Chapter 1505: Another One
The great adventurer had roamed the world for centuries. Countless wonders and breathtaking sights had come and gone like fleeting clouds. He had witnessed raging fires burning deep within the earth’s crust, meteor showers crashing onto vast plains. He had gazed beyond the boundaries of reality into the chaotic void, and shared hearty conversations with mighty overlords in the elemental realms. Throughout this long and tumultuous life, there were four phrases he often muttered—phrases that would later become widely known:
“This thing is glowing!”
“This thing is smoking!”
“What the hell is this thing?”
“And what the hell is that?!”
When Maggie heard the old man’s startled exclamations, a cold sweat broke out all over her body. She even felt as if the scales on her back were about to burst forth. She rushed over to Modir’s side, and in the next moment, she saw the hundreds of hexagonal stone pillars forming the massive stone mound begin to shimmer with layers of radiant light—like thousands of fireflies suddenly emerging from the dusk, or like veins of energy pulsing within the stones. Specks of light flowed across the pillars’ surfaces, and under the dim twilight, the entire stone mound was instantly bathed in a dreamlike, ethereal glow.
“Don’t panic, don’t panic. This doesn’t seem dangerous,” Modir said quickly, waving his hand as the sounds of clashing weapons echoed behind them. He swiftly cast protective shields on himself and his companions while speaking rapidly, “I can sense the flow of its energy… There are no harmful spells or traps activated. This is just the process of it awakening from slumber…”
“Are you sure?” Maggie asked quietly, gripping her twin swords tightly, eyes sharp and alert. Fine dragon scales had begun to appear on her cheeks and wrists, and her eyes glowed a dark golden hue. Sparks flickered at the corners of her mouth—her highest state of vigilance in human form. “Something this massive… no danger at all?”
She didn’t dare mention the ten layers of magical armor the old man had slapped on himself just moments ago—after all, Modir’s habit was to constantly bolster his defenses. The protective spells he carried daily could keep a typical adventuring party alive in the wild for half a year.
“Magic’s flow never lies. I don’t sense any dangerous enchantments,” Modir muttered casually. Almost as soon as he finished speaking, the stone mound’s shimmering reached a critical point—the flowing light suddenly stilled, then slowly contracted inward. The once dull, ancient stones were now covered in mysterious, glowing runes and connecting lines. Then, everyone present heard a low hum emanate from within the mound.
Suddenly, massive holographic projections appeared before the stone mound, vivid and clear to all eyes.
They showed a magnificent city, its unique architecture sparkling under the sun; bustling marketplaces filled with throngs of people weaving through the stalls; towering street sculptures, laughing children, and street performers entertaining passersby; magic-powered workshops, theaters echoing with melodious tunes, flower fields blooming on the city’s outskirts, and fountains dancing with magical lights…
One scene after another materialized in front of the enormous stone mound. These vivid magical illusions seemed to bring to life fragments of a history long past. Maggie stared in astonishment at the panoramic visions filling her entire field of view. Then, a calm, slightly mechanical female voice spoke from the mound:
“Welcome to Coldsea City, the last city connecting the Violet Inland to the ‘Border.’ Coldsea City lies in the southeastern region of the Violet Kingdom, between Palansanto and Prandel. It is known as the ‘Golden Bridge’ between the inland and the borderlands. Its prosperous commerce and widespread magical workshops are the pride of its citizens. The city council hall is located slightly north of the city center, designed by the renowned architect Lady Pranvice Santocci. Historically, Coldsea City and Palansanto were the earliest trade hubs of the Violet Kingdom, and even before Prince Nash Nart’s reign, Coldsea City was…”
As the pleasant female narration continued, Maggie looked up and saw Modir also gazing at her. From the old mage’s face, she saw the same thoughtful, dawning realization.
The holographic projections before the mound kept unfolding, new scenes and short clips beaming down from the tops of the stone pillars—this city held countless memories, countless perspectives, countless stories of pride and record. They flowed through the streets and alleys, etched between stone and steel. Yet what these magical illusions could capture and display was likely less than one percent, perhaps even one-thousandth, of all those memories.
Still, after witnessing these visions, Maggie felt she understood what the “builders” of this stone mound wanted to convey.
They didn’t care whether everything could be recorded, or whether future generations would understand or remember what the mound told. They didn’t even care if these records would ever see the light of day again. This massive stone mound seemed to have only one purpose: to leave a mark on this world, a proof that “we truly existed.”
Suddenly, Maggie recalled something her father had told her when she was very young—before she became rebellious, before she leapt from Dragon Leap Cliff:
“If one day, we are destined to vanish from this world, everything we care about, everything we hate, everything we love, will lose meaning in the next era… If that day ever comes, and if we have even a little time left to do something, would we want to leave something behind in this world to prove we existed…?”
At the time, Maggie hadn’t understood her father’s strange words. She only vaguely remembered that he had gone to the highest fortress on the mountain, Dragon’s Rest, to meet with the Dragonblood Duke. Looking back now, she suddenly understood—perhaps it was on that day her father came into contact with the mission once borne by the Dragonborn, the truth of Talrond and the “Exiled.”
“To Lady Night, the Violet Kingdom was just a dream. To us, it’s a dangerous anomaly. To the world, it’s just a mysteriously vanished kingdom, a wild, untamed island returned to nature…” she murmured softly, unsure who she was speaking to. “But to the Violet people… it’s not like that.”
Modir said nothing. The old mage simply looked up at the top of the stone mound, lost in deep thought. Seeing this, Maggie couldn’t help but ask, “What are you thinking about?”
“I’m just thinking that, for the Violet people themselves, the kingdom’s disappearance probably wasn’t sudden,” Modir said thoughtfully. “Though to us outsiders it seems like it was swallowed by fog overnight, the flow of time within dreams never follows the real world’s clock… Look at this massive stone mound, and then consider the other mounds scattered across Violet Island. This was no small project.”
Maggie nodded slowly, then asked with some puzzlement, “But in coastal cities like Prandel and Rattel, no such stone mounds appeared after the fog lifted…”
“Perhaps because they’re too close to the ‘Border,’” Modir replied casually. “Even for the Violet people, creations of Lady Night’s dream, leaving behind a ‘monument’ that crosses the boundary between dream and reality is no simple feat. The coastal areas of Violet Island are the weakest points of the divine dream; the real world’s power dominates there. In fact, I suspect the Violet people’s creation of these stone mounds was with Lady Night’s tacit approval, maybe even her help. That would explain why the mounds appear only in the dream’s strongest inland regions.”
Maggie pondered this as the narration from the stone mound’s recordings began to wind down. The magical illusions in the air started fading one by one—the “monument’s” memories seemed to have come to an end.
What it recorded was even less than Maggie had imagined.
She exhaled softly, preparing to turn back to the camp. But just as she was about to leave, Modir’s voice suddenly came from beside her: “Wait, there’s something else… No, something’s entered the stone mound’s magical cycle! Something is connecting!”
Maggie stopped dead and turned toward the last remaining holographic projection before the mound. The magical image trembled violently, interference patterns rapidly reorganizing into a clear picture. In the center appeared a beautiful woman—her long, wavy brown hair cascading behind her, dressed in an elegant white court gown. Against the softly shimmering edges of the illusion, she looked like a classical noblewoman painted within an oval frame, radiating a mysterious yet refined aura.
The woman in white turned her gaze toward the alert Maggie and Modir, a faint smile playing on her lips. “Welcome, visitors from the ‘outside world.’ I never expected the first contact signal to come from the Coldsea node… I hope the Violet Kingdom’s extremely limited hospitality hasn’t caused you too much inconvenience.”
“Who are you?” Maggie asked immediately, stepping subtly to Modir’s side. Though the legendary adventurer was powerful, he was still a spellcaster—at critical moments, a warrior like her was needed to guard him.
At the same time, she couldn’t help but think: When she first realized the truth about the Violet Kingdom, she had imagined this vast nation simply vanished, the entire island empty except for wild forests and desolate wastelands. But now, barely into their exploration, mysterious “people” kept appearing—first a supposed intelligence agent who looked hardly human, then this ghostly noblewoman emerging through the magical network…
No wonder the Violet Kingdom was born from an ancient god’s dream—it was truly bizarre.
The mysterious lady in the magical illusion seemed unfazed by the tense atmosphere. She maintained her graceful, composed smile and nodded gently to Maggie. “You may call me ‘Benadette.’ I am, for lack of a better term, one of the last ‘caretakers’ of this land… the head librarian of the Grant Archive, the archivist of the records, the controlling spirit of the dim court, and assistant to Prince Nash Nart… I hold many titles, but here, you may simply regard me as a magical spirit continuously operating among these ancient ruins.”
Hearing the string of titles the other party recited—especially the name “Prince Nash Nart”—Maggie’s expression instantly grew serious. Beside her, Modir seized on another key detail. “A controlling spirit… a magical entity. So, you’re a magical intelligence created by the Violet people? A tower spirit? And you’ve been running even after the Violet Kingdom disappeared?!”
“The kingdom disappeared… Ah, yes. From the perspective of the real world, the Violet Kingdom has indeed vanished,” the beautiful woman who called herself Benadette smiled gently and shook her head. “But even so, those who once lived in that kingdom always wanted to leave something behind before returning ‘home.’ That’s human nature—life is fleeting, so we strive to make our marks last forever. With the promise and aid of the Lord of Night, some Violet people chose to leave collective monuments, like the one you see before you. Others chose to leave behind their proudest creations…”
At this, Benadette gestured to herself, her expression growing somewhat complex. “I don’t know if it’s luck or misfortune, but I seem to be one of those proud creations of the Violet people…”
Maggie blinked, momentarily at a loss for how to respond. Modir, after a brief pause, seemed to have an idea. “You said you’re one of the last remaining administrators of this land. So there are others? Among these administrators, is there a girl called ‘Morningstar’? Or perhaps a group claiming to be from the Intelligence Bureau’s Shadow Affairs Division?”
“Morningstar?” Benadette frowned, then tilted her head to the side as if listening to an unseen presence beside her. Only then did a look of understanding cross her face. “It seems you’ve already come into contact with ‘them’… But I don’t know much about those matters. They are directly overseen by the Lord of Night, and I have little to do with them. The ‘administrators’ I mentioned earlier are others.”
“So you do know such a group exists,” Maggie immediately pressed. “Who exactly are they? Why have they appeared here? And what is their connection to the Lady of Night…?”
“As I said, I don’t know much about them,” Benadette said helplessly, spreading her hands. “These are matters personally controlled by the Lord of Night. What authority would a magical intelligence like me—created by the Violet people—have to inquire?”
Noticing the doubt and disappointment on Maggie’s face, Benadette quickly added, “But I think you can relax. The Lord of Night harbors no ill intentions…”
“…That’s not very convincing coming from a magical intelligence created by the Violet people,” Maggie sighed. She had already realized that this seemingly kind and friendly ‘administrator’ had little intention of cooperating with their questions. “Then please explain your purpose. Why have you suddenly sought us out? Is there something you need?”
“Nothing major,” Benadette smiled. “I simply wish to invite you to visit the City of a Thousand Towers—that just happens to be the final destination of your current exploration, doesn’t it?”
(End of chapter)