Free Web NovelChapter 2049: Chapter 2049: Year 5180 of the 5th Era
"Is the deity this time the Giver of Dreams?"
This Old God isn’t the "Dream God." He is usually referred to as the "God of Wishes," quite unknown. Shard knows of him because the God of Wishes—the Giver of Dreams, the Toy God—the Creator of Innocence, and the Fairy Tale God—the Fairy Tale Poet, are all called "Children’s Guardian."
These three are not well-known, and the information passed down in the Sixth Era is lamentably scarce. Shard’s relationship with the Creator of Innocence needs no elaboration; thus, he knows of this relatively unknown deity also related to guardianship of children, but he doesn’t have much detailed information:
"At least this one is a Benevolent God."
Regarding the two Arcane Techniques given by the Tree Father, the first corresponds to the First Ring’s Miracle—Echo Spirit Rune, which came from the initial task in Hope Town; the latter corresponds to the Seventh Ring’s Enlightenment—Flesh Spirit Rune, which Shard comprehended after replicating Edwards’ Ascension Technique.
The effects of the two Arcane Techniques are yet to be acquired, so although "Dragon Roar" sounds intimidating, there’s no need to overthink it now. Shard marvels at how the Tree Father can bestow any Arcane Technique, and this time the two seem to be offensive.
"The time is Year 5180 of the Fifth Era, and it’s only been three years since I met Miss Violet and Miss Teresa in 5177? It seems the key time I checked in advance was correct, but major events involving witches this year don’t seem to include anything related to cruise ships."
Unable to figure it out for the moment, considering this is related to a shipwreck, Shard first activated the sorcery "Water Walking" within the white mist before stepping forward.
As the white mist dispersed, the so-called "Sea of Darkness" environment indeed had no glimmer whatsoever. Encased in darkness all around, Shard truly sensed the water surface beneath him. But before he could be pleased about activating Water Walking in advance, he suddenly fell into the sea.
"Oh, this area forbids Water Walking-type powers!"
Having encountered regions that prohibited Spatial Power and Reconnaissance-type powers before, though soaking wet from falling into the water, Shard understands the situation.
Upon entering the water, the surrounding darkness became even deeper, with a desire to surface but feeling extraordinarily heavy. Luckily, this heaviness felt different from when the Old God "Deep Sea’s Drowned One" forced Shard into the seabed. As the cold spread throughout the dark waters, Shard emerged from the water.
On the endless sea, waves surged with black waters rolling like the skin of some monstrous beast, inducing fear. The pitch-black sky seemed like an abyss inverted overhead, but the water surface, where no light can penetrate, elicited the most primal fear.
There’s truly no light here. Without "Dark Vision," Shard wouldn’t have seen the crashing waves.
Even with Dark Vision, instinctively, he summoned Moonlight lighting, but after chanting "Silvermoon," the glimmer from his fingertips was as weak as a firefly, only able to slightly illuminate his palm:
"Sea of Darkness, is this what it means?"
According to summarized experiences, the Tree Father never directly sends Shard to people of the Fifth Era. If he lingers in the initial position too long, danger will arrive. Shard’s actions of falling into the sea, resurfacing, and summoning Moonlight combined took merely a dozen seconds, yet something already felt amiss.
His perception, influenced by chaotic Spirits and elements, distinctly detected a colossal entity beneath the unmeasurably deep waters rising swiftly towards Shard, instilling fear.
The crisis at that moment compelled Shard to disperse into Red Butterflies and float above the water. The butterflies ascended to a certain height before being pressed back to the surface, yet the brief ascent allowed a glimpse of the lone light in the darkness.
The Red Butterflies rapidly skimmed the sea towards the distant solitary light. Originally, these translucent butterflies exuded a warm red glow, now hardly maintaining their own light, let alone shedding red light points. Fortunately, the appearance doesn’t affect the spellcasting effect.
The crashing waves masked most sounds from undersea, but suddenly a terrifying "Ang~" echoed directly by the butterflies’ "ears."
One call scattered a quarter of the Red Butterflies and then something emerged from the surface that even the submerged Shard couldn’t see, extinguishing another quarter.
When the remaining butterflies approached the light, the massive creature with its unclear body submerging resurfaced and then faded away. The butterflies saw the light was the flame ignited atop a large floating slab on the water.
The floating board looked like the wreckage of a ship, blurred figures surrounding the flames made Shard understand that these were his companions this time.
Even though the roar of the underwater beast was so astonishing earlier, the people by the fire seemed completely unaware. The surging seawater oddly made the board sway gently on the surface, and the people swaying along with it did not notice a flock of dim-colored red butterflies flying through the dark.
Even when those butterflies fell to the edge of the board, causing Shard to suddenly appear while gasping for breath, the people by the fire still showed no reactions.
At this moment, Shard also noticed four people in robes huddled by the fire, appearing unconscious. He listened to everyone’s heartbeat, confirming they were all alive, and upon approaching, found that three of the unconscious individuals were witches. The one who wasn’t a witch was also a woman.
The flames originated from a fire pit, seemingly burning not wood but something resembling black coal.
"They’re all mortals, can’t see any deity. Again, do we have to find the deity first?"
Although it wasn’t raining, the surroundings were abnormally damp and cold. The unlit sea seemed to continually absorb positive emotions from the mind; even after having breakfast with his cat and feeling good, Shard’s spirits dampened within mere minutes of arriving here:
"I wonder if Priest Augustus is experiencing something similar."
The ladies covered their faces with warm blankets, leaving Shard unable to discern their characteristics for the moment. He wanted to awaken them, so he pulled out a bottle of No. 3 Holy Water procured from the priest — who could now produce it in bulk — and fed it to them one by one.
Shard had higher quality Holy Water too, but the Tree Father wouldn’t allow it to be taken to past eras. Yet the No. 3 Holy Water should suffice, and Shard helped them up one by one; they still had instinctive reactions to swallow the liquid.
Through contact, Shard also became aware of everyone’s identity and rank. He even felt that the women’s bodies were somewhat... unreal. He could distinctly sense their souls truly existed, but there was definitely an issue with their bodies.
He first aided the only ordinary young lady, who appeared exceptionally young, just like Iluna and Angelina, seemingly around seventeen or eighteen years old. Though the robe she wore was somewhat old, the half-dry elaborate gown beneath suggested she was attending a banquet.
The clothes not being fully dry implied just a short time had passed since the "Radiant Messenger" cruise incident occurred.
After drinking the Holy Water, she groaned but didn’t awake immediately, for she was merely a mortal.
Shard then helped a slightly older lady, originally black-haired with some strands of white. Though her features suggested she was no more than thirty or forty, her actual age must be much older.
This eldest lady was also the strongest witch among the four; if Shard’s perception was correct, she should be a Twelfth Rank Witch, a top-tier Twelfth Rank Witch. She recovered quickly; in fact, while Shard tried to feed her the Holy Water, she was already somewhat conscious, holding his wrist to prevent him from feeding her the strange liquid. Shard didn’t understand why every witch he encountered first grabbed his wrist.
The third lady was somewhat younger, around the age of Miss Galina and Miss Aphrola. Her pretty purple hair was clearly not natural; in this world with supernatural power, regular people’s hair colors were merely a few shades like black, brown, red, and gold. But Shard had seen Chloe’s long silver hair, so seeing purple now wasn’t surprising.
This lady was a Tenth Rank Witch, and after taking a small amount of Holy Water and regaining consciousness, she didn’t ask Shard about his identity but urgently pointed to the last young lady, evidently wanting Shard to rescue her.
When Shard lifted up the Eleventh Rank young lady, seeing the familiar round-framed glasses and the golden long hair styled into over a dozen braids, he was at once surprised and instantly recognized her:
"Truly met an acquaintance? Miss Schultz Teresa?"
Schultz Teresa, a distant niece of Miss Violet, the Witch Empress who sealed Sicarl Mountain in the future. They once met Shard three years ago, in Year 5177 of the Fifth Era at Lost Lake on the Shattered Isles, exploring the secrets of Eternal Beauty. For Shard, it was the winter of Year 1853 of the Sixth Era when Margaret visited Tobesk.
Back then, the place was also outside the five main continents, like now.
Now it’s Year 5180 of the Fifth Era, three years since they last met, a once Tenth Rank Witch awaiting graduation, now promoted to Eleventh Rank. She didn’t seem greatly changed, lacking the resplendence when she emerged to aid Shard in the Pantanal battle in response to the "Sublimation Incantation." Because of the cold, the blonde girl curled into a ball, her face pale, her brow furrowed, possibly dreaming something in her unconscious state.
