320 Madness and Lighthouse
She could remember everything with crystal-clear clarity, but still, she felt like she didn’t belong here.

As if she was trapped in a statue, unable to move or escape. The feeling gnawed at her relentlessly. Her memories grew stronger with each passing moment, but they also became more and more unbearable.

Souls were more than just a collection of memories. When the dead were reincarnated, they didn’t bring their memories with them.
Death, in all its various forms, had a sacred duty to rip away the memories of the dead souls. After the establishment of the Seven Holy Spirits theory, this became the most important authority of the Holy Spirit—the Dead—to make the dead forget.

On the other hand, the shape of a soul in each incarnation was shaped by the memories of that particular life. It was a delicate balance, and if the form of the body and soul didn’t match, it would trigger a dangerous madness, like a ticking time bomb waiting to explode.

!!
This madness was a result of a mismatch between one’s true self and how others saw them. That’s why the Absurdity Jester’s Moon Realm domain took the form of a theater. In an endless theater, the actors on stage never got to be themselves. They were doomed to eternal craziness.

Floral felt as clumsy as an actor in the Fanatic Theater.

“So, who do you think you really are?”

As they made their way to the World’s End, Ebony couldn’t help but ask Floral about her intermittent complaints.

“I believe I am Floral Kane. And if what you say is true about there being another Ravenwood, then I must be the Holy Tree Duke in that world. But that’s just my gut feeling. I have no proof.”

Floral replied without thinking.

Even though her senses were hijacked by an unknown force, and she couldn’t remember her experiences from the other side, Floral believed that her identity as the Holy Tree Duke should remain unchanged.

“So, you think being yourself will make you go mad?”

Ebony couldn’t help but ask as he recalled the madness she had mentioned.

“I feel like I’m out of place because I sense that I’ve forgotten a crucial mission. But the right to define madness lies not in my hands but in how others perceive me. No one who’s crazy would claim to be crazy.”

Floral gave such an answer.

“Then why do you say you feel like an actor in the Fanatic Theater?”

Ebony continued asking.

Floral shot him a strange look and said, “Haven’t you always thought I was crazy? Or, to put it bluntly, don’t you think this world, where the dead imitate the living, is pure madness?”

Ebony was taken aback by her frank response and didn’t know how to reply.

Ebony, on the other hand, had become so accustomed to the madness of the Kingdom of the Dead that he couldn’t tell if the world had gone insane or if he had.

After a long time, Ebony finally mustered the courage to ask, “What if… I’m the one suffering from hysteria?”

Living with the undead for years had taken its toll on him, and he often felt like he was on the brink of madness. If it weren’t for the occasional Forest Elf transmigrator who shared his worldview, he would have lost his mind. In fact, he had felt more than once that the ones who had gone crazy should be the minority.

“It doesn’t matter,” Floral said, pivoting to gaze into the distance. Her voice was steady and calm.

“To me, the world you described sounds better.

“Regardless of which world is real, it’s enough reason for me to choose.”

…

Once they departed from Holy Tree City, Ebony tapped into his communication with the wild beast spirits in the forest and summoned two giant Terror Birds, each of them emaciated.

The ability he gained from engraving the tattoo of a wild beast in another world could also be used in this strange world. However, the creatures he summoned were akin to Forest Elf undead who believed they were still alive. Their entire bodies exuded a putrid and foul odor.

Despite the physical discomfort, Ebony rode one of the Terror Birds while Floral rode the other. The latter appeared unfazed by the sight of the grotesque beasts. She expertly controlled the Terror Bird to take off and led Ebony to the edge of Ravenwood Forest.

“Are we soaring along Golden Green Avenue?” Ebony shouted at Floral through the howling wind, using the pale moonlight to determine their journey’s direction.

“Indeed, our destination is the edge of Ravenwood—a boundary stone that the empire drew near the lighthouse for the Constellation of Healers.” Floral’s voice sounded cold as the wind carried her words to Ebony’s ears.

“But why there? If Ravenwood is merely a fictional world as you claim, then won’t we reach the edge of this world regardless of which direction we fly in?” Ebony questioned, lying on the Terror Bird that reeked of death.

Flying east from Holy Tree City to the Healer Astral Lighthouse was a considerable distance. If they flew south to a few seaport cities near the Shattered Sea, they could at least cut down the travel time by half.

“Without proper guidance, leaving Ravenwood alone is impossible,” Floral calmly replied.

“Why?”

“We’ll always be lost. No matter how much time we spend, we’ll eventually end up back where we started. And there’s a greater chance that we’ll be lost forever,” Floral replied, her voice a whisper that echoed in Ebony’s ears, even amidst the roaring wind.

“How do you know?” Ebony asked, confused.

“Because my adoptive parents and I tried it before.”

Floral’s tone made Ebony decide not to pursue the topic further. Instead, he asked another question.

“Then why take Golden Green Avenue?”

“Because since Terra’s conquest, the only way to enter Emerald Province by land, other than through the teleportation nexus set up in the empire’s embassy, is by taking the Golden Green Avenue that the Astral Council carved out back then.”

The empire’s official road, constructed with three Astral Lighthouses as nodes, completely eradicated the problem of excessive vegetation growth caused by Ravenwood’s strong vitality. This was a problem that plagued other areas if maintenance was not kept up.

The Astral Council had built the Golden Green Avenue, a barren stretch of land, through the circulation of Metal magic. This avenue became one of the few channels in Emerald Province capable of communicating with the outside world, apart from the water transport systems.

“Golden Green Avenue is one of the very few places on land in Ravenwood that has causal intersections with the rest of the Vic Continent, so…”

Floral stopped mid-sentence and stood firmly on the Terror Bird’s back against the howling winds filling the sky. She gazed into the distance where Golden Green Avenue extended.

“What’s wrong?” Ebony sensed that something was amiss and asked.

“The Healer’s lighthouse… it’s just been extinguished.”

…

I can’t fly to the edge of Ravenwood even if I fly north… Wait, what’s this? A Mobius Ring?

With the help of Morph and Storm, along with his lightning spells, William soared above Ravenwood. He was like a fighter jet, capable of short-distance warps. But no matter how far he went, he ended up back where he started.

It was like being trapped in a loop.

William wondered if Ravenwood was a circular spatial structure, like a Mobius Ring. He realized that he couldn’t get to the edge of this area, no matter where he flew.

As he muttered to himself about his predicament, he noticed a faint light that suddenly vanished from his ether domain’s observation range.

And in that direction was…

East? The Astral Lighthouse for the Constellation of Healers?

The Astral Lighthouse has gone out?