Chapter 144: God's Vessel
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 144: God's Vessel
Feeling Xie Bai’s gaze, Taro Ball’s body stiffened slightly. He instinctively turned his face away, avoiding her eyes.
At this moment, he was clearly worried that Xie Bai might hold him accountable for what had transpired.
However, Xie Bai did not dwell on the matter.
She withdrew her gaze and looked back at Thanatos.
"Regardless, you all did well."
Her tone was calm, betraying neither praise nor blame.
"It is simply that there are certain levels of affairs that indeed require my personal intervention."
She turned around, her back to the group.
"See to the arrangements for the Holy followers who were just resurrected. From now on, Heavenly Mountain will serve as our second stronghold. Establish a Void Tunnel here as well."
"Yes."
Thanatos bowed his head in acceptance, but his heart was in a state of upheaval.
There are certain levels of affairs that indeed require my personal intervention...
Is the Master implying that my strength... is not yet up to par?
At that thought, the corners of Thanatos’s eyes lowered even further.
"It seems I have been immersed in the Authority of Death for too long; I have grown complacent. I must find a way to advance further, to make myself worthy of this power."
Xie Bai did not notice Thanatos’s internal turmoil.
She had already walked over to Aisarakus.
Seeing Xie Bai approaching her, Aisarakus froze.
"Th-that... My..."
She was nervous, her words tripping over each other.
The pressure Xie Bai exerted on her was second only to Brandon’s.
Although Xie Bai had never been as demanding as Brandon—and was always gentle, even listening patiently when Aisarakus would secretly complain about Brandon’s strictness—Aisarakus had, after all, witnessed Xie Bai’s true power firsthand.
Especially in a situation that seemed far from relaxed.
"Aisarakus."
"Present!"
Aisarakus instinctively straightened her back. Her petite frame barely reached Xie Bai’s neck.
"Remember not to stay out playing for too long."
Xie Bai’s voice was soft, carrying a faint, almost imperceptible trace of concern.
"If Brandon finds out what happened here, I’m afraid even I won't be able to protect you."
With that, Xie Bai turned and walked away, her figure fading as she moved across the deck.
Once Xie Bai’s silhouette had completely vanished, the Northern Lords, who had been as quiet as cicadas in winter, finally let out a long, collective sigh of relief.
It couldn't be helped.
Just now, Xie Bai—with her petite, adorable appearance—had been trying so hard to make her words and actions carry an air of majesty...
The "gap moe" was simply too overwhelming.
Especially when she put on a serious little face and said, "Remember not to stay out playing for too long."
That feeling of being petite and cute herself, yet acting like a parent toward an even smaller loli...
Tsk...
Tsk, tsk, tsk.
But given Xie Bai’s strength, they absolutely, positively did not dare to show it.
Just as one of the lords couldn't help but open his mouth to say something—
He felt a frigid gaze.
It was the aura of death.
The Northern Lord immediately clamped his mouth shut.
Seeing Xie Bai leave, Aisarakus blinked in a daze for a second before breathing a sigh of relief.
Xie Bai hadn't blamed her!
But soon, she realized the gravity of the situation.
"That's right... there's still that guy Brandon!"
Aisarakus’s small body squirmed uneasily. Her tail popped out from somewhere, swishing back and forth unconsciously behind her.
She turned to look at Maomao nearby and approached her with a pitiful expression.
"Maomao... you'll still protect me this time, right?"
She attempted to use her specialty—acting cute—to break through Maomao’s defenses and pull her onto her side.
Then she realized—
Maomao was currently kneeling on the ground in frustration, slamming her fists violently against the deck.
"Dammit! Why?! Why did it have to be now?!"
Her voice was tearful, bordering on a breakdown.
"Why did the livestream fail again at such a perfect moment?!"
Looking at Maomao’s exaggerated movements, Aisarakus took a half-step back.
Why did it feel like... Maomao was having a bigger mental breakdown than she was?
Confused, she turned her head toward the spot where Yu Yunsheng had been standing.
"Um... do you know what's wrong with her? Why is she so..."
Before she could finish, she realized Yu Yunsheng had disappeared at some point.
"Wait, where did she go?"
At that moment, Taro Ball walked up from the side.
"Her?"
His tone was somewhat complicated.
"She probably followed that person's lead and went down to find Elania."
Speaking of this, he couldn't help but press a hand to his forehead.
Although the plan had succeeded and Xie Bai hadn't held him accountable, the final outcome was still a bit hard for him to swallow.
In his past life, he had never seen his sister develop such a strong obsession with Elania.
Where exactly did things go wrong?
Was it the butterfly effect?
He was a bit worried his sister might do something out of line.
It wasn't that he cared about his sister's preferences; on the contrary, he was quite open-minded in that regard.
The problem was that Elania was different from all the other petite, cute lolis.
She was actually a minor!
Thinking of this, Taro Ball’s hand slid down from his forehead to wipe his face as he let out a long, weary sigh.
"What a disaster..."
*
After descending below, Xie Bai gently tilted Elania’s face up, carefully studying the unconscious girl.
This was the first time she had truly seen this Child of Fate.
Her long golden hair was slightly disheveled, and her face was so pale it was almost transparent, like porcelain that would shatter at a touch.
In the next second, a familiar panel appeared before her eyes.
[Elania Lv.45]
[Class: Holy Child of God]
[...]
[Talent: Star of Destiny - Priest]
[A being protected by the world, possessing a unique destiny. As a Priest-side Child of Fate, you can accept all forms of power without regard for capacity limits, and gradually attract all forces that can be used by you.]
Xie Bai narrowed her eyes slightly.
A Priest-side Child of Fate was strong.
Absurdly strong.
Theoretically speaking, Elania was a vessel without an upper limit; calling her a "God's Vessel" was no exaggeration.
As long as power was continuously piled into her, she could reach an unreachable height.
What was even more terrifying was that this talent helped Elania actively gather the powers she could utilize and absorb...
Such as other highly potential Priests.
However, compared to this rather selfish talent, Elania herself was quite kind-hearted.
Xie Bai pulled back her thoughts, her gaze lingering on Elania’s pale face.
If Taro Ball hadn't brought Elania before the Sacred Light ahead of time, and hadn't prematurely triggered the will left behind by Gliese to act against the Innate Light...
If the Innate Light had remained stored within Elania’s body...
Then, when the time was ripe, the Innate Light could have fused with all the power Elania had absorbed, allowing Gliese’s will to descend upon Elania in an even more powerful form.
Furthermore, it could have inherited Elania’s talent for infinite capacity.
Thinking of that scenario, Xie Bai’s brow furrowed slightly.
Taro Ball had indeed achieved his ultimate goal.
By stripping away the Innate Light early, he had avoided the worst-case scenario.
But he had clearly only considered the act of stripping it away, while neglecting the impact the removal of the Innate Light would have on Elania.
Currently, Elania remained in a deep coma.
"Perhaps..."
Xie Bai murmured softly to herself.
"Is it because the sudden loss of a powerful force within her body caused a backlash from her talent?"
Although Xie Bai didn't have much of a connection with Elania, she would never just leave her like this.
In Xie Bai’s philosophy, no matter how the grand finale played out, everyone had to be alive to share the happy ending.
She would never accept an ending where someone was missing.
Moreover, at this very moment, there was someone right beside her who was deeply worried about Elania.