Huggins slowly stood up, picked up the torch from the ground, and relit it, only to find that Marcos's figure had already retreated back into the darkness.

After taking two steps toward the elevator, Huggins suddenly heard Myris's voice again.

"Don't come any closer, my old friend. This is not a place for you."

While rubbing his aching lower back, Huggins said incredulously, "Myris, what are you doing here?"

"Fate, destiny, any word that you or I can think of."

By the dim light of the fire, Huggins looked at the two figures, one large and one small, on the elevator platform.

The large figure was a full three meters tall and looked as strong as a small mountain; it must be "Marcus". The small figure was hunched and thin, looking like a dried corpse wearing clothes; was that really the old monk?

With a host of questions in his mind, Huggins asked loudly, "Myris, where have you been all these years?"

Myris didn't seem to intend to answer the question: "My old friend, tell me, what is your view on death?"

"Huh? What?"

"If the end of life is not the final end, but the beginning of the pursuit of truth, would you choose to embrace it?"

"Wait a minute, what are you talking about?"

“I once pursued pleasure, I pursued wealth, and later I hoped to find peace of mind in the name of God… But in the end, I found that it was all a mistake called life.”

Huggins raised his hand in a stop gesture: "Myriel, my old friend, to be honest, you've scared me a little."

Mylis remained silent for a moment.

Then he said to Huggins, "I shouldn't be telling you this; you're not ready."

Huggins spoke up, "Myris, I don't know what you've been through, but you can trust me and come back with me."

“Go back?” Myris’s voice was much hoarse: “It’s been a long time since we could go back.”

Huggins was still persistent: "We're going back to Twilight City. His Majesty has been looking for you... I mean, Todd has been looking for you. You remember him, right?"

"Todd..."

Mylis fell silent once again.

Just as Huggins thought the other party had left, Myris's voice rang out again: "Soon, the city of Tero will be swallowed up by the black plague."

"The light of life will flow into the sea of ​​death, humanity will no longer have selfish desires, there will be no more infighting, and the path of truth will soon be opened."

Huggins was stunned: "The Black Plague?"

Myris said to Hudgens, “If you’re not ready to give up on life and embrace death, then leave here… However, no one can escape this ultimate fate.”

As Mylis's voice faded into the distance, Huggins cried out anxiously, "Don't go!"

Myris slowly walked away, leaving behind only a last, indistinct sentence that still echoed in Huggins' ears.

“Tell…Todd…I’m…sorry…”

The soul imagery has ended.

Todd stared into the void after the image disappeared, remaining silent for a long time.

Huggins whispered, "Your Majesty?"

Todd still seemed unable to believe it: "Was that really Myriel?"

Huggins nodded: "Your Majesty, I am also very surprised. I haven't heard from Myris for many years. He seemed to have...disappeared."

Todd rubbed his temples, looking at the blurry figure in the image, recalling his encounter with Myris in the Southern Empire.

The alien who was the first to lend a helping hand to him in this other world, the first teacher to impart knowledge and skills to him, first went to the Southern Empire, and now he has appeared in the city of Taro.

Why?

Huggins said to Todd, "Your Majesty, I need to remind you of something."

"What?"

"Do you remember the name Myris just called out?"

Todd recalled the ghostly image he had just seen.

"Marcus?"

Huggins nodded: "That's right, it's Marcos."

Todd asked, "Who is Marcos?"

Huggins sighed softly, "At first I didn't realize it either, but then I remembered who it was."

“When you first arrived at the San Sidlow Monastery, there was a small organization led by Myris that sheltered people of other species—the Mutual Aid Society.”

"Its members include several heretics from around the San Sidlow Monastery: Myris, myself, the Raglans, little Jerry, Edgar, and Black Sheep Karin..."

Todd listened and nodded, "I've seen all of these people before."

Huggins continued, “There’s one more person left, whom you may not have met, Marcos. He was out of town on business and didn’t return to the San Sidlow Monastery.”

Todd asked Huggins, "What happened to this guy named Marcos?"

"Dead."

"Dead?"

Huggins stroked his chin and said uncertainly, "Or rather, he should be dead."

"What's the meaning?"

“I heard what happened next from Alfonso. He was a member of the alien bounty squad at the time, and he encountered Marcos during a hunt. After a battle, Alfonso beheaded Marcos and used it to claim the bounty.”

Todd was somewhat surprised: "Marcos was killed by Alfonso?"

"That's right. Later, Marcos's head was stored in the dungeon of the Inquisition in Silver Ring City, in other words, it was preserved as a trophy."

Todd paused for a moment, then said, "So that's the story."

"Your Majesty, it's too early to be so sentimental. What happened next was even more bizarre."

"Um?"

"After the tragedy of the Silver Ring, I went to look up the records of the Inquisition, hoping to retrieve Marcos's head and bury my old friend. But to my surprise, his head was stolen shortly after his death."

"Not only that, Alfonso also told me that he had collected and buried Marcos's body, but when he went to check on it later, the grave had been dug up and the body had been taken away."

Todd's expression grew increasingly grave: "The head and the body were stolen? Who could have done it?"

Huggins looked at the image and slowly said, "I never understood this before, but after meeting Myris, I suddenly guessed the answer."

Todd frowned and asked, "You mean, Myris did all this? But why would he do it?"

“Your Majesty, there is a rumor that you may not know… Marcos is actually Myris’s illegitimate son, but because the latter is a monk, this relationship has been kept secret.”

Is Marcos Mylis's illegitimate son?

Like a crucial piece of a puzzle, Todd finally had a complete idea of ​​the whole incident.