On the road, the group exchanged some thoughts about the space.
This space, apart from being sentient and capable of luring people,
also had an incredibly powerful sealing function.
Not to mention its ability to suppress Khaenri'ah beasts,
even someone as mighty as Bosacius was utterly helpless against it.
Mu Yang was also cut off from contact by this space,
unable to fully unleash his strength.
After a series of battles, the group only felt their exhaustion intensify.
If they didn't find an exit soon, they feared everyone would end up like Bosacius—
consumed by the space, leaving only a lingering soul…
The journey that followed was relatively smooth.
With no monsters blocking their path, Lumine only needed to focus on solving puzzles.
They progressed through one door after another, gradually delving deeper.
Finally, they found new information.
It was a handwritten letter.
From its contents, it seemed to have been left by the Millelith.
The gist of the note was that they had won.
The ferocious beasts had lost their ability to move under the suppression of this space.
Most of them had already vanished.
However, the cost of this great victory was equally devastating.
None of the people here could return home.
The letter also confirmed that this space could materialize the innermost thoughts of a person's heart.
As long as one longed for their homeland, they could occasionally catch glimpses of its scenery.
Lumine finished reading the last line: "I want to go home…"
Then she carefully tucked the note away.
"The rest is just this line…"
Everyone's expressions darkened upon hearing this.
There was no joy of a great victory in this letter.
Only despair and powerlessness…
[Heart-wrenching, these must be the Millelith left behind here.]
[Bosacius said he lured the beasts here; someone had to act as bait to draw them away.]
[I have a low tolerance for this; seeing "want to go home" makes me so sad…]
"Who is this person named Boyang mentioned in the letter?"
Hearing Paimon's question, Yelan snapped out of her thoughts.
"This Boyang… he's one of my ancestors, one of those who never returned back then."
"So, Boyang was working with Bosacius?"
"Most likely."
From the letter and Bosacius's lingering voice from earlier,
it wasn't hard to deduce that Bosacius had acted alongside the Millelith.
This also confirmed that those who couldn't be found after the Khaenri'ah war
likely perished here.
Yelan paid her respects to the Millelith and urged the group to move forward.
Surviving was the priority now.
Moreover, she had a premonition that the clues were coming together.
They would uncover the truth sooner or later.
The question was how this space would reveal its answers.
The group entered the next door.
This time, it wasn't the familiar platform.
Instead, it was a void—completely empty.
Paimon looked around, "There's nothing here!"
To the others, this place might seem like nothing.
But Lumine was all too familiar with it.
"This is the power of the Abyss… but there are no enemies."
"It seems to be my memories."
The others fell silent, aware of Lumine's unique identity.
She was an outsider, not from Teyvat.
Lumine drew her sword, staying vigilant.
Every encounter with the Abyss made her uneasy.
She stepped forward alone.
In her mind was her brother, taken by the Abyss.
"I will keep moving forward, imagining a tomorrow where you exist."
"That's right, I'll lead everyone out of here. I'll find a way out, and then I'll reclaim the lost treasure."
Lumine voiced her innermost thoughts.
This wasn't the true Abyss, but a space beneath the Chasm.
As long as she held a desire in her heart, the space would manifest it.
[Why is it getting darker the further we go? Isn't Paimon going to do something?]
[Can you hear me? Is this volume okay?]
[That's not the line!]
[Let's explore that area later.]
[Feels good now.]
As Lumine pressed forward, she suddenly saw Aether's figure.
Paimon noticed too, stammering in shock, "Ah! That's… that's…"
"Brother! Wait!"
However, Aether's figure always remained at a distance from Lumine.
Visible, yet untouchable.
Finally, Aether stopped, turned around, and gave his sister a gentle smile.
Then his figure vanished.
At the spot where he disappeared, Lumine saw the Fantastic Compass.
In the previous spaces, parts of the Fantastic Compass had been hidden beneath the ground.
Now, it appeared intact, as if someone had left it behind.
Could it really be her brother?
No, even with the Abyss's immense power, it shouldn't be capable of this, right?
Lumine quickly concluded that the space was playing tricks.
She was absolutely certain that it was merely an illusion of her brother.
Not real.
The group examined the compass on the ground.
Yelan spoke first.
"Yanfei, are you sure this is the Fantastic Compass you mentioned?"
"It should be. There's no illustration in the will, but the description matches it closely."
Yanfei didn't understand why Yelan suddenly asked this.
Hadn't they all assumed this disc was the Fantastic Compass along the way?
"Did you notice something?"
Yelan explained that they had only seen small parts of it before.
She hadn't dared to jump to conclusions.
Now, seeing the entire disc,
she noticed that its structure and layout were remarkably similar to the artifacts used by her family.
"If you do this…"
Yelan raised her hand, faint blue light emanating from her wrist.
The Fantastic Compass rose into the air under her control.
"The Fantastic Compass has been deliberately manipulated, possibly containing some kind of information."
"Let's get out first and discuss this in a safer place."
Everyone turned to Lumine.
Since this void space was born from her memories,
Lumine understood, willing herself to leave.
A door suddenly appeared.
The group stepped through it and found themselves back at the tunnel entrance that Arataki Itto had carved out.
They came face-to-face with Mu Yang.
Lumine sized him up, "Judging by your stance, Mu Yang, you were about to…"
"Go in to find you."
Kuki Shinobu stepped forward to explain for Mu Yang, "You've been gone for too long, and he was worried."
"If you'd taken any longer, I probably wouldn't have been able to sit still either."
Kuki Shinobu implied she had already tried persuading Mu Yang multiple times.
Otherwise, he would've gone in to look for them long ago.
If the group hadn't emerged soon, Kuki Shinobu likely wouldn't have stopped him.
Instead, the two of them would've gone in together to rescue them.
"Sorry, the space inside is intricate and complex, and time feels distorted. Our perception of it might be different."
"But it wasn't without gains."
Lumine glanced at Yelan.
Yelan revealed the Fantastic Compass.
"Let me study it first. There's a good chance it holds information about how to get out."
Yanfei let out a sigh of relief.
"I was worried it was something from your memories and couldn't be brought out."
"If it was an illusion, that'd be trouble…"
Fortunately, the Fantastic Compass wasn't an illusion.
It obediently responded to Yelan's manipulation…
=====
New Story posted:
Transmigrated as Furina, in the Naruto world