Chapter 54: Carlis's Entrustment
There is a kind of gravity between people.
Those who love painting will meet others who love painting. Those who love writing will always meet others who love writing. Transcendent beings, even if they hide deep in the mountains and forests, will always encounter other Transcendent beings passing by by chance, and then get drawn into a series of events, as if an invisible force pulls them together.
If this happened once or twice, it might be dismissed, but it has been this way since ancient times, happening continuously until today. It makes one sigh that there is indeed a gravity between people.
Of course, that's not actually the case. Most people know it's not some 'gravity' at work, but rather an inevitable result when a person enters a certain circle and reaches a certain threshold. When a painter wants to improve their painting skills, they will naturally seek out like-minded individuals and pay attention to everything related to it. The same goes for writing, and even more so for Transcendent beings. They are like stars in the deep night—impossible to ignore. And precisely because of that, their very existence attracts a series of events toward them.
Joshua had long understood this principle. The strong are like whirlpools; the tide of power called strength draws all surrounding anomalies and accidents toward them. Every word and action deeply affects everyone around them, generating all sorts of subsequent events.
Take this time, for example. He went to the Sixth Abyss. An ordinary trip resulted in the complete annihilation of over a dozen demon territories, the severe injury of Demon Lord Haier Mu, and the joint intervention of an Abyss Lord and the Five-Colored Dragon God. Arriving at the Bloodmoon Abyss, he even encountered a light-lifeform suspected to be a newborn spark, a future incarnation of the World Will, and obtained its sub-plant. So he instinctively knew that after doing so much, there was no way he could return to the Mycroft Continent peacefully.
And the facts proved this point.
In the void between worlds, accompanied by a flash of silver light, the warrior's figure vanished from the sight of Hei, the light orb, and the two Legendary Mages. The process was abrupt, with no intermediate steps. Before the Black Dragon girl could even react, she was swept along by the torrent of space-time, crossing the void back to the Mycroft World. When she shook off the dizziness of the teleportation and stood up on the land of the Great Aias Mountains, which exuded a faint scent of sulfur, she realized in shock that her master had suddenly disappeared.
"Huh?" "Ding-ding-ring?"
Equally stunned as Hei were Baniel and William. The two old mages, the moment the teleportation ended, immediately unleashed all their power without any concealment. Baniel maintained the existence of the space-time channel, the array in his artificial eye spinning rapidly under the surging torrent of arcane power, even forming a spiral shape. The layers and mysteries of space-time were peeled away layer by layer within this seemingly fragile crystal eye. The old mage's face was solemn as he scanned every corner of the space-time channel. The azure light, stirred by his gaze, churned into hazy clouds of luminous mist. A massive amount of information, enough to scorch the brain of an ordinary mage, flooded into Baniel's mind. After a moment, he said gravely, "He's gone—no clues at all."
"Damn it!" On the other side, William also took out his crystal ball. Inside this pure crystal ball, a miniature forest of carapace, dragon scales, and tentacles was writhing on the soil—it was the Writhing Forest he had sealed in the subspace within the crystal ball. Now, accompanied by sharp sounds like shattering glass, countless cracks split the surrounding space. The next moment, the Writhing Forest, along with large patches of Abyss corrupt soil, materialized above the Great Aias Mountains and crashed heavily to the ground.
The bard also activated his crystal ball, streams of pure, transparent light reflecting into the space-time channel, replaying the past scenes within the crystal. But even after William observed the time replay over a dozen times, he still found no clues, just like Baniel. This infuriated the Legendary Mage: "Lord Radcliffe went to the Abyss to find us—that was a success, we came back, but he's missing! Damn it, how are we supposed to explain this to his family and his people?!"
"Don't rush that matter for now."
Just a few seconds after the two Legendary Mages had unhesitatingly unleashed their Legendary power, accompanied by the hum of churning space-time, a deep blue door naturally appeared before everyone. Then, a newly ascended Legendary Mage with white hair and beard and a Legendary Warrior with shoulder-length dark golden hair stepped out from it simultaneously. Nostradamus paused slightly, letting himself fall half a step behind Israel beside him. The Emperor didn't decline the courtesy. He first glanced at the Black Dragon girl and Hei, then said, "It's not surprising that Carlis knows about the Sage's existence." Joshua nodded and waited for the other to continue.
The Steel Serpent didn't dwell on the warrior's speculation either. It continued in its gentle voice: "I have witnessed a race rise from obscurity to its peak, and I have also witnessed a civilization decline from its peak to extinction." Saying this, Carlis gazed at Joshua, its tone carrying both relief and emotion: "But I have never seen an individual life achieve what you have."
"Joshua van Radcliffe, I have learned your name from those foreign world survivors. I have no comment on your choices, but for your final actions, I express my heartfelt gratitude."
Saying this, the massive World Serpent genuinely lowered its enormous head. Its voice was heavy as it said: "The Carlis World has been destroyed. I should have died completely when all life was extinguished, unable to even become an Abyss, completely turning into a ruined world... But because of the flames you produced by burning the Wild God's soul back then, I gained a chance to catch my breath."
A huge light screen appeared before Joshua's eyes. What unfolded before him was a barren dust plain. Sand and rock, incapable of nurturing any life, formed this land. It seemed that chaos and death had long eroded everything, dragging the entire world toward silence and decay.
But in the decaying wind, there were ripples like waves. And in a tiny corner untouched by this wind, silver-white, steel-like flowers were quietly blooming.
"That is the spark you left behind. Though faint, it has never been extinguished."
The Steel Serpent's voice sounded softly. Carlis also watched the light screen. The next moment, the scene shifted. What appeared before Joshua was the cautious exploration of this strange, decaying world by the survivors of the Grandia World. With the help of the Colossal Titan Urbandeni, these poor souls, who had struggled for decades under the Shadow of Death, could finally live safely in the wilderness, instead of huddling in their homes like timid hamsters at night, afraid to go out. Their footsteps gradually spread, now even reaching the frozen coastline of Carlis. Along the way, what appeared were silver grasses and flowers covering the mountains and fields, swaying in the wind.
Seeing these resilient yet fragile flowers, Joshua was momentarily stunned, then revealed a relieved smile. He had once thought he had accomplished nothing, but now it seemed he had achieved something.
Then, the warrior turned his gaze to the people exploring the world.
For the survivors of the Grandia World, they had no idea they had experienced the destruction of one world and the migration of a race. But regardless, the massive shockwave from the change in their living environment had not yet fully dissipated even today.
Because the Death Shadows had vanished, the mist that had shrouded the entire world completely dissipated. Various plants and animals began to thrive on the land. These survivors, overjoyed, began to build villages one after another in the wilderness around the original four Holy Cities. Guided by a few old city lords who had preserved most of their civilization's heritage, these survivors, who had nearly degenerated into primitives due to environmental factors, rapidly began transforming their surroundings. Within just a few years, large tracts of farmland and small workshops appeared in the corners of towns and villages. Many young people had already begun to enter schools under the guidance of the surviving elders, learning the knowledge their ancestors had been proud of.
Besides this, figures of Grandia survivors could be found in every corner of the world. Carrying simple tools and coarse rations, they walked through the harshest environments. These pioneers explored everything on the dust plains and among the ruins, and were astonished to discover one massive relic after another from the Carlis World civilization—colossal fortress remains, damaged mobile cities, and fragments of Divine Mechanisms scattered across the world. Some clever individuals had gradually realized that the land they were on might not be the world they had once lived in, but another world that had once had an intelligent civilization.
"You brought me new sparks, new intelligent life... They have allowed me to reawaken. Now, they are not my children, but one day, they will be my children."
Speaking these convoluted words, Carlis closed the light screen. It turned its head and said softly, "You have saved two worlds simultaneously. Even the gods couldn't have done better."
"I thank you for your praise."
Bowing slightly to express his gratitude, Joshua felt his spirits lift after seeing that the Grandia survivors were living reasonably well. But he wasn't about to let the Steel Serpent steer the topic off course. The warrior asked with some confusion, "However, did you intercept me here just to express your thanks to me?"
If possible, I'd like to go back soon. Ying and Lin, Number 3 and Hei will be worried. He didn't say this out loud.
"Of course not. This time, I intercepted you in the torrent of space-time for something far more important."
The massive head shook, even causing the starry dome to tremble. The Steel Serpent denied Joshua's question. Its gaze turned serious, its voice deepening. Carlis paused for a moment, then said slowly, word by word: "It's about the Evil Gods."