Chapter 58: Hourglass in the Flame
As written in the diary, Frozen Water Town appears calm on the surface, just an ordinary seaside town.
The townsfolk rely on fishing, agriculture, and aquaculture for their livelihoods, living conditions aren’t particularly affluent, but they have enough to get by.
“Hello, may Iask what today’s date is?”
Hiltina stopped a passerby from the town and inquired.
“May 11th.”
The middle-aged farmer woman looked up, glanced at Hiltina, her gaze pausing for a moment on her neatly kept knight’s attire and the pure silver Guardian badge.
“You must have come from the inland, right?”
“This badge, I’ve heard the mayor mention it, seems to be called something like a guardian…”
A trace of reverence appeared on her face: “The mayor said that if you see someone wearing this badge, you must immediately invite them to his residence. You are all great people and should be treated as honored guests.”
“No need to lead the way, please just tell us the location of the mayor’s residence,” Rast spoke up.
“Alright, okay.” The middle-aged farmer woman nodded and simply pointed out the way for Rast.
“Thank you.”
After bidding farewell to the farmer woman, Rast headed toward the direction she indicated, towards the center of Frozen Water Town.
Hiltina followed behind Rast, not asking many questions.
Her sequence long tier was “Chariot,” which provided her with considerable destructive power but offered little assistance in the realms of mystery and spirit… Otherwise, the dancer they encountered in Deep Blue Harbor wouldn’t have had such a strong restraining relationship with Hiltina.
If she could, Hiltina wouldn’t mind directly performing a true name liberation to flatten the entire small town before her…
However, the calamity echo enveloping this town named Frozen Water Town clearly wasn’t an existence that could be easily overcome.
Based on prior experience in Deep Blue Harbor, in such circumstances, handing over command to Rast was undoubtedly the best choice.
Frozen Water Town isn’t too big; the two followed the town’s road inward and soon reached the town center.
At this moment, Hiltina suddenly halted.
“Fran!”
She abruptly turned and shouted towards a figure walking by the street.
However, the young woman who looked to be seventeen or eighteen did not move upon hearing Hiltina’s words, continuing in her original direction.
Soon, she disappeared at the end of the street.
Hiltina tensed her body, ready to exert force and chase after the direction the figure vanished.
But then, she found herself stopped by Rast.
“I have to catch up and ask her, she is from the expedition team…”
“Fran, a second-year student at Starry University, ranked eighteen at the Obelisk.”
Rast’s indifferent voice interrupted Hiltina’s words: “Her sequence long tier is ‘Abundance,’ and her Night Blade is ‘Plant Dialogue.'”
“At the same time, she was one of the first dispatched to this calamity echo, responsible for early exploration and reconnaissance work, now confirmed to be one of the reconnaissance team members that has been completely obliterated, right?”
“Exactly.” Hiltina paused slightly: “But now it seems that the soul imprint from the Obelisk might have gone wrong… The reconnaissance team is not fully extinct but trapped within this calamity echo.”
“No, the Stellar Obelisk did not err.”
Rast shook his head, looking towards the end of the street where the figure, indistinguishable from Fran, had disappeared.
“If we pursue her now, questioning Fran will be pointless.”
“Because she no longer recognizes you as one of the Twelve Seats of the Round Table… Or more accurately, she is merely a hollow void bearing Fran’s appearance.”
“Within her body, there are no memories belonging to that second-year student from Starry University, which is why she ignored your reaction, Hiltina, because she doesn’t even know that Fran is the name being called at her.”
“However, I am quite clear…”
Rast looked at the silent Hiltina and smiled faintly: “With your personality, these vague speculations are probably not enough to convince you.”
“As long as there is a glimmer of possibility, the ‘Ranger’ will not give up on their companions.”
“If not, you wouldn’t have risked going back to save me in Deep Blue Harbor when you had clearly planned the evacuation route.”
He took a badge from his collar.
In the next moment, that badge engraved with the Moon of Iron Patterns transformed into a flowing silver light, gathering in Rast’s hand into the shape of a revolver.
Then, he slowly pointed the revolver’s muzzle toward himself in front of Hiltina.
“Look into my eyes, relax your spirit, do not resist.”
“What do you want to do?” Hiltina asked.
She had seen Rast use this self-hypnosis to activate “Shining Lantern” to intimidate enemies.
But at this moment, there were no enemies that needed intimidation beside them.
Nevertheless, Hiltina forced herself to adjust her mindset and stared directly into Rast’s obsidian-like eyes.
She believed Rast would not harm her.
“Since you’ve seen my Obelisk dossier, you should know that my Night Blade is ‘Copy Eye,'” Rast said.
“During the time you were away, I used the Copy Eye to replicate Isda’s Night Blade ‘Eye of Secrets,’ a capability that allows one to ascend to the spirit realm and overlook the subconscious ocean with a spiritual perspective.”
“But Isda’s understanding of her own spirit and consciousness is too shallow. Clearly possessing the power to enter the spirit realm, she merely uses it to satisfy her voyeuristic tendencies…”
He couldn’t help but shake his head: “In fact, ‘Eye of Secrets’ has far more uses than voyeurism.”
“For example, connecting our spiritual essences together.”
“Allowing you to also see everything from the spiritual perspective with the ‘Eye of Secrets.'”
As he spoke, he pulled the trigger of the revolver.
Boom—
In Rast’s eyes, an ice-blue light suddenly ignited.
Three hundred years of time in Deep Blue Harbor had allowed Rast’s control over his spirit and consciousness to reach an unimaginable level… Far surpassing those students from Starry University who were at most just over twenty years old.
Thus, to Rast, the clumsy use of spiritual Night Blades by other travelers seemed like a complete waste.
Watching the ice-blue light bloom in Rast’s eyes, Hiltina also sensed her consciousness rising, ascending into the spirit realm.
The scene of Frozen Water Town beside her faded away, replaced by a world sketched by spiritual strokes.
Then, her gaze fixed on the area where Fran had originally been.
There, there was none of the spiritual symbols belonging to Fran that Hiltina had imagined.
What remained was merely an hourglass glowing with flame.
As time passed, the flame continued to weaken, and the sand in the hourglass flowed away.
At this rate, by midnight, the hourglass would completely reach its end.
No, it wasn’t just Fran.
Within the scope of Hiltina’s spiritual vision…
The entire population of Frozen Water Town was but individual hourglasses, slowly flowing away in the increasingly thin flame.
(End of Chapter)
