Faced with the ladder that he had been thinking about and fighting for all his life for hundreds of years, Bard retreated. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 info He tried to look away, but his eyes were glued to the translucent staircase hanging from the sky, and his legs even involuntarily took a few steps ahead.

Stop...... Stop......

Unable to control his body, Bard was extremely agitated.

"I don't control your body, it's your obsession that drives you to act. Bray saw through Bard's thoughts at a glance.

But I ...... I don't want to...... Climb up now.

Bard used all of his willpower to resist it, and he barely managed to stop his spirit from moving.

"What's wrong? This is the ladder you've been praying for, why retreat?"

"I ......"

Bray chuckled and lifted his hands, and the white canopy above his head reflected the reflection of his consciousness - suspended in the sky, Hohenheim, a cyan wind falcon rode the wind, and slowly descended to the highest point of the mage city, and was greeted by two mages of different robes, a man and a woman.

Bard looked at it and saw that it was him and Claire in the image, and it was none other than Link who had become human. Suddenly, Bard realizes that the memory he has no at all is not real, but the pseudo-Edgar that Bray described as Link's experience in his own world. What Bray shows is supposed to be a clip of Link going up the ladder and how he got down.

Thinking of this, Bard stared intently at the projection of memories released by Bray. He did wonder what was the difference between himself and the otherworldly.

"The Great Sage is waiting for you above. Claire turned sideways, a transparent staircase looming behind her.

There was no omen, who descended the ladder, the pillars, the mines?

Bard was confused.

Link stretched out his foot and stepped tentatively, and when he was sure it was safe, he walked up step by step. None of the obstacles and confusion that Bray spoke of happened. The sky was empty, and there was nothing but the stairs beneath their feet, and the deathly silence was overwhelming.

"Whew...... Suck...... Call...... Suck...... Calm down and don't mess with yourself. Standing on the ladder, Link began to say to himself, "Such a formal greeting is not a dismount or a joke. This must be a test given to me by the great sage, the road is here, and it must be my problem not to see it. ”

Bard couldn't laugh at all, especially the last sentence.

"Seeing through invisibility? No, it's not a simple invisibility. After a pause, Link tentatively uttered the word 'Divine Knowledge', and the staircase that had no way began to fork, and countless forks in the road grew like branches.

"Divine revelation. "The divine power of the pillar shows the way.

"God is present. "The divine power of the pillar fixes the pathway that should not be manifested.

Then, Link, who didn't have any power of his own in Bud's eyes, ran briskly along the glowing path.

It's as simple as that? Even if it's just a projection, it should be the same as the real thing.

The rest of the scene left Bard unable to think about it, and at the end of the road an Edgar ring appeared, spinning like an astronomical instrument.

"Anyone? Hello ~ Bray...... Master?" Link, who looked much more lively than he was now, looked left and right, as if trying to find someone from the top of this uninhabited ladder. As soon as the words fell, a figure appeared beside him, and the silhouette that changed from light to thick was none other than the great sage, Bray.

"Young candidate, this is the meeting place of the mortal and the holy, the dividing point of the law. First of all, I want to congratulate you on finding the right path. ”

"You specified that you wanted to see me, why?" Link asked.

Bray briefly explains why, he needs an untainted source of magic to become a god. After some conversations that Bard didn't understand, Bray offered to send Link back in time to find the unpolluted source of the water pillar. The scene then changes abruptly, Link falls from a high altitude into the deep sea, and participates in the trials of the Naga, which has become a legend, and when the druids leave the field, what awaits Link is not the pillar of water he expected, but a strange mirror that reflects a room and a seriously ill old man.

Bard noticed Link's face change drastically, and knew that it was an acquaintance if not Link's relatives.

You have the power to save him. 】

[Can you bear to see him in such pain?]

"Identify yourself!" Link shouted, but the bewitching voice continued to its own devices.

It doesn't matter who I am, it's your decision that matters. 】

Just by looking at his expression, Bard knew that Link was shaken.

"How can I save it?"

[Your divine power, the child of nature has unimaginable power, as long as you inject it into his body, you can come back from the dead. 】

Speaking of which, Bard couldn't guess who the demagogues were, and that he was stupid. Hicks, the god of death, used the resurrection to deceive people was his usual trick.

"You can't be resurrected from the dead. Standing in the water dyed red by the trial, Link replied.

[That's reality, here is Edgar, anything is possible.] You can, with the power that the gods have given you. You can, you have that power. With the soul energy to shape the body, he can survive in this world. Don't be hypocritical, all you are thinking about at the moment is how to resurrect your loved ones. 】

The Grim Reaper's words were too deceptive and inflammatory, and Bard felt that Link couldn't resist just those words he said at the moment.

"No, there is no resurrection from the dead in this world, and even if there is a resurrection in Edgar, it is false. This world is an imaginary, imaginary space. ”

[If it's true?]

Here it comes...... This is the key! It seems to be just an ordinary temptation, but the Grim Reaper has added a subtle deception to these words, the difference between false and true is just two words, if what Bray said is true, as long as Link agrees, then the power of the pillar he has will be seized by the Grim Reaper!

"If this is a real world, then you can't even say it! The reason why life is precious is that it is only once, and it cannot be replicated, let alone started all over again. This is the past in the fantasy world, and I will never gamble on the predestined past with the undetermined future!"

With Link's stern refusal, all illusions vanished, and the old man turned into a skeleton in a black robe, and his outstretched hand was about to touch Link, and as the mirror broke, the roaring waves swallowed everything. Sinking into the sea, Link encountered the real pillar of water, and the scales from the tail of the giant fish fell into Link's body and disappeared, and the scene around him changed again, and he returned to the ladder, facing the Great Sage, as if all his previous experiences were hallucinations.

Not to mention Link, even Bud was a little confused.

He handed the bottle that had been filled with seawater when it fell into the water to Bray, but instead of answering, he asked Link if he knew what it was.

Then, in a surprised tone, Bray asked again, "Do you still want to leave?" Do you know what this place is?, but before he could finish his explanation, he was interrupted impatiently by Link.

"I have no interest in becoming a god, I can't interfere with the material world, and I'm subject to the law. ”

At this moment, the impact of Bard was comparable to divine punishment.

Refusing so simply, he really doesn't have the slightest desire to become a god, although he doesn't understand Link's thinking pattern, but ...... There is some truth in what he said. What is the difference between controlling the power that overwhelms sentient beings, but being subject to the law everywhere, and being subject to mortal beings and gods. It's not that Bard doesn't understand this, it's just that ...... All along, the desire to become a god overrode reason, making him ignore this fait accompli.

The image ends with the great sage's quirky and relieved smile.

"In the first hundred years, you were the first child of nature to pass the test. ”

The mental space returned to its original white, Bard asked, somewhat uncertainly.

"That projection...... It's not a column. ”

"Huh~ You actually saw it?" This was a bit unexpected, and he usually mistook this for a test of the pillar. As a reward, he generously gave an answer, "It is the Mother of Darkness, one of the six original goddesses Liz, and the creator of the projection illusion." ”

"So, is the Grim Reaper who seduced Link real, or is it just an illusion created to deceive Link?"

Bray paused, "Since you already have the answer, why bother asking." "I thought that Bard would not be able to eat the ancients, but I didn't expect him to think of this layer, but it's a pity......

Bray didn't have a clear answer, but Bard did.

The Grim Reaper in the illusion is naturally real, and the mirror is a good revelation, he can't get out of Edgar and enter the other world, so he projects his own illusion in the illusion through his own believers, if Link really agrees, the consequences are unimaginable.

"I already understood the difference between myself and him. Bard felt bitter in his heart, and had to admit that he was not as clear as a man who had only lived for twenty years after a hundred years.

"This ladder...... I'm not going up. ”

Bray was obviously a little surprised, no one would refuse the opportunity to become a god, not even him at the beginning.

"You can imagine that the passage will not be opened a second time for the same soul. ”

"Yes, I figured it out. Bard knelt down on one knee, "In this life, I will serve you in the material realm as a human body until I return to the flow of life at the end of my life." ”

Bray stared at Bard for a long time, the anxiety and insecurity on his face vanished.

"When you meet the twist of your fate, do you choose to retreat?"

"Yes, I am not a gifted mage, and I can only serve as a sage because of the mediocre human qualifications and my way of doing things steadily. Even if I am lucky enough to enter the kingdom of God, with my qualifications, I am only the last among the three generations, I am afraid that I will soon disappear into the mutual conflict of the gods, rather than end up dying like the undead, it is better to stay on the surface and help Link defeat the Grim Reaper and contribute to the continuation of this world. Bud looked up, his eyes unusually determined.

Bray nodded repeatedly, closing the mental space.

Bard's spirit returned to the body, and he saw Bray's divine envoy looking at him with a curious expression, obviously the deity, and the divine presence was over.

"You've been in a daze for a long time,......" perhaps because they were too close, the boy explained.

"I was so tired that I fell asleep. "For such an apostle who came from another world and was still a novice in spells, it was pointless to explain too much, and Bard made an excuse.

"Eh~ you actually ...... too" Remembering the way Bard usually reprimanded himself with a straight face, Finn stopped in time and scratched.

His movements reminded Bard of Link, who had also had such a normal human side, and couldn't help but sigh.

Seeing that the sage didn't train himself but walked away, Finn was a little bolder: "That...... I've heard Link is back, and I have some questions for him, is that okay?"

Originally, he didn't have expectations, but Bud, who had already gone far, agreed.

"I'll contact him tomorrow, it's not up to me to decide whether I come or not. ”