Chapter 1363: A Long Time Ago

Roland had three choices laid in front of him. The first choice was to make use of the opportunity Valkries provided and kill Hackzord. This involved almost zero risk and was equivalent to getting rid of a demon grand lord easily.

Considering Hackzord's unique ability and that it was far more challenging for higher grade demons to upgrade themselves, this action would benefit the front lines greatly. He could then push the blame to external factors or accidents that prevented the other party from showing up and lie to Valkries successfully. If lucky enough, the same plan could be used to lure other grand lords as well.

The second choice was to bring Hackzord into the Dream World and allow him to talk to Valkries. As the latter had decided to take the leap of faith and agreed to collaborate, Roland knew that the crux of the matter was not on the Nightmare Lord but on their discussion. The most ideal situation would be for the Nightmare Lord to verify the truth and conversely convince the Sky Lord to lead their troops out of the Human Kingdom, and spread the information to the rest of the Demon Race that the Battle of Divine Will had to stop. This way, the path from Neverwinter to the Bottomless Land would no longer be obstructed. As long as the last Oracle was killed, Roland would be able to face God there.

If the war concerned only the humans and demons, Roland had no doubts of choosing the former—after all, killing Hackzord in such a manner was a certainty and they would earn a bigger advantage in the war in the North. The longer they stalled for time, the further they could develop their war potential through industrialization.

But looking at the bigger picture, the situation became completely different.

Besides the Demons and Sky-sea Realm, Roland was worried about the threat from God, and a single Sky Lord was simply insignificant compared to that. Even if they won the Battle of Divine Will, the human civilization would not escape the outcome of being destroyed.

Roland did not know to what extent their development needed to survive such a terrifying cataclysm.

Time was not on their side.

Valkries might have realized this point and thus chose to take the risk.

It had to be said that this method had shown enough sincerity—at least after witnessing the attack from Erosion and the Oracles, she had truly considered Lan's warning and thought about the bigger picture seriously.

The problem was that the Transformer had too much of an influence on Valkries, to the point that even before the Battle of Divine Will, it had already planted a thought in Valkries. With the big picture in mind, to be able to forgo the victory of a battle to allow the continuity of her entire civilization could be said to be a natural outcome.

But Hackzord had not experienced any of it, making it a question if he would come to a consensus with Valkries after the exchange. Generally speaking, a decision to decide the fate of the entire civilization was not something that could be determined after one negotiation. But the more they were allowed to meet in the Dream World, the higher the risks, and this was what Roland had difficulty accepting.

Based on the present situation, he preferred the third choice.

That was to maintain the current status quo and gain more time for humanity to gain sufficient strength to reach the Bottomless Land at the edge of the continent

Frankly, this choice best suited Roland's style and it was the goal he pursued from the very beginning. Regardless of what response the Demons had, for humanity to have the capability to traverse over a thousand kilometers to reach their destination was undoubtedly the most reliable outcome.

However, the problem was the continuous mountain range terrain to the north of Neverwinter. To travel to the ridge of the continent, they had to rely on the 'Fire of Heaven', at the same time possessing the ability to defend against attacks in the sky. The process from research and development to production required time. During this period, it was an unknown if there might be any changes along the front lines.

Just as Roland had realized before—facing the threat of the Divine Will, choosing a reliable option was a form of risk as well.

The only difference between the third and the former two choices was that the degree of risk more or less relied on humanity's efforts to make up for their deficiency.

I should look for the Association's support regarding this in the next trip to the Dream world.

Roland thought to himself.

After dinner, Anna entered the office with a roll of design plans and sat at the opposite end of the mahogany desk. This was the time for their routine interaction and was the only period of the day where they felt relaxed and happier. So long as the research institute did not work in the night, Anna would stay in the office for two to three hours, where the conversations included the day's work to sudden enlightenments and ideas.

During this time, Nightingale would appear and relax by the side table with snacks on hand, browsing through the comic books illustrated by Scroll that depicted things in the Dream World. During this period, Nightingale would occasionally speak up, making the surrounding mood rather placid and warm.

After resolving the technical problems, Roland talked about the Dream World's problem that was troubling him.

"So that's why you were sighing incessantly..." Nightingale curled her lips. "Is it a must to have a connection between both worlds? What if the images you saw in the Dream World were assembled randomly? The more you think about it, the more white hairs you will have. No matter what, some things will never be understood."

Roland rolled his eyes. "The brain will degenerate if unused; if everyone's like you, this world is doomed."

"But the more you think about it, you'll die much faster than the world."

"..." He decided to retract the thought that Nightingale looked placid and warm.

Anna did not immediately give her opinion. She pondered and muttered to herself for a very long time before speaking up. "I'm afraid that Nightingale is right."

Both Nightingale and Roland were stunned. "What?"

Anna could not resist laughing. "I'm not talking about not thinking, but she's right on this matter... maybe the link between both scenes isn't as complicated as you think."

"Did you discover something?" Roland asked curiously.

Anna shook her head. "I'm not certain, just some wild guesses." She pulled her hair to the back of the ears and gazed upon her notes. "For example... the sequential order of the two, or should I say—time."

"The link is... time?" Roland frowned and thought about it before exclaiming in surprise, "If the second scene occurred before the first..."

"Then it depicts a complete story." Anna finished his sentence.

"This is the price."

The price was not about upgrading like the missing Radiation People.

Or about the tsunamis and storm that devoured all the survivors.

The two were on the time scale separated by more than ten thousand years... hundreds and thousands of years... or even further.

The price was pointing to something else.

The outcome was that gravity was no longer worthy of being a revered force, and a gigantic and red cavity appeared in the universe.

And if the string of words was subtly hinting to magic power, the phrase "From this moment forth" pointed to an astonishing conclusion.

Roland and Anna looked at each other.

"—Magic power did not exist in this world before."

The two of them said in unison.

The absence of magic power meant that living beings that relied on it would no longer exist.

For example, demons.

And... witches.