"Light!"
With Heinrich's incantation, the cantrip was cast. A small, white orb of light hovered above his head, illuminating a roughly ten-meter radius around him.
Ding Lang surveyed the entire laboratory, ultimately taking only a laptop. With nothing else of significant value, the trio departed from the underground facility.
As soon as they emerged, the range of Heinrich's Light spell compressed from ten meters to five, as if some invisible force were squeezing the light itself. The pitch-black darkness, impenetrable beyond arm's reach, exuded an oppressive aura.
Ding Lang couldn't help but ask, "Are you sure this is safe?"
Having studied these monsters for so long, Ding Lang knew all too well how terrifying they were. Fighting them in complete darkness was practically suicidal.
His research had therefore focused on concealment in the dark, rather than devising methods to effectively kill these creatures.
Evernight remained silent, merely shrugging her shoulders slightly. She opened her umbrella, gently gripping the bottom of the handle with her right hand to hold it aloft.
In the next moment, crimson jellyfish surged forth from beneath the umbrella like doves escaping their cage, swarming out in dense waves and scattering into the surrounding darkness.
At first, the jellyfish seemed to vanish completely upon entering the darkness, as if they had been swallowed by ink. But gradually, Ding Lang noticed Heinrich's Light spell's illumination range slowly recovering, soon returning to its original ten-meter radius.
The surrounding darkness also began to dissipate, losing its initial oppressive density. Ding Lang could even see tiny red dots flickering back and forth within the shadows.
Under normal circumstances, the sudden appearance of two red dots in the darkness would have been terrifying. But seeing these dots now filled Ding Lang with reassurance. They were clearly the jellyfish Evernight had released earlier.
He couldn't help but ask, "What are these jellyfish? How are they so powerful? Are those monsters no match for them?"
Evernight replied, "Just some little pets of mine."
As for their combat capabilities, Evernight wasn't sure how they'd fare against a real Black Panther, having never fought one before. But against the Black Panthers from her memories, the jellyfish were their absolute bane.
After all, all the monsters here were essentially fragments of past memories, and jellyfish could devour memories. Dealing with these Black Panthers was therefore no challenge at all.
In fact, if Evernight wanted, she could release her jellyfish across the entire world, annihilating all the Black Panthers and "saving" this world trapped in Eternal Night.
But such a drastic measure would be meaningless. Evernight's current plan was to offer moderate assistance, preventing the world's immediate destruction and giving its inhabitants more time—especially Ding Lang—to see if he could pull off any other tricks.
Soon, all the lurking monsters around the trio were cleared away. Ding Lang's gaze swept over Heinrich and Evernight before he whispered to Heinrich, "Who exactly is this pink-haired woman?"
Heinrich maintained an attitude of utmost respect toward Evernight, making it clear that she was the one in charge.
After a moment's thought, Heinrich replied, "She... is a god."
He struggled to elaborate further. He couldn't simply introduce Evernight as the God of Time and then bluntly tell Ding Lang, "You're just a fragment of the past, aren't you?"
Ding Lang paused, then murmured, "A god...?"
So these beings really exist?
In this world, there were no gods. But through the advancement of Magitech, people had long discovered that above Magic Power lay another, far more efficient and potent energy: divine power.
Yet to this day, no reliable method for generating divine power had been found, making it extremely rare and used only in a few critical Domains.
Ding Lang couldn't help but steal several more glances at Evernight. No matter how he looked, this "god" seemed remarkably ordinary, indistinguishable from an average person.
Aside from being slightly prettier and having a colder demeanor, he couldn't help but ask, "So, what exactly is the difference between humans and gods?"
"This..." Heinrich hesitated, unsure how to answer.
He used to look down on gods, seeing them as merely beings with greater power. But after speaking with the Goddess of Magic and living in Okhema for a while, his perspective had changed.
As Heinrich struggled to find the right words, Evernight interjected, "Actually, there isn't much difference at all. Gods are simply beings who wield greater Authority, nothing more."
"As far as I'm concerned, you don't need to be overly reverent towards me. Just treat me with the same respect you'd show any ordinary person."
After a moment, Heinrich asked, "Do you ever regret that your world has no gods? Now that this disaster has struck, there's no one to stand at the forefront."
Ding Lang nodded, then shook his head. "I don't know. But I suspect that if our world had gods, we might have likely clashed with them long before this disaster, leading to a devastating war."
Evernight glanced at Ding Lang, sensing he could actually drop the word "likely" and replace it with "certain." A massive war was inevitable, just like the Arcane Federation in the Main World. For these scholars, the pursuit of knowledge was their very destiny.
Amid their casual conversation, the trio finally reached their destination: a colossal energy plant loomed before Evernight. Its structure resembled a thermal power plant from her previous life, featuring a colossal cylindrical "chimney" encircled by concentric rings of lightbulbs that illuminated the entire facility.
Inside the plant, a continuous thunderous rumble echoed, while thick plumes of white smoke billowed from the chimney's top.
Ding Lang explained, "This is the nearest Magic Energy Plant. The Second Team's first stop will almost certainly be here, and they've likely already arrived."
Outside the plant, Evernight noticed a line of fully armed soldiers standing guard. Heinrich, glowing conspicuously under his Light spell, immediately drew their attention. Their faces hardened with suspicion. "Who goes there?!"