A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 655 The End

When the wounds of the old world are torn open to a certain extent, people can't help but peek inside to see what kind of existence lies on the other side.

Vibrant arcs of light surged and danced at the edge of the wound, while the chaotic mass of matter behind the terminal star stirred up massive waves that crashed wildly against the boundary. This meant that the Mother Goddess's power had also sensed the opening of the wound and was attempting to erode it.

However, this was in vain, just as He had tirelessly tried to corrupt the borderlands for decades, but had made no progress due to Rorschach's protection, which ensured the safety of all spellcasters and most of the magic arrays.

The inner wall of the wound reflects a shattered silhouette, originating from within the boundary, until it pierces through the capsule of the entire world, at which point the view from the other side can be seen.

Before the spectacle arrived came bursts of rays, streaking across the atmosphereless sky above the terminal star like an aurora-like curtain.

"The equipment has malfunctioned!"

The developing machine that records historic moments and various detection devices aimed at the wound for research purposes all began to report errors, some showing snowflake patterns and others displaying unstable erroneous values.

A few brilliant minds were not alarmed; on the contrary, they were thrilled: "It's energy from a new world! Magic exists there, just like it does here!"

Not only the detection equipment, but some smaller boats with weaker shields also suffered accidents. However, this did not have a fatal impact on the "deep space whales" that can travel between different dimensions and teleport themselves.

After passing three suns, the tunnel expanded to almost the size of the projection of the terminal star. Those who witnessed it trembled, unable to fathom the immense power required. Rorschach's figure had become insignificant—he had always stood on the surface at human size, and now, with the energy of the new world erupting forth, the probes and telescopes focused on him had malfunctioned.

Therefore, almost everyone witnessed this miracle with their own eyes. They could vaguely see the scene on the other side—a planet with orange-red and deep blue hues, and three companion stars. It lay there quietly in the starry sky. In contrast, the sky of the Old World seemed to be boiling and burning. Rorschach's order and the power of all spellcasters were endlessly clashing with the power of the Mother Goddess.

The bishop and novice priests, witnessing the true face of "paradise" aboard the New Marin, wept, yet could utter a single word. In their hearts, they cried out with joy: "The Lord has not deceived us!" Then came deep repentance and sorrow.

They should not question the mercy and love of the Lord of Order, but now the ships and brothers and sisters of other churches are lost in the astral plane and can no longer see such a magnificent sight. Moreover, the promised land that the Lord has given them is now to be shared with these unbelievers, who are living on ships of Imperial immigrants.

With mixed feelings, the spaceship slowly started up. The first to enter was the Space Guild's advance ship, which passed through the junction of the two worlds intact. Except for the unusually strong reaction triggered by the shield at the critical moment, everything else was normal.

With the advance ship safe and sound, the other immigrant ships started up one after another. Their engines began to output maximum power, compressing and then instantly releasing the space in front of them to pull themselves together and gain tremendous acceleration. The whole process was not clearly visible; they could only be seen flashing by in the light and the warping of the ship's shape as they surged into the passage.

After the last logistics ship left, many private airships attempted to fly into the wounded world. They originally thought that the opposite side was a dark, chaotic, and unexplored unknown star field. Unexpectedly, the passage opened by Rorschach even showed that the alluring habitable planet. In comparison, the shattered and chaotic prime plane was more like a messy graveyard. Many members of the new generation had no feelings for their former cradle. Now they no longer hesitated and began to charge directly towards the new world.

These reckless little boats couldn't accommodate the massive engines that warped spacetime, and their long-distance routes relied entirely on teleportation channels, though their destination seemed within reach. Even more fatal, however, was that their shields were neither dense nor resilient enough; the energy winds hurled from another world just as they approached the terminal star were enough to tear these miniature vehicles to shreds.

Finally, the guilds and the Space Guild had to step in to maintain order, preventing the small ships from recklessly approaching the wound and the terminal star. The large ships, however, slowly approached the lifeless celestial body; it was too small to withstand any resistance. These starships dropped anchor points, which were less like moorings and more like all the large ships were linked together with the terminal star as the core.

The energy winds emanating from the other world grew weaker, and the "Heavenly Gate" slowly closed. The mages were not alarmed; at most, they sighed at the research that hadn't been able to begin. They knew, of course, that maintaining the connection between the two worlds was not the norm, and that only the first batch of pioneers had been scheduled to cross over today.

The "door" collapsed from the surface into a line, and finally returned to a point of light. People found Rorschach standing in the crater at the location of the point of light.

Compared to the projection at the sixteenth anniversary meeting, he appeared even more ethereal, enveloped in a faint glow, still resembling a stagnant young man. Caroline, who had first found Rorschach, watched as he began casting a spell. The dust of the terminal star began to take shape, and a magnificent building rose from the ground, enveloping and concealing Rorschach's figure. The old Byrne should be able to recognize that this tower was identical to the tower located in the Kempson Mine on the Prime Plane.

The building's doors opened automatically, clearly inviting the guests in. Those who arrived first, following Caroline, were all qualified to attend the sixteenth annual meeting, but instead of rushing ahead, they slowed their pace to let the lady enter first.

As Caroline walked, she suddenly realized that she was all alone, surrounded by a vast emptiness, as if she had entered not the tower, but the most primitive boundary.

"Rorschach? Are you there, Rorschach?"

Her cries echoed through the space, and Caroline felt a vague unease. She clutched the glass heart pendant tightly, as if it could offer her some comfort.

"Do you still remember the promise you made sixteen years ago?"

"I remember," Caroline quickly replied. Rorschach's image appeared before her, but instead of joy, it brought her a feeling of unfamiliarity and fear.

"This is the last time. Thank you for coming here." As Rorschach's voice ended, Caroline's vision went black and she lost consciousness. In her last moments, she only felt an empty, cold embrace.

The other guests who entered the tower were completely unaware of Caroline's ordeal. They were greeted by a huge round table, with Rorschach seated at the head of the table. He glanced at them and asked, "Richard isn't here?"

"He is with his wife and children," someone replied, along with the voice of "The Countess is critically ill."

Rorschach said nothing, simply gesturing for everyone to sit. Witnessing the advance team depart for the new world, these "important figures" were equally excited. In Rorschach's presence, they neither needed nor could afford to be pretentious, and directly asked, "Lord Rorschach, when will the window to the other world reopen?"

"The wound will not reopen."

Rorschach remained expressionless throughout, while the smiles of the others froze, gradually transforming into various grotesque expressions: "What?" "I don't understand what you mean!"

Even the world's most powerful leaders and elders have their day, as noisy as chickens and ducks in a market. After everyone had said their piece and was tired of talking, Rorschach spoke again: "Everything in this world has a common mother, including you. Just as everyone's soul comes from the origin of the Creator, Gaia, Kali, Mother of Time, Mother of Earth, Mother of All Things—whatever She is called, in short, She is the source of femininity, and all of you here, and the other members, also have a part of Her."

"So, if enough people travel to the new world as things stand, the Mother Goddess's nightmare and the end of all things will follow. You can continue your endless escape. At that time, the entire civilization will be nothing more than the forerunner of the Mother Goddess's self-expansion, the accomplice of a decaying world. Is such an ending acceptable?"

"We can't accept this, but we also can't accept sitting here and waiting to die!" The argument erupted again, with them shouting that they would open the passage themselves or fight against the Mother Goddess to the end.

"I didn't ask you." The youth's phantom shattered, and the chaotic mass of matter that had been blocked outside the boundary of the endpoint star erupted. The Mother Goddess's pollution instantly engulfed the entire tower, the planet, and the large starship anchored to it.

A few powerful mages managed to escape at the cost of their lives. They kept teleporting, while the pollution from the Symbolic Realm also went out of control. Without the barrier of the boundary, it poured and flowed between different planes along the teleportation channels.

"Rorschach has fallen!" The desperate cries spread wildly through communication spells and teleportation arrays, followed by a torrent of destruction. Almost all the most advanced forces were concentrated around the terminal star, and they were the first to be annihilated in the flood.

(End of this chapter)