Nightingale stooped down and used her fingers to touch the ground. Upon raising her hand, the two discovered that her fingertips were as clean as before without a speck of dust.
This was clearly not normal.
Provided that the repeated cycles of the Battle of Divine Will had never stopped, the Radiation People would not be the only victors to have attempted to explore the Bottomless Land. Be it a slip, a fall or an intentional drop, there should have been traces or evidence to such instances, much less mentioning natural falling rocks and sand.
For the place to remain sparkling clean throughout the years and months made it inevitable for people to think that there was someone responsible for cleaning the bottom of the sinkhole daily.
“Hey, Wendy, can you hear me?” Nightingale took out the Sigil of Listening and spoke into it, but received no response. “It doesn't work… It seems like we have exceeded the communicating distance.”
“Even if we were close, it might not work.” Serakkas spoke concisely. “If G.o.d doesn't want anyone to leave this place with secrets, it shouldn't be difficult for him to summon a barrier of some sort.”
“Right…” She shrugged. “What do we do next?”
Anna stared at the belt of light on the ground for a long time, then spoke up. “Do you guys think that these ‘lights' are leading us somewhere?”
They flickered in a regular pattern like ripples that resonated from their feet and disappeared into the darkness—aside from where they stood, the entire place remained unmoved, as though the entire place was in deep sleep.
Silent Disaster tried walking in another direction that resulted in the light following her, but it remained to flow towards its initial location.
“Yes it does.”
“G.o.d is inviting us… Interesting.” Nightingale held the rifle in hand. “We have to meet him then.”
The three followed the light and advanced slowly into the quiet cave. Approximately ten minutes later, a bright entrance appeared before them.
Compared to the darkness from before that prevented them from even seeing their fingers, the light and visibility undoubtedly made them relax—no one liked walking in complete darkness, to be unaware of the surroundings, and what lay ahead. Although they were underground, the light enabled them to view their surroundings.
“Is this truly the Realm of Mind…” Nightingale could not help but ask.
“Why do you say that?” Anna turned and asked.
“Because it is related to the consciousness.” She scratched her head. “Whether it's called the Realm of Mind or Origin of Magic, it sounds like something intangible and illusory. But this place…”
“Feels like it was created.” Silent Disaster suddenly spoke up.
Be it the walls or the ground, the long pa.s.sageway was completely unlike that of an ethereal illusion. They were solid and level with clear edges and protrusions which were pleasing to the eyes. At the same time, the translucent metals were able to release light voluntarily. Regardless of whether they were activated by footsteps or them applying pressure with their hands, the lights were extremely responsive. Furthermore, the lights lit up faster the stronger the pressure, with occasional unfamiliar symbols that would appear. It was unlike the imposing and solemn vibes as expected of a Divine Domain.
“Maybe the Realm of Mind was created.” Anna's reply startled the two. “Just like you and me… or should I say, like a civilization.”
Nightingale swallowed her saliva. “Isn't the other party… G.o.d?”
“The two aren't contradictory.” Anna shook her head. “I've heard Roland mention it before, the reason why Lan had called it G.o.d was because it was the easiest explanation we could understand. Just like how we are G.o.ds to ants—”
She shuddered. “This is truly a loathsome explanation.”
“Yes,” Silent Disaster agreed unexpectedly. “But I can understand.”
Nightingale was about to say something when she discovered they had reached the end of the pa.s.sageway.
“Did we… get lost?”
But she suddenly heard a faint hissing sound. A beam of light quickly swept past the three of them and duplicated an image of the trio on the wall at the end of the path.
This change scared them all, even Anna.
Before the three could make a response, the wall suddenly turned into countless hexagons that disappeared in succession, revealing a large, ring-shaped s.p.a.ce to them.
The edge of the s.p.a.ce was encircled by some form of orbit, while the middle was separated by a transparent ‘gla.s.s.' Inside the gla.s.s, they were able to see an astonis.h.i.+ng large spheroid revolving beneath. This spheroid didn't seem material, but instead a body composed of electric and fluid! Countless bolts of lightning shuttled back and forth the walls, every beam far more piercing than the thunderclaps in the sky. Even though they were only separated by a layer of gla.s.s, the s.p.a.ce was in complete silence, as though the intense and violent events occurring inside was unrelated to the outside world.
The three their breaths, anyone able to witness such a scene would be undoubtedly shocked—no one would possibly think that such a majestic construct existed and was hidden beneath an isolated island.
But what surprised them even more was a tube-shaped figure which was floating up the wall towards Anna, and opened what resembled a ‘cover.'
No matter how slow they were to react, the three understood the figure's intent.
Silent Disaster and Nightingale looked at Anna and waited for her decision. The latter stared at Roland for a long time, before releasing her hands. Under the pull of her Blackfire, the sleeping Roland was gradually placed into the tube. Once the hatch was closed, the tube floated back to the wall and embedded itself back in its original position, as though it had disappeared into the wall.
“Is that considered… a success?” Nightingale muttered.
“I don't know,” Anna replied softly. “But at least we have finished our goal. The only thing we can do now is wait.”
The dark sky gradually faded away, replaced by white light that enveloped his vision.
Inside the boundless whiteness, a flight of stairs ‘appeared' beneath Roland's feet—this time without any snowflakes or familiar ceiling. His gaze landed upon the other end of the path, only to see that the stairs was connected to a flat land with nothing in sight.
I see…
He sort of understood why Lan would say that once the path of Erosion appeared, he would naturally sense it.
The difference between the two worlds was so huge that only a blind man would not be able to see the difference.
According to Lan's logic, this place was most probably the Divine Domain—but he was unsure whether or not the astrolabe given by Epsilon was the reason for the Dream World's final expansion or that the expedition had accomplished their goal in reality that allowed him to arrive at this place.
But it was pointless to think about such things at this point in time.
Roland opened his stride towards the stairs.
It was a short distance and soon enough, he arrived on the piece of flat land. Right in the middle of the open s.p.a.ce was a uniquely-shaped throne, with a figure donning a mask seated upright. The scene was especially spartan, unlike what he had imagined the “Divine Domain” to be.
Roland previously thought that G.o.d would have created an extremely glorious and dignified palace to display his strength as an opening gambit. Who would have thought that G.o.d would be so simple, leaving Roland momentarily unsure about the tone to use for a greeting.
“You're… G.o.d?”
In the end, he chose the simplest method to begin the conversation.
If he was mistaken and the person before him was an Oracle or a guide, it would not be too awkward for him.
“You can call me that, Child,” the other party replied immediately. “But i prefer another term—the Omniscient Custodian.”
