The orb of light at the head of the staff was still wrapped in the sleeping waves. Looking at the calm expressions on the faces of the others, Ed was only dazzled by his own suspicions - every time the Staff of Eternity awoke in his hands, the undisguised reverence in the eyes of the priests and paladins still made him uncomfortable.

He should leave as soon as possible. Sean has not been heard from again, and Borena's disappearance is likely to plunge Anktann into chaos once again. Alan plans to go to Llewellyn himself to explain everything to Ethan Crooffler, and by the way, to find out if the man who is now the consul is the mastermind behind it...... After all, Borena's disappearance has both disadvantages and advantages for him, and he has already proven his ability in the bloodless coup d'état in Anktan......

- All sorts of thoughts were churning in his head, but Ed walked unconsciously to the closed wooden door.

The iron lock hanging from the door was rusty, but it seemed that someone had been in and out recently. Ed noticed the broken cobwebs by the door, and there wasn't much dust on the doorknob.

"Has anyone been in lately?" he blurted out.

The old priest nodded slightly, "Sean? ”

He never called Sean "Master Fletcher" with the same respect as everyone else...... But for his age, that doesn't seem disrespectful.

“...... When? What is he doing here?" the unexpected news about Sean made Ed's eyes light up - maybe he could find something useful.

"Never asked. The old priest replied indifferently, "He took the key." I saw him once a few days ago, and I don't know if he's been here since. ”

"So...... Can't we get in?" Ed asked, somewhat frustrated.

The old priest gave him a strange look. Reach out and touch the lock.

There was a soft click, and the lock fell to the ground.

“...... I thought I couldn't use magic here. Ed said wryly.

"It's unwise to abuse magic if it's not necessary. The old priest pushed the door open. Make a gesture of invitation to Ed, "But since the Sage wants to enter ......"

Now Ed had to go in if he didn't want to—and he really wanted to go in and see.

Unlike the other door, which only had a downward staircase behind it, leaving clear footprints on the ground, Sean seemed to have been in and out of it more than once.

Eric and two other paladins curiously followed Ed. In order not to "abuse magic", Ed honestly lit a torch to illuminate the darkness in front of him. The air was not as cold and clean as the tombs of the priests. Rather, it was mixed with ancient dust, the smell of decay, and the cold and damp. Sad sigh......

Ed shuddered unconsciously, and the fire flickered.

Eric took the torch and walked to the front without a sound.

It reminded Ed of the dark journey they had taken together in the sewers of Miaz Weiss, when they didn't even have torches.

The layout in the tomb is quite different from the other side. The corridors were lined with parallel passages, and the firelight flashed through ornate sarcophagi guarded by knightly statues. There are also half-decayed wooden coffins. A glimmer of pale skeleton seemed to be glimpsed in the cracks...... Ed's gaze was fascinated, looking for the life of the deceased in the floating cobwebs and blurred handwriting, and even unconsciously used magic to ignite the flame of light, trying to see more clearly, and after a while he remembered that he was not here to pay homage to the ancients, he should figure out what Sean was here for......

He lowered his head, but suddenly there was darkness in front of him.

The flame went out -- did it last that long? and...... Why did even the torches go out?

“...... Eric?" Ed exclaimed, confused. Reach forward and touch it.

It stands to reason that he should be able to touch Eric's back, and the young paladin has been very close to him......

But he didn't touch anything. There was no response in the darkness either.

"Weiz?hilbert?" Ed looked back in alarm, suddenly realizing that he hadn't heard the footsteps of the two paladins who should have been following him for a while, and the old priest ...... He couldn't even remember if he had followed the tomb!

In the dead silence, Ed could almost hear his own heartbeat and breathing getting faster.

He swallowed his saliva, trying to calm himself down, but now he didn't care about any abuse or not abuse - the white flame of light once again ignited from his palm, and floated slightly upwards in his incantation, and the soft light illuminated the surroundings, but also cast a lot of black shadows, the ancient tomb that had revealed a bit of vicissitudes and solemnity in the gloom, as if suddenly it had become another place, black shadows hidden in black shadows, hostility hidden in silence, and resentment hidden in death......

Ed stepped back in a hurry and shouted, "Eric...... Eric!"

The voice seemed to be absorbed by the darkness around it, and it couldn't be heard at all.

Uncontrollable fear came over him, and Ed began to run in panic between the rows of different coffins, and the seemingly small tomb was now like a terrible labyrinth in which he could find no one and no way out. It was as if the eyes of countless deceased people were staring at him coldly from all directions, and several times he suspected that there was a shadow waiting in the shadows...... He didn't want to admit it, but the truth was that those shadows born of nothingness were the last thing he wanted to face again in his journey through the mirror, even if it was surrounded by them that he passed the trial......

The flame of light is extinguishing faster and faster, as if something is devouring it...... Ed stopped, silently commanding, wanting the light of the Staff of Eternity to illuminate the darkness. He could easily do so now, after all, the power of the Staff of Eternity depended on the will of its wielder...... For the most part, though, he could only use the sacred staff as a torch for illumination - his will was far from strong enough, especially when he knew that he was still just Ed Singall.

The white light flashed and disappeared in an instant.

Ed stiffened, as if frozen in the breath of an ice dragon—he could almost feel the Staff of Eternity resisting his commands...... What's going on?!

Another fear crept up and crept into his heart like a cold snake.

He was ...... Gave up?

Even when he faced death again and again in different worlds, he never felt so helpless. At least, he knew then, no matter what, the Staff of Eternity would protect him so he could start over...... Was this another trial? Does he need to drop the Staff of Eternity again? It just doesn't make sense......

He tried to keep his mind steady, and the old priest's expressionless, mask-like face came to mind...... Was this the test he gave him?

Anger gradually overwhelmed fear—he was fed up with such endless doubts and temptations, both from others and from himself......

At the very least, he can still use spells.

The final light illuminated the ground, and Ed lowered his head, the footprints in the dust were a mess of footprints that he could tell if they weren't as easy as the elves could tell, they weren't just his footprints, he just couldn't figure out which ones belonged to him, which belonged to Sean, or some paladin who was trapped here like him-

Sean can't be missing here, right?

This sudden question made Ed's heart sink. If that's the case, it's not just another test, but more likely a trap. The nameless old priest...... It will be an enemy that no one expected.

If he stays here too long, Browder will soon send someone to find him, and those people will probably not suspect an old man who has "given everything he has to Nyo" and guards the cemetery alone......

He needs to get out as soon as possible!

When he finally calmed down, Ed remembered that he could teleport - but he feared it wouldn't be that simple.

Teleportation is a convenient but dangerous spell, and if he is not careful, he risks sending himself to some other world that is not suitable for human survival, or worse, being sent into the gap between the otherworlds, where he will float there forever...... And worse, teleporting himself into a stone and turning it into a pathetic joke, as the legends he had heard.

Considering the light flames that disappear unusually quickly...... Maybe he'd better be cautious.

Before the last flame of light was extinguished, Ed made a mental list of all the spells he had learned, and carefully chose the pathfinding technique.

In the darkness, a silvery-white light stretched out from under his feet, slowly moving forward like a stream of water. Ed stepped forward happily and apprehensively, and followed.

The light flowed very slowly at first, so calmly that Ed was anxious, and then it gradually got faster and faster, until at last Ed had to pull up his robe, no longer caring whether he would hit something in the dark, and followed it all the way.

He didn't know if this was normal, and it was the first time he had used this spell, he just thought it would be safer...... But he was probably wrong again.

When the light suddenly disappeared, he felt that there seemed to be some ominous aura in front of him, waiting for him to throw himself into the net like a giant beast with a wide open mouth...... And he couldn't stop at all, and stumbled and rushed over.

"Stop, stop, stop......" he shouted at anyone in a panic, instinctively trying to add an anti-death barrier to himself. It didn't take long for the spell to come out with two syllables, and the wind sounded in front of it.

Something suddenly slammed into him with a tremendous force, smashing him to the side like a rock.

In a sharp pain, Ed could almost hear his own bones breaking. He struggled to shake off the "stone" that was pressing on him as he tried to attack or heal himself.

The "stone" rolled to the side, and a pair of powerful arms wrapped around his chest, dragging him farther away.

"Don't use spells!" a hoarse but still familiar voice shouted in his ear, "Don't use any spells!"

Ed's spell freezes on the tip of his tongue.

(To be continued......)