Chapter 1241: The Gift

A flood of conjectures surged through Gawain’s mind—about the “Sentinels” mentioned in the Wilde’s Book, about that vague yet unsettling warning. Yet no matter how he pieced things together, all his theories lacked a crucial, solid clue. In the end, it was all just wild speculation.

“Wilde said he knew nothing about the ‘Sentinels’?” Gawain blinked, breaking out of his reverie and glancing at Amber to confirm.

“That’s what he said,” Amber nodded. “In fact, he didn’t even know what was inside his own ‘book.’ If I hadn’t suddenly thought to open it, he wouldn’t have realized it could be opened at all. I get the feeling his mind isn’t quite right—like Maggie mentioned, Modir’s memories have many gaps. Now it seems Modir Wilde probably suffers from something similar.”

“…You think the thing that caused Modir Wilde’s split might be that ‘Sentinel’?” Gawain pondered, then suddenly spoke. “Let’s say the Sentinel is some dangerous entity with powers we don’t yet understand. Modir Wilde accidentally encountered it during an adventure, which caused his mental fracture and left a strong impression in his memory: ‘Beware the Sentinel.’ But for some unknown reason, that part of his memory vanished, leaving only a warning in the book that even he didn’t know about…”

Amber nodded as she listened, then said, “You know, I was thinking the same thing… Lots of stories go like that, right? Adventurers meet ancient evil spirits, pay a heavy price, leave warnings for others, but lose their memories. I heard playwrights use amnesia when they run out of plot ideas…”

Gawain felt a brief relief hearing Amber’s first half—at least this “shame of all things” agreed with him. But then came the second half, and he immediately thought, What was I thinking, trusting anything that mouth says? He shook his head, pushing away the distraction caused by this shadowy troublemaker, and his expression grew serious again.

“Anyway, since you got that warning in the Shadow Divine Realm, we have to take it seriously. I’ll have Hetty arrange for people to comb through various tomes to see if we can find any clues about the Sentinels… Also, we should ask Enya. As the oldest deity in this world, she must know more than either of us.”

Amber’s face turned thoughtful as she listened to Gawain’s plan, then she muttered to herself, “Actually, there’s something I’m really curious about… Was that warning in the book really meant for us? Or… was it only meant for us?”

Gawain frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I stumbled into the Shadow Divine Realm completely by accident. Then I met Wilde, opened that book, and saw the warning—none of that was expected. How could a mortal just happen to wander into a divine realm cut off from the world for over a million years and open a book that looks so strange? So… is that warning really meant for mortals?”

Amber’s sudden question caught Gawain off guard. He realized there was a mental blind spot here—the warning was seen by Amber purely by coincidence, and it didn’t specify who it was for. Yet by habit, they both assumed it was meant for mortals. But was that assumption correct?

Considering that the warning-filled book had been lying in the Lady of Night’s divine realm all this time, Gawain suddenly felt the possible truth behind this was even more terrifying.

As unsettling possibilities churned in his mind, his attention shifted back to Amber, who had just been through a strange ordeal.

“Speaking of your trip to the Shadow Divine Realm… that must have affected you quite a bit, right?”

“Ah?” Amber seemed caught off guard by the sudden shift in topic, blinking for a moment before realizing what he meant. “You’re actually concerned about me?”

“Of course,” Gawain said, his tone teasing as always but with genuine concern shining through. “You’ve been shouting for years that you’re the Shadow Chosen, always calling yourself devout. Then suddenly you wander into the Shadow Divine Realm… Even if you didn’t meet the Lady of Night herself, are you really okay mentally? Whether or not you’re truly the Shadow Chosen, that kind of experience isn’t trivial for a believer.”

Amber blinked. In the past, she would have immediately snapped back at Gawain’s doubts about her status and faith. But this time, she was unusually quiet, thinking for a few seconds. Her amber eyes took on a serious expression, which only confirmed Gawain’s worry—the self-proclaimed Shadow Chosen had indeed been deeply shaken by her visit to the Shadow Divine Realm.

Just as Gawain was about to say more, Amber suddenly looked up, a rare, pure, warm, and bright smile spreading across her face.

“I’m not troubled by it anymore.”

“Huh?” Gawain blinked, caught off guard. “You’re not troubled anymore?”

“I was,” Amber admitted. “Don’t let my usual carefree attitude fool you—I’ve had plenty of private struggles. But after actually going to the Lady of Night’s realm… I realized something, something I never expected.” She smiled again, and for some reason, a calm, relaxed aura surrounded her—something he’d never seen before. “I realized… the faith I’ve been following might not actually be directed at the Lady of Night.”

Gawain was stunned. “Your faith isn’t directed at the Lady of Night?”

“That’s right. Not Her. I don’t know how to explain it… According to the Divine Council’s research, mortal faith shouldn’t deviate like this. But considering how unique the Shadow Domain’s faith is, maybe I’m a rare exception.” Amber exhaled, thinking aloud. “I felt Her presence in the Lady of Night’s realm, and it was completely different from the voice I’ve ‘heard’ before. I suspect… the ‘Shadow Goddess’ I’ve believed in all along might actually be someone else—a high-ranking, unimaginable being we don’t yet know.”

Gawain was speechless. He stared at Amber’s still-smiling face for a long moment before breaking the silence with wide eyes.

“You can still smile after saying that? Isn’t this even more serious? At least when your faith was directed at the Lady of Night, we knew who answered your prayers. Now you say you don’t even know what kind of being you’re worshipping. Tell Kamail this and he’d probably light up half the city on the spot—would you believe it?”

“You finally don’t doubt that I can hear the gods’ voices?” Amber grinned mischievously. “I told you—I’ve been the Shadow Chosen for years…”

“Now’s not the time for jokes,” Gawain cut in. “Having an unidentified high-ranking being respond to your prayers is, in my eyes, even more serious than ‘Beware the Sentinel.’ This isn’t just your problem. You should know, although there are many gods in the world, the number of ‘true gods’ who respond to prayers is fixed and well-known. They arise from collective thought, and the way thought manifests means they can’t hide their existence or fake their divine roles. Are you sure you can’t identify which god this being is?”

“She says she’s the Shadow Goddess… but I don’t really know,” Amber finally dropped her playful smile and spoke seriously. “I don’t get many chances to communicate with Her. When we do talk, we can chat happily for a long time, but most of the time it feels like there’s a huge distance between us—I can’t reach Her anytime I want. She rarely talks about the church or divine matters. Whenever I ask, She says it’s too troublesome and that cooking is more fun or something like that…”

Gawain had heard Amber’s offbeat remarks before, but this was the first time he listened so seriously and thought deeply about them. When Amber finished, he couldn’t help but ask, “You only talk about stuff like that with your ‘goddess’? Don’t you think something’s off?”

“I always thought other Chosen were like that too!” Amber said, suddenly defensive. “You know what I used to do—I never had the chance to meet the big shots in the churches. I just assumed they were all like this. It’s only in the last couple of years, after meeting more of those ‘big shots,’ that I started to realize maybe my situation is a bit unusual. But only a little…”

“…It’s a miracle you’re still alive,” Gawain said, eyeing Amber strangely. “You’ve been so carefree all this time—are you really just that thick-skinned?”

“What else?” Amber shot back, eyes wide and even more confident. “Do I look like someone who’s had money and power since childhood?”

Gawain muttered to himself, realizing he really couldn’t argue with this goose.

Fortunately, Amber knew some things weren’t to be joked about. She quickly waved her hand and, after a moment’s thought, said, “I know having an unidentified high-ranking being is nerve-wracking. There are so many things mortals can’t fight against in this world. We have to be careful every step of the way. But one thing I’m sure of: the ‘Shadow Goddess’ I know… She’s at least friendly.”

“Of course, judging a high-ranking being’s friendliness by mortal standards might not be reliable, so take my feelings as just a reference.”

Gawain pondered deeply. After a long silence, he simply nodded, neither confirming nor denying.

He wasn’t the kind of person to casually say “I believe you” in a situation like this. His nature wouldn’t allow it, and his position certainly wouldn’t.

“I’ll have the Divine Analysis Lab arrange some targeted tests as soon as possible to try to identify the high-ranking being you’re connected to. Even if we can’t find Her, we need to confirm whether She’s one of the gods we already know. Also, we’ll check your ‘connection’ status to see if there’s any risk of contamination. You okay with that?”

“Of course,” Amber immediately shook her head. “Following protocol is a must. I wouldn’t break the rules.”

Neither of them mentioned “terminating the faith,” because one obvious fact remained:

Once a connection with a god is established, it’s not so easy to sever it unilaterally.

After a moment’s thought, Gawain added, “If you get another chance to contact your ‘Shadow Goddess,’ remember to ask her about…”

“Of course, I’ll ask,” Amber said, nodding before Gaub could finish. “I’ll find out exactly who ‘He’ is, what He wants, and whether there’s any connection between Him and the Lady of the Night…”

Gaub nodded slowly.

After a few seconds of silence, Amber broke it again. “Also… there’s one more thing. Actually, it’s pretty exciting…”

Gaub immediately felt his heartbeat, which he’d just managed to calm, start pounding again—thump, thump, thump. (He even began to understand a little of what Miss My Little Pony must have felt when talking to him.) He looked up at Amber. “How many exciting things have you managed to stir up this afternoon?”

“Ah, this is the last one, really the last,” Amber hurriedly waved her hand. “I was going to tell you this first, but I figured official business comes first. I was worried if I showed you this right away, it might mess with your mindset later on. It’s not anything else, mainly that I think I might have… brought something back from the Lady of the Night’s divine realm.”

As she spoke, she slightly raised her right hand and gently rubbed her fingers together in front of Gaub.

A stream of grayish-white dust, like flowing water, appeared out of thin air at her fingertips. With a faint rustling sound, it spilled onto the floor. The gray-white hue spread where the dust settled, as if an otherworldly realm, out of place in this world, was slowly creeping over reality.

Amber’s voice came softly to Gaub’s ears: “Although I’m certain my faith doesn’t point to the Lady of the Night, for some reason… I still feel like I’ve established a connection with that ‘divine realm’ and brought this back with me…”

Gaub stared in surprise as the dust piled on the floor, listening to Amber’s voice, his eyes widening. “Wait, what exactly is that!?”

“Shadow Dust,” Amber said, stopping the flow and snapping her fingers to make it vanish into thin air. “Probably…”

“Probably?”

“Uh… probably,” Amber scratched her head, her expression turning a bit awkward. “Because although this stuff looks a lot like the handful of sand Maggie brought back, it’s actually very different. I summoned it out and tested it many times, and it seems this dust is just… dust.”

Gaub: “…?”

“I mean… the gray-white color that spreads out is just a layer of pigment, with no supernatural power inside. The dust itself doesn’t have that ‘transcendent force’ that completely isolates it from the mundane world. I grabbed some and rubbed it hard on the floor, and it actually smudged—turned all black and dirty…”

Gaub: “…Wait, why does that sound like a freebie giveaway?”

(End of chapter)