Although only 14 minutes had passed in the 50-minute adventure, the light of the torch did not allow him to waste any more time. So Shade followed the fireball in the black fog and quickly came to the bottom of the tower, but saw a dark shadow guarding the door blocking his and the fireball's way.
The shadow stretched out his right hand towards Shade and raised two fingers with his left hand.
“Two coins to get in?”
The shadow nodded.
Xia De took a deep breath:
"Really? You're going to spend all the coins I earned from the Black Mist Camp here, and you won't let me take even one out?"
Even though he said that, he still handed over his last two coins. The shadow made way for the door and took the initiative to open it for Shade. The fireball flew in first, followed by Shade.
The tower was also filled with black fog. The interior area of this dilapidated tower was not large. It was not the kind of tower that Mr. Edmund of Coldwater Harbor lived in, where people could live. Theoretically, the first floor of the tower should be the largest, but the stairs alone took up a quarter of the ground area.
The stairs were also made of stone, but it still felt quite dangerous to step on. The spiral staircase led to the higher floors of the tower, and when Shad stepped on the first step, the torch in his hand finally went out.
The sudden chill even made Xia De stop his movements completely. The black mist that was originally repelled by the light instantly engulfed him, and then retreated a little because of the silver light on the surface of his body.
"Oh, it's so cold~"
Xia De held onto the wall to prevent himself from falling. The numbness of his soul made his body even stiffer. The air he exhaled from his mouth actually condensed into ice crystals in the air, and the negative emotions and thoughts that had just appeared because of the two games became more obvious at this moment.
“Amplify the power of negative emotions?”
He gasped for breath, adjusted his condition, and then held on to the wall and continued to move upward with difficulty:
"If it's just this kind of trouble, at most it will just slow me down a bit. It's okay, it's okay."
His staggering steps made each step on the ground make a heavy sound. Even though the light of the silver moon on his body was very stable, Xia De gradually felt that his vision was becoming blurred.
The two sides of the staircase were not without decoration. Although there were no windows, blank picture frames appeared on the walls at intervals. As Shade, staggering, half leaned against the curved wall and struggled to climb up, portraits of people appeared in those empty picture frames.
"What do you think of us on the other side of time and space?"
A familiar voice came, and the dizzy Xia De saw a familiar figure appear in the picture frame on the wall next to him.
Chloe Yin, with long silver hair, stood in front of the snow-capped mountains and asked Shade in the frame. Her unrestrained silver hair swayed in the wind, and her eyes on her delicate face seemed to see directly into Shade's soul:
"It was just our first encounter in the Silver Mountains, but once I met you, I was ruined for life. Do you know that you were only waiting for me for a few weeks or months, but I was looking for you, I was waiting for you, but it took my entire life?"
Just a few words made Xia De, who was already a little confused, feel the real heartache. After having the Heart of Stone, his heart would not have any problems anymore. But when he heard "Chloe Yin"'s question, which was not too much questioning, but just stating the facts, he still felt the pain in his heart that pierced his soul.
Suddenly, the image of Hela, wearing a black veil, who had been waiting for him in Oxenfurt Manor on the night of the Battle of Randall Valley, appeared before him again. Perhaps, the woman with the true "Heart of Stone" at that time also had this feeling hidden under her calm expression.
"I... will definitely go to see you and find you, even if it takes a hundred or a thousand years."
The fireball led the way ahead, but the darkness was still deep. Staggering, Shade continued to climb up, holding his chest. His breathing was completely disordered, which meant that he had lost control of his body.
And what awaits him in the next painting is the person he will never forget.
In the flower room filled with all kinds of flowers, the witches sat on the left and right sides of the table. The witch on the left had her light yellow hair tied up, and wore a green dress. Her pointed ears were dangling with yellow and silver crescent pendants. The witch on the right had her long golden hair tied up and hanging from her left shoulder. She was wearing a gorgeous purple dress, as gorgeous as a violet.
Miss Orlano and Miss Felina looked at Shade in the painting, who was staggering against the wall and couldn't even stand up straight:
"We, what are we to you?"
The oil painting was yellowed and even had traces of insect bites, but this did not prevent the sound from clearly entering Xia De's ears:
"You from the Thousand Trees Forest had to seek help from us in order to defeat the master of the Blood Feast, and you called us your teachers. But when you saw us at that time, what did you think of us in the dark corner of your heart?"
Xia De's eyes were already blurry, with only the fireball and the faint light and shadows. He did not continue to move forward, but leaned against the wall with difficulty and stretched out his hand, wanting to touch the lady in the picture.
"You call yourself a teacher, but you have only been using our help. When you stand in St. Byrons a thousand years later, will you still remember what you said? Shad Hamilton, what do you think of us?"
He held onto the wall and tried to move forward. His legs seemed to weigh a thousand pounds. After falling down suddenly, he wanted to get up again, but his body had lost the strength to do so.
Only a few minutes had passed since he stepped onto the first step, but the stranger felt like he could no longer walk.
He missed the girl with purple eyes a little, missed the writer and the princess a little, missed Carina a little, and missed the cat a little.
Every part of his body was asking him to stop and rest, and the severe pain in his heart made him want to turn around and leave, no longer suffering from this torture. But he still lay on the steps, stretched out his hands towards higher places, and continued to climb forward with difficulty:
"Although I feel guilty, I will never let them down. I... No, I won't owe them anything, I..."
Even the thoughts in his mind were interrupted by exhaustion. Unable to stand up, he continued to crawl forward. His originally strong body was bruised in just a moment. The pain could not make him more conscious, but the familiar voice continued to be heard in the darkness.
He could no longer stand up to look at the painting. But he knew that it was the voice of the witch of the Fifth Era, the Witch Queen Miss Violet, and her niece, Miss Schultz Theresa, the principal of the Sexess Higher Medical School at the end of the era:
"Do you really have feelings for us?"
The sound from above was as if the two ladies were standing on either side of Shad, looking at him with disgust, and he could reach out and touch their high heels:
"You and us only met for a moment. What makes you think that the witches will fall in love with you at first sight? And what makes you think that we will remember you forever?"
The third sound disappeared just like the previous two. Xia De knew that he was about to die. Every time he moved his body, it was like he was powerless after fighting with all his strength and facing a strong enemy again. At this moment, lying on the steps, he couldn't even puff up his lungs to breathe continuously.
The voice in my ears disappeared, but the voice in my heart kept appearing.
Some people were questioning how many parts Xia De's heart could be divided into; some people were grieving, wondering which of Xia De's words were true and which were lies; some people were crying, without saying a word, but it seemed as if they had said everything; some people were angry, and they didn't understand how Xia De had the courage and guts to dare to deal with so many girls without any self-blame or guilt.
"When you meet those brand new girls, when you communicate with them for the first time, don't you really feel heartbroken?"
It was as if someone had stabbed a sharp knife directly into his heart, or as if countless hands had grabbed Xia De's body and torn off his flesh piece by piece. There was no abuse in those voices, but only questions that kept wearing away Xia De's soul.
"I... ... "
He could no longer utter a word, and his physical condition had deteriorated more seriously than he had imagined. The amplified emotions in his soul had caused his already fragile body to completely lose control.
“Ugh~”
The vomited black blood merged with the dust on the stone steps, and the body, still relying on instinct to move upwards, finally stopped completely.
"I... ... "
In my mind, I seemed to see myself when I first came into this world, and when I first went out, I leaned against the door of Sainte-Teresa Square, panicking and even terrified because of the reality of all this.
Shade saw the past and was equally clear about what he had done since then until now.
He tried to breathe, tried to adjust his thoughts, and tried to say what he wanted to say most in this dying moment. Of course, he knew what he had done and what he had chosen.
Although he felt guilty, he never regretted it. Although he knew that what he did was wrong, he swore that he would not let anyone be sad because of him.
The violent trembling of the soul triggered the change of the life ring. The four colors of spiritual light, gold, silver, brass and black iron, gradually illuminated the dark tower stairs. The spiritual rune symbolizing the great sin was brighter than all other spiritual runes.
Xia De's lips trembled as he spoke:
"I just... want it all! No matter who I provoke, I will take all the responsibility. I must go all the way to the end!"
The power bursting out from his soul miraculously allowed Xia De to support his body with his arms again, and then he stood up little by little against the wall.
He moved forward step by step, and with his eyes almost completely blind and his last breath in his chest, he continued to climb, following the fireball in front of him.