"….."
"He" remained silent. It was unclear whether "He" hadn't heard Edward, or simply couldn't be bothered to respond.
"Did the Lord send you specifically to pick me up? Coming all this way just for me—what a hassle! How about you go back first? I'll head over on my own?"
Ouroboros tilted "His" head slightly. That holy and serene face inexplicably took on a hint of adorableness.
"…Sigh."
Edward let out a resigned sigh, climbed onto the ice block, and cast a Moisture-Removing Charm on himself. He looked like a man who had accepted his fate.
"Alright, fine. Take me to see the Lord."
Ouroboros gave a slight nod and extended a slender hand toward him.
But just then, "His" movement paused. "He" turned to look in a certain direction, where—unnoticed until now—a tiny paper crane was frantically flapping its wings, speeding away.
"….."
A flicker of hesitation appeared in Ouroboros's eyes. He glanced from Edward to the paper crane.
Edward was taken aback.
"Holy shit! Will, you're a real bro—are you trying to lure the big snake away even if it costs you your life?!"
He cleared his throat. "Ahem, Your Holiness, why don't you go handle that first? I'll wait right here, I swear on the Lord I won't move an inch!"
Ouroboros stared at Edward for a long moment, then gave a slight nod. He casually tossed the small figure back to Edward.
"Yours."
And then "His" figure vanished without a trace.
"Uh…that easy to talk to?"
Edward scratched his head and looked at the black doll in his hand, feeling slightly baffled. "Did "He" think this thing was mine and go out of "His" way to get it back for me?"
But this thing was clearly tainted with the corruption of the Abomination, Suah…
"Wait a minute. That burning sensation is gone…and my spiritual intuition isn't warning me anymore. Did Ouroboros sever its connection with Sia'ar?"
Even so, this thing still seemed useless to him.
After a moment's thought, Edward tossed the figure into his pouch. The giant serpent had been so courteous from the moment they met, and so easy to talk into things…it almost made Edward feel bad about running away.
Smack!
He slapped himself hard across the face.
"Am I an idiot? If I don't run now, when will I?!"
———
Ouroboros followed the paper crane all the way to the island of the dead volcano.
"He" gently caught the powerless crane as it drifted down from the sky. With a slight pinch of "His" fingers, it transformed into a small bead of crimson blood. Upon closer inspection, one would see countless tiny, crystal-clear "insects" squirming inside—each one a silver snake devouring its own tail.
Ouroboros held out "His" palm, letting the blood seep into "His" skin. Then, turning to leave, "He" stopped again—"His" gaze fixed on a man in the distance wearing a monocle. "His" brows furrowed slightly.
The man waved at "Him".
"Yo. You showed up too, huh?"
Ouroboros's expression remained cold. "He" said nothing.
"Hey, I've told you, you should stop hanging around that lunatic all the time. Look at you—your humanity is practically gone. You should've come under me instead."
"He" pointed toward the port with a grin.
"See that? My masterpiece. Just the tiniest nudge, and those people will do anything to survive. This game is way more fun than simply possessing another body like those other avatars."
Ouroboros: "…"
"So, what's your goal this time?"
"Need a hand?"
"That paranoid maniac hasn't shown up in ages. You know what He's up to now? Oh wait, right—you're always stuck with that madman."
"Say something."
Ouroboros tilted "His" head slightly and stared at him, then spoke with a cool, detached tone:
"You…really have changed."
"…"
The man's smile faded.
"Heh. Blame the main body and the others. They threw all the blame on me in the Council's vote! Whatever. No point talking to a blockhead like you. Go handle your business."
Ouroboros gave a slight nod, spread "His" wings, and disappeared once again.
Moments later, the man suddenly paused and scratched his head.
"Huh? Why did I even come here?"
His eyes lit up. He hurried toward the docks.
"Right! The battlefield of the gods! The remaining pieces of the Laurel! They're there! I need to find them…to save our ancestors!"
But when he reached the port, all he found was a field of corpses and the wreckage of pirate ships. Not a single vessel remained to take him away.
"What the…happened here?"
At that moment, a blond man stepped out from the side, chewing on a blade of grass.
"Hey. I thought I was slow to react when I woke up and found the sky had fallen—but looks like someone here's even slower."
The blond man chewed for a second, then spat the grass aside.
"I'm planning to chop some trees and build a small boat to get out of here. Want to team up?"
Verdu considered it for a moment. There didn't seem to be a better option. Still, he remained cautious. "Why me?"
The man laughed heartily. "Because you don't look like a pirate. And I'm a pirate hunter."
He extended a hand.
"I'm Anderson Hood. You've probably heard of me—the strongest pirate hunter on the seas."
Vildeau was silent for a few seconds.
"Never heard of you."
Anderson didn't seem embarrassed.
"Now you have. Alright, let's get to work."
———
Ouroboros once again appeared above the sea, only to find Edward long gone. "He" stared at the bobbing ice below with a faint trace of puzzlement.
"Gone?"
"Gone."
His figure gradually faded.
"The time…has not yet come."
———
Senor drowned.
One of the dignified Seven Pirate Admirals, the infamous Admiral of Blood...actually drowned.
When everything calmed down and the Golden Dream arrived at the former location of the Tree of Flesh and Blood, they fished Senor out of the seawater—he'd been soaking for most of the day—and discovered he was already dead.
Everyone looked at each other in stunned silence.
Danitz stood off to the side, wordless and dazed. His thoughts were all over the place. He had never expected to personally avenge Little Carlo by killing Senor himself, but even more surprising was how anticlimactic the fearsome Admiral of Blood's end had been.
Edwina looked at Danitz and said softly, "Senor was manipulating the soul forms of a married couple when he was caught in a backlash and fell into the sea…and drowned."
Danitz's eyes widened in shock. "Don't tell me that couple was—"
"I don't know either."
"So…does that mean Little Carlo's parents personally avenged their son?"
First Mate Orpheus laughed. "If it was Little Carlo's parents who did it, then it counts as Little Carlo himself doing it. Spread the word! It was the Golden Dream's apprentice sailor, Little Carlo, who took down the Admiral of Blood, Senor!"
After a moment of stunned silence, the crew suddenly burst into cheers.
"Well done, Little Carlo!"
"That's our Golden Dream crew!"
"Atta boy, Carlo!"
"From now on, all the seas will remember your name—apprentice sailor Little Carlo, the pirate hunter who brought down the Blood Admiral!"
"Pirate Hunter, Little Carlo!"
"Little Carlo!"
As everyone shouted with excitement, Danitz suddenly froze. A realisation struck him:
"Shit—Edward really didn't give me the money to buy his stuff!!"
———
[Backlund—Saint Samuel Cathedral]
It wasn't until Edward saw the symbol of the Evernight Goddess shining on the church wall that he truly let out a sigh of relief. Ouroboros probably…wouldn't dare follow him into Backlund, right?
The Goddess hadn't yet begun to absorb the Death Pathways' uniqueness. If a King of Angels actually dared set foot on her territory, divine descent would likely be instant.
This pirate conference…was way too exciting.
Edward still couldn't understand how things had spiralled so quickly—from simply attending a gathering to shop around, to suddenly dealing with both the Rose School of Thought and a King of Angels.
If not for that paper crane, he'd probably be in the Forsaken Land of the Gods by now.
"Right—Will. Is he okay?"
With that thought, Edward threw on his Invisibility Cloak and silently vanished from the cathedral, arriving at Doctor Aaron's home.
"You're here."
Will's voice greeted him the moment he landed.
Wrapped in a blanket and lying in a garden recliner, Will held a tub of ice cream and was basking contentedly in the sun. He looked to be in decent condition.
Edward walked over and hesitated before asking, "Was it you who used the paper crane to lure Ouroboros away?"
Will sighed and sat up. "Who else could it be? Ugh, my fate really is miserable." He scooped another spoonful of ice cream. "The last two people I ran into who might've helped me—both turned out to be incredibly troublesome."
"Uh…"
"In order to lead that serpent away, I sacrificed quite a bit this time."
"Thank you."
Will shook his head. "No need for thanks. You know very well—I helped you today because I'm hoping you'll help me in the future."
"Mm."
"How exactly am I supposed to help you?"
"I don't know," Will said, shrugging. "Like I said before—I'm not a prophet. I can only sense some fluctuations in fate and try to prepare for them ahead of time. In any case, helping you this time means I'll need to rest for quite a while."
After a pause, he added, "As repayment, just bring me some more ice cream, will you?"
"Sure."
Edward hesitated for a moment, then took out a broken pendant. "Uh, can you help fix this?"
Will stared at him blankly. "I just said I'm injured and weak! And now you want me to work? You're trying to squeeze the last bit of value out of me, huh?"
Edward immediately looked embarrassed. "No, no—I just blurted it out. Forget I said anything. My bad."
Will sighed, then took the pendant and said, "This thing's good fortune was borrowed by mortgaging misfortune. The good luck you just forced out of it was too intense, and it couldn't handle the backlash of bad luck—it's the balance of luck. Honestly, even I can't just enjoy good fortune endlessly. If I could, I'd be a god by now. So if it's broken, it's broken. That's its fate."
"Alright…I'll just let it go then."
Edward then took out the small black figurine. "And this thing…"
Will's expression changed at once. He shrank back a little and said, "Keep that thing away from me!"
Edward immediately backed up a few steps.
Only then did Will speak. "It's been imbued with Ouroboros's luck. For a time, it'll just be a regular doll. When you're in need, toss it—it might help you once. Then…"
"Ouroboros will be able to instantly locate me through it."
Edward's expression changed. He suddenly felt like he was holding a burning coal.
"Keep it," Will said, frowning after a moment of thought. "At least this time, I didn't sense any malice from him toward you. It's still a lifeline. Holding onto it gives you one more option."
"…Alright. I'll take your word for it."
Will waved a tired hand. "Alright, go on then. Don't disturb my sunbathing."
"Uh…could I get another paper crane? The last one was destroyed."
"..."
Will cursed silently in his heart: You bastard!
After Edward left, Will lay back down, biting his spoon with a frown in his eyes.
"Ouroboros, that guy…something about his aura feels off. Odd."
He's always rebooted beside that one, always been close to him. There shouldn't be such a noticeable change…"
"…Which means, the one who's actually changed—isn't Ouroboros, but that one?"
"Ahh… I can't figure it out. But fate tells me…this might not be a bad thing."
"Well then, time to properly enjoy the life I should be living at this age."
———
[Note]: 125 Powerstones for an Extra Chapter tomorrow.
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Link - (P)atre(o)n.c(o)m/ Iseeblack [Remove the brackets]