Xyrin Empire
Chapter 356 - Chapter 356 Chapter 356 Peeking from the Magic Side

Chapter 356: Chapter 356 Peeking from the Magic Side Chapter 356: Chapter 356 Peeking from the Magic Side The weather was sunny and bright. This summer, the temperature wasn’t particularly hot, or it could be said that spring wasn’t so eager to leave this year. On such an island country, the transition between seasons was always more gradual than in inland nations. Even when walking on the streets, one wouldn’t start sweating from the heat.

Of course, it might also be due to the fact that Pandora and Vis on either side of me were busy blowing cool air.

Who would have thought that the Xyrin Apostle’s outer cooling system could be used like this? I’m such a genius, achoo!

“Pandora, the air conditioning is too strong.”

“Okay.”

The little girl responded with an acknowledgment and immediately reduced the airflow. Vis seized the moment to launch a taunt, “Hmph, as expected of an idiot. You can’t compare to me in precise energy control!”

“Just stay out of trouble. Isn’t it nice to take a stroll on a peaceful day?”

I tapped Vis’s little head not too softly, not too forcefully. She immediately giggled and made a face at Pandora, covering her head.

As dusk fell and the lights shone brilliantly, it was almost time for the evening curfew in the Seventh District. Most students would have returned to their dormitories by now, and even the delinquents who had been abandoned by the city and chose to abandon themselves wouldn’t pick this time when the patrol team was making its last rounds to go looking for bad luck. Walking on streets that had been bustling during the day, facing such a quiet and empty scene, there was indeed a very strange feeling.

However, this kind of atmosphere could indeed calm one’s mood. No wonder Lin Xue always said he liked to take walks on the empty streets at night.

Speaking of which, it was very dangerous for a girl to have such hobbies. But if it were a girl who could foresee everything, had the strength to take down a squad of special forces with her bare hands, and possibly had a reinforced platoon of bodyguards following her at all times, ah, then that would be a dangerous matter indeed for the hoodlum comrades.

Although it wasn’t directly managed by Academy City, even the privately invested research institutes outside had their special perks. For instance, leading a little loli down the streets close to curfew time. So it’s quite beneficial to be a scientist–My morals haven’t gone awry, have they?

“Brother, brother,” came the joyful call in quick succession, undoubtedly Vis’s signature greeting, “why are we taking a walk so late?”

“That’s because,” I pondered thoughtfully, gazing at the distant, splendid lights, my voice echoing far in the peaceful and deserted night, “that’s because Big Brother accidentally walked in on Prophet while she was bathing, and then Qianqian and Big Sister unanimously ordered me to sober up outside until midnight before I can go back…”

“Brother sounds world-weary.”

Can we please not bring up that tearful incident any longer?!

Really, I’ve been dogged by bad luck. If I didn’t have the habit of bathing at that time, if I had paused seriously before entering to check for the sound of water, if I had remembered to knock first, then I would never have stumbled upon that shy Miss emerging from her bath!

Although I was thwacked with a face washbasin before I saw anything… Of course, I don’t regret it one bit! Even if that mad girl was beautiful, it couldn’t change my fixed impression of her. Lin Xue, disperse!

Alas, such misfortune…

In the end, it’s just down to bad luck. With so many people in the house, why didn’t Qianqian and Big Sister think to remind me? And even Lin Xue, the so-called all-knowing and omnipotent Prophet, didn’t foresee my sudden intrusion–Lin Xue not know? Could this be part of a conspiracy?

Suddenly, I linked the whole affair to a conspiracy. If it were anyone else, I might have let it go, but how could it be when caught up in such a tacky, melodramatic story was Prophet Lin! Could that girl let down her guard with me?

The answer is–I was tricked by that guy again, and this time, it seems she went so far as to include herself in the scheme to mess with me. I really don’t know how that girl’s thought process works.

“Visca is very happy.”

Out of nowhere, the cat-eyed little loli blurted out such a sentence.

I smiled, placed my hand on the little girl’s head beside me and started to stroke it. She immediately squinted her eyes, showing a very comfortable expression.

Of course, I couldn’t neglect the other one. Before Pandora could headbutt me, I also pressed down on the other little head.

Thank God for giving humans two hands, it’s just too good. Also, it’s really great that there are only two such awkward sisters.

“I have a home now, and a brother, and many sisters,” the cat-eyed loli said with a dreamy tone of voice as she closed her eyes. Then, as if she sensed something, she suddenly opened her eyes a little and glanced to the side, “Even though one of the sisters is a dummy…”

Hey! Pandora, your head is getting hot~~~ Ah, damn, it’s burning my hand!

“Why would you suddenly think to say these things?” I asked, full of confusion, looking at the little girl who was now rubbing against me like a kitten.

“Because Brother didn’t get angry with me for the things I did before, and also didn’t hate me because of the star ring.”

Just because of that, you feel content? Silly girl. Forgiving a silly little sister’s mistakes is precisely what brothers and sisters should do–At that moment, I remembered the scene from many years ago when Big Sister took me to apologize at Erya’s house. So many years have flashed by, and well, talking about this seems off-topic.

“Visca, speaking of which, you never mentioned anything about the Fallen Apostles to me. When you… well, when you used to work for them, you must have come into contact with some things. If possible…”

I hesitated greatly with these words. Even though I have now escaped such nightmares, the past still constitutes the darkest moments in Visca’s life. If possible, I would rather Visca forever loses the memory of that time, but that’s impossible. Though muddled, those moments still exist vividly in Visca’s memory. Moreover, we really need to know what sort of entities these Fallen Apostles that continue to operate after the Empire’s collapse really are.

I always wanted to postpone this question as long as possible, even intentionally forgetting that Visca once was one of the Fallen Apostles. But the appearance of Barrier Star, the destruction of the Atlantis civilization, along with current events related to the star ring, all of these have gradually given me a sense of urgency. The existence of the Fallen Apostles is not something you can ignore if you want to. If we really want to ensure Visca never falls back into that mire again, at the very least, we must adopt a strategy of understanding both ourselves and the enemy.

Although the world’s order is guarded by gods, we have also seen, with Three-inch Ding as a failed goddess for example, that peace truly seems a little bit more reliable when it’s in one’s own hands…

Perhaps this is the most suitable scenario I could create now.

There’s no outsider around, and beside her are only the closest brother and her fate-twined sister. Don’t have any concerns, don’t worry, just speak it out, just like a little sister caught in trouble asking for help from her brother and sister, just say it out, and we will all help you.

Visca walked in silence. I didn’t know what she was thinking, only feeling the little hand that Pandora was using to tug on my sleeve tremble slightly.

She could feel her twin sister’s emotions.

“Brother,” finally, Visca lifted her head, her face showing a touch of bitterness and relief as she smiled, “If it were you, would you reveal your secrets to a madman who could snap at any moment?”

Was the original Visca, merely treated as a weapon of fairly decent power by those people?

“Although I’ve never touched upon the core matters, I do know some of the outer secrets,” Visca looked at my changing facial expressions and suddenly revealed a crafty, smug grin, “I may be crazy, but I’m not stupid.”

“Fallen Apostles usually operate either in small groups of several Leader Level Angels or act independently, rarely forming large-scale organized battles because they dare not draw too much attention from the Divine Race. As for how many there are and who leads them, I’m not clear on that. But their goals seem to involve more than just the simple annihilation of the world.”

“They’re searching for a certain ‘Key Element’ common in all worlds and crafting disasters in a specific manner and order, causing the world to fall into oblivion through a ritual-like process. Based on just the missions that my group has carried out, the plan seems quite extensive, and the Xyrin Rebel Army is likely not the only participant.”

I grimaced in pain: “This isn’t just complicated; this is serious trouble.”

“But those gods won’t sit by and ignore this,” Visca looked unconcerned, perhaps the end of the world didn’t strike her as something too significant, “If the Fallen Apostles’ harm becomes widespread, even reaching the levels of Abyss Power, the Divine Race will certainly intervene. And, looking at the time, the next major expedition of the Divine Realm to purge is about to begin.”

The gods, huh?

Though Dingdang set an example, the ultimate carbon-based life forms known as Law-Energy Aggregations are no joke. If the wrongdoings of the Fallen Apostles genuinely anger those excessively benevolent gods…

Perhaps I really won’t have to deal with a headache after all.

“Brother,” Pandora said quietly, tugging at my sleeve after walking silently for a while, “up ahead, abnormal Energy Field.”

Alerted by Pandora, I noticed the irregularities in our surroundings.

The lights seemed dimmer. No, not dimmer. Rather, the artificial glow seemed to have gone through significant depletion before reaching this area. Some strange Force Field was concentrated nearby, filtering out the lights of Academy City, and correspondingly…

I looked up at the sky.

The stars were shining brighter than ever before.

“Alaya, what’s this?”

Intuitively, feeling that this phenomenon must be related to Mysticism, I wondered if someone from the Magic Side had infiltrated again. And why did I feel the need to say ‘again’?

In response, a gentle and soothing snoring sound came from deep within my Spirit Sea.

“…Alaya!!”

“Huh? Lord Brother?”

As scatterbrained as she might be, Alaya didn’t disappoint me. By merely analyzing our surroundings with my senses, the Angel Sister with a profound understanding of Mysticism revealed the mystery of this place.

“It’s a simple ceremonial site that, through the construction of a few specific scenes, creates a ‘purified world’, filtering out man-made elements, enhancing and restoring the natural state of this world. Because the setup is incomplete, its functionality is limited; it can only target a single ‘object’, and even then, the effect is minimal. The ritual site targets ‘light’, with the corresponding point being the sky. It filters out the artificial lighting and strengthens the starlight in the sky. Many branches of Mysterious system powers are driven by Star Power, so while such a ritual site doesn’t have any sort of attack or defense strength, it can greatly stabilize certain Astrology-based Magic Techniques. And judging by the faint Energy Fluctuations around us, it seems the caster is also using the position of the stars for divination.”

“Does it function like a totem, albeit in a different form of expression? By the way, Alaya, what would the effect be like if this ritual site were complete? You could manage it, couldn’t you?”

After listening to Alaya’s explanation, I suddenly became interested in such mystical things. Although Xyrin Apostles’ technology had reached its pinnacle, it couldn’t be denied that they had also attained a level of proficiency in the mysterious and unknown that was enough to hold a conversation with gods. What exactly was the fundamental difference between this kind of power and science?

“The purpose of this ritual is classified as ‘Return’ in mysticism, which is to restore the world to its state before it was ‘contaminated’ by civilization. If fully executed, it could extinguish human life on the entire planet and erase all traces of civilization in an instant, turning the planet into a state of ‘what it would have been like if humans had never existed.’ Because it’s highly complete and tests the caster’s control over the Law Power, it was once listed as one of the three major entrance exam questions for the Dark Divine Race schools in the Divine Realm. I’ve learned some of it too, but because of the contradiction in energy attributes, I eventually gave up. Oh, Lord Brother, you don’t have to worry, the humans of this world can’t do anything like that. And this ceremonial site is probably just a fragment of knowledge produced by the Divine Realm’s information projection on this planet. Its effect is nothing more than making astrology easier to perform.”

I: “…”

Should I criticize this, criticize that, or perhaps criticize something else?

Because it was a “terrain” type of ritual, the coverage of this force field was quite large, nearly encompassing the entire block, and it was mixed with magic techniques to disperse bystanders, divert attention, and weaken memories, leaving the area completely deserted. Such an elaborate setup just to perform a divination within Academy City, I really wondered what the folk on the Magic Side were thinking…

“Directly ahead, turn left in thirty meters, three carbon-based lives, one of whom has a physical strength more than one hundred and twenty-three times that of an ordinary human; primary weapon systems lock-on complete.”

“Don’t act rashly when the time comes,” I pressed on Pandora’s eager little head. “To us, the Magic Side is not an opposing force.”

“Oh,” Pandora nodded reluctantly and then activated the Invisibility Field. Our group of three, including a dazed Angel who had begun to doze off in the Spirit Sea, quietly moved towards the target point.

Just as Pandora had detected, there were three people. Since they had shielded the attention of ordinary people, they stood boldly by the roadside. One of them was a tall redhead man dressed in black garments similar to a priest robe with a lit cigarette in his mouth and an impatient expression. The most eye-catching part about him was a barcode-like pattern under one of his eyes, which upon closer inspection turned out to be a series of Roman numerals. Standing opposite this “priest,” who looked more like a street ruffian despite his robes, was a long-haired beauty wielding an Azure Dragon Crescent… cough, a long Japanese sword, her physique strikingly well-built. Due to the angle, it was hard to see her facial expression from this side. Between the two stood a sharp-eyed young man completely enveloped in a black priest robe with blond hair.

Having crammed a lot of knowledge about the Magic Prohibition World over the past few days with Bubbles’ relentless bombardment, the identities of the first two were naturally no mystery–the talents Stier with maxed out Flames points and the Weapon Battle War Goddess Lie Huozhi. As for the third person, there was no information about him in Bubbles’ data. It seemed he was just an NPC for this mission.

My train of thought was alright, wasn’t it?

Messy thoughts tumbled through my mind as I pricked up my ears, listening intently to their low conversation.

“Stier, you could be a bit more patient.”

The clear voice of a girl–this must be Shen Lie Huozhi’s voice. The red-haired priest being scolded continued to have an annoyed look on his face as he took a harsh puff of his cigarette.

“For the first three days, my patience was quite sufficient.”

It sounded as if the people from the Magic Side had been lurking in Academy City for three days already. That was certainly an embarrassing fact, of course, by which I mean for the big shots in Academy City.

“If possible, I’d prefer you extinguish the cigarette while I’m performing the divination,” the blond NPC priest frowned slightly, “It will affect the accuracy of the divination.”

“If you can actually produce a result, that is.”

Stier sarcastically retorted but obediently put out his cigarette–then lit a new one.

“You…”

“Could you say less, for once,” sighed Shen Lie Huozhi with a look of a headache, “Surely you two didn’t set up such a complex ritual site just so you could argue without disturbance, right?”

“Yes, yes, since the Boss has spoken,” the blond priest appeared very gentlemanly, but seemed no more serious than Stier, “let’s continue looking for that Fallen Lord Angel. Um, that chimney over there, I’d appreciate if you’d move a bit farther away…” (To be continued. For more information, please visit www.NovelFire.net. The chapters are more complete, support the author, support genuine reading!)