“How is that possible! If the gods do not exist, who have we been praying to all this time?”
“I desperately wanted to ask my mentor what exactly he saw in the divine kingdom, but after saying those words, he voluntarily extinguished his own soul. We did not stop him, nor could we.”
“I know it was because his faith had collapsed.”
“But why did it turn out like this?”
“Why!”
“My unease has finally come true. This feeling is awful. I have never felt this terrible before—an indescribable kind of awful. Damn it!”
“May 21st, Year 13803 of the Divine Calendar”
“The church has hushed up this news. Everyone present swore on their lives to the gods that they would not leak this information.”
“Honestly, I want to laugh. My mentor said the gods no longer exist, yet we are still swearing oaths to them, and they are still responding to us as usual...”
“January 1st, Year 13804 of the Divine Calendar”
“My mentor's words keep me awake night and day. Perhaps I should go out for a walk. I am not as powerful as my mentor, so I cannot go to the divine kingdom to investigate, but perhaps I can find some clues in this world.”
“February 7th, Year 13804 of the Divine Calendar”
“I have bid farewell to the Duke. He was very reluctant to let me go, but when I told him I was seeking an opportunity to break through to the Legendary Rank, he allowed me to leave. For my safety, he even arranged a squad of soldiers to protect me.”
“Although as a Gold Rank archmage, I do not believe I need protection, the Duke assigned Moses, a young man I think very highly of.”
“Well, I must admit, having a close friend on the road might be a better way to dispel the loneliness, so I accepted his arrangement.”
...
“February 5th, Year 13805 of the Divine Calendar”
“It has been over a month since we arrived in the God-Forgaken Land. I have been brooding over my mentor's words. Perhaps on this land abandoned by the gods, I can find some answers.”
“February 26th, Year 13805 of the Divine Calendar”
“I can hardly believe it. While experimenting with magic, I discovered a ruin. Inside were iron creations that I had once seen with my mentor. However, my mentor did not allow me to study them back then; he said they were forbidden and destroyed them.”
“I feel that the secrets of the gods might be hidden within these creations. What exactly happened during the Twilight of the Gods? Why did my mentor say the gods had disappeared?”
“February 27th, Year 13805 of the Divine Calendar”
“I am sorry, Mentor, but I want to study these creations.”
“However, I will keep your teachings in mind and will not take these creations out of the God-Forsaken Land. Please forgive me. You know that for me, the pursuit of truth and knowledge is just as fanatical as your faith in the gods.”
“March 12th, Year 13805 of the Divine Calendar”
“I can hardly believe it. This ruin is a creation of the Beastkin Empire!”
“What on earth happened back then? I feel like I am getting closer and closer to the truth. I will sketch all of this and take it back to study slowly!”
“May 2nd, Year 13805 of the Divine Calendar”
“Damn it! A very strange black dragon, leading a group of very oddly dressed dragonborn, attacked our camp and stole the drawings I made! Damn it! Is this the gods trying to stop me from the shadows?”
“May 5th, Year 13805 of the Divine Calendar”
“I will not give up.”
The journal came to an abrupt end here. Starting from May 2nd, some bloodstains appeared on the pages. Irene guessed that he might have suffered a significant injury during his first battle with Daviel.
Given Daviel's strength, he shouldn't have been able to inflict such damage. Perhaps, because the old mage cared too much about those drawings, he had overexerted himself by burning his own life essence during the battle, resulting in internal injuries.
Thud.
Closing the journal, she felt the doubts in her heart multiply. Shaking her head helplessly, she turned her gaze to the old mage's corpse lying not far away.
This guy was a real talent, and it seems he knew quite a few secrets.
I was too hasty. I shouldn't have killed him so soon.
Thinking of this, Irene massaged her temples, feeling a bit of a headache. After a moment, she muttered to herself, “It's not a big deal. His body is just cold; he can still be salvaged.”
After all, this was a magical world, and there were plenty of ways to resurrect the dead. The high-ranking clergy in the churches alone mastered many of them, such as 【Resurrection】 and 【Super-Tier Resurrection】.
However, as a black dragon who didn't even show much respect to her own Auntie Tiamat, she naturally wouldn't believe in those gods, making it impossible for her to learn these resurrection methods.
But besides that, there was another simple and crude alternative: converting him into a lich or an undead.
Compared to resurrection spells, which often required a massive amount of casting materials and a highly intact corpse, converting someone into a lich or undead was much simpler.
It was also perfect for the current situation.
Although Irene didn't know the magic to convert someone into a lich yet, she could learn.
Since she was already a part-time mage, adding a part-time necromancer to the mix wouldn't hurt.
The little dragon girl immediately decided to resurrect this old mage as a lich. Not only could she extract information from him after his resurrection, but she would also gain a clever subordinate who was quite strong. This was a double win—she was winning big.
Just as she was eagerly pondering this, a sudden flurry of hurried footsteps echoed.
“Your Grace,” Fido panted as he ran over, stopping in front of Irene. He pulled his lolling tongue back into his mouth, wagged his tail, and said, “The guy who tried to escape has been caught by us. How do you want to handle him?”
“Oh?”
Irene glanced behind Fido and saw the human warrior whom the old mage had risked his life to send away. The man was staring blankly at the old mage's corpse.
His tattered, ruined armor and the gruesome wounds beneath it silently told the story of the bitter struggle he had just endured.
Following his gaze to the old mage's corpse on the ground, Irene lightly tapped her head and said, “Take him back and lock him up for now. He might still be of use.”
With that, she scanned the spaceship inside the pit.
To be honest, she really wanted to dig this thing up and pack it away, but it was simply too large and inconvenient. Moreover, the excavation process would make too much noise and might attract the attention of other factions.
The best approach was to bury it for now, dig an underground passage, and use those steam trains to transport it back and forth, dismantling the spaceship so she could study it slowly.
Thus, Irene turned to Cezar, who was standing guard nearby.
“Arrange some people to clean up the traces here, fill in this pit, and then keep a group of people to guard this place.”
“Try not to let anyone approach this area. You may take action if necessary, and remember to clean up thoroughly.”
“Yes!” Cezar replied and immediately went to execute the order.
Glancing at the little black dragon who was currently dribbling the light orb like a basketball, Irene suddenly said, “Daviel, you stay here too.”
“Huh? Why?”
Daviel froze. The light orb, which had been bounced around for quite a while, quickly seized the opportunity to break free from his claws and flew behind the little dragon girl to hide.
“You're too idle. I'm finding you something to do.”
Irene gave a casual, perfunctory response. With a casting of Freezing Spell, she turned the old mage's corpse into a popsicle, stored it in her storage ring, and led the team back.
Leaving only the little black dragon standing bewildered in the wind.
Rate on N.U.
