While Lilianna, Lumiya, and the crimson-clad specter clashed in battle, Sky's consciousness remained in a hazy state.
After practicing the miraculous "Cosmic Insight | Primordial Blood" technique, Sky's physical form in this plane had transcended that of ordinary humans, marking him as a superior being even among cultivators.
However, Sky had yet to undertake any targeted training or strengthening in terms of mental prowess. Facing the ghost in white before Room 310, her fierce psychic assault struck like a blade through ice, piercing directly at him without warning, causing a tremendous soul tremor that nearly brought him to the brink of mental collapse.
In this critical moment, as if guided by a sliver of fate from the depths of the cosmos, a simple yet mysterious rune began to shimmer within the abyss of Sky's soul, radiating a dazzling golden light. This unique-shaped rune, a divine symbol formed from the contract terms agreed upon with the goddess from another realm, Schiso007, which turned into countless points of light before coalescing, stood against the majority of the ferocious psychic attack energy, significantly diminishing its force against him. Despite this rune's protection, Sky's spirit and soul inevitably sustained damage, engulfed by pain as if drowned by tidal waves.
Then, a gentle force, akin to a lover's tender caress, acted upon the depths of Sky's soul. Emerging quietly, it acted like an invisible healer, gradually alleviating some of the damage within his soul, extracting the venom from the wounds drop by drop. This force, like a spring breeze over the land, quickly revitalized his life force, allowing his nearly shattered soul to heal steadily and continuously.
The system's voice echoed in Sky's consciousness: "Player detected with Soul Guardian—Weaver Arachne. Divine point usage detected to initiate soul guardian activation protocol for this plane. Activation conditions for plane-specific soul guardian met. Soul Guardian Arachne activation commencing."
The timing of this system prompt coincided with the moment Lilianna and Lumiya rushed towards Room 320, and the crimson-clad specter turned her attention to Sky. It was at this moment that Sky snapped out of his daze, sensed Arachne's presence from the specter, and felt the unbreakable link between their souls.
However, just as Sky was about to take action, he found himself hoisted onto Lilianna's shoulders and rushed into Room 320.
And at that moment, the clock struck 3 a.m.
As they burst into Room 320, a familiar sensation overwhelmed Sky. The surroundings suddenly froze, then shattered like glass mirrors breaking apart.
"Damn, not again." Sky could only protest in his mind as the scenery around him began to change, with a flood of information and memory fragments rushing into his brain.
The system's voice sounded again:
"Welcome to the 'My Mysterious Castle' series exclusive instance world 'The Battle of Deerfield Plains.' Loading instance world.
Instance Background: 6221 years ago from the present, when the ancient Pan continent was a single, unified landmass across the plane. That year, the Blackwater Kingdom in the west, under the leadership of their great king Aurogon, conquered the entire continent, ending centuries of conflict among nations and establishing the unified Blackwater Empire.
6210 years ago, King Aurogon died under mysterious circumstances while touring the nation. Following Aurogon's death, uprisings erupted across the Pan continent, with the descendants of various kings reclaiming their thrones and resisting the Blackwater Empire.
In 6209, Blackwater Empire's Marshal Holham led 3 major legions, totaling 400,000 troops, from the western part of the continent, advancing northeast to suppress the rebel forces and the efforts of nations to reclaim sovereignty. Victorious in every battle, they swept across the northern part of the continent.
In 6208, the largest force among the reclaiming armies—the Firefeather Kingdom's reclaiming legion, led by General Lyon with 100,000 of Firefeather's main forces, advanced from the southeast to the northwest to face Holham's personally led 100,000 elite Blackwater troops. General Lyon fell in battle, and the 100,000 troops of Firefeather were decimated.
That same year, Marshal Holham left 100,000 troops to guard the north, while he himself led the main force of 300,000 to breach the capital of the Flycatcher Kingdom, which had declared its independence anew. The Flycatcher Kingdom's reclaiming government retreated to Deerfield City, defending this key node city as they advanced from west to east.
While the remaining forces of the Flycatcher Kingdom held Deerfield City, they sought reinforcements from reclaiming armies and rebel forces across the eastern part of the continent, assembling nearly 100,000 troops for a relief force that rushed to Deerfield.
After Marshal Holham took complete control of Deerfield Plains west of the city, he left General Lee with 100,000 troops to continue the siege of Deerfield City. He himself took 200,000 of the main force to control the crucial transit routes and key military supply points around Deerfield Plains, planning to use a tactic of encirclement and the empire's formidable national strength to exhaust the remaining Flycatcher troops and the reinforcing allied forces on Deerfield Plains.
Seeing the strength of the Blackwater Empire, the allied forces halted east of Deerfield City, hastily erecting a formidable encampment, yet they dared not engage the Blackwater troops in battle.
With the Blackwater Empire's relentless siege of Deerfield City, it seemed only a matter of time before the city would fall. At this critical moment, an unexpected army arrived on the battlefield.
Special Element: Continuation of the Divine War Instance Mission: Victory Mission Content: Defeat the Blackwater Empire's army and lift the siege of Deerfield City. Mission Type: Role-playing Mission Reward: Additional 10 World Essence of this plane, 10 World Rule Fragments. Chance to receive extra rewards. Mission Penalty: Deduct 10 World Essence of this plane, deduct 10 World Rule Fragments. Note: The time flow speed in this instance is 21 times that of the normal time flow speed of this plane, which may cause long-term mental weakness for plane players after leaving the instance."
Sky's eyes snapped open, inundated with a barrage of memory fragments, causing a momentary dizziness. Fortunately, this wasn't his first time traversing an instance, and he quickly recovered from the onslaught of memories and information.
This was a vast tent, more precisely, the central command tent of the troop Sky was leading, serving as the nerve center of the entire force. He himself was lying in a corner of this tent, on a bed that was simple yet solid and comfortable. The tent's curtain was partially drawn, allowing sunlight and the glow from the ever-burning energy lamps inside to illuminate the scene before Sky's eyes.
He couldn't help but sit up, looking around. What he saw was a familiar scene from his memory fragments: beside the bed stood a weapon rack, on which his sword and halberd were prominently displayed. The sword rested quietly in its sheath, but the cold intent it emitted was enough to send shivers down one's spine. The halberd, standing like a towering pillar, was both steady and imposing, with a sharp tip and crescent-shaped blades on either side. Most notably, the entire halberd was crafted from an unknown heavy metal, and its shaft was engraved with a lifelike Eastern dragon that coiled up to the head, with the sharp tip emerging from the dragon's mouth.
On the other side stood a magnificent armor rack, displaying a set of armor with a striking contrast of blood red and silver-white. Each piece was polished to a mirror shine, reflecting a forbidding light.
In the center of the tent, a detailed and delicate sand table dominated the space, depicting a vivid battlefield scene with trenches, mountains, and cities all clearly visible, almost allowing one to smell the gunpowder and feel the tremors of war drums.
Beside the sand table, several large maps were set up, offering a more detailed depiction of key strategic points on the battlefield.
Sky stood up and approached the sand table, examining it closely as fragments of memory flashed back.
10 days ago, at the same sand table, two exquisitely crafted ancient wooden desks were set up with various delicacies and fresh fruits. An elderly, astute general sat at the main desk, urging a middle-aged man at the guest desk to drink.
The atmosphere in the tent was cheerful and harmonious until suddenly the tent flap was violently thrown open.
The elderly general's face turned from surprise to anger, but upon seeing the newcomers, he quickly changed his expression and greeted Sky with a feigned smile: "General Yudel, Saintess Lilith, what brings you two here?"
Caught in the flashback, Sky paused, slightly puzzled. It seemed that in this instance world, he wasn't using the name Sky but had taken on the role of General Yudel. Remembering the system's message about the mission type—role-playing—he understood that this was a new form of instance time travel.
In the memory fragment, Sky saw himself stepping forward to confront the elderly general, Bakker, with a stern voice: "General Bakker, we are commanded to lead all 50,000 elite troops of the Firefeather Kingdom to rescue Flycatcher Country. Speed is of the essence in warfare, yet you have ordered our troops to camp here, hundreds of kilometers from the battlefield, waiting for an opportunity. More than a month has passed, and the morale of our soldiers is nearly depleted. And yet, here you are, feasting and drinking. General Bakker, how do you plan to repel the forces of the Blackwater Country and save the besieged Deerfeld City?"
General Bakker, somewhat embarrassed, put down his wine cup and glanced nervously at the middle-aged man sitting beside him, still managing a smile as he replied: "General Yudel, I know you are brave, but these 50,000 troops are the last strength of our Firefeather Kingdom. Opposing us is Holham, who defeated your uncle General Lyon, and he has 300,000 troops this time. Directly confronting them would be suicidal. Young man, you must learn to be more patient. Do not repeat your uncle's mistake, leading our troops into a head-on confrontation and sacrificing so many of our men for nothing."
In the memory fragment, the fist of Yudel, whom Sky was embodying, clenched tightly.
Then, a melodious female voice asked: "General Bakker, may I know who the gentleman drinking with you is?"
Hearing this voice, Sky's heart stirred, just as Yudel turned to glance at the middle-aged man drinking with Bakker. From the corner of his eye, he saw the woman who had entered the tent with him, the one Bakker referred to as the saintess, Lilith.
"Lilianna?! She traveled to this instance world with me?" Sky was taken aback.
