A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 650 Chaotic Cycle

Rorschach disappeared from the material world again, ceasing his manipulation of illusions and light particles, and returned to the small plane that imprisoned him.

Calling it a "cage" wouldn't be quite right. The area of ​​the border region is now so vast that it stretches as far as the eye can see. The magnificent Tree of Law reaches the sky, and its roots and computational units below are almost the entirety of the "earth."

Beyond the boundary wall lies a surging tide of darkness, threatening to engulf it, but the exorcising order that Rorschach brought from another world forms a sturdy outer shell, firmly resisting the Mother Goddess's invasion.

The layout of the central area of ​​the entire intersection is still similar to the past. The biggest change is that the size of the "library" has increased dramatically. From the outside, the building has not become wider or taller, but this is a place between symbolism and reality. The corridors inside, surrounded by bookshelves, have "grown" to an endless length.

Moreover, there are countless books that are not yet available on the shelves. They continuously and automatically record relevant information, and sometimes the characters even copy themselves and then distribute them to other books.

The meaning and content of each book are not entirely the same. In the past, most of them recorded magic and its use, but now a considerable part is about people.

Every living person who uses or is affected by magic has a record. These effects are like the Monte Carlo experiment; each related spell is like a colliding ball, and when the amount of data reaches a certain level, it can outline the shape of the soul.

In other words, Rorschach constructs the complete picture of almost everyone's soul; one book represents a person, their soul, and their past.

Some authors write more than one book. For example, The Lord of Order and its predecessor, and the memories of the ancient sages.

The golden, shimmering memory book, bound by the Lord of Order's restrictions, remained sealed deep within the "Great Library." Rorschach walked to the forbidden zone and picked up one side. As the Lord of Order's consciousness dissipated and vanished, he might be able to easily unlock the sealed memories in his hand.

What could be inside? It's almost certain that it's related to God.

"Open it," the Tower Spirit urged, having read another fragment of an ancient sage's memory in response to urge Rorschach to uncover the final secret of the Lord of Light and Order before his ascension to godhood.

However, Rorschach simply looked at them quietly for a long time before putting them down.

"Why?" The tower was puzzled. It only knew that Rorschach had once wanted to see the secret, but when it opened it to him today, the other party stopped.

"Intuition," Rorschach forced a smile. "My intuition tells me that now is not the time to activate it."

The tower spirit was ultimately a lifeless, soulless entity. After operating for a while, it finally gave up on reacting to Luo Xia, and the border area fell into dead silence once again.

The master of the borderland strolled through it; he no longer had a physical form, but rather seemed to be a ghost wandering there. However, Rorschach still had one thing to do.

He took several bundles of books from the large library, numbering in the thousands. They all behaved the same way: neither finished nor able to be written on anymore, and any newly formed characters would quickly crumble.

This is a branch of the church fleet that is caught in a loop, with several ships disappearing and reappearing in the same area. This strange phenomenon has also attracted the attention of the Space Guild. It was originally going to be discussed at a meeting, but Rorschach diverted the discussion.

Because the circulation of those ships was caused by Rorschach.

The imagery at the boundary showed a "Temple-class" behemoth surrounded by several "Monastery-class" medium-sized ships. They were lost in a hazy nebula, separated from the pilgrimage fleet searching for the end of the world, and worse, their transmutation dust fuel was running low.

The small fleet prayed to their Lord before plunging into the unknown energy cloud. In the raging torrents, their shields were rapidly depleted, and soon both their propulsion and defense systems lost power. Ships and crew alike were ultimately torn to shreds, merging into the chaotic mass of matter and energy.

The chaotic and violent mass of matter and energy was like a pot of porridge, with matter like grains and energy like water. This porridge had already merged into a sticky mass and was still boiling. Any fleet that plunged into it was immediately "stewed" until it turned to mush.

Just as the crew members' souls were about to dissipate and return to their origins, Rorschach used the influence of the "book" to draw them into the border area, intending for them to transform into "bookmarks".

Their "book" also came to an end here. The originally open pages closed automatically, and the virtual image in the boundary area corresponding to the ship was not spared either, and was completely shattered.

But Rorschach forcibly opened the book, erased the last paragraph, and reassembled the virtual image of the ship.

In the real world, the clumps of matter and energy stuck together in the nebula began to surge, and the matter that originally belonged to the crew and starship began to recede and be restored.

The scattered atoms were then reassembled into inorganic and organic matter, into flesh and blood, steel, and runes, until individuals, machines, relics, and ships were drawn back from the chaotic mass.

Once Rorschach restored their corresponding symbols at the border and extracted the souls residing there, returning them to their respective bodies, everything returned to the starting point, back to the state before they were swallowed and torn apart by the interstellar turbulence.

"Your Excellency, our fuel is running out! There is severe interference in this area, and our 'shipborne Holy Bell' cannot communicate with the main force!" The technical priest in the command room of the "Temple-class flagship" was very anxious and helpless about the situation.

The commander of this squadron, a young bishop, recited a few scriptures to calm himself. Outside the porthole, the vast blackness was no longer dotted with sparse starlight, but rather, like the aurora borealis, chaotic floating objects and rays violently rubbed and expanded against the ship's shields, adding more fluid colors to the golden barrier.

It was these turbulent currents and stardust that caused them to lose their way and disconnect.

The situation has deteriorated to the extreme. If they don't re-establish contact with the main fleet and obtain supplies, they will all perish in this strange star system.

"This is a test from the Lord for us!"

In his desperation, the bishop chose to gamble, using the tone and form of a sermon to mask his despair and madness:

"Indeed, the Lord has promised us a rich new world, filled with milk and honey, and promised to open His Kingdom of Heaven to us. But please think about it, by what right do we deserve the Lord's favor and enter the Kingdom of Heaven without cause?"

"Therefore, this expedition, especially the difficulties we are facing now, is a test from the Lord. All who are devout believers will receive His guidance, His redemption, and His approval."

"Stop showing your weakness! All crew members, heed my command: Forward, just forward! Entrust the rest of our fate, our everything, to the Lord!"

All fuel, supplies, and personnel were concentrated on a single ship, which then began its assault on the chaotic mass of matter and energy. Perhaps there was a glimmer of hope within the turbulence, as long as the ship remained within the relatively calm laminar currents. However, the moment it came into contact with the powerful turbulence within, the church starship's fragile shields would be torn to shreds in an instant.

As stardust violently ripped open the "church dome," the cathedral cried out in furious despair: "Lord, why have you forsaken us? Why..."

"Failed again, let's try again." Rorschach once again erased the victims' last records, reshaped them, and "salvaged" the people and the ship from the mass of matter and energy.

Next, he cautiously added a few bytes to the "books" of all the relevant people, hoping to introduce new changes and achieve a different outcome.

The cycle has begun again. Over the past few years, the cycle time has been continuously increasing. The fleet, which used to only survive for a few minutes upon entering the Chaos Cluster, can now travel for several days by accident before being destroyed.

This "thick porridge"-like area is not only a fusion of matter and energy, but also a special zone where reality and illusion intersect, giving Rorschach room to interfere with reality. And Rorschach, like a wicked god, keeps the fleet in a continuous cycle, with only minor changes each time.

The old man from the tower, who was watching, assumed that Rorschach was just bored and suggested again, "You shouldn't interfere too much in their fate and take pleasure in it. Besides, some people have already noticed the abnormality. Please release them in time and end the cycle."

Then, as usual, Rorschach ignored it and continued with his somewhat cruel game.

(End of this chapter)