Followers?
Su Cheng looked closely at the original text in the book. It was a variant of the ancient human language, and judging by the word root, it meant followers and subordinates.
So deities these days also have subordinate gods?
You should know that thousands of years later, the lesser gods under the God of Light were all personally promoted and titled by Him; their authority was granted by Him.
Those were all heroic figures of the Church—previously either humans, orcs, half-elves, or the like.
Now, looking at this thing in the book, after reading all the related descriptions and records, it didn't look like it had ever been human.
Su Cheng flipped back a few pages and found that the situations of these subordinate gods were quite similar. Whenever there was a portrait, its form was bound to be abstract to a certain degree.
Then her hand, which was turning the pages, stopped.
A new, somewhat familiar deity appeared on the page.
...Reality is the most perfect scam, and falsehood is the most reliable truth. This is the whisper of the King of Illusions. He teaches us to see the only law in this world clearly—reality does not exist. All seemingly solid perceptions are nothing but a fragile consensus. An emperor is an emperor not because of noble blood, but because everyone agrees that this person wears the crown; money has value not because of itself, but because everyone believes it can be exchanged for goods. Everything we see, hear, and feel is dominated by this illusion.
Su Cheng looked down.
The introduction to the apocalypse by Meyer, a scholar of the Mirror Enigma Society: I offer my loyal soul to the great Reflector of the World, the Dream Shadow of All Phenomena, the Faceless God of a Thousand Faces.
Following it was an extremely exquisite painting.
A huge and magnificent full-length mirror emerged from the black mist. The golden frame was carved with countless blurred faces. Some were human-shaped, and some were beast heads, their expressions constantly changing between joy and sorrow.
The gold that made up these shapes slowly squirmed as if melting.
And inside the mirror—
Su Cheng channeled a bit of magic power and found that her own face appeared in the mirror in the book.
That familiar face was immersed in a black and gray vortex, with layers of phantoms flashing beside it. It seemed that countless faces were peeling off from it and then merging with it again.
Those faces were all shrouded in a halo, blurred as if evaporated by heat waves.
A weird sense of dizziness struck her head.
She felt as if she could be sucked into that mirror at any time and become a part of it.
Su Cheng withdrew her magic power.
The magical picture scroll became static again, leaving only the hollow mirror surface staring back at her.
Su Cheng: ...
In a sense, she could understand why some people labeled these ancient gods as evil gods.
In the annotations of the book, the author also gave his own thoughts, stating that this Reflector of the World was an ancient and indeterminate existence, and illusions were only His power.
He more represented the conceptual manifestation of possibility and uncertainty.
However, unlike the God of Time and Space, the God of a Thousand Faces had a strong interest in how belief shapes reality.
He just liked to guide people to explore this issue. The founders of the Mirror Enigma Society in ancient times had once received His guidance.
Some people called Him the God of Lies, but in fact, in His domain, there seemed to be no difference between lies and truth.
For humans, illusion magic was different from elemental magic. It didn't require that kind of set-in-stone talent; theoretically, anyone could learn it.
The influencing factors were mainly a person's comprehension and perceptivity.
Perhaps for this reason, the believers of this ancient god were as numerous as carp crossing the river, and many people established a connection with Him through illusions.
Some people also heard His whispers and believed they had caught a glimpse of the underlying logic of the world. They saw the dashed lines that made up the illusion of the entire social consensus.
Then they began to learn how to pluck, cut, and weave them.
Thus, some became brilliant spies, some became highly inflammatory orators, and some became perfect disguisers—they could play anyone.
This was the Mirror Enigma Society.
Of course, there were also countless followers or blessed ones who fell into complete madness or became phantoms unable to return to the material world, forever lost in some distant plane.
Su Cheng couldn't help but think of the dancer in Ash Mountain Town again.
She couldn't imagine an ancient god doing such a thing—but judging from the book, this seemed to be an elusive character to begin with.
In the quiet and solemn corner of the library, the faint sound of footsteps suddenly rang out.
Su Cheng turned her head and saw the noble from not long ago, the man who had been talking loudly on the steps, slowly walking over.
She didn't want to talk much with this kind of person and was just about to lower her head to continue reading, but she caught a glimpse of another stout figure in fine clothes approaching with a smile.
Su Cheng: ?
Su Cheng looked closely at the second person and found that it was actually the mercenary who had deliberately bumped into Ian and then falsely accused him.
He was no longer wearing rough leather armor or carrying weapons. Instead, he was dressed like a wealthy merchant, wearing several gemstone rings on his hand.
The two men who had respectively put on performances in the upper and lower districts were now shaking hands in the aisle of the library hall.
Their faces seemed to be licked by invisible flames, starting to melt like wax, and then revealing two completely different faces.
The two whispered something.
Their voices were isolated by some power. Su Cheng couldn't hear them at all, and reading their lips didn't yield any useful information either.
After a brief conversation, the two men separated. The mercenary walked outward, while the noble continued forward.
Su Cheng simply closed the book and frowned at him.
...You seem to have a lot of questions, the noble said with a smile. Perhaps we can communicate a bit, esteemed Folder.
Su Cheng didn't speak.
Oh please, I saw you teleport over with your companion, and I also felt the aura of a deity on you. In fact—
The man showed a strange expression. You were also favored by the Father of a Thousand Lies, right?
Su Cheng: ...Why?
The man chuckled. That's not something a believer of the Reflector of the World should say.
Su Cheng put the book back. Obviously, I'm not.
The man raised an eyebrow. Alright, you ask why, then I would say, why not?
He let out a burst of joyful laughter, which sounded a bit harsh in the secluded hall.
Don't you think it's very interesting? Those people listening to the speech, they might have learned magic and battle aura by virtue of their privileged backgrounds, but their brains—
He reached out and tapped his temple. Ha, many kids from the slums are much brighter than they are. Of course, if you ask me, most people in this world are foolish and easily manipulated and read. The things they firmly believe in are often just because they have been repeatedly instilled with them, rather than truly understanding them.
Su Cheng blinked. ...It is indeed very interesting. You and my friend have different perspectives on what just happened. So it's just to entertain yourself?
"I suppose so," the person said lightly. "Look at how they treat certain nonsense as truth—though I also know that people's acceptance of words is often closely tied to whether it aligns with their own interests, so we definitely choose our content based on the audience."
Su Cheng was silent for a few seconds. "Were you also once favored by Him?"
The person paused for a moment, a subtle expression appearing on their face. "Everyone who can learn illusion magic is His follower."
"So the answer is no?"
"..."
The person left.
It was clearly a conversation that ended on a sour note.
Su Cheng wandered around the library for a while and finally found information related to the ancient dragons. Compared to the texts about deities, there was far less material on the dragon race.
But it was still better than it would be thousands of years later.
In a book describing the ancient dragons, she found the Chaos Dragons that Ian had mentioned earlier.
Some also called them Dark Dragons, because their scales were black and their breath was pitch-black fire.
It was not real fire, but the physical manifestation of the energy within their bodies. Theoretically, it could burn anything it touched to ashes.
Unlike other ancient dragons whose powers were derived from natural elements, the power of the Chaos Dragons was more akin to the deconstruction and reverse transformation of living matter.
Ancient dragons of all attributes had a progenitor, beings known as the Ancient Dragon Kings.
In principle, all ancient dragons were their offspring, though they were not born through conception. The book stated that the Ancient Dragon Kings fought endlessly in ancient times, and the flesh and blood they lost in battle fell to the earth, becoming the future first-generation ancient dragons.
Like their ancestors, ancient dragons had no gender and could reproduce on their own through certain means, creating the second and third generations of ancient dragons.
Humans rarely had the chance to come into contact with ancient dragons, but in very rare cases, ancient dragons who took human form would have children with humans, certain intelligent races, or even high-level magical beasts.
These dragonborn descendants had their own unique characteristics. Some of them, who shared more common traits and whose appearance and power were closer to those of the ancient dragons, became the ancestors of the giant dragons.
This all happened many years ago. Legend had it that in that era, the Ancient Dragon Kings also fought many wars against the gods.
As for what exactly they were fighting over or if they just wanted to prove their power, it could no longer be verified today.
However, what people did know was...
In the ranking of the Ancient Dragon Kings' combat prowess, the undisputed first place went to the progenitor of the Chaos Dragons, Caecilius.
Perhaps because he was the incarnation of the antithesis of life, there were many terrifying rumors about this Ancient Dragon King.
"...The mad fangs that devour fate, the black flames that burn away the source."
Su Cheng traced the chilling words with her fingers.
The book said He dwelled in the depths of the Lightless Ruins.
At this point in time, the Lightless Ruins was not yet a lost plane. It was one of the thousands of worlds controlled by the dragon race, and also the resting place of some first-generation ancient dragons. There were rolling palaces and mountains of treasure. It was said that humans also coveted these treasures, attempting to steal a portion from under the claws and fangs of the dragons.
After all, in people's understanding, ancient dragons spent most of their time sleeping.
In fact, this was true, essentially because these ancient creatures perceived time differently than humans did.
But regardless, very few people could actually find the entrance, and the small number of people who did enter never returned.
Su Cheng turned a few more pages and found some key information.
On the eastern coast of the Northern Continent, many water-attribute giant dragons were entrenched there year-round. There were also cities built by dragonborn, and occasionally ancient dragons would appear.
She carefully read the relevant geographical descriptions, found a few more books to cross-reference the information, and then went out to buy a map before setting off.
After several medium-to-long-distance teleports, Su Cheng arrived at a port city in the Crimson Sun Empire and bought a boat ticket to the Northern Continent.
Identity verification was very simple at this time, especially since she was a Grand Mage. All the border control staff treated her with the utmost respect.
During the journey, she found a crew member to get a general sense of the direction, then directly executed an ultra-long-distance teleport. When she opened her eyes again, she was already in another city.
The sea breeze brought a salty, fishy scent, along with the clean, sweet smell unique to cooling metal, mixed with the fragrance of rare woods used to make magical items, abundantly filling the entire harbor.
The surrounding boatmen and merchants called out one after another, their accents familiar yet slightly strange.
"...Welcome to Luminiel, Your Excellency Grand Mage!"
A few workers walked by and greeted her enthusiastically.
Su Cheng smiled at them. "Thank you."
City of Forged Light.
This was the largest coastal city in the southwestern part of the Silver Moon Empire, famous for its export of magical items, and it also had a great number of excellent mages and academies.
Su Cheng followed the crowd into the city.
These streets were paved with smooth dark gray stone as a base, embedded with the local specialty, lightgold ore.
The vein-like golden threads absorbed sunlight during the day, and at night, they would emit a soft, warm halo, like a galaxy falling into the mortal realm.
The surrounding houses were built with a special clay mixed with magic crystal powder, thus displaying all sorts of bizarre colors that would be difficult to mix on a palette.
Brass fish in the fountains leaped high into the air, flicking their tails vividly before diving back into the water.
Su Cheng saw the translucent runes flashing on their bodies, as well as the energy-supplying magic circle hidden at the bottom of the water.
A few children ran by laughing with toys in hand, clutching singing wooden birds, glowing clay mushrooms, flashing doodle slates, and so on.
Their clothes were very ordinary, making them look like they came from common families.
Su Cheng vaguely remembered that although these small magical toys seemed simple, in the era thousands of years later, only children from wealthy families would be able to afford them.
Of course...
Even in this era, she hadn't seen children playing with these casually back in Turquoise City.
It seemed to be a local specialty.
As she walked, she arrived at a food street. The entire street was filled with rich aromas, from baked bread to roasting meat fats, and the storefronts were all beautifully decorated.
There were hardly any lanterns under the eaves of these shops; they either hung wind chimes or seashells, or crystal signs with glowing letters advertising discounts and specialty foods.
Su Cheng picked a shop at random and bought a kind of local specialty fried meatball.
A copper pot filled with clear oil sizzled over the stove fire.
The shop owner mixed a batter from the powder of some white roots, stirred in minced crab meat and seaweed, along with some shiny dried silver fish, and then fried the batter into little golden-yellow balls.
She felt her mouth water just smelling it, and for a moment she couldn't wait, wishing she could fish them straight out of the oil pot to eat.
Not wanting to scare the owner, Su Cheng had to divert her attention and looked around.
The space inside the shop wasn't very spacious. Large oil paintings hung on the left and right sides. The painting on the left looked somewhat abstract.
A humanoid figure made up of countless arms.
Those hands were engaged in various tasks: some wielded hammers striking anvils, some held silk threads weaving tapestries, some gripped carving knives polishing statues, and others pinched brushes coloring the wings of butterflies.
This was just an ordinary oil painting. It had no magical structure, nor could it come to life even if infused with mana.
Yet, it still possessed an outstanding visual effect, looking quite breathtaking.
Below it was a line of small text.
Thanks to the great Creator, the Anvil of Genesis, the Master of the Form Forge.
Su Cheng immediately understood who this was paying tribute to.
The Creator.
An ancient god whose authority was creation. Everything from tangible matter and intangible creations to the very origin of life was connected to Him.
It was said that in the earliest eras, He created the High Elf race, and having obtained the branches and blood of the God of Abundance, He granted the elves the ability to reproduce.
Over the following millennia, dwarves, fairies, orcs, and others were born in succession, with humans coming last.
To this day, this God of Creation had not shown Himself for many years, nor did He seem to have chosen any new blessed ones.
But people still worshipped Him, especially artisans and artists.
In a sense, He was the embodiment of the concepts of making something out of nothing and refining the existing to perfection.
Su Cheng asked, ...Are there many believers of the Creator in this city?
The shop owner looked at the painting. Not anymore in recent years. The Magic Guild also prefers that people focus their energy on more concrete studies.
As she said this, her gaze fell upon another painting.
Su Cheng couldn't help but follow her line of sight.
On the right wall hung another oil painting. It depicted a vast plaza with a conical high tower thrusting straight into the clouds, its tip almost piercing the azure canopy of the sky.
The tower was magnificent and spectacular, carved from gunmetal-gray crystal, flowing with thousands of warm golden veins, surrounded by overlapping, ring-shaped auxiliary buildings.
These architectural complexes were all suspended in the air, evidently relying on some kind of anti-gravity magic.
Are you a tourist?
The shop owner placed the fried meatballs into a paper bag and started squeezing some kind of sweet and sour sauce over them. It's a pity you arrived a few days late; you can't see that anymore.
Su Cheng paused for a moment. That? Which one?
The owner pointed at the wall. The painting you're looking at, our Magic Guild—well, it's not that you can't see it, it's just that it doesn't look like that anymore.
Confused, Su Cheng took the paper bag and paid. ...Where is it?
The owner raised her hand and pointed in a direction. Su Cheng thanked her and walked out the door full of questions. Just as she turned onto the broad road leading to the city center, she suddenly felt an ominous aura.
That sense of despair and deathly stillness was like a sharp ice pick piercing into her sensory world.
One second it was a vibrant magical city, and the next, she saw a plaza that had largely been reduced to ruins.
The giant tower that soared into the clouds in the oil painting stood just over a hundred meters ahead, but it had been snapped in the middle, its entire upper half missing.
The upper edge of the remaining half looked like metal that had been melt-cut, revealing an incredibly smooth sloped surface, making it look like a bizarre tombstone.
The entire tower exhibited a sickly black hue. The solemn and majestic gunmetal-gray crystal was now covered in many ugly, pitch-black cracks, spreading like highly toxic blood vessels running through its interior and exterior.
Occasionally, tar-like liquid oozed from those black marks, dripping onto the grayish-white ground below and corroding it into potholes that emitted black-purple smoke.
Around the severed tower lay even more collapsed ruins and broken walls, clearly the remains of the auxiliary buildings that once floated in the air.
Now they had all been reduced to broken bricks and shattered tiles, their original shapes completely unrecognizable.
More than a dozen mages stood nearby, wearing robes bearing the emblem of the Magic Guild. They looked to hold rather high positions.
One of them spotted her, whispered something to a colleague, and quickly walked over.
Your Excellency, the two nodded reservedly, if you are a tourist, you may have chosen the wrong time to visit.
Good day. Su Cheng took two steps forward, noticing that they were both sixth-tier mages. ...Your Excellencies, what happened here?
We are from the imperial capital, one said. Dispatched by the headquarters of the Imperial Magic Guild to investigate—
It is a disaster, the other frowned. The Lightforge City branch had a long history and established an outstanding affiliated academy, yet everyone here is dead...
Su Cheng looked at the tower. You mean the people inside the Magic Guild?
Yes, the staff members. Although the bodies haven't been fully identified yet, aside from some low-level clerks with little skill...
The man's tone carried a hint of casualness before turning somber again. ...The guild master, two vice guild masters, seven elders, and numerous elite personnel, as well as the most outstanding mages from the guild's affiliated academy, have all perished because of this.
Because of what? Did the magic circle inside go out of control and explode?
No, because of this person—
A mage pulled out a scroll stamped with several blood-red seals.
He blew up the Magic Guild of Lightforge City and slaughtered everyone inside. Headquarters has issued a continent-wide wanted poster across the entire Northern Continent.
Su Cheng took the scroll and glanced at it.
One million gold coins for providing effective clues; twenty million gold coins for killing or capturing the target alive.
She looked at the name at the bottom.
...Ailin Hammerfield.
