Chapter 2397: Reversing Time

Chapter 2397: Chapter 2397: Reversing Time

Close your eyes, the scorching steam mist almost merges with the dense mist behind Shade. The whistle and the sound of bells spread far across the sand sea glowing with silver light, because Shade is sitting on the sandy ground, the originally enormous Seven Ring Life Ring now floats slightly, making it appear even larger than usual.

The speed of the rotating Life Ring is very slow, thirty-two Spirit Runes flicker with dim light. The four-color aura of gold, silver, copper, and iron gathers within the Life Ring itself, as Shade lifts his head from looking at the sand, the Enlightenment of Space-Time seems to glow a bit brighter.

"Am I the audience and the narrator?"

He asked softly, and the answer came from the "her" beside his ear:

[Yes, Outlander.]

"Alright, time reversal—Breath of Ages!"

Taking a deep breath while raising his right hand, his palm aimed at the scene of the story’s ending within the mist, and then slowly pulling to the left, as some gray airflow entwined with white mist enters his nostrils, in the absence of Miss Mister controlling this illusion technique, the scene within the white mist surprisingly trembles.

Shade’s arcane technique "Breath of Ages" can only reverse or accelerate the time of a single item, able to affect only ordinary items and a few alchemical items. And this time his target was the "story" before him, even with the identity of an "audience" in this illusion technique, it completely exceeded the scope that this arcane technique could affect.

Although the extreme spellcasting just now caused a momentary time disorder, it was far from enough to reverse the time of the entire story.

But Shade did not give up, raising his empty left hand, the remaining piece of Philosopher’s Stone, not large anymore after the Mermaid Girl cast the Power of the Earth: Blessing All Things, flew into his hand.

The Philosopher’s Stone was immediately thrown towards the Life Ring behind him, the moment it touched the Life Ring, the blood-red stone melted into the Spiritual Light, bringing a bright crimson to the entire Life Ring.

Having prepared, Shade raised his right hand again and pulled to the left:

"Time reversal—Breath of Ages!"

In an instant, Shade seemed to hear the sound of a clockhand clicking from the void, followed by the scene within the white mist truly rapidly reversing, from the ending’s scene of "Rainbow Bubbles" to the scene of the Mermaid Princess’s lonely waiting for the first ray of sunshine.

But Shade also vomited a mouthful of blood towards the flame in front of him at this moment, the firelight flickered, then the flame exploded, the cat in his arms meowed uncomfortably, and Shade braced himself on the sand with his right hand to prevent himself from falling.

Sweat slid down his cheeks, the power of the Philosopher’s Stone exhausted, but he successfully reversed the brief fragment of this story. The backlash from forced spellcasting made him feel as if his internal organs were burning with pain. Yet he remembered the feeling of that instant, the Outlander always prided himself on his high perception, and he had already grasped this power beyond the "Breath of Ages" using the illusionary realm.

The right hand raised again and continued pulling to the left, the pain causing his body to twitch constantly, but Shade gritted his teeth and did not give up. So the scene retreated once more, changing from the solitary Mermaid Princess to the gathering of three on the deck.

The Spirit was rapidly consuming, but at this moment, the mist of illusion above Shade and the Life Ring also dissipated slightly. The bizarre moon in the desert cast moonlight onto Shade, and absorbing this moonlight, Shade was rapidly recovering his own consumption.

So, after a slight pause, his right hand continued pulling to the left, the burning pain as if all internal organs were ablaze, even made Mia feel as if there was a mouse jumping inside Shade’s body.

Blood simultaneously flowing from the nose, ears, eyes, and mouth, the pain in the head as if being split, but Shade still persisted:

"Old Lady Sianod has her own resolve, Miss Nate has her own resolve, Miss Sander has her own resolve, the Little Mermaid Princess in the story has her own resolve, I will not lose to them."

The trembling right hand continued to pull slowly to the left, although the Spirit granted by the strong moonlight allowed him to sustain the consumption, the spellcasting beyond his own ability still made Shade’s aura constantly weaken.

The Life Ring behind, even began showing cracks due to the soul’s pain, Mia continued to meow anxiously, it was truly worried.

But Shade could no longer feel these, the intense pain of the soul and body made his senses blurry, fortunately, he still remembered what he wanted to do.

The scene continued to retreat piece by piece, Shade’s body also gradually slumped. Until the story returned to the first scene, the Mermaid Princess joyfully frolicking in the deep sea, and Shade also finally lowered his head and hand, motionless.

"Meow~"

The cat’s mournful call sounded remarkably poignant in the vast sand sea, but before it decided to do anything, Shade raised his hand again and gently stroked it.

The Outlander barely opened his eyes, struggling to lift his head to look at the scene frozen in the first scene, he raised his right hand again, only to find at this moment already lacking the strength to continue acting.

"Why do this?"

The voice of the Deity came from the mist, she seemed right beside Shade, yet also seemed omnipresent.

"They have their resolves, and I have mine. She saved me, so I must save her. No matter what price I have to pay, I will do this."

The laughter of "Miss Mister" echoed from all directions, as if mocking Shard’s obstinance, yet also appreciating his character.

"I originally promised you that if you didn’t seek my help, the gift I was to give you would be used here. But... there’s nothing I can do about it, you’re just so likable."

After a slight pause:

"Tell me, Outlander, can you see me?"

This time the voice came from the white mist in front of him. Shard’s eyes turned to the mist but could only see a blurred shadow moving as if dancing within it.

The dizziness caused by the intense pain in his soul and body had blurred his vision significantly. Fortunately, at this moment, Mia had struggled out from Shard’s arms, and let out a cry toward the front:

"Meow!"

Bright sparks spewed from the cat’s mouth, but in Shard’s hazy consciousness, it seemed like the first rays of the rising sun illuminating this darkness.

So the figure within the mist became slightly clearer. He seemed to see a figure dressed in a thin short skirt, with golden bells wrapped around her wrists and ankles, dancing in the mist.

It seemed to be Miss Mister, her graceful figure obscured by the dense mist, like reality yet also a dream.

And as that figure turned to look at Shard while dancing, with golden eyes meeting his with a mischievous glint, the desert night wind brushed past his eyes, and golden fragments drifted toward Shard’s back as the first golden crack appeared in his right eye. The fragments clashed with the Ring of Fate, lighting it up with that dazzling gold in the cracks.

Thus, Shard saw clearly, the veiled figure in the fog was not Miss Mister;

Thus, Shard understood, the indistinct figure turning to smile at him was the Old God - Lady of Mist.

Large cracks spread like flames over his body, and the Divine Light manifested because his eyes beheld the Deity. The slowly rotating Ring of Fate accelerated due to his movement to sit upright, and the golden color within the brass surface cracks of the ring nearly tinged the entire round ring with the hue of a miracle.

The "Divine Afterglow" state was activated to its optimal state merely by the light smile of the God of Mist, and the fully restored Shard, motivated internally, utilizing the insights of the Philosopher’s Stone, the identity of "spectator" in the Illusionary Realm, the emotional impact from his persistence towards the three ladies, and with Shard’s own determination not to give up, lifted his right hand and pulled to the left—

The scenes within the white mist that had frozen at the story’s beginning indeed began to move once more, and the sound of a ticking clock echoed anew within the void.

The scene of the Mermaid Princess playing in the Undersea World gradually became hazy in the white mist, and the unfolding image showed the first ray of sunlight shining on the stones, garlands, and seven-colored bubbles on the deck.

Shard withdrew his hand, placed his right arm on his right leg stepping on the ground, with the crook of his arm and knee resting against each other, while his left hand pressed on his left leg laid flat on the sand:

"That’s enough."

Thus, the mist of the Illusionary Realm gradually dispersed, and the ending scene blurred as well.

As Old Lady Sianod, Miss Nate, and Miss Mister gradually reappeared within the mist, the stones, garland, and seven-colored bubbles drifted out, arriving in front of Shard.

These objects, turned real from illusion due to persistence, floated in front of Shard glowing faintly. Subsequently, they flew of their own accord towards the grand Ring of Fate behind Shard and melted into the simultaneous existence of miraculous golden and moonlight silver within the ring.

The bronze-colored aura transformed from these three items, as if adding fuel to a steam furnace, causing that ring to spin more rapidly under the moon.

The mist had nearly dissipated by now, and the desolate scene of the desert under the moonlight reappeared around them. Old Lady Sianod looked up at the moon, Miss Nate eyed the Ring of Fate behind Shard, with even her eyes tinged with bronze, while Miss Mister approached Shard:

"What have you come to understand?"

"Turning illusion into reality, everything in the mist is actually true. Using perseverance as fuel, with the story as the goal, I have understood."

He stood up too, turned to face the giant worm corpse’s head holding up the Stone Gate, where Miss Sander knelt on one knee.

As Shard stood up, the rapidly spinning Brass Life Ring seemed to enlarge even more under the moonlight. The bronze-colored Spiritual Light had thoroughly permeated the ring’s body, while the golden Divine Afterglow enshrouded by the wind stretched out like long lines, scattering across the entire Sand Sea.

"Can a mortal’s determination truly change the world?"

In the wind, a lady with light brown skin asked dreamily, and Shard’s golden eyes looked at Miss Sander’s stone statue supporting the Stone Gate, giving his answer.