I am a female swordsman.

Conversation killer and chat genius Huang Quan coldly pointed out a cruel fact.

“That’s right, we failed just when we were about to succeed.” Westcott’s tone remained calm, without any trace of the sadness or resentment that followed the collapse of his hard-earned ideals.

"Why?!"

Eric couldn't help but interject, "As the most powerful organization in Europe at the time, prosperity was within reach. There were two other visionary and powerful 'sages' like Westcott. Why would they fail? The Magic Empire—just thinking about it makes one's blood boil!"

Suddenly, a brilliant idea flashed in Huang Quan's mind.

Organization split!

"Because our principles failed the test, and faced with an uncontrollable catastrophic force, people tacitly made the most self-serving choice. Next, I will tell you about the conflict of ideas..." Here, the "we" that Westcott is referring to should be the three sages of the Golden Dawn.

The scene of Westcott's staff being woven begins to fast forward.

Ultimately, it transformed into an extremely beautiful and magnificent scene! The azure planet floated in an endless, pitch-black space, but this was not the solar system in physical space, but a planet in another dimension!

"During the trials, we discovered that the cradle of human civilization was merely an isolated island in a dark ocean. Beyond that island existed indescribable things that even the gods feared. They were far too mysterious and incomprehensible to fragile humans, driving many magicians mad or corrupting them. Through unknown forces, we learned that the cradle would one day succumb to the tide of darkness and be completely exposed to intense malice."

The countdown to the end of the world began forty-five years ago!

Author's Note:

P.S.: I've been running around handling school paperwork lately, so this three-poster-a-day update schedule probably won't last much longer...

Chapter Forty-Five: The Fate of Humanity

Eric was shocked to hear about the doomsday countdown, while Huang Quan was surprised but also felt it was only natural.

The people in this world are definitely not NPCs acting according to a script.

Ordinary people's behavior and ways of thinking are full of variables. How much more so for Westcott, who is marked as a fourth-order by the system. To say he knows nothing about the [Inner World] would be an insult to the intelligence and knowledge of a fourth-order individual. Knowing that the cradle of human civilization is gradually heading towards destruction, the upper echelons of the [Golden Dawn], who know this enormous secret, must have been under immense pressure.

This terrifying pressure is enough to crush any organization, large or small, existing in the world of Divine Comedy, including nations!

Humanity will maintain unprecedented unity in the face of major catastrophes.

Because we can see hope.

If unity offers no hope, then excessive pressure will cause the very human social structure, built on collective effort, to crumble. The upper echelons of the Golden Dawn are rational and intelligent; they have strictly kept this news under wraps, with only three sages and a few mage council chairmen aware of it.

The cradle must eventually be destroyed!

What does the future hold?

"How long is this countdown?" Huang Quan frowned, her fingers unconsciously twisting her withered, pale hair.

"One hundred and twelve years! There should only be sixty-seven years left now!"

There's no point in hiding it, and Westcott has no reason to. Back then, several high-ranking mages from the Golden Dawn worked themselves to the bone calculating this result, their magical models enough to fill a large library! Unless the Divine Comedy world upgrades its existing computers and performs clustered calculations, it's impossible to achieve a result more accurate than the Golden Dawn's!

Huang Quan has excellent mental arithmetic skills.

After Westcott announced the countdown to the apocalypse, she immediately calculated the exact year the apocalypse would arrive. Upon calculating the year, Huang Quan's expression suddenly became somewhat strange, a mixture of laughter and doubt.

"..."

Eric was still reeling from the shock. If someone were to tell him that the end of the world was coming, he would definitely laugh it off as an April Fool's joke. But if he heard it from the sage of the Golden Dawn, then it would be highly believable.

Although the Golden Dawn of the Divine Comedy world has long been fragmented, its prestige has remained. Many golden magic societies have tried to restore the great glory that almost created the magic empire!

Huang Quan's reaction also indirectly confirms the authenticity of the Westcott doomsday countdown.

From the dark tides emanating from the inner world of the world, to the isolated island downstream of time repeatedly mentioned by the system, and the repeated orders to "hunt down" the transmigrators who posed a threat to the world of Divine Comedy, Huang Quan had long felt that this pitiful, troubled world was destined to be destroyed sooner or later. The doomsday countdown merely confirmed Huang Quan's vague intuition.

Yes, this is the worst possible example of a jinx!

Like most works depicting impending doom, the three sages of the Golden Dawn believed that humanity could unite to overcome the impending catastrophe. However, their differing philosophies and approaches to the crisis led to a bizarre civil war. Even though the sages managed to stop the infighting among the council's chairman and members, they couldn't withstand the chaotic and conflicting ideas that erupted from their followers.

This is absolutely brain-dead...

At least in Huang Quan's view, it was an extremely brainless act. Even after the civil war and the suppression of the rebellion had occurred, the three sages of the Golden Dawn had not clearly explained the doomsday countdown and their own ideas to their subordinates.

When people don't know what they're fighting for, they'll find their own reasons for fighting.

In retrospect, this behavior was indeed somewhat limited and foolish. Westcott did not cover up or justify his past mistakes; he was open and honest in facing them.

"Although the Golden Dawn has collapsed, the ideals of the three philosophers have been passed down through the branches and branches of the Golden Society. The countdown to the end of the world remains a top-secret matter, awaiting the right opportunity to contact an organization with strong execution capabilities." In other words, the other two Sages may still be alive, and who knows where they are hiding and plotting something.

With a wave of his staff, Westcott put away all the strange spell models.

It flows so smoothly, it's as pleasing to the eye as flowing water.

To outsiders, the precision and ease with which this control spell model appears perfectly natural. Only those mages who delve into the intricate models can truly comprehend the astonishing nature of this skill.

After Westcott sheathed his staff, the atmosphere instantly became tense, a silent tension tinged with a barely perceptible danger. Eric instinctively shivered; Huang Quan knew that after all this talk from the [Sage], he was about to reveal the true purpose of his descent!

Do you think it's a blessing for humans to die in ignorance?

"Of course not." Coming from the environment of the ghoul world to a peaceful underworld, one cannot accept the idea that dying in ignorance is a kind of happiness.

Those are livestock, not humans!

"My initial idea was to cultivate a large number of new mages and, by mastering the power of the [World's Inner Side], control and guide the dark tide to avert the apocalyptic crisis. To this end, I dedicated my fourth-tier body to the [World's Inner Side] to ensure its reliability. This idea is nearing completion and will soon bear fruit. Even so, are you still going to stop us?"

Westcott's calm voice was like a gentle autumn breeze, carrying an understated chill.

He presented his dream.

Whether you agree or disagree, support or not, it's none of his business.

'Host, this fourth-order intelligent being's idea is feasible, but extremely risky. Feedback from downstream time indicates that the intelligent entity in the Divine Comedy world maintained the courage to struggle in the face of annihilation, and did not collapse or fall!' The system responded promptly; Westcott's near-martyrdom was unsolvable.

“I can’t deny your ideals…” Huang Quan looked at Westcott and suddenly smiled. This relaxed smile meant that Huang Quan had let go of many unnecessary distractions.

She fell in love with the ghoul world, but she remains rationally observing this world.

When faced with lofty ideals, selfish desires can breed feelings of shame and inferiority. Huang Quan, like a spectator, finally stepped onto the stage, while simultaneously, a waterfall of data flashed within the system space! The system miscalculated again; it thought it had seen through its host, but the result still exceeded its expectations!

That's human nature; even under the same conditions, the results can differ.

"Your Excellency, I believe that the fate of humanity should be decided by humanity itself!"

Chapter Forty-Six: A Spark of Hope

Gods (fourth rank) do not lie to mortals, but in exchange, mortals' lies cannot deceive gods (fourth rank).

This is Huang Quan's understanding of the sentence.

The fourth rank can see through the weaknesses of lower-ranking beings: power, strength, beauty, and wealth. If you have any desires for the gods (fourth rank), it means your weaknesses have been exposed. This also explains why the system told Huang Quan to face the "Sage" with dreams in mind, not selfish desires.

The system has analyzed the behavior of the host, Huang Quan!

In its logic, being able to perform heroic deeds in the ghoul world proves that Yomi possesses heroic qualities. In the world of Divine Comedy, Yomi, due to her own circumstances, has never truly been heartfelt. Combining these two factors, under the control of the world's consciousness, there is a very high probability that she will strive to become a perfect being and complete her personality.

Huang Quan's choice was unexpected by the system.

She gave a very strange answer!

"Humanity's fate is in humanity's own hands..." Upon hearing this, the Sage Westcott, who had initially adopted an unfriendly stance, paused to soften the atmosphere. The visitor's words reminded him of the choice made by another sage of the Golden Dawn in the face of the doomsday countdown.

This enigmatic and nameless sage has long since vanished.

Facing the countdown to the end of the world.

He hoped that the aspirations of the Golden Dawn would change the world, and that the golden spirit of resisting predetermined fate could spread throughout the world! To unite an unprecedented human alliance, and to fight with all their courage and determination to survive! However, God made it impossible for humans to understand each other's languages ​​and build the Tower of Babel. This idea, though beautiful, was too unrealistic. Even the other two sages gave the nameless sage's idea a pessimistic evaluation.

When Huang Quan, posing as a person from the future, spoke his truest thoughts, Westcott couldn't help but think of this slim possibility.

Judging from the rapid pace of development of human civilization...

It's not impossible!

Forty-five years later, Westcott, despite his martyrdom, hadn't lost his connection to the world of Divine Comedy, nor become a rigid, outdated figure. He could still, under certain circumstances, observe the world from a different perspective. The speed of human civilization's development was beyond imagination, and civilization as a whole was still progressing…

Europe and America are moving upwards.

With the remaining 67 years, to what extent can human civilization develop?

[The Sage] Westcott really couldn't imagine it.

While a longer period of time has given human civilization more opportunities, leaps in progress often happen in the blink of an eye! If humanity's problems have indeed created an unprecedentedly miraculous united civilization in the past sixty-seven years, then the actions of the "Sage" Westcott today are sinful!

Both the Allies and the Nazis are preparing to control the forces on the "inner side of the world," which is tantamount to tearing more holes in the fence of the cradle and accelerating the countdown to the end!

As for those long-gone gods and those barely clinging to life, they no longer care about the fate of the real world. Although Westcott didn't elaborate on what the Golden Order, which inherited his will, had done, Huang Quan, having glimpsed a corner of the grand plan, gained a deeper understanding of the terror of the fourth order. As long as Westcott's will remained unwavering, the plan he had spent forty-five days and his followers devising was virtually unsolvable!

Unless violence breaks the deadlock.

"Our conversation reminds me of a time when I was a student, and I had a conversation with the remaining will of a fallen god. You possess divinity and are a visitor from another time who deserves my respect!"

Westcott bowed slightly in the direction of the underworld, revealing his respect for the first time.

Clear and free from filth and selfishness, expressing a clear and firm will! Such perfection does not exist in humans, and even if it did, it would have limitations and be time-sensitive!

"You're very lucky, little guy, to have such a mentor to guide your growth." The Sage's voice was tinged with amusement; in his eyes, Eric was truly fortunate.

"what……?"

Erik, oblivious to his own good fortune, passively absorbed the cryptic conversation between the raven and the sage, unable to comprehend it. Young Erik instinctively felt this conversation, concerning the countdown to the apocalypse, was invaluable, so he forced himself to memorize every word, even without understanding. This clear clash of wills would, many years later, become a treasure for Magneto, the leader of the human resistance!

“Sage, I believe you are not arrogant.”

Huang Quan gave it another push at the opportune moment. The clash of wills, a silent confrontation, saw Huang Quan place the blade against Westcott's chest. Although hope was slim—a fourth-tier being unlikely to be so easily swayed—Huang Quan had done his utmost. If this still resulted in neither side convincing the other, the final outcome was obvious: war!

This seemingly mere verbal clash of wills must be validated by material evidence.

Westcott's material possessions represent the vast scheme he orchestrated, and all that's missing is a spark to ignite it.

The detonation of Mars by Westcott is also ready, Berlin.

It's a great pity that Huang Quan lacked material support to legitimize his will. For example, communist ideology is meaningless without a nation adopting its color to legitimize it; it's just empty talk and a pipe dream. The sword was at his chest, but he couldn't pierce it. Huang Quan ultimately failed.

"The Sage," Westcott said frankly, "My plan will continue. You have your own will, and I have my own mission to complete. ... But while maintaining a sufficient number of guides, I will allocate the work of guiding the dark tide reasonably to prevent the Cradle from being destroyed prematurely because of me."

This will be a very difficult and challenging task.

The observation of the Dark Tide was inherently highly polluting and corrosive, and Westcott, in order to maintain its operation, unhesitatingly sacrificed his fourth-tier body. Adding to this immense workload of control, Westcott's choice and his radiant personal charisma impressed Huang Quan and Eric alike.

"My body has already been dedicated to this world. If a more perfect outcome can be achieved, I am naturally willing to burn myself to fuel the flame of civilization. Whether the flame of civilization can dispel the tide of darkness like the dawn, I shall wait and see."

The clash of wills is nearing its end.

Huang Quan triumphed, but Westcott did not fail either; he revealed his true form before dissipating. His eyes had lost their light, his face was covered in shocking scars, his scalp was cracked, and his hair was withered—completely devoid of the handsome features expected of a sage mage. These were the indelible scars that his body had suffered in the tides of darkness, reflected onto his soul.