325 Edge
The unique noise of the summer forest drowned out the silence, and everything returned to normal.
As he tended to Ebony’s injuries, William briefly discussed the current situation with the two survivors.
After he finished speaking, Floral’s mind was in a state of severe cognitive confusion, and she collapsed on the spot. However, Ebony surprisingly accepted William’s explanation quite quickly.
“You believed it just like that?”
Observing that the other party had readily bought his words, William felt it was surreal. However, the Ebony on this side of the timeline candidly answered his query.
“Actually… I don’t understand what you just said at all, whether it’s the reversal of the timeline or the Void Sovereigns’ schemes. But I just feel that since you could easily defeat that Lunar Monster, whom you called ‘Silence,’ there’s no reason for you to deceive us.”
To be able to send the Lunar Monster, who had flung him around like a toy, flying with two strikes of his staff, he could be whoever he claimed to be.
Previously, even though he had communicated with all the beasts on his body, he could only resist slightly, thrown around by the Lunar Monster like a toy. Therefore, he naturally knew very well how fearsome the man in front of him, who could send it flying with two strikes of the staff, was.
In particular, the other party was garbed like a magic chanter. The mightiest magic chanter he knew, the Holy Tree Duke Floral, could not even unleash a single spark of magic in the Silence domain.
“Don’t overstate it… To me, Silence is truly a very troublesome Lunar Monster.” William humbly waved his hand. “Moreover, it managed to escape in the end.”
At this juncture, there was a trace of remorse in his tone.
It eventually disintegrated into a tattered spiderweb and vanished. It was evident that the Whispering Empress had utilized a contract to rescue it. Nevertheless, he was unaware of the terms that Demon General Silence had agreed upon with Ms. Keikaku.
What other machinations awaited him?
Silence, which could nullify all chants, was a true natural foe of magic chanters. If he hadn’t taken advantage of the other party’s underestimation and approached close enough to shatter its skull with a magical medium, this battle wouldn’t have been so easily won.
As long as the other party maintained its distance and utilized its mobility advantage to continually assault him with long-range attacks, William would have found it arduous to handle. The only means by which he could emerge victorious was to exit the Silent domain and cast a few strategic spells for the entire vicinity, but even then, he still had to bear the risk of the other party escaping. It wasn’t worth it.
If he had known that he would encounter this troublesome fellow, Silence, William would likely have brought Cass along. As the possessor of Judgment 4, Cass was undoubtedly the most suitable candidate in the Vic Continent to handle Silence.
Very troublesome?
Ebony and Floral exchanged glances upon hearing the self-proclaimed William Kane muttering to himself in a complaining tone.
Based on what they had witnessed, they were unable to discern where the difficulty lay for the person before them.
“Alright, let’s not discuss this. Floral, did you regain your memories after hearing what I said?”
William had no intention of enlightening them with his strategy against Silence. He clapped his hands and snapped them out of their trance.
Upon learning that Floral had transmigrated only to immediately play her role here, while her memories from the other timeline became even more vague than the labor contracts signed by new graduates on their first job, William wasn’t too taken aback.
Unless it was in a timeline like his or Ebony’s, where his body and soul arrived at the same time, it was very normal for someone like Floral, who had crossed time in the form of a soul, to be constrained by their physical memories and perceptions. It was entirely plausible to have their identity and comprehension muddled.
If everyone in the world regarded the undead as living beings, the living with a normal outlook would be viewed as madmen in their eyes.
“This is like The Song of Saya…” William grumbled softly.
Only then did Floral snap out of her reverie.
“I can only say that I have a faint impression of what you said, but it’s akin to trying to recollect my memories before I had my first memory. It’s very vague. It’s closer to the sensation of an emotion when compared to…”
As she spoke, she furrowed her brow as if searching for an appropriate analogy.
“Compared to a complete scene, it’s more like the feeling of an emotion, right?” William finished her sentence for her.
“Exactly. That’s the feeling,” Floral nodded and asked in confusion, “How do you know?”
“I’ve encountered comparable situations in the past. Back then, it was termed Soulless Disorder or sleepwalking. It’s a classic Moon Realm pathogen syndrome,” William shrugged and continued. “The root lies in the Lord of Nightmare’s control over dreams, and the manifestations often involve the dreamer’s memories and the distortion of their body’s perception. In the past, a whole city’s residents were ensnared in a comparable dream by Zamara, but I never expected that it wasn’t Her limit…”
Zamara’s dream had control over the entire Ravenwood. In other words, all the residents on this side were sleepwalkers who were collectively experiencing the same dream.
While Zamara couldn’t directly manipulate individuals because the woven dream was excessively colossal, it was still quite easy to suppress their memories when they were awake.
Especially when only a few restless people required special attention.
After William’s explanation, he gazed at Floral’s conflicted expression and shook his head with the magical medium in his hand.
“There’s no need to force your memories if you can’t recall them. It isn’t crucial.”
Floral looked up at William in bewilderment and asked, “How can it not be important? If what you say is true, who am I, and why should I fight? This shouldn’t be…”
The conflict between her memories, body, and soul made it difficult for her to determine her identity.
“I said that memories aren’t important because who you are doesn’t depend on your past memories, but on your present choice,” William interrupted. He gazed out at Golden Green Avenue and into the dark abyss in the distance.
“At the very least, you chose to come here, right?
“Since you’re here, use your eyes to witness the edge of Ravenwood and decide if this place is worthy of your protection.”
With that said, he strode towards the rugged avenue.
…
About ten minutes later, the trio arrived at the end of Golden Green Avenue. Upon gazing at the world beyond the boundary stone, the three of them had distinct expressions.
Floral’s assumption was accurate. This path, where cause and effect intersected with the outside world, was the authentic path that permitted exit from Ravenwood.
However, where would this path lead after leaving Ravenwood?
“So, what you’d said is true… Ravenwood, where I’ve lived for decades, is just an empty history with no future. And all the residents here are puppets controlled by the three Void Sovereigns to enact an authentic performance?”
Floral looked into the distance and couldn’t help but speak.
After witnessing the truth, she recollected her adoptive parents and her dream—to depart from Ravenwood Forest and explore other places on the Vic Continent.
Was this what the world beyond Ravenwood appeared like?
Then, what had she been striving for all this time? Was it just a joke?
Ebony remained silent. Instead, he gazed at the edge in front of him in a daze.
Although he didn’t anticipate the truth to be like this, this scene finally lifted the burden that had been weighing on his heart.
It wasn’t that he was insane; rather, the world had gone mad.
As for William… he was the most taken aback among them.
Was this the scenery at the end of Ravenwood’s timeline, which was still an empty history and hadn’t yet become the truth?
An empty darkness gradually spread out at the end of the path. There was no end.
If that were all, it wouldn’t be a big deal, but…
Besides the stars that didn’t represent treasures, this dark void was entirely like the empty night sky in his Treasure Hall!
This chapt𝓮r is updat𝒆d by (f)reew𝒆b(n)ovel.com