Chapter 1223: The Pursuit of the Ancient God

Hearing Victoria’s response, Modir visibly relaxed, a relieved smile spreading across his face. Though to him, Victoria was still a stranger he had only recently met, the word “descendant” left an inexplicable mark deep within the old mage’s often foggy mind. As for Victoria, her feelings were far more complicated.

But no matter what, it was enough to use this topic to placate the venerable ancestor—for the Northern Duchess, who always presented herself as sharp, capable, and composed before others, this moment brought an unprecedented sense of helplessness.

“I came here not only to reunite with you but also to understand your situation,” Victoria said, seizing the initiative after a mental sigh of relief, determined to keep the fragile atmosphere from slipping beyond her control. “I learned from the dragons about some things happening to you… like memory confusion and loss, and brief episodes of mental fog. These might be related to what you experienced six hundred years ago…”

“Six hundred years…” Modir muttered softly, his face clouded with a complex expression. “Though I just said it, I still find it hard to believe. Six centuries… If what you say is true, I’ve been wandering since the early days of Ansu’s founding, all this time just drifting aimlessly…”

“Surviving for centuries isn’t unheard of, and miracles of resurrection have occurred. In the realm of the extraordinary, some things inevitably defy common sense,” Victoria replied quietly. “As a legendary figure, it’s not unimaginable that you went through something back then that altered the very nature of your life…”

“True enough,” Modir pondered, then finally smiled with resignation. “Let’s not dwell on that. It’s rare to have you come all this way. You mentioned my memory and mental state just now… Indeed, I have serious problems there. I can’t recall my own surname, my homeland, or any of my youth. I don’t even know I had offspring—I didn’t know about you, my descendant—or that I’ve been wandering this world for so long. But compared to my memory issues, I fear I’m facing an even bigger problem lately.”

“A bigger problem?” Victoria’s brow furrowed immediately. “What kind of problem?”

“Lately, I’ve fallen repeatedly into a strange dream, where I reach a place that feels like a shadow realm—eerily sinister and terrifying,” Modir recounted, recalling his recent experiences. “There, I saw a gray-white desert and ruined cities in the distance, and a colossal deity…

“The dragon leader told me that what I saw was very likely the ancient god known as the ‘Shadow Goddess,’ who’s been ‘missing’ for nearly two million years. But as for the other voice, which sounded almost exactly like mine, even he doesn’t know what that means…”

The old mage slowly shared every detail he could remember, while Victoria listened intently, growing more serious by the moment. Even an outsider with only a shallow understanding of the supernatural could sense how strange and dangerous this experience was. Victoria, a learned spellcaster with access to the vast archives of the Divine Council, could imagine far more.

This involved an ancient god, one who existed alongside the dragon gods themselves… The complexity and gravity of the matter far exceeded what she had anticipated before setting out.

When Modir described his harrowing final moments in the dream—how he nearly stepped onto that gray-white desert—Victoria’s eyes shifted subtly. She instinctively asked, “You almost stepped into that desert? But I pulled you back?”

“I’m not sure what force pulled me back, but that’s the most likely explanation,” Modir said gravely. Despite his fragmented memory, his vast knowledge as a scholar and supernatural being allowed him to speculate. “Your magical interference, mental soothing… maybe even some bloodline power played a part.”

“If that’s true, then we should be grateful,” Victoria said sincerely. “Unfortunately, it’s hard to determine the true nature of that ‘dream,’ and we dare not test what would happen if you actually stepped into that desert. By all logic, if that realm was created by an ancient god, regardless of its will, it would be lethally dangerous to mortals.”

“I agree. Next time I get pulled into that dream, I’ll try to wake up immediately. If I can’t, I’ll find a way to anchor myself somewhere safe, to prevent being lured into suicide by some unknown force…” Modir grimaced, lifting one foot and wiggling it—the very foot that had nearly crossed into the desert. “Just a step away… my toe even touched it…”

Mid-sentence, Modir’s voice abruptly stopped. His eyes widened as he stared intently at his toe, his expression turning grave.

Victoria noticed immediately and followed his gaze. With her keen eyesight, she spotted what had caused the sudden change: a few grains of gray-white sand clung quietly to the leather tip of Modir’s boot. Against the dark background, those grains looked utterly out of place, as if they didn’t belong to this world.

“That…” Victoria paused, then quickly realized what it meant. But before she could act, Modir’s voice cut in: “Don’t move. This is a sample.”

As he spoke, the old mage raised his hand and waved it through the air. Invisible magic condensed into a semi-transparent, pliable hand—Victoria had never seen such a deft and precise construct before. She watched as the magical hand carefully pinched the grains of sand and placed them onto a small wooden tray on the nearby desk. Only then did Modir stand, his face serious, and retrace his steps out of the room. After half a minute, he returned.

Victoria understood—he had gone to check if any more sand had been dropped along the way. Beneath his calm and unassuming exterior lay a meticulous and cautious nature. She finally formed her first impression of her ancestor.

“No more,” Modir said, returning to the desk and staring intently at the sand. He muttered thoughtfully, “Looks like I brought this back from ‘there.’”

Then he looked up at Victoria and smiled faintly. “Defies common sense, doesn’t it? Lately, I keep running into things that defy common sense. But if this is connected to an ancient god… well, then so be it.”

“You reached ‘there’ in your dream… and actually brought something back to the real world!” Victoria’s eyes widened, her mind racing. “Does that mean… the ‘distance’ between you and ‘there’ is…”

“Yes. I’m afraid I’m getting closer and closer to ‘there,’” Modir nodded before she could finish, his expression calm and unafraid. “At first, I could only hear voices and see images. Then the notes I left ‘there’ started to appear in the real world. And now… look, I even brought back physical things. Considering the ‘pull’ I felt, it seems like a gradual process…”

“How can you stay so calm?” Victoria’s usually impassive face finally showed emotion. “That ancient god’s power is pursuing you—whether with malice or not, it’s no good for a mortal!”

“Yeah, probably not good,” Modir said helplessly. “I’ve faced plenty of dangerous situations in my life, but this time, dealing with a god is just too intense. I’ll try to find ways to cope, do what I can, but I doubt it’ll help much—we’re dealing with the power of a primordial deity. Their strangeness is beyond mortal comprehension… I’ll just take it one step at a time.”

“No, that’s far from enough,” Victoria stood up. “I’ll report this immediately, and inform the dragon leadership as well. They’ll find a way. Rest assured, even if it really is divine power, we’re not powerless. The Empire wields forces equal to the gods…”

Modir looked at the serious Victoria in surprise, scrutinizing her several times before saying, “But you’re just an ordinary administrator in the government, right? How does that sound like—”

“…You can believe I am,” Victoria interrupted stiffly. “This isn’t about my position. What’s happening to you is extraordinary enough to draw the attention of His Majesty, the dragon elders, and many leaders of the Alliance. Your existence is far more important than you realize.”

Modir looked deeply into Victoria’s eyes, then after a moment, withdrew his gaze and smiled faintly, exhaling softly. “If that’s the case, I believe you. But before those bigwigs can react, I still have to find ways to protect myself…”

“I’ll stay in Talrond for now,” Victoria said immediately. “Since I can pull you out of the ‘dream,’ staying by your side should help…”

“Let’s put that aside for now,” Modir waved a hand. “Before I get pulled into that ‘dream’ again, I need to gather as much information as possible—about… myself. Aside from the information I’m forbidden to access, I want you to help fill in the gaps in my memory.”

“Of course,” Victoria nodded promptly. “Where would you like to start?”

“Let’s talk about my ‘disappearance’ first,” Modir said slowly. “That’s probably where my memory loss began… Victoria, what was the last clue I left for the world?”

“In the Timberwood Forest. Your last adventure was in the northern part of Timberwood…”

…

Southwest of New Agondor, the roar of massive wings tore through the air, accompanied by surges of magic and gusts of wind. Two enormous black shapes descended in succession onto a hill at the edge of a barren wasteland.

They were two black dragons. One was smaller but clad in intimidating steel armor and complex arcane machinery. The other was larger and more muscular, but its broad wings were scarred and battered, and a gruesome, terrifying scar ran across its entire back.

“This marks the boundary of the safe zone,” the scarred black dragon said as he reached the edge of the hill, his deep voice resonating. “See those beacon lights flickering out there across the wilderness? Those mark the borders established by adventurers and the advance troops working together. Every time we clear an area of monsters and repair the local elemental rifts and spatial tears, we set up these beacons along the new boundary. When we clear further ground, the beacons get pushed outward. But this expansion isn’t always smooth—often, wandering monsters suddenly reappear and reclaim the still-unstable edges of the safe zone, forcing us to pull the front line back. Sometimes this tug-of-war goes on for several rounds before a safe area truly stabilizes.”

“Because of this, the New Council has assigned clear ‘safety levels’ to each region. Major cities like Agondor and the Coastal County, along with their nearby suburbs, are classified as green safe zones. These areas are fully stabilized—no elemental creatures or hostile spirits remain, pollution has been thoroughly cleansed, and people can live there without worry. Infrastructure is relatively complete as well.

“Further out lie the orange zones—wilderness areas where sporadic monster activity still occurs, or where unstable geological formations and lingering pollution sources remain. Disasters happen occasionally, but active elemental rifts rarely reemerge. These zones have a low risk of deterioration and are generally transitioning toward green status. Most new adventurers operate here, tasked with maintaining stability, clearing small-scale monster threats, and ensuring that resources harvested in the orange zones are safely transported to the green areas.

“Beyond that are the dangerous red zones—essentially the outer limits of habitable land. These regions have only undergone basic clearing and outpost setup. Aside from a few barely passable supply lines, the wilderness is still teeming with sizable groups of elemental creatures and hostile spirits. Unstable elemental and spatial rifts can open up at any time. The advance troops’ dragon warriors primarily oversee these zones, with a handful of vetted veteran adventurers assisting in reconnaissance and cleanup.”

At this point, Coretta paused briefly, then continued with a hint of wistfulness, “Before the adventurers and support supplies from the Loren Continent arrived, our progress was painfully slow. Nearly all the warriors’ energy was drained defending the borders of the orange zones. On top of that, insufficient supplies were a major factor holding us back. It wasn’t until aid from the various Loren nations reached us that our dire situation finally eased.”

(End of chapter)