Chapter 1491: A Sudden Revelation

Amber’s words made Gawain’s expression freeze for a moment, and then an uncontrollable wave of thoughts began to spread through his mind.

Like a single light flickering in the darkness, some clues that everyone had subconsciously overlooked started to emerge from the shadows. Suddenly, he realized—what Amber was saying might be the key.

“Ever since I learned that Lady Night might be connected to the Violet Kingdom, I’ve been curious about something,” Amber said thoughtfully, slowly laying out her perspective. “Lady Night is a deity who holds dominion over the night’s power, yet the Violet Kingdom is a mage kingdom obsessed with spreading magic outward. That’s strange. Of course, if you explain it purely by divine might, it makes sense—after all, the strongest mortal spells can’t compare to a god’s miracles. If Lady Night consciously wanted to nurture a mage kingdom in the mortal world and cover it up with some kind of ‘miracle,’ she could do it. But the problem is… Lady Night is asleep. The birth of the Violet Kingdom was almost an accident from her perspective.

“On the other hand, the god of the Rebellion Tide is all about spreading knowledge. As a deity born from the ancient Rebellion Tide Empire’s blind worship of the Voyagers’ technology, he has this instinct to disseminate. You can see this in Modril’s travelogues. Plus, the magic system the Violet Kingdom spreads has a distinct feature: it’s a ‘black box’ technology. Whether it’s communication spells or soul magic, all of it is ‘Violet-style magic’—deeply complex and with principles that remain unclear.”

Amber looked into Gawain’s eyes as she spoke. “So I started thinking… maybe from the very beginning, the Violet Kingdom was influenced by both the Rebellion Tide and Lady Night. Its foundation is Lady Night’s dream, but its operating logic follows the Rebellion Tide’s tendencies. Those mages who travel from the Violet Kingdom to explore and teach on the Loren Continent might subconsciously be carrying out the Rebellion Tide’s will…”

Bright sunlight streamed through the nearby window, and the central heating system’s fan circulated warm air, making the room comfortably cozy. Yet at that moment, Gawain felt a chill lingering around him.

If what Amber said was true, it was a truth that could cause widespread panic.

But after the initial shock and emotional turmoil, Gawain quickly calmed himself and began to follow Amber’s line of thought. “I think what you said is quite possible. The Violet Kingdom’s centuries—maybe even millennia—of spreading ‘black box’ magic outward could indeed be influenced by the Rebellion Tide. Fortunately, the ‘carriers’ of this—mortal Violet mages—don’t inherently spread corrupted knowledge. But… black boxes themselves are risky. Their accumulation can lead to a qualitative change.”

“Exactly! Didn’t we discuss this before? The more black boxes there are, the further people drift from knowledge and reason. And if an entire field’s knowledge system is built on black boxes, the chance of gods being born there skyrockets,” Amber nodded. “The Rebellion Tide is chaotic and mad; it doesn’t seem to plan deeply. But as Lady Egg said, a god’s ‘instinct’ can be scarier than its intelligence. The Rebellion Tide has always had the instinct to break free and grow…”

“But the Rebellion Tide is dead,” Gawain exhaled softly. “And you confirmed this in front of Lady Night’s throne. The half of its body left in the Shadow Divine Realm is completely dead… hmm?”

His tone suddenly shifted, as if he’d just realized something strange—like a settled case suddenly revealing an unbelievable truth, with new explanations emerging behind seemingly airtight clues. Amber’s curiosity was instantly piqued. “What did you think of?”

Gawain slowly gathered his thoughts, quietly voicing the wild idea that had just popped into his head. “Do you remember the strange detail the Divine Council’s senior advisors found after the Rebellion Tide’s divine corpse fell to the mortal world?”

“Strange detail?” Amber blinked. “There were plenty of strange details—just that face alone was weird. But honestly, the weirdest thing was that Tyr could even stomach it…”

“I’m not talking about that,” Gawain shook his head. “I mean the Rebellion Tide’s corpse’s astonishing rate of decay. Remember the autopsy report? The corpse still had considerable vitality the moment it entered the mortal world, but by the time it landed, it had decayed to the point it barely emitted any pollution. And when the senior advisors arrived, the divine power in its flesh had almost completely dissipated.”

“Oh right, I remember now!” Amber’s eyes lit up. “We discussed this before. The Rebellion Tide’s corpse decayed faster than it should have. Back then, everyone guessed it was because of Lady Night—thinking she was so powerful she instantly killed and incinerated it.”

“But now it seems unrelated to Lady Night. Remember the intel you got from Wilde? The part of the Rebellion Tide’s corpse left in the Shadow Divine Realm was sent to the Border City, and Lady Night even used its residual power for many things,” Gawain analyzed seriously. “So in fact, the corpse left in the Shadow Divine Realm didn’t decay quickly. The part that fell to the mortal world decayed much faster.”

Amber was finally baffled. She stared at Gawain for a long moment before blurting out, “Have you considered the possibility that maybe I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed… Could you just say it in plain language?”

Gawain chuckled and leaned back in his chair. “I guess the reason the Rebellion Tide’s corpse decayed so fast in the mortal world might be connected to a great mortal… We even talked about this mortal not long ago.”

Amber paused, then suddenly caught on. “You mean that wild mage?!”

“Yes,” Gawain nodded slowly, a faint smile on his face. “For centuries, the Violet Kingdom unknowingly spread black box magic under the Rebellion Tide’s influence. This deeply affected Ansu and Typhon, almost reshaping the entire northern continent’s magic system. If things had continued, human magic would have become a complete black box system, and the Rebellion Tide might have stolen power from it and broken free… But then something unexpected happened.

“A low-ranking mage from Violet, desperate to save his daughter, chose the most unorthodox path. And by ‘unorthodox,’ I don’t just mean rebelling against traditional magic. I even suspect this wild mage resisted the mental seal the Rebellion Tide left behind—the notebook, the prototype of the magic network, the foundation of runic logic, formulas built on math, logic, and magic. At its core… it was anti-black box.”

Amber’s eyes widened, and it took her a good thirty seconds to react. “Holy crap…”

“The wild mage’s notebook was just the beginning. The efforts of Ravencrest, Jenny, and many modern scholars transformed that beginning into a qualitative leap. In just a few years, magical technology steamrolled the outdated classical magic system. Modern runic magic, based on reason, logic, and precise calculation, showed unprecedented power in spreading because it could be systematically learned, taught in schools, and even self-studied from books. Runic magic spread across the human world in the blink of an eye—and it destroyed the black box trap the Rebellion Tide had painstakingly built over centuries.”

He paused, his expression growing solemn. “You could say that this unknown wild mage and our respected modern scholars, in the last few years before the Rebellion Tide descended to the mortal world, used human wisdom to shatter a black box built by an ancient god over hundreds of years. That might be the real reason the Rebellion Tide’s corpse decayed so quickly here—like a fish out of water, the harsh environment and conflicting ideologies drained it dry.”

“This…” Amber listened in disbelief, opening her mouth as if to argue, but in the end, she had to admit Gawain’s theory made a lot of sense. “That actually does sound plausible… And somehow I feel a bit sorry for the Rebellion Tide.”

It was no wonder she felt that way—the whole story was so dramatic. The Rebellion Tide had spent countless years slowly seeping its power outward, manipulating the Violet Kingdom to spread the black box system, preparing for its escape. It was almost successful, with centuries of preparation just one step from completion. But in those final years, mortals had recklessly shattered the ‘bedrock’ it had prepared for its return.

It was like someone who spent all their strength arranging a safety net before jumping off a roof, only for someone to pull the net away at the last second.

Though, in truth, the Rebellion Tide was already dead when it entered the mortal world… If the black box system had remained intact, its corpse might not have decayed so quickly. A divine remnant constantly emitting corruption and mental pollution among millions of mortal troops on the Talash Plain would have been catastrophic. Even more extreme, considering the black box system was the Rebellion Tide’s very existence, the half-corpse might have even revived!

But none of that happened.

And the very first cause? Just a father wanting to save his daughter.

Gawain looked into Amber’s eyes and shook his head gently. “If the Rebellion Tide hadn’t been so doomed, we would have been the ones in trouble.”

“That’s true,” Amber waved her hand. “Anyway, the Rebellion Tide’s death is a good thing. Now that we understand the tragic reasons behind it, it’s even better. At least we can sleep peacefully.”

“Yeah… sleep peacefully,” Gawain sighed softly. “The unknown always breeds unease. After learning about the Violet Kingdom’s anomaly, Jenny and Rebecca have been poring over the wild mage’s notebook since yesterday. This morning, their dark circles were worse than Hetty’s. But now they can rest easy… Although most of what we discussed is speculation, at least logically, it all fits.”

The chill that had lingered in Gawain’s heart gradually faded, and Amber relaxed a little. She crossed her arms and rocked gently in her chair, then suddenly brought up another matter. “Speaking of last night’s experience in the Shadow Divine Realm, I can’t shake the feeling that Lady Night was using Wilde’s voice to actively send me a message…”

“Lady Night sent you a message?” Gawain’s brow furrowed again, undoing the brief relaxation. “Why do you think that?”

“A feeling,” Amber waved her hand dismissively. “And honestly, there’s something fishy here—Wilde’s been telling me way too much, stuff he really shouldn’t know. Insider information, basically.

“He kept saying Lady Night has a lot of secrets, and that ancient god is always buried in her work, doing her own thing without ever explaining anything. But this time, she told Wilde a ton about the Border City, about how those ‘Lost Ones’ live there, even where the corpse of the Tide-Reversing God ended up… That’s not exactly the behavior of someone who’s supposed to keep secrets.

“So, I think either Wilde’s messing with me, or Lady Night is deliberately feeding him this info.”

Gawain frowned, locking eyes with Amber. “So you’re saying you suspect Lady Night knew you were coming all along? And left you all this information on purpose?”

Amber rubbed her arm, suddenly feeling a chill. “…Why do I feel cold all of a sudden?”

“Don’t change the subject,” Gawain said, his expression serious. “Be honest—have you felt any stronger connection to the Shadow Divine Realm lately? Or seen or heard anything you shouldn’t have? And are you still wearing the talisman Tiel made for you?”

“Of course I am. I even sleep with it on,” Amber said, pulling out the deep-sea talisman she’d had made just a few days ago from close to her body. “But I haven’t sensed any of that stuff you mentioned. Honestly, I never felt any hostility from Lady Night’s side, and near the Shadow Throne, I didn’t sense any danger either…”

“Whether the god is hostile and whether you’re in danger are two different things,” Gawain said immediately. “I believe Lady Night is a benevolent and righteous deity now, but don’t forget—Enya was also a benevolent and righteous god on the day of your coming-of-age ceremony… Besides, when you mentioned Lady Night’s arrangements in that Border City, I couldn’t shake the feeling that she’s plotting something. And now, with her consciously sending messages… I can’t help but think this whole setup is aimed at you.”

Amber instinctively blurted out, “Aimed at me? I’m just a petty thief, and she’s an ancient god. What could she possibly want with me? Is it because I stole her sand? Or her rubber band?”

She waved her hand casually as she spoke. Suddenly, a grayish-white shimmer flickered right in front of Gawain. Then came a clatter—a thing materialized out of thin air from where Amber had gestured and fell to the ground.

Gawain stared blankly at the object on the floor, then after a long pause said, “Is it possible… that she’s targeting you because you stole her Shadow Scepter?”

Amber looked down in stunned silence. There lay a short staff, black and white, quietly resting on the ground. Its surface shimmered with shifting light, as if trapped in an eternal shadowed crevice, radiating a mysterious and ancient aura.

This thing was a fraction the size of the long staff she’d seen on the throne, and its form had changed from a long scepter to a short one. But maybe… perhaps… possibly… it was that very Shadow Scepter.

“Holy hell…”

(End of chapter)