Force it open with brute strength?
That was obviously impossible.
The nearly ten-meter-tall door did not even have a handle. Structurally, it looked like a door that opened outward, but there was nothing to grab. Was I supposed to dig fingerholds into the wall?
Even then, I would have to be able to pull it open!
I might be immortal, but my physical strength was not particularly absurd. Even a powerhouse like Metal probably could not pull this door open... though she might take out a drill.
There had to be some kind of mechanism. Maybe it required injecting magic power?
Xiao Qilan, who had withdrawn her flowing light, quietly reminded me:
"Big Sister Miluno, you can use the darkness seeping through the crack in the door to sense what's behind it. My magic can't do it, but you definitely can!!"
Black mist was scattered throughout the hall. Although the lights had not gone out, everything was dim and hazy, impossible to see clearly. Even Xiao Qilan's magic light had faded.
I could not pass through this door, but darkness could seep through its cracks.
Just as the little Witch had suggested, I could use the seeping darkness to sense the existence beyond the Stone Gate...
"I'll try."
Sensing was using darkness as an extension of perception, extending one's senses and consciousness beyond the body. I tried to merge with the darkness, to make it obey my will.
My consciousness passed through the crack in the door. Beyond it was not the descending corridor I had expected, but a vast ocean—an ocean formed from all darkness gathering together.
My consciousness seemed about to dissolve, and I instinctively sensed danger.
"Mi-chan, you came way too late, didn't you?"
Aldebaran's voice sounded beside my ear, but I could not see her.
"Stop