Chapter 293 (1): Goddess of Darkness - I Have a Task for You

Projected space.

It was a world of chaos and darkness. A massive tentacle waved in the air, covered in suction cups, claws, and fangs, as well as a nauseating mucus. It could also spit out highly corrosive acid.

On the ground, grotesque creatures of various shapes wandered about. They shared similar physical characteristics with Thoggua, but according to their evolution path, they weren’t simple manifestations of their faith. They had simply gone down similar branches, and theirs was a wrong evolution.

The monsters were only Thoggua’s creations, produced based on the diversity of life. Thoggua was contemplating their faith, categorizing the knowledge they had grasped and creating a massive amount of random creations. Through observing these creations’ changes, Thoggua further approached the ancient god they followed.

This was a world of evolution!

The world was hostile to the three chosen knights. The endless whispers created endless monsters that would come back to life after being killed due to information being indestructible[1]. If a vassal could fill the Chosen Land in an instant, one could only imagine how terrifyingly powerful the ancient god they followed was.

Within the projected space, the three chosen knights couldn’t tap into their power fully. The chaotic information prevented them from communicating with the outside world, forcing them to fight with only their own power.

Take the Darkness Knight as an example. In darkness, his power would be inexhaustible. Twilight Despair could convert infinite darkness into infinite energy.

The three knights now faced an extremely awkward situation. The cannon fodder monsters couldn’t harm them. Even with thousands upon thousands of them, they would be nothing but free kills. The three knights didn’t even have to go all out together; any one of them could easily deal with the monsters.

Leo, for example, could create many more small suns and plant as many mushrooms as he wanted anywhere.

The three knights’ target was Thoggua, but the cannon fodder blocked their way forward. Meanwhile, Thoggua was retreating step by step to draw the knights out of the projected space and into the ancient god’s Vassal Realm.

That was troublesome.

The three of them knew that in this projected space, they could defeat Thoggua and sever their tentacles, or even their head. Once deep in the ancient god’s Vassal Realm, however, there was no telling which of them would be the meal and which of them the eater.

“Thoggua’s retreating,” Darienne said. “That’s good. Drive them out of the projected space and sever the connection between this place and the Frozen Land, and Thoggua will never be able to descend to the human world again.”

The Moonlight Knight was riding on her flying wyvern, her cheeks adorned with sacred silver patterns that elevated her icy beauty to its peak. Behind her, four massive arms of condensed moonlight nocked arrows and unleashed energy arrows furiously. Every arrow hit its mark, and wherever the arrows passed, all monsters disintegrated instantly.

“Thoggua wouldn’t just retreat for no reason when they’ve always wanted to descend to the human world,” Moula said rationally. “Don’t go deeper. It’s luring us.”

If they truly entered the ancient god’s Vassal Realm and saw the ancient god, what then? Thoggua could move freely like the wind, going wherever they wanted. On the other hand, the three of them had limited choice when the Frozen Land was right behind them.

They were puzzled why Thoggua had suddenly regained their rationality when they had been driven to fixation by incredible fury.

You’re a vassal of the ancient god. Charge forward! How can you call yourself a follower of your faith when you’re acting like a coward? Are you not wasting your world-destroying power?

The knights stopped at the gap between the projected space and the Vassal Realm, looking at the endless monsters and Thoggua, who occasionally showed themselves at the edge of the darkness. They all stopped walking.

“Darienne, cover fire.” Moula made a quick decision. “Leo, you and I will sever the projected space so that it can never descend to the human world.”

Once the projected space was severed, the three of them would lose their connection to the Vassal Realm, but also their chance to return to the Frozen Land. They would drift in the Void along with this space, exiled to an unknown part of the universe.

Leo didn’t overthink it; he didn’t even consider an alternative. Darienne did and came to the conclusion that they could always pass the time playing cards.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The white wyvern appeared across the battlefield as if it had teleported, and the mobile cannon fired without restraint. Darienne single-handedly created a no-life zone, holding down a battlefront running over a hundred miles.

Clusters of white light erupted and blazed. Immeasurable information converged to create more monsters.

They were getting born fast, but dying faster.

Darienne was too good a shooter. The energy within her seemed infinite, and with White Night Creed in hand, she alone suppressed Thoggua’s minions, despite their incredible reproduction speed.

𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Leo raised Dawn Doctrine, the golden spear radiating dazzling light. Amid the endless chaos and darkness, a brilliant beam of light pierced the sky, forming an enormous golden spear. Immediately after, a giant clad in golden armor rose from the ground with a spear, radiating an unbearably intense energy, as if it could destroy the world on its own.

With a deafening roar, the giant swung the spear down, cutting space open instantly and leaving a bottomless rift.

The rift devoured everything around it, spreading while pulling the projected space toward the ancient god’s Vassal Realm.

The golden giant didn’t stop there. He continued to swing the spear forward to tear the crack further open, until the projected space ended up divided by the rift. After the ordeal, the golden giant disappeared. Leo panted heavily in place and said, “I’ve been playing cards day and night without working out. It’s a bit hard to suddenly exert myself...”

“Starting today, quit drinking!”

Leo had completed his mission. Next came Moula’s turn. Gripping Elemental Mantra, he unleashed the terrifying energy in his body.

Earth, fire, water, and wind elements spread with unending momentum to forge mountains, rivers, and forests, raising undulating mountain ranges around the edge of the projected space and injecting this chaotic space with thriving vitality.

As the world changed dramatically, the chaotic darkness was completely dispelled, replaced by a newborn and unfamiliar world.

The black rift’s pull on the projected space came to an abrupt halt. Because the world had become foreign, it could not be guided further to the ancient god’s Vassal Realm.

Roooar—

Thoggua growled deeply. It was one thing for them not to care about something, but they refused to let said thing be taken away. With that roar, the monsters went berserk completely, surging en masse into Darienne’s area of attack, using themselves as shields to forge a path for those behind them.

The pressure on Darienne jumped severalfold. Her eyes bloomed with cold moonlight as twelve silver arms materialized behind her. Countless arrows rained down, pushing the encroaching battle line back.

Moula tightened his grip around Elemental Mantra. Having used up a lot of mental power to reshape the projected space, he moved to stand shoulder to shoulder with Leo. Their tasks were complete. Now, it was up to Darienne to hold out.

Crack!

With a crisp noise, the projected space separated from the ancient god’s Vassal Realm, distancing itself from the black rift with a widening gap.

Success! x3

Just as the three knights celebrated, Thoggua made a move. Four impossibly massive tentacles extended from the Vassal Realm, bracing against the overwhelming bombardment of White Night Creed and reaching for the departing projected space.

Three out of the four tentacles were blown apart, but one managed to touch the projected space before breaking. Upon contact, information was transmitted.

Watching the mountains, rivers, and forests wither, returning to the original chaotic darkness, Moula had no choice but to raise Elemental Mantra. The three knights realized that Thoggua had become stronger after fully awakening in the Vassal Realm. It would be difficult for them to sever the projected space from the Vassal Realm on their own.

“We were so close!”

Darienne swallowed her frustration. Her failure caused them everything. Now they couldn’t even play cards.

Suddenly, the faint power of the chosen knights called to them. Guided by the power, they found a way out of the projected space.

“It’s Anastasia. She found us.”

“Anastasia can’t use our power, so it should be Wayne...”

“We can no longer guard the projected space. Do we retreat?”

Darienne turned around. “You go first. I’ll hold off Thoggua. We can’t let them launch a counterattack!”

She insisted on staying to provide cover. Moula and Leo didn’t object, retreating toward the exit at maximum speed instead. As long as they reached the Frozen Land and made contact with the outside world, they would have ways to rescue Darienne.

At the exit, Wayne had dissolved his Pale Knight form. It was too sinister and difficult to explain away. He would be seen as a spy sent by the ancient god.

Gripping the three magic stones, he activated the power within at the edge of the closing crack. He saw two beams of light rapidly approaching from a distance. Soon, in almost the blink of an eye, Moula and Leo reached his side.

Without wasting words, the two began to apply seals to the crack, trying to delay Thoggua’s return and minimize the threat to the Chosen Land. Time was of the essence. With each step they completed, it would become more difficult for Thoggua to return.

Wayne said weakly, “Gentlemen, where’s Darienne? She hasn’t come out.”

“She’ll be here at any moment.”

The crack had shrunk to the size of a grain of rice. An arrow of light shot out like a thread, hitting a peering Wayne. Piercing through his chest, the arrow didn’t injure him, but instead dispelled all negative statuses, healed wounds, purified his body, injected energy, and dispelled fear...

A series of buffs slammed into him. He felt strong enough to kill a dragon. Amazing!

On second thought, though, it wasn’t that amazing. He had already tamed two dragons.

Boom!

The instant the light of the arrow in his chest dissipated, Darienne leaped out and crashed into his chest. While she had come to a halt just fine, Wayne was caught off guard and thrown off his feet.

The Astral Worm peeked out. The three chosen knights peeked in.

After weighing its options, the worm disappeared into the spatial tunnel.

“What’s going on? Why is there an Astral Worm here?” Leo asked in surprise.

“I heard that Astral Worm had many uses. This is my first time seeing one. The softish meat worm is ugly.” Darienne shook her head.

Supposedly, Astral Worms had great medicinal value and were quite marketable in Divine Realms. Many would drop to their knees for a bite. She wouldn’t open her mouth for that, though. It looked disgusting.

Wayne walked over speechlessly, rubbing his chest. She had a hard skull.

“Oh, Wayne. What a coincidence.” Darienne greeted him with a wave.

“Yeah, what a coincidence...”

Wayne pursed his lips. “Honorable knights, this is the Astral Plane, filled with chaotic knowledge everywhere. Since I can’t stay here for long, let’s wait until we’re back to have a conversation.”

1. In quantum physics, the conservation of information is believed to be true based on the no-hiding theorem: if information is missing from one system, then the information is simply residing somewhere else in the Universe. This may be where the author’s inspiration comes from, or I may be overthinking. ☜