Chapter 64
Ever since Lortheran appeared, Lord Martin has lost all face.
However, there is still good news.
At this point, all of their remaining companions had arrived.
Well, speaking of this, he remembered the deceased Sylvain... Looking at Veris's depressed appearance, Lord Martin was really afraid that one day when he woke up, Veris would have a change of heart and follow Sylvain away.
But he didn't dare to persuade him; he could tell that Veris really didn't want to live anymore.
That guy from later generations, who claimed to be himself, swore that Sylvain was still alive.
Veris lost his composure that day, but it was impossible to discern his true thoughts afterward. Whenever Lord Martin thought of this incident, he couldn't help but feel troubled.
Lord Martin was utterly bewildered by the boy who was his father in his future life.
In the squad, he thought the smartest was Veris, followed by Sylvain, and then himself, Dragon, and Hill were tied for the top three.
If he had to say something, he felt he was a bit smarter.
First, the dragon, being an immature creature, is incredibly simple-minded, but its terrifying attack power and absurdly high defense make up for this.
Secondly, Hill is colorblind, and despite knowing he might have some misunderstandings about colors, he still insists on his own opinion. That's not all; he's also forgetful.
One major advantage of putting Hill in charge of logistics is that he generally doesn't hold grudges.
For those who had indirectly offended them but couldn't be killed, it was perfect to let Hill handle them. Moreover, because of his forgetfulness, he would forget what he had said, which often infuriated those self-proclaimed geniuses.
...It's probably a bit like being mentally challenged.
Cough cough, that's really harsh of you to say.
Hill does have other legitimate strengths, such as being a great alchemist who can create incredibly powerful puppets, equivalent to an armored army.
His warrior skills are also maxed out, and he also studies wood magic. His mage rating can reach level seven. He is practicing all three professions at the same time, and his alchemy and warrior professions are already at the level to stand at the top of the continent.
Four races gathered together: humans, elves, dragons, and sea creatures. Note that this is a half-version.
Poseidon's flesh and blood are, strictly speaking, sea creatures.
Veris sat to one side, Lord Martin was in the center, and Dragon and Hill were in the other positions.
Dragon noticed that Sylvain was missing, glanced cautiously at the gloomy-looking Veris, and then looked expectantly at Lord Martin in the center.
Where did Sylvain go?
Hill, who had learned of Sylvain's death, was clutching the fabric on his knees, too afraid to utter a sound.
Each member of their squad is a powerful figure capable of dominating a region on the continent, and strangely enough, they do not create discord with their comrades because of their strength.
Having served under a human city lord, Hill understands the importance of teamwork better than her companions.
He's forgetful, not completely forgetful!
Lortheran, needless to say, is born with the talent of a leader, has maxed out his warrior talent, and his luck stat is also maxed out. He can understand astrology from birth, which is equivalent to being a born max-level astrologer.
The dragon, the only dragon in the world, is both precious and ridiculously powerful.
Veris, the apothecary in the team, is usually responsible for casting healing magic circles and administering healing potions. Similarly, they don't know the extent of Veris's magical skill, only that if the enemy tries to capture Veris with the intention of capturing the weakest first, then that enemy is doomed.
The most insidious one has been arrested.
Veris is very cheerful, popular, and good-looking. Even Hill, who is mentally challenged, can see how popular Veris is.
Now it seems... everything is different.
Veris's aura was a thousand times more terrifying than before. He stopped laughing and sat upright in his usual spot, the seat next to him empty—the seat that used to belong to Sylvain.
Sylvain was the mage in their squad. There was no one he couldn't defeat. He was usually taciturn and serious, and he had a particularly good relationship with Veris.
He once thought Veris was a prodigal son who completely controlled Sylvain's mind, but now it seems that his understanding was too shallow.
Hill pursed her lips, feeling a pang of guilt.
Lord Martin, unable to bear the silence, cleared his throat and began to explain the upcoming battle plan. His squads were all present and would each lead an army to attack the respective cities.
"Do you want to go to the ruins first, or attack Butaya first?" Veris's pale fingertips pressed on the map on the table, which was one of each person's.
Putaya is the general name for that area of cities.
Lord Martin was somewhat silent. Taking down Butaya was certainly not something that could be done overnight, but the ruins were no different.
Veris closed his eyes and sensed the condition of the ruins, which were thousands of miles away. As he expected, many people had died there, and even Ambrose had found a new body to possess.
He opened his eyes again, frowned, and made a decision: "Let's go to the ruins first. The ruins are different from the Sea God's ruins. They can hold out for two more days, but there are many checkpoints inside, all designed to kill people."
"The God of Earth has also found a body to temporarily house his soul, so you must be careful."
The dragon looked at Veris, then shrank back and asked, "Veris, aren't you going?"
The black-haired youth smirked: "You guys took the good stuff, I'll go in and clean up the mess."
His expression was cold. When he sensed the ruins of Ambrose earlier, he discovered that the ruins of the Twin Gods were also opening, but they were for the trial participants.
The ruins of the Twin Gods... are there no restrictions?
He frowned slightly, tapped the table with his fingertips, and remained silent. The ruins would contain the divine artifacts of the respective gods, such as Poseidon's trident and Ambrose's staff, but... the artifacts of the twin gods had never revealed their presence.
In a flash, he remembered what Lortheran had told him, and his brows furrowed even more.
The artifact will be in his hands in the future.
But... where did the Twin Gods get their divine power to set up the obstacles in the ruins?
He could sense the weakness of those gods. For example, Poseidon simply didn't set up any messy obstacles. Wasting power was one thing, but being willing but unable to was another.
"What's wrong, Veris?" Lord Martin looked at the black-haired youth beside him.
Veris let out a long breath and said in a low voice, "The people of later generations came here this time to kill the god."
“I have killed the Seven Gods,” he said calmly.
The dragon blinked: "Oh, oh, you killed a god... Oh?!"
Dragons, though somewhat naive, know how important certain things are! Gods, the earth god Ambrose, whom their ancestral dragons worshipped, is a legendary deity.
Hill's eyes widened: "Are you serious!?"
These things couldn't be discussed in a letter, and Hill only just found out.
Veris nodded and continued, “The gods who had died were resurrected three hundred years later. Three hundred years later, I opened the door to time and put a group of people here, including…” He pressed his temples and looked at Hill, “the two you think are Lortheran’s bastards.”
The amount of information was overwhelming; Hill's brain was about to explode.
The dragon was in a similar state; it couldn't understand anything. What was this about Veris from three hundred years in the future opening a time portal and stuffing a group of humans into the present? Its eyes began to glaze over. "What? Lortheran has a bastard child?"
"Hey, stop focusing on the important points!" Lord Martin cried out in despair.
The dragon perked up: "Do you need me to prepare a gift for our meeting?"
"I dug up so many gems!"
"...No need." Lord Martin said helplessly.
Veris, seemingly oblivious to his two companions whose brains were about to explode, continued, "Lotheran told me that those deities who revived three hundred years later have escaped here and I need to kill them again. After you enter the ruins of the Earth God, you'd better go and kill Ambrose... never mind, you probably wouldn't even recognize who he is."
He gave the minimum requirement: "Obtaining the divine artifact is the most important thing."
The dragon protested, "I killed it with a single breath of fire! Don't underestimate me!"
Veris ignored it: "The sea god, the earth god, and the twin gods of time and fate all exist in the present, but according to my speculation, the last god, the sky god Yannis, is also here... I can't sense the presence of the sky god."
Beliefs are diverse nowadays, and there are indeed people who believe in gods.
Is that meager divine power really enough?
Lord Martin's expression turned serious: "Those people will stay for at most a month. The Sea God has already disappeared. We need to kill the Earth God. We still need to figure out how to deal with the Twin Gods. And you don't know where the Heavenly God is."
The dragon understood now, its eyes sparkling as it looked at Veris: "Veris is so strong, even stronger than a dragon!" It didn't have the guts to kill a god!
Veris listened to the dragon's crisp voice, but a bitter smile appeared on his face.
If the price of killing a god was losing Sylvain... I'm afraid I would have wavered back then.
Hill pulled the dragon.
The dragon shrank back and dared not utter a sound.
Lord Martin counted on his fingers and asked in surprise, "There are only five. Where are Cupid and the Devil?"
Veris glanced at him: "These two don't need to be counted."
"Oh." Lord Martin knew better than to ask what shouldn't be asked.
However, some people didn't understand this principle, like the dragon, who looked up blankly and asked, "Why?"
They can definitely defeat those two gods!
Veris's face darkened again. Hill tugged hard at the dragon's clothes, making a "rip" sound. The dragon exclaimed in surprise, "Hill, what are you doing?!"
No sooner had it finished speaking than Veris interjected, "Sylvain, the devil, is dead."
Lord Martin looked at the dragon with disappointment and frustration.
Hill wished he could hide his head under the table.
dragon:"……"
"Um, I, I didn't mean to." Long blinked, tears welling up in her eyes immediately. "Waaaaah, I, I don't know either."
Veris felt a headache coming on. The dragon was crying uncontrollably. It wouldn't be accurate to call it a wail, but its sobbing had clearly affected its companions.
The room fell silent for a moment.
Veris stood up and said in a low voice, "I'll go check on those two."
Stepping out of the house, the blood-red sky remained unchanged. He looked up at the endless expanse of crimson and dark pink, pressed his fingers to the corner of his eye, and felt a surge of frustration trapped in his chest, unable to be released.
He turned and went to find Lotheran and Arnold.
Since Lortheran said Arnold was his son, his son's companions couldn't pretend to be stupid and leave him to suffer. So they simply rescued them all and arranged accommodation for them.
But this time, Arnold's other companions brought along a strange new friend, Carlo, the elven saint.
To Allen and his companions' surprise, the elves, who had previously appeared glamorous and of noble status, had blended perfectly into the working crowd. If it weren't for their distinctive blond hair and blue eyes, they would hardly have recognized them as noble elven descendants.
To conceal this conspicuous feature, Carlo usually wears a dusty gray hat.
In short, the team of heroes who have been together for three hundred years has finally been assembled.
Lortheran squatted to one side, watching the group chat, stroking his chin as if lost in thought.
Sensing someone approaching, he looked over and saw Veris wearing a cloak. He stood up, dusted himself off, and greeted him with a smile: "Oh, what brings you here?"
Veris paused for a moment before saying, "Let's go for a walk."
Lortheran blinked, then suddenly said earnestly, "Then you absolutely must stop Sylvain from killing me in the future. I really can't beat that bastard Sylvain!"
The young man lowered his eyes and said, "Why did he cut you?" Undeniably, hearing these words calmed his restless heart considerably.
"Hmph..." Lortheran just chuckled, "You'll understand three hundred years from now."
The two walked out side by side.
Lortheran said that he might have a projection on him, and their time together would be shown three hundred years later, but the viewers would probably be people from the Royal Academy.
Veris asked what the Royal Academy was.
Lortheran then earnestly recounted the history of the Royal Academy, including many details that the current Royal Academy has not recorded. He described how several plans were considered when determining the boundaries of the Royal Academy, how King Lortheran argued with his ministers, and how the final decision was made to locate the area near the Central Forest.
The Royal Academy originally had a separate academy for demons and undead, but that was later abolished.
This city is very large, after all, it used to be the fourth district. Lortheran looked down at the ground and said that the future kingdom would be divided into eleven districts and a royal capital.
This corresponds to the twelve bishops of the Church.
The principle that papal and royal power are inseparable was a rule he established. He trusted Veris and believed that even if Veris stepped down as pope, he would find a qualified successor and prevent major conflicts between papal and royal power.
Instead, they don't trust their own descendants, thinking they're all a bunch of idiots.
After all, he himself was the most brilliant and powerful.
Just as he had hoped, Veris gradually transformed the ravaged continent of Icarus into the prosperous land it would be three hundred years later.
For over two hundred years, there was not a single day when he slacked off. Lortheran felt that he was exhausted from handling political affairs in his later years, but the affairs of the church were equally complicated. Veris worked diligently for over two hundred years before he could finally relax a little.
“You are truly remarkable,” said Lortheran.
He couldn't help but ask, "You could have found a successor, and with you keeping an eye on things, there wouldn't have been any trouble. Why have you been..." He didn't believe any of the Pope's nonsense about not wanting to give up his power.
Veris paused for a moment, thought for a while, and then slowly said, "Perhaps he felt that this was the last person in the team to ask for his permission, and that he had to do as you wished, no matter what."
Lortheran paused, his steps halting.
His breathing trembled slightly, he pursed his lips and remained silent, then gave a bitter laugh: "So it was me who kept you tied down. Am I the bastard?"
“No, this kind of work is probably what I want too, because it would keep me from dwelling on sadness.” Veris said, her eyes downcast.
On the blood-red ground, their shadows were stretched long and slanted.
He numbs himself with a lot of work because he won't die, so his body certainly doesn't matter. At worst, he can use a healing spell, and he'll be the perfect work puppet, without making any mistakes.
How ideal.
With him around, the kingdom's development could easily be centuries ahead. Before the branches of art and literature could even sprout from the soil, the people's material life had already reached new heights, creating an urgent need for better recreational activities.
The era of Lortheran as a hero has passed.
When Veris saw Arnold, he realized this very clearly.
He didn't quite understand why the later generation of Lortheran would use Arnold's father's body, but since it was the later generation's own decision, there must have been a reason.
Some topics were too heavy to delve into, so Lortheran twitched the corner of his mouth and immediately and naturally changed the subject.
But Veris interrupted him.
They had already climbed the city wall and were looking down at the entire city.
The strong wind was whipping up sand and dust, which was quite choking.
Veris looked down at the city and asked, "How did Hill and the dragon die?"
Lortheran pursed her lips and stood beside Veris.
After a long silence, his voice was heavy with emotion: "Hill died in the battle against the Demon King, and the dragon died suppressing a rebellion after the kingdom was established. You were spreading your faith far away at the time and didn't make it..."
Veris rested his hands on the rough stone wall, closed his eyes, and whispered, "Then we're all pretty useless."
Lortheran remained silent. Despite his best efforts to appear as a genuine eighteen-year-old boy within the youthful body that Veris had sculpted for him, the elegance that inadvertently emanated from his every gesture revealed that his later years had become one with palace life.
When he saw Hill, he stood in the corner, his eyes trembling slightly before he adopted a theatrical expression.
He watched as Veris's fingertips dug into the stone, speechless for a moment. He wanted to say something, but felt that anything he said would be inappropriate.
Veris closed his eyes, his eyelids still filled with that ominous red light.
"Do you think I can change the past?"
Lortheran: "...I don't know either."
Veris smiled and said, "If it can't be changed, it's even more heartbreaking."
The blond-haired boy fell silent. Veris was right. Even if they told him and his present self about the so-called future, would they be able to stop what had already happened?
"..."
etc! !
Lortheran suddenly looked up, frantically patting himself down, looking extremely anxious. Veris turned to look at him: "What are you looking for?"
The boy's face flushed with excitement, and he was so anxious about not being able to find the item that he almost cried: "The divine artifact! The divine artifact is on me! How could I forget? The Twin Gods gave me their divine artifact, and I kept it safe. How could it be gone?!"
Veris also sensed the aura of the Twin Gods' artifact, but shook his head: "Are you sure there's no such artifact?"
Lortheran's eyes were red-rimmed. He remembered the messages circulating in the streets and alleys, saying that whoever obtained the Key to Migannolan could reverse time and rewrite their destiny.
Yes, that's right, rewrite your destiny!!
Why would Veris place the Key to Mikanoran on him when everyone was watching?
The boy's body trembled, his scalp tingled, and his whole body felt numb as if he had been immersed in ice water. He grabbed Veris's cloak and stammered, "It can be done, Veris, you can definitely do it! I brought the artifact in, but now it's gone!"
"Because you, three hundred years later, placed it in my hands!"
Veris's eyes were filled with complex emotions. He grabbed Lortheran's wrist and said decisively, "But the artifact is indeed not here, or rather, the artifact is not from this era."
Sweat beaded on Lortheran's astonished face, and the sweat stung his eyes.
His lips trembled: "Veris, I'm an idiot, but I'm begging you."
The boy took a step back and solemnly knelt before the black-haired youth. The wind from the city wall grew stronger, causing his hair to fly up. His face was flushed red, making it impossible to tell whether it was from the crimson sunlight or from excitement.
"Save Hill and Dragon!"
"You've schemed so much, you must have put the divine artifact in the future!"
He dared not revisit that tragic and regretful memory; the departure of each companion tore at his heart. Why did he utter those words on his deathbed? Ultimately, he felt guilty towards Sylvain.
However, he suffered the same pain as his other companions.
"Hill died in the great battle with the Demon King, surrounded and attacked by countless demons. The dragon was on its way to help me quell the rebellion when it fell into a trap and was burned alive by flames."
Lortheran pressed his forehead against the scorching ground, his words trembling.
Behind the establishment of a kingdom that unified the continent, countless companions of the ruler were buried.
The cloaked youth stood in front of him, but turned his head to look at the boundless wilderness and rolling mountains.
Even the most joyful and carefree adventures of heroes always end in a tragic failure.
But for these people, the tragedy was particularly devastating.
"Have you ever considered what if we didn't have that artifact?" Veris's voice was devoid of any emotion, coldly sweeping over the surroundings.
Lortheran did not raise his head. He knelt before his friend, showing no trace of the arrogance of a founding king, only endless regret.
“Veris”.
“You can change your destiny even without that key,” he said firmly.
The head, drenched in sweat, slowly rose, its face deathly pale, illuminated only by the crimson light of the sky. It looked at Veris, its breath hot and dry.
"You are someone who can kill a god."
"To place too much trust in fate is not to kill God."
Veris listened to his words, turned his head back, looked at him with a complicated expression, slowly squatted down, and stared intently into Lortheran's eyes.
I also noticed the red markings that appeared on his body.
Finally, he sighed and said, "I understand."
That wasn't what Lortheran said to him anymore; to be precise, it was his future self who said those words to him.
Even without that artifact that can reverse time, he can still change his fate with his strength.
Because opening this door is itself the beginning of reversing fate.
Veris helped Lortheran up and whispered, "I will."
-
In the Grand Vatican's library, Veris had been sitting there all day when Sylvain brought him a steaming cup of Moro tea and gently placed it on his table.
Veris stared intently at a page in a book on the table, while Sylvain stood beside him with his eyes downcast. Silence permeated the vast library, mingled with the smell of ink.
In the reflection of those heterochromatic eyes, the words in the book began to change.
In that instant, Veris seemed to have lost most of his strength, his shoulders slumped down, and Sylvain supported his weak shoulders. Veris still forced himself to keep his eyes on the changing text.
His pale fingertips turned to the next page.
After seeing the text that had been frozen in time, I closed my eyes tightly.
...That's right.
He did it.
Sylvain didn't say anything, but gently massaged Veris's temples. After staying up for so long, Veris must have a headache.
The library's entrance was far away, and the interior was ridiculously large. Suddenly, faint footsteps approached from afar.
The boy's clear voice was filled with confusion: "Where is this? I feel like Veris is here... Is Sylvan still here? Veris? Veris?"
Reclining back in his chair, Veris spoke in a hoarse voice: "It's a dragon."
-----------------------
Author's Note: Dragons are like landmarks, naturally able to sense the location of their companions.
However, Xiao Wei didn't have high hopes of actually succeeding. After all, rewriting one's destiny sounds incredibly difficult to achieve, and even when he first got the key, he hadn't considered that possibility. [hugs]
Lortheran was truly intelligent, and Viktoria from three hundred years ago was also quite daring.
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