Chapter 41: The Future?
Where is this? Weren’t I in that famous mage tower?
How…?
Deeply puzzled, Allen looked around and found himself standing on an open plain. But when he turned around, he saw a massive and imposing castle behind him.
Where is this?
Allen tilted his head and muttered to himself, feeling confused. He had merely asked Sister Eber to let him see who his future wife would be, so how did he end up here?
Seeing no one outside the castle, Allen planned to enter and ask around when suddenly, noise arose on the castle walls, followed by the sound of horns echoing across the sky.
With the horns, the atmosphere on the walls became tense. Allen was shocked to see numerous archers and guards on the distant walls—so many that even the usually bold Allen felt uneasy.
What… is all this for?
As Allen was puzzled, the sound of horse hooves came from afar. When he turned to look in that direction, he clearly saw a large group of cavalry charging toward them, arriving at the foot of the walls in the blink of an eye.
Looking at those knights in armor, holding lances and spurs, Allen muttered sourly, “I can do that too in the future…”
Just then, he remembered his current situation.
No matter how confused he was, he had seen such scenes in knight novels. As he tried to leave quickly, he suddenly realized that no one seemed to pay attention to him…
Indeed…
But how could it be that he was standing alone on an open plain with nothing in sight?
It must be said that Allen was quite brave. To test his thoughts, he cautiously approached the group of cavalry.
Strangely, even when Allen was less than ten yards away from the knights, none of them noticed him; they were all staring up at the castle.
Curious, Allen walked up to one of the knights and waved, but since the knight paid no attention, he muttered, “Is this a vision of the future? But what does it have to do with me?”
Just as he was puzzled, a path suddenly opened up in the ranks of the knight squad. A knight clad in golden armor rode a white horse and appeared slowly. From his appearance, he seemed to be the leader of this cavalry unit. When the leader reached the front of the group, he dismounted from his horse, took a huge golden sword from his attendant, and then, leaning on it, gazed proudly at the castle in the distance.
“Pretty cool…” Allen muttered sourly, touching his smooth chin. “If I had known, I should have gone to the knight academy…” As he spoke, confusion appeared in his eyes. That sword… it looked so familiar…
While he was lost in thought, the knight leader, still gazing at the castle with his sword, suddenly shouted, “Scott, I know you’re there!”
“…Wha—what? Scott?” The sudden remark surprised Allen. He instinctively turned to look at the castle behind him and murmured, “It must be a coincidence with another name…”
No sooner had he finished speaking than he saw a man dressed as a noble lord on top of the castle walls, staring coldly down at the city.
That gaze… that face…
S-Scott?
For a moment, Allen’s eyes widened in shock, leaving him speechless.
Wait… if the person on the wall really was Scott, then…
With that thought, Allen absentmindedly turned around again and happened to see the knight leader removing his helmet. Seeing his sun-bleached blond hair and his face…
Allen felt too shocked to speak. Beyond his initial curiosity, fear now filled his heart…
Was this… the future?
Years later?
Him and Scott, one of his closest friends, would become enemies?
No…
In a daze, Allen didn’t know how he returned to reality. All he remembered was opening his eyes to see Scott sneering at him mockingly, “Well? Have you met your future wife?”
“Mm…” Looking into those eyes filled with mockery and jest, Allen was thrown into chaos and mumbled, “Well, sort of…”
“Hm?” Allen’s response puzzled Scott. After staring at him in confusion for a while, he shook his head helplessly.
Jiang Zhe also noticed something was wrong with Allen and patted his shoulder, saying, “Are you okay? What’s wrong?”
“Uh… it’s fine,” Allen forced a smile after glancing at Scott, saying with a chuckle, “You know, buddy, I’m… really excited right now…” As soon as he finished speaking, Scott’s cold snort was heard as expected, but this time Allen didn’t feel like pretending to complain. He hesitantly glanced at Abelle and asked slowly, “Miss Keynes, may I ask—was what I just saw really the future?”
“Kids, just call me Sister Abelle. I don’t like being called Keynes…” Abelle paused for a moment before smiling and saying, “As for what you just saw, it’s definitely the future. Although it’s shown to you through magic for now, don’t worry—I didn’t eavesdrop. You’re still too young; don’t be in such a hurry…”
“I… I’m not in a hurry…” Allen forced a smile and asked seriously, “So, Sister Abelle, how many years from now is it?”
“Still saying you’re not in a hurry? Hehe,” Abelle shook her head helplessly, stroked the crystal ball, and thought for a moment before saying, “I can’t be sure. Maybe a year, maybe a few years, maybe over a decade… Hmm, it’s unlikely to be in ten years. It should be within about ten years. Hey? Didn’t you see it? Why are you still asking me?”
“Within ten years?” Allen frowned and silently walked away from the long table, standing dazed beside Jiang Zhe.
“Who’s next, kids?” Abelle propped her chin and smiled at the children.
Jiang Zhe glanced at Ravia, seeing her hesitating, so he shrugged at Scott. Understanding his meaning, Scott stepped forward to the long table, bowed politely with a noble gesture, and said respectfully, “I beg your pardon…”
“Hehe,” Abelle looked at Scott in surprise and smiled, “You’re quite polite. But don’t be too stiff, kid…” After reciting a few spells just like she had with Allen, she gently tapped Scott’s forehead.
Just like Allen before, Scott shuddered, his gaze gradually becoming unfocused—clearly he had entered that illusion.
Taking advantage of this moment, Jiang Zhe curiously asked Allen, “Allen, did you really see your future wife just now? Allen?”
“Hm?” Allen, who had been distracted, finally came back to his senses. He glanced at Jiang Zhe inexplicably and mumbled vaguely, “Hm… hm…”
“Was she beautiful?”
“Hm? Mm, it’s beautiful… really beautiful…”
While they were talking, Scott seemed to have emerged from his vision, looking extremely shocked. After a long silence, he said to Abell, “It was a wonderful journey. Thank you!” Then he walked back to where he had stood earlier, his expression somewhat odd.
“Giggle, who’s next?” Abell asked with a smile, looking at Ravia and Jiang Zhe. Jiang Zhe glanced at Ravia and shrugged, saying, “You go first!”
It was clear that Ravia hesitated, as if afraid of something. After glancing at Jiang Zhe, she stepped forward toward Abell, biting her lip, her eyes filled with anticipation and indecision.
Seeming to notice Ravia’s unease, Abell said smilingly, “It’s quite interesting. What you see are just illusions. You won’t get hurt…” She then reached out and touched Ravia’s forehead.
Jiang Zhe, who had nothing to do, noticed that something was off with his two roommates. In his memory, neither Scott nor Allen were people who liked silence—why were they not talking?
Jiang Zhe felt that his two roommates had changed in some way… Could it be related to the future they had seen? What exactly had they seen?
Just as Jiang Zhe was thinking this, he suddenly saw Ravia returning with a red face. He asked jokingly, “Is it over? Did you see your future… that one?”
“I didn’t see it!” What should have been a simple sentence sounded strange coming from Ravia. She said it while glaring at Jiang Zhe through gritted teeth, leaving him puzzled.
“Did I offend you?” Jiang Zhe muttered softly. Hearing Abell call him, he hurried over. To be honest, he was also very interested in the future.
But strangely, Jiang Zhe could clearly feel Abell’s finger touching his forehead. But… why didn’t he see the illusion like Ravia, Allen, and Scott?
“Huh? That’s strange,” Abell seemed to sense something was off too. She looked at Jiang Zhe doubtfully. Seeing him staring at her, confusion appeared on her face. She glanced at her crystal ball and murmured, “You little guy is special… I can feel a powerful force instinctively resisting my mental power…”
“What’s wrong?” Jiang Zhe was puzzled. He already found the idea of seeing the future somewhat mysterious—why would it work for others but not for him?
Perhaps Jiang Zhe’s gaze struck Abelle’s confidence. She lowered her head, studied the crystal ball carefully, then turned to the little boy in front of her and said, “It seems ordinary methods won’t work. It might be a bit painful—bear with it…” With that, she drew several strange symbols on Jiang Zhe’s chest with her right hand.
“Ah? Painful…?” Before Jiang Zhe could finish speaking, he felt a dizzying spin, as if the world was tilting. Then, it seemed as though the ground beneath his feet vanished, and he fell into an endless abyss…
The nauseating sensation of weightlessness made Jiang Zhe vomit as soon as he touched solid ground. What did she mean by “it might be a bit painful”?
“Vomit…”
It took a long time before Jiang Zhe felt a little better. He shook his head and finally opened his eyes—only to vomit again. This time, it was real…
Because he saw a face of terrifying death…
What… what was going on here?
Jiang Zhe forced himself to stand upright, suppressing his nausea. From his shocked eyes, we could see an open expanse of land…
Well, to be precise, it wasn’t an open expanse at all—because the ground was covered in… corpses…
Tens of thousands. The word “tens of thousands” was clearly too mild to describe the number of corpses here…
It was simply a sea of corpses. If these weren’t just illusions, Jiang Zhe wouldn’t even have a place to stand!
Even on a battlefield, such a horrific scene would be hard to imagine…
The corpses were soaked in blood. Some even floated on the bloodwater. How much blood would be needed to float all these countless corpses?
Tens of thousands? That wouldn’t even suffice…
Hundreds of thousands? Maybe even more…
Millions? Tens of millions?
Looking at those corpses with their grotesque expressions submerged in blood, Jiang Zhe felt dizzy.
For a moment, he even seemed to hear the screams of the dead and smell the pungent scent of blood…
The number of corpses must indeed be terrifying, as Jiang Zhe could see a thin layer of red mist surrounding the area…
To be precise, it wasn’t red mist—it was blood mist…
Even the sky here was blood-red, perhaps reflected by the blood on the ground or for some other reason. To Jiang Zhe, this place was a hell of blood…
“Huh!” With a long sigh, Jiang Zhe barely suppressed the urge to vomit. To be honest, he already lacked any emotion toward the people in this world. Even with all the corpses around, he would only feel shock—nothing more. The only thing he wanted to know now was whether this truly was the future he would have to endure. Was he the culprit behind this tragedy, or was he just one of the countless corpses? If it were the former, Jiang Zhe would likely scoff. After all, given his personality, how could he possibly commit such atrocities? Besides, looking at the wounds on these corpses, they were clearly killed by weapons. With such an overwhelming number, how long would it take him to kill them all? If not the former, then what remained… For a moment, Jiang Zhe felt a chill sweep over his back. Although he understood that people die in any world, it didn’t have to be in such a horrific way. Feeling the chill, Jiang Zhe forced himself to examine the corpses within his sight carefully. Then he realized this place seemed to be a battlefield, as some corpses were still wearing various types of armor—guards, halberdiers, even knights and magicians… Which country in the empire had waged such a devastating war? Salonia? But among the corpses nearby, there weren’t any soldiers wearing Salonian military uniforms… Even stranger, Jiang Zhe saw many civilians in coarse clothes among the endless sea of corpses… What on earth was going on? Jiang Zhe found the situation increasingly mysterious. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he seemed to spot something. Turning around, he was shocked to see a strange black building standing in the distance… “This… must be an altar?” Jiang Zhe said uncertainly, unconsciously walking toward it. As he got closer, he realized that this black altar was even larger than the ancient castle of Riox. Meanwhile, the number of corpses piled up here grew even more. Before even approaching the altar, Jiang Zhe could already see at least a dozen small mounds made of bones. Strangely, these “mounds” were evenly distributed, with almost equal distances between each one, as if… as if they were several intersection points in a huge magic array! And that black altar was right in the center of this magic array!
“Blood sacrifice!” Unconsciously, Jiang Zhe uttered those words, as it was the only thing that could explain what was happening.
Who could it be?
As he thought this, Jiang Zhe climbed up the steps of the altar, trying his best to ignore the bones scattered along the way.
The black altar was enormous, with so many steps that Jiang Zhe felt out of breath.
But thankfully, he finally reached the top…
Just as he was about to arrive, Jiang Zhe seemed to hear voices—faint, intermittent speech…
“…Have you made up your mind? I need your help… Damn gods… the seal… Help me with all your might, my dearest brother… to reclaim… dominion…”
Who was speaking?
Out of curiosity, Jiang Zhe stepped forward, but the top of the altar was extremely dim, as if shrouded in darkness, too hazy to see clearly.
Was it the person in the black robe?
Jiang Zhe instinctively crouched down and stared at the figure standing in the center of the altar. It must be a mage, dressed in a black magical robe adorned with dark golden runes. To Jiang Zhe’s eyes, those runes seemed alive, constantly emitting layers of dark golden light.
Huh? I seem to have seen this kind of magical robe before…
Right, back in Riox, Father Andrew, who claimed to be the pope of the church, wore a robe like this, didn’t he? But back then, the robe was white, while this guy’s was black…
Who is he?
A question arose in Jiang Zhe’s mind. Though he knew it was just an illusion, he still sensed that the person in the black robe might possess terrifying power…
Was he the one who spoke earlier?
But who was he talking to?
Crouched down, Jiang Zhe carefully observed the top of the altar. Although he knew it was an illusion, his subconscious urged him to do so…
After staring for about a minute or two, Jiang Zhe suddenly realized that there was not just the mage in black robes on the top of the altar—there was another thing…
Well, to be precise, it was a pair of deep red eyes—a pair of huge eyes, even larger than Jiang Zhe himself…
How to describe them? They were eyes with an irresistible allure, drawing one in involuntarily. Surrounding those eyes was a thick layer of darkness—a dark force so powerful that it was as dense as glue…
Just by glancing at those enormous eyes, just once, Jiang Zhe could clearly feel an emotion in his heart swelling uncontrollably, as if it wanted to possess everything in the world—status, power, fame, money, women… This emotion was called greed! Fortunately, Jiang Zhe hadn’t really cared much about money or power to begin with. Though with some effort, he could suppress these negative emotions. Moreover, as Father Andrew had said, the magic circle on his left hand also emitted a warm current at the first moment, helping him suppress those negative emotions. But what kind of monster was that? A demon? Just by glancing at those eyes… Jiang Zhe, who was staring intently at them, had a feeling that those eyes might belong to someone extremely terrifying… “Help me, my brother!” Those deep red eyes, unaware of Jiang Zhe, continued to speak to the magician standing in front of them. Yet the identityunknown magician hadn’t said a word from the start. “Sigh,” those deep red eyes seemed somewhat disappointed, saying in a sighing tone, “You are my most trusted, dear brother. I hope you can help me…” After saying this, those eyes gently closed. Immediately afterward, the darkness around them began to swirl before gradually fading away. Although those eyes disappeared, Jiang Zhe’s doubts remained unresolved. What kind of demon did those eyes belong to? And who was this magician before him? Could it be that he was making a deal with the demon? With these questions in mind, Jiang Zhe stood up and walked over. As he did, he found himself amused by his own caution earlier—after all, this was just an illusion. Everything here was an illusion to him now, so what was there to fear? But… Just as Jiang Zhe was about to approach the magician, the magician said something that sent chills down his spine. “Don’t you think you know enough already?” “…” Feeling his heart pounding, Jiang Zhe looked at the magician in disbelief, then, hoping for the best, glanced around, but there was no one in sight… Strangely enough, as if able to see Jiang Zhe’s every move, the magician slowly turned around to face him and said in a low voice, “Stop looking. I’m talking about you. You’ve been eavesdropping stealthily for a while and still think it’s not enough, is that it?” This…
How is this possible?! Am I not in some illusion?! Unbelievably, Jiang Zhe tentatively said, “You… can you see me?” “Hmph!” The magician’s words shattered Jiang Zhe’s last glimmer of hope. The magician laughed heartily, then shook his head and said mockingly, “If I couldn’t see you, would I be talking to myself?” Good heavens… This… This is too incredible… Could it be that I’m not in an illusion after all, and all of this is real? It seems the magician noticed the shock in Jiang Zhe’s eyes and said calmly, “You needn’t be surprised or skeptical. Everything you saw and heard just now is merely an illusion of the next ten years or so—just an illusion, including me…” “Then…” Jiang Zhe was even more shocked. Frowning, he said, “If it’s an illusion, why can you see me? Those strange eyes earlier couldn’t see me!” “Hmph!” The magician snorted coldly and said, “That’s because I’m stronger than him!” As he spoke, he slowly raised his head. Due to his oversized magical robe, Jiang Zhe couldn’t see his true face—only a pair of indifferent eyes. From his gaze, Jiang Zhe could faintly sense some anger. That angry look puzzled Jiang Zhe. Why be angry at me? I don’t even know him! Feeling the oppressive pressure emanating from him, almost suffocating, Jiang Zhe’s forehead broke out in cold sweat. But the next moment, that pressure vanished, leaving only the magician’s cold sneer. “Insect! Your strength now is like that of an insect… No! Even weaker than an insect!” “You… Hmph! I don’t believe you could have been that powerful at my age!” Hearing Jiang Zhe’s mockery, the magician was stunned for a moment before laughing self-mockingly and nodding. “You’re right. At your age, my strength… was similar to yours…” He glanced at Jiang Zhe and said calmly, “Hmph, that gaze is not bad, but it’s not enough! Far from enough…” After saying that, the magician looked up at the blood-red sky and muttered to himself. Seeing that the magician didn’t seem to intend any harm, Jiang Zhe hesitantly asked, “What was that… that demon earlier? And… who are you?”
“A demon?” Hearing Jiang Zhe’s question, the magician shook his head and said indifferently, “That’s not a demon. Telling you now wouldn’t be beneficial for you. As for who I am, you’ll understand later. Maybe…” He glanced at Jiang Zhe, half-serious, half-joking, “Maybe we might meet again in the future…” After saying that, he paused and added with a hint of melancholy, “It’s just maybe… we might not meet at all.”
“What’s your relationship with Argus then?”
“Argus?” The magician chuckled lightly and said calmly, “If you’re referring to the guy who uses that name, I killed him!”
“Killed… him?”
“Oh,” as if remembering something, the magician added, “In your world, Argus should still be alive. But… it’s best if you don’t mess with him. He’s not someone you can handle right now!”
“What do you mean?”
The magician turned around and said in an impatient tone, “Where did you get so many nonsense questions? Go back to your world!”
“One last question!” Seeing the other party growing impatient, Jiang Zhe hurriedly asked, “What’s this altar for? And those skeletons…”
“This altar is just used to revive an old man. Incidentally, it also opens the door to the Land of Death…”
“The Land of Death?” Jiang Zhe was stunned and asked doubtfully, “What do you go there to do?”
“Weren’t you supposed to ask the last question?” The magician emphasized those last words.
“Uh… this really is the last question…”
The magician stared at Jiang Zhe in silence for a long time before slowly saying, “I don’t care about that guy. I just want to bring someone back from the Land of Death to this world…”
“A woman?” Jiang Zhe asked instinctively, curious.
But as soon as the words left his mouth, he saw the magician wave his sleeve lightly. Instantly, he felt dizzy, just like when he first arrived.
Somehow, Jiang Zhe seemed to hear the magician say something in a tone he couldn’t understand.
“Don’t dream of anything until you have great power! Try to make yourself stronger first, and then… devour everything…” The last few words were barely audible.