Page 276
Page 276
Ateliers pursed her lips, but hearing others refer to her and Latis as husband and wife eased her mood slightly. She thought for a moment, then used the vines to pick up the statue. As she walked towards the trade route outside the city, she said:
"Speak quickly if you have something to say, or I'll throw you back into the interdimensional rift right now."
"...Damn it, how did this little brat find such a fierce wife..."
The statue muttered something resentfully, then sighed and said:
"The thing is like this..."
……
It turns out that Emperor Powva, as a powerful figure a hundred years ago, did not cultivate any real power, but as a Titan, his harem was full of talented people. Therefore, on the eve of embarking on the "Path to Godhood" and preparing to leave this plane, he hastily left this statue to his son.
Unfortunately, this son had a passion for playing with beast girls from a young age, and his ambitions were shallow. His fantasies lacked any higher beings capable of producing a dual cultivation effect, making him completely incomplete.
Ultimately, he weakened his body and failed to advance to the legendary level in time, leading to his untimely death. He was so engrossed in training that he didn't even have time to study the statue before passing away, and the statue ended up in the hands of Emperor Pawa's grandson.
Because the grandson grew up surrounded by beast girls, seeing a bunch of frightening Fury mothers and fathers whose faces seemed to be on the verge of sudden death every day, he developed trypophobia. When he was alone, he would often torture himself with three philosophical questions.
Because his father had a very narrow range of potential partners, he received very limited education from childhood. After coming into contact with human city-states, he felt like a savage. Although he possessed an ancestral ox, he dared not show off his strengths. His inferiority complex made him subconsciously stay away from people.
He made up his mind that he could no longer live like this, so when he was a little older, he left his parents and joined the King's expeditionary force of the Kingdom of Norard, and was stationed in Dragonhorn Territory with the pioneering team.
Since most of Fury's mothers relied on the power of their bloodline to survive, he was very unfamiliar with the concept of magic. Without the blessing of the Holy Grail within him, his physical strength was also mediocre, and he did not continue the glory of the Titans.
When his father passed away, he only went over to grab a few of his belongings and then ran away. He couldn't help it; the sight of those Fu Rui mothers would trigger his PTSD, making his brain feel like it was being brainwashed.
Time passed, and this grandson married an ordinary, fair-skinned woman from the pioneering team. Although she looked more like a man, this just so happened to be a double negative for his female PTSD, and so the grandson lived a very enjoyable life afterward.
However, this period of good fortune did not last long. Many years after Latis was born, he suffered persecution because of his Titan bloodline. This bloodline had long lost its original glory in its impoverished circumstances, so this family was not successfully protected by their ancestors.
Emperor Pova, being outside the boundary, could only occasionally observe his descendants using special tools, and this observation only provided some vague information in the short term. He thought that his lineage in this plane was about to end here, but he did not expect that just by being in a daze for a while, the situation of the Titan bloodline would undergo a tremendous change.
That great-grandson, who had accomplished nothing for twenty-one years, suddenly rose from the brink of despair in a shocking way. Not only did he become a powerful mage in just a few months, but he also managed to seduce so many girls at a speed that even Emperor Pawa would be ashamed of. Emperor Pawa, who had only had time to observe two or three times, could not understand this at all, but he finally rekindled his hope for this generation of descendants.
However, upon hearing that Latis was extremely restrained towards the girls, Emperor Pova was extremely anxious. Why would someone delay training them? Moreover, he had heard from the observation tools that Latis had seduced a giant dragon. This was simply a chosen Titan. Even Emperor Pova had almost been gored by the three-headed dragon's internal barbs when he tried to conquer the mother dragon.
In short, returning to the current situation, the conditions for activating the statue left by Emperor Pawa are neither too difficult nor too simple. When his descendants are physically strong enough, the statue will resonate with their bodies in a mysterious way. When the descendants pray, the statue will briefly break through the barrier and communicate with Emperor Pawa.
In other words, when a descendant's body becomes strong enough, it will possess a "vibration frequency" that allows it to briefly break through the boundary. After using the statue as a transit point, it can communicate with Emperor Pawa. However, this will not last long, and the boundary will close on its own. When it breaks through again, the descendant's physical strength will have to break through to the next "vibration frequency".
According to the gradient set by Emperor Pawa, there is one opportunity to communicate after reaching the rank of high-level warrior and one after reaching the rank of legendary warrior. Below this rank, he needs to exert his power from outside the plane. As we all know, it takes a lot of effort to break through a wall from the outside...
As for Latis, although his warrior level was still only a mid-level fourth-tier warrior, with a series of enhancements, his physique was almost comparable to that of a sixth-tier warrior. Emperor Pova was very puzzled by this, but could only assume that his great-grandson was exceptionally talented...
……
"Well……"
Listening to the voice from the statue, Ateliers suddenly realized a very serious problem: this guy who called himself Emperor Pova seemed to really be Latis's great-grandfather!
"Wait, wait... then what just happened was..."
She felt her palms instantly sweat with embarrassment. Thinking about how this guy had just called her "great-grandma," her expression immediately became tense.
"Why is this Emperor Phowa so unserious?! Ahh... Brother, brother, come quick! What am I supposed to say next?!"
Artemis took a deep breath, subconsciously touching her pointed ears. The cool touch of the gloves invigorated her. She glanced at the sky, composed herself, and calmly asked:
"Okay, I understand. I know about my brother's background now, and I will take good care of him..."
"Oh, of course I know. 'Little Brat Spyglass' just gave me the latest information. You're really something, but that's not what I wanted to talk about..."
"'Little brat's spyglass'?" Atelier looked up at the sky, blinked hard, sighed deeply, and asked:
"So what are you trying to say?"
“Tsk, actually I should have told him this directly…” Emperor Powa hesitated for a moment, then continued:
"But it's only right that I tell you, after all, you're the woman who can keep him in check... Sigh, time's running out, so I'll just give you a brief explanation..."
"……Eh?"
As Artemis listened to Emperor Pova's explanation, she couldn't help but slowly widen her eyes, and read aloud with mixed feelings:
"Activate bloodlines... the Holy Grail?... requires ten recipients?"
……
……
As dusk approached, Ateliers rode on the back of the "Dragon Horned Wild Wolf," which she controlled using "Dominate the Beast," her mind still echoing with the words of Emperor Pova asking her to help activate the Latis bloodline.
"Does the eldest brother need ten girls in total...?"
A pang of sadness welled up in her heart. Although she hoped that someone could grow old with Latis in her place, she still longed for complete love. This was not an incomprehensible emotion. Even though she came from the Elven race, who were relatively indifferent to emotions, she still yearned for a passionate love.
"It's really sad..."
Artemis gazed at the setting sun on the horizon. In the western region of the Atlantic continent, without the floating islands that once stretched across the center of the continent, the sunset was finally able to display its full glory.
Therefore, since she left Herod City, she has watched the sunset far more often than she has waited for the sunrise. After Herod began to crumble, she never again looked towards the sunrise over the eastern part of the continent from the direction of the floating island.
"Ugh."
The half-elf stretched out his hand, and as his palm gently opened and closed, a rose appeared in his palm.
She raised the rose, and on the slightly bumpy wolf's back, she reached out and placed the bright red rose against the outline of the setting sun. In the shadows of the backlight, the rose in her hand appeared particularly dark.
"Flowers bloom in the morning and wither in the evening, the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. Both of these cycles are endless, yet they exist forever. The fall of Herod City seems to have been only a fleeting moment, but in my short life, its fall has occupied most of my time."
Artemis slowly exhaled. Although elves are a race with long lifespans, for her, a twenty-nine-year-old elf, that long lifespan had not yet truly entered her senses.
Therefore, she always thought that she would not easily develop those fighting thoughts because of her long lifespan, but now she still had to admit that she was still just a young elf, or, in Latis's words, she was still just a two-year-old child in the lifespan scale of elves.
"Humph."
After sorting out her thoughts, the half-elf couldn't help but snort. She had to admit that she still had a lot of possessiveness in her heart. However, if she were to treat those girls with the mindset of an elf, it would seem a bit like bullying them.
"It's all my brother's fault... making me so attached." A smile appeared on her lips, but she quickly suppressed it. The setting sun shone on her, and she pondered with some distress how she should face Titan's other lovers. Suddenly, a sentence came to her mind.
"If my elder brother dies, I do not wish to live alone."
She murmured softly, and for some reason, as she spoke those words, the afterglow of the setting sun seemed to dim a little, while the rose in her hand seemed to brighten a little.
If that were the case, she would no longer need to worry about the difference in lifespan. This realization made her eyes light up instantly, because it meant that she would no longer need to force herself to give up the love she deserved, and could directly face the other girls who might appear in Latis's life in the future.
Artemis blinked, put away the rose in her hand, and felt a great sense of relief.
"Miss Kurosawa, Little Robin, and Miss Serfal are already part of the Mage's Territory. If they don't leave in the future, it would be good for them to stay by Big Brother's side. And Miss Jennifer Hines... she seems to have developed a strange understanding with me, I don't know what she's thinking..."
She began to think about how to gather the activation conditions for the Titan bloodline for Latis. However, she still set a requirement in her heart: the girls who would join in the future must first be able to be considered a family before they could come to Latis's side.
In short, achieving those conditions is still a long way off...
Artemis breathed a sigh of relief. Handling these relationships properly was still a bit difficult for a little elf who had just made up her mind. It would be best if she could have time to think about these things properly.
"However, there's still a problem."
She scratched her head, gazing at the gradually emerging outline of Golden City at the end of the distant trade route. She adjusted her hood, circulated her magic to ensure she was in good condition, and then pondered seriously:
What exactly did King Phowa mean by "education through labor"?
Chapter 281 Special Edition: Homecoming Festival, New Year, and Lover
On the continent of Atlantis, there is no clear system of time measurement. Although the Elven race once divided the year into twelve months according to the waxing and waning of the silver moon, for ordinary people, who are busy with work for a long time, it seems that they have no time to calculate what month it is. They can only roughly record spring, summer, autumn and winter as a year.
Even under the protection of magic, autumn and winter are still unbearably cold. During this long season, the continent of Atlantis, regardless of the country or region, becomes increasingly silent.
Of course, except for the elves of Herod City.
"Arte, the Homecoming Festival is about to begin, are you still not going this year?"
The shouts from under the tree woke up eight-year-old Artemis. She opened her eyes, peeked out from the wide bend of the tree, looked down at the adult female elf, blinked, and then shook her head.
"Sigh, I'm really fed up with you. Herod City is rarely lively, but you never come. And King Herod doesn't even say anything to you."
The female elf sighed helplessly, raised her lute and shook it, saying:
"I'm joining the singing and prayer group today! Although I've only been traveling in human society for half a year, I've already met many interesting new friends and heard many amazing stories. Don't you want to come and listen?"
Little Artemis tilted her head, a thoughtful expression on her face. After a dozen seconds, she smiled faintly and shook her head.
"Hmph! Ahhh!" The female elf swept the strings a few times with her backhand, shouted wildly, tossed her hair in a very rock-and-roll manner, stuck her tongue out at Ateliers, picked up her lute and walked away.
Little Artemis opened her eyes slightly, looked up at the sun high in the sky, yawned, sat back down in the crook of the tree, and looked outwards again at the vast earth.
Located at the highest point of the floating island, Herod City offers an excellent view. On the tree at the very edge, Little Arte often stays for a long time, gazing at the scenery below.
"There are plenty of tourists all year round, and it's even more crowded around the time of the homecoming festival. Why do the adults say it's a rare treat to have such a lively atmosphere?"
Listening to the songs rising and falling from the city, her pointed ears drooped in distress. Then she pulled a fluffy "elf ferret" from the branches, buried her head in its fur, and covered her ears.
……
When I woke up again, it was already dark.
Little Art rubbed her eyes and sat up, letting the "elf ferret" dart away. She yawned, stood up in the dim branches, and prepared to begin her nocturnal life as a very naughty little elf.
Suddenly, she noticed that the city was brightly lit, and the elven songs and noisy conversations of tourists that had been going on during the day had somehow turned into a harmonious chorus, accompanied by dancing shadows and rhythmic footsteps, sounding like some kind of party.
Little Arte had seen this scene in previous years, but she never paid any attention to it. This time, she originally planned to dig up twenty lucky rabbits as before and randomly select some residents to give the lucky rabbits as gifts to their homes. But just as she was about to jump down from the big tree, the words of the female elf from the daytime suddenly appeared in her mind.
"Is it unusual...to be so lively?"
She thought for a moment, not quite understanding what it meant, so she simply stretched out her slender arms, grabbed the edge of the tree canopy, and with a slight push of her smooth, soft legs, flipped to the ground. After straightening her silk trousers, she ran towards the city.
Before long, Little Arte had reached the vicinity of the city wall. Instead of cutting into the crowd of tourists who had already squeezed to the city gate, she took off her boots, hung them on her waist with a vine, and then climbed barefoot up the thickest and tallest tree next to the city wall—even for her, before she had reached the level of learning "flying," it would have taken a lot of effort to climb up.
After climbing seven or eight meters, before the scene inside the city even came into view, the chorus suddenly became clear for some reason. Little Ate clung to the thick tree trunk that she couldn't wrap her arms around at all, her ears twitched, and she glanced in the direction of the city.
"Everyone sang terribly..."
After making a very impolite mental remark, she coughed lightly, but unconsciously quickened her pace.
Half a minute later, Little Arte climbed up a tree branch more than 30 meters high. She wanted to climb to the top of the tree crown, but there seemed to be a pair of adult elves up there. Moreover, for a little elf like her, without the help of magic to enhance her eyesight, she could not see the situation inside the city even when she reached the top of the tree, which was 70 or 80 meters high.
She used the branches to her advantage, walked lightly to the end, squatted down, and looked at the crowded scene in Herod City.
It was the transition between autumn and winter, and the icy chill condensed into white mist in the air, which turned into black mist as darkness fell. This black mist reflected the firelight of the bonfire in the center of the city, blurring Little Ate's vision. She looked at the fire, subconsciously rubbed her hands together, and breathed on her palms.
Elves are not usually afraid of the cold. The magic in their blood forms a structure similar to tree bark, much like frost-resistant plants, which greatly prevents the loss of body heat.
But for some reason, upon seeing that fiery scene, Little Arte suddenly felt a chill on her bare arms and calves. She took a breath and wrapped her long silver hair around herself.
"Hey—whoosh!"
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