The moment she spoke, the entire world seemed to quieten down.
Anna could even hear her heart beating.
She opened her mouth, but her voice didn’t seem to emit from her throat.
“But where else can we go?”
“…” The Guardian fell silent surprisingly.
“It appears you are also aware of the answer. Apart from this place, we have nowhere else to go.” Anna pumped herself up and carefully observed the Guardian. She looked identical to a human, and she spoke in standard Kingdom Language. With her sudden appearance, it was easy to guess her origins. “I’ve heard from Joan that you are trapped here. Have you never thought of leaving?”
“Miss Joan, is it…” The Guardian revealed a gentle smile. “It appears she has really brought the question back. But unfortunately, there is no true answer to the question.”
“But there are still people attempting to seek the answer, and she’s also one of your kind.”
“One of my kind?”
“I know you belong to the Realm of Mind—and there, there’s an Oracle named Lan who attempted to change everything,” Anna quickly explained her intent for being here. “Achieving the goal requires two conditions. One of them has been fulfilled, and I’ve come here with the person who can solve the second problem. All that’s left is to open the bridge of light and send him into the Realm of Mind—”
“I’m sorry. I do not know the Oracle you are talking about.” The Guardian shook her head and interrupted her. “In addition, to open the bridge, one has to insert a complete legacy into the bottomless platform before the Origin of Magic can be activated, allowing the bridge of light to appear. You do know a lot, but I’m unable to help you.”
“Wait!” Anna’s expression finally changed as she hurriedly said, “Aren’t you a receiver?”
“Yes, I am, but without the legacy, I’m helpless as well.” She walked to Anna’s side and gently touched her hair. “Leave this place, my child. Do it while you still have the time.”
The Guardian’s figure started fading away like she was about to disappear into thin air.
Anna reached out her hand in a bid to grab her, but she touched nothing.
“Finally, forget whatever you have heard—if a betraying Oracle really exists.” When she fully dissipated, her soft murmur sounded in Anna’s ears. “The Battle of Divine Will is an attempt to seek the answer. In such a long and vast answer-seeking process, there hasn’t been a conclusion, so how can it be resolved by a person or two? Besides, if he really possesses such strength, he naturally doesn’t need the bridge or key.”
Is this… the outcome of persisting to the end…
Anna lowered her head to look at her empty palm, unable to stop herself from being rooted to the ground in shock.
What was she to do next?
…
Nightingale felt that her actions were becoming smoother.
It was as though something was different.
She couldn’t exactly put it in words as to what the difference was, but she could sense the harmony within the Mist. The distorted lines in the past might have been usable by her, but they were like an extremely dangerous blade. She had to maintain intense focus to prevent herself from being injured.
But at that moment, this black-and-white world seemed docile like a lamb. It seemed to answer to her every request, and the process gave her a fully delightful experience.
In minutes, she had destroyed three Nest Mothers, but the enemies had failed to even touch the corner of her sleeves.
In terms of her battle accomplishments, even Silent Disaster, who was considered a Transcendent, didn’t even perform as well as she did.
This pleased Nightingale.
The only thing that left her uncomfortable was the sticky liquid that clung onto her. She could avoid her opponents’ sharp claws and tentacles, but she was unable to isolate herself from the putrid organs. This was also the cost of going deep into the Nest Mothers to strike at their weaknesses.
If it were Anna, she would have easily burnt these disgusting things clean, right?
With this in mind, she couldn’t help but look towards where Anna was standing.
But at that instant, she instantly shuddered in fear.
She saw Anna facing the north in a motionless daze, as though something had fixed her in place. A few blade beasts were about to reach her from the direction of the sinkhole, and Phyllis had already clashed with one of them. Despite anxiously shouting at Anna, the latter didn’t seem to hear her at all.
What’s she doing?
From that angle, she should be able to clearly see Phyllis and the approaching enemies!
Nightingale turned around abruptly and completely ignored her pursuit of the Sky-sea Realm monsters. She rushed towards Anna as quickly as she could.
However, a blade beast had already opened the thin wings on it back!
Darn it, I won’t make it in time—
At that instant, she saw a white line clinging to the ground appear. It went from her feet all the way to Anna. It was likely a fissure in the ground, and although it was an outline that existed in the natural world, they were not shown by her abilities due to the overly complex and minute structures.
If the outline of every slab of mud or every few beads of sand would appear, it would be useless for her to act on it—even if she focused fully.
As for selectively combining a tiny fissure together and labeling it with a pure white line, this was Nightingale’s first.
It looked like a bright guide, and she subconsciously reached out her hand to grab at it before pulling upwards with force!
The magic power within her instantly poured out as the Mist world responded to her will—the line rose up suddenly, splitting everything in front of her into two.
On one side stood Anna with everything remaining the same. However, on the other side, the ground had been elevated high into the sky, forming a height difference of nearly a meter.
That wasn’t just a simple terrain transformation. In an instant, the blade beast which had pounced forward had been sliced apart. Its front half slid in midair while its back half continued rising. It was as though the two parts of the body wasn’t on the same plane!
The enemy which was uniformly split apart plummeted to the ground, landing not far from Anna. The sliced edges of their bodies were as flat as a mirror.
Meanwhile, Nightingale felt extreme fatigue overwhelm her. It made her find it difficult to even stand stably. It was a symptom of expending her magic power. Clearly, the series of changes that just happened was not a simple demonstration of her ability.
However, she was no longer considering any of those.
Anna still stood there in a daze, as though everything that was happening around her didn’t involve her.
Nightingale gritted her teeth and walked to her back with an exhausted body. She grabbed her shoulders and turned her around.
What are you doing!? Everyone is fighting to fulfill your goal. Yet, you easily place yourself in danger. Are you trying to make all the efforts put in by others to be in vain? Nightingale wanted to berate her loudly when she stopped those words from coming out. She knew Anna, better than even Roland did. Anna would never give up until the final moment. There was probably only one reason why she would appear in a daze—she had already found the Guardian and received a negative response.
The tirade she was planning for instantly vanished. To shoulder such tremendous pressure without asking for anything in return required immense courage for her to stand here.
“You met the Guardian?” Nightingale asked softly.
“Yeah.” Anna nodded slowly.
As expected.
Looking at her dazed expression, she immediately felt pangs of sorrow and grief. Despite all the work everyone had put in, they had ultimately failed to reverse their preordained destinies.
She could not help but gently pull her into an embrace.
“It’s fine. It’s fine even if we fail. We will accompany you to the end.”
“Fail? Why do you say that?” Anna’s reaction exceeded her expectations.
“Uh…” Nightingale was momentarily left shocked. “Did the Guardian agree to your request?”
“No, she rejected me. Without the legacy, the Bottomless Land will not open. Even she is helpless against that.” Anna shook her head.
“Then why do you—”
“But she gave me a revelation.” Anna looked up, her insipid eyes now glowing. “Be it Oracles or the Guardian, they are unable to violate the laws set by God. But if one really has the strength to change everything, one can reach the other end of the bridge even without their help!”
