Whispering Verse

[I think you should be the only outsider. 】

While Shade was thinking wildly, a voice whispered in his ear softly.

"Why?"

[The arrival of outsiders is luck among luck. If one appears, it is considered a miracle. There can't be a second one. 】

"Then why "The Little Match Girl"..."

[There are no coincidences in this world, only the inevitable accumulation of necessity. And, haven’t you already guessed the reason? 】

Shade smiled. If there was no second stranger, then the answer would indeed be clear.

Today is Wednesday, past midnight, exactly one week since the last time the time key was used:

"It seems that I, an outsider, do not have nothing."

The woman's melodious laughter came to my ears again.

"Shadow, did you hear that?"

Only then did he realize that Miss Louisa was talking to him. Shade raised his head and said sheepishly:

"Sorry, I was thinking about something just now. What did you say?"

"I said, if you don't leave your cat alone, it will jump out of the basket."

The blond writer touched his earlobe and said.

"Meow~"

Mia screamed "threateningly" at Miss Louisa, and it almost jumped on the dining table.

After dinner, Shade said goodbye to Miss Louisa. Before leaving, he asked her about advertising in the newspaper. Miss Louisa directly took out a handful of business cards from her handbag and gave them to him. They were from newspapers that Miss Louisa had worked with:

"There's always one for you."

Because he was looking forward to what happened tonight, after saying goodbye to the writer, Shade did not go anywhere else, but returned directly to Saint Teresa Square with little Mia in his arms. The time key can only be used after midnight, so from the time when he returned home at half past six to nearly six hours at midnight, Shade still had to wait.

Of course, he did not waste time, but continued to help Miss Louisa translate the book "The Four Elements of Chase: Wind and Fire", and even took time to continue reading "Crazy Light Chaser".

After counting the time and confirming that the time key could be used, he excitedly stood up from the chair in the study.

Little Mia was originally lying on the desk, sleeping in Shade's hand. He was awakened by Shade's movement to get up, but the cat was still lying lazily on the table top, just looking at him with a pair of eyes.

"Now that the afterglow of divinity has lit up around me, it's time to read the stories of the past."

He thought excitedly, and took out the cracked key from the locked drawer.

Leave all the [Relics] in your possession on the table for the time being, and close the study door from the inside. Then he held the key and whispered:

"May the World Tree protect me in time."

The key was inserted into the keyhole, twisted and clicked again. Opening the study door, there is a fog door blocked by thick fog.

The orange cat looked at this scene in surprise, but before it got up, Shade had already stepped into the fog door:

"Mia, see you in three seconds."

When the steps landed, the surroundings were surrounded by white mist.

A murmuring voice rang in my ears. After getting ready, the "other me" received a message from the fallen ancient god [Father of the Infinite Tree]:

[Outlander, you have stepped into the corridor of time. 】

[Message from the ancient god "Father of the Infinite Tree": ]

[Autumn of the Fifth Age, 1068, in the Southern Continent, Hope Town. 】

[Event: The old god "Innocent Creator" fell. 】

[Duration 10 minutes (2/3). 】

[You have obtained additional information. 】

[The figure of the father of the infinite tree continues to look at you. 】

[The test given to you by the ancient god of time will continue. 】

[Witness the last wish of the old god, the "Innocent Creator", before his death. 】

[The ancient god of time will give you rewards: Thaumaturgy - Blade of Time Chaos, Miracle Spirit Rune - Echo. 】

In addition to the addition of words such as "continue" and "continuation", there are only two-thirds more prompts after the duration, but it seems that the time limit this time is still ten minutes.

Because he was mentally prepared, Xia De didn't ask any more questions. If you want to step from the white mist into Hope Town, you can't waste time here, but you didn't expect the woman's voice to continue:

[The life ring appears. 】

"Why?"

Even though I asked, I still did it. Bells sounded and whistles appeared with steam.

The brass ring rotated behind his back, and as the life ring appeared, Shade actually saw inch-by-inch cracks in the skin of his body, and golden light marks shined under those cracks.

This is a physical state that I have seen during the day, but during the day, it is because I am in a dream that the state of my mind and soul is highlighted.

"Why can summoning the life ring here also make the state of the afterglow of divinity appear on the body surface?"

he asked.

[The knowledge in divinity tells me that the "time corridor" you are in now is a special space, and the power of divinity is more obvious here. 】

Whispering, Shade raised his hand and looked at the almost broken skin and the bright light below in disbelief:

"It's really interesting. The state of the mental body can resist the invasion of dreams, but is there any use in this state in the physical body?"

[I think at least this time, you can face Him directly without the protection of the old god. 】

Withdrawing his life ring, he took another step in the thick fog. The surrounding fog disappeared, and Shade returned to the street that looked like a backward medieval town.

Unlike last time, this time it was late at night, and there were no numb townspeople on the streets. Looking around, the whole town stands in the long and deep night, and in the distance there seem to be continuous mountains, like giant beasts crawling in the dark night.

The smell in the air was still pungent, and except for the toy store in front of me, none of the houses had lights on.

Looking up at the sky, dark clouds cover the stars and the moon. It is impossible to judge the exact position at this moment by remembering the stars.

Shade didn't waste time and opened the door directly and walked into the toy store.

The inside and outside of the store seem to be two different worlds. Nothing has changed here. The sweet smell of candy is in the air, and the shelves are filled with a dazzling array of toys. A young man wearing a ridiculous clown hat stood behind the counter and was awakened by the sound of a bell as the door opened.

He raised his head and wanted to welcome the guest, but when he saw that it was a young detective, he did not put on that pretense.

The old gods smiled and said:

"It seems that you have indeed found the afterglow of God?"

"Yeah, it's not easy."

Shade replied.

Except for him, he does not think that any mortal has the opportunity to obtain the "afterglow of God". It is indeed unimaginably difficult to complete the mission of the ancient god. Moreover, he even suspected that other investigators would never have such difficulties when encountering the "Father of the Infinite Tree" mission.

Shade stared at the young man. Although he still felt a lot of discomfort, as long as he looked away, his normal activities would at least not be affected. The other party was right. Without God's afterglow, he would not even be qualified to talk to God for a long time. "God's afterglow" is the first step in this task.