Chapter 801: Cause of the Catastrophe
Lin Li needed to use the branch of Eternity to revive the Seed of Eternity, yet the branch of Eternity was why Nefa was trapped here. If Geresco had designed everything here, then it was necessary for Lin Li to consider Rogge’s opinion now if he wanted to get the branch of Eternity. Also, Lin Li was embarrassed to ask for it directly. Now, he needed to figure out how important the branch of Eternity was to this place. If it was really irreplaceable, then he wouldn’t stand any chance.
“That little black dragon! At the end of the dark age, he proclaimed himself the new Dragon of Destruction, but was defeated by Geresco. Geresco wanted to kill him directly, but he had a good brother who pleaded for his life in front of Geresco. So, Geresco changed his mind, and trapped him in this world using this method.” Obviously, Rogge didn’t know Lin Li’s urgent desire for the branch of Eternity, and thought that he was just curious.
Lin Li thought, So that’s the truth! That Nefa thought too highly of himself! He survived because Tutankhamun pleaded for his life, but he told me that Geresco tricked him into coming here! Lin Li found it funny, but another question came up in his mind next. Wasn’t it the Immortal King who didn’t want Nefa becoming the new Dragon of Destruction? Why did Geresco do something that the Immortal King would do?
In the historical documents and various myths about the dark age, there wasn’t any mention of Nefa at all. This meant that Nefa probably didn’t cause any trouble for the rebellion forces when the human coalition was fighting against the High Elves. In that case, the chief of the coalition, Geresco, wouldn’t need to deal with Nefa, not to mention killing him. If there was anything that could make Geresco strike, it would be the fact that Nefa wanted to become the next Dragon of Destruction.
Although the Immortal King had disappeared, the one who inherited his legacy should be his proud disciple Osric! How could it be Geresco? Lin Li suddenly remembered an incident back at the Scar of Death when he was fighting for the debris of the stars. He had seen a diary which belonged to a royal High Elf. In the last part of the diary, the High Elf wrote sentences like “He’s not Geresco! He’s the Immortal King!” with ecstasy. Could it be that the two most powerful beings to have ever existed in Anril—Geresco and the Immortal King—had some connection that nobody knew?
Lin Li didn’t ask Rogge about this. No matter what connection Geresco and the Immortal King had, it wasn’t something for him to worry about now. He nodded and continued to ask Rogge about Nefa. “I see, but wasn’t Geresco afraid that somebody would release Nefa from this world after he left? If not for you, I would have believed Nefa, and he would have gotten his freedom now.”
That was the question that puzzled Lin Li. Not mentioning the relationship between Geresco and the Immortal King, it turned out that Geresco also didn’t want Nefa to become the Dragon of Destruction. The simplest method to achieve that was undoubtedly killing him. Geresco had already prepared to do that, but how could he give up such a good chance to end all worries just because of Tutankhamun’s plea and choose to confine Nefa in such a troublesome way? It was like turning a death penalty into life imprisonment—anything was possible as long as Nefa was alive.
Lin Li didn’t think Nefa would have requested him to take the branch of Eternity if he had known Lin Li would meet Rogge here. Nobody would be foolish enough to deceive a person who would meet someone who could easily expose his lies. Evidently, Nefa was quite confident that the two of them wouldn’t meet. However, Nefa’s plan failed due to some unknown reason. If not, Lin Li would have gotten the branch of Eternity and broken Geresco’s seal already.
Rogge patiently explained to Lin Li, “Even if he can leave this place, he won’t dare to go back to Anril. Although Geresco had spared his life due to Tutankhamun’s plea, he had also made Tutankhamun promise that he would personally kill Nefa should the latter come back to Anril. Although Tutankhamun’s power is a bit lower than that of his brother, Geresco taught him some tricks that can guarantee him to keep his promise.”
“No wonder.” Lin Li had also speculated that since Tutankhamun and Nefa were hatched from the same magical crystal, their strength should be similar. Since Tutankhamun was guarding the Blackstone Mountains now, he surely had some way to control Nefa. However, Lin Li had thought that Tutankhamun had learnt the method of controlling Nefa from the Immortal King. It turned out that Geresco was the one who taught him that in order to fulfill his promise.
“As for you meeting me here, that’s an accident that little black dragon didn’t think of. He probably knew that I will be in deep sleep now, so he asked you to get the branch of Eternity from here. However, I felt extremely pure dark force in my sleep. I thought that the Lord of Darkness has arrived, so I woke up earlier.” With that, Rogge peered at Lin Li with complicated feelings.
Lin Li knew that the pure dark force Rogge talked about was the energy released from Gloomy Dark when he was battling the Fire Phoenix. Seeing Rogge looking at him with a strange expression, Lin Li felt very pressured. Although this high priest of Darkness didn’t point it out directly like Sendros, his glance seemed to be suggesting that he took Lin Li as the incarnation of darkness.
Lin Li didn’t dare continue this topic. Hearing that Rogge had finally mentioned the branch of Eternity, he curiously asked, “High Priest, is the branch of Eternity really so powerful? It maintains the state where two worlds overlap. I’m lucky to meet you here! If I’d really taken it away easily, I would have fallen into Nefa’s trap.”
“That little black dragon didn’t deceive you on this point. These two worlds overlap because of this branch of Eternity. Although the overlapping space won’t recover immediately once you take the branch of Eternity away, the process is almost irreversible. Even if you wanted to put the branch back, you wouldn’t be able to do it, at least not with your current power. Moreover, Nefa probably didn’t tell you. If you took the branch of Eternity in my sleep, most of the energy in this fire element world would explode. Being the center of this explosion, I would lose consciousness and sink into endless bloody slaughter.” Rogge revealed another shocking piece of information using a calm voice.
Although Rogge sounded very calm as if talking about someone else, Lin Li broke out in a cold sweat upon hearing it. If Rogge really became a fire monster that only knew how to kill, then he would be the first to face it. After all, Rogge had been a Sanctuary-realm arbitrator at the Supreme Council. If that really happened, none of his tricks would be sufficient to save Lin Li from death under Rogge’s hands. Thinking of this, Lin Li shuddered. He would be more than happy to skin that wretched Nefa alive now.
After almost being tricked by Nefa, Lin Li naturally wouldn’t help him break the seal. He told himself that he would rather not obtain the branch of Eternity than let that lad escape the torture of the seal. After all, High Priest Rogge told him he had a way to transport Lin Li back to Anril. It was better to understand more about the dark age from Rogge now. If not, his trip would be wasted.
“In the blink of an eye, 1,000-plus years have passed since I came here. I don’t know how’s the outside world now, how’s the Darkness Shrine.” After Rogge had told Lin Li some happenings during the dark age, he started to inquire Lin Li about the outside world now. As he was the first high priest of the Darkness Shrine, Rogge’s concern about the Darkness Shrine didn’t fade with time.
“Anril is rather peaceful now. Although the kingdoms clash frequently, there’s no proper war. But the Darkness Shrine…” Speaking of the Darkness Shrine, Lin Li eyed Rogge cautiously, and continued, “The Darkness Shrine has been weakened quite a bit these years, and can no longer match the Brilliance Shrine, especially after it experienced a catastrophe about 600 years after you’ve left. The prehistoric magical beasts from this world arrived at the Darkness Shrine through the crack in the Eternal Darkness Altar. They caused severe damage to the shrine and almost destroyed it.”
“Oh, Nefa did that when I was asleep the previous time. He wanted to threaten me with that to help him get the branch of Eternity. However, that’s all he could do. After all, he certainly couldn’t release energy from the fire element world for a prolonged period of time.” Rogge didn’t seem to mind this heavy blow to the Darkness Shrine.
If others saw Rogge’s reaction now, they would probably think that this high priest didn’t have feelings for the Darkness Shrine anymore. However, Lin Li knew that Rogge wasn’t being cold and emotionless, but had much more important tasks here, and had strong faith in the Darkness Shrine.