Chapter 1893: Contact

Looking more carefully behind Mirror-Hider, it was clearly not just him by the lake, but more people walking or working in the fog, among whom there were even Extraordinarys dressed as clergy of the Orthodox Church.

This kind of contact was very unstable, and Mirror-Hider's figure kept flickering, clearly unable to be maintained for too long.

Fortunately, "Mirror-Hider," who was by Green Lake, could also see the situation here through this method. He first nodded to Xia De, then said with a fast speech rate:

"The situation is very bad. The white mist has covered the entire Green Lake region, and the cracks in the night sky have also completed their coverage of the entire material world's night sky. The Church's statement is that the spatial Chosen must be determined as soon as possible, and then he must reinforce the seal of the central island of Green Lake, otherwise everything will be beyond redemption."

"【Mirror Association】 and the Church cooperated?"

Xia De asked, and Mirror-Hider, whose figure kept flickering, glanced at him:

"Only this once, the Church clearly isn'

"I'll keep it brief, because the fog spreading into the city on the lake has caused a lot of trouble. It was originally expected to take half an hour, but now it will take at least an hour or even longer for the Church to find a way to reach your location by boat, though I cannot rule out that there are other methods I don't know about to land on the island ahead of time. However, the good news is that since communication like this is possible now, it means there are other ways to communicate. That deceased Chosen One asked me to bring a message to the Awakener—'The fire is lit'."

Xia De frowned slightly:

"Fire? I understand."

"Also, the Church is trying to use a projection method like mine to project Thirteenth-Ring sorcerers or supplies onto the island. The projection of sorcerers is not going smoothly, but some items have already successfully entered the island. While you explore the island, you can try to find them."

"How is the city doing now?"

"I didn't expect you to still have time to care about that. It's very bad, but not yet to the point of destroying the city; it depends on how fast you act..."

The light emitted from that bronze eyeball suddenly vanished, and the figure of the "Hidden Mirror Man" disappeared along with it. Xia De thought it was because the two brothers could no longer bear the pressure of using this relic, but when he turned his head, he discovered that Wood Edwards and Glass Edwards, who had been standing beside him just a moment ago, had actually disappeared together.

"What's going on?"

【The fog surged to their side, and then they disappeared.】

"Then we shall meet again at the banquet hall."

He did not care about the disappearance of the two brothers and looked up again toward the direction of the distant old Edwards mansion. Instead of continuing forward, he took out the Return Charm from his pocket, and just as he was about to bend one of them, he suddenly looked around in confusion.

A certain peculiar power had appeared—it could not be seen, heard, or touched, yet at this moment, Xia De felt that this peculiar power was appearing here precisely because of what had just happened in this cemetery.

He could not describe what this feeling was. After confirming through instinct that this was not a trap or a danger, he gently raised his hand and touched the blood-red, lush, and leafy tree in front of him.

"She" in his ears seemed to laugh, and then Xia De received a prompt:

【Outlander, you have sensed miracles, blasphemy, enlightenment, and whispers.】

【Outlander, you are coming into contact with the "Edwards Apotheosis"... You have extracted the power symbolizing "Flesh Ascension".】

【Your field of vision on the island has expanded; the suppression of the island's power on you has weakened; your recovery of spirit and physical strength before leaving the island is enhanced.】

"What?"

He was puzzled.

【The Edwards Apotheosis is also effective on you.】

"Her" voice was still as gentle as ever, but the sentence she spoke gave Xia De a shock:

"Am I really a descendant of the Edwards family? Are Megan, Audrey, and I actually relatives? If so, can we still..."

【You have no blood relationship with the Edwards family.】

"Then why... oh?"

Xia De felt as if he had guessed some of the truth:

"The ritual, the Edwards Apotheosis, is a ritual created in imitation of the Thirteenth Chosen One ritual. In essence, it has characteristics very similar to the Thirteenth Chosen One. Although I am not an Edwards descendant, and I don't have the good luck that Iluna has—always gaining power every time she experiences a Chosen One story—I am not without gains every time either."

He pressed his hand against the position on his chest where his deck was kept. He could clearly perceive the existence of the five Universal Cards—the Silver Moon and Space were currently just ordinary cards and did not yet have that feeling of being part of his own limbs:

"So, as long as there is a connection to the Thirteenth Chosen One ritual, one can actually extract power from this ritual?"

He clenched his hand, but did not feel that he had gained any extra power.

【This is a symbolic ritual. If you can touch the traces of this ritual more, perhaps you can compete with the creator of the ritual for control of the ritual in the end.】

"There's such a thing?"

Xia De thought suspiciously, and then bent a "Return Charm". His figure then disappeared from the cemetery.

The fog surged and completely covered every corner of the cemetery. The blood on the ground continued to seep into the underground, and the tree roots lurking beneath the island quietly absorbed the red liquid. The fog on the island seemed to have become even thicker.

"Xia De!"

"Meow~"

When Xia De's figure appeared by the bonfire on the first floor of the Green Lake Hotel, the young ladies immediately surrounded him in a panic, thinking he had been seriously injured and had to return.

Seeing that he was unscathed except for being soaked through, they felt slightly relieved. Miss Hayley Aurora walked over and placed her hand on Xia De's back, and his soaked clothes dried rapidly within five seconds:

"Mr. Hamilton, I just tried to enter the Council, but it cannot be done here."

This was also within expectations. Xia De nodded and looked around, unexpectedly finding that there were significantly more female sorcerers standing there than when he had left just now.

Under the light and shadows of the three flickering bonfires, pairs of eyes watched him. Tifa at the door seemed to know what Xia De was thinking:

"After you left, we found a way to wake up a small number of the unconscious young ladies, but not many have regained the ability to move."

This was good news; after all, Xia De hadn't been gone for long.

Potions for restoring physical strength, removing negative states, and strengthening power had already been sent over, and one after another, spells to strengthen his state were cast upon Xia De.

Xia De hugged Princess Lei Qianya and nodded to Dorothy before saying:

"I just met the Edwards brothers, and they briefly communicated with the outside of the island. Sister Daelin brought me a message, and I think I understand the sister's meaning. The current situation is very interesting; almost all forces outside the island are cooperating. This state of isolation will end soon, so prepare to receive them."

As he spoke, he came to the campfire in the camp and sat down. The young ladies made room for him, leaving him alone by the fire. Only Ajelina carefully squatted down and placed Little Mia on the ground. The cat ran happily toward Xia De and then lay down in front of him.

Concentrating his attention, Xia De stared at the fire in front of him. He extended his right index finger, and a small flame darted out from it. The Primordial Fire that Sister Daelin shared with him could not actually be fully controlled by him; at this moment, he could only use all his strength to control the flame and then reached his hand into the bonfire in front of him.

The fire seemed to ignite his entire hand. In the firelight, Sister Daelin's face, wearing a silver eye patch, appeared clearly. In the flickering flames, her gray hair was stuck to her cheeks, wet, clearly showing that she was also outdoors at this moment.

However, the sister did not speak. Xia De only felt his hand in the fire being held by another warm hand. That hand stuffed something into his, and at the same time, a warm current flowed from that hand into his, restoring his physical strength and spirit, and soothing his tense mind.

Then, the face of the sister wearing the silver mask in the fire disappeared.

Xia De withdrew his right hand, and in his palm were a rolled-up note, a golden earring, and a pink rhombic crystal.

Xia De did not check the note and the other item first, but looked in surprise at the golden earring, which was clearly for the right ear:

"Megan and Audrey's golden earring? Ancient witch's gold jewelry? Why would it be with Sister Daelin?"

This was a symbol of the witches' identity. Although Xia De hadn't seen Megan wearing it tonight, it shouldn't have been with Sister Daelin either.

"Look at the content of the note."

Dorothy reminded him, and Xia De unfolded the note. The handwriting was undoubtedly Sister Daelin's, and the ancient grammar in the note was something only Sister Daelin would use.

Because there was too much to write and the note was limited in size, the dense letters were very small. The sister did not exchange pleasantries here, and started by writing the reason why the earring was in her hands:

【Megan Edwards was worried that she would die in the family's old mansion and lose an important relic of the Council, so she took this earring off in advance and left it with me.】

As for why she didn't give it to other witches or Xia De, it was clearly because she didn't want others to know about her worries.

A hand reached out from behind Xia De and closed his palm, which was holding the earring. Xia De looked back at Princess Lei Qianya behind him, and the Princess nodded slightly:

"Since you promised to bring them back, you must not break your word."

Compared to other witches, Princess Lei Qianya had the best impression of Megan and Audrey. The sense of fate of the "twins" made her feel that she was a similar person to Dorothy and this pair of witch sisters.

The latter part of the note described the current situation outside. As expected, all three pairs of sixth-generation twins disappeared one after another after 7:30. It was just different from what Xia De thought; the time the Edwards in the hotel received the second invitation letter was 7:48, while the times for the Edwards elsewhere were all different.