Knights and Magic Wand

Beneath the flickering dark purple clouds, supernatural chaos thunder constantly erupted. The geological archaeological base that once stood here had long been replaced by an unfathomable abyssal chasm.

Like a Heaven-Reaching Crystal Pillar, the towering crystal cluster seemed to have grown from the Earth Core, reaching up into the sky, as high as a thousand feet, resembling a mountain peak.

The crystal pillar's transparent body refracted bizarre rainbow light, like liquefied stars flowing through it. Any skyscraper built by Kleinian civilization appeared as insignificant as grass and trees before such a majestic peak.

Inside the pillar, shadows flickered; sometimes countless towering branches twisted and stretched, sometimes eerie blue human arms twitched and waved, flesh and blood tentacles writhed, insect limbs transformed. Each flicker carried with it the unwillingness and anger of countless creatures, going through the cycle of life's birth and destruction, attempting to tear apart this seemingly fragile transparent cage with their surging energy.

"The very birthplace of the first life in this world... the flicker of thought flows in the primordial sea..."

Outside the crystal pillar, a spinal tail whip, floating on the altar steps, carried half of a skeletal upper body, swaying slowly in the air.

The floating undead witch demon had its chest ribs wide open, filled with dazzling rainbow lights twining like tendrils through the bone gaps, crystalline eyes in the skull sockets gazing at the turbulent waves inside the crystal pillar.

"This is... a god born amidst the flickers of countless sparks of intelligence; no wonder drawing power from it still feels inexhaustible."

Kazak's inhuman raspy voice carried a hint of obsession, even the greatly esteemed Emperor, in the face of such power, seemed lacking.

"To be precise, It has far from become a true Star God, at most just an embryo still gestating intelligent thought, or a fetus destined to perish." A voice, seemingly present and absent in the space, spoke its essence in a faint Lorelette Language.

The witch demon's mutter paused, humbly crossing its dried blood-flesh hands, lowering its deformed horned skull.

But desire made him ponder his attitude, tentatively asking, "Forgive my ignorance, great Venerable, if you could attain this power, why... why still..."

"You intend to manipulate the Divine Soul~?"

Within the deep laughter, there seemed a hint of mockery.

Kazak had to maintain a humble demeanor, "Your humble servant merely wishes to bathe in a glimmer of the glorious endeavor..."

But the ethereal laughter abruptly ceased: "Then you should not disappoint me... Kazak, your student couldn't trap him; I saw his arrival... ah... Squash, that foolish blood witch is also disrupting my plans."

Hearing this, Kazak was stunned for a moment, becoming somewhat flustered, hurriedly pledging, "I've already made those mortals block any local from approaching the ritual site; I assure you, I will personally kill that Western Continent bumpkin."

Yet the ethereal voice brought an unexpected chill to the witch demon's words: "....Are you mocking me?"

"Forgive me, Master, how dare I?" Kazak's soul ached, his entire skeleton began to tremble midair with some confusion.

"Even someone as short-sighted as Quentin Zalarar is not comparable to a pathetic existence like you... If he, among countless fates, is destined to fail, how can you be so arrogant?

.... I only need you to delay him. No matter what secrets he holds, the time has come, and no one can defy the Venerable Lord's will." As the voice fell, the chaos storm wreathed around Kazak dissipated once more.

"If you cannot achieve it, then compensate for this mistake with the same sacrifice your student made."

At the final warning, Kazak's crystalline pupils flickered with light: "As you wish, I will spare no effort to ensure the ritual process is not disturbed."

The gaze above the veil pierced through the increasingly chaotic and fragile curtain, lifted from Kazak's form, looking toward the imprisoned Divine Soul.

Within the Heaven-Reaching Crystal Pillar, amidst numerous eerie blue arms, a face composed of different phantoms seemed to emerge: "You will fail..."

"Are you communicating with me?... Gaia's power has allowed you to possess proactive consciousness?" A voice from the Spirit Realm still bore arrogance.

"My failure... I can see much myself... what fate are you referring to?"

The face in the crystal pillar seemed to become dazed, as if trying to simulate the thoughts of a wise creature. However, gazing directly at the infinite extension of time waves, witnessing the intertwining chaos of different planes, contradictions, and occasional embodiment in phantoms of the future... the flickering Star Soul fell silent amidst this vast, infinite scenery.

"... Even if the time in which you are nurtured far exceeds mine a millionfold, in my eyes, you are still a naive, immature child... Kleinian.

Seeing more does not signify deciding what is destined; whether from upstream or downstream fluctuations, only the future born from the collision of moving causes and effects is the true future. Furthermore, even such a future is not unchangeable.

Otherwise, where do you think the force that now firmly binds you comes from?"

"It has not yet awakened, and yet already awakened; do not rush. When you and my master merge into one, you will finally understand: only the immortal can break the predestined end towards nothingness." In the deepest reaches of the Spirit Realm, inside a magnificent crystal tower, echoed his calm voice without ripples.

"The waves stirred by the River of Time can never thwart my pursuit of following the immortal Venerable Lord, embarking on this vast path of reversing the end against 'Yin Nie'."

...

.......

The roar of engines tore through the clouds; several escort fighters flew by. The moment the transport aircraft's hatch opened, gale wrapped with smoke rushed in, blowing Leon's increasingly neglected black hair in the wind.

Overlooking the earth—towns burned like broken honeycombs, the primeval forest dividing the old realm cities from the wilderness lay like a giant beast on the northern horizon.

If paleontologists hadn't unearthed potential remnants of primordial soup, the origin of life, here, perhaps few would have known of this nation's past.

"Preparing to land." The pilot's hoarse report came through the earphones.

The ground forces' artillery had already plowed through the forest edge, orange-red explosion points flashed and dimmed, armored war vehicles covering numerous assault units amidst the flames, faintly seen. The town below was thoroughly cleared of undead and the heretical army devoted to Valary; the main forces of the Church were establishing defense lines and positions.

Thanks to the Bloodline's open attack, the heretical cult loyal to the so-called Alien Star evidently hadn't stationed many troops here to hinder progress.

The forces here would be the forward support, and also the bait to attract potential enemies' attention. There were three similar decoy teams around, but only the one Leon was in was the main attack direction.

Leon stepped out of the cabin, lifting his eyes toward the crystal peak towering into the clouds, like the pillar of the world.

He was utterly convinced that the Bloodline's intelligence was correct.

Such a colossal structure, beyond mortal creation, could only possibly form where the Spirit Realm's power overflowed most severely.

Boarding an armored vehicle, swiftly reaching the withered forest edge, the escort armored vehicles finally had to stop at the rugged surrounding wilderness.

Vehicles couldn't traverse the dense, rugged vast mountain forest.

Honestly, according to intelligence, this region used to be just a poor country on the Kleinian continent, evidently without resources to alter the ancient natural landscapes within its territory.

He had to dismount, leading the fully armed Heroic Knights and the elite Church forces, stepping into the pitch-black deathly silent forest on foot.

Leon hoped to pray his luck was good enough, perhaps able to stealthily navigate through the dense forest to reach the foot of that towering crystal peak.

... Shifting shadows of trees in the forest swayed in the breeze, like phantoms, thousands of fully armed Church soldiers, with night vision equipment, cautiously crossed the rugged forest mountain terrain.