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"Was the previous show of weakness a cover for the sneak attack? I didn't expect that Haier, who has been clinging to life until now, has not lost his combat skills..."
As he spoke, the gardener gently pinched the mercury string that was hanging across his neck with his index finger and thumb.
"Humph."
Even though she hadn't managed to seriously injure her opponent, Shitia knew that the cuts that severed his neck hadn't been in vain.
However, facing an enemy without any fatal weaknesses... a protracted tug-of-war is almost inevitable. Even for an incomplete apostle, killing them cleanly is incredibly difficult. Moreover, her spiritual essence is, strictly speaking, weaker than her opponent's.
The tulip fields, now a deep golden hue, are growing ever more lush, spreading almost visibly. This forces Siodia to accelerate the cutting of the mercury strings, doing everything in her power to suppress the further spread of these plant branches.
In terms of location, time, and the strength of both sides, regardless of the element of clothing, this descendant of the Heir has no advantage whatsoever.
Xitia's spirituality can only be fully unleashed in the Abyss; the dry and barren city ruins impose considerable limitations on her. Moreover, the secret technique [Mercury String] can directly absorb the lunar spiritual essence dissipating from the atmosphere when used at night, but it is now daytime.
For the flowers and leaves of plants, scorching sunlight is an indispensable source of nutrients.
Furthermore, Xitia only possessed the Apostle's traits briefly thanks to the remains of the former king. While the opponent's form was incomplete and had many flaws, he had indeed entered the sixth tier, a fact that could not be faked.
With this shift in momentum, she quickly fell into an irreversible decline.
However, Shitia showed no sign of backing down, only glancing at Haida, who had just assisted her. This nun had been affected by the first-class lower-level secret technique, [Touch of the Flower], and her life might be in danger.
However, Haida did not completely lose her ability to move as the gardener had imagined. She took out a small red bottle with gold engraving from her tactical belt at her waist, took a sip, and slowly stood up.
The cold light in her chestnut-grey eyes hadn't faded, and she seemed to be preparing for a second round.
But before anyone knew it, a hazy, grayish-blue hue began to spread around them... like gauze or a curtain, lingering and never dissipating, like the misty fog that comes with the tide before dawn.
"Phew, such a large-scale 'knocking on doors' is quite tiring. Fortunately, there used to be a secret garden here, even if it is damaged, the broken entrance to the secret realm can still be regarded as a conceptual door."
Fran gently touched his forehead, brushed a few strands of hair aside, and wiped away non-existent sweat.
Although Shitia and Haida had not yet gone all out, one was her patient and the other was the most senior head nurse currently working at the Misty Street Clinic... After careful consideration, she decided to offer some assistance to reduce unnecessary strain.
"You did make a move after all, Doctor."
Looking around at the pale mist that enveloped him, the gardener's usually melodious voice became slightly hoarse.
"At least, please tell me your name first."
Unexpectedly, Lu did not resist the gray mist that was gradually enveloping her, but instead asked a slightly abrupt question.
"Um... Fran Hesser. You can call me Fran. I am a highly professional and dedicated doctor."
Fran provided a rather detailed answer to this question. Her tone was gentle and patient, like a tutor resolving a student's doubts.
"I understand, Dr. Fran."
The gardener, resembling a glandular scale, nodded slightly, his expression even revealing a hint of submission.
“If our conflict hadn’t become unstoppable, perhaps I would have thanked you in the future. Even if I can’t give you anything material, I should still express my gratitude.”
"Oh? But I don't recall ever helping you in any way."
Fran slightly raised his eyes, then placed his index finger in front of his lower lip, beginning to recall the list of patients he had treated. But in no period of time was the name Karmion on it.
"Perhaps that's true for you. But your questioning of me in the banquet hall brought me back to my senses from the frenzy of about to achieve my long-cherished wish."
"Indeed, your words at the time were cold and biting, almost harsh. But the reality they reflected is undeniable. Stripped of my color and personality, after being elevated, can I still call myself 'myself,' or am I merely one of the exhibits in the garden of the creator of flowers, meant to be admired?"
"Thinking about it carefully, all my failures, my unfulfilled desires, and some past events that are inconvenient to mention... seem to have a vague shadow in them. It blocked my success, but at some point it also prevented me from falling into complete failure."
At this moment, the glandular scales spoke with utmost sincerity, while simultaneously dissecting themselves from the perspective of an objective observer, devoid of any emotion.
Upon hearing her words, Haida's gray-chestnut eyes flickered slightly.
The gardener was very different from many of the heretical fanatics she had encountered. When she fell into self-doubt that could break an ordinary person, she did not show stubbornness or narrow-mindedness like others, but immediately and rationally re-examined all the circumstances.
Analyze internal factors, assess external influences, and then... engage in critical thinking.
After geniuses and monsters perished in the old history, Karmion has survived to this day. This is probably not due to divine favor, but rather to some kind of inherent quality within himself.
Talent in mystical knowledge is one aspect, while self-examination is another.
"After realizing all this, I regained my 'old self,' which is most of Karmion's personality. I can feel that although I am only a defective product among the Apostles at this moment, I am closer than ever before to the higher secrets."
The gardener's tone carried a hint of relief, even comfort.
As they spoke, the gray mist that had enveloped the group of several people gradually dissipated. The surrounding environment was now completely different. (√∝六⌒)
The city ruins, once teeming with monstrous creatures of the abyss, have vanished, replaced by a magnificent palace. The palace stands atop a sea ridge, its exterior shrouded in deep darkness. Faint glimpses of surging ocean currents and colossal abyssal creatures gliding by can be seen.
It was the Ridge Palace in Shitia, located in the misty city.
Besides the three people who were fighting earlier and Fran, there was no one else here. Fran had been careful not to bring them in when he summoned the "Mist in the Doorway".
After all... some of the conversations that follow may involve certain private matters that are inconvenient to disclose.
"Is this what the underwater world looks like? Having lived in Gormouth for so long, I've never seen such an underwater city as Heyle. Perhaps... it wouldn't be bad to use this place as my final resting place."
The glandular gardener murmured softly, as if sighing.
"Karmien, are you prepared to offer your neck for execution?"
This is the bottom of the Abyss, and even the central main hall of the ruined city of Heil. Without a doubt, Xitia has returned to her most suitable home ground. The spiritual energy she had previously depleted on land is recovering at a visible speed, and her posture and aura are becoming increasingly powerful.
The intricate and obscure patterns on the main hall floor flowed and intertwined as if they possessed a life of their own, surging violently under the activation of the lunar phase spirit... It was a ritual array drawn with mercury and many spiritual materials.
Here, even a temporary sixth-tier trait can make Xidia comparable to a true apostle.
The glandular gardener showed no change in expression, simply directing the tulip buds to surround himself once more, just as before.
“I have already foreseen my death, in the gray mist. But before the end comes, we will still act like wild beasts, adhering to the most primal fighting principles: ‘fight to the last.’”
--Clothes
——Lin
Soup! Ridge
Chapter 131 The Touch of Tulips
Even though the glandular gardener seemed resigned to her fate, she showed no sign of slackening in her actions, striving desperately for any possible chance of survival.
But reality is always cruel and cold, just as the rules and ironclad laws governing the material world are inviolable and independent of individual will. From the moment she was brought to the Ridge Palace by the "Mist of the Door," all that remained was the final struggle of a trapped beast.
Now, besides using her own tassels as a vessel for the arcane art [Mercury String], Shitia can also manipulate the mercury in the ground ritual array to enhance its effects. This greatly increases her efficiency in weakening the Gardener's spirit.
In addition, Heda could also launch feints and surprise attacks from the side from time to time, disrupting the Gardener's spiritual recovery and spellcasting. After drinking a drop of red dew from the Holy Grail, the injuries previously caused to her by the [Flower Touch] seemed to have subsided.
With nowhere to escape and nowhere to retreat, this palace nestled in the foggy streets was a death trap.
Finally, with the drastic depletion of her spirituality and life force, the gardener's body began to deteriorate, and her form showed obvious signs of decay due to Sigrid's solar radiance and mercury poison. (VI)
She... is about to die.
"Resentment, reluctance, inability to let go... such vivid emotions, thankfully, I can still deeply feel them... I no longer regret, nor hesitate; I have fought to the very last moment."
The gardener clutched her cracked and bleeding abdomen, murmuring unsteadily.
His study of the esoteric rituals bordered on fanaticism, yet it also possessed a certain cool, rational logic. He was unwilling to accept his impending demise, yet he did not display any ugly behavior of escapism or self-deception.
This gardener, who had been promoted from Carmin, did indeed pique Fran's interest. Under other circumstances, she wouldn't have minded forgoing the hard-won life of this unformed apostle and instead offering a deal he couldn't refuse.
Unfortunately, she now needs the death of the glandular scales to heal the deep-seated psychological ailments of Shitia. Therefore, no unnecessary additional intervention will be carried out.
"Glandular, the end you foresaw has come. Do you have any final words?"
Fran walked lightly toward the gardener who was gradually crumbling.
Her amber eyes held no sorrow, joy, or other complex emotions; they simply shimmered with a faint, lamp-like light, just as always.
"Dr. Fran... what exactly is an eternal life that never ends? Even an apostle cannot truly escape death. Even with the body of a mythical creature, decay will still occur, only this process will be infinitely prolonged."
“Only by becoming a ‘prototype’ like Gloria can one truly detach their existence from history. But what does all this mean? Is it really as he said at the end of his book, *Hymn to the Carnivores*, that the end of eternity is only desolation and nothingness?”
"Are the things I'm pursuing truly meaningless, as he refuted?"
Even though the disintegration of her physical form was irreversible, the pure essence of the cup remained active within the gardener's body, preventing her from perishing in a short period of time.
In her final moments, she no longer cared about conflicting stances, nor did she care that the person before her had orchestrated her own demise.
The gardener wanted to know how this mysterious doctor viewed everything she craved. Her ability to effortlessly draw herself into this hidden realm of the sea ridge through the mist suggested she was at least a secret apostle herself.
Or perhaps, something even more lofty and distant.
"Hmm...that's a profound question."
Upon hearing this, Fran pursed her lips slightly, seemingly troubled. But the smile that gradually appeared in her eyes showed that she wasn't without an answer. (Seven)
"A long life doesn't really have any special meaning. At least, I have no intention of delving into those complicated philosophical questions. For me, everything is just as it always has been. I'll continue living my life as it always has."
Her narration was gentle and calm, with a soft, conversational quality, as if she were simply discussing a neighbor's newly blooming flower.
"As for the empty proposition of 'the end of eternity,' there's even less need to discuss it; just thinking about it makes me sleepy. Gloria asserts that long life will eventually fall into boredom and nothingness, describing it as a kind of awe-inspiring fear..."
"But he himself, until the very last moment of his life, was trying to seize the throne of divinity. He never stopped."
"How can an insect born in early summer speak of reeds and snow? The assertion of immortality is merely the unfulfilled speculation of the short-lived. Like someone unable to pick grapes, one might imagine the fruit's sourness. But those who have tasted it may find it utterly unremarkable."
Upon hearing Fran's words, the gardener's expression froze. Confusion, contemplation, sudden realization... all were present.
After a moment, she spoke. (Teaching)
"...Thank you for your answer."
As she uttered those words, a subtle, enigmatic smile appeared on her face. Calm yet tinged with a strange self-mockery.
In the distant past, the beliefs of the glandular scales were almost diametrically opposed to those of the high sorcerer Gloria. They were like opposite poles of a magnet, never to intersect. But in the arguments of this doctor before him, it seemed that their views were not so different.
Karmion's ideas were never accepted, like a grain of sand falling into someone's eye, merely a "foreign object" that brought filth.
The reason she was so eager to step into the sixth tier was not only to prolong her own existence, but also to prove her own correctness... After all, the other party was the mainstream, or "authority," who was admired by everyone, while she was a complete heretic.
Over the years, this desire has transformed into an obsession.
But the doctor's casual reply, like peeling back layers of an onion, resolved the issue in just a few words...
"Cough, cough."
The gardener's body was collapsing more and more noticeably, the spiritual essence of the cup was rapidly dissipating from the wounds and cracks, and her breath was becoming increasingly weak.
"Dr. Fran, as a reward for your answer, let me offer a final reminder."
"The first type of ritual, the [Huayan Flower Garden], is only part of another study. My ability to reclaim the heritage of this secret realm in such a short time is not only due to Karmion's memories and mystical knowledge... but also to the covert assistance of some cults."
"The ochre-white dress of the Misty Society, Melvis of the Star Abyss Society, and Gunther of the Gallonson Royal Court. I think you are familiar with them."
"Furthermore, you may have also discovered extremely faint traces of Heil blood on some residents. That is also part of their scheme, but I know very little about the specifics... After all, Nightmare Walkers are just a lowly, clandestine identity."
"Oh, it seems my time is coming up..."
After saying this, as her consciousness relaxed for a moment, her body finally collapsed completely, scattering into a pile of withered flower buds.
"She died just like that?"
Even though she witnessed the collapse of the glandular gardener's form and the gradual dissipation of the apostle's aura and massive spiritual energy, Haida still couldn't be completely certain of this.
After all, her predecessor was the sorcerer Karmion, known as the "immortal" sorcerer. The remaining eyes of the [intercalated] can transform into a girl in the mirror, and the corpse can erode the consciousness of the nightmare guest and replace it... Even the former king of Heil never truly ended it.
"At least, she, who was transformed from the Nightmare Guest, has completely perished."
Fran was squatting on the ground, carefully collecting the remnants that the gardener had buried in the flower buds.
"Speaking of which, Karmion is indeed very talented at 'surviving'. Although Gloria had already taken shape, it perished early in the Lost Age, which can even be considered short-lived in comparison."
"That's certainly true."
5. A cool, salty sea breeze brushed past her ears, and the honey-like scent of sensual flowers faded away. Xitia let out a long breath, and her previously somber gaze softened once more.
The wind gradually subsided, the flowers withered, and everything eventually returned to tranquility.
She slowly closed her eyes, her expression calm and peaceful. The imprisonment from the beginning of a thousand years to the present had brought a deep-seated melancholy, almost a "brand" on her soul.
Although Karmion's death does not mean the end of everything, being able to kill him with my own hands... is enough to put an end to a troublesome past.
The shadows of past confusion vanished, as if she had just awakened from a dream. At this moment, Shiodia regained a sense of reality. She knew what she should do now, no longer dwelling on the dark past.
The Listeners of the Star Abyss Society have inherited the ambition and arrogance of their ancestors, even going so far as to cooperate with Karmion. Therefore, Heil still has reason to settle scores with them…
-
The ascension of the Glandular Gardener involved a first-class ritual, and the forbidden spirituality stirred up by the [Banquet Garden] could not be concealed. Many religious orders, sensing the unusual situation, subsequently acted according to their own methods and customs.
According to the original plan, Karmion would not have made an initial attempt to climb the sixth step for at least several more months. Since he forcibly initiated the ritual, something unexpected must have happened…
After the gardener's death, the exploration team orchestrated by Fran returned to Foy aboard the Leviathan. Having confirmed the hunted target's capture, Bartley collected some of his iconic belongings and boarded the ship returning to Norrington to complete the pursuit and delivery.