Chapter 165 – The Failed Time Stop
Even after experiencing it countless times, Charles still couldn't completely avoid the dizziness caused by entering the Gate of Traversal.
Fortunately, the sensation didn't prevent him from acting normally.
The moment he stepped through the gate—before he had even clearly seen his surroundings—Charles tightly gripped the crystal necklace in his hand, ready to crush it immediately if something went wrong.
But what he saw next was nothing like he had expected.
There was no earthquake.
No falling rocks.
No collapsing seal.
No attack from the ancient god.
Instead—
there was light.
Blazing light, as intense as a burning sun, illuminating everything around him so brightly that it almost forced his eyes shut.
Thanks to his enhanced physique, Charles wasn't completely blinded by the sudden glare, though he still instinctively narrowed his eyes.
Once he adjusted, he began examining the area.
Before him lay a flat underground world beneath the mountain.
In general, it was still the same location as the former sealing site.
But the endless white void that had once filled the area had vanished entirely.
Even more shocking—
there was no rock ceiling overhead.
Instead, the space above was completely open, revealing the top of the mountain itself.
Yes.
The mountain's summit was visible.
The entire mountain had somehow been hollowed out from within.
Looking upward, Charles could faintly see a dark cavern high above—what appeared to be the only entrance leading to the Three-Eyed Raven's cave, standing far at the edge of his sight.
But that wasn't the strangest thing.
What truly caught his attention was the "sun" blazing above him, along with the countless figures floating around it.
Small Children of the Forest.
The corpse-like figure fused with the tree.
Pale skeletons.
Even the vine chair Charles had recently sat in from time to time.
All of them were visible in the sky.
Within the hollow mountain, they circled slowly around the blazing "sun," drifting and rotating like planets orbiting a star.
"What the hell is going on?"
Charles frowned.
Had the time-stop effect of the Gate of Traversal stopped working?
What exactly had happened here?
No one answered him.
At that moment, Charles stood at the very bottom of the mountain cavity.
Beneath his feet stretched an empty stone ground resembling a rocky plaza. The surroundings were scattered with broken earth and piles of rubble.
Several withered corpses lay partially buried beneath the stones nearby.
With just a quick glance, Charles recognized them immediately.
They were the ritual materials he had used during his ceremony.
And at the spot where the meteorite had once been—
there was now a massive crater.
Blackened.
Circular.
With jagged edges like torn metal.
A deep, charred pit silently marked where the meteorite had vanished.
The strange scene above was clearly beyond Charles's reach.
He couldn't fly.
So after giving one last glance at the Three-Eyed Raven drifting high in the air, Charles walked toward the massive crater.
Standing at its edge and looking down, he found the pit wasn't particularly deep—only a little taller than a man. Aside from scorched earth, there seemed to be nothing inside.
After observing it for a moment and finding nothing unusual, he was about to look away when a message from the Eye of Reality suddenly appeared.
---
A newly born fragment of the Night Lion's soul.
It is closely connected to this world.
It represents a piece of the world's reality.
---
"The Night Lion's soul?"
Charles scanned the pit but didn't immediately see anything. So he jumped down to search more closely.
"Wasn't the Night Lion already devoured?"
Muttering in confusion, he continued sweeping the area with the Eye of Reality. Eventually his gaze settled on a dim little sprout.
At first glance it looked like nothing more than a wilted, inconspicuous black-purple weed growing from the ground.
But the Eye of Reality never made mistakes.
"So… you're the Night Lion?"
Squatting down, Charles flicked the tiny sprout with his finger, feeling slightly absurd.
There was no answer.
But the moment he touched it, a strange ripple of energy burst outward from the fragile plant.
The ripple was visible—a wave of pure black.
The instant it appeared, it extinguished the daylight around it.
Darkness surged outward, engulfing the entire hollow mountain.
The countless figures floating above began to drop from the air, and while falling they rapidly turned into dry skeletons.
Charles looked up nervously, afraid that with one careless touch he might have killed the Three-Eyed Raven.
But a moment later he relaxed.
The black energy wave spread only once. When it reached the edges of the mountain cavity, it dissipated.
The suppressed "sun" above shattered the darkness and shone again with dazzling brilliance.
The drifting Children of the Forest and the Three-Eyed Raven were lifted back into the air by that mysterious power.
Those who had turned into skeletons quickly regenerated flesh and blood, restoring them to their previous forms in the blink of an eye.
"So… death? Darkness?"
"And why wasn't I affected?"
"Because I'm not from this world?"
Thoughtfully staring at the sprout, Charles finally reached down and grabbed it.
Without hesitation, he pulled it from the rocky ground.
Another surge of black energy exploded outward, spreading darkness across the area.
But once again, it had no effect on him.
No one had told Charles what he should do next.
Yet somehow, he instinctively knew.
Perhaps it was the influence of his Walking Fate talent.
Or perhaps it was simply the Gate of Traversal's instinct to collect World Reality.
Either way, after pulling the sprout from the ground, Charles immediately stuffed it into his mouth.
"It's called the Night Lion… so why is it a plant?"
The thought crossed his mind as he chewed.
It tasted completely ordinary.
After swallowing, a notification appeared before his eyes.
---
You have touched World Reality (Dark).
Second Gate of Traversal unlock progress: 2 / 3
---
The message faded.
Several seconds passed.
Charles blinked.
"That's it?"
He muttered, feeling strangely unreal.
The last time he obtained a fragment of World Reality, his power had increased dramatically.
Why didn't anything happen this time?
Though puzzled, he didn't dwell on it.
There were more urgent matters at hand.
Specifically—
how to get out of here.
Climbing out of the crater, Charles paced around the area, thinking.
"Summon rats and dig my way out? Even if there were rats here, I doubt their teeth could chew through rock."
"Build a bone staircase? I have five corpses… but that's nowhere near enough for this height."
"And learning new spells takes time…"
"Use the crystal necklace? This situation doesn't seem desperate enough yet."
"Too bad a spirit medium isn't a vampire. Otherwise I could summon bats…"
"Maybe the Three-Eyed Raven has an idea?"
He looked up at the floating figure high above.
But the distance was too great. The Eye of Reality offered no information about the Raven's condition.
Then Charles noticed something in the corner of the rocky wall—
a thin green vine.
---
Thorn White Vine
A companion plant of the Weirwood. A trace of spirituality resides within it.
---
"Spirituality?"
Charles's eyes lit up.
He stepped forward and grabbed the vine.
Immediately a hoarse elderly voice echoed in his mind.
"Where did you take the shell of the ancient god?"
It was the Three-Eyed Raven.
His tone carried clear surprise. Apparently he had been observing the area below this whole time, waiting for Charles.
The voice sounded strong enough, which reassured Charles slightly.
But instead of answering, Charles asked a question of his own.
"How long has it been?"
"A day… maybe two?" the Raven replied uncertainly. "I can't quite remember."
"What happened here?"
"After you left, the ancient god that attacked us fled. The blizzard vanished with it. Your people…" the Raven paused. "They are in a bad state, I fear. I cannot see them from here."
"Fled?" Charles frowned. "So the ancient god isn't actually dead?"
"You destroyed its shell," the Raven explained. "But its will still remains. Even so, that is enough. Without its shell, its hold on this world is almost gone. You have grievously wounded it."
The Raven didn't ask again where the shell had gone.
Perhaps he sensed it was a secret.
Charles fell silent for a moment, thinking.
Then he looked up at the floating figures above.
"What should I do now?"
"You could climb up along my vines," the Raven suggested.
"I meant all of you."
"All of us?" The Raven paused. "That's impossible. Unless the Lady of Light descends and takes back this power, we can only remain suspended here. Most of our abilities are unusable."
"The Lady of Light?"
"Yes," the Raven replied. "This is her power. The cold brought by the ancient god kills not only life—it withers the world itself."
Realizing Charles might not understand, the Raven continued explaining.
"Light and darkness oppose each other, yet they also give birth to one another. In the ancient Dawn Kingdom, the Lady of Light and the Night Lion were inseparable because of this balance. That relationship ended when the ancient god arrived."
"Even so, their fundamental nature never changed. For countless years, the Night Lion—though occupied—has continued generating the Lady of Light's power. But the ancient god suppressed it, causing the Lady of Light to grow weaker."
"You destroyed the ancient god's shell. The suppressed power was released—but it's uncontrolled. That's why things look like this."
Charles frowned.
"So only the Lady of Light can fix this?"
"Of course," the Raven said. "She alone can reclaim this power. After all, it originally belongs to her."
"Again with the 'only one in the world'…" Charles muttered thoughtfully.
He obviously couldn't summon the Lady of Light here.
But that didn't mean he had no ideas.
If the Lady of Light couldn't be brought here—
what about him, the Child of the Sun?