If one were to look down from the sky upon Blackstone Island at this moment,
they would notice, in the western direction of the elliptical Blackstone City, near the midst of that dark forest,
a point of dazzling gold was quietly spreading across the ground surface.
This gold was brimming with aggression!
Even some originally dark trees were gradually being dyed a brilliant gold color.
Inside an empty natural cave,
Splash!
Several figures leaped out from the deepest part of the pool.
"An unknown deity is about to descend, Blackstone Island is no place to linger, we must flee at once."
Before the other apprentices could react and recognize where they were,
Colin didn't stop his stride, delivering a warning before quickly heading towards the exit.
"Aren't you coming with us?" Berkeley asked subconsciously from behind.
"I have other matters..." the voice drifted with the wind.
Behind him, Berkeley's lips moved slightly, his expression complex as he watched Colin's figure disappear.
He had so many questions he wanted to ask...
"Let's go as well," Fina retracted her gaze and said.
At present, although it was unclear what exactly had happened,
the urgent priority was to flee Blackstone Island!
Berkeley nodded almost imperceptibly.
A group of people gradually moved away.
On the other side,
after Colin made out his direction, he continued to run without any delay.
The coming of the deity loomed over him like the sword of Damocles!
He had to hurry!
Having exited the cave and judged the direction with the help of the Floating Cone Bomb,
some time passed.
He arrived at the entrance of another small cave located on the southeast side of this cavern, hidden behind an ancient giant tree.
This was the cave Erica had stumbled into.
Taking caution, Colin bolstered himself with Defensive Witchcraft and made sure the Floating Cone Bomb could correctly judge his direction before he entered.
After winding through the cave for quite a long time, he finally discovered Erica's corpse at a fork.
The familiar Wizard Robe, the familiar blond hair.
But the robe was now torn, and the blonde hair had become withered and yellow... it was no longer as it was before.
He sighed faintly and quickly gathered Erica's body, stowing it in the Storage Ring.
With considerable time already passed, there was no space for delay.
Now that he thought about it, it was fortunate he had rescued Berkeley and the others en route.
Otherwise, with the accelerated descent of the deity, he would have had no time to escape.
Turning around, he hastened towards Blackstone City.
His final destination was the dock on the east side of Blackstone City.
He planned to find a large ship there to leave the island.
Undoubtedly, one could not stay on Blackstone Island any longer.
Perhaps the civilians could survive by becoming disciples of the deity.
After all, the deity descending upon the Wizard Tower this time seemed not to be an Evil God... possibly a divine god.
And a divine god is more merciful.
One just needed to offer up absolute faith and frenzied loyalty, castrate their own thoughts, and live blindly and ignorantly like domesticated livestock in order to preserve life.
But deities usually do not forgive wizards.
Even if they do, he was not willing to be bound by so-called faith, to become an ignorant disciple.
The unique dark trees of Blackstone Forest flew by swiftly at the side.
Soon, his view brightened up.
A field of golden wheat appeared before him.
Colin's spirit lifted, signaling that Blackstone City was not far away.
He rushed through the wheat fields, over the city wall, and ran straight for his home on Palm Street.
Erica's body had already been gathered.
But her letter, which she had left behind, he had not carried with him, it was stored in his home on Palm Street.
Along the way,
there were some destroyed and collapsed houses on the streets, but calm had returned as in bygone days.
It seemed no one knew the City Lord Price had died, and the Lap School was essentially extinct...
A great change was soon to come again.
Colin raced all the way and soon arrived at his home on Palm Street.
Approaching, he saw the gray-black door locked with an iron padlock.
'Had Renee and the others gone out?'
His expression slightly sunk, he sighed inwardly.
If possible, he wanted to take Renee and the others away with him.
The deity despised wizards, and for those like Renee who had undergone wizard transformations, perhaps there wasn't as much tolerance.
Ordinary residents on the island might be able to survive by offering their faith.
But it was not certain for Renee and the others.
And,
seafaring voyages, clearly, were not something an ordinary little ship could undertake.
But for a large ship, unless made by a wizard,
otherwise, it was clearly not something one person could manage alone, he needed sailors.
Renee and the others, even without sailing experience, could help him manage sailors, freeing up time.
However, time was of the essence right now.
It was just a pity.
But with this thought, Colin suddenly had an idea.
Inexplicably, he remembered that he had instructed Renee to go to the dock in East City before he left and buy him a ship capable of long voyages.
Could it be...
He shook his head, no longer dwelling on the thought, and leapt into the courtyard over the wall.
After all, he would know once he went to East City.
He entered the familiar second-floor bedroom.
Colin quickly retrieved a brown envelope sealed with a red and blue intertwined wax seal from a dark red storage cabinet beside the bed.
He placed it into his Storage Ring, swiftly surveyed the room for any knowledge that might be useful,
then without further delay, he turned and left.
After a while,
Splash~ Splash~
The sound of waves hitting the rocks reached his ears.
His nose seemed to catch the unique scent of the sea breeze.
With unwavering steps, Colin exhaled slightly.
East City was not far now.
As the distance closed, the sound of the waves gradually grew louder.
Finally, after crossing the gray-black city walls,
a swath of azure appeared before Colin's eyes.
The long golden beaches stretched out into many lengthy docks.
At the ends of these old but sturdy docks, a variety of ships, large and small, were moored.
Unlike when the caravan had arrived, resulting in a cleared and quiet scene,
now there were many fish stalls set up, and far out on the sea's horizon, many ships were adrift.
These were the vessels fishing near the coast.
However, as far as the eye could see, there was no sign of his familiar black carriage.
Nor could he spot Berkeley and the others… Perhaps they had already left by boat?
At that moment.
Whoosh!!
A visible golden ripple suddenly spread quickly.
It caused a ripple across Colin's human nature and the spiritual light of his knowledge.
But unlike him, the people swept over by the golden ripple stopped in their tracks, frozen in place.
If not for an unlucky white seabird tumbling into the sea with a splash,
Colin would have thought time had been solidified by the golden light.
The next moment, the frozen crowd began to move again.
Among them, some of the people who had previously appeared normal now had inexplicable zealotry written across their faces,
muttering incomprehensible babble non-stop.
Most of these people were physically weak and of feeble will.
As they continued to mutter, the soul mist surrounding them became ever fainter.
The healthier-bodied among the people were not much better off,
their eyes now showing bewilderment as their actions slowed.
Colin tensed, quickly scanning the surroundings for a suitable ship.
Clearly, It was forcibly creating followers for itself.
The spirit of humankind was incredibly fragile.
The gods of this world never craved worship from humans...
It… It would just take it.
Once the soul mist that shrouded these people dissipated, they would all become Its devout and loyal followers.
But before he found a proper ship,
chaos erupted first.
"You godless sinner!"
"Worship my Lord!"
Those who had become followers first began forcibly pressing those around them to abandon their inner defenses, through words or actions.
At this time.
"Wizard!"
"There is a sinful wizard!"
An old fisherman beside Colin, who had been carrying a bucket brimming with fish, suddenly pointed at him and shouted loudly.
Endless fanaticism replaced the previous joy of a bountiful catch of fish.
The wooden bucket that held his hard-earned daily catch was now overturned on the ground due to his abrupt action, scattering the fish everywhere.
But he didn't care at all.
Following his shout,
more and more people around Colin began to turn their heads to look at him!
"You sinful wizard!"
"Unbeliever!"
"Go to hell, demon!"
Colin's expression remained calm, unresponsive to their shouts.
Under the expanded effect of the Hope Defense Field, these people couldn't even get within two meters of him.
He swept his gaze around, taking in the zealous crowd being repelled by the Hope Defense Field.
They were as if they had been thrown into predetermined molds to be squished and modified,
Despite their different faces, body shapes, and clothing,
the fanaticism deep in their eyes was precisely the same...
Ptui!
Someone spat at him,
Bang!
Someone threw something at him.
"Sinful wizard!"
Others cursed him!
All these things were kept out by the Hope Defense Field...
But for some reason, a feeling hot and unbearable like molten lava surged in Colin's heart!
He took a slight breath.
Starting from the corner of his lips, his small muscles began to pull and tense, then his cheeks, his ears.
An angry smile surfaced on his face!
This was a strong emotion he had never experienced since coming to this world.
"Heh—Divine!"
He shook his head and spoke the same words as the Wizard from the Lap School right before his death.
As if triggered by the sarcastic tone in his voice,
the frenzied crowd paused for a moment.
Then, like boiling water, they suddenly erupted.
And in this clamorous moment.
Suddenly!
"Master!"
A familiar voice reached his ears.
Colin looked up.
On the deck of a three-masted ship not far away at the dock, Renee was waving at him, pulling Demi along.
"Master!" Renee called out again when she saw him turn her way.
Colin saw this, and a flash of surprise crossed his eyes.
He smiled faintly, then suppressed his emotions and regained his composure.
Boom!!
The Hope Force Field, under his control, turned into an actively repulsing field, carving a path through the crowd towards the ship where Renee was.
He took a step, then paused briefly.
He turned to look back towards West City,
until that visible, golden hue was firmly imprinted in his mind.
Then he turned and ran towards the ship where Renee was.