I think you should be the only outsider.
While Shad was daydreaming, the whispering voice in his ear spoke softly.
"Why?"
The arrival of outsiders is luck within luck. If one person appears, it is a miracle. There is no way there will be a second one.
"Then why is "The Little Match Girl"... "
There are no coincidences in this world, only the accumulation of inevitability. Besides, haven’t you already guessed the reason
Xia De smiled. If there was no second outsider, then the answer would be very clear.
Today is Wednesday, past midnight, and it has been exactly one week since the last time I used the time key:
"It seems that I, an outsider, am not completely without anything."
The woman's pleasant laughter came to my ears again.
"Shad, did you hear that?"
Only then did he realize that Miss Louisa was talking to him. Xia De raised his head and said embarrassedly:
"Sorry, I was just thinking about something. What did you say?"
"I said, if you don't take care of your cat, it will jump out of the basket."
The blond writer said, touching his earlobe.
"Meow~"
Mia made a "threatening" sound at Miss Louisa and almost jumped onto the dining table.
After dinner, Xia De said goodbye to Miss Louisa. Before leaving, he asked her about the newspaper advertisement. Miss Louisa took out a bunch of business cards from her handbag and stuffed them into his pocket. They were all newspapers that Miss Louisa had worked with:
“There’s always one for you.”
Because he was looking forward to what would happen tonight, after saying goodbye to the writer, Shade did not go anywhere else, but returned directly to Saint Teresa Square with Mia in his arms. The time key could only be used after midnight, so Shade still had to wait for nearly six hours from returning home at 6:30 to midnight.
Of course, he did not waste time, but continued to help Miss Louisa translate the book "The Four Elements of Chase: Wind and Fire", and even took time to continue reading "Crazy Light Chaser".
After calculating the time and confirming that he could use the time key, he excitedly stood up from the chair in the study.
Mia was originally lying on the desk, sleeping next to Shade's hand. She was awakened by Shade's action of getting up, but the whole cat was still lying lazily on the table, just showing a pair of eyes looking at him.
“Now that the afterglow of divinity has lit up beside me, it’s time to look at the stories of the past.”
He thought excitedly and took out the cracked key from the locked drawer.
He left all the relics on the table for the time being and closed the study door from the inside. Then he held the key and whispered:
"May the World Tree protect me in time."
The key was inserted into the lock, and it made a clicking sound again after being turned. The door of the study was opened, and behind it was a foggy door blocked by thick fog.
The orange cat looked at this scene in amazement, but before it stood up, Shade had already stepped into the fog gate:
"Mia, see you in three seconds."
As the footsteps landed, the surroundings were surrounded by white mist.
A whispering voice sounded in my ears. After getting ready, the "other me" received a message from the father of the fallen ancient god Infinite Tree:
Stranger, you have entered the corridor of time.
Message from the ancient god "Father of the Infinite Tree":
Autumn of the 1068th year of the Fifth Era, Southern Continent, Hope Town.
Event: The fall of the old god "The Pure Creator".
Duration: 10 minutes (2/3).
You get additional information.
The figure of the Infinite Tree Father continues to watch over you.
The tests given to you by the Ancient God of Time will continue.
Witness the final wishes of the old god "The Pure Creator" before his fall.
The Ancient God of Time will give you rewards: Thaumaturgy-Blade of Chaos Time, Miracle Spirit Rune-Echo.
Apart from the addition of words like "continue" and "extend", there are only two-thirds more hints after the duration, but it seems that the time limit is still ten minutes.
Because he was mentally prepared, Xia De did not ask any more questions. He wanted to step into Hope Town from the white fog, and he could not waste time here. However, he did not expect the woman's voice to continue:
The life ring appears.
"Why?"
Although I asked this question, I still did it. The bell rang and the whistle appeared with steam.
The brass ring was rotating behind him, and as the life ring appeared, Xia De actually saw that the skin on his body was cracking inch by inch, and golden light was shining under those cracks.
This is a physical state that has been seen during the day, but during the day, it is because of being in a dream that the state of mind and soul becomes prominent.
"Why can summoning the Life Ring here also make the divine afterglow state manifest on the body surface?"
He inquired.
The knowledge in the divinity tells me that the "time corridor" where you are now is a special space where the power of the divinity is more obvious.
Muttering, Xia De raised his hand, looking at his nearly broken skin and the bright light below in disbelief:
"How interesting. The spiritual state can resist the invasion from dreams, but what use is there in this state in the physical body?"
I think at least this time, you can face the old god directly without his protection.
After taking back the life ring, he took another step in the thick fog. The fog around him disappeared, and Shade returned to the street that looked like a backward medieval town.
Unlike last time, this time it was late at night, and the numb townspeople were nowhere to be seen on the streets. Looking around, the entire town stood in the deep night, and in the distance seemed to be a series of mountains, like a giant beast crawling in the darkness.
The smell in the air was still pungent, and except for the toy store in front of me, no house had any lights on.
Looking up at the sky, dark clouds obscured the stars and the moon, and it was impossible to determine the exact location at the moment by memorizing the stars.
Shade wasted no time and walked straight into the toy store.
The inside and outside of the store seemed like two different worlds. Nothing had changed here. The air was filled with the sweet smell of candy, and the shelves were filled with a dazzling array of toys. A young man wearing a funny clown hat stood behind the counter and was awakened by the sound of the bell caused by the door opening.
He looked up to greet the visitor, but when he saw it was the young detective, he made no move.
The old gods smiled and said:
"It seems that you have indeed found the afterglow of God?"
"Yes, it's not easy."
Shad replied.
Apart from him, he did not think that any mortal had the opportunity to obtain the "Afterglow of God". It was indeed unimaginably difficult to complete the mission of the ancient god. Moreover, he even suspected that other investigators would not have such difficulties when encountering the mission of the "Father of the Infinite Tree".
Xia De stared at the young man. Although he still felt very uncomfortable, as long as he looked away, he would not be affected in maintaining normal activities. The other party was right. Without the afterglow of God, he was not even qualified to talk with God for a long time. The "afterglow of God" was the first step in this task.