Bang!
Derrick's axe, wreathed in silver light, cleaved the river depicted in the mural, denting the wall and sending stone chips flying.
With a single strike, the river, which had been flowing continuously, was completely severed in the middle.
Just as he was anticipating the loop being broken and the entire exploration team jumping out of the temple scene, " Demon Hunter " Colin appeared in front of him in a flash, his face grim:
"What are you doing?"
The Demigod's sword tip still pointed downwards, but his grip on the hilt was noticeably tighter than before.
Derrick, recalling the words that encapsulated the Wisdom of all the members of the Tarot Club, spoke with a mixture of doubt and fear:
"A dark shadow just flashed past here, Your Excellency, it really was! It looked like a child's figure!"
Colin Iliad asked another teammate without looking away:
" Heim, did you see that?"
The exploration team member named Heim instinctively moved closer to the leader, firmly shaking his head and saying:
"No, I didn't see anything."
A glint suddenly appeared in Colin's light blue eyes, highlighting two complex dark green symbols.
He stared at Derrick silently for four or five seconds.
Finally, he withdrew his gaze and said without any apparent change:
"This is your first exploration mission, so it's normal to experience hallucinations due to nervousness."
"From now on, you will stay by my side; I think that will calm you down."
"Yes, Your Excellency." Derrick agreed without hesitation.
After his initial attempt, he confirmed that the mural was not related to the key points.
The " Rose Redemption " hinted at by " The Fool " must have a deeper meaning, it's not that simple... Derrick, holding the " Hurricane Axe," walked silently beside Chief Colin.
What happened next was not much different from the previous explorations he remembered. The group repeated what they had done before, and for the sixth time they arrived at the final hall with the altar, where they found the blond boy Jack huddled in the shadows.
Upon hearing the words "Help me... help me..." and seeing the obvious figure of a child, " Demon Hunter " Colin nodded almost imperceptibly, withdrawing most of his attention from Derrick Berg.
Just as he was choosing his words and preparing to speak, Derrick suddenly asked:
How can I save you?
The little boy, Jack, looked excited.
"Help me, help me, take me home! Take me home!"
"Where do you live?" Derrick asked, both curious and fearful.
Seeing this, Colin shut his mouth and clenched his fists.
The little boy, Jack, weakly raised his hand and said:
"My home, my home is in Enmat Port!"
Enmat Port... Although Mr. " The Hanged Man " didn't mention it, judging from the word "port, "Jack really doesn't belong here. He's very likely from the outside world, from the Kingdom of Loen where Miss " Justice " and the others live! Derrick was overjoyed, unable to hide his excitement.
His reaction did not arouse the suspicion of " Demon Hunter " Colin, because this powerful chief of the " Council of Six " had also never seen the sea, and only knew of this body of water, which was many times larger than a lake, and the term "port" from some surviving ancient books.
The words " Enmat Port " uttered by the strange boy seemed to unfold a new world before Colin, causing him to instantly forget everything else as he desperately searched for the future of City of Silver, and blurt out:
How did you, or all of you, get here?
The little boy, Jack, had a look of reminiscence on his face.
"My father and I first traveled by boat, then met up with his companions and continued our journey. After a very, very great Storm, the rest of us went ashore and followed the direction of the Lord's gaze until we arrived here."
"Follow the direction of the Lord's gaze?" Colin the Demon Hunter, Derrick, and the others simultaneously looked at the statue on the altar, trying to discern where he was looking.
Colin quickly determined the general information.
They followed the direction the statue's gaze was pointing and arrived here. In other words, if we reverse this process, we can find the seaside and the place where they landed... The opposite direction of this gaze is... The surrounding map of City of Silver, which was gradually being perfected through continuous exploration, appeared in the mind of " Demon Hunter " Colin, allowing him to initially sketch out the strange boy's "journey" route.
If there are no other temples or corresponding statues in between, and it continues like this, then it will pass through the ruins of the " Giant King's Court "! Colin's pupils suddenly contracted.
That was once the divine palace of the ancient god " Giant King " Ormir, not far from City of Silver!
The descendants of the Nation of Silver, long ruled by the Giant, know exactly where its ruins are located, but they have never been able to explore them because the place is extremely dangerous, even more dangerous than pure darkness without light!
According to Colin's reconstructive analysis, the stranger and his companions arrived here after passing through the ruins of the " Giant King's Court."
"How did they do it? Perhaps they didn't take a completely straight line and bypassed the ' Giant King's Court '... In any case, there's a road leading to the sea behind the ' Giant King's Court,' and on the other side of the sea there's likely a human kingdom... Could that be City of Silver's hope?" Colin thought, unable to contain himself.
At that moment, Derrick noticed that the little boy Jack's clothes were stained dark red on his chest and abdomen, as if liquid was slowly seeping out.
"Are you hurt?" he asked cautiously.
Jack lowered his head and answered in a vacant tone:
"It has some unsightly growths..."
As he spoke, he pulled open his clothes, revealing his bare chest and abdomen.
There, embedded two eyes, a nose, and a mouth!
It wasn't painted on, nor pieced together with gemstones; it was purely composed of real eyes, a real nose, and a real mouth, and they didn't seem to be a group of one, but rather belonged to three different people.
Suddenly, Derrick imagined a scene: after the little boy Jack ate his companions, he used their remaining eyes, noses, and mouths to form a strange human face on his chest and abdomen.
The person's face was gentle and indifferent, yet it seemed strangely familiar to Derrick.
In just a second or two, Derrick figured out why it was familiar:
This face looks a lot like the Angel in the mural above, the silver-haired Angel standing on a circulating river!
Indeed, the reason we keep exploring is because of Him! Derrick had a sudden inspiration and blurted out a word, as if he were giving a spell to get out of the predicament.
" Rose Redemption!" he cried out solemnly.
The little boy Jack raised his head, staring blankly at him, his mouth slowly widening until it reached his ears:
I'm so hungry...
"I'm so hungry..."
Derrick froze, witnessing the fierce battle.
When he regained consciousness, he sat back down by the campfire at the campsite.
" Rose Redemption " is not a spell... He began to reflect deeply.
The seventh exploration began soon afterward. Having already made his attempt, Derrick no longer exhibited any unusual behavior, but instead took the initiative to examine the " Rose Redemption " mural.
As usual, the exploration team entered the underground hall with its altar and statues again, where they discovered a strangely behaving little boy Jack.
After a similar conversation, Derrick saw the face pieced together from other people's features again.
Having learned from experience, he refrained from any provocative actions, lowering his voice as he spoke to " Demon Hunter " Colin:
"Your Excellency, the face on his chest looks very similar to the Angel in the mural above, the Angel with silver hair and a river flowing at his feet, um, the one in the corner with ' Rose Redemption ' written on it."
" The Demon Hunter " Colin was taken aback at first, then frowned.
He watched and Placate the little boy Jack while Derrick out of the corner of his eye.
After a few seconds of silence, he said in a low voice:
"It was because you mentioned this that it made me think of certain things."
Before Derrick could ask, he continued on his own:
"We studied that mural for a long time, simply believing that it depicted a guiding Angel and a group of Ascetic, whose group might have been called the ' Rose Redemption '."
"The river that flows from one end to the other represents a cycle, and our interpretation is that the pilgrimage takes place repeatedly."
"But now it seems that it may mark the identity of that Angel."
"This is the idea you gave me, because Amon was once hidden inside you."
"Why?" Derrick asked, bewildered.
" The Demon Hunter " Colin stared at the little boy Jack and said:
"The little worm left behind by Amon is a symbol of time, and the cyclical river is often associated with Fate. Putting the two together reminds me of some things mentioned in a few ancient books, the truth of which I don't know."
When the Lord Who Created Everything, the Omniscient and Omnipotent God, looks down upon this world, He is surrounded by many Angel. Among them, there are eight Angel King are the leaders of all Angel and closest to the throne of God. Some of their names have disappeared into the long history, while others are still Record, some briefly and some in detail.
"Rumor has it that among these eight Angel King are even children of gods."
"Among them, two of the Angel King are known as the ' Angel of Time ' and the ' Angel of Fate '."
Derrick suddenly realized and asked as if to confirm:
"You believe Amon is the ' Angel of Time,' and the one in that mural is the ' Angel of Fate '?"
"It's not certain yet. Only one title of ' Angel of Time ' has been passed down, while the records of ' Angel of Fate ' are relatively detailed..." " Demon Hunter " Colin suddenly took a breath.
Then, he said in a deep voice:
" The Angel of Fate, ' The Tail Devourer ' Ouroboros."
It was evening, inside the Odel Family's underground building.
Emlyn White gazed at the iron-black coffin and spoke to the ancient Sanguine lying inside:
"Lord Nibes, I accept the Progenitor's mission!"
Nibes responded in an aged voice:
"Very good.
When do you want to start? Is there anything you haven't accomplished yet?
"..." Upon hearing Lord Nibes inquire about his wish, Emlyn White's legs went weak, and he almost regretted it.
He stiffened his neck and said:
"Unnecessary!
"We can begin now."