Late night, 79 Wisteria Street.
Because Renee had called the Captain, the three Tzeentchian cultists were caught red-handed as they stepped out of the passage, falling into the ambush set by the two of them. Byrne gave a brief report on the divination ritual. Naturally, to avoid unnecessary trouble, he deliberately concealed the fact that he possessed an identical ring.
After returning home, Byrne lay on his bed, staring at the ring in his hand, lost in thought.
"...Find the one wearing this ring; he is the Child of Prophecy."
The quill pen's emotionless voice echoed in his mind once again. Byrne rolled over and held the ring up to his eyes. When he first took the ring from the skeletal remains, he simply thought it was well-made and likely worth a good amount of money. Later, he learned from Selena that the ring belonged to the Lanian family. At that time, he treated it as a mere coincidence and didn't pay it much mind.
But who could have guessed that a family wiped out a century ago would be linked to a prophecy from Tzeentch?
Turning the thought over, new questions sprouted in Byrne's mind.
The first question: Who is the Child of Prophecy?
If the one wearing the ring is the Child of Prophecy, the skeleton in the underground passage is undoubtedly the most qualified candidate. But the problem was that he was dead—had been dead for countless years, reduced to nothing but bone. He couldn't possibly be the Child of Prophecy from Tzeentch's vision who would destroy Corol.
For Tzeentch's divination to hold true, two premises had to be met. First, although the skeleton was dead, he had descendants living in the world, and that person was the true Child of Prophecy. Second, the ring mentioned by the quill pen wasn't the only one. Otherwise, since this ring was now in Byrne's possession, did that mean he was the one destined to destroy Corol?
It was understandable for a descendant of the Lanian family to want to destroy Corol. But as a transmigrator, why would Byrne do such a thing? He didn't even believe that himself.
The second question: How to interpret the prophecy of the Furnace?
In that underground passage, they hadn't just found the skeleton and the ring; there was also the prophecy within the massive furnace.
The rift shifts, the dark crow shall fall, the Savior is to be born, and at that time must be tempered with pure fire...
When Byrne had used psychometry in the storage room to learn that Tzeentch was looking for a Child of Prophecy, he wondered if that child was the Savior mentioned in the Furnace's prophecy. But now it seemed these two prophecies might not point to the same person—they might even be fundamentally contradictory.
In Tzeentch's prophecy, the Child of Prophecy was the destroyer who would overturn Corol. In the Furnace's prophecy, the figure was a Savior. In Byrne's view, destruction and salvation were two diametrically opposed destinies that could not point to the same individual.
If the Lanian family ring was the key to finding the world-destroyer, then what about the Savior?
When he first saw the prophecy text, Byrne only understood the first section because it was written in an ancient script. Perhaps the information for finding the Savior was hidden in the latter half of the Furnace's prophecy. Fortunately, Byrne's memory had been enhanced by NZT-48, and the complete version of the prophecy remained etched in his mind. When he had the chance, he would go to the library to find materials on ancient scripts and try to decode the full prophecy.
With that thought, the long-awaited sleepiness finally arrived. Byrne placed the ring back in the nightstand drawer, turned off the lamp, and closed his eyes to enter the world of dreams.
After an unknown amount of time, Byrne arrived once again in the white mist space. Just as he picked a direction and was about to head toward the gathering spot, the golden energy within him flew out directly. It hovered a short distance in front of him, absorbing the surrounding white mist.
The change was so sudden that it took Byrne a moment to react. He had been to this mist space several times. Previously, he had tried to see if he could manipulate the mist here, but no matter what he did, the mist remained unmoved, as if separated from him by an insurmountable chasm. But now, the golden energy in his body was capable of absorbing it.
Byrne walked closer and stared at the hovering golden energy. This was the first time he had observed it so closely with his naked eyes. At this moment, he could clearly feel that the aura radiating from the golden energy was as pure as the first light of dawn. The absorbed mist swirled and dissolved rapidly within the light sphere, eventually transforming into strands of pure energy that merged into the core of the golden light.
Because of the recent depletion, the somewhat thin golden halo gradually recovered with the absorption of the mist. The light shifted from pale gold to a dazzling crimson-gold, with fine golden patterns gradually emerging at its edges.
It can absorb the mist of this mysterious space... is this golden energy actually something from this place?
Byrne reached out, wanting to touch the energy. But before he could, he was pushed back by a gentle but irresistible force. The power wasn't aggressive; it was more like a kind reminder, as if saying, "Don't be in a hurry, the time hasn't come."
Byrne had no choice but to withdraw his hand and wait quietly.
Several minutes passed, and the speed at which the golden energy absorbed the mist slowed down until it stopped completely. By now, the golden energy sphere was fully recharged. It spun, drawing in the last strand of converted pure energy. This time, the "full" golden energy no longer showed the previous repulsion; it transformed into a streak of light and flew back into Byrne's body.
Heh, I didn't expect this space to become a 'power bank' for the golden energy.
But this was good. With the infinite white mist in this space, he no longer had to worry about the golden energy running out. Byrne shook his head with a smile and changed direction, heading toward his target.
Before long, as the mist ahead gradually dispersed, the striking round table came into view. Inception Byrne looked at Warhammer Byrne and raised a hand. "Yo, you're here. You're the last one this time."
Warhammer Byrne smiled and was about to reply when his gaze shifted. He suddenly noticed a new face at the round table. The person looked young, barely in his early twenties, wearing a light grey hooded sweatshirt. He had short, neat black hair, and while the fringe on his forehead was a bit messy, he didn't look unkempt at all.
Although it was their first meeting, Warhammer Byrne could feel that this new face was also one of his avatars. After Warhammer Byrne took his seat, Juvenile Byrne cleared his throat and clapped his hands.
"Alright, now that everyone is here, according to the tradition, the newcomer should introduce his transmigration situation."
Hearing this, the new Byrne looked at the other three nervously and said haltingly, "I'm quite unlucky... I transmigrated into a world of Rules-Based Urban Legends."