TGS - Chapter 114
Chapter 114: Antidote
Alyuin stared at Tarsha without emotion until she confirmed that Tarsha had stopped breathing. Only then did her strength uncontrollably give way. Leaning on the longsword pinned to the ground, she slowly sat down.
The Luntelila snake… Not only was it infamous in Solancia, but even in later ages, when evaluated by scholars familiar with the world's creatures, it was undoubtedly the most venomous species, the snake whose poison took effect the fastest.
An ordinary person would be unable to stand within five minutes of being bitten. Alyuin, however, had forced herself to hold on until now through sheer will and her extraordinary physical constitution. But willpower was not an antidote; it could not determine anything more.
Her vision began to blur, her body temperature rose, and the wound burned. The strength in her entire body was draining away at an astonishing rate.
Even her eyelids felt incredibly heavy, engaged in a tug-of-war with her consciousness. They wanted to fall shut, and perhaps once they did, they would never open again.
But she was unwilling to accept it.
She had not yet made Horst kneel before the graves to atone for his sins, had not yet cut off his head.
She had not yet held a proper funeral for her parents, allowing their souls to return to the Kingdom of the Gods.
Most importantly—
Lotus.
Lotus, Lotus, Lotus.
Can I see you again?
The slender back as they parted just a short while ago, the stack of flower letters locked in a cabinet, the wavering gaze under the moonlit night.
Further back, on an ordinary afternoon, the pale white fingertips turning the pages of a book.
Even further back, in a box at the opera house in the City of the Sun God, a voice, as cool and detached from worldly emotions as ever, had said, "The love of a god? Perhaps it exists."
Time rewound, the gears turning in perfect alignment, fitting together seamlessly.
It was as if, in a fleeting moment, she saw many bubbles, each one containing something Alyuin could not let go of.
The last bubble approached. It was the very beginning, when the silver-haired goddess in her dream revealed her true form, her blue eyes peaceful and clear, and extended a hand to her.
In the blink of an eye, ten years had passed, yet the memory of that moment was still terrifyingly clear. Every detail was profound, as if she had truly returned to the past, watching alone from a third-person perspective.
She wondered if the flower letters would be found.
Probably not, she thought. They say a god's gaze is always upon you, but you couldn't see the blown kiss behind your back, couldn't see the flower letters I wrote in secret, couldn't see anything I hid from you.
Now I sit here, chanting your divine name, and you still can't see me.
…But that's fine too.
It's better if you can't see.
The poison pulled at her eyelids, dragging them down. Just as she was about to sink into the bubble, the sound of hurried footsteps—footsteps that had lost their usual light and elegant grace—rang out on the stone path.
The chalcedony-blue eyes from her dream seemed to cross the boundary of consciousness and arrive in reality.
“—Alyuin!”
Lotus sensed something was wrong as she was walking out of the temple's colonnaded gate.
A sudden palpitation, so brief it was almost an illusion. A small patch of skin just below her collarbone grew hot, as if a bead seared by candlelight had been pressed there and then quickly removed.
Lotus raised a hand to touch it and immediately made a connection. The look in her eyes changed instantly.
Once, when she existed in her divine form, she had worn a choker made of pure gold and gemstones. The central chalcedony bead had rested in that exact spot.
And now, that chalcedony bead had been given to the Princess as part of an amulet.
The vague, uncertain worry she'd felt before seemed to have become reality.
Had something happened to Alyuin?
By the time Lotus realized it, she had already transformed into her spiritual form and was speeding toward the noble's residence the Princess had mentioned.
If there had been a river or waterway in Senna City heading in the right direction, Lotus would have immediately turned into a white fish and used the current to travel. For the Goddess of the Yilu River, that was the fastest way. Unfortunately, there was none.
Along the way, Lotus kept guessing what could have happened. It wasn't that Alyuin had never faced danger before, but this was the first time a sensation had been transmitted through the chalcedony bead.
On the world history shelf in the library, the black and white text in a thick book described it.
"We do not know how the ancient Solancian princess confronted and fought against her cousin, but as is well known, a cup of poisoned wine caused the battle-hardened princess to fall at the final step of her pursuit of the throne, causing her vast power to crumble and disintegrate."
That memory, almost forgotten, belonging to a distant other world, leaped out at an inopportune moment.
Could it be… No.
Lotus dared not think further.
Alyuin was so cautious, and there was no strange poisonous incense in Senna City. It was impossible, it shouldn't be. They had been apart for less than an afternoon…
Finally, passing through the gates of the noble's residence, Lotus's gaze first fell upon the familiar figure. Then, the full scene came into view.
Lotus's heart skipped a beat. Her mind went blank for a moment, and she unconsciously materialized back into her human form, her feet making a rapid patter on the stone path.
“Alyuin!”
Lotus ran over and half-knelt beside the Princess. She raised a hand to check her pulse, and at the same time, her eyes caught the snakebite marks on Alyuin's shoulder. Her pupils contracted instantly.
Her gaze swept over the venomous snake pinned by the neck with the longsword, and she partially reconstructed the preceding events in her mind.
For a moment, the hand supporting Alyuin's back trembled slightly, as if she had lost her usual calm and composure.
But this was no time to lose her head.
Lotus closed her eyes, then gently and quickly helped the Princess lie down, her head resting on her lap. She turned her slightly to the side, exposing the bitten shoulder.
Her ebony-black hair slid down lifelessly. Alyuin seemed to have completely lost consciousness, showing no reaction.
“You'll be alright.”
Lotus said in a low voice, it was unclear whether she was telling the Princess or reassuring herself.
The pads of her fingers pressed against Alyuin's wound. The River Goddess took a deep breath, and a transparent, water-like divine power flowed from her fingertips.
Unlike the rippling water curtain she usually used, this power took the form of fine, soft threads. It gently and swiftly seeped into the wound and began to separate the venom from the blood.
In ancient Solancian mythology, Lotus was not only the personification of the Yilu River but also ruled over all natural waters of the world and was the god who shaped the blood of living beings. Such a procedure should have been effortless.
But in the next second, Lotus's fingertips stiffened.
A sharp pain suddenly erupted in her temple. Her heart—or rather, the location of her divine core—felt as if it were being clamped by a vise, creating the illusion of being unable to breathe.
—It was the restriction placed on gods in the mortal realm.
At the banquet in the Kingdom of the Gods, Nierde, the God of Wisdom, had stated in an unquestionable tone: "You cannot take a life, nor can you save one. This is the line concerning life and death."
But the Goddess of Love had also said with a smile, "It's alright. Even if you touch the rule, as long as you don't continue to use your divine power, it will only hurt a little at most."
The rule did not directly interrupt the use of divine power, it merely used pain to stop it.
As long as you don't continue to use your divine power…
What if one insisted on continuing? What if one refused to stop until the goal was achieved?
Neither the God of Wisdom nor the Goddess of Love had mentioned it. Perhaps no god had ever tried.
Lotus took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, her frost-blue eyes filled with firm resolve.
She held her breath and focused, increasing the output of her divine power to stabilize the process that had nearly been interrupted by the sudden pain.
As if sensing Lotus's refusal to stop, the pain and dizziness suddenly intensified, multiplying tenfold, a hundredfold.
In her body, in her consciousness, it exploded like a firework.
“Ngh…” A muffled groan escaped Lotus's throat.
Her hands began to tremble uncontrollably, followed by her whole body. The hand that had been holding Alyuin's shoulder and back tightened unconsciously. Realizing this, she immediately relaxed it, instead curling her fingers and digging her nails into her palm to distract from the pain.
Despite this, her control over her divine power remained stable, firm, and meticulous.
Time ticked by. With every passing second, the pain and dizziness compounded at a terrifying rate, as if determined to make Lotus give up.
Double vision and bizarre patches of light and color appeared before her eyes. A chaotic, meaningless static filled her mind, a distorted sound with a built-in stereo echo—an intangible pressure and guidance.
It seemed to be saying: Forget it. Give up. It's not necessary.
She's just a human. You cannot save her life. It is 【Destiny】 that she ends here—
“Impossible.”
Lotus replied silently, biting her tongue. The strange, metallic taste of blood spread in her mouth.
If a god couldn't even save the most important person, the one they spent every day with, could they still be called a god?
They would be less than the stone statues carved by humans in the temples.
【Destiny】 decides?
Unless 【Destiny】 directly severed her divine power and changed her mind, as long as she had even a sliver of consciousness, Lotus would not stop.
I want Alyuin to live…
—As long as she lives!
All of Lotus's will was focused on two things: resisting the interference and controlling her divine power.
Separating the venom from the blood was a delicate operation that didn't actually require much power. Because the goddess had no attention to spare, her excess, immense divine power unconsciously radiated outwards, forming a chaotic yet gentle god power field around them.
At the same time, the power maintaining her altered appearance could no longer be sustained.
Her black hair lengthened and spread across the ground, its ends gradually fading into a soft, pure silver-white. At this moment, Lotus had completely reverted to her true divine appearance, identical to the face of the statue in Kadera.
But she paid this no mind. There was no room for extraneous thoughts as she focused all her effort on forcing the ink-black snake venom out of Alyuin's wound.
Therefore, Lotus also failed to notice the slight twitch of the Princess's fingers, or her fluttering eyelashes.
Alyuin's eyes fluttered half-open, her golden irises hazy and indistinct, as if veiled by a thin mist.
And indeed, she was not fully conscious.
The world before her was shaking, seen through a filter like a gray veil, where light and shadow shifted bizarrely.
Only the silver-haired goddess was close at hand, just as she was when they first met. Ten years had passed, and while she had grown into her current self, Lotus hadn't changed at all.
Alyuin felt her consciousness was clear, but in reality, she thought illogically, This is probably a dream.
A paradise her subconscious had created before the final moment arrived, a self-deception to weave a bit of fulfillment.
If that's the case—
Alyuin pushed herself up on her elbows. With her other hand, she cupped the back of the goddess's neck and pulled her down. Then, she tilted her head, parted her lips, and captured the pale crimson petal that stood out amidst the frost and snow.
A gentle and lingering kiss.
She pressed against her piously, nuzzling with longing. She wasn't satisfied with just this; she wanted to be closer.
The tip of her tongue forced open the seam of her lips, tasting the goddess's own sweet breath, and an unmistakable scent of blood.
Blood?
Alyuin's movements paused. She held the position for a moment before pulling back slightly, her brilliant golden eyes reflecting Lotus's face.
Just then, wisps of snake venom left the wound, coalescing into a small black ball that fell to the ground.
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