Volume 4: The End of the World Chapter 43: Surrender
As soon as the words fell, the entire Holy Tree Mother Temple fell into deathly silence.
Most people looked at William with confusion. Indeed, they had lived in a linear logic time and did not have a higher level of narrative thinking, so it was difficult for them to understand what William meant.
There were only two people present who could roughly understand what William meant.
One is Yin Lis, who had previously briefly exchanged consciousness with Sibilla from an abandoned timeline in the past through the [Eye of God].
The other is Floro, who inherited Nehe's legacy and learned the true origin of the forest elves.
However, even they were shocked beyond measure by William’s previous remarks.
Not long ago, Yin Lisi used the God's Eye and her own surname as a medium to return to a timeline that had been cut out, and interacted with a person from the past. She understood better than anyone what the so-called other timeline was all about.
In the fragmented time, contradictory possibilities can indeed exist at the same time. However, based on the characteristics of causal time in this world, after crossing a certain divergence point, those contradictory timelines will eventually converge into one definite possibility, and other possibilities will only be discarded. Therefore, it is natural that the intelligence will eventually converge into only one record to be passed down, and this is the so-called historical truth.
Memory is also a kind of information. In other words, even if this man named " William " really broke the timeline in the battle with Ms. Hungry, he should only remember the historical truth that has been passed down to the present day!
However, the reality is that he not only still remembers the different timelines he has experienced, but - if he is not exaggerating - he even chose one of the timelines by his own will as the current historical truth.
Being able to see multiple contradictory and parallel broken timelines at the same time, being able to actively observe and fix them, and even being able to choose the future you want by your own will... This is definitely not something that mortals can do. Compared to burning mountains and boiling seas, compared to summoning thunder and storms, being able to shape the historical truth of the present world on the timeline is the true power of God!
To be honest, although she was chosen as the leader of the Blind Sisterhood and was tasked with correcting the essence of the Eighth Holy Spirit's faith, she never believed that a mortal could embody the true power of the Holy Spirit. In her opinion, both William Kane and Terra Riel were just ancient gods of the new era created by the power of the Eighth Holy Spirit. They were just a shell of divinity based on the people's faith, but in essence, they were no different from those "authorities" in the Bronze Age.
But this man in front of me...if he could really see and choose the timeline...
No matter how he did it, the fact that he could shape the timeline made him no different from a real god.
As for Flora, who was standing aside, she was shocked by something else.
In a timeline that did not continue to this day, he actually defeated the ethereal incarnation of Ms. Hungry and Corrupted entirely by his own strength without relying on the help of "Big Mother" and "Father of the Wilderness".
In other words, it was he who turned back the countdown to Ravenwood's destruction by more than a thousand years.
He was able to seize the right to shape the timeline of the present world from the hands of the King of Nothingness!
He even gave up the supreme glory of defeating the void incarnation of the exiled Lady of Hunger and Corruption alone, and instead chose a future in which the ancient god of the forest elves fell into eternal sleep as the direction of the development of the timeline - he gave the forest elves the opportunity to break free from the constraints of the gods and redeem themselves in the future.
Even the two ancient gods conveyed their wishes to the forest elves, "Your time has come," before falling into deep sleep.
In the more than one thousand years since he left, if any leader of the forest elves was willing to abandon the sick blessing system and carry out a thorough reform, just like humans completely abandoned the power of the ancient gods derived from myths and beliefs and began to develop a magic system, the number of "forests" would not have exceeded the critical value, and the original history might be completely replaced by the hungry lady at any time...
After coming to power, Floro relied on her own strong power and iron-fisted means to continuously promote pan-imperial reforms and introduce the faith of the Holy Spirit Church in order to put an end to the mistakes that the forest elves had made for thousands of years before everything became irreversible.
"I'm sorry. It's us... who failed you in the past. Our ancestors failed to understand the deep meaning of what you... and those two gods did in the past."
"I have tried my best to change, but I don't know if time is enough."
After a long silence, Flora bowed her head and apologized to William.
"Hmm? Yeah...it's okay. It's not too late...probably."
William, who had no idea why the other party suddenly apologized to him so solemnly, resisted the urge to ask and answered with a hint of meaning.
"Well! We still have hope!"
Flora nodded vigorously.
As long as you are here.
William, who read this meaning from the other person's eyes, became even more panicked.
What on earth is she talking about...
In the entire Temple of the Great Mother of the Holy Tree, only Nezemal's expression did not change noticeably.
Although she was not very clear about the meaning of things like timeline, choice or abandonment, and the origin of the Void King, for her, the Holy Spirit was naturally beyond the limitations of time and space, and was essentially an infinite existence. The Eighth Holy Spirit was supposed to be in the realm of light with infinite possibilities, but because of her compassion for the world, she was born in the Vic Continent and became the current William Kane.
Since he is the incarnation of the Eighth Holy Spirit "The Hermit" projected into the world, it is not difficult to understand that he can choose the timeline of the world.
After all, the present world itself was collectively created by the Holy Spirits, so isn’t it normal to shape the timeline of the present world?
So compared to these complicated time theories that made people feel half-understood, Nazemar was more concerned about some more realistic things at this moment.
"Since you said so, can I assume that you are ready to submit to the incarnation of the Eighth Holy Spirit, the Lord of the Vic Continent, the true emperor of the empire, the leader of the End Watchers, the chief judge of the Thirteenth Tribunal, the scourge of the Moon Realm... to the great and merciful Lord William Kane. And are you willing to kneel down and offer her the entire Jade Province with both hands as proof of your loyalty?"
Nazemar, who had already walked back to William's side, gently released Yinlis's hand and stood in front of Flora. She said this with a serious and pious expression.
"Nezemar!"
William, who was caught off guard by her sudden move, subconsciously spoke out to stop her.
"Oh, sorry, I..."
After William called her name, Nazemare, whose shoulders trembled slightly in fear, immediately turned around, her face full of sincere apology, and she bowed her head slightly to apologize.
But before William could say anything, she continued to reflect:
"I shouldn't say 'Emerald Province', an administrative region roughly demarcated by the false Holy Spirit. Should I follow the terms of your time and call it Ravenwood and the surrounding tribal kingdoms?"
Is this the point?
William felt like he would lose if he talked to her seriously about this.
Although I came here this time hoping to directly include the entire Ravenwood area into my sphere of influence, it is still a bit too direct to say so.
After all, after a brief contact, William could also feel that Flora was a person who would not tolerate hardship but would rather give in to softness. It was not difficult to seize power from her, but giving up on her and looking for a qualified ruler in an organization like the Oak Council might be more difficult than finding a calm Moon Realm monster in the Moon Realm of the Dead Blood King.
However……
"I am willing to give you the entire Emerald Province, or Ravenwood, whatever you want to call it... I am willing to offer you the entire area under my rule. I am willing to submit to the rule of the Eighth Holy Spirit for the rest of my life, until peace reigns over the world, until the entire empire returns to the right hands..."
Flora spoke slowly.
but……
William said silently in his heart.
"But this is based on the premise that the country you rule will not be a scorched earth full of ashes and dust. I know that the best and safest way to stop Ms. Hunger and Corruption's plan is to burn the entire Ravenwood Forest to ashes. Frankly speaking, if you end up doing this, it is also the right choice... both intellectually and emotionally."
Flora looked at William calmly and said so.
"But if you intend to do so, then I will become an obstacle in your way. No matter how insignificant this obstacle is to you, but... I will do everything I can to stop it, even at the cost of my own life. I know that I may not be able to change anything in the end, but this is the only reason why I still maintain this broken country, and why I am still alive today."
Seeing the determination in the other person's eyes, William sighed imperceptibly and said:
"Can I ask why?"
In response to this question, Fularo replied:
"Because this is the country where I live, because I believe that I will be able to overcome this hurdle in the future, because..."
Having said this, Flora paused, as if she was hesitating whether to say the rest.
After a moment of silence, she spoke as if she had made up her mind:
"Please allow me to overstep my bounds... Because, it is also the last wish of my mentor, Nehe, to allow Ravenwood to continue forever and for all the forest elves to be redeemed. Although you may find it a bit ridiculous to say that he is my mentor. I am a thousand years apart from his time, and I only inherited his legacy through a few scrolls... But this is the only wish that I hope to protect for him to the best of my ability."
After she finished speaking, she took a long breath, then looked at William nervously, waiting for the other party's final verdict.
At this moment, the expression on William's face was uncertain. He first looked at the spell medium in his hand, and then looked at the neatly arranged holy emblems of the Holy Spirit in the depths of the temple. After a long time, he let out a long sigh.
Flora suddenly felt her heart rise to her throat - of course, it was just a feeling, after all, her heart had stopped beating for a long time.
"I don't want your loyalty to be based on lies and coercion. That is meaningless and will only increase hidden dangers in the future... So I will make it clear at the beginning. If in the end, the only way to go is to burn Ravenwood to ashes. Then for the safety of the entire world, I will make the right choice. And by then, anyone who tries to stop me, I will resolutely eliminate as an enemy..."
William said so.
The expression on Flora's face became lost, and at the same time, her hand holding the spell medium slowly tightened, and Nezemal beside her also became nervous when she saw this.
"So, I can only give you this promise - I use my name as a witness. I, William Kane, will do everything I can to prevent the worst possibility from happening. Even if there is only a one in ten thousand chance of saving Ravenwood, I will do my best to save it. This is not only to redeem the 40 million forest elves who have been transformed into trees and whose souls are imprisoned in place. It is also to fulfill the last wish of my friend Nehe to watch over this land."
William walked in front of Flora as he spoke. He lowered his head slightly and looked directly into her icy blue eyes, then continued:
"So, in order to create a chance for Ravenwood to be redeemed, I need you to assist me without reservation. At least until it is finally determined that this land is completely hopeless, you must do everything you can to help me. On the other hand, if it is finally clear that I must use the 'Final Solution' to stop Ms. Hungry's plan, I will tell you at the first opportunity and give you a chance to try to stop me... Do you accept this condition?"
William said this and extended his right hand full of rings to the other party.
"What do you think the chances are of eventually being able to redeem the entire Ravenwood... Seriously, can I trust you?"
After hearing William's words, Floral asked with some trembling in her voice.
"One thousand and eight years ago, what was the probability that the entire Vic Continent would believe that I could banish all the Void Kings back to the Moon Realm? And how many people believed in me at that time?"
William asked in response.
After hearing this answer, Flora lowered her head and adjusted her black dress inlaid with gold thread, then knelt on one knee on the floor of the temple with impeccable etiquette, kneeling before this legend from a thousand years ago.
Then, in front of everyone present, she gently lifted William's right hand and lightly kissed the ring that symbolized the judgment seat.
