Neville arrived at the core layer. What met his eyes were numerous bone corpses that had already begun to turn to ash.
In terms of structure, the core layer resembled an underground burial chamber.
Most of the corpses were humans: some were Children of the Whiskered Tree, others were grave robbers from the Six-Eyed Crow.
Besides those, one could faintly see some Time-Aphids that had become empty husks. They were all entwined by banyan roots, as if all their nutrients had been drained while still alive.
"So magnificent, so splendid. The past glory is within reach..."
As he spoke, he took out that ritual dagger still stained with Albert's blood and plunged it through his own chest, piercing the Time-Aphid as well.
The blood gushing out in rivulets spontaneously sketched a complex, obscure ritual array on the ground.
He would use his own flesh, blood, and spiritual essence as the key to resurrect all the Time-Aphids here.
The corpses turned to dry bones stood up once more. Banyan roots formed their skin and flesh, looking exactly like the Banyan Root Mimicries outside the library.
Haida leapt down into the core layer through the fissure. Relying on her extremely high mobility, she swiftly navigated through the horde of mimicries.
Her black nun's habit fluttered up and down in the dust and smoke raised. While cutting down mimicries with her sword, she even had a free hand to carry Albert.
Watching the rapidly approaching burial attendant, Neville's expression was full of disgust and disdain.
"Before being crowned with the name of Temporal, the principle the Ancient Banyan mastered was 'Prosperity.' To nourish the parasites on its body, its life force was also nearly infinite..."
"These mimicries... cannot be finished off by mortal blades."
"Is that so?"
Haida's voice was steady and cold.
Though she said that, her speed of advance did gradually begin to slow under the encirclement of the massive number of mimicries.
Amidst numerous enemies, the grip of the power sword "Nirvana" grew warm, its metallic hum high-pitched and intense.
Before entering the core layer, Fran had slipped a small, rose-red fruit into her mouth. Judging by its color and appearance, it seemed to be the offering of the Old Sanctuary... "Shadow of the Future."
According to Dr. Fran... its effect seemed to be able to summon one's future self?
As Haida chewed and swallowed the Shadow of the Future in her mouth, a cold, deep aura surged out of thin air.
The change in Neville's eyes from initial disdain to astonishment lasted only an instant. The next moment, he saw a woman clad in dark hunting attire materialize from a shadowy phantom.
A French tricorn hat with an iris pinned to it adorned her head, and in her hand was a massive scythe-blade forged from shadow.
The Decapitation Throne, and that leather tricorn hat...
For no reason, a thread of fear coiled up from Neville's chest, as if a venomous snake had bitten his heart.
Damn it, this nun... is the future "Burial Primus" of the Secrets-Hunters?
---
Looking at the familiar yet unfamiliar self before her, Haida felt an inexplicable sense of trance.
The arrival was not the future "self" in the true sense, but that last Burial Primus from future Norlington.
Upon close scrutiny, one could even see the slender black suture line on her pale neck.
Seeming to notice Haida looking at her, this future Burial Primus slightly lowered her eyes and nodded to her in greeting.
The next moment, she charged towards Neville, who was heavily guarded by Banyan Root Mimicries. Her figure was elusive and illusory, like a dark shadow floating with candlelight.
Under the harvest of the Decapitation Throne, heads wrapped in banyan roots were severed in large swathes. The massive number of mimicries didn't even have a chance to resist before being completely stripped of life.
Head after head thudded to the ground, emitting a fleshy, dull thud.
As if harvest season had arrived, the melons ripe and falling from the vine...
"Life force vanishing without warning. No mistake, it's that relic scythe..."
Neville's face was pale, his fingers slightly trembling.
Even he himself hadn't realized his fear was now tangibly manifested on his body.
Although the Children of the Whiskered Tree lived in seclusion, not concerning themselves with worldly affairs, they were still somewhat aware of the formidable fearsome reputation of the Chief Hunters.
High Priest, Holy Scion, Favored One—no matter how venerable the existence, it was best to pray not to become their target.
The secret records of the Children of the Whiskered Tree recorded that ancient dragon corpses were buried beneath Norlington. And that was the masterpiece of a certain Chief Hunter from the Secrets-Hunters' Lost Age.
As long as their precepts were violated, these madmen dared to kill even dragons...
"Hunter, stop!"
Watching the constantly approaching "Haida," Neville shouted out lowly.
"The sacrificial ritual has already been activated; the revival of the Time-Aphids is already irreversible. Right now, you are just a phantom projected and captured from the future. Once the effect of the Ancient Banyan fruit vanishes, you will completely vanish!"
"Don't you want to become a 'real' existence? I can sign a pact with you right now. Once everything is settled, I'll share half of this temporal authority with you!"
Faced with the bargaining chips he threw out, this Burial Primus merely raised a hand to press down the brim of her tricorn hat, offering no reply.
Her moist lip corners didn't curve into a smile, but seemed to carry a faint, elusive mocking smile.
Future Haida's figure melted.
As if submerged in lightless shadow, she vanished without a trace into nothingness.
Simultaneously, "Haida" stepped out from the shadows behind Neville. She hooked the massive Decapitation Throne over his neck and cleanly and decisively severed his head.
The entire process was smooth and natural; everything fell into place.
"You people... are blasphemers, lunatics... fools..."
Massive amounts of life force surged wildly, but completely unable to fill the gaping hole on his neck. The Time-Aphid's temporal talent also seemed to have lost effect; no matter how much he rewound time, he couldn't reach the moment his head was severed.
Meanwhile, the present Haida had also seized this opportunity to reach Neville's vicinity. Raising the power sword "Nirvana" in her hand, she struck, completely pinning the rolling head on the ground.
Soon, the skin and flesh on this Child of the Whiskered Tree's face began to shrivel and contract, ultimately dissolving into mud.
Although Neville was dead, his purpose of using himself as a sacrifice had been achieved...
The ritual array drawn on the ground with blood began to activate and operate. The surrounding time also seemed to begin showing unstable tendencies. Light and shadow from the past chaotically flickered, the past prosperity and the present ruin intertwining with each other.
"First-category ritual [Retrogression]. This ritual will form a sort of chain reaction. As more Time-Aphids are revived, the effect of the ritual array will correspondingly amplify... ultimately forming an exponentially expanding trend."
Albert, having been carried the whole way, not yet had time to feel dizzy, forced himself to gather his spirits and began to scrutinize the ritual prayers on the ground.
"Is there a way to interrupt the process?"
Haida looked at Albert, then inquiring if he had any solution.
"If I could access the Ancient Banyan's network... perhaps I could attempt to disrupt this ritual array. But now I stand on the opposite side of Him; I'm afraid I won't be accepted."
"No matter. Do your best."
Fran walked lightly through the core layer, which resembled a burial chamber, arriving before the ritual array.
"...Alright."
Albert nodded, then pressed his palm onto the center of the ritual array on the ground. The banyan root networks on the ground aggressively burrowed into the skin of his palm, scurrying through flesh and blood.
"He is rejecting my access."
Besides being repelled by the banyan root network, he also felt a powerful and aberrant mind interfering with him.
It was guidance as well as whispers, making him nearly feel a longing rise from the depths of his heart to offer up this body as a sacrificial offering to accelerate the ritual's operation.
The Haida from the future raised the Decapitation Throne, suspended it over Albert's neck with steadiness and precision. Should this Child of the Whiskered Tree lose himself, she would immediately behead him.
The threat of death was right before him, but Albert didn't seem to mind.
He now poured his entire body and mind into resisting the increasingly intense mental influence on the banyan root network.
His consciousness was like a solitary candle flame, floating and swaying under howling, wildly surging gusts, seeming ready to be extinguished at any moment.
"Some things cannot be accomplished by one person alone. Perhaps... you need some help from your predecessors."
Fran took out the brass pocket watch, her slender index finger slightly flexing.
As her finger lightly flicked the watch case, a crisp metallic sound rang out in response.
Hearing the tapping sound of the brass pocket watch, Albert felt a spiritual level tremor.
The originally dark and silent burial chamber suddenly became noisy. Countless figures of the Children of the Whiskered Tree ancestors chaotically manifested around him.
"That is..."
Albert's voice carried a hint of trance, as if he had forgotten the bone-deep pain in his hand.
Those were lingering spirits that should have completely dispersed, now recoalescing into form due to the time retrogression. They were the Children of the Whiskered Tree who had been here, bearing the long-cherished wish of defying the Ancient Banyan, turned to dry bones.
Banyan roots had occupied their flesh, turning them into mimicries like secondary abyssal spawn, but their spiritual essences had not forgotten their unfinished business from life.
Before today, Albert had never imagined that one day he would stand alongside the ancestors of the Children of the Whiskered Tree.
He even less imagined that what he must do now would be defying the deity... But at this moment, he didn't feel lost; his thoughts on the contrary became extremely clear.
The lingering spirits' consciousness and obsessions merged into his mind. Along with it surged the courage to raise rebellion against the deity they served.
Sever the past, sever faith, sever everything that is a Child of the Whiskered Tree...
Relying on the suddenly soaring spiritual essence, Albert forcibly established a connection with the networks on the ground.
In his trance, he heard the voices of the ancestors by his ear.
Like whispers, also like roars. The call, worn and incomplete after millennia of weathering, was still resonant and powerful.
"Our Lord... Your long-cherished wish has fallen into madness. We are willing to offer our humble bodies to You, but... we cannot watch You trample upon the doctrines You Yourself established, leading this era toward the end."
"Forgive me for addressing Your name directly... Ancient Banyan, please be buried here with us."
As the fragmented voice of that ancestor gradually faded, the revival ritual in the core layer also began to shatter.
The Ancient Banyan's wrath was reflected in the plant branches frantically thrashing on the ground. They scurried upward along blood vessels and muscles, on the verge of burrowing into the body through the skin of the arm.
Crack.
Haida reached out and grabbed his upper arm.
She carefully maintained her grip, not enough to shatter his arm bone but suppressing the banyan branches from further burrowing into his flesh and blood.
"How long until the ritual is completely terminated?"
"Ten seconds."
Albert's voice, though strained, also carried a decisive tone.
At this moment, his spiritual essence was frantically consumed in the mutual attrition with the ritual, but the lingering spirits of the surrounding Children of the Whiskered Tree were also simultaneously pouring in, maintaining the entire termination process.
After ten breaths, as the revival ritual completely tore apart and shattered, the surrounding chaotic flow of time stabilized once more.
"Finally... the tragedy of the Children of the Whiskered Tree will no longer play out..."
The ancestors' murmurs lingered by his ear. Albert then looked behind himself. The gradually dissipating ancestral lingering spirits gazed at him from afar. Their gaze was deep and unburdened, as if spanning ten thousand years.
"Child, thank you for choosing to defy His will with us. Now this act of defying the deity is cast in iron, with no room for turning back. Perhaps the Ancient Banyan's choice had its considerations; perhaps our decision was not wise..."
"But the Children of the Whiskered Tree do not regret."
"All rights and wrongs, in the end, can only be left for time to judge..."
The lingering spirits, having lost the protection of the revival ritual, soon turned into pure spiritual essence and completely dispersed.
A great amount of spiritual essence escaped from the ritual array, staining the plant networks constantly writhing on the ground.
Thus, countless clusters of ruddy, tubular flowers and leaves bloomed from buds, so lush and splendid they nearly covered the entire core layer.
"This is... banyan flowers?"
Haida's future phantom picked up one of them. The dazzling, ruddy-red corolla was then reflected in her eyes.
She had accompanied shadow-submerged Norlington, trapped in darkness for who knows how many years, hadn't seen such vibrant flowers for a long time. Although after Fran's quarterly house call, she had returned to the material world, affairs were busy, rarely having leisure for rest.
"No."
Albert shook his head, denying her statement.
This Child of the Whiskered Tree, though his forehead was now covered with fine beads of sweat and his face extremely pale, did not show a weak demeanor.
"Banyan flowers are wrapped inside their fruits and are not visible. These are the flowers of 'mistletoe.'"
"Actually, Neville was not entirely wrong. Whether it's the Children of the Whiskered Tree, the Time-Aphids, or these flowers... they are all just parasites on His body."
Once the intense spiritual aura faded from Albert's consciousness, the severe pain in his arm then began to become noticeable.
His demeanor was listless and dazed, and the banyan branches on his hand also began to frantically writhe, almost breaking free from Haida's restraint.
The future phantom's gray-chestnut gaze flickered slightly. She raised the Decapitation Throne and cleanly and decisively cut off the already lignified part of the arm.
"Whew... Thank you very much, 'Haida' Sister."
Albert's face twisted slightly.
But he didn't feel much pain; the cut area was just a patch of cold, as if that part of the limb never belonged to him.
+++
T/N: Hey readers~! New Translator here! Before I say anything, I'd first like to thank the original author for creating this wonderful story. Without them, I wouldn't have the chance to share this adventure with you. I hope my translation does justice to their work, and that together, we can enjoy this story.
With that said, I'm happy to let you know I'll be uploading daily chapters. And for those who wish to support my work and gain early access, I've set up a Patreon where advanced chapters will be available.
[email protected]/PeakTL