"Hurry up! What are you dawdling about for, get up!"
'Guhggg…'
The groans of over fifty goblins sound across the hill. Corpses of dragons lay around, forming a trail through the forest and mountains. In the end, they could not leave the World's Edge before they were all hunted down, but that was all thanks to the cursed weapons.
Everyone is injured to some degree, while Gea had his entire body seared and covered in burns. Thankfully spirits have strong regenerative ability, courtesy to the world, so any injuries, even lost limbs are recoverable.
As expected, contending with dragons on the side with lesser number is reckless.
Combat power uses the same scale as the cultivation ranks. White, Elite, Master and Legend, the standard used is the Human Race. Adult dragons have Legend Rank combat power, meaning they are equivalent to a human having trained their body to the limit, honed their techniques to the extreme, ignited their soul and drawn power from it. Their breaths can insta-kill anyone here but Gea, so he tanked every one of them while we supported him.
So why are you dawdling, are you having it worse than Gea!?
"Don't compare us with that monster."
"Right, just how can he train a weak body into adamantium."
"We are not of the same species."
"And why can you, a mage be alright when we warriors are dying?"
"The Lords are all monsters. They spent only two years of war to reach that point even though we all started as normal goblins."
"Excuses!" I give them a disgusted look.
When we turned into goblins, we all started as the lowest evolution. That is not a problem since our skills are beyond that level, you should have seen Ronia splitting apart a Behemoth with that body. Though the greatest mystery is how Gea trained his body to steel. When did he get the time?
"Either way we are going to the Celestial Court. Quickly get up!"
"Eeeeh, don't wanna~"
"I'm tired…"
"I broke my legs."
"Can't we just stay here?"
Everyone is acting like salted fish. I doubt they will move again without a good reason…
"… Hmph. Then I will go and celebrate alone with Arianna-"
"What! Really!?"
Immediate effect. But maybe too effective.
"Say so sooner! Tidy up everyone!"
"Just burn those corpses, they are not as important as our Anna!"
"Idiot, drag some over and for their meat. We have to roast some dragons for the celebration!"
"Smart! Wait for me, Anna!"
"Our child, Anna!"
Grrrr, those bastards.
"How dare you covet my child with your filthy souls! I'll string you up and roast you in the Purgatory!"
"Run!!"
After chasing them back a couple of mountains, I realise that it is not the time to play around. Gathering everyone up and quickly dealing with the corpses, I teleported everyone directly to the Celestial Court. This is also the main base of the Supreme Court, where we oversee the continent and spy on any unrest.
Oh, what a charitable person I am, donating an entire realm for world peace. Though I'm actually the one who founded the Court of Fay.
Supreme Court of Fay: 3000 years since Foundation.
It is in the same era as when civilisation started developing rapidly nonstop. At that time many races have still never met and life was as primitive as it could ever get. The Monster Race dominated the continent then, and dragons were the supreme rulers, sometimes revered as gods and deities. But they are most widely known as tyrants drunk on superiority.
Without having to train or learn anything, they can become stronger than anyone just by growing into adults. Just by being born, they gain the lifespan to outlive every species. The advantage they have is truly unfair.
But while they are wasting their lives away, the Human Race evolved. By passing down wisdom from the elderly to children, senior to juniors, each generation of their species became stronger than the one before. A leap in every few decade, a breakthrough every century.
3000 years was all they needed to overcome the dragons. It was an amazing experience to witness all of that in person.
Yet, while the Human Race, and even most of the Monster Race moved forward, the dragons did nothing but spit curses and twiddle their thumbs. Laziness and degeneration must have entered their genes.
Welp, there are smart dragons though. Earnest and always improving, it is surprising that they are from the same race. Though I think they are spurned by fear to some degree…
"Aruk!"
The Abyss gate has already been subjugated. Having stayed open for so long it will be long and difficult to completely close it, but I can hand that over to the Gods.
The Court has already turned into a large hall with thousands of priests and holy knights waiting within. As the child I picked up and raised here, she has some authority over this space.
"Arian-"
"""Anna!!"""
Just as I was about to answer, I got trampled from behind. These ungrateful brats, how dare you walk over yours truly, just how do you think you are still alive.
"Gobuda, don't mind!"
Only the four Lords are left behind while everyone else gone crowding around Arianna. Some priests walk over and heals our injuries, but the holy knights are looking at the Hobgoblins like dead meat.
You may beat them up, I allow it!
"Alright everyone, please settle down."
"""Yes!"""
They're hopeless, completely enslaved by our child.
Afterwards, we all sit down to a feast. The Fay has come dragon meat, it is tough and chewy but to us who trained our body, it is nothing and we get to taste the fragrance within.
The Church side brought many ingredients ranging from vegetables and fruits to meat and condiments. They say it came from 700 years ago when they stored it together with them in the frozen underground. Man, aren't they well prepared.
"I have never doubted we will emerge victorious."
Oh you make me blush, Arianna.
The days passed in cheers and laughter. Goblins and knights wrestled for the chance to speak with Anna. Many people want to be beside her, but there will always be someone there to repel them. It's a real life scenario of king of the hills.
Outside the loop, there are priests and some goblins cooking away on the food, roasting meat and searing steak. No one is vegetarian, even the elves. There may be some beliefs or discipline to avoid killing as much as possible, but no one avoids eating meat.
As for vegan… What's that? Is that a cult?
So everyone gorged on dragon steak as it's a rare ingredient indeed. The goblins are more of chewing away on frustration rather than flavour.
After the first day, several priests have fallen. The older with weaker bodies cannot hold up over the night, so the grills are given to other people. But as expected of muscle brained knights, they know nothing about the culinary art, so I snatch the position for myself.
I may not have debuted as an Alchemist much, but I very knowledgeable about fire and matter!
"How does that help you with cooking?"
Shut up illiterate. What's the difference between stewing plants and vegetables? You think I have not worked with mana rich meat before?
After three days, everything has become quieter, as if signifying the end to festivities.
Then the knights slump down one by one laying all over the floor, since most of them are human, they have less strength than other races. Though some goblins have also disgracefully fallen.
On the fourth day, most people are down, leaving only a dozen or so to play around a table. I manage to keep my promise with Arianna to play trump together.
We played through all sorts of games, from the old maid to poker and landlords. I obviously must be the landlord. I won't hand that position to anyone! Fight me for it!
"That's not how the game works!"
"I don't care!"
And so the card games continues with curses flying in every direction. Trump cards, truly an instrument of destruction… of friendship.
Fifth day, only the four lords and the saintess are left. Everyone is getting tired and losing focus.
"Seven."
"Eight."
"Queen."
"Ace, and I'm out."
Yawn—
Ronia wins and slowly falls asleep. I actually though Gea would fall first, but he is quite stubborn.
"-Two. And finally, I won a game too! Hahaha!"
Bang—
Forget it, he has fallen asleep on the next game. He was just waiting to win and was holding out. How stubborn.
Now it's only me, Lir and Arianna, us three.
"Yawn… I'm sleepy too…"
"Then rest, sweet dreams."
I whisper to her ears as she leans on my side. I shifted carefully so she won't fall off.
"What a lovely couple. A goblin and a saintess, this make a nice picture."
"Idiot, she is my daughter."
I speak to Lir who sits across from me. It is only us two now.
"Come on now, you know she loves you. Didn't she make it obvious enough. 'I want to see you when I wake up', kyaa~, so romantic."
It was obvious, she was quite direct. But I cannot accept it, because I cannot understand it. Spirits are not born with a sense of self, even though we are sensitive, our understanding of emotions are flawed. It might be better to say we do not have them, we only resonate with the emotion of others and then slowly imitate them, then we become capable of feeling it too. Yet love is still too complicated. The love of a parent is already difficult enough.
"In the first place, spirits have no gender. I only took the form of a male because my personality inclines so."
Spirits are born from the world, a condensation of mana. We have no gender, nor do we reproduce. We are asexual since it has no meaning.
"But wouldn't it be interesting. She went out of her way to become a Saintess just so that she can stand beside you. Don't you think you should take some responsibility?"
I look down at the Saintess on my lap.
"…I do not understand love. Even my love as a parent is an imitation of Mother Earths love to all life. In contrast, I know how to hate and curse. My curse would not have been so effective if I didn't."
It's too late anyway.
"Yawn… Sorry Gobuda. I actually want to stay with you till the end, but I'm almost done too."
"Yeah, don't worry about."
"Lies. Says the spirit who was born because he's lonely. You are too strong for your own good."
"Then you should have learned magic properly so we can be the same."
"No way…"
I smile as she falls asleep, eternally.
The price of the Forbidden Magic, the cost of tampering with the natural order of time. None of the priest, knights, or goblins who fell asleep has woke up. Some of them has wrinkles which was never there, some are already skins and bones and some already skeletons. We all paid the price of aging, and I am still paying the price. The old and lower lifespans left early, while the stronger fell one by one. Those with the strongest presence stayed till the end, longer than even elves. Arianna is a human, but as the Saintess, she has the blessing and protection of the divine. Else her body would have already been mummified.
They still can't compare with Lir though, with her monstrous amount of mana. As for me, perhaps it's because I studies curses too much, and developed a resistance to it. In a broader sense, aging is also a curse. But I still can't get away from it. If I was still a spirit, then such price would be meaningless. Spirits have no concept of age. Unfortunately, goblins do.
I look around the hall. Just a few days ago it was bustling with festivities, yet now it's desolate. It was a celebration for victory, and also a funeral. How lonely it is that we have to prepare our own funeral. Lonely indeed…
Perhaps it is my fate to be lonely.
Of the 108 stars, 107 of them are now dim. It is my turn soon.
"Lily."
Purupuru~
My shadow squirms as Lily rolls out. Her colour changed, darker than before but also brighter, like it contains the entire cosmos. How fitting for me, a spirit born from the lonely stars.
"I will give you the authority over the Celestial Court. Help me watch over the gate until it closes. When I die, you will receive a backlash from our contract, but you shouldn't die as you are now. Use this place to recuperate, it's as safe as it gets."
I transfer the key to her. The same one I gave to Arianna. Now she can control this realm as she wishes other than some hard coded instructions I am leaving behind.
Then I stack up several books onto the table. Books about magic and holy magic for Alni, contract, space magic and beast encyclopedia for Rina, Ronia's sword style for Rou, and Gea's insight on governance, both domestic and military.
"If my four student- three students and one disciple ever find their way here, help me give these books to them. It's a shame I have to end their tutelage here, it was so much fun. But those crazy children can carry on by themselves, even if they have no talent, their craziness can carry them far. Also tell Rou to train his body to the limit before becoming a Legend. His body here is different from his real one, if he neglects it, he will not reach his potential."
Lily takes everything and swallows them into her shadow. I run through my memories to see if I'm missing anything.
"Ahh. The enchantment magic seems to be falling behind. Now that I think about it, most enchantments came from us, the spirits. I guess our sudden extinction caused a huge decline. If Graham or Roderick, those people with colourful robes come again, open the library for them and direct them to that section. You can let them borrow a few books, they are many copies anyway."
That should be it…
I feel like time is going awfully slow. Just when will my time end.
I look at the corpse all around the hall. My eyes are getting cloudy.
"Thanks for staying with me till the end, Lily."
"… You're welcome, master."
"You are finally speaking… I am glad that I don't have to watch others die anymore. I'm sorry, Lily."
"…"
I can no longer hear anything. Moving my limbs are difficult as well.
I can't focus. My sight is fading.
This time, I am not watching the others die. I am now dying with them.
In the now quiet hall, the last star has extinguished. The slime wriggles as it transforms into a women, with eyes and hair as dark as the deepest cosmos.
She silently watches the death of his master. His face is filled with relief, as tears stain his cheeks.