"So Judith, do you know anything? We must find a way to go back soon," said Ron impatiently. Mike had died here, he had to report back to the Pope quickly. Judith had spent more time with Adrian and was a senior researcher at the Sage Council, so perhaps she could answer our questions.
However, I did not tell him that Cysper had mysteriously disappeared in the cave. I was unsure how Ron would react if he knew. He would probably search frantically in the cave.
Initially, I thought the time flowed slower in the cave, causing Vivianne and the others to misperceive time. But later, realizing this might be Beluto's world from 10,000 years ago, I thought I had guessed wrongly.
If this was really the world where Beluto lived 10,000 years ago, we may have all been transported to the same time point. So there wouldn't be an issue of slower time flow.
Recalling when Cysper disappeared, I realized there were still many mysteries about that cave that remained unsolved. Returning the same way could still lead to trouble.
Was the time flow slower in the cave, or were we all transported to the same time 10,000 years ago? I couldn't be sure.
"Adrian did mention earlier that this isn't our original world, and that there is a real deity called Beluto, so it probably won't be easy to go back..."
Judith was still drawing on the ground, improving the previous magic circle. Hearing me, she sighed without looking up.
"Who is this Beluto?"
The angel who called himself an Apostle had also mentioned this name, which Vivianne and Ron were completely unaware of. Though I knew, I hadn't gotten a chance to tell them.
"The God of Light Beluto! Seems most humans have completely forgotten."
Just as I was about to explain, Judith spoke up first.
"According to historical records, a long time ago there was a real deity in this world who brought great disaster to humans. And those servants he created to serve under him were called Apostles!"
"Servants? But those Apostles were clearly angels!"
I was puzzled. From Liana's memories, angels were supposedly created by the God of Light Beluto after his defeat, to reduce excess light elements in the environment. How did they become Beluto's servants?
"Are Apostles angels? I haven't actually seen them, since I had to stay behind to prepare defenses against the Light Judgement..."
Judith glanced at me in surprise, but seemed to accept it after a thought.
"That's certainly possible! According to years of research by the Sage Council, Apostles are believed to have no souls, more like bees and ants with a hive mind that can directly communicate with the God of Light. They can be seen as an extension of Beluto's senses, strictly speaking a tool. While the angel race your angel ancestors later created has independent personalities. The two cannot be equated, your angels likely just took after the Apostles' appearance!"
"...So we really went back 10,000 years?"
It dawned on me, and many of my doubts were answered. Like that powerful light beam that instantly killed Mike - I had always wondered how that four-winged Apostle could unleash such an attack without casting any spells. Now it seems it wasn't her own power, but likely came from Beluto behind her.
"10,000 years ago?"
Vivianne and Ron exclaimed in unison. Unlike me who was mentally prepared, they just learned about this situation.
Vivianne was dumbstruck - her understanding was still my earlier hypothesis about the slowed time flow in the cave, thinking this was somewhere near Sulide Volcano!
Well, it's not completely wrong, perhaps this is near Sulide Volcano 10,000 years ago...
"Can we go back to the future by going through the cave again?"
Ron asked urgently.
"That's uncertain," she shook her head, giving an ambiguous answer.
"Adrian didn't say so, and while I proposed the time travel hypothesis, he disagreed that it's that simple."
"Why? Why do you trust Adrian so much?"
I suddenly realized an issue - isn't she a senior Sage Council researcher? Why does she believe an archer so much?
"Because he has the power of foresight!"
She shrugged nonchalantly, giving this shocking answer.
"When I first entered this village, I saw Adrian waiting in the middle of the road for me. He called out my name, profession, background, and how I came through the cave. He explained that this was his foresight ability."
"Foresight? But doesn't that require an affinity for wind elements?"
This was unexpected - Adrian could actually foresee the future? I had never heard of this, nor seen him use any wind magic!
However, looking at how he had led us to take shelter in this house to avoid the Light Judgement, there were hints of foresight. If not for his foresight to bring us here, perhaps only I would have survived the devastation.
"Did you know about this?" I turned to ask Vivianne, who had spent the most time with Adrian.
Vivianne shook her head. "No, when we got tested at the Adventurer's Guild before, Adrian didn't show any elemental affinity."
"Exactly!" Judith exclaimed as if realizing something.
"He did mention awakening his Battle Qi recently, it could be a special application of Battle Qi!"
"Battle Qi?"
I didn't expect this to be related to Battle Qi. We had just lost a Battle Qi comrade, and here was a new one?
"Battle Qi can foresee the future?"
Ron, who had interacted with Mike for so long, clearly didn't believe it either. After all, Mike's Battle Qi was just used to enhance his physical abilities, never for foresight.
"Why not? Battle Qi is the fusion of all elements, so it contains the characteristics of every element, including wind's time aspect. Otherwise, how could Battle Qi have myriad applications? Theoretically, it's totally possible!"
Judith stated matter-of-factly, listing many bizarre theoretical Battle Qi manifestations, ranging from mind control to instant transmission to substitution techniques. To me, they just sounded like variations of manipulating thoughts, teleportation, clones and the like. Though not as specialized as single elements, Battle Qi made up for it with versatility and boundless possibilities.
Well, if the expert is so convinced, I had no objections.
"What did he foresee, just your name and details?"
Even so, Vivianne remained somewhat skeptical.
"Of course not just that! In front of me, Adrian accurately foresaw many things - the specific actions some villagers would take, the sky being covered in light, the appearance of Apostles, even the coming of the Light Judgement and so on. That's why we came to take shelter in this house to prepare defenses in advance..."
Judith explained with a shrug. But halfway through, the door suddenly opened and a woman carrying a basket came strolling in leisurely.
Everyone froze in confusion. What was going on? Who was she?
From her dress, she seemed to be a villager here. But this was supposed to be a temporary shelter Adrian found, why could she enter and exit freely?
Wait! I recalled an overlooked question - whose house was this? Could she be the owner?
"..."
Yet bizarrely, despite us standing right before her, the woman walked past us as if she couldn't see us at all. She took a bowl from the table and slowly made her way to the kitchen.
An eerie silence fell...
"What's going on? How could she come in from outside?"
Vivianne suddenly realized a terrifying fact as the woman's figure disappeared into the kitchen.
"If there were villagers still outside earlier, then the Light Judgement must have..."
"This state...it's like light pollution!"
Before Judith could speak, Ron answered after pondering for a while. It seemed he had figured out what was happening to these villagers.
"The light elemental level here is too high, especially after the sky was covered in radiance. This probably isn't the first time something like this has happened. Just like dark pollution, humans living in environments with excessive light elements will also have issues. It's fine for a short time, but prolonged exposure to light elements will make them become like these villagers - gradually dulled senses, indifferent to external stimuli, merely following ingrained habits and instincts mindlessly, eventually becoming catatonic vegetables, like Mike..."
"So that's why they completely ignore us, appearing so cold and indifferent."
I could also see why humans cannot live in Edenmere. In fact, I only gradually came to understand these principles after leaving Edenmere. Speaking of which, when I had just crossed over, I was very curious about what would happen if humans were polluted by light after dark elves turned into light elves upon being polluted by light? The truth, however, is so cruel.
The light element has a "dulling" effect on the human body, which can also be seen as slowing down human metabolism. Therefore, some lightweight light magic can have the effect of stabilizing injuries and stopping bleeding, which Selene often uses in this way, but using too much will similarly produce side effects.
Of course, because there are too many light elements in the body after being polluted by light, they also have a certain element resistance like us angels. Therefore, being blasted by an excess of light elements will not cause them to become vegetables like Mike, but basically be equivalent to being killed. This is also the reason why that woman and other villagers were not greatly affected by the Light's Judgement. However, even so, she is still beyond saving and can be considered a group of walking corpses.