Public Spellcraft (Revised)

"Wolf Venerable?" The gray-haired expert, wearing Silver Wolf's exclusive Level 999 visor, stared at Silver Wolf in bewilderment.

Silver Wolf tilted her head and looked up at the Trailblazer, Stelle, equally baffled. "Where the hell did this send me?"

"Wolf Venerable came in person?!" Stelle clearly wanted to pounce and scoop Silver Wolf up, but unfortunately, Silver Wolf tapped her panel and turned into a projection.

"Wrong guess. I'm a projection."

Stelle sighed first, then awkwardly scratched her head. "Then how did you end up on the train, Silver Wolf? Don't tell me you lost another big adventure."

Silver Wolf scanned Stelle from head to toe, then looked around and confirmed that she was in the Party Carriage.

"Where are the others?"

Stelle copied Silver Wolf, looking left and right before giving a shocking answer. "No idea."

Silver Wolf continued asking, "What were you doing before this? Did anything major happen?"

"Something major?" Stelle held up an incredibly heavy Cat Cake for Silver Wolf to see. "Does catching Cat Cakes count?"

Silver Wolf brought up her panel and tapped it with her little hand, erasing the illusion of Stelle before her. "Seriously, this is way too fake. How could the Party Carriage not have Shut Up?"

"Hehe..." Silver Wolf let out a soft laugh. "But indeed... this was an automatic defense. Looks like something really is hidden here."

As casually as deleting a layer, she removed the Astral Express, exposing herself directly to the vast, boundless vacuum of space. "Over there..." Silver Wolf discovered that the energy level in that direction was higher, then flew toward it.

"Can this puzzle-solving end already? Going in circles is nothing but a waste of time."

Silver Wolf finally left that fabricated space and appeared directly before a device. Inside it, a mature woman with a milky-white body silently watched Silver Wolf through the glass.

"You're the one behind this?" Silver Wolf circled the cylindrical device as she observed it, while also inspecting the cluster of machinery nearby.

"You are... someone from beyond the universe." An ethereal voice rang directly within Silver Wolf's mind.

"Yeah. What's your situation?" After bringing up her panel and hacking into the device, Silver Wolf obtained some basic information:

[Life-Support Device]

[Duration: 500 years]

[Unable to survive independently; must rely on the device]

"Barely clinging to life until now." This was followed by a long sigh. "Ah—during the last defense against the Abyss, I was unfortunately contaminated. In the end, I asked Him to cut away my body, leaving only my head."

"Oh?"

"Then He buried me here. For the world to continue functioning, I sprouted once more, waiting to become nourishment for Him."

"Nourishment?" Silver Wolf completely failed to understand where this was going. "For whom?"

"A newborn deity, inheriting my Authority of Life."

"Huh?" Silver Wolf revealed a shocked expression as she stared at the woman in the tank. "You're the Goddess of Life?"

"You already knew?" Her voice paused. "So He borrowed my identity."

"Phanes." Silver Wolf answered for her.

"Yes. He had already expended too much while resisting the Abyss before..." She paused, then looked at Silver Wolf through the glass enclosure. "Why did you come here?"

Silver Wolf shook her head. "No reason. Phanes sent people here, and I followed them."

"What does He want to do, at the edge of this world?" After saying that, she fell silent in thought.

As Silver Wolf swiped through her panel to check Windchaser's group's location, she replied, "You don't know? Didn't He help you?"

Only after hearing Silver Wolf did she continue. "Heh, I do not know what He, an outsider, might attempt again..."

Silver Wolf fell silent for a while, remembering how Sen Yue had once wanted to send a message to the Goddess of Life. Now, the true Goddess of Life stood before her.

"Sen Yue has fallen into silence. At the end, He wanted to tell you that the Abyss received help from beyond this world."

But she laughed after hearing that. "Beyond the world? So after Phanes learned of it, He sent you to find me, didn't He?"

"Yes. Is there a problem?"

"This proves He cannot catch that stowaway. I never expected that, in these final days, an enormous problem would still be waiting for me."

After confirming Windchaser's location, Silver Wolf said, "That sounds exhausting. You're half-dead and still have to keep fighting. I'm curious, though—why is the structure here so chaotic?"

"This is the outer core of the World Barrier, and also the underground of the world."

"The underground?"

"Because the worlds above and below are equal."

"That sounds familiar." Silver Wolf thought carefully for a moment. "Oh, the Forest Moon God mentioned it before too."

"Then it seems He knows of my current condition as well." The Goddess of Life explained, "You are an outsider. As a host, I shall explain. This world has four gods: Life, Forest Moon, Radiant Law, and Wild Horn.

I govern life and death.

Forest Moon governs Space-Time.

Radiant Law governs Law Principle.

Wild Horn governs the Wild Hunt.

And He is an outsider, a traveler. The current god governs fate."

Silver Wolf nodded. "So this is the setting? Is there more?"

"...Has Phanes noticed you? The... gaze upon you."

"A gaze?" Silver Wolf was a little confused. What gaze was on her? Other than the viewers before her, who else would be spying on her?

"A being from among the stars of the universe... I do not know His name, but He is indeed watching you."

Silver Wolf circled the enclosure as she thought and checked herself. "If you put it that way, you might be right."

Silver Wolf had actually been wondering how a dying god could possibly obtain a trial Cartridge. The power of a Level 999 Cartridge was incomparably strong, practically no different from invincibility.

And the explanation was simple and crude—other than the Elation God, there could be no second person.

Of course, that was assuming this Level 999 power was real.

But the Elation God had never shown Himself. Even during Silver Wolf's past game battle with the Elation God, she could not determine whether her opponent had truly been Him.

"Maybe He really has been spying on me—but it doesn't matter."

"You are not afraid?" The Goddess of Life looked puzzled. "This... unknown being from the universe."

"He is the Aeon of Elation—Aha." Silver Wolf stopped before the Goddess of Life and patiently explained, "A kind-hearted god~"

"Kind-hearted?" The Goddess of Life looked confused. "What does that mean?"

"You'll understand if He makes a move later." Silver Wolf could not be bothered with a long-winded explanation, so she did not ramble on and flood out an entire Pacific Ocean. "But it would be best not to give Him the chance."

Because Silver Wolf could not guarantee what state the Aeons of this timeline were in. If this was the Elation of the Endline... wouldn't that be seeking Destruction?

Of course, that was just a hypothetical. It definitely would not happen~

The Goddess of Life frowned tightly. "It seems your opinion of Him is not very favorable."

"He's alright." Silver Wolf answered carelessly. "Back to the point. Phanes probably noticed it too. She took the initiative to ask me for one of her creations."

"...He probably has another idea, then." The Goddess of Life's furrowed brow relaxed. "I have not seen any outsiders... and if it is true, the Abyss's next invasion will be terrifying."

"Indeed. Who would have thought the Abyss was actually a cosmic-scale disaster? I originally thought it was just a local specialty of your planet."

The Goddess of Life looked at Silver Wolf in surprise, then lowered her head. "It should end as well... I would like to ask you to deliver this power to the newborn one. I would be deeply grateful."

"Vita?"

"Yes." The Goddess of Life lowered her head, and a small grass wreath fell into Silver Wolf's hand. "May I know your name?"

"Silver Wolf."

"Silver Wolf, may you walk across withered earth and still hear the echoes of life.

May you still possess the courage to rise again when facing Finality.

Even should all things wither and the stars go dark, life shall not perish.

You who inherit this blessing, bear my prayer. So long as life draws even one breath, Finality shall never descend."

[Goddess of Life · Protection]

[Within Her territory, you shall never die]

[Cartridge Level 70 → 80]

[Protection: Forest Moon God, Phanes, Goddess of Life]

[Perhaps you truly are walking a path of Trailblaze]

Heh, even an old-school Elation devotee wouldn't just watch others suffer, okay.

The Goddess of Life's originally milky-white body began turning into motes of light, slowly dispersing. It was as if a breeze had gently brushed past her, and she gradually faded away within that wind, leaving behind only one thing.

Silver Wolf watched the Goddess of Life gradually close her eyes. Only a head remained, floating inside the glass tank. "May I know your name?"

"Sephinia..."

At last, Sephinia completely closed her eyes and moved no more.

Silver Wolf silently looked at the grass wreath in her hand:

[Authority of Life · Complete]

[Authority of Death · Incomplete]

"Gods..."