NOVPUB
Chapter 744: Chapter 765 Domain of the Vague
(First post, then revise)
Just as he was about to step into the portal, Lancelot suddenly turned his head to look at the sky, his gaze penetrating the thick fog and spotting something unique.
"What’s wrong?" Kalalin asked anxiously, "Is there something not right?"
"No, nothing worth noting."
Lancelot shook his head. He had just felt a secretive call, a wave of admiration-filled spiritual fluctuation, an invitation to a gluttonous feast, a greeting from his own kind. His response was to pretend to ignore it, but he wasn’t sure that would make any difference—’Eternal Hunger’ Tulaglas had already noticed him, and all he could do was to leave that terrifying entity’s sight as quickly as possible.
"Let’s go." Lancelot nodded to everyone, "Keep up."
Except for the first time he had come to the Abyss, this was the first time Lancelot used a portal connecting other outer layers. It felt completely different from his previous experiences, as if he himself were some fixed anchor, around which the universe spun in a supernatural manner.
When the spinning stopped, even Lancelot could barely keep standing, while his companions without exception fell to the ground. Everything around them turned to pure white, as if they were in a room where the walls, dome, and ceiling radiated white light, looking in any direction seemed like staring directly at the sun, not as glaring yet devoid of any information about shape, distance, color, and position.
And when he inhaled in surprise, Lancelot immediately started to cough violently, and others reacted similarly—not because the air contained some strange odor, but because the air was too pure, neither foul nor fragrant, utterly tasteless, and even dust-free, which was a stark irritant for those accustomed to the suffocating foul air of the Abyss.
It was a while before everyone stopped coughing, and their eyes gradually adapted to the surroundings. To their surprise, they found themselves standing on an endless white chalk plain, and they were not alone—within visible range, they saw at least a thousand figures, including large groups of hundreds, solitary wanderers, and more often small groups of three or five, either walking silently or standing quietly in place, waiting.
It was unsettling that these people had physical bodies, ordinary appearances, and seemed no different from normal people; had they not been forewarned, Lancelot and his companions would never have believed that all these were indeed deceased.
Furthermore, seeing so many ’normal’ humanoid creatures at once was still something the group found unusual. Even in Twin Bridges Town, two-thirds of the pedestrians on the streets had at least one of antlers, bat wings, tails, or beast hooves, while here almost everyone was a normal mortal. Despite it making no sense, Lancelot and his group still felt an eerie sense of alienation, as if they truly did not belong here. n𝚘𝚟𝚙u𝚋.co𝚖
Despite this, the surrounding crowd seemed to have no interest in this group of suddenly appeared outsiders. Some glanced at them but quickly shifted their gaze away, as if they had seen mere common stones by the roadside, not worthy of any attention. For Lancelot, this behavior confirmed his guess: there was no difference in appearance between these deceased and his own group, whether through their eyes or his own.
The companions exchanged uneasy glances, seemingly uncertain of what to do next. However, one thing was clear: it didn’t seem appropriate to keep their weapons at hand, so they subconsciously stowed away their blades, hammers, and shields.
"What do we do now?" Bruto asked in a hushed voice, "Should we start casting spells to search for my father’s soul right away?"
"Hold on a moment, let’s figure out the situation around us first," Lancelot’s lips barely moved, but his voice clearly resonated by each companion’s ear, "I want to take a closer look at those ’dead,’ it’s time to test your acting skills..."
"How do we do that?" Bruto asked, puzzled.
"Just pretend you’re someone who just woke up and is still groggy," Alamir grinned, "Simple, right?"
"Like that, huh... Alright, but don’t blame me if it goes south..."
As it turned out, the dwarf’s concerns were entirely superfluous. When Lancelot led them to several dozen individuals standing in place, maybe only two turned to glance at them before bowing their heads and continuing their murmuring.
Lancelot deliberately walked slowly, which didn’t make them look suspicious at all here—most people were in that state. Coupled with his transcendent hearing, he easily made out every word these people said.
"Ogma! Lord of Knowledge, God of Wisdom! Binder of all knowledge, guardian of minstrels! Please take us away, we who dedicate our teachings to your cause, devote our lives to the faith of knowledge! Hear the cries of your worshippers, look! Here is the librarian Benito Hernandez who established the third largest public library in Xihartland; here is ’Thinker’ Willow Parada, who spent his life studying historical documents from the turbulent years, exploring the connections between gods and mortals; here is ’Sage’ Xueye Swan, who served the lords of Tillage Town loyally with his knowledge for a lifetime..."
The prayer continued, extolling the loyalty of Ogma’s followers, and listing each individual’s achievements. Lancelot had no interest in listening further and slightly quickened his pace, soon leaving these people far behind.
Suddenly, every soul on the white plain lifted their heads, gazing toward the bright sky above. A war chariot with a black base and gold trim roared across from the distant horizon, with red, blue, and green lightning leaping beneath its wheels. The driver was a bronze-skinned female warrior clad in demi-divine plate armor, her eyes aglow with sparking electricity. As she drove the chariot overhead, many figures on the ground suddenly flew up, all emitting excited cheers, quickly being sucked into the interior of the war chariot, but some on the ground started to collapse in tears, frantically chasing after the swiftly departing chariot in the sky, first pleading, then questioning why the Divine Envoy had abandoned them.
"Hmph, Talos," Lancelot heard the group he had just passed murmuring in low voices, to his surprise filled with contempt, "May He attain peace soon. Let’s continue, the great Ogma will soon send His Divine Envoy. Don’t waver in your faith..."
