Mula and Leo, the two God-chosen Knights, were deeply in thrall to their love for gambling, and had some connections, albeit slight, to the terrible affliction of gambling addiction. They could not compare to the imposing big sister with dark skin.
Dreyne was even worse, with a skin as thick as it was unbelievable, completely wasting his icy countenance.
The two continued to delve deeper.
The seventh floor of the Red Leaf Forest Fortress was a land of darkness, much like a Dark Domain sculpted by the thoughts of a Golden Mage.
Plank explained, "On the sixth floor, we allow wanderers to devour each other. By studying their transformations, we seek the possibilities on the path of evolution."
"There’s nothing on the seventh floor. Its sole purpose is to segregate the upper six floors from the eighth."
Plank raised an eyebrow, quite pleased with himself, "Beyond me, the Dean, nobody is allowed entry to the eighth floor. Don’t think I’m just drawing a salary from the Magic Department. In fact, I still have connections with the Papal State, and they regularly send me money."
"So, this asylum was built by Heavenly Father’s Court, and the eighth floor conceals their great secrets?"
"The situation is complex. It’s true that Heavenly Father’s Court built it, but faith magic from various churches was used, not just representing the secrets of Heavenly Father’s Court."
Upon reaching the eighth floor, Plank ceased his riddles and spoke plainly, "Heavenly Father’s Court possesses several tribunals like the Red Leaf Forest Asylum across the God-Chosen Continent. Each one is monitored by a Legendary Mage, not to watch over The Forgotten, but to guard the door on the eighth floor."
As Plank extended his arm toward what lay ahead, the grand secret of the eighth floor was revealed to Wayne.
It was a dark gate, nearly a kilometer tall, embedded within the Dark Domain, its edges seal-tight, with no obvious mechanism for opening.
Around the gate, the darkness was like dense ink, devouring all light and sound. In this boundless dark, the gate appeared all the more lofty and heavy, its surface riddled with scratches, corrosion, and marks of gnawing.
The state of the gate, as pitiful as wind-permeated rotten leaves, seemed as if it would shatter with a single chop, causing Wayne to feel a deep unease.
Those with obsessive-compulsive disorder would find it excruciating. Either be shattered or don’t, but lingering indecisively was truly exasperating.
Just shatter already!
"Plank, what’s behind the door?"
"The Skeleton Forbidden Zone!"
Plank’s expression became grave as he said, "The land of The Forgotten, also known as The Forgotten Great Prison!"
Wayne’s brow furrowed. He seemed to have heard this name somewhere before. If he remembered correctly, Austin once mentioned that during the Oub rebellion, the Magical Department Headquarters was put under a projection barrier, with the Projection Space being The Forgotten Great Prison itself.
Wayne had experienced his fair share of projection spaces, the inverted worlds within mirror spaces, the realms belonging to the Ancient Gods, and life force fields of Legendary Mages could also be considered partial projections of the void, each hazardous in its way.
Especially the realms belonging to the Ancient Gods, without the divine power at the level of a God-chosen Knight, any amount of exposure was to court death.
In other words, a plane without sufficient strength, without enough heritage, is unworthy of being projected onto the God-chosen Continent.
Plank looked at the gate full of confidence. It was also the reason he and Borne firmly believed in the correctness of the evolutionary pathway of The Forgotten—wanderers—Star Beasts. The Skeleton Forbidden Zone was mighty enough, worthy of underpinning an evolutionary path.
"Plank, are all those imprisoned inside The Forgotten Great Prison The Forgotten?"
"Yes, it’s a place of banishment, specifically for the hopeless madmen that cannot be saved, and at the same time, it’s a shelter that gives these mad ones time to cool down and regain clarity. Perhaps in their insanity, they’ll come back to their senses," Plank explained as he stroked his stiff beard. "This is what’s written in the church records, that The Forgotten Land was crafted by demigods, possibly even more powerful angels, out of pity, offering a haven to the homeless Forgotten."
"But based on my research, that’s all a deception. The Holy See deliberately distorts the truth. This prison is clearly an experimental base of Heaven, they are also studying the lives of the void!"
Upon hearing this, Wayne paused, thinking of the bizarrely shaped angels and their vast numbers.
It did hold a possibility.
"So, is this secret thrilling?"
Plank winked conspiratorially, "Heaven also covets the power of the void. The truly eternal and grand life has always been in the void, not the angels as Heavenly Father’s Court boasts."
This was hardly a secret; he had known for quite some time that only the Ancient Gods occupied the apex of the evolutionary pyramid.
Rather than say Heaven covets the lives of the void, it would be more apt to say Heaven craves the body of an Ancient God!
With this thought, Wayne changed his previous supposition that the Heavenly Father was equal to an Ancient God to an inequality.
If Heavenly Father really was an Ancient God, Heaven wouldn’t waste time studying The Forgotten; they’d study Heavenly Father directly and be done with it.
The land of The Forgotten was built by Heavenly Father. Heavenly Father’s Court regularly stuffs people inside for the angels under Heavenly Father’s command to study.
Heavenly Father is not an Ancient God; he too craves the body of an Ancient God!
Of course, there’s another possibility: Heavenly Father is indeed an Ancient God, and he lay down without daring to study by the angels. They had to find other means to accumulate data through experiments, testing all the knowledge and possibilities bestowed by faith.
With this, Wayne suddenly became excited. He had been persistent in research recently, and it was evident that the idea of research equating to evolution was sound.
The more secrets you know, the more ignorant you become about this world. As his horizons expanded once again, Wayne gained new insights into the grand world, eager to look down upon the beauty shrouded in mist from a higher viewpoint.
Struggle, desire, confusion...
The countless rivers where beings evolve and drift, uncertain of their destination, uncertain of their end, where only by praying and receiving an answer can one reach the other shore.