Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Dark Night Mountain was named for the dense forests that surrounded it. Travelers crossing the forests could not see the sun at all. It seemed like the area was soaked in darkness for eternity. However, some people claimed it was named as such because the Master of the Night had left quite a few lands of miracles here.
Dark Night Mountain was the boundary between the exotic realm and the Church of Light. Across from Dark Night Mountain and the Black Forest was the Kingdom of Rosa d’Oro. Although the forest was owned by the kingdom, no one lived there. It was populated by magical beasts and other dangers, so no one ventured there but mercenaries and adventurers.
The Freedom Assistance Association had been exposed. Frank and his friends were put on the wanted list by the Church of the Dark Night. To escape, they needed to climb the Dark Night Mountain and head for the Kingdom of Rosa d’Oro. From there, they planned to take an airship to the central province.
As they were crossing this bizarre area, they accidentally trespassed on the grounds of a demonic camphor tree forest. Thick voodoo miasma and illusions surrounded them and trapped them for a long time. They tried to fly out of it, but a witchcraft boundary above them made it impossible.
“What kind of a god-forsaken place this is?” Frank asked. He was holding a witchcraft compass and turning on the Eye of Truth in an attempt to search for the exit. “I can’t even use this to see through the illusions!”
“The dark power in Alpha’s body is getting stronger, and it’s invading his consciousness. We have to leave here as soon as possible,” Willbert said.
He was carrying Alpha while holding the pearl of purification, blocking the erosion from the voodoo miasma. Even while the illusionary beasts were trying to attack them, he could still see the power of the pearl.
“We might have trespassed on some important but forbidden area,” Frank said cautiously. “This was definitely set up by wizards. Is this the wizard tower of some dark wizard? Or the ancient remains of one?”
It took Frank and his friends two days to get out of the demonic camphor tree patch, and they still weren’t out of the Black Forest, only going deeper into it. Thick mist covered the entire sky. It was dark and silent and lifeless. That witchcraft boundary surrounding the demonic camphor trees must’ve had some problems because the vines and miasma had escaped and penetrated the rest of the forest.
Finally the illusions cleared. Within the mist they saw an enormous black mountain with a spectacular city on top. Many facilities in the city had been damaged, and lots of them were moved away. However, it was still a wizard city full of witchcraft forces and wizards. There were train tracks, bridges, castles and streets. There were clock towers and gardens to nurture magical beasts. It was a beautiful sight for sore eyes.
When they looked closer, however, they saw that everything was covered in vines and moss. The city built on the mountain ridge was in ruins. It was blurry and rugged looking, like a magical city lost in time.
Frank immediately recalled hearing of such a mythical place. “There is a myth that says wizards have a holy place, a place where they originated that belongs only to them. It is full of truth and knowledge, the wonderland of all wizards.”
Alpha looked at the remains on top of the mountain. “I’ve also heard of that place. It’s called The Tower. When the Era of Gods came, the wizards lost the tower and the race declined.”
“There’s also a legend saying that the wizards in the tower went to another world, creating a new era of wizards,” Willbert added. He looked at everything on the mountain. It was already in ruins, and there was no one around. He couldn’t help wanting to weep. “This is what’s left of The Tower!”
They walked up through layers of mist. The remains of The Tower emerged in front of them. They walked up a long flight of crumbling stairs and stepped through the giant archway onto a stone street. They imagined the immense number of wizards living here when the city had been in its prime.
Many of the buildings in the city had simply disappeared as if they were all moved away. Frank and the other two walked to the top. They saw that the core area had completely disappeared, and only large pits remained. The long tower that would’ve once pierced through the clouds had also disappeared.
The three of them stood staring at the ruins until something caught Frank’s eye. Beside the cliff was a lone tower. Inside were giant libraries and lecture halls.
“Somebody’s already been here!” called Frank. Look, these witchcraft prints are fresh. Someone was here not long ago to dig something up!”
Frank waved his hands and inspected the surroundings with his mind powers. He walked over to where the ground had caved in and found an enormous hive underground.
“Look, there are tunnels and train tracks here. I wonder where they head to!”
“What is this?” Willbert picked something up.
It looked like a scale and it glowed with red light. He could feel its warmth in his hand.
Frank took one look and was thrilled. “This, this is the scale of a dragon! A large dragon!”
All of them were amazed. They looked around cautiously, but they couldn’t find any traces of a living creature. However, they did find a painting on the wall. Next to it was a line of writing.
The so-called immortals are only great beings beyond the imagination of ordinary people. The tower that accelerated the development of the world has become desolate. Wizards claimed that they had the entire world under their control. Who could’ve known that they would end like this? Everything will die in the end. Even those who have lived for a millennia will also die! Commoners will die! Powerful beings will die! Gods will also die!
Marina Bossa.
After Frank read the name, everyone became quiet. The legendary alchemy warlock Marina Bossa was famous throughout the entire Alan Continent. Most children had heard of her, the legendary alchemy warlock who’d promoted the era of steam. She was the first one to travel all around the world and her name was attached to many glories and legends.
“Is this the Marina Bossa we know?” Alpha asked. He had taken some of the newly-made medicine, and had recovered a bit.
“Isn’t she an alchemy warlock?” Frank said. “Why was she in the wizard tower? Is there any connection between alchemy warlocks and wizards?” He would never have expected to see this name in the tower.
They had no idea why Marina Bossa had come here, or why she would leave words like these. They couldn’t even begin to imagine what Marina Bossa must’ve felt when she was standing amongst the ruins of the tower.
“I think you should see this!” Willbert shouted and pointed at the pictures on the wall.
It was a model of an enormous tree with all sorts of symbols carved on it. Seventeen bases were connected to each other, comprising the world tree. It appeared as though whoever had acrved this had done so long before Marina Bossa had left those words. It might have been left by the previous wizards of the tower.
“A world tree?” questioned Willbert. “A Divine Tree? Maybe a way to become Gods?”
All three of them were elite supernatural creatures, so they knew some secrets and rumors. However, they were still amazed by what they saw. It was said that the Creator left seventeen seats for Gods, and all the seventeen managed the model of the entire world, including the rules and orders.
This was only a legend though, and nobody knew whether it was true or not. As the true gods and the half-god saints had disappeared into the god kingdom, the knowledge of how to become a god had vanished from the world.
All three of them stayed in the underground dragon hive for a long time. Then they took the underground train to the edge of the black forest, walked through the forest and came out on the hill.
The mist withered away and the sun shone upon the hill, where there were houses and chimneys. They also saw shepherds gathering in the sheep which were all bleating and running uphill.
Seeing this, they felt detached from reality, especially after witnessing the wizard tower remains.