Mystery: Lucky One

Lovia was pulled back by Alice.

She stopped and looked at Alice in confusion. Alice frowned as she looked into the hall, then hesitated and said:

"How about...you still go out first?"

"Why?" Lovia asked her with a frown.

Alice shook her head. The scene in front of her was colorful and she could not capture much. The clearest thing was an expanding shadow and a pair of eyes that showed confusion and pain.

She looked at Luo Weiya and said bluntly:
“If you go in, you’ll die.

"I don't have the confidence to bring you out alive."

"But..." Luo Weiya wanted to say something.

Colin Iliad and Derrick stopped moving, and Klein did not move forward. Colin asked:
"what is inside?"

“‘Dark Angel’ Sasriel, I think the path He once controlled should be the ‘Hanged Man’ path,” Alice said hesitantly. “As for now… He must not have any Beyonder characteristics. The reason for His existence… I don’t know the specific reason, but it must be related to the ‘Chaos Sea’. And the pollution of the ‘Chaos Sea’… I can’t solve it.”

After a few seconds of silence, Luo Weiya replied with a slightly complicated expression:
“I originally thought that you were here to take something from the palace.

"I originally..."

She paused, as if something was swallowed back, and finally she said:

"You do remind me of one thing - am I, like Shadow, subject to the power of the Fall?"

"...No," Alice answered honestly, "At least I don't see that possibility...I only see that you will die - either by us, or by the influence of a higher being? You understand."

"Did I help before I died?" Lovia smiled her first smile towards Alice, looking a little stiff.

Alice was speechless for a moment. She suddenly felt that she should have lied just now, but she could do nothing. She could only sigh and say:
"I do not know."

Luo Weiya looked at her calmly, and said calmly and calmly: "In that case, I will try my best to help."

Having said that, she walked forward again without hesitation.

Alice didn't stop Lovia anymore. She just sighed, turned back and said to the chief: "Sometimes I really hate you guys..."

She pursed her lips, glanced at Klein silently, and then followed him in.

After passing through the open door, I finally entered the dark hall.

The darkness here seemed to be solid. Alice frowned and looked around as she stepped over the threshold. Then she paused. Colin Iliad asked sharply:
"what happened?"

"I was wondering," Alice glanced at the dark surroundings and said in surprise, "What does it feel like to be eaten by a shadow?"

After saying this, she shook her head and went into the hall.

She turned around and looked behind her. As Klein walked in last, the darkness seemed to come alive and squirmed, swallowing up the last of the light. Alice sighed and lay down where she was.

This operation stunned everyone. Before anyone could ask, Alice raised her hand and said:

"You guys should also find a place to lie down or sit down, don't waste your energy, wait a moment - it should be pretty quick.

"Derrick, please shine some light. Don't use the 'Undying Realm' kind. Just normal light will do."

Derrick didn't understand, but he subconsciously shot out a beam of light, illuminating the hall.

The golden halo spread out layer by layer, revealing a huge stone pillar that could not be seen at the top. Alice let out a "wow" with a sense of participation, then half turned over and reached out to her own shadow.

Her palm was pressed against the ground, touching the shadow's palm, but she was not satisfied, so she raised her hand and poked it back again, until she saw the shadow leave the ground and cover her palm.

Then, the shadow quickly spread upwards, enveloping her entire body. Alice shouted calmly:

"I'll go first--"

She was only halfway through her words when she was swallowed up by the shadow and disappeared from the spot.

The others looked at each other in bewilderment. Recalling the question Alice asked when she came in, Colin Iliad had a vague guess. He turned around to look for her, but found that Lovia had also disappeared.

The next person to disappear was Colin. Derrick stood there and watched the three people being swallowed by the shadow. He swallowed and asked Klein:

"Mr. World, what's going on?"

“That’s it.” As he said this, the shadow beneath Klein began to dance and swallowed him.

Watching his companions being "eaten" by the shadows one after another, Derrick couldn't help but feel a little nervous. In a panic, he noticed that his body was turning darker and lighter, as if it was melting.

Derrick quickly realized what was happening. He did nothing to save himself and just watched himself melt. When he opened his eyes again, he saw Alice, who seemed to have known that he would be here.

The enlarged face blocked his way, and it was the first to appear after a moment of darkness. It then gave him a bright smile, and then without saying anything, it just stepped away.

The new palace no longer had the eye-catching darkness, but the gray-white stone bricks, the pillars that five or six people could not hug, and the walls on all four sides were covered with a layer of shadow that was neither thick nor thin.

Outside the window, there was no sun, no moon, and no stars, but a faint light came in, making the entire palace look gloomy, dim, and deserted.

At the deepest part of the palace, there stood a very faint shadow, like a curtain.

Alice was looking at the shadow curiously at this moment, and seemed eager to try, but for some reason she did not go forward.

Klein looked around warily, then approached Alice and asked:
"Is there anything there?"

"There is my Lord's left hand." Alice blinked and responded happily.

There is the "blasphemous slate"... and there is my "opportunity".

Her sight seemed to casually slide across the shadow that still shrouded her. Alice tried to calm her longing soul, but her heart sank little by little.

At this moment, although there were still many questions, there was one thing she was extremely sure of - she must get the first "blasphemous slate" behind the shadow!
Klein was stunned for a moment, and soon realized that she was talking about the "Dark Angel" Sasriel.

He wanted to say something, but felt powerless, so he finally gave up communicating with her.

Suddenly, they all felt something and looked towards the shadow. Alice's posture also straightened up a lot and her expression became solemn.

In the deepest part of the palace, the faint shadow disintegrated and disappeared, revealing the steps belonging to the giant and the iron-black throne at the top of the steps.

Sitting on the throne was a man with shoulder-length black hair that was slightly curly. His eyes were covered with shadows, and his specific features were extremely blurry, making it difficult to see clearly. Behind him, there were layers of virtual black wings hanging down, covering most of his body. His robe was dark black, wrapped with silver threads, engraved with complex patterns, and hung with gorgeous accessories. At this time, the man's left elbow was resting on the armrest, and his palm was supporting the side of his face, as if he was sleeping.

“You say…” Alice turned around and asked in a tone of deep doubt, “He has slept in this position for more than a thousand years. Doesn’t His arms feel sore?”

"......?" Lovia's mind went blank, and she felt that her impression of the angel, which had just changed, had returned to her.

"..." Colin Iliad said nothing, but looked at Derrick meaningfully.

"..." Derrick said nothing and looked at Mr. World.

"Will it, will it?" Mr. World looked a little hesitant and nervous. "I don't know..."

This farce-like scene temporarily eased the atmosphere, and Colin Iliad said:

"I think it's best for us not to wake Him up. Try to get closer, look for clues, and gather intelligence."

Alice nodded and said seriously, "Okay, go ahead."

Colin was stunned for a moment, but he still raised his leg without hesitation, as if he really wanted to start collecting intelligence. Alice slid forward to stop him, then turned to look at Klein and said seriously:

"You go."

"Me?" Klein looked a little puzzled. He was obviously not used to being pushed to the front by Alice in truly dangerous situations.

"I don't know why He named you...but since He designated you to open the door, you must have a special place here - you know what I mean."

After a pause, Alice asked again with doubt: "By the way, why are you not as shy as before you came in?"

"...My soul has been restored to its original state," Klein's face twisted for a moment. "This means that I can suppress my 'virtual personality' to a certain extent, and will not do anything that goes against my personal will because of the existence of my 'virtual personality'."

"For example?" Alice raised her eyebrows, a wicked smile on her lips.

Klein glanced at her and suddenly became flustered. He lowered his head, half-raised his eyes, and called out carefully:

"Alice, don't do this..."

Alice took a deep breath and took several steps back, before being supported by the kind-hearted Lovia.

Klein then returned to normal. He raised his head and spoke calmly:

“It means that, while I have the strength to spare, I will not allow myself to speak to you as I have just done.

"However, I will not completely suppress the 'virtual personality'. I just control myself from doing something too outrageous."

"Thank you." Alice thanked sincerely.

"How about that," Lovia suddenly interrupted as she observed them, "I'll use the herding soul to explore the way first."

This suggestion made Alice silent for a moment. She remembered what Lovia said before she came in, and finally did not stop her. She said calmly:
"it is good."

A three or four meter tall shadow immediately appeared in front of Luo Weiya. It had a pair of goat horns covered with mysterious patterns on its head, and its skin was dark and pale, full of evil. It was a demon.

Unlike the demons Alice had seen before, its body had many signs of decay and was covered with yellow-green pus, which seemed to be mixed with the power of "corruption".

The demon spread its giant bat-like wings behind it, causing the light blue flames on them to burn even more fiercely, emitting a strong smell of sulfur.

It stepped forward, slowly approaching the iron-black throne and the steps prepared for giants, using its own danger instinct to scout for possible changes.

Alice forced herself to look away from Sasriel's dark wings and the object hidden beneath them, and looked behind the throne.

There was a gray door with a dim light, depicting a dusk scene. Alice looked at the door and whispered:

"That's the way out."

Colin and the other two's hearts skipped a beat and all fell on the door.

At this moment, the demon figure, which had walked half the distance, suddenly stopped, and was enveloped by a ball of entangled silver-white lightning. It broke into pieces with a crackling sound and quickly faded.

A beam of light wrapped in sacred flames fell from the sky, completely purifying the soul of the demon.

Lovia did not show any pain due to the loss of her herding object, but just frowned slightly. Alice sighed and shook her head, then turned to Klein and said:

"It seems you have to go."

Klein nodded, expressing his understanding and agreement.

He didn't say anything, but just walked forward, took out a box of matches from his pocket, and then lit them one by one and threw them around casually.

Then, under the illumination of red flames, Klein continued to walk towards the iron-black throne.

Alice held her breath, or rather, she stopped making the breathing motion - after all, it was a habit and a personal hobby.

When he reached the place where the demon soul was burned, Klein paused. Alice saw him raise his hand to look at his gloves and the "Star Wand", and then feed the "Star Wand" to the gloves.

This action confused Alice to some extent. She blinked her eyes and watched Klein do all this. After waiting for a while, he took another step.

Alice looked at Klein's gloves and fell into deep thought.

At this moment, the shadows covering the walls, pillars, and floor tiles began to crack open one after another, and brass eyes grew out one after another.

A figure appeared in front of Klein, who was being watched by countless eyes.

He first presented the current Merlin Hermes, then the black-haired, brown-eyed, and stern-looking Gehrman Sparrow, and finally twisted himself into the black-haired, brown-eyed, ordinary-looking, bookish Klein Moretti, before degenerating into a blurry shadow with grayish-white mist emanating from his body.

Alice narrowed her eyes. She realized what the shadow showed and suddenly regretted that she was not the one who stepped forward.

...The premise is that this effect will also occur if I go forward.

She soon didn't need to regret it, because the black shadow exploded with a bang after interpreting the gray-white mist, making Alice realize that there was a limit to the interpretation of this thing, which was the source quality.

Alice gathered her thoughts and looked at the brass eyes growing in the shadows around her and on the ground. They all shook and emitted a sound that was so ethereal that it seemed to come from ancient times:

"The aura of 'Source Castle'..." (End of this chapter)