In the deepest darkness, the dark, dark end of the street. In the narrow, deep part of Xernos, outside the towering gate, everything here is cold and quiet, as if even time has been stopped, nothing is flowing, everything is shrouded in darkness , quietly existing here. This is true whether it is decades, hundreds of years, thousands of years, or tens of thousands of years.

   However, today is different.

   Someone is having a conversation.

   One is a calm, indifferent man's voice.

  The other one is a woman's voice full of sadness and anxiety.

   "This is the Gate of Tartar, therefore, here I am, to appear before those who reach the gate, and it was you who called me."

  The man announced indifferently, without any hesitation.

"……I?"

  The woman's voice was somewhat suspicious.

  "That's right, it wasn't Joseph Čapek's spiritual seance, nor the green stone that guy gave you, it was you, it was you who called me. Tremble, be afraid, but you need to make a choice."

   "Choose... what?"

   "Whether you obey my words, for you, you have the freedom to choose."

   "If I obey what you say, what will I become?"

  "If you don't give up until the end, then your wish will come true."

  The man's voice was cold, without any emotion, like the words of a machine.

"……Yeah."

  The woman's voice paused slightly, but continued.

"I have someone I love, who is a very important friend. Participating in the séance is also for her. I am very afraid, because I love that person deeply and is my most important friend. If, in the future, her body Something terrible happened... Even if she survived, what about the next day? And after that?"

"I can't accept this kind of future, the possible future, the possibility of losing her tomorrow. I... am afraid of tomorrow. Even if I'm with her and have a wonderful present, after we are separated, I will still Worried, worried, maybe, when I am at home, I will suddenly receive a call and get a bad news..."

"That child is so brave and strong, but at the same time it is also worrying. It seems that that day, I almost watched her leave me forever... That fear, that anxiety, I don't want to continue. I don't want to experience an uncertain tomorrow, I just want to be able to live in today, with her...forever..."

"Really."

   Facing the woman's prayer, the man's voice did not change at all. It's like ten thousand years of solid ice, stone carvings, and machinery. Nothing has changed, as it was in the past, as it is now, and as it will be in the future. This world, and even him, don't seem to change in the slightest, they just exist here - just like the darkness itself, it will never disappear.

   "Then, you can only make a contract with me."

   "... contract?"

"Yes."

   Facing the man's response, the woman was silent for a moment.

   "I just want to escape from this fear. If I can only do this...then, I will choose to make a contract with you."

   At this moment, the woman made a decision.

   "Then, your wish will come true, as long as you don't give up."

   Then, darkness enveloped everything.

   Duanmu Huai opened his eyes.

   "Extreme insanity will always bring disaster, and so is love."

  Looking at the sleeping blonde girl in front of him, Duanmuhuai said calmly. As he said to Mary, the unforgettable love between Romeo and Juliet does not need to exist, let alone be appreciated. It's just dross to be used, twisted, and discarded.

  Any extreme emotion is unnecessary, so is love, so is hate, so is hope, so is despair. This is the source of the power of obsession, crazy for love, depraved, and a victim who chose a twisted path. This girl will not be the first, nor will she be the last.

   After all, this world is like this, and so are human beings. The most dazzling fire will bloom when the burning emotions are burning. But on the other hand, the moment the fire erupts is also the time when the darkest shadows are the thickest.

   But then again...

   "Finally made it?"

   This is the ability Duanmuhuai awakened during the airship case. As long as he touches something, he can see its past to a certain extent. Back then on the airship, Duanmuhuai touched the soot on the collar of the corpse, and then saw the murderer standing beside him after the deceased fell down. It's just that this ability is a bit ineffective from time to time, just like Duan Yu's Six Meridians Excalibur, it doesn't seem to be guided by Duanmu Huai's will.

After coming here, Duanmu Huai naturally thought about using this ability, such as Xia Li's coma, after learning that Xia Li was also a guest of the Silver Twilight Cabin and arrived at the Tartar Gate, he also tried to use this ability A way to find the root and beginning of everything.

  So Duanmuhuai would find time every day to secretly come to Xia Li's room, and then reach out to touch the girl's hair and face, trying to "read" her past.

   Of course, there has been no effect. But Duanmu Huai did not give up. Of course, one of the reasons was that Xia Li was a beautiful girl after all. If she were a man, Duanmu Huai would not have such perseverance and perseverance. After all, chasing after a man all day is not a good hobby... Duanmuhuai just thinks that he doesn't have this hobby.

Since once or twice won't work, then use quantity to overwhelm quality. As long as you come enough times, you will definitely have a chance to trigger that magical power and peek into Xia Li's past. As long as you can directly read Xia Li So what happened to her is naturally not a problem.

  However, my own rabbit is still very powerful.

   Until today - "Lucky" finally visited.

  The dice have been thrown, the number finally passed the judgment, and Duanmu Huai finally saw the past that the sleeping girl experienced.

but………

   "This one really...doesn't know what to say."

Looking at Xia Li in front of him, Duanmu Huai was speechless. He had seen similar emotions in An and Gu Leya before, but, unlike them, the girl in front of him seemed to have some kind of deeper sadness and emotion. grief.

   This girl... loves Mary.

  It has been like this since she was a child, Mary has been guarding and protecting her, perhaps because of this, this girl has deep feelings for Mary. On the surface, she takes care of Mary more than anyone else, but in fact, for her, Mary is her only inner support.

  Unconsciously, she began to fear, fear of losing her best friend.

  Of course, from Duanmuhuai's point of view, this fear...well, it's quite reasonable.

  Duanmuhuai still remembers that when he and Mary met for the first time, in order to save a drowning kitten, Mary jumped into the cold and polluted river without hesitation. If she hadn't shot herself at that time, Mary would have been swept away by the river. In fact, Mary has done similar things many times. She is brave, has the ability to act, and is determined to move forward.

   are all good quality.

   But not for those around her.

  That was what Charlie was afraid of.

   Maybe one day, Mary will drown in the river because of something similar. Or he was arrested or even killed because he meddled in his own business when he saw injustice. After all, she has such a personality, even if Xia Li said it, she would not listen.

   This is similar to An and Guleya, but it is different from them.

  Although An also likes to make troubles, Gu Leya is not too worried about her. On the one hand, An is very strong, and on the other hand, Gu Leya is also very strong. Even if Ann encounters any danger, Guleya will take the initiative to help Ann.

  But Xia Li obviously doesn't have such ability, and Mary doesn't have as strong combat power as Ann, and she is just an ordinary girl. So if she encountered any danger, then...the consequences would be unimaginable.

How should I put it... It can only be said that women are more sentimental than men. If Duanmuhuai faced this kind of thing, he could only say that life and death depend on life and wealth. The flower pots that fell from the sky were crushed to death. It's not interesting to pay too much attention to such small details.

  But obviously, Xia Li didn't think so.

  So, she concluded a contract, for the arrival of Tomorrow, who no longer has a future...

  Woman... I really can't understand.

   Duanmu Huai shook his head, maybe Lorena or An could understand?

perhaps?

   Anyway, I can't understand it.

   But it doesn't matter.

  The most important thing is that through this exploration, Duanmu Huai finally found the mastermind behind the scenes.

  Royal Master's College, Office of the First Professor.

   "Click...click...click..."

  In the silent, smoke-filled room, the only sound was the ticking of the clock. An old man in a black windbreaker sat on a chair, smoking a pipe silently. His hair was white and his old face looked tired. After an unknown amount of time, the old man slowly turned his head and looked towards the door.

   "I didn't expect that there would be guests coming."

   "Hello, Professor."

   Duanmuhuai stood in front of the door, looking at the old man indifferently.

   "To be honest, I didn't expect my initial reasoning to be not wrong."

"oh?"

"Where did Charlotte Bronte know about Capek's research meeting? Moreover, why were the victims at the beginning all students of the master's college? At that time, I suspected that the teacher of the master's college was suspicious. Now it seems that my idea is not wrong."

   Having said this, Duanmu Huai narrowed his eyes, and an aura full of fear and killing intent emerged.

   "Are you right? The owner of Silver Dusk Lodge, Professor James Moriarty?"

   "Hehehe..."

  Hearing Duanmuhuai's question, the old man chuckled.

   "Where did you know that?"

   "From Miss Charlotte."

   "It really surprised me. If I remember correctly, Miss Charlotte Bronte is still in a coma."

   "That's right, but I also have my own way."

   Duanmu Huai stared at the old man in front of him, and said coldly.

   "You noticed Miss Charlotte's distress, and directed her to go to Professor Capek's seminar... All of this was planned by you behind the scenes. I'm just curious, why did you do this?"

"hehe………"

   Facing Duanmuhuai's question, the old man raised his head and looked out the window.

"I once opened the gate of Tartar, and that was a long time ago. There, I encountered a being, a great being who was in this world before the existence of human civilization. So I decided to put my Give him his body, to the last Lord of Darkness who ruled this world before humans—the Old One."

  “………”

  Hearing this, Duanmu Huai frowned, while the old man continued to speak.

"However, this is not the only thing I want to do. The reason why I do this is just to do an experiment—that is, humans and the old rulers. Who can win the final victory? Humans can defeat the old days. Is it the ruler? Or, in other words, are we entitled to the legacy left to us by that great being and become the ruler of this world? Or, that great being will eventually return as a king and reintegrate this world with it Woolen cloth?"

   "It's really boring."

   Duanmu Huai snorted coldly.

   "This is the reason why you associate with evil gods and intend to harm the world? Human beings have already encountered enough troubles, and there is no need for you to add some boring pranks to human beings here."

   "But, it's a grand, great, glorious, jam-packed mischief of ideas and wishes and lives, isn't it?"

   "In the end, it's just a prank."

  Duanmuhuai clenched his cane tightly, raised his eyebrows, and looked at the old man coldly without any emotion.

   "Hehehe, it's a pity that you are one step late, they have reached the South Pole, who can finally open that door..."

  However, the old man did not finish his sentence.

Because at this moment, Duanmuhuai raised his right hand, and the cane in his hand stretched suddenly, instantly catching the old man's neck, directly lifting him from the other side of the desk, and pulling him to Duanmuhuai's feet . Then Duanmuhuai raised his foot and stepped on the old man's face!

   "Pfft!"

  Accompanied by a light sound, the old man's head suddenly burst like a watermelon, and his body twitched for a moment, then cracked and shattered like ceramic porcelain, and then disappeared into the air.

   "That's stupid."

  Duanmuhuai stared coldly at the gradually cracked and weathered residue under his feet, with a hint of disgust appearing on his face.

  Human beings are already very difficult, why are there always idiots who want to drag their own race back?

   But in this way, the culprit can be considered to be completely solved, and the next battlefield is... Antarctica.