Chapter 1683: The Swords and Their Master
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Hao Ren only spoke after a short silence, “Seems like… we have trouble in our hands.”
“She could very well use the powers of the Mad Lord within the Dark Abyss to complete the engine.” The goddess of creation was rather calm, and she even started to analyze the matter seriously. “She does not need the blueprint to form the Creation’s Engine, and only needs to get its main functions up and running. The Dark Abyss, while a sea of chaos and lacking in various materials that are available in the material world, the Creation’s Engine itself is an information manipulation device. Its construction does not rely on normal materials. If the goddess of annihilation can properly use the Mad Lord’s powers, she’ll be able to pull out all of the required ‘materials’ from the nightmare and shades of madness. And gauging the corruption in her when we chased her off… she’s definitely capable of doing so.”
“If the engine is completed, she will use it against you. You really dug a deep grave for yourself…” Hao Ren gave Rheia a difficult look. “So, regretting it now?”
“There’s no point in regretting.” Rheia shrugged. “Now I’m more curious about how the goddess of annihilation plans to change the core of the engine. Based on my original programming, the engine will wipe out everything that has a trace of my divinity after activation. Not just myself, but even the Mad Lord and the goddess of annihilation herself. After co-existing within me for so long, she wouldn’t be unaware of that.”
Hao Ren looked at Rheia. “Can you modify the program for it to target only the madness?”
“Not possible. If it was that simple, I would have done it long ago. If that was possible, would I even risk my own life?” Rheia shook her head. “Our powers are all intertwined and mixed together to the point that they can no longer be easily separated. A weapon like the Creation’s Engine, which relies on a ‘unique code’ to take effect, will affect all three of us.”
Hao Ren massaged his temple as he suddenly felt his head ringing. “If even you can’t accomplish it… it’s rather difficult to imagine the goddess of annihilation executing it. Besides, in theory, her knowledge is definitely not above yours.”
Rheia raised one of her eyebrows. “Regardless of what she plans to do, she will not be able to create the engine in an instant. Even if she manages to directly draw materials from the nightmare and shades of madness, she will still need a few months to piece them together. If her mastery of the power of madness is lacking, then it will take even longer, so we still have some time to figure out what we can do. You don’t have to be too nervous.”
“Say… you sure are calmer than I thought. This has to do with your life and death.” Hao Ren eyed the goddess of creation for a bit. “You know that someone’s aiming at your head with a rifle, and you don’t know when he’ll pull the trigger, yet you still have the mood to joke around with me?”
Rheia broke into a smile, and that moment, any misconception brought about by her small frame disappeared entirely. She once again, or rather, always had projected the image of a calm and intelligent goddess before Hao Ren. “Fear does not solve problems. Regardless of whether you think about it or not, the problem will be there and will occur. It will not delay itself just for your convenience. So I’d rather put all of my efforts into solving the issue. I will pass on all technical information regarding the Creation’s Engine, including the discarded plans during the designing phase. They may reveal the source of the goddess of annihilation’s thoughts. There could be things that are not visible to me but become clear when you look at it. Besides, now that I have an established pathway to the Surface World, I hope you can arrange a meeting with Raven 12345 as soon as possible. I would like to hear her suggestions.”
Hao Ren gladly agreed. “No problem, my boss has wanted to meet you for a long time now. I can bring you to her at any time. How about today? She has nothing better to do anyway…”
A rather conflicted expression then appeared on Rheia’s face. “But I still have two papers to finish…”
Right then, the calm and intelligent goddess became a primary school student who was afraid of being admonished for not finishing her homework…
“Hmm…” Hao Ren rubbed his chin. “How about turning today’s class into a field trip? And speaking of which, this material projection can be used in more than one place at a time, right? You mentioned earlier that it can split your mind into two, so you can meet Raven 12345 for the lecture and do your homework simultaneously!”
Rheia was befuddled for a moment before she displayed a disgruntled look. “I have not mastered it yet! Wait until I get used to it before you ask me to do that!”
Hao Ren chuckled. It was impossible to not see through the goddess’ mind, and he commented in his heart. This goddess hasn’t even experienced a proper school life. Wait till she comes back after a half-day trip and gets asked to write an 800-word essay. Then she’ll she know how easy her school life is…
Hao Ren’s visit that day had two purposes; one was to deliver the material projection generator and two was to inquire about the Creation’s Engine. Aside from that, Asurmen’s report and understanding the gateway to the Umbral Realm were all side bonuses. Now that he had completed his task, he got ready to leave and pay his boss a visit to inform her of the goddess of creation’s upcoming visit.
But before he left, he recalled something. “Oh right, Rheia, didn’t you need a weapon?”
“A weapon?” Rheia did not understand how Hao Ren came to that question.
“These two swords were originally yours,” Hao Ren said as he pulled the two blades of cosmic shards out of his Dimensional Pocket. “Obtaining them was pure coincidence, but now that you’re awake, I think that it’s high time they were returned to their master.”
The Godslayer woke up the moment it was drawn out, and it started its usual Gatling-gun rambling, “Oh, oh, I’ve been awakened! Am I looking at another fight now? Oh? No fighting? Oh, swordbearer, you have finally listened to my teachings and renounced the bloody fighting? I am oh so glad. Ever since.. Whoa! Goddess!!”
The rambling sword suddenly realized that the goddess of creation was just right beside him and was shocked. Hao Ren was sure that the sword was extremely rattled, as he felt the sword shaking in his hands.
The Worldbreaker slowly spoke after a few seconds, “Greetings, Goddess.”
The two swords had already met the goddess of creation earlier in the Umbral Realm battlefield. But the situation then was chaotic and the goddess of annihilation had everyone on their toes. Even the rambling sword did not have the luxury to speak so the two swords did not have a chance to catch up with their original master. But now, they had all the time in the world to talk.
However, weirdly enough the chatterbox of a sword did not seem keen to speak right then…
Normally, the Godslayer’s voice would only be audible to the swordbearer, but as its creator, Rheia obviously had some special “privileges”. Even if the Godslayer tried to shut off its “Echo Wall”, Rheia would still be able to establish a connection with it. “Long time no see, even though we met two days ago.”
“It was chaotic then. I did not have the time to properly greet you,” the Worldbreaker uncharacteristically uttered a long sentence before it turned quiet again.
“How about you?” Rheia smiled as she looked at the Godslayer. “Tiny Blade No. 2, you are the chattiest of the lot, why aren’t you speaking now?”
Hao Ren almost spat when he heard that. Tiny Blade No. 2? Did the goddess of creation actually gave her two blades such names back then?! And the real name of the Worldbreaker was Tiny Blade No.1?
“Tiny Blade No. 2” a.k.a the Godslayer remained weirdly silent for a long, long while before it spoke in a stutter, “L-Long time no see… Goddess…”
Rheia smiled. “The battle two days ago… I chose Tiny Blade No.1 and not you, were you angry?”
The Godslayer could no longer keep up its facade. “Goddess… please don’t take me for a joke. Seeing you is a bit awkward… Ten thousand years ago I… It was so chaotic then, and I was so confused. I even forgot where I came from, so I… couldn’t help it… couldn’t help it—”
“I know, I know,” Rheia suddenly placed her hand on the Godslayer and interrupted the latter. “That war was a mess, and everyone there couldn’t help it. It was partly driven by my own hands, including the deed you committed… It was part of my plan. I don’t have anything to blame you for. I just hope you don’t blame me.”
“…But why me?” The Godslayer’s voice was downcast, and it was the first time Hao Ren had heard such a tone from the overly-energetic sword. “Was it because I talked too much?”
Rheia went silent for a moment, her answer ambiguous, “…It’s because you were special, and you were better suited for the deed.”
Understanding that some things were difficult to put into words, the Godslayer did not intend to pursue the matter further. Rheia then turn to Hao Ren. “These two swords, since they are already with you, keep them.”
“Is that all right?”
“They are no ordinary weapons, and not everyone is equipped with the right to use them. The cycle of causality has seen them reach your hands. That means there is a reason behind it, hence there is no all right or not all right.” Rheia gave him a dismissive wave. “What I’m much more curious about is… why is there a missing part from Tiny Blade No. 2’s tip?”
“…Ahem, it probably chipped off after so long…”
Bloody hell, obviously he could not tell her that it was bitten off by a crazy goddess, right?
“Say, now that you’ve given these two blades to me, what are you going to use?” Hao Ren was still concerned. “We’ll be facing the Mad Lord soon enough, you can’t be going in empty-handed, right?”
“These two blades were forged very, very long ago, and while I was careful when I forged them, and they are indeed powerful, seeing them now, I realize that I was immature and inexperienced in many areas.” Rheia smiled, seemingly unconcerned about any taboos. “Now that I have been exposed to newer and deeper knowledge, I am confident that I can create a new weapon against the Mad Lord. Man or god, all need to progress some way or another.”
The Godslayer then muttered, “That hurts.”
“But the goddess is right,” the Worldbreaker gave a rare reply.
The first thing that crossed Hao Ren’s mind was—Who the heck was the one who determined that a divine relic was more powerful the older it was?! This is what you get when a goddess has never been to school!