Chapter 648: Abode of the Spirits
"Nature’s Dwelling"
Iohodis Continent
Apex World Taemia
September 9th
Year 1054
Arthur stirred, his eyes fluttering open, adjusting to the warm, dim light filtering through wooden slats.
He blinked a few times, the ache in his muscles fading as he became aware of his surroundings. The room smelled of earth and pine, and the walls and ceiling were smoothly carved from the inside of a large tree.
Everything here felt alive—crafted from nature but somehow untouched by the harshness of time. He lay on a bed woven from thick, sturdy vines, the mattress soft with layers of moss and leaves.
He could see shelves grown directly from the walls, supporting simple wooden cups and bowls. Even the window was framed by natural curves in the wood, letting in a breeze that carried the scent of rain-drenched earth.
With a groan, Arthur swung his legs over the edge of the bed and stood, stretching. His head still throbbed from the aftermath, his memories clouded by pain.
Pressing his temple, he muttered.
"Where the hell am I?"
[Master!]
Celestia’s voice cut through Arthur’s dazed consciousness, and he turned to see the translucent sword hovering beside him.
"...where is this?"
In response to his question, Celestia relayed every detail without omission.
She recounted the spatial implosion that had scattered him and his allies, worsening his wounds, and Lostvayne’s quick actions to enter his subspace, retrieving one of Creusery’s Healing Flames to aid him.
She spoke of the Spirits of this planet, their words about their prophetess, and the reason the Infernal Archdevils had launched a one-sided assault on him.
Celestia even included Lostvayne’s actions after he had been thrown from the implosion, mentioning how Lostvayne had slain several attackers before returning to Celestia’s side.
"..."
Arthur listened in silence. He sat down on the bed and cupped his face with his palms.
It took a whole minute before Arthur finally spoke once more.
"Thank you."
Simple words, yet they conveyed the depth of his gratitude for his two Ego Weapons.
Arthur’s situation had been precarious. The Stellar Guard saved him only from attacks that carried the promise of death.
Since the attacks had weakened after breaking his gravity barrier, they didn’t carry the power to kill him, as such, the Stellar Guard did nothing.
Untreated, his wounds could have inflicted more than physical harm—the Hell flames from that Black Dragon could have burned past his body’s defences and gotten to his Soul!
So, the Ego Weapons of his who did their best to save him from that fate, he had nothing but gratitude.
Celestia’s decision to have the Spirits bring him to their abode also wasn’t wrong. Even if she had healed him there with Creusery’s Flames of Life, the location he was in was far too unsafe for him to recuperate.
Who knows what monsters lurked there? Who knew if the Archdevils could have traced him there?
There were far too many issues, so Celestia had made the right call in having him brought to this Spirit’s Abode.
Then there was Lostvayne.
Arthur had indeed felt Lostvayne appear at the last moment, but he was more concerned about trying to reinforce himself with Cosmic Energy than caring about the Sword’s actions.
Leaving aside how he was still wounded grievously even after the cosmic energy reinforcement, to think that Lostvayne had stayed back and rampaged until the Black Dragon interfered.
What’s more, the reason why Celestia had stopped Lostvayne.
[Lostvayne nearly used an Incarnation.]
Ego Weapons.
Weapons with minds of their own. Extensions of their wielders’ will, crafted to think and act for their owners’ sake.
For most Ego Weapons, projecting a voice or even a humanoid form wasn’t a rare feature.
So why wouldn’t a Rule Breaker, a weapon that stood atop all Ego Weapons possess something like that?
Lostvayne certainly had one. However, it could not freely unleash that power because its owner was still mortal.
"...in the end, I’m the one dragging you down, huh?"
Lostvayne’s blade trembled in protest after hearing Arthur’s words, as if to dismiss the notion outright. From Celestia’s translation, the Sword’s thoughts were just as he expected.
[Master is not even eighteen years old yet and is already nearing Transcendence. Master’s power is already abnormal and breaks all common sense—conventional and unconventional.
Master should not be disheartened by this.]
Arthur laughed, though a bit bitterly, at the sword’s attempts to console him.
He couldn’t let this get him down, though.
His situation was far from ideal—he’d been caught off guard and injured grievously.
In his first ’confrontation’ with the Infernal Devils of this world, he’d lost out.
But Arthur had never been one to sulk over a loss. He was a sore loser, yes—but rather than dwell on defeat, wasn’t it better to think about what came next?
He glanced out the window of the room, his mind already working. The Spirits of this continent opposed the Devils, and he wanted retribution, too.
So wasn’t the path forward obvious?
With that thought, Arthur got up and headed to the door, opening it to reveal two armoured guards standing at attention outside.
The moment their eyes landed on him, one of them stiffened, immediately turning and rushing off, no doubt to alert someone of his awakening.
The remaining guard, a woman with a stern face, gave a quick bow.
’Inferior Sovereign? That’s high considering her age. But that’s normal on Apex Worlds...’
Just as he thought this, he sensed a distortion in space and his pupils darted to the side where a swirling portal opened up.
From within the vortex stepped a figure draped in a robe of pale green and gold, clearly of higher rank. The official bowed slightly and then greeted him politely.
"Good afternoon, Sir Arthur. The Prophetess has been expecting you. She will explain everything."
’Prophetess, huh?’
Arthur was skeptical. How could this Prophetess divine things about him? Did her powers lie in Fate and Destiny laws?
But even those laws were loosely intertwined with Time, and as far as this Prophetess was a mortal, she should not be able to see things related to his future without him knowing.
His Pseudo-Authority over Time would not allow it.
There was no point wondering about it on his own, though. He ran his cosmic energy through his body in a quick burst, confirming his condition was good before stepping forward.
On the other side of the portal, he found himself in another room carved from the heart of a colossal tree.
This one was filled with strong positive ambient energies, a stark contrast to the rest of the continent he’d seen so far.
A round wooden table occupied the centre, its surface etched with patterns that glowed faintly. Around it sat a group of people—old and young, men and women alike, their eyes sharp and watching him with interest.
Arthur’s gaze swept over them. As the Progenitor, he could instantly identify the nature of any race, and with a glance, he knew what they were.
High-Spirits.
Not in their usual spiritual bodies, but in their material bodies.
Scanning the room, he noticed that each of the spirits seemed to represent a major element—fire, water, wind, earth, and more, their auras distinctly radiating their respective powers.
But rather than these Intermediate Transcendent Spirits, there was one figure that caught his attention.
It was the spirit seated at the far end of the table. Her material body resembled that of an elf, and she had long white hair tied into a single braid at her back.
Yet it wasn’t her appearance that captured him—it was the overwhelming density of causality law energy emanating from her like a gravitational force of fate itself pulling on space around her.
Arthur’s eyes narrowed as he realized exactly what he was dealing with; one of the extremely rare few who could actually comprehend the law of causality.
The moment he laid eyes on her, the elf-like spirit lifted her gaze, locking eyes with him.
For a moment, silence pervaded the room.
Finally, the silence was broken when one of the older spirits leaned forward and spoke in a deep, voice.
"Outsider, welcome to Nature’s Dwelling. I—"
But he didn’t finish his sentence.
His words faltered as the elven spirit—the one whose presence was bathed in causality—suddenly stood up, her body trembling slightly as she took a few shaky steps toward Arthur.
To everyone’s astonishment, she dropped to her knees before him, her head bowed low.
Saying they were flabbergasted was a misnomer.
But the elf ignored them and spoke in a whisper, her voice soft but urgent.
"Please... help us."
"..."
For a second, Arthur stood frozen, stunned by the unexpected plea.
Her actions had left the room in a state of shock for a few moments. Finally, the other spirits snapped out of their dazes, eyes wide with confusion.
"Prophetess, why?! What are you doing?!"
One of them demanded, his tone straining between shock and outrage.
The word—Prophetess—echoed in Arthur’s mind, immediately connecting to the warnings and briefings Celestia had given him.
This was the Prophetess.
She was the one who had divined his presence, the one who had guided the other spirits to him, bringing him to this place.
’With the amount of causality laws surrounding her, of course, she would be a Prophetess... but there’s more. I can sense time and fate on her, too...’
Despite the commotion from the spirits, the Prophetess refused to move. Her head remained bowed. When one of the spirits reached out to pull her up, she jerked her hand away sharply.
"Don’t touch me."
Ignoring the dumbfounded spirits, she lifted her eyes and gazed at Arthur, repeating her earlier words.
"Please, help us."
Arthur, still processing this strange situation, looked down at her, his brow furrowing.
"What’s this supposed to be?"
His gaze on the young woman turned sharp, and unconsciously, the law energy in his eyes caused them to light up with a dull glow.
For a moment, his question was unanswered as the spirits in the room exchanged uneasy glances. Not understanding why their Prophetess was bowing before an outsider.
Providing the answers to all their questions, was the Prophetess who slowly lifted her head and began speaking.
"I was arrogant."
Her voice trembled with a mix of regret and urgency.
"I made a big mistake."
Arthur’s brow furrowed as he watched her, waiting for further explanation. The others around the table remained still, their shock evident, but they dared not interrupt her now.
"I had divined your location.
I saw that you would come here, that you would arrive in this place."
She paused, as though considering how to frame what she was about to reveal next.
"And I had seen... that if you were to help us the effect would be far greater than if all the other outsiders combined came to our aid."
Her hands clenched slightly, knuckles white from the strain of holding them still.
"You... and your companion, with distorted time."
