While Ebner was silently marveling, the holographic projection from the gear book suddenly accelerated, showing in "fast-forward" the story of the floating city after its successful ascent.
Exploration teams were dispatched to chart paths, struggling through the dark lands... Despite the "barrier" drawing power from the dark divine energy, the floating city still faced countless hardships, all eventually overcome.
This phase seemed to last an eternity until a team—less than one-tenth its original size—finally returned, at which point the playback slowed dramatically.
Soon, countless lights ignited beneath the floating city as it flew at maximum speed toward the direction from which the exploration team had returned.
A closer look revealed subtle changes in the city's architecture—four new churches now stood alongside the silver tower.
After an exceptionally solemn funeral, the city approached a town built against a mountainside, naturally divided into upper, middle, and lower levels... Then, abruptly, rebellion erupted. Buildings toppled, schools were engulfed in explosions, and finally, even the silver tower sustaining the "barrier" was breached...
With the barrier gone, countless dark creatures flooded in. This marvel of civilization soon tilted and crashed before the town's gates.
The last flicker of civilization in the darkness was extinguished.
Only after the projection fully faded did Ebner snap out of his daze, overwhelmed by profound regret for this lost marvel created by a transmigrator predecessor.
That mountainside town must be the "Afternoon Town" mentioned in the original work—the entrance to the Giant King's Court, the boundary between myth and reality... They made it this far through the darkness, only to fall to inexplicable internal strife. What a tragedy!
Even failing while storming the Giant King's Court would've been a better ending!
As Ebner lamented, Lilith's mesmerizing voice remarked, "From the city's ascent to its fall... 203 years passed. Savant-path demigods don't share vampires' longevity."
Though the playback had been accelerated, Lilith—as a deity—had deduced the timeline from subtle details.
So that grand funeral before the rebellion was for the transmigrator predecessor? After his death, the city lost its guide, leading to chaos?
No... The seeds were likely sown earlier—those newly built churches... Were they dedicated to the True Creator?
The predecessor probably tolerated this, since breaching the King's Court to leave the Forsaken Land would've been impossible without the True Creator's permission.
But given the madness of the True Creator's followers, conflicts with other citizens were inevitable... The predecessor could suppress them, but without his presence, escalation was unavoidable!
Having pieced together the city's downfall, Ebner sighed again, recalling his earlier divination: "In darkness, civilization's miracle perishes to corruption."
This "corruption" wasn't just the True Creator's influence—it was human nature's decay too!
The fallen morning star indeed...
Retrieving the gear book, Ebner turned his attention to its interior. Beyond a playback device resembling the "Codex," he found ten metal pages inscribed with potion formulas in Giantish:
"Sequence 9: Savant
Primary Materials: 50g of Radell Copper Ore Crystal, Norsk Black Goat's Eyeball..."
"Auxiliary materials: …"
A potion formula for the Savant pathway? Ebner was pleasantly surprised by this unexpected gain. He quickly flipped through the pages, only to find that only the first seven pages contained content—the last three were blank.
That transmigrator predecessor must have only possessed formulas from Sequence 9 Savant to Sequence 3 Arcane Scholar. What a pity. If he had become an angel, he might have been able to lead the floating city out of the Land of Forsaken.
As Ebner pondered, Lilith glanced at the three blank pages, her eyes narrowing slightly as a faint smile curved her lips. Yet she said nothing.
Meanwhile, Ebner closed the Gear Book, confirming that it contained no Beyonder characteristics. He then bowed to Goddess Lilith and took his leave. Though her "beauty" had now receded somewhat, he still feared losing control and committing some blasphemous act—which would undoubtedly mean certain death. Better to leave sooner rather than later.
This time, Lilith did not stop him, only smiling as she said, "Once you arrive in Trier, if you encounter any trouble, you may seek assistance at the Wheat Sheaf Church… Also, Helen is currently on a mission in Intis."
As a "neutral" goddess who swayed between factions, the Earth Mother had the right to preach in Intis.
"Thank you for your grace." Ebner bowed once more before storing the Gear Book and departing the basement.
.....
Evening.
After a busy day overseeing the premiere event at the "film company," Fors finally found a moment of respite. Seizing the opportunity, she excused herself to the washroom, set up an altar, and prayed to "The Fool," requesting the bestowal of the mystical item crafted by "The Tower."
Soon, an exquisitely crafted box emerged from a phantom door and landed upon the altar.
It even comes with packaging? "The Tower" really is meticulous.
As this thought crossed her mind, Fors swiftly dismantled the altar before eagerly opening the ornate box.
Seconds later, she let out a shriek, stumbling backward before slipping and collapsing onto the floor—breaking the "Spirituality Wall" in the process.
Inside the box lay the "Flesh Trigger," composed of three finger bones. As a medical school graduate and former physician at a reputable clinic, Fors had seen her fair share of corpses and should not have been frightened by such an object.
But there was one detail Ebner had overlooked—the "Flesh Trigger" possessed a "living" characteristic. While it had behaved obediently in his hands, and dared not act out under "The Fool's" gaze…
When faced with Fors, its new owner, it revealed its inherently gruesome and terrifying nature, manifesting a gaping maw lined with bloody fangs to intimidate her.
Compounding this horror was the innate soul-chilling dread induced by a "Rose Bishop's" aura—an effect even seasoned pirates like Danitz couldn't withstand, let alone Fors, who had little experience in brutal combat.
Unsurprisingly, she froze in place, helplessly watching as those gnashing teeth drew closer to her face.
Just then, the washroom door creaked open.
(End of Chapter)