Chapter 1 Before the Ruins

Before the charred, crystallized remains of the high tower, another part of Hilder's soul stood quietly. This vague shadow was expressionless, and showed no reaction to the approach of others. Hao Ren waved his hand in front of her, finding that she didn't seem to see him.

This wisp of remnant soul was so weak that it had lost even the ability to think. Now, she was like a static holographic projection. Although she had manifested with the reinforcement of Raven 12345's power, she couldn't react to any external stimuli.

"So, what now?" Vivian looked back at the medical pod containing Hilder's body, finding that nothing was happening. "Do we just wait like this?"

"We should just wait," Hao Ren said, looking at the still-closed medical pod. "Raven said that as long as Hilder's soul fragments get close enough, the divine power 'seed' she left behind will take care of the rest."

So, the group settled down to wait quietly. But Vimm didn't know how capable Raven 12345 was. He looked at the familiar phantom with a worried and complex expression. "I never thought something like this would happen to Mother... Will she really come back to life?"

In this situation, Hao Ren had no choice but to uphold Raven 12345's image. "Don't worry, the Raven we mentioned is a powerful god. Even if she only left a tiny bit of her aura on your mother, she can save her."

Vivian and Izhaks chimed in to reassure Vimm. After repeated persuasion, the anxiety in the elf's heart finally subsided a little, and he began to calm down and wait for the results like the others.

The next ten minutes were long and agonizing, feeling like a millennium to Vimm. But finally, the wait was not in vain: under the influence of some mysterious force, Hilder's lost remnant soul seemed to finally be filled with vitality. The dim shadow standing before the ruins brightened and solidified at a speed visible to the naked eye, changing from blurry to clear. She shook her head in confusion, as if waking from a long dream, then turned to Hao Ren.

The faintly glowing remnant soul looked at the strangers in confusion, seemingly not understanding her current situation: she was the part of Hilder left in her homeland, so she had no idea what her body and part of her obsession had experienced in another world. At the same time, she was greatly puzzled by her surroundings. This part of her soul's memory was still stuck at the time of the space-time accelerator explosion, and she didn't know why she was standing in this strange place. But the remnant soul's confusion didn't last long. When she recovered enough to accept the next fusion, the power left behind by Raven 12345 suddenly erupted, directly sucking this part of the soul fragment into the medical pod.

The data terminal immediately reminded the others, "Consciousness is starting to awaken! Get her back to the ship quickly!"

Hearing this, Hao Ren didn't dare delay. He immediately turned around and led the team back, pushing the medical pod from behind because he thought its flying speed was too slow. If he wasn't worried about Hilder getting hurt, he would have wanted Izhaks to cast a few Fireballs behind the medical pod as well. Finally, the group successfully brought the equipment back to the shuttle, and ultimately returned to the medical area of the Giant Tortoise Rock Terrace.

After reconnecting the medical pod to the medical area's system, Hilder's soul fusion entered its final stage. Everything seemed to be going smoothly. The system detected that Hilder's consciousness was gradually returning, and the various abnormalities in her soul were recovering at an astonishing rate. Finally, under the expectant and uneasy gazes of everyone, the silver-white pod cover slowly opened. The Elf Queen, who had walked through the gates of hell—or rather, had been loitering at the gates of hell for more than a month—slowly opened her eyes: this time, she was "truly" alive.

"You..." Hilder looked at the circle of people around her strangely. "Why are you all looking at me like that?"

Before Hao Ren could say anything, Vimm couldn't help but pounce on her. "Mother! It's so good that you're safe..."

"Wait, wait, what's wrong with you all of a sudden... What's going on!" Hilder subconsciously pushed Vimm away, but then she seemed to realize something. "Wait a minute... It feels like a lot of things have suddenly been added to my head... I think I just went to a... Did something happen to me?"

"Something big," Hao Ren finally found a chance to speak, relaxing and spreading his hands with a chuckle. "You almost scared us to death—but you really did die once."

A dozen minutes later, Hao Ren and the others explained the situation to her in a flurry of words. Hilder was dumbfounded by it all. As the person involved, she couldn't believe that such a thing had happened to her. "Are you serious? I... died once just now?"

"Strictly speaking, you started dying more than a month ago, died completely after a whole month, and then were saved by a god before you'd even been dead for two hours..."

Vivian stomped on Hao Ren's foot, her voice tight with gritted teeth. "If you can't talk properly, then don't say anything! There's no saving that mouth of yours!"

Hao Ren grimaced and hopped on the spot. "I'm just a little excited because I suddenly relaxed, okay?! The person involved doesn't even mind!"

Hilder looked at the chaotic scene before her, and at Vimm standing next to her with a complex expression, wanting to speak but holding back due to his mother's authority, forcing himself to maintain a serious face. She finally slowly accepted the facts. She jumped out of the medical pod as casually as if nothing had happened. "It seems that there are still too many things in this world that we don't understand. The path of knowledge is endless—Vimm, don't look so mournful. You are going to inherit the throne."

Then, she smiled with a subtle expression. "This is indeed a rare experience. Obsession... I didn't realize I had this kind of power. I should thank that goddess, or I would have missed Aerym's greatest moment... Uh, Lily, what's wrong?"

Lily had been staring at Hilder with wide eyes since just now, her expression a mixture of shock and disbelief. At this moment, she finally pointed at the medical pod and stammered a reminder. "Hilder... don't you think you left something behind?"

"What ki..." Hilder turned back in confusion, and the others followed her gaze. In the next second, the entire room fell silent.

Hao Ren held it in for a few minutes before finally blurting out two words. "Holy crap!"

Hilder's body was still lying quietly in the medical pod.

"What's going on?!" Vimm exclaimed in shock. At the same time, Hao Ren quickly noticed that something was slightly wrong with the Hilder standing outside the medical pod: she seemed to be surrounded by a faint glow, and there was an imperceptible but definitely existing etherealness about her. Although her "body" looked solid, a closer look would reveal that the outline of this body had faint signs of translucence.

"This is... a spirit body?" Hilder was also surprised by her situation, but as the person involved, she was calmer than the others. The first thing she did was to confirm what was different about her current state, but she found that there was no impact at all: she easily picked up the things beside her, without passing through them like a ghost in legends. She also touched Vivian's hand to confirm that she still had body temperature.

Hilder looked normal in every way—except that her body was still lying in the medical pod.

Without a word, Hao Ren quickly contacted Raven 12345. Unsurprisingly, the goddess was waiting online, probably waiting for the results of Hilder's resurrection. Hao Ren had barely dialed the number when he heard her loud voice. "Yo, Hao Ren, how's it going? Is my v2.0 limited-edition customized carnival automatic resurrection toolkit working?"

"Limited edition my ass!" Hao Ren's retort almost made Raven 12345 choke. "Hilder did wake up, but her soul ran out and became its own entity!"

"Huh?"

Hao Ren quickly explained the situation here, and also had the data terminal connect to video. Raven 12345 was silent for a few seconds, possibly organizing her words, or more likely temporarily making up a more suitable excuse, but in the end she said something useful. "Uh... unexpected situation. Looks like that elf is pretty compatible with my power, or maybe I left a little too much power on her... She's directly achieved spiritual apotheosis, and is now a living saint. Congratulations to the entire Aerym race, they now have an immortal guardian."

(My dad's retiring, and my parents are moving from my hometown to live with me. I need to get busy and prepare, so I'm taking a day off tomorrow. Uh, but considering my integrity... I might try to update a chapter.)