Iceberg and Nova

The illusion in the secret chamber completely dissipated, leaving behind only two stunned figures.

Sky barely managed to stay upright with Xia Lin supporting her. Fine beads of sweat covered her forehead, clearly showing that the secret art had consumed far more of her strength than she had let on.

"Was—was he looking at us at the end?" Xia Lin stared at the spot where the illusion had vanished, his voice slightly tense.

That smile had been far too eerie. Across eight years of time, through the secret art of reversal, the possessed adventurer had seemed capable of seeing that someone in the future would spy on this segment of the past.

"It should—no, that's impossible." Sky leaned against Xia Lin's arm. "Impossible. The Eye of Reversal only recreates imprints. We're observers, not participants. He couldn't possibly have sensed us eight years later."

"But that smile..." Xia Lin recalled that eerily calm face. "That wasn't the same greedy adventurer from before. He was too calm, too satisfied. It was as if—as if a hunter were watching his prey walk willingly into a trap."

Sky nodded. She forced herself upright and moved away from Xia Lin's support. "You're right. That otherworldly entity—it didn't kill everyone. It chose that leader, possessed him, then swaggered out carrying the music box."

"He's still here." Xia Lin reached that conclusion. "Still somewhere in this country."

The two exchanged a glance, seeing the same wariness in each other's eyes.

The "culprit" behind this mass murder from eight years ago—the adventurer leader possessed by the otherworldly entity—was very likely still

active somewhere in the Tsaros Empire.

"This is no longer an old unsolved case." Sky's expression became utterly solemn. "This is a potential threat involving an otherworldly entity. I have to investigate it further. The threat level