Chapter 289: Void Processor, Entrustment and Witnessing

“A remarkably potent auxiliary spell. If I recall correctly, the Perfect Fractal’s own computational capacity wasn’t sufficient to handle such complex calculations before. Avia, did you optimize it?”

Wang Yu toyed with the translucent Perfect Fractal lens resting above his eye, adjusting its parameters back and forth. He noticed that the information the lens now displayed had been significantly refined; meaningless data was no longer being harvested or shown.

“Yes, I achieved this by utilizing my new findings on the spatial properties of the Void and the material world. But the primary credit belongs to Lady Darkness.”

The girl replied with a smile, gathering Void energy in her hands and channeling it into the lens perched above Wang Yu’s eye.

As the Void energy flowed in, Wang Yu watched as a thin, luminous thread of energy emerged from the lens, snaking toward the girl’s head before vanishing within.

“Lady Darkness?”

Wang Yu asked, uncertain. He couldn’t quite grasp how Lady Darkness was connected to the upgrade of the Perfect Fractal lens.

“The Tree of Night. Lady Darkness granted me permission to connect the Perfect Fractal lens to the Tree of Night. Now, the Perfect Fractal can borrow a portion of the Void’s computational power. It isn’t perfect yet, but it has at least multiplied its processing speed several times over.”

The girl explained the connection: with the help of Lady Darkness, the Perfect Fractal spell had been equipped with an external Void processor.

“Impressive. Your new spatial theory is being put to use so quickly.”

Wang Yu sighed in admiration. The speed at which the girl turned theory into reality was staggering; a discovery she had only just mentioned to him was already being applied.

Based on what she had told him about the relationship between the Void and the material world’s space, Wang Yu began to grasp how she was tapping into the Void’s processing power.

The space of the Void and the material world exist in a corresponding relationship—a coordinate in the material world maps to a specific coordinate in the Void. However, while the material world is stable, the Void is chaotic and disordered.

Yet, no matter how much a coordinate in the Void shifts due to that disorder, the corresponding point in the material world remains fixed.

Therefore, if one could enter the Void, alter their position, and return to the material world at the corresponding coordinate, they could achieve long-distance spatial displacement. Avia speculated that this was how the devils performed their own long-range travel.

Upon reaching this conclusion, the girl had immediately experimented. She couldn’t change her coordinates in the Void on her own, but she did have a rather good relationship with the deity Lady Darkness, so asking for a little help was no problem at all.

“So, what you’ve achieved is the ability to anchor yourself to the same location in the Void, regardless of where you communicate with it from in the material world?”

Wang Yu asked thoughtfully. Every mage is, in essence, an incomplete Void rift; theoretically, this was indeed feasible.

“Exactly. Now, every time I communicate with the Void, I can anchor myself directly to Lady Darkness.”

As Avia spoke, a wisp of fluid darkness spilled from her brow, taking shape beside her until it manifested as Lady Darkness, Darkness herself—or rather, her avatar.

“Greetings.”

Lady Darkness waved to the group.

“Uh, greetings, my respects to you!”

Avia and Wang Yu were already well-acquainted with the deity, who often lingered in the Shadow of the Royal City in avatar form, but Lilia, seeing a divine avatar for the first time, appeared uncharacteristically reserved.

“You’ve reached the point where you can allow Avia to connect to the Tree of Night?”

Wang Yu asked Lady Darkness. His understanding of the Tree of Night had stalled back when he finished the prototype for the prayer communication network; he hadn’t been able to interface with it since.

“I studied the boxes you left by the Tree of Night, learned some of the underlying principles, and now I am attempting to add things to it myself.”

The tall Lady Darkness held two cubic phantoms in her hands. Wang Yu recognized them—the boxes he had placed near the Tree of Night, which he had used to program the prayer network prototype via simple feedback loops.

Wang Yu tapped his forehead, realizing he had been misled by Lady Darkness’s usual “dazed” demeanor. She was a thinking individual, and her learning capacity was an unknown variable—she might well be smarter than a vast majority of people.

Back when she was in the Shadow of the Royal City, she had spent her time idling, letting her avatar lounge in a rocking chair to play the Saintess while she observed her believers like small animals.

After the Church of Night withdrew from the Shadow, she couldn’t do that anymore. Was she spending her time in the Void programming the Tree of Night? Was this what his boss did when she had nothing else to do?

Wang Yu stared blankly, thinking that a god in the Void researching a super-simplified version of C-language was a truly surreal sight.

“These things are truly fascinating. Before, I could only perceive the prayers and thoughts of my believers through instinct. But if I construct these things you call ‘programming’ and let them run autonomously, I can retrieve the information I need through my own will.”

Lady Darkness’s soft, tranquil voice carried a note of satisfaction; she was clearly genuinely interested.

“It’s thanks to Lady Darkness’s help that I could link the Perfect Fractal spell to the Tree of Night through prayer, gaining the extra computational support of the Void,” the girl said, high-fiving the avatar beside her with a smile.

“Awesome. Truly awesome. I’ll compile the programming knowledge from my memory later. I’m not sure how much I can recall, but it should be of some help to you.”

Such unrefined praise was the only way Wang Yu could express his current mood. He hadn’t even considered this potential; he had only used the Tree of Night as a communication station. Now, with Lady Darkness stepping in and working with Avia, they seemed to have turned the Tree into something extraordinary.

Wang Yu decided to use his brain—which had become much sharper as his constitution improved—to dredge up his college programming knowledge and compile it for Lady Darkness, offering some guidance to this novice programmer.

“Very well, I shall study it diligently.”

Lady Darkness nodded. Her expression remained hidden behind her black veil, but Wang Yu sensed a flicker of pride from his superior.

“Give me some time. My memory of this isn’t very clear, so it might take a while to record. Wait—if, and I mean if, Lady Darkness perfects this, could we use divine arts to allow other believers to use the Perfect Fractal lens?”

As he mentioned needing time to recall his old knowledge, a thought struck him. If the girl could connect the lens to the Tree of Night, then once Lady Darkness mastered programming, couldn’t she distribute the girl’s spell to other believers through the network?

What had he called the Perfect Fractal earlier? A caster-killer?

“If Lady Darkness can truly complete the programming you’ve described, then that should indeed be possible.”

The girl nodded thoughtfully, agreeing with Wang Yu’s assessment. Theoretically, there was no reason it couldn’t be done.

“Hiss…”

Lilia and Wang Yu both drew a sharp breath. If every believer of the Church of Night carried a Perfect Fractal lens, how were ordinary mages—the Church’s enemies—supposed to survive?

“Very well. I shall continue to study this ‘programming.’ Being able to help my believers is truly a joyful thing.”

Lady Darkness waved to the three of them, her form dissolving back into fluid darkness and vanishing from the material world.

“You two,” Lilia said, walking over to Wang Yu and Avia and pulling them together with her arms around their necks, “just like Garcia said, you always manage to come up with something unbelievable.”

“It’s perfect that you’re both here today. Avia’s mother has awakened, and you’ll likely be leaving again soon. Who knows when we’ll all be together again? Let’s do it today—let me be your witness.”

After her remark, Lilia winked at them, a gesture that spoke volumes without needing words.

Wang Yu and Avia exchanged a glance. A faint blush touched the girl’s cheeks, though she was far less shy than before, and she nodded with a look of quiet anticipation.

Wang Yu had no objections. While he wasn’t particularly attached to formalities, some things were simply necessary. He had never officially confirmed his relationship with Avia in front of Mira, so today was as good a time as any.

“Let’s go.”

Seeing the silent understanding between them, Lilia smiled, tapping their backs to urge them toward Mira’s room.

They walked to the room, and as Lilia opened the door, the three stepped inside.

The magic crystal lamp cast a warm, gentle glow that reached every corner of the room.

Mira, having just awakened from her coma, was propped up in bed. She wore a loose robe and her face was pale, but her spirit seemed high, radiating a sense of inner peace.

“Thank you for your help. I never expected this curse, which has plagued the Swain family for so long, to be severed by Avia and you in such a way.”

Seeing them enter, Mira offered a gentle smile and thanked Wang Yu with sincere gratitude.

The curse she once believed would haunt her until death had been broken just days ago by this knight, who had appeared by her daughter’s side two years prior, leaving her with a profound sense of relief and genuine gratitude.

As she offered her thanks, she naturally attempted to bow to Wang Yu from her bed, despite her lingering weakness, but her descending frame was caught by his steadying hands before she could finish.

"It was my duty."

Wang Yu spoke quickly; though inexperienced in such matters, he knew that today, in the presence of Avia’s kin, served as a witness to their bond—a makeshift wedding of sorts, however humble, and there was no reason for a mother-in-law to bow to him.

Mira looked at the black-haired young man supporting her; by the standards of this world, he was not conventionally handsome, yet the more she looked at him, the more pleased she became, truly overjoyed that her daughter had found such a knight to be her sanctuary.

"Our family has troubled you so much. Thank you for taking care of Avia for all this time. My witch’s talent and mage’s aptitude have vanished along with the fragmentation of my soul; I can no longer accompany Avia on her journey, so I ask you, may I entrust my only daughter to you?"

Gazing into Wang Yu’s eyes, Mira spoke with earnest gravity, as a mother seeking to place the daughter who weighed most heavily on her heart into the hands of this trustworthy knight.

"Avia has helped me just as much; without your daughter, I would never have reached the strength I possess today. However, to your request, I say: please, entrust her to me."

Wang Yu gently corrected the nature of their relationship, for there was no such thing as one relying solely on the other; throughout their journey, had they not always helped and fulfilled one another?

Of course, faced with the request from Avia’s mother, Wang Yu agreed without a moment’s hesitation.

"I am so glad we have gained another family member, and perhaps there will be one more, though we must wait for her to truly make her move."

Shaking Wang Yu’s hand, Mira cast a playful, knowing glance toward her sister Lilia, her words heavy with implication.

"Come, little Avia, come here. I have kept the item you left in my care safe all this time."

Ceasing to tease Lilia, who had turned her head away in embarrassment, Mira beckoned the girl, and when Avia reached her side, she drew a small box from beneath her pillow, opening it to reveal a ring nestled in a soft cushion.

The ring appeared simple, crafted from common magic-etched iron, yet Wang Yu recognized it instantly; the characters engraved upon it were no longer the strange, phonetic Common tongue "Wang Yu," but the Chinese characters for his name.

It was the fireball-casting magic ring Avia had crafted for him back at the forest cabin’s magic academy, though it had long since lost its function, serving now only as a token of profound significance.

"Will you stay with me forever, no matter the time, no matter the place?"

Wang Yu took the ring and asked, looking at Avia.

The girl, who had heard stories of Earth from him, wore a blissful smile, shedding her shyness as she offered her hand to her knight.

"I do."

A resolute reply.

The unremarkable ring, etched with their names, was slipped onto the girl’s ring finger.

(I truly hadn't realized while writing, but looking back at the content, damn, it’s May 20th today. This is a coincidence that shocks me; it’s too perfect that the plot happened to reach this point right now. It’s wonderful. This transitional arc is nearly finished, and from here, I will continue pushing the third volume’s narrative, revealing more of this world and uncovering its secrets. First time being fed dog food by my own novel on 520, what the hell.)