Suddenly, a ray of light appeared before Aquilo’s corpse. It slowly transformed into a blurry figure. Although his face was unrecognizable, the robe that it donned told the three men that he was the hologram of Aquilo, who was waiting for his descendants to bring him back to life.
The sight of the hologram that Aquilo left behind helped Edmund and Zumar realize that Aquilo had to have something important to tell his descendants. Their hands that were tightly clenching their staffs finally loosened up upon this thought. Furthermore, despite knowing that it was a hologram, both of them bowed before the figure very respectfully as though they were meeting the man himself.
This piqued Lin Li’s curiosity as well. He had been acting as the bystander. If he could hear information from the man directly, it would definitely be a more credible source than those ancient records.
After a moment’s wait, the mana wave from Aquilo’s hologram gradually settled. The men could hear a sigh from the recording. Underlying the sigh was sadness and regret. It was as though it came from a loving elderly who saw their child acting in a problematic way.
“You shouldn’t be here!”
Edmund and Zumar could not believe that these were the first words that they would hear from Aquilo. The Illuminati had spent a few thousand years planning to enter this place to resurrect Lord Aquilo. They certainly could not fathom why Aquilo’s hologram would discourage them from coming!
However, there was no way for Edmund and Zumar to clarify any of their doubts. After all, it was a magic hologram that was speaking. What they could do was to remain patient and watch the hologram patiently in hopes that it would answer their doubts later.
Edmund and Zumar did not wait too long for their queries to be addressed. “Since you have arrived, I presume that you would have some understanding of this place, and have discovered the strangeness of it. However, please do not continue your exploration no matter what you have experienced. There is a terrible secret in this place that could bring a devastating catastrophe to the Illuminati and Gilded Kingdom.
Aquilo’s words immediately reminded the men of the shrine where they found the God of Bravery. From that shrine, they knew that there was definitely much more to this place. If not, how would it attract the two divines and a freak like Immortal King?
Lin Li started to suspect that the Aquilo’s secret might be the reason why Geresco led Lin Li here, and he could tell from Aquilo’s voice that Aquilo knew about this secret. This understanding brought out all his hopes as he Lin Li eagerly waited for Aquilo to continue speaking. He couldn’t wait for the secret to be revealed!
Aquilo paused after speaking that line. It seemed like he was trying to cope with some difficult feelings as he created this recording. Then, he continued after a while.
“You do not need to know what the secret is. Do not even try to look for it. This is a cursed sea where even the gods will be doomed. The secret is definitely not something mortals should be privy to. After watching this hologram, I hope that you can get out of this place immediately, forget everything that happened here, and never come here again!” said Aquilo in a very stern tone.
Lin Li nearly spat blood when he heard Aquilo. What the hell does he mean by saying that there is no need to know the secret? Isn’t that what I am here for? Of course, Lin Li was very clear that there would be a great possibility for the people from the Illuminati to make their way here had Aquilo revealed anything about the secret.
Lin Li thought that Aquilo had to be referring to the God of Bravery when he mentioned that this was a place that would bring gods to their doom. Yet, from the information he learned from the shrine, he understood that the fall of the God of Bravery was caused by the God of Light. It did not seem to be due to a curse. Why did Aquilo say that this place is cursed?
But, Aquilo did not stop here. “It does not matter whether you are from the Illuminati, or whether you know I am. I can share a clue with you if you are still curious about this place. Once, a powerful mage left seven magic towers on the seven islands in this region. As long as you can master the secrets within the seven magic towers, you will be able to inherit the treasures that were left behind by that mage; the secret of this place is one of them,” continued Aquilo.
Lin Li was reminded of the island where they discovered the Void Spirit Mageweath and the seven magic towers created by Immortal King in the world created by Geresco. Through this, Lin Li was very confident that Immortal King was the powerful mage Aquilo was referring to.
It was the location of the seven islands built by Immortal King that gave Lin Li a clue where to find this place, Ice Island. At that time, he already had the thought that the existence of the seven islands had to have a connection to Ice Island. Now, this guess was ascertained by Aquilo’s recording. However, Lin Li did not expect the seven islands to be so important that they were also related to Immortal King’s legacy and the secret hidden in this place.
However, what gave Lin Li a headache was the divine-level mageweaths established on the seven magic towers. He did not have the confidence to understand the seven magic towers in a short while. It was not something that could be fulfilled with time. If he was lucky, he would be able to master them with the help of a single realization. If not, a century might be insufficient for him to gain any enlightenment.
As for Edmund and Zumar, although they were also interested in the secret mentioned by Aquilo, and also hoped to acquire the inheritance of the powerful mage that suppressed the ancient God of Light, they had good self-awareness that it would be impossible for them to master that divine-level mageweath. Furthermore, they would also not want to go against Aquilo’s will out of reverence for him.
The man in the hologram continued speaking while the trio had different thoughts regarding Aquilo’s words. “However, I do not think you would stand any chance. He said that his other self would be here in the future. Perhaps—”
The hologram disappeared before Aquilo could finish speaking due to the depletion of the mana that had been sustaining it. As the image dissipated, the space around the men returned from night to day.
Perhaps? Perhaps what? Say it before you disappear, a*shole! thought Lin Li frustratedly. Aquilo’s last words made him recall that Edmund might have mentioned something along the same lines before as well. The hologram just had to end when Lin Li was eagerly anticipating to hear from someone who had interacted with the Immortal King himself to give more of his insights.
What did he mean when he said that the Immortal King’s other self would come here in the future? Lin Li felt a personal connection with the words that the Immortal King had left behind. He always felt that his transmigration to Anril was somehow related to the Immortal king.
Lin Li was really devastated when he watched the hologram disappear just like that. He really hoped he could grab Aquilo and shake all the secrets out of him. Fortunately, he remembered Edmund and Zumar were around. They would definitely not allow him to do anything that would offend Aquilo’s body.
And although Edmund and Zumar were curious about the secret, they stayed loyal to their mission. They were not here to discover any secrets, but to resurrect Lord Aquilo with the holy artifact. The Illuminati had already wanted to resurrect Lord Aquilo a few thousand years ago. Everything would be secondary before that.
After they saw that the surroundings had returned to normal, Edmund and Zumar stood up and started preparing for the resurrection ritual. This ritual was not complicated. They did not need to prepare any altar like how they did to obtain the holy artifact. They only set up an alchemy array around Aquilo’s body.
After setting up the alchemy array, Edmund stood in position, and took out the Eye of Light. While he started to recite a long and obscure spell, a light was produced by the holy artifact again. This time, the light that it produced was gentler than the time it was in High Priest Poer’s hands. While the light was strong, it was not blinding.
As the light shone, the Eye of Light hovered out of Edmund’s hand, flew towards Aquilo slowly, and stopped above his chest. Then, it started to turn, and directed rays of light onto the body.
Under the influence of the Eye of Light, Aquilo’s shriveled body was like a piece of dried earth that came into contact with the rain. It was obvious that the skin that was once like a wilted tree trunk started to radiate with a little vitality. However, the change was extremely slow. No one knew how long it would take for them to resurrect Aquilo.