Chapter 271 (1): Alley x Darkness x Family

Leo’s appearance proved that this place was connected to the Frozen Land. One might even boldly conclude that this unknown pocket of space had been severed and exiled by the chosen knights, far from the Frozen Land of the South Pole, and due to years of neglect of the seal, it had gradually overlapped with the spatial node where Route 114 was located.

“Successor...”

Leo was both delighted and puzzled. Far away in the Frozen Land, he had sensed his power reinforcing the seal on Thoggua’s head through the connection between the spaces and seals, thus coming in a hurry to aid the effort. He hadn’t expected the pleasant surprise.

Wayne wore the exact Sun Knight armor as his own, which made it evident that the goddess had chosen the next Sun Knight. Wonderful news! Someone was finally taking over!

Leo was thrilled that he no longer had to stay in the Frozen Land and play cards, but the goddess’s sudden decision puzzled him. Why hadn’t She given him an advance notice on something this important?

Soon, though, Leo realized the reason: the seal on the Frozen Land was too dangerous. As a precaution, the goddess had chosen a successor in advance for immediate handover of the power so that Sun wouldn’t meet the same problem as Darkness; the Death Knight had died without a successor for some time.

“My successor, congratulations on earning the goddess’s recognition, and thank you for working so hard to find my lost power...” Leo expressed his goodwill across space, waving his hand to retrieve the medal and reclaim the power he had lost.

Cushing was beyond thrilled. He was too busy reinforcing the seal to communicate with Leo, so he apologized to the knight through his thoughts. He had failed to complete his mission after going missing for so many years, failing Leo’s trust in him.

𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Leo smiled and reassured his old friend not to feel bad about it, entrusting Cushing to mentor his successor. Once things settled down in the Frozen Land, he would personally meet Wayne.

The two spaces were too far apart for Leo to see Wayne clearly. He was just about to ask his successor’s name when he noticed Valkyrie, the knight armor, standing nearby.

“And you are?”

Leo was confused. He sensed the unique power of the Sun Knight from Valkyrie, but to his knowledge, he was the only chosen knight of the Sun among mortals. Moreover, Valkyrie’s armor appeared old and damaged, vastly different from what he remembered.

“I am a knight of the goddess. A thousand years ago, I fell to the Chosen Land. I no longer remember my original name. I’m now Valkyrie.” Valkyrie raised her sword in response.

“Honorable predecessor, I, Knight Leo, hereby express my respect. Forgive me, for I cannot leave the Frozen Land. I’ll inform the goddess of your situation.” Leo was deferential when facing his senior.

He had reason to suspect that the goddess had long chosen Wayne and was well aware of Valkyrie’s existence. Before confirming Wayne as the successor, She had arranged for Valkyrie to approach him. It seemed that Wayne had passed Valkyrie’s test on chivalrous spirit. In that case, he had nothing to worry about. He trusted his predecessor’s judgment.

The spatial rift was about to mend. Without the time to ask for Wayne’s name, Leo sent golden light to help Cushing stabilize the seal with a wave of his hand. After a moment, he disappeared along with the cold air from the Frozen Land.

Above the black mountains, a phantom sun appeared. Golden light wove together to form arrows that rained down like a birdcage from the sky, encapsulating the dark abyss.

The earth trembled and roared continuously. The yet-unawakened Thoggua was forced back into the darkness by the blinding golden light. Tentacles slowly sank down, and the murmurs ceased. The surrounding black mountains shed their darkness, becoming indistinguishable from the ordinary landscapes.

Cushing was still stabilizing the seal. Leo had forcibly pushed Thoggua back into the abyss, but it was only temporary. The damaged seal needed to be repaired to effectively suppress the evil god long-term.

Cushing made the calculation and concluded that it would take about eight days—five if someone helped him.

Wayne could tell from his changing expressions that the bald man missed his wife. Extending his thoughts, he controlled the white sphere of flesh to move toward the black mountains.

Some time later, Cushing raised both hands to repair the seal with golden light. On his left was his wife, who had slept for over ten years and was only around twenty-seven; on his right was his daughter, whom he hadn’t seen in over ten years and had already graduated from college.

The family embraced and cried, each expressing their longing.

Carter didn’t really have much to miss—she had closed her eyes and opened them to find her daughter already twenty years old. Rather than missing her family, she felt more regret. She was crying more because of the atmosphere.

Vera’s face was covered in tears. She had had no parents since she started school. Watching other children hop with joy around their parents, she had felt nothing but envy. Even being scolded by parents for making a mistake was a luxury for her.

Although the burly men and women, especially Dick, had taken good care of her and treated her like their own daughter, they weren’t her real parents, and Vera had a hard time thinking of them that way.

Now, her wish had finally come true. She had a family.

After bawling her eyes out, Vera reached out beside her. She had her parents, but her boyfriend was missing from the group hug. She turned to Wayne and beckoned him over.

Come on. The family isn’t complete without you.

Wayne waved his hand in rejection, not joining the tearful family reunion. He would visit the family in a few days, so for now, Vera should enjoy the family love she had been missing. If he went over now, the scene would become something else.

Meanwhile, Valkyrie was cautiously going around the abyss to confirm that none of Thoggua’s tentacles had escaped. Two hours later, she returned from her patrol with a tattered yellow robe.

Wayne looked over and snatched the robe. The Golden City had taken over the Holy Maiden of the Church of Darkness and combined the wills of its tens of thousands of inhabitants to form the lead priest in a yellow robe. After the collapse of the Golden City, the priest ceased to exist. The tens of thousands of monsters melded with Thoggua’s tentacles, returning to the core of their faith.

The Sun Knight’s fire had burned the tentacles to nothing. Not even the flesh of the creation of an ancient god’s follower could withstand such powerful flames, yet the yellow robe remained intact.

“Nature, thank you for the gift. I’ve finally recovered the coat I lost many years ago.”

Valkyrie had a headache—though she had no head, the feeling was the same.

She dispersed into golden light before reforming into armor on Wayne, lecturing him on the virtues of knights and trying to salvage his overly discreet sense of justice.

Were it anyone else chattering endlessly in his ears, Wayne would’ve argued back with his own reasoning. She was his first love from August twentieth, though, and her voice was so pleasant that even her scolding as a teacher was pleasing to his ears.

More please. Insult me more.

When Wayne didn’t say anything in rebuttal, Valkyrie thought that he had recognized his mistakes due to her teaching. She smiled in approval and decided to leave the rest of the lesson to a later time.

She looked beyond the mountain ranges at the white ball of flesh waving its tentacles chaotically. No matter how she looked at it, it could only be described as sinister.

“Wayne, what do you plan to do with that... um, monster?”

“Leave it for now. Perhaps someday it’ll come in handy.”

The white flesh pile had been part of the Golden City, transformed after Wayne corrupted it. It didn’t have thoughts or a will of its own, but it could amplify his thoughts. It could be considered an extension of his body—people would call an external body part a prosthetic.

Hearing Valkyrie speak about a prosthetic, Wayne suddenly thought of the dark elf he had picked up and decided to conduct a study. He told Valkyrie to teleport him to the top of the white ball of flesh.

The instant he made contact, the giant eye on the ball opened. Whispers that followed an indescribable order mixed into the chaotically dancing tentacles, broadcasting the truth of life indiscriminately.

Valkyrie had a headache as a result, while Wayne was particularly fond of the big eyeball. He decided to give it a name.

After some consideration, he said, “Color-wise, you’re no longer the Golden City. Platinum... Pale... bird nest... Pale Nest!”

“Teacher, what do you think of the name Pale Nest?”

“Not a fan.”

“It does sound a bit sinister...”

Since Valkyrie didn’t seem interested, Wayne didn’t invite her to visit his new home. He removed the armor and sank, slowly merging into the Pale Nest.

The massive eye closed, and the mountain of flesh shrank rapidly.

The unknown space had no sun, so there was no way to measure time. Wayne relied solely on his biological clock as he studied the dark elf, trying dozens of different things on her.

Two days later, the Pale Nest shrank from a thousand-meter-diameter sphere to a normal human body. The faceless figure had a female form, but no other specific sexual characteristics. Ignoring the pale skin covered in overgrown tissues, it would be an absolute ten based on the curves of the body alone.

Wayne put the Pale Nest on the dark elf like clothes. According to Cushing, the unlucky elf was Anastasia, the Holy Maiden of the Church of Darkness.

Flora, the Holy Maiden of the Church of Nature, had been a Gold-ranked mage when she retired, while the Holy Maiden of the Church of Darkness had been at Legendary rank. Wayne had reason to believe that the Holy Maiden of the Church of Darkness held more influence and wasn’t replaced every twenty years.

Unfortunately, she encountered an ancient god’s follower and got wrecked.

Since she was also a Holy Maiden, Wayne decided to send the body to the library as another vessel the vengeful spirits could use.