Chapter 148: Tree of the Night

After seeing off the uninvited guests, Avia rested her head on Wang Yu's shoulder and soon fell asleep. She had fought alongside Wang Yu to escape the academy, so her exhaustion was only to be expected.

Wang Yu's fatigue was due to his body reaching its limits and overtaxing his reserves. In his case, the only treatment was time. Thanks to his incredibly strong regenerative abilities, he wasn't particularly sleepy, but the deep-seated weakness that wracked his body was undeniably affecting him.

On the other hand, Avia was drained in terms of mental energy and physical stamina. Once she found herself in a safe environment, she naturally fell into a deep sleep.

Gently picking up the girl, Wang Yu carried her to her bed and tucked her in. He turned off the mana crystal lamp in the room and returned to his own.

The pitch-black darkness of the room didn't hinder Wang Yu's vision. Aside from his keen senses and ripples, he remained the archbishop of the Lady of the Night. Darkness would always be his ally, never an obstacle.

Rolling into a comfortable position, Wang Yu leaned against the headboard of his bed. He set his ripples to monitor the entire house before sinking into his mindscape. Over the shimmering lake, Wang Yu invoked the Lady of the Night.

Soon, the tall figure of the Lady of the Night, shrouded in black gauze, appeared on the lake within Wang Yu's mindscape.

"Good evening, Lady Darkness," Wang Yu greeted.

"And you, my archbishop. What brings you to me?" The Lady of the Night didn't stand. Instead, she had conjured the reclining chair she often sat in and was now leaning back and gently rocking herself. It was clear she very much liked this chair.

"I'd like to confirm something. Did my colleague, Charles Ryder, ever request your power to conceal his presence? The location would have been near the academy in the capital."

Wang Yu needed to verify the claims made by the devil "One"—specifically, whether the power Charles used to hide his presence truly came from the Lady of the Night.

"Yes, he did. Under my protection, he buried a card outside the academy."

"That tracks..." Wang Yu nodded to himself. "One" did seem credible, at least for the most part.

"Your power is significantly weakened outside the unique environment of the capital's shadow, right? It mustn't have been easy to grant that request aboveground—or does Charles actually pray to you regularly?"

𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

The Lady of the Night's power was less taxing in the capital's shadow, where the void and reality intertwined. In the past, when she had still needed faith crystals to power her boons, the consumption had been minimal.

However, aboveground, using her power required a significant amount of faith energy. Previously, invoking the Lady of the Night's divine power required prolonged prayer, at least enough to slightly exceed the cost of the divine power.

But Charles didn't seem like the type to pray diligently. His respect for the gods was just like his respect for his two superiors—almost nonexistent.

"If you're free, I recommend you have a look at how the Church of Nightfall is developing. You may be surprised. I no longer need to rely too heavily on faith crystals. The faith provided by the Church of Nightfall is more than sufficient to cover the cost of my divine power."

The Lady of the Night opened her palm, and a small black sapling appeared in her hand. The sapling quickly began to grow, rising and thickening until it reached a certain size.

The Lady of the Night then placed the sapling on the lake within Wang Yu's mindscape, where it continued to grow.

Wang Yu watched as the sapling transformed into a towering tree, pitch-black but dotted with tiny points of light, resembling a starry night sky. It was simultaneously mysterious and beautiful.

"What is this?" Wang Yu asked. The tree was stunning.

"This is an extension of my power. Your two superiors recently visited my avatar in the capital's shadow and told me about the conversation between you and your captain. Thank you for thinking of me, my friend. They promised to spread my faith in a natural manner, without any ulterior motives."

"That's good. It's exactly what I'd expect from those two." Wang Yu nodded.

Back then, Hugin might have been too overwhelmed by administrative duties and the Nightblades' responsibilities to think of such a pragmatic solution.

"Try touching this tree with your mental energy," the Lady of the Night suggested.

"Touch it?" Wang Yu placed his hand on the Tree of the Night and found images appearing before his eyes. They were faces of various people, some of whom Wang Yu recognized as members of the Nightblades.

Along with these images, Wang Yu sensed something palpable he could control. The Tree of the Night, an extension of the Lady of the Night's power, seemed to respond to his will. For example, he could sever the connection between the people in the images and the tree.

"This tree represents my power and my connection with my followers aboveground."

"I believe that, since the Nightblades have chosen me as one of their icons of faith, I should provide some assistance to my followers. However, I do not wish for this power to be abused to tarnish the reputation of the Church of Nightfall or to harm you.

"Therefore, I shall leave this tree in your mindscape. I grant you control over it. You can use it to sever the connection between these followers and me, or allow them to use divine power beyond what their faith would normally permit for a short time."

"So this is the power of a 'deity'... but this tree might have other uses in its own right," Wang Yu thought to himself. Even though "One" had considered the Lady of the Night incomplete, her abilities were truly remarkable.

"Thank you for your trust. Can this tree also allow me to interact with them in some way?" Wang Yu bowed in gratitude. Even without this function, the tree would be of immense use.

At the very least, while leading missions, he could provide support to the Nightblades who were believers of the Lady of the Night. It would also prevent anyone from using the Lady of the Night's power against him, as he couldn't always spare the mental energy to contact her directly.

"It should be possible. The connection between this tree and my followers is the same as that between me and them. Just like when I deliver divine messages, you should be able to convey words to them by consuming a certain amount of faith."

"Shall we have a try?" Wang Yu looked at the image of Charles. He was a casual believer, and Wang Yu could feel that his connection to the tree was weak, but he still counted.

Following his intuition, Wang Yu used his mental energy to send a message into the tree. The tree then converted Wang Yu's words into a message and transmitted it to Charles, who was pacing in his room.

"Can you hear me, Charles?"

Charles, who had been pacing aimlessly in his room, suddenly heard a voice in his head. Startled, he quickly looked around, brandishing the Chariot and the High Priestess cards in his hand as he prepared for action.

Then, he frowned. The voice in his head sounded familiar. "Wang Yu?"

This response was also converted into a message and transmitted back to the Tree of the Night, where it was conveyed to Wang Yu as sound.

"It's me," Wang Yu replied. The two began communicating through the tree.

"Wait, how are you contacting me? I feel a slight fluctuation in the void—ah, this is the Lady of the Night's power!"

Charles's voice carried clear surprise. He hadn't completely let his guard down. Even if the voice sounded like Wang Yu, it could still be a trick. It wasn't until he detected familiar fluctuations in the void—reminiscent of the Lady of the Night's power in the capital's shadow—that he finally relaxed.

"You scared me. What do you want? Couldn't you just use a communication crystal? I'm already struggling to deal with the pile of unanswered messages from the professor and the captain..."

Charles let his guard down and began complaining about Wang Yu's interruption and his own troubles.

"Nothing much—I just wanted to tell you that the heavens are watching. You might want to be more careful when disrespecting the God of Light and the Lady of the Night in the future. They can probably sense when you disrespect them, even if they can't be bothered to deal with you."

Bewildered, Charles couldn't help but suddenly recall all the times he had disrespected the Lady of the Night and the God of Light. He paced even more uncomfortably in his room.

Having confirmed that the Tree of the Night could indeed transmit messages to the Lady of the Night's followers, Wang Yu had a bold idea.

Could the Nightblades believers use this tree to communicate with each other through prayer? If the tree allowed for secure, real-time communication...