Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2785: Chapter 2786: Chance for Rebirth

Angel and the Black Earl exchanged a glance. Neither of them spoke, yet both understood what the other meant.

The Black Earl hesitated and said, ”It’s possible that the Frostmoon Alliance is pulling strings behind the scenes. However, almost all of the core members of the Frostmoon Alliance can be traced. They’re mostly distributed among the Southern Domain, Abyss, and various world frontlines. Let’s not mention those still in the Southern Domain; the wizards in the Abyss and at the conquest frontlines have other organization wizards nearby who can vouch for them.”

Which means the Frostmoon Alliance didn’t send anyone to the Panic Realm at all.

Even if a few agents were sent to the Panic Realm, they are definitely not core members.

If that’s the case, then the Frostmoon Alliance has no need to deliberately conceal the truth about the Panic Realm.

Just like what the Black Earl said about the case of the Manluo Plane, once the Sky Mechanical City found an opportunity for profit, they sent a large force to seize control of the Manluo Plane.

At that time, the wizards who stayed behind in the Sky Mechanical City were mostly pure members of the Academy Faction.

Comparing this to the situation in the Panic Realm.

If the Panic Realm was truly worth it for the Frostmoon Alliance to conceal for profit, at least some wizards would visit the Panic Realm, secretly bringing some materials back.

However, the Frostmoon Alliance did not do so, and all core members in the alliance can be tracked, indicating they never went to the Panic Realm.

There’s another point the Black Earl couldn’t understand.

Though the Frostmoon Alliance did spread some ”rumors,” those harmless rumors alone cannot stop the steps of wizards.

Even though many wizards pursue profit, some pursue truth and walk alone, never stopping their exploration or research.

This relentless pursuit cannot be stopped by any adverse conditions. Adverse conditions can be overcome, but the pursuit is never-ending.

In such a scenario, many wizards will go to the Panic Realm purely for knowledge, not profit.

If the Frostmoon Alliance was truly hiding something, wanting to monopolize the Panic Realm’s resources, they would try to stop them. But they did not do so and even recorded the coordinates of the Panic Realm in the ”Plane Conquest Record.”

This coordinate is undoubtedly correct; otherwise, where did Earl Mi come from?

So, considering all these details, although the Frostmoon Alliance appears to be the spreader of rumors, they might not be the actual mastermind.

It’s possible that there are other unknown forces behind the Frostmoon Alliance, directing the flow of public opinion.

It’s also possible that the Frostmoon Alliance saw only a partial view in the Panic Realm and didn’t know there were other wizard factions there.

The former is too conspiratorial and, upon careful thought, also has contradictions. For instance, if there are other forces directing opinions, why would they allow wizards from the Southern Domain, who are willing, to go to the Panic Realm?

The latter assumes the Frostmoon Alliance’s forward wizards are naive, which also seems unlikely.

Therefore, even the Black Earl is uncertain about the specific situation.

During their conversation, on the other side, Dox’s gaze remained fixed on the mural Kaier took out.

His eyes were focused, and his left hand kept stroking his chin, as if he was deep in thought.

”Sir, did you discover something?” Kaier had long wanted to put away the mural, but Dox was so engrossed in looking at it that he hesitated to move.

Dox: ”Since there’s a second awakening, I’m wondering if the butterfly-winged girl in the mural has already gone through a second awakening. So, she can control that silly lion below.”

Vay, who was beside Dox, couldn’t help but say, ”Even if there’s a second awakening, wouldn’t there be flowers and plants on the head? Did you see these things on the head of this butterfly-winged person? You just think she’s pretty and want to look a few more times, right... huh.”

Dox didn’t respond to Vay and continued looking at the painting. He felt like he had overlooked something.

Whether it was this painting or the previous two memories listed by Laplace.

As Dox was deep in thought, he suddenly heard a quiet exchange between Vay and Kaier.

Vay: ”Did you really not find anything else in that ruin?”

Kaier shook his head: ”No, the ruin might have contained something initially, but judging by the human traces, it was probably taken a long time ago.”

Vay wondered: ”Not mentioning the outside ruins. Just the secret room you discovered is strange enough; with only a mural related to the Panic Realm and no other things? Even some traces would suffice. Building a secret room just for a mural, that’s too bizarre.”

Kaier pondered for a while: ”There were other things in the secret room. I saw a small sacrificial instrument resembling an altar there. It should have been an extraordinary device, but over time, without energy replenishment, it gradually turned into ordinary objects. Some instruments were even cracked and broken, it’s been too long.”

Vay: ”Thinking about it like this, it kind of makes sense. Events from the Fallen Meteor Era happened thousands of years ago, if it were just ordinary extraordinary items, they would have long decayed to dust, and an empty room is normal.”

The underground aqueduct at least had a huge Magical Energy Array, with spare energy that could transfer to some Extraordinary Items. Yet even so, most of the items in the aqueduct had turned to ashes. Let alone, a completely energy-less nondescript ruin.

With this thought, Vay was relieved.

”Right, time! It’s about time!” After hearing Vay and Kaier’s dialogue, Dox suddenly exclaimed.

Dox’s shout attracted everyone’s attention.

Dox, with his thick skin, showed no discomfort when everyone looked at him; instead, he became more excited: ”I always felt like something was overlooked. But I couldn’t figure out what was wrong.”

”Then I heard their conversation, and I realized.”

”It’s time! Have we overlooked the timeline?”

Dox’s excitement did not infect the others. Mainly Vay and Kaier didn’t get it, while Angel and the Black Earl followed Dox’s words and fell into contemplation.

With a pensive look, Angel turned to Laplace behind the prism: ”Can you estimate how long ago the two previous scenes occurred?”

Laplace: ”Based on the memory reflected by the mirror, it won’t exist for too long in the Sea of Void Mirror. The moment I saw the memory was likely when the event occurred.”

Laplace pointed at the prism, displaying the previously shown scene of the second awakening girl.

”This scene, calculated using your human time, likely took place five thousand years ago. As for the specific years, I’m sorry I cannot determine... I’ve seen too many memories.”

Angel nodded understandingly.

If it was more than five thousand years ago, it indeed related to the events during the Fallen Meteor Era. It’s currently the New Calendar year 7378, and the Southern Domain’s Fallen Meteor Era generally refers to between New Calendar 2300 and 4100. That was exactly the Southern Domain Wizard World’s rising period, with countless geniuses emerging. Although not the most prosperous time in the Southern Domain, it made a notable mark in history, hence it’s called the Fallen Meteor Era.

At this moment, Laplace gently waved their hand, and a second scene appeared on the prism, this scene hadn’t appeared before, but Laplace had described it.

It was the scene of ”Wizard city rising in the Panic Realm.”

From the perspective of the image, it seems to be a puddle formed by rainwater, reflecting the scene.

The Wizard city is far from the image, at the end of the horizon, but it is clear to see that many Wizards are flying in the sky, heading towards that magnificent city.

Because of the Wizards flying towards the city, the entire scene inexplicably has a sense of solemn pilgrimage.

Moreover, due to the low angle, this ”immense” feeling is further accentuated.

This composition is simply exquisite!

Different things, different angles, the world pictures seen are different, this is the meaning of the grand universe.

If Mr. Feng saw this image, he would probably not resist recording it...

However, while the image is certainly beautiful, it doesn’t have much emphasis from an intelligence perspective. The Wizard city is too far away, and the specific emblem cannot be seen clearly, otherwise, we could determine which Witcher Organization built the city.

After everyone finished viewing the image, Laplace spoke: ”This image is older by a few hundred years compared to previous ones.”

Older by a few hundred years? This means, the image where the Wizard city appears might even be before the Era of Falling Gold!

With all these pieces of information, Angel somewhat understood Dox’s meaning.

The timing is wrong, and very wrong indeed.

They previously overlooked the issue of the Frostmoon Alliance’s founding time, which has only been 1600 years to date.

Although among the thirteen Witcher Organizations within the Frostmoon Alliance, most have experienced the Era of Falling Gold, and existed even longer ago.

Yet, the time when they united to form the alliance was merely 1600 years ago.

Regarding the intelligence about Panic Realm, it started to appear sporadically from the sixth issue of the ”Infinite Plane Pioneering Record,” which was a thousand years ago.

The most important point is, the information about Panic Realm, was released by the Frostmoon Alliance with the theme of ”Conquest.”

In other words, the Frostmoon Alliance considered the Panic Realm to be an untouched world they were the first to discover, hence it needed ”Conquest.”

But in reality, according to Laplace’s examples, the Panic Realm already had traces of Wizard presence long before. The reason why Panic Realm later became the ”Conquest” credit of Frostmoon Alliance was most likely due to ”disconnect.”

After the disconnection with the Origin World, there was a large blank history in the Southern Domain Wizard World, that period of history is open to interpretation and eventually turned into a lost era.

Perhaps it was that lost era that completely submerged the Panic Realm, which was already on the fringes, in the tide of history.

Ultimately, it was the Frostmoon Alliance that brought the Panic Realm back into public view.

However, by this time, the Panic Realm likely had undergone some changes.

As for what changes, it’s currently unknown.

”That being said, the image depicted on the mirror is true, and the intelligence given by the Frostmoon Alliance might not necessarily be false.” Dox murmured in a low voice, ”So what could the truth be?”

Angel: ”What the truth is, go ask and you’ll know.”

Dox was taken aback; hadn’t Laplace said he didn’t know?

Looking at Dox’s confused expression, Angel was at a loss for words. To call him foolish, he can bring a new perspective when everyone is perplexed; to call him smart, he blocks the new perspective just as it’s expanded.

A typical flash-of-inspiration-type Wizard... er, truly just a ”flash.”

”The lord means to ask those old Wizards who have lived for a long time!” Vay glanced at Dox irritably, then looked at Angel with a face eager for approval.

Angel nodded: ”Vay is right. Since the memory on the mirror is from the Era of Falling Gold. Then, the Transcendent beings who have lived through the Era of Falling Gold should know something.”

And the closest ”old monsters” who have survived from the Era of Falling Gold to the group currently are—

The Wise Sovereign.

This was the first thought that came to everyone’s mind after hearing Angel’s explanation.

However, the figures floating in Angel’s mind were different.

The three Ancestral Spirits of the Barbarian Cave, all of whom have lived for ten thousand years. The Book Elder definitely knows, but he is never seen around. Lady Mirror is in slumber, so who he can ask is the Tree Spirit.

Besides the Tree Spirit, Cicia could also be questioned.

However, what Angel hopes for most is to inquire... the Observer.

The Observer himself comes from the Origin World and is a well-informed Legendary Wizard. He must know some inside information.

But the Observer has never entered the Wilderness of Dreams; it is unknown if he is dealing with the aftermath of Devil’s Sea or if other matters have delayed him.

...

Although everyone was curious about the truth of the Panic Realm, Laplace had already shared all he knew, so they could only temporarily stop here.

Angel: ”According to your words of wisdom, Earl Mi... hmm, the Demon in my shadow, is attempting to awaken again?”

”He can awaken again? How can he awaken again?”

Laplace: ”You must ask him yourself.”

Ask Earl Mi? Angel couldn’t help but furrow his brows.

Laplace’s meaning is that Earl Mi has begun to develop self-awareness?

Even though Angel sometimes feels that Earl Mi’s behavior is a bit strange, he hasn’t suspected that he has regained consciousness, because the Seed of Distortion is still functioning normally.

Moreover, even if he has truly regained consciousness, with the Seed of Distortion there, can he restore a clear mind? Wouldn’t he be even more crazily bloodthirsty than when the awakened Demon?

Perhaps noticing Angel’s doubts, Laplace said: ”What I saw was the reflection of his heart, this reflection is not necessarily a subjective consciousness, it could also be a cry from the subconscious.”

”According to his own heart reflection, he longs for a second awakening and is already close to the brink of a second awakening. And how to awaken, what I saw in the Reflection of the Heart is... the sentence I just said.”

—Only in the chaotic ashes, there may be a faint opportunity for rebirth.