The entire world seemed extremely quiet. His own breathing was all that he could hear. In this small room that had faded into a world of black, white, and gray, Modir gripped his staff and dagger tightly. Like an alert wolf in the night, he was vigilant of everything within his range of perception.
Then, he began to feel more 'information' appearing in his perception. Just outside the room, there was the subtle sound of sand being blown by the wind. There was the smell of rocks and soil that ordinary people could hardly detect. There was also the change of light coming from the crack of the window. Everything slowly came from nothing, from rigid and monotonous to vivid.
It was as if there was only pure nothingness outside the small room, but because of Modir's awakening, it gradually outlined a 'temporarily created world'.
The old mage did not let his guard down. Instead, he gripped the weapon in his hand even tighter. He crouched and slowly approached the window. At the same time, his eyes swept across all the furnishings in the room again. He did not even miss the small pile of dust in the corner and the direction of the two nails on the opposite wall.
This was a habit that he had developed over the years. Before he fell asleep, he would imprint all the details of the environment around him into his mind. Under the effect of magic, the details of these images could even be precise down to the scratch marks on the doors and windows. Every time he opened his eyes, he would quickly compare the surrounding environment with the 'shorthand projection' imprinted in his mind. Any inconsistencies would be used to determine whether the hiding place had been invaded.
Under the usual carefree appearance was the survival skills that adventurers had accumulated over the centuries. Although the old mage could no longer remember what had happened over the long years, these survival skills were still imprinted in his mind. He had not neglected them for even a day.
Modir's fingers gently brushed the dust on the windowsill. This was the last detail. Everything in the room was exactly the same as in his memory, except that … it had faded into a state similar to the Realm of Shadows.
A similar thing had happened on the ship before. The old mage frowned slightly and carefully opened a crack under the window. His eyes looked out through the gap between the window and the frame. The scene outside was not unexpected … It was no longer the familiar adventurer's camp.
A vast expanse of barren land stretched out in his field of vision. The sandy, undulating land was covered with jagged rocks and creeping black fragments. In the distance, he could faintly see black silhouettes that looked like city ruins. Turbid shadows floated in the monotonous pale sky, shrouding this lifeless land.
However, this time, Modir did not see the huge figure that sat on the collapsed throne and exuded a sense of oppression like a mountain. Theoretically, such a huge figure could not be hidden. As long as she appeared in this world, she would attract attention.
The old mage subconsciously frowned and pondered. In the next second, he suddenly realized something. He quickly rushed to the other side of the hut and carefully opened the door a crack. His eyes looked out through the crack.
A huge figure like a mountain appeared in front of him with a suffocating presence. The figure sat on the towering throne. The base of the throne and the surrounding pillars had mostly collapsed. A long black dress wrapped around her body and extended from the bottom of the throne. Countless large and small grayish-white cracks were all over her body. Modir could not tell if the cracks were on her clothes or through her 'existence' herself. He only felt that the cracks seemed to be alive and were moving slightly. In the background of the long black dress, they were mysterious like crisscrossing lights and shadows.
Parchment and a fountain pen silently appeared behind the old mage. Modir watched the movement outside the crack while controlling the pen and paper to quickly write down a record:
"X year, X month, X day, I woke up from a deep sleep. A strange phenomenon similar to the one on the ship not long ago happened again … I seem to have come to the Shadow Realm in my sleep, or some kind of abnormal space similar to the Shadow Realm. The scene before me is roughly the same as last time …
"I saw that suffocating figure again, but the difference is that this time, she … or 'He' appeared behind me. It seems that every time I enter this space, I will appear in a random position? Unfortunately, there are too few samples to determine …
"That figure did not notice me, at least not yet. I still can't be sure of her origin. In the various records of supernatural things known to mankind, there is no description related to her … I am hiding behind a thin door, but this door does not give me the slightest sense of security. That 'lady' — if she wants to, perhaps she can blow me and the entire hut away with one breath.
"It's best if I don't make too much of a ruckus. No matter what that figure's origin is, I clearly can't beat her …"
The tip of the pen quickly wrote on the parchment. Even in such a bizarre situation, Modir still recorded everything he experienced according to the habit he had cultivated over the years. It was not as if he had never been in a stranger situation, and even if his memories were incomplete, he knew what he should do now.
But in that very moment, a voice suddenly echoed in the world outside the hut, interrupting Modir's rapid recording. "Ah … Searching for a way out in a dark cavern filled with crystal clusters sounds like a pretty good adventure story. If only I could see that crystal river you described with my own eyes … Does its end really flow into a hole that leads to the core of the earth?"
Modir had heard that voice before. It came from that gigantic figure. The old mage instantly held his breath, and a moment later, he heard a reply — a reply that was exactly the same as his own. "How would I know? I just made that story up not too long ago — I haven't even thought about the second half yet!"
The vast plains outside the hut fell into a brief silence. After a moment, the voice that resounded across the world suddenly laughed, and the laughter sounded rather joyful. "Hahaha … My great adventurer, you actually admitted that your new story is nonsense so easily? You once rambled on for a long time before admitting that you had 'exaggerated' the story to a certain extent … "
Modir heard the reply that was the same as his own. "That's because I now realize that you really don't have high expectations for stories. By the way, Lady, I've finished the story I promised you. Is it your turn now?"
The slightly languid yet endlessly dignified female voice was silent for a moment before it echoed from all directions. "Do you want to continue listening to my recent dream? I still remember it quite clearly … "
"Alright, Lady. What have you been dreaming about recently?"
"Starlight, starlight covered the rolling mountains and plains, as well as the cities that crawled on the ground. I passed through the gap between reality and illusion to deliver an important message. When I passed a giant tower, I saw a giant beast crawling in the darkness. The beast had no flesh or blood, only a hollow skeleton. It gulped down the offerings offered by the mortals, and flesh and blood gradually grew on the skeleton …" Starlight, starlight covered the rolling mountains and plains, as well as the cities that crawled on the ground.
"I also saw something growing deep beneath the creeping city. It penetrated the entire city, the plains and mountains in the distance. Deep underground, huge limbs kept growing, stretching all the way to the depths of the hazy, chaotic darkness. It even split into smaller limbs along the way, reaching out of the ground and absorbing the sunlight during the day …"
"Oh, Lady. Your dream still sounds scary as usual — it's a complete mess. Can't you change the way you describe it? "
"No, I'm used to it."
The old sorcerer Modir hid behind the door, carefully restraining his breath while listening to the conversation outside. The dream that the 'lady' described formed a fragmented and messy impression in his mind. However, the limited imagination of a mortal could not assemble any clear picture from the abstract and trivial description. He had to record the bizarre description on his parchment without missing a word. At the same time, he carefully shifted his gaze, trying to find other figures that might exist between heaven and earth.
He was looking for the voice that responded, looking for the source of the voice that sounded exactly like him.
But before he could find it, the situation outside suddenly changed.
The wind that wandered over the plains suddenly became restless, and grayish-white sand began to swirl around the ruined throne. A low and vague murmur came from the direction of the black silhouette that looked like the ruins of a city in the distance. The murmur sounded like the sleep talk of many people stacked on top of each other. The voice went from soft to loud, but no matter how hard one listened, one could not hear what it was saying.
As soon as the voice sounded, Modir, who was behind the door, immediately cast a dozen additional layers of mind protection spells on himself. His rich adventure experience told him that such murmurs were often related to mental corruption. Mind protection spells were not always effective against mental corruption, but a dozen layers of shields were always effective.
Although his memory of the past was fragmented, in the remaining memory, he remembered that he had dug out something that he should not have dug out from some crypt more than once. Timely mind protection and a solid and reliable ability to withstand beatings were the key to turning the situation around.
While Modir was responding, the two voices outside the house also quieted down. They seemed to be listening carefully to the murmurs from the city ruins. After a long time, the slightly languid female voice muttered in a low voice, "Here they come again … I still can't hear what they want."
"Probably just want to chat with you? Or say good morning or something … "
"Are you serious? Mr. Great Adventurer? "
"What if, I'm just suggesting a possibility …"
"Then keep your possibilities to yourself, Mr. Great Adventurer," the languid and dignified female voice said slowly. "It's time for me to get up and move around. The uninvited guest looks like he's going to cross the border again. I'll remind him who's in charge here. You stay here. If you feel that your mind is contaminated, take a look at the star chart. "
As the voice outside the house trailed off, Modir, who was hiding behind the door, suddenly widened his eyes.
He saw that the huge figure sitting on the throne or altar finally moved. The lady, who seemed to be a god, stood up from the throne! She stood up like a bulging mountain. Her gorgeous dress billowed like endless darkness behind her. She stepped down from the collapsed platform, and the whole world seemed to tremble under her footsteps. The 'activated cracks' that wandered on the surface of her body came to life. They moved quickly, reorganized, and gathered in the lady's hand, finally forming a half-black and half-white scepter. In this world that was completely formed of black and white, the half-black and half-white scepter was like a ruler that measured the whole world, strongly attracting Modir's attention.
Almost at the same time, another huge and terrifying thing rose from the dark city ruins in the distance. But compared to the huge and majestic 'goddess' who at least had a female form, the thing that rose from the city ruins was obviously more creepy and indescribable.
It was a grayish-white mass that was constantly expanding, shrinking, and squirming. The surface of the mass was full of amorphous limbs and crazy geometric patterns. The whole thing seemed to be in a flowing state, like an unformed embryo, or a mass of melting meat. It kept rolling and moving forward, and from time to time, it would rely on the huge tentacles or countless hands and feet to sweep away the obstacles on the ground. And in the process of rolling, it kept roaring madly, and some parts of its body also became translucent, revealing layers of huge eyes inside, or runes and patterns that seemed to contain countless forbidden knowledge.
Modir only took one look at the thing, and he felt dizzy. A strong feeling of being corroded and being injected by an external thought surged up. The protective spells on his body did not provide any help as if they did not exist. The old mage immediately bit his tongue hard, and with the taste of blood in his mouth, he temporarily regained control of his body and forcibly withdrew his gaze from the direction of the monster.
And in the process of withdrawing his gaze, his eyes happened to sweep across the 'throne' that the lady was sitting on.
His eyes were instantly attracted by the thing that appeared on the back of the throne — it was previously blocked by the lady's body, but now it was exposed. Modir saw that in the center of the quaint grayish-white back, there was a vast pattern of a starry sky, and unlike the black and white of the world around it, the starry sky pattern had bright and clear colors!
Modir subconsciously looked carefully and immediately found that there were other details in the starry sky pattern. He saw that there seemed to be subtle text markings beside the shining stars, and between the stars, he could faintly see interconnected lines and directional light spots. The entire starry sky pattern did not seem to be static. Near some of the light spots at the edge, Modir also saw some geometric patterns that seemed to be moving. They moved very slowly, but for the archmage who had keen observation skills, their movement was unmistakable!
This must be written down immediately!
This thought instantly came to Modir's mind, and the quill and paper floating behind him also began to move. But at this moment, a terrifying sound suddenly came from afar.
It seemed that the huge female god had already fought the 'terrifying EsGod' that floated over from the ruins of the city.
Modir only felt a boom in his head, and then the world was spinning, and he completely lost consciousness.
(End of Chapter)
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