Chapter 47 [Swallow it, Faye.]

Chapter 47 [Swallow it, Faye.]

“Fear, huh?” Jenny, half submerged in the shadow of the porch, her pitch-black hair blending into the darkness.

She asked in an odd tone, “Lans, are you afraid?”

Nobody ventures out in blizzard conditions, whether they are mighty knights, militia warriors, or righteous archmages.

So Lans could only watch helplessly as the giant demonic deity traversed the distant snow mountains.

The storm hitting its iron-like body seemed as mild as a breath.

“Why…” Lans's eyes widened, and he couldn't help but step back.

The first time he had seen the demon deity, all of Lulubi City’s warriors had mobilized.

It was definitely a crisis worthy of being ranked at the top in the history of the North.

No one doubted that if a real battle ensued, even an army of tens of thousands would not survive to see the sun the next day under the Demon God's might.

But something strange happened; the Demon God didn't seem to have an interest in massacring the city. After a brief standoff, the dark figure strode away into the distance.

In subsequent sightings, the Demon God only appeared briefly.

It seemed to be searching for something... but what could it be?

Lance felt a void in his mind, sensing he had forgotten something crucial, yet he couldn't recall what it was.

"So beautiful," Jenny moved forward slowly, "Pemoris, truly, beautiful."

"It is my, most successful, creation."

Lance's icy blue pupils gradually widened.

His heart and stomach seemed to intertwine, that was the Demon God!

The terrifying black horns, the dark and scaly body, a head larger than the entire monastery—

That was undoubtedly the legendary Demon God!

"You say you... created it?" Lance felt as if someone was choking him, "No, I mean, how is this possible?! It's said demons are born from absolute darkness, the purest concentration of power, unbound by any worldly rules. And you... you..."

Jenny appeared just like a newly adult child, with thin arms and a pallid, malnourished complexion. Her impassive eyes were like a dead lake, only her thick, dark hair made her look gloomy and reclusive.

But... indeed...

Every time Lance saw this young girl up close, he instinctively tensed up, even feeling his stomach cramp.

At first, he thought it was just simple surveillance by someone from Marlen, but now facing Jenny, he wasn't so sure anymore.

"Why not?" Jenny had already come very close to him, and Lance noticed her black eyeballs constantly quivering in their sockets... that nauseating feeling was like, as if Jenny's eyes were seeing more than one scene at a time.

"Nothing, cannot, be created." She spoke in a slow drawl, stepping up the last few gilded stairs.

"Demons are, the world, too."

As she finally stood in front of the ice mage, numerous ancient books written in black text suddenly appeared before the girl.

Lance suddenly raised his staff high!

"I have never betrayed!" His white robe fluttered wildly in the surge of magical power.

I never slipped up, never showed disloyalty.

"I volunteered, even begged to join you! I concealed not a single clue! I surrendered the top bounty hunter and the best rescue team leader! I never hesitated whenever you needed me!"

Why?!

"She, saved you," Jenny lifted her hand, gently opening one of the books, "She, knows, where the foundation lies."

"Now, you need, to be, saved, again."

She? Who is she?!

Before Lance could voice his question, a series of twisted characters suddenly flew out of the book, hurtling straight towards his forehead!

Can't beat it.

The difference in magical power is too vast.

Just as Lance was struck with this despairing thought, a violent explosion suddenly erupted behind him!

The magic-infused characters halted right in front of his face, and for the first time, Jenny's pupils focused on a single point, located in the storm outside the window.

Lance turned in shock, only then noticing that the demonic creation, like a ghostly apparition, had stopped all movement, staring intently at the nearest peak of the snowy mountains.

Only after covertly enhancing his vision with magic did Lance notice a man sitting there.

He couldn't see the man's face, only a fleeting glint around his neck, shining briefly in the blizzard.

There was also Jenny, calm and immovable as a rock.

Lance saw her expression crack rapidly upon encountering the unfamiliar man.

"What are you?" Beelzebub tilted its head, the raging blizzard swirling around it, yet no snowflake dared touch it.

It stood with hands in pockets, eyes scanning the black scales and the dark tail.

A mere glance made the distant Jenny's pupils contract sharply, instantly flipping open all the books!

"I am the Demon God Pemoris!" Simultaneously, the giant monster raised its hands, its surging magical power erupting like a volcano, hurling terrifying claws towards Beelzebub!

The intense tremor evidently startled everyone; monks rushed in, only to be blocked by an ice wall on the other side of the corridor.

People, terrified, pressed against the windows, looking up towards the distant, fog-enshrouded snow.

However, the anticipated cataclysmic collapse did not occur.

Jenny's eyes widened slowly; in her myriad overlapping visions, the scene belonging to the snowy mountain showed Pemoris's giant claw being halted by a hand.

A dark green tail slapped onto the ground with a smack, the man inch by inch lifting the mountainous claw, revealing a chilling smile to Pemoris.

"Although I'm busy searching for someone, who did you just say you are—?"

*

"What's happening outside?"

The tremor also reached inside the Holy Snow Mountain, Fi's light quivering wildly. She infused more magic to stabilize it before looking up.

"Nothing much," the Small World replied calmly, "just some 'uninvited guests' have arrived."

"Fi, perhaps we need to speed things up."

Fi, speechless, continued forward. Had she been caught up to already without even retrieving the item?

The closest one could only be the Dark Archmage, right?

She rubbed her temples, wondering if those people were as persistent as dogs, following her so closely.

Stretching her body, she removed her cloak, fur boots, scarf, and shape-shifting hat, the cold air piercing straight to her bones.

After repeatedly casting several ancient warming and temperature-maintaining spells, Fi took a deep breath, finally reaching the last step—

In front of her was a tranquil, ancient well-like cold lake, likely at the very bottom of the Holy Snow Mountain.

Its unique location allowed the source of the Great Ice Plain to converge in a funnel-like underground, forming a lake cave as shimmering as ice jade.

Deep within the lake, an underground river flowed, passing through countless mountain mouths, eventually leading outside the snow mountain range, joining other rivers to form an ice river spanning the entire northern territory.

This ice river nourished schools of fish and wildlife, as well as generations of residents in Lulubi City.

In the game "Land of Gods and Demons," characters could survive underwater for 5 minutes and 18 seconds.

The low-temperature debuff caused stiffness in the body, and even if one could breathe, hypothermia remained lethal.

The thing beneath the Cold Lake blocked all magic, and Fi had died seven times in the game while searching for the quest objective.

But back in reality, she only had one chance.

Fortunately, her omniscience wasn't for naught. Having experienced death seven times, she could find that item even with her eyes closed.

Now, Fi strained to acclimate her body to the penetrating cold. Then, gritting her teeth, she plunged into the lake without hesitation.

In that instant, her bones felt like they had exploded all at once.

It was bitterly cold.

Only the brave dare swim in winter.

The Small World began timing her, a stopwatch dialogue box appearing on the left side of her vision.

Like a fish, the young girl swiftly dove to the lake's bottom, frantically clawing away at countless small stones.

The item was hidden deeper than she remembered.

After her first breath, she dared not delay and dove down again immediately.

On her second breath, she faintly saw a glimmer of light, with only 1 minute and 48 seconds left.

On the third dive, Fi finally unearthed the stones, grasping a luminous white object with her blood-stained hands.

"Congratulations Fi! But you should leave here quickly now."

"Glub!"

Fi struggled upwards, but just then, a more intense tremor suddenly struck!

Before the girl underwater could react, a massive dark shadow crashed down above her!

The Holy Snow Mountain was smashed into an enormous crater, countless chunks of the mountain cascading down like an earthquake!

"Damn it!" Fi cursed genuinely, frantically kicking her legs to swim upwards!

The next second, she burst through the water surface, unexpectedly facing a very familiar face.

"Fi, Fi?!"

Beelzebub, half-transformed into demonic form, stood atop the chest of a giant black demon, its massive tail soaked in blood. Its dark green claws were fiercely embedded in the other's neck.

This black demon was the very culprit that had smashed through the Holy Snow Mountain. Now, it looked utterly wretched, its neck mostly torn open by Beelzebub, one eye gone, leaving only a deep, empty socket.

With a foot severed and its giant claw bearing a piercing wound.

It stared blankly at the drenched Fi, its tail stiffening behind it like a flagpole.

"What are you doing here?" Beelzebub, without a glance at the artificial demon beneath, withdrew its claw and instantly landed on the lake surface, scooping up the freezing Fi.

So cold.

The demon reverted to human form, raising a hand to summon a cloak from the shore, wrapping Fi tightly.

But this seemed hardly effective.

Fi's eyebrows were frosted, lips blue and swollen, eyes bloodshot, her face so pale she looked like she might be buried the next moment, her consciousness hazed by the cold.

Damn it.

The demon's brows knitted tightly, hellfire suddenly blazing beside them.

The towering flames, like a volcanic eruption, burned through another massive hole in the Holy Snow Mountain!

Fi: …………

Small World: …………

Undeniably, she did feel much more comfortable.

"Th-thank you," her teeth chattering, Fi struggled to move her eyes towards it, "you, you, you—"

"How am I here?" Beelzebub removed its clothes, wrapping her up from head to toe. Its hand hesitated for a moment but still quickly grasped her ankle—her hands were always hidden inside the cloak—grasping elsewhere seemed even stranger.

The demon's scorching magical power slowly infused into Fi, "Of course, I came for you. Nothing tastes good without you."

Behind, a large tail swished back and forth, "I want to eat with you."

“……”

Fi wanted to say she still had plenty of magic, but her body, just beginning to recover, instinctively resisted using up energy, so she remained pale-faced, accepting the warmth.

But the object she held in her palm seemed a bit off?

Before she could inspect it, a sudden shake came from behind.

The pitch-black Demon God was slowly raising its upper body, its half-split neck eerily turning towards Fi.

Beelzebub's expression turned extremely sour, thinking it should have killed this creature many times over by now.

Yet, every time, it managed to stand up again.

"It claims to be the Demon God, then what have I been living for all these years?"

Glancing down at the girl before it, Beelzebub shifted its gaze, pondering seriously.

Maybe disassemble this creature and temporarily toss it to the Southern Realm, farthest from the Northern Territory? Once Fi is settled, it could deal with this impostor.

"It can't be killed because it's just a puppet." Fi gently withdrew her ankle, tossing the white spherical object into her spatial bracelet.

She had just tried it; the sphere was encased in an incredibly hard snow shell. Magic couldn't break it, and brute force was even less effective.

Small World reminded her, "A special method must be used."

Fi recalled that the final reward for completing the Holy Snow Mountain quest in the game was a recipe for a [Snow-Melting Potion].

The recipe's ingredients were simple, all sourced from this vast snow mountain.

At the time, she hadn't thought much of it, but now it seemed she had found its true purpose.

Had Small World been planning all this from that time?

"Thank you," she said, donning her cloak and boots, unable to recall how many times she'd thanked the demon, "Perhaps, I know how to kill it and all the puppets in the Northern Territory. But first, I need to find something. Can you wait for me?"

Beelzebub didn't catch the latter part of her words, the old demon absent-mindedly clenching its now empty hand, looking slightly dazed.

The girl vanished on the spot, a snow-white bird dashing into the surviving caves of the Holy Snow Mountain.

The Great Stone Monster's spines, the root hairs of the Eight-Legged Worm King, the family of small eight-legged worms, the mist of the Cold Lake, the snow from the top of the Holy Snow Mountain.

Plus her own hair (?), and the moss roots from the cave.

Before long, Fi was standing before it again.

The demon stayed still, only the collapsed posture of the figure behind it changed to an even more tragic one.

Fi exhaled deeply, wearily grabbing Beelzebub.

"I haven't slept for three days straight. Once this is done, can you take me back for a good sleep? Now, I need to make a quick stop at the potion shop."

She had intended to transform into a giant eagle and fly them into the sky, but before she could summon her magic, Beelzebub unexpectedly grasped her hand in return.

"Can you take me with you next time?" The demon, which had just been furiously killing, now hung its head like a little puppy.

Fi saw her own reflection in those narrow eyes.

"Take me with you next time. I can fight, teleport, and find things."

The artificial demon stood up again, casting a huge shadow over them, but the next second, Fi found herself in the desolate potion shop of Lulubi City.

Dark magic floated around them, Beelzebub’s hand holding hers gently but firmly, drawing her gaze back to it.

"You've already contracted me; can you not leave me alone there? My name isn't long, it's easy to say."

It had been alone for many years, but now it seemed unable to cope. It no longer wanted to be alone, especially not with those jumping fish.

Fi was taken aback.

Before she could discern the unusual sourness in Beelzebub’s tone, a familiar dialogue box suddenly lit up in front of her.

"Fi, look behind you."

She turned, her eyes falling on a dense crowd.

Orphanage director Marlen stood in front, followed by the young bartender Fi had seen, the naive waitstaff of the restaurant, the rescue team leader's family, the heroic mother who frequented the orphanage, some members of the knight's order, monks...

Countless residents of the Northern Territory, all with the same expression, rode atop snow leopards, staring intently at Fi.

Beelzebub attempted to pull Fi behind itself—these puppets were no match for even one of its fingers, but Fi suddenly looked up at it.

"Beelzebub Aldrich Vito Priestley," Fi softly called its name, "I summon you now, help me stop that artificial impostor, okay? I'll handle the rest."

Fi’s voice was unusually hoarse from the recent physical exertion, each word flowing like an electric current from Beelzebub’s ears to the tip of its tail.

The demon couldn’t help but grind its teeth.

"Don't get hurt, Fi." It turned its head away, back muscles tense, "After it's over, take me to eat something delicious."

After speaking, it released her hand and shot out like a bullet towards Pemoris, approaching from outside the city.

Only it could stop the undying artificial demon god.

Only then did Fi turn back, facing the crowd that had surged forward.

Every person in the Northern Territory was a warrior; even as puppets, their fighting prowess was formidable.

"Hand it over!" they shouted, all with the same tone, the same expression.

A barrage of ice magic aimed at Fi's former position was entirely blocked by a massive black shield.

Fi expressionlessly opened the smelting furnace, stuffing in the ingredients one by one. After sealing it tightly, she infused it with magic.

"3 minutes," Small World announced.

The girl then crammed the working furnace into her bracelet, instantly transforming into a giant eagle, flying out of the shop and soaring into the sky.

More eagles converged on her, and from a distance, various monsters of the Great Ice Plain swarmed in, their eyes mirroring the same intent as the crowd below.

"The Dark Archmage never rested in the Northern Territory; how many has she controlled?" Fi internally grumbled, though her eyes never ceased scanning.

Her sole purpose in soaring high was to scrutinize each face.

Opposite to the overwhelming brainwashing, stood the Dark Archmage's frail self.

Even with immense magical power, capable of wreaking havoc on the world, the inherent weakness of a Dark Mage's physical form remained.

Hence, she might puppeteer a city, a world of people, but would surely hide herself.

A sky-darkening flock of birds nearly trapped the giant eagle, forcing Fi to revert her transformation.

"Infernal Fire Blast!"

"Black Mist Assault!"

"Arctic Freeze!"

"Shield—!"

Fi pushed her magic to its limit, dodging and attacking simultaneously, blasting open a path through the tightly packed crowd! People below fell like wheat to the scythe!

Suddenly, her eyes narrowed; where did Jenny with the long black hair go?

"Fi."

Small World called her, signaling the Snow-Melting Potion was ready.

The bird finally landed, tossing out a shield and disguise spell, and Fi quickly sprinkled the potion on the snow shell.

The once impenetrable shell finally cracked inch by inch, revealing a golden... heart within.

The heart was palm-sized, roughly the size of a large steak.

Yet, it was pulsating.

Golden light coursed over its surface, revealing distinctly raised blood vessels and a thin, membrane-like outer layer.

"Eat it, Fi, this is the heart of a deity."

"Hand it over!!"

A frenzied roar exploded above her head!

Looking up, Fi shockingly saw the orphanage's cook and the laundry lady.

However, the magical power emanating from them was off the charts, conservatively estimated at level 90 or above.

These must be the Dark Archmage's direct combat puppets.

Their absence until now; were they kept close for fear the demon might steal her person, for personal protection?

But their appearance now was too late.

Fi smiled at them, then unhesitatingly stuffed the heart into her mouth.

In a corner not far away, Jenny's eyes were filled with rage!

"Kill her, take it out of her stomach!!"

But the next second, a series of blinding golden lights suddenly burst forth! The light, like the holiest divine radiance, wherever it shone, the dark puppets screamed as if being burned away!

Fi slowly opened her eyes amidst the golden light, as the familiar golden wheel made a turning sound for the first time.

Countless golden lines converged from within her, finally gathering at her chest, coating half of the inverted triangle in a sacred hue.

The witch of the abyss had gained the absolute power of light.

No backlash, no harm.

Fi spread her arms, looking at the golden flow surging through her veins, "What is... this?"

Small World seemed to let out a soft chuckle beside her ear.

"This is half of the world."