Chapter 216: The Fifth King of Angels

Chapter 216: The Fifth King of Angels

Gods walked upon the earth, not the astral world… At the beginning of the Fourth Epoch, in the era of the Solomon Empire, there was no boundary between myth and reality? The gods walked directly upon the earth and had no need to descend?

That resembles what the City of Silver’s records say about the Second Epoch. Places like the Giant King’s Court were separated from the real world by only a single door. One could pass through if they wished, and return if they wished. Gods and mortals mingled together in chaos and darkness… Also, the astral world really does correspond to the gods… Hearing Viscount Mobet Zoroast’s description, Klein instantly made several associations.

He subconsciously swept a glance over Groselle, because this giant was very likely someone who had personally lived through part of the Second Epoch’s history!

Groselle picked up a cup even more exaggerated than a wooden bucket and gulped down a mouthful of melted snow water. He laughed loudly.

“Mobet, isn’t that completely normal? Why are you being so serious?”

“I don’t know why I’m being so serious either.” Mobet Zoroast gradually revealed a smile. “Haha. To us, it’s something ordinary, but in their eyes, it may be terrifying and hard to believe. I have to use an appropriate expression to tell it if I want the right effect. Do you still remember Longzel’s expression the first time he heard us tell those stories? He looked as if he wanted to kneel and confess to the Lord of Storms.”

“…” For a moment, Klein, Danitz, and the others did not know what expression or words they should use in response.

Anderson leaned slightly toward Gehrman Sparrow and lowered his voice.

“I feel like he has the talent of a Provoker.”

He seemed to have controlled his volume, but in truth, everyone present could hear his words.

Mobet did not mind. He laughed twice and continued with the earlier topic.

“I know you don’t quite believe that gods walked the earth. It’s hard to accept, just like it was for Edwina before. Heh heh, I can give two examples. The Abyss of Storms on Pasu Island and the Deep Dark Heaven in the Amanda mountain range are the divine kingdoms of the Lord of Storms and the Evernight Goddess, respectively. They are divine kingdoms located on the earth, divine kingdoms separated from the real world by only an illusory door!”

Pasu Island? Isn’t that where the Church of Storms’ current holy altar is located? The Amanda mountain range… Amanda means “tranquil” in Hermes. Does this refer to the holy cathedral, the Cathedral of Serenity? When gods no longer walked the earth, did Their kingdoms become the headquarters of Their respective Churches? Klein intuitively believed Mobet Zoroast was not lying and made certain judgments based on it.

Danitz, meanwhile, listened in bewilderment and fear. He instinctively wanted to avoid the subject, but after looking at his focused and serious captain, at the pensive Gehrman Sparrow, and at Anderson Hood, whose face practically had the words “I am very interested” written all over it, he could only force himself to endure. Uneasily, he searched for a more comfortable sitting position.

Just then, the elven singer Siatas, who had been keeping watch, walked in and said disdainfully, “Do not mention that false god. The authority of storms belongs only to the king of us elves!”

Her voice was clear and beautiful, but her tone was filled with anger and impatience, as though she might raise both hands at any moment and shoot Mobet Zoroast with an arrow.

“All right. I will use ‘false god’ as the substitute.” Mobet lifted a hand and stroked his pointed, hard black hat.

Siatas withdrew her gaze and said to the shallow believer of the Lord of Storms, the former Loen soldier Longzel Edwards, “Your turn!”

Longzel slowly raised his head, his expression still holding a trace of bewilderment.

He seemed not to have noticed the earlier conversation and argument. He pulled out the iron-black straight sword planted beside him and walked step by step toward the cave entrance.

Klein observed for a while, then seized the opportunity to ask Siatas, the elf, “Do you know the Calamity Queen Cohinem?”

He was not actually certain that Cohinem was the Calamity Queen, the subordinate deity of Elf King Soniathrym. His question was designed to wait for an answer from the elven singer Siatas.

A similar bewilderment appeared at once on Siatas’s soft, delicate face.

“It has been a very long time since I heard Her name. She is—She is the queen of us elves.

“Mobet and Longzel don’t even know She ever existed…

“Where did you meet Her—no, where did you learn of Her situation?”

As she spoke, Siatas’s tone suddenly became urgent.

At that moment, Danitz was already staring at Gehrman Sparrow in astonishment, marveling that this madman was actually so learned that he could share common topics even with an elf suspected to belong to ancient times.

“I didn’t expect you to be a scholar too… Really can’t tell, really can’t tell…” Anderson sighed while shaking his head.

Vice Admiral Iceberg Edwina likewise cast her gaze toward Klein. Her spring-clear, pale-blue eyes held an intense thirst for knowledge.

Klein answered frankly, “I entered a ruin belonging to Calamity Queen Cohinem and obtained a few items.”

“A ruin?” Siatas softly chewed over the word, her tone as if she had lost something not especially important yet still hard to part with.

“Judging from the situation there, She may not have truly died,” Klein said. After seeing Siatas’s eyes brighten, he asked directly, “Do you have the potion formula for Ocean Songster? What can I exchange for it?”

He felt that when dealing with a Beyonder of the Storm pathway, it was best to be frank and direct.

Siatas thought for a moment and said, “Use one of the Queen’s items in exchange.”

“I only obtained a goblet made of gold. It has already been flattened, and its surface is engraved with intricate patterns and the two Elvish words: ‘Calamity, Cohinem,’” Klein said without concealing anything.

“I know that cup. It was the Queen’s favorite cup.” Siatas could barely hide her excitement. “Deal!”

“The cup is outside,” Klein said. He had no intention of going above the gray fog in front of everyone.

Siatas nodded.

“I understand.

“When we leave this book, we will complete the transaction.”

At that point, she brought her palms together.

“The storm will belong to the elves!”

Before anyone else could speak, she asked curiously, “What else did you discover there?”

“Some murals. They depicted a battle between the Elf King and the ancient Sun God.” Klein glanced at the ascetic Snowman, who was said to believe in “the Lord who created everything, the omniscient and omnipotent God.”

The middle-aged man facing the stone wall with his back to the fire finally spoke in a hoarse voice.

“No. He is not merely the Sun God.

“He is our Lord, Father of all things, the great source.

“He was not fighting the Elf King. He was merely taking back the authority that belonged to Him.”

No sooner had Snowman’s words fallen than Siatas stood up at once and aimed the tip of her arrow at him.

Suddenly, the black hair tied into a ponytail by the elven singer came loose and, defying natural laws, spread wildly upward and outward. Every strand of hair was distinct, twined with silver-white lightning and radiating a strange deep-blue luster.

Just as Siatas was about to release her bowstring, a huge gray-blue hand suddenly appeared before her, blocking in front of the arrow tip without fear of being pierced.

It was the hand of the giant Groselle. One of the characteristics of his race was that the proportions of their hands and feet were exaggerated, nearly deformedly long. Therefore, merely by sitting and extending one arm, he was able to stop Siatas.

“All right. Snowman, say no more. You know Siatas is an elf who likes to use actions instead of words,” Groselle first said to the ascetic. Then he turned his head toward the elven singer. “Siatas, we are companions. We have experienced many dangers together, companions who can entrust our backs to each other. You may refute Snowman, and you may even beat him up, but you cannot try to harm him.”

As expected of the protagonist of the travelogue. He’s full of positive energy… But where exactly is the difference between beating him up and harming him? Klein could not help muttering to himself twice.

Siatas snorted and sat back down. The scene became quiet for a moment, with a rather awkward atmosphere.

The giant Groselle swept his single vertical eye around the group and chuckled.

“Then I’ll tell everyone about my past too.

“Before entering this book, I lived in the Giant King’s Court and was one of the guardians of the Decaying Forest. Only our king could enter that place. It is said to bury His father and mother, the source of us giants.”

The Giant King’s Court is composed of many parts, and the Decaying Forest is one of them? It buries the oldest ancestors of the giant race? Klein listened very seriously and only wanted to ask more.

To him, this was even more valuable than the history of the Fourth Epoch, because the hope of the City of Silver very likely lay within the Giant King’s Court.

However, before he could speak, Edwina had already asked first, “Groselle, what was this book like when you obtained it?”

Groselle raised a hand and rubbed his cheek.

“There was nothing in it. It was like a blank book waiting to be filled.”

I had previously guessed that Groselle might have been a complete book-world character… Klein weighed things for several seconds. He did not directly inquire about detailed conditions inside the Giant King’s Court. Instead, he turned to Mobet Zoroast and asked, “Do you know Amon, the Blasphemer?”

“‘Blasphemer’ refers to the entire Amon family. They are the mortal enemies of us Zoroasts. It is said that they have an extremely powerful, terrifying ancestor. Even Lords Ouroboros and Medici attach great importance to Him, and are even somewhat afraid of Him, but no one knows His exact name,” Mobet explained in detail.

Ouroboros, Medici? Mm. At that time, the True Creator and Rose Redemption were both supporting the Solomon Empire… Klein’s heart stirred, and he immediately asked, “Then have you heard the name Sasrir?”

Mobet froze, then slowly shook his head.

“I have never heard of it.”

So the title of Dark Angel Sasrir vanished after the Cataclysm? Was it buried? Klein confirmed a fact through this.

Just then, the ascetic Snowman, who faced the stone wall, spoke in his deep, hoarse voice.

“Sasrir is the Dark Angel, the leader of the Kings of Angels, the one closest to the Lord.”

I was waiting for you to answer… Klein turned his gaze toward the ascetic and asked in a low voice, “Aside from Him, Ouroboros, Medici, and Amon, what other Kings of Angels are there? You don’t need to say Their names.”

Klein feared triggering an unnecessary reaction, just like the “Confessor” in Afternoon Town.

Starting earlier, Edwina, Anderson, and Danitz had been in a state of bewilderment, because the content exchanged between Gehrman Sparrow and these ancient figures was something they had never even heard of. They could hardly believe that this crazy adventurer actually possessed so many secrets and so much knowledge!

Snowman was silent for several seconds before saying, “There is also the Angel of Imagination, Adam…”

The moment he said that name, the entire cave suddenly shook. That familiar crazed, brutal aura descended rapidly!

The King of the North, Ulyssan, had found them!