Free Web NovelChapter 2047: Chapter 2047: The Event-Type Relic of Cognitive Rewriting
Angelina could clearly state the location of her "neighbor" the Goodman family. Before leaving the club, when Shard took out the city map he carried and asked Angelina to point it out, an unusual phenomenon occurred. On the map, between the "Yordle Palace" and the "Kingdom Parliament Hall," a building appeared that shouldn’t exist, labeled as "Goodman Family’s House."
This is not how a normal map should be.
When Lecia noticed the anomaly on the map, for a moment she thought it was normal. But the power of a quarter of The Chosen One, along with Dorothy’s normal memory that resonated with her, quickly made her realize something was wrong.
"Cognition rewrite, and cognition pollution, this is more than just a change in memory."
Lecia said worriedly, whereas Shard and Miss Galina were unaffected:
"It seems to be at least a Keeper of Secrets Level relic."
Thus, half an hour later, Miss Galina, accompanied by Tifa and two Seventh Ring maid misses, along with Shard, Lecia, and Angelina, appeared on Silver Cross Avenue.
The gas lamps made Silver Cross Avenue quite bright at night. It was already eight-thirty, and the street was devoid of other pedestrians.
Miss Galina held Angelina’s hand—a rare action—as they walked ahead, with Shard and the others following behind. Led by Angelina, the group walked north along the outer wall of Yordle Palace. Turning east at the next intersection would lead to Saint Delan Square, while continuing forward would take them past the intersection to the Kingdom Parliament Hall.
But instead, at the end of the street, adjacent to the intersection, the outer wall of Yordle Palace was impossibly close to a three-story apartment building Shard had never seen before. This apartment building was forcefully wedged between the intersection and Yordle Palace. Before Angelina pointed out the house, neither Shard nor Miss Galina noticed it. When the building appeared in their view, even the space seemed to be displaced.
"A newly descended relic, not yet fully stabilized."
The experienced Witch quietly remarked, then pointed to the opposite side of the street:
"Otherwise, the Church Ring Sorcerers protecting Yordle Palace and the Diviners from the Prophet’s Society couldn’t possibly be unaware."
Angelina vaguely sensed something was amiss, but still couldn’t understand what was wrong. So Miss Galina released her hand, and Lecia pulled her back, then Shard and Miss Galina stood side by side and knocked on the door—
Knock, knock, knock~
Initially, there was no light in the windows of this house. Even the gas street lamps and moonlight couldn’t illuminate the inside at all. But as the knocking sounded, every window in the house transformed from dim to bright, the process eerily bizarre.
Footsteps were then heard from behind the door, which opened to reveal Mr. Goodman, a neighbor familiar to Angelina, smiling. Yet in the eyes of Shard, the Witch, and others, the door was opened by a faceless man without any features on his face.
At this point, the Whisper Element only clearly emerged. Lecia, holding Angelina’s right hand, suddenly hugged her tightly. Tifa, standing on Angelina’s other side, also stayed close. Meanwhile, the two maid misses were positioned, one guarding the rear and the other at a distance, prepared for the worst outcome.
"Welcome, my neighbor Miss Cavendish, did you bring your fiancé? Would you like to come in and sit?"
The faceless man enthusiastically asked the Witch, capable of speaking without a mouth. Although the Twelfth Rank Grand Witch furrowed her brow, she remained unaffected by cognition rewrite and pollution, and solemnly shook her head:
"We have no neighbors, so leave here immediately."
In the lit hallway behind the man, a faceless woman also emerged, with something beside her feet... whatever it was, it definitely was not a shepherd dog, but a blurry piece of flesh.
The cat in Shard’s arms poked its head out, displeased, and let out a "meow~," only to be pushed back into Shard’s clothing. The mass that appeared as a shepherd dog to Angelina quickly withdrew into the house.
"Aren’t we friendly neighbors?"
The newly emerged faceless woman stood smiling at the door, reaching her hand toward the outside:
"Come in and sit for a while, Miss Cavendish. It’s been so long since you visited us. And bring your fiancé inside too, look at him, he’s quite handsome."
Her hand touched the dark chains that darted from Shard’s sleeve, and before the chains could bind her hand, it retreated back into the house like a living snake. Shard chose not to let the Great Sin Chains rush into the interior.
The inside lights, now bright, turned somewhat gloomy. The smiles on the neighbors’ faces viewed by Angelina unnervingly gave her a sense of dread.
"We have no neighbors."
Miss Galina asserted sternly:
"Never have. So, please leave here, Sage-Level Relic[Friendly Neighbor], I know about you. As long as you are not acknowledged, you cannot continue to exist. Without ongoing recognition, you become less real. When denied, this reality diminishes. Now, I tell you—"
Except for Angelina, everyone else said in unison:
"Yordle Palace is the complex of palaces where the Draleon Royal Family resides. Since its completion, there have never been any neighbors here, nor will there be a need for neighbors in the future."
"Meow~"
Mia poked her head out through the coat buttonhole again, only to be gently pressed back by Shard’s fingers.
In Angelina’s eyes, the friendly Mr. and Mrs. Goodman, the smiles on their faces slowly faded. They glared fiercely at the Witch, who glared back defiantly:
"In your descending phase, do you dare step out of this house?"
With her hand on her chest, the Witch’s Golden Necklace emitted a faint glow, the aura of the Grand Witch looked truly impressive. Thus, the Goodman family glared fiercely at Angelina one more time, then closed the door and retreated into the house.
The lights in the three-story apartment building went out one after another, and when the last light went out, with the emergence of spatial distortion, the entire house seemed to be swallowed by darkness, vanishing completely.
Angelina watched this scene wide-eyed, initially feeling uncomfortable about the missing house. But soon, the scene without the house evoked all memories from the past seventeen years, and the unsettling feeling inside her rapidly magnified until she realized the actual situation. As the rewritten mistaken cognition returned to normal, the Little Princess gasped in surprise, then a wave of fear surged within:
"We really don’t have neighbors!"
Trembling, her body was gently embraced by Lecia, who held her sister with some compassion:
"It’s okay, we will all protect you."
Snowflakes fell from the sky, but it wasn’t because Shard activated the Maze Lock for seasonal effect; it truly began to snow again.
"Enhanced Spatial Awareness."
The spatial positioning centered on himself clearly appeared in his mind, and considering the nearby Prophet’s Society and Yordle Palace being under the Church’s protection, Shard exerted only a little effort:
"No problem, that house has completely disappeared."
Miss Galina breathed a sigh of relief, and turned around to see Angelina still in Lecia’s arms, so she gently patted her shoulder:
"All right, everything’s okay now. See how dangerous the world can be? But compared to last month’s vacation at Green Lake City, this incident shouldn’t be too big."
"Maybe because last time she was with us, with Shard’s cat, and in an unfamiliar place. This time, she faced the influence of a Relic alone in familiar Tobesk, breaking her sense of security."
"Sister, can I sleep with you tonight?"
The Little Princess tried to calm the fear in her heart as she softly asked. She actually wanted to stay overnight with Miss Galina or Shard, but she was still quite afraid of her aunt, as for Shard... she knew nobody would agree.
"Okay, okay, seventeen years old, this is the last time."
Lecia said helplessly but agreed to Angelina’s little request for comfort, although she glanced at Shard, obviously having had other plans earlier:
"Aunt, did that thing leave completely just now? It shouldn’t appear again, right?"
Lecia asked this question intending to reassure Angelina, so she could sleep soundly tonight. But Miss Galina thought for a moment and shook her head at her:
"It’s the kind of Relic that currently cannot be contained by any means. Once it appears, it will linger in the settlement of intelligent beings for at least two months. We drove it away this time, but only caused it to change its target within the city. After all, it’s an event-type Relic, although it’s the worst of the Sage-Level, it is still Sage-Level... When was the last time a non-man-made release of a Sage-Level Relic was encountered this close to Yordle Palace?"
"This is not a good signal; we must tighten precautions around here in the coming period."
Shard said, walking alongside Miss Galina toward the entrance of Yordle Palace, planning to escort the ladies back and then take Mia home. Of course, he would casually mention the need to meet Director Anlos, as it was always challenging to find that elusive superior.
After Angelina’s emotions slightly stabilized, holding Lecia’s hand, she followed them from behind, with Tifa and two Seventh Ring maids behind. Shard was still discussing recent events with Miss Galina, and Angelina watched their silhouettes, genuinely glad that so many people cared about her tonight, and her sister’s embrace still provided the safety it did when she was a child.
"But..."
She silently thought:
"If I had power, I could be the one to protect them."
Nobody knew what she was thinking, though the arrival of the Outlander had changed many things, ultimately many more still followed their original path of development.
