"By the way, Xiao Qi, do you know what this place is? I can't shake the feeling that something is profoundly strange about everything here…" Lin Luo gently set Lei down on the soft patch of grass beside them, then looked towards the girl standing a short distance away.

Though he had no idea how long Xiao Qi had been in this location, her composed expression and complete lack of panic suggested to Lin Luo that she likely knew something about this place.

"This is a place created by a miracle, something akin to magic," Xiao Qi said quietly, sitting down beside him.

"A miracle akin to magic?"

Xiao Qi nodded, her tone melancholic. "The overlapping of spaces. I don't know exactly how it formed, but I suspect the power capable of this must be somewhat related to the Second Magic…"

"The Second Magic? What's that about?" Lin Luo asked, startled.

The Second Magic involved space, but not in the narrow sense; it was spatial magic in the broadest definition. Currently, in the Moonlit World, only one person was proficient in this art: the second of the Five Maguses, and the fourth of the Twenty-Seven Ancestors—Zelretch, also known as the Jeweler.

To think that this place could be connected to the Second Magic—the magic that allowed one to travel freely across countless parallel worlds—a strange old man who styled himself as a champion of justice but possessed an eccentric temper.

From Xiao Qi’s subsequent words, Lin Luo grasped that describing this forest as "a place" was inadequate; it was better termed "an intersection," a common area formed by the convergence of two distinct spaces.

To use a simple analogy: if you draw two circles on a sheet of paper, they might initially be separate. But if you alter the shape of one circle—say, extending an arc outward until it touches the other circle—the intersecting area is the region common to both. Of course, the altered shape could no longer be called a circle.

This location operated on the same principle. It was originally an unremarkable forest, but due to some external spatial force, a portion of another world had extended into this one. Lin Luo didn't know what consequences could arise from the collision of worlds, but he was certain that if things went wrong, the resulting devastation would be catastrophic.

While the convergence of the two worlds hadn't caused an immediate, fatal threat, the shared region had undergone massive transformations. One change was amplification: the entire area, including every object within it, had been magnified by a geometric factor. The other change was the complete disappearance of all animals.

Whether they were erased by some mysterious force or displaced from this space by the alteration of the region, Lin Luo could not say. He only knew that currently, within this area, besides himself, Xiao Qi, and Lei, there was no fourth living creature.

Thinking about it soberly, this was truly terrifying. Lin Luo had initially thought staying here a little longer wouldn't matter, but after hearing Xiao Qi’s explanation, a chill ran down his spine. It was preposterous—this was a place harboring a power so potent it could wipe living things out of existence, leaving not even bones behind. Who knew if it could happen again? If he were to die inexplicably like that, there wouldn't even be a place to lodge a grievance.

But for such a common area to appear—could it truly have been created by that Jeweler old man who wandered aimlessly through parallel worlds all day? Lin Luo couldn't recall hearing that he possessed such overwhelming power.

And what would be the purpose of creating such a dangerous anomaly? Was it retribution for him taking Rin? After all, in the original story, Rin was meant to become the Jeweler's apprentice. If that were the case, shouldn't Archer—the Red A—be the first to confront him? After all, Lin Luo had effectively NTR’d him in the flesh.

Of course, this line of thinking was pure self-indulgence on Lin Luo's part. The Jeweler was a master of spatial magic; he had no jurisdiction over the flow of time. Neither now, nor during the time of the Fifth Holy Grail War ten years hence, had he any documented interaction with Rin, so interference in that area was impossible.

If one were to speak of the Five Maguses capable of interfering with time, that distinction belonged solely to the First Magus, who had vanished countless years ago.

The Five Great Magics of the Nasuverse: the First Magic was time manipulation, or perhaps the negation of nothingness. Though the specifics were unclear, its ability to interfere with time was undeniable. The user was unknown, and it had been lost for ages.

The Second Magic was spatial interference—the ability that created this common area—and its user was the Jeweler, Zelretch.

The Third Magic was the materialization of the soul, the method for achieving immortality. Its user was the ancestor of the Einzbern family, one of the founders of the Holy Grail Wars, but this too had been lost.

The Fourth Magic was even more mysterious than the First; neither its content nor its user had ever been recorded, yet the current Maguses acknowledged that it "definitely exists."

The final Fifth Magic, also known as the Magic of Sapphire, though its exact nature remained vague, was a magic related to destruction. Its user was the girl who, ten years from now, would possess the foul temper and inherent naiveté matching her nickname, "The Human Rocket Launcher"—Aozaki Aoko.

These Five Magics were arguably the greatest miracles of the Nasuverse. Why 'arguably'? Because there existed the ultimate protection that none of the Five Magics could breach—a sanctuary untouched by interference from time, space, life, or destruction: the faraway ideal land, Avalon.

But these were secondary concerns. The important thing was... glancing at Xiao Qi beside him, a strange suspicion flickered through Lin Luo’s mind. He knew she wasn't ordinary, but to have knowledge of the Second Magic? What kind of girl was this loli?

"I got lost while walking in the forest and stumbled in here by accident. How about you, Xiao Qi? How did you enter this common area?" After a moment of contemplation, Lin Luo suddenly asked.

"Me?" Mentioning this caused Xiao Qi to pause momentarily, then a shade of sorrow crossed her eyes. "I accidentally stumbled in here while being chased. Because the changes in this region even affect the environment outside, it easily causes visual disorientation."

"I see…" Hearing her explanation, Lin Luo finally understood why he had walked so far outside without finding an exit to the forest. It turned out he had been influenced by the common area. This wasn't strange; just as a larger environment affects a smaller one, it was normal for an incomprehensible entity like this shared region to exert some influence on its surroundings. However...

"You said someone was chasing you. What's going on?" Lin Luo couldn't help but frown. It was difficult to imagine who would try to kill such a charming little girl.

"That is…" Before she finished speaking, Xiao Qi’s expression suddenly shifted. "They’re here!"

"Eh?" Lin Luo reflexively tensed, scanning his surroundings cautiously. Yet, even with his current level of perception, he couldn't detect any other presence nearby, prompting him to look at Xiao Qi in confusion.

At that moment, he noticed that the calm mask on Xiao Qi’s face had been replaced by a slight tension, her brow furrowed. "Just now, a group of people entered this shared region. I believe they are the ones hunting me."

"You can sense them?" Lin Luo was utterly astonished. He knew the location where he had entered the area was quite far from where they stood now. Even if his own sensory ability increased fivefold, he might not have noticed them, yet Xiao Qi could. How strong was her perception?

Xiao Qi didn't answer his question, instead asking in return, "When you entered here just now, did you pass directly through that membrane?"

"Membrane? Oh, you mean that thing. Yes, why?"

"Ah... so that's how it is? No wonder I didn't sense you coming in," she sighed heavily, a look of sudden understanding dawning on her face, before she stated gravely, "Listen carefully. That membrane was never intended to be a 'door' allowing entry here. To be precise, it’s a lock. I don't know why you could bypass that lock to get in, but the true entrance to this region is the 'door' behind the lock, and that is how I came in."

"Is that so?" Lin Luo was slightly taken aback. If that were the case, had he taken the back door? No, scratch that—he had forcibly broken in... Impulse truly was the devil.

Then, he heard Xiao Qi continue, "Originally, I placed a mark on that door. As long as someone passed through it to enter here, I would feel it. Since you didn't come through the door, I didn't notice you until I saw you..."

"Wait a moment," Lin Luo suddenly realized something was amiss. "You said you entered accidentally. Why would you have time to set a mark?"

"Uh," Xiao Qi froze instantly, displaying the awkwardness of a lie exposed. However, her expression quickly returned to normal. "Because passing through the door isn't instantaneous; I had enough time to prepare. You didn't come through the door, so naturally, you wouldn't know."

"Hmm..." While the explanation was plausible, Lin Luo couldn't shake the feeling that Xiao Qi wasn't being entirely truthful. If she had only accidentally brushed against the "door" and had enough time to prepare, why didn't she flee instead of setting up a mark? It felt almost as if she had intended to hide here.

Of course, even if he suspected Xiao Qi was lying, he didn't feel annoyed. After all, she had mentioned she was fleeing enemies; it was unreasonable to expect her to tell him everything.

At that moment, Lin Luo suddenly noticed Xiao Qi pull out a mirror from somewhere. With a flash of white light, several figures appeared within the reflective surface.

When he clearly saw the attire of those figures, Lin Luo's eyes snapped wide open, and he exclaimed involuntarily, "People from the Church?"