Chapter 1531: Whispers – The End

Because of Xia De's invitation to stay the night, Luvia prepared to head to No. 6 Saint Teresa Square as soon as she finished work that day. But Xia De arrived at the Prophet Association earlier than her, holding Mia, to wait for her to get off work.

The relationship between Xia De and Luvia was known to almost everyone in the Tobesk Prophet Association. The young women at the front desk, dressed in uniforms and responsible for reception, smiled as they congratulated Xia De on winning the championship of the Ring City Equestrian Competition, while simultaneously probing into his relationship with Princess Lei Qianya and whether it would affect his relationship with Luvia.

The young women's gossip was soon interrupted by Vice President Ma Xieer:

"It's not time to get off work yet; please focus on your work."

Saying this, he led Xia De to his office to wait temporarily. Checking the time, there were five minutes left until the end of the workday, so Vice President Ma Xieer took out a specially prepared "after-work drink" from the liquor cabinet and poured a glass for each of them. It was a very good, low-alcohol fruit-flavored gin.

Vice President Ma Xieer and Xia De talked about the 【Origin · Earth】 that he had entrusted Luvia to help appraise during Xia De's serious illness some time ago. At that time, Luvia had used the excuse "this card is not mine" and did not reveal the origin of the card. Since Xia De happened to be at the association today, Vice President Ma Xieer asked about it out of curiosity.

Unfortunately, Xia De also did not know where Shi Laiqi had obtained this card, so he could only deflect by saying it was private information that could not be disclosed.

Seeing that Xia De was unwilling to talk, Vice President Ma Xieer asked if the association could publish the news of the appearance of "Origin · Earth" and its ownership by Xia De in the *Three Penny Newspaper*. The appearance of every card in the 【Origin】 series was big news for Luo De Pai players, not to mention the 【Origin · Earth】, which had never had any news before.

Xia De agreed to this request; after all, he had already taken it out and used it, so this news could not be hidden at all. Moreover, in return, the Prophet Association would give Xia De a decent reward.

Luvia was very happy that Xia De brought Mia to pick her up from work. She considered today to be purely date time and even specially returned to No. 6 Saint Teresa Square first to change into a set of clothes left there before going out to dinner with Xia De.

After dinner, the two walked home with Mia, read books together in the study for a while, and Xia De even took out red wine to have a glass with Luvia. After nine o'clock, they locked Mia in the wardrobe and went to bed to rest.

The purple-eyed girl specially brought the 【Youthful Leaf】, but it was "snatched away" by Xia De during a kiss and placed on the bedside table. This led to the girl, whose body and mind were relaxed, falling asleep in Xia De's arms before midnight.

She fell into a deep sleep, as if she had let go of all her worries. Xia De, meanwhile, calculated the time with his eyes open, looking at the dim bedroom, thinking to himself that it seemed like a long time since he had been on a date with Luvia alone without any purpose.

【Are you feeling guilty?】

"She" asked softly in Xia De's ear, and Xia De replied in his heart:

"Of course I feel guilty, especially towards Luvia."

"She" still had that gentle smile that made Xia De feel comfortable, and after the midnight bell rang, Xia De tiptoed out of the bed. He changed his clothes, entered the study, and took out the black time key that Schluch Lake had extracted from the memory of the earth from the drawer.

To avoid waking Luvia, the study was also not lit. The Outlander stood alone by the table, eyes fixed on the key in his hand. After a moment, he shook his head slightly, preparing to head toward a new, unpredictable adventure.

"May the World Tree protect me in the infinite time."

Click~

The black withered wood key was inserted into the keyhole on the inside of the study door. As Xia De gently turned the key, he actually felt himself reversing the flow of time; this was a feeling he had never had before.

Turning the key opened the door, and behind the door was still the familiar fog door wreathed in cotton-like white mist. From this point of view, this special time key was no different from a normal key.

"Then, I'm setting off. What exactly happened in the time that no longer exists?"

He said in his heart, and after receiving a response from "She," he stepped into the fog door.

【Outlander, you have stepped into the "Corridor of Time."】

【Message from the Ancient God "Father of the Infinite Tree":】

【Past Era · Sixth Era, Old Continent, City of the End · Tobesk.】

【Event: Tobesk, the Last Era.】

【Duration: Arbitrary (1/∞).】

【You have obtained additional information.】

【You have stepped into a non-existent history.】

【The figure of the Father of the Infinite Tree watches you.】

"Tobesk City, known as the City of the End? And, the number of times this time key can be used is infinite? There's such a good thing?"

Xia De stood in the white mist, thinking in surprise. He hadn't seen anything yet, but the information he knew was enough to be surprising:

"Also, since the duration is arbitrary, and the Tree Father didn't give me any tasks, how can I leave this space-time?"

"She" did not answer immediately, as if receiving information from the 【Corridor of Time】:

【Note: During this exploration, you cannot leave the Saint Teresa Square area.】

【Note: You are allowed to bring any spellcasting materials into this time.】

【Note: Use the time key to defeat any powerful enemy, and you can return to the "present" time.】

"Time key?"

Xia De was stunned, then felt something hit his head. He reached out to touch it and found that what he had grabbed was actually the black time key. Although it had been used, the key itself did not show any cracks.

It was just that the appearance of this key here was quite wrong in itself:

"Previous time keys didn't appear in my hands until I went back, right? And, how am I supposed to defeat a powerful enemy with a key?"

He imagined the scene of himself throwing the key fiercely like throwing an embroidery needle, piercing the enemy's skull, and then quickly shook his head:

"Besides, what is a powerful enemy in the Past Era · Sixth Era?"

There were more and more problems he couldn't understand, so Xia De simply stopped thinking and stepped forward.

As his right foot landed, the white mist slowly dispersed to the left and right like a curtain. And what was revealed in front of him was undoubtedly the living room of Room 1 on the second floor of No. 6 Saint Teresa Square.

"Oh!"

Before he had time to look around, Xia De covered his forehead and fell to the ground, his body twitching uncontrollably.

The moment he entered this point in time, it was as if the horror of the entire world, those twisted, blurred, indescribable sounds and illusions, all entered his head. He felt countless hands grabbing him, wanting to drag him into the end, and felt the entire world mourning the sorrow of its demise to him.

He felt that all the signals his senses could reach were telling the secrets of the end and chaos, telling of the unwillingness and fear at the time of demise.

Compared to this, the influence produced by the spirits and elements that filled the surroundings, which were more chaotic than any environment he had ever contacted, could be ignored.

"I forgot, the last time I saw this place was in a dream, this time I've really come..."

The dizziness he hadn't felt for a long time made him feel as if the whole world was spinning. The difference between here and the real world was greater than the difference between the living and the dead. This was a world of demise in the true sense; the consciousness of the world, everything that existed and did not exist, was telling Xia De, a living person, what "world destruction" really represented.

At this moment, even the drop of divinity in his soul could only barely ensure that Xia De would not pass out immediately. But fortunately, the black time key clutched in his hand slowly heated up, and a warm breath was transmitted from the "dead key" to Xia De's body.

That warmth allowed Xia De, whose body temperature was dropping rapidly, to slowly "come alive" again. The perished world accepted this living person, and the key to this world told the world that the Outlander also belonged here.

【Outlander, you have perceived "Miracle," "Blasphemy," "Enlightenment," and "Whisper."】

"She" had a gentle voice, which smoothed out the pain in Xia De's head as he gasped for breath, rejoicing in the warmth of life. Even when stepping into "real death" and returning to the world of the living, Xia De had never touched the meaning of the so-called "end point" so clearly.

Chaotic and strange elements entered Xia De's soul silently, and the perished world told the living Outlander its secrets with its own whispers.

As Xia De tried to support his body with his arms and get up from the dirty floor, hot steam mist appeared in large patches behind him. The long-sounding whistle and the distant bell rang in the silent house, and the high-heat brass ring slowly emerged.

The ring appeared and spun rapidly. At first, the four-colored spiritual light flashed at the same time, but soon only the black iron-colored spiritual light symbolizing "Whisper" followed the rotation of the ring, pulling out a dazzling stream of light.

【This moment is the time of the end; this place is the last era. The story is over, the book is closed, and all things end. There is no story here.】

"She" seemed a bit sad in her words, but Xia De, who was still dizzy while holding the ground, did not notice. The ring behind him was also slowly decelerating, and all the black iron-colored spiritual light gathered at the top center of the ring, bringing Xia De his first spiritual rune of the sixth ring.

【You have witnessed the end.】

【Outlander, you have inscribed the Whisper-End spiritual rune.】

Xia De finally stood up, covered his head, frowned, and looked back at his ring, seeing the ancient rune written in an unknown language.

"This can..."

【Yes, "The shadow of the silver moon guides the final direction," and "End" is one of the spiritual runes.】 ===== CHAPTER 1532 =====