Chapter 163: The Reality-Warping Book

"It was only after Herbert remembered the Kingdom of Rainbows that people gradually began to recall this place."

However, it was not long before people forgot about the place once again. Even the diplomatic ministers who hailed from the Kingdom of Rainbows forgot about it, and even forgot what they had come there to do in the first place.

Only Herbert still remembered it—remembered his homeland, and remembered the mother who was still waiting for him to return.

Herbert searched through countless records and discovered that the historical accounts concerning the Kingdom of Rainbows had not literally vanished from the texts, but the meaning represented by the "Kingdom of Rainbows" seemed to have suddenly ceased to exist. Whenever people read records related to the "Kingdom of Rainbows," they would unconsciously skip right over them.

It had been almost entirely forgotten—truly forgotten, erased from the awareness of the entire world.

Herbert swore to save his country.

He set out alone on the road to the Kingdom of Rainbows.

For a long time, many people doubted whether the fellow had lost his mind, suspecting that he had fallen prey to some delusion, and that the so-called Kingdom of Rainbows was nothing more than a place born of his own imagination.

It was not until several years later that people slowly and suddenly began to remember this place again. Some individuals even managed to emerge from the Kingdom of Rainbows.

Those people claimed that everything was caused by the fog. It had turned the Kingdom of Rainbows into a desolate, isolated island.

The realization that they had forgotten such a famous place caused a tremendous sensation.

The Department of Mysteries at the Ministry of Magic even dispatched numerous wizards specifically to investigate the matter.

Yet the wizards discovered that those waters were growing increasingly bizarre, and the fog there was becoming heavier by the day. The harbor, which had once occasionally permitted entry and exit, now allowed only entry, with no way back out. Anyone who carelessly lost their way in those waters would vanish entirely.

Only a fraction of the Ministry investigators managed to escape, and Herbert went completely missing.

"Only when certain fleets occasionally sail past those waters can one hear, amidst the fog, a man's sorrowful and desolate yet hope-filled song—perhaps it is this sole remaining song that keeps people from forgetting that place..."

Lines of narration appeared before Louis's eyes.

[The Silent Port]
[Introducers: Archie, Tref, Harold, Francesco (Tomorrow, after you spank the Witch Queen's bottom, her mother Francesco might discuss this matter with you, granting you some extra rewards)]
[Inviters:
1. The Grand Mage 'Herbert', who remains the only one awake while everyone else dreams ("You will definitely survive! I will definitely save you!");
2. The Red Queen 'Elizabeth' ("My dear old uncle has been taking people there for a year now, why hasn't he returned yet?")
3. The King who catches lice;
4. The desperate people of the Rainbows;]
[Completion Rewards: 'Random Attribute +5' * 3, God of War's Hammer Military Investment * 1, Mysterious Antique * 1, Basic Forbidden Apprenticeship Textbooks * 8, Advanced Forbidden Lore <The Power of the Mind: How to Twist the Real World> * 1, Kingdom of Solrendo Reputation +300, Mage Association Presence +300.]

Upon seeing that book, Louis's eyes lit up. "Reality-bending magic"—those who used it best were the gods. And the Forbidden Sanctuary was also extremely enthusiastic about researching the magic of the gods, so it had accumulated a considerable amount of knowledge. Certain graduated "Gods of Magic" had even surpassed the deities in their own magical domains.

Generally speaking, only when one's magical power reached a certain degree could one twist reality, and the higher the magical power, the more formidable the bending effect. However, if one's "skill" was absurdly high enough, even a tiny weight could press down a thousand gold.

Louis had a very deep impression of the theories and conjectures surrounding this type of magical knowledge. During his training in Occisly's bedroom (the Forbidden Sanctuary), he had read plenty of such material. However, practical applications on the magical level (such as spellcasting formulas and the like) were scarce.

Almost all magic that defied physical laws required a slight distortion of the real world to function—such as pulling a monkey out of nowhere, turning spells into cards, or using dark sorcery to snatch someone from afar and trap them in a cage.

Moreover, this kind of magical knowledge could be applied in tandem with rule-based and dimensional magic—such as beating a patch of scenery right before one's eyes into an "oil painting," or folding a person up like a sheet of paper.

Consequently, this knowledge of reality-bending granted a "bizarre-tiered" bonus to almost all magic.

'My foundation is sufficient now, but my application in this area is quite lacking. If I obtain this book, many of my spells should be able to break through the 10th Tier.'

Louis had recently been researching how to tear things located miles away as if they were stickers, and then shove them into his pocket, but he had yet to make any breakthrough. What he lacked was precisely the ability to bend reality.

Louis continued reading downward.

[Failure: Hemorrhoids * 1, Appearance -3, Bizarre Tentacle * 1]
[Note: After conversing with Francesco, you will learn about the Red Queen and receive some special bonus rewards.]
[Teammates: 'Herbert', the Tref Film Studio crew, the Red Queen's old uncle 'Bloody Earl Philip', God of War's Hammer chubby fellow 'Michelin']
[Available Identities: 'Mage Louis' brought by the God of War's Hammer, 'Mage Helen', 'The Tref Film Studio Crew']

'Damn it, the Bellieve family is practically a magnet!'

Judging from Harold's description, the incident in the Kingdom of Rainbows should not have been caused by an Ancient God, because the timeline did not match up.

The affair of the Kingdom of Rainbows should be a purely mystical phenomenon—for certain reasons, it had been rejected by the world. To put it in storybook terms, its sense of presence had suddenly plummeted.

Therefore, Louis felt this matter wasn't engineered by an Ancient God, but that antique was eight-to-nine parts likely related to one.

As a result, there was a good chance that after the fleet of the God of War's Hammer arrived in those waters with the antique, the Kingdom of Rainbows had caught the eye of an Ancient God.

Louis pulled a small, QR-code-like tentacle out of his sleeve. It wriggled around, looking like a dot-matrix item from a Nintendo game. It caused Harold, standing nearby, to drop his jaw and yowl frantically.

'There are many Ancient Gods. In the records of the Forbidden Sanctuary, their types and numbers are countless.'

Louis recalled the methods of identification.

"Who are you?" After Louis muttered this, a fragmented piece of information was 'seen' by him.

In a flash of realization, Louis understood: "Oh, so it's a scavenger."

The Ancient God encountered by the Bellieve family reminded him of the 'Scavengers of Forgotten Worlds' mentioned in certain texts within the Forbidden Sanctuary.

They existed across various worlds, specializing in collecting junk and eating garbage.

Things that had been forgotten were their absolute favorites.

When certain regions entered a state like that of the Silent Port, to an Ancient God, it was equivalent to a dish currently being cooked.

Right now, the 'Scavenger' had likely discovered the Silent Port because of the antique.

Mage Herbert's efforts ensured that the Silent Port still maintained a sliver of connection with the world. But once the Silent Port completely sank into a certain state, the 'Scavenger' would come over and devour this inner world surrounded by thick fog.

From then on, the Kingdom of Rainbows would be completely erased from this world.

As if it had never existed at all.

'Could it really be such a coincidence? This trip to the Silent Port—won't it happen right as someone is coming to collect trash?'

'So this time, am I essentially muscling in on someone else's business?'