Chapter 324
Janus, here I come!
Chapter 204 Janus: Balshatt, I've finally seen you again.
"Finally, we've arrived at this place."
Inside the Trial Space.
Ryan looked at the vast sea of sand before him and couldn't help but sigh.
You should know that he had wanted to come here to find the Advancement Fragment back when Lin Qi became the Saintess.
Thank goodness I didn't come then, otherwise it would have been troublesome if that old woman Sylvia had caught me and found out something.
After all, that guy has killed quite a few Chosen of the Gods; he's capable of anything to become a god.
"You can still find that location, right?"
Ryan turned to ask.
Janus wasn't in the temple, but somewhere else. Lin Qi had spent several days searching for him before finding him, so Ryan was a little worried. If they spent a few more days here, it would be too late, and Witch K definitely couldn't handle it alone.
"It should be possible."
Lin Qi opened her hand, and there appeared in her palm the ball of light that symbolized the divine decree.
Ryan was taken aback. How could he have forgotten about this? After all, he was summoned by Janus's Divine Oracle, so naturally, the latter wouldn't send him all over the desert to find a place again, would he?
But... Lin Qi, you clearly remember, isn't this what you call "should"? Isn't it certain you'll find it?
While she was pondering, the ball of light suddenly flew out of Lin Qi's hand.
Nothing unexpected happened after that. In Ryan's eyes, the ball of light was Guiding Spirit. In classic game mechanics, he and Lin Qi followed the ball of light, like two ascetics walking in the desert.
About half an hour later, the sky suddenly began to darken.
Ryan looked up and found that the world seemed to be divided in two by light and darkness. He stepped into the night, but his back foot was still in the sea of sand under the daylight.
At the same time, he sensed the Power of the Janus Path. With his current strength, he could determine that this dark area was a special region Time Seal.
"We're almost there."
Lin Qi said in a low voice.
She sensed Janus's guiding power during the Saintess Assessment and then found this place.
However, Ryan was busy dealing with the Grand Duke's affairs at the time, and when he looked back at the AFK server, he found that Lin Qi had already arrived at the Desert Lake where Janus's Phantom was located, so he had no idea how Lin Qi found this place.
At this time.
As the space was divided by alternating light and darkness, Lin Qi released the Power of the Janus Path, and grayish-white light floated around the two of them, and the scene before their eyes began to change.
Like pressing the accelerator at a traffic light intersection, Ryan stood still, watching in amazement as the world changed, seeing the sun rise and set, seeing an oasis appear in the desert, and seeing people walk past him.
Finally, the scene settles on a quiet night, with a pale moon hanging in the sky and silver-gray sand covering the cold, desolate sea of sand, creating a sense of loneliness and desolation in the surrounding atmosphere.
An oasis appeared at the edge of their vision, surrounded by a large expanse of vegetation. In the very center was the lake that Ryan had seen before. He quickened his pace and walked over, looking around, but he did not see any boats rowing on the lake.
Where are they?
The lake isn't very big; you can tell at a glance whether there are people or not.
"Let's look underwater," Lin Qi said.
"Underwater? He fell in?"
Lin Qi rolled her eyes. "I was talking about fragments."
People can indeed be speechless when they're speechless.
"Uh... right, we're here to get the fragments."
Ryan stroked his chin, used Magic Power to create a protective barrier under his feet, and then walked towards the center of the lake.
He recalled that when Lin Qi came before, the Advancement Fragment were reflected in the water, but Lin Qi was unable to retrieve them.
"There."
Lin Qi pointed.
Beneath the water's surface to their right, a milky-white aura appeared, enveloping the Advancement Fragment.
Just like before, except that the woman who resembled Janus was gone.
Ryan crouched down and tried to scoop it up, but only managed to grab a handful of water. He then tried using his Time Authority, but failed again.
He was slightly taken aback. "Lin Qi, why don't you give it a try?"
Lin Qi squatted down, and unsurprisingly, she failed.
"This... is fake?"
That shouldn't be the case.
Putting aside this oracle of Janus, when Lin Qi first came, the woman clearly hinted that only he could obtain the fragment.
"Lin Qi, are you the Saintess Janus? Has a divine oracle descended upon you?" Ryan asked.
Lin Qi gently shook her head.
"Tsk~ My first wife, what use are you?"
"I can't rely on my wife, I can only rely on myself." Ryan stared at the Advancement Fragment in the water, pondered for a moment, and his consciousness gradually sank down, slowly connecting with the Misty Space.
The Advancement Fragment must be here. Even if Janus isn't here, he must have left a way to obtain the fragments.
Not to mention that divine pronouncements have been issued.
But now that the other party hasn't shown up, Ryan guesses that Janus might be giving him a final test.
He needs to prove that he is the creator.
Of course, whether this idea is right or wrong, Ryan has no other choice for the time being, so he'll just give it a try.
When his consciousness touched the Misty Space, the familiar feeling returned. With the increase in strength and the Faith Power, Ryan now faced almost no difficulty each time he entered the Misty Space.
Swish!
His figure appeared above the mist.
Will Janus... be reflected in this starry sky?
Ryan looked up and observed carefully.
Above him were thousands upon thousands of illuminated stars.
He could sense the believers who existed within each star.
Then, based on their relative strength, some are brighter and some are dimmer.
Ryan opened his mind and carefully sensed the changes in each star. Some stars were about to be lit up, some were struggling, and some were resisting... After an unknown amount of time, he caught sight of a star that emitted a faint light. The star was warm, as if it were right next to him, yet it also seemed very ethereal.
Ryan attempted to Consciousness Integration the stars, using this method to see the general situation of those believers, though it only worked on believers.
He originally just wanted to give it a try, but unexpectedly, he succeeded.
However, the scene inside the star that he 'saw' was a Deep Darkness, unlike the previous appearance of believers. Moreover, in that deep darkness, it seemed to be filled with countless terrible dangers.
His thoughts paused briefly, and the next second a light suddenly flashed in the darkness. In the rapid shift between light and darkness, Ryan saw a familiar scene—a huge cross, and on the cross was an Inverted Woman nailed to it!
Ryan was startled and quickly withdrew from observation. As his vision receded, darkness suddenly chased after him like a madman. In the last moment before the scene was swallowed by darkness, Ryan clearly saw the Inverted Woman move!
Call!
"Thank goodness, I didn't do anything stupid."
Ryan breathed a sigh of relief after successfully regaining his consciousness.
If this were the place of the God of Death, he would probably be controlled by this Inverted Woman again.
"No, this star shouldn't be a dangerous entity... Could it be that the place corresponding to this star is where that Inverted Woman was?"
As he was thinking, Ryan noticed that the starlight had become much brighter, and he also felt something strange in his body. He immediately withdrew from the Misty Space and came to his senses to find Lin Qi patting his head.
"Uh, Lin Qi, what are you doing?"
Lin Qi didn't speak, but pointed to a spot not far away.
Ryan looked in the direction he was looking and saw that a mist had appeared on the tranquil lake surface.
Within the mist, a Wooden Boat could be vaguely seen drifting silently.
Ryan was taken aback.
When did it appear?
He looked at Lin Qi, who shook her head, indicating that she didn't know.
"Don't pat your head next time."
After giving him a brief instruction, Ryan walked towards the Wooden Boat.
In the still moonlit night, everything was unusually quiet. The woman, dressed in a White and gold robe and with golden hair that shimmered in the moonlight, sat quietly on the Wooden Boat with her back to Ryan and Lin Qi.
When Ryan got closer, he realized that the woman's figure was very illusory and not a solid entity.
"You are... Janus?"
Ryan stopped beside the Wooden Boat and asked tentatively.
"Baalshatt of the Gods, I am finally reunited with you." The woman's voice was soft and ethereal, seemingly right before my eyes, yet also as if it existed in another time and space.
"I have waited for this day for far too long. I have always believed that you will return. Even though faith has been completely lost after the War of the Gods, we will still hold fast, until eternity..."
Ryan hesitated for a moment, then said, "I'm not sure if I'm Balshatt, because I have absolutely no memory of my past."
"This is normal. Your memories are sealed within the Four Gods. Only by freeing them can you reclaim that time," Janus's phantom said softly.
"Which Four Gods are you referring to?"
"War, treachery, chaos, desire... they are your embodiment, and also the Division of Negative Emotions."
"Ah?"
Ryan was bewildered.
Wait, aren't these four Outer Gods?
"Are they not gods from elsewhere?"
"No, outsiders are always just..."
Janus paused.
Ryan cast a questioning look at him.
What is it that is always there?
Seeing Janus remain silent, Ryan knew this must be an unspeakable secret. Even the gods are like this, so the outsider must be very powerful, perhaps even on par with the creator.
"Can you tell me what exactly happened on the Rhea Continent? Why did it become like this?" Ryan asked.
"I'm sorry... Balshatt, I can't tell you these things yet."
"Why?"
Ryan was speechless. No way! He'd finally met the real God, and it turned out God was also a riddle-maker?
"Because the disaster brought about by the truth is something you cannot bear right now. What you need to do is regain your power as soon as possible and restore order."
"The calamity of the truth?"
Ryan seemed to understand a little.
Because some things, even just seeing or hearing about them, can cause great harm; these are what are commonly referred to as taboos.
Since Janus said so, Ryan stopped insisting.
"Could you turn around? I don't mean anything by it, I'm just curious. Besides, if I see you this time, I'll recognize you next time we meet, right?"
No one knows what Janus looks like yet. There are ten different statues in the temple, and even the one at the Gate of Janus might not be the real thing.
As a result, Janus still refused.
"I cannot see you, because if I see you, 'He' will see you too."
"Him?"
Ryan was taken aback. An outsider? Was this the same reason he couldn't reveal the truth?