met free Chapter 1930: The Vanished Second Floor
Chapter 1930: The Vanished Second Floor
Shard even heard a series of clattering sounds coming from the kitchen, it was obvious that the cupboard had fallen to the ground.
The earthquake lasted for several seconds before stopping, Miss Aphrola immediately commanded her followers with a grim face to check the walls to prevent small cracks from appearing. Most of the ritual arranged around the hotel hinges on the condition of the walls being intact with no gaps. Once a gap appears, it might be an opportunity for the enemy to break through.
"Why do all disasters cause earthquakes?"
Shard was very worried about the girls upstairs but remained on the theoretically most dangerous first floor and did not leave.
Miss Aphrola was not present at the moment, her niece Haley softly answered Shard’s question:
"Probably because the Earth is the keystone of everything."
She sneaked a glance at Shard and let out a breath seeing him deep in thought. She knew all about Shard’s relationship with her aunt and even with the Grand Witches, and although her relationship with Shard wasn’t very deep, she always thought of him as a rakish and amorous man.
But from the two encounters in Randall Valley and Green Lake City, he seemed not to be as she imagined.
Suddenly, there was a sound at the window, and everyone looked over cautiously, only to see another paper crane flying over. Shard asked Haley to call Miss Aphrola over and let him bring the paper crane in.
This time, the folded paper object did not open immediately, and it emitted Miss Benanis’ voice:
"How much older are you than me?"
"Huh?"
"Six."
Miss Aphrola came walking over and said, upon which the paper crane opened. Seeing Shard curiously looking at her, the lady with big brown wavy hair explained:
"It’s not about age, it’s about seats. Although Vanessa, with your help, has advanced to the Twelve Rings, she’s temporarily still the ninth seat, I’m the third seat... Our age difference is actually not that big."
After speaking, she didn’t give Shard a chance to continue questioning and directly opened the paper crane:
"The white fog has entered the city, the Church tried various ways to disperse it, but nothing worked."
She handed the letter to Shard:
"Benanis and Granny Cassandra also encountered relics and attacks, but with Sister Delphine there, the situation is still manageable. They observed the fog invading the downtown area, according to the nun’s calculations, at most thirty minutes, at least maybe ten minutes, the fog can reach our current location."
Shard quickly scanned the letter:
"The girls originally waiting for a pick-up by the lakeside didn’t come out of the fog?"
"They are voluntary; if the Edwards are still taken away, we must find a way to enter the island from the lakeside and must have someone ready to respond at that time."
Miss Aphrola said, gently shaking her head:
"Don’t worry, the followers we brought to participate in the Green Lake battle are very reliable and capable... Moreover, this is the epic of the Sixth Era, the legend of the Sixth Era, how could there be no sacrifices?"
At 7:17, Miss Sylvia on the highest floor used the basic sorcery [Eagle Eye Spell] to observe the edge of the white fog spreading to the city in the rain night.
According to the Church’s judgment, the essence of this fog is certainly not fog, but a derivative phenomenon arising from spatial chaos. Therefore, any means that dispels ordinary fog is ineffective against it. And for the immovable Green Lake Hotel, it obviously cannot escape this fog.
"Can our hotel stop the fog from entering?"
Shard asked, but Miss Aphrola merely shook her head cautiously.
At 7:23, fireballs and meteors appeared in the sky again, this is the fourth wave of Astral Meteorites tonight. However, the highest point of the fog had reached a position indistinguishable to the naked eye, so the Church could only preemptively intercept towards the highest point.
Shard and Miss Aphrola could only watch from the window as blue sparks briefly blossomed in the sky.
"The Church this time could collect a thousand years worth of Astral Meteorites at once... This is a very precious mineral."
This was the witch’s small joke.
At 7:28, there was no sound from the second floor, but Shard suddenly looked up:
"What is this feeling... This is bad!"
The violent spatial fluctuation was more astounding than naturally occurring spatial transfers. Shard attempted to use [Enhanced Spatial Awareness] to locate the position in the corridor on the second floor, only to discover the entire corridor had disappeared:
"How is this possible?"
The stairs still existed, and when Shard reached the stairway on the second floor, Miss Sylvia coincidentally came down from the third floor.
The entire space on the second floor, except for the floor connecting the two stairways, had turned pure black. It wasn’t that the walls, floor, and ceiling had turned black, but that only pure black space remained:
"What is this?"
"Don’t reach out!"
Miss Sylvia, who stood together with Shard, said with shock as she pulled Shard back a step:
"Void."
"What?"
Shard felt like he heard a very profound word.
"There should have been matter here, but it was relocated and yet is meant to return, so space has left enough room for the original matter. It’s not a void without air or light, it’s a conceptual ’emptiness’. The whole second floor has gone to an unknown place..."
She tightly held Shard’s hand, Shard felt her tremble:
"I know this, I’ve thought about it, what exactly is the door that appeared on the second floor? A Keeper of Secrets Level Relic [Portal] which would, once opened, transmit the surroundings to unpredictable places. It could be the Material World, it could be somewhere else!"
Shard felt his heart tighten, but he still spoke calmly:
"Don’t worry, Galina, Luviya, and Tifa are all very capable, and the other girls are excellent followers cultivated by Galina, they will be fine. And, don’t forget your Return Charm?"
Shard clasped her hand, Miss Sylvia shook her head:
"The charm only works at close range, they can’t return through the charm. Tifa Servet is on the third floor, she didn’t leave, she just transmitted a message for us."
This was the only good news, a seemingly calm Shard was still anxiously worried:
"How can they return?"
"Wait for some time, this is uncertain. Or walk out of the corridor, returning from the unknown place in their own way."
She pursed her lips, and only then did Shard notice her eyes were somewhat red:
"My teacher... died because of this. The teacher discovered it, but the door’s appearance wasn’t like this then; it changes every time. The teacher tried and attempted to establish a permanent reliable portal in the Material World for Grand Witches without their own stations to communicate, but... My teacher was only thirty years younger than Granny Cassandra."
"It’s alright, it’s alright."
Even with deep worry about the safety of the disappeared Luviya and Galina, Shard had to maintain composure:
"They will come back safely, I promise."
Long-Haired Luviya possesses the power to intervene in Luviya’s body in a short amount of time, even directly providing her knowledge. Therefore, no matter how dangerous the situation, Shard believes they will surely return:
"Now the second floor cannot be accessed in any way, which is instead a good thing, we don’t need to worry about someone invading the second floor from the outside."
He could only say this, Miss Sylvia reached out and embraced him. Shard sensed her crying, but shortly she pushed away:
"Sorry, I lost my composure."
She quietly wiped her eye:
"I’m going back to the third floor. Shard, take care, Galina and the others will definitely come back safely."
She planted a gentle kiss on Shard’s cheek and, without turning back, descended the staircase.
But after just a few steps, she bumped into Tifa, appearing higher up the stairs.
The black-haired girl pinched the hem of her skirt, looking down at him from the higher vantage, Shard’s eyes at this moment were bright with fright:
"Everyone will be safe, Galina, Luviya, all the other girls on the second floor will return. The past cannot be changed, but the future is built upon our every decision."
His voice was not loud, but incredibly steady:
"The past won’t happen again, they will all return... I promise."
Miss Sylvia gently nodded and wiped her eye:
"Tell Hevy on the first floor about this, contact the Council, His Excellency the Speaker will know how to get in touch with Galina... Shard, you... you’ve always been here, right?"
Upon receiving Shard’s assurance, she stepped towards the third floor. Shard looked up, and there at the highest point stood Tifa in her iconic black and white maid outfit, gazing at him.
Even the usually elegantly composed Head Maid now wore a worried expression on her face. Shard did not reassure her, just nodded gently. The black-haired Miss Maid nodded back; she believed Shard.
Returning to the first floor, Shard informed Miss Aphrola and the others of what happened on the second floor. Although this means the second floor no longer needs guarding, Miss Aphrola was equally concerned about the current situation of the missing group.
"At least Miss Galina should be alright. The death of a Grand Witch would be sensed by all Council members. And wherever she went, she could make contact with the Council at any time, so they should be alright now."
Unlike the young Miss Sylvia, Miss Aphrola was evidently much more mature, not showing worries needing Shard’s comfort but rather comforting him instead. She knew about Shard and Luviya’s feelings, hence she worried about him being affected by the situation.
Fortunately, Shard had confidence in them as well. To say he wasn’t worried at all would be impossible; he even considered using divinity immediately to trace the whereabouts of the vanished group.
But just as Miss Sylvia said, the Witch Council has made contingency plans for such events. Miss Aphrola temporarily gave her Witch’s Jewelry to Haley, allowing the young girl to independently enter the Council and relay what had happened here to the other seven Grand Witches waiting within.
The six Grand Witches participated in the Battle of Green Lake, and the other seven women, though differing in appearance, were incredibly powerful and seated around the Council’s long table, true backers in this battle.