Chapter 924 — Another Conversation

The ancient alloy bulwark slowly opened, revealing the vast, chaotic earth and sky of the Shadow Realm before the two of them. Standing before the Defiance Fortress's final safety barrier, Virolai gazed into the distance at the deity crouched silently like a small mountain, and nodded to Gao Yan beside her: "I'll go over with you this time."

The last time Gao Yang conversed with Amorn, she had stood with the others within the safety barrier, never stepping forward herself.

"There may be some risk in this," Gao Yang said, having guessed Virolai would make such a request, but he offered a reminder nonetheless. "I don't doubt your protective measures, but this is, after all, a true 'close encounter.'"

"My consciousness once faced the God of Holy Light at an even closer distance," Virolai said with only a faint smile. "In fact, my protective techniques may be more effective than you imagine."

Gao Yang raised an eyebrow.

"In that case, I won't stop you," he said. "But you must monitor your own condition at all times—I imagine that shouldn't be difficult for an experienced Defiant."

Virolai said nothing, only gave a slight nod, then raised the platinum-white scepter in her hand and opened a small aperture in the ancient safety barrier.

The two stepped through the barrier onto the broken courtyard directly exposed to the Shadow Realm's environment, facing the visual pressure brought by the "God of Nature" (though no longer enthroned as a deity), crossing the shattered roads and ancient connecting bridges to arrive before the Great Stag Amorn, whose eyes were tightly shut.

The other had clearly been sensing the changes around them all along; as soon as Gao Yang and Virolai drew near, the stag—vast as a small mountain—slowly opened its eyes. Those eyes, like light-forged crystal, regarded the uninvited guests quietly, and a deep, melodious voice sounded directly in both their minds: "Welcome—today a new guest has come to my little courtyard."

"Last time I stood somewhat farther away," Virolai said calmly. "And you should also know a somewhat 'earlier' version of me—I held a different identity then."

"Then you must tell me your name and identity from that time," Amorn said. "Contrary to what many believers preach, deities are neither omniscient nor omnipotent. No matter how intense the faith, it cannot truly grant us those two abilities that violate the rules..."

Virolai revealed a faint smile: "I was once called Ophelia. Ophelia Norton."

"...Ah, I do have some impression now," Amorn said after a brief recollection, with sudden clarity. "Those mortal scholars busy drilling holes in me or building scaffolds once mentioned that name. In their idle talk... they also mentioned Herman Norton and Simmons Norton."

Virolai nodded: "Those were my father and my elder brother."

"How nostalgic—for you mortals, that is already quite a distant past. Then you, who ought to have been human, how have you lived until today? It seems... your body is merely human as well."

"Consider this my secret—since you are neither omniscient nor omnipotent, then let some secrets stay secrets," Virodai shook his head. "We did not come today to reminisce with a deity. We came because we have some questions to ask you."

"Ah, I guessed as much, and I even guessed what you wished to ask..." There seemed to be a hint of a smile in Amorn's tone. Then he paused, and only after that did he speak unhurriedly: "A certain 'god' passed through the Shadow Realm in a great hurry, and I happened to catch sight of her. She ought to be very far away by now."

Gao Yang had been piecing together his words, pondering how to open the conversation, when Amorn's intelligence struck him without warning. Every word he had prepared was swallowed back down, leaving only astonishment and bewilderment on his face—even Virodai at his side was momentarily dumbstruck.

"It seems that is indeed what you wished to ask," Amorn said, his tone still calm and placid. "What is it—are you looking for her?"

"You truly saw her with your own eyes?" Gao Yang could not help confirming. "She actually passed by here?!"

"Saw her with my own eyes, and if I am not mistaken, that must have been the Goddess of Magic... Myrmina, I believe that was the name. Her form bore very obvious symbolist elements of the arcane, and the aura she radiated pointed as well to the system of magic devised by mortals. Only she looked somewhat weak, and even... it seemed she was in a weaker state than I was when I first came to 'this place,'" Amorn said unhurriedly, then asked once more, "So then—what exactly has happened?"

"...She may be your imitator," Gao Yang hesitated for a few seconds, then finally sighed and said, "I do not know whether I should tell you the specific details, but there is one thing you may know right now—there should no longer be a divine seat of 'Goddess of Magic' in this world, at least not for the time being. Myrmina has left her position, and I suspect her present state is not much different from yours."

Amorn fell silent for a time. Nothing of his present mood could be discerned from his outward appearance, but Gao Yang felt he had caught a trace of shock in the other's eyes—the upheaval of the Goddess of Magic had clearly shaken even this ancient "God of Nature"!

After a silence lasting several full seconds, Amorn's voice sounded once more: "So such a day has truly come... truly..."

Then, before Gao Yang or Virodai could speak, he narrowed his eyes slightly and said in a tone that seemed faintly self-mocking: "You say her present state is not much different from mine—that I do not accept. She ran past me at great speed. Do you think my present state would permit such a thing?"

Virodai instinctively glanced at Amorn's body, and what met his eyes were countless metal remnants, along with anchoring pins and restraint locks. Layer upon layer of confinement made it impossible for Amorn even to shift a limb, let alone run all the way from the neural network to the Shadow Realm as the liberated Goddess of Magic had done...

Gao Yang's mind, for some reason, turned to Naretir, to that upper narrator's fixation on "legs." He stole a glance at Amorn, and a flood of cheeky remarks surged in his heart—

You lot with your eight legs and four legs, you cannot even outrun one who has no legs at all...