There was not a single wind in the desert under the night sky, the air was cold and silent, and the stars were as bright as illusion. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

"You need to rest. ”

Their dinner was simple, as Magellan's wounds had made him abandon his plans to serve a large meal, and it meant that he could no longer help the countess.

"You've found Seth's Temple. ”

"Yes, buried under the dunes, on a large scale. ”

"Only divine power can conceal Thoth's presence. ”

"But I didn't see a baboon or the left hand of a god. ”

It's a problem, Thoth's stump is so striking that it's probably hidden in secrecy, or it's not here at all.

"We don't have a lot of time. ”

"If your wound worsens, we have less time. ”

Magellan eventually gave up, believing the countess and that she was right.

"By the way, help me take care of Miss Betty. ”

Magellan looked at the kitten who was busy eating and nodded.

......

The next day, in the temple of Seth.

The countess did not tell Magellan that she was in big trouble.

It was a temple of the Lord of the Sandstorm, and everyone who walked into the gloomy cavern could see it—the space without a boundary was full of sand and dust, and the black sandstorm danced wildly on its own, but never crossed an invisible boundary, and on the top of the temple without a sandstorm, the torches radiated and illuminated a small passageway.

It was the only path to the unknown, dangerous, but at least not so impatient to take the life of the visitor.

Helen had spent quite a bit of time in this labyrinth, but she still didn't see a glimmer of hope.

The will of the gods is thoroughly enforced in his temple, and anyone who walks in will quickly recognize the difference between mortals and gods.

There is no end to safe passage, and sandstorms can crush anything that dares to enter it.

It's a dead end.

The countess knew she was alone and had little time.

She wasn't ready to give up and was confident that she would get there.

Helen held out her hand.

A layer of silver began to spread from her hands, and soon covered her entire body, including the countess's face, leaving only a deep blue gem at her eyes.

It was a miracle of two thousand faces, and the light flowed in them like blue teardrops.

"Long time no see, Alice. ”

The countess's voice came from beneath the silvery substance, like the cold wind of a winter morning sweeping through the thin ice of a lake.

Through the gem, the sandstorm in her eyes was no longer just a swirl of black, but a mixture of gold and red.

"Divine nature mixed with unwavering faith, coupled with solid truth, Seth was a genius. ”

"You shouldn't say that about a god, Alice. ”

The countess was talking to something about her, but it sounded more like talking to herself, and Helen's voice was so strange that no one could tell the difference.

"You'd better not think about walking into a sandstorm, that thing could easily destroy me. ”

"But Seth is dead. ”

"Although I am inclined to believe in Magellan......"

"Okay, let's put it to the end. ”

The countess ended the conversation, and she began to run along the safe passage.

The surging of the sandstorm made a loud noise, but it stayed away from the passage as if it were blocked by a glass wall, and even if the countess swept by like lightning and brought a strong wind behind her, it would not change the course of the sandstorm.

Eventually, the countess returned to her place.

"It's a cliché story, a labyrinth with no exit......"

"For the mad tyrant Seth, this is not normal. ”

"So that god is really the god of war?"

"The god of war who built the labyrinth?"

Helen stretched out a hand, her skin covered in silver as if she had been resurrected, and a slender finger gracefully approached the roaring black sandstorm, as if caressing a work of art.

Visible to the naked eye, the silver color of the hand that touched the sandstorm slowly faded.

The countess withdrew her arm and placed her fingers in front of the two gems.

"It reminds me of war. ”

Alice, the intelligent creature of unknown nature, let out a chuckle of incomprehensible meaning.

"You won't be surprised. ”

"No, I was surprised, and I wasted precious time because of a misjudgment. ”

"Don't say that," the countess held out her hand to the sandstorm, and no one knew if it was herself, or if it was pulled by Alice, "compared to me, this sandstorm is really pitiful." ”

The hand landed on the surface of the sandstorm, and the howling dust receded, making way for the countess.

The silver feet fell on the sand, and there was chaos in the sandstorm, and there was no way to see it.

But in the end, the countess made it through the sandstorm.

In front of me was another sandstorm.

"I'm not surprised at all. ”

"We don't have a lot of time. ”

"Remember the sign of the tyrant, the Sandstorm Chariot?"

"You mean?"

The countess was silent and began her actions.

She was in a passage with sandstorms on either side, but instead of going along the passage or into the sandstorm, she slowly approached the churning dust diagonally.

The countess approached the sandstorm and was engulfed.

In this way, she made her way through the sandstorm five times, and finally came into view of an open clearing—the sandstorm still roaring in the distance.

"The first front. ”

"That's right, the chariot of the tyrant, the vanguard of the sandstorm. ”

"The tyrant himself would command his fanatical warriors with a banner atop the tall golden castle in the center of the chariot, so where would Thoth's left hand be?"

"Not necessarily. But we only have to go through two more lines to see it. ”

"Is this how the ancient Emenkai people who once faced an army of sandstorms felt...... Is there a weakness in this front?"

"Nope. "The central line is strong, the flanks are sharp, and the defeated will face slaughter, and the victor will face a true god." ”

"It's called, tenacity?"

Helen put a hand on the edge of the sandstorm: "You are more important than Thoth." ”

Then she was swallowed up in dust.

......

Magellan walked with difficulty in the shadows of the dunes, carefully keeping his head down to keep his head from being caught by the sun.

"Meow ......"

The kitten, named "Betty", by the countess, was in his arms, looking at him in bewilderment.

Magellan was looking for the lake he remembered.

He remembered the location of the great lake, and whether it was a hallucination or something else he experienced during the sandstorm, Magellan's instincts still made him feel that it was reality, or at least it was.

The kitten doesn't seem to think so.

It curled up in Magellan's arms and looked at Magellan with pity.