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Chapter 596.2: Are You Still Around? (2)

“You’re finally back? You have kept me waiting for so long.”

“Roel, are you all right?”

“My hero, don’t you think you have rested for too long this time around?”

“…”

As soon as Roel restored his Origin Attribute and re-established his windows with his four ancient gods, the three female ancient gods spoke one after another to express their concern. Grandar was the only one who remained quiet, though Roel understood his feelings.

Grandar’s silence wasn’t due to a lack of concern. In fact, the first thing he did upon the restoration of the window was to scan Roel’s body with his mana. He was a person of action instead of words.

Besides, the others had already asked the questions looming in his mind, so there was no need for him to waste his words.

Roel let out a helpless sigh. He first answered some of their questions before sharing his current circumstances.

His last interaction with Grandar and the others was right before he entered the Witness State. He had survived many dangers and grown a lot since then, and his experiences were exciting too, but the thing that astonished them the most was how the ring that had guided him to the Mother Goddess’ Witness State had the ability to influence reality.

“What a shock. How did your ancestors create something like that?”

“The Kingmaker Clan has always been known for their powerful means, especially back in the ancient era. It’s not surprising for them to have created something like that. I’m just astounded that you met with that Mother Goddess…”

“My hero, I didn’t think that you’d go through so much while I wasn’t around.”

“…”

The ancient gods reacted in different ways after hearing Roel’s story.

The connotation behind the term ‘Mother Goddess’ was so immense that even the ancient gods couldn’t take it lightly, especially Artasia and Edavia, who knew just how powerful She was. Their expressions were particularly grim.

Grandar maintained his silence as usual, making it difficult for Roel to know his thoughts.

Peytra had passed away before the appearance of the Mother Goddess, so she harbored no feelings about the latter. Rather, she was more interested in the Ascarts’ ring.

In any case, Roel had at least managed to explain to his four ancient gods the reason behind the long disconnect. After resolving that issue, he proceeded to raise some questions—for one, how did Edavia get along with his other three ancient gods so easily?

He still remembered the discord amongst his ancient gods when he first contracted with Artasia. In particular, Peytra, who was very protective of him, was extremely opposed to it, claiming that the Witch Queen couldn’t be trusted.

Yet, none of the ancient gods was actually opposed to his contracting with Edavia, who was an evil god. This was rather perplexing to him.

He voiced his doubt, and the answers he received were rather surprising.

“Well… I have met the Primordial Earth Goddess before,” Edavia said with a mischievous smile.

“You can say that we’re acquainted. I knew it was only a matter of time before those of your clan came into contact with the Spiriteer Clan, and she’s one of the spiriteers I know, so I have a better impression of her,” Peytra replied with a nod.

“I see.” Roel widened his eyes in realization.

Now that he thought about it, the first time Sia had descended upon the world was during the war between the saint beasts and the demonic beasts. Peytra, as the Queen of Saint Beasts, had been on close terms with Sia, so it made sense for her to be acquainted with Edavia too. Given their ties, there was no reason for Peytra to be opposed to Edavia.

As for Grandar, Roel wasn’t too surprised by his lack of response. Grandar probably just respected his freedom to choose the ancient gods he wanted to contract with. In fact, he hadn’t opposed him contracting with Artasia back then, either.

What truly surprised Roel was the Witch Queen’s response.

It was unusual for Artasia to have not shown any response upon noticing Edavia’s existence. While Roel was indeed on close terms with Edavia, it didn’t change the fact that the latter was an evil god. The Witches had historically been the ones to punish the evil, so Artasia, as the Witch Queen, should have been particularly averse to Edavia’s presence.

As incongruous as that was, Roel knew now wasn’t the time for him to get to the bottom of that. His priority right now was to borrow the powers of his ancient gods to restore Tark Stronghold’s personnel to their original state.

Thus, he quickly explained the situation to them and nervously waited for their answers.

“My apologies; that’s outside my field of specialty,” Peytra answered.

“I can’t do it either,” Grandar replied.

Roel had expected as much, so he wasn’t too surprised. He knew that such issues were beyond the scope of what the Giant Sovereign and the Primordial Earth Goddess were capable of, so his hopes were pinned on the other two ancient gods.

Upon hearing Roel’s request, Edavia manifested in front of Roel. She looked like an obedient child with her neatly-braided orange hair, looking nothing like an evil god at all. She raised her hand to touch the nearby white fog before nodding.

“I’m not too sure how it was done, but there’s nothing wrong with their souls. They are still alive.”

“That’s good to hear.” Roel breathed a sigh of relief, as the news gave him a huge morale boost.

Following that, the white-haired Witch Queen manifested in the Moonsoul Tower as well. Edavia turned around and assessed the Witch Queen with narrowed eyes, and Artasia calmly returned the gaze. Time ticked as the atmosphere between them grew increasingly heavy.

Feeling the tension in the air, Roel looked at the two of them in confusion, not knowing what to make of the situation. Fortunately, the two of them finally withdrew their stares after some time. Artasia turned her attention to the fog, whereas Edavia bade Roel farewell.

“Nothing’s wrong with their souls, but I don’t know how to restore them to their original state. Leave it to her,” Edavia said as her body slowly dissipated.

So, Roel turned to the floating Witch Queen and asked, “Artasia, do you have any ideas?”

“Mm. Leave it to me.”

“All right.” Roel’s heart was finally set at ease, though another question arose in his mind. “What was that between you and Edavia earlier on?”

“It’s nothing of concern. It’s our way of knowing each other better.”

“…”

Is silently staring at each other your way of knowing each other better?

Roel was speechless. He could tell that the situation between them wasn’t as simple as that, just that he didn’t know what the problem was. For the time being, he decided to pull his focus back to the situation at hand.

Meanwhile, Artasia’s attention had turned to Roel’s body, as a look of wonderment slowly crept onto her face.

“I would have never thought that such a body is possible… How inconceivable.”

“It was an unexpected gain from the Witness State.”

“A huge gain, I have to say, but you seem to be injured. Did you undergo a trial?”

“Not at all. I was waiting for you.”

“!”

Artasia’s madder-red eyes momentarily widened in surprise before she abruptly burst into laughter. The tense atmosphere immediately lightened.

“You were waiting for me? It looks like you’re really in need of my help.”

“Of course. I’m lacking in proficiency with spells, after all,” Roel replied with a helpless sigh as he settled down on one of the chairs in the garden.

There was no doubt that the Kingmaker Bloodline was one of the strongest bloodlines in the Sia Continent, but the abilities one gained would dictate one’s trajectory of growth. Roel’s greatest strength lay in his burst power, especially after he obtained the Crown’s Stones, which was why he focused on developing his abilities in that aspect instead of learning other functional spells.

Recovery spells were outside Roel’s field of specialty too, though he was lucky that Artasia compensated for that weakness.

“Settle down. You’ll have to rest for a while due to the severity of your injuries. You need not worry about the people trapped in the fog; leave it to me.”

“I’m counting on you, then,” Roel replied as he got himself comfortable on a chair before closing his eyes.

Artasia smiled as she raised her hand and cast a warm light over Roel. The latter’s consciousness swiftly faded as his body began to heal.

…

Roel opened his eyes to a sunset plain. He wasn’t surprised by the change in scenery around him, for he was the one who had come knocking.

Marching forth in the sunset plain, he soon stumbled upon a humongous skeletal giant. Sensing his presence, the skeletal giant raised his head and looked at him.

“It has been a while, Grandar.”

“Yes, it has been a while… You have grown much stronger.”

“Haha, I have been through a lot,” Roel replied with a smile.

“So, what’s the purpose of your visit?”

Grandar, as candid as ever, dove straight to the point. Roel paused for a moment as his expression slowly turned grim.

“I came here to enquire about an individual.”

“Who is it?”

“The Beastman Sovereign, who’s now better known as the Deviant Sovereign, Banjol.”

“!”

The crimson flames in Grandar’s eye sockets sharply contracted. He slowly nodded his head as he asked, “…Is he your current enemy?”

“That’s right. There’ll be a battle between us soon.”

“I see… That complicates things.”

Grandar heaved a sigh before slowly rising to his feet, much to Roel’s surprise.