Chapter 495 - 107: Fifteen Months
Deep within Taymer Palace.
The Duke’s bedchamber.
Margaret sat on a bed draped in dark velvet, slowly drawing back the slender finger that had been resting on the center of Murphy’s brow. Her jet-black eyes, which usually held a charming or cunning smile, were now filled with solemnity.
"Master..." Her voice was deeper than usual. "Based on my recent probe, and comparing it to last month’s data, your Elementalization is accelerating."
Murphy opened his eyes and looked at her calmly. "How much, exactly?"
"This month, the progress of your internal Elementalization was 3.3%," Margaret said, enunciating every word, her gaze locked on Murphy’s face. "Moreover, this rate is increasing. We predict that in a year, the transformation will reach its peak. At that point, given your current level of Spiritual Power..."
"Go on," Murphy’s voice was steady.
Margaret took a deep breath. "You have about fifteen months. After that, if we can’t find a new way to anchor you, your consciousness will rapidly dissolve amidst the accelerated Elementalization."
"Fifteen months?" Murphy repeated the number. His face showed no alarm or fear, not even a hint of surprise.
He nodded slightly. "That’s enough."
"Master!" Margaret’s voice shot up, laced with a barely perceptible tremor. "How is that enough?! Fifteen months is nowhere near enough time to find a way to stabilize your consciousness! Why not consider sealing yourself away? In the Ancient Wizard World, when faced with a sudden acceleration or loss of control over Elementalization, entering a deep slumber to delay the process and buy time is a widely accepted, effective solution! And as it happens, I know the spell for it."
She instinctively grabbed Murphy’s arm. "I can help you set up a flawless Sleeping Array to delay the process as much as possible. Then... then I can find a way. I can go to the Sanctuary and search for an ancient... something to increase your Spiritual Power..."
"That’s enough, Margaret," Murphy interrupted, gently freeing his arm from her grasp.
"First, I don’t need you to risk yourself for me. You know the state of the Sanctuary better than anyone. Second..." He rose and walked to the window, gazing at the lights of Taymer Palace that were beginning to dot the twilight. "I cannot sleep. The moment I do, this world will fall into chaos."
"The moment I am gone, everything lurking in the shadows, everything temporarily suppressed, everything with ulterior motives... all the ghouls and demons will crawl out. The peace and order established ten years ago is still fragile; it can’t withstand that kind of turmoil."
"But so what if it falls into chaos?" Margaret stood as well, her voice laced with suppressed passion and confusion. "No matter how the world outside turns upside down, I can protect Eleanor, Mo Ling, and Mo Weiwei! I can protect the people you care about! Taymer Palace, the Jade Coast, even the entire Vilt Kingdom... I have ways to ensure their safety! You don’t have to—"
"Maggie," Murphy cut her off again, his gaze turning profound. "You might be able to protect some people in my stead, within a relatively limited scope. But you cannot ’protect this world’ for me."
"Ten years ago, on the altar in the Holy City, when I chose to stay and take that stand, I swore an oath: I will protect this world. Sealing myself away might buy me some time personally, but the revolution I began, the hope that gathered around me, the conflicts I put on hold—all of it would instantly crumble. It would unleash chaos and suffering far more terrible than what came before the ’October Revolution’."
"Most importantly, this is my path. My anchor."
Margaret stared at him, stunned. She opened her mouth, as if to speak, but it ended only in a long, heavy sigh.
"But Master... if you keep pushing on like this, in fifteen months, even if your consciousness barely holds together, the moment the laws of the Old Realm completely reject you, you will instantly lose control during the forced transition! By then, you won’t even have the chance to seal yourself away! You’ll be scoured by rampant Dimensional Energy, and your consciousness might... it might be lost forever in the void! You... you’re already starting to have hallucinations, aren’t you? That business with Quentin..."
Murphy fell silent for a moment. He didn’t deny it.
He simply shook his head slowly.
"I have my own plans."
After saying those five words, he gave Margaret no more chances to persuade him.
A dim, dark-gold shimmer suddenly materialized around him, flowing over his form.
Margaret instinctively took a step forward, her hand reaching out as if to grab something, but her fingertips only brushed a wisp of cool air that quickly vanished.
The next moment, Murphy’s figure had transformed into a brilliant, dark-gold streak of sword light. It shot through the window, pierced the pitch-black sky outside Taymer Palace, and vanished over the northern horizon in an instant.
Margaret stood frozen in place, her outstretched hand still hanging in mid-air. She stared blankly in the direction the sword light had disappeared, not moving for a long, long time.
Silence returned to the room, broken only by the lonely crackling of the fire in the hearth. It stretched her solitary shadow long across the floor.
Just then, the door to the room was gently pushed open a crack.
Eleanor’s petite form peeked through the opening. She was carefully holding a small cake decorated with fresh berries and piped cream flowers, her face lit with an expectant smile.
"Mother, Father, I made a cake for you..." Her voice faltered when she saw Margaret was the only one in the room. The smile froze on her face. Blinking her dark eyes in confusion, she asked, "Where’s Father? Did he leave again?"