Chapter 885
Overlapping Space-Time
“【Difference】…”
Bai Ke murmured, as if thinking of something, and fell into deep thought.
The Vagrant also understood, “So, that’s why this place has this mind-reading facility as a defensive measure? Because there are differences between people, and it can transform these differences into contradictions…”
“No, you’ve got it backward. This is not a defensive measure, but a communication tool.”
Sin shook his head, his expression solemn. “A communication tool that is countless times more advanced than language…”
“But precisely because it is so advanced,” Zhu Tang sighed with his eyes closed, “it cannot be understood by people.”
“We have to take it back!”
Professor Bard’s attitude was firm: “This is a monumental discovery for archaeology!”
Indeed.
Eivass nodded.
The ancient people relied on this “device” that could resonate with minds to create their glorious ancient civilization.
Although people nowadays were accustomed to “differences” and might not readily accept this technology that allowed them to merge and complete each other again… and even, in Eivass’s opinion, people would fear it.
It was a fear of secrets being erased and the self being dissolved—everyone had an instinctive desire to “manifest themselves.” This was the innate instinct of mortals born from “difference.” If this instinct were combined with humanity’s “creation” and “reproduction,” a flourishing civilization would be born.
But if that’s the case…
Such a harsh and aggressive scorching sun did not seem like the act of a devotee.
Xi Tian Si’s parents were both Hengwo, and as a pure-blooded creation of the Path of Love, he inexplicably became a Heavenly Envoy of the Path of Devotion—this meant he must have had some Great Deed that could overwhelm this path’s impulse. And as the son of a Pillar God, he must also be entangled with Heavenly Tribulation… This was the Heavenly Tribulation that came with the Origin River of Creation.
Power could not create new power out of nothing, otherwise, it would mean approaching infinity—that was the possibility of “creation” destroying the world.
But the world always needed a sun…
Eivass suddenly thought of the mystery of the【Dawn Fire】technique.
That was the ancient inheritance he obtained from the Grimoire of the Morning Crow. Although called Dawn Fire, it was a skill that ignited one’s own life force and burst forth flames.
Under the persuasion of the Hourglass, Xi Tian Si ignited himself!
All life created by the Origin River of Creation had a fear of fire. This applied to beasts on the Beast Path or humans on the Path of Love. However, races like demons on the Transcendent Path, giants on the Path of Power, and undead on the Twilight Path did not have this extremely unified characteristic.
As the purest creation, he should have feared fire the most.
But Xi Tian Si set himself ablaze—burning his life force to give the heavens and earth a sun, illuminating the world with the flames he feared most. And with a sun, a new civilization would emerge… This act could indeed elevate him to an Apostle or even a Heavenly Envoy of the Path of Devotion.
After all, when the Pillar God was in power, even if Heavenly Envoys had different understandings of the Origin River, they had to follow the Pillar God’s path. Just as the Fallen Heavenly Envoy’s path of corruption could only be interpreted as “transcending downwards”; the Winter Envoy and Amber Heavenly Envoy also had the characteristics of the Twilight Path tending towards stillness.
If you think about it that way, then the Second Sun might not truly belong to the Path of Devotion!
On the contrary, those stars—
Before the Hourglass had a complete severance from the heavens, were there stars in the sky?
Thinking of this, Eivass stopped the group’s argument and discussion about the temporarily named “Unified Language Device.” He pulled the Vagrant aside and asked, “Do you know anything about astrology?”
“I know a little, Mr. ‘Pope’.”
The Vagrant replied, half proudly, half cautiously: “But I’m not sure how accurate it is.”
As a “Survival Expert” who relied on instinct to survive… the Vagrant definitely knew some things about this. But compared to professional prophets—and “The Fool,” an advanced profession of prophet, or traditional perceptive professions like astrologers and astronomers, his prophetic abilities were certainly not as strong.
If he were outside, the Vagrant would surely boast about how accurate his fortune-telling was.
But in front of these top experts from all over the world, he became humble.
…Although this Archbishop with antlers looked quite unfamiliar, not any Cardinal or Pope he knew, with such healing abilities and such extensive knowledge, he was clearly a person of great importance. If he made a mistake in prophecy in front of him, it would not only mean losing face but possibly even losing his life—he had such an intuition.
“It’s not a very complicated matter.”
Eivass shook his head. “Can you help me copy the positions of the stars?”
“…Oh, no problem.”
The Vagrant breathed a sigh of relief. “It will just take some time… Is that okay?”
The latter half of his sentence was directed at “Master Amber,” the boss.
Amber nodded. “This ruin is still very stable, we can stay here for a long time. Take your time preparing… It’s a good opportunity to rest.”
For astrology, this was only basic.
Just like a priest’s prayer or a ritualist mage inscribing a ritual array. After all, stars could not be seen during the day or when it was cloudy, which was like being sealed from magic for an astrologer who relied on celestial phenomena to divine the heavens. Therefore, astrologers had another technique, which was to manifest the current stellar positions around them.
—This was the ability Eivass used when he helped Sherlock change his job back then.
He was able to use it because astrology was originally part of the Transcendent Path in ancient times.
It was part of Lord of Scales and Feathers’ action of “stealing scales and plundering feathers”—he was once an Apostle of the Father Serpent until he stole scales called “Eight Trigrams” from the Father Serpent. This was a manifestation of the Authority of Prophecy.
While waiting for the star map to appear, Eivass also made up his mind.
“Everyone, someone has to go in to retrieve or shut down the device.”
Eivass spoke out loudly, “We met by chance, and each of us has our own secrets. No one wants their secrets to be known by others, which is why we all use codenames. That’s to hide our names. If we don’t even want others to know our names, let alone the secrets in our hearts.
“But if we don’t solve this problem, we’ll be stuck here. Although it might be possible to remotely destroy the device—that device of unknown size, scale, shape, and location—with spells or rituals, it would also be a waste, a desecration of ancient civilization, and destruction of history.
“So, while everyone is recuperating here, I plan to go in alone to search.”
“—Take me with you.”
Suddenly, Cardinal Galatea spoke.
Eivass was somewhat surprised: “Aren’t you afraid…”
…of your own secrets being exposed?
Cardinal Galatea, as a Cardinal of the Church, had lived for the longest time among all Cardinals. If even a small secret were leaked, it would be more than just social death.
Cardinal Galatea merely shook her head, not replying.
…Which meant, she likely wasn’t afraid?
So Eivass could only nod in agreement.
At this moment, Sin suddenly tossed something to Eivass.
It was a strange rune bracer.
The moment he received it, data appeared before Eivass’s eyes:
【All-World · Hand of Omniscience】
【Extraordinary Equipment (Light Purple)】
【Armor – Gloves】
【Extraordinary Trait: Touch of Omniscience (1) (Triggered by Path of Wisdom only)】
【Spell: All-World Whisper / All-World Broadcast (Four times daily)】
【Requirement: Wind 1】
【”—Its greatest significance is probably these four free broadcasts a day.”】
Eivass looked at Sin in surprise the moment he received it.
This was a famous scattered piece of a set for mages—the effect of Touch of Omniscience was very useful. It was also called “Spell Rebound.” As long as the spell used by the enemy was also mastered by you, there was about a 10% chance that this spell would be nullified when it hit you and stored in the gloves, after which you could cast it instantly without chanting, only providing mana. After the spell was cast, Touch of Omniscience could store another spell.
The effect of this ability could not be said to be useless… it could occasionally turn the tide of battle.
But its true fame came from its four free broadcasts per day. Therefore, it was also called “Merchant’s Hand,” as merchants always needed to buy one to broadcast in the merchant world. Saving money day by day could add up quite a bit.
“This was given to me by my teacher before I left.”
Sin said sternly: “It has been imbued with the spell named ‘All-World Whisper’. Even if you are teleported to another place, as long as you are still in the Material Realm, you can contact us at any time. You won’t get lost.”
“Why didn’t you give this good thing to me!”
The Vagrant, who was drawing on the wall with his finger, complained from the side: “How will you find your way without me!”
The white-bearded old mage didn’t even look at the Vagrant, but said seriously: “You are the absolute core of our team… please be sure to protect yourself.”
“I will, thanks.”
Eivass nodded, put the bracer on his hand, and added, “I’ll return it to you when I get back.”
This item was not of much significance to Eivass, nor was its value very high—however, as a gift from Sin’s teacher, Eivass was determined not to lose or damage it.
Next, Eivass walked forward with Cardinal Galatea.
And his inner thoughts echoed through the heavens and the earth:
【Huh… Why does Cardinal Galatea have no voice? How did she shield her thoughts?】
Just the first sentence shocked everyone.
—What?
She was a Cardinal?!
Then, then… Mr. “Pope,” could it be—
【Oh? She really has no voice? Is her mind blank? Let me try… Sherlock’s profession is… Holy Tree Number One is delicious… Mithraism…】
As Eivass tried hard to shield his thoughts, countless distractions became clearer.
【Tsk… It seems not. Strange, then why is Galatea completely silent… Hello? Hello? Can you hear me?】
“I can hear you.”
Cardinal Galatea said calmly: “Because this thing is ineffective against me.”
“…Ineffective?”
【Why? Because she’s a Star Crystal Person? Speaking of which, Star Crystal People seem to be servant races of the “Atlanteans”… I remember it involved storing the souls of Atlanteans in crystals, then implanting them into replaceable constructs. It sounds like a kind of fearless—】
【But what do Atlanteans look like? Cardinal Galatea is so beautiful, which means Atlanteans’ aesthetics are at least not off?】
“Thank you.”
Cardinal Galatea nodded, feeling no hesitation to be proud of Eivass’s compliment on her beauty: “Atlantis is a ‘Those with scales’.”
“Those with scales…”
【Fish people? Mermaids? Sirens? Gorgons? Those with scales, winged ones… Wing Heavenly Envoy… Abyss Heavenly Envoy…】
As Eivass fell into thought, his mind suddenly leaped.
At this time, he had already entered the house in the very center.
The door here had no doorknob, which made Eivass very confused.
【How do I open this… Do I put my hand here? Identity verification? So high-tech? Palm print or biometric recognition? I remember the Church also has similar technology…】
As Eivass thought, he placed his palm on a differently colored area in front of the door.
But at this moment, the space in front of him suddenly distorted for a moment.
The next moment, space cracked.
Before everyone’s eyes, Eivass and Cardinal Galatea suddenly disappeared!
After a brief dizziness, Eivass opened his eyes. He found that the surrounding environment had completely changed—
The surroundings suddenly became gloomy, and the environment was like an underground ancient castle.
But Eivass felt his mind suddenly clear—he no longer heard the “inner thoughts” echoing in his ears. That peculiar and strange feeling was like the monitoring mode of a microphone turned on in headphones. Every time he spoke a sentence, he would hear his own voice in the headphones, which would make him feel “afraid to speak.”
Although he had arrived in a strange new place, Eivass was not the least bit panicked.
—Because he recognized this place.
Nine metal pillars etched with patterns, with blood flames burning above and a blood pool below. The blood was siphoned upwards from below, flowing through the patterns on the tree-like metal pillars, slowly flowing upwards.
Each pillar was bound with chains to a naked person.
They all looked near death, but all were still alive.
Complex runes were drawn on the ground with blood, and each rune extended from bottom to top to the abdomen of the nine sacrifices.
A man in aristocratic clothing in the style of the Hrasal Empire stood with his back to Eivass and Cardinal Galatea, seemingly praying with his eyes closed, or perhaps resting with his eyes closed. In front of him lay a huge black coffin, and the runes also extended to the coffin.
He heard the sound and turned back. His face was somber, and his pupils were scarlet.
“Who are you?”
The middle-aged man asked calmly and elegantly, “Where are my guards?”
On his chest hung a black crystal crucifix that Eivass was extremely familiar with, and he wore a noble dress in golden and red colors.
As he asked this, Eivass’s right eye clearly saw the power of the Path of Love in the surroundings converging madly towards him—
At this moment, Eivass’s bracer vibrated, and the sound of wind came intermittently into his ears:
It was Sin’s voice!
【”Pope”… Sir, no need to panic… Two ruins have overlapped, you’ve just fallen into another ruin… Master Dürer… will summon you back soon…】
…No, no need.
No need to summon me back so urgently.
Because Eivass recognized this dungeon at a glance.
Such iconic blood pools, nine iron pillars, and a black coffin… This was the ruin dungeon in Daffodil Territory that contained the Corrupted Blood Angel!
And this dungeon had a characteristic.
There wasn’t a single Child of the Moon in it, but it dropped the last part of Sasha’s set—【Dancing Feet Offering】.
—This man in front of him, who was a Child of the Moon at first glance, should be the “material” for the future “Corrupted Blood Angel” who lost his mind!
(End of this chapter)
