Chapter 110

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Chapter 110: Reason

Tasha looked at Victor.

Among various fragments, she saw a glimpse of Victor – a powerful killer who joked, a crazy teacher who taught her how to dissect souls, a cunning plotter. The Book of Dungeons was like a mascot of a half-hearted villain, while the complete version of the great demon Victor was a truly evil being, a unique villain, a dangerous rival. Between the severely damaged mascot and the Demon Lord standing at the top of the food chain, Tasha saw Victor before his heyday for the first time.

During the Elf Mage’s check, Tasha saw the scene of Victor coming to the Primary Material Plane for the first time in his Decaying Disaster, witnessing his evolution from a monster to a demon in an instant, a transformation like a chrysalis turning into a butterfly or a moth – you cannot tell what’s inside the chrysalis until it breaks out.

Victor was both, he was both at the same time.

He killed rabbits, hunting dogs, hunters, children, strong men, wounded soldiers. After hesitating for a long time, he stopped just out of curiosity, gazing at the campfire, listening to songs, catching snowflakes. Tasha looked at this newly born demon wearing human skin, gazing at the snow-covered land with a child-like innocence.

"So beautiful," he said.

Seeing this, Tasha knew that Victor had passed the check.

"I have never seen a kind demon before, it’s unbelievable." Elf Mage said in amazement.

"He must be truly unique." Tasha said.

If the condition for passing the test is "Is Victor evil," then this trial is likely to be a definite loss. Victor, a demon from the Abyss, whether it’s the memories of his time as a great demon, the Soul Fragment he left behind, or the often silly-looking Book of Dungeons, all belong entirely and absolutely to the evil camp. Victor enjoys harming others for his own benefit, occasionally even at his own expense, and has been cruel for a long time, as seen from the pitiful creatures he has harmed. If Elf Mage were to ask him to have no ill will towards the Primary Material Plane, it would already be too late by the time that rabbit fell.

However, what Elf Mage said was: he does not believe that a soul from the Abyss would harbor even a little kindness towards the beings of the Primary Material Plane.

Although they initially misjudged the test subject, Tasha always believed that Victor could pass. His malice may outweigh his kindness, he has participated in several Decaying Disasters, and he may choose the side of the Abyss, but his "kindness" is never fake. Even if he only has a spoonful of goodness, it is enough to distinguish Victor from other Abyssal Demons.

Victor is an interesting demon.

"Indeed, he is truly unique." Elf Mage hinted, "I have never seen a great demon like him stay in Aryan after the Battle of the Heaven and Earth, even in shattered souls. In fact, all the Demon Lords had already left on their own before the war began."

"Left on their own?" Tasha said, suddenly remembering the white lightning wizard Sophiawizard.

What is the Abyss planning? The white robe wizard said this when blocking Victor, with Demon Lords and high-level demons on the ground gradually withdrawing their projections and key subordinates, what are you planning to do?

"No one knew what made these madmen come to an agreement, they have had enough of the Battle of the Heaven and Earth and plan to overturn the chessboard," the Elf Mage frowned. "The Demon Lord has completely withdrawn from the Primary Material Plane. At first, we thought it was just a lurking before the start of a new war, until we discovered they were trying to destroy the Primary Material Plane."

The Abyss is a great enemy to the mortal world, but strictly speaking, the true enemy of the Abyss is not the Primary Material Plane.

For demons, the Primary Material Plane is a necessary path to reach the Heavenly Realm, it serves as a transit and supply station during the war with the Heavenly Realm. The souls of beings in the mortal world are merely food for demons. Can you have any kindness or hatred towards food? Similarly, the Abyss devouring the Primary Material Plane is only to corrode a passage towards the Heavenly Realm. Causing great destruction and casualties is just an embellishment, not the ultimate goal.

The Heavenly Realm is the same, if you replace ‘souls’ with ‘faith’ and ‘slaughter’ with ‘enslavement’, the actions of the Celestial Beings are identical to the Abyss.

This is why, despite the wars between the Heavenly Realm and the Abyss for so many years, the land of Aryan in between has not turned into ruins. The arrival of true gods and Demon Lords is enough to cause a collapse of a large part of the planes, similar to the appearance of Ragehorn Simon. Both sides have such powerful forces beyond human standards, if they were to exert all their strength without consequence, the Primary Material Plane would become devastated and even fractured. But even the confused demons do not have the intention to destroy Aryan. If they destroy the staircase between the two worlds, how would they wage war against the Heavenly Realm?

The Heavenly Realm and the Abyss have been fighting across realms, using the mortal world as a battlefield and a chessboard. But one day, the Demon Lords had enough of the games, enough of the endless battles against their archenemies, they withdrew from the Primary Material Plane, preparing a dreadful forbidden curse to destroy the mortal world, turning it into pure energy shards, as if killing a chicken for its eggs.

Fortunately, the creatures of the Primary Material Plane discovered this before it was too late.

This was the beginning of the Aryan Declaration.

"In fact, it was the prophetess of the goddess who first announced this news," the Elf Mage said ironically, "But at that time, a new profession of fortune tellers was rising, they did not need divine revelations and bloodlines, they relied on calculating the trajectories of stars to predict the future. Some clergy members who were accused of blasphemy found a way to steal the right to use divine spells through willpower. Together with the fortune tellers, they discovered another thing: the Heavenly Realm was also doing the same."

The actions of the Heavenly Realm always take a longer route than the Abyss.

Perhaps seeing the Abyss taking action made them unable to resist, or maybe their plan is what made the Abyss want to disrupt the game. Who knows. In any case, the Heavenly Realm is also planning to make a move on the Primary Material Plane. They are just trying to divert attention by teaming up to solve the Abyss problem first, so that they can be the only ones left standing.

"So, the Primary Material Plane allied with the Heavenly Realm first?" Tasha asked, already knowing the answer in her heart.

"Yes, each with their own thoughts, but it’s all part of the game," the Elf Mage said with a cold snort.

Tasha’s guess matched some researchers’ theories – the creatures of the Primary Material Plane did not start wars with both the Heavenly Realm and the Abyss at the same time. The Heavenly Realm wanted to use the mortal realm, and mortals wanted to use the Heavenly Realm. Their first target in declaring war was the Abyss, as the evil reputation of the Abyss made it an obvious enemy to unite against the Decaying Disaster.

But even so, problems still exist.

"You said after the Battle of the Heaven and Earth, no Demon Lord could interfere with the Primary Material Plane anymore," Tasha asked again, "So what caused the contamination of the Abyss after the war?"

The Heavenly Realm wanted to completely push out the Abyss, with the cooperation of the creatures of the Primary Material Plane, the Celestial Beings should not miss the chance to defeat their archenemy.

"Because of foolishness," the Elf Mage said with a bitter smile, "Because of arrogance, because of greed."

In the grand Battle of the Heaven and Earth, besides the songs of praise, there are also some hidden parts.

The Heavenly Realm tried to use the different clans of the earthly realm as pawns in their war, thinking they could benefit from it. However, they didn’t anticipate that the united armies of the Primary Material Plane under the Aryan Declaration would stand against both sides. For nearly half a century, alongside the earthly realm, they fought the Abyss, and the Aryan coalition secretly searched for ways to counter the Heavenly Realm.

The Heavenly Realm taught the earthly realm how to banish the Abyss. With the help of the Heavenly Realm, the Primary Material Plane could permanently close off the passage to the Abyss instead of just temporarily blocking it until the next time. Following this example, the earthly coalition also found a way to completely banish the Heavenly Realm. However, with the help of the Heavenly Realm, the Aryans spent almost half a century banishing the Abyss. After banishing the Abyss, how much more would the Aryans have to sacrifice to face the Heavenly Realm in their weakened state?

Different individuals have different opinions, and disagreements can arise even for a common goal, leading to endless arguments that could fracture alliances. If it’s challenging for several countries within one race to reach a consensus, what about the numerous races in the world? As the Battle of the Abyss nears victory, the disputes on what to do next become more severe.

It can be said that in such circumstances, managing to keep secrets hidden from the Celestial Beings, the various clans of the Aryans are truly remarkable.

Problems always need solutions, and a small group of people decided to take a risky move.

If they could use the Heavenly Realm to banish the Abyss, could they then use the Abyss to banish the Heavenly Realm?

While it may sound far-fetched, it is not entirely impossible.

It was a decision made by a few black-robed wizards, some Abyss Worshippers, and some witches. They might be considered the most powerful and knowledgeable group among the living beings on Earth, as their strength and knowledge gave them confidence. What exactly they did remains unknown, but only their results are known to others.

They successfully used a demon, just like how people had successfully used Celestial Being before. Even after being banished from the abyss, they still held onto the power they had deceived from the demon. Soon after, they turned against each other and used the Power of the Abyss to sever the connection between the Heavenly Realm and the Primary Material Plane.

It turned out that playing dirty was probably more effective than banishing the abyss.

It was a great victory. Most tired warriors were unaware of the truth and cheered for the heroes who succeeded. A few who knew the truth praised the unconventional action, even though some criticized the ruthless methods used. They had to admit that this action reduced the potential casualties and prolonged battles by a hundredfold. The Battle of the Abyss lasted for half a century, while the Heavenly Realm’s battle only took a little over a year.

It was truly a miraculous victory.

Unfortunately, soon after, everyone realized that the seemingly miraculous stroke of luck was non-existent.

Among those who had made deals with the demons, some died inexplicably, some went mad, some disappeared, and some were already proven to have been tempted by demons or corrupted by the abyss. The spell to banish the Heavenly Realm seemed flawless at first, but not long after, the contamination from the abyss appeared where the Heavenly Realm had vanished.

To put it this way, the blade borrowed from the abyss that could sever the connection to the Heavenly Realm actually carried the abyss’s virus on its edge. Trying to cut off the vines of the Heavenly Realm parasitically clinging to the Primary Material Plane with this blade would only spread the abyss’s poison. Even if the owner of the blade was banished earlier – let alone not fully banished, Victor’s backup plan was secretly anchoring the two realms like a tether. It was at this point that people realized they could not deceive the demon after all.

It was they who were deceived.

It’s unbelievable, the side that was first eliminated seemed to have the last laugh.

"We tried all the ways we could." The Elf Mage said bitterly, "All gentle methods couldn’t control the pollution, let alone cleanse it. In the end, there was only one choice left. The Will of Nature can help fight against the Abyssal Will. The Forest Elf and the Great Druid, Son of Nature, can use some methods to purify the spaces contaminated by the abyss. But for the people of Aryan after the great war, this solution was too drastic."

The Demon Lord, who had revealed its intentions and decided on its target, was now wreaking havoc on the Primary Material Plane without restraint. Even though the gods of the Heavenly Realm provided many protections (thankfully, Aryan received a more complete version in the future), the scars left behind were more severe than any Decaying Disaster. Aryan then underwent two major surgeries, one to drive out the abyss, and one to expel the Heavenly Realm. Subsequently, with the spread of pollution, these events unfolded one after another, causing the Primary Material Plane to be deeply wounded, entering an unprecedented low.

Under these circumstances, purifying the pollution in Aryan was completely impossible.

Let’s go outside then.

The Elf Mage spoke about the Astral Plane with a tone as if mentioning another dangerous land, or an equally challenging and dangerous place – difficult, troublesome, risky, but not mysterious. He knew the Astral Plane, most likely had been there, and described it as a place one could venture into with proper preparation.

During that time, the Astral Plane was not a secret yet. The concept of the existence of the Astral Plane had not been erased from the memories of the hidden elves in the solidified time.

"The contaminated parts must be cut off and taken to the Astral Plane for purification. Our king and the Druid from The Four Seasons Council can safely escort the Forest Elves out of the Primary Material Plane, travel far, enter the Astral Plane, set up anchoring points there, and send the contaminated spaces of Aryan off. Once the anchoring is complete, the ordinary Forest Elves can return. The king and the Great Druid will stay there to cleanse. If all goes well, the purification could be completed in a few years. In the worst-case scenario, if purification fails, we would lose access to nearly a quarter of the planes."

He shook his head, saying, "At that time, most people thought the same way."

Things turned out worse than the worst estimates.

"What happened in the end?" asked Tasha.

"I don’t know," said the Elf Mage solemnly, "Nobody knows."

Those who knew did not return, and those who were confused had no way of knowing. When the slow and secretive pull that should have taken place suddenly completed with great force, the Astral Plane briefly appeared before the eyes of all living beings in the Primary Material Plane, but the passage to the Astral Plane was temporarily closed. Fierce spatial turbulence surged continuously outside the Primary Material Plane, even the boldest Legendary Wizard did not dare to venture into the Astral Plane at this moment. Aryan, who had endured various hardships, seemed to be reaching his limit, spatial magic spells were affected, and what was even more frightening was that the anchors left by the Elf King and the Great Druids here were quickly failing in this chaos.

The Astral Plane was boundless, vast and endless.

Once they lost the anchor point in the Aryan world, those who were still drifting outside probably would never be able to come back.

"I had considered this outcome before the incident," said the Elf Mage in a deep voice, the previous sorrow turning back into composure, "I deliberately delayed because this magic circle required four elves."

Tasha looked at him in astonishment, sensing an underlying meaning.

"Yes, it’s more than just a hunch," the Elf Mage said. "I have a astrologer friend named Margarita, she is the most talented among the young fortune tellers. When I received the news, Margarita cried for a long time. She said they wouldn’t come back, although she didn’t know why. If she could advance to Legendary, things might become clearer, but either way, I believe in her."

I feel terrible," Margarita told the Elf Mage, "I can’t be certain, but I feel awful… darn it, I’m not skilled enough, I can’t see more. If only I could advance to Legendary earlier.

In a storybook, a fortune teller named Margarita, Tasha remembered where she had heard of her before.

"’Eye of Foresight’ Margarita?" Tasha asked.

"That’s what we call her in private," the Elf Mage’s expression softened, "Is she famous in the future? Ah, I knew she would be renowned far and wide."

Eye of Foresight Margarita did become famous in the future.

"Eye of Foresight Margarita was the most outstanding fortune teller of her time, and also my friend. After a seven-day divination, she did not open the door to her room," said the chief wizard of the White Tower’s ruins a hundred years later, "When her disciples opened the door, they found Margarita had blinded her own eyes and taken her own life."

The famous and exceptional fortune teller perished by her own hand after prophesying the dragon’s fate. Upon becoming a legend, she did gain the ability to see more truths, but it seemed that the unknown truth eventually overwhelmed her.

Tasha remained silent, and the Elf Mage sensed something from her silence, whispering self-deprecatingly, "People are bound to die."

He finished the latter part of the story.

With him, there were now four survivors gathered here. One Druid, one Beastmaster, one archer, one wizard, four Forest Elf Professionals, enough to activate the magic circle that locked in time. In this frozen moment, the final ember was left behind.

"Four, at least four," the Elf Mage said. "Four gatekeepers, four openers, thank goodness we waited for them."

"What are you waiting for?" Tasha asked. "What do we need to do?"

"Do what you need to do," the Elf Mage said, a rare smile flashing in his serious face. "I don’t want to sound like a preacher, but I don’t know. We cannot figure out a solution, so we can only do what we can, like keeping the puzzle intact."

They exchanged their lives, freedom, and long terms of imprisonment for answers, which they did not receive, but at least they gained hope.

The Elf Mage tilted his head, as if hearing something. He said, "It looks like they have passed as well."

"Of course, they will pass," Tasha laughed.

"Yes," the Elf Mage said solemnly. "Let’s begin!"

He was not speaking to Tasha.

"Let’s begin!" the Elf Druid said. In front of him, Druid Eugene summoned the last small blade of grass, a bright red one that slowly pointed at the Druid, and then the whole summoned forest vanished.

"Let’s begin!" said the Elf Beastmaster. She turned into a white mist and drifted out of the Silver Wolf’s mouth, then gathered a unicorn and a girl a few meters away. The girl smiled at Marion and waved to her.

"Let’s start!" said the Elf Archer. He licked his lips covered in soup, patted his belly contentedly, and embraced the cook who made a big meal. "Nice to see you," he said to his granddaughter. Mavis hugged her grandfather back, saying, "Me too."

They said, "I agree."

Four voices echoed at the corners of the magic circle, and four beams of light shot into the sky simultaneously. It was like inserting keys into locks, springs jumping, and gears aligning in a massive mechanism. The thick curtain was pulled back, the mist and surroundings dissipated, revealing the remaining truth enclosed in layers.

In the frozen time, the fleeting image appeared once again.

Under the dark blue sky intertwined with tree shadows, the trees from four hundred years ago were as lush and vibrant as in that moment. The lush green grass still grew abundantly on this fertile land, which had not yet lost its protection due to the departure of the Druid and the sacred tree. The aftermath of the opening of the Astral Plane passage had not yet made this place increasingly barren. This was a small piece of the preserved holy land, severed from the occasion of time by the magic circle, wrapped like amber, turning into eternal amber.

The tree shadows swayed under the dark blue sky, Tasha, Marion, Mavis, and Eugene stood where the four Guardians once stood. In the sky, a full moon, no, that goose-yellow thing was not a full moon, but an "anchor point."

This bright round ball like the moon is the anchor left by The Four Seasons Council.

Other explorers would certainly feel very disappointed.

The Elf Mage said he didn’t know what to do, which was true. Even after four hundred years, the people of Aryan still had no idea how to bring back the spirits and space of the "journey". Tasha learned the reasons for the journey of the Forest Elf and the Great Druid, as well as the origin of the Aryan Declaration, but when she boldly entered the magic circle, the "anchor" itself did not provide any answers. For others, this final reward was useless, and the answers Elf Mage sought remained elusive.

However, Tasha had a title, called "Astral Traveler".

The title came with this description: With the token of the Astral Plane, ready to face it with courage, you can embark on the journey once again.

It shone brightly in Tasha’s mind, like a gray wall suddenly turning into a glass window. Tasha couldn’t imagine what the "Astral Plane Token" was, but the moment she actually saw it, she recognized it immediately.

The moon-like magic symbol, the anchor that still connected the wanderers of the Astral Plane, was undoubtedly one of them.

With this ability, Tasha could jump along the anchor, aiming towards—

The other end of the anchor.