Chapter 676 Back to Reality
"From the time Archbishop Anthony gave it to me until a few minutes ago, there was no such rune on the mirror... Did it appear after being inside the seal and on the outskirts of Trier in the Fourth Epoch for a while?"
Angel gently stroked the smooth mirror with his hand, frowning and lost in thought.
She was not narcissistic enough to think that the silver mirror could not find any problems in Archbishop Anthony's hands, and that it would "open its heart" when it touched her.
Rather, seeing it reminded Angel of the human sacrifices she had seen in the caves near Bansi Harbor and in the basement of the village on Sona Island, and of the two runes that could take her to different places and even cause time confusion.
So, this rune is likely to have similar effects. It can be used to create a new spell that can draw on the higher powers of the "Witch" path, or it can take me to some strange place. The characteristic of these runes is that they can only be activated by my blood...
Angel's eyes lit up.
"No, it's not a 'strange place'. If you think about it carefully, there's a certain connection between them... The vision in Bansy Harbor is related to the worship of the 'Weather God', which probably originated from the early Fifth Epoch, or even the legend of a certain Hunter Pathway Angel from the Fourth Epoch, a Sequence 2 'Weather Warlock'. Through the sacrificial runes there, I was teleported to the Trier Catacombs. On the way back, I discovered a 'Night Pillar' nearby, formed by the remains of a high-ranking witch from the Witch Pathway, most likely also a 'disaster' witch, Christina, of the angel.
"Could it be that the 'Witch' and 'Hunter' paths, which can be switched between during advancement, have a deeper connection, and that sacrificial runes and 'Disaster' spells are merely external manifestations of this connection?
"Also, the 'betrayal' spell found on Sorna Island killed the 'King of the North' by separating his head from his body. The head betrayed the body, killing it. This is exactly the same as the remains found in Bansy Harbor, Sorna Island, and the giant village in the God-Forsaken Land. Clearly, they were corroded and harmed by the same force...
"Although we haven't found any traces of witches or hunters in those two places yet, there's no doubt they're being caused by the same high-level power, just like what happened in Bansy Harbor...
"These runes, these powers, all point to the same goal, the same place?"
Analyzing to herself, Angel once again looked at the Quaternary Trier city area that continued to attract her, and looked at the palace that looked like it had been smashed down by a giant's punch.
"No wonder Sylvia said the pollution at 13 Market Avenue has a special effect on 'witches' and 'hunters'. And Syrio Soran, because of the conflict with the Silver Mirror Trap, entered Trier in the Fourth Epoch with me and his iron puppets. Was it because we are both 'witches' and 'hunters' that we triggered the special power within that building?"
This couldn't be explained solely by the "aggregation effect." There must be a higher-level power within Trier in the Fourth Epoch, capable of simultaneously attracting both the "Witch" and "Hunter" paths. Even the "Disaster Giant" wandering outside the city was a Sequence 1 Hunter.
Even if the "Original Witch" Chike were hiding in that city, I wouldn't be surprised... No, even Chike wouldn't be attractive to "Hunters"...
At this point, Angel's reasoning could no longer proceed. Not only were there insufficient clues, but the level of power involved was also getting higher and higher, making her dare not think too much about it.
"Let's think about how to leave first."
She murmured, looking at the two silver mirrors in her hands.
Seeing runes similar to the "Disaster" and "Betrayal" spells, Angel immediately made up his mind and chose the silver mirror he brought from Backlund.
This is not a reckless gamble, but a reasonable choice based on past experience.
For this reason, Angel didn't even plan to use "stroke three times" to activate the silver mirror, but planned to redraw the faintly visible rune with blood.
Of course, before that, she also had to "deal with" the silver mirror carried by Syrio Soren.
The latter did not deform or damage after experiencing the high temperature of the "Iron Knight". Angel believed that he had no special means to deal with it, but besides destruction, there was another solution.
That is to keep distance.
Based on Syrio's failed escape attempt, the "effect" distance between the two mirrors must be more than a few meters, but it's also unlikely to be hundreds or even thousands of meters. Otherwise, this unstable trap wouldn't have been used against Bonois Gustave, the Angel of the Church of Steam. If I throw one of the mirrors far away, there's a high probability that the other will return to normal and lead me away from this strange place...
Angel looked at the silver mirror in his hand, suddenly stretched out his hand and threw it into the air.
Then, invisible silk threads appeared out of thin air and bound the mirror. With a short sound of the silk threads being tightened, the silver mirror was accelerated to a speed that was difficult to see with the naked eye, and thrown into the distance as if it was fired from the muzzle of a cannon.
She did not choose the direction of the "Disaster Giant" that could completely destroy the silver mirror, nor did she throw it towards the city where unknown dangers were hidden. Instead, she threw it to the other side along the road paved with light black stone bricks. In this way, if the attempt failed, she would still have a chance to pick up the mirror.
As a streak of silver light streaked across the sky, the distance between the two mirrors rapidly widened. Angel could feel a small amount of power returning to the silver mirror in his hand, which had come from Backlund. The complex bloodstain symbol on the mirror surface became increasingly apparent.
It seems that there is nothing wrong with the idea... She breathed a sigh of relief, and without hesitation, she scratched the skin on her fingertips, squeezed out the blood, and began to copy on the surface of the silver mirror.
Although this symbol is complicated, it does not have many strokes. When Angel squeezed out the blood for the third time, most of it was completed, leaving only the last stroke to surround the entire symbol, a perfect circle like a city wall. She took a deep breath, looked at the city in the distance, looked at the "Disaster Giant" that was slowly approaching not far away, and finally looked at the "Eternal Sun" seal in the sky, and looked at the twisted space of the "God of Steam and Machinery" deep in the gray-white stone pillars behind her. Her gaze returned to the surface of the silver mirror and drew the last stroke.
…
In the darkness, Angel slowly opened his eyes.
Compared with the "Quaternary Trier" which was dim just now but had some light shining through the sky, Angel could not see anything clearly at this moment except the silver mirror in his hand which had absorbed all the blood and restored its smooth surface.
Where's my dark vision... She blinked subconsciously, and then she realized that it wasn't that this extraordinary ability had lost its effect, but that all the objects around her were covered with a layer of black shadow that absorbed light, making her mistakenly believe that she was in endless darkness.
With this understanding, Angel immediately adjusted her vision, making the whole world clear before her eyes.
Only then did she realize that she was on a spacious street. The floor beneath her feet was flat and clean. The buildings on both sides were also dark, and even the glass windows did not reflect the slightest light. The sky was endlessly dark, without stars or moon, let alone the sun that brought light and warmth. The temperature around her seemed to have dropped to freezing point, and there were no sounds of wheels, horse hooves, conversations, or footsteps that should have been on the street.
This sensory deprivation experience made Angel frown and look carefully at the buildings on both sides of the street.
In the darkness, she soon discovered some objects that were slightly moving, unlike the absolute silence of the buildings and streets.
They were people with different clothes, styles and appearances.
Some of them stood by the window looking out, chewing the food in their hands, some were watering the flowers and pruning branches at the door, and some were dressed formally and walked out of the house. But no matter whether they were eating, working or walking, no one made any sound, even the footsteps were hidden behind the dark curtain.
Moreover, everyone's face was covered with more or less dried blood, and their eyes were filled with unspeakable malice and hatred, but the strange thing was that they were not staring at Angel, but at the surrounding glass windows and the decorative mirrors that appeared beside them, as if looking inside through the mirror, angry at their own reflections.
No, not inside, but outside!
Angel felt a chill down his spine and his skin tensed all over. He recalled the description of the "Man in the Mirror" by Danio Brown, a world that replicated the real world of Trier, but was lonely, dark, and hid countless people in the mirror.
There, the "people in the mirror" can only move along specific paths and can only observe the outside world through the mirror. Therefore, they are always full of resentment towards their own original selves and are always thinking about replacing them and going to the warm and lively reality.
That rune actually brought me to Trier in the mirror world?
Angel looked at the silver mirror in his hand again and found that after absorbing his blood, the mirror surface became smooth again. After adjusting the angle, it reflected his somewhat gloomy face in the dark.
If it were stained with a few drops of blood, it would look a bit like the "man in the mirror"... She quickly moved the mirror away, stood on the street where a few silent "Trier residents in the mirror" occasionally passed by, and analyzed her current situation.
After a brief thought, she was pleasantly surprised to find that she had already left the seal of "Fourth Epoch Trier".
According to Danio, the inside of that seal corresponds to the second layer of the mirror world, which is also isolated by the seal, so that the mirror people with divinity inside cannot leave.
The mirror world that replicates the real Trier, that is, the dark world where Angel lives, is only the "first layer".
It's outside the seal!
Therefore, as long as I leave this mirror world, I can return to the real Trier. This is not very difficult, especially since I am not a real "person in the mirror" and am not bound by this place... Angel slowly came to a glass facing the street, stretched out his hand and lightly tapped the mirror, causing a ripple on the already dark glass, which became the entrance to another world.
After entering, she was not surprised to find that there were only a few illusory passages connecting to each other in this "mirror world", most of which led underground, and a few connected to several locations on the ground.
They should all correspond to the areas of Trier that could cause the "Man in the Mirror" contamination... Angel didn't consider unfamiliar locations, nor did he want to go back to the black building at 13 Market Avenue. The latter was probably the place where the "Man in the Mirror" ambushed the angel Bonois Gustave. Going there now would be a trap for himself.
After careful selection, she followed the mirror passage to Area 5, also known as the Memorial Hall Area, adjacent to the Honest Man Market Area, and appeared in a completely dark underground quarry.
In this equally dark and lonely place, Angel took out the silver mirror that brought her out of Trier in the Quaternary Period and found that ripples like water appeared on its surface again.
This means that this area is indeed special and may be the entrance and exit between the special mirror world and reality... Her eyes flickered, and she did a quick divination. She was pleasantly surprised to find that her connection with the spiritual world had become close again, and she came to the correct conclusion.
A moment later, Angel stepped out of the quarry and walked up the stairs leading to the ground. Under the setting sun and surrounded by a lot of noise, he breathed a sigh of relief.
She finally returned to the real world.
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