CHAPTER 233: IMPRESSION

No matter what, Selina was particularly concerned about the combat strength demonstrated by the strange woman, so she asked about it again.

"There are many powerful fighters outside who can surpass their rank in battle. You’ll understand if you go out and see for yourself."

The High Priestess said impatiently.

Then she continued questioning the strange woman about various things, occasionally frowning as she didn’t seem to be getting the answers she wanted.

Carlotta asked, "Who is she? How did she end up here?"

At this point, Carlotta spoke in the language of World Two. Selina couldn’t understand it, so she stood nearby, eyes wide open.

The High Priestess also replied in the language of World Two, "Her name is Nash Morgan. She comes from... Well, in your terms, you could say she’s from World Three. Of course, she doesn’t know why she appeared here, that’s very strange."

Having already learned the High Priestess’s identity, the other party wouldn’t dare hide anything from her. In the past, the different worlds frequently communicated. As the High Priestess, she was well-known and widely recognized across worlds.

According to Nash’s account, not long ago she had participated in a competitive event within her own world. In that world, many people will enter a space arranged by a god to engage in various competitions. In her understanding, the moment she entered that divine space, she arrived here.

This answer was confusing. The time Nash mentioned had already passed countless ages ago. Even gods had long since perished through eons. How could Nash still exist?

No matter how one looked at it, there was nothing special about Nash.

"Could it be that the god back then opened a passage through time and space, bringing someone from the distant past into this era?"

Carlotta asked, frowning.

The High Priestess was stunned, then shook her head: "Even a god couldn’t accomplish such a feat of traversing time and space, let alone send others through it. A god’s power isn’t infinite."

"Then how do you explain the situation right before us?"

Carlotta asked.

"I don’t know."

The High Priestess shook her head blankly, completely unable to comprehend what was happening.

But then she looked toward the city.

Perhaps, within this city’s ruins, she would find the answers she sought.

At this moment, Selina felt a headache coming on. She looked at the others and said, "Is there something you absolutely must hide from me? I’ve been honest with you. Why do you want to conceal things from me?"

Hearing Selina say this, Carlotta actually felt a bit embarrassed.

She could only reply, "Actually, there are some things that, if you knew about them, I’m afraid they’d shock you greatly."

Selina didn’t believe her and snorted, "What could possibly shock me? I won’t ask about other things. Just tell me, does this woman’s combat strength make sense?"

Deep down, she still resented the fact that her carefully trained disciple had been treated like a nobody by the other party.

Carlotta said, "It makes perfect sense."

"How can that possibly make sense?"

Selina asked.

"Let me put it this way, what strength do you think I am?"

Carlotta emitted her magical power fluctuations.

"Early tier Weaver, same as me."

Selina answered.

"How long do you think it would take me to defeat you?"

Carlotta smiled politely. After all, what she was about to say might be somewhat impolite.

Selina frowned, "What do you mean, how long would it take to defeat me? Are you saying you can definitely beat me? You don’t think I’m that easy to deal with, do you? I was personally trained by my father. Haven’t you heard of my father’s title as the First Sword Saint?"

"Not just heard of it, I’m very familiar with it."

Carlotta smiled, then added, "Some things are better understood through direct experience."

"You want to fight me?"

Selina looked at Carlotta. "You really think you can defeat me quickly?"

Carlotta smiled faintly. "Let’s try it before we talk about it."

"Then let’s fight!"

Selina also felt somewhat offended, believing she was being thoroughly underestimated.

She quickly swung her sword, and dense holy light erupted. What she was practicing was exactly the Holy Sword Knight Path, identical to that of her father, Xavier.

Within the dense holy light, Selina rapidly approached with her sword, and in a flash, she was already before Carlotta.

In response, Carlotta struck with her sword.

This strike didn’t seem to have any dazzling brilliance, ordinary and plain, but it landed with extreme precision upon Selina’s blade.

Then, Selina felt an utterly irresistible force surge towards her, instantly making her unable to hold her sword. The artifact was knocked away in an instant.

Meanwhile, Carlotta’s blade was now resting against Selina’s neck.

With just one strike, the outcome was decided.

Faced with this situation, Selina felt as if she were in a dream, completely unable to comprehend how such a thing could happen. They were both early tier Weavers, how could she not even withstand a single blow?

Looking at the dazed Selina, Carlotta smiled faintly, "You’re not weak. I’m just too strong."

Selina: "..."

She felt Carlotta might as well not have explained at all.

This method served as an answer to Selina’s earlier question.

"Have I really stayed in the Central Ruins for so long that I can’t keep up with the outside world’s changes? But... I’ve only been here for a few months."

Selina felt somewhat innocent.

Carlotta didn’t know what to say, so she withdrew her sword and shrugged.

Next, the High Priestess wanted to go deeper into the city ruins to understand exactly what was happening here. Naturally, the strange woman, Nash, chose to follow the High Priestess.

Selina also brought her two disciples and followed along.

As for the woman they had rescued earlier, she naturally didn’t dare to follow and chose to leave the area.

Thus, the group began moving toward the distance.

They hadn’t walked for long when Carlotta suddenly felt something stir within her heart, she realized Dawn had arrived.

She looked at the sky. Clearly, the sky showed the appearance of daytime, but when she opened her information panel, the new intelligence had indeed been refreshed.

[ 1: The method to master the language of World Three is as follows...]

[ 2: The method to master the language of World Four is as follows...]

[ 3: The languages of World Five...]

[ 4: World Six...]

As her eyes scanned today’s intelligence, Carlotta’s face instantly showed an unusual expression. Today’s intelligence was entirely related to languages from other worlds.

Naturally, each world had more than one language, and all languages from each world had been condensed into a single piece of intelligence.

The language acquisition methods provided by the intelligence were undoubtedly excellent, enabling people to master languages from other worlds at the fastest possible speed.

Carlotta’s comprehension had always been quite high. She felt that it might take some time before she could actually speak these languages, but understood they wouldn’t require too long.

The group advanced through the mist. The deeper they entered the city, the thicker the fog became. Carlotta had to repeatedly use magic to sweep the surroundings, slightly improving visibility.

Soon, they arrived at a square. Upon reaching it, their expressions involuntarily changed.

For the square was now littered with numerous fallen bodies, each smeared with blood, evidence suggesting a fierce battle had recently taken place here, claiming many lives.

"These are all Resonators... How could so many die en masse in one place?"

Selina’s face instantly changed.

Though Weavers could now easily overpower Resonators, no one could ignore the status of Resonators among the Transcendent beings. Resonators were already extremely significant, given that the number of Weavers themselves was exceedingly rare.

Yet now, these backbone Resonators were dying in vast numbers. Chill ran through Selina’s very core.

"Which country’s Resonators are these? Or are they from various countries? Regardless, for any nation, this would be a bone-deep wound."

Selina said gravely.

Carlotta and the High Priestess, however, wore different expressions.

Amelia whispered, "Are these people really from our world?"

"What do you think, Your Excellency?"

Carlotta asked the High Priestess.

The High Priestess turned to Nash and asked in the language of the Third World, "Do you recognize anyone?"

Nash looked surprised as she replied, "Yes, many of them feel very familiar. They’re people from our world. How could they have died here?"

"Don’t you remember what happened here?"

The High Priestess asked.

Nash shook her head, indicating she had just entered the city and couldn’t possibly know what had occurred here previously.

The group could only enter the square to inspect the situation. The bloodstains were still fresh, whatever happened here must have occurred very recently.

The High Priestess quietly said to Carlotta, "These people aren’t from your world. They’re from various worlds."

She had deduced this from clothing and other characteristics. People from different worlds naturally had different habits in various aspects, this was the best evidence.

But precisely for this reason, it was alarming and bewildering.

Why were so many people from different worlds buried here? And judging by the traces, they had only just died!

This was highly problematic.

Logically, people from the major worlds had long vanished into ancient history. They shouldn’t be able to gather in this place.

Could it be that some worlds still exist?

This speculation clearly didn’t hold. Because the people appearing here weren’t limited to worlds Carlotta had never visited, people from the worlds she had visited were also present.

The Fourth World, Carlotta had personally witnessed it, and the entire world was already in utter ruin. Yet here were people from the Fourth World, some of the clothing styles clearly belonged to that world.

Even people from the Second World appeared. This discovery caused the High Priestess’s eyes to flicker repeatedly, evoking a strange feeling.

"Perhaps... they aren’t really people."

The High Priestess murmured.

"Not people? Then what are they?"

Carlotta said, glancing at Nash beside her.

By any measure, Nash was a living, breathing person, not some fabricated illusion.

The High Priestess said, "I’ve followed gods and learned much. I know their powers are unfathomable. Though they cannot traverse time and space, they can replicate a person’s complete state."

Carlotta was visibly moved. "Surely you don’t mean to say these people are copies?"

"Calling them copies isn’t quite accurate. I’m not entirely sure how to describe the gods’ methods."

The High Priestess pondered deeply. "Perhaps ’impressions’ would be a better term. The god retains an impression of a person, and based on that impression, can recreate the individual, allowing them to exist for a certain period, or within a certain area."

"Even after so many years, can they still exist?"

Carlotta was deeply affected.

The High Priestess thought for a moment before answering, "If these impressions weren’t activated initially but were preserved here, then after a long span of time, they could be reactivated and truly exist."

Carlotta wore a strange expression. So Nash and others were actually impression-beings, only recently released?

That sounded rather odd.

They were speaking in the language of the Second World during this exchange, so Nash didn’t understand what they were saying.

The High Priestess continued, "Earlier, Nash mentioned she had just entered a trial, and many people from her world participated in this competition. I think the gods used this method to preserve everyone’s impressions at that moment. And it wasn’t only the god of their own world who did this, gods from all other worlds did the same. This is an experiment conducted by the gods."

By the end, the High Priestess’s voice had lowered.

As the foremost figure beneath the god of the Second World, her status was extremely high. If such a plan truly existed, it shouldn’t have been hidden from her. Yet she knew nothing about it now, obviously, information regarding this part had been erased from her memory.

"It must be something like that."

Carlotta strongly agreed with the High Priestess’s speculation.

Though the High Priestess’s memories were flawed, her judgment remained intact. Making deductions based on known information posed no difficulty for her.

"Perhaps the gods left other information here as well."

The High Priestess seemed intrigued.

Originally, she had intended to head to the location pointed to by the Lion’s Key, but since that location lay behind this city, she had no choice but to understand the city’s situation first.

Carlotta turned her gaze back to the square. "So these people don’t know what era they’re currently in. They still believe they’re in their own time, thinking they’ve just entered some place to compete. That’s why they fought each other, leaving behind these traces?"