Chapter 1518: Chapter 76: Helair’s Painting (Part 2)
"You all seem unsurprised that she wasn’t sealed by the Mother Goddess’s seal."
It seems that Fisher only realized this blind spot now. This means either Helair fabricated some excuse to deceive them, or they all know Paimon isn’t a Demon, but rather an Angel.
"We all know she’s an Angel. Before the Mythical War, she had already fallen out with the Holy Land and joined us. Then, she told her situation to the rest of the Kings. We don’t really manage things; as long as the Kings agree, life continues as before..."
"Yes, being under the Heavenly Lock isn’t easy, even though those Angels are his children."
Fisher knew this well. Even the Angel Leader Pandora and Remiel chose to betray the Holy Land over ten thousand years ago. In a sense, it was already known that the Heavenly Lock was insincere. Helair’s eventual departure from the Holy Land wasn’t surprising.
"We’ve arrived."
This deep corridor wasn’t very long, and as they advanced, it became increasingly spacious, until the entire end of the cave abruptly revealed itself.
It was a place completely different from other regions of the Dynasty. Fisher thought nothing could more aptly describe everything before them than the word "Abyss," as what appeared before them were tiered cliffs extending downward, beneath which burned lava and many chaotically beautiful structures.
Standing on Fisher’s shoulder, Emhardt began trembling uncontrollably. Though his mind was blank, he was instinctively intimidated by the scene before him, as if these deathly silent landscapes dredged up deeply rooted fears in his mind...
"I..." he stammered, only managing to speak after several seconds, "I’ve... been here before."
"The palace you saw earlier with Helair is down here, correct?"
"Yes, but I didn’t come from here initially. I think I remember arriving from somewhere else... Was it from a teleportation gate I fixed? But... Fisher, look quickly, that’s Paimon’s palace!"
Following Emhardt’s astonished voice, Moli, the Death Lord, and Fisher looked downward and soon saw, within their vision, a magnificent structure standing atop a reef in the center of the magma.
Unlike other chaotic structures, this building was exceedingly beautiful, consisting of upper and lower levels, composed of continuously rotating inner and outer layers, resembling an abstract eye, or like a dazzling whirlpool in the Ocean.
The building stood lifelessly above the magma, akin to the dwellings of other sealed Demon companions, seemingly dormant for ages, with its originally aesthetic outer layer covered in dust, forming the nests of lava stone beetles.
Yet, even so, the building proclaimed its unique existence as if it were the center of this Demon Dynasty to the observers.
"Paimon’s lair, we’ve arrived!"
Elliog leapt forward, followed closely by Sidi, while Moli glanced at Fisher, as if she wanted to descend together. But Fisher still needed to grab the Death Lord—unable to leap—alongside them, even though, if he fell onto the magma, he would revive again. In fact, Fisher was quite curious how he would revive after falling into the magma...
But they needed to hurry now, avoiding meaningless experiments.
They fell from above one by one, the closer they got, Paimon’s palace, which seemed small from above, became increasingly grand.
In front of the massive structure, a colossal gate, akin to a mirror, blocked their path within, reflecting the figures of Elliog, Sidi, and Fisher.
As Fisher looked at the mirror, words in various languages that everyone understood appeared on its surface, stating,
"I am myself of myself, I am the thought of me."
"I am the song that cannot be heard, I am the eye that cannot be perceived."
"Ask me, what am I?"
A riddle?
Fisher furrowed his brow, turned back to see Sidi completely ignoring the scene, rather looking at other scenery, while Elliog blankly stared at him, as if asking what the answer was. Moli and the Death Lord continued pondering, while Emhardt was scared out of his wits, hiding in Fisher’s arms, unwilling to look yet squeezing one eye to peer inside.
"Why not smash this gate directly; anyway, I’ve been displeased with it for a long time."
"But this is Paimon’s residence, right?"
"So what? I’m smashing her den."
Elliog looked unhappily at Sidi beside him, unsure of his criticism. Sidi merely flicked his fingers, saying with a smile,
"Paimon’s residence may not necessarily set prohibitions or traps, and you haven’t emerged from the seal, right? Not sure if you could withstand it..."
"Tsk, so the answer...?"
"Soul."
Elliog was about to say something when Fisher, looking at the wall’s riddle, suddenly spoke.
Consciousness is a property of the soul, the essence of self. Nothing could be more suited as the answer than the soul.
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