Shade vanished mid-run, then reappeared thirty feet away. Having used Laguerre's Leap once again, even more rifts appeared around him. The canopy overhead remained perfectly still, as though it too feared those rifts.
His figure vanished again. After three consecutive leaps, the number of rifts around Shade had become impossible to count.
But this was enough. He had finally reached the raised platform where the statue and holy emblem stood. The light at his fingertips illuminated more details before him, allowing him to see the writing on the metal cube-shaped box:
This is a gift for the children.
The statue held the box in its hands. Blood of Mercury had likely tried many times, yet it had been unable to take this Sage Level Relic from the statue's grasp.
But Shade was quite familiar with that Old God wearing a Clown Hat. Having understood the words on the relic, even amid his panic, he immediately realized what ritual was needed to take the box from the statue's hands:
"Only a child can take the Gift Box away from God's hands."
Thus, he held the box with both hands and lifted it lightly. The box came up at once.
"Ha, just as I thought."
And just as Shade paused to pick up the box, the rifts behind him had already closed in. They seemed wary of the statue and did not dare approach the platform, but after pausing for only a few seconds, they continued moving toward Shade.
The phantom woman who had handed Shade the candle appeared again. She stood behind him, temporarily blocking those terrifying rifts.
Shade did not waste time either. Holding God's Gift Box, the Sage Level Relic, he turned to face the pitch-black rifts in the space behind him.
"Hmm?"
He saw the woman who had