TGS - Chapter 136
Chapter 136: The Transparent Kiss
The outcome was decided, so Suojia didn't continue her attack.
Lotus also withdrew her divine power. Wisps of cloud drifted away from her, and the water fell back into the riverbed, flowing quietly along its designated course.
Suojia still stood not far away, her gaze soft and concerned, almost like a true elder or mother.
"When you appeared, it was during a chaotic divine war. Human territories were constantly changing and difficult to ascertain. Even looking back in the temples after the war ended, it's impossible to see more."
"So, this is all I know."
Lotus: "Then... is there a more detailed account?"
"For that, you'd have to look at human myths. They might not be entirely true, perhaps filled with imagination and exaggeration, but—"
The core is always based on what humans witnessed. In an age before paper, written on blades of grass and carved on stone walls, those orally transmitted poems were the heartfelt fantasies of eyewitnesses—fantasies that were not entirely flights of fancy.
She made black clouds press down, rain like a waterfall, She made the river hang suspended, drowning the enemy's host, Behold that torrent, look up at the wrath of a god, Drive the foreign tribes beyond the mountains, Drive the foreign tribes beyond the forests, Goddess of the Yilu River, incarnation of the world's pure waters, Let her name be forever engraved on the temple's white stone, Let her brilliance shine from the eyes of her statue.
Suojia said no more on the topic, simply nodding at Lotus and saying plainly:
"Your use of divine power is even better than I imagined. Rest for a while and review the battle just now. Your next opponent is Anmila."
Lotus remained quietly where she was, the poem from Solancian myth and legend echoing in her mind. If it was based on truth...
"Lotus?"
Alyuin's soft, slightly uncertain call sounded by her ear.
Floating in her spirit form, Lotus's eyelashes trembled, and her thoughts returned to the present.
The princess beside her was looking over discreetly, her fingers tightening on her waterskin, betraying a faint trace of tension.
For a day, the cavalry army led by the princess had been galloping northwest, wishing they could sprout wings and fly to the border defenses.
But even on a forced march, rest stops were essential. Otherwise, the horses would collapse from exhaustion before they even arrived.
Right now, the group was taking a break. Alyuin was separated from the others by a small open space, appearing to be lost in thought while drinking water alone.
No one would notice that her slightly moving lips were whispering to a goddess, or that the spirit form of a god lingered in the empty space before her.
Before, although their conversation had been sporadic, it had been flowing smoothly. But at some point, Lotus had suddenly stopped responding.
Surrounded by numerous cavalrymen, Alyuin couldn't see Lotus's spirit form. When the conversation came to an abrupt halt, the air around her seemed to fall into a sudden, empty silence.
It was as if Lotus had quietly departed at some unknown moment.
The void that had been growing for the past four years had not been filled even after the goddess's return; it had only been well-hidden.
And now it resurfaced, clutching her heart with uncontrollable panic.
Alyuin closed her eyes, calmly telling herself that the war involved the gods, so Lotus wouldn't leave at a time like this. But the moment she spoke, her breathy voice was slightly short, revealing her unease.
Fortunately, she heard a response.
"I'm here." Lotus paused. "My incarnation ran into a situation just now, but it's fine now."
Just a moment ago, Lotus had finished her sparring session with Suojia.
At the end of the fight, because of Suojia's unexpected offensive and even more unexpected words, Lotus had failed to react in time with her main body.
Although a god's consciousness could control both their main body and their incarnation simultaneously, when one side was completely focused and under high mental strain, the consciousness would temporarily neglect the other.
Similar to how the God of Wisdom would go offline when pondering a key point—of course, Lotus wasn't that extreme.
Hearing this, Alyuin let out an imperceptible sigh.
She immediately pulled herself together and asked with concern in a very soft, breathy voice, "What happened? Was it the gods from those two kingdoms—"
"No, the gods of the other two pantheons are still outside Solancia's borders. If they decide to cross into the country, I will know immediately."
"So, what happened just now?"
Faced with Alyuin's probing gaze, Lotus was a bit troubled. She almost fell back into her old habit of fobbing her off with some grand, lofty reason befitting Solancian mythology.
The words were on the tip of her tongue when she abruptly stopped.
Hadn't she already prepared herself to reveal the truth?
Besides, this wasn't something the princess couldn't know.
Lotus steeled herself mentally, and with a hint of trepidation she herself didn't notice, she sighed softly. "In preparation for the war, several of my colleagues... seniors came to practice the use of divine power with me. We reached a critical moment just now, which is why I couldn't respond in time."
Alyuin discreetly perked up her ears, her face clearly saying, "I want to hear more."
Lotus sighed again.
Having said this much, what harm was there in saying a little more?
"Compared to the other major gods, I awakened relatively late. You could say I'm younger and have less experience in combat using divine power, so I need to practice beforehand."
Alyuin: "In other words, you had a fight."
"...That's correct."
"Which major god was it?"
Lotus didn't answer immediately, because just then, her silver mermaid incarnation had taken a small sweet biscuit from the Goddess of the Earth. With the resigned, do-or-die attitude of someone who had lost a bet, she peeled off the gold foil wrapping the biscuit and ate it.
The cloyingly sweet taste stimulated the poor mermaid's tongue, transmitting the sensation to her consciousness. Even though her main body's taste buds weren't involved, a psychological effect made her feel a choking sweetness rise in her own throat.
Lotus coughed lightly without thinking, not forgetting to explain to Alyuin, "Suojia's biscuit."
Alyuin understood. A little bit of association was all it took to reach a conclusion: "Your opponent was the Goddess of the Earth?" And since she ate the biscuit, well, the outcome of the spar wasn't hard to guess.
Alyuin imagined Lotus's expression at that moment and couldn't help but smile. She then composed herself and raised her waterskin with a serious face.
"Would you like some water?"
Lotus hesitated for a moment.
She really shouldn't have hesitated. It was just a psychological sensation; she didn't actually need water to wash down the sweetness. And even if she did, couldn't the River Goddess provide for herself?
But as if drawn by something, Lotus replied, "Yes."
This response was probably unexpected for Alyuin. She subconsciously raised her eyes, said nothing, and simply held the waterskin half-raised, tilted at an appropriate angle.
Even to the cavalrymen not far away, the gesture wouldn't have looked out of place.
"...Can you drink water like this?"
"With a small adjustment, I can."
Indeed, it only required a simple adjustment. The spirit form's pale lips touched the mouth of the waterskin, and she took a small sip.
Perhaps it was some kind of illusion, but Lotus felt that the mouth of the waterskin was stained with a very faint crimson trace, yet Alyuin, on a military campaign, would never apply any balm to her lips.
This was undoubtedly an embarrassing illusion.
No, even just this act, with its ambiguous undertones, was inappropriate in itself, yet so alluring.
Lotus didn't know if she was showing any strange expression. She couldn't help but lower her gaze to look at Alyuin.
Then she realized that even if she was, it didn't matter. The other person couldn't see her at all.
The choking sweetness in her mouth and throat was long gone, replaced by something else that belatedly surged up.
Lotus closed her eyes and swallowed the clear water. The moment before she was about to pull away, Alyuin's other hand reached forward.
The princess truly couldn't see.
But that didn't stop her from reaching out, her fingertips brushing lightly in front of the waterskin.
Because of that small adjustment, Lotus was not a complete spirit form at that moment, so she felt the touch.
A supple warmth, the thin calluses on the pads of her fingers from years of practicing swordsmanship and archery.
A neatly trimmed nail brushed against her upper lip, perhaps incidentally touching the warm inner part. Lotus couldn't be sure; her senses were both sharp and hazy in that moment.
Sharp, in that she remembered every degree of warmth.
Hazy, in that she wasn't even sure if the fingertip had been dampened.
Alyuin withdrew her hand, murmuring, "So you really did only adjust a little."
Then she noticed the force on the other end of the waterskin withdraw. "Are you not drinking anymore?"
Lotus: "...No."
"Mm." Alyuin calmly screwed the cap back on and put away the waterskin, as if nothing had happened.
Lotus returned to her complete spirit form, took a deep breath inwardly, and helplessly chanted to herself:
She's still a child, she's still a child, she's still a child—
Alyuin teasing is just her being naive, but you can't tease back—
Being ambiguous before the future is certain is absolutely unacceptable!
However, no matter how many times she chanted this, seeing Alyuin's calm and composed appearance, the effect of this self-admonition was greatly diminished.
It's fine, she doesn't know.
With this thought in mind, Lotus leaned down slightly.
As she moved, her long silver hair slid forward over her shoulder, half-suspended, half-falling.
The color of Lotus's lips was already quite pale, and in her spirit form, they had a soft, almost transparent quality. She paused just before they would have touched the crimson lips, then leaned forward.
There was no contact, but rather a slight overlap, as if in a displaced spacetime.
A very light kiss that neither of them felt.
Lotus pulled back to her original position. A struggle and a dark shade flickered in the depths of her chalcedony-blue eyes, like the Yilu River during the high-water season—vivid, turbulent, deep, and somber.
Suddenly, she felt an inexplicable urge to confide.
About her lost memories, about being human and divine, about her confusion regarding the past.
In truth, saying these things wouldn't affect the grand scheme of things, and would actually suit her intentions.
That she was once human, perhaps psychologically closer to a human than a god—what better way to let Alyuin know that Lotus was not the omnipotent, true god she believed her to be?
But the very next second this thought emerged, Alyuin stood up and issued a command to the cavalry: "Continue the march."
Her next sentence was a whisper as light as a breeze: "Let's go, Lotus."
At the same moment, opposite the silver mermaid.
The Moon Goddess, Anmila, finally got her chance to spar. She too held a scepter, with a disk like obsidian as its base, the light of a crescent moon shining brightly at its tip.
"Shall we begin now?"
Anmila's expression was cold, but her tone was expectant. It was clear she was really itching for a divine fight.
It was hard to say whether she was disappointed she hadn't spoken, or secretly relieved.
The Goddess of the Yilu River straightened up, sweeping her silver hair back.
The silver mermaid stretched her long tail and adjusted her scepter.
"Let's go."
"Let's begin."
She said them both at once.
Get instant access to all the chapters now.
Comments
Post a Comment