Chapter 124

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Chapter 124: Various Reasons

The Battle of the Heaven and Earth concluded, the Heavenly Realm escaped with a loss, and one corner of Aryan was lost, leading to a temporary stalemate between the Abyss and the mortal realm. The Abyss was temporarily isolated, unable to reach the Primary Material Plane, but not completely banished. A new balance was forming, yet this balance was extremely fragile.

The demons were not satisfied with this outcome.

If there was no other option, the Abyss would have to make a similar choice, like the Celestial Beings, by severing a dimension and plunging into the Astral Plane. However, on one hand, Abyssal Demons themselves were more chaotic than Celestial Beings, lacking a unified leader to make decisions. On the other hand, the Demon Lords knew they still had the ability to invade the Primary Material Plane again, making it difficult for them to give up easily.

The Heavenly Realm’s choice was like deploying a small lifeboat before a storm arrived, aiming to escape the storm or possibly facing other crises. Leaving was inevitable, yet dismantling the larger ship before leaving, even if only taking some wood and food from it, would greatly increase their chances of survival.

That’s why the Abyss still exists.

That’s why, after the war, the Abyss, holding better cards than the Heavenly Realm, is now in a dilemma, trapped there.

When the Great Druid and the elves were trying to clean a polluted realm, the Astral Plane briefly appeared in front of all living creatures in the Primary Material Plane. Then, the passage to the Astral Plane temporarily closed, and fierce spatial turbulence raged outside the Primary Material Plane, preventing anyone from leaving temporarily. Spells related to space were affected, and the people of the Primary Material Plane only experienced some side effects from this failed "journey," as the gateway to the Astral Plane was temporarily blocked. They thought that this turbulence was temporary and although rare, it was normal since the Astral Plane was always a mysterious place.

The turbulence lasted for many, many years, and all the brave adventurers who entered the Astral Plane lost contact and never returned, which repeatedly indicated the dangers of the Astral Plane. Over time, fewer and fewer people attempted to enter. Then, the legendary professionals who should have been able to travel to the Astral Plane found themselves unable to leave Aryan. By that time, the decline of the Legendary Wizards had already begun, considered one of the many consequences of the decline in the magical environment.

The powerful beings trapped in Aryan were completely mistaken.

There is indeed a certain connection between the decline of the magic environment and the inability of legends to enter the Astral Plane, but it is not the cause and effect relationship they believed. If the Primary Material Plane still had connections to the Abyss and if wizards could find some clues from the demons they summoned, the spellcasters could have discovered the problem before complete decay. During that time, though Abyssal Demons could still enter the Astral Plane, they could no longer imitate the Heavenly Realm.

The Abyss and the Heavenly Realm can be likened to two flying ships. To leave Aryan, the "ground," energy is needed. The Abyss ship has more fuel than the Heavenly Realm ship, but as it prepares to depart, the gravity becomes stronger.

"Is the disaster of Aryan about to begin?" Tasha asked.

"No," Liandrinarchmage said, "What is stopping them is not a disaster but Aryan itself."

Just as the Abyss has the Abyssal Will and the Heavenly Realm has the Will of Nature, Aryan, this world, also has its own "will."

The World Will encompasses the entire world, from the Heavenly Realm to the Abyss, from powerful long-lived beings to fleeting creatures, from vibrant life to soulless environments… Everything is within the World Will, which is so vast that it lacks a distinct presence, unlike the perceivable Abyssal Will.

Just like mixing different colors together only creates a mess, and like hearing a lot of sounds all at once just sounds like loud noise, the World Will, which encompasses the whole world and countless different beings with different wills, is as transparent as air, almost impossible to feel Its presence. Most of the time, for most living beings, the World Will is really no different from nonexistence. It is like an old captain who mostly sleeps, easy to get along with, quite lazy, slow to react, but only when the fate of the big ship is at stake, then It steps on the deck.

Aryan’s will wants to keep existing.

It does not have emotions or thoughts, no feelings or consciousness, not even a soul or free will, but It knows better than anyone else about the coming disaster and how to solve it. It cannot command all living beings in the world to work together, but It can figure out what makes the situation worse and react to it. The world may be slow to react, but It will not stay silent.

The Heavenly Realm separates from Aryan, and a group of beings from the Primary Material Plane is pulled a quarter of the way to the Astral Plane – the World Will does not care about right or wrong, or the grudges between the three realms, for It, these two things only represent one result: the weakening of the world’s power.

If the World Will wants to continue existing, then It will not allow Itself to be weakened further.

The captain closed the passage for lifeboats, and the City Master locked the gates to leave the city. The presence of the World Will is sometimes faint and sometimes terrifyingly powerful. All living beings in this world cannot ignore the world’s blockade. How will you fight against a natural disaster?

The blockade is getting stricter.

It started with beings unable to return from the Astral Plane, then people could not enter, and eventually began to forget about the Astral Plane; initially, the entire Abyss could not easily escape like the Heavenly Realm, and later even the Demon Lords with spatial talents found it difficult to leave. Aryan is like a drowning person, getting weaker and unwilling to let go, under the world’s survival instinct, the escape routes are being closed off one by one.

Dragons received a prophecy, they caught the last chance and migrated as a whole. Perhaps because they were favored by their creator, powerful enough to be called "mythical creatures," or maybe the legend about the "dragon ancestor from another world" was true, the Dragon King managed to open a passage to the Astral Plane and safely lead his entire clan away. After this last chance, the migration of the whole clan became just a delusion, even the most outstanding legendary professionals lost their ability to open the Astral Plane.

World Will closed the door, but things didn’t get better after the door was closed. Instead, they got worse.

Heavenly Realm and Abyss were banished, Celestial Being and demons were isolated with this secret. Those who speculated either went to the Astral Plane and couldn’t come back, died as magic faded, or perished in the war. As the magic environment continued to weaken, the panic-stricken people, who were unaware of the situation, began to fight for the remaining resources.

It’s a terrifying truth.

In this long story short, there is an astonishing amount of information included, bluntly revealing so many mysteries. A large swath of fog was suddenly torn apart, revealing an unpleasant truth underneath. Those seeking answers found nothing, and those who found the solution couldn’t publicly disclose it. So many secrets from the past few centuries were hidden from the whole world, and one had to go beyond the world to find out the truth.

Tasha stood next to the old wizard’s image, and without saying or doing anything, the progress bar for the dungeon card skyrocketed in a short period of time.

[dungeon-Tasha]

In the process of merging and restructuring, progress: 90/100

The most basic familiarization with Aryan constituted twenty-five percent of the progress, gaining Abyssal Gaze added six percent, a series of understandings of the Astral Plane pushed the progress bar to 56/100, a strange admiration for the scenery added four percent, and learning the true expedition of the Great Druid and Forest Elf added fifteen percent. Until now, seemingly all the secrets about Aryan had been revealed, progressing from 75/100 to the present 90/100.

"I was the last wizard to escape from Aryan," Liandrin said. "At that time, I didn’t have much time left, so I decided to take a chance, and I won. The top floor of Rasheil’s Mage Tower is the path to the Astral Plane, and that path collapsed after I passed through."

He looked a bit sad, like remembering taking the last lifeboat in a shipwreck.

Tasha comforted him, "No one else has been found there except us."

Liandrin smiled, with a hint of bitterness in her smile as usual.

He shook his head, shaking off his previous sadness, and said, "This Mage Tower was created by the Legendary Wizards who left before. It’s a stroke of great luck that I could come out, and even more so to come here is a blessing of magic. The little power and life left to me can only allow me to leave a mark. But before me, when the pathway to the Astral Plane was not completely sealed, some wizards took the risk and successfully reached the Astral Plane by braving the chaotic currents. They have real legendary power before being affected by the magic environment decay."

Many of the legendary professionals who left Aryan and had no news actually survived well.

Legendary Wizards are among the strongest in the planes and so are their preparations. These wandering wizards who couldn’t return from the Astral Plane built the Mage Tower, and day by day, the shelters they built became more perfect. Today, the wizard camps in the sky are even better than those on the ground in Aryan.

"Are there apprentices here?" Tasha interrupted.

In a fleeting glance earlier, Tasha did see some students. There are many people here, not just the wizards who left before Liandrin.

"Yes," the old wizard smiled, "In this Astral Plane that connects countless worlds, there are not only us wizards from Aryan. It’s not difficult to trade or take on apprentices with others here. Who says that beings in the Astral Plane must be strong? Because of various reasons, there are so many who have left their original worlds, those who escaped, those abandoned by the world, those who are traveling, those who encountered accidents… Aren’t you one of them?"

Like a loud thunder striking beside her ear.

Tasha stood still, then quickly realized she shouldn’t be too surprised. She had previously guessed that the world where Earth was located might also be a fruit on the branch of the World Tree, and she hadn’t fallen from a higher world into a story. In this vast world full of talented people, Tasha was just one small part of it.

The old wizard had anticipated her arrival early on.

After the initial shock wore off, she felt excited instead.

"Why have I come to Aryan?" Tasha asked eagerly.

"I don’t know," replied Liandrin.

"You don’t know?" Tasha asked in surprise.

"If prophecies revealed everything, how would the world unfold," Liandrin chuckled, winked at her, "We have been observing Aryan from the outside, it took centuries of research and speculation for us to understand the truths we just revealed. Prophecies are just one way of calculation, we knew you were coming, but didn’t know how you would react to the results."

He paused and said, "We knew you are ‘one of them’ because your soul does not belong to Aryan. Having been a former resident of Aryan and spending so long in the Astral Plane, seeing so many wanderers, it was easy for us to see this."

"Isn’t it because of some arrangements?" Tasha whispered, in some moments just now, she almost thought her crossing was the work of these wizards.

"We don’t have that ability yet," Liandrin said, looking amused, "even if we can find a place in the Astral Plane, our knowledge is still very limited. We can detect meteors, but we can’t understand why they appear. As for your appearance, the only answer I can give is: I don’t know."

A brief silence.

The progress bar in the dungeon has been stalled for some time, ninety percent seems to be the limit of this conversation. Continuing to talk has not brought more progress. With all the important secrets about Aryan having been revealed, what could the remaining ten percent be? Tasha sighed inwardly, self-deprecatingly thinking that her origins alone couldn’t account for ten percent of the progress.

"So, as an outsider, how will you choose?" Liandrin said, "Will you stay or go back?"

Those aging eyes looked at Tasha, with pure curiosity in them.

Tasha pressed her lips together.

She didn’t want to pretend she didn’t understand, and now was not the time to act ignorant.

"Can I even ‘stay’?" Tasha asked, "You know I don’t have much time left."

"If you want to go back, there isn’t much time left," the old wizard nodded, "But if you decide to stay here, you can stay or, in other words, leave Aryan forever."

Liandrin is not here just to do good deeds and answer questions.

The wizards predicted Tasha’s arrival a long time ago, and they devised a way to pull her Dungeon Core into the tower. If Tasha gives up everything in Aryan, she can transfer to the Mage Tower and become the Tower Spirit. The wizards are very interested in Tasha’s existence form and are willing to trade with her. In exchange for a hundred years of service, as their spokesperson, Liandrin assures her that it is a fair deal.

"We will sign a fair contract in advance, and you can use your own contract," he said sincerely, "For a hundred years, you only need to serve as the Tower Spirit, cooperate in experiments that will not cause any serious or irreversible harm to you mentally and physically. After a hundred years, you will be granted freedom. The Mage Tower can shape a new body or vehicle for you, making you even stronger than before."

It’s quite tempting indeed.

"What if I refuse?" Tasha asked.

"Then we will only feel regret," Liandrin said, "You are not bound by Aryan because your soul does not belong to Aryan. But without the ability to freely traverse the Astral Plane, you won’t be safe when Aryan falls."

"I thought Aryan was already recovering," Tasha sighed.

"You have almost turned the tide," Liandrin said, "But no, Aryan’s worst disaster has not yet arrived."

In a world where lives are long, Tasha’s presence slowed down the train dangerously racing towards the cliff, even though it has not reached the bottom of the valley yet. Concerns arises whether it is out of the danger zone.

The second boot has not touched the ground yet.

The Primary Material Plane still lacks a legendary professional, no one has ascended to legendary status for a long time, just like there has not been a new Demon Lord in the Abyss for many, many years. Therefore, Victor’s inquiry about "new great demons in recent years" from Ragehorn Simon raised suspicions.

Tasha now understands where Victor went wrong. His threat to close the Abyss Passage for thousands of years and his questioning of "Don’t you want to live anymore?" were taken as low-grade insults by Simon. The words of the Angry Demon were not insults, but facts. If the Abyss Passage continues to be closed for thousands of years, Demon Lords will not be able to plunder sufficient supplies from the Primary Material Plane, unable to gather enough energy to free the Abyss from Aryan’s control, their future looks grim.

Opportunities may only come once.

Tasha, using the Astral Traveler’s ability, travels through the Astral Plane with a token each time, consuming the token. Without the token as an anchor point, even if Tasha can come to the Astral Plane next time, she may not be able to find this Mage Tower and get a second chance from them. Closer to home, there’s no need to wait for an unknown Aryan disaster in a few hundred years, the Abyss Passage will open in a few years. This Battle of the Abyss is not just an ordinary Decaying Disaster, if the Demon Lords want to find a way out, it will be a fight to the death.

If she nods, stays, everything can be avoided. Just start over somewhere else, it’s better than the conditions at the start in Aryan. When facing various crises of the past, Tasha also realized that as long as the core is saved, she can make a comeback.

However…

Yet…

Tasha had many things flashing through her mind.

She thought about the people she entered Mage Tower with. Some died in previous battles, some didn’t make it through the teleportation array in time, and only half of those who managed to survive came. They came in response to her orders, eager to join the team. Tasha knew the competition to join the team was fierce, and they trusted her. Tasha had promised the wizards to build a better Mage Tower for them than before.

She remembered the Elf King, who had been alone for hundreds of years and finally breathed his last breath after meeting her. He gave Tasha a seed and then closed his eyes in peace. Tasha recalled the fleeting moments scattered across the wandering world and remembered the four elves who stayed behind in Aryan. The seed of the Tree of Life was planted in her forest, and the Elf King smiled at her in the end, believing that his people would set foot on Aryan’s land again.

She thought about escaping the Heavenly Realm, where the gods had enjoyed centuries of worship and offerings in the past but fled faster than anyone when real trouble struck. She thought about staying in the Abyss, where the vultures stayed not out of kindness but out of greed, ultimately becoming too greedy to leave. She thought about the wizards around her, who had been away from Aryan for so long that they seemed to have accepted Aryan’s destruction. The researchers were more concerned about their studies, and the locals may have already been replaced, making the homeland vague in their minds.

Aryan was not Tasha’s homeland.

She had only stopped here for more than ten years, from an abandoned hall to the basement of half the world, witnessing her residents go from being bullied to walking the streets freely. She had only seen panicked faces turn into smiles, empty eyes light up, and the strict and rigid city gain many colors, as well as various beautiful landscapes and creatures.

Tasha remembered the day she first spread her wings and flew, riding the wind to overlook the green mountains, rivers, cities, and towns. The high winds brushed through her hair.

Tasha remembered the night she reviewed documents, with the gnome Ahuang placing a small toy made by the Craftsman Dwarf on her lap. She patted Ahuang’s head, and Ahuang happily left. Half-elf Mavis came in and brought her a bowl of especially delicious soup, truly special – the ingredients in the soup were unnameable, and after the magic environment revived, Mavis’s cuisine became impossible to replicate on Earth.

Tasha recalled a spring day when she inspected the forest, hearing Minstrel Jacqueline’s singing drifting from afar. The forest had just rained, the ground was damp, and Marion, who was with her, turned into a wolf and nudged her waist with his big head, wanting to carry her forward. At that time, the form of the dragon’s wings still had normal human-like legs, making it inconvenient to fly in the forest. So Tasha took off her shoes and climbed onto Marion’s back, feeling like stepping on a thick blanket. Victor was muttering something in the communication link, but Tasha absentmindedly listened, considering it just background noise.

Wrapped in Victor’s cocoon, he couldn’t move in the Magic Pool.

"No, thank you," said Tasha.

"Are you sure?" Liandrin asked, surprised.

"You said earlier, the world doesn’t have a set ‘death date,’ only challenges and hardships," Tasha replied.

"When the dragons left, the great prophet wizard Eye of Foresight Margarita made a prophecy, but instead of revealing it, she chose to end her own life," Liandrin continued. "When I arrived here, I understood the reason for her despair. The world is declining, with many powerful beings gone, humans fighting among themselves. Saving the world seems like a futile dream. It’s a harsh truth for those unable to leave, but you still have a choice."

"That was centuries ago," Tasha said. "Today’s Aryan is different, and as you mentioned, I am an unexpected variable. I didn’t choose a dead end; I chose a challenge."

"Giving up on an Aryan, you might travel to many new worlds in the future," Liandrin said sadly.

"True, but… I’ll pass," Tasha chuckled.

If she left, the stability of Aryan could be shattered, like removing a support beam. Many would suffer, be disappointed, and countless beings would lose the chance to live a good life or even be born… But the reason Tasha stayed wasn’t out of kindness.

It was just because "she was willing."

It doesn’t matter if it’s noble or base, Tasha’s choice ultimately only concerned herself. She wanted to stay because to her, Aryan was like the rose of the little prince in a fairy tale. No matter how beautiful the roses she would encounter in the future, they would not be hers, unique and one of a kind.

"Compared to this," Tasha said, "maybe we still have something to trade about certain abyss materials."