Such a large-scale spellcasting spectacle was, of course, extremely rare. But the process involved a long wait, and I honestly found it pretty boring. As the chanting around us gradually died down and a faint, almost invisible transparent barrier seemed to rise automatically around the royal castle, King Galahad couldn't help asking, curiosity finally getting the better of him:
"Does this mean it worked?"
"Unfortunately, even if we pool everyone's mana together, we can only barely glimpse the world a few decades from now."
After the intense expenditure just now, all the casters inside the array had clearly drained themselves completely. They simply dropped down and sat on the still-glowing ground where they stood. Meredith was no exception. Hearing the king's question, she couldn't even spare the energy for formalities—she only nodded lightly, then added with regret:
"If Feliciana's former friend were here, or if Lord Adonis were personally present, it might be much easier. But even so, this should be enough to prove it."
"But I can't see any big difference!"
I was the first to rush to the mirror on the observation platform to look inside. Yet the holy capital reflected in the huge mirror looked no different from what I remembered—down to the very same damaged sections of the city walls caused by Michelle's invasion yesterday. It didn't look like "a few decades later" at all.
"The image preserved in the mirror is only a phantom overlay from before we arrived—mainly used as a marker for the return route," one of Meredith's subordinates hurriedly explained before Meredith could speak again. "Just look outside the city."
So it was a misunderstanding. The mirror at the center of the array was indeed important, but its purpose was nothing like what I had assumed. Everyone immediately crowded to the edge of the rooftop, peering through the barrier into the distance—and at once, countless differences became obvious.
"It doesn't look like the world was destroyed at all! The city's area actually looks bigger—like the outermost walls have expanded! And there are more commoners gathered outside the walls, building a lot of new housing right there on the spot!"
"The buildings inside the city have changed too—there are lots of new structures that look metallic… and 'factories'? How wasteful! That's prime weapon-making material!"
"The people in the streets are dressed differently. Why are most of them wearing yellow hooded robes? And a lot of them are covering their faces too. They seem to be slowly gathering in our direction…"
"There are too many of them. Even at Norvale's peak population, I've never seen this many people! And not all those in yellow robes are city residents—more are pouring in through the gates. What are they trying to do?"
…
Most of the people speaking were humans. After all, the senior officials and attendants who could accompany the king lived in Norvale year-round and knew the city's layout like the back of their hands.
"Look! Over by the lakeside plaza—!"
Someone suddenly pointed toward the shoreline, as if they had spotted something. That lakeside plaza was, of course, the place where our landlord had nearly been executed—very close to the royal castle in terms of straight-line distance. Adrian and I naturally pushed in to see as well.
In the next instant, we saw it: the lakeside plaza, usually open and spacious, was now a sea of people. Yellow-robed figures packed it so tightly that there wasn't a gap to be found.
Even more shocking, they weren't gathered randomly. Along some faint, orderly pattern, they prostrated themselves from the outside inward—hands clasped, faces turned toward the royal castle at the lake's center, silently praying. The endless yellow tide looked like winding streams that all flowed into the same "riverbed" facing the castle—neat, reverent, like a pilgrimage procession.
"Those people… are they worshiping us?" Elara's mouth fell open in disbelief. "Isn't this place supposed to be the king's residence? Why would they do this?"
"From the looks of it, they're holding some kind of rite—this resembles a religious ceremony," Adrian said, frowning as he tried to reason it out. "And did you notice? The overall mood those yellow-robed people are showing is extremely devout. You only used to see that kind of expression during True Church ceremonies and rituals."
My scalp prickled as my gaze settled on the distant lake. In the shimmering waterlight, the royal castle stood imposing and unmoving. Beneath the walls, countless yellow figures formed an ocean of kneeling bodies, chanting some kind of slogan. We couldn't make out the words at this distance, but the perfectly unified rhythm radiated a feverish kind of faith.
"Could they all be believers of our church? Decades later… the people of Norvale are actually worshiping the royal castle like this?" King Galahad stared at the scene below. His voice was surprised at first, then, as if he had convinced himself of something, he abruptly grew delighted. "So that's it! The pope must have personally come to my royal castle as a guest! That's the only explanation! I'm going to see the pope's true face with my own eyes!"
At that point he didn't care about dignity or restraint anymore. After blurting that out, driven by faith, he turned around without even asking attendants to help him. With his enormous, obese body swaying step by step, he started hobbling toward the magical lift that led down.
"Stop him! None of us belong to this era—absolutely don't let His Majesty leave the rooftop, especially not the area covered by the barrier!"
Meredith had finally recovered a little strength. The moment she saw the king's move, her face changed and she shouted urgently.
Most people would never dare to block a monarch. Fortunately, Elara stepping in was enough to make Galahad yield. With the angel he revered personally standing in front of him, Galahad looked confused and asked in bewilderment:
"The pope is the highest agent of the Lord in the mortal world—why won't you allow me to see him? Of course I know this is the future. Just one look is enough. After I see him, I'll come right back!"
"Your Majesty," Meredith rushed up, using the opportunity to lay out the stakes as quickly as she could. "The space where we're standing is enclosed within a protective screen constructed by time magic. We are not truly in the same time dimension as the outside world. That means people outside cannot see us through the screen or come into contact with us. Even if someone were to come up to this rooftop, they would not intersect with us in any way. As long as we remain inside the screen, we are essentially safe—and after a certain amount of time, we will automatically return to the past.
"But if you leave this screen, you will truly enter the future world. Then anything could happen, and it may not be easy to find your way back into the screen again."
"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!" Galahad snapped. "How do I know what you're saying is true? Besides, you said it's just 'not easy.' Can't you overcome it a little?"
Unfortunately, Galahad clearly didn't trust an envoy from the Sage Alliance—especially when he believed he was on the verge of meeting the pope. And since this was his own territory, he refused to give up so easily.
"Whether His Majesty can return smoothly is one question," Adrian suddenly spoke up, "but I actually think the pope probably isn't in this royal castle at all. Because from what I'm seeing, those believers in yellow robes do not seem to be members of True Church."
He didn't explain right away. Instead, he gestured for Galahad to look, pointing down toward a distant area under the castle walls so the king could confirm it himself.
"How is that possible?" Galahad protested. "Across the entire continent, only True Church could ever have this kind of scale and numbers. If it were some other religion, it wouldn't even qualify to carry my church's shoes—let alone stir up trouble in the capital!"
Even as he said he didn't believe it, he clearly knew there were inconsistencies—for example, True Church believers normally wouldn't attend ceremonies in uniform yellow hooded robes. Still, he obediently moved to Adrian's side to see what he meant.
"That area—if I remember correctly—that's the street where Preston Cathedral used to stand. Don't you notice something wrong?"
Adrian pointed toward Saint Maria Avenue. From the top of the royal castle, Preston Cathedral—an exceptionally tall landmark—should have been visible at a glance. Yet what met our eyes now was only a massive black cube, its surface gleaming like metal. Whatever its purpose was, there was no trace of any cathedral at all.
"No… impossible. Absolutely impossible!"
Now everyone understood. No matter how much True Church might reform, it wouldn't transform into something like this within a few decades. Galahad and several True Church followers beside him broke into cold sweat, unable to accept what they were seeing.
"Now look directly below us—your royal castle. Does it still look like the original?"
Adrian pressed further. As we looked down, I finally realized that the stone castle at the lake's center had been replaced by the same unknown black metal. The entire royal castle was no longer what it used to be. After heavy reconstruction, it had become a tower-like structure resembling a steel high-rise. And what those yellow-robed believers had been worshiping all along was the very top of that black tower.
As for what exactly existed at the tower's peak—because it overlapped with the position where we currently stood, we still couldn't tell.