Chapter 109 – Same Path

The Bone Dragon appeared before Lin Wei, obediently lowering its head.

Thanks to someone behind him, Lin Wei’s soul strength was now considerable, allowing him to easily control such creatures.

He didn’t summon Sandra or any of his other summoning beasts because their magical abilities were almost useless in this place filled only with Dark Elements. Moreover—this was already an independent world. To summon magical creatures across the barriers of two worlds, one could only use the highly difficult method of soul projection, which was extremely taxing.

He wanted to invite Duan Yu to join him on the dragon’s back, but then he saw the Lich spreading enormous black wings from its back. The wings slowly folded and unfolded, exuding a sharp, powerful beauty that was slightly dizzying.

Lin Wei: “…Alright.”

This kind of person seemed to be a high-level creature no matter where they went, which was truly infuriating.

They flew one after the other, soaring high in the sky.

Duan Yu didn’t ask where they were going—perhaps he didn’t care.

Flying low over the ground, Lin Wei looked down at the occasional towns in the wasteland below. Skeletons with pale bones and Night Demons with red eyes walked and wandered the streets. Black vines with faint green lights crawled over the walls, hanging with bats.

This was Katanaphia’s world.

He thought again of the Goddess’s words at the entrance of the hall: “I shall be free.” Without a doubt, she had indeed gained freedom—what could be more liberating than being the Creator God of a world, the holder of all its rules? Nothing could bind her—here, she stood even higher than the Goddess of Light.

He steered the Bone Dragon westward, occasionally glancing at Duan Yu flying alongside him, feeling as if the vast world now held only the two of them.

Katanaphia was in the Death Swamp, so Adrishig would also head there—Lin Wei had to find this guy and figure out what exactly was going on with Duan Yu’s soul.

When they reached the edge of the Death Swamp, the Bone Dragon suddenly stopped, landing on the ground and refusing to fly further.

The Lich also landed there, retracting its wings.

Lin Wei communicated with the Bone Dragon through their soul connection and received the answer: “The domain of the monarch—flight is forbidden.”

He tried to make the Bone Dragon walk forward, but it lay down, not daring to take another step.

If even the soul of a Dragon Clan member was like this, other undead creatures didn’t need to be mentioned.

They had no choice but to proceed on foot.

Seeing that everything in the Death Swamp was no different from the rest of the continent, and recalling that this world was almost a reflection of the mainland, Lin Wei suddenly felt that the Goddess’s freedom wasn’t as real as it seemed—it was just a change of location, but the memories were still memories that couldn’t be shaken off, and everything had to be replicated exactly as it was.

The two of them walked in silence.

From the edge of the Death Swamp to its center, it would take nearly two days.

After a long journey, Lin Wei grew tired and stopped.

The Lich, who had been trailing behind, finally approached.

“Not going?”

“You’re dead,” Lin Wei said in a bad mood. “But I’m still alive. Humans need to sleep.”

The Lich made no response, leaning against a nearby withered tree and closing its eyes to begin meditation.

Lin Wei had no intention of camping out in the wild. He had already expended a lot of energy, so he summoned Jerald’s soul projection.

The Elemental Spirit’s first reaction, however, wasn’t to help its master carve out an underground palace. Before Lin Wei could stop it, it quickly fluttered its wings and flew toward the Lich nearby.

It joyfully circled around this person it hadn’t seen in a long time, reaching out to touch Duan Yu’s face.

The Lich’s closed eyes suddenly opened.

Even the Elemental Spirit could feel the deep chill in that gaze—like the look one gives an enemy or prey.

The surrounding Dark Elements gathered, the atmosphere tense, a prelude to an attack.

It shrank back, its movements freezing, then turned to look at Lin Wei.

Come back.

Lin Wei communicated with it through their soul connection.

—Stay away from him.

Jerald lowered its head and slowly flew back, cautiously glancing over its shoulder a few times.

Even after completing the underground palace, the Elemental Spirit couldn’t understand why things had turned out this way.

The emotions it sensed from its master also affected it, and the once cheerful spirit became downcast.

Lin Wei took out a diluted juice of Abel’s fruit and drank a cup. A hallucinogenic sensation spread through his body, allowing him to relax temporarily. He stared at the ceiling for a while, forcefully restraining the soul tendrils that instinctively reached out toward the person outside, and closed his eyes.

The juice’s hypnotic effect only allowed him to fall into a shallow sleep, filled with chaotic dreams.

Jerald sensed its master’s restlessness and watched him carefully by the bedside.

When Lin Wei finally fell into a deeper sleep, it quietly flew out through the stairs and corridors. At the palace entrance, it peeked out, observing the Lich not far away. After confirming that his appearance and soul were the same as the person it remembered, it fluttered its wings and flew closer, tugging at the splendid black robe and making cooing, pleading sounds.

However, the person remained indifferent, his expression cold. A Dark Magic spell forced the Elemental Spirit to let go, and it tumbled awkwardly to the ground.

It let out a pitiful cry but received no response.

The Lich watched as the spirit struggled to fly back and disappeared into the underground palace entrance. A faint sense of regret suddenly washed over him for his instinctive reaction earlier.

When Lin Wei woke up, he felt the Elemental Spirit’s deep sense of grievance and sadness. Seeing the traces of magic still lingering on its body, he guessed what had happened.

He reached out and gently grasped the small Elemental Spirit.

Jerald obediently met his gaze.

In terms of physical contact, Jerald hadn’t had much with Lin Wei—instead, it had been closer to Duan Yu.

Lin Wei was sometimes impatient with these little creatures, while Duan Yu had been more indulgent—it could sit on his shoulder freely without being brushed off… except for what had just happened.

“Jerald, listen,” Lin Wei said seriously to the Elemental Spirit. “We won’t bother him anymore. We can’t act like we used to.”

He pressed his forehead against the little creature’s, both of them cold, like two beings clinging to each other for survival. He said calmly, “He’s a bad person now.”

He took a deep breath, his voice trembling: “But I…”

—He couldn’t finish the sentence.

Jerald patted his hair in a comforting gesture.

Lin Wei walked out of the palace, and the Lich opened its eyes.

They continued moving forward.

As they drew closer to the center, a soul-shaking force emanated from afar. Lin Wei looked up and saw a massive gray vortex in the distant sky. Soul fragments, like scattered starlight or drifting snowflakes, flew out from the vortex.

—This was likely the other side of the vortex in the Sea of Souls.

They finally spoke their first words since setting out again. Lin Wei asked Duan Yu, “Did you come from there?”

The Lich gave a noncommittal “Hm,” his tone flat.

Looking at the vortex, Lin Wei felt a faint sense of unease.

That vortex was a seizure, a plunder—stealing soul fragments that originally belonged to the mainland, carrying no goodwill.

“The vortex is taking soul fragments from the mainland. The fragments are turning into undead creatures, shaping this world,” he said to Duan Yu. “This world shouldn’t have existed. It was created by the Goddess of Darkness.”

They could still communicate, discussing the necessary aspects of their current situation.

“Why is my soul intact?” the Lich asked the Summoner.

“Someone protected your soul.”

“Some things aren’t suitable for me to explain to you,” Lin Wei chose his words carefully. “In a moment, you’ll meet someone from the Magic World. Maybe he can tell you.”

After two days of travel, they finally met Adrishig.

—But the scene was far from what they had imagined.

“You’re finally here,” Adrishig said weakly, hanging from black vines on a tree. “I’m freezing to death.”

Lin Wei: “…”

This was the first time he’d seen the all-knowing, all-planning Tower Master in such a sorry state, and it felt incredibly satisfying.

“The Goddess?”

“She said she doesn’t need any believers bothering her, nor does she want to return to the mainland,” Adrishig said dejectedly. “Then she threw me out.”

Lin Wei examined the unfortunate Adrishig, making no move to let him down: “Tsk.”

Duan Yu, seeing the two of them on familiar terms, frowned slightly.

Adrishig, noticing this, coughed guiltily: “Duan Yu, I need to introduce you to Lin Wei.”

The Lich looked at him.

“He’s our friend now,” Adrishig said with a serious tone. “Don’t attack him.”

Lin Wei: “…”

The Tower Master, still hanging from the tree, continued: “This might be hard for you to believe, but it’s of great importance.”

As he spoke, he used his eyes to signal Lin Wei to control the vines and let him down.

Lin Wei, still annoyed at being manipulated by him during the final battle, looked away and didn’t budge.

The Tower Master had no choice but to continue: “You know, in order to delay the awakening of the gods, we sacrificed the lives of many Mages. Then I fell into a deep sleep, and before that, I entrusted the Magic World to you.”

“Then, many unavoidable things happened—when I woke up, magic was almost extinct… I’m not blaming you. You did everything you could. The moment we chose to suppress the gods, we doomed the Magic World to this outcome. Your teacher was always so stubborn and conservative, believing that as long as we continued to develop, we would eventually be able to confront the gods directly. But magical talent decreased year by year, and even without the war with the Empire, magic would have gradually declined—we wouldn’t even have the power to delay the gods’ awakening again.”

Duan Yu looked at him: “So?”

“I reversed time, pushing it back to the furthest point my power could reach… coincidentally, it was the year you entered the Magic Academy.”

“Time returned to the starting point, and everything began anew. Some miraculous things happened during this process. Our dear Young Duke—due to the uniqueness of his soul—retained these memories, realized his previous mistakes, and entered the Magic World, where he—”

The vines suddenly loosened, and Adrishig fell to the ground in an undignified heap, cutting off his words.

The poor Bard looked up to see Lin Wei’s eyes filled with warning.

He sighed, straightened his hair and robes, the silver fabric glowing mysteriously under the moonlight, and continued: “…So, he’s now our ally and helped you in another timeline to fully activate the Holy Spear’s power, killing the Goddess of Light before she could fully recover.”

“After dealing with the Goddess of Light, we needed to find a way to quell the Elemental Storm, which naturally required finding the Goddess of Darkness. In this matter, Lin Wei helped me again, so we ended up in this world created by Katanaphia.”

Duan Yu, recalling the various anomalies he’d noticed along the way, reluctantly accepted this explanation. But he also realized something.

“My memories?”

“I’m sorry,” Adrishig said. “Lin Wei and I crossed time and space in physical form, so we retained all our memories. But you arrived here through the Sea of Souls. Strictly speaking, we don’t belong to this world, but you do. I altered the timeline of another world, but it didn’t affect this one—everything that happened there is equivalent to never having happened here. When you entered the soul vortex, the rules you belong to changed, and your memories disappeared.”

Duan Yu was silent for a while, then nodded in acceptance.

Lin Wei asked: “So what do we do now? Why did the Goddess treat you like this?”

“Unfortunately, your earlier guess was correct,” Adrishig sighed. “She’s no longer the peaceful Goddess I once knew.”

“She’s actively plundering souls from the mainland?”

Adrishig nodded: “The history of the Dark Age truly deserves reconsideration.”