City of Sin

Book 9, 134

Ongoing Crusade

A month passed in the blink of an eye, and once his analysis was completed Richard left without a sound. Even the Archeron guards defending the plane were clueless throughout the process, and remained so even as he left. He followed up the Resting Orchid Plane with Goldflow Valley and the Boulder Highlands, as well as the personal planes of many other nobles in Norland. Having reached a point where no one in Norland could sense him, he passed through without attracting any attention.

He spent half a year combing through nearly a thousand different planes, even landing on three other battlefields of despair. Every time he redeemed countless souls, gaining renewed understanding of and familiarity with the foundational laws of order. The man who had blocked him in the depths of the abyss had already grasped everything Arbidis had to offer, and in this aspect the two were at most equal. For even the slightest advantage, the laws of existence itself were the only way to move forward.

Another half-year whizzed by as he wandered the void, not visiting a single new plane. His perception had grown to the level of near omniscience, and he could teleport wherever he wanted in mere moments.

The half-year following that was spent exploring the countless lands of danger in the void. Places like the Celestial Palace, Star of Destruction, River of Comets, and the Grave of the Titans were no longer secrets to him. He even tried to approach the current of time, only giving up reluctantly once he realised that it was not a place that living beings could enter. Along the way, he paid a visit to the Plane of Annihilation and enacted his vengeance on Iskara, repaying his debt to Tzu once and for all.

At this point, he had come up with a new conjecture about the Dragon of Eternity and Light. He was starting to suspect that the old dragon wasn’t a tangible being but a will birthed by the current of time itself. This will would thus be driven by those given into it, namely all of the Chosen across history. Unfortunately, he couldn’t verify this theory at all.

With years having passed, Richard finally returned to Norland and placed the Book of Time and Book of Destruction together. As he had expected, the two divine items merged instantly into a thick bronze tome, one whose name he understood the moment he looked at it— the Book of Eternity.

The Book of Eternity had many uses; it could accurately provide one’s coordinates no matter where they were, and it had a small hold on destiny itself. It could store things within as well, preserving them in frozen time forever. So long as the book wasn’t destroyed, even living beings wouldn’t perish within.

With the new book in hand, he returned to the library of the ancient celestials. The ancient desk there was no longer useful in his analyses, but that only showed him that he had become a powerhouse that even that near-extinct race rarely came across. Still, the desk wasn’t his primary purpose in coming here; walking through the barrier with ease, he retrieved one of the crystals and started to study the laws contained within.

There were no obstacles in his perusal of the library. He read book after book with ease, imbibing the laws contained within in a matter of mere days. It wasn’t long before he was left with only the pure beam of light, but as he was about to touch it he hesitated and withdrew his hand. The barrier couldn’t block him any longer, but now he knew exactly what it was— pure light that would degenerate upon contact.

The laws of this light weren’t of much help to Richard, and he couldn’t comprehend why the ancient celestials would place it in such a position of importance, but he understood that this was something precious that had been pulled from the very source of light itself. Even examining it for a full week he couldn’t understand just how the ancient celestials had affixed it there, and unable to make progress he eventually gave up. However, he could at least confirm that this library was the greatest inheritance of the ancient celestials, which made Sharon’s identity a bigger question than ever.

......

When Richard finally returned to Faust, he felt like his mind was more open than ever. It was as if the entire world was a part of it, but as he drew a long breath and felt Norland itself respond, he knew that he was at the end of the road for mortal beings and unable to take another step forward.

He had transcended the bounds of an epic being, reaching a point that no one in Norlandic history had before. In the records of the ancient celestials, people like him were simply termed pinnacle powerhouses. At least in this world, he truly had reached a peak; without heading to the alter world or breaking through the domain of order somehow, he had no opportunity to advance.

Returning to the Archeron island and entering the control shrine, he surveyed the City of Miracles that was a symbol of both luxury and erosion. A moment later, he looked up towards the sky and sighed, “How are you doing over there?”

The void warped to reveal a mirror-like screen, showing a fierce battle where celestials were dying on each end. A six-winged warrior in the centre was the most eye-catching sight, eliminating droves of opponents that should be as powerful as him with ease. The warrior brandished his flaming blade to cut down a few enemies before turning around, “As you can see... Not great.”

Richard smiled, “You’re already up to six wings. How is that anything but great?”

“You— DAMN IT!” Martin was interrupted as another enemy leapt towards him, forced to dodge before cutting the opponent down. He gasped for breath and continued, “You sure know how to be trite. My side is losing, how could that be great in any way? I’m not like these guys that can revive after death; if I fall here, I won’t appear again no matter how much you miss me!”

“Huh... That would be so great for this world...” Richard seemed to fall into thought.

“Damn it, how am I friends with such a cold-hearted bastard?” he flashed the finger before turning back towards another group of enemies.

Richard frowned, “I’m serious! I feel like you dying in heaven would benefit all of Norland. This is my intuition at work, never underestimate a mage.”

“You...” Martin groaned in the middle of his fight, “Ugh, you might just be right. But you can’t possibly have contacted me just to say that.”

“Well, I found something that really suits you.”

“Aww, a present? That’s such a great idea, I haven’t gotten one in forever! But I’ll have to win this damned fight before I can thank you.”

He furrowed his brows, “What does thanking me have to do with your battle. And why are you up there anyway? Doesn’t your church have anything better to do?”

"It’s a war of faith, you wouldn’t understand even if I told you. But if you must know, it’s the same logic as when you fight the reapers. This is something I just had to do, even if I die.” Martin continued to hack at his enemies, but more and more surrounded him. A number of them were now four-winged, and even with his six he was starting to lose.

“Okay, you’re right. Want me to help?” Richard asked.

“This is a holy war! Only those who worship light can fight in it, there’s no need for outsiders to interfere!” Martin roared, his face lighting up with divinity and sacrifice. This garnered a lot of respect from Richard, but that was shattered the very next moment as he followed, “But it’s fine to borrow a friend’s strength to win wars that must be win. Don’t just stand there, come quick! I’m almost dead!”

Hearing Martin’s flustered voice, Richard almost regretted making the offer. Pausing for a moment, he eventually answered, “I’m going to the alter world, I can’t come personally. But I can help in other ways. For example...”

He opened the Book of Eternity, a beam of light shooting out from within and passing through the screen to appear in front of Martin. It quickly formed a tetrahedral body in mid-air, expanding around Martin’s head and starting to rotate above him. A beam of destruction shot out from its tip, piercing a celestial that was charging over and killing them in an instant.

The scene quickly turned into one of massacre, with all four corners of the tetrahedral shooting out their rays of destruction. In mere moments, the section of the battlefield nearby was cleared out.

“I knew you’d have a way! You can go to the alter world, I’ll come congratulate you after I win this battle!” Martin waved happily, immersing himself in the endless battle once more.

The image in the sky flickered and disappeared, but Richard suddenly had the thought that this so-called divine child was unlikely to be finished even when he returned. He smiled and shook his head, retrieving a crystal from the Book of Eternity and throwing it through a portal. There was a dazzling radiance within that crystal, containing the pure light energy that the primal celestials had left behind. It would be sent directly to Martin, and with his pure faith in light he believed this would be useful. This also counted as repaying his debts for repeated assistance, so Richard could head to the alter world with more peace of mind.

He walked out of the control shrine and blinked towards the royal palace, appearing before Apeiron and Julian who were currently in conversation.

“You’re back,” Apeiron said coldly as always, although a bit of her worry seeped onto her face.

“Mm,” he nodded, “I need your help with something.”