Chapter 166: Response

Chapter 166: Response

After placing the candles, Colin Iliad found a piece of pure silver and picked up the carving knife beside him. With a few quick strokes, he shaved out a charm carrier the size of a palm.

Then, according to Derrick Berg’s description, he engraved the secret symbol representing the Fool onto both sides of the silver piece.

Throughout the entire process, his movements were extremely fast. Had anyone been watching from the side, they certainly would not have been able to see his actions clearly. Yet the final product did not contain the slightest flaw. It was as though it were an artwork slowly carved over several days.

Immediately afterward, Colin Iliad found a bottle of mercury. Relying solely on his powerful spirituality, he guided thin streams of liquid out through the air and into the charm, filling every line. He even kept the mercury on the downward-facing side from falling because of gravity.

After repeating the process and finishing the second charm, Colin Iliad placed them before the candles and set one transparent-ringed worm on each.

Compared with when he had risen from silence, every movement he now made was steady, calm, and firm. There was not even the slightest hesitation left, exactly as when he faced powerful monsters in the darkness.

With the ritual prepared, he stepped back twice, took down the straight swords hanging crossed upon the wall, and inserted them into the cracks between the floor tiles by the door.

As Colin closed his eyes and murmured, pure and rich light emerged little by little from the surrounding void. Carrying a sense of holiness and glory, it covered the two straight swords.

More and more of this radiance gathered. Slowly, it transformed into flowing water, moving along the seams in the floor tiles and walls, forming a “cage” that divided inside from outside.

As a veteran Demon Hunter, Colin Iliad did not actually wish to make this kind of defensive preparation while holding a ritual, because such actions could very likely anger the being to whom he prayed, bringing even more dangerous changes. However, he had no choice. He had to ensure that even if the ritual failed, even if that “Fool” was an existence filled with malice, even if he died before the altar, the entire City of Silver would not suffer too much harm because of it.

Colin, the Chief of the City of Silver, was quite confident in the defensive power of this “cage,” because it came directly from a god-level sealed artifact—the crown once worn by the Giant King Aurmir:

The Proof of Glory!

This was one of the main reasons the City of Silver had been able to withstand wave after wave of attacks from the monsters in the darkness during the Age of Darkness.

Seeing that all preparations were complete, Colin Iliad used the desk as an altar and relied purely on spirituality to create a holy, clean, undisturbed environment. Then he lit the three candles.

The dim yellow light flickered gently, reflected in his eyes. He lowered his head and cast the plant powder and monster fur Derrick Berg had mentioned either into the candle flames or into the cauldron after igniting them, in order to please the hidden existence to whom he would soon pray.

Such activities were not uncommon in the City of Silver. On the surface, there were sacrifices to the Creator; in secret, from time to time, certain residents, tempted by unknown beings during patrols or explorations, would hold all kinds of rituals.

Most of the latter were passive, but a small number were active attempts. On one hand, several thousand years of worshiping the Creator without receiving any response had accumulated into despair, driving some people’s minds to collapse and making them desperately wish to grasp another support. On the other hand, many generations ago, the City of Silver’s six-member council had already reached a consensus: the Creator who had abandoned this land very likely would not return. Searching for another way out had to be placed on the agenda. Unfortunately, such attempts had never produced a third result beyond ineffectiveness and death.

It was precisely because of this that, no matter what difficulties they encountered, no matter how many city-states destroyed by “evil gods” they discovered, the City of Silver’s exploration of the surrounding region and of more distant places had persisted.

For Colin Iliad himself, the discovery of the outsider Jack had brought indescribable surprise and hope. Meanwhile, the encounter during the exploration of Afternoon Town, the conspiracy of the Kings, and the prophecy of the clergyman had given him an even stronger sense of urgency. He no longer held any expectation that the Creator would return.

With those two factors combined—together with Lovia’s and Derrick’s abnormalities, and that prophecy of doomsday—Colin Iliad, Chief of the six-member council, a veteran demigod and powerful Demon Hunter, had no choice but to try dancing upon the edge of a blade. He had no choice but to consider making a transaction with a hidden existence.

Silently exhaling, Colin took a step back and recited in a voice carrying a touch of age:

“The Fool that does not belong to this era;

“The mysterious ruler above the gray fog;

“The King of Yellow and Black who wields good luck;

“I pray to You. I pray for the power that comes from mystery. I pray for the blessing that comes from good luck. I pray that You allow the items upon the altar to form into charms…”

The moment Colin’s rhythmic, solemn, and mysterious voice fell, the altar before his eyes became dark and deep, as if an indescribable, ineffable divinity were spreading from the candle flame in the middle.

That candle flame suddenly sprang upward and grew larger. Yet it failed to illuminate the surroundings. Instead, it made everything even more illusory, causing countless transparent shadows of different forms, as though nonexistent, to appear everywhere, sparse in some places and dense in others.

Above this illusory world and the countless figures, seven pure lights of different colors hovered, seemingly containing endless knowledge.

And above those seven pure lights was a boundless grayish-white fog, and an ancient palace that looked down upon all things.

For a brief moment, Demon Hunter Colin actually forgot everything else. He stared intently at the image upon the altar, as though something that existed only in books and ancient records had crossed the barrier between illusion and reality and truly arrived before him.

If he remembered correctly, this should be the projection of the spirit world.

Before that catastrophe, before the Creator abandoned this land, the spirit world could easily be observed and even entered!

Now, it existed only in the textbooks and various materials of the City of Silver. No one could touch it any longer!

Just then, an illusory creaking sound suddenly rang out. Inside the ancient palace overlooking the gray fog and the spirit world, it seemed a door had opened.

Immediately afterward, Colin saw the unformed charms before the candle flame emit a gray, hazy radiance. Their lines were “lit” one after another, interweaving together and abruptly bursting with dazzling, dense brilliance. The light wrapped the thin silver sheets and ringed worms together.

The entire dark world above the altar distorted for an instant.

Everything soon returned to normal. Yet now there were two strange charms made of black crystal on the altar. They were like a pair of eyes belonging to some existence, quietly watching the world.

Demon Hunter Colin froze for a moment. Then he restrained his gaze, bowed his head, and said in a deep voice:

“Thank You for Your blessing.

“Praise Your existence.”

He did not delay. He immediately ended the ritual and released the seal.

Once all this was done, the Chief of the City of Silver’s six-member council returned to the desk and picked up the two charms made from the remains of Amon’s avatar.

Even now, the image he had just seen still lingered in his mind.

According to his mysticism knowledge, what stood high above the spirit world should be the seven lights mentioned in certain ancient texts. They were believed to possess a status close to gods. Yet in all the records, there was no description of what lay above the seven lights, what that gray fog symbolized, or which being the ancient palace surrounded by the gray fog and overlooking the entire spirit world represented.

Throughout the ritual, Colin Iliad had only felt that the “Fool” to whom he prayed was profound, mysterious, and high above all things. He did not resemble certain evil beings who always enjoyed flaunting their strength and impatiently wished to display something.

Such a manner of manifestation had similar descriptions in the City of Silver’s records.

They belonged to that Creator.

Colin looked at the charms in his hand, then checked his own condition. The graying Demon Hunter suddenly closed his eyes, because figures flashed through his heart one after another.

They were his father, mother, elder brother, younger sister, eldest son, youngest son, daughter, and eldest grandson, whose lives he had ended with his own hands.

This aging Chief remained silent for a long time. Then he suddenly let out a low sigh.

“Two thousand five hundred and eighty-three years…”

Two thousand five hundred and eighty-three years had passed, and the City of Silver had finally received a normal response once more.

…

Inside the library of the spire.

In the section on ancient myths that Derrick often browsed, he found a notebook he had not previously read.

The cover of this notebook was made from some monster’s leather, with obvious patterns visible upon it. The pages inside were old and yellowed. Recorded within were the experiences of the original owner when encountering different monsters.

The overwhelming majority of these monsters could be found in the City of Silver’s textbooks. Even their traits were described there as well. However, the notebook contained many additional reflections and battle experiences, making Derrick quite interested and very focused as he read.

As he turned the pages, he suddenly noticed a type of monster called a Shapeshifter.

This monster did not possess communicative intelligence, yet it excelled at setting traps and dealing with targets. It could also disguise itself as others and complete hunts through all kinds of seemingly impossible methods…

The notebook’s owner evaluated it as: bizarre and dangerous.

This is very close to Mr. World’s guesses about the traits of a Bizarro Bane… Could the Shapeshifter be the Bizarro Bane?

Derrick felt a burst of delight and quickly browsed further. He discovered that this monster lived in the ruins of a city-state even farther north and more distant. Because the monsters within the darkness of that region were powerful and terrifying, and because even the six-member council was unable to deal with some of them, the City of Silver had temporarily halted exploration in that vicinity after the first two attempts. Even now, it had not resumed. For similar reasons, the City of Silver’s textbooks did not describe the unique monsters of that area.

After finishing these records, Derrick instinctively turned the notebook to the final page, wanting to know who had personally experienced those two dangerous explorations.

Amid the rustling of pages, his eyes swept across a name:

Colin Iliad.

…

Desi County, Eskelson Harbor.

Klein returned to the real world, rubbed his temples, and headed straight for the bed, falling down heavily upon it.

In order to make the City of Silver’s Chief form a better impression of the Fool and develop more trust, during his response just now, he had deliberately added special effects. He had forcefully displayed the status of the mysterious space above the gray fog, something that would normally only appear during covenant rituals and sacrificial and bestowment rituals. This had consumed no small amount of spirituality, leaving him even more exhausted and wishing only to sleep.

I’ll find food for Creeping Hunger after I wake up. For now, let it rest properly above the gray fog…

Klein thought in a daze. Very soon, he fell asleep, sleeping from late morning into the afternoon, until he was awakened by the growling of his stomach.