With Mr. Stork leading the way, everyone made it safely through Forest Park.
At last, they reached the shore of Black Lake.
"Mr. Snowy Owl, the information you shared about the 'saber' was absolutely crucial." Mr. Stork put away the old Commander's Saber in his hand and looked up at Gilan with a smile. "Thank you very much!"
The other members of The Assembly gathered around as well. Hearing Mr. Stork's words, they all nodded in agreement. Miss Seagull glanced unobtrusively at the blond young man and said:
"If we enter Black Lake again in the future, we'll only need to visit the Tourism Bureau first and claim this saber. Then we can reach Black Lake with ease... The whole process will be much less difficult."
"Don't mention it." Gilan shook his head. "I just got lucky and found the crucial clue."
Mr. Stork and the others couldn't help smiling.
Just then.
The protagonist, Fima, seemed to be hallucinating again. She saw the figures of her "parents" and cried out their names in delight before running straight toward Black Lake.
Miss Sparrow turned to look at the lake and saw that there was nothing there. She hurriedly set off to stop Fima, but Mr. Stork sighed.
"Forget it... Fima is destined to die. Even if you save her now, when the movie starts again, she'll still run here without hesitation. Even if the Cultists and Demons on the way don't kill her, she'll drown herself in the lake."
"But I won't stand by and watch her die!" Miss Sparrow said firmly.
With that, she gathered up her skirt and ran over, grabbing Fima's hand. But Fima kept struggling forward, both legs already in the shallow water at the lake's edge.
"Let go of me!" Fima cried, reaching toward the empty, silent lake as if she were trying to grasp someone invisible. "Dad! Mom! Don't go!"
Seeing that Miss Sparrow couldn't hold her back and was about to fall into the lake with her, Miss Seagull furrowed her brows and hurried over. She struck Fima precisely on the back of the neck with a well-judged chop.
There was a dull thud.
Fima's cries abruptly stopped, and she fainted in the two women's arms.
"Thank you, Miss Seagull." The two of them carried Fima back together. Miss Sparrow brushed back a strand of hair and smiled sweetly at the short-haired woman.
But Miss Seagull said coolly, "You're too softhearted. Be careful, or one day you'll pay dearly for it!"
"That's all right." Miss Sparrow's smile didn't fade. "With clever and capable Miss Seagull, cheerful and hearty Mr. Oystercatcher, mature and wise Mr. Stork, and strong, handsome Mr. Snowy Owl by my side, how could I ever get into trouble? Heehee."
"You certainly know how to talk." Miss Seagull couldn't keep a straight face, and the corners of her mouth turned up.
A moment later.
Everyone followed the pebbled shore to the wooden boardwalk. Mr. Stork told the others to wait by the bridge, then carefully stepped onto it himself and headed toward the little house on the lake.
Before long, he returned, looking excited and holding Rembrandt's diary.
"It's the diary left behind by that alchemist!"
After reading its contents, all the members of The Assembly looked astonished.
Mr. Stork gazed intently at everyone and said, "This Rembrandt Eddie must have wielded power beyond the mortal realm!"
Then he sighed again.
"It's a shame he left behind no mysterious knowledge or related materials besides this diary... What's more, the town called Fayelan lies beneath a dormant volcano, Black Lake bears traces of an evil god, and even that alchemist died silently at the bottom of the lake."
"If the information Mr. Snowy Owl found is correct, then we can raise our Gnosis by drinking the lake water. That's still a decent reward."
Miss Seagull offered comfort.
Mr. Stork nodded. He looked around at the others and proposed in a solemn voice:
"But the lakebed must be extremely dangerous. To be safe, we'll have to wait until the movie is nearly over before scooping up some water by the shore and drinking it."
"Agreed." Everyone accepted Mr. Stork's proposal.
Time slipped by.
As dusk approached and the sky grew dim, the members of the Record Society sitting by the lake suddenly heard an air-raid siren that resounded through the heavens!
Woooo—
Woooo—
Woooo—
The strange siren, rising and falling in pitch, startled Gilan.
An air-raid siren?! Why is there one here too...
He covered his ears, enduring the piercing noise, and turned to look at Mr. Stork and the others.
They were all covering their ears and furrowing their brows, their faces contorted with pain, but they seemed to have been expecting it.
"The siren's sounding! The movie's almost over! Hurry! Drink the lake water!"
Mr. Stork shouted to everyone.
The siren was so loud that it drowned out his voice, but since they were close by, the others could still make out roughly what he meant from his lips.
So, led by Mr. Oystercatcher, they rushed to the lakeshore, bent down, scooped up water with their hands, and brought it to their mouths.
But Miss Seagull, who had been keeping an eye on Gilan, suddenly saw the blond young man press down on his hat and rush onto the wooden boardwalk, racing forward at breakneck speed.
"Mr. Snowy Owl!" Miss Seagull shouted.
Thud, thud, thud!
Gilan didn't hear her. His leather shoes struck the planks with crisp steps as he charged straight ahead.
The air-raid siren kept blaring in his ears, while speckles and black spots appeared in his field of vision.
At last, Gilan leaped from the end of the boardwalk—
With a splash, he fell into the lake.
The members of the Record Society lifted their heads, swallowing the lake water in their mouths as they stared at the scene in dumbfounded silence. They couldn't understand why Mr. Snowy Owl had jumped into the lake.
As Gilan plunged into Black Lake, a chill ran through his body. It was as if he were immersed in ice water.
He had jumped into Black Lake not only to see what lay at the bottom, but also to search for Rembrandt's corpse... If he could Corrupt that powerful alchemist, he would surely gain a large number of Mystery Points!
Perhaps he could raise the White Cross Body-Forging Technique straight to its final, fourth stage!
Gilan knew perfectly well how dangerous this was, but he had Iridescence with him and could leave at any time, so he decided to take the risk.
At the bottom of the cold, dark lake.
Gilan opened his eyes wide, trying to make out what lay below.
Yet everything was silent and pitch-black.
Looks like I won't find him...
Gilan sighed inwardly, feeling disappointed.
But just then, he suddenly noticed a piercing green light flare at the edge of his vision.
The lake water obscured his sight, making everything seem blurry. But to Gilan's astonishment, the scene within that green light was perfectly clear to him—
It was an ordinary-looking gravestone.
Gray-black stone, square in shape, it stood in the mud at the bottom of the lake. Algae clung thickly to its surface, making the whole thing look ancient.
Right in the center of the gravestone, a line of crimson cursive writing was engraved:
"Rembrandt Eddie, 1820–1884."
Gilan's eyes widened as a powerful sense of absurdity and eeriness welled up inside him.
This is so strange!
It's just too strange!
Why is that alchemist's gravestone at the bottom of the lake?!
"Gulp!!" At that moment, he could no longer hold his breath, so he opened his mouth and took a big gulp of water from the lakebed. "Gulp..."