Chapter 1131: 118. Alan

Eternal Clock was an Artificial Authority, symbolizing time.

But that did not mean only it could use the power of time.

In the incident at Saint Blancfazesiya, the root of everything had been the Ancient Magic in the hands of the Holy Lord of Salvation, which could manipulate timelines.

And in the incident eight hundred years ago, when Miss Dragon destroyed Tars, it was also by relying on an ancient relic capable of using the power of time that those survivors had escaped Miss Dragon’s pursuit and even directly hidden themselves in the cracks of time.

And now, the patterns appearing before Muen’s eyes, along with those familiar auras on them, immediately reminded Muen of that ancient relic from the phantom of the past the old little girl had shown him at the time.

They came from the same source. In other words, this was that damn thing... or at least a part of that damn thing!

Although that thing had no way to contend with Eternal Clock, the current Muen also could not bring out too much of Eternal Clock’s power. Therefore, under the mutual resistance between the two, time stop had actually become completely ineffective.

No, it could not be called completely ineffective. At least at the very beginning... he had clearly been frozen for an instant.

The gap in level between the two was still very obvious. Unfortunately, the yellow-haired guy was temporarily not that useful and could not bring out Eternal Clock’s complete power.

“Are you the people I’m looking for?”

Muen narrowed his eyes and looked over the knightly figure before him again.

Then he rejected this thought himself.

What was strange was only that armor, or rather, the patterns on it. This person himself was indeed powerful, but he did not give Muen much of an eerie feeling. If he absolutely had to reason it out, then the Goddess of Night behind him could basically be confirmed as the target of this trip.

Only, if that was the case...

“I am... a Pioneer...”

“Hm?”

Muen’s thoughts were interrupted. He raised his eyes in surprise and discovered that the already mad, rambling knightly figure was actually muttering to himself.

These were words with absolutely no logic compared to what he had said earlier. It was as if he had become another version of himself again.

“I must... pioneer the road ahead... for this place.”

“The Goddess said... light... is waiting for me...”

“Haha... light is waiting for us!”

The knight charged over again. His powerful offensive made Muen not dare relax, and he made his move to respond.

The two exchanged blows back and forth, and for a time, they actually reached a stalemate.

After fighting to this point, Muen roughly had a guess. One important reason why the other personality of the Goddess of Night had always wanted him to reach this place should be to deal with this guy.

Otherwise, with such powerful strength, plus armor that could use the power of time... he could probably kill every Pioneer who came here.

This was really damn strange. If he was not an outsider, where had Annabawei produced such an unparalleled fierce man?

“Wait... unparalleled fierce man?”

Muen suddenly thought of something, and his expression shifted slightly. “Don’t tell me you’re...”

...

...

“That... that scared me to death.”

Behind the large stone, Marcie was still patting her chest in lingering fear.

Too terrifying.

Just now, she had truly felt that she had been only one step away from death. After all, someone had suddenly appeared and fought Muen... and just the aftershock alone had left her covered in dust and dirt, battered and miserable.

She once again felt how weak she was.

Damn it... Once she became a true Pioneer, facing this kind of situation, she definitely would not run away in such a pathetic way again...

Though it seemed ordinary Pioneers were running too.

Marcie glanced behind her. Theresa, who only had half his body left, was dragging with both hands and had actually pulled himself a long distance away as well. He moved even faster than her.

This guy’s vitality was really tenacious!

“Who exactly is that person? Does the Goddess’s side still have such a terrifying guy?”

Seeing that the fight over there seemed to have temporarily not started again, Marcie had no time to care about the small details behind her. She quickly and secretly poked her little head out from behind the stone and looked toward the battlefield.

Mm. That guy was still fine. It looked like he had not been at much of a disadvantage in the exchange just now.

As for the other enemy...

“Huh?”

After seeing that human figure, Marcie froze for a moment, then directly stiffened in place.

No... no way...

Why did that person’s image look so familiar to her?

Gray-white saintly armor with blue patterns.

Although it had already rusted into an awful state, one could still see the dazzling sharpness the Sword of Darkness-Breaking must have had in its prime.

And added to that was the steady bearing like a great mountain, just from standing there.

These elements were so unfamiliar to Marcie, because in the dozen-plus years she had lived, she had never seen them with her own eyes.

Yet whether it was the armor, or that sword, or that person... they were also incomparably familiar to Marcie.

Because that was the starting point of her obsession with Pioneers, the starting point of her dream of becoming a hero who would lead Annabawei toward the light. It was the existence she had outlined in her imagination again and again in dreams and fantasies.

She worshiped many Pioneers, but if one asked who she worshiped the most, it was still that person.

She had taken many people as her goals, but at the end of each of those goals, it was still that person.

She had written his name on the first page of her record book, and she had also written his name on the last page.

Even after she had seen Muen make his move, even after she had felt that power surpassing the level of ordinary Pioneers... deep in her heart, that person was still definitely stronger.

This did not need to be questioned.

Because he was... the one who had once almost single-handedly brought light back to Annabawei.

The First Pioneer, Alan.

That name, in Annabawei, shone as brilliantly as the sun.

“H-How could... How could Lord Alan be here?”

Marcie’s voice began trembling. Her brain instinctively wanted to deny the connection between the records in those books and the scene before her eyes, but the more she denied it, the clearer and more real the outline of that image became.

“No!”

“That isn’t Lord Alan!”

“Lord Alan was the one who gravely wounded the Goddess in the past and brought us light. How could he possibly stand with the Goddess?”

Marcie quickly slapped her cheeks hard, driving that absurd, disrespectful thought out of her mind.

Lord Alan was a hero.

A guidepost.

A lighthouse.

There were even rumors that he was the first person to believe in the Goddess of Light.

For so many years, the people of Annabawei had still been following the guidance he left behind, setting foot on the road he had once taken.

If Lord Alan appeared on the opposite side from them, then all these years of persistence they had held onto...

“That... that really is Lord Alan, isn’t it...” Landa, who had been silent beside her all this time, suddenly spoke.

“Shut up!”

Marcie abruptly raised her head and directly pounced over, covering Landa’s mouth with one hand.

“You can’t say it... Whether he is or not, this kind of thing absolutely cannot be said right now!”

As a Trainee Pioneer, Landa naturally possessed extremely outstanding theoretical knowledge just like Marcie.

In fact, there was not even a need for particularly outstanding theoretical knowledge. Any resident of Annabawei might recognize that person’s appearance.

Because even though materials were scarce, even though paper and cloth had already become difficult to produce, portraits of that person still hung in some people’s homes.

Four hundred years ago, at that desperate moment, it was precisely he who stepped forward and took back the light from the Goddess’s hands.

For a full four hundred years, it had also completely been the spirit and pioneering will he left behind that supported a thread of hope for this place gradually swallowed by darkness.

He was the support of their spirit, and also the spine of the people of Annabawei who refused to admit defeat.

So...

This spine, at least right now, absolutely could not break!

Otherwise...

“Lord Alan?”

“Is that really Lord Alan?”

“Not sure... But his armor, his sword... Annabawei doesn’t seem to have a second set.”

Confusion.

Shock.

Bewilderment.

In this space that had suddenly gone silent, uncontrollable whispers began becoming clearer and clearer.

Marcie abruptly turned her head and discovered that doubt and confusion had begun appearing on those faces that had originally been ready to face death without hesitation.

The ones who worshiped Lord Alan were not only Marcie and Landa.

The ones who suspected Lord Alan were likewise not only Marcie and Landa.

And those who, while suspecting, became increasingly certain deep down that this was probably Lord Alan, were even less limited to Marcie and Landa.

Marcie could cover Landa’s mouth beside her, but she could not cover the mouths of these people.

Once suspicion began, it would spread like a virus, impossible to suppress.

And for the people gathered here now with a chest full of hot blood and determination, ready to launch the final charge toward the distant Goddess of Night, this suspicion was fatal. It was like a basin of cold water poured directly onto the blazing heartfire of everyone present.

“What do we do...”

Cold sweat began seeping out on Marcie’s forehead.

Of course she worshiped Lord Alan incomparably. But because she had worshiped a little too many people over the years, enough to fill an entire record book, at a time like this, she could instead calm down faster.

Lord Alan suddenly appearing, and even standing on the Goddess’s side, was, to everyone here, completely like a great mountain, a great mountain appearing in their hearts. Marcie began feeling incomparably fortunate that that guy had come this time, because that guy would not be affected by Lord Alan’s identity at all.

Otherwise, everyone here might not have had the qualifications to cross that mountain.

Whether from the perspective of the heart, or from the perspective of strength.

“Mmph...”

The back of her hand was slapped hard, and only then did Marcie abruptly come back to herself. She had still been covering Landa the whole time.

She had almost smothered Landa to death.

“S-Sorry.”

Marcie quickly let go and apologized repeatedly in embarrassment.

“N-No, it’s fine.”

Landa shook her head and breathed hard. “I understand how you feel. I was wrong too. I was too uncalm just now.”

“This already has nothing to do with whether we’re calm or not.”

Marcie smiled bitterly. “If this keeps going, we might really lose.”

Not lose to the Goddess’s strength.

But lose to their own hearts.

“N-No... it’s fine!”

Landa suddenly said, “We are not that fragile.”

“Huh?”

“Believe in us... believe in Annabawei... and believe in those Pioneers too.”

Landa took Marcie’s hand and said with utter certainty, “Although there will indeed be people affected, how could those heroes who spent their entire lives pioneering stop their steps just like this?”

“Huh?”

Marcie was still confused, or rather... doubtful.

But at this moment, a sudden roar suppressed all the doubt and whispers completely.

“Idiots!”

“You’re all idiots!”

“Idiots who are both stupid and cowardly!”

Marcie followed the voice and looked over, only to discover that it was Bear King Theresa behind them. He had forcefully propped up his half-remaining body, his face flushed red, and he was roaring at everyone.

“How can you stop your steps because of such a small thing?”

“Putting aside how damn likely it is that this is the Goddess’s conspiracy, some fake the Goddess created... so what if he’s real?”

“Open those dog eyes of yours wide and look properly! That guy has already gone mad! What is there to worship about a madman!!”

“The real Alan died long ago in the heroic pioneering of several hundred years ago, and we are his true successors!!”

“As successors of pioneering, with victory right before your eyes, not only do you not continue forward, you’re cowering here instead. Do you... have any shame? Do you have the face to stand before the real Lord Alan?”

Theresa grabbed a handful of mud and stones and threw them hard toward the front. “What a disgrace! If I still had legs right now, I’d definitely run over and slap each and every one of you awake!”

“...”

“See?”

Landa looked at Theresa with deep affection, tears in the corners of her eyes. “Annabawei has never lacked people who bravely move forward.”