"It really was the right time."
Besides the Pact Book of Restraint, the Witch quickly approved the knight's other suggestion.
Her decisiveness was once again on display. Holding the book in one hand, she turned her gaze to the black pool the next moment, then reached out.
Was that... a mirror?
Fu Qian watched what happened next.
This time, the black water didn't churn, nor did anything new emerge from it.
Instead, hazy rays of light appeared out of thin air above the pool, then quickly gathered into a ring.
Though its shape was rounded, Fu Qian still couldn't bring himself to compare it to the moon.
It looked more like a mirror that had been broken in the middle, leaving only the frame.
The mirror itself had no particularly elaborate ornamentation, but its hazy, tranquil glow was enough to draw the eye.
Even the black water below seemed to grow completely still under its soothing light—or perhaps it had frozen over.
That might have spoiled the mood a little, but Fu Qian knew perfectly well that this was no ordinary place.
It was not only the sacred ground of the Fallen Star race and the site of his battle with the agent brother. The black water and the various objects within it could even be considered the very core of Lairding's existence.
"You've made the connection between this place and the Dead Sea of Mind tangible?"
Watching the Witch's movements, Fu Qian asked for confirmation as the broken mirror finished taking shape and she withdrew her hand.
Compared with other nightmares, Lairding's power might have been a bit of a hodgepodge, but it was still a stable state held together by a certain coupling.
Just as taking the Clockwork Bird by accident earlier had increased the risk of this