Translator: SumTLMan
The Enforcer looked at the hand extended by Angel, as well as the monocle on the palm shimmering with a metallic luster, and suddenly fell into silence.
As a legendary wizard, he was well aware and could discern that Angel’s words were sincere.
Moreover, the style of this monocle was very similar to the one Nisi used before going into a deep sleep.
These details suggested that Angel was not deceiving him.
Using this seemingly ordinary monocle, it indeed might be possible to glimpse the truth of the so-called “Wilderness of Dreams and Mother Tree Network.”
However, he still hesitated about whether to accept it.
As an Enforcer, when he arrived in the Southern Region, he took an oath to the Will of the Southern Region according to the rules of the Orderly Guild: unless an out of control object ensued, he would absolutely not intervene in any events of the Southern Region.
This also meant that, under the framework of the oath, even establishing contact with wizards of the Southern Region was not in compliance.
Of course, the oath rules drafted by the Orderly Guild couldn’t really be that strict, after all, Enforcers were sent to various worlds to complete missions, not to be exiled prisoners.
As an Enforcer, there was still some leeway, otherwise, he couldn’t even go shopping in Sky Mechanical City.
To utilize the deliberately left leeway in the oath, generally, one could follow two principles:
First, find a legitimate reason on the surface, and through one’s own conscience, to some extent, intervene in the turmoil of the Southern Region. Previously, the Enforcer saw Firo, and in the laboratory saw Angel, actually making use of this condition.
Second, double Compensatory Exchange Principle.
Whether it’s the Southern Region or the Source World, most wizards actually acknowledge the principle of “equivalent exchange”: what one gains, one must pay an equal amount. This principle was also written into the oath by the Orderly Guild, allowing Enforcers to intervene in the observed world to some extent, but there must be a compensatory exchange, and this exchange is double. What is gained must be paid back in “double” benefits to compensate.
For example, if he intervened in a turmoil of the Southern Region, then he must make a double return, compensating the World Will, to offset the cost of intervention. As for how to compensate the World Will? Generally speaking, it involves contacting the Extreme Sect, doing some activities to expel foreign gods from other worlds.
Of course, Enforcers generally do not intervene in the turmoil of the Southern Region, if they really intervene, they certainly would not go through compensatory exchange, but follow the path of one’s own conscience.
In the example above, when there is no specific direction, then the recipient of the return is the World Will, benefiting the Extreme Sect.
If there is a specific direction, for example, now, his specific direction is Angel. If he accepts Angel’s gift, then he must make a compensatory exchange in double to Angel, which is in accordance with the principle.
Therefore, the Enforcer hesitated about whether to accept the monocle handed over by Angel.
After receiving the monocle, he effectively accepted the truth behind “long-distance Dream Sending.” This type of truth, even without deep “knowledge,” holds considerable value.
He might need to make a significant compensation to Angel to make up for this exchange.
The Enforcer can’t determine the value of this exchange, hence hesitates to make a rash move.
He now also feels some regret. Had he known earlier, he would not have asked and instead observed in secret, stealthily figuring things out on his own. Even if it meant going against his oath, he could have followed his conscience and sought a legitimate reason to justify himself.
However, now that Angel has presented the truth to him with sincerity, he finds himself restrained.
The Enforcer feels bitter but can’t express it. He can’t just tell Angel that he wants to take back his previous question, can he?
After a moment of silence, the Enforcer softly says, “If you think the answer is important, you don’t actually have to respond, nor do you need to explain anything to me.”
Angel considers for a moment and responds, “It’s not important. Since you are acquainted with Lord Frost, you should know that I am an alchemist. The truth is quite simple; it’s just a little something I crafted.”
A crafted little something, huh?
If that’s the case, then the price he has to pay is manageable!
The Enforcer carefully examines the monocle, attempting to discern the truth through its essence. However, the monocle is imbued with a faint aura of the Nightmare Plane, containing a trace of its energy. Although it’s very diluted, he doesn’t understand it…
But in the eyes of the Enforcer, the monocle is indeed not something remarkable.
So, he decides to accept it. The price to pay, probably won’t be too much… right?
With this thought, the Enforcer finally extends his hand and takes the monocle from Angel’s palm.
“The Wilderness of Dreams, right? I’ll check it out when I have time.” After receiving the monocle, the Enforcer doesn’t use it immediately but stores it in a twisted space.
He decides to deal with the matter at hand first, before exploring the monocle. As for the “compensatory exchange” with Angel, he’ll make a decision after visiting the Wilderness of Dreams. After all, he won’t be leaving the Southern Region anytime soon and can always seek out Angel to compensate.
Angel sees the Enforcer putting away the monocle without immediately asking questions and breathes a sigh of relief. Explaining would take too much time, and there isn’t enough time now.
Angel turns to look at Sanders.
After greeting the Enforcer, Sanders stands a bit away, observing the surroundings. He sees the attractive fruit in the distance and the night sky shimmering above.
Angel walks over to Sanders and quickly summarizes the current situation. He omits what can be omitted and gets straight to the point.
Sanders: “Not saving you, but saving Canter? That fruit in the distance is an out of control Mysterious Object that might advance?”
Angel nodded, pointing to Canter, whose figure intermittently vanished and reappeared in the night: “Nisi and I have discussed it, and there are currently two methods that may assist Lord Canter…”
After hearing the solutions proposed by Angel, Sanders pondered, “I’m not versed in spatial lines, and it would be difficult to find a space wizard at this moment, so we’ll have to discard the first method. The second method, interfering with reality in the interstitial space, seems worth a try.”
Sanders also considered whether there were other ways to help Canter. Certainly, there were. However, in terms of practicality, Nisi’s suggestion of interfering with reality in the interstitial space seemed more suitable for him.
“Are you familiar with spatial rituals?” Angel inquired.
Interfering with reality in the interstitial space was definitely within Sanders’ capabilities. But to implement the second method successfully, one must also be skilled in the spatial rituals to stabilize the space where Canter was located.
“Yes,” Sanders nodded, his reply succinct and firm.
A flicker of joy crossed Angel’s face: “Then we can try it now. As long as you stabilize the space where Lord Canter is located, I’ll immediately open the Gateway of Fantasy and pull Lord Canter back!”
Sanders, understanding the urgency of the situation, nodded without delay.
However, before starting the trial, Sanders turned to Nisi, “By the way, the consumables for opening the spatial rift and the materials needed for setting up the spatial rituals, I’ll ask you for them later, remember to prepare them.”
Nisi was taken aback for a moment, and it wasn’t until Sanders had entered the spatial rift that he snapped back to reality, indignantly protesting: “Why should I reimburse them? It’s not my responsibility!”
By then, Sanders had already entered the spatial rift, unable to hear his words.
Nisi quickly turned to Angel: “Angel, you be the judge. Has he lost his mind? Why would he ask me for reimbursement?”
However, Angel was also not paying attention to Nisi at that moment; he was busy detecting spatial fluctuations, ready to open the Gateway of Fantasy at any moment.
After a tense wait of several minutes, Angel finally saw something unusual in the sky.
Projections of some objects appeared near Canter.
These projections were the materials needed for the spatial rituals. Sanders had crossed the spatial rift and directly projected the materials for setting up the ritual into reality!
The materials were arranged in a highly ceremonial manner, encircling Canter.
Canter didn’t seem to react much, perhaps because he could feel that the projections of the ritual around him meant him no harm.
At the moment the spatial rituals were fully set up, Angel distinctly felt a slowing down in Canter’s vicinity, and the surging night became calm.
The spatial fluctuations, at this moment, reached an unprecedented level of stability.
The ritual was a success!
Without hesitation, Angel opened the Gateway of Fantasy, targeting the air!
After the Gateway of Fantasy took shape, there were no signs of fracturing, indicating that the space had truly stabilized. Angel couldn’t wait to step forward and push open the grand door.
Upon the door’s opening, Angel immediately spotted Canter not far away.
At this moment, Canter’s expression was unmistakably ferocious, with a faint red tinge in his eyes, staring intently at the fruit above the wave crests, on the verge of ripeness.
Canter’s demeanor clearly showed that he was indeed influenced by the fruit, unable to extricate himself.
However, the Enforcer was also correct in saying that Canter still retained a sliver of reason. Otherwise, Canter would not have been indifferent when the Gateway of Fantasy appeared.
That remaining thread of reason made Canter understand that the Gateway of Fantasy was not an enemy.
The next step was to bring Canter through the Gateway of Fantasy.
Given Canter’s strength far surpassed Angel’s, forcibly pulling him was out of the question. The only way was to let that remaining rational part of Canter take a slight upper hand, preventing too much resistance.
As for the method, it was quite simple: Angel directly allowed the influence of the green rune, passing through the Gateway of Fantasy, to gradually envelop Canter.
The moment Canter was enveloped by the domain, the slight redness in his eyes visibly faded, and his expression showed a bit of confusion.
“Now!” Angel shouted, swiftly constructing three Magic Hands in midair.
Nisi also caught on to the intention, creating a pure white skeletal chain.
The Magic Hands and skeletal chain entered the Gateway of Fantasy simultaneously, with the Magic Hands grabbing Canter’s arms, and the skeletal chain wrapping around Canter’s waist.
The crucial moment had arrived: would Canter resist?
Canter slowly turned his head, his gaze confused, but he showed no intent to resist.
Angel and Nisi’s faces lit up with joy, without any hesitation, they exerted force, and Canter tumbled out of the Gateway of Fantasy, appearing beside them.
After completing all this, Angel let out a huge sigh of relief.
Turning to look at Canter, his gaze was still somewhat confused, and the trace of redness in his eyes had not completely disappeared, evidently still under some influence of the fruit. However, with the domain’s suppression, and Canter now far from the fruit’s influence, Angel believed it wouldn’t take long for Canter to return to his normal state.
While Angel was taking a breather, Sanders emerged from the interstitial space.
Angel and Sanders exchanged glances, a silent celebration of their success.
Nisi, upon seeing Sanders, immediately prepared to discuss the matter of expenses vehemently. However, Sanders didn’t pay him any heed, directly walking over to Canter.
As a dear friend for many years, Sanders was deeply concerned about Canter’s condition.
Under Sanders’ treatment, Canter’s eyes gradually cleared. Before long, the red glow in his eyes finally faded.
“I’m fine now, thank you.” Canter didn’t ask how Sanders suddenly appeared; he didn’t have the time to pay attention to these details. This was because, after returning from the Gateway of Fantasy, the control over the night sky above him had started to falter, showing signs of backlash.
Canter closed his eyes and slightly reorganized his magic’s flow to prevent backlash.
Even so, Canter’s condition was still a lot more languid than initially, mainly due to the enormous mental exhaustion he experienced while resisting the fruit’s attraction.
“You all…”
Canter opened his eyes, wanting to say something. However, at this moment, Nisi suddenly announced, “Number 03 is here!”
Looking over, indeed, amidst the far-off misty waters, waves surged towards them.
And Number 03 stood atop one of these towering waves.
…
Number 03 had been in a standoff with Canter, so she had remained stationary. Now that Canter had broken the stalemate, Number 03 also gained freedom.
“We should leave quickly. Number 03 isn’t hard to deal with, but that fruit is too strange! We must not get close!” Canter said, his tone revealing a hint of fear when mentioning the fruit.
This was something Angel had never seen before. It clearly showed the immense shock the fruit had caused Canter.
Angel and Nisi naturally agreed with Canter. Since Sanders had just arrived, he lacked enough information to judge the fruit and was somewhat curious about it. However, Sanders wasn’t reckless. His old friend feared the fruit so much for a reason. Therefore, Sanders didn’t object.
“I’ll contact Firo to stop controlling the sea beasts with Number x3.” Nisi said, “We’re retreating too.”
Now that Number 03 could move freely, she was no longer restricted by the range and could wander freely, using the fruit’s attraction to break Number x3’s repulsion of the sea beasts. Thus, Number x3’s ability was rendered useless.
Regarding the overflow of sea beasts causing the fruit to go out of control… Perhaps in the past, they would have cared, but now with the Enforcer here, with the Enforcer taking action, they need not worry about the consequences.
Everyone hurriedly prepared to distance themselves from this surging tidal area.
But before they could move away, a startling scene suddenly appeared.
The sky abruptly changed color, the foggy firmament obscured by a sheet of night. At the same time, the surrounding mist began to vanish at a speed visible to the naked eye, with visibility increasing continuously from a hundred meters, to several kilometers, and even more than ten nautical miles.
As the mist dissipated, the stars in the night sky shone exceptionally bright, densely scattered across the heavens, it looked as if they had returned to a clear summer night.
“Lord Like the Night, you… are you manipulating the night sky again?” Nisi looked at the suddenly changed sky, somewhat hesitantly asked.
Canter: “…I’m right beside you, can’t you feel whether I’ve used any magic?”
If it wasn’t Canter who changed the sky, then what was going on?
Even the fog, an old phenomenon from whence the beginning was a time unknown, vanished in an instant, but who could do this?
Could it be that the Ziz cub has fallen. For this, the sky and the sea, lament?
Angel turned his head to look at the Enforcer not far away: “Lord, this is…”
The Enforcer did not look at Angel, but quietly gazed at the heavens, after a long while, slowly said:
“It has come.”