Arcanum: Chaos Path

Chapter 347 The Night Reminds Me of the Past

Rowling nodded and said, "Of course, otherwise I wouldn't have placed the bet."

"That's good, that's enough. I... I don't know what the Night is thinking. Perhaps He sees my characteristics as His possessions, but at least they still belong to me now."

Antigonus stared directly into Rolin's eyes with his enormous wolf eyes and said, "I don't know what kind of deal you have with the night, but I want to represent myself and place this bet, using my remaining Mystic Servant traits and the Fool's Uniqueness."

"I ask for nothing in return, only one thing," the demon wolf said, his eyes seemingly burning with fire, "Never, never let the Celestial Venerable return."

Everything He had was destroyed by the Celestials. Antigonus had no ability to take revenge, so He could only risk everything He had to cut off the possibility of His enemy's resurrection.

Roland gazed at Him, then suddenly smiled and said, "You're more interesting than I imagined, little devil wolf. I like you even more now."

He suddenly reached out and rubbed the demon wolf's head, saying, "However, I accept this deal. I guarantee that the Heavenly Venerable will never return."

Antigonus suddenly felt at ease. He wasn't sure if Mr. Men or the little soothsayer Amon mentioned could really suppress the Celestial, but he believed that the man before him could truly prevent the Celestial from returning.

“Oh, right…” Roland suddenly remembered something, looked at Antigonus, and said, “Do you want to save your sister?”

Antigonus suddenly raised his head, his eyes shining terrifyingly bright at that moment.

For Antigonus, now that the Kingdom of Night has been destroyed, the only person he can still care about is his sister.

"Where is my sister? Is she alright?" Antigonus asked urgently, for he was so worried about news of his only remaining relative.

“From what I understand, it’s not good.” Roland shook his head and said slowly, “Your sister is still alive, but she was made into a vessel for divine descent by the night and can only fall into eternal slumber. Her current name is Sealed Object 0-17, also known as the Hidden Angel.”

Antigonus opened his mouth, but perhaps due to the overwhelming emotions, he didn't utter a sound for a moment.

After a long silence, Antigonus finally managed to squeeze out a single sentence through gritted teeth: "...Night!"

He then took a deep breath, looked at Roland, and asked bluntly, "What do I need to give in return?"

"Work hard for me?" Roland smiled, looked at Antigonus, and said, "I am a very conscientious boss. As long as my employees work hard for me, I don't mind giving them some rewards."

As for how to get the Mother of the Sky back from the Goddess of Night, that was never a problem for Rolin—since the Goddess of Night had given up Antigonus, she naturally couldn't hold onto the Mother of the Sky any longer; it was simply a matter of making another deal.

Rowling doesn't mind putting in extra effort for the pets she likes.

Hearing Rolin's words, Antigonus breathed a sigh of relief, then thought of something and said, "My sister is more capable than me. Although she is not as strong as me, He used to manage the Kingdom of Night. After my sister is rescued, she will definitely become a good subordinate of the Lord."

“You and your sister seem to have a really good relationship.” Roland glanced at Antigonus upon hearing this, and he could tell that the other was adding fuel to the fire by saying this. “…My sister has been with me for many years.” Antigonus did not deny it. He lowered his eyes, feeling a mix of nostalgia and sadness.

After his father, the Destroyer Wolf, perished, Antigonus lived with his sister, the Heavenly Mother. Together they endured the most difficult Second Age, hid in the Third Age, and finally ushered in the most beautiful Fourth Age, only to have everything come to an abrupt end.

“You look like you’re about to cry.” Rolin commented, looking at His dejected appearance. Then he smiled and said, “Are you going to beat up Zarathustra? If you’re going to, then do it quickly. After that, we’ll go see Night and talk about how to redeem your sister.”

The wolf, who had just been feeling down, instantly perked up. If this were a two-dimensional world, it would probably be surrounded by falling flowers.

A few minutes later, the once bustling town of Misty Clouds fell silent again. Only Chara was hanging from the roof like a piece of dried meat. He had not been turned into a puppet; on the contrary, his consciousness was still clear. He was just unable to break free from the restraints on his body and could only hang there in vain. Judging from the appearance, no one would let him down, so he would probably have to hang there for many, many years.

Zarathustra: ...

So why am I the one who got hurt?

……

“Although I had some suspicions before, I must say, you always manage to surprise me, Lucifer.”

Within the realm of the Night Goddess, facing Rolin's second visit and his accessory, the Night Goddess's expression wasn't too surprised, but still somewhat sentimental. Her gaze fell upon Antigonus, who was crouching behind Rolin in the form of a demonic wolf, seemingly using the former as a backer, yet deep in his eyes there was also fear.

The goddess of night suddenly smiled. She recalled many years ago, during the Second Age, when Antigonus was not yet accustomed to acting in human form and thus maintained the form of a wolf. Back then, Antigonus was just as obedient in the face of the wolf of destruction, but that was not because he was a good child of some father, but purely out of fear.

Ancient gods don't have any fatherly love, especially the Destroyer Wolf; killing its own offspring is nothing unusual for it.

"It's been a long time since I've seen you in this form, Antigonus." The goddess of night spoke with a touch of emotion, gazing at Antigonus, and said, "Indeed, a dog needs an owner to feel safer."

Antigonus stiffened visibly upon hearing this, then said somewhat resentfully, "Don't forget, you are also a demon wolf. You were once Father's lackey, but you, this vicious dog, chose to devour your master."

“No, I am not a demon wolf. I always remember that I am human.” The goddess of night did not care about Antigonus’s offense, and looked at him as if he were some ignorant child.

The Goddess of Night truly never took Antigonus seriously. This youngest son of the Destroyer Wolf was never noticed by the Goddess of Night in the Second Age. Even though he caused some trouble during the War of the Four Emperors, he did not attract the Goddess of Night's attention—he was merely an experiment of Adam and Amon. The Goddess of Night was more concerned about the two divine brothers than Antigonus.

It wasn't that the goddess of night looked down on Him, but rather that Antigonus was indeed incompetent and didn't warrant much attention.

It's fair to say that if Antigonus hadn't been in such poor condition later on, and it hadn't been for the impending return of the Celestials, the Goddess of Night wouldn't have bothered with him at all.

(End of this chapter)