"It's not over."
Rex couldn't understand why the singing was still there, light but clear.
He was sure he had killed the Singing Lady—he'd even received the notification that he did.
But as he slumped back down, coughing blood, his eyes landed on the Singing Lady's head.
Instinctively, he scanned it with the System and realized that it had turned into an artifact.
Despite the powerful dizziness that throbbed in his skull, along with his ringing ears, Rex forced himself to item's description. His face turned pale, drained of all color. He blinked, desperate to believe that it was a hallucination.
It wasn't.
On the description, on the very first line, he instantly knew that he was correct.
It wasn't over.
Notifications were still clear, even brighter than the darkness swallowing him, appearing one after the other. Despite the blurriness of his vision—the words in these notifications were as clear as day, Rex could read them annoyingly fine.
And realizing that he would fail his Chain Sudden Quest, his instincts kicked in.
No matter his condition, his body was forged this way—to respond in danger.
I need… to move.
Through his blurry vision, he looked at the others.
Linthia was holding his hand as if holding it tight enough would heal him, Viora was doing her best to heal him, Crimoria was ironing her resolve, and April was pacing in the background. It was total chaos, the fact that the Singing Lady was still alive wavered their hope.
Even three of the heirs were nowhere to be seen—they had already escaped.
If I can't finish the Chain Sudden Quest, they could. I need to help them.
Summoning all his willpower, fighting back the paralyzing pain, Rex's muscles twitched.
Under the others' gazes, he sat up with great struggle.
Everyone turned silent when they saw him sit up, it was almost his presence alone was enough to calm them down. Then, he groaned painfully to turn to look at Linthia, "Bring to the last floor," He said with a hoarse voice. "I need to get there."
Nodding instantly, Linthia sported her Soul Artifact, a pair of wings.
She supported Rex to stand before flying to the top.
Naturally, the others followed from behind.
Upon reaching the top, Linthia realized that the ceiling wasn't a gate, but the singing clearly ca from the other side. As she was about to fly out the window to check the top, the tower suddenly shook, like there was an earthquake happening.
Then, the ceiling was opened—it opened like flower petals blossoming.
Behind it was a deep azure glow that stained the air.
Cautiously, Linthia went through and reached the rooftop of the tower.
It was a spherical open space, nothing was there, except a glowing item at the center.
Surprisingly enough, the item was the source of the haunting, lodic singing that they thought ca from the Singing Lady. It wasn't the Singing Lady herself who sang this silent song. As Linthia went down to the ground, the others followed, leaping from the hole and landing on the rooftop.
Each of their eyes was drawn to the sa strange item.
From afar, it looked like a small table made entirely of stone.
On top of it, there was a blue musical instrunt that played the lodic singing.
"It isn't the Singing Lady?" Crimoria frowned.
"I thought this is probably why people called the Singing Lady, the Singing Lady," April uttered, looking at the item intently. "Then what was this singing for? Does it influence us in any way? Maybe this was the thing that caused the illusions earlier."
"No," Viora shook her head. "I'm pretty sure the illusion was a Spirit Genesis, not because of this."
Now, the group was beginning to doubt whether the Singing Lady was actually alive.
Ignoring their discussions, Rex pointed at it, "Bring there."
He needed to inspect what it was and scan it with the System.
Nodding, Linthia helped him get closer, but as they did, the singing slowly faded away.
Once the singing was gone, the entire place beca dead silent.
Rex turned to Linthia, "Hurry."
Snapping out of her daze, Linthia quickly leaped and landed near the item.
Upon reaching there, Rex forced himself to stand, though his legs trembled beneath him.
His gaze then dropped to the item.
Just as he'd suspected, it was so kind of music box, now silent.
Since this item was the only thing that could possibly give him a clue, he scanned it.
…
Grade: -
Type: Miscellaneous
Description: A normal box that was crafted intricately and could play the Song of Kuntua.
…
A frown crept to Rex's face when he realized the music box was a normal music box.
He didn't get it.
"It's a normal music box…" He whispered in confusion. "Just a normal music box…"
"Just a normal music box?" Crimoria repeated in confusion—then she stepped forward with concern. "So what is it then? Is the Singing Lady alive or not? Are we fine or not? I don't get it. What even this music box even have to do with the Singing Lady?"
"Calm down, let's think about this slowly." Viora raised her hands, defusing the situation.
The Forsaken Tower was confusing, and it was easy to get frustrated and angry.
Regardless, Viora approached Rex and reached out her healing hand to make sure he stayed conscious.
On the side, Linthia decided to sweep the entire place instead of idling.
But there was nothing other than the music box.
Since there was literally nothing else here, the others thought that perhaps they were on the clear.
Earlier, the singing was nothing but a fluke.
However, Rex knew that this wasn't over—the Chain Sudden Quest was still active.
In confusion, he grabbed the music box to see what was underneath it—but instead of looking at what was underneath—his eyes caught sight of sothing on the table. Rex leaned closer to check.
Once he used the System to scan it, he realized that it was a keyhole.
A keyhole…?
Rex's frown deepened, rembering Grant's necklace, which was a key.
He instantly thought that the Singing Lady might be aiming for Grant.
But that shouldn't be the case.
The shape of the hole... It wasn't even remotely close. Moreover, the key was already there.
Just as he was contemplating what to make of this, a notification appeared.
Reading this, Rex's eyes flashed as this would give him all the answers he needed.
But then, as he was about to say yes, a loud explosion resounded in the distance.
Kaboom!!
Almost instantly, Rex and the others snapped their heads toward the Mahkam Ruin's direction and saw a massive torrent of voidal energy shooting into the sky. Seeing this, Rex was at a loss for words.
Then—he sensed a flicker of energy coming from the music box.
Rex looked at the music box and saw a strand of energy shooting out.
Swish!
It shot towards the key, and with a simple push, it was twisted, creating a dull sound.
As soon as that happened, another notification appeared.
User Comments
0 comments from readers