We agreed to set sail, so you'd become the ruler of the deep sea?

Chapter 478 [Anchor of Time] [The Eternal Darkness Clan]

The top of the Tower of Time.

The phantom of "Lyra" curled her lips into a cold smile and began to methodically collect the black substances, sealing them in crystal containers.

"She's... collecting samples of [Hui Si Ming]?"

Joey whispered in disbelief.

In the final illusory image, the top of the tower was covered with those crystal containers, each containing a strange black light.

Lyra stood in the center, holding a jet-black crystal ball in her hands, inside which was a constantly changing starry sky.

Her lips moved as if she were reporting something to the crystal ball.

The phantom image abruptly stopped, and the enormous hourglass suddenly emitted a piercing cracking sound, with countless grains of sand gushing out from the crack!

"careful!"

Xia En pulled Vivian and Anne, who were closest to him, over to her.

Time's grains of sand poured down like a torrential rain, only to vanish the moment they touched anyone.

When everything calmed down, the round room was completely unrecognizable.

The runes on the wall all went out, and the hourglass in the center shattered into countless pieces.

Xia En's expression changed several times.

From these images, he could tell that Lyra was probably being controlled by the God of Blind Fools.

Moreover, she seems to be collecting the filthy secret power of the [Filthy Fate] at the behest of this deity.

Or rather, is it information from the [Hui Si Ming]?

However, what Xia En couldn't understand was...

What is the purpose of the "God of Blind Fools" doing this?
Meanwhile, Youxing and Youyue's expressions were equally complicated.

"So, the [Eternal Darkness Realm] has also been invaded by the [Filthy Fate]?"

"I just don't know whether this happened before or after the destruction of the [Night Realm].

Joey's red eyes scanned the mess on the ground with keen eyes.

Suddenly, she crouched down and picked up a faintly glowing object from beneath the shards of the hourglass.

"Captain, look at this."

She handed the item to Shane—it was a silver pocket watch with intricate patterns of time engraved on its surface.

It is almost identical to Xia En's former "Fleeting Time", only much older and more worn.

When Shane took the pocket watch, a sharp pain shot through his fingertips.

The pocket watch's cover suddenly popped open, revealing the intricately working gears inside.

Strangely, these gears are not made of metal, but rather of solidified time sand.

"This is……"

Before Xia En could finish speaking, the entire Tower of Time shook violently once again!
"Oh no, the tower is about to collapse!"

"Youyue exclaimed in surprise."

Large areas of the ceiling began to peel off, and cracks spread across the walls like a spider web.

"retreat!"

Shane immediately led everyone away through the tower's windows.

In mid-air, Xiange transformed into the form of a bronze dragon, its broad back steadily catching the group.

String Song's dragon wings sliced ​​through the purple mist, carrying everyone to land on the open ground outside the Tower of Time.

As soon as Xia En stood firm, he felt dozens of hostile gazes fixed on him.

A group of people dressed in dark purple robes emerged from the shadows of the forest.

They held staffs inlaid with black crystals, their faces were so pale they were almost transparent, but their eyes were pure silver-white, like solidified moonlight.

"It's the [Eternal Darkness Clan]?!"

Youxing let out a gasp and stared at the other person with a complicated look in her eyes.

"Intruder!"

Before he could speak, the middle-aged man in the lead shouted sharply, and the crystal at the top of his staff emitted a dangerous light.

"Are you in league with those monsters?"

Shaen noticed that the robes of these people were embroidered with patterns of stars and hourglasses, just like the reliefs on the walls of the Tower of Time.

He immediately raised his hands in a gesture of peace.

"We came here in search of the [Time Witch], and have no connection whatsoever with [Fate Master]."

"lie!"

A young woman burst out of the crowd, her silvery pupils contracting with anger.

"Only those who have been corrupted would covet the Tower of Time!"

"You reek of those monsters!"

With a wave of her staff, three silver chains suddenly shot out from the void, heading straight for Xia En's throat!
"clang!"

Ann's greatsword blocked the attack in time, and sparks exploded on the blade.

String Song's eyes instantly turned into vertical pupils, and shadows gathered at her fingertips.

Just as the conflict was about to escalate, a chilling buzzing sound suddenly came from the depths of the forest.

The sound was like the flapping of the wings of millions of insects, or like the churning of some kind of viscous liquid.

The faces of all the Eternal Dark Clan members turned deathly pale instantly.

"It's a flock of night-crying birds..."

The middle-aged man's hand holding the staff began to tremble.

"They've found refuge..."

As if to confirm his words, the treetops in the distance suddenly shook violently, and a large swath of purplish-black mist was stained with a murky inky color.

Xia En saw countless fist-sized black shadows moving through the fog.

Those creatures had bat-like wings, but their bellies split open into mouths filled with sharp teeth, constantly dripping corrosive mucus.

Upon seeing this scene, Youxing and Youyue looked somewhat dazed.

"Nightcrow...aren't those creatures from the [Secret Realm of Dark Night]?"

"Besides, they weren't originally like this..."

Xia En keenly noticed the unusual behavior of the Youxing couple and asked in a low voice, "Do you know these creatures?"

Youyue nodded absentmindedly: "The Night Crying Bird was originally a unique spirit beast of the [Night Secret Realm]. It is silver-blue all over and its cry can soothe the mind."

“They…shouldn’t be like this.”

Youxing clenched her fist, her knuckles turning white: "[The Fel God] has even corrupted them..."

"But why are they appearing in the [Eternal Darkness Realm]?"

at this time.

The flock of deformed night-singing birds was approaching, their abdominal beaks opening and closing repeatedly, producing a teeth-grinding clicking sound.

The sap dripped onto the trees, immediately corroding them into pits that emitted black smoke.

"Ready to fight!"

At Xia En's command, the crew quickly formed a defensive formation.

However, here's the surprise.

The spellcasters of the Eternal Dark Clan also turned their staffs around and stood back-to-back with Shane and his group.

The middle-aged man gritted his teeth and said, "Deal with these monsters first, then we'll deal with our business!"

"Right on my mind."

Xia En nodded, and a long blade of void materialized in his hand.

The battle breaks out instantly!

The mutated flock of night-singing birds swept in like a black storm, their corrosive sap weaving a deadly net in the air.

"Dragon Flame!"

With a sharp cry, the stringed bird unleashed a torrent of golden-red flames, burning a large swarm of night-singing birds to ashes.

A cold glint flashed in Joey's red eyes as she raised her staff.

A wave of illusion then swept across the land.

The spellcasters of the Eternal Darkness Clan formed a peculiar formation.

The black crystals on their staffs resonated with a silvery-white halo, forming a hemispherical barrier.

The corrosive slime fell onto the barrier, making a sizzling sound, but it could not penetrate it.

"This slime is even more poisonous than last time!" Cold sweat beaded on the young female mage's forehead, and her arms supporting the barrier trembled slightly.

Shaen noticed that the way the [Eternal Darkness Clan] cast spells was completely different from that of ordinary mages—they did not simply mobilize arcane power, but rather manipulated the flow of time!
The sticky substance that was shot at them would suddenly slow down extremely as it approached, as if it were sinking into glue.

In other words.

The Eternal Dark Clan naturally possesses certain laws governing space and time.

"I see……"

Xia En seemed to be deep in thought, then leaped out of the barrier's range.

"captain!"

Vivian gasped in surprise.

Xia En's figure weaved through the flock of birds, each swing of his Void Blade precisely severing the Night Crying Bird's connection to reality.

What's even more surprising is that his movements are sometimes as fast as lightning and sometimes as slow as a snail, yet he always manages to dodge attacks perfectly.

"He learned our techniques?"

The middle-aged man stared in shock.

In reality, Shane was imitating the time manipulation of the [Eternal Darkness Clan].

With the help of his [Peeping Eyes] and his own understanding of the laws, he quickly mastered basic time-based secret arts during the battle!
But there are just too many night-crying birds.

Such killing efficiency is undoubtedly not fast enough.

He looked up at the deformed monsters, and a crazy idea formed in his mind.

"String Song! How large a range of dragonfire barrier can it create?"

The bronze dragon girl's pupils blazed with golden-red flames: "Enough to burn those flies to a crisp."

Then, Shane turned to Vivian.

"Do you remember how we dealt with the [Kuroshio]?"

The girl with heterochromatic eyes paused for a moment, then suddenly looked enlightened.

Immediately afterwards, she stepped forward, and two completely different secret powers intertwined in her palm.

The decaying purple light of [annihilation] and the emerald glow of [rebirth] spiraled together, transforming into a magnificent torrent of energy.

The nightingale that was hit did not explode, but instead rapidly degenerated as if it had been rewound.

Until it transforms into countless tiny molecules of secret energy.

The entire black tide vanished without a trace in the blink of an eye, like a pencil drawing erased by an eraser.

The forest fell into a deathly silence.

The Eternal Dark Clan stared blankly at the empty sky, some even pinching their own faces to make sure it wasn't an illusion.

The middle-aged man's staff clattered to the ground, and his lips trembled as he uttered a few words:
"Time...reversed?"

Xia En shook his head: "It's just a little trick."

When the last nightbird fell from the sky, the forest finally returned to silence.

Only the corroded marks on the ground, emitting black smoke, testify to the fierce battle that had just taken place.

Xia En let out a long sigh of relief and turned to look at the members of the [Eternal Darkness Clan].

"Now, can we have a proper talk?"

The middle-aged man stared at Xia En for a long time with a complicated expression before finally slowly putting down his staff.

"I am Elvis, an elder of the [Eternal Darkness Clan]."

"Who...who are you people?"

Shaun sheathed his weapon and solemnly stated, "I am Shaun, captain of the Black Swan, from the Seven Seas World."

"These are my crew members."

"We tracked the [Time Witch] here."

Elvis's expression changed slightly: "[The Seven Seas World]..."

Although he had never heard of the name of this world, it was not difficult for him to guess that it was clearly a world different from the [Eternal Darkness Secret Realm].

Soon, Elvis's gaze fell on the unusually beautiful Youxing couple, and he couldn't help but gasp.

"【The Night Clan】?"

Everyone else's eyes were also fixed on Youxing and his wife, their voices trembling slightly with shock.

"It's actually... the Nightshade Clan?"

Youxing stepped forward, her azure skin shimmering with starlight in the eternal darkness.

"I am Youxing, and this is my wife Youyue."

"We do indeed come from the [Dark Night Realm]."

"impossible……"

The young female mage beside Elvis—whom Shaun now knew was named Lisa—shaked her head in disbelief.

"【The Dark Night Secret Realm】was already established three years ago—"

Her words stopped abruptly, as if she had suddenly realized something.

Elvis took a deep breath: "Three years ago, the [Night Realm] sent us a final distress signal, saying that they had been attacked by some kind of indescribable pollution."

"We're immediately preparing to open the passage to rescue the survivors, but..."

"But the passage suddenly stopped."

Youyue's voice was icy: "All our signals have gone unanswered."

"We didn't shut it down!"

Lisa shouted excitedly.

"A terrifying black tide suddenly appeared on the other side of the passage, forcibly severing the connection between the two secret realms!"

"We've tried everything but can't re-establish the connection!"

Youxing and Youyue exchanged a glance, their expressions complex.

"So, do you have any other information about the [Nightmare Realm]?"

Elvis shook his head heavily.

"Unfortunately, we have been completely cut off from contact with the [Night Realm] since the passage was severed."

"and……"

He looked around at the polluted forest and said with a wry smile, "We've gotten ourselves into trouble."

Xia En asked, "Is it because of the contamination by [Hui Si Ming]?"

Elvis's pupils suddenly contracted: "You know that name?"

"Not only do we know about it, we've also fought against it."

Xia En said in a deep voice, "It's inside the [Secret Sea]."

Lisa gasped, "You actually managed to face the [Foul Fate] and survive?"

A murmur of surprise and discussion erupted from the crowd of the Eternal Dark Clan.

Elvis raised his hand to signal for quiet, his gaze sweeping back and forth between Shane and his group before finally settling on the silver pocket watch in Shane's hand.

"That's... the [Anchor of Time]?"

His voice became unusually cautious: "Where did you get it?"

Shaun looked down at his pocket watch: "Found it in the hourglass at the top of the Tower of Time."

"We are searching for its owner—the Time Witch."

Shane did not mention the name "Lyra".

Since Lyra has lost her memory, she naturally won't leave any trace in the [Eternal Darkness Realm] using her original name.

"The witch has been missing for a long time."

Elvis sighed, "Ever since she started researching that black pollution, things have become increasingly... strange."

"The last time anyone saw her was on the day the Tower of Time suddenly closed."

Shane exchanged a glance with the crew—it perfectly matched the images they had seen inside the tower.

"Elder Elvis."

Shane said solemnly, "I believe we have a common enemy."

"Perhaps we can cooperate?"

Elvis sighed.

"In fact...we do need help."

(End of this chapter)