Chapter 827: Offering Myself as a Gift to Hunt the God of War, Artosh
Azriel hovered in the air, her golden eyes narrowed in deep suspicion. She had been completely on guard against the sudden appearance of the Elf, ready to deploy a lethal strike at a moment's notice. Yet, hearing the two of them exchange familiar, almost casual greetings left the First Flügel momentarily stunned.
'They know each other?'
Azriel's mind raced, processing the anomaly. She suddenly recalled the bizarre, highly detailed dream Jibril had recounted earlier—a dream where her beloved little sister's teacher was an Elf named Think Nilvalen.
Coupled with their strangely intimate yet hesitant way of addressing each other just now...
It all matched up perfectly.
Azriel's halo spun at a measured pace as she rapidly analyzed the situation, arriving at three distinct hypotheses.
First: Little Ji had betrayed the absolute purpose of the Flügel and secretly colluded with an Elf.
Azriel rejected this instantly. The very thought was absurd. She loved her little sister far too much to ever believe Jibril capable of such treason against their creator.
Second: Little Ji and this Elf had coincidentally experienced the exact same dream.
Theoretically, it was a statistical possibility. However, the probability of such an event occurring naturally was about as likely as Lord Artosh suddenly dropping dead. She discarded this conclusion just as quickly.
Third: A hidden mastermind was orchestrating a grand, unseen game, using both Little Ji and this Think Nilvalen as pawns on a cosmic chessboard. Their arrival at this specific human settlement was merely the opening gambit gaining momentum.
This third hypothesis felt right. It aligned perfectly with the unnatural flow of events.
Azriel's gaze turned icy. She wanted to see exactly who possessed the sheer audacity to manipulate the Flügel.
"You had that dream too?" Think asked, her long ears twitching slightly.
"You also came here by following that voice?" Jibril replied, her cross-shaped pupils trembling with a mix of excitement and confusion.
The Flügel and the Elf exchanged a long, complicated look. The impossible was staring them right in the face.
Before they could unravel the mystery further, a commotion drew their attention.
A group of ragged, dirt-streaked villagers had gathered nearby, led by a young man with messy white hair. Riku stopped dead in his tracks. The moment the humans laid eyes on the trio hovering near their settlement, the blood drained entirely from their faces. Raw, unadulterated terror gripped the crowd.
"A Flügel... and an Elf..." someone whispered, their voice cracking. "It's over!"
Despair washed over the humans like a tidal wave. In this war-torn world, encountering either a Flügel or an Elf was an absolute death sentence. Facing both at once was a cruel joke of fate.
Riku gritted his teeth, his knuckles turning white as he clenched his fists. The bitter taste of ash and defeat coated his tongue. Did humanity truly have no future? Were they destined to be slaughtered like insects?
"Riku, take your people and disperse. I brought them here; there's no need to worry."
The sudden, calm voice cut through the heavy atmosphere, startling everyone.
Riku's eyes widened. His heart pounded against his ribs, and a fierce, burning hope ignited in his chest.
It was Ren.
Without a second of hesitation, Riku turned to the trembling crowd, gesturing sharply to herd the anxious villagers away from the danger zone.
Up in the air, Jibril and Think froze. A powerful, electric jolt surged through their chests the moment those words reached their ears.
It was a familiar voice. The exact same voice that had commanded them in the dream.
'Has he finally shown himself?' Azriel thought, her wings flaring out defensively. Her magical energy spiked, ready to intercept the hidden mastermind she had deduced.
"Come, over here," the voice instructed, casual and entirely unbothered by the lethal tension in the air.
Guided by Ren's unseen presence, the three powerful beings descended toward a small, remarkably ordinary-looking wooden house on the edge of the settlement.
Think and Jibril stepped forward, crossing the threshold without a second thought.
Azriel narrowed her eyes and moved to follow her sister inside.
Thud.
She collided hard with empty air. An invisible, impenetrable barrier repelled her, forcing her a step back.
Hearing the dull impact, Think and Jibril glanced over their shoulders. They blinked in confusion, watching the First Flügel press her hands against the empty space in the doorway, looking utterly baffled.
"Azriel, what's wrong?" Jibril asked, tilting her head.
Azriel scowled, her fingers tracing the unseen wall. "I can't get in. There is an undetectable restriction placed here."
Spurred by irritation, she channeled her formidable magical energy, attempting to forcefully shatter the barrier. Yet, her magic slid off the surface like water off glass. She could not even find a structural flaw to target.
"How is that possible?" Think exclaimed, her eyes widening in genuine shock.
She was an Octuple Sorceress, an elven prodigy hailed as the Crown Lord. Her mastery over magical techniques and spatial formulas was unmatched across the world. Yet, even with her peerless senses fully extended, she could not detect a single trace of magical energy forming the restriction in front of them. It was as if the universe itself had simply decreed that the doorway was closed.
Azriel felt a cold sweat prickle the back of her neck. This defied all logic.
"Heh heh, Azriel of the Flügel, you don't seem to be the one I invited."
Ren's voice echoed directly into her mind, laced with dry amusement.
"So it really is you pulling the strings from the shadows. What exactly have you done?" Azriel dropped all pretense. Her golden eyes flared with lethal intent as she issued a cold, measured threat. "If you are plotting something against the Flügel, the consequences are not something a creature like you can bear."
"It seems sitting high and mighty for too long has made you forget how to speak to your betters," Ren replied, his tone shifting from amused to an absolute, crushing authority. "Azriel, from now on, you will pledge your absolute allegiance to me. As for Artosh, you plan to lead the Flügel to hunt down and kill the God of War yourself, right?"
Azriel's mouth opened.
"Yes, I pledge my allegiance to you, and I will lead the Flügel to kill Artosh," Azriel blurted out.
The moment the words left her lips, her expression twisted into sheer, unadulterated horror.
Jibril gasped, stepping back in shock.
'What... did I just say?'
Azriel stood paralyzed. She could not believe her own mouth. Worse, the absolute, fanatical faith in Lord Artosh that anchored her very soul felt as though it was being casually overwritten, dissipating like smoke in the wind. A primal, suffocating fear gripped the First Flügel.
"Nothing to worry about," Ren's voice drifted closer, carrying a lazy, confident drawl. "I just plan to take in your entire race."
Footsteps sounded from within the house. Ren emerged from the shadows, stepping up behind Jibril and Think.
"Ren!"
The Elf and the Flügel blurted out his name in perfect unison. They had never met this man in the waking world, yet his presence was burned into their very souls.
"Little Ji, Think," Ren chuckled, his lips curving into an easy smile. "Should I say long time no see, or nice to meet you?"
Jibril and Think stood rooted to the spot, entirely unsure of how to process the overwhelming reality of the dream bleeding into their waking lives. But looking at the relaxed, overwhelmingly confident man standing before them, one thing was absolutely certain—Ren knew exactly what was happening.
"I know you have a mountain of questions. Come inside, and we can talk slowly," Ren said, gesturing toward the interior. He then cast a sideways glance at the doorway. "As for you, Azriel. Follow along."
Azriel's breath hitched. To her absolute horror, her body moved entirely on its own. Her legs carried her forward, passing effortlessly through the invisible restriction that had blocked her moments ago, and she stepped into the house.
The wooden door clicked shut behind her.
Outside, the village remained dead silent, as if nothing world-shattering had just occurred.
"Are they... Shuvi and Corone?"
Stepping deeper into the dimly lit bedroom, Jibril and Think stopped dead in their tracks. Before them were two figures that evoked a bizarre mix of deep familiarity and complete strangeness.
The two girls were lying completely naked on Ren's large bed.
Hearing the approaching footsteps, Corone let out a squeak, her face flushing crimson as she frantically pulled the thick blanket up to her chin to hide her bare skin.
Shuvi, however, merely blinked her large, mechanical eyes. The Ex-Machina girl didn't seem to mind her lack of clothing in the slightest, her expression remaining perfectly deadpan.
"Oh, my. It's Jibril and Teacher Think."
"Indeed... you two are here as well..." Jibril replied, unnaturally using a highly intimate tone before catching herself. She shook her head, her gaze locking onto Ren. "Can you please tell me exactly what happened? What did that dream actually represent?"
Ren leaned against the wall, crossing his arms. "That dream was a real, tangible reality. I pulled everyone in this world into it to experience a different timeline."
Everyone in the entire world pulled into a single dream?
The concept sounded utterly bizarre, bordering on the impossible. Yet, standing in this room, neither Jibril nor Think could find it in themselves to doubt him.
They both turned to look at Azriel, who was currently glaring daggers at Ren.
"But she doesn't seem to have experienced the dream?" Think pointed out.
"Hehe. Aside from Shuvi, Corone, Little Ji, and you, Think, everyone else's memories of that timeline have been temporarily sealed," Ren explained casually. He then raised a hand, crooking his index finger at the First Flügel. "You. Come here."
"...You fiend!" Azriel hissed through gritted teeth.
Despite her furious resistance, her legs moved stiffly, forcing her to walk right up to him. She glared up into his eyes, her voice trembling with a mix of rage and lingering fear. "What exactly did you do to me?!"
"Heh. Stop talking. You'll understand everything once I unlock your memories," Ren said, entirely unmoved by her murderous glare.
He reached out and gently tapped his index finger against her forehead.
Azriel froze instantly. Her golden eyes widened to their absolute limits as a colossal flood of sealed memories violently tore through her mind, resurfacing all at once.
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