Chapter 26: The Unknown Challenge
“Those four fairy ladies are merely avatars of the four Fairy Queens, stored in the outside world.”
After all the fairies had left, Israel gazed in the direction of their departure and spoke softly. “The four Elemental Fairy Queens slumber in the Fairyland. No, they *are* the Fairyland itself. These four most powerful fairies constitute the elemental cycle of that demiplane, making it akin to a small world, attached to the Mycroft Continent… The truths and concepts contained within this are something I haven't fully grasped even now. But without a doubt, their strength had already reached the Legendary realm centuries ago, their foundations far surpassing ordinary Legendary experts.”
Joshua nodded. He had heard of such information before.
In his past life, the Fairyland had always been mysterious. When the Northern Empire faced the Abyssal invasion, they suffered consecutive defeats in the early stages, losing vast territories, and the Imperial Capital was nearly breached. At that time, the fairies, entrusted by Di Mo Er, took a group of exceptionally talented young girls to what would later become the Ashen Lands. There, they joined forces with the Dwarves to establish the Naya Fortress, resisting the demon attacks while rapidly training Valkyries through combat.
The so-called Valkyries were powerful beings who could form contracts with fairies, becoming magic warriors. Each Valkyrie had a Dwarf specifically forge their exclusive armor and a fairy to bond with. These female warriors, trained rigorously from childhood, wielded exquisite weapons and armor, and through their contracts with fairies, could display extraordinary martial arts and magical power. They made indelible contributions in the war against the Abyss, repelling at least four large-scale demon assaults.
In the later stages of the war, the four Elemental Valkyries, rumored to have gained the bond of the Fairy Queens, could simultaneously use Legendary-level martial arts and high-tier magic. Their combat prowess was extraordinary. Ordinary Demon Lords could only suffer defeat and flee when facing them—after all, it was essentially two fighting one. If not for the overwhelming number of demons and the fairies' inability to withstand the decaying aura of the Abyss itself, these Valkyries would have long since counter-invaded the Abyss alongside other Legendary experts, instead of remaining stationed at Naya Fortress.
“Your Divine Mechanisms actually received support from fairy technology as well. Ying and Lin, that's their names, right? Their essence of existence is actually artificial spirits bonded to weapons. In a sense, they are subsidiary products of artificial fairies. If they were to come, it would probably make those fairies overjoyed, since they haven't seen new kin in many years.”
As he spoke, Israel opened the portal to the Fairyland.
Facing a massive floor-to-ceiling mirror, three meters tall, in the center of the hall, the Emperor extended his right hand. The rune ring on his index finger emitted streaks of translucent electric arcs—pure magical light condensed to its extreme. When this light touched the seemingly fragile mirror, it did not shatter it but instead caused a rapidly spinning, deep blue vortex to appear on its surface. After a few seconds, the vortex expanded, forming a portal large enough for one person to enter.
“Come. Teacher should be waiting for us in the Fairyland by now.”
Without further ado, Israel stepped directly into the portal leading to another time and space. Joshua naturally followed. One was a frequent traveler between the Mycroft Continent and the Fairyland; the other was a battle-hardened veteran who had seen it all, having visited countless other worlds. Both acted swiftly without any hesitation.
Just as Israel activated the portal in the ancient palace leading to the Fairyland, and Joshua entered behind him…
Inside the palace, although her tone sounded like a complaint, her expression showed she was immensely proud. “I never thought that saving a random human child would lead to him becoming an emperor. I'm amazing—by the way, how many generations later is Israel his descendant?”
“Don't know.” “Not clear.” “Du… don't understand.” The other three fairies replied in indifferent tones. The Water Elemental Fairy sighed. “Speaking of which, how long do we have to stay here? Originally, we couldn't leave the Fairyland and the seal of the Eternal Song Lake for long because the elemental magic concentration outside was too low. But now that the Great Magic Tide has arrived and magic concentration has greatly increased, we should be able to go out, right?”
Saying this, she spun painfully in mid-air. “So boring! I want Israel to accompany me and see the outside world!”
Meanwhile, in a corner, the Wind Elemental Fairy paid no attention to the self-worshipping Fire Fairy on one side or the Water Fairy who was about to die of boredom on the other. She muttered to herself, asking and answering her own questions, discussing some issues.
“That little old man Israel brought before, and that young man just now, seem to have both stepped into the Legendary realm.”
This little fairy wrote and drew in the void, runes forming and dissipating out of thin air. The fairy named Chang Feng frowned in thought. “If that's the case, doesn't that mean I have to design two more Legendary cards? So troublesome… but also very fun!”
Before this fairy, countless tiny runes mixed with Wind Elemental magic coalesced into hundreds of magical cards, each only the size of a human fingernail. These cards numbered in the hundreds, glowing with white, blue, purple, and golden-orange light. White cards were the most numerous, occupying a third of the total. Golden-orange cards were the fewest, with no more than twenty floating in the air. The Wind Fairy pondered while condensing two more blank golden-orange cards in mid-air. “Once the magic concentration outside stabilizes, I'll go out and collect information on these two people and make their cards!”
Vaguely visible on these magical cards were lines of elegant Elven script describing them, along with exquisite portraits.
【Holy Light Pope·Yi Ge Er (Clergy Legendary)】
【10 Cost, 7 Attack, 7 Health, Cannot be Attacked】
【Entrance: Destroy all Followers and Amulets on the field that are not of the Clergy class. Until the start of your next turn, cannot be targeted by spells.】
【Last Word: Destroy all friendly Followers and Amulets on the field. Restore 7 Health to your hero.】
【—An untouchable, blazing and holy radiance.】
An old man standing atop a mountain peak, gazing up at the sun.
【Grandmaster Artificer·Fuo Luo Tie Zhi (Neutral Legendary)】
【7 Cost, 4 Attack, 5 Health, Guard】
【Entrance: Randomly gain 3 Artifact cards.】
【When using enhancement spells on this Follower, the effect is doubled.】
【—The best weapon forger is naturally also the best weapon user.】
A stout Dwarf, clad in thick armor, seated on a throne of molten rock.
Besides these, many other Legendary cards floated in the card pool, such as 【Sea Demon King·Ya Luo】, 【Abyssal Fishman·Ge Da Er】, 【Nature Mentor·Jia Lan Nuo De】, and so on. Now, floating before this little fairy were two cards: one depicted an old man with deep blue temporal ripples blooming behind him, and the other…
“Eh?” Blinking, the Wind Fairy suddenly muttered in distress. “I didn't even see his face just now? Strange, why did I subconsciously avoid looking at his face…”
—All hopeless.
Meanwhile, the Earth Elemental Fairy, who had been silent all along, only making “Du Du Lu” sounds, watched her three companions who had been together for who knows how long, and sighed helplessly in her heart.
—Truly beyond saving. One is narcissistic, one starved for affection, one addicted to designing card games. All hopeless.
Fairies are not ordinary lifeforms; they are natural elemental bodies born from points of magical condensation. Originally, they had no form or desires similar to ordinary intelligent life. But probably due to prolonged contact with humans, the once pure and flawless fairies gradually became strange. Moreover, as avatars of their main bodies, stationed in this small palace for nearly a thousand years, the long, boring wait resulted in the current situation: except for her, all the other fairies had developed strange hobbies. Truly lamentable.
“Du Du Lu (I'm going to rest).” Shaking her head, the self-proclaimed normal Earth Fairy floated towards the palace corridor. She thought that if they had proactively hidden within the Mycroft World earlier, they could have avoided the subsequent impact of the Great Magic Tide. But they had flatly refused. “It doesn't actually affect advancement.”
Just as the Emperor was complaining about the fairies' stubbornness, a ripple of temporal fluctuation spread beside the two. The next instant, an old man with pure white hair and beard stepped out from it.
“You're here.” Master Nostradamus was in an exceptionally good mental state. He raised his hand, declining Joshua's congratulations, and said with a smile, “Alright, this old man merely advanced to Legendary. Compared to a monster like you, it's nothing—we can celebrate later, even have a drink together at Winterfell Academy, drink until we're drunk. But for now, business comes first.”
The old mage wasn't wrong. If they were strangers, there would certainly be some polite small talk. But the three present were very familiar with each other, all decisive in character, so they could skip most formalities. The next instant, as the Legendary mage twisted time and space, the three arrived at the edge of the Fairyland in an instant.
“This is quite different from your previous methods, Teacher.”
Israel felt it was very novel. He recalled the previous sensation thoughtfully. “It feels similar to passing through a time-space portal, but the activation is faster. There's no obvious fluctuation from opening a spatial rift, nor the shockwave from high-speed movement.”
“After achieving Legendary, one can barely comprehend a little… For now, it's just instinct. But next time I have the chance, I'll describe its principles as a concrete spell formula for the Association to research together.” Nostradamus replied readily. This was also the origin of many high-tier spells. When powerful mages advance, due to the sublimation of their life essence, they gain some instinctive spell-like abilities. These abilities are usually very suitable for them. By systematically analyzing the principles of these spell-like abilities, a completely new, powerful spell can be developed.
While exploring the truth, mages also gradually become part of the truth.
This casual chat didn't last long. Standing at the edge of the Fairyland, the three looked up together at the chaotic void.
The Fairyland could only be called the prototype of a small world, still an incomplete demiplane. Its edges had no world membrane or any barrier, directly connecting to the endless void deep within the multiverse. The power of the four Fairy Queens formed the four-element cycle, blocking threats from the outside.
Originally, fairies could watch the endless stars—that is, endless worlds—in the multiverse from the edge of the Fairyland, imagining what interesting beings existed within. This was also a good way for them, with their long lifespans, to pass the time. But now, a massive, distorted dark space, blocking nearly eighty percent of the view from the Fairyland's edge, stood between them, dimming all starlight. Even the radiance emitted by the Great Magic Tide could not penetrate it.
Gazing at this darkness, Joshua knew that beneath this precarious shell of distorted space lay the famous high-level map from his past life: the 【Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground】. It was the supreme wonder built by all civilizations of the Era of Radiance, the condensation of all wisdom. Compared to this time-space hub capable of connecting myriad realms, the once magnificent Void Observatory, Sentinel Array, and other wonders of the Era of Falling Stars seemed like child's play.
In his past life, he did not participate in the first wave of exploration of the Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground. To be precise, this exploration was unrelated to them. He remembered that back then, it was only after all major forces on the Mycroft Continent had fully explored it that the map was opened to the entire world.
【Born of fire, born of steel, soul as fuel, body as kindling, wisdom undying, order eternal, heritage repeated, until now.】 This maxim was inscribed on a stele at its center. Besides this, there were many ancient records that remained untranslated even in his past life, depicting the most primal faiths of this world and the path civilization had traveled.
The whereabouts of the Sage and the records of the lost three hundred years were unlikely to be found there. But without a doubt, through those steles, the civilization of this era would surely obtain crucial information from the previous era, even precious historical heritage.
Sometimes, history itself can represent a powerful force. Only by knowing one's past and one's origins can a civilization advance steadily, rather than groping in the dark, lost and confused.
“This space-time distortion point will soon be discovered by other forces.”
Gazing at this vast, dark, distorted space, Nostradamus said calmly. “It might be an ultra-large-scale teleportation channel to another world, or it might be a path of corruption leading to the Abyss. But regardless, a spatial rift of this scale cannot be monopolized by the Empire alone. We need to unite all interested forces on the continent to explore it. Of course, it won't take too long. At most half a year, before the second wave of the Great Magic Tide arrives, the discussions can be concluded.”
“A distorted space-time of this scale, yet it managed to hide so cleverly. How many years has it been orbiting our world?” Israel also nodded. “It might hide secrets from the previous era… but regardless, its very existence represents immense value!”
A space-time distortion point capable of secretly rotating in the void for at least a thousand years without being discovered, and which might have continued to hide if not for the Great Magic Tide—the technology represented by this existence alone would attract countless people like moths to a flame. It wouldn't take long for a powerful exploration team to assemble.
Joshua vaguely understood why these two had brought him along. He sighed and said, “So, you want to entrust me with exploring this space-time distortion point when the time comes?”
The old mage and the emperor smiled in unison, perfectly in sync. Nostradamus shook his head. “No, Joshua, not just you alone, but the two of us. Israel needs to hold the fort in the Empire, so when the time comes, the two of us will explore it together.”
“After all, you are the only one who has explored multiple different worlds and returned successfully.” Israel shrugged and smiled. “Yi Ge Er has expressed envy to me more than once that my country has produced someone like you.”
“Would you refuse?” the Emperor pressed further.
Of course not. The warrior also smiled and shook his head. Just as Israel said, how could he refuse? Since his return from the Grandia World and his advancement to Legendary, there had been few things in this world that could pique his competitive spirit and curiosity. But the Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground was undoubtedly a goal worth challenging.
Joshua looked up at the distorted space-time before him at the edge of the Fairyland, which obscured countless stars.
An unknown challenge. He thought to himself.
Not bad at all.