[Vol. 8] Chapter 294: Hold On, This Will Hurt a Little
“I have already asked many famous doctors before. No matter if it was sea tribe priests, church clerics, or even some special healers with rare skills, all of them were helpless. They couldn’t even clearly explain the cause of my illness.”
“Even the [Book of Truth], which can answer all questions, could not give me a way to undo the Price. I know, Miss Violet, your identity and power are both amazing, but please don’t waste your effort on something that can’t be changed. Anyway, I won’t die, and I’ve slowly gotten used to living like this…”
Hearing the princess’s refusal and doubt, Violet only shook her head calmly.
“Don’t be so quick to decide it’s impossible. I can roughly guess what your problem really is. For others, maybe it’s hopeless, but to me, it might not be completely without a solution.”
She stared at Nitila’s illusory and stiff long fish tail, which seemed separated from her body, then spoke after a moment of thought.
“If I’m not wrong, your problem is not just simple paralysis. Because you forced yourself to use the [Book of Truth], the price is that people are finding it harder and harder to remember your name. Now, many people only know that the leader of the Sea Tribe Alliance is the ‘Daughter of Truth,’ but they cannot clearly recall who she is, or what her background and real identity are. Isn’t that right?”
“That’s why you need to stay in this room with the special magic array, to stop the situation from getting worse over time. But this kind of array is harmful to normal people, so whenever someone visits you, you must suppress or turn it off. That explains what you were doing earlier.”
“…?”
Nitila opened her mouth in surprise, as if she wanted to say something, but in the end only gave a bitter smile and nodded, agreeing with Violet’s guess.
“Miss Violet is still as sharp as before. You’ve only been here a short while and already understood everything so clearly. You’re right. When I traveled around the coastal islands before, I didn’t really hide my identity. I wasn’t famous everywhere, but it wasn’t a secret either.”
“But as I kept using the [Book of Truth] more and more, people strangely began to forget parts of my information. They only remembered that the leader of the Sea Tribe Alliance was the ‘Daughter of Truth,’ but they couldn’t recall my real name or who I was. It’s unbelievable.”
“I even asked the [Book of Truth] about this, but the answer was still blank. It only told me this was the Price of using divine power, and gave no further explanation.”
As expected…
Seeing the helpless look on the princess’s face, Violet nodded inwardly.
It seemed the real price of using the [Book of Truth] was Nitila’s very existence.
Whether it was divine tools or divine laws, this power was not created from nothing. The primordial artifacts were like powerful cannons, but the “bullets” had to be supplied by the user. Since mortals couldn’t provide such bullets, the cost became the consumption of something deeper, something more essential, and it could never be returned.
Without wasting more words, Violet smiled and stretched out her hand toward the mermaid princess.
“Come, summon that thing for me first.”
“…Alright.”
Seeing Violet’s firm attitude, Nitila could not keep refusing. She closed her eyes, and white light quickly gathered in her hands. Soon, it formed into a heavy book with no words on its cover.
“Hm?”
Looking at the book, Violet raised her eyebrows.
At this close distance, she could clearly feel its aura was much stronger than when she had first seen it at sea. If back then the [Book of Truth] only held about ten to twenty percent of the full “Truth” law, now it had reached thirty percent or more. This was clearly not a natural growth.
It seemed that although using the [Book of Truth] had cost Nitila much, it had also deepened her bond with the artifact, almost merging her with it. The Book was continuing to evolve toward becoming a true Primordial Artifact.
…Violet should have expected this earlier.
In fact, ever since the fall of the [God of the Azure Sea and Truth], when Their divinity broke apart, the law of Truth scattered into the world like an unowned thing. And laws of the same kind will naturally gather together again. That is why things like the [Book of Truth] or the [Ghost Ship] formed naturally, this is the reason behind them.
Nitila’s repeated use of the law’s power was actually attracting fragments of the scattered law each time. This made the [Book of Truth] grow stronger and stronger. Most likely… this means someone is raising it on purpose, like raising poisonous insects to fight each other.
From what Violet knew of the [World Sustainers] power, if they really wanted to deal with Nitila, they should not have failed again and again. But if they were doing this on purpose, pushing the princess into danger each time, forcing her to burn her own strength and awaken the divine law, so that the [Book of Truth] kept growing, then when it finally reached full maturity, they could step in and take everything at the peak of its power.
Such a cruel trick.
“Nitila, the [World Sustainers] sending all god-related items to the capital, where exactly did you hear this news from?”
“Oh, that… Wait, Miss Violet, are you saying…?”
The princess was quick-witted. The moment she saw Violet’s strange look while speaking, she almost immediately understood. Her face changed slightly.
“Now that I think of it, the timing of this news was a little strange. Even though the source was trustworthy, it came at such a convenient time. Could it be that they wanted me to know? Was their real purpose to lure me into this city?”
Violet shook her head.
“It’s too early to say for sure. This is only my guess. But with the [Book of Truth] as strong as it is now, shouldn’t you be able to use it to directly check important secrets? Why not try that?”
“It’s not that easy… Showing the Truth also has a price. The more secret the information is, the heavier the cost. Sometimes it’s even harder than fighting with full strength. For common knowledge, I can still ask freely, but things related to the [World Sustainers] are hidden under thick fog. With my weak body, trying to investigate would be useless.”
Hearing Nitila’s helpless words, Violet only nodded calmly.
“That does make sense. After all, a certain god in the past also suffered just because they tried to learn a single piece of Truth… Alright then, focus your mind and get ready. I’m about to begin.”
“O-okay!”
Even though she didn’t know what Violet was going to do, the princess trusted her completely. She quickly sat upright, a little nervous but also hopeful, watching the black-haired girl.
Violet studied the mermaid girl for a moment, then waved her hand. A soft light lifted the edge of Nitila’s dress, revealing the smooth pale skin of her lower belly, just above the tail.
“…!”
The sudden cool air and the feeling of embarrassment made Nitila’s cheeks turn red. But she did not resist. After all, both of them were girls. In this closed room, showing just her belly was nothing… even if she had to take off all her clothes, it wouldn’t really matter… right?
‘Miss Violet is a healer with a pure heart. She can’t possibly be thinking of anything strange during treatment. This must be a necessary step. Nitila, don’t overthink it!’
The body of a mermaid was almost the same as a human’s. But as a Mingjiao Mermaid, Nitila had one extra thing, a thin scale on her lower belly that covered her small navel. It was there to protect the Mermaid Pearl inside her body. Because of that, this place was considered another very private part for mermaid women, something with special meaning and use, not to be shown to outsiders.
“Hm? A scale here too? …Forget it, it doesn’t matter.”
Under Nitila’s shy but trusting gaze, Violet looked at a mermaid’s body closely for the first time. She was surprised for a moment, but didn’t think too much about it. She simply raised her hand and made a cut.
“Ah—”
Golden light flashed. Violet deliberately cut her own fingertip with an invisible blade. A single drop of glowing golden blood floated out, hanging in the air between them.
Just from that one drop, the light element in the whole room surged wildly, growing denser and denser. Even Nitila’s Mermaid Pearl, hidden under the scale on her belly, began to react, faintly glowing with a light that could be seen with the naked eye.
“This…?”
The girl’s beautiful eyes opened wider. When she felt the frightening power inside that drop of blood, the shyness and embarrassment in her heart quickly faded. Instead, she suddenly felt a deep comfort and longing, almost like an instinct.
If she had not seen Violet cut herself just now, she would probably have mistaken this golden-red drop for some rare treasure of the world, and would never have thought it was blood.
Inside that single droplet, no bigger than a fly, there was an incredible, unimaginable power. If just one drop of Violet’s blood was this terrifying… then what about Violet herself?
The princess had always thought very highly of Violet, who saved her from danger many times. But now she realized that her imagination was far too limited, and Violet’s true level was far beyond what she could guess.
Who exactly was Miss Violet…?
While the princess’s mind was in chaos, Violet made a golden light flash again. The cut on her finger healed instantly. She controlled the drop of blood floating in the air, keeping it from scattering, and then took out a small crystal bottle from her bag. It was filled with pale golden potion. With a flick of her finger, she opened it.
“Huu~”
The liquid inside the bottle flew out by itself, joining with the glowing drop of blood. The two mixed together, turning into a thick golden-red liquid. Violet used her finger as a pen, drawing in the air, and the strange liquid quickly changed shape.
At last, it became a graceful golden symbol, elegant in form, but with a meaning Nitila could not understand.
“At first, it may hurt a bit. Bear with it. Later, it should get better.”
Without realizing how her words made the princess blush again, Violet lowered her finger slightly. The glowing symbol floated down, landed on Nitila’s bare lower belly, and sank in, passing even through her natural protection scales.
“Mm…!”
Nitila let out a sound before she could stop herself. Whatever words she wanted to say died in her throat. She quickly closed her eyes, trying her best to endure the sudden, strong sensation in her belly.
It felt as if hot iron had been pressed against her soft skin, burning and fierce. But after the first sharp pain, the feeling changed. The pain did not grow worse. Instead, it slowly turned into an itching, tingling, and strangely pleasant feeling she could not describe.
Wait—!
In a daze, Nitila suddenly realized something.
Why could she even feel this? Her lower body had long been without sensation. Could it be…?
It was like a blocked pathway inside her body was suddenly opened. The sharp pain mixed with an ever-clearer sense of release. Sitting upright on the bed, her cheeks flushed red, Nitila felt her once-illusory mermaid tail shift, fading in and out as new energy poured into it. When the stimulation from her belly peaked, the tip of her tail even twitched and tightened on its own, before relaxing again.
“Ha… haa…”
At some point, sweat had soaked her forehead and back. The room filled with a heavy fragrance, mixed with her natural scent, sweet yet strange. From time to time, her quiet, suppressed gasps echoed, adding to the air of tension.
But Violet was not affected at all. She just sat at the side of the bed, calmly watching the golden symbol merge with Nitila’s body. From time to time, her face showed a thoughtful look.
Without a doubt, this was a piece of [Forbidden Words]. One she had improved and created herself.
Nitila’s problem came from using an artifact far beyond her own level. As a price, she lost part of her [Existence], the very thing that made her who she was.
Her Mermaid Pearl had saved her life by protecting her core, but her body still became incomplete. Existence is mysterious. Once lost, it is lost. There is no way to replace it, unless one can take it back from where it was lost.
But Nitila’s missing Existence was long gone. It had been burned away when she used the [Book of Truth]. Just like long ago, when “Vast Dream” rewrote history at the cost of his own life. Even though Violet later corrected the timeline with the [Sword of Origin], he could never come back.
Normally, this kind of loss could never be repaired.
But the power of the [Forbidden Words] made the impossible… possible.