Shade and Iluna followed the downward slope to the end, and at the end, they finally saw the red door with blood flowing through it.
The metal gate completely blocked the passage, and the two doors on the left and right clearly drew the current map of the material world including the New World, the Old World and the Ocean.
The strange red color on the surface of the door is not paint, but the color of the metal itself. Blood is constantly seeping out of the metal and flowing to the ground. When Shade and Iluna arrived, the ground in front of the door was simply a pool of blood.
The ends of roots are drilled out of the walls up and down the passage and fit into the door panel, allowing the metal and tree roots to blend into one. The pattern of tree roots guards the central map of the material world from all sides of the door, but it also seems to be void.
The roots protruding from the middle are peeking at the world described in the map.
At this time, eleven keys have been inserted into the thirteen keyholes scattered on the door. The key handles are parallel to the ground, which means that the twisting is completed.
"Look at where the keyhole is."
Iluna reminded, and then Shade noticed that six of the keyholes were located in Tobesk City, Cold Water Port, Fort Midhill, Lake Pantanal in the center of the Pantanal Swamp, and Rand
Er River Valley and today's Green Lake area.
"Are the keyholes corresponding to the keys that symbolize the thirteen chosen ones on the stage where the story takes place?"
The two went to look at the locations of the other seven keyholes, but found that those keyholes did not indicate the location of the chosen one next.
Because the first six keyholes fell directly in the center of the area, which clearly indicated the location. The next seven keyholes either fell in uninhabited deserts, oceans, virgin forests, or other uninhabited areas, or in
It is obviously impossible to specify the exact location where multiple cities meet.
Shade and Iluna still wrote down those positions, so that as long as the seventh candidate appears in the future, they can verify the correctness of other positions. Although Shade has the last two keys in his hand, he still
I chose to try to use the "Door Key" to force the door open first.
The tip of the "Night Watchman" sword pierced one of the keyholes. Shade activated his thaumaturgy while trying to turn his wrist. The long sword did not move at all. Instead, the tree roots embedded in the red metal door seemed to be squirming vaguely. With that,
Due to Shade's persistence, roaring sounds came from deep underground, and the ground seemed to vibrate violently again in response to Shade's actions.
In the end, Shade gave up:
"I feel like I'm moving the entire island."
He said to Iluna beside him:
"This door is like the core of the entire island, and it is also one of the cores of Edwards' magic. Forcing the door to open the door is equivalent to destroying everything here, and it is also equivalent to directly releasing the sealed island, allowing the space collapse to be directly transmitted to the material world.
.”
He took out two keys, and Iluna twisted one of them:
"Then let's come together and witness all this."
The two of them inserted the keys in their hands into the last two keyholes at the same time. As they turned gently, a huge clicking sound came not from the inside of the door in front of them, but from the depths of the earth beneath their feet.
The deafening sound was louder than any sound that Shade and Iluna had heard on the island so far. Beyond this sound, Shade and Iluna looked at each other and felt that this island
The space where the island is located has fundamentally changed as a result.
As the last two keys were turned, the thirteen keys and the keyholes on the blood-red door in front of them glowed with light at the same time. Then, as the tree roots at the four corners squirmed and spread towards more parts of the door, the tree roots
Eventually it "swallowed" the two metal doors, and the tree roots themselves were dyed a brighter blood color by the metal.
In the light, the red metal door itself was also melting. When the wooden part finally completely replaced the metal part, it formed a structure similar to the arches that often appear in ancient ruins, thus showing Shade and Iluna how to move on.
path of.
"Arch", a common occult symbol, has the typical meaning of "crossing boundaries" and "dividing space." For example, the three ancient arches in the Night Temple in Randall Valley are to divide the boundaries between gods and humans.
And when Shade and Iluna crossed the archway deep in the passage together, they felt that although they were still underground in the old Edwards house, they seemed to have entered another strange space.
"Create space."
Iluna whispered the content of the "Space Chosen One" ritual, but Shade shook his head:
"It's not to that extent yet."
Although there is still a passage deep underground wrapped in tree roots ahead, it is getting wider and wider. The crystal lanterns on the wall - Shade has only seen similar things in the fifth era - are lit up one by one.
Finally, they saw some stone bookshelves scattered on both sides of the passage behind the arch. They were filled with densely packed parchment rolls and slates, and there were only a few normally printed books.
At the end of the passage, there is the banquet hall door that is open. The door is made of ordinary metal, but it has the overlapping patterns of "Reunifier" and "Family Genealogy" on it.
The passage behind the arch is not long, and the door that opens a gap can be reached in just a few steps.
But since there was a scene similar to a library, Shade stretched out his hand:
"Library search - books related to the Philosopher's Stone, the end of the world, and the birth of the soul."
Only a parchment roll tied with a ribbon flew into Shade's hand. The surface of the roll was imprinted with a bright red "Philosopher's Stone" symbol pattern. Shade opened it and took a look, and saw that the first line read
:
[The Philosopher's Stone itself can make the elixir of life, but the original meaning of its creation was the pursuit of "perfect eternity". 】
This is the knowledge about the Philosopher's Stone. Shade put this unexpected surprise into his pocket and continued with Iluna to the door at the end. There was even a dazzling light behind the crack of the door. Shade
Ask Iluna:
"Are you ready?"
The girl with long brown hair, who will celebrate her eighteenth birthday in a few hours, nodded:
"It has been prepared for a long time. This scene is very familiar, isn't it? It's you and me again."
There was a mixture of joy and nervousness in his eyes.
"Yes, it's you and me again."
The two of them didn't exchange any more words. Shade inserted his free right hand into the crack of the door, and the door opened.
Before that, Shade had guessed several times what the banquet hall where the final "Edwards Family Banquet" would be held would be like.
Perhaps it is a splendid and luxurious place just like the banquet held by the great nobles of Tobesk;
Perhaps it is the underground space that is full of mystery, decorated with various strange murals, but also cold and slippery;
Perhaps it is an open-air place located in the forest, just like the "Feast of the Earth Mother" two months ago;
Perhaps beyond the imagination of outsiders, there are other shocking and magnificent places that have exhausted human imagination.
But he guessed wrong. When the door finally opened, Shade and Iluna saw a rectangular basement without any decoration and surrounded by gray stone walls. They saw many people sitting on the same stone floor.
One side of the long table.
Laplace Klein Edwards was located in the center of the long table. On the left and right sides, his descendants sat down in order according to their blood relationships, all facing the direction of the door. The table was covered with gold cups, silver plates and sumptuous dishes.
Even though there are golden candlesticks and bright candles, it can't hide the fact that this place is really shabby.
Apart from the long table, the food on the long table, and the people around the long table, there was probably only dust left here. The room was medium in size, but because it was empty, it seemed extra large.
Counting the people around the table, except for the eldest son of the third generation, Envy Edwards, who transcends time and space, everyone is here. But except for the fortune teller in the center, wearing a golden robe with an Ouroboros pattern on the chest.
, only the second son of the second generation, the tentacled man Sloth Edwards, the third generation's youngest daughter, the demon dragonman Gratonne Edwards, and the fifth generation, Jarvis Edwards, who believes in the "God of Tyranny", are awake.
However, there was an obvious bruise on Grattonie Edwards' face, as if she had been hit by something rectangular.
These three people sincerely support their ancestors, while the others are unconscious. Of course, Shade also saw Megan among them. She wore a cat-shaped mask on her face, lying down like the other unconscious people.
on the desktop.
Except for Megan, just like the oil painting that Shade once saw, the six people of the Sixth Generation also wear masks. Those masks are obviously special alchemy items, specially used to restrain these people who have never landed on the island and are controlled by their ancestors.
family members.
As for the fifth-generation Maria Edwards and the second-generation little girl Rust, of course there is no such thing as "coma" in their souls. They just sit there lifelessly, with no expression on their faces.
Tree roots, a large number of tree roots, were entangled on the table and on the backs of everyone's chairs. When Shade and Iluna appeared, those spreading giant tree roots were spreading out bit by bit from the gaps in the wall.
The door behind the two people closed silently, and the roots quickly blocked the door completely.
But Shade and Iluna didn't care either. Iluna even said mockingly:
"It's even shabbier than I thought. Don't you even have the gold pounds to install the gas lamp?"
The sitting fortune teller ignored the topic and looked at the two of them with his brown eyes:
"It's really amazing. Although I had already guessed that there would be someone who could influence Edwards' magic, I didn't expect that it would be two people."
He did not say who he had expected:
"Thank you for everything you have done on the island. The ceremony is about to be completed. Godcaller, the Chosen One of Balance, please take a seat. The banquet is about to begin. It is not shabby here, you will understand soon."
Seeing that the two of them didn't move, he smiled again:
"I'm not being polite to you. If you don't sit down, you may fall down soon."