Chapter 994: “What Am I?” [Monthly Bonus 1]
Elaine, Esna, Layla, and Nicole weren’t made aware of Arthur’s encounter with Luka or what had taken place during that encounter.
That was partly so they didn’t have to worry, and partly because Arthur didn’t want to recount the experience, though he doubted Elaine was as unaware as the other three.
He had this feeling Elaine knew, and was simply acting like she didn’t, only because he didn’t want her to.
As for Esna, she wasn’t on Nienope when Arthur arrived. During their time in the Valmone Universe, she had spent most of her time on Arthur’s other planet, Shoisan, instead.
It had been mentioned before that Esna had grown into a capable administrative manager, and just like Stelan was the Regent governing Nienope in Arthur’s absence, Esna held that position in all but name on Shoisan.
Because of her focus on work, she was the lowest level among the three Arthur had brought to Valmone from Hell, only a Deity Level 420, just barely an Inferior Mid-Tier Deity Realm.
Layla and Nicole were around 490, well into the Inferior Stage, and had also attained Mid-Rank Authorities in all their main universal laws, having made full use of the Devour Class System to gather power as quickly as possible without pushing themselves into constant life-or-death situations.
Since he planned to return to Hell for a long period soon and had no intention of leaving them in Valmone, he urged Esna to pause her administrative duties for a while and go level up as much as she could.
At least, so she could catch up to Layla and Nicole.
After he finished checking on Esna on Shoisan, Arthur then carried out a short inspection, focusing especially on the Infernal Devils mining ores under Miacav’s orders as part of the deal Arthur had made with him.
When that was done, he returned to Nienope and decided to do the same there as well, casually taking his time as he moved from one continent to another.
There were no traitors to handle this time, so everything went fairly smoothly, and within a week, Arthur had made his way across the planet’s continents, starting from Cruafen and then moving on to Trefon, the next continent after Cruafen, where he had the most history.
Arthur sat on the grass on an artificial plain near the central point of Trefon’s Milwich Forest, staring up at the twinkling stars in the night sky.
His solitude didn’t last long, however, as Elaine emerged from the shadow of the trees in the forest surrounding the plains.
"Hey. What’re you up to?" she asked, walking over to him and glancing around the football field-sized area, and without taking his eyes off the sky, Arthur replied,
"Just reminiscing."
"Reminiscing? Did something happen here?"
"Mhmm," Arthur nodded. "It was in this forest that I became a Half-Deity many years ago. By this universe’s time, it was 97 years ago."
Elaine froze at his response, her eyes slightly widened as she asked, "Here?"
"Yep. November 30. Year 1054 of the 50th General Calendar," Arthur replied. "Many things happened that year. Made a lot of friends from across time and space. Literally."
"Literally?"
"Yep. We had a time traveller from 10,000 years in the future. And another guy from another universe."
Arthur chuckled, his expression filled with nostalgia, and Elaine walked closer before taking a seat on the grass beside him.
"Travelling 10,000 years back in time must require a great amount of power. Was he a High-Tier Deity or a Monarch Realm existence?"
"Not him," Arthur answered. "But the person who sent him back in time was."
Pausing for a moment, he continued, "Funny enough, the person who sent him back in time was someone we became friends with. He got sent back in time to meet her past self, and after becoming friends with her, he found out that it was her future self who sent him back in time."
"Is that soo..."
Elaine responded to Arthur distractedly, her eyes wandering across the grassy plain surrounding her as she muttered, "You became a Half-Deity here, huh?"
"Yep," Arthur answered, leaning against the grass.
For a moment, only the sound of rustling tree leaves and grass reached their ears, and after some time, Elaine exhaled softly.
"Did you do that on purpose?"
"Huh?"
"Bringing up you becoming a Half-Deity here," Elaine clarified.
Arthur blinked in confusion and tilted his head slightly before speaking. "I was just passing by and saw somewhere I recognised. I don’t understand what you mean. Do what on purpose?"
Elaine turned to look at him, and seeing the genuine confusion in his eyes, she sighed.
"So you really didn’t do it on purpose..."
"Elaine? What are you talking about?"
She didn’t answer Arthur’s question, instead looking away in silence for a few seconds before finally speaking.
"You’ve noticed, haven’t you? That I’ve long since reached the absolute limit of Transcendence."
It was a question Arthur didn’t even need to answer. He was currently a High-Tier Deity, and Elaine was merely a Transcendent. Unless she had something like his concealment ring, it was completely impossible for her to hide her power from him.
As such, he knew she was a Peak Transcendent and had been one for years now. She had diligently comprehended universal laws inside Barda’s training pocket universe to the point where she had attained multiple Pseudo-Authorities.
Her comprehension of the Universal Laws of Life and Death had increased in synchrony with one another, and she had gained two things that the Valmone Universe referred to as Ultimate Seeds.
What’s more, her Netherknight’s link to her, as well as the residual power Berlal had left in her body when she turned Netherknight into an ability and linked his life to Elaine’s, caused a mutation with her Pseudo-Authority of Death, essentially turning Netherknight itself into an Authority on its own.
It was just like how Arthur’s Extreme Nothingness Authority wasn’t a standalone Authority, but one linked to his Authorities of Time and Destruction, and could only grow stronger if those two did.
Elaine’s Netherknight had become linked to her Pseudo-Authority of Death in such a manner. On a side note, Netherknight wasn’t present.
As it stood, Elaine could become a Half-Deity at any minute.
But she had been in this state for years and hadn’t exuviated at all.
"You’re not going to ask me why? Why I keep stalling?" Elaine said, his voice trembling slightly.
At this, Arthur sat up and looked at her before asking, "Do you want me to?"
"I thought you’d do it first. After all, you want me to become stronger for the sake of your plans, don’t you?"
She quietly hugged her knees and took a deep breath before continuing, "You have... expectations of me, and yet, you didn’t say a thing even though I stalled for years. You didn’t ask me why I was wasting time."
That last line was enough for Arthur to understand just what was going through Elaine’s mind, and he silently nodded to himself before speaking.
"I didn’t, because whatever’s making you stall... the fact that it’s capable of doing so means it’s neither simple, nor is it something I should rush you about."
"Not something you should rush me about, huh?"
Elaine echoed Arthur’s words with a scoff, shaking her head lightly as she did.
Then, she abruptly turned and grabbed Arthur’s shirt by his collar, pulling him backwards until his back hit the grass.
"?"
Arthur blinked once in faint surprise, and when his eyes opened again, Elaine was atop him, sitting on his stomach and looking him straight in the eyes.
Her cross-shaped pupils met his vertical slit ones as she asked in a dead calm voice.
"Arthur. You died, didn’t you?"
"..."
A heavy silence instantly fell over the area, but it didn’t last long as Elaine continued speaking.
"You didn’t want me to know, so I tried to act like I didn’t, but I’m not exactly the best at acting. That day I passed out... You died, didn’t you?"
Her words were questioning, but Arthur knew Elaine wasn’t asking because she didn’t know. She was asking to confirm what she was already certain of.
Exhaling softly, he nodded once and finally answered after a few moments of silence.
"Yeah. I did."
"Thought so," Elaine muttered. "I had this inexplicable feeling that you were in danger, even though you were several entire multiverses away. It made no sense, you know?"
She leaned her head back and looked at the sky as she continued, "You’ve been in difficult fights before, but not once did I get this feeling, and when I stopped to think about it, I realised that feeling wasn’t me sensing you were in danger, it was me sensing that the danger had already gotten you."
Looking back down to meet Arthur’s eyes, she went on.
"And after waking up and seeing you again, I saw it. It was faint and barely there, but it was definitely the aura of death. A residue that hadn’t fully dissipated. That confirmed that my fears were true."
Arthur was about to speak, but the words in his mouth died there when Elaine suddenly smiled at him.
It wasn’t her bright and innocent smile full of joy, but a dull and corrupted one filled with self-depreciation.
The light in her eyes seemed to vanish, looking eerily similar to the expression in her eyes Arthur had seen on the day they first met... moments before she was nearly burned at the stake.
"I’m scared, Arthur," she finally said.
"I’m scared that if I try to Exuviate and become a Half-Deity... I’m scared of what would happen to me."
The young woman laid her deepest fears bare before Arthur, and what followed was a question Arthur genuinely wished she would never ask.
"Tell me, Arthur. Just what am I?"
Arthur instantly began racking his brain, trying to figure out the best answer he could give Elaine, and she immediately continued speaking.
"I’m not just some random Ancient-Breed godslayer, am I?
I’ve checked all the superior breeds of godslayers that Alexia woman was carrying around, and though they had Anti-Divinity, they didn’t bleed silver like you and I do.
Their blood was a faint red, like something mixed with a bit of white, but that was about it.
None of them is connected like you and I are, so tell me, Arthur. Exactly WHAT AM I?"
Her tone grew heavy toward the end, and she reached out, grabbing Arthur’s shirt and pulling him closer.
"Am I really myself? Or am I nothing but an artificial godslayer created with your Race Creation? But that makes no sense since you shouldn’t have accumulated enough cosmic energy for that yet. Then what really am I? Some clone? Reincarnation? An experimen-"
"No!" Arthur said abruptly, and in that instant, he clicked his tongue as he realised Elaine had tricked him.
"I see," Elaine muttered with a look of understanding. "So I am an experiment."
"No, you’re not," Arthur instantly refuted.
"Oh really?" she asked back, tilting her head, and seeing the look in her eyes, Arthur knew nothing he said now would convince her otherwise.
’Ah, goddamnit.’
It was exactly the same kind of situation he had put Celestia in some years back, when he used her reaction to the Concept of Destruction trying to make him a Proxy, which had set her off.
Elaine had done something similar, saying multiple things until she reached one that would make him react instinctively.
"No need to bother denying it," Elaine shrugged. "Maybe that can explain a little why Celestia hates me."
"That explains noth-"
"I have dreams, Arthur," Elaine said, cutting him off.
She took a deep breath and continued with a slight tremble in her voice.
"They... they didn’t start until I left Gervod’s house, but when I left, I began having these dreams of a me that wasn’t me, and a you that wasn’t you."
She ran her hands through her hair, ruffling it as she continued, "What I’m saying wouldn’t normally make sense to anyone but you... You understand what I’m talking about, don’t you?"
When Arthur didn’t answer immediately, Elaine then asked another question.
"Say, Arthur... we’re not living our first lives, are we?"
