Chapter 406: Doesn't Exist
Following a single sentence from the "eyeless angel" Pandora seated in the very center, this trial targeting Fisher's group also drew to a close. Aside from Gabriel, who was still lying sideways on her chair, the other Archangels all stood up. The divine light encircling them grew increasingly dazzling, until it completely obscured their figures bit by bit.
But at the final moment, Fisher still caught sight of Eimhart looking at him pitifully, only to be shoved off by Michael and sent to Gabriel's side...
In the next second, the light above gradually dimmed, and the figures of those seven angels also gradually disappeared.
Gou Wen breathed a sigh of relief but didn't completely relax. He turned his head and looked at Fisher beside him with considerable worry. However, he saw that Fisher was only staring at the spot where Eimhart finally vanished, his expression not looking too good.
Ahead, Helaire still stood in place. Looking at the elevated platform above, she shook her head somewhat regretfully and sighed,
"Don't worry. Your book friend is temporarily safe with Lord Gabriel. It is at least quite a bit better than being taken by Lord Michael for research... But after all, he can't stay in the Sixth Heaven forever. Whether he can remain safe will definitely depend on your performance. You guys must be a bit tired after being cross-examined for so long just now. Rest here for a bit. I have some matters to attend to; when I return, I'll take you to the Fifth Heaven."
"Alright, sorry to trouble you."
Fisher nodded, watching Helaire slowly walk in another direction and quickly vanish completely. The grounds instantly quieted down, leaving only the three unfortunates.
"Mr. Fisher, you're really... I didn't expect you to actually speak up to save me. I truly have no way to repay this debt of gratitude. Just a moment ago, I thought I was about to be executed by the angels right then and there."
Gou Wen smiled and looked at Fisher, but soon noticed that Fisher's expression was absolutely terrible. He froze slightly, quickly realizing something, and made a somewhat incredulous guess,"Wait, you... don't completely lack the knowledge to forge that kind of miraculous item, do you?"
Asuka Karasawa, who had finally managed to sit on the ground and catch her breath, saw her heartbeat accelerate instantly upon hearing Gou Wen's words. With a pale little face, she looked at Fisher beside her.
Right now, she looked completely dumbstruck and unable to speak. Of course, she couldn't be blamed for this. Up until now, the biggest setback she had probably encountered in life was failing to do her summer homework and returning to school with a completely empty backpack, right?
Yet just now, this ordinary high school girl who had never faced a life-or-death threat was on a rollercoaster ride, hovering on the brink of life and death several times. It was completely normal for her to be unable to speak; not passing out from sheer terror already far exceeded ordinary people.
Under Asuka Karasawa's trembling gaze, Fisher glanced around, then nodded slightly and said,
"I didn't forge Eimhart. I met him during my travels. He said he was an item forged by the Angel-kin, but I didn't expect that the current angels lack the ability to forge him..."
"This is truly..."
Gou Wen's smile grew increasingly forced. He sighed and said,
"I truly admire you, Mr. Fisher. To think you could tell such a monstrous lie in front of all those Archangels without changing your expression. If it were me, I probably would have revealed a flaw very quickly, yet those Archangels hadn't noticed a single clue... Still, since it was death either way, being able to live a little longer by doing this is enough for me. I might even have a chance to send a letter back home to my wife in the ocean."
"Letter back home? To have her avenge you?"
Fisher bantered with a smile. However, Gou Wen shook his head and sighed,
"No need for that. Although my wife is foul-tempered and usually loves picking fights with people, based on human level classifications, she hasn't reached the Mythical rank yet. Coming up here would just add pointless resentment."
"I see... But at that time, I had no other choice. If I didn't do that, we would have died immediately, so I couldn't show cowardice no matter what. Furthermore, I'm not completely without clues regarding the forging method for Eimhart..."
Fisher patted the Demi-Human Girl Completion Handbook against his chest. He remembered that back in the Sema Mountains, upon gathering the Snow Mountain Familiars, he had received a reward called the 【World Tree Teardrop】. Right now, that item was still tucked inside the Demi-Human Girl Completion Handbook—a faintly glowing strange substance. Back then, the Completion Handbook had introduced this item:
【World Tree Teardrop: Used as an additive for forging angel Holy Artifacts. Legend says that a master possessing supremely high forging craftsmanship can imbue a Holy Artifact injected with a World Tree Teardrop with consciousness and thought. This is the god-stealing method at the summit of forging craftsmanship.】
Clearly, this item was the key to forging a conscious Holy Artifact.
He still held this unplayed trump card in his hand. How to utilize it was something he could only figure out by thinking on his own.
Sitting on the ground beside him, Asuka Karasawa unawares pursed her lips as she looked at Fisher's profile while he was deep in thought. It was as if, right at this moment, the terror that felt like it would crush her completely dissipated a little. She struggled to stand up, her pale face standing behind Fisher's back.
Her sudden rising instantly drew the line of sight of Fisher and Gou Wen. Seeing that she stood relatively steadily with no intention of falling over, Fisher nodded and asked,
"Feeling a bit better? Just now, I saw your face was very pale, I thought you were going to pass out..."
Asuka Karasawa lowered her blushing face a bit. Unknown why, Fisher always felt that this girl from the different world was rather shy and easily embarrassed, constantly preferring to lower her head and avoid others' direct gaze. But since there was a bit of cultural difference between their two worlds, he didn't pay too much mind to it at this time.
"N-no, I'm sorry... It's just that before today I was still an ordinary high school student watching anime at home. Who knew that today I would... be judged by characters with the exact same names as the ones in the anime."
"Anime?"
"That's... 'Neon Genesis Evangelion' broadcasted on TV Tokyo. There's also some Remiel or something in it; I think it was the Fifth Angel, Ramiel, which looked like a giant cross... Ah, anime is a kind of moving picture. They probably don't have it here, but the stories are very interesting. Before, when I went home, I would turn on the television to watch it. I really like this work..."
Speaking of that "anime" thing which Fisher had never heard of before, Asuka Karasawa's trembling appearance finally became a bit livelier. Once she started talking, her speech became fast and flowing. Even though Fisher could completely understand her through the Sanctuary's rules, it was still a bit overwhelming for him—as if it was his first time seeing the other side of this timid-as-a-chick Transferred Person.
As she spoke, Asuka Karasawa looked up and saw the two handsome men before her staring at her with completely abstract expressions. Her face reddened increasingly, and she hurriedly waved her hands and lowered her head, her voice turning smaller and smaller.
"Sorry, sorry... I shouldn't be talking about such irrelevant things at a time like this. I'm sorry."
"No. You just said that in your world, there are also angels, and their names are very similar?"
"Yeah... Eh? Yeah, we don't come from the same world, so why are there angels with the exact same names? Could this be some parallel world? And thinking carefully about it, it seems like the other angels are somewhat familiar to me too. I must have heard of them somewhere before..."
Through the words of this Transferred Person, Fisher quickly realized something was amiss. Turning his head to look at Gou Wen, he saw that Gou Wen also bore an expression of astonishment.
"This is truly strange. The angels are all creations of that Lord Chain of Heaven, and their names should have been personally chosen by him as well. If only the angels' names have connections to the different world, then could this unseen Lord Chain of Heaven have been to the different world? If that's the case, then little Asuka Karasawa has hope of returning home!"
"Really?"
Asuka Karasawa's eyes brightened slightly. Clearly, the desire to return home was still very intense. Even though her mind was a blank slate earlier, she deeply engraved the name 【Chain of Heaven】 into her mind, as if it was her hope of returning home.
But Fisher was still pondering, unsure if it was truly only the names in the Sanctuary that were connected to the different world. He quickly thought of the other Mythical Species. He didn't understand the Elf-kin and hadn't seen any tomes on them. The stars shouldn't have invaded reality at this time yet. Then, what about demons?
The Demon-kin was a Mythical Species closely related to humans, frequently appearing in human society. Previosuly, many humans even worshipped them. Then, in the Demon-kin, could there be concepts connected to the different world?
"Asuka Karasawa, does your world have Demon-kin? Can you say a few names so I can see if they match up with the Demon-kin of this world?"
"Um, Mr. Fisher, actually you can just call me Karasawa. In our culture, Karasawa is my surname, just call me that... Demons... um, let me think. It seems like I also have a lot of impressions of them, but as for names, except for Satan, I don't remember any others. Do demons even have names? That's so strange..."
Hearing Asuka Karasawa's words, Fisher displayed a hint of disappointment. He had never heard of any demon called that name before, making it impossible to judge whether the demons had any connection to the different world...
If only Eimhart were here. Not only did he have connections with the angels, but he also knew a great deal about the demons.
Yet at this moment, with a strange expression, Gou Wen patted Fisher's shoulder beside him. Then, after pondering for a moment, he still opened his mouth towards Fisher,
"Mr. Fisher, although I don't want to interrupt you either... I have traveled to many places in this world before: the seafloor, the Snowlands, the Continent of Dragons, and the Continent of Trees—I've been to them all. But regarding the Demon-kin you spoke of, it seems I've never heard of them..."
Fisher's pupils contracted slightly. Somewhat incredulously, he turned his head to look at Gou Wen.
"What... did you say?"
"I'm saying, the Demon-kin you just spoke of seems to completely not exist..."
Gou Wen smiled bitterly, and still bringing the words to light, said this.