Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo
Chapter 273 - 255 Mazao’s truth about time-travel 2

Chapter 273: 255 Mazao’s truth about time-travel 2

According to Little Bowl No. 2’s description, the Catastrophe Demon appeared as a giant humanoid monster wrapped in black flames. The face within the flames was not discernible; it might have been a monster made purely of black flame.

Humans, after undergoing Sin demonization, usually transform into a monstrous form, similar to how abnormal beings turn into goat-headed Demons when exerting their full power.

In the data I have come across previously, there was no specific mention of the color of Xuanming’s flames. Seen from another angle, the absence of specific mention implies it wasn’t a particular color. However, since Sin demonization had occurred with a drastic change in human form, it wouldn’t be surprising if the color of the flames changed as well.

In nature, there is no black light; ultimately, black is the color that results from the absorption of all light. Yet, imagining this kind of light is not difficult: one can simply take a photo of a common incandescent lamp and invert the colors using software to obtain a chilling black light. The black flames of the Catastrophe Demon indeed give off an extremely ominous feeling, making it a highly distinguishable characteristic.

Recognizing the Catastrophe Demon, Mazao and Little Bowl No. 2 immediately tried to flee, but the opponent was possibly a Doomsday Demon transformed from an Impermanence Demon, possibly even evolved from Xuanming, a prominent figure among the Impermanence Demons. They weren’t simply going to escape. Even Mazao at her peak could not have fled intact with Little Bowl No. 2.

At that critical moment, Little Bowl No. 2 invoked the Power of Divine Seal Fragments.

This action was borne from desperation. She could communicate with sentient objects, although the probability of getting a response was quite low. Although Divine Seal Fragments were unknown even in the abnormal world, they might possess sentient properties. At that moment, she was grasping at straws, but unexpectedly, she successfully summoned the power of the Divine Seal Fragments.

Of course, she now knows that anyone bound to Divine Seal Fragments (aside from me) can use their power, so her ability to summon it wasn’t solely due to her "natural communication skills." Regardless, what happened next was undoubtedly closely related to the Power of Divine Seal Fragments.

That power immensely amplified the energy of her earnest prayer, forcibly realizing the most urgent and intense thought in her mind.

"What were you thinking at that moment?" I asked curiously.

"I thought we were likely to die there, and I was just a burden. Perhaps Sister Mazao might have had a chance to survive if she had abandoned me from the start. So I wished that if I died, at least Sister Mazao would survive," Little Bowl No. 2 said sheepishly, "Afterward, I hoped she could go to a place less likely to encounter abnormal beings and meet new friends who would truly accept her..."

Thus, when Mazao activated Space Transfer with the Power of Return, a strange fluctuation occurred in the space-time they were in.

This anomaly likely caused an unpredictable malfunction in Mazao’s Space Transfer, sending her unknowingly to modern society of many years past.

And Little Bowl No. 2, too, was inadvertently swept along, possibly because she hadn’t planned to include herself, and was randomly transported to a location in Doomsday Land. Though she still had to face various dangers of the Doomsday Era, at least she was temporarily freed from the threat of the Catastrophe Demon.

Initially, she wasn’t entirely sure that Mazao had traveled to a past era, but she gradually realized that the malfunction in Space Transfer was likely related to what she did at that moment. Later, when she entered the Void Realm and met me, hearing the story of my encounter with Mazao—though by then she had lost her name and most of her memories—she unwittingly confirmed that it was she who had sent Mazao to the past.

This was the true story of Mazao’s time travel.

At least, that’s everything from the perspective of Little Bowl No. 2. Honestly, from my perspective, there are still some mysteries that are hard to let go. For instance, why Mazao, having traveled back in time, arrived in this era as a soul-loss patient...

One more thing, I hadn’t thought much about this until now, when I suddenly realized—Mazao could confirm that the Divine Seal Fragment in my possession was genuine because she had previously come into contact with one alongside Little Bowl No. 2.

But how had the earlier Mazao identified that the black jade in Little Bowl No. 2’s possession was a Divine Seal Fragment and felt so sure about it?

Where did she acquire knowledge about the Divine Seal Fragment?

The only possibility I could think of was the Evangelical Institute, a power in the Doomsday Era. However, even if I were to inquire Mazao about this question, it’s likely she wouldn’t have an answer. While Mazao remembered past knowledge, she didn’t recall her past experiences.

I briefly questioned Little Bowl No. 2, and she was also unclear about this. Although she knew about the Evangelical Institute, unlike Mazao who was once part of it, her knowledge was merely based on hearsay and no greater than mine. As for anything related to soul-loss patients, she was completely clueless. According to her, there was no concept of "soul loss" during the Doomsday Era, and she had never come across any related information there.

"You say that in the Doomsday Era, nature won’t give feedback to your voice... So can you still hear the voice of nature?" I continued to ask.

"I can, but..." she hesitated, "the voices I can hear are quite vague and very chaotic, like the ramblings of a disturbed mind."

Has the arrival of Doomsday made nature itself go mad? I couldn’t help but think this.

Then, I carefully inquired about information related to the Power of Divine Seal Fragments. I don’t know why, but it seems that other Chosen Ones can use the Power of Divine Seal Fragments, only I cannot. Is it because I am not a formal Chosen One of the Void Realm but an invader?

Even if it is just one fragment of the divine seal, it likely harbors a mysterious power enough to contend with Impermanence. Little Bowl used it to help Mazao travel from the future to the past, Dr. Silver Mask used it to reboot time and space countless times, Xu Gou used it to qualify as an Impermanence... And I believe that’s probably not even the full potential of the Divine Seal Fragment. If I could use this power, it might turn into the key ace to defeat the opposing Impermanence.

For now, I guess only Little Bowl would be willing to disclose things about the Power of Divine Seal Fragments to me.

"I don’t know what form the Power of Divine Seal Fragments takes for others, but for me, it just greatly enhances my prayer power. But this ability was originally quite unstable, and even after being strengthened, it’s hard to say if it can be considered a normal method of use," Little Bowl said.

"What about other aspects? Like the ability to communicate with all things in nature, and the ability to enhance fortune?" I asked.

"It seems that the communication ability has also improved, but in my current environment, I can’t test it, at least not as significantly as the increase in prayer power. The same goes for perceptual abilities," she replied, "As for enhancing fortune... That’s a power that can be realized on the basis of complying with nature, and the nature after the arrival of Doomsday itself is in a self-contradictory state, unable to help me improve my luck any further."

"Just relying on these abilities, do you have a way to survive in the Doomsday Era now?" I asked.

"There should be no problem for now. In fact, when I was on the verge of Sin demonization and my self-consciousness was chaotic, I was probably relying on my existing perceptual abilities and enhanced fortune to unconsciously avoid many dangers," she said.

Perhaps after separating from Mazao, her difficulty in surviving has significantly decreased... I couldn’t help but have this thought.

However, her tolerance for error alone is still too poor. It seems she can avoid many risks, but once an accident occurs, it would be disastrous. Perhaps this is why she was close to Sin demonization before she first met Mazao.

I pondered the information she had explained, then said, "If you also come to my era, perhaps you can further enhance your fortune... Just hypothetically, if your fortune ability increases further, would it override Mazao’s Broom Star Physique?"

"I don’t think that’s possible," she regretfully said, "Although this is just my personal feeling... Mazao’s physique that attracts abnormal beings might not be a misfortune, therefore it cannot be offset by mere luck. Even if my fortune were to increase tenfold or a hundredfold, it would still not be able to save her."

"Encounters with abnormal beings" might itself be neither lucky nor unlucky.

Mazao regards her own physique as misfortune because for someone who wants to live a normal life, abnormal beings inherently signify chaos, and indeed, they also carry the possibility of great danger. Even if only five out of ten abnormal events are life-threatening and the other five can bring benefits, except for trouble-seekers like me, I guess few would desire a bizarre physique that guarantees encountering ten abnormal events every week. No matter how much one might benefit, a single failure could result in losing everything.

Especially in the past Doomsday Era where Mazao lived, there’s no telling if even one out of a hundred abnormal events would be positive.

"Um, Mr. Three..."

While I was thinking, Little Bowl looked at me eagerly, her voice weak.

"What’s the matter?" I asked.

She showed an itching-to-know expression, and said with concern, "I’ve finished talking about my side of things, can you now tell me about your side, like... what is your current relationship with Sister Mazao?"