Suspended!
That's what Salt could guess about his condition now. The iris-colored eyes opened slightly, blinked once, then opened wide to observe the surroundings.
A black color, nothing more, just it.
Can't resist, can't speak, can't move. After all, what is this place? She remembered opening the nameless black-covered book and being sucked inside by it. Before being sucked in by it, she saw two letters appear on the cover of the book: S and L. With just those two letters, her grandfather who appeared could not guess a complete word. What is the title of the book? Why hide it? Is its content terrible?
If she was sucked in, does that mean this was the space inside the book?
That's for sure. Salt had heard from her mother that some of the books in the Fragrant Olive library were not [normal]. Perhaps this unnamed book is also one of them. Well, let's just say that she was just unlucky to be sucked into the dimension in this book, but does it have to be so black that her limbs can be moved like this? If you can't move, you won't find a way out. Should I die here?
Surely my parents will come to save me!
It was her last ray of hope right now. Tadashi must have reported it to Grand Master Sixth by now. In the meantime, she just had to wait until she was rescued. I don't know how is Kakashi now? He must be very worried about me, like a teacher to his students, or to his teammates, that's enough for her. She didn't expect anything more, except to get out of this monstrous place.
"Irena's daughter? How old is she?"
"Who's that?"
Salt exclaimed when he heard the strange voice. This warm voice, yet exuding deep loneliness, was the first time she had heard it in her life.
"You don't need to know who I am"
Looks like a man?
"Ah yes." She still couldn't see anything in this space. That voice was close, yet so far away. Like being here but also inherently non-existent.
Where?
Disgusting, how good it would be to be able to move!
"Don't worry, I won't hurt you baby" The other man's voice reassured her. Well, she was instinctively a bit wary, but even being vigilant wouldn't help when she was a dead body.
This person definitely knows me and my parents should too!
Apart from [Rena], her mother has many names, depending on how one reads her mother's rather lengthy real name verbatim. Looks like [Irena] is a different reading. This person not only knew, but also knew very well, even an acquaintance of her mother.
Not wanting to talk for a long time, she went straight to the main point:
"So how do I get out of here?"
"Kinda easy"
"How?" She frowned slightly. The so-called [Easy] will definitely contain a few more [Difficult]. Nothing in this world is easy to achieve, right?
"There are two ways"
There are two ways?
"One, wait for your mother to come. Two, go find the key from 15 years ago"
That person said. She guessed he must know the rules to get out of here. Who is he? If you know the way out, why are you still here? Waiting for someone, something? It's also possible!
Then, Salt had to choose between the two. It's only a matter of time before mom comes to the rescue. She still wondered about the second way because she still didn't quite understand. What's the key? 15 years ago?"
But slowly, 15 years ago I was still not born!
"Can you explain the second way?" Salt suggested, also implicitly risking to choose to do the second way. It's better to get out on your own than to wait for someone else to save you.
"Back to 15 years ago, let's find the Infinity Tomb"
Infinity Catacombs?
First time Salt heard this place. It looks quite interesting, a crypt. She is a person who loves to explore horror things, this is a great opportunity to seize.
Into her field of vision was the pale white light of winter. This is the unpleasant feeling of being exposed to light after being in the dark for a long time!
"Mama?" Salt uttered out of habit when he saw the person standing in front, with his back to him. Wow, that senior told me to find something to get out of the book, right? Why did I get out now? Or did he say to scare me?
Never mind, now it's lucky to escape, save effort.
"Mama!" Salt called out loudly. But that person still didn't turn his head to glance at her even for a moment.
Mama?
That back shadow was unmistakable, her long blonde hair hanging loosely down her back - The easiest identifying feature of her mother. But mama's clothes are so strange? It is not...
A white coat with a knight's badge on the back, a checkered blue skirt, and black leather shoes. It was the uniform of the female knights of Utherworld. She had never seen her mother wear it, since she was aware of everything around her.
Maybe it's because mama gets excited and wears old clothes from time to time, right?
Her mother stood still, staring into a hole, the mouth of which rotated crystallized from Ifi-nano particles.
Salt looked around.
Is this... the harbour of D'argento?
She was sure where she was standing was the harbour of D'argento, but the surroundings were so strange, it didn't look like yesterday at all. Wait, where's the space portal? Why only the hole? The knights guarding the border were nowhere to be found, nor were the barriers.
What happened to this place that made it change so quickly?
"Mama! Mama!"
She ran as fast as she could, calling repeatedly. But her mother still didn't look back, as if she hadn't heard. She reached out to the soft blond hair, hugging her mother from behind like when she was a child.
"Wow"
Salt lost her momentum, almost tossing and turning, she struggled to keep her balance. Fortunately, he did not fall into the sea. Looking down at the deep sea, each pounding wave, she stroked her chest and breathed a sigh of relief. Lucky me, almost...
But slowly, I...
Salt's eyes widened, a little scared but also surprised.
Her arms go through the mother, untouchable!
In other words, she was like the air, unable to touch the things around her, nor could her voice be heard.
I...i...
Her mother's expressionless face and eyes were strange compared to the mother she saw every day. Especially the left eye that seemed to see right through her. Now she really realized something she had denied for less than two minutes.
I really went back 15 years ago.
.
In front of Rino's sight was a hole, rather a giant hole with red Ifi-nano particles that rotated in a counter-clockwise direction, which could be passed through like stepping through a door to enter. parallel world beyond. This space hole seems to have been around for nearly a hundred years, as evidenced by its structure being gradually cracked. But if it's been here for a hundred years, why hasn't anyone discovered its existence?
Since when does it exist in this harbor? Why didn't I notice?
If Rino's guess was correct, someone used Gabriel's dark magic to hide this huge gate. That person must have tremendous strength. And now that Gabriel's magic had been broken, the huge gate came into view.
Maybe the chipmunk and the girl...what's the name? Ah, Kodama came from the world after this hole.
This port of D'argento has very few people passing by, even so Rino can't subjectively let the hole show like this, if someone runs through the other parallel world, it will be in big trouble, of course she will be the one. Take responsibility for handling it and no one wants to bring trouble on themselves. Her lips moved to chant:
"Gabriel"
The silver shield made of Ifi-nano photons wrapped the gap up to the blue cloud, the hole seemed to disappear, replaced by a blue sky background. In fact, the hole does not disappear, but is still there. Gabriel is just like a coating, can still pass through Gabriel if he has enough energy to protect his body. Although I don't know how long this will last, it will help people to be less confused.
So does the afterlife pose a threat to Utherworld?
The answer depends on how each person sees it!
His hair was more than half gray, his brown eyes had to squint to see everything clearly. The costume is nothing special, like many others, but exudes the maturity of an elder. He is also 55 years old this year, as an old man sooner or later he will have to retire to enjoy his old age. Being the ruler of this vast land called Reality is really hard work. It's also difficult to find someone to pass on the title of Grand Master, he still hasn't chosen anyone that suits his eyes!
It's not that there isn't one, it's just that the kid always refuses to succeed, leaving this old man hunched over to manage Reality's piled-up work, despite his age to the point of dozing.
"Good morning, Lord Godaime"
"Lord Godaime"
"Sir Grand Master"
Whoever, any citizen of Reality passed by, greeted him clearly showing their respect for him. Of course he would give him a gentle polite smile in return. Even so, they couldn't see his heavy, hammer-like mood right now.
Maeda Mikami - Grand Master Fifth, who is assigned to govern a relatively large area of the Reality world. His age is also advanced, but he is still very hardworking, staying up late at night, struggling to handle work. He should have resigned early to give it to another young person, he only targeted a kid but he firmly refused him, that's why!
Well, can't blame it. For nearly fourteen years, he was still searching for a person, that person was related to his missing parents, no matter why he did not stop searching even though there were no new clues. Once he becomes the next Grand Master, the kid will definitely be tied down by work, won't be able to travel around to gather information, that's the main reason why he's lazy to meet him. The climax was when it got angry and locked him outside the door to befriend a dog of the Shiba inu breed, Sayon.
He dares to raise his neck to argue with this old man just because I keep pushing him to take office. How many years did I raise you to make you turn on me like that? Oh my gosh, students are students!
It's been on a hike for the past few days, not even reporting back to him for an hour.
Hmm?
Old Mikami stopped whining in his head when he sensed a great source of power present somewhere. Not only huge, even surpassing him. More specifically, it was a source of power that did not belong to this world. In Reality, the main strength is Toge. And what is that strange power that appears and disappears?
He narrowed his eyes to try to make out the figure that passed like a shooting star with a white streak toward the top of the mountain. This was the second time in his life he had seen this non-body phenomenon, the first time being fourteen years ago. Maybe this time...
Is that person?
"Oh, this place looks peaceful, doesn't it?"
Rino sat on the top of the towering Nebbia mountain looking down at the foot of the mountain. At the foot of the mountain were large and small houses distributed in sections that looked like a country. Instead of curiously wondering what the afterlife was like, she stepped through the hole in the harbor associated with it. In short, she was sitting on top of a mountain of an alien world. Here it was no different from Utherworld, it didn't seem like it would endanger her world.
"Sleep already counts"
Rino let out a long yawn, deciding to choose a beautiful place to fall asleep. The past few days of border patrol making it impossible for her to sleep, almost a week and seven days, she has been awake for six days. Just as she was about to lean back on the grass, she put her hands on her hands, immediately turned and jumped back about 15m to dodge the fireball flying at an unbelievable speed in her direction.
His mother, before he could sleep, was attacked.
Trouble always came at the right time, didn't let her sleep, didn't even have time to lie down properly. Rino tossed her hair, her face showing a half-moon smile, she said:
"Must cherish the lawn?" Her eyes looked at the green grass that was now a scorched carpet that smelled of burning smoke and looked up: "Is that right, old man?"
"I'm only 55, not that old"
The voice sounded sour in response. Who would have thought that a senior with misty silver hair would be quite sensitive when teased about [Age]. This man is old but not wasteful!
Grand Master Sixth Maeda Mikami squinted at the girl for a moment. The girl's golden hair like the sun surprised him for a while. She wears a long blue dress with a neat white coat. The knight's casual uniform, the royal seal on the right lapel was a feature that further showed the noble status of the blonde.
Mr. Amaterasu?
Very similar, like two drops of water. It's just that her eyes are not too similar, her eyes like the color of the sky turning to the sunset have a little carelessness and despair, completely different from the other person.
Is not. This is the last of the Hepburn clan.
Rinoirena Carsein Hepburn.
Perhaps due to his advanced age, he recognized the wrong person, that person has already passed away and no longer exists in the world. Standing in front of him was only a person of similar appearance. About three years ago, he had set foot in Utherworld once, had heard of the reputation of Grand Duke Rinoirena, who nearly killed the current emperor Adonai Ha Arezt, and at the same time she had massacred the entire Carsein royal family. . Not to mention countless illustrious feats, especially the talent of commanding the army and expanding the territory for the Nahema Empire.
"Are you from Utherworld? What's the purpose of coming here?"
"You seem to know about it too?" Rino guessed that the old man knew about the hole, because he was a high-ranking person that was evident in the clothes he wore. Has a badge like the chipmunk's name the other day. Could this old man and chipmunk be related?
"That's right. Fourteen years ago, I discovered it. Didn't expect this day." He stroked his beard, his eyes thoughtful. He did not think that the hole would be discovered so soon, even though he deliberately concealed it with Celestial Arts, blocking anyone from setting foot on Mount Nebbia without his permission. Most recently, only three people, two Masters and one Guard, entered the parallel world with his approval. There were no significant consequences, other than the fact that the girl from Utherworld had come this far.
"I'm just traveling, it won't affect your Reality" Rino knew the name of this world thanks to his object perception skills. Just touch any object, she will read its information. When she came here, she learned everything by analyzing this Nebbia mountain, which had existed for more than three thousand years in the world called Reality.
"Good then." He sighed. Old age and weak, now telling him to go duel with the infamous Grand Duke of Utherworld for killing people in the blink of an eye, he couldn't stand it.
"What? Are the people of Reality receiving guests like this?" She scoffed, her eyes showing fatigue.
Yes, receive the kind of person who is about to go to sleep when they throw a huge fireball. If you want to drive people away, frankly, why destroy the lush lawn?
Old man Mikami admitted it was his fault. Because he has a habit of going to attack any creature, including humans, especially those from Utherworld through the dimensional gap to Reality. The past few days he has been losing sleep and eating because the student is only a small part, mostly due to the invaders of course they come from Utherworld. He knew it, but couldn't completely solve it. Most of the Masters capable of dueling one of those intruders had only three, while there were forty Masters in all. Although the Master force is large, its strength is far behind the intruders. He himself couldn't go to war personally due to his age, and besides, if something went wrong, the whole Reality would be in chaos.
"Sorry for the insult." Old Mikami's voice was lower than when he yelled because he was teased about his age.
Rino waved his hand and sighed.
"Okay, your apology is too heavy for me to accept" Who would let a white-haired old man in his fifties apologize to a girl in her twenties? Even though it was his fault, but for her senior to bow her head to admit this tiny mistake she didn't get it. "Did something go wrong where you were?"
"Yes." He nodded in confirmation. Nearly a week ago, more and more people disappeared, all the clues were directed to the people of Utherworld, causing him to just close his eyes because he could not directly intervene. But now it's easy, the Utherworld people standing here can solve it equally. "An underground organization is operating at the North Gate of Kojimatsuri. Most of its members are Utherworld people. I can't deal with them, so I hope you can—"
"Okay. This is easy. First of all, I want to rest before I handle your business. Do you mind?"
"Of course not"
When asking for help, it is best to obey what the person wants. Even so, he still couldn't let a human with the power to destroy the nation go around in Reality. If she caused something as big as destroying a mountain, he would have to take the first responsibility as Grand Master Fifth.
Best to send someone to supervise!
The most reliable of the Masters, also the most leisurely!
Only that kid!
"Kinkyū Shōkan"
An emergency summoning technique that can only be used by Masters with advanced techniques. This jutsu can summon all those of a lower level than himself to the front, no matter how far away that person is. Except for some people possessing the ability to resist Kinkyū Shōkan. Of course, Grand Master Fifth never disappoints with his [Force] summoning. Summoning the Masters was for him as easy as eating rice paper, but summoning his beloved apprentice was another matter, so forcing him to use [Force].