Chapter 2700 True Word Book <TOC> Chapter 2702 The Wood Spirit’s Course of Action
Translator: SumTLMan
“I am Noah.”
The Black Count merely wrote this brief sentence.
The True Word Book presented it faithfully, without any fluctuation, signifying that this statement was not false.
In fact, the Black Count had already indicated previously that he came from Noah; rewriting it again might seem like a perfunctory way of exploiting loopholes, but in reality, that was not the case.
This single sentence carried extraordinary significance in the Sovereign of Wisdom’s mind.
A descendant of Noah is a general term. Anyone bearing the Noah surname can be labeled a descendant of Noah.
Yet “I am Noah” is no longer a general term; it’s a specific designation. It indicates that the Black Count alone can represent the entire Noah family at this point in time.
Just by uttering this sentence, in the eyes of the Sovereign of Wisdom, the Black Count’s real identity was instantly narrowed down.
Only the most central five-star elders of the Noah family and the current patriarch of the clan are qualified to represent “Noah” by themselves.
At first glance, the Black Count appears to be just a nose, but his true body was beginning to become clearer as though the clouds were being dispersed. As to whether he was one of the five-star elders or the patriarch specifically, it no longer mattered to the Sovereign of Wisdom, so long as he could represent Noah, interesting changes would inevitably occur in what lay ahead.
It wasn’t that no Noah descendant had ever come looking for this ruin site before, but those descendants simply weren’t competent. They couldn’t even make it through the final stretch, much less meet the Goddess.
But now, someone who can represent Noah has arrived. That’s rather intriguing.
In the Sovereign of Wisdom’s mind, he was already envisioning the scene: would the Goddess still be able to maintain her lofty arrogance in front of him?
Although the Sovereign of Wisdom was quite eager to witness the scenario he was imagining, matters often have two sides. The Black Count admitting that he could represent Noah might bring an upheaval to the ruin site, but likewise, it could also bring a devastating blow to Nightfall City, which was already in a precarious predicament.
Even though some old monsters in Nightfall City still slumbered, facing a newly rising giant from the Wizarding World, one connected by a vast network of contacts, Nightfall City might be able to gnaw through this tough bone, but it would be left in an even more desperate situation.
This thought gave the Sovereign of Wisdom a bit of a headache.
If it was merely an ordinary descendant of Noah, then, with Angel as a variable, perhaps they could glean the Goddess’ secrets. But now that “the real Noah” was joining the fray, the variable had grown bigger, and so had the difficulty of controlling it.
After the Black Count finished writing, the Sovereign of Wisdom did not write anything for a long while. Angel and the Black Count showed no impatience, they could see that the Sovereign of Wisdom was deep in thought. Daus, however, who was seated at the side, couldn’t hold back and said impatiently: “Bring me in as well! Maybe I can offer some excellent suggestions.”
The Sovereign of Wisdom remained in silent contemplation, so Daus simply flicked out a surge of energy, which merged into the True Word Book.
The Sovereign of Wisdom perceived it but did not stop him; perhaps he, too, wanted to see what truth Daus might bring out. Neither Angel nor the Black Count intervened. The Black Count simply couldn’t be bothered; Angel, on the other hand, felt that having Daus join the True Word Book as an agent of chaos was actually a good thing.
Even if there were currently no set laws for the True Word Book, its nature as a tool of mental contests still existed. Unless one decided never again to write in it, thus leaving others unable to judge whether one’s words were true or false, it could still be used for strategic maneuvering. And if the Sovereign of Wisdom wrote in it later while they avoided it, that too would be ill-advised, it might even let the Sovereign of Wisdom detect something wrong.
Therefore, in Angel’s view, having Daus hop in and stir the pot would greatly reduce the mind-game factor.
Even if the Sovereign of Wisdom intended to strategize through it, trying to figure out how they would respond, Daus might well throw things off course.
After Daus’ energy merged into the True Word Book, a faint crimson glow spread across the pages and eventually formed a towering figure with two horns, wielding a sword and standing beneath the savage maw of a Sandworm.
It had to be said that of all the visions manifested so far, Daus’ was the most visually impressive.
The reason Daus’ forehead sprouted horns and his figure became gigantic was evidently that he’d activated his bloodline.
Even Angel couldn’t deny that bloodline-ignited battles often produced the most iconic scenes. In the past, Magic Painter Feng had frequently depicted battles focusing on bloodline combat in his works. Even his most famous piece, and the most popular illustration in the Frost Moon Alliance’s favored publication: —Planes Conquest Record—, the frontispiece —The Apocalypse—, featured, at the very forefront confronting the descent of a Demon God, a group of wizards who had activated their bloodlines.
Activating one’s bloodline does not necessarily mean that one is from the Bloodline Branch, but those from the Bloodline Branch can certainly activate their bloodlines.
Angel had occasionally imagined igniting a bloodline himself, transforming into a hulking engine of muscle, unleashing carnage wherever he rolled. But that was only an idle fantasy. His bloodline was a projection bloodline, and currently, he wasn’t even certain whether it really qualified as a “bloodline” at all. Once activated, all it did was enlarge his limbs a bit and add some green runes, no other effect emerged.
However, if Angel had to choose again, he would probably still pick the projection bloodline.
Simply because his right hand’s green runes can indefinitely release Nightmare Aura, and that alone makes it impossible for Angel to consider giving it up.
After all, wizards like Sanders and Sumesh, when casting a Nightmare Illusion, still require the aid of a Nightmare Stone. Nightmare Stones have always been expensive and scarce, so they’ve grown accustomed to resorting to ordinary illusions whenever possible. They won’t use Nightmare Illusions unless they have no other choice, and they certainly won’t casually employ illusions from the Nightmare Domain.
But Angel faces no such limitation. Others must “borrow” the Nightmare Aura, whereas Angel is completely self-sufficient. He’s even able to raise a bunch of Nightmare Plane creatures, such as these worthless Teacup Band musicians.
Once the handsome image representing Daus had fully merged into the True Word Book, Daus glanced at Angel and the Black Count: “I’m about to start writing, alright?”
Neither Angel nor the Black Count said anything.
Seeing that, Daus immediately commenced his free-form composition. Unlike the short, succinct remarks of the others, he launched straight into a grand flourish:
“I am a poor barkeep who loves to drink a brew of Mountain Mist after the Storm; I drank my fill of the wind until my pockets were torn, hoping to scrape through this adversity, yet all that remained was the ash of gunpowder. However, Noah is closely linked to me, and surely will not stand idly by; together, let us huddle for warmth.”
The True Word Book twisted for a moment, seemingly to verify the truth. After a while, it finally displayed this bleak yet hopeful statement on its pages.
Angel read it and remained silent.
The Black Count, for his part, turned his nose away as though he hadn’t even seen it.
The Sovereign of Wisdom, who had been ready to parse any revelations in the text, found himself exhausted at first glance.
While it appeared from Daus’ words that he was somehow connected with “Noah,” not belonging to them exactly, the statement was so vague that it might allow the claim that Daus was also Noah.
However, the Sovereign of Wisdom had long since deduced that Daus likely had little to do with Noah, but the True Word Book still displayed these words. This forced him to consider yet another layer of logic.
Which, in turn, fulfilled Angel’s intention, Daus’ involvement truly stirred the waters.
The Sovereign of Wisdom massaged his throbbing temples and said: “Then it’s my turn to write.”
It seemed he had prepared in advance; he wrote swiftly, and in the blink of an eye, a line of text was recognized by the True Word Book and revealed.
They had thought the Sovereign of Wisdom would mention the purpose of his current visit, or else explain what the so-called “necessary condition” referred to and what the “bonus condition” might bring.
But the Sovereign of Wisdom did not dwell on that. The True Word Book bore only one concise line:
“I harbor no malice or intent to kill you. The one who will truly act against you lies in the ruin site.”
After reading this line, Angel and the Black Count exchanged glances; their eyes seemed to communicate, but neither spoke.
The Sovereign of Wisdom then said: “I wrote this sentence in the hope that you could at least trust me. Only in the context of trust can we speak further.”
Angel replied: “Even if you hadn’t said that, we’d have inferred as much. Those words alone aren’t sufficient to gain our trust.”
The Sovereign of Wisdom asked: “Then what do you think I should write to establish a foundation of mutual trust between us?”
Angel did not answer this time. Instead, the Black Count spoke up: “We don’t need mutual trust; we merely need to maintain balance.”
A foundation of mutual trust would first require equality. As it stood, there was no equality here; the Sovereign of Wisdom’s power was too overwhelming and could easily crush everyone present.
Otherwise, they wouldn’t have left the others behind at the Earth Rampart. The fundamental reason was the massive gap in strength.
The Black Count dared to step beyond the Earth Rampart because, should he die, his true body would descend at once. As for Angel stepping out too… the Black Count couldn’t quite figure it out. He could only guess that Angel also had some method of self-preservation.
“Balance, is it?” The Sovereign of Wisdom understood what the Black Count was implying. He paused briefly and then added another line in the True Word Book:
“When blades are crossed, I will withdraw all available means and bind myself for five seconds.”
The “balance” the Black Count alluded to was a dangerous equilibrium, one involving potential mortal stakes.
The Sovereign of Wisdom evidently got the idea. Once they truly fell into conflict, he would bind himself for five seconds. Those five seconds would give them time to flee.
Opening a planar passage, in the best case, might take only two seconds. Five seconds would be enough to activate the passage and depart.
That was precisely the balance the Black Count demanded.
Only if they had the guarantee of being able to escape safely would they be willing to cooperate within certain bounds. Merely talking about trust was empty rhetoric.
With the Sovereign of Wisdom’s lofty words grounded in reality, the others could finally relax. At least they no longer had to worry that they might be ambushed in the Wise One’s Great Hall.
The Sovereign of Wisdom next turned his gaze once again toward… Angel.
“Shall we talk, then?”
Angel already knew the Sovereign of Wisdom would come to him first, so he showed no intention of refusal. He nodded: “Please speak, Sovereign of Wisdom.”
“How did you find the Wood Spirit? And how did you manage to convince it to follow you away?”
After a slight pause, the Sovereign of Wisdom continued: “You can treat those two questions as part of an exchange, I will answer two questions you raise in return. If you wish me to write the answers in the True Word Book, however, then I can only answer one question.”
“That’s some cunning calculation, you’re too stingy,” Daus muttered.
Though outwardly it looked like the Sovereign of Wisdom wasn’t forcing Angel to write his own answers in the True Word Book, one could see that these two questions had an internal logic that was difficult to bluff through. Even if Angel refused to use the True Word Book, the authenticity of his explanation would be apparent.
Yet, if Angel flipped it around, the Sovereign of Wisdom could lie twice. Only if he wrote his answer in the True Word Book would they get a single question’s guaranteed truth.
No matter how one saw it, it didn’t look very fair.
That was Daus’ perspective. As for Angel, however, he actually felt that this “exchange” offered by the Sovereign of Wisdom was relatively even, because Daus was overlooking one fact: these two questions did not concern only Angel.
The Wood Spirit was still present. It wasn’t incapable of speech, and it was still the Sovereign of Wisdom’s disciple. Even if it was terrified of the Sovereign of Wisdom, a bit of patient prodding would likely get it to spill what happened. Could it really keep everything hidden?
Hence, as Angel saw it, these two questions were still acceptable.
“Alright. Though for now, I don’t have many questions to ask…”
Angel paused briefly. In truth, he had plenty of doubts, but he figured that if the Sovereign of Wisdom needed them to do something in the ruin site, he would have to reveal the key points. Asking about them now would simply be a waste.
“So, let’s do as I suggested before: let me take a look at the notes you mentioned. How about that?”
Whatever questions he might have were far less important than knowledge and spell. If he missed that chance, he would suffer a real loss. And given that the Sovereign of Wisdom was known as the “Wise One,” any personal annotations in his notes would surely be unique. Angel had been salivating over them for a while.
The Sovereign of Wisdom had not intentionally neglected to mention his notes. It was simply that he hadn’t updated them for many years and had casually forgotten. He hadn’t expected Angel to remember so clearly. Since Angel had brought them up again, it wasn’t really about shamelessness but rather about not letting the opportunity go.
The Sovereign of Wisdom nodded: “That’s fine.”
Seeing the Sovereign of Wisdom agree, Angel responded: “Alright, then. I’ll answer those two questions of yours. Actually, I should start with ‘How I found the Wood Spirit,’ but I’d rather begin with the second question: ‘Why the Wood Spirit was willing to follow me away,’ because it will make the first part easier to explain.”
The Sovereign of Wisdom, confused, looked at Angel. Wasn’t it putting the cart before the horse to address “How did you convince the Wood Spirit to go with you” before “How did you find it in the first place”?
Shouldn’t it be the other way around, that one finds the Wood Spirit before persuading it to leave?
Faced with the Sovereign of Wisdom’s doubts, Angel gently lifted his cane and placed it on the table.
“How about you explain?” Angel tapped on the vine coiled around the cane: “You’re more credible than I am.”
The vine wrapped around the cane’s shaft remained motionless, as if it were just decoration.
“Don’t play dead. There’s no outsider here.”
The Wood Spirit still showed no reaction.
Angel was silent for a moment, and then he raised the stakes: “…If you want to see him, then at least give me some response.”
The air remained silent for a few seconds, then a faint squeaking sound rose from the vine.
So the Wood Spirit responded, but squeaking? What in the world was that supposed to be?!
Chapter 2700 True Word Book <TOC> Chapter 2702 The Wood Spirit’s Course of Action