Wizard starting from shoeing donkeys Chapter 1635 - 565: Divine Artifact (2)
Previously on Wizard starting from shoeing donkeys...
"Indeed, the Shademon has lingered in this realm for endless ages. Sending it back to an earlier moment in time could only trap it at best, without truly annihilating it."
"Even possessing the might to undo the Shademon’s very being, reversing time across thousands of years remains utterly impossible."
In moments, Rein uncovered the explanation amid the lingering visions planted in his thoughts by the Deputy Key.
On top of that, another revelation came to light for him.
"So, the Key of Time was first held by Solson. The Shademon’s core essence had burrowed deep and fused with it, blocking the Goblin Princess Amora from using her strength to rewind time."
"All she could manage was a partial suppression....."
Witnessing this, Rein nodded slowly, grasping the truth.
It resolved a puzzle that had long gnawed at him.
The reason Amora—the Goblin Princess armed with the Deputy Key from the Divine Artifact Time Key—failed to rescue her father Solson.
After mulling it over a bit more, Rein seized the Deputy Key of Time once again, and right then, the crystal sands within morphed into streams of radiant vapor, intensifying the vibrant light that shrouded Solson.
Right away, Rein pulled away the Deputy Key of Time.
Thanks to the lingering essence of the Time Sand inside, detaching the Deputy Key wouldn’t let the Shademon break loose.
"Now, I can trace the Deputy Key’s lead and stand a shot at locating the genuine Divine Artifact Time Key."
Right then, a sudden idea struck Rein, and with a swift shift, he materialized in an adjacent chamber.
The items within, battered by endless ages and the Witch Array shattered long ago by the Shademon’s force, had crumbled everything—from books to Sheepskin Scrolls—into fine powder.
Still, Rein pressed on without pause, heading deeper into the chamber until he stopped before a particular room.
The simple setup and surroundings hinted that this had once served as a study.
To be precise, it had been the personal study of Goblin Princess Amora.
By this point, the once-luxurious wooden desks and chairs had rotted away, though bits of gold, silver, and various metal decorations endured, buried beneath heavy dust.
"This must be the place..."
Rein stepped inside, reaching the ruined desk and bookshelf that had toppled, yet he spotted nothing there.
"Not even the memory crystals made it through this final barrier?" Rein muttered, eyeing the two spots reduced to pale dust.
Had those memory crystals endured, they might have unveiled countless secrets from the Ancient Goblin Era.
All at once, a vibration shook the ground beneath him, while a deep rumble of turning gears echoed from overhead, as though the whole Floating City was shifting into motion.
"What? It’s actually firing up?"
Rein arched a brow, genuinely taken aback inside.
He’d figured that even at full throttle, Haleem would need no less than half a month to fix and reboot the Floating City.
Who would have guessed...
In a blink, Rein vanished from where he stood.
...
Rein materialized again in the central control chamber on the fourth level below ground.
Ever since advancing to Full Moon Wizard, his command of ’Shadow Shifting’ had sharpened greatly, and the heavy toll on his spiritual energy from before now felt far lighter.
Haleem showed no shock at Rein’s sudden arrival.
The massive stir from the Floating City’s awakening was bound to draw Rein’s notice.
"Your grace, Steel Throne, the antigravity mechanism was intact to begin with. I merely triggered it, though the core of the main power system is missing..." Haleem swabbed the sweat on his brow and reported swiftly.
"Oh?"
"The Floating City’s chief power source originally drew from the ’Demon Heart’ to operate. It harnessed the Demon Heart’s fierce radiation energy to sustain such an enormous structure in the air."
"But after tens of thousands of years, the Demon Heart’s power has fully faded, leaving nothing but ashes..." Haleem stated, his face creased in concern.
"No substitute available?" Ogre blurted out, unable to hold back.
"None exists. Legend holds that the Demon Heart came from a High Rank demon that stormed this world ten thousand years back, so it’s long gone now." Haleem shook his head as he replied.
Radiation energy?
Rein mulled it over, as if a spark of insight had ignited.
"So the Floating City can hover, but it’s stuck in place without mobility?"
"Backup power lets it creep along slowly, but nothing fast, and certain high-consumption features..." Haleem went on to clarify.
Just then, Sword Saint Terrio burst into the fourth underground level, his features etched with gravity, and declared:
"Your grace, Steel Throne, we’ve got a crisis on our hands. Chaos has erupted in the Dragan Empire Tamriel; the ancient Shademon bound by the Goddess Church has shattered its seals. Much of the Imperial City lies in ruins already..."
"What?" Rein’s eyes narrowed sharply, a wave of intense spiritual force pulsing outward.
"How recent is this?"
"The Federation got word about half an hour ago," Sword Saint Terrio answered without delay.
With a quick deliberation, Rein blinked out of sight.
...
At the same time.
Imperial City Tamriel.
Thick haze and debris choked the whole city, while the heavens hung heavy with swirling black soot, laced with foul miasma and plumes of smoke from raging fires.
Wails, the ring of blades, and savage howls echoed through every corner!
The clash around Cologne Cathedral stood as the heart of the storm and the vital stronghold. Yet now, the dark miasma had swallowed up most of the Imperial City, and even the Imperial Palace—fortified by layers of intricate witch arrays—couldn’t halt the creep of the miasma, leaving it mostly overrun.
