The prophet, skirts gathered, hair disheveled, was almost unfairly beautiful under the volcano's glow.
The seemingly scorching light illuminated every inch of her, yet could never dispel the mist-like aura of mystery cloaking her form.
She walked toward Qin Xin, but before she could speak, he chuckled without turning: "You want
to do sothing for you?"
The Blind One paused, stopping short: "That doesn't sound like you."
"I thought you'd say, 'You're back?'"
Qin Xin laughed heartily. He turned around, and his massive fra, backlit by the distant glow, lood like an ink-black tower, casting a wide swathe of shadow over the Blind One.
She didn't move an inch. Draped in her black gauze, she seed to lt seamlessly into the darkness beneath the tower's shadow.
A lighthouse could indeed illuminate the Torchbearers' path forward. But what many overlooked was that the tower's shadow could also shelter those in darkness from being spotted by outside dangers.
"I understand gallows humor, but that joke wasn't funny. I'm sorry." The Blind One pressed her lips together.
"..."
"Still — the reason I didn't think it is that the Fate Weaver seems to have identified the cause of Ti's discrepancies. I'm here to..."
A keen gleam flashed through Qin Xin's eyes. He'd just been puzzling over how to exploit Ti's flaws, and here the Blind One was, bringing news of a breakthrough.
Cheng Shi... this Fate Weaver seed to be brilliant regardless of which tiline he was in.
Qin Xin glanced silently toward the warehouse, then cut the Blind One off: "Keep it brief. I'm not entirely sure whether Li Wufang ca here with . If he did, he likely has purposes I don't know about.
The sooner we find the cause of the discrepancy and return you and
to where we belong, the better for both
and your Qin Xin.
So tell
— what do I need to do?"
The Blind One was unsurprised by his response. Wasting no ti, she explained that the Abyss Colorful Crystal might be the key to the discrepancies, then pointed him in a direction.
"Cheng Shi, he..."
"He certainly knows how to work the angles. Stays well clear of any danger, doesn't miss a single benefit." Qin Xin laughed. Cheng Shi's little calculations couldn't fool him, but Cheng Shi's suggestion wasn't so devious sche — it was a straightforward, open strategy.
Or perhaps "strategy" was too strong a word. The clown had rely put himself in others' shoes, "considered" things from their perspective a bit more than usual — which was how he'd presented Qin Xin with a choice impossible to refuse.
Hearing the gentle jab, the Blind One chuckled too: "That's just him. This Fate Weaver is quite the greedy one."
"Greed is the start of digging one's own grave. He can be greedy, but Torchbearers cannot. We can't afford a single misstep.
Ah, never mind — why am I telling you all this?
Simple enough. Wait here. I'll be back shortly."
With that, the powerful warrior launched himself off the ground, his soaring figure like a cannonball, slamming down beyond the periter. He swung his arms into a dead sprint, transforming into a hurricane that vanished from the Blind One's perception in an instant.
It was clearly not the kind of agility a warrior should possess. The Blind One noticed it too — he seed to be deliberately showing off these qualities for her benefit.
What was he trying to say?
Was he telling her he wasn't a warrior, but a hunter? Was he exposing his own identity?
Could he really be Like A Dream, that mory hunter?
No — he wasn't even the Qin Xin of this tiline. Why would he expose himself?
Wait — he wasn't exposing himself! He was... exposing the other Qin Xins?
He felt his own life was too bitter, so he wanted to make things harder for his other selves?
Where did that childishness co from...
The Blind One laughed out loud despite herself. But her smile quickly faded.
The more you lack sothing, the more you crave it. If this Qin Xin's humor was so flavored with gallows cody, the world he ca from must be... far more bitter than she'd imagined.
She hoped he'd find what he was searching for in this trial. With that thought, the Blind One turned toward the warehouse and prayed silently.
And she hoped the Fate Weaver would remain under Destiny's protection and find the right road ho.
Whether the Fate Weaver had found his road was unclear. Qin Xin had found the wrong one.
He'd assud retracing his path would lead quickly back to the town center's residential area. Instead, the mont he descended the mine, he realized sothing was off.
If his mory served, rounding the hill at this path's end should reveal a scattered cluster of dwellings. Instead — nothing. The area was flat and empty. Every building, every resident, every trace of habitation had vanished.
Had Ti's discrepancy begun reshaping the trial again, altering Falling Gate's terrain?
Qin Xin's brow tightened. He stopped and cautiously circled half the suspicious area. Just as he was about to step in for a closer look, he suddenly detected a trace of sothing seeping from the zone ahead...
The scent of Oblivion!
Oblivion?!
Wu Cun!
Qin Xin's gaze sharpened. His reflexes were lightning-fast — he drove his sword into the ground at his feet, not because he'd spotted the enemy, but to summon the SSS-grade Dreamless Mirror.
And in that very instant, a tsunami-like surge of Oblivion power erupted from the empty zone ahead, sweeping toward him in an all-consuming tidal wave.
The Oblivion force erased the entire space in a heartbeat. Qin Xin's figure simply vanished. Even his Servant God relic couldn't withstand the annihilating power and shattered on the spot.
But the instant the Dreamless Mirror broke, a vigorous pulse of mory surged from the countless shattered fragnts. Deep azure light refracted and leaped between the mirror shards. In monts, the blue beams wove together at the center of the space, forming a clear silhouette — heavily armored, powerfully built, eyes cold as ice.
Qin Xin had said he was never afraid of Oblivion's ddling. No matter which tiline's Qin Xin it was, he had every right to say those words.
So after the Extinguisher's trap detonated, the Mirror Person's counterattack... began.
A flash of crimson fire flickered through Qin Xin's eyes. His pupils were ignited by so power, turning deep and blood-red. He swept his gaze rapidly across the emptied space, searching for sothing — and within monts, the corner of the Torchbearer's mouth curled upward.
"Found you."
The instant the words left his lips, Qin Xin vanished from the spot. His slender longblade lashed through the air in a single strike, shrieking as it tore open a zone of distorted space — popping it like an invisible balloon with a resounding boom, scattering wild ribbons of Oblivion force in every direction.
A figure was blasted out with a sharp "Wah—!" but vanished into the bright night sky almost imdiately.
"Interesting. If you were an Annihilation Apostle, I might genuinely have trouble finding you. But you're just an Extinguisher.
Mages don't play the ga like this."
Mid-sentence, Qin Xin vanished again, reappearing behind another pocket of Oblivion presence. Once more, his blade didn't stab — it lashed. Once more, it whipped the hiding Extinguisher out of Oblivion's invisible protection.
Twice now!
Two savage strikes had shredded the mage robes on Wu Cun's back. Twin vivid red welts blazed across her unblemished skin — raw and jarring.
The Extinguisher was furious. Eyes ablaze, she whipped her hand outward. Qin Xin dodged the Oblivion blast in ti, but the small hill behind him was erased outright — simply vanishing before everyone's eyes.
Yes — everyone's.
Three people makes a crowd.
When the hill disappeared, a mortified Investigator stood exposed behind the now-"transparent" mound, watching the two fighters go at each other tooth and nail. The corners of his mouth twitched stiffly.
"So, uh... if I said I was just passing through, would either of you believe ?"
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