Chapter 316: Chapter 313: Going Smoothly
Back in the Shadow Land, the ruins were exceptionally silent. Traces of the battle between the Analytical Engine’s Burning Lion Squad and the Fallen Race were still present, and the remains of those Knights were scattered about.
Rorschach found a relatively intact sword and began to carve into the ground where the seal had once been. Gradually, a Magic Array began to take shape. Caroline looked over and saw that its core was a symbol based on a regular hexagon.
"What’s this?"
"Just some preparations for what’s to come." After finishing, Rorschach led the other two out of the Ancient Ruins Area and sealed off the Magic Array he had laid with a Blue Light Barrier.
This place had been a node for the Lord of Order’s power, and symbolically, it was the fulcrum of the Ancient Ruins Area. Rorschach had now planted a "bomb" at this fulcrum.
Removing the seal’s node in the Jiaomao Peak District went smoothly. It was located at the highest point of the entire area, inside a clockless clock tower.
The unexpected happened after it was removed. A patrol of the Old Empire’s spearmen, still following their mechanical route, actually paced their way onto the surface of the real world. And the corresponding area was none other than Storm City.
At this hour, the streets were mostly deserted. The kerosene in the street lamps was nearly exhausted, with only feeble flames providing a faint glimmer of light.
CLANK, CLANK, CLANK... The skeletal specters of the Old Empire had returned to Storm City, the city they once ruled. The clatter of their loose plate armor against bone echoed in the silence.
"Son of a bitch, can’t you see where you’re going?" a drunkard, who had been lying sprawled on the roadside, muttered as a combat boot stepped on him, waking him up.
But when he opened his eyes, he was met with the sight of hollow eye sockets and gray, tattered skin staring right at him. The sight scared the unlucky drunkard out of his wits.
The Old Empire had a strange decree: people were forbidden from drinking outdoors, supposedly to maintain order in the city. Even without eyeballs, the leading Captain of the Guard "saw" the bottle in the drunkard’s hand and, without a word, raised his spear to strike.
The drunkard tried to scream but found that no sound would come out. Just as he was about to be run through by the spear, the entire squad of Old Empire soldiers disintegrated into dust, dissolving before his very eyes.
’It has to be a dream!’ The drunkard realized his situation perfectly matched that of a nightmare. He remained motionless, holding his breath and desperately hoping he would wake up.
BONK! Something struck him on the head, and he was smoothly sent off to dreamland.
"Good thing I dealt with that in time. We didn’t let any more residents wake up and notice the anomaly." Rorschach breathed a sigh of relief, retracting his empowered hand.
Benedict felt like he’d seen this method of "physical sleep aid" somewhere before but couldn’t quite recall where. His head just throbbed faintly. "Let’s go. The nights in Storm City are colder than the underground..."
Caroline glanced back at the drunkard. Just before they passed through the rift back to the Shadow City, a sudden gust of wind blew up, sweeping an old newspaper from beside a trash can and neatly covering the drunkard’s body.
...
Having grown more proficient, destroying the node in the Semi-submerged Area went even more smoothly.
The node was located in the dispatch room of an abandoned subway station. On the wall was a map of the Storm City subway system from several decades ago, back when there were only four lines.
"Why are there abandoned subway stations anyway?" Benedict’s interest shifted to the map. It wasn’t just their current station; the map showed many other stops that were no longer in service today, places he, a native Storm City Elf, had never even seen.
"You’re a local and you’re asking us?"
"I just thought you were omniscient." Benedict feigned surprise, but Rorschach didn’t even look at him, wasting the performance.
As Rorschach withdrew the Lord of Order’s power, space fluctuated—no, it was a real tremor, along with the glare of headlights and the sound of wheels clattering against rails.
As it happened, Count Elgin’s mobile mansion had arrived.
"Teacher Caroline, can you stabilize the space? If this continues, the Count is going to plunge into the real world." Rorschach was still carving his Magic Array and couldn’t spare a hand.
"Of course." Caroline acted decisively. Under her power, the rift was forced to close just long enough for the Count’s train to pass through safely.
The slumbering Count and his loyal servants remained fast asleep, completely unaware. This time, the operation to remove the seal went off without a hitch, from start to finish.
In a single night, Rorschach’s group had dismantled three power nodes and returned to the Ancient Ruins Area to rest. On the map, nodes in the Core Area and the outskirts were still blinking.
It was easy to find a place to rest in the ruins. Rorschach insisted on building a campfire with planks torn from furniture. Caroline slept in Rorschach’s sleeping bag, Rorschach slept on a pile of hay, and Benedict was tied up and left on the floor.
Since Benedict couldn’t sleep, Rorschach had to use his "physical sleep aid" again.
"Is the final step to go to the Core Area?" Caroline had also seen Rorschach’s map display, as well as his stern profile illuminated by the firelight.
"When we destroy the seals, the Lord of Order’s power will split into three parts: some will dissipate, some will be drawn back to the Holy Land in the Deep Diving Area, and the rest will be attracted to the remaining nodes. This means the node in the Core Area is now channeling even more of the Power of Order, which in turn has strengthened the Marquis."
Rorschach explained to his teacher, "There are two options. First, we wait. We wait for the entire system to collapse on its own. There’s a price for bearing a god’s power. When the system is no longer self-consistent, more Divine Power will only become a burden to the Marquis. He might even lose his self-awareness in the future, just like the Burning Lion Knight simulated by the Analytical Engine in the first seal."
"Second, we defeat him immediately and destroy the final seal."
Caroline frowned. "If we follow your plan, the first option will definitely be too slow for the developing situation. But defeating the Marquis... he’s the one who knocked us into the Deep Diving Area."
"Alright, I admit it. The Marquis is truly as powerful as a Great Mage, and what’s more, you suspect he’s even stronger now, Rorschach."
’The boss isn’t the only one who’s gotten stronger...’ Rorschach wiped his hand across the map’s surface, and the display changed. It no longer showed just the blinking power of the Lord of Order. A dim shadow now covered the entire Shadow City—the remnants of Is. There were also mold-like patches, the areas corrupted by Mother Earth.
In addition, other mottled remnants of power were displayed in the Ancient Ruins Area. Clearly, more than just three great beings had meddled in this place. For instance, in the Holy Land of the Deep Diving Area, there were still traces of Silvanos’s power.
And... on the map, beyond the Jiaomao Peak District, right at the edge of the Shadow Land, was a real show-off—a point of light that flickered in size and pulsed with a frantic, color-shifting RGB effect.
Rorschach guessed—no, even a Dwarf could figure it out with his ass—that it was a projection of the God of Change. It was as if the map was afraid Rorschach wouldn’t notice; the point of light hadn’t stopped its wild display since he switched viewing modes.
He said something that Caroline didn’t immediately understand. "The Marquis is so powerful because he is the agent of the Shadow Land’s power. So why did the Power of Order choose him? Why is Count Elgin so much weaker?"
"Because of the difference in their noble ranks?"
"Maybe. I’m going to sleep. Goodnight, Teacher." Rorschach lay down, then added, "Tomorrow, I’m going to look for my friends. They came down here with me. They’re probably hiding from the Marquis’s pursuit somewhere."
"Are they alright?"
"They’re fine. One of them is a Gold Level Adventurer." After saying that, Rorschach began his long rest.
