Legend of the Embroiderer

Chapter 456 The Mystery of the Sand Mirror

Darkness surged in like a tide. In the midst of her chaotic consciousness, the merged being felt as if her body was enveloped by countless tiny grains of sand, a buzzing sound. Each vibration made her chest tingle, as if an ancient behemoth was throbbing in the heart of this space.

The Guardian's damaged armor scraped across the ground, metal fragments rubbing against stardust, leaving a trail of winding sparks, like a burning path of blood.

He struggled to support the fused body, only to find that Xiao Ying in her arms was constantly emitting black mist. The mist condensed in the air into distorted human faces, each of which grinned and emitted a childlike shrill laugh. The laughter was sharp and piercing, stabbing straight into the eardrums.

"This is the erosion of the Star Sand Space!"

A hoarse voice came from the void, filled with barely concealed anxiety. The translucent figure of the Time Ferryman appeared, the golden liquid seeping from his empty left eye drawing a flickering trail of light in the air, like a flowing star trail.

"Follow the light, and don't believe anything you see."

Before the words were finished, the ground suddenly shook violently, and countless mirrors burst forth from the soil. The mirrors were as smooth as ice, yet they reflected a chilling scene.

The merged entity was horrified to see its reflection in the mirror, surrounded by dark purple chains, coldly overlooking the burning world, clearly a demon king who controlled the power of chaos.

The guardian's armor was covered with intricate mechanical patterns, and with empty eyes, he raised his longsword, transforming into a puppet of the black-robed man.

Xiao Ying transformed into a giant eyeball, its pupils burning with flames that could destroy everything, causing space and time to shatter wherever it went.

The guardian roared and swung his sword at the mirror. The blue sword light slashed out like a bolt of lightning, but it was easily absorbed by the mirror. Instead, it reflected more distorted illusions, as if their power was being assimilated by this strange space.

The fused entity gritted its teeth and injected the light from the starry eyes into Xiao Ying's body. The gold and black burst into a dazzling white light the moment they came into contact, like a thunderclap in the darkness.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, she dragged the guardian into the passage guided by the light trace. Behind them came a series of sounds of mirrors shattering. From each fragment emerged a hideous black shadow with mechanical arms similar to those of the black-robed man. The tips of their nails gleamed with eerie green venom, drawing deadly arcs in the air.

At the end of the passage was a void filled with countless hourglasses, resembling a starry sea composed of time.

Each hourglass seals a different fragment of time and space; some flow with dazzling starlight, while others are filled with deep darkness.

Within an hourglass bearing the emblem of the first observer, the merged entity finally glimpsed the outline of a fragment of the Key of Time. The fragment emitted a soft golden light, as if it were the only hope in this dark space.

But when she reached out to touch it, the hourglass suddenly shattered, and countless tiny grains of sand instantly formed the face of the Time Watcher, a mocking smile curling at the corner of her lips:

"You really think you can find them? Those fragments were just a trap to lure you in!"

Before the words were finished, the black-robed figures leaped out from the hourglasses from all directions. Their arrows were wrapped with time chains that shimmered with a ghostly blue light. Once they hit, they would trap the target in an eternal time loop until their consciousness completely dissipated.

The guardian immediately released an ice barrier, but under the erosion of the time chains, strange purple ice crystals quickly formed on the surface of the barrier, emitting a "crackling" sound as it struggled to withstand the pressure.

He swung his sword and severed the nearest chain, only to be horrified to find that the blood at the wound had stopped flowing and congealed into an eerie blue, as if time had stood still within him.

The fused entity mobilized the power of its twins in an attempt to support the guardian, but felt a strange force resisting it from within.

The dark purple patterns on Xiaoying's body had somehow crept onto her arms. Whenever she circulated her power, the patterns would emit a burning pain, as if countless needles were moving through her veins.

At the critical moment, the time ferryman slammed his wooden staff into the ground, and the broken compass released a silver vortex, the powerful suction pulling the black-robed man's arrows into it.

“Go to the core of the hourglass! There are things left behind by the observer there…”

His voice was interrupted by the black-robed man's attack, and his body began to become transparent like a thin mist. With each word he spoke, a part of his body dissipated into the air.

The fusion entity and the guardian exchanged a glance, then, without further hesitation, rushed into the vortex with Xiao Ying. The scene before them instantly changed, and when they landed, they found themselves in a maze built of broken mirrors. The mirrors were jagged and reflected countless distorted light and shadows.

Each lens reflects a different scene: some are heartwarming images of the first observers and gatekeepers fighting side by side; some are apocalyptic scenes of the Chaos Infant destroying the world; and in other scenes, the merged entity personally offers its star-like eyes to the leader of the black-robed men, its eyes filled with madness and infatuation.

"These are the afterimages of possibilities."

The fused entity pressed its aching chest, and the star-shaped eye mark resonated with Xiao Ying's dark purple patterns, projecting a stable golden arrow onto the ground.

They followed the arrows, their heartbeats growing heavier with each step, only to be met head-on by twelve men in black robes at a corner. The gears on the mechanical face of the leader suddenly reversed, making a "click-clack" sound, and time around them instantly began to flow backward. The sword light that the guardian had just swung slowly retreated into its sheath, and the light shield that the fusion body had only half-formed vanished without a trace.

Just when everyone was in dire straits and thought they were about to be swallowed up by the reverse flow of time, Xiao Ying suddenly let out a clear cry. Although the sound was soft, it seemed to penetrate the barrier of time.

The dark purple patterns on her body receded like a tide, replaced by pure golden light. The light spread like ripples, and wherever it reached, the black-robed man's time chains collapsed, turning into specks of light and dissipating into the air. The mirror maze also began to twist and recombine violently, emitting a piercing friction sound.

Through the chaotic gaps in the mirror, the merged entity once again saw the fragment of the Key of Time appearing and disappearing. But when she desperately reached out to grab it, the fragment suddenly turned into a cloud of black smoke. From the smoke, a figure with the same face as her slowly emerged. The figure's eyes flashed with the runes of the gatekeeper, and a familiar, cold smile hung on the corner of its mouth.

"You think you're a savior?"

The shadowy figure's voice was identical to that of the merged entity, yet it carried a chilling, bone-deep aura.

"From the moment you awakened your starry eyes, you were destined to be the key to unlocking the third seal."

The shadowy figure raised its hand, and the entire space began to collapse rapidly. Countless tiny shards pierced the bodies of the people like sharp blades, causing them excruciating pain that almost made them faint.

On the verge of losing consciousness, the merged entity saw the last figure of the time ferryman. With his last strength, he threw the broken compass at her. The compass needle was spinning wildly, pointing to a time coordinate she had never seen before, where the final secret seemed to be hidden.

Deep within the Stardust Space, the crystal fragment in the Time Watcher's hand resonated intensely with the shadowy figure, releasing a darkness powerful enough to devour all light. Within this darkness, the outline of the third seal gradually became clear—a colossal sphere composed of countless eyes, slowly opening all its pupils to gaze upon this chaotic space, as if foreshadowing a true crisis that had only just begun…