The Divine Armor of the Old Century（Book 1）

Chapter 142

It was that familiar, desolate world once more. Beneath the fractured ice plains, dark blue waves churned, and a colossal full moon hovered half-sunken on the horizon. The Milky Way stretched across the night sky, crystal clear, while the cold wind howled, hammering everything in its path.

Everything here seemed like an artist's masterpiece, save for the jarring presence of a single bench and the person seated upon it.

As if waking from an interminably long dream, Lloyd stirred, taking in the familiar surroundings. He wasn't sure how long he'd been asleep, as a thin layer of snow had accumulated on his clothes, yet he didn't feel particularly cold. In front of him, a familiar man stood with his back turned, seemingly waiting for something.

"Good morning!" The man turned, a smile on his face that bore a striking resemblance to Lloyd's own.

"Medanzo?" Lloyd rubbed his temples, feeling a familiar headache. It seemed he was back here again, at the end of the connection, in that eerie mental world, or as it was known, the "Interstice."

This was the unknown and bizarre mental world at the deepest point of demonic corruption, at the closest connection to darkness.

"You brought me here?" Lloyd tried to ask, recalling that the first time he had arrived, it was Medanzo's machinations that had lured him in.

"No, this time you were drawn in. I'm curious myself about what you were doing. Your connection to this place peaked instantly, and then you fell into the Interstice." Medanzo's words left Lloyd stunned.

"You mean I came here by myself?" Lloyd asked in disbelief.

Medanzo nodded, then continued, "Lloyd, you've forgotten many things. You're far more complex than you realize."

The look in his eyes carried deep meaning, as if he were hiding something—something Lloyd had almost forgotten. But then, Medanzo waved him over.

Lloyd stood up slowly from the bench, trying to recall how he had arrived here. Unlike the first time, his memory was hazy, like a fragmented dream. He struggled, and the blurry recollections gradually became clearer. He remembered stepping into the divine armor, and then arriving here... It was the ancient divine armor that brought him here.

"That damn thing has this effect too?" Lloyd recalled Tesla's warning: the first time anyone pilots a divine armor, it comes with extreme risks. No one knows what might happen, and this seemed to be the risk Lloyd encountered.

Lloyd walked slowly to Medanzo's side, about to say something, but was captivated by what he saw before him. He stood there, stunned and incredulous.

The once intact ice plain had begun to crack, deep fissures several meters wide stretching out like gaping wounds, extending towards the horizon like a spiderweb. Dark blue seawater surged within these crevices, and from the depths came the sound of chains scraping metal.

The Interstice was changing. Lloyd remembered what it looked like the first time he came here, but now it seemed to be collapsing.

"She's here," Medanzo suddenly said. Before Lloyd could react, the ice beneath him shattered completely. Water surged up, mingled with splintered ice, and chains whipped through the air, bringing with them a biting wind.

A bone-chilling cold descended, casting a striking shadow under the night sky. Another familiar guest appeared beside Lloyd, Watson, smiling gently at the two.

"You know, I've learned of a surgery that can destroy my nerves. Perhaps it could trap her forever."

Lloyd wasn't overly panicked. For some reason, as long as Medanzo was by his side, he felt everything was under control, even though this Medanzo was merely a lingering ghost.