Night Ranger

Regarding the origins of the Ethereal Plane, even in the countless books of the Pearl Tower, opinions differed.

Some conjectured that it was the remains of a previous era, but there was nothing to prove such an idea.

And from the rumors spreading from the Astral Sea, the Ethereal Plane was a stand-in world created by Wizard God Lance based on Feinan.

In a most ancient era, the Wizard God successfully created a world called Feinan, but back then, both Lance himself and his fledgeling world were very weak compared to how they would develop in the future.

As a part of a higher Multiverse, this new Universe was definitely tempting to others.

Some unscrupulous beings started invading that world.

And the World Ending Twin Snakes were well-known among them.

The God of Creation, Lance, naturally still had very frightening strength. The absolute control he had over this world made him understand the plane of the World Ending Twin Snakes.

But as an opponent that had given even Lance trouble, the power of the World Ending Twin Snakes couldn’t be underestimated.

This pair of Ancient Evil Gods came from another Universe, and it was thought that they had been banished by the Supreme God of their original Universe.

Despite this, their strength was still very terrifying.

They didn’t undertake a large-scale invasion of Feinan, but rather secretly assimilated Feinan’s inhabitants.

The doctrine of the Twin Snakes Cult was very simple: unconditional obedience or elimination.

At that time, the Universe was very weak.

If Lance had chosen to fight against the World Ending Twin Snakes, even if there was a very high probability that he could have killed them, he would have also severely injured this world that he had created.

Thus, he carefully set up a trap instead.

This trap was the Ethereal Plane.

The so-called Ethereal Plane was a mirror image of the real world.

Most of the features of Feinan were reflected through a sort of spatial glass into the Ethereal Plane.

Afterwards, he used all kinds of methods to draw the World Ending Twin Snakes into the Ethereal Plane and made them mistakenly think that it was the real Feinan.

Thus, the Twin Snakes Cult began to recklessly flood the Ethereal Plane, and the World Ending Twin Snakes lost their caution as they also started staying in the Ethereal Plane. They even began to hold some secret rituals there, convincing their followers that they were the true Gods of Creation.

And at the first opportunity, Lance decisively threw the rest of the followers of the Twin Snakes Cult from Feinan into the Ethereal Plane.

Before the World Ending Twin Snakes could react, he closed the Ethereal Plane, trapping these two Ancient Evil Gods inside.

Following the dissolution of the spatial glass, everything that had been reflected into the Ethereal Plane from Feinan faded away, only leaving behind the most ancient things that had originally been there.

The World Ending Twin Snakes were left trapped inside for countless years.

When Lance finally pacified Feinan and completely stabilized the structure of the Universe, he set out to handle that dangerous pair in the Ethereal Plane.

At that time, he realized that the World Ending Twin Snakes weren’t completely sealed away.

They had somehow slipped their offspring into Feinan and kept them hidden away from Lance’s detection using some unknown method that was perhaps from their old world. Those children had been secretly developing the Twin Snakes Cult’s influence.

Time passed until the 3rd Era came and Lance made the Fate Tablets. The first three Fate Tablets were crushed to pieces by him and scattered across Feinan.

This was the compromise reached between him and Feinan’s Plane Will.

As for the 4th Fate Tablet, it was left by him within the Ethereal Plane, and the Sky Tower was made to act as the entrance to the Ethereal Plane.

...

That was what Marvin knew from the game and Wayne.

Wayne had stayed in the Wilds Shrine for a long time, and during his stay, he learnt a lot about Wizard God Lance.

Whatever the case, the Ethereal Plane was a very mysterious place.

As Marvin walked along that shaded path, the soil under his feet felt solid, but it had a kind of unreal feeling.

The trees on both sides weren’t very tall, and the sun shone through the gaps between the leaves.

He shaded his eyes slightly as he looked at the sun.

The sun was also shining on him indifferently, but there was no warm feeling.

Yes, there was no discernable temperature here. It was just neutral.

This was an illusory world, a world that might collapse anytime!

Marvin quickened his pace.

No one knew where the Fate Tablet was hidden in the Ethereal Plane, and Marvin expected that Yin didn’t know either.

The two of them each chose a path, completely relying on luck.

As he followed the feeling he had gotten from the Azure Matriarch, the proper path revealed itself before Marvin.

He couldn’t use Endless Path because some Laws were incompatible with the Ethereal Plane. He found that if he wanted to use Endless Path, he would have to consume far more stamina or Fate Power than usual.

Thus, he only continued running normally.

He soon discovered that the Azure Matriarch had slowed down, apparently looking for something.

And this had happened where the path ended, with only a mass of trees ahead.

As a Ranger, Marvin should have felt comfortable among the trees, but he didn’t feel the slightest bit of affinity with the forest as he made his way through.

He checked his interface and also saw that the Ranger passive didn’t trigger.

’So this is what an ethereal world is like?’

’What is she doing now?’

Marvin hesitated a bit.

To be honest, he hadn’t considered that the Azure Matriarch might join the fight over the Fate Tablet.

After that woman lost so many of her heads to O’Brien, she should have been staying in the glacier to slowly recover.

For her to break through the ice and appear now, was it really because of the huge temptation of the Fate Tablet?

Marvin wasn’t too convinced of that idea.

’The World Ending Twin Snakes are sealed in the Ethereal Plane...’

’The Azure Matriarch is their daughter, does she plan to release them?’

Marvin was suddenly startled when that possibility appeared in his mind.

Even if that possibility wasn’t high, it still existed!

In theory, there was no way that someone on the level of the Azure Matriarch could break the seal of the Wizard God.

Even if she managed to get inside the Ethereal Plane, she wouldn’t be able to accomplish this.

But what if she knew of some special methods? Like how the World Ending Twin Snakes had kept her and the Crimson Patriarch hidden from Lance while he was still active in Feinan.

Marvin sped up as he considered whether this was plausible.

He soon arrived at an area where the Azure Matriarch had hesitated for a while.

Ahead of him was a thick jungle that was hiding some ruins.

The bad news was that Marvin lost track of the Azure Matriarch here.

He actually wasn’t too surprised about this. The Night Monarch had gifted him a powerful tracking ability, but the Azure Matriarch was backed by the World Ending Twin Snakes. These two Ancient Evil Gods from another world would obviously have some outstanding abilities. It should be no problem for them to help her hide her aura from Marvin, considering that it had even worked against Lance.

The good news was that he had found an incredible place.

Among the ruins, there was an abandoned temple covered by a dense forest and a pile of stone.

But Marvin could still see it with just a glance.

That temple was shrouded by a different sort of power.

There was a familiar Divine Power and a feeling like the Book of Nalu!

’Could there also be a page of the Book of Nalu in this temple?’

Finding a page in the Sky Tower had already been a pleasant surprise to Marvin.

He had a faint premonition that he would likely be the second person to ever collect the entire Book of Nalu, after that God who exploded.

With the Wisdom Chapter and the Book of Nalu, he might be able to understand the true nature of the world.

But just as he was about to enter that temple, a shadow appeared on the edge of the forest.

Yin.

He was clearly also surprised when he noticed Marvin.

Perhaps neither of them had considered the possibility that both paths would lead to the same destination.

Marvin didn’t have any ill will toward that Vampire Primogenitor.

He only looked at Yin with a bit of curiosity, "Met some troubles?"

Yin had a wry smile as he quipped, "Met a few monsters that should have been extinct already."

There were some rips and tears on his clothes.

This was a rare sight.

Marvin believed that since he couldn’t clearly judge Yin’s strength, he should currently be on Kangen’s level at the very least. He probably wouldn’t even suffer any setbacks if he had a fight with one of the High Gods of the Astral Sea.

If there was no need too, he definitely wouldn’t want to fight Yin.

And Yin also seemed to think the same as he once again clearly indicated his attitude.

"I’m not interested in the Fate Tablet."

"But there is something in the surroundings of the Fate Tablet... that I definitely must have."

Marvin frowned. "Can you give more details?"

"The Vampires’ Secret Precepts, a book only useful to us Vampires," Yin explained. "You might have not heard about it before. At that time, in order to seal the Twin Snakes, Lance not only used the 4th Fate Tablet, but he also looked for treasures from all over the Universe and from all the various races. Our Vampires’ Secret Precepts are also there."

"What? The 4th Fate Tablet is used to suppress the Twin Snakes?"

From Yin’s account, Marvin learnt of a startling new fact!

Yin nodded. "Thus, this temple has not only the Fate Tablet and the Vampires’ Secret Precepts, but also other Artifacts and Divine items."

"If you are interested, you can have whatever else you want, but the Vampires’ Secrets Precepts are mine."

Marvin warily asked, "Doesn’t that mean that if we take the Fate Tablet or the Vampires’ Secret Precepts, the seal of the World Ending Twin Snakes..."

"It will loosen," Yin calmly finished. "This is inevitable."

"Lance designed that seal. The Sky Tower appearing now clearly means one thing."

"So I want to cooperate with you. I saw the other woman. She is a descendant of the World Ending Twin Snakes. She probably wants to take advantage of the weakening of the seal to release the Twin Snakes."

"Even if I don’t really care too much if this world is destroyed, those two snakes were said to be very troublesome. I also dislike their foolish doctrine. So let us cooperate."

Marvin mumbled under his breath for a bit before finally nodding.

Cooperation it was.

On one hand, Yin’s attitude was sincere, and on the other hand, the threat of the World Ending Twin Snakes was really too big.

The 4th Fate Tablet was definitely materializing so that someone could claim it. If he didn’t take it away, someone else would.

But according to Yin’s theory, if the Fate Tablet was removed from where it rested, the Twin Snakes might emerge. Marvin wasn’t confident that he could face two Ancient Evil Gods on his own, even if they might have grown weaker from being sealed here.

In any case, the Vampire Primogenitor was also an incredible Legend, and his strength was comparable to that of the strongest Gods. It should be safer with him around.

Thus, outside the temple, the two of them came to an agreement. Yin would help Marvin get a hold of the Fate Tablet, and Marvin promised to let Yin have the Vampires’ Secret Precepts.

With this newfound pact, they both entered the temple that seemed to be full of an evil aura.