Within the classical records of sorcerers, a certain river was always mentioned. It flowed through the past and into the future, harboring the profound mysteries of time. Every drop of its water was a mortal's entire life; every spray of its waves was the blooming of an era.
Among the sorcery spirits washed ashore along its banks, priceless treasures abounded: Reverse Day, capable of instantly healing grievous wounds; Reverse Year, able to restore the elderly to the prime of youth; Fixed Month, preserving youth's fleeting beauty; and Listen Day, an encounter granted only by serendipitous fate. This was the River of Flowing Gold, the ultimate terminus of all time.
Yet for ordinary mortals and Silver sorcerers, the River of Flowing Gold was destined to be a wonder found only in works of fiction. Although Two-Wing sorcerers could set foot onto the Time Continent, in any country they were already pillars of society, having crossed the threshold of true mastery in sorcery. Ordinary people spent their entire lives merely enjoying the dividends of sorcerer civilization—or enduring its enslavement.
Furthermore, while Silver sorcerers might be impoverished, Two-Wing sorcerers could achieve wealth whenever they wished. The River of Flowing Gold was not hard to find on the Time Continent. With diligent exploration, one could encounter it at least ten times a month. Taking a slight risk would yield one to three time-type sorcery spirits each time. Little by little, the chances of picking up rare, single-use spirits of the Reverse Time series were far from low. The market price of a One-Wing Reverse Year alone was enough for an ordinary resident of Jialesi to rent a comfortable place and live in blissful luxury for a whole year.
Consequently, to the common people of the Country of Stars, this celestial River of Flowing Gold—suddenly plunging three thousand feet straight from the sky curtain—seemed far from an omen of disaster. Instead, they saw it as the beginning of total triumph for their realm, as if the Divine Lord of Stars was about to incorporate the Time Continent into the realm's territory as well.
Even though the perimeter of the River of Flowing Gold remained a military restricted zone around the White Tower, many people speculated whether it would eventually be opened up to allow Silver sorcerers and ordinary mortals to prospect for gold.
Thus, when world-shaking roars of battle erupted near the White Tower Fortress, the common residents dutifully followed the broadcasts and evacuated to safe shelters, while the sorcerers of Jialesi rushed toward the White Tower Fortress of their own accord.
"How dare these foreign sorcerers run amok in Jialesi!"
"The capital of our Starry Kingdom has stood peaceful and unscathed for nearly a thousand years, yet today outsiders dare trample upon it with brazen impunity! This is an indelible disgrace—all of us star sorcerers have lost face!"
"Even if we have to fight down to the last person, we will never let the invaders succeed! Even if we bleed our very last drop, we will make them pay!"
"The humiliation of the stars must be punctuated with death! I am the Stars!"
"I am the Stars! I am the Stars!"
Amidst the impassioned, furious crowd, sorcerers spontaneously roared the famous line of the Starry King from the realm's ancient epic. As the foremost warrior under the starry sky celebrated in heroic verse, he had stood alone in an hour of peril to defend his homeland against seventy thousand sorcerers. Even with no one behind him and an endless sea of enemies before him, he had sung fearlessly: *I am the Stars, one man with one sword waging war across three thousand li!*
That the Country of Stars had the largest number of sword sorcerers among the six nations was inextricably tied to this heroic romance rooted deep in their bones.
As they crossed an intersection and two surging streams of people merged, the strains of the epic gradually swept through all the agitated sorcerers. In unison, the crowd began singing the great heroic verse. Their chorus drifted across the night sky of Jialesi, like an army of ten thousand steeds galloping toward the battlefield.
Yet the clearest and loveliest voice leading this chorus belonged to a female sorcerer.
Sonia, Diya, and Felix stared blankly as Daidalos poured her heart into singing the heroic epic, drawing countless sorcerers around them to join in and amplify the song. Although all of them still wore masks, Daidalos's voice was far too distinctive. How could her fans fail to recognize it?
"Daidalos is with us!"
"The number one song maiden is rushing to the battlefield!"
"To fight alongside Daidalos, I can die with no regrets!"
Cries of devotion rose continuously throughout the crowd.
When Daidalos paused to take a sip of water, she turned her head, tilted it slightly, and looked at the three young women staring at her. "What's wrong?"
"You sing beautifully."
"Thank you."
"You're welcome..." Sonia found it difficult to describe what she was feeling. Among the four of them, after all, the one whose hatred for the Country of Stars and the starry sky was the purest was none other than Daidalos.
The village girl had only fought to protect Yaxiu; if the Country of Stars were willing to accept him, she would gladly settle down with him in Jialesi as a capital resident. Diya held no grudge against the Country of Stars; without Sonia, the realm would merely be an abstract noun in a textbook. Even Felix only wanted to shatter the sky curtain; if the Divine Lord of Stars consented to open the borders, she would likely cease her hostility.
Only Daidalos—a die-hard devotee of the Four Pillar Gods—was an anti-Starry fighter to the very core. The entire mission of the Four Pillar Cult was to overthrow the god lords' realms, and shattering the sky curtain was merely a step toward that goal.
The surrounding sorcerers would never have dreamed that the lead singer inspiring their morale, the national goddess they adored above all others, was actually the greatest traitor to the stars.
Just then, a sorcerer unfurled his void wings and took to the air. The crowd could not help but look up at him. A flight ban was in effect across Jialesi. Although the White Tower Fortress was under attack, the Throne Hall had not lifted the restriction. No matter how agitated the sorcerers were, they would not dare take flight—not only out of fear of breaking the law, but also because Two-Wing sorcerers capable of flight were almost all titled nobles.
Apart from the lowest-ranked sword barons like Sonia, titled nobles were all bound by the Starry Blessing and physically unable to violate any known law—and a noble's fundamental duty was to thoroughly memorize all laws, including the supreme court's guiding precedents and latest amendments.
Therefore, this sorcerer who had taken to the sky was either not a noble, or... a privileged Sanctuary sorcerer.
The Sanctuary sorcerer's voice boomed down: "Everyone, I am Professor Oleron of Truth University, the Weapon Master."
"It's him," Sonia murmured.
Diya asked, "You know him?"
"Yeah, I crossed paths with him once before. I mentioned it to Yaxiu."
"Why didn't I know?"
"Because you hadn't barged into our two-person world yet, my dear daughter."
"Get lost!"
Oleron continued, "First and foremost, I regret to say that I am not in the inner circle of the White Tower; my clearance is insufficient. But without question, the White Tower is currently carrying out a vital initiative for the Divine Lord of Stars, and this River of Flowing Gold is clearly its most crucial component. Once successful, I cannot say how vastly the Country of Stars' national power will surge, but the Divine Lord of Stars will undoubtedly surpass all other god lords!
"Precisely because of this, the other god lords have dispatched sorcerers to invade our realm. Moreover, with the recent eruption of the Void Gate concept, many foreign sorcerers have successfully slipped into our borders over the past few months. I once took part in operations to root out these infiltrators, but they hide deep and cling stubbornly to their malice, constantly looking for a chance to sabotage us!
"The Divine Lord of Stars and the Country of Stars share glory and endure ruin as one! When the Divine Lord of Stars reigns supreme over the Void Realm, our realm will become the greatest sorcerer civilization in existence! These invaders will only stoke our fury, and in the end, they will reap what they have sown! The Country of Stars will emerge the ultimate victor!
"For the brilliance of the myriad stars, we must defend our home and drive out these despicable invaders! I am the Stars!"
"I am the Stars!" the sorcerers roared in unison.
"However, we must not rush blindly into the fray, lest we become burdens rather than aids to our defenders. I will contact the White Tower immediately to coordinate how we might assist. Miss Fina, Miss Cervi, Patriarch Vossloda, Professor Trozan, Professor Nidala..." Oleron called out every Sanctuary sorcerer he spotted in the crowd. "Please take temporary command of the ranks and maintain order!"
Sonia and the others, who had desperately wanted to keep a low profile, had no choice but to take flight. Seeing so many celebrated Sanctuary figures reveal themselves sent the sorcerers' morale soaring through the roof.
Sonia glanced at Dimi, not surprised in the least. Unless they were currently immersed in the Void Realm, the vast majority of sorcerers in Jialesi would rush over to join the spectacle—to say nothing of a noble heir like Dimi, who was fiercely loyal to the realm even without carrying the Starry Blessing.
Dimi noticed Sonia and Felix as well, offering a slight nod and smile.
After they flew ahead leading the ranks for a moment, Dimi maneuvered close to Sonia's side and murmured under his breath, "Thank you."
"For what?" Sonia was genuinely baffled.
"Thank you for spending time with Felix," Dimi said. "I'm very glad she has a friend like you by her side."
*Really? But if you turned around and saw your sister's sour expression, she clearly doesn't feel the same way...* Sonia glanced back at Felix, who instinctively covered her chest, her face flushed bright red. The village girl suddenly caught Dimi's implication: he thought Felix was embracing her true nature and dressing in women's clothing because she was hanging out with Sonia.
"It's only what I should do!" Sonia replied. "I'll do my best to turn her into a thoroughly frivolous noble lady..."
"...Huh?"
By the time they reached the breach in the White Tower, the sorcerers from the southern and northern sectors had converged. Nearly ten thousand sorcerers had gathered in total, with more than a dozen Sanctuary sorcerers hovering in the air. Sonia and her companions felt their hearts skip a beat. Thank goodness they had backed out; otherwise, they would have had to face this deluge of sorcerers—and that wasn't even counting the garrison legions stationed within the White Tower.
"How is this possible...?"
Staring at the breach in the White Tower's outer wall, Dimi's usually serene expression cracked, giving way to bewilderment and dread. Sonia followed his gaze and immediately understood his reaction—that near-perfect spherical cavity matched the signature secret technique of the Vossloda family with a hundred percent fidelity.
"Does anyone else in your family know Turn Extinction Wave?"
"Aside from my father and me, no one—not even Felix has been introduced to it yet." Dimi's face was extremely grim. "While it's possible the secret leaked in the Void Realm, this degree of execution..."
It was practically more flawless than the Turn Extinction Wave handed down through their family line. Dimi could see it plain as day, but he could not bring himself to say it aloud.
Just then, Sonia heard someone call out. Turning, she spotted Ingrid and Aixia, whom they had seen earlier in the café. Once they regrouped and exchanged brief introductions, Aixia could hardly wait to speak up: "I was right on the scene when the White Tower Fortress was breached!"
"What?" Sonia and the others were taken aback, quickly asking, "How many of them are there?"
"Five—one man and four women, all legendary sorcerers. The one using Turn Extinction Wave was a red-haired sword sorceress." Aixia looked Sonia up and down. "She felt quite similar to you."
*How do you know I want to steal the Vosslodas' secret techniques...?* Sonia asked, "Did you manage to get any pictures?"
"I tried, but it failed," Aixia sighed. "All recording devices were scrambled. At best someone could sketch them; otherwise, capturing their physical likeness directly is impossible."
This outcome did not surprise them. On their way here, Diya had instructed the Gospel to gather intelligence on the intruders, only for the Gospel to state it could not—the targets possessed seamless counter-reconnaissance interference, serving as a virtual bane to the Gospel.
Daidalos asked, "Were there any distinctive features about their appearance?"
"They were all wearing purple-blue clothes!" Ingrid answered without hesitation.
Purple-blue!
The hallmark attire of Tide!
In that instant, Sonia and the others felt a surge of awe toward this anti-starry organization—to dispatch five legendary sorcerers capable of battering the White Tower Fortress head-on, the waters in the Country of Stars ran deep indeed!
"The intruders have already pushed through the Second Fortress; only the Inner Keep stands between them and the River of Flowing Gold." Aixia wore an expression of grave concern for the realm. "Still, the Inner Keep's defenses ought to be the strongest. Surely they can hold these intruders off..."
Right at that moment, gasps and cries of shock rippled across the surrounding crowd. Everyone looked toward the White Tower, only to witness a sight that sent the star sorcerers' composure crumbling—
The River of Flowing Gold was rapidly shrinking!
"Could the Inner Keep have fallen too?!" Aixia's eyes lit up. "Are our Divine Lord of Stars' elaborate preparations truly so fragile?"
"No." Daidalos gazed far into the distance. "Look closely. The Inner Keep's barrier is still intact. The River of Flowing Gold isn't shrinking because it was destroyed, but rather... because it is being consumed."
"Has the Divine Lord of Stars intervened in person?" Felix asked. "I read in the archives that a Four-Wing time spirit only requires a tiny drop of the River of Flowing Gold, and a time god requires merely a short stretch of the current. But this..."
"It's draining this celestial river almost completely dry, and the consumption is still ongoing." Sonia's tone turned solemn as well. "Just what kind of terrifying time-type divine miracle could cause the River of Flowing Gold to run dry?"
Chapter 860