For some reason, the “prison” made by the paradox was getting weaker.
Sunders immediately tried to go for the exit again. Previously, doing so would be futile when he couldn’t gain any distance toward the target as if he were chasing a star by running on the ground.
Now, however, he could see the glowing spot ahead of him getting slightly bigger.
“The restriction of the paradox is weakening... But why?”
He stopped moving and focused on his surroundings. The paradox couldn’t go away without a reason. He wished to find out the cause of it.
As soon as the reflection above Parmigi Highlands vanished from everyone’s view, Sunders sensed a gleam of energy traveling past him.
It came and went very quickly. Sunders was sure he would have missed if he lost focus for even a millisecond.
It was brief, yet terrifying. The seemingly harmless energy easily dissolved the dimensional paradox without leaving any trace behind.
It was so hard to perceive. Even a tiny ember would be more eye-catching than the escaping power.
During the split of a second, Sunders felt as though he was looking at an almighty creature existing in a different dimension. The true strength of the creature was way beyond anything he had known.
He felt excited when he realized that he might have discovered his future path.
In ancient times, truth-finders were considered to be the weaker ones among all wizards. On top of them, there were the legendaries, and finally, the revelations.
Many wizards, including Sunders, today had been thinking, if a truth-finder was all about finding the path of truth and prevailing on this path, then what should they do afterward?
They more or less knew that “manipulating the laws of this world” marked the qualification of a legendary wizard. Modern wizards had not discovered strengths and arts above that kind of power. Naturally, they did not know what “revelation wizards” were capable of.
At this moment, Sunders believed he successfully caught a glimpse of the divine power he always dreamed of. The exceeding power was expressed in a way that nobody ever thought of. Of course, wizards were unable to comprehend such power without seeing it first.
It was peaceful, placid. Yet it contained unimaginable might within.
Dazed by both surprise and joy, Sunders floated still in the dark tunnel. The dimensional paradox around him was no more, yet he could not persuade himself into leaving yet.
“I witnessed an unknown level of power many millennia earlier than my aptitude. Is it good or bad?”
He didn’t know.
“Knowing” the existence of such unparalleled strength was pernicious because the knowledge could easily blind its victims by convincing them of the impossible, thus leading them astray. But Sunders was different. His resolve never faltered since he became a wizard. He meant to reach the ultimate end of truth. Ostensibly nice offerings he encountered on his way, such as Cassini’s Blessing, would not drag him down.
Rather, he felt glad that a lasting question in his mind was solved.
“Heh heh... Gar-hahaha!”
While it was rare for him to get out his stern character, he gladly used his private chance to discharge his swelling jubilance by laughing like a madman.
As his mental letup did its wonder to his spirit, his eyes glimmered ever more brightly with the flame of ambition.
...
Sunders wasn’t planning to figure out where the energy came from or where it went because it was clearly not something he could handle. Perhaps a super-being casually played a trick, and he happened to witness a fraction of its power.
After stowing the newly-found inspiration in the depth of his memory, he began to access the problem at hand.
“At least it helped me break out of the dimensional paradox. By gods... I don’t know whether I’m in luck today or the opposite.”
He suddenly saw the exit in front of him flickering. When he wasn’t paying attention, the exit of the tunnel had been wrapped up by several lightning snakes as if they were attempting to consume their prey.
“That’s the power of the world’s consciousness!” Sunders quickly realized what was going on.
The plane fusion at Parmigi Highlands must have ended, while the world’s consciousness was “finishing up” by repairing damaged space. Unfortunately, the inter-plane tunnel created by the Section Ephemera was regarded as another space rupture.
Soon, the tunnel began destabilizing at a rapid speed. As Sunders watched warily, the sides of the tunnel broke apart, exposing him to the dangerous discordance beyond the void.
His previous plan was to return to the Windsay Valley and take Angor with him since the tunnel looked safe. Now, however, he no longer had time for that job. If he turned back now, he was sure to die with the vanishing tunnel, never to return to the wizarding world again.
His only choice was to push forward and through the exit before it completely closed off. He could always use another Section Ephemera to pick Angor up later.
With this decision, he flew forward as fast as he could while cursing his misfortune under his breath again.
As soon as he appeared at the border of the Parmigi Highlands, the tunnel behind his back died out.
Fearing that opening up another tunnel too soon could lead him to a similar disaster, he decided to head back to Brute Cavern and perhaps ask for Rein’s assistance.
“The Windsay Valley should be safe. Hope the boy doesn’t run off again.”
...
Meanwhile, Angor was faithfully obeying his professor’s order by waiting in the underground cave. Though the cave now appeared like a different place because it was brightened up by countless light spots hovering in the air like fireflies in summer.
The problem was, Angor had no idea where they came from all of a sudden.
A moment ago, instead of seeing his professor reappearing at the entrance of the portal, he was instead welcomed by a peculiar beam of light. As soon as the beam reached him, the pendant he always kept close, or rather, the Alien Eye kept inside the pendant, became “alive” after staying dormant for all these years.
Under his surprised gaze, the “glazed sphere” defied gravity and floated in front of his eyes.
Next, small shards of light escaped from the pendant and scattered around his position while coating the area within an ancient aura.
The light spots combined with the light beam were quite a beautiful sight to behold, if he weren’t constantly bugged by the ominous feeling as well as the absence of his professor.
As carefully as he could, he reached out his spirit feeler to scan the “fireflies”. To his confusion, his “sensors” did not send any results back. It was as if the spots weren’t there, and he was hallucinating.
He suddenly remembered that, when traveling with Sunders as a fresh recruit several years ago, something similar happened in his tent when he was sleeping. It was Nausica and Toby who told him what they saw. According to them, the Alien Eye “ate” lots of light spots like a vacuum cleaner, before it stopped moving and became a dead object again.
However, the previous occurrence was likely caused by the plane fusion at Devil’s Water. Right now, he didn’t see anything like that around the Windsay Valley.
Wait a second—
The portal was supposed to connect him to Parmigi Highlands.
The effect of the plane fusion reached all the way here?? But if that’s the case...
As he remembered, the previous plane fusion at Devil’s Water ended up as a failure. He wondered if the Alien Eye would mess up this one again.
The “fireflies” around him did not remain peaceful for too long. A while later, they gathered into a silver stripe and began heading to a spot as one.
They were diving into the Alien Eye.