novelraw Chapter 98 The Truth of the Rift Era
Chapter 98 The Truth of the Rift Era
Looking at Margaret Cooper, who was staring at him, Suren became even more certain of his previous thoughts.
"She most likely knew about Victor Hamilton's situation long ago, but to avoid getting involved in the cause and effect, she didn't participate, choosing instead to control the threatening old Tom."
Suren pondered to himself, "Judging from our experiences along the way, Margaret's abilities are remarkably similar to those of the extraordinary beings who are the Weavers of Fate. Perhaps she knows something I don't."
However, from the other party's meaningful gaze, Suren knew that the other party also distrusted him, and the cooperation was unlikely to succeed.
Henry looked at the two travel-worn men and asked with some confusion, "What happened? Did you two run into some trouble in town?"
Suren briefly recounted the events to Henry, omitting, of course, the parts related to the Philosopher's Stone.
After listening to Suren's account, Henry and the others also realized that something was amiss. Henry glanced at Old Tom and said helplessly, "Unfortunately, I tried to interrogate those people, but they wouldn't say anything."
"If only we had a transcendent being from the Church of Judgment, that would be their specialty," Loft sighed.
Charles then stood up and said firmly, "Regardless, we're only staying in Verdun temporarily. Now that the matter is resolved, there's no need to delve into the truth behind it. The important thing is to get to Libraton as soon as possible. We have a long journey ahead tomorrow, so everyone should get some rest."
He then walked slowly to Henry's side, whispered a few words to him, and went straight upstairs.
"They'll most likely have Henry clean up the mess and deal with Old Tom and his gang..."
Suren waved goodbye to the others and then prepared to return to her room.
As for how to deal with Old Tom and his men, that's not something Suren should be concerned with.
Margaret Cooper watched Suren's departing figure silently, a smile playing on her lips. She murmured to herself, "How interesting, Karen Dantès..."
……
After returning to his room, Suren lit a candle. A book appeared out of thin air in front of him, and several extremely tiny tentacles were visible on the part of the book. It was the Book of Secrets.
Suren entered the latest secret into the book: [Secret: The essence of the Philosopher's Stone is actually life transmutation → Secret Level B]
Suren then temporarily downgraded the "Core Secret: The Essence of Extraordinary Power → Secret Level C" secret, and upgraded the newly added Philosopher's Stone to a core secret.
Looking at the four updated "core secrets" in the Book of Secrets, Suren couldn't help but fall into deep thought:
"Upgrading the Philosopher's Stone's secret knowledge is quite simple. If I could obtain the complete ritual method, it could advance to Rank A, but that's probably the upper limit for this secret knowledge."
"However, this is still a significant improvement. For the rest of my journey, I should make time to utilize this secret knowledge to create suitable [Secret Knowledge Manifestation] and [Secret Knowledge Protection] to ensure my safety in Libraton."
He couldn't help but think of Victor's previous battle scenes.
"Speaking of which, those who practice equivalent exchange are far more powerful than I imagined. Once they have a sufficient understanding of a substance, they can manipulate even the most basic matter conversions in countless ways."
Suren silently raised his guard. Perhaps the best solution for the next battle against someone with the ability of equivalent exchange was to first block the opponent's material conversion.
Suren couldn't help but stretch and yawn. The battle had taken a toll on his energy, and the journey of the whole day had also left him quite tired.
He extinguished the candle, took off his coat by the moonlight and placed it on the bedside table, then lay down on the bed.
He didn't go to sleep immediately, but instead habitually reviewed what had happened in Verdun that day.
According to the deceased Victor, his ancestor disappeared after the incident in 863.
Regardless of whether this story is true or false, at least the ritual went smoothly. But did that ritual truly succeed in creating the Philosopher's Stone?
"And what about the Bloody Mary incident 20 years ago? Did Bloody Mary really exist, or was it a second ritual performed by Victor?"
"If I have the chance in Libraton later, I can gather information about Hamilton's ancestor and investigate the Bloody Mary incident as well."
At this moment, he couldn't help but think of Billy Slade, who had already died. Unfortunately, his revelation hadn't been revealed, and he might never know why the other man had been silenced.
Then Suren stopped thinking about it, gently closed her eyes, and drifted off to sleep.
……
late at night.
Beside the statue destroyed by Suren, Victor's body had been burned to ashes.
Beside the ashes stood a tall woman with long blue hair; it was Margaret Cooper.
She stood quietly in the darkness, silver threads of light appearing in her eyes, and as time passed, beads of sweat appeared on her forehead.
After an unknown amount of time, the silver threads in her eyes disappeared, and then a smile appeared on her lips as she murmured to herself, "So that's how it is."
She then turned and left, but the image of the mysterious Karen Dantès kept flashing through her mind.
……
The next morning, when Suren got up and went to the hall, she found that Old Tom and the others had disappeared.
No one knows what Henry and the other guests talked about, but the huge first floor was now empty except for the Charles caravan.
"Old Tom and his gang have probably been taken care of by Henry," Suren thought to himself.
However, Suren didn't see anything wrong with this, since it was Old Tom and the mayor who launched the attack on the caravan first.
After everyone had their food and drink on the first floor, they resumed their journey.
……
Four days passed in the blink of an eye. These days were not as eventful as the first two days. Apart from encountering a few Level I evil spirits, everything went smoothly.
Based on the current route, it should take about two more days to reach "Libraton".
These past few days, besides traveling, Suren has also been busy, occasionally taking time to study his secret techniques, and has made some progress.
That night, the caravan rested again at the watchtower in the wilderness.
In a secluded corner, Suren began experimenting with a brand-new secret technique.
He stretched out his right hand and with a thought, as special symbols and azure light lit up, the grass in front of him turned yellow and quickly lost its vitality. At the same time, a creature that looked very much like a rat appeared in Suren's hand.
However, it is different from ordinary mice. Not only is it only one finger long, but its fur also lacks luster, and its flesh and blood appear shriveled. Most importantly, its eyes have no spirit at all.
Suren placed it on the ground, and it slowly moved forward, but its movements were very stiff and uncoordinated.
With a thought from Suren, the rat evaporated instantly like air, and the yellowed, withered grass on the ground gradually grew back, soon regaining its original emerald green luster and rekindling its vitality.
Etherine, who was observing from the side, couldn't help but ask, "Why is the symbol of the Libra Church the one you use to activate your ability? The ability you control is clearly not 'equivalent exchange'."
Suren rubbed her temples, which were aching from over-controlling the machine, then turned to look at the white-haired girl beside her, feeling somewhat helpless.
She's been following him around these past few days, asking questions every now and then. Fortunately, even if Su Lun doesn't answer, she doesn't seem too annoyed.
Actually, having someone to keep you company isn't so bad.
Thinking of this, Suren looked at the curious Etherine and said with a smile, "If you need, I can even be an extraordinary being with an eternal oath."
As he spoke, he extended his finger and flicked it lightly, and instantly a contract burning with flames appeared in the air, which was the symbol of "oath".
Etherine pursed her lips, then realized that the gesture was not very elegant, and said seriously, "I will not allow outsiders to pretend to be members of the 'Eternal Oath Knights'."
Then she changed the subject: "But if you join us, you can pretend however you want."
Suren stroked his chin. This wasn't the first time Aiselin had brought up the topic, but after thinking about it for the past few days, Suren had made a decision.
"I can join the 'Eternal Oath,' but only as a partner, just like you said before."
Looking into Etherine's purple eyes, Suren solemnly said, "I can help you, but I have the right to refuse anything I don't approve of."
Hearing Suren's words, Aiselin smiled and said, "As long as you are willing to cooperate, we can discuss the specifics when you meet my mother—the leader of the Eternal Oath."
After saying that, she looked curiously at the patch of grass and asked inquiringly, "Did you just extract life from this patch of grass and then create other creatures?"
"It's not as powerful as you think. After all, I'm just an awakened one."
Suren shook his head, not intending to hide anything: "It's just an alternative transformation. I can also create creatures using source knowledge, but with my current level, creatures created this way can only exist for a maximum of one hour."
He sighed: "Moreover, the creatures I create are like puppets, without souls, and can only be controlled by me when I'm distracted."
"That's a very powerful ability." Etherine gradually got used to Suren's various complex abilities.
As if struck by a thought, Etherine asked again, "Wouldn't it be a powerful attack method if used against enemies?"
Suren shook his head again: "The life force that can be extracted at one time is limited, and the speed is not fast, so it is difficult to use it for offense."
However, Etherine's words inspired him. This ability might be able to extract the enemy's life force and then create life to heal himself!
"For example, even if the entire ear is cut off, a corresponding organ can be created to complete the treatment!"
Suren felt a surge of excitement. This secret technique might have even more potential than he had imagined, but limited by his current level, he could only achieve this much at the moment.
For someone like Charlie with such a large area of amputation, it's estimated that Suren still wouldn't be able to treat him.
"We can test it out sometime later."
Suren didn't dwell on this matter. After all, there would be plenty of time to explore how to apply his abilities later. He was more concerned about another issue.
"Miss Sterling, now that I've agreed to cooperate, shouldn't you answer those two questions from the carriage?"
Hearing Suren's words, Aiselin smiled gently. She stood up and pointed to the depths of the wilderness, saying, "You should know about the rumors of the apocalypse, right? In fact, since the Rift Era, which is 1050, the desolate borders have stopped shrinking and have instead been encroaching on the entire Protected Continent."
At the same time, mysterious rifts appeared at the intersection of the protective barrier of the continent and the desolate border. Near these rifts, demons became more active, and the number of Level III demons increased.
Suren unconsciously stroked his chin and said, "So this is also the origin of the name 'Age of Rifts'? The Church's control over towns declined because they were purging the demons near the rifts?"
Etherine nodded: "That's one way to understand it, but according to Mother, there might be some secrets behind this, though only those within the church might know the specifics."
Suren nodded to himself; the information provided by Etherine did indeed explain his doubts to some extent.
After all, before the Age of Rift, under the rule of the Church, the crime rate was close to zero, let alone any underground organizations.
However, the Rift Era has only been around for a century, yet all sorts of underground organizations have emerged, and crime rates have skyrocketed. It's hard to believe there hasn't been some major upheaval.
"Then why does Kayla belong to the 'Eternal Silence Church'?" Suren asked.
A rare sly smile appeared on Etherine's face as she said, "When did I ever say that Kayla joined the Church of Eternal Stillness?"
Suren paused for a moment, then blurted out, "So, the 'Eternal Oath Knights' and the 'Church of Eternal Silence' have reached some kind of agreement?"
"you……"
Etherine was surprised that Suren guessed it so quickly. She sighed and said, "This is just a temporary cooperation. Only Mother knows the specific details of the cooperation between the two parties. Providing the relevant promotion ceremony is also part of the deal."
Suren frowned; there was a lot of information contained in that.
"While the Eternal Serenity Church is only responsible for matters like healthcare and rarely participates in the iron-fisted rule of other churches, it's still too strange that they directly cooperate with unorthodox organizations within the community."
Suren was completely baffled. Although he had previously speculated that the four major churches might not be a united front, the Eternal Serenity Church's move was clearly outrageous.
He was about to ask for more details when Etherine waved him off, saying, "I know you still have many questions, but everything will have to wait until you actually sign the cooperation agreement."
She nudged Suren's shoulder and said, "I've already taken a huge risk by telling you all this. You have to come with me to see Mother, or else I'll..."
At this point, Etherine drew the dagger from her waist and brandished it twice as a warning.
Suren tilted his head, feeling that what the other person had just said sounded strange.