CHAPTER 824: CHAPTER 2: DEATH LORD

"Huff Huff Huff~"

Within the borders of the Sardinia Female Country, far from Saint Nali, inside the Healing Corruption Church of McDowell Furnace Country Castle, Fisher slowly shifted his gaze away from the cramped Confession Room in front of him after hanging up the phone.

At this moment, due to the pursuit of death, his body had weakened to the extreme, like a terminally ill patient lying on a sickbed awaiting his fate. In reality, the situation he faced was worse than terminal illness; death was not only devouring his life energy but also accelerating the process in every possible way.

Seven days ago, after leaving the Wutong Tree and arriving at the troll species’ camp, Fisher relayed the news of the curse lifted from the Wutong Tree and Valentina’s slumber brought on by the Phoenix True Blood to Dalilulu, Cocolia, and the waiting Slime tribe. They decided to continue waiting there for Valentina, the last of the Phoenix Species, to awaken. They hadn’t forgotten their loyalty to the Phoenix, and further actions were to be considered after Valentina awoke.

After hearing about Fisher’s current state, the two Troll Elders and Emhardt re-read all the accessible ancient texts, but none contained any clues about [Death]. Anyway, Fisher was still unclear on how the Demon God Agares, imprisoned in the Abyss, crafted the Death Rune or its exact workings.

Overall, after days of struggling, Fisher genuinely felt his fate was sealed and that he wouldn’t survive this ordeal.

Before leaving, the Slimes, as a token of gratitude to Fisher, decided to give him three free teleportation opportunities. Fisher had mostly planned out his destinations: once to Pirate Harbor, once back to Saint Nali, and finally to the South Continent to take a last look at the people he cared about. Then he could peacefully embrace death.

The Slimes agreed to his requests, but before that, Fisher needed to confirm he hadn’t left any loose ends in the Northern Realm. First, he visited the Snow Fox race’s camp, where he saw the Snow Fox species previously saved by Erwin and those preparing to leave the camp: Balzac, Philis, and Celti, to whom he briefly explained the situation within the Wutong Tree.

Philis planned to continue working as a mercenary elsewhere and wasn’t planning to leave the Northern Realm for the time being; Celti intended to return to the Western Continent to pursue her degree further. She was young with certain future accomplishments in mechanics.

Balzac hadn’t made it to the Wutong Tree, thus there was no way to write the academic paper on the tree, but he had another topic in mind— a study on "Universal Medicine’s Evolutionary Stimulation on Diseases," derived from conversation content between the Snow Fox Clan Patriarch and Erwin. He wondered if it might be considered academic plagiarism, but if successful, he’d likely return to Schwali.

In short, everything in the Northern Realm seemed on an upward trend, except for Fisher, who smoothly arrived at the last stop—inside the Healing Corruption Church at McDowell, southern end of the Sardinia Female Country—where his last friend in the Northern Realm, the Moon Rabbit Species Nun Ilois, was.

The Slimes were waiting for him in McDowell’s city; if he decided to leave the Northern Realm, he’d find them to teleport him to his destinations. There, Fisher met Ilois and saw that her church had been renovated with cross-border telephones installed thanks to Valentina, supposedly for future connections with friends met during travels. Fisher impulsively made a call to Elizabeth.

At the Confession Room’s entrance, Fisher exhaled deeply without putting down the phone he held. In his arms, Emhardt lay half-dead, clearly having exerted himself with no result in trying to help Fisher before. Such efforts, despite everything, remained futile, turning hope into despair.

After a long while, Fisher placed the phone down and with his frail, bony hand, patted Emhardt’s book cover, in a hoarse voice asking,

"Where’s Ilois?"

"...Outside. Who told you to be so annoying, bringing news that only comes with your imminent death; she’s probably upset too, right?"

"I don’t want this either, you know. I love Lady, and leaving like this feels unsatisfactory, but often there’s nothing we can do. Now, I can only soothe my tension by thinking of the good things after I die."

Emhardt, nestled in his arms, glanced at him and whispered,

"Admitting to being a jerk only now, how late."

Fisher smiled slightly without denying it, instead recalling Heidlin who had vanished from the Snow Fox tribe. During this period, Emhardt briefed Fisher on how Heidlin was indeed Paimon from the Wutong Tree. Fisher speculated she had plans for the Northern Realm, yet due to her high status, any objectives were beyond his understanding, especially in this drastic turn of events.

He shook his head, choosing not to ponder further. About a week had passed since Erwin defined the one-month time span. Though he could still live for approximately three more weeks, he could distinctly feel his body deteriorating daily, suspecting he’d be immobile in the end, with urgency needed to meet those he wished to see.