Vol. 6 Ch. 69

The Red Dragon Queen never imagined that on the very first day of reuniting with her mother after hundreds of years, she would be urged to get married.

Isha lowered her head, slightly embarrassed as she tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

“I—I don’t believe in marriage.”

“Oh~ is that so? You know, before I married your father, I also didn’t believe in marriage.”

Isha silently lifted her head. “…Let’s get back to discussing the Void Realm.”

Cecilia chuckled but didn’t continue teasing her daughter. Instead, she returned to a serious tone.

“Isha was right just now. We have been searching for the Five Spirit Crown to reinforce the seal on the Void Gate.”

“But of course, the Spirit Crown alone is not enough.”

“In addition to it, the Gods of Light and Wisdom also left behind relics powerful enough to suppress the Void Gate.”

“Miss Claudia’s father, the Sea Dragon King Boden, is leading another group to search for those relics.”

The God of Light, Apollo, ignited the Sun of the Samail Continent with his own divine flame, restoring light to the world.

The Goddess of Wisdom, Athena, dispelled ignorance and spread civilization across the once-barren lands.

If you are reading this translation anywhere other than Novelight.net or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.

These two deities had come up in Leon and Rosvisser’s conversations before.

But what caught their attention even more—

Was the one god Cecilia had yet to mention.

“Mother… then what about the God of Time?”

As Rosvisser asked this question, her mind immediately turned to Xiaoxue.

She and Carl had struggled to understand why Carl’s group had gone to such great lengths—even sacrificing an entire elf’s soul—to rescue Xiaoxue.

Now, it seemed obvious.

They were after the final artifact needed to seal the Void Gate—

“The God of Time… Chronos is a rather special deity.”

Cecilia explained,

“Unlike the other gods, Chronos never perished. For thousands of years, he has remained at the Net of Time, maintaining the flow of time itself.”

“However, he did leave behind a relic—”

“Oh, but rather than calling it a relic, it would be more accurate to call it…”

“A key.”

Without even thinking, Rosvisser instinctively whispered those two words.

Cecilia and Elder Olette both looked stunned.

After a few seconds of silence, Cecilia asked,

“Little Lo… how do you know about this key?”

If one listened carefully, it almost seemed as though Cecilia had already guessed the answer—but she was still uncertain.

Rosvisser pressed her lips together, hesitating for a moment before turning toward Leon.

Leon met her gaze and gave her a small nod.

Rosvisser then returned her attention forward and slowly spoke.

“We don’t know exactly what kind of form the key left by Chronos takes, but…”

“She is living with us right now.”

Cecilia finished Rosvisser’s sentence for her.

This time, even Cecilia herself fell silent.

Just a moment ago, Leon and Rosvisser had been the ones caught off guard—now, the shock had reversed.

“Mother… how did you know…?”

“Oh~~ so I guessed right after all!”

The red-haired noblewoman smiled meaningfully, looking far too smug for someone of her age.

As expected, the terrifying instincts of the Melkvey family were truly hereditary.

Even Leon felt a chill down his spine.

“While I was just talking about husbands, I happened to glance at your daughters—”

“By the way, I must say, my granddaughters are so adorable—ahem.”

Cecilia coughed lightly before continuing.

“I happened to come into brief contact with that girl named Xiaoxue, and I could vaguely sense the power of a Primordial God within her.”

“Among all the relics left by the gods, the one left by Chronos is the most unique.”

“Firstly, unlike the other gods, Chronos did not fade away or perish.”

“Chronos still exists, but he is eternally imprisoned upon the Throne of Time, ensuring the continued flow of time across Samail.”

“As a result, he had far more time to plan and leave behind a key capable of altering the future’s course.”

“Secondly, although Chronos has not fallen, his power has weakened over time.”

“There will inevitably come a day when Chronos’ power runs out—at that point, he will no longer be able to maintain the Net of Time, nor suppress the Void Gate.”

“And that key is meant to open the Palace of Time.”

“The one who unlocks that palace will inevitably inherit the mantle of the next God of Time.”

"To put it simply, Chronos is currently using his own power to barely keep the Void Gate sealed. But when his strength is completely exhausted, someone must take his place and assume the mission of the God of Time."

After listening to Cecilia’s explanation, Leon pondered for a moment before asking,

“Couldn’t Chronos have his ‘key’ actively search for the right person to inherit his position? Instead of making the successor rely on luck or coincidence to find the key and open the Palace of Time, wouldn’t that be unnecessarily complicated?”

Leon’s question was one that had also been lingering in Rosvisser and Isha’s minds.

“Exactly. And what if the ‘key’ falls into the hands of someone from the Void Realm? Wouldn’t that put Chronos in danger?” Isha added.

Cecilia took her time in responding, speaking calmly as she looked at them.

“Before I answer that question, let me ask you something. Little Lo, Isha, Leon—did you notice something peculiar about what I just described?”

“I mentioned that we are searching for the Five Spirit Crown, and I also mentioned that Poseidon and his group are searching for the other two relics. But I never once said that we were searching for Chronos’s key.”

Leon and Rosvisser exchanged glances.

It was true—Cecilia had never mentioned that they were actively searching for the key.

Otherwise, given that the Miren Clan and the Snow Elves weren’t particularly hard to locate, there was no way the key could have remained hidden for hundreds of years.

Rosvisser carefully reflected on what Cecilia had said and recalled something Noah had once mentioned to her and Leon—a ‘Savior’ known as the Fool.

After a moment of thought, the queen spoke.

“It’s because within the Net of Time, the successor of Chronos has already been predetermined. No matter what happens in between, the one who finds the ‘key’ will be that person. The one who opens the Palace of Time will be that person. The one who becomes the next God of Time… will be that person.”

Cecilia smiled in satisfaction, nodding.

“Exactly. Chronos once broke his own taboo.”

“He peered into the future woven within the Net of Time—and saw the existence of his successor.”

“In that moment, Chronos knew that his role was not to find the successor himself but rather to leave behind a key, throwing it into the Net of Time, ensuring that the future would unfold as he had foreseen.”

“That is why there is no need to worry about the key falling into the hands of the Void Realm.”

“That girl named Xiaoxue… she will help the destined successor become the next God of Time.”

Upon hearing this, Leon scratched his head and muttered under his breath,

“Well, that’s what you say, but we already encountered Void Realm people in the Dwarven territory. And they were after Xiaoxue.”

Cecilia raised an eyebrow. “Oh? You’ve already clashed with the Void Realm?”

Leon nodded. “Yes. One of them had an ability similar to plant corruption magic, while the other wielded a weapon that could open spatial rifts—allowing them to travel to the Void Realm.”

Cecilia thought for a moment, then slowly said,

“Hmm… that sounds like Carl and Talos.”

“Mother, you’ve encountered them before?”

“Yes. Carl’s ability is not object manipulation magic, as you might assume. He can grant temporary life to any material and command it as he pleases.”

Cecilia continued,

“And Talos’s scythe can be thought of as a weakened version of the Void Gate. Although the portals it creates are neither stable nor long-lasting, they are sufficient for allowing a few elite warriors from the Void Realm to infiltrate our world.”

“…A few?”

Leon caught onto a key detail. “You mean Carl and Talos weren’t the only ones who crossed over?”

“That’s right, Leon. And that is precisely why I had to return and seek your help.”

Cecilia looked directly into Leon’s dark eyes, her expression serious.

“There is one other.

“He calls himself Kaizer.

“And he is the strongest warrior under the Void Sovereign’s command.”