When Maka turned around, what he saw was... a horrific sight that he couldn't understand.
The first thing that catches the eye is a large number of rule runes that are constantly rotating around a certain "thing". Those runes looked very dim, as if they would disappear at any time.
And among the floating and swirling runes, a vague shadow hung out of thin air several inches above the ground.
As for the periphery of those runes... he didn't know how to describe it, it was like... the space was constantly distorting
"what do you?"
He found that he couldn't even use the right words to call it. He only knew that it should be a kind of creature - because he did hear some kind of heavy breathing.
He just held the wand in his hand tightly, but this slender wand did not bring him any sense of security.
"Ahem... poof..."
A cloud of blood mist passed through the densely packed rule runes without any hindrance, but completely disappeared in the twisted space around it.
"It's really not decent... Ahem..." It was an extremely old voice, hoarse and vague, but with an inexplicable sense of familiarity.
"We don't have much time, listen up—"
"laugh-"
Maka, who can clearly feel the magic power, uses its regular runes to lose the sluggishness of the past. With a flick of his wand, the magic thread extending from the tip of the wand was accurately and quickly outlined, and an icy blue beam of light burst out instantly, heading straight towards the opponent.
But in the next second, the rule runes fell apart inexplicably, and the cold light pillar completely disappeared into the air.
"Varied-"
"Ahem... don't waste time..." The other party's voice sounded unusually weak, but even so, he could easily break through Maka's killing move.
why is that? Maka couldn't understand the reason at all.
"... What you have to do now is to listen carefully," the other party's voice was very ordinary, like an ordinary Muggle old man, but Maka inexplicably felt a kind of disgust that penetrated into her soul, "Yes, first of all... I have to let you understand who I am..."
As the other party finished speaking, the rule runes surrounding him suddenly accelerated their rotation. Maka noticed that many of the runes had been moved to the inner circle.
Immediately afterwards, the moved runes suddenly shrank, as if they were entangled with something.
"Just open the first few pages and take a look... Ahem... I'll have plenty of time to read it carefully for you..."
While the other party was speaking, the thing wrapped in rule runes suddenly accelerated forward. Following a weird distortion in the space, the thing seemed to have broken through some kind of restraint with difficulty and flew between him and the man.
It was moving towards Maka, but Maka could clearly see that the entangled rune chains were rapidly collapsing. Then, a particularly thick magic book seemed to have lost its power and fell in front of Maka.
"This... this is..."
"That's right, you... ahem... do you understand?"
Maka picked up the book without hesitation, and decisively opened the first page without even reading the words on the cover.
"That's right... that's right..." He looked at the familiar handwriting on it and his eyes widened, "You... Is it possible?"
He took out an identical thick book from his waist, his face full of complexity.
"Ahem... Stop looking..." The other party ignored Maka's reaction, but urged, "Although it is written on it that you should know... Ahem... But I think some things must be said personally. from."
"...What happened?" Maka frowned, her eyes full of wavering.
"Abandon that stupid and ridiculous plan! Remember, you must give up!" The old voice was extremely firm. Although it was still weak, it exuded an undoubted momentum. "Ahem... That plan will only make people miserable." You lose everything... ahem... everything!"
"Everything?" Maka looked at the blurry figure of the other party and suddenly became calmer, "Really?"
There was a hint of noncommittal in his tone, and it was obvious that he had already had some doubts because of the other party's words.
But what he didn't expect was that the other party chuckled.
"Ahem... Hmm, do you think you have given up?" The other party said with a wry smile, "Think about what Luna said today, and you tell me again... Ahem... Are you still planning to give up?"
"What are you talking about?" Maka's heart suddenly suddenly broke out, and cold sweat suddenly broke out on her forehead.
This is because as soon as he asked the question, he already recalled Luna's words.
"Mom always said... everything we throw away comes back, but usually not in the way we expect."
One old and one young, two people whispered this sentence at the same time. For a moment, two completely different voices overlapped, but there was a chilling sense of synchronicity.
"You won't give up... ahem... won't you?" There was an unspeakable self-mockery in the other party's voice, "... and this is the sentence... ahem... you will listen to it again tomorrow, and then... ahem Ahem...then..."
The other party's cough suddenly became violent. Listening to the force, it seemed as if he was about to cough out his lungs. After a loud gasp, the other party continued.
"... Then, it will completely... ahem... completely destroy your life... no, everyone's life..."
"Of course, we don't care about those unrelated people at all...but..." he suddenly emphasized his tone, "but...what about her?"
Although the figure of the other party was still blurry, Maka knew that the other party's eyes must have fallen on Luna at this moment.
"... Humph... Do you know what four-dimensional vision is?" The other party suddenly sneered and threw out a word that was both familiar and unfamiliar to Maka.
"What?" Maka felt that this word had been said enough tonight.
"I can't see her clearly now... Damn it... In my eyes, you are like colorful, disgusting worms!"
"Yes, that's right... ahem... it extends from outside the door to here, and continues to other places..." the other party said, suddenly paused, "ahem... hum... I want to see her again. … Just one glance is good…”
"etc!"
Maka immediately noticed something was wrong, but by the time he spoke, it was already too late.
In the next moment, the rule runes around the opponent's body turned completely gray. Then, they collapsed one after another, piece after piece...
In the blink of an eye, the originally amazing three-dimensional regular rune array turned into nothingness; and the figure inside was finally exposed to the air.
how to say? It was like a... rag bag with blood constantly leaking out...
That figure only existed in front of Maka for less than a second, but Maka imprinted him deeply in her mind without missing a beat.
Including the exquisite robe on his body that had been soaked with blood. Although its original color could no longer be seen clearly, the layers of regular runes on it could still be clearly distinguished;
Including the tall staff in his hand, the dark green staff is also engraved with many runes, and the top is even inlaid with some unknown stone.
Of course, it also included the wrinkled old face, and the look in his eyes that made Maka feel extremely familiar - it was something he had just experienced, originating from the deepest weakness and fear in his heart.
Is he afraid of death
No, what he was afraid of was probably just not being able to see Luna's sleeping face again, right
Maka looked at the space by the window. Everything that happened just now left no trace at all. It was like a trance dream, so unreal.
But in his hands, two identical books were reminding him with their weight that it was not a cruel nightmare.
Maka lowered her head. On the cover of the book above, there were four large silver-gray characters imprinted with magic...
"…The Book of Sin."
He didn't open it immediately, but moved his eyes to Luna's face. He also seemed to be afraid - afraid that he would be like the person just now, and at some point, he would no longer have the chance to look at her quietly...
Maybe it's because both parties consciously lowered their voices just now? Luna was still sleeping deeply, and when Maka looked towards her, she happened to see a sweet smile on her face.
"…Luna."
Maka called softly, but as if she was afraid of really waking her up, every syllable was so careful.
After a long time, he came back to his senses, then leaned on her hospital bed and quietly opened the magic book called "The Book of Sin".
When she opened it for the first time just now, Maka noticed something unusual about this book. Now, when he reopened it, he immediately discovered that the book was indeed "incomplete".
Just like the literal meaning, in the middle of the book, many pages have been neatly torn out in one piece. Maka didn't know what content had been written on those pages... or would be written in the future, but it was undoubtedly something he couldn't see right now.
He exhaled softly and read carefully from the first page.
This book was exactly the same as the other notebook he had, right down to the first few pages. On those familiar pages, there are many records of studying rule runes, and they were only written down recently.
Prior to this, Maka had already written three volumes of notes on the study of rule runes. This should be the fourth volume, and it has just begun.
Scroll further down, and there is progress that he has not studied...
"It's really no different from the idea I haven't recorded yet. In other words, this is simply the follow-up content written by 'I'..."
However, just when he was looking at it in fascination, his notes on rune research came to an abrupt end...