On the northern edge of the Dea Plateau, Firefall Island stood motionless.
After Truth left, the tiny Heavenly Fire, still completely naked, stared at the island she had nearly blasted apart for a long while before finally turning to Ariel and saying coldly:
“You, come here.”
Fortunately, she usually had a strong sense of territory and didn’t like having Disciples lingering on her island.
If she were like Earthquake and preferred letting Disciples live within her domain, it would have been a total disaster.
Heavenly Fire really couldn’t imagine a crowd of her own Disciples witnessing her being toyed with so casually by the Blood Demon.
Now, with only one Disciple seeing her in this state, it was truly the best outcome in the worst situation.
And she absolutely wouldn’t let this girl off so easily!
Upon hearing Heavenly Fire’s command, Ariel turned her face away and slowly shuffled over to stand before her.
Heavenly Fire, hands on her hips, looked up at Ariel:
“Look at me!”
“N-no… I don’t dare…”
“I said, look at me!”
“My Lady, you… should at least put some clothes on…”
“I don’t care about those human notions of propriety and shame. I’m not interested in reproductive behaviors or anything of the sort. Right now, I want you to look into my eyes!”
“But just now, the Blood Demon was touching you and—”
“What did you say?!”
“Ah, nothing, nothing!” Heavenly Fire, who had just been secretly pouting and muttering, immediately shook her head furiously, cold sweat pouring down her back.
Only then did she stiffly meet Heavenly Fire’s scarlet eyes.
Though her gaze couldn’t help but drift downward…
The two pairs of red eyes met. Very quickly, Heavenly Fire established a mental connection with Ariel, so they could communicate through thought—safer and much faster:
“We have to act before the Blood Demon comes back. Now, tell me everything you know about the Blood Demon!”
……
In less than ten seconds, Ariel relayed through the connection a rough account of her experiences during her time in the Mist.
In Ariel’s mind, she hadn’t realized that Truth was actually managing the Mist; instead, she thought Truth simply treated her as a slave, ordering her to do shady things.
Such as luring rookie adventurers into the underground labyrinth to die.
She guessed that Truth hid in the Deya Underground Labyrinth, constantly feeding on the blood of adventurers, and that she herself was an accomplice. This made her feel very guilty.
“So that Blood Demon took advantage of the Mist’s dormancy and claimed it as its lair. No wonder you got caught. If you blew up my home, I’d be out for your blood, too.”
“And you’ve got its curse on you. Your soul’s been taken as well. Hmm… Looks like you won’t be able to escape.”
Heavenly Fire fell into thought, making Ariel even more nervous.
Now, her life and death hung on Heavenly Fire’s whim.
Soon, Heavenly Fire came up with a flawless plan, her expression growing smug and meaningful:
“I’ve found a way to deal with that Blood Demon, and I’ll need your help for it. Ariel, tell me, after all this, is your faith in me still as unwavering as ever?”
“Uh…”
……
In the Mist, at its core.
As the mist swirled, the Mist Feather Serpent was being spun furiously by its tail in a clockwise whirlwind, wielded by Truth—a move she called the “Latiao Cyclone.”
Two minutes later, the Mist Feather Serpent was flung to the ground once more, barely alive, unable to even stand, tears leaking helplessly from the corners of its eyes.
Demon, this human is an absolute demon, gulp…
“I’ll ask you again: who is the true master of the Supreme Authority of the Mist Lord?” Truth crossed her arms before her chest, towering proudly over the Mist Feather Serpent.
After a long moment, the Mist Feather Serpent, trembling all over, reluctantly wrote a wobbly “You” on the ground with its tail. Next to it, two half-written “I”s trailed off unfinished.
It was beaten. The Mist Feather Serpent was utterly beaten. It now deeply understood the chasm in power between itself and Truth.
The only reason it hadn’t been snuffed out completely was because Truth was still, perhaps, just a tiny little bit… merciful.
Should it thank her for that?
“That’s more like it.” Truth dusted off her hands and nodded with satisfaction.
“For a little snake less than a meter long, you sure talk big. When I found the Authority, you weren’t even an egg! And you dare claim the Authority is yours?”
By the logic of ‘first come, first served,’ Truth did have the stronger claim. After all, the Mist Feather Serpent was only born over a hundred years after Truth had fallen into slumber.
Originally, the Mist fused the Authority it hid within itself over a hundred years, pouring all its effort into giving birth to the Mist Feather Serpent, a being perfectly compatible with the Supreme Authority of the Mist Lord.
Unfortunately, Truth got there first.
At first, the Supreme Authority had intended to resist for a symbolic two hundred years before surrendering to Truth.
As the only Pastor Divine Authority, it didn’t want a demon to corrupt every Pastor in the world.
But then, one day, it sensed the presence of the Mist Feather Serpent in the Mist, a vessel even more compatible.
So it decided to resist Truth’s fusion with all its might—but could only hold out for around three hundred years.
Luckily, the Mist intervened, using its core power to help the Authority resist.
If Truth ever relaxed her grip, the sleeping Mist Feather Serpent would immediately revive and touch the Authority, fusing in an instant. Then, everything would fall into place.
Unfortunately, even with the Mist’s aid, they couldn’t get Truth to loosen her hold.
After more than five hundred years, both the Supreme Authority and the already-weak Mist were finally defeated by Truth.
Neither had ever expected Truth to have so much magical power, enough to not only fuse with the Authority but also absorb the Mist’s Permission in passing.
Originally, the Mist Feather Serpent had been the only one with the Mist’s highest Permission. Now, with Truth in the mix, the Mist could only feel…
No complaints.
After all, Truth now counted as its Mist Avatar. Whatever Truth said, that was what it was. And the Mist Feather Serpent was no match for her, so: “no complaints.”
The Mist’s situation now was essentially one of being possessed by Truth. But if the Mist Feather Serpent could somehow rally and reclaim its Permission, maybe the Mist could return to the “right path.”
But that seemed impossible.
“By the way, why does your Mist Permission match mine? Aren’t you just the Backup Will? Shouldn’t your Permission be one level lower than mine?”
After closely inspecting the little snake, Truth found its Mist aura was identical to hers—absurd, really.
A household with two people of the same authority? That won’t do! Truth immediately decided the little snake had to go.
But killing it now would only lead to the birth of a new Backup Will. So that wasn’t a long-term solution. After a little more thought, Truth came up with a flawless plan.
Re-education.
That’s right—re-education.
With that, Truth pointed at the little snake and declared:
“You’re the backup, so you ought to follow the orders of the primary, got it? If you understand, nod!”
“From now on, you’re my little servant. Do what I tell you, and don’t touch anything in the Mist without my permission, or I’ll give you another ‘Latiao Cyclone.’ Understood?”
“Also, from today on, your name is Little Mist. Did you hear me?”
The Mist Feather Serpent—now Little Mist—was so frightened by Truth’s string of declarations that it curled up into a ball, trembling all over, looking pitifully at Truth…
In reality, there was no Backup Will; Heavenly Fire had made that up on the spot to trick Truth. The Mist Feather Serpent was the only Will of the Mist of Calamity.
Unfortunately, its fists weren’t as big as Truth’s.
У змеи вообще не кулаков. XD