Chapter 304: The Fog Rises

"But if that is the case, then since someone remembers this deity, he should have been able to transmit his faith to this deity all along. How could a 'remembering' believer suddenly appear?"

Wang Yu frowned. The previous deduction seemed to have a slight flaw, yet he soon realized he had experienced something similar himself.

"Out of service area... The Lady of Night's power was not strong enough before. When Avia and the others were too far from the Lady of Night, the connection between them was severed. This explains why 'remembering' believers could suddenly appear."

"These believers returned from outside the 'service area,' or used some means to sever their connection to the deity. For instance, as the priest in the Mist Forest mentioned long ago, fragments formed from the shards of the God of Fear could block his connection to the God of Light."

Wang Yu's train of thought gradually cleared, and he began to pinpoint the causes of the changes occurring within the Lady of Night.

"Someone must have emerged. Keep an eye out for now, do not use those powers that do not belong to you, and then, through the eyes of the Night Church believers, see if any abnormal phenomena have appeared recently."

Wang Yu scratched his head as he spoke to the Lady of Night, simultaneously pulling out his ID card to send a message to Avia and Zig via the Sky Mechanical City's magic network, asking them to return as soon as possible if they could.

Although he had a rough theory, he was a layman in this regard and needed the two scholars to provide more professional insights.

"Very well, I understand. I will not use those powers that do not belong to me."

The Lady of Night nodded, listening to Wang Yu's instructions with great earnestness. After a brief pause, she mentioned something else.

"If you are speaking of abnormal phenomena, the believers acting with Elliot—in the lands of Sewentan occupied by Alalaster—have encountered a persistent fog moving inland from the coastline."

"Fog?"

Wang Yu frowned. The phenomenon mentioned by the Lady of Night did indeed strike him as suspicious. Many supernatural powers manifest as mist; essentially, it is a form of blurring and obscuring the act of observation.

"Can you show me what this fog looks like?"

Wang Yu intended to see the nature of the fog the Lady of Night described.

"Very well."

The Lady of Night waved her hand, and water-like darkness poured out from the void, gradually forming the curtain used to display images to Wang Yu. But suddenly, the flow of darkness stagnated, and the Lady of Night seemed to freeze, rooted to the spot.

"What is it?"

Wang Yu, unaware of what had happened to her, asked.

"I have lost contact with a portion of my believers. It is... Elliot and the others. That mist from the Endless Sea has crossed the St. Anna Snowfields."

The Lady of Night's tone was bewildered, as if she could not comprehend why this was happening.

"Huh?"

If the Lady of Night could not understand, Wang Yu certainly could not either. However, he was now certain that the mist from the Endless Sea was definitely related to the deity of the past and the Lady of Night's newly appeared "believers."

"That power which does not belong to me is growing stronger. That existence from the past seems to be reviving through me."

Wang Yu detected a hint of nervousness in the Lady of Night's words. As she spoke, she projected a scene before Wang Yu—a view from the void.

On the Tree of the Night Sky, which represented the Lady of Night's power, a star-studded region no longer held any starlight. In its place was absolute darkness, and endless gloomy clouds obscured the starry sky that served as the manifestation of her believers.

And within that absolute darkness, a black palm was reaching out. Though only a few fingers were visible at the moment, the characteristics of that palm were identical to the hand that grasped the light and obscured the heavens in his memory.

"Damn it!"

Wang Yu could not help but curse.

...

"This is the direction of our research regarding the relationship between mana and elements. Building upon this, we are exploring the relationship between inert mana and super-activated mana."

At the Truth Monitoring Society, Icarus led Zig, Avia, and Noelle into their research facility, introducing the study of "Super-Magic" as they walked.

Just as Icarus had said, many elves from Liahim were working here as researchers. Seeing Avia and Zig, they waved in a friendly manner before returning to their work.

As the ones who saved the Tree of Life, Avia and Zig were seen by the elves as absolutely trustworthy allies.

"Mana can mobilize elements to cast various spells by forming mana circuits and runes. But when the intensity of mana exceeds a certain limit, or when it operates in a special state, it can release spells without needing to mobilize elements."

"The most typical example is the rankless Arcane Missile. This is an element-free spell; when cast, no elements are mobilized, and the spell is realized directly through mana."

"We currently call the mana that requires the mobilization of elements 'inert mana,' and the mana that can realize spellcasting without elements 'super-activated mana.' Our goal is to research how to stably utilize 'super-activated mana'—which is the name of this research: Super-Magic."

Icarus led the three to the giant staff they had seen earlier, explaining the information regarding Super-Magic research.

"If we can skip the elements and cast spells directly, the most fundamental benefit is that spellcasting will no longer be restricted by the environment. One would not be unable to cast corresponding spells just because they are in an environment where elements are scarce or exhausted."

Avia deduced the significance of Super-Magic based on what he said.

"And, because there is no need to mobilize elements, no corresponding spell-like changes will occur during the process of guiding mana. That is the thing you wanted to show us, Mr. Icarus, right?"

Zig's eyes shone as he stared at the giant staff, having realized the next implication of Super-Magic just as the girl had.

"Precisely. The realization of Super-Magic will also lead to the realization of another thing: interference-free mana circuits. There will be no interference between mana circuits; they will not collapse due to mutual disturbance from being too compact, nor will the mana circuits burn out due to mana flow overload."

"The reason we chose Arcane Missile as the permanent spell for the giant staff is that Arcane Missile has already achieved Super-Magic. Therefore, when amplifying and magnifying it, there will largely be no mana disturbance, and we can continuously increase its power by increasing the mana input!"

Icarus nodded in confirmation. He was very satisfied with Zig and Avia's keen insight into Super-Magic research. The addition of these two would certainly help the progress of the research.

Avia narrowed her eyes. This research on Super-Magic reminded her of some problems that had appeared in the magic device known as the Weaver's Book, as well as something Wang Yu had mentioned to her: chips.

If Super-Magic were achieved, it would mean that extremely complex mana circuits could be integrated onto a very small piece of metal, without ever having to worry about interference and melting caused by magic circuits being too compact or the rails carrying the mana flow being too thin. Magic chips would become possible.

"Of course, this is just a hypothesis. We don't even know if 'Super-Magic' is a phenomenon or something else. At the very least, we are trying to take this step."

Icarus shrugged, speaking quite candidly about the fact that this experiment might very well end in vain.

"Undoubtedly, if this research can achieve a breakthrough, even a phased one, it will be an epoch-making masterpiece that transcends the existing magic system!"

Zig waved his arms in excitement, both because his passion as a scholar had been ignited and because Super-Magic had shown him a broader world for artificial magic circuits.

"Wait, if this..."

Zig's expression suddenly stalled, and contemplation appeared on his face. He seemed to have thought of something and muttered to himself.

"Excuse me, Mr. Icarus, Wang Yu is looking for us. We must leave for a moment. Thank you for letting us see such a meaningful research direction."

Avia's words interrupted Zig's train of thought. He also noticed the call coming from his ID card. After glancing at the content displayed on it, his previously contemplative expression suddenly turned serious.

After bidding farewell to Icarus, the three hurried toward their residence in the Sky Mechanical City.

...

"What on earth is this? Wenna, can your perception see through this fog? Damn it, I really cannot understand how this mist managed to spread over us without making a single sound."

The goblin merchant Elliot looked frantically at the gray, heavy mist surrounding them, asking Wenna, who was standing on the roof of the carriage, using the elven ranger's natural secret language to perceive the surroundings with her eyes closed.

Under the goblin's feet lay several used magic scrolls, all of which were reconnaissance spells. The scrolls were pitch black, meaning these spells had failed to detect anything useful.

"I can't, Boss. I cannot see through this mist. My connection to the surrounding plants has been severed, as if they had never existed."

Wenna opened her eyes and shook her head, signaling that she could not see through this strange fog. The scenery beyond ten meters was completely obscured by the gray mist. Even by using plants as relay stations, she could not perceive anything beyond ten meters at all.

"Sigh, there's no help for it. How unlucky. We haven't lost anyone, have we?"

Elliot sighed, his previously excited face drooping like a deflated balloon.

"No, Boss."

"Everyone from the Church of Night is still here; this fog has swept us all up together, and no one has been lost within it."

The orc Aimon bellowed his response, his booming, resonant voice momentarily dispelling the stifling gloom that hung over the camp, which had been fortified by a circle of wagons.

"Bad luck, bad luck, bad luck! I had just taken advantage of the defeat at Seventan to collect a haul of local specialties, planning to return to my old trade and dump them on the Goddess of Wealth’s merchant guild in the Kingdom of Brimann, and then I run into this inexplicable nonsense—it’s hellish!"

Elliot clutched his head, shrieking as he paced frantically around the camp. The others were long accustomed to the goblin’s antics; since he was always reliable when it came to business, they simply viewed this as one of his minor eccentricities.

"If only Saint Darkness were here; with her status as a chosen of the gods, she could surely use the power of the Lady of Night to lead us out..."

A half-orc devotee of the Church of Night reached out to touch the thick, swirling mist, his fingers passing through it to find nothing at all, his voice heavy with the weight of his dashed hopes.

Elliot and his companions were among those who had departed the capital before the final clash between the two kingdoms.

After wandering for some time, and once Seventan had been thoroughly conquered, they had traveled to the nascent territory of Alestler—a land ripe for reconstruction—and seized the opportunity to acquire a vast quantity of supplies at bargain prices.

They had intended to transport these goods to the neighboring Kingdom of Brimann to turn a profit, while incidentally spreading the faith of the Lady of Night.

Placing the propagation of the faith as a secondary goal was hardly a slight; the Scripture of Night explicitly stated that believers should ensure their own livelihoods before concerning themselves with proselytizing.

Elliot and his group were aware of the mists rising from the coast, but although they suspected the fog was unusual, no one imagined it could ever cross the natural barrier of the Saint Anna snowfields.

As it turned out, while Elliot and his caravan of Church of Night members were traversing the path at the foot of the Saint Anna peaks toward the Alestler border, they were silently, stealthily, and completely enveloped by the mist in the dead of night, without a single sentry noticing.

Everything around them was obscured by the profound fog. They had employed every method of detection at their disposal, yet all were rendered useless by this strange vapor from the Endless Sea; no matter what they tried, they could not pierce the veil to see the world beyond.

Furthermore, the very terrain had been altered. When the caravan, steeling their nerves, pushed forward through a visibility of less than ten meters, they found the road ahead abruptly severed by a cliff, and they realized then that they were trapped.

They had attempted to invoke the power of their deity, the Lady of Night, but found themselves unable to manifest any divine magic, which had prompted the half-orc’s desperate plea.

"Wait, I... I think I sense the power of the Lady of Night. There is an invisible thread guiding me; it is She who is showing us the way!"

Elliot, who had been pacing the camp with his head in his hands, suddenly froze. He looked up toward a specific direction in the mist, his tone a mix of excitement and bewilderment. He sensed the familiar divine power of the Night, which now manifested as a thin line extending from his vision into the depths of the fog.

"Thank the gods!"

"All praise to you, Great Lady of Night!"

...

The believers of the Church of Night erupted into a cacophony of cheers, praising the aid of their deity.

The caravan began to stir, and under Elliot’s direction, they moved forward into the mist.

As they advanced, vague, blurred outlines began to emerge within the field of vision of Wenna, who stood atop one of the wagons.

It appeared to be a small town, or perhaps a village, shrouded by the fog. Its details remained obscured, but a sign at the entrance to the settlement was clearly visible.

"Mythos..."

Wenna narrowed her eyes and whispered the name of the town.