Mystery: Big Alarm Clock Ghroth Path

Chapter 351 Tributaries of the "Chaotic Sea" and Astral Projection
"So you did know about this."

Saint Andreid paused for two seconds before speaking, his tone revealing nothing particularly special.

"Let me guess, one of your main tasks in coming to 'Midnight City' this time is to retrieve the 'Holy Remains', right?"

What are the relics of the Holy Relic?
Roger felt a sense of bewilderment, like a certain male celebrity with a doctorate in his past life upon hearing the words "CNKI," but he quickly realized that this must be "Midnight City's" special name for the fragments of the "Chaos Sea."

This kind of terminology is similar to how "New Fog City" refers to the extraordinary souls herded by Alexis as "Devotioners" and the monsters who are responsible for eliminating the residents mutated by the "Crown of Creation" and who possess the extraordinary power of the "Mystic" pathway as "Servants of God." It is a specific terminology that is a mixture of worship and local cultural connotations.

But he didn't ask any questions; he simply looked at Saint Andreid quietly, gesturing for him to continue.

“This is not the place to discuss this. Please come with me to the ‘Sanctuary’ where we can talk.”

"can."

Roger nodded, and then he and Saint Andreid left the meeting room on the first floor and headed towards the stone room on the 25th floor.

After the two arrived, Saint Andreid poured Roger a glass of water and gestured for him to sit down. Then the lord of the "Underground Midnight City" also sat down next to Roger.

"In fact, as far as I know, the survivors of 'Midnight City' were able to escape because of the existence of the 'Holy Remains'."

Saint Andreas frowned slightly, as if recalling a legend from long ago:
"According to my teacher, the 'Holy Remains' are fragments of divine power that our Lord separated to protect humanity when He created this continent, and 'Midnight City' is a city built on the 'Holy Remains'."

"Back then, those monsters with those illusory ropes hanging from their bodies attacked 'Midnight City' in order to devour the 'Holy Remains' and obtain the power scattered by my Lord."

To prevent such blasphemous acts from happening, the two angel kings, the 'Angel of Fate' and the 'Angel of Time,' used their power to seal the people of 'Midnight City' and the 'Holy Remains' underground. In other words, we are the people who have guarded the 'Holy Remains' for generations.

"So when you said you wanted to take the people of 'Midnight City' away from here, I already guessed that you planned to take the 'Holy Remains' away. I just didn't rush to ask because I believed you would tell me when the time was right."

Roger now understood what Saint Andreid meant, and he asked with some curiosity:
"Who else in 'Midnight City' knows about this?"

"Lord Roger, I am the only one who knows about this so far."

Saint-André added:
"Only the lord of Midnight City is qualified to know this secret."

"Very good, thank you for your hard work."

Roger nodded slightly.

"Sir Roger, I have a question that has been bothering me for a long time. If it is convenient, I would appreciate it if you could answer it."

Saint Andreid asked:
"What are those monsters from? And what are those strange, illusory ropes on their bodies?"

“An enemy of my Lord.”

Roger thought for a moment and then answered.

"My Lord's enemy? You wouldn't be referring to... the 'Pure White Angel'?"

Saint Adrian was extremely surprised by this answer, because the people of the "Midnight City" had long been taught that the original creator was a being beyond all things, neither born of anything nor created by anything, without any adversaries or contradictions.

So when he heard that the Creator actually had an opponent, his first instinctive reaction was the "Pure White Angel" who had already defected.

He didn't even dare to delve into where the "Pure White Angel" had gone after her defection; he only dared to ask this question tentatively.

"No."

Roger looked at Saint Andreid, who had a solemn expression but whose eyes were full of doubt, with a hint of amusement in his heart, thinking to himself that the kind of gossip one enjoys is indeed not limited by age.

Compared to the gossip of ordinary people, the gossip of the true gods is much more juicy. However, on the other hand, the lord of "Midnight City" is very cautious, as if he is afraid of overstepping his bounds on this topic.

"I can only say that the 'Pure White Angel' is still quite a bit behind that one."

Roger considered what he could and couldn't say, and then added:
"Fortunately, He has already fallen, and what controls those monsters is only His remaining will."

"I see."

Saint Andreid nodded. Although he still didn't truly understand the matter, the limited information Roger had provided still gave him a sense that much of his confusion had been cleared up.

He timely ended the conversation, and then said:

"What are your plans next? Is there any 'Midnight City' that can assist you?"

"First, I need to know the way to the 'Holy Remains', and if possible, I need someone to guide me."

Roger thought for a moment, then added:

"Furthermore, please tell me everything you know about the 'Holy Remains,' because a thousand years have passed and my understanding of the actual situation may be inaccurate."

"Therefore, I also need to hear the descriptions of him from the people of 'Midnight City' who guard it, so that I can make a comprehensive judgment."

"Ok."

Saint-Andrédérard nodded:
"Forgive my frankness, but all I know is the path to the 'Holy Remains,' which can only be opened with the 'Eye of Glory.' In other words, only the city lord can open the road to there."

"But embarrassingly, according to Saint Vico, only angels are qualified to enter the place where the 'holy remains' are kept."

"So, did Saint Vico himself go there?"

Roger asked, somewhat curiously.

"As far as I know, I've been there once, and only once."

St. Andreas said:

"That was after He was severely wounded and before He fell, He wanted to seek guidance from our Lord regarding the 'Midnight City,' so He went to the place where the 'Holy Remains' were kept."

"But for some reason, not only did He not bring back the oracle of my Lord, but His condition deteriorated rapidly, and He perished not long after, leaving behind the 'Eye of Glory,' which allowed 'Midnight City' to continue to survive."

"Wait a moment, I have a question."

Roger suddenly frowned:
"When Saint Vico was still alive, did the people of 'Midnight City' leave the underground in the same way as they do now?"

"No."

As Roger had predicted, Saint Andreid answered:
"At that time, we needed Saint Vico's permission to leave 'Midnight City'."

"But after His fall, even if I could master the 'Eye of Glory,' I would not be able to open that exit. Instead, it would open a window randomly, and whenever the window opened, the exploration team of 'Midnight City' would weigh whether to go out to find the necessary supplies and carry out exploration."

"interesting."

Roger nodded, then asked:
"Besides causing skin diseases, what other side effects does the 'Eye of Glory' have?"

"side effect?"

Saint Andreid paused for a moment:
"I haven't heard of any side effects."

"impossible."

Roger shook his head:

"The higher the sequence level of the sealed artifact, the higher the level of danger, and the corresponding containment level is completely different."

"In the world of light, low-sequence sealed artifacts are often classified as '3' level, mid-sequence as '2' level, sequence 4 to sequence 3 as '1' level, and sequence 2 and above as '0' level."

"The number of the sealed artifact corresponds to a completely different level of danger. For example, the box I used to carry the people of 'New Fog City' was a '0' level sealed artifact. Don't be fooled by the fact that I'm not afraid of it; that's only because I'm the one using it."

"Generally speaking, it will cause the holder to disappear randomly, die suddenly, or mutate. If there is no holder, the creatures in the surrounding area will encounter this terrible thing one after another according to their distance and size. The largest range is roughly the size of 2 to 3 of the 'Midnight Cities' on the ground."

"To give another example, another sealed artifact in my possession, the one I used to eliminate the monsters in 'Midnight City,' is also a Sequence Level 2 sealed artifact. Its side effect is that it will randomly bring certain terrifying scenes into reality. The whole process is completely uncontrollable, and it will also pollute a large area around it, causing the creatures there to become abnormally activated and mutated."

"A similar phenomenon occurred with a sealed artifact once held by 'Mist City,' which indirectly led to the destruction of 'Mist City.'"

"So scary?"

Saint Andreid was quite surprised, because when people evacuated from the "Midnight City" on the ground a thousand years ago, it was too hasty, so most of the sealed artifacts there were not taken away. Only a few low-sequence and mid-sequence sealed artifacts were eventually extracted into extraordinary characteristics and used to cultivate the Sequence 9 or Sequence 8 combat power of the "Underground Midnight City".

Over the millennia, the "Underground Midnight City" currently possesses only three different sealed artifacts, including the "Eye of Glory." Two of these are formed from the extraordinary characteristics of low-sequence "Mystic People," while the third is a Sequence 6 "Sun" pathway sealed artifact.

The extraordinary characteristics of these three items were not separated mainly because they are all related to sacrificial rituals to the "true creator" and possess certain religious and sacred attributes.

On the other hand, their side effects are not very serious, and coupled with the strangeness of the "Eye of Glory", the people of the "Underground Midnight City" generally lack an intuitive understanding of the dangers of "0" level sealed objects.

But now, after hearing what Roger said, Saint Andreid finally sensed something was wrong.

"Sir Roger, what is your opinion on this matter?"

Unable to reach a conclusion, he spoke to Roger in a tone of seeking advice.

"I need to verify my idea; I can't say anything now."

Roger shook his head; in fact, he had a very outrageous guess in his mind.

That is, sometime before and after Saint Vico entered the "Underground Midnight City," he was already subtly influenced by the tributary of the "Chaos Sea" based on the law of aggregation of extraordinary characteristics. His act of seeking out the tributary of the "Chaos Sea" exacerbated this pollution. So much so that after his fall and becoming the "Eye of Glory," the sealed artifact and the new "sun" of the "Midnight City," the pollution accumulated very slowly over the years in the inhabitants of the "Underground Midnight City" through light and heat radiation.

It was precisely because of this that the authority to open the entrance to the "Underground Midnight City," which was originally held by Saint Vico, began to become random. Fortunately, possessing the aura of the "Chaos Sea" was a prerequisite for entering the "Underground Midnight City," which prevented the monsters controlled by the Celestial Venerable's puppet form from being attracted.

"If that's the case, the problem will be very complicated."

Roger glanced at Saint Andreid without saying a word.

Although the people in the "Underground Midnight City" have not yet shown any obvious abnormalities, it cannot be ruled out that there is some kind of latent instability among them.

The demigods, especially those with the "Omniscient and Omnipotent Five Paths," may have even more serious underlying problems, which may be one of the reasons why Amon and Urolius are so cautious about them.

In contrast, although there is also a tributary of the Chaos Sea beneath Fog City, according to Amon and Alicis, there have only been sporadic Chaos Sea pollution incidents in Fog City over the past thousand years, and the Church of Truth has been extremely cautious in handling related issues. This is why the people of Fog City have relatively little Chaos Sea pollution.

Otherwise, the refugees of "Fog City" led by Alexis would have no chance to leave "Fog City" and rebuild "New Fog City," and would likely have been wiped out by Vinera.

Roger thought for a moment and then spoke again:

"Could you please open the passage to the 'Holy Remains' for me? I want to go and take a look."

"However, your status is not yet that of an angel, which would be very dangerous."

Saint Andre immediately began to offer advice, his face full of worry.

"Don't forget, I just told you that I'm not afraid of these things."

Roger shook his head, his face calm.

The fragment of the "Chaos Sea" called "Holy Remains" buried beneath the "Underground Midnight City" is of primal nature, but it is only a few scattered fragments. According to "Time Angel" Amon, there is more than one such fragment in the "Forsaken Land".

However, Roger possesses the complete source material and "Primal Core" corresponding to the "Star of Judgment" pathway. Even though he has not yet contained or fully mastered this source material, its anti-contamination effect is extremely powerful, especially for the "Holy Remains," which is merely a fragment of the source material.

"...Alright, since you put it that way."

Saint-Andrédérard nodded:
“However, according to tradition, to open the path to the ‘Holy Remains,’ a corresponding sacrificial ceremony must be held, which requires a period of preparation, if you don’t mind.”

"Yes, you can arrange that yourself."

Roger wasn't in a hurry to enter the place where the "Holy Remains" were sealed at this moment. Instead, he wanted the people of the "Underground Midnight City" to be mentally prepared.

So for the rest of the day, Roger mostly traveled between the "Underground Midnight City" and "Midnight City," communicating with Saint Andreid and others about various arrangements and details, while occasionally checking on Bernadette and Jack's progress in exploring "Midnight City."

Finally, when Roger returned to the "Underground Midnight City" for the third time, Saint Andreid said to Roger:

"The sacrificial ceremony is ready. Please proceed to the central square." "Okay."

Roger nodded slightly, and then left the "sanctuary" with Saint Andreid, arriving at the open space on the ground.

Unlike before, a special altar has been built here using stone tools, on which various grains, berries and other crops are placed, as well as a small amount of meat from some unknown creature, while many people from the "Underground Midnight City" and extraordinary beings surround it.

Under Elliott and Greer's arrangement, they began to kneel down, bowing to Roger and Saint Andreid while reciting difficult passages in Giant's Tongue.

Roger could roughly discern that the chanting was a homage to the "First Creator" and the "Holy Relics," as well as a prayer that the "Holy Relics" would allow the worship of the "First Creator's" followers.

He listened to the whole thing without making any comment. Finally, under the guidance of St. Adriano, Roger and the believers recited the name of the "First Creator" aloud in the language of giants and praised Him.

"Lord Roger, the ceremony is complete. Please follow me."

As the chanting ceased, Saint Andreid, holding the scepter of "Eye of Glory," finally looked at Roger and spoke softly.

"Good work."

Roger nodded slightly, and then followed Saint Andreid toward the riverbed of the underground river in the "Underground Midnight City".

As the cold groundwater touched Roger's feet, he took a deep breath, looked ahead at Saint Andreid walking calmly in straw sandals, and decisively took off his shoes and socks and threw them on the bank. Barefoot, he braved the force of the water flow and walked upstream into the underground river.

"Ordinary residents of 'Midnight City' are not allowed to enter this place under normal circumstances. Even members of the council of elders who make regular remote pilgrimages must follow a complicated procedure, otherwise their lives will be in danger."

“Strictly speaking, you are the first person to come here outside ‘Midnight City’.”

Saint Andreid explained as he walked.

"Besides Saint Vico, has anyone else entered the 'Holy Remains' preservation site?"

Roger nodded and continued to ask.

"It's probably over. As for whether 'Pure White Angel' went there, I don't know."

Saint Andreid shook his head.

When the two reached the outlet at the very end of the underground river, Saint Andreid suddenly stopped.

"You'll have to go through this alone."

The old man nodded, and then plunged the "Eye of Glory" scepter in his hand into the rushing water with a "bang".

In an instant, the light at the tip of the "Eye of Glory" scepter dimmed considerably, and Roger could even see a faint eye hidden within it.

At this moment, the eye seemed to have gained more size, and it began to turn frantically, looking in all directions.

To use a more relevant analogy, it's somewhat like the eye movements of someone who has entered REM sleep, only faster and appearing rather frantic.

When the eyeball reached its maximum rotation speed, it suddenly stopped.

Suddenly, the water parted to both sides, revealing a deep cave in front of Roger.

"This is the path to the 'Holy Remains'."

"Unlike the usual Hajj, the innermost door is now open, and you can enter simply by passing through the water curtain."

"Don't worry, just keep moving forward. The 'Eye of Glory' will tell me your current status."

"I will not close this door. If you encounter any abnormalities, you can turn around and run back at any time."

"The only thing to be careful about is that I cannot see the area where the 'Holy Remains' are located, so you need to be extra careful there."

Upon hearing Saint Andreid's instructions, Roger nodded and thanked him softly.

Then he walked inside without hesitation.

As soon as Roger entered the black cave, he had a strange feeling.

He felt that his surroundings had been turned upside down.

Strictly speaking, this inversion is not just a spatial inversion, but rather a distortion and distortion of almost everything.

Roger simultaneously saw his own path from which he came, his path from which he went, and himself in a standing position, as well as many other states of himself. This immediately reminded him of the strange passageway he had encountered in the black monastery in the collective dream of the "Gods' War Ruins".

Looking at the distorted and fragmented scene around him, Roger suddenly had a series of insights, as if he had grasped some key points.

But strangely, this information was in a magical state of "knowing yet not knowing" in his mind, as if a part of Roger's unchosen fate had been activated, and all the possibilities had been placed in front of the vision of a higher-dimensional version of himself.

Roger could sense those possibilities, but he couldn't understand them.

Suddenly, many of the Rogers in the corridor turned their gaze toward Roger's true form.

In an instant, Roger felt a strong sense of suffocation, as if he had entered the deep sea and was being gradually swallowed by the increasing water pressure.

At the same time, Roger saw many strange things crawling out of his body: a mixture of flesh and shadow, iridescent bubbles flowing with liquid rust, and the eyes of a blood-red creature silently watching him.

He saw his own death; these things killed him from multiple possible angles simultaneously.

Roger was startled; he knew that if he accepted this kind of death, he would truly die.

As he hurriedly closed his eyes, preparing to forcibly dispel the illusions before him by entering the "Original Core," Roger's eyes sensed a strong light shining through his eyelids.

Roger's heart skipped a beat, and he opened his eyes to find that the previously twisted and strange passage had become bright and clear.

The source of this light was Roger himself; this light obscured Roger, putting him into a state akin to "hiding in the light."

Those corridors that once reflected his various possibilities now only reflected a ball of light, making it impossible to see the essence within.

"Saint-Andreas?"

Roger then realized that this passage was likely one of the protective measures set up by Ulrich, the "Angel of Fate" who possessed the power of the "Mercury Serpent," and only a high-sequence seal from the "Sun" pathway could temporarily shield it from its influence.

Roger nodded slightly as he looked back at the path he had come from, to express his gratitude.

He continued walking forward, and after walking for about 10 minutes, the light surrounding Roger went out at the same time.

Along with it disappeared the passage that reflected Roger's various possibilities; it was as if he had entered a shadow that could absorb all light.

This shadow felt very much like the "shadow of corruption" to him, because at this moment he could feel his own corrupting power rapidly amplifying.

This amplification rate was extremely fast. Under normal circumstances, Roger should have felt his consciousness being overwhelmed. However, having learned from past mistakes, he had already begun to silently recite his own name and strengthen his connection with the "Original Core" to keep the emergence of these corrupt natures at a relatively low level.

At the same time, a rusty color appeared in the shadow, as if it had been tainted and suppressed by the power of the "Primal Core".

"Is this the 'second gate' that Saint Andreid spoke of?"

Roger nodded slightly; he had finally understood.

Under the protection of the "Primal Core," Roger finally passed through the last shadowy area, which resembled a viscous swamp.

As the pressure around him eased, Roger finally arrived at a spacious cave.

Rather than calling this a cave, it's more accurate to describe it as a fantastical and enchanting space.

The first thing Roger saw was something that resembled a lake.

At first glance, the lake appears to be composed of a black, viscous, illusory liquid, but upon closer inspection, it seems to contain all colors and all possibilities.

Above the lake was a sky emitting a strange light.

At first glance, the sky looks somewhat like the universe, but upon closer inspection, it seems somewhat unreal.

Unlike most people, Roger had been to the real starry sky, so he could easily perceive the difference.

Those areas representing nebulae resemble a watercolor painting somewhere between reality and illusion.

The stars, on the other hand, are depicted only with oil paint, surrounded by a cluster of concepts and symbols.

These concepts are not drawn perfectly; in fact, they have a somewhat comical and unsettling feel.

In this process, Roger could feel light and heat, all sorts of suddenly emerging information and dreamlike murmurs from the ocean of the collective unconscious, and occasionally he could feel alternating sensations of tingling and cold.

Most importantly, Roger could sense many indescribable powers existing around him in a subtle way. Although he could perceive them, he could not use them for his own purposes.

"This……"

Roger was somewhat surprised, because if he wasn't mistaken, the colorful lake in front of him should be the "Holy Remains" of "Midnight City," which is also a tributary of the "Chaos Sea" that Amon had mentioned.

Over the years, this tributary seems to have undergone some kind of change, to the point that a portion of the astral projection appears in this cave.

"Now that I think about it, the descriptions of the astral planes I read earlier seem quite accurate."

Compared to the spirit world, which he had visited many times, Roger's knowledge of the astral realm was much less.

Roger began to recall what he knew about the astral plane.

In his memory, the astral plane was a mysterious place composed of symbols and authority, encompassing all authority and symbols of the entire universe. In other words, the astral plane could be seen as the underlying logical code of the entire universe.

In contrast, the spirit world is more like the Akashic Records, which Roger read about in his previous life and which stores all data like a large database, while the astral realm is more like a symbolic reflection and manifestation of the entire universe, existing like a book of rules.

The current situation aligns with the information Roger already possessed, but his direct contact with the situation gave him a deeper understanding.

"On another note, although I once wanted to merge a part of my power with the 'Chaos Sea,' judging from Amon's words, Adam seemed to tacitly approve of me doing so... but only within this tributary of the 'Chaos Sea.'"

"This presents me with a problem."

Roger gently rubbed his temples:

"How can I utilize the power of this 'Chaotic Sea'?"

In Roger's memory, there are three main ways to use the power of the "Chaos Sea".

The first medium was the first "Blasphemy Slab," which was formed from the remains of God within the Chaotic Sea of ​​Primordial Matter. It recorded the method of using extraordinary properties to combine with specific materials to create a deity.

The second medium is also the "blasphemous slab," but it is the second one.

The second "blasphemous tablet" was formed from the body of the ancient sun god, and it records the pathways to the aggregation of extraordinary characteristics that surpass those of gods.

Compared to the first "Blasphemy Slab" of the "Chaos Sea," which was drawn away by some mysterious force during the Dark Ages and left before reaching its complete state, the "Second" Blasphemy Slab not only changed some of its sequence names but also added some content.

These additional contents record the source material, uniqueness, and characteristics required for the advancement to the Old Ones, bringing a glimmer of hope to the end times.

It was after seeing the second "Blasphemy Tablet" that Emperor Roselle created the 22 "Blasphemy Cards" in its likeness.

Both of these stone slabs are directly connected to the "Chaos Sea," so they can serve as a medium to mobilize the power of the "Chaos Sea."

As for the third medium, it is the "Simp Mirror" Arodes, which is controlled by Klein. This mirror is formed by the combination of a certain substance in the "Chaos Sea" and a stone, and it also has a very close mystical connection with the "Chaos Sea".

However, it seems that Roger has not mastered any of these three methods, and it is impossible for him to directly pray to Mr. Fool and ask him to borrow the magic mirror Arodes.

"How about... we try fusing the power of the 'Primal Heavenly Core' directly into it?"

Left with no other choice, Roger suddenly had a somewhat dangerous idea.

(End of this chapter)