I don't want to be an elf!

Even if William's injuries cannot be healed, it doesn't matter; we can simply revert his body back to before his battle with the Black Candle Lord.

If they can get William back to his prime, they will have one more top-tier fighter.

"Tohka, can the Fourth Bullet be used on William?" Nephren asked. "If we can turn back time in his body, he can also help us kill the Seventeenth Beast."

"Well... that's unlikely..."

"why?"

“Using Zafkiel requires time, which is lifespan. William was injured five hundred years ago, and I don’t have that much time to use it.”

Just now, in order to treat Nephren, she used the Fourth Bullet five times to rewind her body's time to four days ago.

In other words, a single shot firing four rounds could rewind time by about one day.

But William was injured five hundred years ago.

To restore his body to its peak condition, it would take at least 180,000 uses of the Fourth Bullet.

"Wait, to use the second spirit crystal, you need to pay the price of your lifespan?" Nephren's tone was tinged with urgency. "Then how much of your lifespan did you just use for me?"

"About... ten or so years?"

"Are you an idiot? I just told you, this is such an important thing, why didn't you tell me sooner!"

More than a decade is a long time for these short-lived golden fairies.

After all, the corruption from past lives will appear before the age of twenty, and most golden fairies don't even live past twenty.

But Yatogami Tohka traded more than ten years of her lifespan for four days of her life.

If she doesn't ask, this idiot won't even tell her!

“Don’t worry, I’m not a Golden Fairy, I have a very long lifespan,” Tohka Yatogami quickly said. “Besides, this spirit crystal also has the ability to absorb other people’s time, which can be used to replenish my own time.”

"Absorb...other people's time?" Nephren said hesitantly. "That sounds like a somewhat evil ability."

"It's alright! I can go and... cough cough, collect time from the Seventeenth Beast."

“I see, that’s one method.” Nephren’s expression softened considerably.

The Golden Fairy was kind by nature; she didn't want Yatogami Tohka to absorb the beastmen's time, and she didn't want ordinary animals to do the same.

However, the Seventeenth Beast is a different story.

Although they are living beings, they are merely fleshy creatures driven by instinct, possessing no intelligence other than devouring and mating.

Moreover, they have a strong obsession with eliminating all living beings except themselves.

Perhaps it was because humans had such an intense desire to live before they became the Seventeen Beasts that they hunted any creature they could see with their own eyes after they became the Seventeen Beasts.

This is also why the Sixth Beast relentlessly invades the floating continent islands.

"Anyway, let's go back to the Fourth Fairy Warehouse first."

Nephren was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information she was being given, leaving her somewhat confused.

"We can discuss the specific plans for the future together."

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Author's note: Today's Tohka

Chapter Sixty-Five: The New Great Sage?

After resolving Nephren's past life's corruption, the two returned to the Fourth Fairy Warehouse aboard an airship.

Their return immediately attracted a lot of attention.

Needless to say, Nephren was so excited that Chtholly almost cried after learning that she had become the world's first golden fairy to break free from the corruption of her past life.

Not only am I happy for my friend's recovery, but I am also thrilled to see the future of my race.

Yatogami Tohka also received just as much attention as Nephren.

After all, the golden clock in her right eye was simply too eye-catching.

Faced with a barrage of questions from the crowd, Yatogami Tohka recounted the events that had occurred on the second floating island.

Swann's death, the progress of the experiment, and the fusion of the spirit crystals...

After hearing these incredibly informative stories, everyone fell silent for a moment.

The reasons for their silence vary.

"I never expected that Swan would leave before me."

Upon hearing the news of Swann's death, William's expression was somewhat complicated, and he said with a bitter smile.

Having planted a curse on himself and distorted his own life form, no one knows how long Shi Wan will live.

But William thought, this guy has lived for five hundred years, so living another hundred or two hundred years shouldn't be a problem.

If anyone's going to die, it should be me, the one dragging around all these wounds, dying first.

In this way, the person who needs to grieve for the passing of a friend will not be oneself.

But he did not burst into tears, nor did he have an emotional breakdown.

Even the melancholy on his face only lasted for a moment before disappearing.

They were all brave men, prepared to sacrifice themselves for their ideals, and prepared to die in battle.

Ultimately, William had already assumed Swan was dead before he even met him.

To be able to meet again in the world five hundred years from now is already a kind of luck.

Moreover, now is not the time to reminisce about old friends.

"Swan is gone, and the floating continent islands are likely to undergo a major upheaval."

Emerging from his brief moment of melancholy, William took a deep breath, his expression turning serious: "As the great sage of the floating continent archipelago, his existence was like an anchor for the inhabitants here. Now that he is gone, turmoil will likely follow."

Several kingdoms exist on the floating continent islands.

Different orc royal families and nobles rule over the floating islands in different regions, and they often secretly compete with each other.

If it weren't for the powerful figure of Swan above them, keeping them from acting recklessly, war might have already broken out between them.

Orcs are a race that admires strength.

When Swan was around, they would respectfully obey his words and accept the control of the coalition government.

Now that Swann is gone, these kingdoms will surely fight each other for territory like wild beasts freed from their shackles.

During his studies, William has become aware of the political turmoil within the floating islands.

"What should we do then?" Chtholly asked worriedly.

“The Golden Fairy’s mission is to eliminate the invading Sixth Beast. No one should be targeting you,” William said. “After all, internal strife requires external stability. They may become enemies, but their common enemy will definitely be the Seventeenth Beast.”

“Aren’t there still Black Candle Lords on the floating continent islands?” Nigolan said. “He can take the place of the Great Sage.”

“Impossible.” William shook his head. “The reason he was willing to create the floating continent archipelago with Swann was simply to leave a memento. He didn’t care how many orcs died. As long as the orcs didn’t fight to the point of extinction, he would never interfere.”

Listening to William's analysis, Tohka Yatogami nodded in agreement.

In the original story, a large-scale civil war did indeed occur on the floating islands after Swann's death.

Some kingdoms even transported the Seventeen Beasts, which should have been on the ground, to the floating islands and dropped them into the territory of rival kingdoms.

If such a thing were to happen, it would do no good for Tohka Yatogami.

Even if the Golden Fairy isn't implicated, her plan will be difficult to execute.

After all, if she wanted to launch a counterattack on the ground and reclaim the land, she needed all the orcs to unite.

It wasn't just to help Swan fulfill his last wish; it was also primarily to complete the second side quest.

To achieve this goal, the Orc Kingdom must stand on the same side.

“I have a proposal.”

Just as everyone was struggling with their problems, Asya raised her hand and said, "Why don't we just let Tohka become the new Great Sage?"

"what?"

"Comrade Aiseya, are you awake?"

"Don't joke around at a time like this, okay?"

The proposal immediately drew criticism from those around them.

However, Athena didn't think her proposal was bad at all; instead, she argued with those who opposed her.

To be honest, this is indeed a feasible solution.

Swan's departure left the floating continent archipelago without its anchor.

So, what needs to be done to stabilize the floating islands again?

The simplest answer, of course, is to create another anchor.

To become a great sage, one needs not only wisdom, but also strength.

However, under Swan's leadership, the floating continent islands already had a well-established operating system, so there was no need for the latter to make any changes.

Therefore, what the new great sage needs more of is power.

The absolute power to suppress the orc kingdoms of the floating continent archipelago.

Both Swann and Black Candle had the resources to do so.

However, the former is now dead, and the latter has no intention of succeeding him, which will inevitably lead to a leaderless state for the floating continent islands in the future.

Since there is no leader, the orc kingdom will use its own methods to elect a new leader.

However, most orcs are fairly evenly matched in strength, and none of them are strong enough to inspire awe. Therefore, the orc kingdom is bound to be divided, and only through war can the final victor be determined.

If that were to happen, it would be better to simply place Yatogami Tohka in the position of Great Sage.

After all, in terms of power, with two spirit crystals, she is probably already a being who surpasses Swann and Black Candle.

All that's needed is to defeat all the orc kingdoms one by one and subdue them all, and the floating continent archipelago will return to a stable state.