She is not an investigator.

The men in black uniforms wore masks, but most of them had some cracks, and some of the corpses' heads were even twisted into strange angles.

There is no doubt that a massacre took place here, but what caused it, and what once existed here, remains unknown.

The only thing that's certain is that the guy is no longer here.

But where did it go?

"The door was locked, but there was no sign of that guy inside. Either it left and even locked the door on its way... or it left in a more mysterious way."

Either way, it sounds outrageous enough.

After all, if it really can lock the door, then it must still have a certain degree of rationality and wisdom. But according to Millie, she should be the only successful case.

"—"

At that very moment, the Mirror Demon, who was at the very end, suddenly frowned deeply.

In that instant, its body underwent a dramatic change, flashing and changing wildly like a slideshow.

Everyone noticed its strange behavior and instinctively moved away from it, raising their weapons.

Soon, the Mirror Demon's transformations stopped, and its appearance underwent a dramatic change.

It became a completely unfamiliar person, someone no one had ever seen before.

A figure, covered in blood and dressed in a tattered white hospital gown.

Its body was completely covered in blood, and its eyes turned scarlet and filled with murderous intent.

"Leave...this place."

That wasn't the Mirror Demon's voice, but rather the message that dangerous being was trying to convey to everyone through the Mirror Demon.

Leave here.

This is its territory.

Like a wild beast, it is driving away those who have invaded its territory.

With its claws and fangs, it threatens the intruders.

"—"

Soon, the Mirror Demon's body began to flicker again, and its previous appearance disappeared, transforming into Igris's appearance.

"I...I saw its memories..."

The Mirror Demon held its head, shaking it slightly, feeling a bit dizzy.

“That was a girl… She was a test subject, a test subject who was reintroduced to the experiment after everything was over… I saw it, beasts, many beasts, I saw chaos… I saw those strange weapons… And, and… a key, I saw a key, someone gave her a key…”

"The Mirror Demon...?"

"No, that's not right, I understand, I understand."

The Mirror Demon tapped its head and then suddenly raised its head.

“I understand now. She was… the last test subject. It was an experiment conducted after the previous experiment had been declared over. They no longer protected her as a human being, but instead stuffed everything, everything that existed for the experiment, into her body. She should have died, but… but that key, I don’t know what it is, but she survived because of that key.”

The Mirror Demon was not in a state of confusion; on the contrary, it had never observed everything happening to a person so clearly.

It's as if she's deliberately conveying everything to the mirror demon, telling it all the truth.

But the problem came again.

What exactly is that key?

"I also once...received a key."

Millie also came out at this moment, frowning with some confusion.

"But later, I lost it, and I couldn't find it."

"A key, a silver key, isn't it?"

Vicatina nodded in agreement.

"I got one too... but I think it was stolen by someone later? I don't remember..."

"Let's think about that kind of thing later."

Constantine turned to look at Simia, who was deep in thought, and asked softly.

"So, should we continue exploring, or turn back? That guy is definitely dangerous, and we can't afford to take that risk right now."

"...Let's go, there's still plenty of time, we don't need to rush things."

Simia sighed, feeling regretful that she couldn't continue exploring, but she really couldn't let everyone get caught up in the crisis.

…but perhaps she can come and see for herself next time.

The Gods' Fool - Beyond the World: Chapter Sixty-One, Perhaps It Was a Peaceful Night

It's another night.

This is their second night at the Frost & Spencer IX/2ndville. Compared to the chaos and crisis of the previous day, today is much calmer.

There are no enemies, no dangers, and no gods who could destroy the world at any moment.

The group finally left the church, as it wasn't a good base; it was too empty and too cold.

Since the entire city was deserted, everyone naturally moved into nearby buildings and finally no longer had to sleep on the cold ground.

There are many advantages to this. Putting aside the comfort and privacy of living here, at least for Vicatina, it's still very close to her workshop.

She had originally planned to move some of the tools out of the workshop, but given the current distance, she decided to continue researching the legendary super weapon in her own workshop.

However, due to limited resources and their extremely limited food, she ultimately abandoned this idea.

But this doesn't mean she'll give up, since the uniqueness of her weapon-making techniques largely stems from her distinctive talisman carving method.

In other words, if you're not forging a weapon from scratch, but simply enhancing it to a certain extent, the time and materials required will be much less.

Simia also decided to stay with Vicatina to ensure her safety in the workshop as much as possible and prevent those people from suddenly coming back.

Anfer and Constantine took on the task of continuing to explore the city and collect supplies, since such a large city shouldn't have so few supplies.

Aside from the supplies themselves, they were also exploring whether there was any other intelligence in the city that could help them leave.

By the way... look for Igris as well.

Even if he's dead, at least we should find his body and some clues.

…………

Inside the workshop, Simia was sitting on a convenience store shelf, intently checking the remaining ammunition in her hands.

She didn't have many bullets, because she was very frugal, and also because her weapons were all high-powered single-shot ammunition, the kind that could be loaded as needed.

Therefore, she rarely felt that she was short of ammunition before this, after all, she was not good at this kind of protracted war of attrition, and quick battles were her fighting style.

Vicatina was still hiding in her workshop, tinkering away, doing something unknown. Simia tried to go in to check on her again, but Vicatina chased her out, saying that her weapons didn't welcome anyone barging in without permission, as if the weapons could talk.

However, at Vicatina's insistence, Simia stopped getting any closer. After all, she wouldn't bother getting into a conflict with a witch who was over six hundred years old, but who probably spent over five hundred and ninety years of that time immersed in blacksmithing.

Especially when she promised to prepare a new weapon for Simia.

It would be a lie to say she wasn't looking forward to it. Although she wasn't dissatisfied with her weapon, in a sense, no one would be unhappy about having more options.

So the end result was that Vicatina was inside forging iron, while she was outside, bored and spacing out.

The sound of metal being struck could be heard from time to time, because the door to the secret room was not closed. Normally, the neighbors would definitely complain about her disturbing the peace, but unfortunately, she no longer has any neighbors.

"Sigh...when will this finally come to an end?"

Simia sighed softly, slowly walked out of the store, and looked at the empty street.

The night wasn't too dark; the snow on the ground seemed to reflect the bright moon overhead to some extent, making the moonlight illuminate the ground while the reflected light made the light even more pronounced.

In plain terms, it's very bright tonight.

Simia noticed a clump of ashes not far from the shop entrance. She remembered that it was made by Igris, and it was the second dangerous anomalous creature they had encountered here.

It was a strange creature pieced together from vines and corpses, capable of even becoming invisible.

They possess a certain level of intelligence, though not much, but still comparable to a fairly intelligent wild animal.

Most likely, they are among the defective products that escaped from the laboratory, fragile and lacking in rationality.

"..."

However, as if by some strange twist of fate, Simia approached the ashes and slowly bent down.

The snow and white ash were almost mixed together, but because of the fire that had burned the ground, there was not much snow left on the ground.

As the ashes were gently brushed aside, something quite conspicuous appeared before her.

It is insoluble in fire and has a hard texture.

She took it in her hand, held it high, and in the moonlight, its true form was reflected.

That was a key.

A silver-white key that will not lose its color due to the flames.

Just like the silver key that Mirror Demon and the others mentioned.

She had never seen this thing before, but it seemed very special, so special that... it was practically everywhere in the city.

What does it represent? Does it represent an anomaly? Does it represent danger? Was it naturally formed or man-made? Did someone place it on this monster, or did it take it away unintentionally?

This city holds far more secrets than one might imagine.

"Let's go back and have Vicatina take a look..."

Let this witch, skilled in blacksmithing and researching materials, examine this key carefully to see what it really is.

However, just as she returned, the sound of hammering in the workshop finally stopped, and Vicatina, panting, pulled her head out and wiped the sweat from her face.

"Simia, come here quickly."

"So, your masterpiece is finished?"

Simia quickened her pace and swiftly approached Vicatina, who seemed to be wearing only a vest on her upper body because it was too hot.

You wouldn't really notice it normally; she clearly looks so delicate. But after taking off her clothes, her muscles are surprisingly exaggerated.

Sure enough, no blacksmith was really as thin and weak as he seemed.