Disappeared? A darkness? Facing the sudden change, Dariq’s first reaction was not fear, but to clasp his hands together and press them to his mouth. A clear, radiant glow emanated from within him, dispersing the deep darkness around and illuminating every corner of the basement. In Dariq’s world, darkness was the most terrifying presence—whenever they left the Silver City, they had to maintain a constant glow, even if only briefly, with no interval exceeding five seconds. When Dariq first joined the exploration team and lacked experience, he nearly made a critical mistake due to this, almost losing his life, thanks to the presence of the "Chief" just a short distance away. The glow spread slowly and steadily. Dariq raised his right hand, tightly gripping the "Galeaxe," and carefully surveyed the surroundings. He noticed that not only had Heinm and Joshua—two teammates who should have joined him in the basement—vanished, but the large patches of dark stains on the stone and walls had turned blood red, damp and glistening as if they had just been splashed there. Calm now, having read the exploration manuals thoroughly, Darien found himself considering a possibility: perhaps the issue wasn't with Joshua and Heinm at all, but with himself. "I merely approached the altar and silently recited those three names... Normally, even angels require the full, properly formatted, exact titles to receive the 'prayer' generated by someone reciting or copying them—there's also said to be a range limitation... I wonder if the angel kings follow the same rule. 'One of these three names is the key to unlocking the hidden power of the altar. Did I trigger the problem by reciting it in the language of the giants—my own, capable of moving nature?" No, that can't be right—it must be spoken aloud to take effect, even if these are the true names of the Kings of the Angels, which have never caused any issues before... Darien turned around, puzzled and increasingly uneasy, returning to the altar and back to the stone table. He was astonished to see that the inscriptions and symbols on the table had become much clearer and more complete, as though the ritual主持人 had just finished carving them. The inscriptions were divided into three types: one in the language of the Giants, one in the language of the Dragons, and a third one that Darien did not recognize—though he suspected it was the ancient Hermes language spoken by the "Turner" and the "Justice" among the Tarot figures, since during his recent exchanges with the Tarot circle, he had begun to grasp several words that closely resembled the script on the table. The messages conveyed in the Giant and Dragon languages were remarkably consistent, both repeating the same three names and their corresponding titles: "Angel of Fate," Ululios; "Red Angel," Medici; "Dark Angel," Salsir. Following the title and name came a phrase that Daryl recognized well: "The Rose of Redemption!" Indeed, Sasilir was a King of Angels, known as the "Dark Angel," and together with the "Angel of Fate" and the "Red Angel," he was the founder of "The Rose of Redemption"? He wondered what the "Fool" might know about him—yet he was certain that Sasilir must know much. The ancient Hermetic meaning was likely the same. In the town that had already embraced the "Lord who creates all," residents were quietly venerating these three Kings of Angels who served beside the Lord. As Daryl pondered this, a cold shiver ran down his spine, as though he had finally touched upon the very edge of the truth about the Creator's abandonment of this land. He looked up again, and the blood-red hue on the walls and floor remained unchanged. Heinm and Joshua were still nowhere to be seen. Once again, reciting the words made no difference—perhaps they had never truly been effective from the start. Deric took a deep breath, holding the "Stormaxe" tightly, and carefully made his way toward the entrance of the basement, hoping to find the root of the problem and determine exactly where things had gone wrong. Step by step, two steps, three steps—he seemed like a massive candle, slowly shifting his way back up to the upper hall. Here, the shadows were thick and gray, the atmosphere still and decaying, the broken chairs and remnants of stone tables silently placed, unchanged from before. Deric still hadn't found Joshua or Heinem, so he remained highly alert, moving toward the windows to see if he could spot any other members of the exploration teams. Tap, tap… the faint sound of footsteps brought him close to the gaping hole where a window frame should have been. He leaned forward, gazing out. Countless gray buildings stood closely packed, rising in a stepped formation, some tall, others shorter. Lightning strikes in the sky were infrequent, and at many windows, flickering candlelight glowed dimly and steadily, wavering gently, never fading. This… Dariq couldn’t help swallowing a gulp of saliva, feeling a sense of calm that the town had never experienced a major upheaval, as if the residents were still living their quiet, unshaken lives. "Heinm smiled and kept his eyes on Deric, glancing over his shoulder as he approached the altar, ready to anticipate any sudden developments. Joshua thought for a moment and said, 'Actually, I find it quite strange. The Chief is a Sequence 4 "Beast-Slayer," who should be around three or four meters tall—like a regular giant. Yet he seems perfectly normal, only about half a head taller than me.' Heinm instinctively glanced around. 'It's said that the Chief has a giant form.' 'A giant form?' Joshua asked, smiling. 'When he grows into a giant, does his clothing get torn?' Heinm and Joshua exchanged a warm smile. As they were about to share this joke with Deric, they turned to find the boy had vanished! Deric, who was supposed to be right in front of the altar, was now gone. Both Heinm and Joshua immediately grew serious, one raising his broad, straight sword, the other extending his left hand, gloved in deep red." They approached the altar carefully, carefully inspecting it and finding no suspicious signs. As Joshua reached to examine the remaining inscriptions on the stone table, Heinem gently tapped his shoulder, saying, "Don't look. I recall that before Deric disappeared, he was already studying the inscriptions on the table. Let's find the 'Chief'." "Hmm." Joshua nodded. He didn't rush away hurriedly, but instead took a moment to survey the room once more, then gently rubbed his thumb and index finger together, lighting the last wick on the altar. This would protect Deric, keeping him from falling into true darkness! — The exploration team from Silverspire had encountered something similar in the ruins of those city-states. One of the members seemed to vanish suddenly, only to be hidden by an unseen force, still present at the same spot—yet his teammates, panicking and eager for help, hurried away with lanterns, leaving him exposed to true darkness, ultimately lost and never found again. It wasn't until another member faced the same fate and was miraculously rescued on the spot that anyone truly remembered the precise cause of the first member's disappearance. Heinm immediately summarized what had just happened, concluding, "We haven't been able to determine the reason for Deric's disappearance." "Deric..." Colin nodded thoughtfully, then stepped forward and entered the corresponding house ahead of the others. ...... Outside, the candlelight flickered, warm and golden, yet Deric felt as though he had plunged into an ice cavern, a coldness steadily rising from within. He tightened his grip on the "Galeaxe" in his right hand, turned from his view of the town, and walked into the basement, repositioning himself before the altar. He had now firmly concluded that the issue lay with himself! Yet he lacked the urge to explore the strange events of this afternoon in the town, and dared not even open the door. Deric was not particularly tense nor visibly agitated, as he did not consider the situation to be serious. As long as the danger isn't directly erupting, it doesn't count as serious... Deryck inhaled silently, slightly bowed his head, and spoke with reverent humility: "The fool who doesn't belong to this age; The enigmatic sovereign above the gray mist; The king of fortune, in yellow and black..." These eyes were dense and faint, deep and reserved, like uninvited spectators who had simply appeared, while the little "Sun" remained completely unaware. How dangerous could it be in the town in the afternoon? Klein had a deep understanding of what his "Sun" classmate had been doing recently. He thought for a moment, instinctively sensing that the darkness felt strangely eerie and unreal, so he abandoned the option of responding to the little "Sun" with the "Sea God's Staff," instead choosing to draw the latter into the gray mist above. As Klein expanded his spiritual presence, he felt as though the deep red stars had become trapped in a marsh, making his effort to pull them in notably strenuous. Another angelic king must have been involved, Klein mused, sending ripples through the gray mist below and into this mysterious space. Since his promotion to Level 5 in the advancement sequence, he had been able to subtly influence the power above the gray mist—without relying on the "Black Emperor" card or any corresponding ritual! In silence and without any effort, Crane smoothly summoned the others, and the figure of "Sun" Deryck materialized on the high-backed chair belonging to him. At the same time, Crane faintly noticed the strange darkness flowing around the younger "Sun" beginning to fracture.