Wizard: Adventures in Two Worlds-Chapter 437 - 171 World Secret

Matthew’s face was filled with shock, his eyes incredulous as he watched Carl searching for something among the corpses in the arena.

It took a long while for him to regain his composure.

That once despair-inducing, invincible Knight in golden armor is now lying silently on the ground?

Almost breached his defense? So his defense hasn’t been breached yet?

"Young man."

Carl walked over to Matthew, his gaze sweeping over him and pausing in a few places, "You’re quite lucky."

"Uh..." Matthew forced a laugh, "Thank you, Mr. Karl. If it weren’t for you, I’m afraid I would be dead by now. This is the second time you’ve saved me."

"That’s why I said you’re lucky," Carl smiled and said, "Let’s go!"

He noticed Matthew had several good items on him, probably from the Twelve Star Palaces, but he didn’t think of robbing him. Not to mention, he’d already obtained quite a lot from the corpses on the ground.

"Yes."

Matthew quickly got to his feet, running ahead to lead the way—or rather, to scout the path—saying, "Mr. Karl, we should be approaching the inner core of the city now, where the City Lord resides."

"Hmm?"

As soon as he stepped through the light gate, his vision blurred. What appeared before him was not the inner city core he had imagined, but a desolate and stark landscape.

Broken ruins, rats the size of piglets, monsters with human bodies and bat wings, and wandering zombies...

The shattered blood moon hung in the sky. Cold winds swept through, and tattered clothes fluttered in the Gale.

A scene of apocalypse and desolation.

"WAAAH..."

The cry of an infant suddenly cut through the silence.

Matthew’s heart skipped a beat as he hurried in the direction of the cries. He didn’t know where he was, but in this kind of environment, it was difficult for an infant to survive.

With one step, the once distant cry was suddenly right before his eyes—a shriveled infant, half-buried in the soil, came into view. The infant must have been newly born, its skin all wrinkled, its eyes half-open, half-closed.

"There, there!"

"Don’t cry."

Just then, a Knight in armor appeared beside the infant and carefully lifted him up. To avoid hurting the infant with the hard armor, the Knight unfastened his armor, pressing the baby against his burning chest. At the same time, he drew his Longsword from his waist, turning to face the various zombies and monsters attracted by the crying.

"Be careful!"

Matthew shouted in a low voice, instinctively swinging his bone club to help, only to find it effortlessly passed through a zombie.

Huh?

"It’s an Illusion Realm!" Carl appeared beside Matthew, speaking slowly, "A very realistic Illusion Realm."

Although he didn’t know why the other party used an Illusion Realm to trap them, it seemed to bear no malice for now.

As they spoke, the scene of the Illusion Realm continued to unfold.

The Knight, carrying the infant, fought his way out. With stumbling steps, he reached a place where he handed the infant over to an old man for care.

And this place... The Holy Hall!

"God loves all people!"

"The will of the Evil God is scattered across the land, always on the verge of revival. The Holy Hall must remember its responsibility..."

"Awaken the Goddess, suppress the Evil Demons..."

A little boy around five or six years old sat cross-legged in the Holy Hall, listening solemnly to the tutor’s teachings.

「The next instant.」

"YA!"

"HA!"

The little boy held a wooden sword, his eyes wide open. He practiced sword skills, move after move, turning into a bigger boy in the blink of an eye.

The boy, now sixteen, received a set of armor and a Knight Sword, leaving the Holy Hall to travel the outside world.

"Mr. Karl," Matthew spoke softly, "It seems like the growth process of that infant."

"Hmm." Carl nodded.

After leaving the Holy Hall, the boy adhered to its teachings. He embraced righteousness and kindness, walking on this continent rife with dangers. He had seen countless people displaced by drought and cities slaughtered by Exotic Beasts. He also met many children, just like him, with no place to call home. Making friends and suffering betrayals, he witnessed the wickedness of human hearts, yet never strayed from his original intent. But, facing an increasingly perilous world, he felt ever more powerless.

The innocence of infancy, the vigorous fighting spirit of youth, all turned into desolation in the end.

"In this world, where monsters roam and evil spreads, living beings struggle in agony, unable to find salvation."

In the ruins, the now-grown Knight kneeled, his tear-filled eyes long dry as he watched life leave a pair of infants before him. In his sight, corpses lay on the ground, extending to the horizon, endless and innumerable.

"How can the living be saved?"

The Knight searched his heart for answers but found none. He could only trudge through the mortal world step by step, his Longsword in hand.

One year!

Two years!

...

A hundred years!

The Knight, hair white with age, felt increasingly helpless. He saw abandoned cities, corpses scattered across the ground, and helpless beings. At last, the Knight was sure of the answer in his heart.

"Only a god can save this world."

The light before him flickered, and an elder in white appeared before them, his wrinkled face filled with sorrow and pity. He knelt on one knee, bowing before Carl, and spoke solemnly, "Respected Guardian, please accompany me back to the Holy Hall. Only you, only the Goddess can save everything."

Matthew’s heart stirred. The white-robed elder kneeling before him was the infant from the Illusion Realm just now; it was his entire life. He had unwittingly become immersed in the story created by the Illusion Realm, a deep melancholy enveloping his heart.

This world... How can it be saved?

"I’ve said it before." Looking directly at the other, Carl began slowly, "I will go to the Holy Hall, but not now."

"And..." he continued, "Do you really think a god can save this world?"

"?" The elder looked up. "Does the Guardian have another way?"

"No." Carl shook his head, then snapped his fingers, and the scene around them suddenly changed.

A vast world appeared underfoot, and a shattered remnant of a moon floated in the sky. Unlike the elder’s Illusion Realm, which seemed so real, Carl’s Illusion Realm was vast and majestic, dreamlike and fantastical.

「Outside.」

The Ghost-faced Knight was sweating beneath his mask, his steel teeth clenched, his eyes revealing a look of terror.

How could this be?

He possessed a supreme Dharma Seal called Dream Maker, which could create Illusion Realms based on the thoughts in his mind. He also had a mirror Curio that could project dreams, and his cultivated Holy Skill was related to it as well. So, combined, he had become a master of creating Illusion Realms, capable of killing people silently and without a trace. He could also help the Second Elder of the Holy Hall enact an Illusion Realm. But now, the Illusion Realm he had created was forcibly taken over by Carl, who then altered its content. No matter how the other party did it, Carl must have a way to counter him.

「Inside the Illusion Realm.」

Carl looked up at the shattered red moon in the sky and said slowly, "For hundreds of years, this world has become desolate and uninhabitable bit by bit. Have you ever wondered why?"

"Because of Her!" Pointing at the red moon, he continued, "The Moon Goddess used the broken Divine Domain as a Barrier to keep the Outer Realm Evil God out. However, the Barrier needs energy to function, so the land of this world has become barren, the water sources are drying up, and beings above the First Order are suppressed, Devoured."

"The Barrier is Devouring the world’s Origin Power to resist the Outer Realm Evil God, until the world is completely destroyed."

"Guardian," the Second Elder spoke in a muffled voice, "This is to protect the world from the intrusion of the Outer Realm Evil God. If it invades, everything will be destroyed. The Goddess had no choice but to do this."

Matthew nodded repeatedly on the side.

"Is that so?" Carl’s expression remained unchanged. "The Knight Path, Legendary is not the end; it can even be said to be just the beginning. Who obstructed this path?"

"It’s the Divine you speak of!"

"If it’s for the sake of sheltering all beings and resisting the Outer Realm Evil God, why not let all beings grow stronger?"

"The reason is simple!" He looked at the other, enunciating each word, "The Divine consider all beings as livestock they keep. They don’t want their livestock becoming food for others, nor do they want the strengthened livestock to bite back..."

"Gods!"

"Cannot save all beings!"

"If They return, it will only be to domesticate all beings once more!"

All was silent in the arena.

Matthew’s mouth hung open, his eyes listless.

"Blasphemy!" The Second Elder’s face showed regret as he slowly drew his Longsword from his waist, pointing it at Carl, a divine aura surging around him. "I originally did not believe the Guardian would blaspheme against God. Now it seems the report from the Seventh Elder was not wrong. The Guardian’s will has been eroded by the Evil God."

"However, your delusions of corrupting me are pointless. Guardian, you have only two choices: accompany me to the Holy Hall, or die."

Carl shook his head slightly. A Legendary Knight like the other had endured an interrogation of the soul for over a hundred years; his mind was as firm as steel. His few short sentences could not sway the other’s mind; they would only be seen as a means of bewitchment.

"Then there’s no way." Shrugging his shoulders, Carl also drew his rapier. "Come on!"