Chapter 1806: Afterglow of the Era

"The First Era lasted for hundreds of millions of years. Humans,

elves, dwarves, dragons, and beastmen—the myriad races walked the earth. Brilliant civilizations blossomed and bore fruit. The thirteen original Ancient Gods, along with those lucky ones who touched the Supreme, dwelt in the heavens, yet they occasionally manifested as saints to intervene in human affairs. Spellcasters of various talents and professions wantonly explored the potential of soul and flesh, recording and creating brand-new knowledge to pursue the mysteries of the world and the meaning of life. The vast world was far larger than the material world of today; even in the void outside the world, there existed countless small worlds composed of stable fragments."

He took a deep breath:

"People today cannot imagine all of this. They cannot imagine how prosperous, brilliant, and glorious the First Era was—an era of which even I can only glimpse a corner. But all of this is gone; everything has vanished. The space outside the world has become a true void. The gods have departed or fallen into slumber; even if they still exist, they no longer watch over the pathetic mortals. Transcendents no longer possess the power of the past, mortal civilization is regressing generation by generation, and even those magical races have gradually vanished into time and space, leaving only the final echoes reverberating in the corners."

"So..."

Xia De asked:

"The time of the First Era was longer than all the subsequent eras combined? Yes, I have heard of this as well."

The Diviner looked at him with sorrowful eyes:

"Or perhaps, could it be said that the olden times of the First Era were the only truly normal age? Since then—since the end of the Seventh Era before the Ancient Gods departed one after another—has it all been... echoes of the past, the afterglow after the apocalypse?"

The two stared at each other. The Diviner nodded slightly to Xia De, turned, and left the room through the door. The sound of footsteps faded away, leaving only Xia De, illuminated by the bonfire, silently pondering this information of unknown veracity:

"This world..."

Although she had conflicts with Lei Qianya in the past, she was a descendant who genuinely cared for her brother and had never imagined that Lei Qianya would be drawn into the matter of the Chosen.

"Moreover, even if the Church cannot handle it, it is not our place to intervene... Besides, someone else can solve this trouble; he should have arrived already."

Because he was worried that rashly turning the shipwreck into a toy would affect the souls that had yet to appear, he patiently excavated the hull from the bottom of the lake first. After sending them to the surface, he casually threw down the fish skeletons he had picked up from the lakebed and summoned his own old wooden boat.

Xia De stood at the bow, watching the fog grow thinner before his eyes as the wooden boat moved forward. However, he noticed with surprise that the water channel the boat passed through had been almost completely cleared of fog, leaving a blank area without it. Only when the small boat had moved far away would the white fog fill the gap that had been pushed aside.

Upon approaching, he discovered a shipwreck lying on the lakebed. It was a small wooden boat, about the same size as the broken wooden boat that Su Xing could summon. The boat was broken in two from the center, and at the break, there existed the faint green light Xia De had seen from afar.

As for Xia De himself, he embraced Lei Qianya, who refused to let go, and looked up at the anomaly in the night sky.

The Art—【Call of the Old Wooden Boat】 summons a large boat that has no sails, nor does it have a steam engine as a power source, but it also does not require Su Yuan to row; it can move in the direction Su Yuan wishes at a speed that is neither slow nor fast.

Xia De thought to himself, gradually able to see the lights of the village by the lake through the white fog:

For example, the old woman who married into the Edwards family at the old lighthouse cemetery and the blacksmith in the town cemetery are both attached to their own graves, while the mineralogist is the oil painting from before. If Su Yuan has a way to move the entire lake, then I intend to take the remains of the shipwreck away.

Those two monsters are not safe for me; Su Yuan led them aside before killing them to prevent them from polluting this body of water. After returning to the broken wooden boat, he was troubled again by the fact that he could not see the ferryman's soul.

The inexplicably flickering light of the gas street lamps made everything on the street appear bright yet dim; the phantom shadows of souls peered at him from the darkness, and the power of death was being stirred by an inexplicable force.

"Then let's take it all away."

"And what is the reason for that?"

In the wind, there seemed to be the sound of wings flapping, but it also seemed to be just an illusion.

The "ancestor" of the Edwards family, according to the agreement, did not stop Su Yuan from leaving the island. When Xia De jumped from the window onto the street, what he saw was that tentacled man, who was none other than Sloth Edwards, transformed into a tentacled evil creature out of fear of death, currently manipulating a group of tentacles growing from the ground like giant trees above the town, preventing the spatial deformities appearing on the island from destroying the town.

After successfully leaving the white fog area, he looked up and saw that the number of souls patrolling in the night fog above the lake had become even greater. Looking into the distance, although he did not see anyone there to meet him on the lake, the red butterfly pendant hanging at his waist was now shining brightly.

For Sloth Edwards, who possessed both spatial abilities and a body that seemed impossible to destroy forever, eliminating those things was only a matter of time. Because of this, Xia De did not encounter any more monster interceptions on his way out.

The cruise ship returned silently, heading toward the junction of the Duin River and Green Lake. Grace and Helen had already returned, and before leaving, they entrusted Duo Luo Xi to deliver a letter to Xia De as a farewell, but Duo Luo Xi did not follow; however, she should know by now that Su Yuan had returned safely.

"This large boat related to the 'True Death' clearly still has power that I have yet to discover."

Little Mia, who should have been left at the hotel to be cared for by Duo Luo Xi, was now being held by Difa, in the arms of the white-haired maid, staring wide-eyed at Xia De, seemingly hoping that Su Yuan would exchange the girl in his arms with the cat in Difa's arms.

Although the island was covered with various residents from the Green Lake town era, those souls could only be fully observed when space was chaotic. Xia De was actually waiting underwater, but he was afraid the doctor and the others would worry about him. But to leave just like that, he was worried about other situations arising.

"The church should be able to clean up these things, right?"

Because Luweiya provided the specific location, Xia De, who was also moving very quickly underwater, soon discovered a strange spot with a faint ghostly green glow beneath the waters in the northeastern part of the island.

He thought again of the words of the fortune-teller on the island just now, and as he pondered, he felt he might need to talk to him again.

Another thought occurred to him:

Even if most of the souls on the island only remained because of that Angel-level relic, the 【Soul Storybook】, they all met the main characteristics of souls that could not leave, which is that they must rely on a certain object or a certain location to exist.

Princess Lei Qianya was still wearing the dress she had prepared for her date with Xia De, only now she had a woman's coat draped over it. The red-haired duchess stood beside her grand-niece, looking at Xia De, who was looking up from the bow of the small boat. Their eyes met, and Xia De actually felt he understood the helplessness in her gaze.

When Xia De also arrived on the deck, Princess Lei Qianya was the first to step forward and hug him, and she refused to let go no matter what. The doctor leaned against the deck railing and gave Xia De a gesture that everything was fine.

The fragments of the ship's wreckage were placed on the boat, the two main parts were tied with ropes, and then Xia De's small boat towed them away from the island.

Seeing that the small boat was still dragging something behind it, Megan signaled to her subordinates, several mid-tier girls, to go to the water's surface to help Xia De move the wreckage of the broken ship onto the deck of the cruise ship.

The arriving passengers quickly blended into the city, and behind them, the old men and the old priest in white robes, who did not want to crowd with others, finally walked out of the station's main gate and arrived on the quiet street.

At the same time, at the Green Lake City train station, the arriving train had already stopped steadily, and the passengers carrying large and small bags of luggage, even though they were travel-worn, were still very interested in this city that was undergoing major negotiations.

Miss Miss Jia Lin Na and Megan personally used spells to move the important wreckage of the small boat and transport it to the cabin. The doctor pointed to the sky, and Su Yuan nodded:

Leaving the train station, he saw the night sky shrouded in thick fog again, and the sound of discussion added a bit of vitality to this quiet night. However, soon the patrolling police and unknown teams persuaded them to return to their residences as soon as possible, and the rumors that there might be martial law tonight also made the guests who did not understand the city somewhat panicked.

The cold night wind blew, causing the priest's robe to flap backward and rustle. In the swirling fog above his head, there seemed to be countless terrifying faces, and in the shadows of the street, those shadows that could not be clearly seen were becoming more and more numerous.

The small boat continued to move forward, and before long, on the lake surface where there had been nothing, Megan and Audrey's cruise ship appeared out of thin air. On the ship were not only the doctor and Princess Lei Qianya waiting for Xia De, and the cruise ship's owner Megan, but even Miss Miss Jia Lin Na and Difa were there.

That cluster of light had no substance; it seemed to be just glowing. And when Xia De moved over, seeing two water ghosts suddenly emerge from the bottom of the boat, he realized that the light was a lure used by the water ghosts to attract prey.

He returned along the original path to the pier on the north shore of the island. The doctor's coffin had already disappeared; he and Princess Lei Qianya should have left the range of the white fog. However, Xia De did not leave immediately, but dived into the water on the pier's jetty, then hugged the bottom of the water, starting from the pier, and swam clockwise along the waters at the edge of the island.

The elderly priest Late August put down his luggage and looked up at the starry sky.

"Doctor, don't underestimate the church. If they can't even handle this, what will they use to maintain the order of the material world? Let's go back."

"The spatial anomaly is strengthening, and the ritual for the Chosen of Space must be held as soon as possible. Tonight is just the beginning before the final stage of the anomaly arrives, but it is also the beginning of the decisive battle. We must hurry."