"You really don't know anything about him? If so, why are you willing to make a deal with him?" Elena couldn't understand why Lifa agreed so quickly out of sheer profit at that time.
"Hmm, I am peace-loving, and he is beyond my measurement. His strength is immeasurable. He gave me a gift, and I need to guide you to live in peace. I have no reason to refuse, right?" Lifa stroked her spirit tree. She was still wondering where her physical body had gone when the fusion took effect because it couldn't have been merged into Elysia's body.
"The person we're talking about didn't want Ely and I to know about our origin, but you ended up telling us, Lifa. What gift?" Elena folded her arms.
"That is a secret. To be honest, I'm a bit selfish, but that's also what you want, right? We don't have much time. The Ruvoid Gods are powerful. We might not face true death if we die, but what about the others? We may meet again in the next reincarnation, but I don't want to wait that long." Lifa heaved a subtle sigh at the end of her sentence.
"You are underestimating us. Even if we are at a disadvantage, we will not allow a tragedy to occur. That is why Ely asked everyone to entrust their future to her. In the worst case, everyone can lend their strength to Ely. That way, Ely can unleash the super divine law to defeat the Ruvoid Gods without much repercussion." Elena rolled her eyes.
"Hou~ You have your own plan. Could you elaborate on it for me more? Do you think everyone can use the fusion technique?" Lifa approached Elena with interest.
"No one knows, but I can confirm you and Rhea will be able to fuse with us. I realized something regarding the spirit connection. Our bond can strengthen each other between the host master and the contracted ones. I didn't realize it before because conditions had to be met." Elena glanced at Elysia's spirit, who was lying on the bed.
"And what did you just understand?" Lifa smiled faintly.
"We can improve each other's abilities with spirit connection passively when permission is granted. Even if it's categorized as a magic buff, it's what we really need." Elena clenched her hands into fists.
"Do you want to say that we need to give Ely a lot of buffs? Actively and passively, inside and out? Let's say Rhea, and I fused with Ely, including you. Then, Ely received a lot of buffs from Nell's blessings, and everyone borrowed strength from spirit connection. What are you going to do with it? Ely's overall battle prowess will surpass that of an Ancient God's past glory. Still, our opponent has a terrifying anti-magic defense." Lifa put her hand to her chin.
"We can create a miracle." Elena smiled and looked at the universe projection in the Elysian Realm.
Elysia needed to do something to get around the magic usage limit by increasing the body's overall power. Their spirit bond's special privilege would be helpful. The fusion was a significant boost, but not everyone could use that with Ely.
"No wonder you want everyone's future. Would you like to add a member to our pantheon? Let's count Dori in. She's seen too much of what she shouldn't have seen." Lifa already expected Elysia and Elena's goals. She wasn't too surprised by the revelation. Still, she felt they needed to do something about the only outsider in their current group.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"Yeah, Dori will sell us her soul." Elena grinned.
"You sound scary." Lifa covered her mouth.
"Tell that to yourself." Elena changed the subject because she still wanted to learn things from Lifa.
Meanwhile, Elysia rejected Rhea's request because it was too hasty. She had just fused with Lifa and wasn't sure if she could accept another one so soon.
"Please don't be too hasty. Let's continue tomorrow. I need to adapt to the new change." Elysia took Rhea's hand and smiled.
"Okay." Rhea understood Elysia's situation and didn't push it.
"Ely, you look so amazing and enchanting. Did the Goddess of Life really enter your body?" Fortuna was feeling curious. Her divinity couldn't help her to understand Elysia and Lady Tifa's situation.
"Thank you. Yes, Lady Tifa is in my inner realm." Elysia nodded in reply. She then became curious about her current status screen and tried to check it.
<| Lv. 255 | Goddess of Life | Elysia Avery | Female (16) | HP: 986,900 / 6,800 | EP: 4,500e+9 / - | EP: 90,100 / 95,700 |>
<| STR: 185 | AGI: 189 | VIT: 4,112 | INT: 8,925 |>
Elysia blinked her eyes several times when she saw the significant change on her status screen. Her level and title took from Lifa's, and the numbers soared to the sky. Everything increased drastically except for her Earth's magic energy reserve.
'The fusion ritual sure is scary. Lady Lifa, is there an after effect from your power and this fusion?' Elysia asked to reassure him.
'Nothing in particular, but it can't last forever. The fusion will be forcibly deactivated when you reaches your limit. I will be thrown out by then. Wait, I need to think of something for my main body. Ely, please revoke our fusion now. I think you've seen the strength of what we call bond power, fufu~' Lifa chuckled proudly.
'Alright.' Elysia agreed without hesitation. She then followed Lifa's next instructions.
She stretched out her hand towards the Tree of Life's original location. Golden light then enveloped her body.
The Tree of Life and Lifa's avatar appeared as semi-transparent green holograms a moment after. Seeing that, Elysia proceeded to the separation stage.
*Poof*
The Tree of Life and Lifa's avatar materialized with a dazzling golden light poof effect. After the light dimmed, the Tree of Life was already in its original location. Lifa was standing in front of Elysia.
"Mother, we need to talk for a moment." Rhea grabbed her mother's hand and dragged her mother out of Nature Realm.
"Oh my." Lifa only followed her jealous daughter.
Rhea and Lifa held a conversation in the next room. Mainly the former protested the latter. Nell mediated between the two of them, just in case.
"Phew. A lot happened today, but let's call it a day." Elysia felt sleepy and wanted to sleep.
"Lady Tifa seems to make Aria dissatisfied. Besides, why did you suddenly fuse with her, Ely? Can we do the same thing?" Ai came closer while staring at the two Goddesses who were moving away.
"We'd better not try it, Ai. I'm afraid we merged for real." Elysia shook her head in refusal. Among all people, Ai was the last person she would allow to try out what Lifa did.
"Well, I'll feel left out then." Ai heaved a subtle sigh.
"Not everyone can do fusion techniques, Ai. Lady Tifa showed me the projection. She lent me her entire power to strengthen me for our upcoming preparations. You are my big sister, please stay by my side as always." Elysia smiled sweetly and grabbed Ai's arm.
"Sweet mouth." Ai rubbed her head.
"How do you know that my mouth is sweet? Did you perhaps tasted me while I was asleep? Ai, I didn't know you were already a lewd big sister." Elysia feigned her surprise.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"Hm, I need to check its authenticity. Don't regret it, Ely. I'm not shy if you challenge me." Ai smirked.
"Uuh, please forgive me. Let me have a good night's sleep. Let's just sleep after a bedtime story." Elysia immediately apologized. She couldn't tease the bold one without accepting cause and effect.
"Are you a child?" Ai rolled her eyes, but that didn't mean she refused bedtime stories.
Elysia then invited the girls to return to their bedroom to rest. Everyone left the Nature Realm, but Luna requested to go with some girls for a while as they needed to hold a small meeting regarding their sudden matter.
"Are you sure there is nothing we can do to help you solve your problem?" Elysia was worried about Luna and the others.
"Yes, we just need to have a little chat in the next room. Please don't eavesdrop, Ely. This is a private matter between beast girls." Luna waved her hand with a smile. She then took Vanessa, Yuuki, Lynn, and Sylvia out.
"..." Elysia expanded her barrier coverage to ensure the safety of Luna and the others. After that, she looked to the side, but Ai didn't have a clue either.
'Ely, you can go ahead to sleep. I need to prepare a place for Lifa's main body first. I don't want our beloved grand palace to be damaged again.' Elena conveyed her intention.
'Mm, don't stay up all night.' Elysia agreed.
'No, I'm just going to set up a particular vacant spot in the garden. It won't take long.' Elena went to the garden and set the place for the Tree of Life's spirit body.
"Uhm... A lot of things surprised me today." Dorienne raised her hand.
"Hehe, that's only natural. You'll get used to it." Evelyn covered her mouth.
"Anyone want to hear a bedtime story or two? I have a few stories about mermaids." Elysia offered warmly.
"Mermaid? Let me hear it!" Dorienne was the first to agree.
Elysia, Evelyn, Ella, Ai, and Fortuna then went to their futons. Elysia started telling a bedtime story, and everyone listened. Unfortunately, it was not a story with a happy ending.
The tales revolved around mermaids. Ella, Evelyn, Ai, and Fortuna added the fire to the story to solidify everything because they realized what Elysia had planned for the innocent pink mermaid.
"..." Dorienne felt complicated after hearing all those stories. She thought they were not mere tales because they were so realistic for her to understand, and also, they were narrated by two Goddesses, an Empress, and two priests.
She was pretty familiar with several sad stories in her hometown. Maybe, they were not just fairy tales but the true stories of several mermaids from the past!