City of Sin (Yanyu Jiangnan)

Starlit Night

Cleaning up after the battle was almost as difficult as winning it. A flurry of fireballs and Nasia’s aid allowed Richard to neutralise the black hole, but Tiamat was a mere ten metres away from it by the time it was destroyed. The Prime Evil’s face had a vivid look of trauma that transcended races; this had brought her back to the time when she had been dragged into Sharon’s demiplane.

Finding that his party had eliminated the rogue summons by then, Richard heaved a sigh of relief. He suddenly felt like the night sky was exceptionally beautiful, the world filled with more beauty than before.

For some reason, he started hearing cheers break out throughout Faelor, growing louder and louder as the frightened people of the plane started to walk out from their dens. News was transmitted like lightning, and the entire plane seemed to radiate relief and elation that there would be no more energy beams or mechanical beetles threatening to dismember them.

The reapers had been defeated!

The impact of this news on Richard’s own subordinates was impossible to express in words. Not one family in Norlandic history had been able to protect a personal plane from the mechanical claws of the reapers, but the Archerons had managed it. There was a heavy price to pay, but this was a miracle that Richard had created with his own two hands!

He quietly floated above the reaper base as he adjusted to the surrealism of the moment, the densely packed buildings below the only real reminder that the past few months hadn’t been a dream.

The war had finally come to an end…

The entire ordeal with the reapers hadn’t lasted long at all; in his years fighting in the Land of Dusk, Richard had gone on individual expeditions that were almost as lengthy. However, it had felt like centuries since Faelor was first invaded, and this victory felt like the crowning moment of his life.

An indescribable sense of dignity enveloped the land all around them, leaving Greyhawk, Asa, and even Fiora looking around frantically with dread written all over their faces. Mountainsea and Nasia seemed pensive, while Faelor’s deities who had been watching from nearby fell silent and looked towards the northeast.

A spot of light slowly appeared in the calm night sky, drifting towards Richard like a firefly in a dream. Richard felt a sense of warmth and tranquility that prompted him to reach out for it, but the moment he made contact his pulse suddenly jumped and the tetrahedron of many faces formed around him. The mote of light threw itself towards the surface and melded in, forming the face of a young girl that smiled sweetly before fading away.

This was a random little girl that no one present recognised, but for some reason her soul hadn’t dissipated in all this while. Perhaps she had been confined somehow in the reaper base, or she simply couldn’t let go, but from the looks of it she would have drifted aimlessly until the last dregs of her existence withered away.

With the one example, numerous motes of light suddenly materialised out of the void. Some seemed to lurch around with hesitation, but all of them eventually flew towards Richard and merged into the tetrahedron. The scattered souls down in the base below felt his existence as well, slowly gaining direction.

Richard was stunned by the situation, merely allowing the motes of light to enter the illusion covering him. Every soul merged in strengthened him ever so slightly, but it also added a heavy sense of responsibility.

Greyhawk, Asa, and the rest felt something happening, but they were incapable of seeing these souls and couldn’t tell what it was. Still, they were filled with a sense of awe as though they were witnessing a moment of greatness and stared up at Richard who was looking around solemnly.

While the powerhouses couldn’t see the radiance of the souls, however, there were beings nearby that could. No matter where they were, all of Faelor’s deities blanked out and stared at the bright world of starlight down below. Innumerable souls had suddenly emerged from the void, the reaper base, and all around Faelor, forming a vortex of light that slowly gathered around Richard. He was quickly healed of all injuries, his entire body starting to glow as the tetrahedron grew large enough to touch the earth down below. Three faces started to revolve around the top of this pyramid of light, representing the three systems of existence.

Most mortals would never accurately know what transpired, but these deities wouldn’t forget this for the rest of their existence.

……

It was just like any ordinary day in Norland when Richard returned to Faust. A quick inspection of Blackrose Castle along the way showed that Azan was bustling with activity as it rebuilt, warriors and rune knights constantly flowing through the city. Macy had finally held him to his end of their promise the previous night, and after going at it until she could barely even move anymore she had returned to the MIllennial Empire full of hope.

Upon his return, he found that Fiora had stirred up quite a commotion when she had arrived a few days ago. The gorgeous young lady had amused herself at the expense of the entire commercial district of Faust, just grabbing whatever she deemed delicious or stealing anything she fancied. A number of merchants had been inconvenienced, but anyone that called her out was met with an assertion that she was Richard Archeron’s little sweetheart. This had prompted all complainants to back off, which only bolstered her spirits and convinced her to cause even more trouble.

The girl actually had no need to use Richard’s reputation. She wasn’t great at masking her legendary strength, and her youth was obvious enough that anyone would realise her frightening background. If letting her play around could give them a favourable impression, most merchants didn’t mind.

Richard rushed over in exasperation and pulled her home by the nape immediately, but by then half of the businesses in Faust had been messed with in one way or the other. Almost everyone believed her words, and whether she intended the misinformation or not, Faust was filled with whispers about his new young sweetheart. Unable to do anything in front of her innocent face, however, he frowned and told her to greet her mother.

…

Coco had already been informed about her daughter’s situation at this point, but even so she almost couldn’t believe her eyes. She had walked out with arms spread open when her maid informed her that her daughter was visiting, but she froze up in fear at the sight. Fiora truly had inherited Richard’s powerful bloodline, and her legendary might proved that whispers about being even more talented rang true. She herself was still an ordinary illusionist who hadn’t even gotten to level 5, making for a stark difference in status and power. One was Norland’s youngest legend, while the other couldn’t even be considered average. Without the Archeron name, Coco would have been nothing in the world.

Mother and daughter stared at each other, the fiery girl’s eyes losing focus for a moment. Coco’s lips quivered as she abandoned her thoughts of hugging her own daughter, and she instead stepped back to salute the legend before her. However, the redness in her eyes could not be concealed.

Fiora sighed helplessly, taking a step forward and bending down slightly to thrust herself into her mother’s embrace. Coco went rigid for a moment, but tears immediately flooded her face as she hugged back with all the force she could muster. The girl closed her eyes and snuggled into the warm embrace, her ponytail flying around as the tears kept up for a few minutes.

Coco knew that she had to stop crying in front of her daughter, but couldn’t find it in herself to do so. Fiora eventually sighed and struggled out of the tight grip, smiling as she stretched both arms behind her head, “I just fought a great battle next to Father and almost died! I want a gift!”

“Huh? Oh, right, a gift! Come with me!” A flustered Coco wiped off her tears, using her moist hand to pull Fiora into her residence.

With the increased size of the third-level islands, the residence was much more expansive than when the Archerons had first occupied Faust. However, only the most basic necessities were provided by default, allowing the occupant to decorate to their liking. Coco was supposed to have bought whatever she wanted using a stipend, but Fiora’s eyes glinted at the now-familiar sight of a residence completely unbecoming of the premier family of Norland.

Coco quickly returned from her bedroom, having retrieved a rather delicate case from her cabinet that she passed to Fiora, “I didn’t know you would grow so fast, so I didn’t have the time to prepare anything. I would have given this to you when you were older to buy some good equipment to protect yourself, but… There isn’t much here, just consider it pocket money and buy whatever you like.”

Fiora opened the case and looked at the tidy row of magic crystals within, estimating them to be worth about fifty thousand gold. She had already asked around about a lot of things, and from what she knew her mother couldn’t have saved this from her monthly allowance alone. All of her other money had to be saved as well, including whatever Richard had given her to decorate with.

She turned a momentary pout into a smile before it was noticed, saying cheerfully, “I got you something too!”

Shaking a spatial bracelet on her left wrist, she suddenly dumped a large amount of clothes, jewellery, and antique furniture on the ground, quickly filling up the residence. Coco’s eyes went wide as she saw goods worth hundreds of thousands of gold, fancy enough to be fitting of her status. The origin was obvious as well, this was everything that Fiora had taken from Faust’s merchants under Richard’s name.

The merchants who were wronged naturally wouldn’t ask for compensation; they would much rather use the chance to associate themselves with the Archerons. However, Coco knew Richard’s character well enough to understand that a few hundred thousand gold wasn’t enough to earn his favour. He would pay the merchants for the cost of the goods and even compensate them for the inconvenience. In the end, he would effectively have bought them all.

Bought them all for her.