“Can you sense where your sister is now?”
Renji asked Lilith, who initially did not react, but then realized that Renji was referring to the real Miyuki.
Lilith didn’t know much more about Miyuki’s secret than Renji did. She thought she had corrupted and revived an elf, only to later find out that she was actually the one being actively revived by someone else.
Lilith couldn’t actively sense Miyuki; she didn’t have that ability.
Seeing that Lilith was of no help, Renji pondered for a moment and quickly came up with a new idea.
“Follow me.”
Renji, with a confused Lilith in tow, arrived at the base of the World Tree. Recalling the memory of the path to the World Tree’s lower levels from Zero and Lena, Renji asked Lilith to try and see if she could also open an underground passage here.
Lilith was unaware of the World Tree’s underground space, a first for her. Following Renji’s instructions, to her surprise, the World Tree’s branches and leaves parted to either side, revealing a secluded passage like a tree hollow.
Lilith hesitated, but seeing Renji enter without any hesitation, she bit the bullet, deciding she couldn’t lose her spirit, regardless of what was inside, and followed him deeper.
After a few minutes, Renji finally reached the deepest part of the World Tree’s underground. Here, he first showed disappointment, as the expected Miyuki were not present.
However, Renji quickly looked deeper into the underground space. On the ground there, there was a complex pattern resembling a magic circle.
The pattern and lines were intricate, but its working principle was quite simple, and Renji could understand it at a glance.
The formation consisted of three parts: two auxiliary formations and one main formation.
At the main formation’s location, there was a cloak draped quietly on a stone platform.
Even Lilith could recognize this cloak at a glance, as it was the same cloak worn by the person who defeated and killed her five hundred years ago.
This is the Ashen Cloak!
When Renji picked it up, the corresponding item description immediately caught his eye.
[Ashen]
[Type: Special Item]
[Rarity: Unique]
[Item Effect 1: Return to the “Origin”]
[Item Effect 2: Forces the user into a “Silence” state, “Silence” entry – unable to release any abilities]
[Equipment Effect 3: Adds a “Mist” state to the user, “Mist” entry – loses sight of friendly units]
[Equipment Effect 4: Adds a “Fatal Weakness” state to the user, “Fatal Weakness” entry – all attributes are forcibly reduced to 1 point]
[How to Use: Wear it!]
[(The legendary cloak of Emperor Ashen, which, no matter the battle, never falls off or gets damaged, once served as the beginning of a story, and now, it may also become the end of it.)]
Indeed, after reading the information about [Ashen], it was exactly what Renji was looking for, the door left by Miyuki for him to open.
Whether to wear it or not, Renji paused for a few seconds.
In Lena’s diary, she always referred to their world, “Blue Star,” as a high-dimensional world. This terminology was undoubtedly mixed with Lena’s respect for him as Emperor Ashen, hence calling Blue Star (Earth) a higher-level world.
On the other hand, as players, having the chance to restart infinitely does indeed reflect a “high-dimensional” reality, so the succubus’s terminology was not wrong.
Thus, descending from a higher dimension to a lower one is not very difficult, like pouring water, which anyone can do.
But if you want to make water flow upwards, the difficulty increases exponentially.
Ascending from a lower to a higher dimension is bound to have many side effects.
From the attributes of [Ashen], Renji could somewhat understand Miyuki’s hints.
Silence corresponds to all the special abilities one has in this world being sealed off and unusable on Blue Star.
Renji could guess as much.
After all, his real world once had slogans like “Ahead lies Blue Star, where gods and demons are banned.” Perhaps these internet jokes, much like many ancient myths passed down through generations, are not merely “jokes” but something more.
The “Fatal Weakness” that follows likely refers to the same thing, but even more severe.
Renji, converting according to the game’s attribute system, guesses that the average attributes of a normal male on Blue Star should be around 3-5, a bit lower for college students, probably 2-3, but having all attributes at 1, would feel like being a shut-in for years or just recovering from a serious illness.
As for the last part, does the mist state mean one becomes blind? Not quite.
If it were blindness, “Blindness” would have been a more appropriate status. Using “Mist,” a rare special state that loses sight of friendly units, could it mean there is something in between…
However, despite the many negative effects, Renji took a deep breath and hesitated no longer, draping the cloak, which might as well be considered an old friend by now, directly onto himself.
Finding a way to end the “Originator” is just one reason.
What made Renji so determined was also knowing that Lena was there.
And Lena must have experienced all these “side effects” as well.
He was very worried about Lena now.
I must find Lena and bring her back.
After donning the cloak, the “door” connecting the two worlds that he imagined did not open.
Instead, it was as if nothing had happened.
“…”
[Teleportation failed, reason: Insufficient energy]
[Teleportation failed, reason: Unknown coordinates]
After some time, two notifications appeared before his eyes.
Renji, eager to return, had almost forgotten the principles of the teleportation array. The first issue, insufficient energy, he understood well; this was why he brought Lilith down here, indeed expecting the Mother of Miasma to be of use at this time.
However, the meaning of “unknown coordinates” was…
Renji suddenly realized that the premise for him to perfectly inherit the power of Emperor Ashen was for Lena to replace him, exchanging him out of “Blue Star.”
That is to say, he was no longer a person of Blue Star; there was no “existence” of him on Blue Star anymore, naturally, he could not serve as a coordinate.
What do I do now?
Teleportation definitely requires coordinates, meaning, I need to find a “Blue Star person” currently in this world. But where could I find someone at this time…
Wait!
Among them, right by my side, there indeed was another “Blue Star person.”
Eileen!
The girl who harbors Lena’s remnant soul, now that Lena is on “Blue Star”, she should be able to provide me with coordinates, even allowing me to descend directly to an area very close to her on Earth!
Renji immediately activated his contractual ability, bringing Eileen to this underground space as well.
However, Renji hid the truth from Eileen, not telling the girl about the remnant soul of Lena within her, or even the possibility that she might just be an incarnation of Lena’s will.
This approach of Renji’s could be seen in his treatment of Zero and 86.
In Renji’s view, no matter who contains whom, as long as one has independent consciousness, then she is an independent entity. Just as 86 is not Zero, Eileen will always be Eileen.
After Eileen and Lilith took their places on either side of the teleportation array.
Renji donned the [Ashen] cloak once again.
Just as described on the cloak.
[Once served as the beginning of a story, and now, it may also become the end of it]
This chaptr is updatd by (f)reewb(n)ovel.com