Chapter 1466: Chapter 1466
"Unfortunately for you, perhaps no nemesis exists for you in this era, but to me, you're nothing more than an insignificant bug."
Jenkins stared at the great block of ice before him, then extended a hand to the diviner beside him. The young woman paused, startled, before she realized he wanted the mithril dagger she was holding and handed it over.
"This looks a little familiar," he murmured, glancing at the weighty dagger. He then naturally channeled his immense life spirit into the blade. Under the wash of extraordinary power, strange, mottled patterns began to appear on the surface of the already mystical mithril dagger.
Jenkins stepped forward, first scattering a handful of seeds before deftly plunging the dagger into the ice, sinking it right into the vampire's forehead. He then took a step back and watched as his life spirit erupted within the creature's body. A small tree sprang into existence on the spot, bursting the frozen creature apart from the inside.
He strode forward, catching the dagger as it flew free, and in a single fluid motion, arrived before the nascent, blood-red tree. With a light slash of the blade, guided by his [Life Source], he drew out the otherworldly power and the vast life spirit. The small tree that had sprouted from the vampire's body withered in an instant.
The dagger in his hand thrummed, as if in celebration. Jenkins had no desire to absorb the spirit of an aberration and pollute himself—and besides, there wasn't much of it to begin with. Thus, the vampire's power and the life spirit were infused into the already noble mithril. In the hands of the future God of Lies, it was utterly transformed.
As more and more patterns appeared, the dagger itself elongated and reshaped. Though it only grew slightly longer, it was a clear sign that it was no longer a mundane object. It could now be classified as a Series B item.
"I knew it was you. B-05-4-3911, the [Vampire Buster]."
Ten thousand years from now, it would reside in the Stuart royal treasury, lent to Jenkins by a certain young princess to deal with the vampire incident in Nolan. But ten thousand years in the past, Jenkins now understood that none of it was a coincidence. This very dagger was born from his own hands.
"I should be going." He pressed the dagger back into the diviner's hand and looked around, waiting for the book pages to appear.
"Who are you, really?" the witch asked cautiously, her eyes warily fixed on the extraordinary weapon in the diviner's grasp.
"Just a traveler, passing through by chance. I don't think you'll be seeing me again," he replied, but he still couldn't find the pages he was expecting in the snow. His gaze shifted to the remains of the vampire, now just a bloody stain. The snow there was thin; it didn't look like any pages could be hidden beneath.
"You're giving this to me?" the diviner asked suddenly, holding the [Vampire Buster] with both hands, looking completely bewildered.
"This dagger was always yours. It's probably gained some unique properties against vampires now. It might not be all that useful, but the material itself should have been enhanced a bit," Jenkins said, knowing he couldn't take anything from the past back to the present.
"You're leaving, aren't you?" the young woman asked again. She was the only one who understood the true meaning behind his words: the strange man was returning to a future the three of them could never reach.
"Yes, I believe my work here is done." He turned to face the young diviner.
"Then take this with you. You said you could never quite get the hang of divination. I think this might help you." She pulled a notebook from her robes and pressed it into his hands. Jenkins wanted to refuse, knowing he couldn't carry it to the future. But then he remembered they had met in the evening; if she had prepared this, she must have spent the last few hours writing furiously, without rest.
"Thank you." He smiled at the young woman, who blushed and lowered her head. Jenkins understood the subtle feelings in her heart, but they were fated to live in different eras.
He looked down and began flipping through the notebook, the [Book of Memories] rapidly imprinting the images. As he reached the end, several pages of ancient, thread-bound paper appeared, tucked between the last few sheets. Jenkins smiled with a sigh of relief. He took the pages and was about to say his goodbyes when he was suddenly kissed on the cheek by the young woman.
"Remember, you promised me. You must make our school renowned."
Waking up in his bed again, Jenkins leaned against the headboard, stunned, and didn't come back to his senses for a long time. He raised a hand to touch his cheek, unsure how to articulate the complex emotions churning within him.
"This is a bit too much... She was just a girl from an ancient time I met by chance. In this era, she's probably nothing but dust..."
Yet, the thought only made the ache in his heart grow stronger. It wasn't that he had fallen in love at first sight with the ancient diviner; it was simply the sorrow of knowing he could never see her again.
"It seems a bit inappropriate to disturb Miss Audrey so late. Still, I have to ask. I need to know what happened to her in the end."
With that thought, he was already back in Nolan. He changed out of his pajamas and into normal clothes at home, then had the unicorn carry him to Miss Audrey's house on the outskirts of the city. It was already one in the morning, and Miss Audrey was certainly asleep. Anxious and agitated, Jenkins hesitated for a long while before finally knocking on his divination teacher's door.
"I really am immature," he thought, bowing his head after he knocked.
"Jenkins? Oh, heavens, what are you doing here so late? Come in, quickly! I heard you were on your way back to Nolan. Did you run into some trouble?"
Jenkins trusted Miss Audrey completely and spent the next ten minutes briefly recounting the events of his evening. Only after finishing did he ask if she knew anything about the founder of their school of divination. Miss Audrey, still looking sleepy, thought for a long moment before shaking her head.
"The school's history is far too long. Though the teachings have been passed down, many records were lost in the upheavals of various eras. I can't even tell you our school's original name, or the name of our founder. However, we do know about the Black Town vampire incident and the [Vampire Buster]. That dagger is a very important symbol of our school, always serving as a mark of the school's leader. But it was lost many years ago. I never imagined it would end up in the royal treasury of a northern kingdom. I should suggest to my teacher that we find a way to buy it back."
"I'll take care of buying it. In a few months, I might not even have to spend any money... So that's how it is? Everything is lost..."
Though it was a shame, this was the most fitting outcome. If Miss Audrey had suddenly produced the very notebook he'd been unable to bring back, now that would have been a truly terrifying result.