Chapter 343: Wonders and Gods, Seat Change

"Me? I am not sure. Let me try."

The Lady of the Night gestured to herself, indicating that she was uncertain whether she could properly wield an artifact. After all, this was likely the first time such an object had been placed in the hands of a deity; given the unique nature of artifacts, they could not be sacrificed in the traditional sense.

Her form dissolved into darkness, only to coalesce again beside Wang Yu’s bed. Once he handed her the artifact, the Scarlet Mark, Wang Yu climbed out of bed; there was no need to lie there like an invalid now that he could move freely.

Holding the artifact—to which Wang Yu had relinquished all ownership—the Lady of the Night, currently manifesting as an avatar, tilted her head. A moment later, the Scarlet Mark vanished from her palm.

"In this way, I believe I can utilize this artifact."

The Lady of the Night spoke with a thoughtful expression. It seemed the artifact was relaying its information directly to her; as a goddess, she had successfully claimed an artifact as her own.

"And where can you use it now? For instance, let me give you a drop of my blood to test it."

As Wang Yu spoke, he summoned a bead of blood from his blood pool and dripped it onto the artifact that had manifested in the Lady’s hand.

The artifact activated. Within the Lady of the Night’s vision, a crimson line appeared, pointing toward Wang Yu. No matter where her primary consciousness resided or where her avatar manifested, the tracking line would appear in her mind whenever she willed it, stubbornly marking his position.

"Anywhere. This avatar, my avatars elsewhere, and even my true form can see that line pointing to you. The scope of this artifact encompasses the entirety of 'me'."

The Lady of the Night spoke with a hint of surprise. Only the peculiar nature of an artifact could shock a deity who possessed powers beyond mortal comprehension when she experienced them firsthand.

"Do you remember the operating principle of this artifact? It traces and locates a person through an object belonging to them. For you, the threads of faith and thought directed toward you should not be difficult to perceive. Perhaps you could try using those with this artifact."

Wang Yu rubbed his chin. Having confirmed that the Lady could use the artifact, he voiced the hypothesis he had been considering. While the power of faith was ethereal to non-divine beings, it was something the Lady of the Night could clearly perceive.

Since an artifact’s judgment was based on the user’s cognition, if the Lady could sense the faith directed at her, there was no reason she couldn't channel that faith through the artifact for tracking purposes.

"You are correct. I can indeed use this to locate every one of my believers."

Once Wang Yu pointed out this method, the Lady of the Night instinctively began to practice. Her innate power allowed her to execute the operation successfully in an instant.

The next moment, thousands of crimson threads appeared in her consciousness, pointing toward believers at the ends of the earth. Anyone who held faith in her was marked.

"This feeling is marvelous. My own perception of each believer's location was somewhat blurred, but now, with the artifact you provided, it is much, much clearer. For instance, right now, above the Sky Mechanical City, I can sense the presence of dozens of my followers."

The Lady of the Night described her sensations and shared something she had previously overlooked.

"You have followers on the Sky Mechanical City, too? Dozens of them? How is that possible? Has your faith spread that quickly?"

Wang Yu was curious. Logically, while the Lady’s faith was growing steadily and rapidly, it had originated from Alastair and spread outward; it made little sense for it to have reached the Sky Mechanical City so soon.

"They are a group of Night-kin, including werewolves, vampires, and moon-lizards. Among them are two who are very powerful—one vampire and one werewolf."

Once the Lady of the Night identified the believers she sought, their information became clear, much like how Wang Yu used the Tree of Night Sky.

"Night-kin? That makes sense. To them, you are the perfect object of worship. Once they learn of your existence, they would naturally try to believe in you."

The Lady’s answer resolved Wang Yu’s confusion. For these dark creatures living in the shadow of the sun, worshipping the Lady of the Night was a natural and expected occurrence.

"Never mind them. Can you use this artifact elsewhere? For example, go borrow a recovery potion made from my blood from Shael and see if you can use that to track me."

Wang Yu set aside the matter of the Night-kin; they might cross paths later, but verifying his hypothesis about the power a deity gained from an artifact was more important.

"Very well, I shall try..."

The Lady of the Night nodded, and her avatar dissipated before them.

"Although I heard your explanation earlier, seeing it like this is still exceptionally shocking."

Astartes’ remark came from the side. He had learned of the Lady of the Night’s existence when they visited the Central Council, and he knew of the "Dark Sword," the power derived from the ancient God of Night.

But seeing Wang Yu chatting with a deity as if they were ordinary friends made the processing core of his machine soul run faster than usual, causing his temperature to rise.

"The Lady of the Night is a rather unique existence. You had best not view her as an ordinary deity."

Wang Yu shrugged. Although she was a god, she was just as eccentric as he was; no other god was quite like her.

Then again, the gods of this world all seemed different—the God of Light, the deceased God of Night, the Goddess of Wealth who worked for pay—they all had their own personalities. By comparison, the Lady of the Night was simply more free-spirited.

About a minute later, the Lady’s avatar reappeared in the room and nodded at Wang Yu.

"Though I startled Shael, it can indeed be used that way. I was able to sense your location through the artifact while at his place."

Her answer did not surprise Wang Yu. As for Shael’s feelings? Well, that was unimportant.

Because of Wang Yu’s unique nature, the Lady had been unable to track him autonomously since the key shattered.

To borrow her power, Wang Yu either had to use those troublesome little figurines or rely on her believers as a bridge for her to sense him.

Now, with the artifact, the Lady could easily confirm his location. As long as he was within the range where she could manifest an avatar, she could find him at any time.

Of course, this was merely the surface of a deeper matter. The Lady’s ability to find Wang Yu at any time was rooted in the unique way she utilized the artifact.

She could exist in many places simultaneously; she might be at the Sky Mechanical City one moment and appear at any stronghold of the Church of Night the next.

Wherever she existed, she could use the artifact. This meant that her believers might have gained a new ability—or benefit—that had nothing to do with the concept of "Night": the ability to pray to her and have her use the artifact’s power.

For example, a hunter tracking a magical beast could offer the beast’s fur to the Lady through prayer, allowing her to use the Scarlet Mark to pinpoint its location.

Extrapolating further, when the Blades of Night executed a manhunt, they would only need an object belonging to the target to lock onto their position. When one thought about it, it was truly extravagant.

"Hiss..."

As he continued to think, Wang Yu realized the increasingly absurd potential of combining an artifact with the Lady of the Night.

If the Lady had obtained the Silent Forest—the artifact that fell into the Elemental Plane through a spatial rift after Alastair used it to release the Meteor of Destruction—how terrifying would that be?

A believer could pray to her, and "bang," a forbidden magic zone would descend from the sky. Any mage daring to oppose the Church of Night would be in for a world of trouble.

But that was just a hypothesis. Strategic-grade artifacts were rare, and most were held by the powerful; it was incredibly difficult to get one’s hands on them.

Furthermore, not many would be effective in the Lady’s hands. The Star Reflection, for instance, was useless to her; it had a twenty-year cooldown, and she could only use it once. It couldn't compare to the Scarlet Mark or the Silent Forest, which could be deployed anywhere at any time.

Then there were the Endless Pages and the Banner of Triumph in Wang Yu’s possession; those were utterly useless to her.

"I recall Edward’s father has an artifact called the Phantom Knight’s Banner. If that could be borrowed, it would likely be quite extraordinary as well."

Wang Yu pondered. Leon Leonardo, the Grand Duke of the North and the Lionheart King, possessed a strategic-grade artifact, and its effects were, in Wang Yu’s view, top-tier.

Given his relationship with Edward, it might not be too difficult to persuade the Lionheart King to lend it out.

"Too strong!"

Wang Yu gave the Lady of the Night a thumbs-up. Her ability to remotely invoke the artifact was truly impressive. It was a pity he had only thought of this after Astartes reminded him of the fact that he possessed an artifact; if he had thought of it sooner, well...

Just as he brought out the newly acquired Melting Hammer to test its effects, a communication from Zig arrived.

"The Professor and Mr. Icarus have prepared the documents. If there are no accidents, we should be able to pass the review."

Avia pulled out her ID card, which displayed the message from Zig, who had returned from the Fire Elemental Plane. The seat reshuffling of the Sky Mechanical City’s Central Council, which had been stagnant for a hundred years, was about to begin.