Chapter 378 -: 377 It’s been a while.

Chapter 378: Chapter: 377 It’s been a while.

In front of Julius and Rosalina, the Nightmare Forest suddenly began to part.

The dense trees that had surrounded them for what seemed like an endless stretch of darkness slowly receded to either side, their enormous trunks moving away as though an invisible force was commanding the forest itself to make way.

The oppressive atmosphere of the Nightmare Forest also began to weaken as the darkness above them gave way to a vast open sky.

For the first time since entering the forest, Julius could see a large expanse of land that wasn’t covered by twisted trees and suffocating mist. It was almost as if they had stepped into an entirely different world.

And there, scattered across the open land, was a human civilization.

Small houses made from scarlet-colored wood stood at regular intervals, their crude construction blending naturally with the surrounding forest.

The buildings were simple, lacking the sophisticated architecture Julius had become accustomed to seeing in the outside world.

There were no towering structures, elaborate roads, or signs of advanced civilization. Instead, the settlement looked almost primitive, with the inhabitants dressed in clothing made from leaves, woven fibers, animal hide, and other materials gathered from the forest.

They moved around peacefully, carrying baskets, tools, and various other objects while going about their daily lives.

Julius stared at them for several seconds.

"So it was true... there really are humans here," he muttered, unable to completely hide his surprise.

Miasma descended toward the settlement, and Julius and Rosalina followed after her. The moment they landed, several of the inhabitants noticed the unfamiliar figures accompanying their princess.

Their movements slowed as they stared at Julius and Rosalina with open curiosity. Some whispered among themselves, while others simply watched from a distance, clearly unsure of what to make of the two outsiders who had suddenly appeared alongside Miasma.

But the moment their attention shifted toward Miasma, their expressions immediately changed.

Respect replaced curiosity.

Several of the natives lowered their heads and placed their hands against their chests before greeting her.

"We pay respects to the princess."

Their voices carried obvious reverence, although the words themselves sounded somewhat awkward to Julius’s ears. Their pronunciation was rough and their tongues seemed unfamiliar with the language he was accustomed to hearing here in the 4 stationary continents.

More strangely, after giving their formal greeting, the people began speaking among themselves in another language that Julius couldn’t understand at all. It wasn’t the usual Zlycon tongue either, which immediately caught his attention.

Julius quietly observed them as he walked behind Miasma.

"These are the surviving humans from two of the most important events in our history," Miasma explained casually as she continued walking.

"After my grandfather’s war with the gods, some of the humans managed to survive. They lived through the aftermath, but eventually my father drove them away from their original lands. My grandmother found them afterward and helped them through their dreams, eventually guiding them here so they could live in safety."

Julius listened silently.

The story was strange enough that he almost didn’t know how to react to it.

First, these humans had lost their homes because Miasma’s grandfather had waged war against the gods. Then, after they had somehow managed to survive the aftermath, Miasma’s father had appeared and driven them away again.

And when they had been left with nowhere else to go, Destiny had intervened through their dreams and brought them here.

Julius couldn’t help but smile awkwardly at the absurdity of it all. Her husband had started the disaster. Her son had created an entirely new race and displaced the surviving humans.

Then she had stepped in to save them.

And now...

Julius’s gaze moved toward the large stone temple standing at the center of the settlement.

"She’s being worshipped here now," he thought with a complicated expression.

The temple wasn’t particularly large. In fact, compared to the grand structures Julius had seen elsewhere, it was remarkably simple.

It had been built almost entirely from stone, with a single entrance leading into one spacious room. There were no elaborate decorations or magnificent statues surrounding it. The only thing that immediately caught Julius’s attention was the vague idol standing inside.

Even from a distance, he could recognize who it represented.

Destiny.

The statue didn’t look particularly similar to the goddess Julius had seen himself. The facial features were crude, and the sculptor had clearly been working from an imperfect understanding of her appearance. Yet there was something about the figure that made its identity unmistakable.

Julius stared at it for a moment.

’And now she’s being worshipped.’

The thought carried an almost ironic feeling.

Considering everything Destiny had done and everything that had happened throughout history, seeing her treated as a benevolent goddess by an isolated human civilization was certainly strange.

Miasma didn’t stop to explain anything further. She simply entered the temple, and Julius and Rosalina followed behind her.

The moment they stepped inside, the atmosphere became noticeably quieter. The sounds of the settlement outside faded behind the thick stone walls, leaving only the faint sounds of their footsteps as they walked deeper into the temple.

"My granny kept two vials here," Miasma said as she continued forward. "No one is allowed to touch them. She made sure that no one except the people they were meant for would ever be able to take them."

Julius’s eyes narrowed slightly, the people they were meant for. He exchanged a brief glance with Rosalina.

Neither of them needed to say anything, they both understood what that implied.

Miasma led them past the idol and toward the opposite side of the room. Instead of stopping there, she walked around the back of the temple, following the stone wall until they reached an otherwise completely ordinary section of it.

There was nothing unusual about the surface. No markings, no handle, no visible mechanism, and certainly no indication that anything existed behind it.

Miasma finally stopped.

"Now, you two press your hands against the wall," she instructed. "My granny said only the two of you can open the secret door, and no one else is allowed to enter."

Julius and Rosalina exchanged another glance.

They had already learned the hard way that Miasma couldn’t simply be trusted because she happened to be cooperating with them now.

She had deceived them before, attempted to take Rosalina’s body, and pursued her own objectives without caring about the consequences.

Even though her behavior had changed considerably, neither Julius nor Rosalina was willing to completely lower their guard around her.

Still, everything they had seen so far matched what Julius had learned from Destiny’s memories.

There was no obvious trap and beside everything Julius experienced till now was similar to the memory Destiny had shared.

Julius slowly exhaled before extending his hand.

Rosalina did the same. The moment their palms touched the stone wall, something changed.

There was no rumbling sound or dramatic explosion of energy. Instead, the wall simply responded to their presence.

A section of the stone silently shifted backward, revealing a hidden chamber behind it. The movement was so smooth and completely devoid of sound that Julius almost didn’t realize the secret door had opened until he saw what was waiting on the other side.

Two glass vials rested inside. Each vial contained a small amount of golden liquid.

The ichor inside them seemed to possess a faint radiance of its own, glowing softly in the darkness of the hidden chamber. Julius stared at the liquid with widened eyes, and for an instant, the memories Destiny had shown him resurfaced in his mind.

The golden ichor.

"This is my granny’s heart blood," Miasma said from behind them. "Now, if you don’t want me to become greedy and snatch it away from you, hurry up and drink it."

Julius’s eyes shone. He didn’t need to inspect the vials any further.

He already knew what they contained.

This was exactly what Destiny had shown him through those strange memories.

His suspicion toward Miasma finally began to fade.

If this had been another one of her schemes, there would have been countless opportunities for her to betray them already. Instead, she had brought them directly to the place where Destiny had hidden the two vials and had even allowed them to open the secret chamber themselves.

Whatever Miasma had meant when she spoke of her "glorious purpose," Julius was beginning to believe that she had been telling the truth.

He reached out and grabbed one of the vials. At nearly the same moment, Rosalina took the other.

She turned toward Julius, her eyes meeting his as though silently asking whether he was certain.

Julius gave her a small nod.

He had faith in Destiny. There was no reason to hesitate now.

Julius pulled the wooden plug from the vial and raised it to his mouth. The golden ichor poured down his throat in a single gulp.

For an instant, nothing happened. Then the world disappeared.

Julius’s surroundings changed so abruptly that his mind struggled to comprehend what he was seeing. The stone temple, the hidden chamber, Miasma, Rosalina, and even his own body seemed to vanish in an instant.

There was no ground beneath his feet. The world around him was simply black.

And within that endless darkness were countless stars.

Thousands upon thousands of them stretched across the void, illuminating the darkness like an infinite sea of distant lights. Some were tiny points barely visible against the blackness, while others shone brightly enough to make Julius instinctively narrow his eyes.

He stood there silently, staring at the impossible sight.

He didn’t understand where he was. He didn’t know whether he was still inside the temple. He didn’t even know whether this place existed in the physical world anymore.

Then, from somewhere within the endless darkness, a familiar voice reached him.

"It has been a while, Julius."