Carrying the metal box on his back, Xia De took a carriage from Saint Delan Square to the southern edge of Tobesk City, then transferred to an out-of-City carriage, paying a large sum to persuade the coachman to head further south into the countryside.
Looking at the map, although the Darkness Domain had expanded significantly overnight, it was still a considerable distance from Tobesk City. After comparing it with the female voice in his mind, Xia De decided to head to Bod Village, south of Tobesk.
It wasn't because that village was closest to the disappearing area, but because, geographically, going any further would lead to the Orthodox Church's sentry posts.
Due to the nature of the Darkness Domain and the fact that the incident had only occurred for one morning, such a large area disappearing had not attracted the attention or awareness of the local people.
Whether inside or outside the City, everything indicated that it was a very peaceful Saturday morning. Before the Darkness arrived, ordinary people would not notice anything. Xia De even chatted with the coachman for a few sentences; the coachman, who claimed to have lived in the South City for thirty-two years, had no awareness of the changes in the terrain outside the City, nor the missing large areas from his memory.
This kind of cognitive alteration was terrifying.
The coachman dropped Xia De off at the entrance of Bod Village, and the arrival of a stranger in this unremarkable village naturally aroused the curiosity and vigilance of the villagers.
This village was unremarkable, with low-lying houses clustered together, forming a simple human settlement. The buildings were mostly made of earth-gray, stone, and straw, and compared to the City, which was only half an hour's carriage ride away, time here seemed to have regressed to before the Steam Age.
But that wasn't entirely accurate, as Xia De still saw traces of steam pipes and gas pipes. However, the two pipes only ran along the central axis of the village and did not fully penetrate it, indicating that only a very small portion of the thirty-plus households in this village could enjoy the convenience of steam and gas.
The village had a local constable, who, upon hearing that a stranger had arrived, dutifully came to inquire about Xia De's purpose for being there.
Xia De originally intended to bluff about his identity and then leave the village to walk south. But thinking that traveling further south from Tobesk City would most likely pass through this village, he introduced himself as the Writer John Watson, and then casually inquired of the bearded constable:
“My friend set off earlier; he should have passed through this village too. Excuse me, has any other stranger passed through this vicinity today?”
The constable, who had a police star pinned to his chest, was curious about the Writer carrying a metal box out to gather material, but he still enthusiastically answered the City man's question:
“Sorry, Sir, no outsiders have passed through the village from this morning until now. However, around eight o'clock, young Boy from the O'Sass family was urinating in the fields and saw a large convoy of Peace Church carriages passing by on the dirt road outside the village. Is your friend perhaps with people from the Orthodox Church?”
This made Xia De understand that the loss of control of the Darkness Domain must have happened around seven o'clock this morning, because it took about an hour to get from the City to this area. The appearance of the Orthodox Church's team indicated that the out-of-control relic was still barely within a controllable range, so there was no need to worry that the Darkness would swallow Tobesk in a few hours.
“Seeing the last Divine Descent incident still had some benefits; at least it made the Orthodox Church more vigilant.”
After leaving Bod Village, Xia De continued south, running with the metal box on his back along the dirt road in the uninhabited wilderness. The area swallowed by Darkness, though itself disappeared, could be entered through specific methods. However, if an ordinary person mistakenly entered it, it would be almost impossible to get out. Luvia had already found out how to enter the relic, and what Xia De truly needed to worry about was being discovered by the Church.
Eighteen minutes after leaving Bod Village, he saw in the distance a small cavalry squad dressed in Royal Army uniforms, riding horses. After bypassing them and continuing forward, he soon encountered an infantry squad of about 15 people, carrying rifles and patrolling along the dirt road.
He still bypassed them, and through Echoes of the Past, he learned that Tobesk City Hall had sealed off the nearby area, citing the Royal Army's experimentation with new steam cannons as a reason, prohibiting anyone from entering.
This again indicated that everything was still under control, and the temporary loss of control of the relic was most likely an accidental phenomenon caused by the appearance of the Chosen One.
Xia De's luck today was quite good; when he reached the edge of the Darkness Domain about half a mile (approximately 800m) after encountering the patrol for the second time, he only found traces of divine rituals but did not run into the Orthodox Church's team.
After all, the perimeter of the disappearing area was so vast that even if the Church abandoned defending the City and went all out, they couldn't possibly have a guard every ten steps.
“It should be roughly around here.”
Away from the City, he was also away from the thin mist above the City. The midsummer midday sun was equally dazzling. Xia De looked through the map in his hand, comparing the meaning of the divine ritual runes on the ground, confirming that he had not taken the wrong path.
Standing on the rural path, which still had cow dung on it, he couldn't see any Darkness around him. But in reality, this path should have forked about five meters from where Xia De was standing, instead of being a straight road as it was now.
“Well then, the adventure is about to officially begin.”
Xia De gripped the straps on his shoulders with both hands, and the Destiny Ring slowly emerged from his back, the Space-Time Core Ling Rune glowing brightly:
“Space Stabilization Aura!”
An invisible fluctuation spread outwards from Xia De. Using the Miracle with the Destiny Ring fully manifested maximized its effect.
As the spiritual energy flowed within his body and the elements fluctuated, a slight ripple gradually appeared in Xia De's field of vision, like a reflection in water that became blurred when the water surface was disturbed.
Some black mist was finally detected. Xia De knew that this forced interference with an angel-level relic was his limit, so he did not continue to use the Miracle to try to dispel these unstable spaces, but instead ran forward quickly, then leaped sideways.
Crack!
He felt as if he had shattered an invisible mirror, and then his whole body seemed to jump from under the sun into an ice storage room.
But more seriously, Darkness surged up instantly, obscuring all the scenery before his eyes. Xia De, having lost his sight, could not immediately sense the ground, so when he landed, he vaguely thought he had jumped into an abyss. He couldn't control his Balance and fell to the ground.
First, he used touch to sense the ground, and as the silver halo on his body slowly spread, it barely illuminated the solid ground beneath him. And a bone-chilling coldness slowly flowed through his entire body at the same time.
This was the power Priest Augustus had bestowed upon Xia De. Although the source of the Priest's power was still unclear, the coldness within his body indeed repelled the even colder sensation from the surrounding environment, dispelling the almost uncontrollable drowsiness after entering the Darkness, and the intense mental pressure brought by the profound Darkness.
However, although this power was miraculous, it still could not fully resist the negative effects brought by the angel-level relic. Xia De felt that even if he stood still, his physical strength and body temperature were rapidly depleting, and the recovery rate of his spiritual energy was at least half as slow as in normal areas. Headaches, nausea, and a tingling sensation throughout his body gradually became clearer and more intense. This space clearly held a strong malice towards Xia De, this fellow who could glow on his own.
After the protection of Priest Augustus, the feeling now was much better than when he first ventured into the Fishbone Pirate Ship. And since there was no external manifestation of “Divine Radiance” on his body, it meant that the angel-level relic Darkness Domain, as a demon's lair, had no connection with the Old God.
“This is the best news so far.”
The surroundings were extremely quiet, but when Xia De got up, he clearly felt that something in the impenetrable Darkness was peeking at him. Perhaps it was just a very small creature, but perhaps it was a giant behemoth squatting in front of him.
He squinted his eyes into the Darkness, but was utterly unable to see through to the other side. He could only suspect in his heart that he was staring at something, making the feeling of dread grow stronger and stronger.
He shivered violently, Xia De closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and adapted to the strange environment around him.
Adjusting his mood, he softly called out to the Moonlight, but the Moonlight radiating from his fingertips was completely unable to illuminate what was in front of him; the Moonlight's coverage was probably only about the size of a fingernail. Even though the icy coldness in his body surged into his eyes, allowing Xia De to barely see a small area around him, the surroundings were still wrapped in thick black mist, and his vision was only slightly better than being in a state of “not being able to see his hand in front of his face.”
“An angel-level relic is truly extraordinary, but fortunately, I was prepared.”
He fumbled in his pocket for a viscous, bright yellow, oily medicine prepared by an eye doctor. After carefully dripping it into his eyes and blinking, the Darkness in front of him gradually dissipated, and the range of his vision finally resembled that of the deepest night.
Although movement was still inconvenient this way, at least close-quarters combat would no longer be a problem.
He patted his belongings to make sure he hadn't lost anything when he fell. Then he looked behind him; the heavy box was, of course, still there, but the box itself was also emitting a faint golden glow.
This light wasn't strong, but Xia De was still very happy to see a stable light source other than himself in the Darkness.
Except for those like Xia De who had protection from other powers, or who had talismans provided by the Church, ordinary people inside the Darkness Domain would fall into a deep sleep, gradually being assimilated into the Darkness, melting into unknown corners.
If one carefully observed the surrounding air, one could see hard-to-detect black shadows moving back and forth. These were the last traces left by people who had melted into the Darkness Domain, so to speak, the old marks of history recorded by Darkness.
And the core of the Darkness Domain, which is where Ivan Darkness might hold the Selected One Ritual, Xia De actually knew. He just needed to know the specific topography of the disappeared area and then find the center point in space.
But he couldn't directly charge into the core of the relic, not only because he alone definitely couldn't deal with the many demons in the Darkness, but also because without Iluna, the Chosen One of “Balance,” Xia De knew he couldn't defeat Darkness.
“First, here.”
He took out his notebook and looked at the simple map he had drawn. The spot illuminated by the faint light from his finger was Forest Town. This Town itself was not peculiar, but before the Darkness Domain expanded this morning, most of the Prophets from the Prophet Association were stationed here. In the last letter Luvia sent, she also said that she had contacted Iluna, who had gone to the front lines, in this Town.
“First, I'll meet up with Luvia, then make further plans.”
Pondering his next plan, he put away his notebook and walked deeper into the Darkness.
