Chapter 90 – Reversal

Valley of Ice.

The storm whipped up snow and ice, scattering them in all directions. The frozen river glittered under the sunlight, and at the center of the valley stood a towering silver-white palace, exuding a heavy chill.

On the highest terrace of the palace stood a figure clad in a blue robe, his hair the same color as frost and snow.

He had his eyes closed, standing there for an unknown amount of time. When he opened them again, the blizzard suddenly intensified, and the roars of magical beasts grew fiercer.

He gazed westward, lost in thought. After a long while, a mocking smile appeared at the corner of his lips.

“I was deceived,” he murmured to himself. “There’s still not a trace of Dark Element on the continent, nor any new legends. Even if Katanaphia were to appear, she would at most be a soul projection from who knows where. There’s nothing to fear…”

The man coldly surveyed the enormous, menacing magic arrays surrounding the palace. Suddenly, he frowned and turned his gaze southward, where a crimson hue had become vivid and intense.

—

“We’re here.” The Magic Wheel hovered in the air as Daniel knocked on the door of the cabin where Lin Wei was.

After opening the door, Daniel tossed each of them a blue crystal ball. “I made these on the fly and added ice magic arrays—it’s way too hot here.”

Adrishig stood by the railing, observing the scene of the Valley of Flame. Lava poured endlessly from the volcanoes, and sparks constantly erupted in the air, carrying a faint scorching scent.

“What are we here to do?” Lin Wei asked Adrishig.

“Same as before—ask a question, do me a favor,” Adrishig said with a raised brow.

Lin Wei replied, “You seem to forget that I’m right beside you… If I just watch patiently, I’ll figure out what you’re up to.”

Adrishig shook his head. “You’ll only end up confused, not understanding why I’m doing this, and miss out on a lot of benefits.”

Reluctantly, Lin Wei agreed.

“I’m here to help suppress the revival of the gods in this place,” Adrishig stated matter-of-factly.

Lin Wei was stunned. “Why would you do that?”

In Adrishig’s previous accounts, he and the gods—other than the Dark Goddess—had been adversaries.

“Because there are still many things you don’t understand,” Adrishig said, looking down at the valley below. “I was involved in the creation of the Valley of Elements, and I also played a part in the establishment of ‘Kui Ling’—do you know what that is?”

“I do,” Lin Wei replied. “It’s a magic array that connects the five Elemental Valleys.”

“Exactly… It seems you already know a lot about this. But do you know what it’s meant to do?”

“To suppress the gods and the Source?”

“To suppress the Source—that’s its original purpose,” Adrishig explained. “But to suppress it, we needed power. The Holy Spear Longinus helped us, but the other powers could only come from the gods.”

“However, they were clearly indifferent to this—they were too busy basking in their pride for driving back Katanaphia and lamenting their failure to obtain the secret of immortality from her. Their strength was enough to keep them safe during the elemental storm that swept across the continent, so they didn’t take it seriously.”

“Did you confront the gods?” Lin Wei asked, connecting Adrishig’s earlier mention of the “war between humans and gods.”

“We had no choice—either wait for the elemental storm to wipe out the continent or borrow the power of the gods… We used all the wisdom and strength we had. Kui Ling proposed the blueprint for the magic array named after him. The knightly civilization declined, and the other half of the Holy Spear’s power was used to activate this continent-spanning array. The founding leaders of the Magic Association sank into the center of the Siren Sea alongside the second generation of the Magic Wheel. Nylan sacrificed his bloodline—we gave everything we had. Things went very smoothly. The gods resisted but failed, and their immense power became the reliable foundation for the Valley of Elements to suppress the Source. The elemental storm subsided, and the affected races began the long process of recovery… Although only humans survived in the end, it was ultimately a success—magic endured, and the continent regained its vitality.”

“Much later, I, the only one of those people still alive, realized a truth,” Adrishig said, looking up at the boundless sky. “We treated the gods as lucky creations of the Creator God—fools with nothing but talent, power, and arrogance. We never considered that they had brains, at least one or two of them with something so precious.”

Lin Wei, who knew nothing about these events, could only listen in silence.

“We schemed against the gods, using their lives to serve the Valley of Elements. They seemed to be forced into submission, but in reality, they used it as an opportunity to slumber—they saw the dawn of their immortality in the concept of the Valley of Elements and subtly altered ‘Kui Ling’ so they could revive when the time came.”

“This must have been the idea of the Goddess of Light—she has always been the leader of these gods.”

“If she were to awaken fully at the right time, she wouldn’t be grateful for the chance at immortality the Valley of Elements gave her. Instead, she would retaliate for the past defeat,” Adrishig shrugged. “The combined strength of all the mages in existence wouldn’t be enough to stand against her.”

“So you want to awaken the gods early?” Lin Wei asked.

“Smart,” Adrishig grinned. “She’s cautious. She won’t fully emerge until all the other gods have safely revived. I need to create an illusion for her, making her appear before she fully gains a body that coexists with the elements. Then… end her, and the other gods as well.”

Lin Wei roughly understood this bold and insane plan, but there were still parts he couldn’t grasp.

“But what happens after that?” he asked. “The Valley of Elements loses its function, and the elemental storm returns. It would be no different from the Dark Age.”

“Of course, I want to avoid that at all costs…” Adrishig looked at Lin Wei. “But I see traces of Katanaphia in you. If we can find her—if the Goddess brings back the Dark Element—then the elements will rebalance, and everything will return to normal.”

“I’ve already cleared out all the gods who opposed her. I should have the right to invite her back.”

“So you’re still a believer of the Goddess,” Lin Wei chuckled lightly. “So you want to use me to find out where the Goddess is and ask her to bring back the Dark Element. Honestly, I can’t agree. I think it’s too risky. You don’t have enough certainty that everything will return to normal, and you could plunge the entire continent into a dire situation.”

“This is the only viable method,” Adrishig shook his head, his gaze inscrutable. “Of course, there are other options, but they’re all just delaying the inevitable—and they come at a great cost. I’ve imagined the consequences of every possible choice and found this to be the one with the smallest price.”

“Are you sure I can find the Goddess—did your time prophecy tell you that?”

“There was no time prophecy,” Adrishig smiled. “If we can’t find her, I’ve already done everything I could—Kui Ling and the others wouldn’t blame me.”

Lin Wei narrowed his eyes slightly, scrutinizing every nuance of Adrishig’s expression, trying to find any hint of a flaw.

“Though we’ve just met, I believe you might be a romantic bard—not a brave adventurer, a mad poet,” Lin Wei said, glancing at him.

Adrishig waited for his next words.

“You wouldn’t take risks for no reason—you must have experienced failure and despair to make such a daring decision…” Lin Wei’s mind raced through all the clues Adrishig had inadvertently revealed, his voice dropping to a whisper. “You turned the wrong hourglass, causing chaos that couldn’t be stopped, so you reset everything to turn the right one, didn’t you?”

Adrishig chuckled softly, clearly pleased. “You’ve finally found the answer to the third question, Young Duke Tidis—I suppose you now support my idea.”

Lin Wei suddenly felt a sense of relief, as if a great weight had been lifted after uncovering the biggest secret.

I really have been moving against the flow of time—Lin Wei let out a long breath.

Adrishig, after the fall of the Valley of Ice, finally realized the gods’ intentions. But at first, he didn’t plan to take risks. He must have chosen the safest, most conservative approach, hoping to resolve the issue with the gods peacefully—no matter the means, it would have cost many mages’ lives, buying time to delay the gods’ revival and hoping to find a perfect solution within that period.

But this must have drained much of his strength, forcing him to rest for a while… Only to open his eyes again and find that the Empire had taken advantage of the vulnerability, and the already dwindling number of mages had been reduced to almost nothing. After the war, magic had come to an end.

With no other choice, he used his unique power to reverse time, bringing everything back to before it had happened. This time, he decided to take the risk, no longer delaying, and to eliminate the threat of the gods once and for all.

“I accept your explanation,” Lin Wei said. “Now, what do you need me to do?”

“The Magic Association hopes to negotiate with the Empire, to work together when the crisis arrives.”

“Such as?”

“Such as temporarily setting aside their hostility toward magic… And using the treasure left behind by Nylan, passed down through generations of the Imperial Family. The Magic World will also provide support to protect the Empire’s people to the greatest extent when the elemental storm fully erupts.”

Lin Wei sighed. “Now I believe you’re about to do something monumental.”

Adrishig smiled smugly.