Chapter 193 The Battle Between Gods and Humans

1 1 0
                                    

Flicker Shadow and Raina Grace finally reunited at the hot spring cottage, with the addition of Silver Tan — whose presence was somewhat diminished due to his physical form — making it seem as if nothing had changed from before. Yet, aside from the ever-mysterious Verdant Thistle Forest, everything had changed.

Lightning no longer frolicked energetically with WeeStick, even WeeStick seemed burdened with concerns, Raina Grace became more introspective, and Flicker Shadow often found himself lost in thought.

"When will we go to the Celestial Domain?" WeeStick frequently asked.

Caught between going and not going, Raina Grace was still undecided. She wasn't sure how much of Silver Tan's premonition was real and how much was mere speculation, even Silver Tan often doubted himself. What made her more troubled was that none of them had legitimate identities to legally travel to the Celestial Domain.

The fact that they hadn't been detected by the elemental magnetic net was fortunate enough, daring not to provoke further trouble, so they couldn't take regular transportation. Raina Grace had asked Silver Tan if he had any connections or flexible means to help, considering his former prominent status, perhaps there could be some leniency. Silver Tan thought hard but couldn't think of any "flexible means," prompting her to elaborate. Raina Grace's understanding was partial, some from snippets from Gold Shine, some directly from Flame Wave's actions; she never thought she would need to use this information, so she never delved deeper.

Silver Tan chuckled wryly: "Perhaps this is where humans excel... I mean, I am quite slow, Jadelle often says I'm not worldly-wise." Then he remembered, "However, when we left your house that day, I think I saw people from the Celestial Balance Fortress."

Silver Tan referred to the day they caused chaos for Lightning and Raina Grace to leave first, with Flicker Shadow covering their retreat. Actually, there was no need for a rear guard because someone intentionally let them go — the people from the Celestial Balance Fortress, perhaps Flame Wave had arranged it to ensure Raina Grace's safety.

Making contact with these people could provide a way to the Celestial Domain, Silver Tan implied. But Raina Grace was reluctant, unsure if it was a simple unwillingness to ask for help or a specific aversion to seeking Flame Wave. She definitely wasn't worldly-wise either.

While Raina Grace and Silver Tan were conflicted about going or not going to the Celestial Domain, visitors from the Celestial Domain came to them. The visitor arrived at the hot spring cottage as if familiar with the place, giving everyone a "surprise."

"Jadelle? You..." Normally, Silver Tan would have been the one to greet her, but his current state prevented normal interaction, so Raina Grace had to step in, even though she was at a loss for words.

Fortunately, Jadelle, who was described by Silver Tan as not being worldly-wise, was very much so. She sincerely and apologetically stated her purpose: "I'm sorry, I know you all don't want to be involved in these conflicts, but Miss Raina Grace, being a person of divine power and concern for the world, with a relationship with humans that can be either close or distant, I had no choice but to seek your help."

Raina Grace didn't understand her roundabout way of both praising and hinting, and wanted to get straight to the point: "Just say it. Who sent you, and how can we help you?"

Jadelle didn't answer directly, looking around before her gaze settled on a small insect — now more accurately described as a small dragon — "Are you Silver Tan? How are you? I... seeing you like this, I'm truly saddened and sorry."

Although Silver Tan could hear Jadelle, he wished he couldn't. He always found her ambiguous way of speaking quite troublesome and often responded with silence, this time included.

"I heard you can communicate with psychic power now?" Jadelle didn't mind the lack of response, she just needed to make her intentions clear, "That's a very rare ability, truly befitting the only Sky Whisper to have reached the Celestial Domain's realm."

Flicker Shadow, of course, knew Jadelle but had always been at odds with her. Now, impatiently, he interjected: "Can you speak plainly? What are you doing here, who sent you, and what do you want?"

Jadelle smiled slightly: "Flicker Shadow, you're still so impulsive. Fine, I'll get to the point. You all think I'm speaking nonsense, but all this is necessary to say. To put it bluntly, each of you is very powerful, so I'm sincerely and humbly asking for your help."

"Your humility is evident, we've all seen it," Raina Grace said, "But whether we help or not isn't determined by your attitude but by how things develop. What happened that made you willing to be Willow Wood's messenger, even ignoring the harm he's done to Luminous Harmony and Silver Tan?"

"Miss Raina Grace, you're indeed intelligent. Intelligent people should know how to adapt to circumstances rather than dwell on the past," Jadelle responded calmly, "Besides, what happened to Luminous Harmony and Silver Tan was their personal ordeal. When compared to the interests of their groups, it's easy to see which is more important. Luminous Harmony was already aware of this; he couldn't come in person but asked me to invite you all to the Azure and White Forest for a meeting. He's willing to explain everything that's happened to him and his past interactions with Miss Raina Grace."

Raina Grace wasn't interested in Jadelle's spiel; nothing she said could sway her. However, Silver Tan had a question and asked Raina Grace to relay it: "Silver Tan wants to know, why did you mention the interests of your group? Has something happened to Sky Whisper? You're not in the Sky Domain, so why are you in the Azure and White Forest? Is Willow Wood using your status for something?"

"You're all not wrong. I am indeed working for Willow Wood, and the entire Sky Whisper is working for him. No, he's helping Sky Whisper," Jadelle admitted, her speech becoming more disorganized, a sign of her agitation, "You all know about the Gold and Silver Sea incident. The mindless Sky Whispers not only continue to suffer but are also exploited by humans. And not just Sky Whisper, but Terra Grove and even Ocean Bloom have lost their living space."

"Continue to be exploited by humans? What do you mean?" Raina Grace was interested in this, "Do they have other problems besides the initial ecological modifications required upon landing on Elemental Magnetic Star?"

"Hmph, as invaders, humans face significant issues," Jadelle's expression mixed with hatred, jealousy, and schadenfreude, appearing quite distorted, "Do you know why humans divided the Elemental Magnetic Star into the Surface Domain, Sky Domain, and Celestial Domain? Because only then could they create an environment to exploit elemental magnetic forces! They've directly and cruelly plundered Elemental Magnetic Star, with the Azure and White Forest and Gold and Silver Sea as evidence. And Willow Wood, he will help us drive humans away and restore Elemental Magnetic Star to its original state!"

Elemental Magnetic StarWhere stories live. Discover now