A heavy manuscript was slammed into the shelf, but before it could crash into it, it came to a halt in mid-air, turned around like a lilting bird, and floated back to its place, the opal embedded in the leather glimmering a little, as if rolling its eyes in arrogance and disdain.

Iss stared gloomily at it and slowly inserted it back into the bookshelf, his fingers moving and moving before he suppressed the urge to rush over and tear it to pieces.

Dealing with an ignorant book that is only controlled by magic...... He's not that naïve yet.

He leaned back against the bookshelf and sat up straight again, not because the hard spine of the book hurt him, but because of ...... In the past, when he did this, Inglis would always look at him, consciously or unconsciously.

He twisted his stiff shoulders and looked up at the ceiling.

The ceilings are high...... But for a dragon, it's still too cramped.

His right hand groped on the ground, his five fingers tapping into a strange rhythm. Nothing out of the ordinary may seem like this, but beneath the floor lies the foundation of the entire space, a massive, heart-shaped amethyst ore.

He's been here for so long, and it's not like he's not getting anything out of it...... He was just worried that he had been around for too long.

When the door can be opened, the passage of time in this space is the same as the world outside the door. But when it's enclosed like this...... He couldn't be sure of anything.

The light leached out from under the floor and flew in all directions like life, lighting up countless points of light, looking like a small starry sky. Thin rays of light tremble and flow from one point to another, interconnected and intertwined, supporting the entire space.

Subtle, complex, but not invulnerable.

Ise let out a long breath, blowing away a strand of hair stuck to his lips. It's just him, so he can reveal all his emotions without any scruples - he's really a little ...... Be at one's wits' end.

Destruction is the easiest, but that would most likely allow him to destroy himself along with the collapsing space. The passage to the outside world, the one that Inglis had left behind to connect to the outside world, the valley of Enshiya, has been completely erased, and he must find another connection that is clear and strong enough to connect to the original world again. It takes time, strength...... and materials.

He can still work patiently for the first two, and the last one is the same...... Locked up in this enclosed space, where is he going to find the hellish shadow spider silk in the hellish book "The Paradox of Time and Space" and other things that are hard to find even in the original world?!

What's more, he's still a dragon...... It is harder for him to get in and out of any space than a human.

The thought of being imprisoned here forever makes him feel the urge to roar and destroy everything. But...... Maybe someone else is waiting for him.

They may already know his situation, or they may be trying to find him. Although it is true that the crow is not easy to deal with, Mulder ...... It's also hard to deal with, but if Scott can do it too......

Scott might have preferred that he would have stayed here until it was over.

He covered his face with his hands and cursed under his teeth. He won't let him ...... Let them be so satisfied!

.

There is always light in the library, as well as food and water. Iss could only guess that the old mage might have considered enclosing himself in this absolutely peaceful space, waiting for death to come alone.

He struggled to concentrate on finding a way out, but without the rotation of day and night, time became incalculable, and the absolute silence became unbearable. Every time, when agitated...... Even fear, uncontrollably welling up from the bottom of his heart, he would force himself to close his eyes and imagine that he was lying in the cold deep sea...... Lying at the bottom of the glacial lake where he was born. He could suppress his angry instincts into the deepest darkness with absolute will, and he would not have lost at such a time.

His worst enemy has always been himself.

But his consciousness inevitably began to be in a trance. Someday...... At one point, it took him a moment to recognize the silver light he had given to Nalya and Ed as an apparition of the silver bird he had given to Nalya and Ed.

No, only Naria has this now, and Ed has lost his ...... But no matter whose hand the brooch was, it was only the two of them who could summon him—he had carved his mark with blood.

He threw away the book and jumped up, watching the little bird formed by the silver mist fly towards the corner of the library, and his heart involuntarily beat faster and faster.

That's because of worry...... Also because of excitement.

How could he have forgotten about this?—— it must have been because Nalya and Ed always refused to use it. It can travel through any space...... It is also a difficult link between them.

And it was magic in itself, and he only needed to trace its source to open the passage...... It doesn't get much better than this!

He reached out and caged the silver bird in the palm of his hand.

.

It took longer than expected to get out of that space.

The sudden grayness in his eyes made Iss stunned. For a moment he thought it was snow, he thought he had been trapped in the library for too long, that autumn had passed, that snow had fallen......

Then he realized that it wasn't snow — it wasn't cold or hot.

The whole world is gray, like cooled ashes...... It is like a fog condensed, but it does not have the lightness and flow of fog.

The world is dead.

He looked around in amazement, and soon recognized Lockcastle, which was almost completely in ruins, and the half-cut three-storied tower, which had lost its original color.

He took a step forward, nearly falling to the odd touch of his feet, but his mind went blank.

...... So, did he come back too late? Is it all over? the silver bird of light that flew in front of his eyes and was seen as hope by him...... Was it just his friend's last cry for help?

He should be grieved...... He felt angry or blamed himself, but maybe it was because the world seemed too unreal, but it was like a fog that cut off all emotions and made him not feel it. He thought he was calm, and he should be calm too...... But his brain and heartbeat seemed to be frozen, and he couldn't think at all.

The silver bird flew back and forth, drawing a bright trajectory in this stagnant world.

He snapped back to his senses and stumbled after it, running behind the three-storied tower.

It seems that the boulder that collapsed from the three-storied tower crushed the western wall of Lockburg and rolled down the hillside, leaving the ground in shambles, large and small potholes and fallen trees, as if after a great battle. It wasn't until he approached the walls of the city of Ston Butch West, near the location of the Temple of Nesses, that Isza finally saw a different color in the overwhelming gray.

He saw Ed standing in the middle of the wreckage, his dark blue shirt seemed to be graying as well, and his gray hair blended into the surroundings, making him look like a phantom that would just blow away.

“...... Ed!"

He exclaimed, his voice taut like a string about to break.

It was a long time before Ed turned around and looked at him in a daze.

There seemed to be only a gray patch left in his eyes.