Chapter 00025: Vision of Truth
# Vision of Truth
Chapter 25
Novel: AFK Game: Portal to Another World
Chapter 25: Vision of Truth
Through the Vision of Truth, the druid saw countless strands of golden thread descending from the heavens, connecting to every living being.
These were threads of fate.
It was said that the other end of each thread was held by the God of Death and the God of Fate.
But the druid didn’t concern himself with all the other threads.
His eyes were locked onto the one connecting to the Holy Emblem and the pigeon.
All of a sudden, he felt his vision plunge, as if he had fallen headfirst into icy water.
His sight followed that unique thread of fate upward at lightning speed.
In an instant, he soared out of the woodland, into the sky, where he could even see the distant arc of the planet’s curvature — and beyond, he burst into the vastness of the cosmos.
The stars shimmered in the dark void, but that one golden thread glowed with unmatched presence — impossible to ignore.
The druid took a deep breath and reached out to pluck that thread of fate.
In that moment, the thread carried him through the galaxies at breakneck speed.
Enormous planets appeared and vanished from view like passing thoughts.
Behind him, they shrank into tiny orbs, then blurred into sprawling galaxies too vast for the eye to contain.
Now led by the thread, he plunged headlong into a churning, ever-shifting nebula of chaotic light and color that dazzled before his eyes.
He knew where he was now — the Wall of Worlds, the Sea of Primal Flame.
In the changing mist of light, he saw towering mountains and cascading waterfalls.
The cry of a crane echoed near his ear.
But the next instant, he saw spaceships sailing through the void, firing beams of multicolored light, and countless lives vanishing into the eternal dark.
His mind was on the verge of rupture — these scenes, both understandable and utterly foreign, roared past him in the river of light.
As he regained some semblance of awareness, he saw torrents of lightning snapping in all directions, erupting deeper into the chaotic abyss.
There was a kind of order to it... but that order lay beyond the limits of his understanding.
That golden thread of fate remained at his side.
The druid knew — the Demon God was at the other end of it.
He was only one step away from the truth.
Even though what he had seen just now had shattered everything he thought he understood — making it clear that this god was not one to be glimpsed lightly — still, for the sake of the woodland and the tribe, he could not back away!
He placed his hand on the golden thread once more.
In an instant, his vision dove deeper into the endless chaos.
In the dim flicker of lightning and infinite madness, it seemed he saw a pair of softly glowing eyes — and heard a sharp cracking, like 'ka-cha, ka-cha'.
The sound thundered in his ears, like hammers pounding his chest.
His mind went completely blank.
Unconsciously, the druid dropped to his knees.
Though those eyes were not even looking at him, it was like an ant realizing a colossal elephant was near.
His whole worldview was torn apart in an instant.
His reason screamed in despair.
What was that sound?
A weapon?
Some kind of machine?
Or perhaps... a toy?
Suddenly, the druid had a terrible epiphany — to this deity, not just mortals, but even other gods and this entire world... were nothing more than playthings in His grasp.
Gods don’t play games — unless the game was created by the god Himself.
The druid regretted it.
He prayed for the memories in his mind to vanish.
He should never have witnessed such terrifying scenes.
He should never have tried to uncover the truth of the world.
Just as his consciousness was about to shatter completely, he noticed — those glowing eyes in the chaos turned ever so slightly… in his direction...
–‐‐——–‐‐——–
The tree elves watching didn’t dare to breathe.
They held their breaths and stared at the druid who stood statue-still, his hand outstretched, touching the Holy Emblem for more than ten seconds.
When using the Vision of Truth, though the user might feel it lasts a long while, in reality it’s over in a brief moment.
But this time, the vision lasted far longer than ever before.
Just as they were about to prod the druid back to his senses, he suddenly collapsed to the ground with a thump.
His whole body was trembling, every inch of his flesh seemed to convulse.
Sweat quickly soaked through his fur garments, and his eyes stared blankly, filled only with terror.
No matter how others called his name, the druid gave no response — not until the elder of the tree elves took out a jar of salve from a cabinet and applied it to the druid’s temples and forehead.
Slowly, he began to come back to himself.
Still trembling, the druid looked around to confirm he had truly returned.
Only then did he let out a solid, heavy breath of relief.
"This god... No, this Demon God is far more powerful than any god I have ever encountered. I cannot put it into words, but I'm certain — if He wished to destroy the Distant Forest, it would be as easy as crushing a bug."
"What did you see?"
"A lot... so many images I couldn’t understand."
The druid clutched his head.
"But I seem to have forgotten the most important part. He is too great. My mind instinctively deleted that memory."
The tree elves exchanged glances.
Something like this had never happened before.
It was indeed dangerous to gaze upon a god — but the mind erasing a memory on its own out of survival? That meant the druid had seen things no mortal could withstand.
"But I can say this with certainty — the Demon God is still immensely powerful. Time has not diminished His divine might."
That certainty was good news.
But whether or not to ask the Demon God for help — and whether He would even care to help — was an entirely different matter.
Just as they were about to discuss more, they noticed the druid had returned to his seat and was once again "coo-cooing" at the pigeon named Little White, as if having a conversation.
After a few more exchanges, the druid turned to the others, wearing a look of disbelief.
"This pigeon just told me — it hears the Demon God’s voice in its heart. The Demon God wishes to communicate with us through it."
"What!"
"Why is He paying attention to us!"
"It’s that pigeon that brought all this! It's a follower of the Demon God!"
They had been hesitating about asking the Demon God for help — but now it seemed He’d already been watching!
"Silence!"
The elder of the tree elves tapped the table again, quieting the panicked gathering.
In critical moments, it was still the elder, weathered by storms, who kept calm.
He said:
"Since we have already drawn His attention... perhaps we have no choice."
Even the power of the Plague Goddess had already been a nightmare.
If they now offended the Demon God, it would be like inviting every disaster imaginable upon themselves.
If that was the case — might as well grit their teeth and face it head-on.
"Please tell the Demon God — as long as the forest may endure, as long as our kind may flourish, we are willing to pay any price."
Just as the druid was about to pass on the message, the pigeon cooed again.
One man and one pigeon, you coo a little, I coo a little — back and forth like that for a while, then the druid said:
"The Demon God says… He wants to know what exactly happened. He wants us to explain the situation. But there's no need to coo anymore. He can see."
"...…"
So He doesn’t even know what happened yet?!
Isn’t this Demon God way too nosy?!
We were scared half to death just now!
A wave of silent complaints echoed in the hearts of the tree elves, but no one dared say a word out loud...
(End of Chapter)