Tetragon Temple.
The residence of Septimont's Maidens, and the sacred ground for observing fate and recording prophecies.
To outsiders, this was an inviolable forbidden zone.
But to Luno, it was just a dull, boring place.
Silence reigned within the shrine, as if the air itself had stagnated. Occasionally, a few Maidens cast curious glances at these visitors, but they only lingered quietly in the distance, never approaching.
Perhaps...
it was because Luno was present?
Who knows?
But one thing did pique Ray's curiosity: why didn't any of these Maidens...
wear shoes?
"Grandmother Lillibet, I'm back."
Luno hopped over to stand behind an elderly woman standing in the center of the main hall.
The spacious hall's walls were covered in ancient murals. Before each mural were placed explanatory pamphlets, recording the legends of Capitoline Hill City and the prophecies of the King of Heroes.
Only one mural was notably blurred, as if its traces had been deliberately erased.
Ray moved closer to examine it curiously, but he heard Grandmother Lillibet's hesitant sigh as she turned, her reprimand, ready on her lips, dissolved into a doting headshake the moment she saw Luno's bright smile.
When the elderly woman's gaze shifted to Ray, her pupils suddenly trembled almost imperceptibly. She murmured in a voice barely audible: "Blank...?"
"Blank?" Though the whisper was faint, it landed precisely in Luno's ears.
Grandmother Lillibet quickly regained her composure. She walked slowly to stand before Ray, a warm smile blooming on her face. "You three must be the reinforcements the Governor mentioned? I am Lillibet, the guide for the Oracle Maidens."
The group responded with polite smiles in return.
"...Blank." Luno was still murmuring that word quietly, but she soon shook off the thought and turned back to Grandmother Lillibet. "Oh, Grandmother, about that anomaly in the Sanguis Plateaus' blightclouds, it didn't seem any different from usual to me?"
Under normal circumstances, the Sanguis Plateaus during a tidal period were nothing like the peaceful scene now.
Grandmother Lillibet shook her head with a soft sigh. "A few days ago, an abnormally powerful frequency fluctuation suddenly erupted on the Plain of Past Life Flowers. The camp dispatched several hunter squads to investigate, but..." She paused. "We haven't heard a word from them since."
"The Plain of Past Life Flowers?" Luno was taken aback, then seemed to realize something. "Could it be... the False Sovereign?"
"That being?" Ray caught the term immediately.
"The Dark Tide is the first judgment the Resonance casts upon civilization, and the 'Dark Tide' itself is its vanguard." Luno's expression grew serious. "It possesses life, possesses will, and devours the frequencies of all living things, we call it the 'False Sovereign.'"
"But that doesn't add up..." Luno mused. "If it really is that entity, with its current strength, it shouldn't be acting so brazenly. It's not yet in a position to confront Septimont head-on."
Grandmother Lillibet continued, "What's even stranger is that the terminals of the missing investigation squads are still sending distress signals, pinpointing their location at the Eroded Lands in the lower Sanguis Plateaus."
"That place?"
Ray sensed the shift in atmosphere. "Is that place dangerous?"
"It's the area most deeply corrupted by the Dark Tide in the entire Sanguis Plateaus." Luno's tone was heavy. "Not only is it overrun with powerful Tacet Discords, it also erodes a hunter's mind. Under normal circumstances, no one would willingly go near it. And now distress signals are coming from there, it's almost like..."
"A trap." Carlotta's cool voice cut into the discussion. Her gaze was sharp. "An obvious trap, no doubt. But the question is, what's its purpose? Just to lure people in and devour their frequencies?"
Luno nodded in agreement. "That's certainly possible. But whatever it is, since Augusta entrusted this matter to me, I can't just ignore it. There's no time to waste. We should set out immediately."
"Luno's coming too?" Ray looked at her, surprised.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Luno glared at him, puffing up indignantly. "I'm a prodigy born on the night of the lunar eclipse! Before taking on this divine office, I was a gladiator in the arena. Frankly" She raised her chin proudly. "With my strength, even in this hunter den, there aren't many hunters who could beat me!"
...
...
Before they departed, Luno handed each of them a few faintly shimmering crystals.
Ray examined the translucent gem in his palm. It felt cool to the touch. "What is this?"
"Anchor points." Luno explained. "They're forged from black stone associated with the Earthrend Wedge. They can interfere to some extent with the Dark Tide's erosion of one's mind. To enter the Eroded Lands, these are essential talismans."
"And what exactly is the Earthrend Wedge?"
"You sure have a lot of questions." Luno shook her head helplessly, though amusement lingered in her eyes. "Legend says that's where the Sentinel, Imperator, first descended upon Septimont. Later, when the first Dark Tide erupted in Ragunna and threatened Septimont's very existence, the device the Sentinel left there was activated. It stopped the Dark Tide clouds from spreading further, sealing them forever within the Sanguis Plateaus."
"I didn't quite get all that, but it sounds impressive."
Ray turned the anchor point over in his hands, then casually slipped it into his pocket. He turned and walked toward the Temple's exit. Several King Hunt Vultures waited quietly there, their feathers gently ruffling in the wind.
"Then let's go." He flexed his wrists. "If things go smoothly, maybe we can even make it back for dinner."
"Ray is always so confident." Lupa stepped forward briskly, the fiery red spear in her hand glowing with warm light. "But I'm really looking forward to fighting alongside you. I can't wait for the day we become partners. Oh, Miss Carlotta, have you thought it over? Could you lend Ray to me for a while?"
Carlotta: "..."
Luno, however, didn't move immediately.
She lingered behind, staying close to Grandmother Lillibet, lowering her voice to ask: "Grandmother, that 'blank' you mentioned earlier... what exactly does it mean?"
Grandmother Lillibet's gaze followed Ray's receding figure. Ripples stirred in her aged eyes. "His future... is an unseeable void."
Luno's eyelashes fluttered slightly.
As an Oracle Maiden, she could perceive the threads of fate that ordinary people could not, each person's future like a book already written, clear and legible.
But Ray's future was... nothingness?
How could that be?
It was as if...
his story had yet to be written, and therefore held infinite possibilities.
The young woman gazed at that retreating figure, murmuring softly: "unseeable void..."
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