The movement of the sand stopped.
Under Amber's control, the shadowy sand floating in the air turned into a still stage. The towering pillars, the blurry view, and the three figures in the center of the stage froze in front of Gwen. Gwen leaned closer and stared at the two figures standing in front of Modir in the center of the 'stage'. In the blurry image of the quicksand, he could vaguely tell that they were two women, and they had the characteristics of the elves.
More details were obviously indistinguishable. In such a small illusion, the image formed by the floating sand could not be that clear. What's more, these images were extracted by Amber from some memories that had been obliterated by time. It was a miracle that it could present such a complete scene.
"This is the scene that I extracted from the deepest 'records' of the shadowy sand …" Amber's voice came from the side, and there was a hint of contemplation in his tone. "The sand has replaced half of Modir's body, and its records are most likely mixed with Modir's missing memories, and this scene is obviously the most profound of all the memories … Two females, and elves at that. What do you think?"
Gwen did not answer Amber's question immediately. He was still carefully observing the two blurry faces. After a long time, he said in a near-certain tone, "It's the elven twins — the sisters Firna and Rayna."
Amber was a little surprised. "You sound so sure?"
"I can only think of this. And I have seen the information of the elven twins from Veronica and Bertilla. I can vaguely judge the similarity of the sand illusion." Gwen nodded gently. "Unless you can think of other possibilities."
"… Then I trust your judgment." Amber nodded without hesitation. Then she frowned slightly. "So the last people Modir Werde saw were the twin elves. After that, he underwent a 'mutation'. He may have been split into two individuals. One of them fell into the Umbra Divine Realm and became the book named 'Werde'. The other one stayed in the present world, but half of his body was replaced by the shadowy sand. His memory was torn apart and he forgot about it …"
"Now you have recovered this dusty memory from the sand," Gwen said in a low voice. "Now we finally have some clues."
"A completely unexpected clue, let me tell you — even Firm can't make up a story like this," Amber said with his eyes wide open. "Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that the two elven sisters would be involved in this! How did Modir Werde get involved with them? According to the timeline we know, the elven twins were already the matriarchs of the Everything-End-All Society … "
"Not only were they matriarchs of the Everything-End-All Society, but they had also visited the borders of the divine realm. When they returned, they were most likely replaced by some kind of 'non-human existence' … I can't even think of a word to describe them." Gwen said in a low voice. All kinds of clues were emerging and forming in his mind. "Although the Everything-End-All Society had taken a wrong turn from the beginning, they were able to degenerate into the most dangerous and most extreme of the three dark cults without slowing down. I think these two 'spies' in the divine realm had played a huge role in this."
At this point, he paused for a moment. His eyes once again returned to the still dusty "stage." His tone became a little perplexed. "… But as you said, how did Modiel Werde run into them back then? The great adventurer was active in the northern wilderness before he went missing. According to the information we have now, the elven twins should have been secretly developing the dark cult in the southern part of Ansu or the southeastern border near Typhon. Bertilla remembers this period very clearly. "
"And the place where they met is equally curious." Amber said, pointing to the dust. "Look at these things that look like pillars, and these beams and domes connecting the pillars. I'm not an expert in the field of architecture, but I can be sure that this is not the architectural style of any northern kingdom. The Silver Empire is somewhat similar, but their domes are connected in another way …"
Gwen did not say a word. He just looked at the 'buildings' outlined by the dust for a long time before he thoughtfully broke the silence. "Have you ever thought of another possibility … about the elven twins who met Modir here?"
"Another possibility?" Amber did not get it for a moment. "What do you mean?"
"Various clues indicate that the Rayna sisters who returned from the border of the divine kingdom in the Gondor era have most likely been replaced by some indescribable force, and the real elven twins may have been left forever in the realm of the divine kingdom that humans cannot reach. So …" Gwen said slowly in thought. His tone was serious as he pointed to the two figures standing in front of Modir in the illusion of the dust. "The two elves standing here … may not be the two 'freaks' in the All Ends Society."
Amber's eyes slowly widened. She understood Gwen's train of thought, but she was in great shock. "You mean, the ones Modir Werde met back then were the 'real' Rayna sisters? The pair who were lost at the border of the divine kingdom? Then what's presented here — "
"I'm just guessing." Gwen interrupted Amber's train of thought. His fingers unconsciously tapped on the coffee table in front of him. "Many clues are fragmented, intertwined, and difficult to connect into a whole. But if you think about it carefully, there are many clues. Modir has split into two parts. One part is in the Divine Kingdom of Shadows, and the other part has half of his body replaced by the shadowy dust. This kind of change can't happen in the present world. On the other hand, the 'elven twins' we know are cultists of the All Ends Society. Six hundred years ago, they were still active in the southern part of Ansu with the fallen Druil. It's basically impossible for them to cross paths with Modir who had already gone north at that time. Lastly …"
He paused, looked up into Amber's eyes, and said in a low voice, "You just said that these pillars and domes don't look like the architectural style of any country on the continent. What if this is the border of a divine kingdom?"
Amber blinked her eyes and listened in a daze. It was only after Gawain finished speaking that she slowly came back to her senses. She looked at the scene outlined by the sand with a horrified gaze and muttered to herself, "The border of the divine kingdom … Can this mortal come back alive after going there? It's not like every Divine Kingdom is as' harmless' as the Divine Kingdom of the God of War … And how did Modir get there? "
"He's the great adventurer Modir. He can transform himself into an 'artificial shadowy dweller' and roam in the Realm of Shadows without being killed. I'm not surprised that he could get to the border of a divine kingdom," Gwen muttered with a strange expression. "And speaking of coming back alive … Look at Modir's current state, can you still say that he came back alive? Perhaps his strange state now is one of the costs of prying into the divine kingdom … "
Amber nodded thoughtfully. Then she suddenly thought of something and knocked on the table. "Ah! Wait a minute! If your guess is correct, Modir saw the Rayna sisters who were lost at the border of the divine kingdom almost six hundred years ago … The sisters went missing during the Age of Gondor's Sparks!! Doesn't that mean they have lived at the border of the divine kingdom for four centuries? "
"It's at least four centuries," Gwen said with a serious expression, raising his finger to the illusion in the dust. "This shows that they are still in good condition. And with the lifespan of the elves, if they have lived there for four centuries, then they can still live for many more years, and maybe even …"
"Maybe even alive now!!" Hu Po immediately stood up from the side of the coffee table and muttered with a frown in disbelief, "Oh my God... Is this possible... The Elven Twins who were lost at the borders of the Divine Kingdom a thousand years ago, and now you're saying that they might still be alive? This … "
"We have speculated too far." Looking at Amber's agitated look, Gwen had to speak to calm her down. "So far, all our guesses are based on limited indirect clues and assumptions, and I don't think the elven twins are still alive now. This is no longer a matter of whether it's a miracle or not. Now, instead of continuing to discuss where we can extend these speculations, we should focus more on business, such as … the problem with Modir. "
Amber finally calmed down from her excitement. She frowned and carefully observed the shadowy dust floating on the coffee table. Then she snapped her fingers, and the dust instantly disappeared into the air. She then turned to Gwen and said in a serious tone, "At this stage, I can interfere with the shadowy dust on Modir to 'stabilize' him. I have roughly figured out that it's the dust that resonates with the divine kingdom of the Mistress of the Night, which led to Modir establishing a connection with the 'other side' step by step in the dream. Although I don't know what the mechanism behind this resonance is, it's not difficult to temporarily suppress this resonance.
"Of course, this is just a stopgap measure. I can temporarily keep Modir on the 'other side', but as long as his split state continues, the problem of his memory, soul, body, and the 'book' will never be solved. I don't have a clue in this regard. The easiest way to think of is to find a way to establish a connection with the Mistress of the Night, but so far, whether it's Modir or myself, visiting the Mistress of the Night's divine kingdom is a random event. We probably won't be able to grasp the pattern in a short time …
"Of course, I have another idea, and that is to find a way to perform some kind of 'summoning' in the real world, and forcibly pull the 'book' named Werder from the 'other side' to our side, and then see if we can fuse him with Modir …"
Gwen could not help but look at her. "Your idea is even more unreliable than the first one. If we can pull 'Werder' from the 'other side', we will definitely be able to establish a connection with the Mistress of the Night. And even if you can really pull the book named Werder to the 'other side', how are you going to fuse him with Modir? Find a big vat, put them in, and stir them up? "
"So this matter can only be put aside for the time being." Amber shrugged with a 'none of my business' look. "Now what I can do is to temporarily stabilize the state of the great adventurer, at least to ensure that he won't be sucked over to the 'other side'. As for how to solve the problem … that's a problem for smart people like you and Victoria to consider. And we still have to figure out what to do with the 'tower' near the West Coast. To completely solve the problem of Modir, we still have to postpone it. "
Gwen had to admit that Amber's words were very practical this time, and to be honest, the information they had extracted from the dust had far exceeded their expectations. Before more clues surfaced, they should indeed focus on another important matter.
"You have a point. We still have to set aside enough energy to deal with the 'tower'." Gwen sighed softly, affirming Amber's words. "At least now Modir's condition can be temporarily stabilized. Victoria will definitely thank you …"
"It doesn't matter if they thank you or not. Just thinking about the scene of that ice cube saying thank you with a straight face makes me feel cold all over. But if she is willing to give me a few bottles of the Golden Leaf Wine and Frostgrass Winter Dew Wine from the Winter Fort's wine cellar, I've been craving those treasures for a long time …"
Gwen was suddenly a little curious. "Wait a minute, you've been to Winter Fort? How do you know what's in Victoria's wine cellar? She doesn't look like someone who would talk to you about these topics … "
"She won't, but her nephew will!" Amber suddenly became smug. "I heard it from Fendill. He said that his aunt's wine cellar is full of good stuff. Some will be beaten for seven days after drinking it secretly, some will be beaten for half a month after drinking it secretly, and some will be thrown out of the castle's balcony directly after drinking it secretly. I don't ask for much, just half a cartload of that kind of stuff will do …"
Gwen: "…?"
…
At the same time, in the depths of the Gondor wasteland shrouded in turbid clouds.
Rugged ruins and wreckage stood on the barren plains. The once glorious and advanced city hundreds of years ago had turned into ruins. Under the erosion of the polluted dust, the rugged skeletons of the buildings had become hideous. Twisted steel and cement pointed to the sky like sharp claws. Around the ruins of the city, there were pieces of hardened debris scattered on the ground. Those were the public transportation roads used to connect the various cities, but now they had almost merged with the earth as they were buried and swallowed by the sand.
However, in the bleak and lifeless ruins of the city, there was now a "vibrant" "vegetation" growing out of the decayed earth, covering a small area in the city center.
Dark green vines wrapped around the collapsed buildings, unknown shrubs grew out of the rusted steel, and twisted Ents shook their withered and ugly canopies as they bustled around the "activity zone" built by the vines and shrubs. And in the most central area where they were active, dozens of large aberrations with bone spurs on their bodies and faces like melted red sludge were working hard under the command of some Ents as they excavated the ruins of a large building.
Near the excavation area, on top of a weathered platform protruding from the ground, two figures were overlooking the busy "construction site" not far away.
The Elven Twins, Rayna and Firna.
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