Chapter 79 – The Gods

The man was severely injured by the forbidden spell but still had the strength to confront Duan Yu, and for a moment, the two were locked in a stalemate.

Ah Lan looked up at the battle. The figures of the two combatants flickered unpredictably, and the Magic Elements surged violently. Her eyes didn’t blink as she occasionally shot an arrow, slightly disrupting the man’s rhythm.

“This isn’t any kind of fighting style I’ve seen,” she frowned. “I’ve challenged many people, but I’ve never encountered this. Can you see it, Lin Wei?”

There was no response. She turned her head to see Lin Wei, who had somehow found a tree branch, swiftly scribbling on the soft ground.

“Don’t mind me,” he said.

Ah Lan glanced at the messy lines on the ground but didn’t press further. She continued to maintain the Magic Barrier while assisting Duan Yu.

Lin Wei’s mind wasn’t sharp enough to remember everything at once or to sort through complex thoughts in his head. Whenever he had a moment of inspiration, he would take the time to organize his thoughts, just like when he drew that “map” in Teacher Mortier’s class.

First, he drew two long horizontal lines on the ground, marking their beginnings.

“These are the two lives I’ve lived, and the marks represent the Dark Age,” he thought to himself, then added a few more marks on the first line: “The only notable moments are joining the Mage Corps, the start of the war, and the end of the war.”

On the second line, there were also two marks: “This is when I entered the Magic Academy—and the other is when I left the Magic Academy for the first time.”

“A major event occurred in the Magic World. In my previous life, it happened after I joined the Magic World but before the war began. In this life, it’s happening now.”

“Many people died in this event—including those from the Astrology Tower. We can assume that the sacrifices of the Astrology Tower and many Mages were made to resolve this matter. The Empire, having connections with some Mages from the mainland, learned of this and took advantage of the Magic World’s weakened state to attack the Floating Sky Capital with ‘Sunfall.'”

He then drew a few symbols in the blank space, representing the people and forces seemingly involved in that event—the Valley of Elements, the Astrology Tower.

“The Valley of Elements appeared at the end of the Dark Age, around the same time as the decline of the knights—they might be connected, forming an attack Magic Array targeting the Floating Sky Capital. Each Valley of Elements also has a ‘suppression’ array, sealing the ‘Source.’ Could these two Magic Arrays be related? And who is the master of the Main City of Kalaway?”

At this moment, his thoughts were unusually clear. Many things he had once been puzzled about began to connect: “In my previous life, I don’t know what happened after I died, but it’s certain that the Empire won… Although I took the remaining Imperial troops and Duan Yu down with me, there were too few Mages left in the Magic World. The Empire would gradually recover its prosperity, while the Magic World—would slowly perish.”

“In this life, I regained consciousness a year ago—and things have become very different. The ‘Molten Gold,’ which was supposed to remain intact for another ten years, was stolen. Why was I able to live again?”

What happened a year ago when he woke up? He suddenly remembered the conversation with Teacher Adele in the library—she mentioned that she had started having strange dreams a year ago.

They had one major thing in common: they were both Summoners.

Lin Wei used the branch to draw a connecting line between the mark representing his death on the first line and the mark representing his reawakening on the second line.

“I don’t know about the rest. I can only think this far for now. Another issue is the Dark Age,” he poked at the two lines with the branch, finally drawing a deep mark: “The elements suddenly couldn’t coexist, the knights declined, the Valley of Elements was established, magic waned, and the Empire rose. During this period, something else happened simultaneously… the gods!”

The dream of the Goddess resurfaced: “The gods did exist, but they suddenly vanished after the Dark Age, leaving only legends. Where did they go—what is being suppressed in the Valley of Elements?”

It seemed he had suddenly figured something out, as a slightly smug smile appeared on his lips, like a child about to pull a prank.

Lin Wei smoothed out the marks he had made with the branch and said to Ah Lan, “You said you’ve never seen this kind of fighting style?”

“Yes,” Ah Lan replied while shooting a meteor-like arrow. “I can’t understand those trajectories. It’s like an entirely new magic system!”

“That’s right,” Lin Wei said. “Can you make my voice louder… loud enough for the people up there to hear?”

Ah Lan didn’t understand what he was planning but nodded nonetheless.

“I have a guess, and I want to take a gamble.” Lin Wei stood up straight, smoothing his wind-tousled hair. At that moment, he seemed like a different person, his gaze calm as he looked up at the sky.

Ah Lan muttered a short incantation, and a faint ripple of magic appeared in front of Lin Wei. “It’s done,” she said.

The young Summoner in black robes lifted his face with an elegant and arrogant posture, a faint smile in his eyes as he softly addressed the sky: “Asa, long time no see.”

With this light remark, the figure in blue robes suddenly froze, staring intently at Lin Wei below—Duan Yu seized the moment of hesitation, and Gungnir pierced the man’s shoulder at a tricky angle.

“Seems like you still remember me,” Lin Wei’s smile deepened. The little tricks he had learned from the first half of the Book of Contracts were finally coming in handy. He secretly formed a contract seal and stepped into the air as if there were invisible steps leading upward.

The man in blue robes was eerily resilient, as if he couldn’t be killed. The wound from Gungnir was visibly healing, but he was temporarily at a disadvantage, with the dark golden blade pressed against his throat.

Duan Yu, seeing Lin Wei’s demeanor, felt a sense of familiarity—though he was puzzled, his expression remained cold and composed.

It didn’t take long for Lin Wei to reach the two of them. The dark golden blade pressed into the man’s neck, drawing a thin line of blood to prevent him from suddenly attacking Lin Wei.

The blue-robed Water Mage, whom Lin Wei had called “Asa,” looked at him with concealed disbelief: “You… came back?”

“Strange?” Lin Wei slowly extended his right hand, holding a small black shard. He casually flicked the plectrum in front of him, and a deep gray soul passageway instantly formed. The spatial rift took on a ferocious pattern as he spoke calmly: “While you slept in the north for a thousand years, I spent my time awake.”

“Asa” glared at him with a mix of anger and fear, seemingly unable to retaliate.

“I don’t care what you’re trying to do,” Lin Wei said leisurely. “Leave the person behind and get back to where you came from.”

“Fine,” the blue-robed man took a deep breath. “Tell your believer to let me go.”

The word “believer” clearly pleased Lin Wei—he nodded at Duan Yu, and the blade slowly moved away.

But at that moment, the blue-robed man lunged at Lin Wei, sending sharp layers of ice crashing down.

Lin Wei’s expression didn’t change. Faint, intricate streams of light shimmered around him, and the ice shattered into countless white fragments upon contact.

The blue-robed man wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and leapt into the distance, his fleeing figure a blur of blue.

As he disappeared, Lin Wei collapsed into Duan Yu’s arms.

“Get back to The Swamp,” he said weakly, his face pale as he struggled to breathe. “We’re in big trouble… take Ah Lan and her brother with us.”

After saying this, he completely lost consciousness. Duan Yu picked him up and, following Ah Lan who had also carried her unconscious brother, looked at the devastated homeland, the Magic Array that had been altered beyond recognition, and the chaotic elemental currents that had begun to disperse. She bit her lip, made up her mind, and jumped into the soul passageway as well.

Lin Wei fell back into the dreams of the Goddess. When he finally struggled free from the chaotic fragments of memory, he found himself lying on the familiar stone bed in the Underground Palace—the Elemental Spirit Jerald had proven somewhat useful after all.

He closed his eyes again, not asking about the current state of Ah Lan or Duan Yu, and began to organize his thoughts: “That man really is Asa, the Asa you’re thinking of.”

“The Water God?” Ah Lan asked.

“I’m a Spirit Channeler, and I used the Book of Contracts. Plus, I took out the plectrum, which made him recognize my identity. He mistook me for Katanaphia, and after a little probing, he fled obediently.” Lin Wei pressed the back of his cool hand to his forehead. “During the Dark Age, while the various races were fighting among themselves, the gods were also battling each other… mainly the gods led by the Goddess of Light besieging Katanaphia.”

—Did they really exist? Ah Lan wanted to ask, but seeing that both Lin Wei and Duan Yu seemed to already know, she swallowed her question.

“The period when the Valley of Elements was established was also when the gods disappeared. The guardian family of the Valley of Ice perished, and this man with power surpassing an Archmage appeared. He could withstand forbidden spells and had a terrifying recovery ability—he couldn’t be killed… So I suspect there’s more to your Valley of Elements, and that blue guy is the Water God Asa. He wanted to use your brother’s body to awaken the Wind Element God, Dirichlet.”

Ah Lan’s mouth fell open in shock. What Lin Wei had said was beyond her comprehension. The girl, whose mind wasn’t particularly complex, was left in a state of absurd blankness, with only one thought remaining: How did he figure this out—those strange symbols he drew were truly magical!

“But the Valley of Wind can’t hold the ‘Source’ anymore. What do we do…” she said with difficulty.

Duan Yu: “Go to the Astrology Tower?”

“Exactly,” Lin Wei smiled at him. “The place the Harp leads to was the central location of various forces at the time, and in the north, it seems to be the Knight’s Holy Mountain? Let’s go there first, then head to the far north to find the Astrology Tower and inform them.”

He paused briefly, as if he had already said too much and needed to rest, before speaking again: “Tell them—the gods are awakening.”