Chapter 303: Mythical Races
"Is she the one you told me about when we entered this City? You said something about Goddess of Trickery fooled some Destiny Goddess, right? Is she the one?" Charles asked in a solemn tone.
Meanwhile, Oswald moved away from the ritual circle, went near the wooden chair, and sat on it.
Then, he let out a deep sigh and shook his head.
"Nope. There are many Divines out there with the same Domain. This Destiny Goddess is an expert from the Elder Plane. I heard that she is a Mid-God and controls the domains of Destiny and Sword. Although she won't even last a few seconds against the 'Madman,' she should be powerful enough to give trouble for Sun God."
Upon hearing those words, Charles's eyes squinted.
"Mid-God… Hmm, how powerful is this Sun God? He must've reached the realm of Mid-God, right?"
"I'm not certain about that. But he is very powerful and mysterious. Something is off about this Angel of Time. Why did he appear here? Why is he hiding from the 'Madman'?" Oswald showed a grim look on his face.
"He said that he stole something precious from the Madman." Charles deliberated a moment and then explained what Sun God told him in detail.
"Hmm… Testers, huh. He seems to be testing all the participants. Is he searching for a perfect candidate? It is possible. But your actions must have startled him greatly. Every action of yours ended up resulting in a great mess after all." Oswald suddenly paused for a moment and asked.
"What is your next action?"
Upon hearing those words, Charles went silent.
In truth, he was utterly shocked by the previous incidents.
After a long silence, he went near Oswald, sat on the opposite chair, tapped his finger on the wooden table, and spoke.
"I don't care about Sun God's schemes or games. But if not for his help, I wouldn't have come this far. The System helped me in many ways. So, I will help him once and repay the favor."
Meanwhile, a surprised expression appeared on Oswald's face.
"Repay the favor? When did you become a selfless guy?" He couldn't help but show a curious look.
Upon hearing those words, Charles couldn't help but chuckle.
"Selfless? Nah, I have deep enmity with Red Prince and Destiny Goddess. One way or another, I'm bound to face them head-on one day. Moreover, the Sun God seems to be a polite guy. As long he didn't cross the line, I will stay neutral and help him a little." He paused for a moment and then added with a smile.
"Before that, I need your help with something else."
"My help?" Oswald raised his eyebrows in suspicion.
Charles nodded his head and spoke.
"Yes, I want you to take a look at the System-45 artifact and see if you can modify it. You once said that some forbidden artifacts could help one to steal soul essences from souls, right? Can you create and add them to the System? I also want you to add this Seven-Leaf rune array."
For the first time, Oswald's expression turned serious.
"I thought that artifact is your deep secret." He asked in a shocked tone.
A bitter smile appeared on Charles's face as he heard those words.
"I thought that artifact was a powerful one and could help me in many ways. But after seeing Madman's tiny bit of power, I realized how naïve I was. That guy could attack us from countless stars away and even hold on against the Sun God's Will. He can read our past, present, and all possible futures. From the Sun God's earlier words, I learned that he is actually in a sealed state! Do you know what this means? Even he isn't invincible. If I want to become an omnipotent being, I've to be stronger than that guy! But if I rely on this current System, I won't even survive from the schemes of Divines." He said in a cold tone.
"You want to upgrade the System Artifact, huh?" Oswald nodded his head in understanding.
"Yes. If possible, I also want you to add this Pocket Watch to it. It has the ability to Stop the Time, so why not?" Charles made another request, placed his soul imprint on the pocket watch, and checked the Star Watch's function in detail.
'Hmm, True Vision, and Fog of Time… Fog of Time could help me erase my existence from others… Wait.' At that moment, he suddenly recalled the potion master Stephen's death and widened his eyes.
'When he was concocting a potion, the array circle activated on its own and warned him about an intruder. At that time, he thought of the intruder as some rat and returned to his work. But within a few minutes, something attacked him and turned him into a stone… So, that's Emilia's work, huh!' He nodded his head in enlightenment.
'Moreover, the Foster family seems to have some connection with Elder Plane. The Eternal Sin language inscriptions on the walls… It seems I need to pay a visit later.' He thought to himself and shifted his attention towards the Star Watch.
At that moment, he noticed a row of information appeared in his mind.
'Time Stop… Once I activate this skill, I can indeed stop the 'Time' around 100-meter radius for the next 30 seconds. Everything within the 100-meter radius will be affected by this skill. But there is a long cooldown of 30 days for this skill. Moreover, if I want to move my body, my physical attributes need to be above 50. So, it's basically useless now, huh.' He let out a deep sigh and turned his gaze towards Oswald.
Meanwhile, the white-haired old man stared at the hall's ceiling and seemed to be in deep thoughts.
After a short silence, he shifted his gaze towards Charles and asked.
"Can you communicate with your System artifact? Does it have self-consciousness? Like the normal Intellectual artifacts?"
Upon hearing those words, Charles frowned for a moment and nodded.
"It is possible. When I constructed the 'Life of Fire spell model, it voluntarily came forward and helped me. But I don't sense any life presence in the Game-System. What happened?"
Meanwhile, Oswald wore a troubled look and spoke.
"When you told me about how Sun God presented intellectual artifacts to other participants as gifts, I felt ridiculous. In truth, creating an intellectual artifact is very hard, lad. If not, why would a Divine and countless powerful Mystics united together to scheme against me, put me in Eternal Prison for thousands of years, weakened my soul, and then create this Holem's Crown? In truth, I'm not even a powerful Intellectual artifact." He stopped for a moment and soon frowned.
"But how did the Sun God create intellectual artifacts in bulk? Don't you find something is off about it?"
At that moment, Charles suddenly thought of a possibility and asked.
"They are not intellectual artifacts?"
"No, they are intellectual artifacts. But they are incomplete artificial. Have you heard of Tower Spirits?" Oswald took out a crystal ball from his space ring and asked.
Charles frowned for a moment and shook his head.
As if he had already expected such an answer, Oswald placed the crystal ball on the wooden table and spoke.
"Tower Spirits are actually artificially created spirits. They have no soul, no emotion, and no consciousness. They are a collection of images, memories, and information. They are incomplete life forms and only obey the command of their owner. They don't distinguish the difference between good and evil."
Upon hearing those words, Charles subconsciously thought of artificial intelligence.
On the other hand, Oswald deliberated for a moment and then spoke in an excited voice.
"But before the Era of Past Time, there lived a few mythical races in my home planet. They were Primordial Dragons, High Elves, High Humans and Primordial Titans. They were considered masters of all elements and were very smart. They lived there for eons, conquered countless Planes, and terrorized the whole universe. Even the Demons and Devils feared them."
"But one day, all the four Mythical Races suddenly disappeared. No, not only them, but other Mythical Races from other planes also disappeared all of a sudden. But they seem to have anticipated such an outcome and made multiple preparations for future generations. The four Mythical Races in Easica Plane also did the same. Before they left the planet, they created 24 Magic Towers and gifted them to their descendants."
"Unlike the normal Tower Spirits, the Tower Spirits in those Magic Towers have their own emotions, consciousness, and even a soul core. In the whole universe, none managed to create a soul out of nothing. But those maniacs did it. They defied the logic and created completely new life forms. Your System might be an imitation of this method!"
Charles was stunned by the new information.
"Mythical Races? Wait… Even Gods can't create new life forms?" He asked in surprise.
"Gods? Nah. If they are capable of such a feat, why do they need to rely on mortals? They actually steal mortals' souls in the name of faith and took them to their Divine Kingdom. This has something to do with the World Trees." Oswald said in disdain.
His earlier excitement also disappeared in an instant.
