BXBX NOVEL Chapter 156 - Ancient Feud
All of this could have been avoided if Nikolai could leave the archeologist in his pocket dimension. Unfortunately, however, when he tried to touch the tablet before, a simple contact made his skin vaporize.
The tablet was an object that fell from Celestia, and it contained holy powers that were the bane of his darkness. If not for that reason, Nikolai would have chosen to take the easy way out.
"I can see that you are scheming something," smiled the Fairy Queen at him. "You are not leaving this place alive if that is your aim."
\'Are you an idiot? That would naturally be my aim,\' Nikolai inwardly said. This was not the time to provoke this monster, but he needed to think of a way to survive.
"You are a dark being, it seems," the Fairy Queen frowned and covered her nose. "It is disgusting that you still exist. Why is someone like you standing in my way?"
"I have nothing against you, my queen. I would have never hindered your plans if I could. However, this divine item has a secret that I need."
"A way into Celestia," she carelessly said. "I know that the archeologist has already told you. I held her captive for a month, but she used the tablet to escape. It seems that the secrets recorded within it are true, and this human thought she could run away."
"This tablet is not enough to sneak into Celestia," said Nikolai, and it grabbed the Fairy Queen\'s attention.
"You are bluffing," she scowled. "A dark being is one banished from Celestia, and there is no way for you to make use of this tablet. Tell me the real reason you want it."
"You are insightful, my queen," Nikolai said as he looked around the room. But, unfortunately, a layer of light isolated it from the outside, and there was no way for Lucas to realize their predicament. "I was ordered by someone to retrieve the tablet."
"Another demigod?" the Queen was surprised. "You have quite the nerve to lie to me, foul being. Consider death as your punishment," she said as she gathered her mana around her hand.
"You can kill me when I tell you what I have," hurried Nikolai to explain, and the Fairy Queen retracted her hand. Her crown stopped glowing, and her entirely black eyes recovered their calm.
"You better tell the truth, dark being."
"I can lead you to the other demigod. I can even tell you how to sneak into Celestia using this tablet. I am nothing but an outcast who is trying to live. Why would I want to sneak into Celestia while I am banished from it?"
His words seemed to strike a bell, and the two antennas on her head began to glow. As the light left her body, Nikolai could feel it examining him.
"You are not lying, it seems."
Nikolai was not lying because he talked about Lilith, a bona fide demigod who aimed for the ritual. However, he didn\'t say that he wouldn\'t sneak into Celestia himself.
However, even if the Queen knew, she would barely care. In her eyes, the dark being was an ant, and the threat of another demigod was far greater.
"A ritual will be happening in a few days, and Vyxas should be descending to claim his offering. This time, the descension should happen, and this will be the perfect chance to steal divine energy or even... ascend."
The last words made the Fairy Queen squint her eyes. There was nothing more tempting to a demigod than ascending to Celestia. Nikolai could feel her power examining his mind, but he told the truth.
"I want the name of that demigod," she demanded.
"They use an alias to disguise themselves from humans. A true name is important for a demigod."
"You are telling the truth again," she frowned. "I know about Vyxas and his descension, but the Oracles have foreseen its failure. You are useless."
A spear of light began to gather above her body, and Nikolai could tell that this weapon could turn him into nothingness. The Oracles she mentioned were none other than the ones Nikolai fought with Lilith in his past life, and they could see into the future.
"You can ask them again, but I am not wrong. The future has changed because of untethered fate. The existence of this demigod has caused this."
"Untethered fate..." she stopped her attack. "This is also another truth. Therefore, you are either telling the truth or simply ignorant. I cannot see you as the latter. So, this demigod is from a different realm?"
"Yes, my queen," Nikolai said as sweat rolled down his face. "However, if this tablet disappears, the demigod will retreat, and the untethered fate will not change the future."
"I am more intrigued by your knowledge than any," she said with suspicion. "Your words make sense, and this is what makes me suspicious of you. Who are you?"
"I am one of the generals," said Nikolai, and the Fairy Queen widened her eyes. A grin appeared on her face as fury burned in her eyes.
"This makes sense now. You are a puppet of that whore," she said with rage. "Untethered fate... it can only be that woman. This is interesting. I found you at last, and I will not let you escape."
Nikolai did not say anything because he knew she was speaking about Lilith. This was his final trump card. Nikolai wanted to use the eternal feud between Lilith and this demigod to get out of this situation.
"I don\'t care about Celestia if that woman is involved," the Fairy Queen was rageful. "This is my chance to ruin her plans. The Oracles should be able to see the new future now since the dices have been rolled."
The Fairy Queen glanced at Nikolai and the archeologist before waving her hand. A wave of energy invaded Nikolai\'s mind, and he started feeling drowsy.
"This was nothing but a dream that you forget when you wake up," she said before slashing space apart. "I was gone for too long. At least, I encountered an unexpected harvest. Wait for me..."
After that, Nikolai fell to the ground, and the Fairy Queen left the room. A few moments afterward, darkness leaked out of Nikolai as he started to rise, a splitting headache threatening to kill him.
"It seems she left," Nikolai said with a grin. "She tried to erase my memories, but that she didn\'t think that my darkness could erase her powers."
Nikolai stared at his darkness as his body regained its control. There was an empowering feeling in overcoming the brainwashing of a demigod. However, the satisfaction came from hindering Lilith.
The feud between Lilith and the Fairy Queen was an ancient one. Every time the two of them met, disasters occurred. Lilith runs away from the Fairy Queen most of the time because she stole something from her.
"I survived," Nikolai breathed out. "And I might have created a mess. This ritual is going to be one hell of an event," he said with a smile as he dropped to the ground. "I need to get out of here."
[You significantly changed fate. As a result, you obtained 30 Fate Points.]
[A new character has been added to the registry.]
[You have escaped a terrible fate.]
The last notification seemed like a congratulation from the system, but Nikolai had no energy to overthink the matter. At the very least, he obtained fate points and outwitted his way through into safety.
The most crucial piece of his argument is revealing the existence of generals. No one knew about them other than Lilith and the generals themselves, and the Fairy Queen knew that.
This was the reason that she believed him. Furthermore, the monster was blinded by rage toward Lilith. This was also a confirmation of how the gods were conceited.
"Mm," groaned the archeologist as she began to wake up. "What happened to me? I remember sitting alone and..." she muttered as she tried to rise.
"The Fairy Queen captured you, but I managed to convince her to leave," answered Nikolai with a frown. "You never mentioned that you were a prisoner of the queen."
"She was here?" the archeologist panicked as she looked around. "There is no way that she simply left. You are lying!"
"You are the liar here," Nikolai grabbed hold of her neck as he slammed her toward the wall. "Tell me why you hid the fact you were her prisoner. I miscalculated everything because of you. The source of that tablet should be no other than the queen herself."
"Hah," Taly wheezed as she tried to break free from his grasp. Nikolai used his darkness to destroy her mana and rendered her helpless. "I... had... no... choice..."
"Explain," he ordered as he loosened his grip.
"Ha," she took a deep breath. "You would have refused if you knew that that tablet belonged to her, so I had no choice to make you help me but to hide the truth...."