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"It would be better not to leave this place dark."
Klein nodded in agreement with the Chief, then raised his left hand and snapped his fingers. Instantly, the torches and candleholders that had been extinguished for a thousand years lit up one after another. They stood a full thirty meters above the ground, illuminating the deep, dark hall.
But even the torchlight and candlelight could not illuminate everything. The massive pillars, each too wide for even five or six people to encircle and with their tops out of sight, were partly revealed, partly outlined, and partly hidden in the true darkness farther within, indistinct and hazy.
Medici raised his head, swept his gaze over the carvings and murals in this palace that had once belonged to the Creator, and gave a soft scoff.
"There's actually still oil." Klein was a little surprised as well. "How excessively considerate. Don't tell me it was just refilled?"
He tossed out the quip without expecting anyone to answer. He knew himself that the most likely explanation was not that God Almighty had just sent his shadow to refill the oil here, but that the "divine power of harvest" still lingering here had kept the lamp oil from drying out.
After completing this little magic trick, Klein withdrew his gaze, preparing to move forward with Medici and the Chief.
Just then, however, he failed to catch another familiar figure out of the corner of his eye.
Klein's brows abruptly furrowed. Noticing something wrong with his gaze, Colin Iliad quickly turned his head as well, searching for Elder Lovia, who had been standing beside him just a moment ago.
The demigod who believed in the True Creator was gone! She had vanished without a sound!
They both turned their gazes toward that spot, discovering that