"The first era lasted for hundreds of millions of years. Humans, elves, dwarves, dragons, orcs, and all kinds of races walked the earth. Brilliant civilizations blossomed and bore fruit. The thirteen original ancient gods lived in the sky with those lucky ones who touched the Supreme Being, but occasionally transformed into saints to intervene in the affairs of the world. Spellcasters with various talents and professions explored the potential of souls and flesh and blood, recorded and created new knowledge, and pursued the mysteries of the world and the meaning of life. The vast world is far larger than the current material world. Even in the void outside the world, there are countless small worlds made up of stable fragments."
He took a deep breath:
"People today cannot imagine all this. They cannot imagine how prosperous, brilliant and glorious the first era was, which even I can only glimpse from a corner. But all this is gone. Everything has disappeared. The outside of the world has become a real void. The gods have left and fallen asleep. Even if they still exist, they no longer watch over the pathetic mortals. The extraordinary no longer have the power of the past. The civilization of mortals has degenerated from generation to generation. Even those magical races have gradually disappeared in time and space, leaving only the last remnants still echoing in the corner."
"so... ... "
Shad asked:
"The First Era was longer than all the subsequent Eras combined? Yes, I have heard of this as well."
The fortune teller looked at him with sad eyes:
"Or can we say that the old days of the First Age were the truly normal times. Since then, starting from the Second Age after the departure of the Ancient Gods, has it become... the remnants of the past, the afterglow of the end of the world?"
The two looked at each other, and the fortune teller nodded slightly to Shade, then turned and left through the door. The footsteps faded away, leaving Shade alone under the light of the campfire, silently pondering the information, which he didn't know whether it was true or not:
"This world..."
Edwards' "ancestor" did not stop Shad from leaving the island as agreed. When Shad jumped out of the window onto the street, he saw the familiar tentacle man, Sloss Edwards, who was transformed into a tentacle monster because of his fear of death. He was manipulating the tentacles that grew out of the ground like giant trees above the town to prevent the space deformers that appeared on the island from destroying the town.
For Sloss Edwards, who possessed both spatial abilities and a body that seemed to be indestructible, destroying these things was only a matter of time. Therefore, Shade did not encounter any more monsters on his way out.
He returned to the pier on the north shore of the island along the original route. The doctor's coffin had disappeared. He and Leicia should have left the range of the white fog. However, Shade did not leave immediately. Instead, he dived into the water on the pier and then swam clockwise along the waters at the edge of the island, starting from the pier.
Because Luvia provided the specific location, Shad, who moved quickly underwater, soon discovered a strange place with a faint green light under the water in the northeast of the island.
When they got closer, they found a sunken ship lying on the bottom of the water. It was a small wooden boat, about the same size as the broken wooden boat that Shade could summon. The boat was broken in two from the middle, and at the broken part was the green light that Shade saw in the distance.
The ball of light had no substance, it just seemed to shine. When Xia De moved over and saw two water ghosts suddenly emerging from the bottom of the boat, he realized that the light was a bait used by the water ghosts to attract prey.
The two monsters were not dangerous to him, and Shade led them aside before killing them to prevent them from polluting the waters. After returning to the broken wooden boat, he was troubled that he could not see the soul of the boatman.
Although the island was full of various residents from the Green Lake Town era, these souls could only be fully observed when the space was chaotic. Shade could wait underwater, but he was afraid that the doctors would worry about him. But if he left, he was worried about other situations.
"Then take them all away."
Even though most of the souls on the island stayed because of the angel-level relic Soul Storybook, they all met the main characteristics of souls that could not leave, that is, they had to rely on a certain object or a certain place to exist.
For example, the old woman who married into the Edwards family at the old cemetery of the lighthouse and the blacksmith in the town cemetery are attached to their own graves, and the mineralogist is a former oil painting.Shad certainly couldn't move the entire lake, so he planned to take the remains of the sunken ship away.
Because he was worried that hastily turning the shipwreck into a toy would affect the souls that had not yet appeared, he even patiently dug the hulls out from the bottom of the lake. After bringing them to the surface, he casually threw away the skeletons of fish he picked up from the bottom of the lake and summoned his old wooden boat.
The fragments of the wreckage were placed on board, the two main parts were tied together with ropes, and then towed by Shad's boat away from the island.
Thaumaturgy - Summoning an Old Wooden Boat The small boat summoned had no sails, nor a steam engine as a power source, but it did not require Shad to row it, and it could move in the direction Shad wanted at a moderate speed.
Xia De then stood at the bow, watching the fog in front of him become thinner and thinner as the wooden boat moved forward. However, he was surprised to notice that the fog on the waterway where the boat passed was almost cleared, leaving a blank area without fog. Only when the boat was far away would the white fog fill the space left by the exclusion.
"What's the reason for this?"
Xia De thought to himself, and gradually he could see the lights of the village by the lake in the distance through the white fog:
"This little boat, which is related to the one in 'True Death', apparently has powers I haven't discovered yet."
After successfully leaving the white fog area, he looked up at the lake and saw more souls wandering in the night fog. Looking into the distance, although he did not see anyone picking him up on the lake, the red butterfly pendant hanging around his waist was already shining.
The boat continued to move forward, and soon, Megan and Audrey's cruise ship appeared out of thin air on the lake where there was nothing. On the ship were not only the doctor and Leicia who were waiting for Shade, the owner of the cruise ship, Megan, but also Miss Carina and Tifa.
Leicia was still wearing the dress she was going to wear on her date with Shade, but now she was wearing a coat. The red-haired duchess stood beside her niece and looked at Shade, who was looking up at the bow of the boat. The two looked at each other, and Shade actually felt that he understood the helplessness in the latter's eyes.
Although she had conflicts with Resia in the past, she was genuinely concerned about her brother's descendants and never thought that Resia would be involved in the affairs of the Chosen Ones.
Seeing that something was being towed behind the boat, Megan signaled several of her girls from Central to go to the surface of the water and help Shade move the wreckage of the broken ship onto the deck of the cruise ship.
When Shad came to the deck, Leicia was the first to come forward and hug him, and she refused to let go. The doctor leaned against the deck railing and made a gesture to Shad to let him go.
The cruise ship returned quietly, heading towards the junction of the Duin River and Green Lake. Grace and Helen had already gone back, and before leaving, they asked Dorothy to pass a letter to Shad as a farewell, but Dorothy did not follow them, but she should have known that Shad had returned safely.
Mia, who was supposed to stay in the hotel and be taken care of by Dorothy, was actually held in Tifa's arms. In the arms of the black-haired maid, she looked at Shad with wide eyes, as if she hoped that Shad would exchange the girl in his arms with the cat in Tifa's arms.
As for Shade himself, he hugged Leicia, who refused to let go, and looked up at the strange sight in the night sky:
"The changes in space are intensifying, and the ceremony for the chosen one of space must be held as soon as possible. Tonight is only the beginning of the final stage of the changes, but it is also the beginning of the decisive battle. We must hurry."
He thought again of what the fortune teller on the island had just said, and thought to himself that maybe he should talk to him again.
"The church should be able to clean up these things, right?"
Miss Carina and Megan personally moved the important wreckage of the small boat with a spell and carried it to the cabin. The doctor pointed to the sky, and Shade nodded:
"Doctor, don't underestimate the church. If they can't even handle this, how can they maintain order in the material world? Let's go back."
Another thing came to mind:
"Besides, even if the church can't handle it, it's not our turn to intervene... There is someone else who can solve this problem, and he should have arrived by now."
At the same time, at the Green Lake City Railway Station, the arriving train had already stopped steadily. The passengers, carrying large and small bags, were exhausted but still very interested in this city where important negotiations were taking place.
After leaving the train station, they saw the night sky covered by thick fog again. The voices of discussion added some vitality to this quiet night. However, soon the patrolling police and the unknown team persuaded them to return to their residence as soon as possible. At the same time, the rumor that martial law might be implemented tonight also made the guests who were not familiar with the city a little panicked.
The passengers leaving the station quickly integrated into the city, and behind them, the old man who did not want to be crowded with others and the old priest in a white robe finally walked out of the station gate and came to the quiet street.
The inexplicably flickering light of the gas street lamps made everything on the street dim and unclear. The phantom of the soul was peeking at him in the darkness, and the power of death was being aroused by an inexplicable force.
The cold night wind blew, causing the priest's robe to swing back and rustle. There seemed to be countless terrifying faces in the swirling fog above, and in the shadows of the street, there were more and more shadows that could not be seen clearly.
The elderly priest Rat Augustus put down his luggage and looked up at the starry sky.
There seemed to be the sound of flapping wings in the wind, but it seemed to be just an illusion.