Mirror of Emptiness

Although Ronan spoke with such certainty, as if finding the Minotaur's treasure would be as easy as taking candy from a baby.

However, in reality, even with a map, finding something whose exact location is still uncertain when you are in an Endless Labyrinth that changes from time to time is not an easy task.

Especially after losing the Space Key and the ability to "travel freely" in the maze.

This requires immense mental effort for analysis and deduction, sufficient patience, precise control, and a bit of luck.

Moreover, although his "obstacle clearing" plan is progressing smoothly, it does not mean that there are no dangers in the maze at present.

It was like a piece of fresh meat falling into a trap; he simply dealt with that small group of the most troublesome, the fiercest, the first predators to smell the blood and rush over.

There must be other "monsters" in the Minotaur's Labyrinth, but they are relatively less dangerous.

There is no absolutely perfect plan in this world. From the moment Ronan entered the labyrinth, he explored, fled, and meticulously deduced various clues to create the current situation that was relatively favorable to him. He had already made the greatest effort he could.

After all, he has never been very good at planning and strategizing.

Starting with the room of the Abyss Bull Demon Babu Li's Room, what he needs to do next is to explore all the areas on the map that he has not yet set foot in.

Compared to the previous experience of freely traversing the maze with the Space Key and occasionally having "passionate interactions" with Level Five Wizard monsters, this process of measuring the maze on foot seemed tedious and boring, often requiring one to backtrack.

Again and again, sometimes it feels like the road ahead is so winding and long that there is no end in sight.

Even with the "map" of the maze in his hand, Ronan felt as if he was being slowly swallowed up by despair and death.

Moriel, on the other hand, became unusually quiet and obedient after leaving Babu Li's Room and learning about Ronan's entire plan, and stopped chattering.

Occasionally, Ronan would glance at her and even see her displaying the same faint sadness and despondency she had shown when she sat alone by the window of the hostel in Homer Blue Town.

Ronan had no idea what Moriel was thinking.

I forget which book I read it in, but there was a line that said—a woman's heart is a million times more unfathomable than the most complex maze in the world! Ronan is already on the path of exploring the most complex maze in the world, and he doesn't want to challenge the second one at the same time.

Time passed by unnoticed, and I didn't realize how much time had gone by.

Ronan stopped at the end of a passage, facing a high wall of gray fog that completely blocked his way.

He casually glanced at the constantly breaking and reforming [[Annihilation]] rune in his hand, patiently waiting.

His eyes glanced at Moriel.

Moriel was facing one of the walls, very quiet, as if something on the wall was attracting her attention, and she was looking at it intently.

Ronan then noticed that Moriel was wearing exceptionally beautiful earrings on both ears. Compared to when they last met, she had many different decorations on her body, showing signs of careful dressing up. She didn't look like a wizard, but rather more like a noble lady about to go out for an appointment.

Putting aside her capricious "Witch" personality, Moriel is quite pleasing to the eye when she is quiet.

As Ronan was thinking, Moriel suddenly seemed to turn her head away, so he quickly looked away.

At that moment, the high wall in front of them silently turned into a thick fog and disappeared, revealing a new passage behind the gray fog.

Ronan strode in, habitually glancing around. His gaze paused slightly when he saw the passage on the right—at the end of that passage stood a small silver door, as if it had been waiting for his arrival.

"Found it?!"

Ronan's eyes flickered slightly, and a sense of urgency rose within him that he could hardly suppress.

He quickened his pace and soon arrived at the small silver door, where he saw that it was covered with densely packed text in a script he did not recognize.

"Are there other levels?"

Ronan wrote down the details, then hesitated for a moment before gently pressing his hand against the small door.

Before he could even exert any force, the small silver door creaked open automatically.

He was about to step inside when he suddenly stopped and looked back as if he remembered something.

He then realized that Moriel hadn't followed and was standing at the entrance of the passage they had come in through, staring at him coldly.

"Are you happy, feeling particularly smart?"

Moriel's cool voice echoed in the corridor.

"What?"

Ronan frowned.

"Idiot!"

She suddenly shouted a curse, and then complex and exquisite golden patterns appeared all over her body, releasing a mysterious and powerful force.

As if triggering some rule within the maze, a sudden gust of wind arose in the passage, and the high walls on both sides collapsed on their own, turning into thick gray fog that swept towards Moriel.

"What are you doing?!"

Ronan was forced to raise his hands to defend himself by the immense energy pressure emanating from Moriel. He squinted and saw that Moriel was already enveloped in dense flames, with countless wisps of gray mist rushing forward around her, the power of the flames and the gray mist seemingly clashing against each other.

Suddenly, Moriel's scream rang out from the flames. It was incredibly high-pitched, and the terrifying sound waves could even [Penetration] the Spiritual Force Field. Ronan couldn't help but cover his ears.

The cries gradually turned into the call of some kind of bird, and finally there was a loud "bang" as thick gray mist exploded, scattering countless sparks of fire. When everything calmed down, Moriel was nowhere to be seen, leaving only an empty passage, as if nothing had ever happened.

Ronan quickly stepped forward and picked up a faded, somewhat damaged Scarlet Feather from the ground, representing the last trace of Moriel's existence.

"No wonder he said those things when he came in, and he wasn't very interested in finding the exit. So there's a way to defy the maze's rules and force your way out..."

Ronan frowned as he looked at the tattered feather in his hand.

He couldn't understand Moriel's actions at all. She had deliberately dragged him into the maze, and despite having the means to escape, she refused to leave even when faced with danger several times.

You could say she came for the treasure, but now that she's already at the treasure's doorstep, she just left.

And finally, the self-reproaching remark was, "Really."

Ronan lowered his hand and slowly uttered, "How utterly absurd!"

He turned and walked toward the small silver door, thinking he would ask Alazan later if there was a way to completely remove the remaining soul connection between his body and Moriel.

He doesn't want to have a similar experience again.

With Moriel gone, Ronan had no more reservations and stepped straight into the small silver door.

After a brief spatial journey, Ronan opened his eyes.

Immediately afterwards, he saw a small, empty room.

In the center of the room stood a small rattan table, on which sat an upside-down silver dressing mirror.

There was nothing else besides that.

The scene seemed somewhat familiar to Ronan. After a careful recollection, he realized it resembled what he had seen when he entered the Mysterious Garden Secret Realm in the Silver Magic Ring.

It's not surprising, since the key items to unlock the maze— the Space Key and the Rune Map—are both obtained from the Garden Secret Realm.

Perhaps they share the same owner.

Ronan pondered for a moment, then slowly walked towards the center of the room, came to the rattan table, and picked up the silver dressing mirror on the table.

When Ronan saw the image reflected in the mirror, his eyes flashed intensely before he murmured something.

"The Mirror of the Void?!"

A desolate and empty wilderness.

Beneath the somewhat gloomy sky, a patch of empty space suddenly began to ripple violently.

Soon, the shape of a door appeared, and then a pair of hands pushed it open from the inside.

A tall, thin figure wearing a wide, rotten black robe slowly walked out from it.

The figure hovered in mid-air, head slightly tilted back, revealing a handsome and mature face beneath long, slippery, seaweed-like hair.

The man squinted, gazing at the sky above, and slowly said, "What beautiful weather..."

"Swish—swish—"

One after another, figures emerged from the portal behind the man, each exuding a strong, cold, and sinister aura.

The moment these people appeared, they were swept up in a collective excitement and jubilation.

"I'm out! I'm finally out!"

"This isn't a dream, is it? Tell me, this isn't a dream."

"Waaah... I'm still alive! Ais Cui De, can you hear me? I'm still alive in this world!"

Like a group of people hiding in a dark, damp cave, who haven't seen the sun for a long time, they were breathing in the outside air with almost Greed force.

After a brief moment of excitement, everyone's emotions gradually calmed down, and before they knew it, all eyes were drawn to the handsome man in the rotten black robe.

A deep sense of dread appeared in someone's eyes, and then suddenly shot off in one direction, instantly turning into a tiny black dot and disappearing.

Some people's eyes flickered, their expressions changed, but in the end they did not move.

Soon, about a dozen figures emerged from the portal. A small portion of them chose to leave, leaving only six people standing still, all staring at the back of the decaying black-robed man.

Why don't you leave?

The man withdrew his gaze from the sky, regaining his initial composure and calm. With his back to the six people who had not yet left the field, he spoke softly.

Among the six, a scarecrow dressed in a gray robe, its body haphazardly tied together like scorched wheat stalks, exuding a fiery and evil aura, stepped forward, knelt on one knee at the man's feet, and uttered a deep, hoarse voice.

"We... we are all people who have emerged from the dusty archives... going back is meaningless to us."

It was Lord Narros who bestowed upon us a new life!

From this day forward, I will always follow Lord Narros.

After speaking, the scarecrow wizard respectfully placed his forehead on the man's feet.

The other five people also slowly knelt down.

The man turned around and silently gazed at the six people kneeling before him.

A strange aura rose from beneath his decaying black robe, slowly obscuring the sky.

After a long silence, the man finally spoke, in an unusually calm tone, saying, "The world should also remember those names they have forgotten."

The six wizards looked up at the same time, their faces filled with excitement and almost fanaticism.

They growled the name "Narros" as if performing some ancient and devout ritual.

The man's expression, however, remained relatively calm.

"Misha ..."

He murmured a name to himself.

It sounded like he was expressing regret, or perhaps he was lamenting something.

"What an outstanding young man!"