In the corridor, there were no indescribable aberrant creatures, no terrifying wraiths with transparent bodies, nor even anything with a visible form.
There was nothing at all in the flickering candlelight of the corridor.
Yet, deep within the corridor where the light had completely died out, the walls emitted a ghostly glow. This light nearly merged with the darkness, flickering at a frequency akin to a beating heart.
The moment he gazed upon those ghostly lights, Shade truly felt as if he could hear the thumping of a giant heart. In that instant, both flesh and soul were frozen by time and space, and he vaguely understood something.
What he was observing was Horror Castle; from the very beginning, nothing had been chasing him. The thing that radiated fear, the thing that seemed intent on expelling any outsider, was Horror Castle itself.
Those deep, ghostly lights represented Horror Castle itself. The so-called "Horror Castle" actually possessed consciousness; it was a living thing.
A fear beyond limits caused Shade to nearly lose consciousness in an instant. The impact of this terror even made him feel as if he were about to fall into an eternal sleep from which he would never awaken.
"No, would I fear fear?"
Memories flooded his mind—of standing beneath a tree in the Forest of a Thousand Trees, facing the boundless terrifying darkness side-by-side with two witches after the deity had temporarily departed. This fear seemed to trigger some latent power within his soul; the [Tree's Kiss] spirit rune, which had never been linked to any奇术 (Oddity/Mystic Art), trembled slightly within his soul.
In this fragile moment, bordering on a complete emotional collapse, a sharp dissonance formed between the primal fear gripping his flesh and the clarity of his soul awakening in courage. For the first time, Shade clearly felt the abnormality of his own soul.
Not only were two drops of divinity protecting him within his soul, but he also felt something warm yet slightly cold embracing him from behind.
"That is..."
Even though facing the source of Horror Castle's fear froze his body and soul, a momentary impulse and desire miraculously allowed him to turn his head.
Before him was Horror Castle, but when he turned, he saw an endless white mist. Within that glowing white fog stood a giant tree so tall that its peak was invisible even when looking up.
The tree seemed to connect heaven and earth, or perhaps support them. Its root system was extensive, its canopy lush, and the grains on its transparent trunk looked like records of an entire civilization's history.
Gazing at that tree, a feeling of warmth washed over his flesh and soul, quickly awakening him from the negative state induced by seeing the source of fear. However, the most authentic sensation of the soul, perceived at the brink of shattering, vanished along with it.
The transparent canopy swayed gently in the white mist. Feeling a sense of loss, Shade reached out and caught two green leaves spiraling down.
"Was it you that I felt just now?" he asked softly.
The surrounding white mist contracted into the gateway of a door-shaped pendant that had appeared beneath his feet. The scene of the clearing in the center of the dark cornfield slowly emerged as the mist vanished, and darkness began to reclaim the space around Shade's body.
Receiving no response, he sighed and prepared to bend down to pick up the [Twenty-Sided Die of Fate]; after all, the battle with that powerful demon was not yet over.
Unexpectedly, before the surrounding white mist had completely vanished, the demon holding the black-fire human bone lunged forward, as if impatient to make Shade sleep here forever.
[Outlander, you have returned to the present time.]
[A message from the Ancient God "Father of the Infinite Tree":]
"Are you unwilling to answer my question?"
Shade remained in his bending posture, preparing to stand up and throw the die. Because once the die was thrown, it would inevitably be a twenty.
[Infinite Time protects you.]
Enveloped in darkness and suppressing the silver moonlight glow on Shade, the demon finally arrived before him.
At this moment, the last few wisps of white mist around Shade had not yet fully disappeared, and the demon's appearance seemed to disturb something. Behind Shade, the phantom of the giant tree that had seemed to pierce heaven and earth—which had been fading with the mist—suddenly reappeared.
Thick fog surged from behind Shade in an instant, as if he had returned to the [Time Corridor]. But the target of this white mist was not Shade. Following the sway of the giant tree's branches behind him, the white mist lunged forward, swallowing the demon in front of Shade, before quietly vanishing into the surroundings.
The disappearance of the white mist allowed the darkness to descend once more, except that the demon was gone; not a single trace remained.
"What does this mean?"
Shade straightened up, clutching the metal die, and looked at the metal door pendant at his feet; it had returned to normal.
[Infinite Time protects you.]
The phrase repeated itself. Shade nodded thoughtfully
"So, every time I complete a key's task and return from the past, anyone who tries to attack me in that brief moment will be countered by the lingering power of the [Father of the Infinite Tree]?"
But this seemed useless. Not only was this treatment only available after completing a key's task, but it wasn't as if a fool would attack Shade at such a time every single time.
"Regardless, getting rid of an enemy is a good thing."
Bending down, he picked up his own relics and casting materials from the ground, then looked at the two leaves held in his palm.
After a moment's thought, he casually placed one of them over his right eye.
The veins on the leaf flashed with a golden spiritual light. That light gradually gathered and entered Shade's right eye, and a new power flooded into his soul.
"Breath of Ages?"
It took at least half a minute before he removed the leaf from his eye, as the voice in his mind was already providing the specific details of the奇术.
[Breath of Ages], a奇术 corresponding to the [Space-Time] spirit rune. This is an active-release type奇术 that requires casting materials.
The effect of the奇术 consists of two parts, corresponding to the actions of "exhaling" and "inhaling." When Shade uses the奇术 and "inhales," he can restore an old object to its appearance from an earlier time.
Shade took out his pocket watch, which had been damaged by water in Coldwater Port, summoned the Life Ring behind him, and activated the奇术. As he took a deep breath, two streams of gray airflow entered his nostrils from the pocket watch. The rust on the surface of the watch peeled away, and the hands began to move again.
"For ordinary objects, with my Second-Ring spirit, I can restore them to a state from at most three months ago. It is ineffective on relics, but effective on living beings and other special objects, because I am not interfering with the object itself, but with time—though it consumes more spirit."
Of course, Shade's interference with the watch only brought it back to the moment he jumped off the boat with Lecia; he couldn't exhaust all his spirit just to test a奇术.
When Shade uses the奇术 and performs the "exhale" action, he can cause the target object to be rapidly corroded by time. This is not moving the object's point in time to the future, but rather accelerating its natural decay. If the target is in the air during the casting, it oxidizes rapidly; if in the wind, it erodes rapidly.
Although he didn't waste more spirit to try it, accelerating the target's time was easier than restoring it. If restoration for ordinary objects was currently limited to three months, acceleration could reach up to one year. Naturally, causing decay could also be used on living beings and some special objects, but the difficulty would be significantly higher.
The most critical piece of information regarding [Breath of Ages] was that the casting material is lifespan. One casting per month is free of materials—like the one Shade just performed. Before the end of this calendar month (which is to say, before the end of today), any interference with time would consume a lifespan equal to one-tenth of the length of the time being influenced.
"While it sounds miraculous—even allowing a low-ring warlock like me to directly influence time—isn't the price too high? Even if I have enough spirit, the longest time I could influence at once is only about a thousand years... Hmm, thinking about it that way, the price doesn't seem so bad."
Shade lamented in his heart, but he did not place the other leaf—which represented [A Piece of True Information: Dark Dungeon]—before his eye to read. The leaves could only be used once, and he was currently in no mood to memorize complex information.
Regardless of how this information could help him, he planned to investigate it after the adventure in the [Dark Domain] ended.
After confirming he had picked up all his items, Shade turned and entered the cornfield, finding Luvia curled up beside the [God's Gift Box].
She was sleeping soundly. Shade was momentarily terrified, thinking she had fallen back into that eternal slumber. But hearing footsteps, Luvia woke slightly. Although her mental state was still poor, she was actually doing better than when Shade had left.
She managed a faint smile for Shade
"You're back? Oh, I actually fell asleep."
"Some things happened, but there's no more danger."
Shade carefully helped Luvia up, then turned to put the box back on his back. The [God's Gift Box] glowed quietly, with no abnormalities.
"Follow me, I've found the location of your divination guidance."
Having Shade by her side improved Luvia's spirits considerably. Together, they returned to the center of the cornfield where Shade had fought the demon, and Shade briefly explained his encounter over the last few minutes.
Then, Shade, who was exceptionally sensitive to spatial traces, found the spatial rift connecting to an unknown location. Holding hands, they stepped into the rift. Much like using [Lagley's Leap], there was no special sensation.
As they stepped, they were in the cornfield; as their feet touched the ground again, they were on a smooth road amidst the darkness.
Behind them was a forest, and the road extended in both directions. Some figures from the past floated around them, too blurred to recognize. Shade pointed forward; by the faint light, his eyes could barely make out a manor standing quietly in the deep darkness.
"This is... Miss Galina's manor! We've reached Miss Galina's manor!"
The witch's manor, like its surroundings, had no light, but seeing the familiar building in the darkness brought a smile to Shade's face. He didn't believe for a second that this manor had also fallen to the darkness.
(End of Chapter)