Chapter 2107: Chapter 2107

At the black-robed witch's words, Oviya fell silent. The witch lowered her head and began to write once more:

"[The Tower's Challenge]

A miracle used by one who conquers fate.

Summons a nine-story tower to crash down upon an enemy.

A miracle, legend says, created by a being who craved divinity.

The moment he stepped onto the first floor, he knew all of destiny."

"Consider this my ticket to watch all this unfold. I'll sit with you in the audience and witness the birth of a legend. I can assure you, I will not interfere again."

Oviya caught the paper.

"No matter what happens, you stay in the audience."

"Of course. You and I, standing together... I suppose that, in itself, is a miracle." ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ novel-fire.ɴet

The curtains drew closed, leaving the white-robed Oviya and the black-robed witch on opposite sides. With the stage lights now blocked, darkness and silence returned.

And in that darkness, a single sigh echoed—or perhaps, it was two, sighing as one.

Meanwhile, Jenkins had successfully entered the fourth Mysterious Realm. Just like the last time, he found himself sprawled on the ground, reeling from the dizziness and nausea of spatial transfer.

He hadn't stood up yet, so he couldn't see his surroundings clearly, but he could tell the light was dim. Still, a flicker of red fire danced at the edge of his vision.

The air held no particular scent, save for the smell of damp earth and must. The ground beneath him was soft soil, but it felt compacted, not loose like natural earth. He guessed he must have landed on a dirt path.

He mused to himself, but he couldn't sense much life energy nearby. There might be plants, but this was certainly no forest. Instead, the power of shadow was overwhelming, and it felt different—not even like the energy of the Shadow Realm.

After a moment, he rubbed his head and pushed himself to his feet. When he looked up, he saw an ancient castle looming before him.

The castle at the end of the path was a perfect match for every fairy-tale castle Jenkins had ever imagined. Its exterior was built from black stone bricks. The windows, all of varying sizes, were covered by drawn curtains and sealed with menacing iron bars. Most of them were misaligned, suggesting a complex and convoluted interior.

Looking up, he saw that the castle was flanked by two towers, with a slender, triangular structure rising in the center. He took a few steps back and spotted stone gargoyles perched on the roof. They were motionless for now, but Jenkins had a strong feeling they would eventually become his enemies.

The sky behind the castle was the same abyssal, chilling black as in most Mysterious Realms. The only difference was a faint moon hanging in the darkness—a distinct, bright yellow moon.

"Oh, I get it. The power of the Beast of Calamity—the Devouring Moon Spirit Cat—is going to show up in this realm!"

The thought immediately troubled him. The third Mysterious Realm had been so difficult that he'd needed to summon the Sage herself to overcome it. Now, in the fourth, even if the real Devouring Moon Spirit Cat didn't appear, he would likely need to resort to extraordinary measures to win.

Thinking back to the last realm, Jenkins couldn't help but sigh. He had long been prepared for the possibility that Oviya was the Sage, but when the truth was finally revealed, his emotions were still a tangled mess.

He finally understood the whole picture. In the distant past, he had met the young diviner, and together they had defeated the vampires. Then, the dream ended, and he was gone. But Oviya, even knowing he was from a bygone era, had been determined to find him.

During her search, she had seen much of the world, gradually finding her own path until, much like Alexia Miller, she had used her own power to ascend to godhood. When she first became a pseudo-god, she must have chosen the path of fate, just as she had in her mortal life.

But when the opportunity arose to become a Righteous God, Oviya hadn't followed the path of fate. Instead, she had forged a new one, becoming the tenth Righteous God—the Legacy Sage.

As a former diviner, she had a deep connection to the God of Fate, and she had likely received help from that deity during her ascension. This would explain the unusually strong bond between the Legacy Sage Church and the Church of Destiny. It also explained why the Church hadn't objected when Audrey, a follower of a different faith, had offered to become his teacher. It all came down to that shared history.

Jenkins didn't know how he was supposed to feel about Oviya. Should he treat her as the friend he once knew, or as the Sage she had become?

He had always thought of this world's gods as something akin to fundamental laws, devoid of mortal emotion. Now, he was learning they weren't simply personifications of nature, but beings who possessed feelings of their own.

"No, perhaps only those who achieved godhood through some special means retain such feelings."

He found it impossible to believe the God of All Things and Nature or the God of Death and End possessed any feelings at all.

"Whatever. I'll think about this mess after I defeat the Difference Engine. If I get distracted by something so ridiculous and make a mistake... alright, it's not ridiculous at all."

This internal back-and-forth helped to steady his nerves. He stood, adjusted his pack, then reached into his pocket. As expected, he found a third coin. This one, likely corresponding to his [Destiny's Stage] ability, was a coin made of colored gemstone.

Jenkins wasn't sure if multicolored gemstones formed naturally in this world, but the coin in his hand showed no sign of being pieced together. One side, which he took to be the reverse, bore the Sage's emblem. The obverse featured the sigil for [Destiny's Stage].

Based on the pattern of the first two coins, he could surmise that the front represented a Savior's Emblem, while the back symbolized the means he had used to overcome the Mysterious Realm.

He couldn't be certain, however, if the coins were a reward for completing a realm or part of the Difference Engine's scheme.

"Perhaps the Difference Engine wants me to gather the power to defy a Savior's destiny, only to deliver it right to its doorstep on the ninth level."

Despite the thought, he pocketed the coin.

He had been so focused on the castle's main structure and towers that he hadn't yet taken in his immediate surroundings.

He was standing on the dirt path that led directly to the castle entrance. On either side of the path, evenly spaced wooden poles held up cone-shaped braziers, about a dozen in all, secured with iron wire.

The firelight wasn't brilliant, but it was enough for Jenkins to see his immediate path clearly—certainly brighter than the faint, flickering moon overhead.

The light from the braziers only illuminated the castle and the path. When he turned to look behind him or to either side of the road, all he saw was an impenetrable darkness.

The castle had no outer wall, only a ring of iron fencing that looked like it hadn't been maintained in centuries. The gate in the fence stood wide open, directly at the end of the path. A humanoid figure was waiting there for him.

"At least I don't have to scale a wall or hunt for a key this time."

He reassured himself, took a quick mental inventory of his gear, and let out a slow breath to calm his nerves before walking forward.

But he stopped after taking just one step.

"The power of shadow is so dense here... could this be about a Real Illusion? The first realm tried to make me sacrifice my [Twin Demons] ability. The second was about the death of the [Undying Man]. The third was about defeating me on a stage. So, this fourth one..."

After a moment's thought, he turned his back to the castle. He activated [Real Illusion], leaving a shadow of himself in place before finally walking toward the ancient fortress.

A brazier stood right next to the gate, its light clearly illuminating the figure waiting for him.

From a distance, the figure looked like a dwarf, but as Jenkins got closer, he saw it was an old, stooped man who looked like a butler. Half of the man's face was made of metal; the other half was that of a normal human, though the skin sagged so much it looked ready to peel off.

Until Jenkins approached, the old man just stood there, nervously wringing his hands. His left hand was metal, while his right, though bruised and discolored, was that of a normal man.

"Oh, adventurer, you've finally arrived."

The stooped old man didn't seem to notice Jenkins until he was standing right in front of him.

"The lord's castle has been invaded by terrible monsters! I must clear them out before he returns. Adventurer, will you accept my request?"

"What's this? A role-playing game?"

Jenkins was suspicious, but he nodded anyway.

"Fine. But what's my reward?"

"The terrain here is treacherous. If you help me clear the castle, I can tell you how to leave this place!"

The old man said, still rubbing his hands together.

"Tell me how to leave? Alright, that's a fair offer. But what's in the castle? It's enormous; I doubt I can clear it out alone."

If this Mysterious Realm was going to force him to clear out monsters room by room, he would have to seriously consider resorting to his trump cards right away.

"No, you won't need to clear the entire castle. The lord would not appreciate a stranger barging into every room. In truth, among the monsters that have broken in, four are particularly dangerous. You only need to eliminate them."

"I'm sorry, adventurer, what did you say?"

"Nothing. I said nothing. Alright, four monsters. Can you tell me exactly where they are?"

Jenkins looked up at the castle, trying to discern the spiritual auras within, but from the outside, the black energy permeating the place was uniform.

"As you said, I'd rather not barge into other people's rooms myself."