Chapter 2054: Chapter 2054

Even without a head, the magician's body wasn't dead. It still clung tightly to Jenkins, but the faint impulse to self-destruct had subsided.

Jenkins was about to cleave the headless body in two when, unexpectedly, it took a step back and snapped the fingers of its right hand.

Instantly, a puff of white smoke erupted from the severed neck with a soft pop. Three doves flew out of the cloud. When the smoke cleared, a perfectly intact head was once again sitting atop its shoulders.

"You can't kill me, Mr. Fabry," the magician declared. "This time..."

Jenkins pulled the four throwing knives from his body and flung them back at his opponent. They were B-class Extraordinary items, usable by anyone. Just as they had a moment ago, the knives vanished from his hand and reappeared instantly before the magician.

Jenkins was immune to the four different curses on the blades, but the magician was not. He scrambled back, fumbling in his pocket for a pinch of powdered gemstone to cast a spell. But as he looked up, a black demonic phantom soared toward him, cackling wildly.

Black demonic flames erupted in the center of the street like a blossoming flower. Jenkins didn't wait to see the result, lunging forward again with his sword. A scorched black arm shot out from the heart of the inferno, catching his blade with brute force. The magician, still being seared by the demonic fire, materialized within the crater left by the blast. His elegant composure was finally gone, replaced by a ferocious snarl.

Jenkins didn't answer. He simply pointed his free hand at the magician.

"That's why I said the Difference Engine never told you the truth," Jenkins retorted. "Blasphemy Creation!"

Verdant vines rained down from the sky. Perhaps the magician could have evaded them at the start of the battle, but now, utterly exhausted, he only had time to register something amiss overhead before his vision went black and his consciousness was extinguished forever.

Jenkins ignored the soul-shattered corpse. After confirming it was completely still, he hurried to the old man leaning against a nearby wall, who looked to be on his last breath.

The man wasted no time on pleasantries; he knew his time was short.

"Take this," he urged.

He pressed a metal object into Jenkins's hand. It resembled a hand mirror. One side, made of copper polished to a smooth finish, could reflect a hazy image. The rest of it—the handle, the rim, and the back—was all a silvery-gray iron alloy.

"The last time ancient humans sealed the Difference Engine, they worried that the next civilization to find it would have no way to counter its power, so they left this behind. When we first helped the Difference Engine escape its seal, we stumbled upon this final gift from the ancients to our era: a set of blueprints. The Gearsmiths' Guild agreed that even if we were to help the machine, we needed a way to control it. So, behind its back, we used those blueprints to create this alchemical artifact."

His speech was still coherent, but his voice had grown terribly weak.

"Can it seal the Difference Engine?"

"Of course not. It's merely an alchemical tool. The blueprints have likely been discovered and destroyed by the Difference Engine, so this is the last one in existence. When you get close to the machine's main body, this mirror will help you locate its core. You can't possibly imagine the sheer scale of its subterranean form. If it were to fully surface, finding its core would be like searching for a needle in a haystack."

"Alright, I understand."

Jenkins gripped the mirror tightly and asked again:

"Is there any other information you have on the Difference Engine?"

"We always worried it would turn on us and kill us for knowing its secrets once it succeeded, so we kept a private cache of intelligence on it. Unfortunately, this ambush was too sudden. I'm afraid those files have already been put to the torch by the people from the Tree House. But there is one thing I can tell you..."

He lowered his voice, as if worried someone might overhear, though there was no one else around.

"To defeat you, it has placed an enemy within that tower... one you absolutely cannot overcome."

"It has summoned monsters from the past. The Tree House helped it do this. You must know, the Orthodox Church has discovered that the Tree House is an ancient organization. They surface at the end of every Epoch, so they possess a great deal of secret, terrifying knowledge. The Tree House helped the Difference Engine place... something I'm afraid to even contemplate... within the Mysterious Realm of the nine-story metal tower.

"Whether it's you who enters that tower or the Son of the Sage, you must ensure you have strength beyond your own. These are not things a mortal can overcome. Each floor will hold a foe that no mortal can defeat. You must seek power from an outside source."

"Can you be more specific?"

Jenkins pressed, his words coming quickly, but the man just shook his head, looking as if he truly didn't know the details.

"I also have information about the Tree House," he continued. "You must destroy them. Consider it repayment for the information I've given you."

"I can promise you that."

He said it with grim certainty.

"I may be known as one of the Believers of Lies, but this time, I give you my word."

"Good. The Orthodox Church believes the Tree House's goal is to become the next Savior. They think everything they've done so far has been to bring about the end of the world. But don't you want to know what those people are really planning?"

"What are they planning?"

"Their official story, the one they told the Difference Engine, is that they believe it's too difficult to attain the status of Savior in this Epoch. So, they intend to hasten the apocalypse, let civilization start over, and as the masterminds behind the end, they can preserve their strength and enter the next era to compete for the title of Savior in the Nineteenth Epoch."

"And the Difference Engine believed that?"

"Forget the Difference Engine—even we didn't believe them. But the Tree House is undeniably resourceful, and cooperation had its benefits. So neither the machine nor our Gearsmiths' Guild ever questioned them, though we remained wary in secret."

Clearly, their wariness hadn't been enough, or the Gearsmiths' Guild wouldn't have met such a fate. This update ıs available on novel⟡fire.net

"But I know they would never give up on this Epoch so easily. They've invested too many resources and too much power in the Eighteenth Epoch—even the demigods they cultivated have been all but wiped out. They have to succeed this time, or they won't have a chance in the next era... Yes, they've never abandoned their true objective. No matter who wins in the end, the Savior or the Difference Engine, they'll pop up at the last second to stab the victor in the back. Do you understand what I'm saying?"