Chapter 336: The Possibility of Fate
Finally, all the stars returned to their positions.
The Astrological Divination Die resonated with the stars on the surface layer of the Pocket World, which was now covered by the Mental Imagery World. The die spun faster and faster. The stars, like individual musical notes, transformed into a symphony imbued with mystical rhythm under the guidance of unpredictable fate trajectories.
The stars morphed into a celestial river—a reflection of the River of Fate itself. Ace, involuntarily drawn to it, walked step by step through the void until he reached the banks of the celestial river.
The die had also transformed into a mysterious black shadow full of suggestion. Treading on a strange and captivating melody, it slowly merged into the starlight celestial river.
Ace had quietly stepped into the mysterious celestial river where starlight and shadows intertwined. Little by little, he was submerged by the light and darkness. Glug, glug.
It felt as if countless invisible tentacles were pulling at him. Ace struggled desperately but sank deeper and deeper. A suffocating sensation and the crushing pressure of water—feelings he had never experienced before—assaulted him.
In a trance, Ace saw himself using the Pocket World to deduce Constellation Divination. He stayed in the Pocket World for several hundred more years, perfecting the Constellation Meditation Method. After leaving behind a divine clone, he returned to the High Tower Territory.
The High Tower Territory was enveloped in a strange, tense atmosphere. The Formal Wizards and Formal Knights of the Council of Councilors seemed to be urgently preparing for something.
Daina looked at him with a mix of surprise and joy, tears in the corners of her eyes. She seemed to be anxiously telling him something. Ace tried hard to listen, but her voice sounded distant, as if one of them was underwater and the other on land.
“Lord Ace… Lord of Pain… North… what do we do…”
Daina’s voice came through intermittently. Ace strained to distinguish the words but couldn’t hear clearly. He even felt his vision blurring.
Yes, his perception seemed to have been severely weakened. He couldn’t hear clearly, couldn’t see clearly, and had lost the ability to converse.
Ace didn’t panic. He thought and observed calmly, even though his vision was blurry, as if looking at things through frosted glass—always a bit indistinct.
Ace hazily saw Daina and the others setting up dense traps in the northern part of the territory. Betty was upgrading and modifying a Magic Ship in the harbor area.
“Daina seems to be defending against an enemy from the north. The Punishers? Betty seems to think the enemy is unbeatable and is upgrading the Magic Ship for an escape.”
Ace decided to help Daina set up the traps. He placed Magical Glycerin, Unstable Extended Space, Malicious Polymorph, and Negative Energy Curse traps along the inevitable path from the north.
The High Tower’s only Lich, the Advanced Apprentice Witte, was in charge of the Negative Energy Curse traps.
Time passed quickly. In just two days, the Punishers arrived. They came across the northern part of the Larr Mountains.
All the Punishers wore black hooded robes and held massive pitch-black scythes, the blades stained with fresh red blood.
Nightlight City was in chaos. Daina and the others tried to lead the enemy into the traps. Ace directly hurled a grinding disc formed from a Six-Element Ring, killing a Hero who tried to launch a sneak attack.
The Punishers stood in a wary standoff. They seemed to have several Heroes proficient in perception who avoided several obvious traps.
Ace used a few invisible and secretly hidden traps, but a female Divine Descendant wearing craftsman’s clothes and holding a giant hammer saw through them with a strange mirror.
amidst the chaos, the Great Hero Karim took a strange bow and arrow from the female craftsman and attacked Ace.
Although Ace didn’t know what this strange arrow was, he felt the threat of death. If this arrow hit him, he would die on the spot!
The six elemental rings behind Ace flashed. Layered elemental vortexes appeared, attempting to resist the arrow. Regrettably, the arrow passed through the elemental vortexes undamaged, heading straight for Ace.
Just then, Daina suddenly leaped in front of Ace, blocking the terrifying arrow with her body. She fell into Ace’s arms, her body withering rapidly.
Daina’s dry lips parted slightly, and a very faint voice came through intermittently: “… Ace… love…”
Ace tried hard to listen, but he heard nothing. His perception was too weak.
Looking at the fallen Daina and the pendant she clutched tightly in her hand, rage rushed straight to his head. He used the 3-Ring Spell, “Elemental Disjunction,” to continuously attack the female craftsman, causing her equipment to scrap and decompose within seconds.
Ace showed no mercy. Using a weapon manifested from the dreamscape, he severed the stunned female craftsman’s head.
“… Killed Arason… Dark Raven… Fate Hunter… Lock on…”
Ace paid no attention to Karim’s words. His eyes were filled with fury. The dreamscape spread and manifested, and a battlefield grave dense with the aura of death and war appeared.
Ace fought a great battle against Karim. The territory was destroyed, and the fruits of nearly a dozen years of labor were lost. Heartbroken, Ace could not defeat Karim and was forced to flee south.
He walked to the foot of Mt. Baal, gasping for breath. The area seemed to have undergone a massive battle; the distinct aura of death was everywhere.
As Ace wondered if he had missed something, a weird, ominous, and creepy feeling struck him from behind. It felt as if something was clinging to his back.
The instant he looked back, he saw only a desperate darkness—a hatred that felt almost tangible.
Pfft!
Choking on a few mouthfuls of water, Ace crawled out of the river where starlight and shadows intertwined. He coughed violently and painfully, his face pale.
He showed none of the bearing of the Ruler of the Pocket World, the One True God, the Supreme God Ai.
He looked like a drowning traveler who had luckily crawled out of the river, gasping and trembling with lingering fear.
“What exactly was that? Was it an absurd illusion or a hint of fate? Has the High Tower been exposed? How did the Punishers discover us? And what was that heart-palpitating, irresistible black shadow at the foot of Mt. Baal?”
Ace’s breathing slowly calmed. The celestial river flowed quietly, but in Ace’s eyes, it looked like an abyss. If things truly played out as he had experienced in the celestial river, not only would the High Tower be destroyed, but he would also meet his end near Mt. Baal!
Just then, the cowlick on Ace’s head wobbled. Pop! It turned into a chubby doll that plopped down on his head, speaking in a milky voice. “That is the taste of fate. It’s too strange. With Ace’s current strength, how could he possibly communicate with the great fate?”
“Pah!”
Ace spat out a mouthful of thick phlegm and said with a tone of annoyance and unwillingness, “Maybe the great fate pitied me, or perhaps it’s the grace of the Great Source of the world. From what you’re saying, the things seen in there are a kind of fate?”
The Spirit of the Book continued in its milky voice, “You saw one possibility of fate in there. Fate isn’t fixed. Every choice you makes leads to a different result. If I were you, I wouldn’t be wasting time talking here. I’d go explore another possibility of fate.”
Ace nodded and grabbed the chubby doll, turning it back into a cowlick on his head. His emotions gradually settled, and his reason began to return. He spoke in a calm tone:
“Maybe you’re right. But I still want to know: What is fate? Can it be changed? How can it be changed? What is the principle behind this phenomenon? Since I can use this miracle to explore the possibilities of fate, is there a way for me to replicate this miracle?”
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