Chapter 2672 Synchronized <TOC>
Translator: SumTLMan
“…Roughly speaking, those are the rules of the immersive broadcast.”
After Angel finished explaining the general guidelines, he finally stretched, stood up, and walked toward a large door in the distance.
“You’ve probably looked over everything in this room as well. The Wood Spirit likely isn’t here, so let’s continue forward.”
Watching Angel’s somewhat slight figure, Vai couldn’t help but ask: “My lord, do we follow behind you?”
Angel nodded: “That’s right.”
“Can your computational ability handle it?” Concern was evident in Vai’s eyes. He could sense that even restoring just this one room required a massive amount of calculation. Angel also had to keep synchronizing illusions for everyone as they moved along. Just imagining it made him certain the consumption of computational power must be enormous.
Angel was younger than he was, could his computational ability really withstand such a colossal burden?
“I can,” Angel replied, nodding once. Vai’s every thought was written plainly on his face, so just one glance revealed the questions in his mind.
“No need to worry.” After a moment’s reflection, Angel explained: “In the field of illusions, there’s a term called ‘Illusory Logic.’”
“To deceive someone, you first decide the type of deception: for instance, restoration, reconstruction, inducement, bewitchment, and so forth… After that, you need a self-consistent chain of logic. This logical chain allows the illusion to develop on its own, following its predetermined trajectory, toward self-consistency. That autonomous progression is Illusory Logic.”
“As long as Illusory Logic is set from the start, everything will gradually become self-consistent, and it significantly reduces the caster’s consumption.”
“And we’re continuing onward precisely to help this logical chain perfect itself. As we push forward, the speed of self-consistency will only increase, and the consumption, conversely, will gradually lessen.”
Of course, Angel was describing the ideal scenario; he did not mention the greatest obstacle to Illusory Logic:
Variables.
When the Illusory Logic encounters too many variables that exceed its capacity, it halts its evolution, and the logic chain breaks.
For example, illusions generally don’t fear facing off against spells from the elemental branch, because illusions rely on “deception,” while elemental spells require a “target.” If you cannot target anything because you’ve been deceived, then elemental spells become effectively useless.
But nothing in this world is absolute. If an elemental spell reaches a realm so powerful that Illusory Logic cannot mask it, say, large-scale destruction, or extremely rapid targeted destruction, it creates a surge of unknown variables. If those unknown variables grow too numerous, the logical chain shatters and the illusion naturally dissolves.
This is why, when wizards of the elemental branch find themselves trapped in illusions, their first choice is usually a large-scale, indiscriminate attack: it brings forth an abundance of variables.
And how many variables a wizard can sustain within Illusory Logic has become one of the benchmarks for measuring how strong that illusion truly is.
Angel neglected to mention this point simply because the number of variables he can endure is extremely high, so high that even he doesn’t know his own limit, as there’s no way to test it.
As for why Angel can withstand so many variables, one reason is the extraordinary stability of Nightmare Aura power, and the other is that the Wilderness of Dreams is backing him up.
Beneath the façade of a “world,” or stripped of its glamorous exterior, one sees its deepest foundation: the logic that keeps it running.
In the end, even the entire world is made of countless forms of logic.
Though the Wilderness of Dreams is not yet a full-fledged world, it already has the prototype of one. Within it exist myriad living beings, countless plants, and ceaseless changes occurring every moment, variables upon variables.
Angel typically pays these variables no mind, but whenever he confronts a situation that demands he absorb an enormous quantity of variables, the Wilderness of Dreams becomes his greatest source of support.
Put simply, as long as Angel remains master of the Wilderness of Dreams, he can bear far more variables than peers of his realm, even those of higher realm, in illusion studies.
With the continuous improvement of the Wilderness of Dreams, Angel’s capacity to handle variables will continue to expand.
In a sense, this is the unique heritage of the Phantom Island lineage. The existence of the Nightmare Domain not only serves in battle but also facilitates the evolution of variables. And all who belong to the Phantom Island lineage possess a Nightmare Domain; among them, the mightiest Nightmare Domain is Angel’s Wilderness of Dreams.
“I see. I thought continuing on would only make your calculations escalate,” Vai muttered sheepishly, scratching his head.
“From the perspective of environmental reconstruction alone, the consumption of computational power isn’t too great,” Angel said: “However, if you all start physically interacting with everything you encounter along the way, that would consume a large amount of my computational power.”
“So, unless you find something particularly noteworthy, try not to touch anything.”
After he finished speaking, Angel cast a glance toward Kael beside him: “Of course, you’re an exception. But be careful, there might be traps here. You’re not like them. They’re illusions, so they can ignore traps, but you need to watch your step.”
Kael nodded: “I understand.”
“Oh, and the spatial properties here are quite chaotic. You should also pay attention to any surrounding spatial rifts.”
Damage from a spatial rift would surely be less severe than a trap left behind after thousands of years, but Angel placed more emphasis on caution toward traps. As for spatial rifts…Kael himself was a disciple of the space discipline. Though his combat power was weak, the knowledge he gained through academic study allowed him to detect fluctuations in spatial energy at the earliest signs.
After giving these precautions, Angel headed toward the wide-open door.
Angel had once been here, in Nightfall City of the Nightmare Plane. He recalled that past this door lay a smaller chamber, followed by a stairway leading upward.
This area could be considered level zero; to reach level one, they would have to ascend quite a distance of stairs.
Once the door opened, Angel’s steps halted slightly, and his pupils contracted.
He understood now why the Black Count had cautioned him to prepare a contingency plan…because even on level zero, the structure was already shattered.
Originally, this was a wooden chamber. Now, however, only fragmented planks drifted through the dark void.
Sometimes these planks spread apart, sometimes they joined together, shifting in short planar movements. As a whole, it looked like floats on the water’s surface. Floats have ropes anchoring them, preventing them from drifting off, and these planks were likewise anchored by the energy net of a magic formation, so they wouldn’t drift deeper into the void.
Visually it was startling, but as long as one didn’t step incorrectly, there was no real danger.
The planks’ continuous movement resembled the levels of some puzzle game Angel had seen on the holographic tablet, where you must time your jump precisely to cross without falling.
For average people, caution would be crucial, but for Angel and Kael, getting across was simple. They did not even bother stepping on the boards, both hopped straight to the platform on the opposite side.
Angel remembered this platform. In his mind, it served as a buffer zone between the room and the stairs, with wall sconces that once lined the walls. But now the walls had all vanished, sconces and all.
Fortunately, the stairway at the end of the platform wasn’t completely ruined. Though only by comparison was it still intact. Originally, these stairs were enclosed, like the passage of a tomb: winding, dark, cramped, and long, but now the ceiling and walls of the stairwell had disappeared.
Only a lone flight of stairs remained, extending into an unknown void.
Seeing how different this place looked compared to the Hanging Prison Stairs of the Nightmare Plane, Angel couldn’t help feeling emotional. Merely from this scene of devastation, one could imagine how frightening the Void Storm must have been here in those days.
“Let’s go upstairs. The Wood Spirit shouldn’t be here,” Angel said to Kael.
Kael nodded and glanced around. The platform was empty, drifting planks bobbing to and fro, offering no sign of the Wood Spirit. The likelihood it was here was nearly zero.
Yet, just as Kael was about to follow Angel up the stairs, he heard a shriek behind him.
Startled, Kael braced for a possible attack, striking a defensive pose.
But when he turned, he saw no one under attack: Vai had simply stepped on nothing, dropped into the dark void, and let out that scream of terror. It was Vai’s voice they had heard.
“Lord, he…” Kael wanted to ask Angel why Vai, being just an illusion, had managed to fall into the void. But before Kael could speak, Vai walked back in through the doorway behind them.
Kael’s eyes went wide: “Didn’t he just fall down there?”
He wasn’t the only one, everyone else turned to Vai in curiosity.
Daus even opened his mouth in mockery: “You managed to misstep on a simple plank. You might as well spend the rest of your life indoors.”
With the Sovereign of Wisdom present, Vai dared not talk back, worried it might reveal something. He could only feign a respectful and innocent demeanor: “I thought stepping on the plank might add to the lord’s calculation load, so I tried not to land on it. Who could’ve known I’d fall straight down?”
At that, the Black Count also spoke up: “Then how did you make it back?”
Scratching his head, Vai answered: “I’m not sure what happened. After I dropped, everything went black, and I saw a symbol representing ‘death’ appear in front of me. Beneath it, there was a white skull.”
“I thought I was truly dead. Then I opened my eyes, and I was back in front of the door outside.”
Once Vai finished, all eyes inevitably turned to Angel. There was no question that this bizarre scenario had been orchestrated by him.
“It’s all illusions you’re seeing, so how could there be any real danger?” Angel asked casually: “As for starting over from the beginning, that’s just a setting I implemented.”
“You’re saying that if we ‘die’ here, we start over from the beginning?” Daus questioned.
Angel nodded: “That’s about right.”
“What’s the point of doing that?” Daus didn’t understand Angel’s reasoning.
“There’s meaning in it. Restarting from the beginning clears away excess stray information on all of you, reducing my computational burden. All you have to do is run through the path once more.”
“And it was the Sovereign of Wisdom who gave me the inspiration for that.”
The Sovereign of Wisdom wore a puzzled expression as he looked at Angel. What inspiration had he provided? He had no idea.
Angel explained further: “The Sovereign of Wisdom mentioned earlier that cherishing life and understanding its preciousness is a rare virtue. I also agree, so I added a tiny obstacle to the livestream. It’s a reminder to hold reverence for life, even if you’re inside an illusion. Don’t just throw it away frivolously.”
The Sovereign of Wisdom: “…” Was that really how his words were meant to be interpreted?
While everyone was speechless, Vai was already moved to tears: “So that’s it. It was all for my own good, to remind me of the value of life…I see now!”
Seeing Vai’s bewildered reaction, everyone wore equally bewildered expressions. Just what sort of mindset does one need to become this swiftly self-ennobled?
Meanwhile, the Sovereign of Wisdom eyed Vai and Angel curiously, quietly speculating about their relationship.
Daus added: “Never mind all that, what about that ‘death’ symbol and the skull illusion? What’s that supposed to be?”
“Even if the death is fake, it needs a bit of ceremony,” Angel replied.
Ceremony?!
Watching Angel speak so earnestly and spout nonsense, Daus was momentarily reminded of Princess Town. This man seemed proper on the surface, yet he was secretly mischievous, harboring his own little eccentricities. Back in the day, at Princess Castle’s second floor leading to the third, Angel could’ve just let them go upstairs, but insisted on giving the group of talented individuals a test.
And then there was the “Rabbit Tea Tea” episode that followed: none of that was necessary; they could have easily done without those challenge rooms. But Angel insisted on introducing the “Zodiac Palace,” which left everyone scrambling in disarray. And in the end, the reward for clearing it was simply a more luxurious place to stay.
It all showed that Angel was…sly and full of odd amusements.
Call it a “trial” if you like, but it was basically mischief and personal entertainment.
“It’s just a harmless little trick,” Angel said: “Be careful and don’t go courting death, and you won’t die. Let’s get going and not waste time. If the Wood Spirit was actually here and saw me babbling on to empty air all this while, it would probably be terrified.”
With that, Angel pivoted lightly and made his way up the hanging stairway.
Vai hurried after him; this time, he didn’t step into the void and made it to the platform successfully.
Seeing Vai himself carefree, the others decided not to dwell on it either. As Angel had said, as long as they didn’t try to do themselves in, they wouldn’t “die.”
…
Angel didn’t walk quickly. In fact, his pace was quite slow.
He advanced as though he were an ordinary mortal, taking one step at a time. One might say he was being cautious, yet he didn’t seem to scrutinize his surroundings meticulously. On the contrary, he seemed entirely at ease, strolling along as if in a leisure garden.
At first, this struck the group as odd. Eventually, they remembered that Angel had to both explore and continuously synchronize the illusions around them, perhaps this was a method to reduce computational consumption?
But they were all mistaken. Angel walked slowly purely because he was imitating…imitating his old self in the Nightmare Plane.
Within Angel’s mind, it was as if two images were displayed side by side. In one, Angel the mortal trudged alone through the Hanging Prison Stairs of the Nightmare Plane; in the other, real-world sights played out before him.
His true consciousness surveyed both images from above, comparing the discrepancies between them.
By contrasting these differing elements, Angel could discern what had been destroyed here, or what might have changed, and thus potentially locate a clue to where the Wood Spirit had gone.
From level zero to level one, it felt much shorter than Angel remembered.
He recalled that in the Nightmare Plane, it had taken about ten minutes to walk from level zero to level one. Now, at the same pace, he found the first-level door in only half that time.