On the road, Aether gazed ahead as they were about to enter the familiar rainforest.
Dainsleif narrowed his eyes slightly. After remaining silent the entire journey, he finally spoke up.
"Do you remember what happened in The Chasm?"
Aether halted his steps. The rainforest breeze carried a faint dampness as it brushed against his face, leaving him somewhat dazed.
"Of course I remember. Weren't you recovering from your injuries?"
Paimon recalled that period—it was the closest the man before them had ever come to death.
Dainsleif nodded, spreading his palm open. A dark blue Abyssal energy flowed across it.
"I happened to recall something... Back when I was traveling with your sibling, she once mentioned this term—'Loom of Fate.'"
Dainsleif stroked his chin as he gently pushed aside the obstructing branches. The rustling of trampled leaves blended with the faint whispers of grass around them. In his field of vision, aside from the endless expanse of green, there were only a few swaying shadows.
Aether was startled, his throat unconsciously drying up.
"This plan existed that early?"
Dainsleif stopped walking, crouching down to pick up a leaf before standing again and continuing toward their intended destination.
"Yes. Like you, in my memory, it was during our journey to Sumeru."
Paimon understood. She looked at Dainsleif again to confirm.
"So, Dain, you're planning to investigate the place from back then?"
Dainsleif finally came to a complete stop, making Paimon think she had said something wrong. Just as she was about to anxiously speak up, he spoke first—his voice heavy, as if setting the stage for what was to come.
"We're here."
...
"It's all done."
Verina carefully collected samples of the nearby flowers and plants, placing them into her backpack before turning to look at Rover, who had been waiting beside her.
"There are a few letters here. Verina, could you help me deliver these to them?"
Rover smiled, pulling out a thick stack of letters from his pocket.
Verina carefully took them, glancing briefly at the names.
Yangyang, Chixia, Jiyan, Changli, Jinhsi, and more...
"Since I won't be around these days, they'll probably worry. Consider this a way to let them know I'm safe."
Verina nodded. After waiting a few seconds and seeing that Rover had no further instructions, she shouldered her backpack and waved at him.
"Don't worry. We'll all be waiting for your return."
The black void behind her gradually collapsed and shrank as Verina stepped into it, eventually disappearing from Rover's sight.
"So, what's next?"
Abby's voice soon followed. Rover pondered for a moment when suddenly, an unfamiliar memory forcibly inserted itself into his mind.
Somewhere in Avidya Forest, he seemed to be standing before the ruins of an ancient structure.
"Abby."
Rover frowned, drawing his blade as he swiftly surveyed his surroundings.
"Wh-what's wrong!?"
Seeing Rover enter combat mode, Abby hastily spoke up.
"Did I ever go to a ruin alone?"
Abby scratched his head. He floated out, momentarily stunned before spreading his hands helplessly.
"Well... I... I'm not really sure either..."
The surrounding light grew dimmer, and Rover's expression turned increasingly grave.
This sense of paranoia was troubling. He couldn't tell if this was another trick by the Abyss Order.
All he could feel was a sense of dissonance. However, after thinking for a while, Rover found another way to break through the situation.
The Akasha.
The Akasha, which allowed direct communication with Irminsul, could tell him what was real and what was false.
....
"Though I'm not entirely clear about this memory—it feels like it just suddenly appeared in my mind—it's still a clue. Maybe it'll help us understand what this 'Loom of Fate' is."
Before them lay a long-abandoned field. Further ahead stood a small, constructed wooden house.
"Uh... There's no sign anything was ever planted here... Or was there ever anything planted at all?"
Upon entering the house, dust covered every piece of furniture. The moment Paimon stepped inside, she was overwhelmed by the musty air and coughed several times.
An ordinary bed, a sealed box on the counter, and jars placed against the wall—that was all the house contained.
"The smell of medicine."
Dainsleif glanced at Paimon and Aether, who hadn't noticed, and promptly alerted them.
Paimon sniffed carefully and indeed caught a faint medicinal scent.
Aether stepped forward and slowly opened the box. The creaking sound filled the entire room. What greeted his eyes was a shattered mirror—covered in cracks, countless tiny shards reflecting Aether's puzzled expression.
A makeup box?
Before Aether could finish his thought, Dainsleif seemed to sense something and hurried outside.
Aether followed closely. The moment they stepped out, several monsters had appeared out of nowhere and were heading straight for the field.
So there really was a secret hidden here.
Aether silently noted this before raising his sword and swiftly eliminating the invading monsters.
"An abnormality in the Ley Lines..."
Dainsleif frowned. After observing the monsters for a moment, this seemed to be the only plausible explanation.
"I'm going to investigate the Ley Lines. Wait here for me. It might take a while."
Paimon wasn't having it.
"Are you hiding something from us?"
Aether shook his head, offering his own speculation to Paimon.
"I think Dain believes the focus of the investigation is still around this house. Having someone stay behind to keep watch is the better approach."
...
"Wait!? No way... This..."
Abby's astonished voice snapped Rover out of his thoughts.
The Akasha had told him that the memory in his mind was false. Though he didn't know how this memory had been implanted in his mind, following the path from that memory had indeed led him to a ruin.
This made Rover even more cautious.
Clearly, the other party wanted him to explore this ruin—but for what purpose?
"Let's go."
After receiving relevant information from the Akasha, Rover immediately turned around and strode out without hesitation.
But the next moment, the scenery shifted. They were already surrounded by walls and rubble—they had been inside the ruins for quite some time now.
Rover understood. The entrance in his memory wasn't the real entrance. Instead, someone had used illusions to manipulate him into entering these ruins by exploiting false memories.
And what the Akasha had told Rover was this—the Ley Lines here had long been disrupted, extremely unstable.