Chapter 34: Chapter Thirty-Three: The Bow of Nodens (Bonus Chapter for Patron Who Asked Me to Seek Someone in the Nine Heavens!)

Under the moonlight.

By the shore stood a wooden bridge; five guardian fairies rose to greet Deng Ken, while the lake fairy on the boat moored it, then smiled and reached out to help him ashore.

Deng Ken glanced curiously around, murmuring, “Thank you.”

From a god’s-eye view.

After passing through the mist and entering Avalon, his body had become a semi-transparent, hazy state—similar to the Valkyries he had encountered before, nearly a spiritual form. But once he truly set foot on Avalon’s soil, his mortal form in the projection interface regained clarity.

Tethys smiled ahead, leading the way; the five fairies followed behind. Fairies along the path brought fresh fruit, and Deng Ken casually picked one up and tasted it—the flavor was exceptionally sweet.

The fairy walking ahead smiled and said, “Welcome to Avalon.”

“Honored guest from afar.”

“You may rest here temporarily; tomorrow I will see you off from this Otherworld.”

Was she really just inviting me for a stroll?

Deng Ken’s attention was entirely on the Avalon fairies; all of them bore three-star silver-gray markers. The nearby fairies and spirits were all one-star silver-gray—far weaker than he had expected.

“Is it because Celtic mythology has already declined so severely?”

Deng Ken zoomed out the map and saw a magnificent island, with no hostile units at all—only blue markers. Along the forest’s edge was a two-star silver-gray target labeled “Green Knight.”

Celtic mythology was not destroyed by the Church, but replaced by early Roman deities.

The core region of early Celtic mythology was Gaul; after the rise of the Roman Empire, Druidic faith gradually became history, and the Celts were forced to migrate elsewhere. They were always dispersed, a primitive belief system without a complete pantheon, and eventually concentrated mostly on the island of Britain.

After Caesar conquered the province of Britain, the native faith survived only in fragments tied to Avalon; many original deities were extinguished.

“It seems they’re now extremely weak—even lacking a proper deity.”

These guardian fairies of Avalon likely possessed power comparable only to secondary goddesses of Greek mythology—the Nymphs. Nymphs were spirits born of nature, usually appearing as beautiful maidens, serving more powerful principal gods.

“A pantheon that hasn’t been fully extinguished, yet can only cling to survival.”

Deng Ken wanted to see what they intended to do, and followed the six fairies into a region resembling a Druidic circle.

The island had no buildings and a vanishingly small population, as if it were a dying Otherworldly divine realm.

A melodious tune sounded.

In midair fluttered fairies resembling those described in Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”—called sprites or pixies, in Druidic faith they were manifestations of natural spirits.

Fairy Tethys invited Deng Ken to sit in the seat of honor, then the six beautiful fairies sat around him.

Dozens of fairy spirits brought forth all manner of food—mostly fruits and vegetables, but also abundant meats. Then numerous small fairies began to dance, and fairy bards performed like wandering minstrels; the atmosphere instantly became lively and joyous.

A group of fluttering fairies, resembling flower spirits, brought cups of wine. As the rich fragrance of flowers filled the air, the amber liquid enticed the senses.

The six fairies rose and raised their cups; their leader, Tethys, smiled gently and said, “Lord Deng Ken.”

“Please taste Avalon’s mead.”

“It is a wine rare in this world.”

Deng Ken swallowed involuntarily; he truly smelled the wine’s aroma. He himself was not fond of alcohol, but this scent was undeniably alluring, stirring his desire.

He drank one cup.

Deng Ken drank as if savoring fine wine—honey, floral fragrance, blended with the liquor—filling him with bliss. Seeing him drain the cup, the surrounding fairies cheered and began dancing around his figure.

The scene made him feel as if he were wandering through a fairyland dream.

The six Avalon fairies said nothing else, as if they had simply thrown a grand banquet and invited Deng Ken to attend.

Joyful energy gradually spread.

Unconsciously, Deng Ken had drunk many cups; even his vision had grown slightly hazy.

Tethys beside him clapped her hands.

Soon, a Green Knight emerged from the forest, holding a magnificent battle bow. He knelt on one knee and presented it before Deng Ken.

——“Bow of Nodens 【Mythic Artifact】【Sacred Relic】: The bow used by Nodens, the Celtic god of hunting, possessing unimaginable supernatural power. Though Celtic mythology has gradually faded and the God of Hunting has long perished, His battle bow still retains great strength. Traits: Anti-Magic, Rapid Fire, Multi-Shot, Armor Piercing. Special Ability—Wind Arrow.”

——“Wind Arrow 【Special Ability】: At the cost of mana, conjure an invisible arrow of wind.”

Hiss!

What does this mean?

Upon seeing the Bow of Nodens before him, Deng Ken instantly sobered up from the wine.

Within the Druidic circle.

The six Avalon fairies exchanged glances, then slowly rose and bowed halfway to Deng Ken. Their leader, Tethys, spoke sincerely: “We sisters noticed you lack a suitable battle bow.”

“So we invited you here to bestow this weapon upon you.”

A gift?

So precious?

Deng Ken hesitated, then reached out and took the Bow of Nodens. The moment he touched it, he felt its uniqueness—it resonated faintly with his inner mana.

This weapon was extremely powerful, likely comparable to Church relics.

Deng Ken murmured, “You’re giving this to me?”

The six Avalon fairies nodded slightly; they did not seem to be putting on a show.

This thing is hot to handle!

It’s wonderful, yes.

But accepting such a heavy gift would demand a price.

Deng Ken stared at Tethys, his voice low: “What must I pay in return?”

Hearing his words, the six Avalon fairies slowly shook their heads. Tethys bowed slightly forward; the other five followed suit. Deng Ken turned away, refusing their bow. Tethys spoke softly: “Avalon within the mist is fading.”

“If, in the future, you find this gift useful, please protect our legacy in the mortal world.”

“So we do not vanish utterly from history.”

The Church’s faith had spread to Britain; soon, even Scandinavia would have its believers. Britain had suffered immense pressure—first from Roman deities brought by the Empire, then by Church missionaries, and now the Saxons’ invasion brought the Norse pantheon.

Celtic mythology had been beaten down in turn by every other divine faction; in England, only Avalon still retained some legend.

So that’s it.

Deng Ken felt considerably relieved after hearing this. He had escorted Queen Crow—Tris across half of Europe; he was already entangled with polytheistic faiths in countless ways.

Too many debts to weigh him down—he no longer cared.

Seeing Deng Ken take the battle bow, the six Avalon fairies sighed in relief. The surrounding fairies erupted in joyful cheers, and more fine wine and delicacies were brought forth. Minstrels strummed and sang; the festive atmosphere returned.

Deng Ken glanced at the fairies before him and suddenly asked, “I’m not the first mortal to come to Avalon, am I?”

The fairies hesitated in expression.

Deng Ken signaled them not to worry, raised his cup and drank deeply, then guessed, “Who else has come?”

“Gaius Julius Caesar?!”

“Is that right?”

After the Empire conquered Britain, it still preserved some Celtic faith. It’s not hard to guess Avalon once bowed to Caesar, which is why the Roman pantheon spared it—and why Druidic tradition gradually took root here.

The fairies fell silent for a moment; Tethys whispered, “Caesar did come here.”

Deng Ken’s doubts eased further.

It seemed that mythological beings of the medieval age must rely on the mortal world; their survival here was determined by reality itself.

After a night of singing and drinking, Deng Ken unknowingly became drunk.

At some point, he had entered his mortal body again, surrounded by fluttering beauties, soft warmth and fragrant flesh, arms of powdered skin entwining him—as if trapped in a dreamy harem of lovely women, lost in ecstasy, feeling this moment more blissful than any heavenly palace he had ever known.

When he awoke, he was back in reality. Dawn light glowed on the horizon. He felt no hangover at all—as if it had all been a dream.

——Bow of Nodens.

Only when he gripped the strange battle bow beside him did he realize it was no dream—yet the bow no longer glowed with the strange aura it had possessed in Avalon; it now looked merely like an elegant nobleman’s bow.

“This isn’t a deity anymore… it’s fallen so low it’s become like a spirit or ghost from Eastern legends begging for mortal aid…”

Deng Ken adjusted his pants, feeling it was worth it.

The Avalon fairies had placed such a heavy bet on him—they truly saw potential in him. Caesar once protected Avalon’s faith; he ought to at least try.

“It’s clear the Church has truly driven every other divine faction to desperation!”

Deng Ken recalled how King Uther slaughtered wizards in Camelot—mainly targeting traditional Celtic priests. The Avalon fairies didn’t seek aid from the native Britons; instead, they placed their hopes on him, an outsider. How utterly disappointed they must be in their own people.

Arthur likely received treasures from Avalon too. The guardian fairies must have once placed their bets on Arthur, never considering Uther.

Deng Ken picked up the Bow of Nodens; his mana surged—and was instantly drained completely.

——Wind Arrow!

A faint breeze stirred in the forest; an invisible arrow coalesced upon the bow. Invisible to the naked eye, only visible from a god’s-eye view, it drew his entire mana bar the moment it formed. The arrow shot through the air and struck a tree trunk over ten meters away, leaving a two-centimeter-deep hole.

“No.”

“My mana bar can’t even fire one arrow?”

Deng Ken’s mana was utterly depleted. He understood now: not just him, but all supernatural beings—witches, priests, all of them—were tightly suppressed by the laws of reality.

Under these conditions, even mythological beings descending into reality would be brutally restrained.

Time passed silently.

When Deng Ken returned to Devon Town, he found the barbarian soldiers stationed there had already withdrawn.

“What’s going on?”

“Did they just abandon occupying this place?”

Deng Ken had expected reinforcements, or the barbarians sending their top warriors to deal with him—but instead, they simply withdrew cleanly after ransacking Devon Town once more.

They relocated to the next open terrain town, fortified it heavily, and pulled in a contingent of elite forest hunters.

Devon Town had only two to three hundred garrison troops; Deng Ken killed over thirty in two days and beheaded Bloodaxe Nidlong.

The enemy, unable to bear the harassment, retreated to a more defensible position.

But as time passed, rumors about Deng Ken spread rapidly across Britain, especially after it became known that he had killed the King of Kent, and the speed of this legend’s dissemination became astonishing.

It wasn’t just the Britons spreading it—Saxons, Angles, Jutes, and other Germanic barbarian branches all spread it, and it even began to spread across the European mainland.

That was one of the Germanic barbarian kings—suddenly dead without warning.

A subtle point.

As the many absurd rumors spread and fermented, they began to change: Deng Ken’s identity gradually became linked to Avalon. Some said he was an elf ranger from Avalon; others claimed he was a mortal favored by Avalon’s nymphs, a helper summoned from the European mainland to aid the Britons against the invading barbarians.

Countless rumors continued to evolve, yet all remained tied to the mist-shrouded Avalon, and so Avalon’s existence, through the spreading tales of Deng Ken, became frequently mentioned by people.

Until one day.

The surviving Druids of Britain, the Celtic priests, publicly acknowledged that the man who killed the King of Kent had deep ties to Avalon. At that moment, myth entered reality; the Britons erupted in fervor, as if witnessing the birth of a legend.

Of course, Deng Ken knew nothing of these events—he was busy receiving the exiled legion transported from Gao Lu.

The first group totaled two hundred men.

Led by Kewito, they were mostly young and strong men from the exiled stronghold, armed and armored to match the Empire’s border garrison troops; a few elites wore scale armor from the field army. Whether due to their equipment or not, Kewito had now become a one-star unit, marked as “Private Legion Commander.”

The Crow Queen—Tris, upon seeing Deng Ken, smiled with delight, but as she stepped closer, a hint of doubt crossed her face; she sniffed lightly and whispered, “Have you met the Lady of the Lake here?”

Deng Ken nodded calmly.

The Crow Queen—Tris stared at him for a moment, her gaze falling on the war bow slung across his back; her expression turned shocked: “The Bow of Norden?”

It seemed she recognized this war bow.

Deng Ken took off the bow and handed it to her. The Crow Queen—Tris gently caressed it, sighing softly: “I never thought they would give you this bow.”

The rise of the monotheistic faiths was making life hard for more than just her.

The Crow Queen—Tris returned the Bow of Norden to Deng Ken, as if casually: “Since they gave it to you, keep it well.”

“If you need anything, seek out Aniya. The Lady of the Lake is not as simple as you think.”

“They are primordial spirits of the Age of All Spirits.”

Druidic faith became gentler only after being assimilated by Roman and Greek culture; early Celtic mythology was deeply devoted to human blood sacrifice.

When the Empire established its province in Britain, it directly suppressed countless indigenous tribes, felled mountains, shattered temples, destroyed sacred sites, and halted sacrifices—eradicating countless true and false gods of Celtic mythology.

The nymphs of Avalon.

After the Empire took control of the British province, their image slowly transformed into something resembling the nymphs of ancient Greek mythology.

Before that, they were goddesses who received blood sacrifices in Celtic mythology.

Deng Ken did not know these things, but after hearing Tris’s words, he nodded thoughtfully.

It seems even gods can perish.

That’s normal—the supreme deities of Eastern mythology have also changed with the ages.

………………