When Ed woke up, Nalya was standing at the table with a note, the flickering candlelight shining on her pale face, making her look tired and dazed.

When she turned to him, she still bent the corners of her mouth.

"If you don't wake up, I'll have to find a priest. She said.

Ed touched his chest with palpitations, but he was still a little confused. He had no idea what was going on...... At that moment, his heart seemed to be suddenly smashed by a huge hammer, and the pain made his eyes black in an instant, and he lost consciousness.

But now he is so dignified that he doesn't feel it at all.

“...... Any news?" He looked apprehensively at the note in Naria's hand, "I haven't slept long, have I?"

Naria shook her head absentmindedly, her gaze falling directly on the note, as if she hadn't read it before...... Or maybe you have to look at it again to believe it.

"The Black Tower is cracked. She said.

Ed felt like his newly recovered heart had been hit again—not that heavy, but enough to make him pale.

The Black Tower will fall ...... This is the first line of the "prophecy" given by Aurora Lee, the high priestess of the goddess of the dawn. They had been skeptical, and it became a reality so suddenly.

Naria handed him the note and sat down on the edge of his bed.

"I thought the tower wasn't going to collapse......" she muttered.

Ed nodded silently. In the eyes of the Stonebugs, isn't that tower "going to collapse"? Though it was twisted and weird, and its black color was unlucky to look at, it strangely became a symbol of eternity...... Some kind of pride. That pride doesn't even have much to do with the fate of the Boford royal family, it's more like "I have a very powerful tower in my house"...... Such pure pride.

They are not Stonebugs. But even if they didn't stay long, that pride naturally affected them.

The handwriting on the note is that of old Joey. The old man wrote with a dragon and a phoenix, and the long stroke at the end of the first sentence looked more like an overly shocked loss of control than a random one.

After the phrase "the black tower is cracked", the old man seemed to regain his composure. He wrote down almost all the details simply but clearly.

Stonebuch had an earthquake this evening – the moment Ed fell. The tremors were very small, and they stopped quickly, and the people who remained in the City of Ten Thousand Springs were so accustomed to it that they didn't pay much attention to it. But soon, before Old Joey's men could report to him something unusual in the city, Orin Balk, who was almost a rival to him, the leader of the royal spies at Stonebuch, came and knocked on his door for the first time.

"The Black Tower is cracked. ”

This was the first thing Balk said.

Without waiting for Old Joey to ask any questions, Balk took him straight into Lockburg - nothing could be more believable than what he had seen with his own eyes.

The Black Tower is indeed cracked. From the ground under the tower, it cracked all the way to a high place that they could not see, cracked like a spider's web, stretched out hideously in the night, and the wide place could almost reach the entire arm, and the door at the bottom of the tower was completely stuck, and it could not be opened at all, and no one dared to force it open...... But it didn't fall.

There weren't many people left in Lockburg. Moira left an order when she left, and if there was any accident that "didn't look like it was done by man", Balk could inform Ed directly.

Balk has its own passage. But perhaps in order to make Ed believe faster, he chose to tell Old Joy first.

“...... I'll have to take a look. Ed whispered.

Ever since he had placed the Heart of the Deep at the base of the tower instead of the shattered ruby, the tower had been inextricably linked to him. Even though Nia had somehow blocked it, he felt it the moment it cracked.

Naria looked at him and didn't speak for a moment. She hated that they were hiding anything from her, but she never stopped them from taking risks. And this time, she's ...... I panicked.

But she still couldn't stop it—she couldn't find a reason to stop it.

"I'll go with you. She said.

"No ......," Ed blurted out to refuse. In any case, Neo City is also much safer than the current Stonebuch.

"I didn't want to go into that tower with you. Naria quickly blocked his refusal, "I just ...... Back to Ston Butch. I can figure out more things with old Joey and them, I can ...... I can wait for you back at home. ”

Ed kept his mouth shut—he couldn't refuse.

.

Tonbuchi City remains calm. Balk kept the message under control...... And the crack in the Black Tower is not visible from a distance.

Ed went to Balk before entering Lockburg. The gray-haired old man still looked simple and wooden, but he smiled a little slyly when Ed told him that he could go straight to him immediately if he had any news.

"You think I'm worried that you won't believe me?" he said in a sentence that Ed tried to euphemistically.

Ed had to smile awkwardly.

"Of course you'll trust me. "I went to old Joey just to see how frightened he was as frightened as I was." ”

And judging from his smile at the moment, he should not be disappointed.

“...... Are you scared too?" Ed involuntarily asked a stupid question.

"It's a three-storied pagoda. Balk sighed slightly, "You...... Have you ever heard that song? ”

Ed nodded. He did hear it—wasn't Tess's favorite song! But to be honest, he'd only heard the first two...... Because Tess only seems to be able to sing the first two lines.

He didn't expect Balk to actually sing in front of him.

"Walking across the small stone bridge, south is the way home.

The flowing water is murmuring in front of the door, and the towering tower stands in the distance......"

The old man's voice was deep and deep, and it was actually very good. Hearing such an ordinary minor tune, Ed's eyes were hot—he suddenly remembered the city of Visa, of Christensburg, which now stood alone on the cliffs on the banks of the Vinez...... That's his home, too.

He didn't even know if he would be able to go back.

"It has been standing here since my grandfather's grandfather was still alive, and it seems to stand until my grandson's grandson dies...... Forget it for a while, it will crack, just like the sky will fall. Balk said.

By the time he said this, they were already standing in front of the three-storied pagoda—and the old man insisted on coming with him.

It was still dark. The guards who remained lit their torches, no more, no less, as usual. That was enough for Ed to see the deep cracks in the tower, starting from the bottom and spreading upwards...... Like a wound that can't be healed.

But it still stood firmly. Twisted, eerie, standing steadily.