Layers upon layers of prayers echoed in the darkness as if they were resonating into a powerful river. Gawain and Selina couldn't see the river, but they could clearly sense that something was crashing against the boundary of this world, the wall that separated reality from illusion.
However, all of a sudden, an uncoordinated disturbance appeared in the river, causing all the prayers to become chaotic.
Gwen and Selena subconsciously looked at each other, and then they heard a faint, blurry voice coming from an extremely distant place.
"Psionic Storm!!!"
A powerful disturbance broke out, and the layers of prayers were instantly interrupted. Every voice that converged into a river returned to the depths of the darkness.
"It sounds like Magnum's voice …" Selena subconsciously muttered, and then she saw a shimmering crack suddenly spread in front of her.
With the spider web in the darkness as a network, a large number of intersecting white light marks suddenly appeared in this dark space, causing the entire space to rapidly disintegrate like a shattered mirror. It seemed that some kind of "internal" attack had broken the curtain, and the scene in front of Gwen and Selena instantly widened.
Gwen immediately became alert and prepared for battle. Selena also moved to the side behind Gwen, the lamp in her hand emitting a warm and clear light.
A fresh and cold wind suddenly blew, and after the curtain was broken, an endless grassland illuminated by starlight came into Gwen's sight. He saw the slightly undulating land extending under the starlight, and a large number of unknown flowers and plants swaying gently in the breeze, and a vaguely familiar hill stood in front of him and Selena. The hill faced the direction of the starlight.
At the foot of the hill, the remains of the giant black spider lay quietly. Its huge body had already cracked open, and a pure white spider that seemed to be cast by light crawled out from the shattered remains. It was climbing step by step along the hillside towards the endless stars in the distance.
The floating light and the starlight from the sky sprinkled on the white spider's carapace, rippling like water.
The white spider didn't seem to notice Gwen and Selena who had appeared on the grassland. It still persistently chased the starlight in the sky step by step. However, Gwen noticed that around him and Selena, countless shadows without any facial details had appeared.
The attack of the upper narrators had arrived.
Countless hazy shadows rushed towards Gwen and Selena. Gwen wanted to stop the white spider with a holy aura first, but at this moment, he could only think of a way to deal with the flood of illusions of the past. A layer of illusory flames appeared on the Pathfinder's longsword. He swung the sword, and a large number of enemies turned into illusory fragments under his sword.
Selena, under the cover of Gwen, raised the lantern with one hand and outlined a shimmering rune in the air with the other. She constantly turned the surrounding spider silk and the illusions of the past into waking dreams, turning them into bubbles that quickly dissipated under the starlight.
Surprisingly, the black illusions' combat ability wasn't very strong. Their greatest threat to Gwen seemed to be their large numbers.
Gwen and Selena fought as they advanced, constantly reducing the number of enemies around them. At the same time, they tried their best to get near the white spider that was chasing the starlight.
A shadow that was stronger and more agile than the rest rushed over from the side. Gawain swung his sword, forcing the rest of the enemies to retreat. He then slashed at his opponent, but the strong and agile shadow actually transformed into a black spear at the critical moment, blocking Gawain's sword. Then, the spear shook, and the shadow pulled back a little before turning around and stabbing at Gawain.
The unexpected counterattack surprised Gwen, but it was still not enough to make up for the gap in strength. After a few exchanges, the Pathfinder's longsword cut the spear and shattered the shadow.
At the moment when the shadow was shattered, some messy information flowed into Gwen's mind. He suddenly knew the name of the shadow he had just shattered. His name was Delwoff, a guard captain of the city-state on the west coast. He was strict, but he liked to secretly collect shells.
A pair of sharp blades swept from the side behind, and the owner of the blades was defeated after a few rounds.
Her name was Nadie, and she came from the Cloudflow Forest. She was the princess of the Emerald Palace and an outstanding fairy blade dancer.
The hill was getting closer and closer, and the glimmering particles emitted by the white spider were dancing on the plain like fireflies. Gwen could almost touch the breath of the divine spider, and a warm and clear light always shone behind him, constantly dispersing the spider webs and black smoke that spread out from the void from time to time, and also constantly replenishing Gwen's lost strength.
An exceptionally powerful swordsman blocked Gwen's way.
He was stronger than all the illusions, but he was also blurrier than all the illusions. The edges of his head without any facial details seemed to be disturbed, and many trembling lines spread out. His limbs were also in an abnormally rough and blurry state, but he had amazing swordsmanship. A black longsword with no details split into countless blades in the air, competing with the Pathfinder's longsword tit for tat.
Before this illusion dissipated, Gwen knew his name.
His name was Balmora, the 'slave king' of the desert city of Bonnim Sandro, an outstanding and great ruler.
At the foot of the hill, Gwen and Selena stopped at the same time.
The seemingly endless illusions around them had disappeared at some point, and only a breeze blew across the grassland under the night sky. The white spider had also stopped halfway up the hill and turned its head, but there were no eyes where its head should be. Only some soft light shone on Gwen and Selena.
Suddenly, an unrelated thought popped up in Gawain's mind.
So the 'divinity' of the Upper Narrator … has no eyes …
A gentle and familiar voice came into Gwen's mind at this moment. "Has Duwalter … disappeared?"
It was Naretil's voice. Gwen was not surprised at all.
"Give up, Naretil. Or should I call you the Upper Narrator?" Gawain shook his head. "I know. I know that all of you yearn for the outside world, but you should have felt it by now. You don't belong there. A god like you forcefully descending into the real world will only bring about the deaths of millions, and it will be difficult for you to come out unscathed. You are a reflection of the dream, but those who prayed to you in the dream no longer exist."
The white spider was silent for a few seconds before it spoke again. "They are all here …"
The huge arthropod moved to the side, and several white cocoons were tightly protected on the spider's chest and abdomen.
While climbing toward the stars, she had been carefully carrying and protecting these cocoons.
When Gwen saw the cocoons, he already understood a lot of things.
"So this is what Duwalter meant …" Selena also reacted and said with a complicated tone. "We have been curious about where the virtual personalities in Sandbox No. 1 have gone. It turns out …"
"I want to take them outside," the white spider said softly. "Because they all want to go outside, so I want to do the same …"
"No wonder … No wonder the narrators in the upper echelons went crazy, split up, and died …" Selina's voice was particularly low, as if she was talking to herself. "All of us are paying attention to the three thousand test subjects who entered the network, but … there are millions of virtual personalities in the sandbox world … To you, they are also 'real' …"
The white spider did not speak, neither denying nor admitting.
As an archbishop who had a deep understanding of the sandbox system and the mystery of the soul, Selena finally pieced together the part of the truth that she had been unable to understand before.
Gwen had already dealt with the knowledge of the gods and obtained a lot of heritage from the rebels. At this moment, he thought of more things. "It was because it realized that most of the 'people' in the world were virtual illusions that the Upper Narrator fell into madness and died in madness. This led to its split, making its human part and divine part into two individuals … It was because of this process of death and division that you were able to break free from the shackles of the Upper Narrator's faith. You were able to devour the minds of the entire world without affecting your own existence and put them all into those 'cocoons …' Am I right?"
The white spider moved one of its long legs gently and said in a low and pleasant voice, "You know a lot of things …"
"Do you really think this will work?" Gwen frowned. "Even if you bring them into the real world, what can you do? They have no body, no material foundation, and no conditions to become a spirit. They were born from the sandbox and can only rely on the sandbox to maintain their existence. You are a god, but they are not. These cocoons will vanish as soon as they enter the real world. Have you thought about this? "
"… I don't know, and I don't care," Naretil said in a low voice. "They want to go out, and so do I. This is everything …"
Amidst the seemingly gentle and calm words, the huge white spider slowly raised its upper body, and a frightening hostility finally emanated from this powerful divine creature.
But Gwen just shook his head regretfully. It seemed that there was no room for reconciliation.
"Naretil." He faced the hill and stared at the young god. "You will die. There will be no new split, no resurrection.
"You know how Duarte disappeared. You should also know that I have established a connection with you through him.
"I have the ability to completely disintegrate you."
"I know," Naretil said softly. "That may be for the best …"
Between Gwen and Naretil, endless light suddenly turned into a torrent and washed over the entire plain, washing away the last territory of this false world.
… …
The violent tremors awoke the dawn of Aulandale. Countless citizens awoke from their dreamless slumber, as they stared in panic towards the cursed land, towards the direction of the Throat of Aulandale.
They could hear muffled whistles echoing from the collapsed valley, as though the resonating cries of countless people reverberated across the plains outside the valley. The Aurandale's Throat seemed to be brewing up a tremendous force. At this final moment before dawn, it began to thump like a heart.
A ray of light appeared on the distant horizon, and the magnificent crown of the giant sun seemed to be peeking out from there. And in this thin halo, under the illumination of the remaining stars in the sky, some people saw a giant spider-like phantom climbing up the hill at the edge of the Aurandale's Throat …
The final moment seemed to have arrived. Archbishop Semler subconsciously tightened his grip on the battle staff in his hand.
The entire underground palace was filled with an unsettling whistling sound. The translucent and illusory limbs that Magnum had mentioned had finally solidified to the point where all the ordinary clerics could clearly see them. They watched the huge illusory spider shuttling between the rocks and the walls. Every time a huge translucent limb swept across the hall, it would cause a series of low cries of alarm.
Magnum had successfully stopped the resonance of the Brainservants' prayers, but it seemed that this could only delay the arrival of the Narrator from above. He was still stubbornly trying to squeeze into the real world, as if he would not give up until the last moment.
"This is the last moment …" Urey muttered in a low voice. "We've done everything we can …"
Venti took a gentle breath and walked to the corner of the hall. "I'll take care of the wounded."
"His Holiness the Pope has just sent the last message. The stability of the sandbox system and the mental network has reached the limit," Semler said in a low voice. "Next, he will use all his strength to resist the impact of the arrival of the Narrator from above. If his soul reaction disappears … we will welcome death safely."
Yuri looked ahead calmly. "I hope …"
A more soul-stirring whistling sound suddenly reverberated throughout the crypt. At the same time, there was a strong tremor in the building, which interrupted Yuri's unfinished words.
He subconsciously looked up and saw Archbishop Semler, who was also in a daze.
…
The nameless flowers and plants turned into ashes, the rocks disintegrated in the air, and the rising black smoke covered the sky, dimming the starry sky.
At the last moment, the power that supported the false world finally collapsed, and the entire sandbox began to irreversibly perish.
The nameless grassland began to crumble, collapsing rapidly from the edge to the center. The holy white spider also rolled down from the hill, along with the cocoon that she had desperately tried to protect. Both of them fell to the ground together.
At the last moment, she weaved layers of spider silk, binding and stabilizing the cocoons again, and did not let them suffer any damage, as if it was her instinct to exist in the world.
The warm and bright light spread out, dispelling the rising smoke and spreading flames. Gwen came to the side of the white spider, who had lost the power to fight back, and looked at the bright light on her head.
Before he spoke, Naretil's voice came into his and Selena's mind.
"In the earliest days, they thrived on this grassland … At that time, this was not a desert, and there was no Nim Sanjo …"
Selena finally recognized the terrain here and knew where the vague sense of familiarity came from. She subconsciously looked around and identified the land that was sinking into darkness. "This is … No wonder I feel so familiar …"
This land was originally 'written' by her and Meghul III together.
But that was a long time ago, so long that she had forgotten what this place looked like in the beginning.
"Duwalter once asked me, if everyone was content with this land, would everyone not have to face the end … All living beings can live peacefully and happily in the center of the stage. As long as they don't touch the border, this world is real to everyone …
"Poets can imagine the world beyond the ocean, imagine the world between the stars. Sailors can always have a bountiful harvest near the sea. They don't have to care about the edge of the ocean that gets stranger and stranger the farther they go … Don't have too much curiosity, and this world will always be beautiful …
"I can't give him an answer, I'm too stupid … But I feel that the creators who created all of this must know more …
"Creators … You created this world and created us. What is all of this for … What do you want us to do, can you tell me?"
Naretil's voice was low and gentle. In front of this simple question, Selena fell into a long silence.
After pondering for a long time, she raised her head and gazed at the eyeless face of the narrator.
"This is just an experiment, just … an experiment …"
Every word she uttered seemed to use up all her strength.
Two seconds later, the white and sacred spider finally let out a soft sigh. "Ah, thank you … I've finally heard the answer from the Creator's mouth."
"Naretil," Gwen couldn't help but take a step forward. "Actually, I can still …"
"Can you give me some time?" The narrator's gentle voice echoed. "I want … to look at the stars."
"Stars?" Gwen raised his head in astonishment, but could only see a dark and chaotic sky without a single star.
When he retracted his gaze, the pure white spider deity and the cocoon she protected until the last moment … had already turned into specks of light dust.
… …
The howling in the valley stopped, and the trembling of the earth calmed down.
The citizens of Aulandale walked out of their houses and onto the streets with unease and fear. They asked each other about the situation, and looked towards the direction of the Throat of Aulandale.
Under the hazy and dusky sky, some children cried out in alarm.
Under the outline of the rising sun, it seemed as though a nearly transparent gigantic spider was slowly climbing up the nearby rocks, climbing up to the highlands at the edge of the valley. She quietly stopped there, and carefully pushed the cocoon-like object in front of her.
The last specks of starlight sparkled in the horizon, reflecting on the increasingly illusory body of the spider. She welcomed the last starlight of the day, as though she was sighing in admiration. Many people heard an illusory voice resounding in their minds, but they were at a loss towards the voice — —
"Here, the story ends … …"
Following that, the sun rose, illuminating the earth with its brilliance. Everything seemed to have dissipated like a dream, leaving behind only the boundless rays of the sun.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
