As Maca turned around, he was met with a sight... a sight of terror beyond his comprehension.
First, what caught his eye were numerous runic symbols revolving around something, constantly in motion. These symbols appeared dim, as if on the verge of fading away at any moment.
Amidst these floating runes, a blurry figure hung in the air, a few inches above the ground.
And as for the outer circle of these runes... he couldn't find words to describe it; it was as if space itself was contorting.
"Who... are you?"
Maca realized he couldn't even find the appropriate words to address it. All he knew was that it should be some kind of being, for he could distinctly hear a heavy, labored breathing.
He clutched his wand tightly, but this slender wand did nothing to instill a sense of security in him.
"Cough... puff..."
A burst of blood mist passed unhindered through the dense runes, only to vanish entirely within the distorted space around.
"It's really not up to standard... cough..." A voice, ancient and gravelly, yet oddly familiar, echoed.
"We don't have much time, listen carefully—"
"Shh—"
Maca, who could clearly sense the magic, used the runic symbols to cast his spell without the usual stiffness. With a flick of his wand, precise and swift magical threads extended from its tip, tracing a path that erupted into a burst of icy blue light, shooting straight towards the figure.
But in the next moment, the runic symbols inexplicably shattered, and the freezing beam vanished into thin air.
"What—"
"Cough... Don't waste any more time..." Despite the weakness in the voice, the figure effortlessly dispelled Maca's attack.
Why was this happening? Maca couldn't fathom the reason behind it.
"...All you need to do now is listen carefully," the voice sounded ordinary, like that of an ordinary Muggle elder, yet Maca felt an inexplicable aversion deep within his soul. "Yes, first... I must make you understand who I am."
As the figure spoke, the runic symbols rotating around it suddenly sped up. Maca noticed that many of the symbols were moving toward the center.
Then, the relocated symbols abruptly contracted, seemingly wrapping around something.
"Just open the first few pages... cough, later, you'll have plenty of time to read it thoroughly."
As the figure spoke, the object encircled by the runic symbols suddenly accelerated towards Maca, and with a bizarre distortion of space, it broke free from some kind of restraint, landing in the space between Maca and the figure.
As it moved closer to Maca, he could see the entwined runic chains rapidly collapsing. Following that, an exceptionally heavy spellbook seemed to lose its power and fell in front of Maca.
"This... this is..."
"Yes, you... cough... do you understand now?" Maca wasted no time and picked up the book without even glancing at the cover, flipping open the first page decisively.
"Yes... indeed, it's true..." he murmured while staring at the familiar handwriting on the page, his eyes widening. "You... could it be?"
From his waist, he pulled out an identical hefty tome, his face filled with complexity.
"Cough... don't read it now..." the figure paid no heed to Maca's reaction but urged, "Although everything you need to know is written inside... cough... I believe some things must be said in person."
"What things?" Maca frowned, a sense of unease growing within him.
"Abandon that foolish and ridiculous plan! Remember, you must abandon it!" The ancient voice, though still weak, emanated an undeniable sense of authority.
"Abandon it all?" Maca looked at the blurry figure, suddenly calming down a bit. "Is that so?"
His tone carried a hint of ambiguity, clearly indicating that he had developed certain doubts because of the figure's words.
But unexpectedly, the figure chuckled softly.
"Cough... You think you've already given it up?" The figure smiled bitterly. "Think about what Luna said today, and then tell me... cough... do you still intend to give it up?"
"What did she say?" Maca's heart raced as he recalled Luna's words.
"Mom used to say... everything we lose will find its way back to us, but it's usually not in the way we expect."
The old and the young, two voices simultaneously whispered this phrase. For a moment, two entirely different voices overlapped but carried a chilling sense of synchronicity.
"You won't give up... cough... will you?" The figure's voice carried a self-deprecating tone that was hard to put into words. "...And it's precisely this phrase... cough... that you'll hear again tomorrow, and then... cough, cough, cough..."
The figure's cough suddenly intensified, as if they were about to cough up their lungs. After a series of heavy breaths, they continued.
"...And then, it will utterly... cough... utterly destroy your life... no, everyone's life..."
"Of course, we don't care about those unrelated people... but..." their tone suddenly grew more intense. "But what about her?"
Although the figure remained blurry, Maca knew that their gaze was fixed on Luna at this moment.
"...Hm-hm... Do you know what a four-dimensional perspective is?" The figure suddenly chuckled, using a term that felt both familiar and unfamiliar to Maca.
"What?" Maca felt like he'd heard that term enough for one night.
"Right now, I can't see her at all... but damn it... in my eyes, you all look like colorful, nauseatingly long worms!"
"Yes, that's right... cough... extending from the door to here, and then continuing elsewhere," the figure said, pausing for a moment. "Cough... I wish, oh, how I wish to see her again... just once..."
"Wait!"
Maca immediately sensed that something was wrong, but by the time he spoke, it was already too late.
In the next instant, the runic symbols around the figure darkened completely. Then, one by one, they shattered into pieces...
In the blink of an eye, the awe-inspiring three-dimensional runic array turned into nothingness. The figure inside finally exposed to the air.
How should I describe it? It was like a... tattered bag oozing fresh blood...
The figure's form existed in Maca's vision for less than a second, but Maca imprinted it deeply in his mind.
This included the exquisite robe soaked in blood on his body, though its original color was no longer visible, the layers of intricate runic symbols on it could still be clearly distinguished;
This included the staff, as tall as himself, with a dark green shaft engraved with heavy runes, and a nameless stone embedded at its tip.
And of course, it included that wrinkled, ancient face, and the gaze in the eyes that Maca found extremely familiar — the same vulnerability and fear he had just experienced from deep within himself.
Was he afraid of death?
No, perhaps he was just afraid of not being able to see Luna's peaceful sleeping face again?
Maca looked at the space by the window. Everything from just now had left no trace, as if it had been a fleeting dream, so unreal.
But in his hands, two identical books were there to remind him that it wasn't just a cruel nightmare.
Maca lowered his head, and on the cover of the book, he saw four silver-gray words engraved with magic...
"The Book of Sin."
He didn't immediately open it but instead shifted his gaze to Luna's face. He seemed to be afraid — afraid that he would lose the chance to quietly watch her again, just like the figure before him.
Perhaps it was because both sides had consciously lowered their voices? Luna continued to sleep soundly, and as Maca looked at her, he happened to catch a sweet smile on her lips.
"Luna."
Maca whispered softly, every syllable spoken with utmost caution.
After a while, he regained his composure, then leaned against her hospital bed at an angle, quietly opening the magical book named "The Book of Sin."
When he had first opened it earlier, Maca had sensed that this book was extraordinary. Now, as he reopened it, he immediately noticed that it was indeed "incomplete."
Just as the words implied, many pages in the middle of the book had been neatly torn away. Maca didn't know what had previously been written on those pages—or rather, what would be written in the future. He couldn't see it now.
He sighed softly and started reading from the first page.
This book was exactly the same as the other notebook on his desk, down to the first few pages. On those familiar pages were records of his research on runic symbols, and they were recent entries.
Before this, Maca had already filled three volumes with his research on runic symbols, and this should be the fourth volume, just getting started.
As he turned the pages further, he came to the content he hadn't researched yet...
"What I haven't recorded matches exactly with what 'I' have written as subsequent content..."
However, just as he was getting engrossed, the notes about runic research suddenly stopped...
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