"A Vibration?"
The moment the ground beneath him began to tremble, Xia De thought of the terrifying future he might face if an earthquake occurred underground. But then he realized that it wasn't an earthquake, but the labyrinth itself vibrating.
Observing closely, the surrounding walls slowly moved, some turning in place, others converging towards the center, the sound of stone bricks scraping the ground sharp and grating.
Miss Annette, who was walking in front, changed her expression:
"Someone is manipulating that Document-level relic, the labyrinth candle. We're finally going to encounter a Ring術士. Quick, follow me, don't get separated."
But even as she spoke, the speed of the labyrinth walls' changes far exceeded the trio's expectations.
After running a few steps forward, the wall beside them suddenly swung violently to the side, directly blocking Miss Bei Ya Si, who was at the very back, behind the wall.
Hearing the sound, Xia De, being very rational, did not try to retrieve Miss Bei Ya Si from behind the wall, but instead continued to run forward, following Miss Annette.
Unexpectedly, just after turning the next fork in the road, a blood-red mist surged up:
"It's a Miracle!"
Miss Annette shouted, pinching a pinch of powder from her pocket with her right hand and scattering it forward. But this had no effect whatsoever; instead, several red-eyed bats fluttered out from the blood mist:
"This isn't a Silver-Eyed One's Miracle, Detective, retreat for now, I'll deal with this."
Xia De then retreated back to the fork in the road behind him, but the labyrinth's walls were still constantly changing. Xia De retreated, but Miss Annette did not, and it looked like the two were about to be separated by the wall in front of them:
"Detective, don't follow me. We'll proceed according to the original plan."
She left only these words and then rushed into the blood mist in front of her.
Xia De wanted to follow, but he still stopped. Silvermoon's light flew from his hand, but it couldn't leave any trace on the wall rising in front of him. He tried shouting a few times, but received no response from behind the wall.
Xia De, alone, stood still, listening to the grating noise coming from all directions. After a full two minutes, all the walls finally stopped moving. In the new labyrinth, the three were scattered, and the surroundings were silent. Xia De's left hand tightly gripped the golden necklace around his neck, but his face showed no panic:
"Sure enough, this situation occurred."
In the plan formulated before breaking into the relic, they had already considered the possibility of the three people scattering due to various reasons, with getting lost in the illusion created by the labyrinth candle being the most likely scenario.
And in this situation, Miss Annette and Miss Bei Ya Si had arranged for Xia De to find a relatively safe place to hide and wait for the two ladies to resolve the trouble before coming out.
They seemed to believe that Xia De, being alone, had limited strength and should focus on self-preservation rather than attempting to do more. Xia De's purpose in coming in was merely to help deal with the mirror that attacked "the other me." But now that the mirror's matter was resolved, in the two ladies' minds, it was a good thing that Xia De wouldn't have to face the final battle.
"But now..."
He looked at the passage in front of him and walked a few steps forward to a fork in the road:
"Where should I go?"
He touched the door pendant on his chest, but now was not a good time to use it:
"Feel if you can find the location of that labyrinth candle."
You can find it, but you can't touch it. The labyrinth formed by this relic is not a true illusion, otherwise, people outside the illusion would have just shot you, and you would have died long ago. This is akin to an incomplete Mystic Lock; the only way to leave is to find the exit of the labyrinth.
"An incomplete Mystic Lock?"
Xia De frowned and thought for a moment:
"This is troublesome now. I was clearly attacked just now, so why didn't anyone try to ambush me?"
He stood in place and waited for a while longer, then became certain that no enemies were coming for him.
"Could it be that deep within the labyrinth, there are only unfamiliar people from the Blood Spirit Cult and the Silver-Eyed One? Do they see me as too weak to even bother with?"
He placed his hand on the labyrinth wall, but still found nothing new. Xia De certainly wouldn't be content to just wait here, but using his divinity in the current situation was, of course, even more impossible.
You have other methods.
"I noticed you used an affirmative sentence."
Your emotional fluctuations are too small.
In such a solitary environment, having a trustworthy voice to talk to him was truly wonderful. Although "the other me" was the price of gaining power and would entangle with his soul throughout a Ring術士's life, at least it meant that Ring術士 would never be lonely.
Taking a deep breath, the stuffy, musty air filled his nostrils, and Xia De said in his mind:
"Since there's no way to break the labyrinth, why not try a different approach? The relic belongs to the Innocent Creator's mortal cult, so would the cult leave some conveniences for future new cults?"
You do not possess that God's divine Miracle. The resonance of calling out to homologous powers would probably not be simple.
She reminded him softly.
"Yes, no divine Miracle, but I have a last will."
Xia De looked around and said softly:
"The maker of toys always yearns to create childlike innocence."
Nothing happened.
Xia De thought for a moment, and Priest Augustus's face suddenly appeared. The only missing piece in the Three Great Arcane Academies' mysticism was content related to prayer and divine Miracle:
"If you want to invoke the power of a God, you naturally rely on prayer." (Note)
As he spoke, he closed his eyes and used his finger to draw the holy emblem of the Old God, Innocent Creator, on his chest. Xia De used the technique he learned from Priest Augustus to pray softly:
"The maker of toys always yearns to create childlike innocence."
The wind brushed past his ears, and Xia De heard a sigh. Opening his eyes again, a pure golden butterfly flew from his shoulder and flew into the distance before his eyes.
"What whisper element?"
He stared at the butterfly, which seemed to be enticing him.
Miracle.
Xia De knew his plan had succeeded.
The vanished cult certainly couldn't have guessed what kind of relic someone would use in the relic, but this butterfly, which seemed to have a guiding effect, had the function of pointing out the correct path.
Xia De followed behind the fluttering golden butterfly, continuously moving forward in the labyrinth. Ten minutes later, a stone wall appeared in front of him, indicating that he had entered a dead end. But the butterfly did not stop; instead, it flew straight through the wall and disappeared.
"Is this the exit?"
He thought in confusion, touched the necklace around his neck, and then lit the remaining Bordeaux candle again.
He reached out and touched the wall in front of him; his hand did not pass through the wall but encountered a tangible obstruction.
Xia De was stunned for a moment:
"So that's how it is."
He applied a little more force. Although the wall didn't change, his hand did indeed push open a stone door. After the stone door opened wide enough, Xia De stepped forward, his body passing through the wall and entering the next room.
The labyrinth ended. In the new relic room, there were no longer those walls made of large stone bricks, nor were there any other relics blocking the way.
The golden butterfly fluttered up and down in the darkness, finally exploding into golden particles of light before Xia De's eyes, illuminating the small room with scattered points of light.
Unlike all the relic spaces he had experienced before, here there was only the one door Xia De had passed through. The size of the space was similar to the space in front of the initial stone door. There were no carvings on the walls, but a stone coffin rested before him.
This place should not be accessible by normal means. The stone coffin had not been disturbed, so it seemed that the Mercury Blood people had not discovered this place either.
Xia De hesitated for a moment, confirmed that there was nothing but the coffin, and then approached the ancient sarcophagus. The stone coffin was only inscribed with the name Joel Od Caris, indicating that this was the tomb of one of the three who remained to guard the relic until the end.
Under normal circumstances, Xia De would not casually disturb someone else's sarcophagus, but since the golden butterfly had guided him here, he could only seek answers within the sarcophagus.
"I apologize."
He earnestly apologized to the stone coffin, and then pushed open the sliding lid of the sarcophagus. Although it hadn't been moved for over a thousand years, the sliding lid was still easily pushed open.
Inside, there were no remains, only an exquisite stone box, a rolled parchment, and a silver ring.
"May your soul rest in peace."
Xia De said softly; he actually greatly admired the three people who stayed behind.
He then picked up the parchment scroll and found it was a letter. The writing used was still the ancient script found on the walls.
The beginning of the letter stated that the letter was left by Gina Angela Sewell, the last of the three who remained to guard the relic to die. She explained that the stone box was the urn of Joel Od Caris, one of the three, and hoped that later comers would not disturb it, and she prayed in the letter for her two deceased companions.
Finally, on the yellowed parchment scroll, a map of the relic was drawn, marking the locations of the three coffins, secret passages, anti-theft mechanisms, and some relics, hoping to assist later comers.
Of course, the most important was the dangerous relic sealed within the relic, which the parchment referred to as the Secret Keeper Level relic, the corpse tree.
Although it was only Secret Keeper Level, it possessed characteristics such as spatial movement, large-scale collective illusion, manipulation of undead, and manipulation of living puppets. If this relic were to go wrong, it could destroy a City in a short amount of time. However, as long as it was not "fed" for a long time, its power would naturally decline, which is why it was suppressed in the relic by the cult.
The letter did not discuss too many more specific characteristics of the corpse tree, but repeatedly emphasized that those who entered the relic should not touch the corpse tree. At the same time, if one found abnormal wood fibers emerging from a companion's wound, it meant they were infected and had to be killed immediately.
The third item placed in the sarcophagus, the silver ring next to the urn, was Caris's relic. It was not a relic with a whisper element; it was a personal relic, just an ordinary ring.
Miss Sewell, who left the letter, hoped that later comers would not disturb the relics of the three, as this was their only wish as guardians.