Agatha instantly put away her cane, and then her eyes widened, staring in astonishment and wariness at the "fake" monster that was slowly raising its head in front of her, and in that instant, she realized...... This monster made of the primordial "mud" has been mutated.

Something of power or will descended upon it and changed its essence in an instant—it had become a medium and unleashed a terrifying power in the dark sewers.

Layers of noise rang out, turning into countless incomprehensible murmurs and roars in her head, and Agatha felt a trembling black shadow at the edge of her vision, and countless eyes seemed to open in an instant, a sign that her spirit was being polluted—the exhaustion and mental damage accumulated from continuous battles had weakened her defenses, making her almost powerless to resist.

But this pollution only lasted less than two seconds, and it seemed that the owner of the power consciously controlled it, and the power that escaped from this embodiment - Agatha's senses were clearly stabilized again, and in this moment of clarity, she realized the "identity" of the person in front of her.

"Are you······ The Advent ......" she rubbed her forehead, hesitating.

"It's me," the avatar began, the body of primordial mud still wriggling and deforming, as if unable to carry too much force, unable to present a clear and stable image, "Just call me Captain - that's what my followers call me."

"Captain?" Agatha frowned, the aftermath of mental pollution slowing her thinking, and she thought the title was a bit odd, but she quickly gave up on the entanglement in this regard - there are countless "captains" in this world, and it is not worth investigating the fact that a superior of unknown origin may also call himself a "captain" just out of interest.

"Why are you here?" She asked, confused.

"I've been looking for you for a long time," Duncan said, "and when you suddenly disappeared into the city-state, I judged that something had happened to you."

"You're looking for me?" Agatha was stunned, then looked up and looked around quickly, "'How's it going outside?'

"If you're referring to the real-world 'Frost,' then it's business as usual, normal to the point of abnormality," Duncan shook his head, "Do you know where you're trapped?"

"I······ I'm not sure," Agatha supported her body with her cane, slowly leaning against the wall next to her, she had a precious moment of safety, and she had to take advantage of this opportunity to regain her strength, "Here is another frost, a frost controlled entirely by a fake, there is no sun here, and the connection with the gods is very weak, but there are clues to those annihilation heresies, and I have been tracking down one of them, all the way here......"

She paused, gasping slightly, and turned to look at the Captain.

"A mirror image," said the temporary avatar, "you're trapped in a frosty mirror."

"Mirror?" Agatha was stunned for a moment, then lowered her head with a thoughtful expression, "That's how it is······ A mirror ......"

"They may have copied the entire Frost, including the sea around the Frost, and this mirror image is the source of all the 'fakes,'" Duncan continued, "Unfortunately, there are signs that this 'mirror image' is getting closer to the real world - this should be the real plan of the Annihilation Cultists."

Agatha looked up suddenly, "You mean ······?"

"The frequent 'fakes', the copied Petrel, the vanishing Dagger Island, and even your trapping, are all the result of the 'Mirror Frost, Getting Closer' to the Frost of Reality—the purpose of the Annihilation was not to invade or destroy the city in the first place, Agatha, what they wanted was to transform the entire city into the prophesied 'kingdom,'" he said.

「······ At some point, the approaching mirror image collides with reality······ Agatha took a soft breath and muttered to herself, she had already thought of that possibility, "No wonder, no wonder the heretic said that when the Guardians found the Sanctuary, it was when their plan succeeded...

··· That moment is the moment when the mirror image comes into contact with reality!"

"Looks like you've got an idea," Duncan said, "You just said you found clues to those cultists here and are tracking them?"

"Yes, I smell them—in the depths of this 'second waterway,'" Agatha looked up and looked in a direction deep down the hallway, after a short break, she had regained some strength, and then she straightened up again and walked forward slowly, "There is a heretic, he has been obstructing me, but the longer he is entangled, the more he is revealing his whereabouts, I feel that I am already close······

The avatar under Duncan's control followed Agatha's footsteps.

"I'm so sorry." Agatha, who was walking in front, said suddenly.

"Why apologize?"

"Just now······ I almost attacked you." Agatha's tone seemed a little awkward.

Duncan was slightly stunned, and then recalled what he had seen when he first entered the avatar—the tin cane in Agatha's hand was only a few millimeters away from his head.

But he thought about it and thought it didn't seem like a big deal.

It's better than Fanna's jump at the time.

"I don't care, and I'm used to it."

「…… Got used to it?"

"One of my followers would suddenly use a jump slash when she was frightened - sometimes the target was me, though she doesn't do it anymore."

Agatha: "......?"

The young gatekeeper was shocked, and couldn't help but guess how such a suspicious being of the ancient gods usually got along with his followers, and how outrageous, weird, and evil his followers were.

After thinking about it for a long time, the SAN value was almost empty, and I didn't figure it out.

Duncan didn't pay attention to Agatha's sudden stunned and thoughtful thoughts, he just continued to walk forward, carefully observing the situation in the corridor along the way.

This is the second waterway of Mirror Frost - obviously very different from the second waterway in the real world.

He paused, and looked thoughtfully at the sewer corridor ahead that stretched in dim light.

"What do you think?" Agatha also paused and asked back in confusion.

"In the real world, this is a collapsed area, and the road is impassable," Duncan said, his tone thoughtful, "It seems that in this mirror frost, the second waterway is intact, and even appears to be in a state of constant use."

「…… Perhaps, it takes on the appearance of a queen's age," Agatha said in a hoarse voice, "I have noticed many details of this mirrored frost...... It's all the same thing I'm familiar with, not like it's modern."

Duncan listened to Agatha's analysis, and did not speak for a while, and it took a few more seconds before he broke his silence: "It seems that I may not be able to accompany you through the rest of the road."

Agatha looked back unexpectedly.

She saw that the incarnation of the "Captain" was gradually disintegrating, and the black mud that was constantly flowing and deforming seemed to carry too much power, and at this moment it was peeling off little by little, leaving criss-crossed, cobweb-like cracks on the surface of the body, and between the cracks, there were dark green flames jumping, as if they were about to escape and flow uncontrollably.

She subconsciously exclaimed, "Your body ······." Don't worry, this inferior replica can't carry my power stably, and it will collapse sooner or later," Duncan just shook his head, his tone calm, "It's already unexpected to be able to hold on to so many things to you."

Then he waved his hand again, stopping Agatha from trying to speak.

"You're in a terrible state right now, you need more help, I'll leave some spark here, that spark can strengthen my connection with you, you take it with you, keep tracking down those cultists' lair, I'll continue to help you."

Agatha subconsciously stepped forward, as if to ask something, but before she could speak, the avatar that was already on the verge of collapse from too much power had reached its limit.

at

In a sudden rise of dark green flames, the primordial mud that formed the incarnation instantly stopped flowing, and was engulfed in flames and torn apart, and countless ash fragments were scattered with a bang.

In the center of the incinerated black elemental remains, only a small, finger-sized flame remained.

The flame floated in mid-air near the ground.

Agatha stared at the flames floating near the surface, its green appearance alerted the gatekeepers, and she instinctively felt fear and nervousness, but after a moment of hesitation, she stepped forward and slowly bent down.

「…… Hopefully it's the right choice."

She whispered, reciting Bartók's name in her mind, and then stretched out her hand, as if with great courage, and touched the small flame with her fingertips.

The flame was like a weightless petal that she held in her hand.

「…… You can actually pick it up."

Agatha stared in amazement at the flame that she had held in her palm, and at that moment, she felt the connection between herself and the flame.

Faint, wonderful, but there—after a brief moment of trance, she came to her senses, carefully held the flames in the palm of her hand, lifted her already scarred cane with the other, and walked towards the deepest part of the second waterway.