Reaching out to catch the falling snow, Dorothy Louisa looked around. The dense darkness and that door were gone; the air was fresh and cold, and the scent of civilization's hearth-fires made her almost tremble.
Together with the detective before her, she stood on a winter night street where the snow lay deep enough to nearly cover their feet. The distinct scent of winter rushed into her nostrils, while a small figure stood before Shade.
Barefoot and wearing a pair of slippers, the child's feet were bruised blue and purple from the cold, and the patches on her clothes were simply too numerous to count. A worn headscarf wrapped around her golden hair; she huddled her body, clutching a small basket. She smiled at Shade.
She lit the first match. The match went out, and five merfolk appeared before them. Snowflakes surrounded them; even their roars could not break the shackles of the ice and snow.
She lit the second match. The match went out, and the five merfolk were enveloped in fire. It was the light of the match—faint, yet containing hope.
She lit the third match. The match went out, and five streaks of black smoke surged out of the fish-men's bodies. A blurred figure clad in black robes appeared beside the girl, swinging a scythe, and the black smoke dissipated amidst the flying snowflakes.
She lit the fourth match. The match went out, and the flames on the fish-men followed suit. This was the last match, the one that contained the end of the story and Shade's hope.
After the flames vanished, the intact Days family lay collapsed on the snowy ground.
Shade approached the girl with the basket and looked up toward the end of the snowy street. A colossal black shadow occupied the sky and the earth, signifying that an Evil God from a higher dimension was gazing upon this place—gazing at him.
A voice sounded in his ear.
【You are being watched by the Old God, "God of the Deep Sea Drowned." You feel profanation.】
【The first to die, drowned in the deep sea, who knows the secrets of the deepest abyss. Hating the living, on stormy nights, it drags all living beings to the seabed, wailing day and night amidst the bells of death.】
【You have listened to the story of the Old God, "God of the Deep Sea Drowned." You have learned one of the profanations of the Old God, "God of the Deep Sea Drowned."】
【You have acquired the Curse—Underwater Breathing.】
Shade paid no mind to the voice in his ear, nor did he care that he now knew exactly who this was.
That gaze fell entirely upon Shade, and the afterglow of divinity wrapped around him like burning golden flames. In that moment, he felt as if he were peering into the abyss at the bottom of the deep sea; countless rotting corpses' hands were pulling at him, yet he stood there motionless.
The Evil God had not descended into the material world, but was merely gazing upon it; thus, Shade had the courage to stand there and look up at Him.
He could not retreat. Since he had decided to try and save those he could, he absolutely could not step back.
A moment later, before Shade even had to decide whether to sacrifice his only drop of divinity, the gaze voluntarily withdrew.
The deity abandoned its gaze, and the sense of spatial dislocation vanished completely. The humans who had been turned into fish and marked by Him were saved; He had lost interest in the events here.
"Shade, you really... oh!"
The scenery of the snowy street and the figure of the barefoot girl in slippers rapidly receded amidst a sudden blaze of roaring flames. The brilliant fire swept past Miss Louisa's body, and the sensation of seaweed growing upon her skin after being watched by the Evil God vanished.
The surroundings returned to that alleyway in the night, returning to the night of Tobesk.
The Days family lay quietly and neatly in the alley, breathing steadily. But Shade collapsed backward, and this time, it was Miss Louisa who caught him.
The young outsider's eyes were tightly shut, his face deathly pale, with almost no rise and fall of his chest.
Miss Louisa held her breath. After a long while, with a sorrowful expression, she reached out a trembling hand to test his breath.
Exhaling a long breath, Shade had simply fainted from exhaustion after performing a miracle far beyond his own level.
"Still, this is the first time I've witnessed a Maze."
Looking at the young detective's face under the moonlight, the blonde girl's eyes were red, but she managed a gentle, relieved smile.
Three full moons hung overhead, their silver light illuminating the area, illuminating Shade. Faintly, sounds could be heard from the distance; the Orthodox Church could not possibly be unaware that an Evil God had gazed upon the material world and a miracle Maze had been deployed in the city.
Now, it was time to leave.
(Mia is running...)
A dream, that same dream again.
Shade stood upon a ridge, looking up at the massive silver moon overhead. The moon seemed to have fallen to a position within arm's reach, yet when he reached out, he touched nothing.
The silver moonlight shone upon Shade, and he pondered
"I always have this dream. Something is definitely wrong. Does this mean..."
Then, he opened his eyes. The ceiling he saw was not unfamiliar; this was the bedroom at Number 6, St. Delan Square.
"Meow~"
Sensing that Shade was awake, the cat beside his pillow happily rubbed against the back of his hand. Shade wanted to reach out and pet Mia, but as he climbed up, the pain in his head made him groan softly.
Not only that, his entire body was aching; even lifting an arm made his body tremble, as if he had been starving for three days and nights.
"It's Sunday, 7:00 AM."
He noted the time. The point before he fainted was Saturday night. In other words, he had merely been in a deep sleep for less than ten hours.
"Who brought me back? Oh, Mia, don't touch me, my whole body feels wrong right now."
Perhaps hearing Shade's voice, the bedroom door was pushed open. Startled, Shade looked up to see that the person opening the door was actually the blonde girl, Dorothy Louisa.
She was still in the same attire as last night. Seeing Shade awake, she smiled and waved at him.
"Water..."
He squeezed the word out of his throat. Miss Louisa, carrying a tray, entered the bedroom, placed the tray on the nightstand, and handed him a glass of water.
On the tray were meat porridge, hot goat's milk, scrambled eggs, an apple, and bread. Shade had lived here for two weeks and had never seen such a lavish breakfast in the house.
"Meow~"
Mia glared at Miss Louisa. The goat's milk was its breakfast, but the blonde writer clearly regarded it as a dairy product Shade had ordered for himself.
He took the glass and tapped the rim lightly; a profaned silver spiritual light shimmered on the surface of the water. He took a cautious sip, assessed his physical condition, and then took a large gulp.
"Oh~"
He groaned again and placed the glass back on the nightstand.
"How are you feeling now?" Miss Louisa asked concernedly, sitting in the armchair by the bed.
"My physical state is okay. The headache is still there, but I'm probably fine..."
He picked up the cat, which was eyeing the tray with ulterior motives, and leaned against the nightstand, feeling a throbbing pain in his temples.
Shade still remembered what happened before he fainted. Facing the exit that was about to vanish, the sense of regret in his heart and the emotional impact of the innocents' plight made him understand the true power bestowed upon him by "The Little Match Girl."
Thus, using the story page borrowed from Miss Louisa, he completed the engraving of the Enlightenment Rune "The Little Match Girl." Simultaneously, this was Shade's second spiritual rune. He was now only "Miracle" and "Whisper" away from the Second Ring. As for obtaining the Miracle rune, it would depend on his performance during the final entry into the year 1068 of the Fifth Epoch next Thursday dawn.
"That was undoubtedly a Maze."
Speaking of this, Miss Louisa's face seemed to glow with excitement; she was somewhat agitated.
"You should know that the purer the spiritual rune, the more miracles can be developed from it—such as [Silver Moon], [Emotion], and so on. The more complex and specific the rune, the fewer the corresponding miracles. A rune like [The Little Match Girl], which is complex by nature and given a specific image by civilization, has almost no possibility for multi-faceted miracle development. But similarly, a rune with a specific and complex meaning may itself be a miracle. Last night, while engraving the rune, you obtained the unique miracle belonging to the Enlightenment Rune [The Little Match Girl]. That was a Maze!"
Shade knew of the special mystical power called a "Maze"; Professor Garcia had mentioned it yesterday morning.
Simply put, it was the use of four elements to influence space, overlaying a temporary space between reality and falsehood upon the material world to trap or attack enemies.
However, this was a power that only large-scale rituals or High-Ring Warlocks could use. Because of his identity as a creator of fairy tales, and the suspicion that he had told the story to a god, Shade had abruptly comprehended this power last night. Unfortunately, his own Warlock Ring level was insufficient, which is why he collapsed into exhaustion immediately after using it.
If not for the drop of divinity hidden in his Life Ring, which could constantly replenish his elements and spirit, he might have become a vegetable on the spot.
Fortunately, Shade had not been acting alone last night.
After he fainted, Miss Louisa noticed that a Warlock squad from the Orthodox Church was approaching, and even a Tenth-Ring Warlock stationed in this diocese had come to investigate. Thus, she hurriedly covered the tracks and brought Shade back to Number 6, St. Delan Square. In truth, there weren't many tracks to cover, as most of what happened did not occur within real space.
As for the Days family, they didn't need to worry; the Orthodox Church would provide them with the strictest examination and protection. The little girl, Sophie Days, was the true reason for the Evil God's gaze last night, but having lost her "fish-man" identity, she was no longer important to the deity.
After Miss Louisa led Shade away, she returned here. Because she was worried about Shade's condition, she didn't go back last night, instead spending the night on the living room sofa—she certainly wouldn't sleep in a bed a middle-aged detective had slept in.
Woken up in the morning by a hungry cat, she saw that Shade hadn't woken up yet, so she busied herself making breakfast. When she came to check on him, she found he was already awake.
"Speaking of which, we were quite lucky. I really troubled you last night, Miss Louisa. I must have been quite heavy."
He tried to get out of bed, but Miss Louisa stopped him, handing him the tray; it seemed she wanted him to eat before getting up.
"You saved me. Otherwise, I would have been taken to some unknown deep sea in that form..."
She wore an expression of lingering fear, flicking a lock of hair by her ear, and then asked curiously
"Shade, by the way, can you still use the power of the Maze?"
"I'll try."
He thought for a moment, summoned a corner of his Life Ring, looked back at the [The Little Match Girl] spiritual rune flashing with a dazzling brass-colored light, and then actively activated the brand-new miracle.
(End of Chapter)