Vanna tensed her muscles and nerves for the first moment, watching the tall figure that was gradually emerging from the dust and fog with full vigilance—and if something was wrong, she was ready to jump over.

But what came from the wind, sand and dust and fog was only a gentle and rational voice: "Ah...... A traveler, I don't seem to have seen a stranger here in years. ”

Vanna was slightly stunned for a moment, and then she saw the giant-like figure come out of the dust and mist.

He was four or five meters tall, and Vanna had to raise her head as best to see the giant's face, a dull robe that seemed like a fine garment, but now all that remained was the tattered rags of countless vicissitudes, the giant's body was so thin that it seemed to have been worn away by a long journey to the point of dry bones—and yet the wizened hand clung to a staff of great magnitude.

Even in the hands of giants, the staff was too heavy and huge, its body resembled a straight and linked trunk, and the tip of the staff was swollen like a swollen rock, with a rough outline that was almost unpolished, and on the surface of the staff, countless dense and mysterious lines could be seen, covering the entire staff.

Vanna's gaze was involuntarily drawn to the cane—it was less of a power aid for the journey, more like an amazing weapon, or some ritual object with heavy symbolic meaning, and she instinctively ...... Some kind of pressure that borders on awe.

Soon, however, her attention shifted from her cane to the giant.

Because the giant was bending down slightly towards her, and the face that had been through the vicissitudes of life was casting a gentle gaze on her - the giant's face did not resemble a human, although he also had clear facial features, but the lines of those facial features seemed too cold and sharp, and even gave people a texture carved from rock, and his eyes were glowing with a chaotic brown, and the depths of his eyes seemed to be dancing with flames, and every line of sight seemed to bring heavy pressure to people.

"Traveler, where are you from?" The giant asked.

When he spoke, even the wind and sand around him seemed to be stirred by an invisible force, and the chaotic air currents swirled around Vanna, but not a single grain of sand fell on her.

Vana struggled to control her heartbeat and expression, and she quickly reported to the captain in the depths of her consciousness about the astonishing situation on her side, and at the same time organized her words, and thought for a moment before answering the giant: "I came from outside the desert, far from here, and I don't know why I came to this place. Excuse me...... Who are you? ”

"Oh, beyond the desert...... It's a desert now," the giant nodded slowly, but didn't answer Vanna's question, but said with emotion in his tone, "You...... It's funny, Traveler, and she doesn't quite like the humans I remember, but I'm not sure if I'm misremembering - it's been a long, long time since I've seen a stranger. ”

Not quite the same as the humans in your memory?

When Vanna heard the other party's words, her heart suddenly moved, and then she thought of what she was "different" from ordinary people.

This mysterious giant...... Do you see that you have been blessed and "resurrected" by subspace?

But before she could think further, the giant spoke again: "Traveler, you said you came from a long way, how far was that?" Did you cross space, or time? ”

Vanna was momentarily stunned.

This question...... What is the meaning?!

She looked up in astonishment and looked at the giant's cloudy and burning eyes: "I...... I don't quite understand the meaning of this question. ”

“…… Then let's not hear it, Traveler, maybe the beginning of the journey is no longer meaningful, and the end is the same," the giant shook his head, but then he looked at Vana curiously as if he had suddenly discovered something, "Are you talking to someone else?" ”

Vanna, who was reporting to the captain in the depths of her consciousness, stopped instantly, and although she controlled the expression on her face for the first time, she knew that the subconscious change in her eyes probably did not hide from the giant's eyes.

However, the giant seemed to just ask casually, and he didn't seem to really care about this question, he shook his head: "It doesn't matter if you don't want to say it, everyone has their own secrets." ”

Vanna froze, controlling the change in expression on her face while observing the mysterious giant's every move, while cautiously asking again, "Who are you?" ”

"You're asking my name? Let me think about ......" This time, the giant finally answered her question, but after a moment of thought, the giant shook his head, "It's been too long, I don't remember anymore...... It's been too long, indeed. ”

He lowered his gaze to look at Fanna, and on his thin face, wrinkles like nicks gradually piled up: "You know, traveler, when there is no other sound in the whole world, the 'name' will become a meaningless concept, no one else will remember you, you will not need to introduce yourself to others, you will slowly forget it, just like the world slowly forgets ......"

He paused, as if suddenly caught up in some distant memory, and it was a long time before he woke up and said in a low voice, "But I remember something else besides the name, if you think it makes sense...... Once upon a time, they said I was the god of this world, but that wasn't the case here. ”

The chaotic wind gradually subsided, and the turbulent and floating dust around them slowly subsided, and in this endless sea of sand, the giant and the lost traveler looked at each other.

He said he had been a god.

Vanna's eyes widened, and all her guesses about this mysterious giant did not include this "answer", and she didn't know how to react for a moment, and then, she felt a ridiculous contradiction-

As a follower of the Storm Goddess Gemona and a saint of the Deep Sea Church, one of the Four Righteous Churches, in the depths of the mysterious Dream of the Nameless, she actually met a giant who claimed to be a god, and theoretically ...... It was time for her to rise up and destroy this self-proclaimed god in order to fulfill her mission as a judge.

But she was no longer the reckless person who dared to jump when she saw Captain Duncan, and on the Lost Land, she had learned to face the unthinkable with a more rational attitude.

"You're a god?" Vanna tensed as she spoke cautiously, "Who are 'they' you talking about?" What the hell is this place? ”

"They used to live here," the giant said, not realizing Vanna's momentary vigilance, and he just raised his hand and pointed his staff at the endless sea of sand, "but that seems to have been a long, long time ago...... Or maybe it hasn't been that long? ”

The giant paused with some confusion, he looked at the staff in his hand, and after a moment slowly shook his head: "Time...... It had become something I didn't recognize, it was stretched to almost infinity in an instant, and then it was compressed again, I can't be sure when it happened, I just remember that this was once the most prosperous hinterland of the kingdom, and the yellow sand under your feet was once a thousand miles of forest and fertile soil, and the great canals crossed the fields, and led the rivers of the plateau through the hills, and I watched them build pure white cities here, with high walls connecting the mountains, towers rising from the jungle, and bright flames lighting up the night sky...... It was, I remember, beautiful. ”

The giant spoke slowly, as if he had not spoken to anyone for too long, and was no longer accustomed to organizing logic when speaking, so that his words seemed somewhat upside down, like self-talk in a dream—Vanna could only barely keep up with the other person's story, to understand and guess the message conveyed by the other person's words, and to imagine what the other person's description had been like in the desert in the distant past.

Then, the giant suddenly stopped, looked down at Vana again, and asked curiously, "What about you?" Who are you, traveler? Do you have a name? ”

Vanna pursed her lips subconsciously, and she restrained the urge to answer for the first time.

You can't rashly reveal your name to an unknown being—especially if this being calls itself a "god", and is most likely a high-ranking transcendent with great power.

He may not have had any ill will, but some otherworldly beings powerful enough to interfere with the fate of mortals often did not require any subjective malice at all, and after becoming a follower of the captain, Vanna understood this more deeply than ever.

After a moment of hesitation, she spoke cautiously: "My name is Vanessa, and I don't have any great identity, just a person who accidentally got lost here. ”

"Vanessa......" the giant muttered softly, then shook his head, "You don't call it that." ”

Vana felt her heart beat faster in an instant.

But then the giant waved his hand: "But it doesn't matter, like I said, everyone has secrets, and if you don't want to reveal your name, then I'll continue to call you 'Traveler' - there is no one else here anyway, and we won't be mistaken about each other." ”

Vana was silent for a moment, and after a brief moment of embarrassment, she nodded.

"Traveler," the giant continued, "where are you going?" ”

Vanna hesitated for a moment, then looked up at the silhouette of what looked like the ruins of the city in the distance.

"Let's go together," the giant noticed Vanna's gaze and made a friendly invitation, "though I don't remember much about those long ago, but we can walk together and be ...... to the world I'm still somewhat impressed. ”

Vanna didn't speak for a moment, as if waiting for something.

A moment later, the captain's order came from the depths of her consciousness—

"Accept the invitation."

"Alright," Vana nodded, looking up at the self-proclaimed god, "It's an honor to join you on this journey." ”

(End of chapter)