Chapter 1221 — The Third Intervention

And at the end of the street, the buildings that had once stood there and the straight, extending road came to an abrupt halt, as if this entire area had been cleanly sliced away by some invisible force. Beyond that sharply defined boundary line lay the familiar gray-white desert, the towering throne and altar, and, in the distance, the city ruins in their black silhouette state.

Mo Jin's heart tightened at once, but this time he was far calmer than before—this was already his third time entering this strange place. Though he still had no idea what lay behind it all, at least the experience of returning safely the first two times had made him much more composed this third time around.

After confirming that his own condition was more or less normal, he swiftly cast a full suite of protective spells on himself, then, with the nimble agility of a thief, ducked into the shadow of a nearby building to keep that enormous "Lady" seated on the throne from noticing him. Almost the instant he finished, that languid yet majestic female voice resounded through heaven and earth:

"A fine story, Mr. Great Adventurer. And this time your story seems to have picked up a great many new elements? A powerful race sealed away in an ancient kingdom, gradually degenerating through long isolation, addicted to hallucinogenic potions and mad entertainments... and unconsciously chasing after self-destruction. Mr. Great Adventurer, I do like this new story of yours..."

Mo Jin, hiding behind a nearby building, was struck dumb on the spot.

What that languid, majestic voice was describing... wasn't that exactly the information about the old Talrond he had just heard from the black dragon girl?!

The old mage felt his heartbeat suddenly quicken. For an instant he even thought he had already been discovered by that Lady, and that she was using this method to toy with him, this not-entirely-honest "intruder." Yet the next second, the expected pressure did not descend upon him. He only heard a voice identical to his own ring out from somewhere near the throne:

"I think this story's not bad either—you've probably guessed it too, but I made this one up as well, and it just popped into my head a moment ago... I don't even know how I came up with such a 'background setting,' but judging by your reaction... my story-spinning skills really are getting better and better."

"Alas, my dear Mr. Great Adventurer, I wasn't trying to praise you—though your new story is indeed quite good," the languid, majestic voice said, sounding somewhat resigned. "I even feel a bit nostalgic for the old days. Back then you still steadfastly upheld the 'dignity and professional ethics of an adventurer'; no matter how many times the old stories were repeated, you would never fob me off with something you'd fabricated. And now you've come to treat your talent for fobbing me off as something to be proud of."

"Because I've finally figured it out now. All you want is a story; you don't care whether it's true or not. And I'm not compiling my own adventure notes, so why should I cling to 'faithful records'?"

The conversation near the throne kept drifting over. Mo Jin, hidden in the building's shadow, gradually steadied his emotions, though a vast astonishment and uncontrollable speculation still lingered in his heart—now he could be absolutely certain that what that "Lady" had just mentioned was the very information he had heard from the black dragon girl. Yet here, that information seemed to have become a story that "the storyteller adventurer" had just made up... and that "storyteller adventurer" had even said the story had suddenly popped into his head!!

Was the information he'd heard in the real world being mapped onto this world? Or was that voice identical to his own actually his own projection in this world? Was it his subconscious self? Or some kind of split at the soul level?

There were simply too many possible conjectures behind this. Even a great mage of vast knowledge dared not speculate recklessly. Mo Jin even felt a sudden impulse to dash out from the "safe zone" where he stood and go right up to the base of that throne—to confirm up close the true face of that "Lady," to confirm just where "his own voice" was coming from, to confirm who exactly the person speaking was, even if it really was "another Mo Jin"...

Yet reason in his heart suppressed these dangerous impulses. Following the guidance within, Mo Jin made himself hide even better in the building's shadow.

It was at that moment that the voice of "the other Mo Jin" came again from the direction of the throne: "All right, my story's done, my Lady. Now it's your turn—you can go on about your dreams if you like."

"My dreams... very well, there's nothing else to talk about anyway," the languid, majestic female voice said with what seemed like a smile, then went on unhurriedly. "It's still that colossal city crouching upon the earth... I dream that I wander through that giant city the whole time. It seems there is a mission for me there, work that I must complete."

"There are many figures who serve me, or rather, follow me. I hear their voices without cease, and from those voices I can learn of the changes across nearly the whole world. Every secret and every scrap of knowledge, every conspiracy and every scheme, lies bare before me like grains of sand in sunlight. I gather those 'grains' together and, piece by piece, like assembling a puzzle, I reconstruct the shape of the world...

"And there is another figure, at the center of the great city—seemingly its ruler. I must keep delivering the completed puzzle to that one, and that one transforms it into power of their own, using it to sustain the life of an invisible colossal beast... Around that one, within the great city, there are other individuals much like myself. We must all deliver the 'things' our followers have gathered up into that one's hands, to keep that 'beast' alive...

"It is rather strange, but to be honest, I find it quite interesting."

The lady described everything she had seen in her dream at an unhurried pace, and after she finished, silence hung about the throne for several seconds before the voice of the "other Mo Jin" broke it: "Ah, truly, madam, the dream you describe grows stranger and stranger to my ears... Not only strange—I am beginning to find it somewhat frightening."

"Great adventurer, your courage ought not to be so small. Did you not say so yourself? You have dared to dig into certain tombs reeking of eerie and horrific atmosphere, and what I have told you is merely a dream—I had thought that in your presence these two things were equally interesting."

"That is different, madam," the great adventurer's voice retorted at once. "I dig into tombs to seek the truth from buried history. That is a serious matter, undertaken with reverence—not something done for the sake of interest..."

"Is that so? Very well, I suppose I truly cannot quite understand," the lady said, a smile in her languid voice. "Seeking truth from buried history... I do not quite see what truth there is in those brief histories worth digging for, but should the opportunity arise, I would be rather interested in accompanying you and trying out those things you speak of..."