Chasing Time

“Next, we have the most noble recipient of the Order of the Garter, the Grand Cross of Saint Michael and Saint George, the Grand Cross of the Bath, the Victoria Cross and the lower grades of Knighthood, the leader of the anti-colonial movement, the bell-ringer of the East India Company, the hero of the Crimean War, a Fellow of the Royal Society, a lifelong dear friend of literary giants such as Dickens and Great Dumas, a steadfast supporter of scientific luminaries like Faraday and Darwin, having served as assistant under-secretary, deputy under-secretary, and permanent under-secretary in departments of the Home Office and the Navy Department of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the inaugural Cabinet Secretary and head of the civil service, the first graduate and most distinguished alumnus of our school. Please welcome Sir Arthur Hastings to deliver a speech on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the University of London.”
Arthur's gaze swept across the crowd before him, looking at the young faces and murmured, “Agares, what do you think I should say?”
The Red Devil's wraith hovered behind him, saliva almost dribbling from the corner of his mouth, “Look at these ignorant souls; they still worship you as a hero. Why not say something they'd like to hear?”
Arthur took a deep breath and let out a deafening roar, “Oxford is a bunch of whores' bastards!”
“Oh!!!!”
The audience erupted into thunderous applause.
“Cambridge is the same!” he added immediately.
The applause grew even more fervent...
(The protagonist, possessed by a devil, travels through 19th-century Britain in a world without magic)

The Shadow of Great Britain

Just as the people inside the room had acclimatized to the darkness of the theater and were about to discuss something else, suddenly, they saw countless torches entering in procession from two pathways behind Astley Theatre's circular stage.


Seen from above, the torches resembled a steady, rhythmic march of ants, assembling into a regular circular formation around the stage center.


Unable to contain his curiosity, King William IV murmured, "What is that?"


Standing nearby, Lionel replied softly with a smile, "Just as His Grace had mentioned earlier, Your Majesty, the surprise has arrived."


No sooner had he finished speaking than the torches, as if by agreement, swept inward from the outer circle to the inner, witnessed by the audience holding their breath.


The darkness receded like a receding tide, replaced by a spectacle of radiant light.


Chapter 258: Collision of Eras (5K6)_2