Chapter 668: The White Oblivion

The claws of the hand that had been pointing toward the center slowly closed.

Lian looked into the distance for several seconds and then turned his attention back to the newest member of his Colony.

"Well, Four, you said you’d even be willing to serve under me forever, just so you wouldn’t have to return to that place."

The Castellan lowered his head.

"Indeed, my lord."

"Then let’s start from there." He placed his hands behind his back. "What exactly is that thing imprisoned at the center?"

The creature remained silent for a few moments, and then his deep and measured voice was heard.

"Its name is White Oblivion."

Lian raised his eyebrows slightly.

White Oblivion?

It was a strange name.

It sounded more like a phenomenon than the name of a living creature, and for some unknown reason, it reminded him of something else.

Black Silence.

Could it be...?

"White Oblivion, hmm? So that’s the thing you’re afraid of."

"Indeed, my lord."

"And that’s why you wanted to escape from this land?"

The Castellan lowered his head.

"Yes. I have felt its presence before, and I have no wish to ever be trapped near it again."

"Before?" Lian narrowed his eyes.

"In the days before the prison fell into slumber."

Young Vorhelm paused for a moment.

"Explain."

The Castellan looked at the ground beneath his feet.

"My lord, this place is, in truth, an ancient prison, yet its condemned were not kept in iron cells like ordinary prisoners."

He raised his armored claw slightly.

"We were imprisoned within containment zones, when the order of imprisonment was carried out, our bodies fell into a deep sleep, and we could no longer move."

Lian nodded, this matched some of the things he had observed over the past few days.

Thousands of Withered had emerged from the depths of the ground, but there had been no signs of cells or ordinary prison buildings.

Only buried structures, white roots, and complex pathways could be seen.

"So all the prisoners were sleeping underground?"

"Indeed, yet our sleep was unlike ordinary slumber."

The Castellan paused for a moment.

"Our bodies remained motionless, but the awareness of some among us remained, at times we could feel the passage of time, and at times we could recall memories of the past, without being able to make even the smallest movement."

"So you were awake during that time too?" Lian looked at him.

"Not always, my lord. At times, there was nothing but darkness. Yet during certain periods, my awareness returned, I knew that I still existed, but I could neither open my eyes nor move even a single finger."

The creature slowly closed his right hand.

"I know not how long I remained in that state."

Young Vorhelm remained silent for several seconds, being imprisoned for years or even centuries was unpleasant enough.

But if part of a person’s awareness remained during all that time, it would be a very different matter.

What a terrifying way to imprison living beings.

He looked toward the Hollow Sun.

"And that thing up there is in charge of this prison."

"It is the judge and executor of its sentences, my lord." Four lowered his head.

Lian gave a short smile.

"I’ve seen that part with my own eyes."

The Hollow Sun was slowly rotating in the sky.

Its huge golden rings surrounded a black pupil that sometimes looked toward different parts of the land.

The same being that had executed Amelie, the same judge that issued a new sentence every twenty-four hours, and the same being that had nearly sentenced Dreadmaw to death during the Fifth Judgment.

He looked at Four again.

"So before it woke up, it had been sleeping all this time."

"Indeed, when the Judge fell into slumber, all the condemned remained imprisoned, the containment orders had been established before its sleep, and they did not disappear even after it fell silent."

"So the Judge falling asleep didn’t free the prisoners."

"That is correct, my lord."

Lian looked at the rocks beneath his feet for a moment.

So even without issuing new sentences, the prison was still functioning.

This was important.

The Judge could fall asleep, but the orders it had issued before could remain active, as a result, putting the sun back to sleep would not necessarily mean destroying the prison’s structure.

Even so, he still did not know how such a situation could be repeated.

He put the matter aside for now.

"By the way, where did all those ancient treasures and equipment found in this land come from?"

"Many of them once belonged to the condemned." The Castellan answered.

He paused for a moment and then laughed.

"So all this time, we’ve been collecting the prisoners’ belongings?"

"If it pleases you to describe it so, then indeed."

Four continued in a completely serious tone.

"Some of the beings imprisoned within this land were once powerful rulers, some were great warriors, and others possessed treasures whose value could equal the wealth of kings."

Lian thought about the treasures he had obtained over the past few days, the Core of the Fallen Star, rare materials, and equipment he had found in different areas.

So the previous owners of some of these things were probably still underground.

"And what about those strange plants and springs?"

"I know not the origins of all of them, my lord, this land has possessed a high concentration of mana since ancient times, yet during our long slumber, the environment has also changed."

The Castellan looked toward the distant golden forests for a moment.

"Many of the plants you now see do not exist in my memories."

Lian nodded.

This explanation made sense.

A land that had remained without its prisoners freely moving around for a very long time had enough time to change.

Especially with that unusually high concentration of mana.

He remembered the first day they entered, the golden forests, clear springs, valuable medicinal plants, and the peaceful atmosphere that had made most of the Awakened believe they had entered a real paradise.

But now he knew that beneath that paradise was a huge prison.

The corner of his mouth rose slightly.

The sound of the guitar was heard from far away.

A few soft notes moved through the wind and then mixed with the sound of a rock falling down the cliff wall.

He looked toward the music for a moment, but its source was still unknown, and he turned his attention back to Four.

"Now let’s talk about something that matters more to me."

The Castellan lowered his head.

"Speak, my lord."

Lian pointed toward the center of the land.

"Since the Judge woke up, thousands of Withered have come out from underground. But almost all of them are moving in that direction."

He paused for a moment.

"Even the ones who don’t want to go back."

"For White Oblivion calls them forth." The Castellan looked into the distance for several seconds and then answered.

Lian remained motionless, this time, the answer was much more direct than he had expected.

"So it’s doing this?"

"Indeed, my lord."

He narrowed his eyes.

The Castellan placed his right hand on his armored chest.

"For I, too, can feel its call."

"White Oblivion’s voice?" Lian raised an eyebrow.

"Not a voice that can be heard by the ears, rather, it is like a force that pulls the very existence of the condemned toward the center from within."

The Castellan looked in that direction for a moment.

"I know this force, I felt it even before the prison began its long slumber, the same presence, the same pressure, and the same forced desire to approach the center."

He continued.

"When I was freed from my containment zone, that pull returned, even now, whenever I am present in this land, I can feel it, yet since becoming your servant, I no longer possess the instinct to obey its call."

Lian looked at him for several seconds.

’So even you were affected by it.’

Four was only level twenty-five, but he had the Unholy rank, and his intelligence and the power of his existence were very different from ordinary Withered.

If even such a creature could feel the call, resisting it was probably extremely difficult for weaker prisoners.

"Back then, you could still move against it, right?"

"Indeed, yet my will was not always strong enough, sooner or later, I too would have followed that instinct."

The monster lowered his head slightly.

"But for many of the other condemned, even such freedom of choice is no longer theirs."

Lian thought about the Withered who had said in fear during the past few days that he did not want to return to the center, no matter how hard that creature had tried to change its direction, it had failed.

Now the reason was clearer.

So something really is forcing them.

And that thing was called White Oblivion.

"White Oblivion ... White? Black Silence ... Black?" He frowned, and suddenly, a light of understanding flickered in his eyes.