Mystery: The Silver Key

Chapter 22 seems to be missing something...

"Colors that cover everything?"

"Yes, Your Excellency, I have seen indescribable colors, like the source of all the fleeting moments of light in the world, encompassing and covering all things."

"I can only see what I can see, but I intuitively feel that they still exist in places I can't see."

"I apologize, great and sublime one, my description may be inaccurate; it was a magnificent sight that is beyond my comprehension."

"Also, thank you for your gift. I have gained a lot of inspiration. I have found that my question-and-answer game can be taken to a higher level. Simply using questions to cause them social death is too simplistic. I should proceed step by step and add incentives to the questions so that they can enjoy the fun of the question-and-answer game while experiencing pain."

Cyril: …(⊙_⊙；)…

Don't talk nonsense, I'm not taking the blame for this.

For some reason, he began to silently mourn for the holder of Arrodes in the Heart of the Machine, feeling that Arrodes seemed to have awakened something strange this time.

He suddenly didn't want to continue talking to Arrodes, and in order to end this question-and-answer game as soon as possible, he went straight to asking the question he had wanted to ask at the beginning:

"Do you know what happened at the Blood Axe Gang's base?"

On the full-length mirror, the rippling silver water suddenly became chaotic and fine, as if it had been disturbed, and Arodes was wrestling with something.

Half a minute later, the rippling silver waves disappeared, and one by one, bright red words, as if dripping with blood, emerged:

"I'm sorry, Your Excellency, there are many terrifying remnants there, and even much information in the spirit world has been damaged and affected. I am unable to sift out what you need from it."

"However, I have made some other discoveries that you might want to know."

Cyril nodded slightly: "Speak."

Soon, new words appeared on the mirror: "Some of the lingering aura there is very similar to yours, yet it feels somewhat different to me."

"Besides that, I also saw decay and desire. Each of these auras was dangerous, and the danger they posed to me far exceeded that of the Seven Gods."

Cyril nodded calmly. "I understand. What's your question?"

On the full-length mirror, lines of silver words carefully appeared: "This is compensation for not being able to answer your question earlier; it doesn't count as a question."

"I'm sorry, Your Excellency, the people of the Steam Church are almost at my location. I can no longer stay here."

"If you have any further questions, you may call my name again later, or draw such a symbol on a mirror, and I will see and respond to it as long as it is within the boundaries of Backlund."

Cyril glanced at the symbol on the glasses, a mixture of secrecy and voyeurism, and silently memorized it.

The symbol I drew on the mirror earlier wasn't exactly wrong, it was ridiculously wrong.

Arrodes' symbol is based on voyeurism, with some twisted lines representing secrecy, whereas his previous drawing completely reversed the focus, making secrecy the main subject.

After noting down the symbol that Arrodes had given that could be linked to it, Cyril nodded slightly towards the mirror:

"That's enough, you can leave now."

"Arodes takes his leave of you, great and sublime one."

A line of writing briefly appeared on the mirror before disappearing quickly. At the same time, the chill in the room dissipated, and the scene inside the room and Sirion's figure were reflected again in the dark mirror.

Something seems to be missing...

A moment later, Cyril looked at herself in the mirror with a sudden realization... It was an emoji!

Arodes didn't use any emojis when he spoke to me, and although his attitude towards me was respectful, he wasn't sycophantic at all. Is it because I don't have the aura of gray mist that I can't enjoy Klein's exclusive treatment?

He paused, then stopped thinking about that somewhat off-topic line of thought and instead began to consider the question revealed in Arods's words:

It was subtly telling me that the symbol drawn on the mirror was wrong, so I was actually able to contact it by whispering its name at the time.

What's this all about? Does what you keep in mind always have a response?

That's a bit of a misuse of words. It should be that my unintentional murmur triggered its own status, causing my voice to be directly transmitted to its ears. Um, does it even have ears?

Arrodes didn't use words like "pillar" or "dominant" just now, so although my status has reached the level of the past, it hasn't reached the level of a pillar.

An ancient aura, other than that of the "High Dimension Overlooker," has appeared in the Blood Axe Gang's stronghold. Has He joined forces with the Outer Gods?

No, this involves His most important symbol. There are many Outer Gods who covet the authority and symbol of the "Higher Dimensional Overlord." Asking someone for help in this matter could easily lead to one's own demise. It must be that He borrowed power from other Old Ones.

With the original barrier in place, the power He can penetrate is extremely limited. In the absence of sufficient control, it will instead become nourishment for me. Therefore, He must use a mixture of other ancient powers. Even if He fails to achieve His goal, I will not obtain His power.

So what should I do now? Ask Adam for help? But I don't think I can afford the price of his help?

As his thoughts drifted, he turned his head to look at the rolled-up tablecloth on the desk by the window. There was still a part of the power belonging to the "higher-dimensional observer" inside. He naturally did not want to give it up, but he had no way to get rid of it.

"I have a task for you. If you can complete it, I will lend you a magical item that can help you extract the energy from the magical item."

Adam's voice suddenly rang out, and Sirion quickly turned his head to look around, but he did not see the other person.

"This is just a virtual personality residing in my mind; I myself did not come here."

Adam's voice continued, and this time he heard it clearly; the voice was coming from his own body.

Then, he looked at himself in the full-length mirror and saw that he hadn't changed much.

After a moment of silence, he quickly gathered all his thoughts, deciding not to think about anything or guess anything.

There was no way around it; in front of such a powerful "audience," one's thoughts were completely transparent. Although doing so couldn't stop the other party from spying on one's mind, at least one had tried.

After a brief silence, he asked curiously, "What kind of mission is it?"

The next second, a lifelike scroll, in the form of a wanted poster, appeared before him:

Above is a woman with brown hair and brown eyes, with deep features, a fierce air, and a touch of coquettishness. She wears heavy makeup and numerous ornate ornaments, creating a strange and incongruous image that blends a noblewoman with a female bandit.

Below the scroll, lines of small rune script describe her identity:

Zoira Hernandez, leader of the Bloodaxe Gang in the East District of Backlund, Sequence 8: The Listener, went mad after hearing a voice from the stars and is currently missing, but is confirmed to still be wandering in Backlund.

As his gaze swept across the area, Cyril quickly grasped a key point: "...You heard a voice from the stars?"

Adam's voice echoed deep within his soul: "You should be able to guess who it is. This task is most suitable for you. Drawn by fate, she will inevitably draw closer to you."

Rather than saying she was drawn to me by fate, it would be more accurate to say that I was her target.

Unable to suppress a silent sigh, he immediately gathered his thoughts and asked aloud:

"No problem, I will complete this task. However, could I receive an advance on the reward for completing the task?"

"I'm only at Sequence 9. The more power I accumulate, the better I'll be at completing the mission."

Adam's voice rang out softly, "Yes."

Then, the scroll in front of him quickly disappeared into the transparent void, and immediately afterward, a cross ornament covered in verdigris appeared out of thin air.

Its style and characteristics are unlike anything found in the countries of the Northern Continent during the Fifth Era, presenting an ancient charm, with several sharp spikes protruding from it, as if it had once pierced someone.

"This is the Cross of No Darkness. After absorbing blood, it can be used with demigod-level purification and solar flame spells via the 'Sun' pathway."

"Based on this item's powerful and pure purifying ability, it rejects contact with other magical items and extraordinary properties, and cannot coexist with the same person. It will purify anything that gets close to it."

"You can use this property to gradually extract the power from it and the painting!"