Chapter 1134: Changing Professions

Alice felt happy seeing Feris hug those souls so dearly.

But as much as she wanted to congratulate her...

She couldn’t!

It took everything to muster out a couple of words earlier but now that she’s said what she wanted to say, the exhaustion hit like a tsunami!

Alice sat down calmly and sprawled out.

After all... if she was to suddenly fall, it would snap Feris out of her reunion. Not only that, but her reputation would also take a hit. After a demonstration sheer will and tenacity, collapsing right after would be no different to a slap to the face!

So the best she could do was slowly lay down and rest.

Yep...

She couldn’t even move her fingers.

Alice forced a smile.

Who knew that borrowing a Realm Ruler’s authority and messing with Oblivion would cause such a backlash? Even with her insane regeneration, this state might be worse than her time in the North when she was travelling with Selen.

At least back then, she could move her body!

*Sigh...

’Forget it. At least Feris finally found her friends.’ Alice sighed inwardly.

In the first place, Alice suspected that the reason why they managed to avoid erasure due to Oblivion was probably a product of Feris’s own will.

When she went into a rampage, everything in the area went under her control.

But subsequently, she had also tapped into the power of Oblivion.

With this sequence of actions, the only way for the souls to survive would be to be suspended right before entering the maw of Oblivion. Should Feris recall their exact location, she might’ve been able to save them.

But that required her to tap into the power of Oblivion again while also making sure she could destroy the barrier and claim the souls before they’re devoured.

’Though... based on how long she spent looking for them, she probably never realised they were sitting just outside Oblivion. Who would? Oblivion erases all things. Even the traces she left behind in the battlefields were erased.’ Alice shook her head.

Then there was the new issue she had just picked up.

The soul of a certain troublemaker hovered next to her, bound by new restraints.

But there was something strange.

Even though it felt like Ciel...

Even though Alice could recognise it as Ciel...

The ’person’ attached to the soul was different! Far too different.

Where Ciel was selfish, arrogant, twisted and lusted for power beyond her own, this ’person’ looked around in confusion.

A single question floated in the soul’s mind, clear for all to see.

’Where am I? Who am I? What am I doing here?’

All of it was abundantly clear on her face. Not that she had one.

’Did Feris give her a beating of a lifetime? Head trauma? Why was she ’reset’?’

A confused expression appeared on Alice’s face as she had no clue on how to handle this newly ’reborn’ soul.

Authority? She still had some. But allowing this soul to retain it is... Absolutely not!

Giving a ’child’ authority of this level was practically asking for death! There’s no way for handle things properly at all!

But at the same time... ’Ciel’ had been thoroughly cleansed and disciplined by Feris while also being suspended next to Oblivion for centuries. With her soul being ’reset’ could she really hold the past crimes over her head?

Absolutely not.

However, simply allowing the soul to ’leave’ wasn’t an option either.

It’ll cause another battle like the one shown in Feris’s memories to appear.

A battle for Authority, one that governs the Surface.

And doing so could invertedly cause Nyer’s plans to accelerate.

The surface had been stable for a long time since the Authority was trapped in suspension.

No Realm Ruler was born and no negative effects were created.

Now that she’s back...

Alice sighed inwardly.

’Absorbing’ was definitely an option. She could take the authority for herself then allow the Soul to be ’recycled’.

But there was too much uncertainty when it came to Authority that Alice didn’t dare to be careless.

Even Ciel had to wait for the right moment to take Feris’s Authority. If Alice recklessly absorbed whatever she wished, who knows what kind of negative effects it could bring to her current authority over the Abyss.

Would it cause her to lose power? Would it cause the Abyssal Artifacts to malfunction?

’I should’ve kept Ciel in the barrier...’ Alice pursed her lips.

Though she said this, it wasn’t an option. Leaving her behind in that moment would’ve simply caused Oblivion to erase her properly.

If the Authority disappeared, would it reappear? Or would the power of Oblivion take priority?

A daring gamble Alice didn’t want to take.

As she closed her eyes and contemplated in silence, she noticed a person crouching near her and staring at her face.

"Did you enjoy your reunion?" Alice opened her eyes, glancing at Feris without turning her head.

"Mnm, I did." Feris smiled softly while hugging her knees.

Floating around her were the motes of light that represented Noah and the others.

But more than that, Alice could finally see a bit of life in Feris’s eyes.

Her tone wasn’t fierce like their first meeting, her eyes weren’t lifeless like earlier either.

Right now, Feris was like a soft kitten who had finally found her family again.

Her eyes were red around the edges but they looked much better than before.

"I’m glad. Unfortunately, they don’t have physical bodies I can put them in. Since they spent a lot of time in soul form, being reincarnated is the only option left to them unless you want them to maintain this state for a bit longer." Alice suggested but Feris shook her head.

"No... Right now, they’re like bundles of instinct with no intelligence. They might recognise me through instinct but ultimately, I can’t deny that Noah and the others died." Feris shook her head.

There was a sad smile on her face but so be it. She much prefer this ending than never finding them again.

Plus, what’s to say she can’t find them again in the future?

"It would be too harsh to keep them by my side right now. Too selfish."

"I see..." Alice smiled helplessly. Though she wanted to do more for her friend, this was the limit of her power. At least in this moment.

*Poke~

Alice frowned.

Feris poked her cheeks and watched the puddings jiggle under her finger.

"What are you doing?" Alice pursed her lips.

"You’re much cuter when you’re not causing trouble in my house." Feris let out a charming giggle, leaving Alice with a speechless expression.

"Since you can’t move... you wouldn’t mind me playing around with your cheeks a little right?"

Where’s the domineering attitude she had at the beginning?! Wasn’t this shift too big?

"Scram! I busted my ass to help you out and you want to bully me when I can’t move!?" Alice raged but her limbs refused to move!

Mama! Help! There’s a strange lady trying to take advantage of me!

But the more Feris poked, the more Alice recovered. In fact, halfway through, Alice realised that Feris was essentially helping her ’heal’ with each contact.

"So what now? It would’ve been much easier if you just killed me like I ask since I still have some connection to the Void. But honestly... most of my authority had been taken from me. I can still manipulate the energy but don’t expect anything too grand." Feris smiled helplessly.

She probably couldn’t even match up to a peak Abyss Lord right now, even with her techniques.

Her control had dwindled to a base level and the reservoir of energy was basically disconnected.

Alice thought about it for a moment before shrugging.

"It can’t be helped. Originally, I wanted to help snap you out of it and have you regain control over the Void. All the changes were done through you after all, not to mention the danger to the World Tree. But if you can’t control the Void anymore then..."

Alice fell silent.

She helped Feris, that much was true. But that still didn’t change the fundamental issue of the Void still being transformed into the Nightmare Realm.

In fact, it only reinforced the danger now as she understood Feris couldn’t help them at all.

Just as she was about to stand up, Alice froze.

Her head slowly turned to the side before looking back at Feris.

Noticing Alice’s stare, Feris blinked her eyes cluelessly.

With Noah and the others back at her side, even if they reincarnate, Feris wanted to look after them to some degree. Perhaps when the danger is over and Alice didn’t need her, she wouldn’t mind reincarnating with them as well.

To relive her life without her memories and simply enjoy it being an average girl.

Her plans had already been set out but Alice’s next words destroyed her plans.

"Say Feris... What do you think about changing your profession?" Alice forced a smile.

"Changing profession?" Feris tilted her head in confusion.

What could she even change into? Even with her experience, most of it was spent as the ’Lady of the Void’ who did nothing but laze around in her own depression.

Alice lifted her hand with the soul hovering above it.

The moment Feris saw the soul, her pupils constricted, hiding Noah and the others behind her instinctively.

"Ciel had her mind ’reset’ as well. All she is right now is a bundle of Authority with a clueless host. If I simply throw her into river of reincarnation, this Authority will disappear and reappear in the world, causing another blood bath.

"So... What do you think about changing your profession to something like ’Lady of the Surface’? This Authority has to go somewhere after all."

Feris was speechless.