My name is Akatosh,

There seems to be a bit of a problem with the time and space in this place.

—4E, 201, Moon of Fire, 20th, 18:00 —

Mercer Frey was a Brightoner, and although not recognizable from his appearance, he was actually one-third of High Elf blood, and if he had written the story between his half-elf father, who was a bard, and his mother, who was born into a merchant family in Brighton, he would probably fill a large bookcase.

Mercer's most frequent identity when he was out was a bard, and his ability to sing two stanzas quite beautifully was influenced by his father, and his shrewd mind and keen eye naturally came from his mother's teachings.

Due to his bloodline, his lifespan is several times that of pure-blooded humans, and his appearance is relatively slower, so when he joined the Skyrim Province Thieves Guild, neither the mentor he introduced nor the other guild masters could have imagined that this young man with a green face came with the purpose of stealing the power of the demon god from the beginning.

————

"Zha!" Mercer spun around and stabbed a translucent Nightingale ghost with his sword in his hand, which struggled slightly, turned into a fragile ice sculpture, and then shattered in pieces, although it was supposed to be a pale blue that symbolized the power of the soul, but because it was now in the "Ebonmere", it could only be seen in a miserable white.

"Ah...... He, is it dead? Behind her, Mercer's abducted Imperial Princess asked, and though she looked rather frightened, she still tried to keep a short distance from him—it was still useful to see what she had said before she came in.

"Not dead, but not for now." Mercer replied casually and continued along the same path.

Although it seems to have been destroyed and disappeared, Mercer is well aware that these former "nightingales" only need to wait for a while before they can be reborn in the "Ebony Swamp", the oblivion realm of [Noktunar], and continue to guard this "twilight passage" in a muddy manner.

As the name suggests, the "Twilight Passage" is a path that leads directly to the realm of Noktunar [Eternal Twilight], and although it looks like a strange stone tomb in black and white, it originally had no fixed form.

This "passage" is full of torches, magic stone lamps, and even blazing bonfires and smoldering fires, which should be lit as if it were noon, but all the light sources are suppressed by the thick darkness within a certain range, and they cannot illuminate further at all, so in this stone tomb there is a strange situation where light and shadow are separated out of thin air in an unobstructed place.

To become a nightingale, you have to avoid the various mechanisms to reach the [Noktunar] altar at the end of the interference of these lights and shadows, and choose one of the three powers: "New Moon", "Half Moon", or "Full Moon".

The "skull key" that can open all the locks in the world is already inserted on the altar, and the first to arrive to turn it will end the trial and give the winner a reward, and everyone except the winner will be teleported, and if the champion is lucky, he may also see the true body of Miss [Noktunar].

Click! Mercer swung his sword again, this time the Nightingale Sword surrounded by black mist, and the struck Nightingale ghost let out a silent scream and disappeared into midair.

In his left hand is the "Chillrend" with the power of ice, and in his right hand is the "Sword of the Nightingale" surrounded by shadows, which is standard in Mercer's battles, and the mysterious swordplay combined with the combined damage of ice and shadow is always unguardable, and although Noctunar did not take back the sword and his ability to "change himself" for some reason, Mercer would not be more grateful to him for this - after his mother was deceived by a demon god.

————

Mercer has only one-third of the elven blood to live a long life, so his half-elf father is naturally more difficult to age, and soon after giving birth to Mercer, his mother noticed the longevity problem in this relationship, which is not without precedent in the world of Nairn, most of them are the first party to die with a shorter lifespan, and the other half who is left behind will either eventually get out of this relationship and re-pursue happiness, or die alone, and martyrdom rarely happens.

Mercer's mother, judging by the shrewdness of a Brighton merchant, was willing to be with her until death, but with his romance as a bard, she would soon be forgotten, and at most she could have made up the story between the two into a song and sung it, and it was impossible for her to occupy the entire life of a half-elf who had a lifespan of nearly a thousand years.

If humans want to become a long-lived species, generally speaking, there are only two directions to transform into werewolves or vampires, and if they have magical powers, they can also try to transform into harpy witches, apparently Mercer's mother is just an ordinary human, and she has neither magical powers nor wants to become those two inhuman races with serious flaws.

Mercer and his father had no way of knowing what she had chosen to accomplish her goal, for she had disappeared without warning one day, leaving no trace, and could only see that she had been in a good mood for the time before she vanished.

Then, as she always said, Mercer's father left her behind in the blink of an eye, and after confirming that Mercer could stand on his own feet, he continued to be his bard, and now he did not know where he had wandered the continent of Tamarel.

If Mercer's mother made a deal with the demon god on the condition that he would never forget him, then it was undoubtedly successful, and without being able to accurately determine his wife's life and death, the bard had not developed a new relationship for so many years, and refused to approach any woman who admired him, and it had become a legend in the bard world.

————

"Whew-whew-"

Mercer dragged the princess through the shadows, dodging the many attacking nightingale spirits, and finally traversed the winding path of light and shadow, which hesitated to retreat and fade away.

This is the pathetic soul under the control of the demon god, with no ego, even life and death are controlled, and actions are all in the other party's thoughts.

Stealing the Skull Key and the Star of Azura to find the princess of the Empire with the "God-Slayer" trait, although this series of actions seems to be aimed at dealing with [Noktunar], is actually just a test of Mercer's life - whether he can make the demon god fall with his mortal body.

Since it is impossible to confirm which demon god deceived his mother and took her away, why don't you just kill all the demon gods? That's only sixteen, which isn't much, isn't it?

The "Skeleton Key" can open and close this passage from the realm of annihilation to the present world, and in the years since he took the key, [Noktunar] can neither interfere with the present world nor be affected by the beliefs of the present world, if it is not bad, he can now at most use his free faith to condense a lowly incarnation, the kind that will dissipate with a little use of divine power, and it is impossible to prevent him from reaching the end of the passage.

——18:00——

"By the way, how is this place going to pass? I rushed in without thinking about it at all, and I couldn't do it with light and shadow. ”

Palacos frowned and looked at the old corridor in front of him, this long stone natural cavern was completely closed and unlit, but it was very strange that there were dappled lights and shadows in the air, Palathos thought for a moment, took out a glove and stretched out towards those lights.

In an instant, the light-lit part of the leather glove's surface turned black and began to smoke as if it had been burned by fire, while the dark area was shrouded in small holes as if it had encountered something corrosive.

"Could it be that they didn't pass through here?" Parathos quickly threw away his discarded gloves and tried to observe the ground, but the stony surface was rough and undusty, making it impossible to judge at a glance.

Not long ago, he, the princess, and Xiao Fu chased Mercer Frey to the entrance of the "Temple of Twilight", and watched the other party cut open a door of light and walked directly into it with Add, and then the door of light began to shrink rapidly, and rushed in without having time to think about it.

As a result, we find ourselves in this dilemma.

"Hey, maybe it's the truth that we guessed before." Xiao Fu looked at it for a while, picked up the "Dawnbreaker" and waved it tentatively, the long sword trailed past, and the shadows retreated to the other side as if they were alive.

“…… Hmm, light and shadow? Emile muttered to himself, pulling out his ebony dagger and waving it at the other side of where Xiao Fu was standing, this time, it was Light who was driven away.

After each of the two girls waved their weapons for a moment, the corridor had completely changed, one on the left and one on the right, black and white, and a narrow gray band of light appeared in the center.

"This ...... All right. Palasos watched as the princess and the little annoyance each walked on the path of shadow and light without any signs of being attacked, so he sighed and set out on the narrow path of light.

——18:00——

"By the way, what is going to be done now?"

After the white light faded, the group of seven who had been in the Nightingale Hall found themselves in a strange and wide cavern, which was very dim, and in front of them was a huge statue of Lady Noctunar, with a torch on each side of the statue to provide faint illumination, and in front of the statue was a simple altar with the words "Favorite Thing of the Sacrificial Lady" carved in relief on the front.

"Lady's favorite thing?" Sylvia was the first to react: "Yes...... Money, right? ”

She pulled out a few gold coins and threw them on the altar, which didn't move.

"Glory, loyalty, or power, perhaps?" Gallus frowned and took out the dagger he had brought with him and placed it on the altar, but again, there was no response.

"Favorite ......" Illya rolled her eyes, and suddenly raised her hand and threw out two ice blades to extinguish the torches, and the light that was originally only provided by them disappeared with a faint light in an instant.

Boom Boom - Before anyone could question Illya's approach, the statue of the Lady shimmered and began to spin in place, the ground around it spiraling and sinking, forming a circular staircase.

"Hey, hey~ (hearts)" Cicero's voice looked rather strange in the dark: "It seems that the favorite thing of the 'Night Lady' is 'darkness'." ”