Chapter 1709 - Tip of the Iceberg (2/2)

Rheia mumbled in reply without turning back. “Don’t call me a young lady, I am much older than you all!”

“Her identity is rather complicated, but she has a very unique ability, the moment she sees something… uh no, her ability is to see through everything,” Hao Ren was casual with the explanation. “She could see through all falsehood in the world, and it is because of her, that we are able to step into a realm that no one had stepped foot on before.”

“That Basilica of the World Tree organization of yours… What sort of organization is it?” Charlemagne was hesitating but he ended up asking anyway.

Hao Ren pondered for a moment before answering, “Basically trying to save the world.”

“Pardon me, I had overstepped. Please don’t take it to heart.”

“…I’m being serious!”

As Hao Ren emphasized that he was telling the truth, Lily prodded him on the shoulder. “Mr. Landlord, Mr. Landlord! Look! They appeared again.”

Hao Ren turned to the direction Lily was pointing and saw a few blurry figures at the back of the caravans. Their form then solidified to no different than a real person. They were ‘figures’ clad in civilian garbs, with golden red eyes, and silver haired, standing at two meters tall. Their figures were comprised of both males and females as they walked around the woods like normal people, chatting as they walked into the fog in afar, and the words they spoke were soon becoming audible:

“The frequency of military movement had been really frequent now”

“I heard that fighting had started near the borderlands…”

“The cardinal had been frequenting the Great Cathedral, could it be…”

“The Council of Seven Kings will commence soon, I really hope there’s no chaos this time around.”

The images soon disappeared, while Vivian frowned lightly, “It’s the seventh time already, and now there’s this Council of Seven Kings.”

Ever since the caravan headed deep into the Black Forest, the illusions had appeared more than once.

And the content was different each time.

The first time, Hao Ren had seen the soldiers fighting against a corrupted monster, the second time, they saw a group of wounded refugees running away as the soldiers covered the retreat. The third time, they saw a group of prisoners being led deep into the forest, but the fourth time around they saw a group of workers clad in simple garbs crowding a road, pointing at the forest as if planning some sort of construction work…

And now this was the seventh time.

The illusions had no proper rhythm to it as everything they saw so far were not of a consecutive timeline, at times there were refugees escaping danger, at times, there were pioneers leading an exploration team.

Rheia had first guessed that these illusions were a ‘possibility of the world that never materialized’, but she had discounted that assumption now, and Hao Ren suspected what they saw in the Black Forest were reenactments of the ‘old world’s’ history, and these were parts that even Rheia had never seen before.

These were probably all memories of the past, and for an unknown reason became the ‘false world’, Hao Ren guessed that this unknown cause is probably linked to L’Haronne’s destruction and rebirth.

But there was something that he could not explain. This world was recreated by Rheia’s dream, and something went wrong during that process leading to pieces of the ‘echoes of the old world’ to be left behind, and appeared in this world as the Black Forest?

Looking at the bleak forest, Awenna was nervous. “Are… Are we on the right path?”

And as if to answer her, Rheia who was lying at the front of the carriage suddenly tapped the cover, pointing towards the fork ahead of them. “Up ahead, turn left.”

“Trust her judgment,” Hao Ren smiled, “Her instinct and true sight will lead us to the truth of the forest.”

Awenna almost cried. “But we are not looking for the truth of the forest, we are looking to get out of here as soon as possible…”

Hao Ren’s expression did not change. “Oh, then her instinct and true sight will lead us out of the forest.”

Awenna’s heart sank as she suddenly felt that this mysterious group of people was not looking to get out of the forest…

And just at that moment, Vivian suddenly looked up, her nose wrinkled. “I smell… blood.”