It felt as if plunged into the cold emptiness of the void, thoughts frozen, surrounded by an icy touch. Only in the depths of the spirit, some extraordinary power radiated warmth, driving away that coldness.
Bizarre visions flashed by in an instant, returning to nothingness, but the sensation of "cold" grew ever stronger. Laine was well aware that this was likely the residual influence of the world.
The power from the Nine Realms had been erased both in the past and the future, so the only force truly affecting this memory was that belonging to Chaos. It instinctively prevented the probing of other lives, but wouldn't actively react in other obvious ways, so while its presence made Laine feel conceptually "cold," it went no further than that.
Thus, the journey continued, and with it, the concept of time blurred. It felt like a day, or perhaps a second, when at a certain moment, Laine seemed to catch a glimpse of a strand of color...
The flow of space-time, the leap of ages, as if breaking through a membrane, entering a world of illusion... When Laine regained consciousness once more, he found, to his astonishment, that he was not as he had imagined, upon Mount Olympus or inside Asgard in the Chaos World.
These two places were where Zeus was most likely to have obtained that peculiar ritual, and even Laine was prepared to see Odin here... But at this moment, his surroundings were unfamiliar, and he stood upon a slightly damaged city wall.
A great battle seemed to have just ended, with an air of solemnity lingering all around. Not far off, many mortals moved about. Some bore wounds and moaned in pain, while others donned armor and kept vigilant, patrolling the area.
Nearer, hundreds appeared slaves. They carried heavy stones, seemingly engaged in the reconstruction of the damaged wall.
And that was just nearby; further afield, both within and without the city walls, crowds of people gathered, each under different banners. And Laine's current location was right at a breach in the wall.
A sharp cry shattered the silence. Instantly, Laine's presence drew the gaze of everyone nearby.
Clearly, no matter how he had appeared here, the sudden emergence of a stranger amid post-war tension sparked an immediate nerve.
Two dozen soldiers raised their weapons, their eyes tense and filled with intent to kill, as if ready for conflict at the slightest provocation. From a distance, sensing th disturbance, even more soldiers were approaching.
As for the one who had just shouted, he looked to be the captain of this troop of soldiers. He was calling out to Laine, but as the initial surprise faded, although Laine heard the soldiers' warnings, he obviously had no intention of complying.
Instead, he scrutinized his environment with greater depth, gazed up at the sky and down at the earth, and finally sensed his own power.
The Law of this world was strikingly similar to the present world, some force trying to bind him, and... an impression of reality that seemed true yet somehow "hollow."
However, Laine was certain that this "hollow" reality would not have been detected by any other Primordial Deity.
For, although this world seemed somewhat artificial, the essence of the force constituting this "artifice" was sufficiently high. Numbers were sparse, sure, but at higher levels, quantity was useless compared to quality.
The Flesh-Mother Tree with just a few higher "traits" rendered Erebus utterly powerless against it, and although Laine was not clear about the details of this event, his understanding of truly creation-level powers was evidently more profound.
As for this almost non-existent force, one needed not think too hard to know it was likely that remnant world force on the memory.
To this plane of existence, information, matter, and energy made no difference. Even if only a memory in one's mind, its power was as real as any.
"Hmm... At least I can be certain that Zeus's transformation and ritual are indeed related to the world itself. The force wrapping around the memory does not come because Zeus is the Destined Divine King but because the content in this memory involves the world itself,"
"As for the current situation... this is not some parallel universe, the Chaos World does not entertain such notions. Nor is it some traversal through past and future... such ludicrous events would not occur to me. If the future were truly 'reachable,' then this world would already be 'dead,' indicating that It has lost all its unknowns and potentials, and with it, its reason to exist,"
"This feeling is a bit like a 'possibility' of fate, momentarily 'realized' under the creation-level power, though it still can't disguise its 'falsehood'... And this world, let's just call it a world for now, seemed to attempt to restrict my power the moment I entered, though it was pointless."
"Lastly, from the current structure of the world, this place is Chaos—but without any trace of the Spirit Realm's existence."
In almost an instant, Laine made the above judgments. This should not be any sort of time travel or dimensional crossing; he well remembered his purpose for this journey—he was here to search for the memory of Zeus's secret. So, no matter what changes occurred, this place should still be that memory.