Chapter 93: Echoes of the Era – Prelude to the Legend War (Two-in-One)
“Bronze Rose?”
Mr. Silver’s beast eyes flickered with moonlight as it forcibly broke free from Ophelia’s embrace.
Its gaze became serious: “You even found the means they used to track Young Tina back then?”
“An item that can ignore team requirements and tier restrictions, forcing the Night Travelers into the same historical echo’s tracking?”
Back then, Hiltina had been tracked by a Third Tier dancer in the echoes at Deep Blue Harbor.
Of course, that incident also became the opportunity for Rast and Hiltina’s first encounter.
Afterwards, Starry University conducted an investigation into the matter, but the Bronze Rose, as a secret organization, was already hidden very deeply, with members and bases scattered throughout the Western Continent, causing major powers headaches for centuries.
Moreover, since Starry University was an independent organization focused on exploring the Night World, operating outside the major national powers, it could not mobilize too much combat power to eradicate a secret organization on foreign territory.
Therefore, the progress in searching for the Bronze Rose had always been quite slow.
Unexpectedly, it was the royal side that had a breakthrough first.
“There’s no helping it; after all, she is my dear elder sister.”
“Even though she has always disliked us interfering in her life due to our royal status…”
“But since there are little mice daring to stalk my sister in the shadows, how could I ignore this?”
A smile appeared at the corner of Ophelia’s mouth.
She did not pay attention to the Little Ferret that had escaped her embrace but simply raised her hand slightly.
The silvery hand silently disintegrated, transforming into liquid immortal metal that flowed around her.
Soon after, the mercury droplets condensed into black thorns and then gathered into a chair woven from pitch-black thorns.
Ophelia sat down on the chair.
Against the dim background, her pure white dress, exquisite flawless face, and elegant royal aura made her look like a porcelain doll.
If only—
Ignoring the fleeting shadow in Ophelia’s crimson eyes that swallowed the light.
“I sent Kate to the Ruin Lord Alliance and eliminated the Bronze Rose’s branch in the entire southern region of the Western Continent.”
“At the same time, I found some interesting things at the headquarters of the Bronze Rose in the southern region.”
Ophelia gracefully placed her hands on the armrests of the thorn chair, and the immortal metal surged, silently presenting two items in her hands.
A crystal that sparkled brightly and a clay doll molded without facial details.
“A ‘Tracking Doll’ that can follow targets into the same Night World, and a spatial core that can improve the Transmission Crystal to transmit images across the boundaries between the Night World and the real world…”
“Both of these were things I found at the Bronze Rose’s headquarters in the southern region.”
Mr. Silver looked intently at the two items in Ophelia’s hands, his expression serious.
“Why does the Bronze Rose have such things?”
As a magical creature included in the ten unsolved mysteries of Starry University, having witnessed the whole process of Night Travelers exploring the Night World, Mr. Silver was very clear about the implications of these two items.
It meant that the barrier between the Night World and the real world had been broken.
Seemingly ordinary, but these two items were truly involved with the laws of the Night World; they were authority-type rule items.
Far from being comparable to ordinary extraordinary items that merely pursued damage and healing abilities.
Countless Night Travelers of Starry University had explored the Night World for nearly a thousand years yet knew very little about rule-based Night World items. Why would the Bronze Rose, a secret organization that focused more on the real world, possess such items?
Even a Third Tier dancer of the “Mind Demon” sequence could freely use the “Tracking Doll” for pursuit, indicating that the Bronze Rose did not simply possess a rare item by chance but had already mastered a stable production channel.
“According to the information left behind at the destroyed branch headquarters, these items did not originate from a secret organization like the Bronze Rose… but were obtained from an even more secretive source.”
Ophelia played with the faceless clay doll in her hand: “There’s very little residual information about that source, and most of it is vague, with only one term left—”
She paused for a moment, her clear and pleasant voice resuming, “’Graveminder.’”
“Kate interrogated some bishops of the Bronze Rose’s southern region branch, even using soul-searching methods… but those high-ranking members of the Bronze Rose knew nothing about the origins of these items aside from the name ‘Graveminder.’”
Graveminder?
Mr. Silver repeated this term in his mind, but even with its experience and knowledge, there was still nothing in its memory.
It naturally knew who Kate mentioned; she was a Sixth Tier powerhouse who directly served the royal family…
Or rather, Kate was loyal not to the royal family, nor to Emperor Aaron, but to Princess Ophelia herself.
That cold woman had always regarded herself as “Ophelia’s sharpest sword.”
And since even that inquisitor, who could instill fear in countless high nobles of the imperial capital with just her name, could not find any clues in the Bronze Rose’s branch headquarters…
It only indicated that the mastermind known as “Graveminder” might be hiding deeper than Mr. Silver could imagine.
Perhaps even the undercurrents among the current nations of the Western Continent were somehow related to them…
Mr. Silver halted his scattered thoughts, pulling his focus back to Ophelia: “You should be aware of how significant these two items are to the Night Travelers.”
Leaving aside the Tracking Doll that can pursue others into the same Night World. After all, Starry University was neither a cult organization nor had a need to stalk others… and the vast majority of Night World could normally form teams; only a very small portion of Night Travelers were qualified to challenge the End of the Night World.
However, just being able to transmit internal images of the Night World in real-time with the Transmission Crystal… would fundamentally change how Night Travelers confronted the Night World.
If reconnaissance teams could be equipped with Transmission Crystals when tackling the Calamity Echo in Frozen Water Town, it would help avoid many sacrifices during exploration.
“Of course.”
Ophelia smiled and nodded: “Although there are only a few items, I will later donate the remaining rule items to your academy.”
“However, before that…”
The black mercury surged, transforming into a test tube in Ophelia’s hand, within which flowed a few drops of crimson blood.
And Ophelia proceeded to drop the blood from the test tube onto the faceless clay doll.
In the next moment.
The extremely rough clay doll, without any exterior details, suddenly underwent extremely subtle changes.
As if an invisible hand was kneading and sculpting the clay…
Soon, the doll’s face manifested refined features and details.
Black hair, black eyes, dressed in a pitch-black trench coat.
The contours of the face were not as straight and hard as those of the common ethnic groups of the Western Continent, but instead held a touch of softness.
The figure was tall and upright, with indifferent eyes.
It resembled a scaled-down version of Rast by ten times.
Ophelia’s wine-red eyes fell upon the small doll’s face, her gaze deep.
“When did you get Rast’s blood?” Mr. Silver frowned, watching Ophelia’s actions.
“Of course, it was left behind during his practical training with that giant gorilla at the training grounds.”
Ophelia paused slightly, a trace of a smile appearing on her lips: “After all, those in the military don’t dare to manage me.”
Mr. Silver: …
Logical and convincing.
As the only visible princess of the Empire, the Tower of Secrets established with the cooperation of the military and Starry University, but maintained daily by the military, was equivalent to Ophelia’s backyard.
“There’s no helping it; after all, she is my only sister.”
“She is so stubborn and headstrong… Once she sets her mind on something, she never gives up, even knowing it’s a wall; my elder sister would undoubtedly crush it without hesitation.”
“But with a personality like my sister’s, if the person she identifies as good is actually a bad person, it could be too easy for her to get hurt.”
“The deeper the love, the deeper the wound it brings.”
Ophelia extended her fair finger, gently touching the doll’s face that bore a nine-tenths resemblance to Rast, her gaze profound.
“That newcomer named Rast, his true origin, how many secrets lie within him, I do not care.”
“But I want to see clearly what kind of person he truly is.”
The shadow that swallowed the light deepened in Ophelia’s eyes: “In the real world, in front of others, wearing a mask of false kindness and perfection… I can also do that, as skillfully as he does.”
“But, those who wear masks to themselves only have the chance to briefly reveal their true faces in the Night World, within the historical echoes they think go unseen.”
The flowing mercury carried the clay doll and Transmission Crystal to Akshia.
“As long as you carry this doll in, you can enter the same Night World as the doll’s target and locate his exact position within.”
Akshia gazed expressionlessly at the two items in front of her, her eyes pausing on the doll for a moment.
Finally, she turned her head to glance at Mr. Silver.
Although Akshia had a good impression of Ophelia and was somewhat curious about the doll that could track Rast, as a student of Starry University, she did not need to obey the imperial royal family’s orders; in situations like this, Akshia would only respect Mr. Silver’s opinion.
“Let’s do it as Ophelia suggested.”
Mr. Silver sighed deeply.
“Although I have confidence in that lad, he is only at Second Tier. He may very well become entangled in the historical currents of the End of the Night World.”
“When necessary, remember to lend him a hand.”
“Alright.”
Akshia nodded, her indifferent voice echoed in Mr. Silver’s mind under the moonlight.
At the same time, she took the crystal and the doll.
Akshia expressionlessly reached out and pinched the cheek of the clay doll that had Rast’s appearance, then, somewhat reluctantly, tucked it into her arms.
In the next moment, she smoothly arrived at the pitch-black tombstone, raising her hand to touch it.
With a twist of the night, the girl with ice blue hair also vanished beside the Epoch Monument.
In the empty hall, only Ophelia and Mr. Silver, along with the Little Ferret, remained.
“Well then, Little Ferret, want to watch the live broadcast together?”
“Of course… The flow rate of time in the Night World is not synchronized with the real world, so what we actually see is not a live broadcast, but rather certain key segments that have already occurred in the Night World and have been selected.”
A graceful smile appeared on Ophelia’s pretty face as she extended an invitation to Mr. Silver.
However, that adorable smile, doll-like in nature, appeared in Mr. Silver’s eyes as if it metamorphosed into a profound and cold black hole that swallowed light.
This younger sister of Hiltina was precisely the type it feared and found difficult to cope with.
Nonetheless, watching the light curtain unfolding before Ophelia, Mr. Silver could not restrain its curiosity and carefully found a corner, one that Ophelia couldn’t reach, to observe the scene within the light curtain.
After all, hearing Night Travelers recount their experiences and watching live from a first-person perspective were two entirely different experiences.
It also wondered what kind of trouble this fellow Rast would stir up in the Night World this time.
……
In the elusive, undulating night shadows.
Rast saw lines of azure text flickering by.
[Night World Mission – “Echoes of the Era: Prelude to the Legend War” has begun.]
[Era Introduction: Iron Cross, active pollutants, rampaging Beast Tide, rampant cult organizations, destroyed towns…
As civilization rapidly develops, the flourishing golden age of the Sixth Epoch fades away; with the splendor gone, what follows is an endless catastrophe.
Even though the “Guardians of the Shore” organization has steadfastly held on for a century, the trajectory of fate seems to have already been drawn, with everything heading toward unavoidable demise.
In the dark, it seems that there is an invisible hand manipulating the course of the calamity, making the sparks of civilization ever more faint.
To this day, the high-ranking members of the Guardians have also discovered that continuing down the original path is nothing but a meaningless struggle for survival.
What they can do is take the initiative, shatter the root source of the calamity before everything becomes irretrievable…
Even if it means paying the price of blood and fire, of bones and ashes.]
[Meanwhile, in an inconspicuous corner, a girl named Grey passed the assessment and became a new member of the Guardians of the Shore organization.]
(The End of This Chapter)
