When the plot-skips players into the game world
Chapter 1112 - 441 Overlapping Timelines_2

Chapter 1112: Chapter 441 Overlapping Timelines_2

That was part of the act of "stealing scales and feathers" of the Lord of Scalefeather—He was once the Serpent Father’s Angel Envoy, until He stole the scale called "The Eight Trigram Knot" from the Serpent Father. It embodies the authority of foresight.

And while waiting for the star map to reveal itself, Aiwass had made up his mind.

"Everyone, someone must go and either take away the device or shut it down."

Aiwass spoke aloud: "We are but chance acquaintances, each with our own secrets. None of us want our secrets to be known, which is why we use codenames. These codenames hide our names. If even our names we wish to keep hidden, then we need not mention the secrets buried deep within our hearts.

"But if this issue isn’t resolved, we’ll be stuck here. Granted, spells or rituals might allow us to remotely destroy that device—that unknown apparatus of size, scale, shape, and location. But doing so would undoubtedly be wasteful, a desecration of ancient civilizations, and a destruction of history.

"So, I’ve decided to take advantage of the time everyone’s using to regroup, and go inside myself to search for it."

"——Take me along."

Suddenly, Cardinal Galatea spoke up.

Aiwass was a bit surprised: "You aren’t afraid..."

...of your secrets being exposed?

As the Cardinal Archbishop of the Holy Nation, Galatea had lived longer than any other Cardinal Archbishop. If even a sliver of her secrets were exposed, her reputation would face ruin far beyond mere social death.

Yet Cardinal Galatea simply shook her head and said nothing.

...The meaning behind this was likely that she wasn’t afraid?

Thus, Aiwass could only nod in agreement.

At that moment, Sine suddenly tossed something to Aiwass.

It was a peculiar Rune Bracer.

The moment he received it, data suddenly emerged in Aiwass’s vision:

[Hand of Omniscience – All Realms]

[Extraordinary Equipment (Pale Violet)]

[Armor – Gloves]

[Extraordinary Traits: Touch of Omniscience (1) (Triggerable by Path of Wisdom)]

[Spells: Whisper of All Realms / Announcement of All Realms (Four times daily)]

[Requirement: Wind 1]

[——"Its greatest value is probably the free announcements four times a day."]

As he saw it, Aiwass looked somewhat astonished toward Sine.

It was a well-known mage gear piece—the effect of Touch of Omniscience was extremely practical, earning the nickname "Spell Counterstrike." As long as you possessed knowledge of the same spell your enemy used, when that spell hit you, there’d be roughly a 10% chance of nullifying it and storing it in the gloves. Subsequently, the stored spell could be instantly cast without chanting, merely requiring mana. After the spell was used, Touch of Omniscience could again store another spell.

Its ability was undeniably useful, occasionally reversing otherwise lost situations.

But what really made it famous was the daily allowance of four free announcements. For this reason, the item had another nickname: "Merchant’s Hand." Merchants broadcasting messages worldwide often needed this piece of equipment; daily savings might accumulate into a substantial amount.

"This was given to me by my teacher before departure."

Sine spoke solemnly: "It has a spell called ’Whisper of All Realms’ consistently installed on it. Even if you are transmitted to another location, as long as you’re still within the Material Realm, you can contact us anytime. That way, you won’t get lost."

"Why didn’t you give this good stuff to me!"

A wandering rogue nearby, scribbling numbers and symbols on the wall with his finger, voiced dissatisfaction: "Without me, how would you explore!"

The white-bearded Old Mage didn’t even glance at the rogue, earnestly saying: "You are the absolute core of our team... Please ensure your safety."

"I will. Thanks."

Aiwass nodded and strapped the bracer to his hand, adding: "I’ll return it to you once I come back."

The item indeed held little significance for Aiwass, and its practical worth wasn’t particularly high—yet as a gift from Sine’s mentor, Aiwass resolved to ensure it neither got lost nor damaged.

Soon after, Aiwass moved forward alongside Cardinal Galatea.

But his inner thoughts simultaneously echoed through the air:

[Huh... why can’t I hear Cardinal Galatea’s thoughts? How is she shielding her mind?]

Just one sentence left the group stunned.

——What?

The Cardinal Archbishop?!

The, the..."Pope" himself, perhaps—

[Eh? Truly no sound? Is her mind a blank slate? Let me test... Sherlock’s profession is... Holy Tree No.1 tastes great... Mithraism...]

As Aiwass struggled with an attempt to block his thoughts, countless stray notions were instead becoming sharper.

[Tsk... that’s no good. Strange—then why is Cardinal Galatea entirely mute... Hey? Hey hey? Can you hear me?]

"I can hear you."

Cardinal Galatea responded coolly: "Because this item doesn’t work on me."

"...Doesn’t work?"

[Why not? Because she’s a Star Spirit? Speaking of which, Star Spirits are said to be a servant race to ’Atlanteans’... I recall they stored Atlantean souls inside crystals, then implanted them into replaceable constructs. Sounds fearless...]

[But what did Atlanteans look like? Since Cardinal Galatea is so beautiful, at least their aesthetics weren’t misguided?]

"Thank you."

Cardinal Galatea nodded, taking outright pride in Aiwass’s compliment about her beauty: "Atlanteans are ’scale bearers.’"

"Scale bearers..."

[Fishmen? Mermaids? Sirens? Sea monsters? Scale bearers, Winged Ones... Winged Celestial Marshal... Abyssal Celestial Envoy...]

Aiwass drifted into contemplation as his thoughts suddenly took unforeseen leaps.

By then, he had already entered the central house.

Its door lacked a handle, which puzzled Aiwass.

[How do I open this... put my hand here? Identity verification? High-tech? Palm scan or bio-recognition? I recall the Holy Nation having similar technology...]

As Aiwass pondered, he placed his hand onto an area of differing color on the door.

But at that moment, space ahead of him suddenly twisted.

The next instant, a rift tore open in the air.

Before the group’s eyes, Aiwass and Cardinal Galatea abruptly vanished!

After a brief bout of dizziness, Aiwass opened his eyes and found himself in an entirely transformed environment—

The surroundings had grown eerie, resembling an underground castle.

Yet Aiwass felt his mind snap into clarity—he would no longer hear the bizarre and unsettling echoes of "inner thoughts." That peculiar sensation, akin to monitoring a microphone in headphones, where every word spoken fed back into his ears, had kept him hesitant to speak.

Despite arriving at a strange new locale, Aiwass showed not a shred of panic.

——For this place, he recognized.

Nine metal pillars engraved with patterns stood, burning blood flames atop them, and a blood pool sat below. Fresh blood was being sucked upward contrary to gravity, flowing through tree-like carvings on the metal columns, ascending slowly.

Each pillar was bound by iron chains to a naked individual.

They all appeared lifeless, yet alive.

The ground was marked with complex symbols etched in blood, each extending from below toward the stomachs of the nine sacrifices above.

A man dressed in Helasal Empire-style noble attire stood with his back to Aiwass and Cardinal Galatea, seemingly praying in silence or resting with his eyes closed. Before him lay a massive black coffin, with symbols sprawling over its surface too.

Upon hearing a sound, he turned around, his expression dark, pupils blood-red.

"Who are you?"

The middle-aged man asked calmly and elegantly: "Where are my guards?"

Hanging from his chest was a black crystal cross that Aiwass found remarkably familiar, and he was clad in gold-and-crimson noble formal attire.

As he posed that inquiry, Aiwass’s right eye clearly witnessed the surging flow of the Path of Love’s mystical force converging upon him—

At this moment, Aiwass’s Rune Bracer vibrated slightly, and fragmented gusts sounded in his ears:

It was Sine’s voice!

[Pope... Sir, do not panic... Two ruins have overlapped, and you’ve merely fallen into another ruin... Master Durer... will summon you back soon...]

...No, that won’t be necessary.

No need to summon me back in haste.

Because with just a glance, Aiwass had already recognized this dungeon.

This distinctive blood pool, nine iron pillars, the black coffin... It was the ruin dungeon in Daffodil Territory containing the Tainted Blood Angel!

And this dungeon had one characteristic.

It lacked any Son of the Moon, yet it dropped the final piece of the Sasha set—[Offering of Dance’s Feet].

——This man before him, identifiable as a Son of the Moon with one look, must be the future "Tainted Blood Angel’s" raw material!