Asura in Arknights

The records in the Law are absolutely correct, Raphael is certain of.

This is the greatest asset of all the Sarkaz, surpassing even the [Godslayer Armor], a creation of a previous civilization. The information stored within it will theoretically not be modified in any way.

Since the information in the [Law] is not the problem, then the problem must be with his memory.

Memories altered... The mere thought of this possibility sent a chill down Raphael's spine.

However, Raphael quickly realized what might have caused this situation.

"Could it be that, like Principal Hertford, her name was erased by some force?"

Raphael felt a sense of disbelief, but this was the only guess that best fit his current situation.

Half of Hertford's name was erased, and most people have forgotten that he was called Evan, only remembering his family's surname, referring to him as the Marquess of Hertford. Only a few people with strong psychic abilities can remember this once-erased name.

Of course, this is because Alice from decades ago helped Hertford bear a certain cost.

What would have happened if she hadn't done that and had let Hertford's name be completely erased?

Now Raphael has the answer to this question—the erasure of her name means the disappearance of her existence. Everything about her has been erased from this world, and even other people's memories of her will be replaced by others, leaving not a trace behind.

This power... this power chilled Raphael to the bone. His psionic abilities had reached a high level, making him one of the best even in the prime of that pre-civilization era. Yet, he was completely unaware that his memories had been altered.

If it weren't for the law... if it weren't for his good habit of keeping a log, he might have completely forgotten about that spoiled young lady.

In fact... even after confirming that his memory was faulty and reviewing all the records he had written down, Raphael still couldn't recall a single memory related to that lady.

I never expected this to happen... Do I really need to back up my memories regularly?

To be honest, Raphael had some instinctive resistance to this approach. Manipulating memories, whether his own or someone else's, required extreme caution.

And if he did that... it would be as if he himself had become something that could be copied and pasted at will.

However, after suffering such a great loss, Raphael realized that it was indeed necessary to do so. After a little consideration, Raphael began to back up his current memories within the [Law], so as not to forget someone again later.

Falling into the same pit once is enough. Since this has already happened once, no one can guarantee that it won't happen a second time.

The diary stored in the [Law] has not been tampered with, so storing memories there should be safe.

The situation has been a bit unusual lately, so Raphael decided to back up his memories once a day. Each backup requires a complete recollection of his life over the past few decades, and if the frequency were any higher... even Raphael would find it a bit too much to handle.

Once a day is enough, and with the daily logs, it's basically guaranteed that problems will be detected as soon as possible.

I wonder how much storage space those decades of memories have taken up... The total capacity of the law is certainly not infinite. With so many memory backups thrown at him, Raphael didn't even see a ripple.

For at least the rest of his life, Raphael will not have to worry about insufficient capacity.

After backing up his memories, Raphael finally breathed a sigh of relief and put aside his worries. He finally had the energy to think about the whole story.

To Raphael's bewilderment, the protection of the law failed to play any role in this process.

They could ignore all the mental corruption techniques employed by the Scarlet Theatre, so why are they now ineffective against Dream Castle's memory manipulation? Is the Law inferior to Dream Castle?

After thinking about it, Raphael dismissed the possibility.

In a sense, the Law is a creation second only to Originium. Raphael felt that... among the creations of the pre-civilization, there was nothing more outrageous than Originium.

Moreover, Dream Castle is currently unmanned. No matter how powerful Dream Castle is, it shouldn't be able to prevent the law from reacting.

Raphael felt that he must have misunderstood something, since he was only guessing about the various functions of the [Law] at the moment.

He thought of the psychological invisibility that Alice had used before. This ability, which works on the psychological level, could also ignore the defenses of the law and work on Raphael.

Could it be... that this is based on the same principle?

Raphael didn't know much about mind-based magic, so this conclusion was just a guess.

However, this is not important. Even if we guess the principle, it doesn't matter. The most important thing now is to solve the problem that has already occurred.

As Raphael studied his old journals, a sense of regret welled up inside him.

This incident served as a stark warning to Raphael. Fortunately, the records in the [Law] remained, indicating that Raphael had not completely forgotten Miss Skyfire, and there was still room for redemption.

Alice's grandmother... that Alice from the previous generation, might know how to solve this problem.

Without her, Headmaster Hertford might have ended up like that Miss Skyfire.

So... when exactly did this start?

Raphael carefully read through the log and found that everything was perfectly normal until they destroyed the Dream Castle and returned to reality.

At that time, Raphael still remembered Skyfire. Later, in order to protect her and Eleanor's safety, he refused to let them participate in his plans, and the resulting dispute was truthfully recorded in the log.

Upon seeing this, Raphael suddenly realized what was going on.

No wonder he felt something was off. Eleanor, with her gentle, even somewhat timid, personality, how could she have such a fierce argument with him? It turned out that the person he had argued with was that young lady named Skyfire.

It seems that... such crude memory manipulation can indeed lead to some illogical situations. Assigning one person's actions to another person can create a strange sense of incongruity due to the vast differences in their personalities.

However, if one did not know beforehand that there was something wrong with their memory, this sense of incongruity would only make one feel slightly strange.

At the time, Raphael just thought that Eleanor might be in a bad mood. He never imagined that his memories had been tampered with.

Following this line of thought, Raphael indeed discovered more subtle details.

For example, yesterday, after entering Eleanor's room... no, after entering Skyfire's room, Raphael smelled a perfume.

Instinct told Raphael that the perfume was not suitable for Eleanor, but he then came up with a barely plausible explanation in his mind—that the perfume was actually from the heavens.

Also... Raphael had some doubts before. He wasn't a major in Originium Geology, so how could he tutor a high-achieving student like Eleanor? It would be more appropriate if it were Originium Arts theory.

Now Raphael understood that he hadn't taught those courses, that Eleanor had a senior who had disappeared, and that some of the things Skyfire had done had been attributed to Raphael.

While the power originating from Dream Castle can distort people's memories, it's not enough to erase all traces of reality... that would be too terrifying.

It cleverly utilizes people's psychology, much like the riddle teller who only tells half the story, giving a slight hint and then letting people fill in the blanks with a self-consistent explanation.

This is far more sophisticated than simply cramming in a lie; without a compelling reason, people won't doubt a conclusion they've reached after careful consideration.

After reading the log, Raphael roughly calculated when Miss Skyfire was affected.

It must have been the day after their argument... After Raphael and Hertford finished their discussion, the young lady disappeared from Raphael's memory.

But... why? Who erased her existence?

Hertford provoked Dream Castle's retaliation because he tried to break Dream Castle's hold on Alice. But what about Tianhuo? She didn't do anything... Did she blow up Dream Castle?

Not too possible.

That castle was merely a prop built by the Scarlet Troupe to invade Dream Castle using a special ritual. It wasn't a creation of the previous civilization, otherwise it wouldn't have been destroyed in such a joking way.

But even after looking at it carefully several times, Raphael still couldn't find anything amiss.

During this time, Tianhuo should have been with him the whole time and hadn't come into contact with anyone else... So the only possibility is that the ability or spell to erase the existence of others doesn't need any other medium at all.

So... where did the Heavenly Fire go? Was it erased?

No, that kind of magic can't erase the traces left in reality, so it can't erase a living person either—moreover, according to Raphael's records, that Miss Skyfire was a natural psychic, only slightly weaker than him.

Raphael didn't think anyone could do that. Even Professor Michel, who was most likely the real culprit, couldn't do it. Even if he broke through the alpha level, he still couldn't do it.

As for the legendary Omega-level psionicists... well, if that's really the case, Raphael thinks he'd better just go to bed early.

A single Omega-level psionicist is enough to destroy an advanced interstellar civilization. How could an Omega-level psionicist be unable to destroy a pre-civilization's creation? That's utterly ridiculous.

Therefore, the Skyfire must still be somewhere at the Royal Academy.

Starless Night

Chapter One: Letter

January 8, 1095 in the Terra calendar.

Nearly half a month has passed since that small wedding ceremony.

The relationship between Leon and Adele seems to have changed a lot, yet it also seems that nothing has changed.

That morning, Li Ang yawned as usual and slowly woke up from his bed.

Adele woke up a little earlier than him and should now be with Sarah, preparing breakfast for the rest of the manor.

Sitting on the bed, staring blankly at the rising sun on the horizon, Li Ang spaced out for a while before his sleepy brain gradually came back to function.

After spending a few minutes getting dressed and pushing open the bedroom door, Li Ang walked nearly a hundred meters before finally arriving at the bathroom on this floor. Li Ang felt a little nostalgic for the days he spent in Brandenburg.

In fact, living in this huge estate is not necessarily more comfortable than living in an ordinary apartment.

It's true that Lingguang Manor is very large, but only after living here for a while can you realize how inconvenient it is to be so big. Just cleaning it is a huge hassle.

Moreover, this manor has existed since the Great Knight Territory was first built. Although it has undergone several modernizations, many of its facilities are already considered to be of the same age as their grandfathers.

As we all know, anything is prone to problems once it gets old. Li Ang's main job during this period was to repair all the wiring faults, big and small, in this manor. After all, his senses can directly see the wiring pipes hidden inside the buildings.

Well... at least this is easier than sitting in the office dealing with those headache-inducing reports.

That's true, but... isn't the probability of this malfunction a bit too high?

With a toothbrush in his mouth, Li Ang rolled his eyes as he looked at the faucet that was turned on but not a single drop of water was flowing out.

He was too naive back then. How could he have been fooled by that guy Marna and accepted such a troublesome hot potato?

Following the water pipes from the tap, Li Ang soon discovered a small but not insignificant break. Due to insufficient pressure in the pipes, no water was flowing out from there.

Given the size of Lingguang Manor, and using conventional methods, just finding and removing the damage points would take a considerable amount of time.

With a sigh, Li Ang controlled the Originium particles near the damaged point of the pipe, forming a miniature spell unit that melted and reshaped the pipe. As the pressure was restored, tap water with a slight warmth soon began to flow out.

"Why don't we just tear it down and rebuild it? It can't be that bad anyway."

I wonder when this constant patching and repairing will ever end... Rolling his eyes, Li Ang simply came up with the most direct solution.

However, this manor is practically an antique, so if Li Ang wants to carry out a large-scale renovation, he still needs to discuss it with the previous owner of the manor, the patriarch of the Lin Guang family.

After washing up, Li Ang kept the thought that had suddenly popped into his mind, left the villa where he and Adele lived, and went to the main building of the Lingguang Manor.

Even though many people had moved into the manor at this time—Xi, Nian, Shuiyue, several Linguangs, the Valk family, and Liuyi who had recovered—it was still insignificant compared to the manor, which at its peak could house hundreds of people. Along the way, apart from the sound of his own footsteps, Li Ang did not hear any other sounds.

Upon arriving at the main hall, Li Ang saw Adele not far away, looking after the child with Sarah.

After thinking for a moment, Li Ang decided not to disturb them, but instead walked to the dining table and sat down opposite Nian.

Nian wagged its tail, and after seeing that the person who came was Li Ang, it lazily lay back down.

Judging from the two sisters' expressions, they clearly intended to stay with Li Ang and not go back.

For Xi, a reclusive homebody, it doesn't matter where she is, since no one else will bother her except for Nian.

But for the year, the situation is completely different.

Staying in Da Yan, she would have to be careful not to let the Ministry of Works suddenly appear out of nowhere and drag her back to work overtime. It was much easier and more enjoyable to slack off here.

Moreover, she recently took on a young apprentice, which is enough to keep her occupied during her boring time.

In short, Li Ang didn't object to the two sisters staying here.

Lifting the lid of the lunchbox, Li Ang took out a piece of bread that had just been baked and was still steaming hot, and casually asked, "Speaking of which, why hasn't Maria been bothering you these past few days?"

"Hey, I've pretty much taught her the basics. The rest is just a matter of time. I've given that kid a task and let her figure it out on her own."

Lying on the table, Nian replied lazily, "Last time she actually planned to sneak out and do an investigation by herself, but luckily I found out and gave her a good beating."

"She's just bored and has nothing to do all day, so we just need to find her something to do."

What she was talking about that year was what happened while she was protecting Destreet.

Maria easily befriended Destle. She somehow heard that Destle's informant was problematic. Since Destle couldn't go out at the time, Maria actually planned to sneak out alone to help investigate.

Yes, that fits her fearless, mischievous personality perfectly. If Maria were to secretly run away to participate in a knightly competition one day, Li Ang wouldn't be surprised at all.

In the end, it was Nian who discovered the suspicious Maria, and hung her up and gave her a good beating—her parents had given Nian this authority.

Destreet's informant was a crucial part of the whole incident, and Li Ang investigated his background afterward.

He was bribed by Lucifer to frame Destreet as Lucifer's accomplice, which ultimately attracted the scoundrel Trevor.

However, after Trevor came to his door for the second time, he stopped him and realized something was wrong. He went back and killed the informant.

When Li Ang went to investigate, that person had vanished without a trace.

If Maria had actually slipped away back then, things would probably have turned out very differently.

"Let's wait until she can forge a decent knight's sword."

"A knight's sword? Don't you think that's a bit too much to ask?"

Upon hearing this, Li Ang glanced at Nian with some surprise.