Whispering Verse

"Can you control her temporarily?"

Sirius, who was in the shield with Shade, asked, Shade nodded:

"Light of confinement!"

The silver halo flew out and wrapped directly around the neck of the black-smoking Siris. The real Sirius had a weird look on his face, but he still took a few steps forward and hugged her to prevent her from falling to the ground:

"I know you are hating, but he is my father after all. Before he left, I was not raised by wind and rain."

The figure rising from the black smoke seemed to sob a few times, and then disappeared. Some white threads were attached to Siris' wrist. She did not avoid them, but felt the resentment and memories of the past.

"For those of us Ring Warlocks who believe in our Lord [The Forgotten Old Man], the power of memory is more important than other Ring Warlocks."

As if he was afraid that Shade would be worried, Siris explained to Shade, and Shade also understood that Siris' power had been enhanced.

And when Sirius fully realized the newly acquired power, when she looked at Shade behind her, Shade could not understand the meaning of her eyes at this moment:

"Let's continue."

There was no enemy in the third confession cabinet, but the vague male voice from before.

So Shade and Sirius went in again. After closing the door, Sirius made his second confession in the dark:

"Father, I am guilty. I know that only self-sacrifice can save this land, but I am greedy for the warmth of living people and the prosperity of the world. Some people, many people have voluntarily sacrificed themselves, but I resist this choice."

"you"

Shade wanted to speak, but the blonde just covered his mouth.

The voice on the other side of the inner wall said:

"Cherishing one's own life is the best way for us as mortals to be grateful to the world. Maybe sacrifice has a role, but maybe there are other ways."

"Yes, there are other ways. But it will cost someone else. Me"

"I understand. So if it really comes to the end, are you willing to sacrifice?"

"Yes, to save those I love."

"So, you're not selfish."

There was another sound of metal scraping against the ground, and Shade got the second mirror fragment from the gap under his feet.

He said to Siris very seriously:

"I've already said that I have a way to solve the problem. It's not your turn to sacrifice your ego."

The young girl looked at him from a very close distance in the dark:

"I will listen to you. But what if, what if you fail?"

"I won't fail."

"Pride is the original sin."

Shade blinked:

"If I fail, it means that I am dead. After this, I can't control what you want to do. But someone has to sacrifice. If I sacrifice, I hope that my death will be of some value, at least There is no need for a second victim. The premise for this to happen is that I am already dead. Do you want to discuss this topic with me? Do you want to talk to me about how I will die?"

The blonde girl's beautiful face showed a slightly sad look:

"You won't die, and no one will die."

Shade smiled:

"You see, this topic does not need to be discussed. So, whether it requires you to sacrifice, does not need to be discussed."

Together they walked out of the third confessional closet and then opened the fourth.

Because of his previous experience, Shade immediately dodged to the side after opening the door, avoiding the memory threads shot from inside.

But this time, the person who walked out of the door was Sirius who shouted "I don't want to die."

Shade still subdued her with the light of confinement. Sirius stepped forward and hugged the girl who looked exactly like him:

"Don't be panic, don't be sad, we are all greedy for the warmth of living people, but I am sure that I will never die, because..."

She looked back at Shade and said nothing, and the black-smoking girl she was holding also looked at Shade. After a moment of silence in the dark confessional, Shade heard someone say "thank you".

The girl with the black smoke disappeared again, and the white thread of memory was still attached to Sirius's body. But this time, the life ring behind Siris was directly revealed. The brass enlightenment element, which represents the power of civilization, is engraved with the seven-ring enlightenment rune [Sacrifice] on her.

The blonde girl pursed her lips and looked at the empty arms, and it took a long time before she stood up. Although she didn't look at Shade at the moment, Shade inexplicably understood the weakness in her heart. So he walked over and wanted to hug her, but Sirius dodged her:

"I think I can still hold on."

So the two of them came to the fifth confession cabinet, and the vague voice still asked what they wanted to confess.

After entering the confession cabinet this time, Siris was silent for a long time before saying:

"Father, I am guilty. I am jealous."

"Who are you jealous of?"

This time, Siris was not as firm as the previous two times:

"My best friend. I'm jealous of her beauty, jealous of her courage, and jealous of her relationship with my other best friend."

"She" suddenly chuckled in Shade's ear. Shade understood immediately, so he pretended that he was deaf at the moment and huddled in the corner without saying a word.

"I know it's wrong, but I'm still jealous. She has almost everything and I have nothing. She's still my best friend and always will be, but she and he."

The vague man's voice actually laughed:

"In love and war, any means and any emotion can be forgiven. As long as it is legal. Sirius, there is nothing wrong with this. Go after your heart. Don't, absolutely don't, be ashamed of your life. .”

Amidst the friction sound, the last fragment of the mirror slipped out from under his feet. After Shade picked it up, he found that the three fragments just formed a complete mirror.

The mirror was not a relic, but some kind of strange alchemical item. But unfortunately, Shade was not its owner, so even if he looked at himself in the mirror, nothing happened.

After leaving the fifth small prayer cupboard, Shade handed the mirror to Sirius. The latter pointed the mirror at her face, and then her hand suddenly shook, causing the mirror to fall directly to the ground. She backed away in fear. After being supported by Sha De, they looked at the ground together. The mirror is emitting a pure white light.

A figure emerged from the light. This was either a stranger or Siris's father, Mr. Lacers. Wearing a brown robe, he looks exactly like the Guardian. However, when he noticed his expression and saw the look on his face when he looked at Sirius with concern, Shade inexplicably understood that this was definitely not an emotionless guardian.

"Father."

Sirius seemed to squeeze out the word from his throat, while Shade was wondering which version of Mr. Lassus this was. Fortunately, there was no need for him to ask. Mr. Lacers, who emerged from the light of the mirror, took the initiative and said:

"Sirius, you have grown up. I am really happy to see you, but your appearance also means that I am, before taking the final step on the road to the Guardian trial, using the magic of the Order to separate the memory."

The expressions of concern, sadness and guilt on the middle-aged man’s face are definitely not fake:

"I left the last memory here. On the one hand, I hope to guide you to continue walking in the possible future. On the other hand, I also want to apologize. Siris, I know what decision I made, and I also know this Decisions mean something, but sometimes adults just have to face the choices they have to face.”

"Are you able to have a conversation?"

Shade finally asked, and the figure looked at Shade:

"It has not been more than fifteen years since I left this memory. The wear and tear of the memory is not very serious, and we can easily have a conversation."

He noticed Shade's action of supporting Sirius, but did not express any comments.

"The reason why you left me and the cult was because of..."

"For this land. During the investigation, I learned about the existence of the guardians, realized the power of the heart of the earth, and understood the meaning of what they did."

"Why leave without saying goodbye? At least you can leave a letter."

Shade also asked, and then noticed that the girl leaning against him was shaking slightly.

"All previous guardians disappeared inexplicably during their lifetimes. We cannot leave any clues about our departure. To find us, we can only go through trials and tests step by step."

When Mr. Lassers said this, his expression became serious:

"Hirlis, since you have come this far, you should understand what I am talking about. If you are willing to continue on, I will bless you and be very happy that my daughter has also chosen this path. The next goal is in In the basement of this church, you need to solve the riddle I left behind.”

"What if she doesn't want to?"

Shade asked, and Mr. Lassus seemed to have already expected that he would ask:

"Xiris has grown up. I have given her the responsibility and the right to choose. Although I am still her father, I no longer have any power to restrain her or give her the right to plan her life. Path. If Hillis is not willing to move on to the next step, I respect her decision and hope."

He looked at his daughter:

"I hope you are happy in this life, my daughter. I'm sorry that I can't watch you grow up, but if you have made up your mind, just leave, get married and have children like normal people, and then watch them grow up healthily. Big. Don't become me, become an irresponsible adult like me. Don't care about this church, take the Golden Dawn, leave the Randall Valley, and never come back, ever."

The last sentence was intermittent and very blurry, and the white light emerging from the mirror began to flicker until it suddenly went out. In the last vague words, Shade only heard "Sorry".

The disappearance of the light plunged the prayer room into darkness again, but Shade could still see Sirius's face. The blonde girl looked at the mirror in front of her blankly, and then Shade sighed.