Chapter 1533: Key and Staff

The strong wind mixed with sand blew in his face, and the sand on the roof surface rolled into the distance with the wind like a tide. Xia De, squinting his eyes, raised his arm to shield his eyes, turned to look at the highest point of the roof, but the long-haired girl holding a silver-eyed cat that he missed was not there.

Even though he had expected this situation, he still couldn't help but sigh.

So he bent his waist with effort, walked up along the sloping roof, and then sat in the place where the long-haired Luvia in his dream had once sat.

Looking up at this world filled with yellow sand, in the dim yellow sky, countless fine architectural debris and corpses floated scattered. The sun hung in the center of this terrifying picture, but the sun was black, with a white edge around it, and a red halo on the outside. The black sun was like a cave entrance, flowing down a fiery red line.

"It's exactly the same as in the dream, not exaggerated at all."

Even because this was the real world, this scene of the end of the world and that terrible sun looked even more shocking.

Looking up at a higher place, where countless garbage and corpses surrounded, gray clouds and storms wrapped a giant floating island-like building. Black lightning constantly flashed in the gaps between the rubble in the storm. Because the distance was too far, Xia De couldn't see more details:

"Could this be the floating island where the Zhalas Academy of Literature is located?"

The sun and the floating island were in the far distance, while the city nearby was still the same as in the dream, with wind and sand covering the debris of the buildings. Except for Saint Teresa Square, buildings in other areas stood crookedly in the yellow sand. The western part of the city looked like it had been hit by a giant meteorite, and the black smoke drifting into the sky in the northeastern part of the city was like dense tentacles dancing constantly.

Even the houses around Saint Teresa Square, except for No. 6 where Xia De was, were damaged to varying degrees, and the closer they were to No. 6, the higher the degree of completeness.

But there were still living people here. In the city filled with yellow sand, one could see people wearing cloaks and crouching, or things that looked like people, moving slowly along the edges of the buildings. Xia De didn't know how they survived here, but he thought this must be one of the few survivors left.

He didn't try to contact those survivors; the sound couldn't travel too far in the strong wind, and rashly using "Light Spell" would probably attract things other than the survivors of the end.

Because he couldn't leave the Saint Teresa Square area, Xia De couldn't think of what else he could do here by now.

His eyes continued to move downward, and finally looked at Saint Teresa Square. The empty square had old tables and chairs, the lower half of a human statue deeply embedded in the ground from somewhere, and sundries like damaged pianos. And in the center of the square, the fountain statue of a girl holding a water bottle miraculously remained intact, but its body was also covered with fine cracks.

Since the Tree Father said that he could go back after defeating a powerful enemy, the powerful enemy should exist. The house could be determined to be completely safe, so the only area where he might encounter a powerful enemy was the square.

And looking at the square below, Xia De suddenly had a strange idea:

"I can't leave the square, the square is surrounded by houses, the square is very empty, and outside the square is the absolutely safe No. 6... Adding all these conditions together, isn't Saint Teresa Square an arena under the end of the world?"

With this idea, he could almost be sure that the "powerful enemy" would appear when he entered the square.

His current state was already very poor, there was no need to delay time, and it was just right to face the enemy now. If he wanted clues, he could come again next time.

But Xia De also faced another problem, which was how to "defeat the enemy" with a key. The Tree Father would never be vague in the information given, and all descriptions were very precise. Therefore, Xia De couldn't kill the opponent with the key after defeating the enemy; it must be the key itself that defeated the enemy. And although the Outlander of the sixth ring had mastered many spells and miracles, he had never learned abilities like "Flying Needle Technique."

"This key must have other uses I don't know about, otherwise there's no reason why I must defeat the enemy with the key. Although long-haired Luvia can't tell me about the past and some secrets, she certainly wouldn't be unwilling to tell me even this. Did she ever give a hint?"

Xia De tried hard to recall every detail of his conversation with long-haired Luvia in the dream three months ago, especially the dialogue before and after talking about this special time key. Because the two were being intimate at the time, Xia De's memory went off track for a few seconds, and then he found a few key sentences from the dialogue:

"You don't belong to any era."

He held the key and said softly, but the key didn't react.

"Embrace me, and explore my secrets."

Still no reaction. Xia De hesitated for a while, because only the last sentence was left:

"May the initial silver moon guide the final direction."

Hum!

The key in his palm suddenly vibrated, then detached from Xia De's palm by itself, wrapped in a group of silver light, and came to Xia De's front. Xia De got up from the roof in shock, but the key wrapped in a small circular silver light group didn't produce other changes, but Xia De could feel the power contained in it, longing to show its true form.

"Is it really the sublimation language of long-haired Luvia? Wait, this key wasn't born naturally, was it made by Luvia herself?"

Although this sounded incredible, if long-haired Luvia really inherited everything as he thought, this was entirely possible.

The knowledge in 【Witch Echo · Chloe】 and 【Witch Echo · Feilianna】 told Xia De that the things in front of him required specific responses and recognized qualifications to be allowed to be used. This was a high-end alchemy, divine art, and relic containment technology combined.

Since long-haired Luvia let Xia De obtain this key, Xia De certainly had the qualifications to use it. So he coughed, opened his arms very seriously, and said to the key wrapped in silver light in front of him:

"In the name of your master, Luvia Anate, please show me your power."

The huge circular ritual pattern of the sun, moon, and stars that had appeared in the ruined high tower, the dark night temple, and the Edwards letters appeared under Xia De's feet, composed of golden lines. At the same time, the black key merged with the silver light, and then deformed and stretched out in the light like a seed sprouting.

【Grab it.】

"She" reminded softly, and Xia De immediately reached out and grabbed the glowing long staff lying in front of him.

The light and the pattern under his feet disappeared together, and what he grabbed was indeed a black long staff. The material of the long staff was consistent with the key, black wood, the length was about the same as Xia De's height, and the thickness was about the same as Xia De's wrist. The wooden staff itself was like a sapling that had just sprouted, except that there were no root systems at the bottom and no branches extending in all directions.

Although the wooden staff itself was not very straight, when it stood up, at least the line connecting the upper and lower ends was perpendicular to the ground plane. And the reason why it could distinguish the upper and lower ends, besides relying on basic botany to judge, was also because the lower end of the wooden staff was inlaid with a black wooden ball almost the same thickness as the staff body; the upper end of the wooden staff was a curved wooden hook, or a question mark shape.

The shape was simple, with naturally formed tree textures on the surface, but it felt unexpectedly handy when held. It was different from the simplicity of 【Night Watcher】, different from the complexity of the 【Smowell Code】 in the hands of Miss Pawo, the Vice President of the Truth Society, and even more different from the sharpness of any other mundane weapon.

This wooden staff itself had the most primitive and simple power.

Because the black time key itself was a relic, this wooden staff with natural and decadent beauty was also a relic. Or rather, this was simply a staff that enhanced spellcasting effects. Although similar weapons were not common in the Sixth Era, there were many descriptions of such weapons in the knowledge of the witches of the Fifth Era.

"Like 【Night Watcher】, it can also enhance the effects of miracles and spells. What level of relic can this be considered?"

Xia De rubbed the surface of the wooden staff, held it with his left hand to feel the power, and adapted to the characteristics of the elements:

"Also, how can this turn back into a key?"

The existence of the wooden staff form required Xia De's spirit to maintain, but it didn't need much. According to Xia De's estimation, if he let go of it, it would turn back into the key form in about ten minutes, but Xia De thought there should be a more convenient way to transform directly.

However, since he couldn't figure it out, it was better to solve the current trouble first. He held the staff and looked at the square below, which was being rolled by yellow sand, and said softly:

"Ring."

The hot steam mist seemed to be stained with the color of yellow sand. In the sound of whistles and bells, the huge brass ring emerged. Xia De rarely had the opportunity to show his ring and fight in his strongest form, and since no one else was present at this time, he could use his power wantonly.

He dropped the frog legs, then jumped up, jumped from the roof to the square, and landed lightly.

The gravel hitting his face had a slight pain, and the chaotic elements and spirits reduced Xia De's keen perception to the lowest level.

He didn't look around, but waited patiently. Sure enough, the sound of heavy force hitting the door panel appeared soon. Xia De turned his head to look at the house next to his, and saw that the door of the house belonging to the neighbor, the Smith old couple, was being hit fiercely from the inside.

Finally, with a loud bang, the door panel was smashed into fragments and flew in all directions. And the monster wearing old clothes squeezed out of the door frame. ===== CHAPTER 1534 =====