Chapter 1022: The Afterglow Church Comes Knocking |
'Not just [Truth]?'
Besides [Truth], the only other faith that could view the entire world through "relatively rational" thinking was [Folly].
Connecting this to Galusha being a [Folly] follower...
'Bad news. Did Pe Laya get assimilated by Galusha?'
'She's treating [Folly] as the new [Truth]?'
But for a scholar who appeared so utterly composed — how had she so casually become a [Folly] follower? Besides, she showed none of [Folly]'s signature mannerisms.
Cheng Shi was curious, but this clearly wasn't the time for stray questions. Explaining the Ritual of Truth had already burned precious time. Pe Laya's form was beginning to fade — he had to seize the moment and ask what contingency plan the Erudition Presidium might prepare against the traitor and the invaders.
And that plan was most likely the trial experiment the players were searching for.
Pe Laya frowned, calmly analyzing every piece of information the players had fed her. Before long, her entire body shuddered. Her pupils contracted sharply and she raised her head, barely suppressing fury as two words left her lips:
'Retrogression?'
Cheng Shi knew all about retrogression. Pe Laya's own Barren Walker experiment had deconstructed spacetime — using bloodline as a guide to build spacetime linkages, then retrograding back to the Rosna Empire to find Dizel's soul inside the Gift of Sores.
But what would the Erudition Presidium retrograde to that era for? Even if they had the means to fuse an envoy's soul and shell through the Ritual of Truth, Dizel's soul was already gone — personally destroyed by that lord.
If so, what was the point of retrogression? What could they possibly retrograde to?
Wouldn't this trial's answer — this supposedly critical [Truth] experiment — be fundamentally impossible to complete?
The thought stunned Cheng Shi. He genuinely hadn't expected previous wish trials to have blocked the path for this special trial.
The others were clearly familiar with this grand scholar's experiment too. Hu Xuan cast a knowing glance at Cheng Shi — same wavelength.
Only Fang Yuan frowned in confusion: "If the Ritual of Truth could truly assemble an envoy, the Tower of Logic would never have declined. Grand Scholar, are you sure they're continuing your unfinished experiment?"
"No. Who said they're continuing my experiment?
Fusing a divine being isn't that simple, and time constraints make it even less feasible. They certainly plan to use retrogression to prevent current events — but the retrogression target definitely isn't the Barren Walker...
To deconstruct spacetime, you need a temporal linkage between two objects from different timelines. If I'm not mistaken, Volent and the others want to deconstruct the spacetime linkage not of the Barren Walker carrying pseudo-god potential — but of...
The Barren Walker and me!"
"And you!?"
Everyone's eyes sharpened. They immediately understood.
"You mean they want to deconstruct your spacetime linkage to retrograde and prevent your betrayal?"
Pe Laya nodded darkly. This was the only explanation she could think of.
Assembling a pseudo-god — questionable feasibility aside — would never be enough to halt the subterranean forces sweeping across the nation. But if Pe Laya's influence were erased at the root, then under the Ritual of Truth's enhancement, the Erudition Presidium could very well rebuild the ruined Tusnat!
"Not just me. They might also use it as bait to hook spacetime linkages related to her — to annihilate her at the source!
As long as the plague from the underworld is eliminated, Volent can use the Ritual of Truth to rebuild Tusnat."
By this point, Pe Laya's voice was practically grinding through clenched teeth.
Cheng Shi caught the shift. The "her" clearly meant Galusha. But even when analyzing her own targeting, the grand scholar's temperament hadn't wavered this much. Why did mentioning Galusha unleash such hatred — as if she wanted to slaughter every last member of the Erudition Presidium?
'They're that close?'
'Strange. How exactly did Galusha turn this [Truth] believer?'
Fang Yuan deliberated briefly, then seized the last moments before Pe Laya's reflection dissolved:
"Based on your knowledge of the Erudition Presidium — where would they set the trap for you?"
"Somewhere I can't anticipate."
"?"
"Activating the Ritual of Truth takes preparation time. If they want to use it to deconstruct the spacetime linkage between me and the Barren Walker, they'll want to delay my arrival as long as possible.
So on this question, I cannot give you an answer."
"But without a hint, how can we help you?"
Cheng Shi saw the trail about to go cold again and switched to emotional manipulation. Though in truth, the way to clear this trial was probably to facilitate this very experiment.
Pe Laya was no fool. Even if she couldn't pinpoint the Erudition Presidium's location, she could have listed every plausible site for elimination — but she didn't.
She couldn't read these players' motives. And those detailed revelations earlier hadn't been pure cooperation — she'd had her own calculus of introducing variables into the game to buy her real self a sliver of survival.
As always, when time rewound to the Land of Hope, this world's natives were the era's true protagonists.
Pe Laya silently surveyed them. Her form gradually dissolved. The players exchanged glances, each with different expressions.
"That's grand-scholar cunning for you." Fang Yuan sighed, then turned to Cheng Shi: "Fate Weaver, it's been a pleasure working with you. But for efficiency, I'll head out first.
I'll sweep the south side for suspicious locations, then rendezvous at the time you set.
As for you three... together or separate, your call."
With that, Fang Yuan blasted open the void once more and vanished without looking back.
Watching the Elemental Judge leave, Cheng Shi suspected the "efficiency" excuse was fake — escaping Meng Youfang's delusions was probably the real motive.
Still, having a teammate who actually did trial work was a good thing. He glanced back at the compliant Hu Xuan, then at Meng Youfang with his "I'm sticking with you" attitude, and sighed inwardly.
'Time to adjust the plan.'
'Is it really this hard to score some points in a trial?'
"Life Sage, let's split up for a bit. For efficiency, please check the north side.
As for me... I've got another role to play."
The words had barely landed when — amid Hu Xuan's nod and Meng Youfang's mild confusion — three men and one woman appeared in the courtyard outside the laboratory.
The Afterglow Church. The very architects of the surface world's endless [Chaos]. They'd arrived with suspicious, trembling hearts of pilgrimage.
...