Chapter 318: The Sword Wielder, Finding the Way Here

“Going against the grain—that is the only way I can describe the scriptures of this Night deity. If one were to follow the contents of this text, the deity worshipped by the Church of Night is fundamentally different from all other gods currently revered...”

Three new members of the Church of Night sat in a corner of the encampment, huddled around a fire, communicating in the unique manner of the Unlight Secret Society.

After the Unlight Secret Society’s previous failed attempt to eliminate Elliot and his group, they had decided to change their approach to contacting the Lady of Night and Wang Yu.

This was the path they had chosen: to alter the facade they presented to Eamon, join the Church of Night, and thereby discern the nature of this deity who might potentially trigger the resurrection of the gods of old.

“Even that Archbishop—I see no reverence or fanaticism in him for his god. The things he says make it sound as if this is merely a job to him.”

Another bell-ringer responded to Damian’s words.

“Yes, if one follows the scriptures of the Church of Night to their conclusion, I see a terrifying, yet difficult-to-describe outcome: the believers no longer need gods...”

“It is a contradictory church. The better they develop, the more the believers can achieve what they desire through their own strength, rendering prayers to the gods unnecessary, and causing their reliance and piety to wither.”

“There is no need to pray to a god. Once that goal is reached, will the believers still acknowledge or remember this deity?”

Damian murmured his thoughts aloud, feeling a sense of bewilderment at the possibilities the Church of Night presented.

“It is truly frightening. In the final passage of the scriptures, they seem to have anticipated this result long ago. Was it truly written by the hand of this Night deity, or was it the Archbishop? If the latter, we must make contact with him.”

The bell-ringer’s companion replied, poking the fire with a wooden stick to spread the logs; the flames were growing too high, threatening to scorch the wooden rack holding the sausages the Church had provided.

“It smells so good...”

The remaining bell-ringer sniffed the air, the aroma of rendered fat and spices from the roasting sausages eliciting an involuntary sigh of appreciation.

Damian and the other bell-ringer looked at him with strange expressions, causing the man to rub his nose in embarrassment and turn his head away.

Sighing for reasons unknown, Damian had to admit the sausages smelled delicious, and he found himself anticipating the taste. How long had it been since he had a decent meal, even one as simple as this?

“I want to try praying to this deity, to see if I can draw power from her...”

The bell-ringer who had been glared at turned back, voicing his intent.

“...Try it. That is, indeed, something we need to understand.”

Damian fell silent for a moment before agreeing to his companion’s slightly risky endeavor.

Clasping his hands, the bell-ringer assumed a posture of prayer, closed his eyes, and recited the litany of the Lady of Night. Gradually, a wisp of darkness appeared in his palm—faint, small, but clearly perceptible.

“It worked.”

Opening his palm with a look of surprise, the bell-ringer displayed the darkness to the other two.

“After all, we were once devout believers ourselves, though I did not expect the feedback to come so quickly.”

Damian stared at the darkness in his companion’s hand, muttering to himself. This was the power possessed by the deity of the Church of Night; it was similar to the power of the old gods, yet, it was not the same.

“It seems you are truly devout believers of the Lady of Night. It is rare for new converts to be able to borrow the Lady’s power on their very first day.”

Elliot’s voice came from nearby, interrupting their silent exchange. The approaching goblin saw the darkness in the bell-ringer’s palm and spoke with a hint of surprise.

“Then again, with all the questions you’ve been asking, it would be strange if your faith weren’t sincere. Here, take your bread; you can’t fill your stomachs on sausages alone.”

Muttering to himself, Elliot handed the barley bread to the three new believers and trotted away, fearful of being cornered with more questions.

“Many thanks.”

Taking the bread, Damian thanked Elliot’s retreating back, then paused to divide the loaves into three equal portions.

“Crunch...”

The sausages were sliced, the charred skin emitting an enticing sound. The three bell-ringers tucked the meat into their bread, chewing with simple, delicious satisfaction.

“Regardless, this deity is an exceptionally unique existence. The result of the Church of Night’s development may very well be the suppression of her own resurrection.”

“We should observe for a while longer. After we make contact with the Archbishop, we will make our final decision. If he truly meets the criteria, we can indeed choose him—or her—and walk a path other than eradication.”

“Let him, or her, become the ‘Sword-Bearer’.”

Damian made his final decision while finishing his sausage sandwich.

...

In the Sky Mechanical City, within the district housing the alchemical material shops, the red dragon girl Noelle balanced a crate larger than herself on her head, steadying it with her left hand while holding a small, densely written slip of paper in her right, reading as she walked.

“Shop 124, 64 units of liquid redstone; Shop 143, 24 units of gold-crystal shards; Shop 167, 40 units of light-binding rock powder...”

Muttering to herself, Noelle searched for her delivery targets. It had been about three months since Zig completed the living dragon armor. During these days, Zig and Avia had been busy at the Truth Monitoring Society with research on metamagic.

After Zig shared precious data on dragon-language magic and its connection to metamagic with the Society, he and Avia, having already proven their capabilities, became frontline participants in the metamagic experiments.

With crucial clues in hand, the research had quickly found its direction, and breakthroughs occurred continuously. Though a final result was still distant, the constant stream of new directions and discoveries was perfection in itself.

As for Wang Yu, he spent his days at the Truth Monitoring Society acting as a human alchemical machine tool, learning the mechanical branch of alchemy, and his nights in his usual high-intensity training.

Once the Society discovered how useful his Chariot Power was, they became entirely dependent on him; many tasks that were once incredibly troublesome were finished by Wang Yu in seconds.

In the workshop where Wang Yu worked, people from the Society were constantly bringing him machinery in need of repair or materials that were difficult to process.

Wang Yu enjoyed the work; it allowed him to accumulate experience and ability, and they paid him well. Although the unit price was low, the sheer volume made it profitable—the Society saved money, and he made a profit.

As for Noelle, besides the tutoring she received from Zig and Avia, she couldn’t be kept in the Eden Seed space forever.

Using spells to mask the draconic aura that Noelle—less skilled at human transformation than Zig—couldn’t fully suppress, Wang Yu and the others assigned her delivery tasks, allowing her to wander the Sky Mechanical City once her work was done.

Though Noelle looked young, she was a dragon, and her self-defense capabilities were absolute. Wang Yu’s strength when he first arrived at the Royal City of Alastair would likely have been insufficient to survive a blow from her.

The security of the Sky Mechanical City was also far superior to the Royal City. Under the coverage of the Magic Net, the terrifying strength and rapid response of the alchemical mechanical legions meant that any act disrupting order was swiftly sanctioned.

“Crunch...”

Pushing open the door to an alchemy shop, Noelle walked in with the large crate still perched on her head.

“Welcome... Oh, it’s Miss Noelle. Your speed in processing materials is as fast as ever.”

The owner of the 124th alchemy shop, a pot-bellied old man, had risen to greet his customer, but upon seeing the crate, he realized it was a delivery and changed his tone immediately.

Setting the heavy crate onto the counter, Noelle retrieved the bundle containing the liquid redstone and handed it to the owner.

“Tsk, tsk. Every time I see that strength of yours, I find it incredible. To be so young and yet so strong—you’ll surely be an amazing knight one day.”

Taking the bundle, the owner glanced at the wooden counter, which had slightly buckled under the weight of the crate, and shook his head in wonder. The girl’s strength was truly astonishing.

“Hmph.”

She let out a slightly smug sound. Noelle didn’t like to talk much when out, so she simply held out her hand to the owner.

“I won’t shortchange you. Same as always, 64 units of liquid redstone.”

Chuckling, the owner swiped his identity card against the one in Noelle’s hand, transferring the payment for the materials to her account.

He didn’t know who had taught this delivery girl, but every time she finished a delivery, she never made small talk—she just held out her hand for the money.

“Clang!”

Confirming the payment had arrived, Noelle nodded in satisfaction. She hoisted the heavy crate back onto her head with a loud thud, turned, and walked out the door to continue her deliveries to the other alchemy shops.

Noelle’s delivery efficiency was quite impressive; in barely half an hour, she had finished handling all the materials. Tossing the disposable crates into a roadside recycling bin, she began to walk toward the outskirts of the city.

The red dragon girl, Noelle, loved to run to the observation deck at the city’s edge to look down at the scenery passing beneath the floating mechanical metropolis, where kingdoms of diverse races and varied landscapes unfolded—sights that felt utterly novel to Noelle, who had spent most of her life under protection.

“Wow…”

Today, the mechanical city happened to be assisting a kingdom along its path in quelling a surging tide of rampaging magical beasts, and the view from the observation deck offered a front-row seat to the carnage, drawing an excited gasp from Noelle.

Several metal golems stood firm amidst the torrential flood of beasts, unmoved as the creatures clawed and bit at their bodies with fangs and talons; the innate spells unleashed by the beasts, fueled by magic crystals, struck the golems without eliciting the slightest reaction.

The massive metal blades in the golems’ hands swept through the horde like a scythe parting the sea, sending countless mangled carcasses flying into the air. As the magic circles on their chests flickered and flared with blinding light, devastating explosions tore through the ranks, reducing a vast number of beasts to ash.

The battle ended quickly, leaving only the unscathed golems standing amidst the smoldering, shattered forest, while the once-staggering tide of beasts had been reduced to a few scattered, fleeing stragglers.

Reluctantly leaving the observation deck, Noelle prepared to return to the residence of Wang Yu and his companions, unaware that a crimson thread, invisible to all, extended from the void and anchored itself to her.

The Beacon Bridge, a colossal portal forming a planar passage, swung open, and the Academy team that had departed for the Undead Plane two months prior emerged, returning to the mechanical city.

“Excellent, no casualties.”

The mage operating the device glanced at those stepping through; the count was identical to two months ago, with no one left behind in the realm of the dead.

“Indeed.”

Marma offered a brief response, saying nothing more to the man as she led the “Academy members” away from the Beacon Bridge.

The operator paused, feeling that these members had grown strangely silent, though otherwise, everything seemed normal.

His intuition was correct; there was only one “living” soul among them: the Dracolich Varma, who had usurped the body of the lead mage.

The other members had long since become animated corpses, and Varma had spent two months disguising them as living beings, puppeteering them from within.

“Hm? How fortunate, to find you so quickly, and so close—heretical dragon.”

Drawing out the artifact, the Scarlet Mark, Varma watched the crimson thread upon it glow with an especially vivid hue, a smile curling his lips; luck was on his side.