Chapter 2288 A Strand of Consciousness <TOC> Chapter 2290 Mad Hatter’s Coronation
Translator: SumTLMan
The Book of Kael, owned and possessed by the Temple of Prophets, is currently housed within the Orderly Guild for reasons unknown.
The Book of Kael is referred to by prophecy wizards as a mysterious object because Kael himself is the legendary prophecy wizard who alone reached the pinnacle of Miracles.
Those who are not prophecy wizards prefer to call it… the Book of Destiny.
A mysterious book capable of Writing Destiny.
Its rank is even comparable to Augustine’s Twin Mirror. In the Source World, Augustine’s Twin Mirror are known as the Mirror of Truth, and many wizards, including Miracle wizards, have said that this mirror contains the secrets of truth.
The fact that the Book of Kael is mentioned in the same breath as Augustine’s Twin Mirror speaks volumes.
Having spent many years in the Temple of Prophets, Feng was naturally aware of the power of the Book of Kael. After some thought, he decided to use the Book of Kael to rewrite the destiny of the Demon God’s descent.
Thus, Feng expended a great deal of favors and resources to apply through the Temple of Prophets for a one-time right to use the Book of Kael.
Feng paused and then said, “You might have guessed what comes next. It wasn’t me who chose you; it was the Book of Kael that chose you.”
Angel was still somewhat confused: “How did the Book of Kael choose me?”
Feng shook his head: “I don’t know.”
Seeing the doubt on Angel’s face, Feng thought for a moment and said, “Although the Orderly Guild advised me not to disclose the process of using the Book of Kael to outsiders, since you were chosen by the Book of Kael, you’re not an outsider. I can share a bit about what happened.”
After saying this, Feng organized his thoughts and began to describe his encounter with the Book of Kael——
It was an ancient palace enveloped in dim, yellow light. Led by a fully armed guardian, Feng walked into the palace.
Unlike other places within the Orderly Guild that housed mysterious objects, this vast palace contained only one such item: the Book of Kael.
Upon entering the ancient palace, Feng heard a series of low, intricate, indistinct whispers.
These were not eerie whispers but rather like the murmurs of a Demon God.
Just listening to these whispers, Feng felt various scenes floating before his eyes, some from the past and others from the future. These scenes drew Feng in, making him want to delve deeper, to uncover the secrets of the past and to see what the future held…
However, before Feng could immerse himself in these visions, the fully armed guardian woke him: “The future scenes you see now are false. The past scenes are also false. But if you insist on looking deeper, the false will become true.”
If probabilities were to collapse, it could trigger a terrifying disaster. Therefore, if Feng looked at those scenes and exceeded a certain limit, to avoid altering certain events, the guardian would immediately kill Feng.
Even if the guardian does not lay a hand on Feng, sometimes the torrents of destiny will sweep him into a mire from which he can never recover.
And these images brought about by whispers are the side effects of the Book of Kael.
Of course, for humans, these are side effects, but for the Book of Kael, this is one of its mysterious features.
Feng speculates that perhaps it is because of these mysterious features that the Temple of Prophets placed the Book of Kael in the Orderly Guild. Because if it were in the Temple of Prophets, those prophecy wizards curious about the future might be tempted by the Book of Kael and perish in the River of Destiny one after another.
Feng gathered his thoughts, completely emptied his mind, and no longer paid attention to the unblockable whispers and images, following the guardian step by step to the center of the ancient palace.
Here, Feng finally saw the Book of Kael.
Unlike its immensely revered name, the Book of Kael looked very ordinary.
It was just an ancient notebook with a black leather cover and pages of yellowed parchment.
Even the parchment was frayed at the edges, looking as if it had been used by its owner for many years.
Feng was not surprised by the appearance of the Book of Kael, because many mysterious objects are unremarkable in appearance. Just like Augustine’s Twin Mirror, which is as famous as the Book of Kael, it looks just like an ordinary makeup mirror and is full of various usage marks, some places even have remnants of white makeup paste.
It is said that these marks are the imprints left by their previous owners before they became mysterious objects.
“What should I do now?” Feng asked the guardian.
The guardian said, “You just need to pick up the pen, open the Book of Kael, and write your request on the first page, and you don’t need to worry about the rest.”
Following the guardian’s instructions, Feng flipped through the ancient pages and wrote down his request on the blank first page: to prevent the Demon God Calamity that would occur in the Southern Region in the near future.
When Feng was writing his request, he did not avoid the guardian, because the guardian already knew what he was asking for… or rather, it was precisely because he knew what Feng was asking for that the application for the use of the Book of Kael went so smoothly. After all, no matter what, the Wizarding World of the Southern Region is one of the four Wizarding Worlds, and once the Demon God Calamity descends, it would destroy the foundation of the wizards.
Feng’s request was for the benefit of the entire Wizarding World, not just for himself, and also because of the relationship with the Temple of Prophets, he was able to successfully apply for the use of the Book of Kael.
After Feng finished writing his request, the words on the page blurred as if they were bleeding, and soon disappeared.
The page returned to being blank.
Just as Feng was puzzled, the whispering around his ears suddenly became more pronounced. No matter how Feng calmed his thoughts and tried to be peaceful, he could not ignore the murmuring whispers, which made their presence felt even more.
At this moment, the guardian beside him said, “Now that you have written down your request, you don’t need to block out the voices around your ears anymore, listen to the feedback they bring you…”
Due to the guardian’s words, Feng completely opened his heart, letting the whispers entwine around him.
And with the arrival of the whispers, a multitude of images began to flood into his mind.
The first image among them was the terrifying scene of the Demon God descending upon the Southern Region.
Upon seeing this image, Feng immediately understood intuitively; this was the Book of Kael responding to his request… He had originally thought that the Book of Kael would write the response on its pages, but unexpectedly, it conveyed the feedback to him through whispers.
Feng began to delve deeply into each and every image.
Each image represented something. All of these things were what the Book of Kael was asking Feng to do.
For example, it asked Feng to go to the Abyss to teach an Abyssal Flame Dragon hidden in Ice Valley the skill of painting.
Another example, it asked Feng to go to La Sutherland to befriend an innkeeper named Night.
And for the final example, it asked Feng to come to the Tidal Realm…
When Feng should go to which place, what he should do there, and what kind of words he should speak, were all presented one by one in the images. It can be said that the Book of Kael arranged Feng’s tasks very clearly.
However, even though the Book of Kael displayed the details to Feng in great detail, it completely omitted the reason for doing so.
That is to say, Feng did not know why he had to do all these things in the Abyss and the Tidal Realm.
Time flew by, and it was not until Feng began to lay out plans in both worlds as the Book of Kael had said, that he vaguely felt that all his actions were a prelude, and these preludes would one day become the tide of destiny, pushing someone who would break the stalemate, to compose the final symphonic movement.
…
After listening to Feng’s narration, Angel was stunned for a while.
He had always thought that the one manipulating him within the game was the source of all evil——Mirafael Von.
But unexpectedly, before the outcome appeared, Feng, like him, was in a state of being blinded. Only Feng was blind with his eyes open, while Angel was truly blind.
Feng was just the executor, and the layout was by the Book of Kael.
After coming to this conclusion, Angel reminisced about his journey starting from the Abyss and found that this layered game was perfected to a terrifying extent, definitely not something Feng could arrange alone.
His direction, his thoughts, his various choices, seemed to be laid out in front of the planner.
And every choice of Angel also involved the people around him.
It can be said that this was no longer just a layout, but pulling countless people onto the stage, becoming supporting characters in this predetermined drama. And Angel was destined to be the protagonist of this drama.
Within the intricate details, nothing can be deemed insignificant. It’s important to understand that even a moment of insight from Angel, deciding against venturing into the Abyss, or choosing a different path upon encountering one, could alter many outcomes significantly.
In such a game where variables are almost too vast to control, to still arrange the situation so perfectly is indeed beyond human capability.
Feng alone, or any other prophecy wizard, even those capable of creating miracles, might not suffice.
Only an object of mystery like the Book of Kael could disregard all realities of logic, laying out such an almost impossible situation with effortless grace.
It is with this realization that Angel harbors no doubt towards Feng’s narration.
The slight anger previously felt towards Feng has also dissipated somewhat. Though some deep-seated dissatisfaction remains, for no matter the justification, Feng is the instigator, an undeniable fact.
However, aside from the negative perception of Feng, Angel also harbors a sense of gratitude. The reason being, Feng’s initial intention aligns with Angel’s, both not wishing for the Demon God Calamity to befall the Southern Region… Of course, what Angel hadn’t anticipated was that he himself would end up preventing this disaster.
“I’ve told you everything about the Book of Kael, do you have any questions?” Feng allowed Angel a moment of contemplation before asking, once Angel seemed to regain his composure.
After pondering for a moment, Angel said, “I understand the general situation, but what confuses me is, the Demon God scheme could have entirely concluded within the Abyss. Why then involve a whole array of matters related to the Tidal Realm?”
To Angel, from the moment Odeklaes gave him the Ouija Multi-Pattern Cipher Key, leading up to the journey to the Tidal Realm, all seemed inconsequential.
It didn’t seem to have much connection to the original intent of the scheme——to prevent the Demon God Calamity from descending upon the Southern Region.
So, why then add a game involving the Tidal Realm?
Feng smiled lightly: “In stories, a hero defeating a dragon often finds hidden treasures or a beautiful princess taken captive, as a reward arranged by the author for defeating the dragon.”
“Though the Book of Kael is not a story, it follows a similar principle. What you invest, you shall receive.”
In other words, the Abyss game was the battle stage, while the Tidal Realm game was the reward stage. Angel’s previous speculation was indeed correct.
“Is the treasure the reward?” Angel paused: “Is this reward given by you?”
Feng nodded: “Correct, since it was I who made the request to the Book of Kael, it’s only natural that I pay the price.”
“What if you chose not to pay? After all, your request has now been fulfilled, you could simply choose not to abide by the rules of the Book of Kael.”
“I wish I could,” Feng shrugged. “But that’s not possible.”
“Why is that not possible?”
Feng said, “Whether it’s the Tidal Realm or the Abyss, it all belongs to a single game. Remember, it’s ‘one’ game, not ‘two’. If it were two, we could consider them separately, but with one game, if I don’t pay the price, then the game isn’t truly resolved.”
“If I really were to ignore giving this reward, I assure you, an accident would surely occur. Perhaps the Flameless Lord would soon find a new opportunity, quickly gain a new True Spirit, and descend upon the Southern Region once again; or maybe, another Demon God suddenly gets the idea to take a stroll in the Southern Region…”
“Therefore, this game must be resolved completely. The Tidal Realm is an indispensable part of this game.”
“The keeper of the Book of Kael once told me something: Destiny does not easily spare those who gamble.”
“The ‘destiny’ here refers to the destiny written in the Book of Kael. If it’s not fulfilled, being targeted by the Book of Kael is truly bad news.”
Because of this, even though Feng is pained by the thought of losing the treasure, he dares not disobey the laws.
Angel noticed that when Feng mentioned “the price to be paid” and “the treasure,” there was always a flicker of distress in his eyes. This reminded him of what Frost Iseth and Nemeti had said, that Feng had shown great reluctance and pain when placing the treasure, which is very similar to the current game.
Angel was curious about what this treasure could be, that it could make Feng… even a strand of consciousness within a painting by Feng, feel such distress?
Angel voiced his curiosity.
Feng, seemingly anticipating Angel’s question, sighed deeply and slowly took out a small metal box from his starry cloak.
With eyes full of reluctance, Feng set down the box and eventually pushed it towards Angel.
“This is the greatest treasure that Feng has left behind.”
Angel looked at the metal box displayed on the table. It was a box smaller than the size of a palm, roughly the size of a child’s pocket watch, and about as thick as one, not seeming like it could contain much.
Yet, such a small box carried Feng’s gaze full of distress, which inevitably made Angel grow intensely curious about it.
Chapter 2288 A Strand of Consciousness <TOC> Chapter 2290 Mad Hatter’s Coronation