630 Mirror of Fate (2/2)
Could he find the secrets of the monster?
Would it be something unimaginable, or the omen of horror and desperation?
Rhine, on the other hand, was rather calm. He cleaned his black shirt and his red coat, before he pointed at one of the black gates with a smile. ”I believe it's behind that gate, right?”
”Yes.” Lucien walked over and checked it with magic first. After ensuring that there was no danger, he pushed the gate open slowly.
As the gate moved backwards without a sound, everything behind the gate was revealed before Lucien and Rhine.
”Why?” Lucien tried to control himself to prevent his rationality from being drowned by disappointment.
Behind the black gate was the same grey hall that was exactly like any other halls. There was not even any residue of the silver magic pattern.
”Check it carefully.” Rhine stopped smiling and walked into the grey hall, searching for any traces.
After confirming that the coordinates were correct, Lucien followed him into the hall. Suddenly, he sensed that the Sun's Corona on his chest rippled, as if it were interacting with a certain object inside the hall.
Following the interaction, Lucien stopped in front of a grey pillar. He examined it with multiple spells.
After a long time, Lucien sighed, ”As expected of a level-three prophet. This gate is the best example of hideouts. Without the instruction of the Sun's Corona, I'm afraid that only the top legends can possibly discover it, and even they will miss it if they are slightly careless.”
As he talked, Lucien activated the secret door and stuck the Sun's Corona to it. Although Lucien had plenty of ways to crack it, it was the simplest and most time-preserving way to use the Sun's Corona.
The brilliance of the sun that did not belong to this place glowed inside the grey hall, and a secret door was slowly opened, revealing a messy grey chamber where broken magic tubes, alchemical potions, pots and utensils were everywhere.
It seemed that the master of this place was not in a good mood, or he had left in a hurry, because if a battle of legends had happened in this place, Lucien was very certain that none of them could've survived.
The chamber was arranged in the typical look of an ancient magic laboratory. It didn't take Lucien long before he found a hidden desk, on which there were three items: the torso of a puppet, a magic notebook, and a grey mirror where countless mysterious magic patterns were floating.
”'Mirror of Fate'. This is truly Maskelyne's laboratory.” Rhine recognized the mirror after the first look. He explained to Lucien casually, ”Maskelyne once worked together with McLeod, hoping to create a legendary item that could reflect the river of fate. However, even a demigod wouldn't have been capable of that. They only managed to craft an item that could only be used limited times. However, it proved very effective in the first two usages. The first time, it predicted the whereabouts of the Thanos belongings very accurately, and the second time, it predicted that he would be trapped.
”So, a legendary item of the school of prophecy.” Lucien realized that Rhine knew more than he thought he did. He examined the Mirror of Fate casually.
”'Mirror of Fate', a level-three perfect legendary item, can tell what happened in the past rather accurately and predict a future scene less accurately. It is a reflection of the river of fate and shouldn't exist in this world. It will be broken after five usages.”
”Times used: Four.”
”Everyone's fate is preordained, but the eyes of mortals cannot see through the heavy fog.”
”By Waldo K Maskelyne.”
”There's only one time left. It seems that Mr. Maskelyne used it after he was trapped here.” Holding the Mirror of Fate, Lucien said with a heavy mood.
Rhine smiled, ”If it were me, I would've predicted the secrets of the monster with the Mirror of Fate, too. I wonder if he found anything.”
Not in a hurry to open the notebook, Lucien picked up the greenish torso of the puppet. ”Why would a part of McLeod's puppet appear in Mr. Maskelyne's laboratory?”
”Perhaps, Maskelyne found it as a clue after McLeod 'went missing'.”Rhine looked around and suddenly smiled. ”This place has been processed by Maskelyne. The time flow is as fast as the outside world. Even if the monster will arrive soon, we will have enough time for our recovery.”
Lucien still did not open the magic notebook. Solemnly, he said, ”I have two questions.”
”What are they?” Rhine asked.
”The first question is what I had before. Why did the monster not destroy those remnants? I don't think they could've escaped the monster's attention, right?” Lucien clenched his right fist and tapped his jaw. ”Let's think reversely. Why did Mr. Maskelyne and his teammates leave scraps, notes and items in the end as their final attempt? Were they certain that the monster wouldn't destroy them?”
Rhine did not say anything but listened to Lucien's analysis quietly.
”The second question. There are so many grey halls, and yet we found the paper fragments, the puppet parts and the residue of magic so easily. Wasn't it too much of a coincidence?”
”You think that the monster was misleading us on purpose?” Rhine pursed his lips.
”That's possible, but what's the point? Because it can't defeat us?” Lucien suspected that the monster was deepening the illusion or the dream through hints, but he could still open his spirit library.
Taking a breath, Lucien said in a low voice, ”There may be clues in the notebook.”
Opening the magic notebook, Maskelyne's familiar handwriting appeared:
”…Through the Mirror of Fate, we found one of Mr. Thanos' secret laboratories. The experiment he did there were truly incredible. It was a major inspiration for us…”