Chapter 922 - 921: The God Who Escaped
So many legs...
In that brief moment, even gods who donât rely on breathing for survival felt suffocated.
The Goddess of Magic stared at Nariteer, convinced that this colossal, spider-like "kindred" was definitely problematicâmaybe a chaotic entity born of erroneous thoughts, or perhaps a "near-dead" whoâs reached the brink of madness. Either way, she ought not to continue her interaction with this spider.
Escaping from the spiderâs pursuit wasnât about "having fewer legs," a childâs excuse, of course. The Goddess of Magic was well aware of this fact; she was simply too weakened and at a disadvantage in this territory.
She had reorganized herself too many times to plan todayâs audacious action, consciously controlling her "growth" for centuries, akin to a prisoner starving themselves to squeeze through a cage. While her plan succeeded, it also left her weak. Coupled with the disadvantageous territory, it was impossible for her to leave unscathed.
But she had to leave, and quicklyâthis was a peculiar "boundary of mindset," a chaotic and unformed sea of consciousness capable of "wearing down" chains, but also posing great harm to her. She distinctly felt her dwindling power, and its rate of depletion was accelerating.
"Listen, little spider, I must leave," the Goddess of Magic attempted to divert Nariteerâs attention through conversation while stabilizing her form, "In a different environment or time, Iâd be interested in chatting with you more, but not todayâplease step aside."
Nariteer stubbornly replied, "I need to take you to see the King; only if he lets you go, can you leave."
"...Thatâs not possible," the mist-like ladyâs lips curved slightly with a smile, "I simply canât interact with any mortals now... I made great efforts to sever my ties with them."
Nariteer furrowed her brows, stepping forward to reason with the other. However, the next second, the tower-like lady underwent a sudden transformationâthose shadows and mist that expanded and contracted suddenly elongated into ribbon-like structures. Between the ribbon grids, countless mirrors emerged from the void, reflecting chaotic light spheres and distant mist. The light spheres and mist then vanished, replaced by twinkling starlight in the mirrors. Some starlight elongated and twisted into bizarre symbols, disrupting Nariteerâs judgment...
Mirrors, lines, light spheres, smoke, starlight, symbolsâall props or symbolic matters often used by mortal mages when casting spells.
Nariteer momentarily stunned by the sudden chaos, quickly regained her composure, her long limbs cutting through the gray-white surface. Corresponding reflections appeared on the water surfaceâThe Supreme Narrator wove false facts, inversely contaminating the opponentâs crafted battlefield with reflections and their relationship to the body. The contamination proved effective, as those hastily crafted objects shattered almost instantly, revealing the "lady without legs" true form.
Nariteer immediately charged forwardâthe white spider jumped high as a predator, her long limbs swooping down. But she sensed something was off: her limbs embraced a non-resistant object, which quickly disintegrated into numerous shards and gradually dissolved into the air.
An illusion?
Nariteer realized this and immediately tried to capture the opponentâs true whereabouts through the ubiquitous web, only to receive chaotic and massive feedback: everywhere was filled with energy fragments scattered after disintegration. The seemingly illusory fragments, surprisingly, originated from the bodyâshe sacrificed over sixty percent of her "body" to create this "smoke" to evade detection!
The white spiderâs long legs flailed chaotically on the gray-white water surface a few times, ultimately failing to recapture the opponentâs trail. Reluctantly, she stopped, accepting the reality of the preyâs escape. After a few seconds of dejection, she slowly resumed action, beginning to collect the remaining "ash" left behind after the shardsâ dissipation.
Those gray-black traces were the only evidence and clues left by the intruderâs escape. Though not useful spoils of war, they were plunders nonetheless.
While gathering a larger fragment residue, Nariteer "heard" a distorted voice emanating from within: "...I borrowed your Magic Web, even though that wasnât its intended purpose... I owe you a favor. Tell your âKingâ that this favor will be repaid someday."
It was the intruderâs message.
After hearing the message, Nariteer paused momentarily, then quietly placed it along with other fragments. She then lifted her head, observing the "unconscious zone" gradually returning to its usual state, shaking her head in confusion, muttering, "How can someone without legs run so fast..."
...
Elywen Franklin and the senior students of the Department of Magic sat together, impatiently awaiting further news in the computing centerâs lounge.
The lounge door remained tightly shut, with silence reigning over the corridor outside.
Having visited the computing center several times before, Elywen knew that a large immersion capsule room was adjacent to this room, equipped with neat and new immersion capsules that could link ordinary peopleâs brains to an incredible neural networkâheâd connected before as well, its convenience in browsing data and transmitting information is remarkable.
Today, he and the senior students came for networkingânot for entertainment or remedial classes, but because the Imperial Computing Center needed additional computing power.
For Elywen, responding to the Empireâs call was an unshakable duty as an aristocrat, but many civilian classmates volunteered too, which he had not anticipated.
Though heâd long adapted to treating civilian classmates equally, was free of "aristocratic arrogance," and even had several civilian friends, the current situation was a first for him.
He couldnât help but steal a glance at the nearest classmate, a big boy named Storm sitting beside him was among the civilian students who volunteered.
"Is...there a problem?" Storm quickly noticed the gaze from beside him, adjusting his posture with a slightly nervous demeanor and asked softly.
"Uh...nothing," Elywen coughed lightly twice, realizing his earlier thought was untimely, possibly a part of aristocratic arrogance, so he immediately shrugged it off, "Iâm just worried; the teachers have been in with the first batch for a long time..."
"Teachers are more experienced, and didnât they say itâs only some extra computing power needed, with no risks," Storm responded softly, "More thorny issues have better experts dealing with them."
"More thorny issues..." Elywen suddenly associated with something, his expression turning gloomy, nervously clasping his fingers together.
Ordinary students might not fully understand the situation yet, but he could faintly guess some matters.
Today was the day the Empire-wide Magic Web went online, and the event that stirred tension among academy teachers was likely tied to this "network connection"âafter all, those teachers differed from ordinary school instructors; they were academic elites, even registered in the Supreme Administration Officeâs affiliated research departments.
Not too long ago, heâd heard odd, faintly ominous whistling from the direction of the Magic Guide Technology Research Institute. Crossing the academy square with classmates, heâd seen the largest Magic Web Terminal seemingly malfunction on the square, several teachers anxiously inspecting equipment; when departing the academy to head to the northern banks Development Zone, he glimpsed toward the Magic Guide Technology Research Institute, noting the newly constructed Node Tower seemingly restarting, many mages employing flight spells to check the towersâ ancient magical devices...
This may point to a terrible accident, and his father, the Duke of the West Baldwin Franklin... is one of the persons responsible for this "network connection" project.
Elywen became more and more nervous the more he thought about it, he even wanted to run and find a usable Magic Web Terminal now to contact Sherlin City and confirm the situation, but he knew how unrealistic this idea was, so he could only quietly sigh and grab the hem of his school uniform rather forcefully.
At this moment, a voice suddenly came from beside him, interrupting his random thoughts: "Donât worry, it will be fine."
Elywen raised his head, surprised to see that it was actually Storm, who was usually tense and introverted, speaking to him. He shook his head, wanting to say he was worried about something else, but the other quickly added: "Iâm talking about the Magic Web... I know your father is the Duke of the West, I donât think anything will happen to him."
Elywenâs eyes suddenly widened: "How did you..."
He didnât expect the other to guess his thoughts â although the matter of connecting the Magic Web itself wasnât confidential, as ordinary students unrelated to the matter, they shouldnât be connecting to it at this moment. As for this Storm, he was usually silent and somewhat dull, not appearing as the sort of person with particularly keen observational and associative skills... how did he connect to the Magic Web?
Storm looked at the dukeâs son in front of him, and after two seconds he smiled somewhat awkwardly: "My father is the Tower Guardian of the Luâan Hub..."
Elywen was stunned.
Before he could speak again, a small figure suddenly appeared in the room, startling the students, and that signature loud voice rang out: "Students, go back! The matter is over!"
Elywen and the other senior students looked at each other in astonishment, someone stood up amid the confusion: "Itâs over... whatâs over?"
"The incident was resolved ahead of schedule, no more calculating power is needed," Magnan waved his hand, "Go back, you have half a day off in the afternoon, everyone is free to rest."
He then seemed to suddenly remember something, adding: "Although the incident was resolved ahead of schedule, your voluntary participation is still worthy of encouragement and rewardâI personally will give you two comprehensive assessment points at the end of the semester."
The students were both bewildered and surprised, but the teacherâs final words were understood by everyone, and the value of two points quickly calmed all the studentsâ confusion. The students in the lounge seemed afraid that Magnan would change his mind, so they overwhelmingly expressed their gratitude and then hurriedly left.
Elywen also stood up, prepared to leave with the others, planning to quickly find an opportunity to confirm the situation over with his father, but just as he was about to walk out, he heard the strict teacher known for his sternness call out with a strong voice:
"Elywen, Storm, you two stop for a moment."
Elywen and Storm stayed behind, confused and a bit nervous.
Magnan floated to them like a ghost, and after glancing up and down at the two students, he waved his hand and said in a somewhat impatient voice: "Your families are fine â go back quickly."
...
At the front of the hall, on the large holographic projection, the surface of the Empireâs map glimmered gently, with white light dots representing effective nodes and lines connecting them crisscrossing, intertwining, forming a network that wasnât dense but already covered most of the Empire.
Sorinburg, Sherlin City, Bitter Winter Castle... each main hub was quietly operating as it appeared in the miniature projection on the map.
All communications were restored, all networks connected.
"All levels of hubs are smoothly online, connected... succeeded?"
Rebecca stood at her command station, reporting the current situation to Gawain, but towards the end of the report she couldnât help but scratch her head, dragging out a doubtful tone.
Gawain remained grave, looking at the holographic map before him, not speaking for a long time.
The network connection indeed succeeded, at least all data and evidence presently reached the expected result, however... this inexplicable success did not put his mind at ease.
He was waiting for further information from the neural network.
This time he didnât wait long â shortly after Rebecca finished reporting, the small Magic Web Terminal on the command station suddenly lit up, and Duvaltâs figure appeared above the terminal.
The "Godâs Humanity" bowed slightly to him: "Your Majesty."
"How are things on Nariteerâs end?" Gawain immediately stepped forward to ask, "Did you catch the intruder?"
"The intruder was heavily damaged, but still escaped," Duvalt showed a hint of regret and frustration on his face, "Nariteer only brought back some hard-to-analyze âembersâ..."
"Escaped?" Gawain immediately furrowed his brow, feeling a sinking feeling inside as he instinctively asked, "What exactly is the intruder? Can you identify its form and origin?"
"Itâs..." Duvalt just started to speak a syllable when his figure suddenly flickered as if disrupted, then he was pushed aside, and Nariteer squeezed in from beside him.
"Itâs a woman with no legs," Nariteer gestured in a way incomprehensible to anyone else, speaking in words that were even harder for others to understand, "running faster than anyone..."
Gawain: "???"
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