"No need to remind me. My eyes are fine. I never expected it would take space-related runes to open it, which is why The Church failed to discover it. If you hadn't alerted me to the concentration of Elements nearby, I wouldn't have found this place either."
As he speculated inwardly, Shade lowered his head to inspect the passage before him again, but the bloody footprints did not extend inside.
"Of the two Nine-Ring Arcanists from a century ago, at least one knew about this place and tried to use blood to open the passage. That's why the bloodstains on the wall looked smeared. But in the end, they couldn't enter, because the method of opening it had nothing to do with blood. Did they fight over this secret? But why did they die together? Had they really gone mad?"
You have come into contact with "Miracle."
"Are you sure there's only Miracle ahead? No Blasphemy Elements related to evil gods, or Whisper Elements related to Relics?"
Shade asked. The woman's whispers in his ear were remarkably useful.
At least for now, there were none.
After considering it, he bent down, picked up the Kerosene Lamp, held the cat in his arms, and entered the passage revealed in the basement wall. Once he passed through the Hidden Wall, it became solid again.
The passage was not long. At its other end lay an open space.
The lamp illuminated the place. It was a standard circular chamber, only slightly taller than the basement outside. A strange orange scent permeated the air, rather than the stale rot of a basement left unoccupied for ages. Clutter and books were piled against the curved walls, while a white stone statue stood at the very center of the room.
Its base was a