20demayo Chapter 83 I suggest we leave
Chapter 83 I suggest we leave
"What do you mean by the end of the world? I've never heard of that before."
Zag tried to extract useful information from the other party's rambling words.
"I thought the spread of the Dark Realm would have alerted you. Haven't you felt that the Eastern Frontier is being slowly swallowed up? The sky is always gray, sunlight is rare, and crops have to rely on alchemical potions to grow... This place is already quite unsuitable for living. Perhaps in a few hundred years, no, even a few decades, those foolish nobles who are indulging in eating, drinking, and having fun in Holland will have to build a new 'Eternal Wall' in the north of the Eastern Frontier, and then continue to bury their heads in the sand, believing that this will allow them to maintain their rule over the kingdom."
"Zag Liam" seemed to have a great disdain for the nobles of Holland and the entire Eternal High Kingdom, and his words were full of sarcasm.
Zag remained skeptical: "I have indeed noticed the pollution spreading in the Dark Realm, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's the end of the world, does it?"
"Yes, the doomsday prophecy is a prediction found by one of the scholars in our gathering while studying many ancient books from the last era. It's not absolute—'When the green eyes open, when darkness corrodes the earth, the end of the world will come,' well, it's a very short sentence."
"But we have other evidence. In short, the end of the world is not just a myth. At least with the Dark Realm around, it is not just a myth."
At this point, "Zag Liam" looked at Liam again and explained to him, "Let's go back to the matter of pollution. The gathering has conducted a lot of experiments and tests in the Dark Realm and found that pollution cannot be completely erased. Or rather, it cannot be erased in a physical sense. Even after death, it is attached to the soul. So we have to consider how to coexist with pollution."
"In fact, we tried many approaches to disperse the pollution, trap it in some special means, in a secondary space, or something else—such as annihilation. But obviously none of them worked until we acknowledged the objective existence of the pollution and coexisted with it, and only then did we make some progress... Of course, we can talk about the specific results later."
Zag remained skeptical of this claim, asking, "If pollution cannot be erased, then why can the 'Healing Hand' heal diseases caused by pollution?"
Before Zag Liam could answer, Liam interjected, criticizing Zag: "The principle behind [Hand of Healing] is dispelling. You can't assume it can actually heal pollution just because its name includes 'healing.' Were you even paying attention in class?"
That was close! We almost got exposed!
Liam's attempt to salvage the situation startled Zag.
Although he really wanted to ask again, what's the difference between dispelling and healing? But after hesitating for a moment, he swallowed his words and deliberately complained, "Well, I really don't know much about Potions. You know, I always like to sleep in Potions class."
"Potion Studies?"
Zag replied, "In the Dawn Mage Tower, alchemy is considered part of potions... well, that's probably different from other places."
"Zag Liam" nodded: "I see. This is the first time I've heard of this."
As they spoke, the three of them quickly passed through the foyer and corridor and arrived in the main hall.
It certainly looked more like a cocktail party than an academic gathering, with waiters carrying various drinks and desserts through the crowd, and a wide variety of exquisite foods laid out on long tables.
Compared to the tea breaks that served as a backdrop to academic research, this hall, decorated with a sufficiently rich and luxurious meal, was clearly the main venue for this gathering.
"Listen to me, ladies and gentlemen, listen to me!"
Upon entering the hall, "Zag Liam" first clapped his hands, then loudly drew everyone's attention, saying, "Brothers and sisters! Today we welcome two new companions, two new brothers—Odin and David!"
"They are mages from the Dawn Mage Tower, who have volunteered to join our noble cause. Let us warmly welcome them!"
Zag hadn't been stared at by more than a dozen pairs of eyes in a long time, and he felt extremely uncomfortable being stared at. It was even more embarrassing than performing in women's clothing at the company's annual party!
Since he really didn't know how to react, he could only stand next to "Zag Liam" and awkwardly laugh.
Liam, on the other hand, was much more natural, waving to everyone with practiced ease and a social smile on his face.
It looks like a mannequin.
Zha Ge muttered to himself.
After only a few words of introduction, a waiter rushed in, interrupting the awkward welcoming ceremony. He whispered to "Zag Liam," "Miss Bernice said she's not coming today. The plans have changed. She wants you to disperse the gathering as soon as possible. The association's office is sending people over here."
The waiter spoke in a low voice, but Zag and Liam still heard him.
Zag tilted his head slightly in surprise to look at Liam, who shook his head almost imperceptibly, signaling not to make any rash moves. Zag could only remain in his awkward, statue-like posture.
However, the next second, "Zag Liam" turned his head to look at the formally dressed statue of Zag and the calm-looking Liam, his eyes holding a half-smile: "It seems there's a traitor among us. Is it you, Odin? Or your friend, David?"
Zag's eyes widened, his face displaying utter bewilderment: "I have absolutely no idea what's going on! I just got here!"
"Zag Liam" seemed completely unfazed: "So that's you, my new friend, David?"
Liam shrugged nonchalantly: "If you think it's me, I can leave, anytime."
"Zag Liam" still smiled and said, "No offense intended, but you haven't yet earned our absolute trust until you truly join us through the ritual."
Zag immediately became alert: "What do you mean?"
"Zag Liam" replied: "You can join us if you pray and swear allegiance to our fabricated god, a man-made Holy Spirit, until you are approved... This is the only prerequisite for me to truly believe in you."
Zag's eyes widened: "Wait, a 'man-made' Holy Spirit that you've fabricated?! How could that possibly respond to a prayer ritual? It doesn't exist!"
"Zag Liam" continued, "This brings us to the real findings of our research: the nature of the Holy Spirit. Or, if you two are not interested in our research, then I regret to inform you that you may leave."
Upon hearing that they could still leave, Zag breathed a sigh of relief. He looked at Liam and said, "I suggest we leave."
He didn't even want to pray to the real Nine Holy Spirits, let alone something whose existence he didn't even know existed—he didn't believe for a second that these people could have any reliable experimental results!
"Reasonable behavior, rational decision-making, and more importantly..."
Liam pulled out a staff from somewhere. This staff was completely different from the one he had used in Cabbage Town. It was a magnificent staff, inlaid with rubies and covered with gold relief patterns. Just looking at it was enough to make Zag marvel at its expensiveness.
"It's time."
Liam also spoke his last words at this moment.
On the other hand, "Zag Liam" also revealed his true intentions.
He didn't even care about the staff in Liam's hand, but sighed with a condescending pity, "Don't misunderstand, what I mean by letting you leave is... to completely 'leave' the Dawn Continent. I'm sorry to have to sacrifice your lives as part of our rituals. I'm afraid you had no choice."
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【Magical Items】: The "magic" in this word is not an adjective, or rather, the word itself is a fixed phrase, specifically referring to special items made through magical means, which in most cases have some magical uses.
However, since the tools used to create magical items are made from special magical materials, these magical items themselves are inevitably contaminated to some extent. The weaker a person's tolerance, the more severe the aftereffects will be after using them. If it were an ordinary person, they might very well end up directly meeting the Pale King in the Pale Kingdom.