Chapter 56.1

As his eyes scanned the unfamiliar stone ceiling, dozens of thick stone pillars, and the mottled carvings on them, he lowered his head in surprise and asked Kevin, "What is this place? I was disoriented by a dream just now, and I was so dizzy that I didn't even realize... Where are we?"

"This is the underground of Old Rose Castle," Kevin replied. He too looked up at the dome, which had now returned to calm after the aftershock of the vibration, and guessed, "Something passed by from above."

The Old Rose Castle had been buried in the desert for a hundred years, and its structural integrity had been greatly reduced, at least worse than Kevin had anticipated.

Movements on the ground could easily be transmitted to the underground palace through the rough stone ground of the ruins.

The rumbling movement just now seemed to have been caused by a group of people passing by in a hurry. But to cause an underground vibration in a specific area, the movements of this group of people would have to be quite substantial, and they seemed to be very eager.

"Ah, yes, we have arrived at Old Rose Castle." Oswald stared warily at the dome, waiting for a while to see that there was no further movement from it.

He then lowered his paw from Kevin's face and moved Sirius's massive body aside.

Kevin was finally free from the pressure of Sirius. He sat up and exhaled twice, feeling relieved.

Oswald's gaze remained fixed on the underground palace. He scanned the scattered bodies on the ground, his brows furrowed in puzzlement and his wolfish features grave. "I remember we encountered part of the advance army in the secret passage. They were all dead, with strange expressions and postures. Then we emerged from the dry well, arrived at Mirage, caught up with the main marching army, and rushed to Old Rose Castle... and then what?"

He turned to look at Kevin, as if trying to recall something, but he could not remember the missing piece of his memory. "I seem to have lost a piece of my memory. What did we encounter after we arrived at Old Rose Castle? Do you have any recollection? I feel like I should have seen something, but I can't remember what it is. It's on the tip of my tongue, but—"

Oswald's eyes widened in surprise. These words sounded all too familiar. Not long ago, they had met the advance army led by Wood and Nick in front of the sand dunes, and they had heard the same words.

"Wait—so what Wood and the others saw in the secret passage is the same as what we saw by the ruins of Old Rose Castle?" Oswald asked, his tone almost decisive. "Do you recall what Wood and the others said? They saw something, but they couldn't remember it when they tried to recall it."

Kevin squeezed the space between his brows and nodded. "It's about the same," he said. "It should be the same, or something very similar."

When Kevin heard Wood's description at the foot of the hill, he believed that it must be related to Melo. After all, no ordinary person could so casually create the effect of erasing memory, unless witchcraft and drugs were used in concert.

However, he never imagined that his godhead would one day return, so he did not consider the possibility that it was the phoenix godhead.

When he arrived at Old Rose Castle, the moment he laid eyes on the phoenix, he understood what Wood and the others had seen in the secret passage.

But if what Wood and the others saw was a phoenix, then a problem presented itself.

Kevin pondered these questions as he sat with his legs bent, his elbows loosely clamped on his knees, and his brow furrowed.

Why had Mello arranged for them to see the phoenix? Why had some people died, while others had chased after him to Old Rose Castle alive?

And if Melo had the ability to let the phoenix walk through the secret passage, why not simply force Kevin to regain his godhead there?

Why had he insisted on making a detour to Old Rose Castle?

Kevin lowered his eyes and thought: What was Melo's purpose in going to such lengths to bring him back to the god position here?

Did Old Rose Castle have any special meaning to him?

Oswald, who was sitting on the side, looked like he was thinking hard when he saw Kevin's vague answer.

He thought that Kevin was also trying to recall the missing part of his memory, so he raised his furry paw and patted Kevin gently, saying, "Don't rub your forehead so hard, don't think about it if you can't remember it. Actually, I have a guess."

Kevin was taken aback and looked up at him. "What guess?"

"Do you still remember why we came to Old Rose Castle?" Oswald said in a deep voice.

"It was because the Priests said that they saw traces of Phae in Old Rose Castle. And do you remember the scene that Mowgli saw? He said that he saw Phae standing by the broken wall of the tower of Old Rose Castle, holding a longbow in his hand and a phoenix totem on the side of his neck."

Kevin laughed dryly. "Well, you seem to remember that quite clearly. And then?"

"Mowgli and the others did not mention the time when this scene appeared, and we have all subconsciously assumed that it was something that had already happened in the past, in Old Rose Castle. But what if it was not the past, but the future? What if what Mowgli saw was actually a prophecy?" Oswald turned his head to stare at Kevin, his clear eyes seeming to pierce right through him.

"You said that we have all had our memories erased. Could it be that those memories are about Phae? When we arrive at Old Rose Castle, when we land in front of the tower, will we see the God of Light, Phae?"

Kevin was speechless. He stared at Oswald, his mind racing.

"If you really saw a miracle, it is understandable that you would lose your memory," Oswald said.

"After all, it is not something that ordinary people can see casually. And then we all fell into a collective coma..."

He raised his eyes and glanced at the people piled up on the ground in the underground palace, and even seriously guessed, "If my thoughts just now are correct, then we were probably moved into this place by Phae. After all, who else could move so many people from the ground to the ground at once?"

Kevin was speechless. He stared at Oswald, his mind racing.

"What do you think?" Oswald finished his analysis and glanced at Kevin. "Isn't that reasonable?"

"It's reasonable, well-founded, and logical," Kevin said, waving his hand perfunctorily. "But young people really dare to think about it."

As Kevin muttered, his eyes scanned the corners of the underground palace, searching for any clues he might have missed.

Suddenly, he felt a fluffy thing brush against his lower back, and he arched his back in surprise.

Kevin was always ticklish, and he shuddered as the fluffy thing tickled his skin. He turned around and saw Sirius, the giant wolf, wagging his tail at him.

Sirius nuzzled Kevin's hand, clearly eager to be praised.

"What are you doing?" Kevin asked, his voice slightly muffled by laughter.