“No!”
Asabanor shouted in rage as he floated in the blood-red air. Even though he rushed at them at full speed, he was one step too slow. Looking at the high priest’s aged face, the rapidly-falling Xiao Lin showed him the middle finger, but he suddenly realized the Norman high priest might not understand the meaning of gesture. He did not have time to regret it, as his entire person was swallowed up by the darkness.
Xiao Lin’s consciousness was extremely hazy, as if he was a newborn baby that only had a vague sense of the outside world. He felt like, in one moment, he was in a cold, damp and dark place; another moment, he was in a white, bright and warm place. His surroundings were constantly changing.
After some amount of time, as if it was as long as an entire century, yet as short as a few minutes, Xiao Lin opened his eyes. He was lying down on a wide-open field, and everything around him was luscious and green. There was a mild calming fragrance as the warm sun shone in the clear blue skies.
Xiao Lin got up and rubbed his eyes, pinching his face to make sure he was still alive. It was like everything had been a dream, and he woke up to find himself in a heavenly paradise.
“Lilith, where are you?” Xiao Lin thought of the woman that fell into the darkness with him, and shouted out loud. The sound went very, far causing him to jump in fright before closing his mouth. He still did not know where he was, whether he was still in the Final Land, or he had returned to the New World. If Asabanor’s power could reach him there, Xiao Lin definitely did not want to give away his location.
Thankfully, Lilith was not far away from him, and had just woken up as well. After hearing his shout, she found him quickly. The two of them looked at each other as Xiao Lin said, “Where are we?”
“I want to know the answer to that more than you do.”
Xiao Lin half-jokingly tried to break the awkward atmosphere. “Fair enough, but it doesn’t seem like this is heaven. Right, we’re colonists. This might be hell then.”
Lilith had a look of regret. “I’d rather go to hell. There might be stronger opponents there.”
Xiao Lin was stumped. That was not a topic they could continue on. The two of them decided to check out their surroundings, but the fields were extremely vast with no end in sight.
Xiao Lin and Lilith were cautious at the start, worried that Asabanor could appear at any moment. However, the entire time, other than the two of them, they did not see any shred of life, let alone skeletal soldiers. As far as they could see, it was all limitless green and above them were clear blue skies.
After a while, the moon started to rise, and Xiao Lin could finally be sure that they were still in the Final Land because the sun and moon were in the sky at the same time. Even though it was obviously night time, their surroundings were still bright as day with nothing to indicate the fall of night. It was an impossible phenomenon on Planet Norma.
Lilith’s observational skills were sharper than Xiao Lin’s. As they rested she suddenly said, “There’s something different about the moon.”
Xiao Lin had not eaten anything for the whole day and was wondering if he should start eating grass. When he heard Lilith’s words, he was uninterested. “Of course it’s different, this isn’t Earth. The moons aren’t round here. I didn;t know you liked looking at the moon. It’s out of character for you.”
Lilith ignored his last words as she turned around, her blue eyes blinking earnestly, “Don’t you think the moon here looks the same as the one on Planet Norma?”
Xiao Lin gaped, immediately looking up. He did not pay it any heed earlier, but with Lilith’s words, he recalled the two moons back in Planet Norma. The moon there looked a lot like the blood moon!
The moons of the New World were not perfectly circular and one of them was closer to ovular in shape, which looked similar to that one. Was it just a coincidence?
Xiao Lin was unsure, but the uncertainty frustrated him. Lilith was the same. Even though it was safer there without the skeletal soldiers and the high priest, the unknown was even scarier.
With that in mind, the two were exhausted and starving, but they still silently agreed to pick up their pace. The night was short there and when the moon started to disappear, many different colors suddenly appeared in their vision. To be precise, there was a gigantic garden in front of them, and in the middle of that park was an impressive ancient castle.
Food and water; those were the two things that leaped into Xiao Lin’s mind, but in the excitement, he was also cautious. Unfortunately, his weapons were all lost in the darkness. He said to Lilith, “Do you still have your weapons?”
Lilith did not bother with idle chit-chat. With a flick of her wrist, her bracelet glowed as a short but refined dagger appeared in her hand. She offered it to Xiao Lin, but did not forget to say, “Remember to return it.”
Xiao Lin gave the dagger a few test swipes and it felt quite comfortable in his hand. A greenish hue could be seen as he waved the blade as the energy seeped into his arm, it made his actions feel much more agile and smooth. Even though he did not know much about weapons, he knew it was not an ordinary blade.
As he touched the jade in front of his chest, he could only sigh ruefully. The draconic power within the Lightstream Jade had been exhausted. Even if he had an impressive weapon, it would not be of much use in his hands. At the most, it made him feel safer.
The garden was surrounded by silver metallic fences. Xiao Lin had intended to jump over, but the moment his hand touched the fence, an unseen force suddenly exploded out, flinging him ten meters away. Thankfully the grass was very soft, so he was not injured too badly, but the fall was still heavy.
After resting for a bit, Xiao Lin and Lilith took a huge detour around the fence, finally locating the main gate. However, the gate was shut tight. Xiao Lin did not rush to push the door this time, but shifted his gaze toward Lilith, indicating that it was her turn.
Lilith rolled her eyes, walking forward but not pushing open the door immediately. She looked around nearby, trying to locate some way to open the door. After investigating for a while, she really managed to find something. In a part of the wall obscured by the grass was a golden plaque with a few lines of text.
“What language is that? I can’t make it out. Is it Normese?” Xiao Lin asked.
“Russian.” Lilith had no time to look at Xiao Lin as he mouth was slightly open. She looked flabbergasted, which caused Xiao Lin to be even more interested in the contents of the plaque.