Chapter 2153: Chapter 2153

"This isn't a matter of 'it might be helpful'—it's vital right now. The ritual needs this very thing. Your timing couldn't be better!"

The old elf was already walking toward them.

With the aid of the old elf's expertise, the Church refined the original elven ritual. They gathered nearly all of the top ritual masters in the material world, and within half an hour, they had finalized every single detail of the ceremony Jenkins was to perform.

He said "nearly all" because the followers of the God of Rituals were absent. Jenkins had heard from the silver dragon—who, in turn, had heard from Sophia—that Magic Miss had requested a train from Hathaway. Jenkins knew Magic Miss was prone to peculiar ideas, but he held out hope that she might truly be able to help him in the end.

What truly intrigued Jenkins, however, was Magic Miss's claim that she'd found something he had missed, and that this discovery had sparked her inspiration. Roughly a month ago, he had followed her lead in search of a key-related Bestowal. The likely location of the Creation Slate fragment—the one Dolores had given to Constantine Sir during the Gem Assembly—was supposed to be near that very artifact.

At the time, Jenkins and the old elf had found the "Key of the Door" but had seen no sign of the slate fragment. He later recounted the night's events to Magic Miss. Her claim of finding what he'd missed almost certainly referred to that very piece of the Creation Slate.

"To think she could draw inspiration from something like that... It's truly incredible."

The silver dragon had only recently emerged from the Mysterious Realm herself. According to her, the metallic black cat was hardly worth mentioning; she had defeated it with ease, without sustaining a single injury.

She recounted, in vivid detail, the battle between dragon and cat that took place in the Mysterious Realm after Jenkins's departure. With a palpable excitement, she declared it the most thrilling fight she'd had in tens of thousands of years.

She tacked on the warning without missing a beat, a clear sign she knew his conversational habits all too well.

While waiting for the ritual preparations to be completed, Jenkins asked about the nine Doomsday Documents. The final one had been found, he learned, embedded in the wall of the very dead-end alley where he and Barnard had first entered the Mysterious Realm. In other words, the last slate was hidden right where the portal had once been.

Once the Church learned the exact location from Hathaway, they dispatched a team at once. Just as they tore down the wall and prepared to excavate the ground, the slate emerged from the shattered bricks.

The nine Doomsday Documents had initially been collected at the Church of the Sage, and the Twelve Orthodox Churches were devising a way to transport them into the Mysterious Realm. However, bringing the nine slates together had triggered some unexpected changes. As a result, they couldn't be moved immediately to the abandoned hospital on the outskirts of the city upon Jenkins's return.

But the Church was already preparing for the transfer. Presumably, when Jenkins returned to the Mysterious Realm, he would be able to take them all with him.

"Speaking of which, while I can't see the slates myself, what exactly does the last one say?"

Jenkins inquired, his curiosity piqued.

Alexia and the two diviners, of course, knew nothing of it. They had been waiting in the Evergreen Forest for his return and were unaware that the Church had even found the ninth slate. Anathasia was similarly in the dark. She had only just come back from the Mysterious Realm and had barely exchanged a few words with Princess Sophia before Jenkins summoned her, so she hadn't heard the news either.

However, someone among the Church members gathered here was bound to know its contents. Jenkins spotted an acquaintance, Mr. Gilbert, but Gilbert seemed to be actively avoiding him, giving him no opportunity to start a conversation.

"They're terrified of you now, you know."

The silver dragon commented, standing beside Jenkins:

"It's as if a colony of ants suddenly discovered that one of their own, identical in appearance, was actually a fake ant in a mascot suit. Of course it would cause a panic."

"Then why aren't Audrey and Brolignans afraid?"

He asked. The two diviners had gone to assist with the ritual preparations and were not currently with him.

"Quite clearly, diviners are a strange breed."

Anathasia stated matter-of-factly, then strode over to Mr. Gilbert to ask on Jenkins's behalf about the contents of the final Doomsday Document.

Although the slate symbolizing purple destiny was the last to be found, it was, in fact, the first Doomsday Document when ordered by the appearance of the Savior's Emblems. The Unknown Path was, in the truest sense, the very first Savior's Emblem to take form in the 18th Epoch.

Unlike the slate representing Twin Demons, this one truly foretold the very beginning of the apocalypse.

It was another short poem, which the silver dragon recited for Jenkins:

"All things face a day of final doom, Wandering time reaches the end of an age.

As the roaring Steam Age meets its twilight, It must close with a performance on a grand stage.

Here! Is the very vortex of fate!

Now! Is the moment the age meets its end!

Gods and masters fix their gaze upon this stage, And an unexpected man descends.

A wisp of purple fate hangs in the sky, A plume of unexpected dust reshapes all paths.

Myths and legends shall be written once more;

And what remains will be a story yet untold.

All will be given to fate, Fate will belong to a god, The god will become a man, And the man will save the world."

For some reason, this first slate was far easier to comprehend than the other eight. Perhaps it was because the final stories of this epoch had already played out, and the savior's mission was nearing its end. Only now, with the benefit of hindsight, could they easily understand what destiny the Doomsday Slate foretold. Nᴇw novel chapters are publɪshed on Nove1Fire.net

Had he and Barnard discovered this slate immediately after leaving the Mysterious Realm back then, neither of them would have understood a word of it. Jenkins thought back with a wave of nostalgia to this very day one year ago—the day it had all begun. He had no regrets about coming to this world. Even if he were to fail in the end, he was glad for every experience he'd had over the past year. To him, they were a priceless treasure.

It wasn't just Gilbert. Everyone who had been urgently dispatched to the abandoned hospital was deliberately keeping their distance from Jenkins. It reached a point where only Anathasia, who had a moment of free time, was left to speak with him.

This made Jenkins realize that even if he defeated the Difference Engine and left the tower, his life would never return to its former tranquility. He had anticipated this outcome dozens of hours ago at the foot of the tower, when he'd decided to use the power of a god to repel the calamity summoned by the Treehouse's last three demigods. But it didn't matter. He had a way to turn it all around.