The battle at the school was still fierce. Even though they had reached such a deep cave, the roars and vibrations along the ground were still vaguely detectable.
Although it was unavoidable to worry about Willy who was alone there to fend off the group of enemies, when she thought that the real powerful enemy might be quietly waiting for her at the front, there was naturally not much room for distraction.
The glowing spell of the wand could not illuminate the entire cave, and the surrounding darkness still enveloped everyone silently, making it impossible to completely eliminate the sense of depression. As we continue to go deeper, our steps unconsciously become heavier.
Except Maca.
"As I said before, there won't be any more trouble, so you can relax... Oh, look! The remains of the dragon can already be seen. It's big, right? So big that even they'll like it. Living in a cave is a confusing thing."
Maybe this is also to relieve everyone's depression. In short, Maka seems to be happy to take advantage of this gap to chat a few more words.
It's a pity that the topics for small talk may be endless, but the road under our feet will eventually end.
Maka was right. The skeleton of this ancient dragon was really big. Before everyone could follow it all the way to the end, Maka, who was walking in the front with a cane, had already stopped.
"Oh, it's here, it's here..."
As he said this, he suddenly exerted force and inserted the wooden stick in his hand that was temporarily used as a crutch into the ground. Then he leaned on the stick and released his right hand, pointing slightly forward.
"You mentioned it in the auditorium just now, right? It's the hole in the crypt that I told you to be careful about - and that's where it's connected."
If Maka hadn't said anything, others wouldn't have noticed that the darkness ahead was no longer pure darkness.
Looking carefully, except for the fact that there is still a layer of slightly rolling black fog around the feet, there seems to be a surging black fog in the shadows in front that cannot be illuminated by the light. The fog was moving in a spiral shape for some unknown reason, thin at the bottom and thick at the top, like a tornado, expanding upward until it disappeared into the darkness that could not be seen from above.
And where is the bottom of the dark tornado connected...
Hermione wanted to see more clearly, so she subconsciously threw the light ball at the tip of the wand forward, but she couldn't help but hesitate before actually doing it.
However, after thinking that Maka had repeatedly stated that there was actually no danger in this trip, she still threw the light ball out.
Sure enough, Maka, who was leaning on the cane in front, said nothing when she saw the light ball of the luminous spell flying over her head.
"Ah! That's—"
Not only Hermione, but Harry, Safina and Luna also saw it. It was an ancient mirror standing alone on the ground. The size is slightly higher than that of an adult, the old frame looks like stone but not stone, and the mirror is hazy as if it has been dusted for a long time... At a glance, it is actually very inconspicuous.
If it had been placed in a utility room filled with things, rather than in a bare cave with almost nothing, I believe no one would be interested in it.
However, at this moment, there is such a dusty ancient mirror. From inside its mirror... to be precise, from a certain position in the lower half of the mirror, a towering strange black mist is released, which makes people feel... I felt a chill in my back just looking at it.
"Maka, is that...'The Devouring Mirror'?" Although Hermione's words were questions, her tone was close to certainty.
Back in front of Hogwarts Castle, Maka tried to use the power of meteorites to destroy it because it seemed to be Halpo's only Horcrux. Unfortunately, the entire plan failed at the last minute due to Hellbo's interference, and most of Hogwarts was destroyed for a time.
Today, the mirror is still there and still intact. However, it seems that it is no longer Haierbo's Horcrux - what happened in the auditorium before was enough for Hermione and others to understand that since Haierbo's voice replaced Maka, and from the mouth of the doll with the transformation spell, The moment it rang, his remnant soul had been extracted from the mirror by Maka using the resurrection stone.
"So, what is connected to the mirror is the 'world of the dead'?"
Hermione's mind was still spinning fast. In the auditorium, both Maka and the witch Kern only mentioned the unclear pronoun "over there". Now it seems that it most likely refers to the space in the mirror.
"Ah... that's it... it's not impossible." Maka looked at the misty mirror and thought for a moment, "To be honest, it's really difficult to describe it accurately, because the 'world' on the other side of the mirror is... The concept is a bit abstract... There is a word in Muggle religious legends called 'Limbo', which means 'edge of hell' - let's not discuss whether hell exists or not! Anyway, this word is used to refer to 'that Bian', I think it's pretty good! Because after crossing the mirror, it is no longer the realm of the living, it is the soul... that is, a new journey in which the spiritual will of the dead merges with each other, and the desires are gradually unified. Well, actually, I also I don’t really understand, but if I have to say it, that’s probably the true meaning of ‘death’!”
Having said this, Maka finally turned around, waved slightly to Hermione and others behind her and said:
"I won't say much about things that I don't understand myself. I'll let you take a look for yourselves! The next few steps are the final path we have to take... Remember, no matter what you see, Don't be afraid, no one can hurt you... Just like Hermione said just now, because you are the 'living', and the living cannot go to the 'world of the dead'."
…
Black and white, two diametrically opposite colors that instantly replace each other within the field of vision, usually give people a very abrupt feeling.
But at this moment, there was obviously no transition at all, but Hermione and others felt as if they had come here naturally.
Looking back, it even gives people the illusion that they have been walking here from the beginning. As for the previous battle in the dark cave and even the Hogwarts Great Hall, it was just a dream.
This is a world of pure white, the kind of white that doesn't dazzle the eyes. Soft white light shrouded from all directions, giving it a unique sense of emptiness, but not annoying.
If you calm down and feel it, I don't know if it's an illusion, but you can still feel the white light with a little warmth. The calmer the mind is, the more comfortable it feels, making people want to just lie down and have a good sleep.
"'Lingbo'...'The edge of hell'...that's what Maka seems to have said? But this place doesn't seem to be such a scary place at all, right?"
Just as Harry was thinking this, the white color around him changed.