Chapter 1211 — Release

Among those stars, did the departed souls watch over the living left in this world?

So the ancient sages had once told the world, but Belantia knew now that the starlight was only starlight; the departed souls were departed after all—there is no eternal heaven, all things must end, and not even gods are exempt.

Perhaps the former Order of the Final End had seen through this as well, and that was why it had taken this cold fact as its name—perhaps to warn the world, or perhaps only to remind itself.

She turned her head and saw Gao Yang standing beside her. That figure was as tall as in her memory, and though what lay within was no longer wholly the human pioneering hero she remembered, from a certain angle… the soul in this body now had much in common with that pioneer of seven hundred years ago, and many of her own questions… could always be answered by this "wanderer from beyond the domain."

"Actually, I still don't quite understand why Master Azmor and the other sages went to their deaths so calmly," the Silver Empress suddenly said in a low voice. "Though I said they could not return to the mortal world, they could have chosen to remain in the Shadow Realm, to remain at their god's side. For devout believers like them, that should have been the highest honor and blessing…"

"What they mourned was not only Amorn," Gao Yang said with a slight shake of his head. "What they mourned was the age that had a God of Nature—an age bathed in divine grace, an age of steadfast faith, an age when all things returned to the 'true path.' Even knowing that age was long gone, they held fast to it for thirty centuries, and only now has that age truly drawn its final curtain in their hearts.

"From the very beginning, those priests never sought a way to survive. They merely wanted to give their three thousand years of steadfastness a proper conclusion. They were seeking a final resting place—one they should have gone to long ago, yet had delayed departing for because of hesitation and fear. In the eyes of Azmor and the other priests, they were not going to their deaths; they had simply, at last, halted their steps."

Belantia looked at Gao Yang fixedly, her tone somewhat surprised. "You never had any contact with Azmor and the other sages, yet you seem to see everything so clearly?"

Gao Yang met the Empress's gaze openly and smiled faintly. "Perhaps because I've seen a great deal."

At this he paused, and a somewhat rueful expression came over his face. "And frankly, if not for the choice Azmor and the other sages made, Amorn could never have broken free of those bonds… Actually, I noticed long ago that the Pioneers' legacy has a powerful suppressive effect on 'divine' power, but for individuals who do not possess divinity, it is at most exceptionally sturdy advanced material. Amorn's divinity has been fading every day, and ever since the various 'de-deification' projects I oversaw were launched on a large scale, the rate of that fading has only grown faster. Yet after all this time… how could the Pioneers' legacy's seal and binding upon him not have weakened in the slightest?

"The only explanation is that Amorn bound himself in place… As an individual born from the 'current of thought,' his own mind exerted far too powerful an influence upon himself."

"A god can still be bound by his own 'thoughts'… and the binding is even physical?" Belantia wore an expression of disbelief. "Then if a god believed he was not bound at all, wouldn't that…"

"Unfortunately, we can't verify that, and judging from the available records, such a fortunate turn of events shouldn't happen," Gao Yang shook his head regretfully. "This world almost never grants us the luxury of having things turn out exactly as we wish."

"…That is true enough."

The two rulers of the Empire exchanged a smile, together making light of this less-than-friendly world that nonetheless nurtured all things—and just then, a familiar presence suddenly coalesced in the air nearby, interrupting the conversation between Gao Yang and Belantia.

Gao Yang looked toward the source of the presence and saw Amber's small figure leap out from a rift in the Shadow Realm. He could not help teasing her with a smile. "Well, this is a rare sight—working overtime at night?"

"You think I want to?" Amber had barely steadied herself on the ground before she planted her hands on her hips and complained with perfect self-righteousness. "Who told you to come running to a place like this at night?"

"All right, I know you're a night owl who wanders about even when there's nothing to do," Gao Yang waved a hand and asked casually. "What's happened, that you'd come all this way yourself?"

Amber pursed her lips. "Actually, I just came by to pass along a message. Word just came in from our internal channels—"

She was only halfway through when her gaze flicked several times toward the Silver Empress. Gaoyang gave Belantia a slight nod, then strode over to Amber's side—and Belantia, understanding at once, tactfully withdrew to stand with the elven guard she had brought along.

"Word from the North," Amber said in a low voice beside Gaoyang. "Grand Consul Victoria wants to go to Talund herself—she's asking for your opinion."

"Victoria? Going to Talund herself? This is her decision?" Gaoyang was instantly taken aback, and it struck him as unlike anything the ever-composed, ever-cold "Grand Duke of Ice and Snow" would propose on her own initiative. Yet the surprise on his face quickly faded, replaced by a brief moment of thought, and as he thought he slowly nodded. "It does make sense..."

"So that's your answer, then?" Amber blinked. "You don't want to make it a bit clearer?"

"Clearer?" Gaoyang looked at the half-elf. "Then let me state my support—provided, of course, that she has her official duties arranged and presents a complete, reliable plan with contingencies."

"Right then, I'll head back and send the reply!" Amber gave a quick wave, and before her words had even finished, her figure had already vanished from Gaoyang's sight.

Only then did Belantia quietly return to Gaoyang's side. The Silver Empress gazed for a long while in the direction Amber had just disappeared, and finally spoke with a note of surprise: "Your relationship with this 'Minister of Intelligence' is closer than I imagined... The way you two are together is not like superior and subordinate, nor like an ordinary ruler and subject—it's more like... intimate friends."

"Is it?" Gaoyang raised an eyebrow in surprise and answered offhandedly, though a thought could not help but surface in his mind:

How should I put it—when you get down to it, it's the relationship between a suspect and the stolen goods, isn't it...

(End of Chapter)