Chapter 249: Actions of All Parties

Within the area sealed off by the Hidden Sage, that overwhelming blazing white was rapidly fading.

Feeling himself nearing his limit, Reckton used his final Mystical Manifestation—the "Easter" magic capable of reviving the dead.

A massive phantom cross immediately appeared, crimson liquid dripping from it, while countless sounds of weeping and prayer seemed to echo through the surrounding void, and a sacred aura spread out in an instant.

On the other side, pea vines suddenly sprouted from the ground beneath Beiernadai's feet, transforming into thick green vines that carried her upward into the sky.

The thick, sturdy green pea vines covered the surrounding area like a torrential rain, intertwining and weaving together to rapidly form a forest, layer upon layer rising upward with no top in sight.

Within the space created by the Mystical Manifestation, she held the Sage's Forehead Ornament in one hand and Pale Death in the other.

She quietly closed her eyes, as if sensing something.

A moment later, she used Pale Death to shatter the Sage's Forehead Ornament; specks of pale blue light appeared and began to converge.

She summoned an Invisible Servant, took the potion materials that had been prepared in advance, and handed Pale Death over; the Invisible Servant, carrying that mask, slowly vanished from reality.

One by one, the materials floated in midair under her control, entering the glass bottle in orderly fashion; last was the Sage characteristic that had just converged.

A Sage's Potion adorned with countless patterns and mystical symbols was complete; Beiernadai merely gazed at it for a moment, then took the glass bottle and drank the potion inside in one gulp.

The potion dissolved the instant it entered her mouth; her consciousness blurred for a brief moment, then began to rise infinitely, as if arriving in a starry sky.

Every twinkling star was constructed from vast information; she felt herself also transforming into streams of information, and the immense, overwhelming information around her gradually caused her to lose herself.

In reality, dark fissures appeared one after another across Beiernadai's body, lashless, cold eyes growing from the cracks, until she finally disintegrated into countless torrents of information.

In the process of gradually losing herself, a distinct imprint and an exceptionally solid connection established between her own information and the Spirit World's information, allowing her to gradually recover her sense of self.

Relying on the connection established between herself and the Spirit World's information, Beiernadai initially stabilized her consciousness, little by little gathering back the diverging, fading torrents of her own information.

Inside the underground building where the True Creator had descended.

No structures remained here—above ground or below—leaving only an enormous crater.

As the True Creator's avatar died, the mass of crimson, writhing flesh that had been parasitizing Reckton's body separated from him.

Amid its writhing, the flesh rapidly merged with the surrounding shadows, swelling into a towering pitch-black humanoid figure; it gathered all the residual characteristics and will in the vicinity and accepted the "Easter" Mystical Manifestation that Reckton had used.

This caused the barely-coalesced pitch-black humanoid to suddenly become considerably more ethereal; its voice carried a trace of drowsiness as it spoke:

"I need to sleep for a period of time to fuse with the True will."

"For these few days, I will continue to reside within your body."

As soon as the words fell, its entire body dissolved into a flowing pitch-black liquid, gradually converging into the shadow beneath Reckton's feet.

Reckton's eyes flickered—this seemed to be parasitism in the mystical sense.

Withdrawing his gaze, Reckton glanced at the spot where Sasilier had stood; the characteristics that It had reclaimed just now came not only from the True Creator's avatar but also from his own Bone Staff, which he hadn't used for long.

Whew~ never mind, the Bone Staff was given by the True Creator anyway; if it's gone, it's gone—at least the Prophet characteristic was returned to me.

Sighing inwardly, Reckton stepped forward; beneath his feet lay a barrier forged from brilliant starlight.

As his figure merged into the Spirit World, the surrounding brilliant starlight shattered and cracked apart amid a clattering sound, finally dissolving into specks of starlight that scattered away.

Not long after Reckton left, the space here was abruptly torn open—violently torn open.

An elderly man with a somewhat haughty expression stepped out from it.

His black hair was streaked with many silver threads, his face was beardless, and he simply floated quietly in midair, as if trying to glean something from the traces at the scene.

Then, a middle-aged man draped in a greatcloak, with black hair and blue eyes, and an imposing bearing, also tore through space in the same manner.

He was the founding sovereign whose name was inscribed on Loen's Roll of Honor—William Augustus I!

He glanced at the old man who had arrived before him and asked in an imposing voice:

"What did you find?"

"Your Majesty, the aura remaining here is far too chaotic, and it has been treated as well; I cannot discern much information."

"All I know is that the True Creator did indeed descend an avatar, but it was slain very quickly—the entire process took less than thirty seconds."

The haughty-looking old man, in the presence of the one he addressed as Your Majesty, tempered his arrogance and replied with a slightly pensive tone.

"I leave this matter to you to investigate."

The imposing middle-aged man gave a slight nod and uttered this single sentence, then once again violently tore through the space before him and departed.

The somewhat haughty old man also surveyed the scene briefly before leaving soon after.

In the East District, the Dock District, the Factory District—these were the primary outbreak points of the smog.

Those who were elderly and harbored hidden ailments fell one after another in the fog, like felled trees.

Those who came into contact with them also contracted the plague within a very short time and died swiftly; even adults and children who were still fairly healthy began to feel mild discomfort.

Now, this fog intermingling pale yellow and iron-black was like a descended "Grim Reaper," ruthlessly reaping one life after another.

Jowood District, Church of the Divine Wind.

A visible storm rapidly gathered and took shape here, then surged eastward into an unimaginable hurricane.

Amid the howling of the fierce wind, the accumulated fog was blown away, and the dense yellow and iron-black rapidly thinned.

Withered branches dropped to the ground one by one; dust and dirt swirled into the air, drifting away with the fog.

Hats on pedestrians' heads lifted off on their own, and even their bodies could only remain barely standing by bracing against trees or walls.

The sailors in the Dock District felt as though they were witnessing a typhoon striking a port city.

The fierce wind swept rapidly across all of Backlund; the smog in the East District and Factory District thinned considerably, and the discomfort of the healthy populace was finally relieved.

Boom! Boom!

As if venting rage, lightning leaped and thunder crashed.

They soon subsided, and rain pattering down began to cleanse the earth.

Destini happened to be standing in the corner between two buildings, having avoided the fierce hurricane from a moment ago; looking up at the now much clearer sky, he murmured:

"Disasters always descend in ways people never expect."

"Walker of Chaos... Warden of Chaos and Madness."

With a sigh, he walked slowly toward the East District.

Although he sped up the church's response via some influences, this could not prevent the disaster from occurring.

East District.

The despairing lady in a plain white long robe sat inside a carriage, leisurely listening to the sound of raindrops knocking on the glass window.

The Storm Church's response was quick this time, though; the earlier haze had already taken effect, and my magic potion had mostly been digested—although this was merely an incidental gain.

A pale yellow paper figurine, blown by the wild wind and drifting here, suddenly ignited in midair.

A mysterious symbol, like overlapping doors layered together, was drawn in midair; the surrounding void rippled like water, and a "door" was opened.

Lei Kedun stepped out from within, his gaze locking from the start onto the despairing witch Pantanaia seated in the carriage.

Having the luck of having previously sought out Destiny, I could easily encounter her amid various coincidences.

In the next moment, illusory golden flames ignited out of thin air around us.

These flames exuded the vast, pervasive aura of the sun, and due to their density they merged into an ocean, completely encircling the carriage where Pantanaia was.

A layer of frost instantly spread, extinguishing the surrounding golden flames, and the ambient temperature suddenly dropped several degrees.

Several crystalline icicles, emitting a piercing cold, shot forth and instantly penetrated Lei Kedun's body, like passing through an afterimage, leaving no trace.

"We meet again, Lady Pantanaia."

Lei Kedun's figure quietly emerged from the other side, and he greeted the other party with a calm tone.

"How did you find me?"

Pantanaia brushed aside a few strands of her falling silky hair, speaking with a voice full of charm.

Her movements, demeanor, and tone were so natural, as if the brief exchange just now had never existed, unreservedly exuding her own charm.

A faint blue flickered in Lei Kedun's eyes, his rationality taking the lead.

"The guidance of fate." Lei Kedun said softly.

"Fate."

The smile at Pantanaia's lips had just risen when, in the next moment, she was engulfed by even more blazing light and fire.

Black and golden flames intertwined, holy yet depraved, possessing a strange beauty—what am I thinking? The allure of a demigod-level witch is truly terrifying.

Lei Kedun suddenly shook his head; even in his rational state, he had been subtly affected.

In the next moment, he raised his right hand, continuously gathering light upon it, condensing into a spear of pure, extreme brilliance, blazing white to the utmost, as if composed of pure sunlight.

He hurled the spear forth, where it collided with a sharp, crystalline ice spear.

Lei Kedun instinctively sought to turn his body into fragments of starlight to avoid the splash damage from the ice‑fire collision, and he was not certain whether the flame he simulated could withstand the frost ability of a demigod‑level witch.

The expected ice crystals and the steam rising from the sparks did not appear.

At the moment of contact, they vanished silently, unknown where they went.

Hidden authority! It arrived so quickly—Lei Kedun's eyes narrowed as he turned his head toward his left side.

There stood a woman with exquisite features, a dull expression, draped in a classical long robe with a hood.

(End of chapter)