Chapter 446 - 443: Already Fulfilled

Chapter 446: Chapter 443: Already Fulfilled

"My wish?"

The god suddenly realized something and let out a bitter, self-mocking laugh.

"Ah, all for nothing."

White steam rose from the god’s body.

The turtle beneath it was motionless, its breath long gone.

The Dragon King’s oppressive aura remained, and the thunder that filled the sky spoke of its fury.

Damp rain beat against the turtle shell, bounced onto the ground, and mingled with the creature’s blood.

A murderous air hung over the streets of Dawn City, but the intruder had lost all will to fight. It clutched a shattered spear, its body swaying, on the verge of collapse.

A Shrimp Soldier holding a large hammer stood obediently to one side, glancing from time to time at Olive before cautiously observing the Dragon King in the sky.

It walked over to its comrades’ bodies and gently collected their pincers, arranging them in a pile.

The god looked at the Shrimp Soldier, then shook its head helplessly.

"Ah, is this your wish?"

With a flash of golden light, the pincers at the Shrimp Soldier’s feet scattered, each one sprouting a new body.

The dismembered Shrimp Soldiers and Crab Generals were all alive again.

They examined their own bodies in utter astonishment.

The god looked to the sky again. The Dragon King still hadn’t revealed its full form, only continuing to unleash its oppressive aura. A powerful bolt of lightning was gathering within the dark clouds, its terrifying current causing the very raindrops to warp.

"Your wish..."

Another golden light burst from the god’s body, sinking into the turtle below.

The golden light converged on the turtle’s wound. It pushed the spear of water out of the shell and covered the cracks, rapidly mending them.

In the blink of an eye, the wound was healed completely. The turtle shuddered and rose to its feet, looking confused.

The god brandished its spear and leaped lightly from the turtle’s shell.

The lightning that had been locked onto it instantly lost its target. The oppressive aura slowly dissipated, scattering into the air with the raindrops.

After churning in the sky for a moment, the Dragon King vanished into the clouds.

The rain gradually stopped.

A ray of sunlight pierced the dark clouds, once again bathing the land in light.

Dragging its battered body, the god didn’t hide this time. It stood on the street, facing the dazzling sunlight. White steam rose from its form as its golden light refracted in the vapor, creating a series of brilliant rainbows.

Faint white mist rose from the warm puddles on the ground. The dark clouds slowly scattered, and sunlight flooded the street, mingling with the god’s golden light.

A strange rainbow appeared over Dawn Tower.

It was a double rainbow of two concentric semicircles, one inside the other, a truly miraculous sight.

A young man walked slowly from the other end of the street, splashing through the puddles.

He stopped steadily in front of the god and took out a data screen.

"Wishless One, for violating Dawn City Management Regulations, Articles 3, 500, and 738... you are now under arrest. Please cooperate."

"Given that you terminated the invasion of your own accord, your sentencing will be handled with leniency. Further penalties will be determined based on the damages sustained by Dawn City..."

"Do you accept these terms?"

"I do." The god nodded in reply.

"If you accept, sign here."

As if performing a routine task, the young man handed the data screen to the god.

"Now, please come with me."

He picked up a cuff and snapped it directly onto the god’s wrist.

But he stopped after just two steps and turned to look at Olive.

"You’ll need to go back and wait. After we’ve passed judgment, we’ll return the Wishless One to the Sea of Creation. You can give its authority back to it then."

"You humans knew it was from the Sea of Creation?" Little Elf asked in surprise.

"Of course. But our intelligence sources are classified. I hope you understand."

"Understood."

As if he had just nonchalantly handled a routine matter, the young man led the god away.

"It’s like they’ve done this a hundred times. They’re so practiced," Little Elf said admiringly, watching the young man’s back.

"It seems Dawn City never lets its guard down. Truly a city worthy of suppressing the Abyss," Mo Ling remarked with a sigh.

"Let’s go back."

"Okay."

...

Olive followed the river to the waterfall that plunged into the Abyss and leaped down into the cascade.

No longer fighting the current, Olive’s journey was much easier.

Soon, Olive was back in the Sea of Creation.

For Mo Ling, the trip to Dawn City felt like a surreal dream.

"Did we really just go to Dawn City?" Mo Ling said, finding it hard to believe.

"Of course! And we resolved a crisis," Little Elf said, still a little excited.

But its excitement soon faded into dejection.

"Looks like I’ll have to keep playing god for a while, at least until the Wishless One returns."

"No, wait. I can’t call it ’the Wishless One’ anymore. It found its own wish and even fulfilled it. I just wonder when I’ll find mine."

"Don’t rush. You’ll find it," Mo Ling said comfortingly. "After all, it broke your people’s curse. You’ll find your wish eventually."

"Yeah," Little Elf responded softly.

On the empty rock, only a single lonely figure remained. Mo Ling’s form was superimposed on Little Elf’s, and they both stared down at the puddle below, each lost in their own thoughts.

"Do you think... if it had been like the others and never sought a wish, would our people’s fate still have been broken?"

"Probably not, I guess?"

"I don’t think so, either. I was just thinking, if I had gone through that same despair, what would I have chosen to do," Little Elf said, sounding puzzled.

"I can actually understand the Slothful Ones and the Joyful Ones. The price you pay in the Abyss is unavoidable. To have a power as great as granting wishes, there’s bound to be a price."

"I probably wouldn’t try to get rid of that price either. I’d choose to run from it."

Little Elf’s gaze focused on the puddle, where the images of devout Seekers of the Divine appeared.

"I never imagined the price for granting wishes would fall on us, while the creatures whose wishes we grant bear no cost at all."

"No wonder it felt so unfair."

"Mortals pray, and their god grants their wishes. They don’t have to give anything; they just have to ask to receive everything. Yet the god, high and mighty, can never have a wish of its own."

"But these mortals are like ants. Their lives are fleeting, trapped by a cacophony of desires. Life is short, and in the end, they are nothing but a pile of dry bones."

"The god, however, exists for eternity. It enjoys endless eons, free from the worries of aging, sickness, death, and betrayal. It need only watch in quiet freedom."

"In the Abyss, who is truly gaining, and who is truly losing?"

"God and mortal alike are merely trapped in different cages, each with their own struggles, all pursuing something that doesn’t exist—transcendence."