Chapter 98: Poor Viel

"Greetings earthlings!"

"What!?"

"Viel, are you really!?", Sofia almost stretched her trembling arms, wanting to touch Viel. Her excitement for new discoveries was getting to her.

The other specialists were the same, if it were not for the presence of the Earth Goddess, they would have jumped and examined Viel.

"Uh, I guess?", said Viel nonchalantly, "No big deal, our worlds are similar. You should see… sister Xianying's world", there was an obvious sorrow in Viel's last words.

"There are others!?", Sofia's hair stood on ends. One wonders what wanders this different world holds.

Ilrina, on the other hand, could care less. The only thing in her mind was that Viel was not the Great Spirit. She kept on denying the fact even though it already came from Mirella.

She felt conflicted. Should she follow Silbern from now on?

Seeing that the humans in front of her were lost in their own thoughts, the Earth Goddess stood up, "If that is all, you people may take your leave"

"Please wait, Earth Goddess!", Sofia quickly recovered from her stupor, "If the races do not unite, what would happen?"

"Eh? How would I know", once again the Earth Goddess had a dumbfounded expression on her face, "I can't see the future, ask someone else for that"

"But… you created the prophecy", Sofia added.

"Well, normally, I would. But since they ruined the plan…", Earth Goddess pointed at Viel, "Everything is changing. So, in the truest sense, anything can happen now"

After that, everyone went quiet.

"No more questions?", the Earth Goddess sighed.

There were a lot of questions. Hundreds of them. But now that they are here, they really didn't know if they wanted answers. It was a complicated feeling.

A feeling of wanting to find out things by yourself.

So, one by one, they all bowed and left the room. Leaving behind Silbern and Viel with Earth Goddess Mirella.

Seeing the intense gaze that Viel was placing on her, the Earth Goddess could only sigh.

"So, what is it you want?", asked the Earth Goddess.

"Can you tell me what they are saying?"

"Ugh. What am I your-", the Earth Goddess was about to complain more, but when she saw the sincerity in Viel's eyes, she let out another sigh.

"Fine"

The Earth Goddess approached Viel, and gently placed her fingers on Viel's forehead.

"It's that woman called Lord God again", the Earth Goddess scoffed, "She is… apologizing?"

Earth Goddess Mirella paused as she gathered her breath, "She is saying that what happened to Wei Song-"

"-was not your fault", Lu Yi said as she touched the screen in front of her.

"So please, stop isolating yourself from people. Because no matter how much you want to be alone, we are here you", Lu Yi closed her eyes as she slowly placed her forehead on the screen, "Even if you forget about us… we won't abandon you"

"So please, Viel. Make memories, laugh, cry… Live."

"And if the world dictates who you need to be, if it gets hard, you can just run away. You owe the world nothing. Free yourself from the shackles the world gave you… because the shackles, you're still wearing them now"

"And if you are not ready to remove them, then that's fine. We will always be here to welcome you…

…Because we are your family", Lu Yi smiled as she opened her eyes. Releasing a sigh of relief as she could finally say the words she always wanted to say to Viel.

"Oh, and Mirella, wear some clothes. Viel is a growing boy after all", Lu Yi added before she finally backed away and removed her hand from the screen.

"…Xanthus, are you alright?"

Lu Yi turned her attention towards Xanthus as she was about tell him that it was his turn to talk, only to find him silent and looking down to the ground.

Noticing that Lu Yi was calling for her, he smiled. "Well, how am I going to top that?"

Xanthus chuckled as he placed his hand on the screen, "Hey kid, it's me. The demon inside you"

"I guess this is the right time for me to introduce myself", Xanthus continued, "I am Xanthus."

"You may have heard of me, I am quite famous in our world", he chuckled awkwardly, "I kind of killed a billion people…uh, anyway"

Xanthus could not help but glance at Lu Yi, who was currently sighing in frustration.

"W-well, you see. Like you, I have shackles. Shackles of my sin, made with thorns that are currently tearing me to pieces", Xanthus once again chuckled, "I don't really know where I am going with this…but…"

"If there is anyone who knows about sins, it is me. If there is anyone who knows about punishment, it is me", Xanthus sighed, "I guess what I am trying to say is…

…You have no need to punish yourself anymore"

"…And you are no monster, kid", he added, "But if one day you truly do become one, so what?"

"…"

"T-that's actually all I have", Xanthus chuckled as the awkward silence got to him, "Also, I do have a request. Once you decide to return to our world, can you visit the west? I… want to see those I left behind"

With that, Xanthus finally removed his hand. Lu Yi immediately patted Xanthus on the shoulders as he backed away.

"Your turn, Jack", Xanthus said as he called the attention of the Judge of Karma, "Anything to say to the kid?"

"Not really", the Judge of Karma instantly replied.

"…"

"Why do you always have to destroy the mood?", Xanthus said before he laughed.

"Ah!", suddenly Lu Yi jumped as her eyes widened, "We have to tell Viel about his true mother!"

Lu Yi hastily approached the screen and placed her hand. "Baby Viel, about your- Ack!"

But before she could finish what she was going to say, she felt a tinge of pain that blew her hand away from the screen.

"What in the..!?"

---

"Oh?", Earth Goddess Mirella tilted her head, "I can't hear them anymore", said Mirella as she slowly removed her hand from Viel's forehead.

Viel still currently had his eyes closed, with warmth lingering on his face. He remained like this for a while, before finally taking a deep breath and opening his eyes.

"Thank you, sister Mirella", said Viel as he smiled at Mirella.

"W-who are you calling sister?", Mirella could not help but twitch her eyes.

"Mr. Voice!", suddenly, Silbern, who was watching on the side bellowed as he hugged Viel. Viel quickly pushed him away, telling Silbern that he was alright now.

"So, boy. What are you going to do now?", asked Earth Goddess Mirella.

Hearing this question, Viel placed his palm in front of him.

[Objective: Kill the Mother of Treants]

"I might stay for a while", he said as he dropped his hand.

The Earth Goddess Mirella sighed, "Fine. Do what you want. You have already messed up this world, anyway. I will just go back home, plan for my next prophecy"

"Home? But we already destroyed your door?"

"Huh?", once again Mirella had a dumbfounded expression on her face, "I don't live there, I was just staying for a while"

"I live far from here… World of the Gods?", Mirella tilted her head, "Seriously? You have a High God inside of you and you don't know that?"

Mirella placed her hand on her face in frustration, "Ack. I'm going home, just don't destroy this world. If you plan on visiting the World of the Gods, please don't find me", Mirella said as she waved her hand.

"Wait! Mother!"

It was then that Silbern shouted, "Y-you're leaving?"

Hearing Silbern's desperate wails, Earth Goddess Mirella sighed, "Want to come?"

"C-can I!?"

"Well, you can remain here. Fulfill your destiny and be a hero. Celebrated by-"

"No!", Silbern did not even let Mirella finish what she was going to say before he hugged her. "I want to be with you, mother"

"Out of all my children, you are the clingiest one", Mirella said as she patted her child's head, "Let's go, then"

"Goodbye, Mr. Voice!", shouted Silbern as he waved his goodbyes.

Viel was about to wave back, but the two disappeared before he could do so. They just… vanished. No lights, no trickle of wind, they just instantly disappeared.

Viel could only sigh as he was left all alone in the hall, "…Now, should I get my reward?"

"…"

Viel's eyes suddenly erupted as he realized that he forgot something very crucial.

---

A few minutes ago, as the Earth Goddess was relaying the messages from Viel's head, Ilrina and Sofia were quietly waiting outside the door.

They remained in awkward silence for a while before Ilrina spoke.

"So, what do we do now?", Ilrina asked, "Should we unite our race?"

Hearing this question, Sofia scoffed, "Unite? Are you kidding me?"

"But the Great Mother of Spirits said that we should unite!", Ilrina raised her voice.

"And you are just going to blindly follow that?", Sofia raised her eyebrow, "We are at war, that will never change"

"There are demons out there!", Ilrina grabbed Sofia's arm, but Sofia quickly swatted it away.

"You people killed my brother!"

"We all have blood in our hands! Especially you!"

"My brother was innocent! He went to you people to broker peace…", Sofia's voice became weaker, "and your people… sent us his head in return"

"That…"

Hearing Sofia's words, Ilrina could not find a response. The only thing that was on her mind was, "…Then honor your brother's wishes now"

"It is too late for peace", Sofia instantly replied.

And once again, they were silent. A few minutes passed by like this until finally, this time it was Sofia who spoke.

"I'll talk to my father, a temporary truce. If it doesn't work out, I will kill you and your mother personally myself", Sofia voiced out.

Hearing Sofia's words, Ilrina reached out her hand, "With the Great Mother of Spirit's words, I am certain my mother will follow"

And finally, for the first time in hundreds of years. An Elf and a Human shook each other's hand.

"GAAAH!"

But it was quickly broken as the door behind them exploded.

"V-viel!?"

"Great…Viel, what's wrong!?"

"They took my bag of gold with them!", a sorrowful shout, that almost reached the ends of the world.