Heinrich glanced at Evernight beside him and asked, "What do we do now?"
Evernight narrowed her eyes slightly and replied, "Let's proceed forward first."
Heinrich took a deep breath, his expression hardening with resolve. He continued piloting the Magic Ship, which soon entered the completely infested world.
As they drew closer to the Mountains of Flesh looming before them, Heinrich's expression grew increasingly grim. The Magic Ship was cloaked by a black membrane to conceal itself and prevent detection, but at this close range, the membrane's camouflage was ineffective. In other words, the ship could be discovered at any moment.
Though no monstrous figures had been sighted in this world, being discovered would undoubtedly be disastrous. Who knew if these mountains might suddenly sprout hands and swat them aside?
However, as the Magic Ship descended lower, Heinrich noticed a profound transformation in the surrounding landscape. The Mountains of Flesh gradually morphed into towering, angular skyscrapers. Flat streets emerged, and even crowds of people could be seen moving about.
"What is this...?" After a brief moment of stunned silence, Heinrich's first thought was that the Mother of Flesh had intervened, and he might be trapped in some kind of illusion.
He hastily turned to look at Evernight, but before he could speak, he noticed frost forming around her feet, tendrils of icy air radiating outward from her, swiftly spreading to cover half the cockpit.
Evernight said, "This isn't an illusion. I'm using my ability to access this world's past memories. The current timeline is likely around a thousand years ago, when it was still covered in flesh, like we saw earlier."
"Memories?" The word was familiar to Heinrich, a versatile Wizard proficient in all Schools of Magic. He had even dabbled in unethical practices, using Enchantment School magic to brainwash children, altering their memories to instill faith in the Goddess of Magic.
But what did it mean to "access this world's past memories"? After several seconds of stunned silence, Heinrich tentatively asked, "Are you saying... we've traveled back to this world's past?"
Evernight shook her head. "Visually, it might seem like we've traveled back in time, but everything here is merely a memory of the past. It's all an illusion. No matter what you do, you can't alter history."
It must be said, this was a difficult concept for someone encountering it for the first time. Heinrich, for instance, had never considered the idea that the world itself possessed memories.
In ordinary thinking, wouldn't the world's memory simply be history—the past itself?
However, as a top-tier Wizard, Heinrich quickly grasped the concept. His first reaction was that this Authority seemed rather unimpressive—far inferior to true time travel, rewriting history, and twisting the future.
But then Heinrich realized something else. "Wait, what's our current state? Are we our true selves?"
Evernight gave him a puzzled look. "What else would we be?"
Heinrich pressed, "So, if you were to... say, trap an enemy in a past memory using this method, how would they escape? Would they have to live through the entire timeline to return to the present?"
Evernight pondered for a moment, then replied somewhat uncertainly, "They probably can't escape."
Unless someone possessed a spatial Authority of the level of the Century Gate, escape would be impossible.
Heinrich pressed further, "Then... if someone were to commit actions that severely disrupted the historical timeline, even if the future itself wouldn't be altered, would the future's records of this period of history be changed?"
"Of course," Evernight replied. "Everyone's memories of this time would be affected, causing their perceptions to shift."
At this revelation, Heinrich felt a cold sweat break out. He immediately retracted his initial "knee-jerk" reaction. This Authority is actually incredibly potent!
It couldn't alter history directly, but it could achieve effects similar to rewriting history. Aside from being unable to revive the dead, Evernight's Authority could completely twist past victors into losers, good people into villains, and so on. For example, if she so desired, the Seven Heroes who vanquished the Demon Lord could be completely transformed into seven demons in the collective memory of the world.
Since her actions didn't actually alter the timeline, the world wouldn't resist her. As for the other True Gods, they likely wouldn't even notice their past memories being distorted; Evernight's ability was far too subtle.
Just now, when she used this ability, Heinrich hadn't detected any fluctuations in divine power. He only realized the ground was frozen when he looked back.
Watching Heinrich's ever-shifting expressions—confusion, frowning, shock—Evernight said, "Enough about that. Let's find a place to land. We need to figure out what's going on in this world first."
As for where to land, anywhere would do. They could even park the Magic Ship right in the middle of a road without issue. Right now, the entire ship—including its passengers—remained hidden by Evernight's ability, invisible and intangible to everyone.
Still, Heinrich chose what looked like a park, found an artificial lake, and landed the Magic Ship on its surface.
Afterward, the two left the Magic Ship, one after the other. Evernight pondered for a moment, then waved her hand, summoning seven or eight white jellyfish around her. "Go wander around~"
As if nodding, the jellyfish quivered their already springy bodies a few times before vanishing into thin air right before Evernight's eyes.
Witnessing this, Heinrich pondered for a moment before casting a Divination School spell. He then pointed toward the left, "Head in that direction. It will best serve our current objective."
"Alright," Evernight said, walking in the direction Heinrich indicated. As she moved, she casually observed her surroundings. The park was bustling with people: couples strolling hand-in-hand, families enjoying outings, and groups of three or four children playing together.
The people were chatting and laughing, showing no signs of any sense of danger. Does this mean that a thousand years ago, this world hadn't yet faced the threat of the Mother of Flesh?