Chapter 328: The Void Chatroom and the Midnight Library

"A good number of the scholars from the Church of Nightfall have already responded," said Avia, seated at a round table within the secluded space of the Seed of Eden. "They're all researchers of some repute. Let's let them review the recovered data first, and then proceed with the next phase."

The table before them bore a curious sight: a sapling conjured from the Lady of the Night's divine power, unfurling with dark tendrils of energy. The threads stretched out, connecting everyone at the table save Wang Yu.

"Incredible," he muttered, watching the scene unfold. "This thing allows real-time, face-to-face interaction across continents just via a simple spell?"

Avia had just finished explaining the joint creation between herself and the Lady of the Night: a spiritual communication platform now dubbed the Void Chatroom. As far as Wang Yu was concerned, it exceeded every expectation. No, more than that—it was astounding. A paradigm shift, even.

"Shall I activate it, then?" the Lady of the Night asked, her tone unhurried. "The current construction is rather crude. It'll burn through faith faster than usual, so let's keep things efficient."

Compared to the miracles of other deities, the divine spells of the Lady of the Night were both more potent and easier to perform. Where other deities might only offer a single miracle, her followers could often afford two. The reason was simple: her generosity.

Most gods demanded four-fifths of their devotees' faith to empower themselves.

The Lady of the Night, on the other hand, only took a third, funneling the rest back to her devotees. It was this unusual distribution of faith that allowed the Prayer Network to maintain self-sufficiency.

So long as the devotees continued to generate faith, they didn't have to worry about being unable to access the Prayer Network.

"Go ahead," said Avia with a nod. "I've already uploaded the recovered data to the Midnight Archive. We can pull it into the chatroom directly once it's ready."

The Lady of the Night raised a hand. Her power swept outward, brushing against the minds of her followers scattered across the continent.

In Aleisterre, in Elliot's caravan, in unknown corners of the world, her faithful closed their eyes, invoked her name, and bared their souls to her divine embrace.

And then, one by one, they awakened in a world not their own. An endless lake stretched beneath them, its mirror-like waters reflecting a sky scattered with stars. In the distance loomed a towering tree, an ethereal monolith whose branches merged with the cosmos itself.

"What is this? Is this the true might of the Lady of the Night?"

"A dream? No. It's too vivid..."

"This must be the work of the Lady of the Night herself... Does this world truly exist? It feels simultaneously real and illusory..."

"..."

One by one, the participants wandered through the surreal landscape, stunned.

They could see one another, but only as silhouettes: featureless shadows with no discernible faces, only human outlines. The system preserved privacy while still enabling interaction.

"Hello?"

Among them was the ever-curious Charles. A devoted follower of the Lady, he had once been the first test subject for Wang Yu's Prayer Network.

He now roamed the lake, staring at his own blackened hands, until he caught sight of another familiar silhouette and patted him on the back.

"Hello?"

There was a moment's hesitation before the other figure turned to reply with the same greeting.

"Mind if I try something?" Charles rubbed his hands together, barely containing his glee. "I want to see if we can fight here."

"...Go ahead."

Without further ceremony, Charles launched into a sweeping kick. But his opponent reacted swiftly, leaping clear, dodging sideways, locking his arm around Charles's neck, and slamming him to the ground.

"Argh! Damn it, how could I get floored this easily even with an equally strong physique?!" Charles lay sprawled on the mirrored surface of the lake, lamenting his terrible luck. "Why'd I pick a knight with actual technique..."

Back in the physical world, Wang Yu observed the projection of this new realm with faint amusement.

The devotees of the Lady of the Night were all exploring the strange new space curiously. Some even started duels with each other within the space.

Wang Yu couldn't enter the Void Chatroom himself. Ever since he'd lost Roland's Key, which served as a conduit into his mindscape, nothing that targeted the soul could affect him anymore. Not even this.

"I'd love to try something like this..." he muttered. "If only I could use the damn network."

"What are you muttering about?" Avia broke into his thoughts with a grin. "The meeting won't start without you. Here—put this on." She handed him a monocle identical in appearance to his Perfect Fractal lens. It was a specially crafted alchemical device designed just for this purpose.

"Wow."

To think Avia had prepared this specially for him...

Wang Yu put on the monocle. As his mental energy interfaced with the lens, in the blink of an eye, the virtual world unfolded before him.

He could see the lake, the stars, the tree—and hundreds of shadowy silhouettes all staring directly at him.

His arrival had made quite the entrance. The moment he connected to the space, a massive round table erupted from the lake's surface. Chairs arranged themselves neatly around it. It was a setup that had been prepared specifically for the arriving scholars.

"Wait—is that...?"

"Archbishop Wang Yu? Is the meeting starting? I wonder what we'll be discussing in such a mysterious place..."

"It has to be. But would he really go for such a dramatic entrance...?"

At the table's head sat a shadow far more striking than the others. Black flames writhed around him, and behind his seated form stood a towering, ghostly silhouette.

Charles, who was intimately familiar with Wang Yu, was baffled by his appearance. He had always gone for the understated as long as Charles had known him. What had caused him to shake things up today?

Of course, none of this was visible to Wang Yu himself, who only knew he could now speak and observe through the lens.

"Everyone, take a seat."

His voice echoed throughout the Void Chatroom. Though his body did not move, his presence alone was commanding. The silhouettes gathered, each taking a seat. The table had just enough chairs for every participant—no more, no less.

Though no formal hierarchy had been established, all eyes fell on the blazing figure seated at the head. Everyone waited.

Wang Yu scratched his head. Everyone was still staring at him. "Well... guess I'll explain everything. Let's get started."

He cleared his throat. "There are two things I'd like to discuss today. First: this document. We'd like your insight, and if possible, some independent verification of its contents. Second: we've prepared a new addition to the Church of Nightfall, something we'll get to afterward."

The monocle allowed him to speak to the members of the Void Chatroom, but he couldn't move around due to the nature of his connection. Everyone else watched the figure wreathed in black flames speak from the head of the table.

As he spoke, Avia tapped into the surrounding void energy. The document Wang Yu referred to materialized before every seated scholar in the form of floating pages. The room quieted as they all reached for the material and began to read.

Within minutes, the silence became profound.

The document, a handwritten report by the late Lancer, outlined a crucial theoretical breakthrough in the Church's hypermagic research. Even without prior context, its content was clear and compelling.

It was incomplete, yes, but it contained insight valuable enough to warrant dedicated research. The missing pieces were precisely what Avia hoped to supply through further collaboration.

Time passed. Half an hour in, the first scholar raised his head, lost in thought. Another followed. Eventually, soft murmurs began to ripple through the group.

The conversation began. No one was quite certain who was seated beside them—they were all still just silhouettes.The conversation began naturally.

Ideas were exchanged, calculations debated, theories proposed and disputed.

Where opinions aligned, people formed small clusters; where disagreements arose, discussions splintered and reformed elsewhere. The virtual round table gradually dissolved into a roving assembly of researchers deep in collaboration.

Finally, they reached a consensus—not on the theory itself, but on what needed to be done. The document held tremendous value. But it couldn't be fully understood, much less completed, without experimentation in the physical world.

As they returned to their seats, Charles volunteered to report their conclusions.

Wang Yu nodded and transcribed everything into the Endless Pages. The first matter was concluded.

"Thank you for your insight and effort," he said. "Now, allow me to present something new: a platform for us and us alone. A place to store, share, and preserve knowledge."

As he spoke, he glanced at the summary Avia had passed him earlier, raising his eyebrows in astonishment. This was yet another surprise. "The Midnight Library."

Darkness surged. Reality shifted. Bookshelves erupted from the lakebed and rose toward the heavens. Within seconds, the devotees of the Lady of the Night found themselves enclosed in a sprawling, breathtaking structure.

The Midnight Library.