Chapter 1234: A Strange World

She was trapped. That much was certain.

Valkries pieced it back together. She had been descending into the deep Realm of Mind, tracking a faint fluctuation — and when she crossed the boundary between the upper and lower levels, each step had grown heavier. The resistance of the Realm of Mind multiplied around her, and something below took hold like a current catching her legs. She was experienced enough to know the danger. She would have pulled back and rested, had the fluctuation not been drawing so much closer with every step.

The entrance had to be just ahead.

She went deeper.

Hackzord had shown little patience with her spending whole days submerged in the Red Mist Pond — particularly now, when the humans had not yet grasped that their Birth Tower transplantation had succeeded. But Valkries had also wanted to know whether the human race had upgraded itself through the legacy shard.

She never anticipated what happened next. While she was still hunting the source of that fluctuation, the Realm of Mind convulsed. The ground beneath her seemed to crack, to tilt, and then to fall away entirely — a sudden drop, like stepping through ice into black water. She was flushed downward before she could react. When she surfaced again, she was here.

This place was undeniably part of the Realm of Mind. But whether it had anything to do with the male human she had been hunting — that she couldn’t say.

Through the window: an enormous city. Towers packed so densely they serrated the horizon, each standing as high as a Birth Tower, some taller than the king’s own Presiding Holy See.

If this was that male human’s territory, she couldn’t understand why he hadn’t sensed an intruder. The creator of a territory was supposed to be all-powerful within it. She was the mortal enemy of the human race — he should have acted by now. Any witch who wandered into the Presiding Holy See would count herself fortunate to receive only death.

But if this territory belonged to no one she was hunting, then where exactly had she fallen?

The shockwave she’d sensed before losing her footing had come from above. She was confident she had been heading in the right direction — unless she had been wrong about the direction from the start.

No satisfying answer came. She set the questions aside. The immediate task was to assess this body and find a way out.

One thing was already clear: the body was far weaker than her own. The wounds on her legs hadn’t begun to close, which meant her self-repair was nearly gone. The Magic Barrier wasn’t responding. She felt stripped back to before her first upgrade — the era when any moderately capable opponent could cause her real damage.

But magic power remained. A residue of it, moving in her the way an Extraordinary’s ability moved — limited, stubborn, hers.

Footsteps in the corridor. The door swung open.

Two humans entered. Smiling.

Every instinct in Valkries surged toward violence, and she crushed it.

This isn’t the real world.

They had saved her while she was unconscious. That mattered. These people apparently had no concept of “demon” — if she acted without thinking, she would expose herself before she understood anything.

“You’re looking much better, Miss Valkries,” the woman said, lifting the edge of the blanket and examining her plastered legs with professional interest. “Remarkable — a pillar hit you and your bones are intact. You’re a genuine martialist. If I had taken that blow, my legs would’ve been pulverized.”

The man beside her gave the woman a dry look, then turned to Valkries. “I’m the attending physician. Dr. Gao. The X-rays show you’re healing well — rest, and I’m confident there won’t be lasting damage. If anything feels wrong, tell me immediately.”

Valkries gave a small shake of her head.

She had understood almost nothing of what he said. Silence was the safer answer for now.

She also registered that these humans treated her with an unsettling warmth. No hostility — but more than simple courtesy. The woman in particular kept watching her. There was something attentive in it, the focused gaze of someone working out a puzzle.

“Good,” Dr. Gao said, flipping through a sheaf of papers. “The Association will be visiting the hospital this afternoon and holding a conference this evening. I’ve already declined on your behalf for the evening meeting — wanting you to sit through it from a wheelchair is simply unreasonable on their part. The visit itself I can’t stop; the Association funds this hospital. You’ll just need to be in bed.”

”…Thank you,” Valkries said, in the way a person of this world apparently thanked someone.

“Of course.” Dr. Gao smiled. “You must be bored. They didn’t send your cell phone. Would you like the television?”

Cell phone. Television. She filed the words without reaction.

She said nothing. He took her silence as agreement, lifted a small rectangular object from the bedside table, aimed it at a dark panel on the wall, and pressed something.

Light escaped from the panel.

She stared.

The two of them said a brief farewell and withdrew.

Valkries kept staring. The images on the panel shifted and moved, each one vivid — not the flat, static quality of a painting but something that breathed. She pressed for magic fluctuation and found none. The object was not a magical artifact. Nothing in it registered as power of any kind.

It took her some time before the astonishment became manageable.

Then she noticed she could control the images. The small rectangular box changed what she was seeing when she pressed its buttons. That meant the content was not fixed — it was being transmitted from outside, or stored somewhere accessible. Either way, what she was watching was a window into this world.

She began working through the channels methodically.

One word snagged her attention: Martialist Association.

Based on what Dr. Gao had told her, she was apparently a member of this Association — or rather, these people believed she was.

On the screen: a crowded public square, filmed from above as though someone had used a Stone of Flight to capture the angle. The image was sharp, wide, full of movement.

“This is the third day since the attack on Prism City. Firefighters continue rescue operations and clearing debris.”

“The Association has confirmed the death toll. Victims’ identities are still being established.”

“Throughout the rescue effort, martialists demonstrated notable courage and professionalism, descending into the evacuation tunnels to search for survivors.”

“The Chief Disciple of Defender Rock, Ms. Lan, was killed in action. When she entered Exit 4, she was ambushed by Fallen Evils. In order to protect—”

Valkries stopped hearing the words.

On the panel — on that extraordinary black surface that contained an entire world — was a face she knew.

She went rigid.

Why is that face here? In the Realm of Mind?

The Cloud School had been destroyed. She was certain of it.

Wasn’t it?

Chapter 1234 - A Strange World

Translator: Transn Editor: Transn Yes, she was trapped. Valkries now remembered that she had been delving into the depth of the Realm of Mind and tracking down a faint fluctuation. When she had crossed the borderline that separated the upper and lower level, her step had become heavier and heavier. The resistance from the Realm of Mind increased, and she felt something was dragging her down. It was her first time to come thus far, so she must be careful. If she got lost, she might be trapped here forever. Valkries would have terminated this expedition and taken a break had she not sensed that the fluctuation she was looking for was getting closer. The entrance should be just around here. So she decided to dive deeper. Hackzord seemed not to be very impressed with her bathing in the Red Mist Pond all day, especially when human beings had not realized that they had successfully transplanted the Birth Tower. On the other hand, Valkries also wanted to know whether the human race had upgraded through the legacy shard. She had never anticipated, however, that the Realm of Mind suddenly quaked while she was trying to find the source of the fluctuation. She felt as if the muddy ground underneath suddenly cracked, sank, and formed a waterfall. She was immediately flushed down before she could realize it. When she woke up again, she found herself in this strange place. Beyond a doubt, this place should be a part of the Realm of Mind, but Valkries was not sure whether it had anything to do with the male human she was searching for. Through the window, Valkries could see a big city outside. Sierried highrises stretched away and disappeared at the end of the horizon, each as tall as the Birth Tower. Some were even taller than the king’s Presiding Holy See. If this was that male human’s territory, Valkries did not understand why he had not noticed the presence of an intruder. The creator should have been omnipotent. Since Valkries was the mortal enemy of the human race, the creator should have taken action by now. If a witch, by accident, trespassed the Presiding Holy See, death would probably be the kindest punishment inflicted upon her. The problem was that if this place had nothing to do with that male, then where was it? When Valkries had sensed the quaver, she had felt the shockwave come from above. She was certain that she was on the right track, unless she had been searching in the wrong direction all along. Valkries pondered for a while but could not find a satisfying explanation, so she put aside these questions. The most important task for her now was to adapt to this new body and find an opportunity to get out of this strange world. Valkries was positive about one thing that this new body was much weaker than her own. The wound on her legs had still not healed up yet, which indicated that she currently had little self-repairing ability. Her Magic Barrier stopped working. Valkries had never been so weak for a long time. She felt as if she had traveled back to the time prior to her upgrade when everybody could cause substantial harm to her. Fortunately, she could still summon magic power, which was an ability quite similar to Extraordinaries’. While Valkries was checking her body, there was a pattering of footsteps outside. The door was then pushed open, and two men entered smilingly. Valkries almosted wanted to throw herself onto them and rip them apart, but she suppressed the urge. This was not the real world! She reminded herself. It appeared that these people had saved her when she had lost consciousness. Perhaps, these people never knew such things as “demons”. If she acted recklessly, she would expose herself. “You look pretty well, Miss Valkries,” the female said as she lifted one corner of the blanket and examined her plastored legs. “Amazing. No wonder the pillar didn’t wound your bones. You’re a martialist! If I were you, my legs would have been smashed to pieces.” “Is this what a doctor should say to her patient?” the male said as he glared at the female and then looked toward Valkries. “I’m the doctor in charge here. You can call me Dr. Gao. According to the X-ray, you’ll soon recover. Take a good rest, and I’m sure the injury won’t affect your future contests. If you don’t feel well, please don’t hesitate to tell me.” Valkries shook her head. She hardly understood anything Dr. Gao had said, so she resolved to remain silent. Valkries also noticed that these human beings appeared to be pretty friendly to her. She was puzzled as to why these people did not view her as a person of another race. Even if they did not harbor hostility against her, how could they speak to her in such an amicable manner when there was such a drastic difference between the two races? Valkries even noticed that the female was particularly interested in her. Her eyes were glued on her. “I’m glad you’re well,” the male named Dr. Gao said as he leafed through the brochure in his hand. “The Association will come to visit the hospital this afternoon, and they’ll also hold a meeting in the evening. I’ve already declined the request to attend the meeting for you. Those people are so insensible! They wanted you to sit the meeting through in your wheelchair! That’s ridiculous! But I can’t stop them from visiting you. This hospital is funded by the Martialist Association, so it’s impossible for me to stop them. You just need to lie in bed.” “… Thank you,” Valkries said in a way an ordinary man would normally speak in this situation. “You’re welcome,” the male said with a smile. “By the way, you must be bored. The Association didn’t send your cell phone here. Do you want to watch TV?” Cell phone? TV? What were they? Nonplussed, Valkries did not answer. The doctor took her silence as a yes, so he picked up a square box on the nightstand, pointed it at a blackboard on the wall, and fiddled it. Soon, light escaped from the blackboard! “Now, you take a good rest,” Dr. Gao said as he waved his hand and withdrew from the room with the female. Valkries goggled at the screen and almost lost herself. How did they… do this? The image on the blackboard changed. Everything was so lifelike. Valkries would not have been so surprised had the blackboard been a magic artifact, but this object was non-magical. She could not sense any fluctuation of magic power from the blackboard. It took Valkries a while to get used to it. She also discovered that the content of the television had something to do with the little square box. The image would change if she pressed the button on it. If her assumption was correct, these contents might be closely related to this world. This was an effective way to get to know about this world. While Valkries was flipping through channels, she captured one strange word, “the Martialist Association.” Based on what the male had told her, she was also a member of the Association, or more precisely, they assumed that she was a member of the Association. She saw a crowded square on the television. The picture was shot from above. Perhaps, someone videotaped the scene with some magic artifact like a Stone of Flight. “This is the third day since the attack at the Prism City. Firefighters are still rescuing members and cleaning up the debris.” “The Association has confirmed the death toll. The victims’ identities still remain unknown at this point.” “During the whole rescue process, many martialists displayed courage and sense of responsibilities. They went down to the evacuation exits to look for those being trapped. “The Chief Disciple of the Defender Rock, Ms. Lan, was killed in action.” “When she entered Exit 4, she was attacked by the Fallen Evils. To protect her peers…” Valkries did not hear a single word said by the reporter. Her attention was caught by the image on the “blackboard”. Valkries was shocked. “Why, why do I see those strange and familiar faces in the Realm of Mind?” Wasn’t the Cloud School… already disbanded?