Glorious God Throne

In the endless night, a figure in white robes kept moving forward, carefully carrying a small figure in their arms, their wide robes flowing around them.

Bai Yi, being carried like a child, felt no discomfort at all. Instead, he was glad to be spared the trouble of walking. Having nothing else to do, he decided to use all his senses except vision to perceive everything in this darkness.

Soon, Bai Yi noticed that during the white-robed person’s navigation, their clothing occasionally emitted dim energy fluctuations. He could sense these were waves of light element being consumed. The white-robed person would adjust their steps according to these fluctuations, sometimes even taking long detours to avoid places where the light element was being rapidly consumed.

—In Bai Yi’s perception, these areas were places where slime monsters gathered in large numbers – essentially “heavy pollution” sources.

—So this is a special way to avoid slime monsters?

He asked out of curiosity.

Given the white-robed person’s attitude toward him, they would likely answer any question that didn’t involve particularly sensitive information.

Sure enough, the white-robed person explained the mystery without hesitation.

The enchanted Holy Light Robe they wore would react when approaching sources of pollution, automatically triggering purification magic. The stronger the pollution source, the more light element the purification magic needed to consume. So even though they had no direct means of monitoring slime monsters, they could judge where the monsters were concentrated just by the level of light element consumption. This allowed them to avoid areas with high monster concentrations while walking through this darkness, preventing unnecessary energy consumption. After all, in this eternal night, light element was rare and precious.

Bai Yi indicated his understanding and couldn’t help touching the white-robed person’s sleeve, exclaiming with a mix of amazement and longing. “So that’s how it works. What an amazing Holy Light Robe!”

In comparison, his own clothes were quite ordinary.

After entering this character’s body, Bai Yi had discovered that the little girl’s clothes felt like they were made of hemp, but were actually woven from some unknown plant. Their only advantage seemed to be durability. Even the shoes appeared to be woven from the same plant. While the materials were primitive, the style was similar to medieval Western riding gear, with everything colored in a dull gray.

Their attire certainly couldn’t be called refined – it was essentially the appearance of a drifter in this eternal night world. The woven materials themselves had no special properties.

The Holy Light Robe, in contrast, was quite impressive.

So the little girl in their arms “couldn’t help” looking up and asking, “Now that I’ve learned meditation, am I considered a Holy Light Mage? Can I have a Holy Light Robe like this too?”

“Her” longing and amazement were clearly evident.

“Yes, you will have the very best,” the white-robed person replied softly but firmly. “Please believe me.”

They adjusted their arms, using their wide sleeves to cover the girl more thoroughly. The golden magical arrays inscribed on the robe emitted invisible waves in the darkness, continuously consuming light element to maintain an outward purification spell that completely enveloped the little girl.

This prevented any impurity from approaching “her.”

Using purification magic this way consumed far more light element than the passive purification triggered when the Holy Light Robe encountered slime monsters.

Yet they clearly preferred to consume this precious light element rather than let Bai Yi face even the slightest contamination, despite Bai Yi previously demonstrating considerable resistance by moving freely through the slime monster swamps.

Bai Yi certainly noticed this.

His eyes flickered slightly in the darkness.

He completely understood the other’s thinking.

After all, the prophecy didn’t specify that the Child of the Sun was completely immune to slime monsters. Moreover, this was clearly an immature Child of the Sun. What if they just had higher resistance than normal people and succumbed to contamination more slowly? Given how long they had waited for this prophesied one, someone with this white-robed person’s attitude definitely wouldn’t want even the slightest mishap.

That’s why they were being so extremely careful and cautious.

But normally, wouldn’t it be both more convenient and more prudent for them to simply drape their Holy Light Robe over Bai Yi, covering them completely from head to toe? It would eliminate the need for constantly releasing purification magic and consuming energy.

Given the white-robed person’s protective attitude toward the “Child of the Sun,” they surely wouldn’t begrudge lending a Holy Light Robe, especially just for temporary use on the way back to the Chasers of the Sun’s headquarters?

So it wasn’t that they were unwilling, but that they were unable to do so.

–They couldn’t remove their Holy Light Robe, yet had to protect Bai Yi’s safety, so they could only use this troublesome method. That’s why Bai Yi hadn’t refused being carried by the NPC.

Well, it definitely wasn’t because a free ride had presented itself.

However, being unable to remove the Holy Light Robe suggested there would be severe consequences if removed. Would they even lose the ability to escort Bai Yi to stop the headquarters?

Was the body so carefully wrapped in the Holy Light Robe still truly a complete human form?

Remembering the strange rubber-like sensation felt through the Holy Light Robe when their arm had seemingly carelessly pressed backward earlier, Bai Yi had formed a rough guess in his mind.

He suddenly spoke up. “You said the gods’ curse polluted this world, and only the Child of the Sun can break the curse. You say I’m the Child of the Sun, but I don’t know how to break the curse – I don’t even know what the curse is. Is it what those slime monsters keep mumbling about?”

The white-robed person paused, then sighed softly. “You call the Lost Ones slime monsters? That’s quite fitting. The curse isn’t such a simple thing – it’s an omnipresent rule. As long as the gods’ curse remains unbroken, the souls still living in this eternal night cannot be freed. Because this world’s foundation has been polluted by the curse, everything created from the world’s foundation cannot escape it.”

Their tone carried heavy sorrow.

Seemingly noticing the little girl watching them, the white-robed person changed their tone, regaining their spirit. “But now things are different. I believe you can change everything.”

“…It doesn’t matter if you don’t know what the curse is, or don’t know what to do. You’ve never encountered these things before, so it’s natural not to know. Please don’t worry, we have the most knowledgeable Grand Mage, from whom you can learn everything you don’t know.”

“…Just like how you’d never learned meditation before, yet mastered it as soon as you were taught, right?”

Their tone was extremely careful.

“We don’t know how to break the curse, but you certainly can. Even if you can’t do it now, you’ll definitely be able to in the future! Because that’s what the prophecy says!”

The white-robed person’s tone grew intense. They held the little girl as if holding a small sun, seeming willing to be melted by the sun’s fierce flames just to lift it up. They gazed at Bai Yi, openly expressing their fervent, intense, and persistent hope.

“We can do it! No matter how long we must wait, we’ll surely see that day! All our perseverance and endurance has been for waiting for that day to come!”

“You’ll surely end this hopeless fate, won’t you?”

In the last sentence, Bai Yi heard a tremor that the speaker hadn’t noticed themselves – perhaps they didn’t unconditionally believe in the prophecy either, but forced themselves to believe it.

Bai Yi couldn’t help but look at them seriously.

In the silent darkness, though neither could see anything, their gazes seemed to truly meet.

The white-robed person heard the childish yet calm voice from the child in their arms.

“Ah, of course. I am the Child of the Sun from the prophecy, after all.”

At this, they smiled from their heart.

Under the mask, on that face bearing traces of corruption and decay, a genuinely heartfelt smile bloomed for the first time.

“Yes, you are the Child of the Sun from the prophecy.”

****

The Chasers of the Sun’s “headquarters,” despite its name, was merely a valley within a mountain’s belly. In Bai Yi’s perception, the closer they got to headquarters, the fewer slime monsters there were nearby. It wasn’t clear if this was a carefully chosen location or if they had cleared away the nearby slime monsters.

But that wasn’t important.

The arrival of Bai Yi and their companion stirred the entire valley.

In the layered mountain paths that had been specially excavated, Bai Yi could sense constant sounds of rustling clothes, footsteps, and distant conversations. Though invisible, he could imagine the Chasers of the Sun emerging from their “rooms” to “gather around” and observe him.

Clearly, the title of “Child of the Sun” carried significant weight.

However, precisely because of its importance, the people here couldn’t rush to judgment, and instead needed to treat Bai Yi with extra caution.

The white-robed person who brought Bai Yi back—a man called Gadley—said something to the others. The news spread layer by layer, and soon someone informed Bai Yi that the legendary Grand Mage wanted to meet them.

The Grand Mage was said to be the strongest and highest-ranking among the current Chasers of the Sun, and the last surviving member of the Holy Light Mages who made the prophecy years ago. Now that seniors and companions had departed, he commanded nearly absolute authority among the remaining Chasers of the Sun.

—Once he acknowledged Bai Yi, his identity as the “Child of the Sun” would be undisputed.

However, Bai Yi knew his own situation—before he, a player, descended into this character, this role was probably already dead. So regardless of whether the so-called “Child of the Sun” truly existed, it certainly couldn’t be the character he now controlled.

But he wasn’t worried at all, and walked forward without hesitation.

He believed that regardless of initial thoughts, after meeting him, the Grand Mage would never deny his identity.

—Wasn’t turning falsehood into truth what he did best?

After descending long stairs to the dark underground, an extremely faint light appeared before Bai Yi’s eyes.

He looked ahead in surprise to find a very simple stone chamber. In its center, starlight-like weak rays swirled in mid-air, like a vortex composed of stellar points of light.

Beneath the vortex’s center sat a white-robed person.

They wore a Holy Light Robe and the same mask as Gadley, but their whole being carried a weathered quality shaped by time’s passage. Even without seeing their face, one could tell they were a wise elder.

The Grand Mage glanced at Bai Yi, and without mentioning the prophecy, spoke in a gentle, loving voice, “Are you the little girl Gadley brought back today?”

“No, not a little girl, but the Child of the Sun.”

Bai Yi walked forward a few steps to correct him.

The Grand Mage paused, couldn’t help looking at him deeply, “Do you know what being the Child of the Sun means?”

…Are you truly determined to shoulder this title?

…Instead of being an ordinary little girl unrelated to the prophecy, a lucky one they picked up, living out the remaining time under their protection?

The little girl before him seemed to see through his thoughts and suddenly tilted her head slightly, saying, “Actually, the prophecy is a lie, isn’t it?”

The Grand Mage was stunned again.

“I mean, from beginning to end, there was never any Child of the Sun, right?” Bai Yi pressed on. “So you don’t need any verification to know I can’t be the Child of the Sun.”

“…Because the Child of the Sun never existed!”

The quiet stone chamber fell into silence, with only the stellar points of light continuing to swirl like a vortex.

“Little girl, you’re very clever.” After a long while, the Grand Mage sighed and looked at Bai Yi in surprise, laying out the truth, “You’re right. The Child of the Sun doesn’t exist.”

“To be precise, there was never any divine curse.”

“So naturally, there’s no Child of the Sun to save the world.”

“This was all just an elaborately woven lie.”

Under the little girl’s all-seeing gaze, the Grand Mage slowly removed his mask, revealing a horrifying face.

Half his face was intact, with aged muscles folded together, while the other half was completely distorted, like corrupt mud growing wildly, having lost human form.

“It was never gods who cursed us, but fate,” the Grand Mage sighed as he spoke. “From the beginning, destruction was this world’s inevitable destiny.”

“Fate wants this world to perish, so no matter what, we have no way to save it.”

“The prophecy mages were the first to discover this…”

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