Chapter 2066: Chapter 2066

Fearing it was a mere fluke that he'd successfully projected himself outside, Jenkins didn't immediately cancel the projection from his bedroom to return to Alexia. Instead, he summoned his unicorn, which carried him at incredible speed toward the Evergreen Forest.

From a distance, a dense bank of white fog enveloped the forest's perimeter. From high in the sky, he could see that the fog wasn't actually encroaching upon the trees but merely encircling them. While nothing seemed amiss from the ground, the view from above revealed that the white mist had completely surrounded the Evergreen Forest. It was a gaping trap, just waiting for its prey to stumble inside.

Observing from the fog's edge, he used his sight to finally discern faint, flowing trails of spirit within its dark aura. Tracing these spiritual currents, while carefully keeping his distance from the mist, Jenkins eventually spotted several objects on the ground that resembled wooden stakes.

But when he painstakingly dug through the soft soil, he saw that it was a grandfather clock, half-buried in the ground.

"So this really is about time?"

He returned to the carriage and shared his findings with Alexia, who was engrossed in a book. She listened patiently as Jenkins recounted what he had discovered.

"I see... I'll come out with you and take a look."

However, Alexia's projection failed. Despite using the same method, she was unable to project herself outside the white fog. Jenkins initially assumed it was due to the strength of his own soul, but Alexia posed a different question.

"What exactly are the effects of the 'Uncrowned King' ability?"

Jenkins hadn't yet had the chance to explore its other effects. The Church had promised to find him some reference materials, so he hadn't spent any effort researching it on his own.

"'Uncrowned King' probably does more than just enhance the people around me... But that's not important right now. Should I dig up one of the grandfather clocks for you to see?"

"Not for now," Alexia replied. "I'm worried it might trigger another change in the area. Do those grandfather clocks look like the one you destroyed last autumn?"

"That clock was of a common design," Jenkins said. "Theoretically, it would resemble any number of grandfather clocks. Alexia, has something occurred to you?"

"Numbered items in the form of grandfather clocks are exceedingly rare, but not unheard of," she began. "It reminds me of a legend. I always dismissed it as a mere story, but considering everything that's happened to us lately... haven't we experienced enough events that will be passed down as legends in the next epoch? Jenkins, I need you to verify something."

After receiving his instructions from Alexia, Jenkins returned to the unicorn. They ascended together, and once they reached a great altitude, Jenkins conjured a massive bronze bell out of thin air. He casually let it plummet toward the ground. Just as it was about to reach the white fog, he tossed a small stone. The pebble struck the bell's exterior, and a deep toll instantly echoed outwards.

The sound waves weren't particularly loud, yet they surprisingly managed to dissipate a portion of the foggy ring directly beneath the bell.

"Just as she thought."

He thought, paying no more mind to the plummeting bronze bell. He sent the unicorn away and returned to the carriage.

"Yes, the sound of a bell can disperse the white fog."

"Then it's clear," she said. "Jenkins, have you ever heard of the 'Chaotic Mist of Time'?"

This world was filled with countless unknowns, brimming with all sorts of myths and legends. Most of these tales could potentially be traced back to a numbered item, but the Church obviously lacked the resources to verify every last one. Even when they did commit to investigating the origin of a legend, there was no guarantee they would uncover the truth.

Consequently, there were stories that almost certainly pointed to a numbered item, but for various reasons—perhaps it appeared only once a millennium, or could only be witnessed by members of churches outside the orthodoxy—there was insufficient evidence of its existence, preventing it from being officially cataloged.

Information on such phenomena would still be recorded, but they received far less attention than officially cataloged items. The case Alexia mentioned was one of them. It wasn't widely known, and Jenkins had only heard its name once in a casual chat with Papa Oliver.

The Chaotic Mist of Time appeared as an impenetrable fog. Inside it, time descended into utter chaos, losing all sense of order and sequence. Even those who entered were said to be affected by this temporal disruption. Its true nature was impossible to describe, as no one who had ever ventured inside had ever returned.

The Orthodox Churches had observed this phenomenon on a few occasions, but their only conclusion was that it caused temporal chaos. They knew nothing more. The surviving records repeatedly stressed that one must never touch the mist, much less enter it completely.

Alexia guessed that this was exactly what they were now facing. Moreover, it wasn't simply the 'Chaotic Mist of Time' in its natural state. It was highly likely that the Difference Engine had used data from the clock Jenkins had destroyed to gain some measure of control over the fog.

The Difference Engine probably didn't expect to kill Jenkins with this trap, but he had no idea what was currently happening inside the Evergreen Forest. He feared that something terrible was unfolding among the trees, something that required his presence to stop. Thıs text ıs hosted at novel•fire.net

Alexia only knew fragments of information about the mist; she had no way to combat it. Modern supernatural and arcane systems rarely dealt with abilities or rituals involving time. It wasn't just her—even if Jenkins returned to the Church of Knowledge and Books for reinforcements, it would likely be futile.

Jenkins had encountered only one non-human race capable of freely manipulating time: the 'Time Paradoxers,' who served an entity known as the 'Closed Circle.' They had been relatively friendly, offering him assistance each time they met. Jenkins was certain they would know how to disperse this chaotic fog, but unfortunately, he had no idea how to contact them.

"Wait a minute," he blurted out. "I think I've heard someone mention a ritual to 'Contact the Time Paradoxers'."

"Who mentioned it? Papa Oliver? Or Audrey?"

Alexia's response was swift.

"You once said Papa Oliver had that B-10-2-4291, the 'Sommel Esoteric Ritual Book.' Is the ritual recorded in there?"

"No, I don't think so," Jenkins said, closing his eyes in concentration. "Alexia, just give me a moment. I'll remember."