Able to tell that most of the others with him did not understand Mycroft Basic, Igor began to utilize direct communication through spiritual link, even cautiously buffing them with a strong steel will to avoid leaving them unable to think under his spiritual pressure. Nevertheless, his question was still too broad, with the words not comprehensible to the people present and as such, they simply did not know where to start.

Even so, the entire hall was once again left in cool, awkward atmosphere.

Then, an energetic and vibrant feminine voice cleared the air.

”Igor, let me enlighten you, instead of having you to interrogate these ignorant juniors.”

Alpha quickly looked up towards the familiar voice to find two women with silver hair and red eyes beneath the stairs leading to this hall, and slowly making their way to its center.

”Professor Karlis!”

Struggling to get up after having been stricken by Grong's momentum and later unnerved by Igor's presence, Alpha fell again and would have almost broken his teeth, but was caught by a gentle force just when his face was about to hit the ground—both Igor and Karlis had moved to tenderly pick him up.

”I'm sorry, Alpha, to have put you through so much. But now is not the time for explanations—that would come later, and I will tell you about every piece of truth.”

Clapping Alpha on his shoulder from across thin air, Karlis slid a quick glance towards Grong and the crowd of guards from the Order of the Ashes before turning away nonchalantly to study Igor, shrugging. ”Do you still remember me, Pope of the world of Mycroft?”

”Former pope, you mean—and heaven knows how many generations and holders have passed since I held office.”

Correcting Karlis, Igor looked towards the two silver-haired women, his expression becoming puzzled. ”As for you…your presence…right, weren't you the Steel Python who was always beside Johsua? And you…”

As Igor turned toward Mycroft, his face had become rigid. ”You, you are…”

”Weren't you children the ones who had worked together to seal me?”

Former Steel Python and present Royal Scholar, Mycroft stood forward and confidently spread herself to give Igor a hug, before handily lifting her hand to stroke his cheek. ”So, you've recognized me? Huh… that's quite the young face! No wonder you would always keep that elderly man appearance in public—because you really do not exude any stature otherwise. Hard to imagine that you had looked like this back when you're young!”

The single notion stirred the Holy Light. Struggling and freeing himself out of Mycroft's embrace, there was complete befuddlement and shock on Igor's face now. ”Mother of All…your Chaos corruption has been utterly cleared? Right, technological development would only be certain after such a long time has passed…but what is going on? How could Steel Python appear in human form upon the world? Moreover, weren't all of you fused into a single body with Joshua…”

Wait a moment. Wouldn't that actually be unusual?

If Joshua could revive him, he certainly would have been able to bring more back to life. In addition, perhaps that was the only way that actually dispelled the Chaos corruption which extended into the very essence on the body of Mycroft, the Steel Python?

Nonetheless, the change was too major in itself. Igor's own memories were still actually soaked in the ancient battle—to protect Joshua and the new world, in the single instant when he was about to be obliterated by the attack from an Demi Saint Evil God, he had faced his own resurrection and the stillness of a hundred thousand-year sleep with nothing but the stalwart, assured resolve of a Legendary champion.

Now, however, all sorts of bizarre turns of events were occurring, one after another. The two groups had recklessly intruded within Joshua's obelisk, with one being Karlis's own student. The Steel Python herself, who had once fused as one with Joshua, had also been separated away into a human form, not to mention that they clearly had their own intentions in coming to the place where he would be brought back to life.

Furthermore, those many things were no longer a matter where stalwart resolves mattered.

None amongst them could stay calm.

”I won't spare any time for nonsense. Igor, the situation at the moment is perhaps a lot worse than you would imagine.”

Slightly turning the corner of her eyes to cast a sideway glance at the very quiet and motionless members from the Order of the Ashes, she deliberately linked herself to Igor in spirit, although she was also speaking loudly in the Lightchaser language. ”Joshua van Radcliffe—in other words, the Creator of the Three Worlds and Nine Skies, the Holy Father of all life, had all perished in Divine Death in the battle against the infinite Chaos and after using power far exceeding his own limits, and hence assimilated into the Root 129,600 years ago.”

”Right now, we are all inside the world within his body—this is the place where he had sealed the Demi Saint Evil Gods in the past, at the cost of his own being.”

However, the words from her mouth were far less agile than the exchange in spirit. By the time Karlis had finished speaking, she had already relayed every bit of the information she obtained and memories she recalled in recent years to Igor. It was then that Igor, who had initially appeared calm, gaped, his face full of bewilderment.

”What—Joshua has actually fallen to Divine Death?!”

Igor looked up by reflex towards the roof of the crystalline hall, and tried to use his Holy Light to erode the obelisk, which really worked though rather strenuous—and although the crystal structure appeared fragile, it was in fact an eternally unchanging wall. That alone was sufficient evidence that the crystal obelisk contained Joshua's power, because if it had been any being apart of Joshua, the brunt of his Holy Light which altered the universal constants of the speed of light would definitely be severely harmed.

”His power is still clearly here. But…”

Having ascertained the fact, Igor shook his head as he still would not dare to believe it. ”Although I am still shocked, but rationality allows me to believe your words…actually, I do have an inkling of Joshua's plan of insanity, although I choose to place things on the hands of fate…still, if that is the case, how was I actually revived? And as for you two…”

As he spoke, there was a clear doubt in his words. ”Based on what all of you are saying, wouldn't we be pulled into the Root as well, and therefore falling to Divine Death alongside Joshua?”

”The reason for your revival is actually simple. 'Resurrect every martyr' had been one of the last commands which Joshua left into his own body, and with you having incidentally died near to his core world, the collection of soul fragments proved to very complete, even if there had been a lot of broken pieces. In turn, resurrection is quite convenient, although it just needs a lot more time.”

Karlis patiently answered the old former pontiff's question, although she seemed to be puzzled by his last question. ”In truth, I am not really sure about that last question. Back then, Mycroft, myself, and the multitude of Steel Pythons had surely reached the threshold of Divine Death alongside Joshua himself—he could hold on a little longer, but not too long. Either way, we should have been dead without a doubt, but all of us are here now in this realm of Three Worlds and Nine Skies, which could only be the world inside Joshua body.

”Actually, Karlis and myself had only slowly awakened in the last few decades, our memories as Steel Pythons hence recovered.”

Mycroft joined the conversation then, and while her tone was almost lazy, her seriousness was palpable. ”How should I describe it? It is a mysterious feeling: I felt as it I had been an immeasurably warm and peaceful place one moment, but I had already become the Mycroft of this present existence in the next, regaining my pre-existing memories along the way—it is such an erratic perception that cannot be understood unless personally experienced.”

Karlis nodded in agreement with Mycroft, adding, ”In fact, Igor, this obelisk you were in has only been animated in the last decade—it had always been nothing else other than a mountain in the distant past, and it was only until seventeen years ago when Mycroft and I had detected different, unusual bursts of Steel Strength ripples that we had come to find this obelisk.

”Well, why didn't you revive me earlier?”

Igor had silently listened to the ladies' description. Everything that had happened until now was strange and unreal, but those were the facts and it was not anything untoward. That being said, he still had questions he could not understand. ”If I had been awakened seventeen years ago, we could have worked together earlier on.”

”We do not have the authority.”

Karlis said pointedly, turning towards and gesturing at Alpha who was completely at a loss, not understanding what his own mentor and the prehistoric champion were actually saying. ”Every other Silver Fairy had died in the war against the Chaos, sacrificing themselves in battle against the endless legions of Chaos fifty thousand years ago. Those remaining had also volunteered themselves and headed out to the Sky Blade Realm and the Earthen Axe Realm to become divine armaments and assist all living beings. However, each obelisk needed a Silver Fairy to be opened from their 'locked' state—any obelisk which was without Silver Fairies would enter alert mode and attack anyone who approached it without clearance, but would be in open mode if there had been one: a safe and public facility.”

”Although the power of Steel Pythons is a little useful in that respect, all we get is a 'visitor clearance' that does not allow us to control the Obelisk. All we can do is enter or exit, which is why we had spent a long time combing the entire world for people who possessed Silver Fairy bloodline, and whether it could be purified and reverted to its ancient form, thereby creating new management clearance of Silver Fairies. It was only when Alpha's daughter was born that we discovered that there was one right beside us, and it was also regrettable that Alpha's bloodline was a gradual process. In addition, when Mycroft and I had awakened seventeen years ago, we did not have much power, not to mention that the Order of the Orders—which is that outfit over there—had their eyes on us, and so we could only do what we could to leave the Radiant Domain as quickly as possible, escaping into the Nightfall Zone.”

Beside them, compared to Alpha, who knew none of that secret information and so could only listen and understand half of what his own mentor was saying, Grong, the High Judge of the Order of the Ashes, was left as stunned as he would have been in the epicenter of a level twelve earthquake after he heard what Karlis had to say.

Had the Father really died in the battle against the Chaos? And was everyone now living inside his body? And was the prehistoric champion really one who had fought the Chaos alongside Father? And more than that—had he died, but was revived by Father?

As for the Silver Fairies…there had been certainly a lot of information about them recorded in the historical text of the Order. They had been a race who flourished in the depths of the Nightfall Zone during the Age of the Gods, always settling down around loft peaks—in other words, the vicinity of various concealed obelisks! Because they did not have to migrate and rarely headed out to the Radiant Domain, they often kept to themselves and as such were not really known, nor were there famed accomplishments by their kind.

It was simply unimaginable that the mysterious race from a time past would hold authority of those great crystal obelisks. And Alpha himself had that bloodline to control everything?

If that was the case, their purpose would be too…