Chapter 224: The Possessors of the Heroic Spirit Pool Remains (5K Bonus Chapters 57 & 58)

"He… has returned?"

Herbert's question left the heavy-cavalry spirit completely dumbfounded, and the long spear gripped in his hand trembled for a moment.

He had broken.

Even though he was clad head-to-toe in heavy armor with not a single weak point on his body, he still broke outright beneath that single question.

"……"

After a long silence, the heavy cavalryman tightened his grip on the spear and said in a low voice: "Yes, I… I don't believe it."

"I don't believe He will return!"

Upon receiving the answer, the blood-winged angel slowly nodded and said indifferently: "In other words, you have already betrayed your faith."

Upon hearing these words, the heavy-cavalry spirit suddenly raised his head and roared furiously: "Betrayed? No."

The flame in his single eye burned even more fiercely, revealing his surging emotions: "Not just me! No one believes He will ever come back."

"No one still believes He will return!"

Upon hearing this, Herbert raised an eyebrow and said lightly: "Then by that logic, you have all already betrayed."

Once these words were spoken, the already tense atmosphere gained another layer of oppression.

The spirits hiding all around to watch the spectacle all stared at Herbert with complicated expressions.

Have we… already betrayed as well?

"No, we haven't!"

The heavy cavalryman stared fixedly at Herbert and said loudly: "It wasn't us who betrayed Him — it was Him! He was the one who abandoned us!"

His words echoed the feelings of the other spirits as well.

Right.

It wasn't that we stopped believing in Him — it was Him who abandoned us!!!

"Hah!"

Feeling the emotions around him gradually surging and swelling, Herbert let out a cold laugh.

"Abandoned? What are you talking about?"

Herbert cut off the heavy cavalryman's words and said indifferently: "You still exist, I still exist, and they all still exist."

"Doesn't that fact alone already prove it?"

Spirits exist by virtue of their deity.

If a deity were to utterly fall, with no chance of ever reviving, then spirits like them would completely become wandering ghosts and dissipate throughout the world!

!!!

"Do you truly believe He has already utterly fallen?"

Once the blood-winged angel pointed this out, the surging emotions around him instantly plummeted to freezing point.

This space fell silent.

Did the spirits truly not know this?

They knew — clearer than anyone.

But all the spirits could do was deliberately make themselves forget.

Only by forgetting this could they continue to blame the deity's heartlessness with a clear conscience.

It wasn't that we abandoned Him — it was He who left us behind.

"……"

But deep in their hearts, the spirits eking out an existence here actually knew better than anyone that such an argument simply could not stand.

They had survived until now only through the deity's compassion — they were the ones in this world least entitled to complain.

And after the spirits fell silent, Herbert gave a quiet laugh to himself and continued to look at the most silent of them all — the heavy-cavalry spirit.

"……"

The heavy-cavalry spirit was silent, then silently raised his spear, pointing its tip at Herbert.

He was wordlessly declaring his stance — even though he knew he was already in the wrong, he still had to abide by the rules of today.

The deity had after all long departed; they could only live in the present.

Only the faint trembling of the spear's tip betrayed the turmoil within him.

And Herbert, riding Sophia, descended from the air and walked slowly to a spot one meter in front of the heavy cavalryman's spear, and said lightly: "Why point your weapon at your own kin?"

The heavy cavalryman fell silent and gripped his spear even tighter.

With a slight shift of his horse's hooves, the distance between Herbert and the spear's tip was reduced to half a meter.

The danger drew closer and closer, yet Herbert's expression instead grew much softer than before, and he asked gently: "Are you afraid?"

The heavy cavalryman hesitated, instinctively wanting to loosen his spear.

But Herbert had already moved a step ahead of him, pressing his own chest against the spear's tip, and asked gently: "Follower of my Lord, tell me — what is it that you fear?"

"I……"

He instinctively tried to pull the spear back, but the spear was firmly gripped by the angel's hand and could not be withdrawn at all.

"Are you worried that He will blame you for this?"

Herbert released the spear, shook his head slightly, and said gently: "Deep down you actually know — He would never do such a thing."

"He is merciful; He would not care about such a small matter."

"Have you betrayed Him? In truth, you have not."

The blood-winged angel passed judgment on their actions.

He turned his head and looked toward the spirits of the various races who had been hiding.

This time, he no longer saw evasive gazes, but rather pairs upon pairs of eager, fervent eyes filled with longing.

They had waited far, far too long, longing for someone to give them hope.

So, Herbert spoke.

"Most faithful believers of my lord, my compatriots! I do not understand — why would you doubt your own loyalty?"

"The fact that you can still exist here is already proof that you have not betrayed."

"You have merely lost yourselves in confusion during the long wait."

"There is nothing wrong with that!"

"It is not your fault!"

"When He returns, He will surely guide you back onto the right path once more!"

He raised both arms high, shouting, stirring them up.

Letting countless heroic spirits, whose emotions had already sunk low, be stirred at this moment.

Gradually, the heroic spirits began to repeat his words.

He said one line, and those heroic spirits would shout the same line after him.

"He is merciful!"

"He is merciful!!!"

The wave of sound rang out, echoing unceasingly through the entire outer ring.

And while Herbert was encouraging (beguiling) the heroic spirits of this place…

【"That's right! I am very, very merciful indeed!"】

The noisy deity was not idle either, humming cheerfully at his ear, speaking words that no one but he could hear.

【"At most I'll just stuff you all back into the heroic spirit pool for a little soak — I won't do anything excessive~"】

Herbert's brow twitched; he nearly failed to keep his expression in check, and hurriedly shouted again.

"He shall return in the end!"

"He shall return in the end!!!"

【"Yes, yes, I will definitely come back! It won't be much longer now!"】

……

Such shouting continued for quite a while; even when Herbert stopped on his own, they did not stop immediately.

Instead, they spontaneously kept shouting, reciting prayers that had not left their lips for a long time.

But because their memories were not complete, no one could recite the entire prayer.

Yet they went line after line — even if someone forgot the next, others would pick it up — and in the end they actually pieced together seventy or eighty percent of the holy prayer.

And amid the endlessly echoing prayers, Herbert turned his head to look at the heavy knight heroic spirit who had remained silent all along.

He lowered his head, the long spear in his hand already drooping to the ground, an air of dejection emanating from him.

He looked just like someone who had lost the belief that had always sustained him.

No… or perhaps he had finally recovered a belief he had once lost.

Herbert watched the heavy knight slowly nod his head, and asked softly, "Now, do you understand?"

The heavy knight silently shook his head, then nodded again.

Did he understand? Understand what?

Herbert actually did not know, but he felt that this legendary heroic spirit must have figured something out.

After a pause, the heavy knight heroic spirit raised his head and slowly asked, "Lord Angel, He… will my lord truly return?"

Even though he had already vaguely realized that Herbert might be using words to beguile him, he still wanted to believe.

My lord, have you truly not abandoned us?

"He definitely will."

Herbert nodded seriously and promised, "Moreover, He will return very soon."

He shall return like a bolt of lightning!

After a long while, the heavy knight slowly shook his head and said hoarsely, "I hope you are not deceiving me."

Herbert smiled and gave a slight shake of his head: "I will not deceive you, and neither will your faith deceive you."

"And now, step aside."

He paid no more attention to the heavy knight heroic spirit, and rode Sophia forward once more.

"…Understood."

The tall, aged heavy knight heroic spirit silently lowered his head, dropped to one knee beside Herbert, and respectfully saw off this unfamiliar angel.

His words might have been false.

But he had indeed infused new strength into this shattered kingdom that had lain silent for countless ages.

And that strength was called — hope.

The heavy knight remained in his one-knee posture, silently praying.

"May you return in the end."

……

【"Herbert, why are you doing this?"】

"Hmm?"

【"You just made such a huge commotion — won't some people notice?"】

"Let them notice if they will; we can't hide it anyway." Herbert pursed his lips, not taking the matter to heart.

He had figured it out.

On this expedition, his movements had to stay low-key, but in terms of appearance, he absolutely could not be low-key.

Keep a low profile in conduct, but go all out in action.

His current identity is that of a newly awakened divine-realm angel.

The more high-profile Herbert acted, the more it would make those secretly watching grow suspicious, the more they would fail to pin down his identity.

The more dangerous the place, the safer it is.

【"But isn't this still a bit too fast?"】

Nie Nasha wasn't unaware of this point, but in Her view, Herbert's actions were still somewhat reckless.

"First, they won't be that impulsive. They'll definitely observe for longer, which will buy us some time to develop."

There are no shortage of powerful beings in the Mist Mountains; any one of them stepping out would have the ability to casually destroy today's Elda.

Herbert had to intimidate them, to make them not dare act rashly.

If he couldn't do it through real strength, then he could only bluff.

And on that point, he was very skilled.

"Second, Nie Nasha, do you really intend to wait that long?"

Herbert smiled and said softly: "You may be able to wait, but I certainly can't wait that long."

He had no desire to spend decades slowly building up, only to successfully nibble away at the Outer Ring, and then keep pushing inward.

That would be far too slow.

Too fast isn't good, too slow isn't good either.

Nie Nasha thought for a while, then said with sudden realization: 【"Oh~ I get it now, so you actually wanted to see me a little sooner!"】

"Huh?"

Herbert:?

What on earth does any of this have to do with anything?

How did your train of thought jump all the way over there?

【"Isn't it?"】

"I... is, is it?"

Is that right?

This... probably is, right.

"My dear Young Lady of divinity, if you truly wish to thank me, why not think of a way to come out sooner, so I can cling tightly to your thighs."

Me, I've already lost the will to keep working hard.

And upon hearing Herbert's heartfelt words, the Jester God laughed with incomparable delight.

【"Hehe~ Well, that can't depend on me. Right now it can only depend on your own efforts~"】

"Sigh."

After relying on rhetoric to successfully pass through the pass occupied by heavy knights without losing a single soldier, Herbert and the others successfully entered the Middle Ring.

And after stepping into the Middle Ring, Herbert clearly sensed a change.

The mist drifting around them seemed driven by some mysterious force, growing thicker and thicker.

Along with the change in the mist, the aura of the divine realm also grew richer.

In Herbert's spirit-vision view, the damage to the "divine realm" was considerably better than before.

If the Outer Ring could be called ruins, then the Middle Ring could only be said to have suffered some war damage — broken in places, but with many areas still retaining their former appearance.

The outlines of those once glorious and magnificent palaces seemed to still loom faintly within the mist, strange runes as if still flickering with a faint light in the air.

At the same time, he could feel the strength of the centaur Young Lady he was riding slowly recovering.

Under the shroud of the divine realm's aura, the heroic spirits could also unleash even greater strength.

Which meant the beings here would be even more powerful, and even more dangerous.

Thus, after entering the Middle Ring, Herbert no longer continued acting as brazenly as he had in the Outer Ring.

He fully restrained the auras of his group and activated stealth mode.

In the Outer Ring I strike hard; in the Middle Ring I act meek and timid.

This isn't cowardice — this is tactics!

It was also after stealth began that their speed picked up considerably.

Under Nie Nasha's guidance, Herbert and the others skirted around prying eyes and quickly found the three remaining large fragments of the Heroic Spirit Pool.

These three fragments, as if drawn by some mysterious force, were located respectively in the southern, western, and northern positions of the Inner Ring.

And in the southern direction, Herbert saw the first fragment of the Heroic Spirit Pool and its current occupier.

It was controlled by a massive three-headed beast.

This three-headed beast was enormous, over ten meters in body length, its body like a giant lizard; the three heads — resembling a sheep, a wolf, and a bird — each emanated a different aura.

The sheep head was violent, filled with the searing heat of flames, occasionally spewing forth blazing fire.

The wolf head was darkly cold, exuding an icy, biting chill, chewing on prey it had frozen.

And finally there was a vulture head that radiated a ghastly aura of death.

Its sharp claws dug deep into the ground, its three pairs of eyes watching the surroundings with predatory vigilance, ready at any moment to launch an attack against any creature that dared approach the fragment it occupied.

As for its strength, Herbert estimated it was around the peak of Legendary, possibly even higher.

Without actively exposing themselves, Herbert and the others finished their reconnaissance and quietly withdrew.

And in the west — the direction leading toward the Inner Ring — a massive fragment of the Heroic Spirit Pool was occupied by an entire heroic-spirit legion.

A legion-commander heroic spirit at the peak of Legendary, along with three Legendary heroic spirits and over a hundred high-tier heroic spirits.

The high-tier heroic spirits fought in pairs, the combat utterly merciless, every strike aimed to kill.

And after a victor was decided, the winner would take the loser's soul core and walk together into the Heroic Spirit Pool fragment, receiving a share of the pool's water to recover.

Especially that legion commander spirit — the feeling it gave Herbert was extremely terrifying.

Its appearance was that of a massive werewolf, cloaked in heavyness armor upon its body, the armor engraved with countless honor marks from its campaigns on the battlefield.

It held a great axe and was loosening up outside the Spirit Pool, every swing seeming as if it would tear through space, a powerful aura radiating from its body, pressing down on everything around it as if it were solid.

This spirit legion guarded the remains of the Spirit Pool they occupied with an unquestionable bearing.

And after figuring out their state, Herbert had no intention of going up to chat.

The previous approach of facing the heavy knight was completely useless — words like that could not change a legion as well-trained as this one.

Before being spotted by the scouts, Herbert and Sofiya quietly departed.

And in the north of the middle ring, Herbert saw the last piece of remains, still occupied by a powerful existence.

However, what surprised Herbert most was that the other party was neither a spirit nor a powerful creature, but a very peculiar construct.

It turned out to be a giant humanoid mechanical construct.

A robot standing five meters tall!!?

This mechanical construct's whole body radiated a cold metallic sheen, countless intricate parts operating methodically within its body, emitting a faint humming sound.

Its eyes flickered with a cold, ghostly light, tightly guarding its own piece of Spirit Pool remains, as if that were the source of its power, not allowing any being to harbor covetous thoughts.

It was pretty cool, admittedly.

But somehow, it just felt like the art style didn't quite match the surrounding scene, you know?

Herbert couldn't help but complain: "No way, how does your divine kingdom even have something like this?"

And Nie Nasha, after a moment of silence, actually said strangely: 【"Eh? So there was one? I don't remember this either."】

Herbert:?

Nie Nasha:?

"I say, this is your divine kingdom, right?"

【"That's right."】

"Then this thing…"

【"Don't ask me, I don't know, maybe it came later?"】

The young lady of the God of Harmony directly refused three times in a row — I don't know! Don't ask me! It has nothing to do with me!

"If even you don't know, then this thing… is it from that destroyed civilization?"

Herbert recalled that civilization he had seen in the texts before, whose very name had been erased.

Had their technology already been developed to this level?

Besides, what caught Herbert's attention was not only the robot's exterior, but even more so the flesh and blood on its body…

Yes.

This robot actually had flesh and blood growing on it!

With Herbert's knowledge of flesh and blood, he could be certain.

That was absolutely not chunks of meat and blood left behind from it crushing other creatures, but flesh and blood that had grown from within its body, alive and pulsing.

That flesh and blood spread from its chest toward its limbs, as if trying to cover the entire body.

Speaking of which, a robot growing flesh and blood — that sight was really just too bizarre.

Within the eeriness, there was also a hint of the grotesque-fascinating.

And just as Herbert was thinking, about to signal Sofiya to leave first… he faintly heard a faint sound.

Beep.

That sound was like the light clink of metal scraping against metal, and also like a bomb's final warning before exploding.

!!!

Herbert's expression changed, and he hurriedly said:

"Run!"

(End of chapter)