Hurry On the Way

The gods gathered here seemed to have long since grown accustomed to campaigns against the Chaos Demon God.

After all, the thing resurrected punctually every year, as inevitable as the turning of the seasons—and every year, under their combined assault, it would perish once more.

A year was hardly a significant unit of time to beings like them.

Yet no matter how thoroughly they dealt with it—blasting it down to elementary particles with lasers and nuclear warheads, burning every inch of its remains with holy fire, even invoking the laws of time to erase all traces of its existence—the Chaos Demon God would still emerge anew from the void when the following year arrived, reappearing with the incomprehensible stubbornness of weeds forcing their way through granite.

Still, this was the first time Aina had brought Xia Lun along to deal with matters beyond their world.

Xia Lun stood quietly at her side, his gaze still sweeping curiously across the gods of every conceivable form within the divine hall, like a traveler observing an entirely new world.

“This is a perfect opportunity. I’ll show you what this set of nano-armor can do. You’re definitely going to love it.” The Mechanical Prophet had still not given up on selling equipment to Xia Lun. He followed persistently at Xia Lun’s side, his metal joints giving off a faint hum. “I can even throw in a matching set of floating cannons and light-wings, Mr. Xia Lun... Trust me—no man can refuse this.”

Well, Xia Lun could tell that the Mechanical Prophet truly wanted to make this batch of magic stones off Aina.

Aina looped her arm through Xia Lun’s and, with a soft snort, led him away.

“Don’t listen to that tin can’s nonsense,” Aina said in a lowered voice, her tone touched with disdain. “Every world has its own path of development. There’s no such thing as inherently better or worse. If we force ourselves to follow someone else’s path, ours will only end up becoming a mismatched mess.”

Xia Lun nodded. Naturally, he understood that principle.

“Unless that fellow is willing to sell us all of his world’s core technologies... He dares to charge so much for just one piece of equipment. Hmph. Does he really take us for fools?”

Xia Lun felt slightly embarrassed.

If the price truly had not been beyond what he could afford—and if he had not been reluctant to let Aina spend so much on him—he really might have been tempted.

After witnessing the Mechanical Prophet’s array of novel gadgets, claiming he was not interested at all would have been self-deception.

“Wormhole jump initiated. Entering jump state in ten seconds.”

An emotionless electronic voice issued from within the Mechanical Prophet. Azure energy patterns surfaced across his silver-white metal armor as the surrounding space began to twist and warp.

Not far away, the Arcane Sage lightly tapped his staff, and a compound magic circle three meters in diameter instantly unfolded beneath his feet. Intricate geometric runes spun and flickered through the air as powerful spatial ripples slowly spread outward.

As for Sinking Years, his figure faded from the air like a pencil sketch being erased, dissolving gradually from its edges. There was something unsettlingly mysterious about his departure, as though he had never truly existed in this time and space.

Xia Lun watched each god’s distinctive method of travel with keen interest. These different means of crossing space seemed to reveal the ways in which different civilizations understood the laws of the universe.

“We should get going.” Aina raised her hand and gently drew a line through the void. The movement was as effortless as lifting a curtain, yet the energy turbulence caused by tearing open space made the sensors inside the Mechanical Prophet issue a rapid series of warning alerts. Calmly, she led Xia Lun into the rift, leaving behind a spatial scar that slowly began to heal.

The simplest, most unadorned display of power—and the one that made its might most apparent.

Precisely locating a place one had never visited through the depths of space was no easy task.

Had Xia Lun attempted to reach this unfamiliar coordinate on his own, he would have been little more than a headless fly, blundering through the spatial turbulence and forced to return to the real world repeatedly to check his position.

“We’re here.”

In a mere moment, Aina had calmly and confidently drawn another rift before them, returning outside with Xia Lun as though they had simply walked through an ordinary door.

The two stood suspended in the void, surrounded by a dark starry sky that seemed capable of swallowing all reason. Floating before them was the pale planet shown earlier in the Arcane Sage’s projection.

But after suffering the ravages of the Chaos Demon God, the planet was now utterly scarred. An unknown dark-green energy seeped from the cracks in its crust like pus, staining the nearby asteroid belt with an ominous hue.

A moment later, another spatial fluctuation rippled open to one side.

“What an incredible power, Scarlet Goddess.” The Arcane Sage appeared nearby, arriving a step behind Aina. “We are fortunate that you are our ally.”

“You’re not so bad yourself.” Aina replied faintly, her gaze never leaving the ravaged planet.

A splash of color suddenly appeared before Xia Lun’s eyes.

A streak of light tore through the darkness. The Mechanical Prophet unfurled three pairs of dazzling light wings and sped toward them. Photonic feathers scattered brilliant trails through the vacuum, illuminating the nearby stardust until it shimmered.

“Destination reached. Exiting wormhole state.” The electronic voice sounded at just the right moment.

“You two are far too fast!” the Mechanical Prophet exclaimed incredulously. “I thought I’d be the first to arrive... Magic really is an incredible force. Ah, Mr. Xia Lun, what do you think of these light wings? Aren’t they impressive? Interested?”

Xia Lun had gradually grown accustomed to this fellow. He merely smiled at him without responding.

“Is everyone here? Then let’s set out.” The voice of Fallen Years rang out among them.

No one knew when this person had arrived, either.

“When did you get here?” The Mechanical Prophet was straightforward enough to ask him directly.

“I arrived early... by an hour.” Fallen Years replied in a somewhat dazed tone.

“What a strange fellow...” the Mechanical Prophet muttered inwardly. Just a few minutes earlier, they had clearly still been in the Hall of Stars.

“But weren’t there a few others who were supposed to take part in this operation?” the Mechanical Prophet suddenly asked again.

There had been more than just the few of them in the hall before.

“The others... are too weak. They would only be throwing their lives away.” Fallen Years spoke without the slightest emotional fluctuation, as though merely stating a fact. “By the time we resolve this... they should arrive just in time to take care of the aftermath.”

“All right. You have a point.” The Mechanical Prophet nodded. Then a crisp electronic chime sounded from inside his head.

“Initiating full-area scan. Searching for target: Chaos Demon God. Target located. Constructing planetary coordinate model. Target is in the region of 118°01′ east longitude, 27°12′ north latitude...”

The Mechanical Prophet’s wings of light snapped fully open behind him. Countless photon feathers quivered gently as if alive. “I’ll go first, then. These wings are already deployed, and keeping them active costs quite a bit of energy.”

Before anyone else could respond, the Mechanical Prophet transformed into a shooting star and streaked toward the planet before them.