Dust

On a quiet night, the Emerald City has the feel of a dense sea, giving off the feel of the sound of waves crashing against the rocks.

Light Of Wisdom Church Emerald, in a building with three towers soaring high above which there is a bright light that gives off a feeling of security permeating.

Within the innermost room, while the high priests were prostrating and quietly chanting a prayer request, the object in front of them seemed to glow brightly before returning to its original state.

It's a layered glass ball with different sizes. In the inner layer is a pure crystal ball that gives off a sense of peace and warmth reflecting the black shadow before making the glass vibrate.

This was noticed immediately by the high priests who were frantically trying to hold the glass ball from breaking. Every second, the vibrations will get bigger and bigger. and crack after crack is visible on the outermost layer of the glass ball making the cracks spread faster to the next layer.

It looks like a plague is spreading all over the place.

The cracks didn't stop even as the plea of the high priest resounded in the room.

"Great sun, your servant begs you to grant us forgiveness!"

"Great sun, your servant begs you to grant us forgiveness!"

"Great sun, your servant begs you to grant us forgiveness!"

The pleas swirled and echoed in the room. But that didn't make a difference, The glass balls shattered one by one and on to the next layer.

And as the tremors stopped, there was only one layer left before revealing the "Sun Orb" within.

At this time the "Sun Orb" showed a strange reaction, the darkness seemed to engulf it until it left no light, then after some time the "Sun Orb" melted and made droplets fall to the floor. Leaves a black sticky liquid.

The expressions of confusion, resignation, fear and disappointment became one on the faces of the high priests.

...

Tomorrow is Zach's last day doing Shift this week. In the Gatekeeper rules, one team will be given a three-day shift in one week. Leaving aside other work issues besides guarding, On such days they were usually more active in the Gatekeeper's office.

Zach woke up while his eyes were still hazy. Looking around, he realized that he had fallen asleep in a chair. But what was new was the blanket covering his lower body.

"Ah, I fell asleep..." Zach lifted the blanket as his gaze swept across the house. At that moment, his gaze stopped when he saw Ilya coming carrying a black coat which was his Gatekeeper uniform.

"Are you all right?" Zach asked as he pressed his covers against the side of the chair.

At this Ilya smiled "Yes, Thank you"

Staring at Ilya for a few seconds, Zach then looked away with mixed feelings. "Thank you? For what? I don't know why such a formal attitude brings me down..." Zach muttered shaking his head then said "That's good"

"I'm sorry for not waking you up, but it looks like you're fast asleep and have a nice dream" The smile on Ilya's face made Zach frown.

"...Dream?" Zach tried to catch what Ilya meant but in the end nothing entered his mind.

At this time, Zach was a little fixated on Ilya's smile, that smile looked different from the usual Ilya. But that polite and formal attitude made Zach not pay much attention to him as he turned his gaze to the clock on the wall.

"It's okay, there's still enough time" Zach rushed to the bathroom and cleaned himself up.

After a few minutes Zach had his breakfast in peace and set off for the gate.

The condition of the Vandash Town gate is still as usual. Santos will arrive first, and is already eagerly taking care of things. Therefore, when Zach came, there wasn't much he could do.

He just sat on the outpost and leaned back slowly. Not long after, Ramius arrived in a dire condition.

He revealed obvious bags under his eyes, the corners of his lips curling downwards as he walked at an incoherent pace. The closer to the post, the more he will arch his back until he finally throws himself into the nearest chair.

Santos, who witnessed this, couldn't help but rebuke, "Uh, are you still alive?" Santos said jokingly.

Ramius rubbed his eyes a few times, "I believe right now I could die at any moment..."

After that, he seemed to be grinding his teeth as he passionately said all that was in his head, "How could I not, the joint team investigation started at 9 pm and ended at three o'clock. And did nothing!"

"And, when I come back I have to listen to my wife's chatter which keeps me from falling asleep until morning. And now I have to get back to work"

"Tonight the investigation will continue... Uh, just thinking about it makes me feel like I'm going to die" Ramius wilted again while saying the last sentence.

Santos laughed for a few seconds before patting Ramius on the shoulder while occasionally massaging his back. "Good, at least you're still a little more useful." Ramius felt a fleeting relief.

Zach who witnessed the scene only chuckled, then tried to draw conclusions from Ramius' words. He matter-of-factly asked, "Not even the slightest clue?"

"Well, at least there aren't any additional casualties. That's a good thing, but not having any additional leads isn't a good thing either. In essence, the Joint Team Investigations and Patrols weren't so pointless." Ramius closed his eyes as he enjoyed the sensation of Santos massaging his back.

"Hmm, the investigative time was in the loop when I got home from the meeting. How come I didn't find any sign of the patrol. Brown Street was one of the crime scene locations, that should be prioritized..." At this moment many thoughts came to mind.

"Well, at least there are no additional victims. This is according to what Mr. Teodore said" Zach nodded silently.

The atmosphere is quite good. The gatekeeping process went smoothly. Though like the past few days, more people were leaving than were coming in.

Until the afternoon at 3, Zach had his turn to patrol around the gate. Previously, it was Santos and Ramius who carried out this patrol alternately, considering that Zach was still relatively new. However, now Zach himself has volunteered for the patrol. After all, he already knew and memorized the area around the gate.

As Zach was about to exit the outpost, Santos's voice was heard "By the way, Mr Clourfuss. Why do you carry a chest like that everywhere?"

"I mean, it's rare to see people carrying chests even if it's just for normal activities".

Hearing that, Zach smiled casually as he calmly replied, "Hobby"

...

Near Gate Street, Zach walked casually carrying his wooden crate. Walk around the area to make sure nothing looks out of the ordinary. Occasionally someone would greet him because of the uniform he was wearing.

Time passed quickly, Zach took a deep breath and intended to return to the gate. As he was about to turn around, a hand grabbed Zach's right arm which was holding the wooden crate. Zach turned around only to see a familiar middle aged man.

He had hair tousled like seaweed, his face almost covered with dust. His body was slightly hunched over and his eyes had repulsive red streaks. In his mouth, drool slowly dripped. It was a bum he had met with Vanders.

"I… I found you…" The man opened his mouth as more and more saliva dripped down and gave an abnormally hoarse voice.

Zach hastily pulled his hand away and backed away.

At this moment, he realized one important thing. The wooden coffin in his right hand shook abnormally!

Zach already knew what signaled this, Just like when the astral was around his house and showing Zach its figure. The vibration reaction in the sealing medium is the same.

At this moment, the red lines in the man's eyes merged to form a blazing red flame that instantly burned his eyeballs and made his eye sockets appear to have space with burning flames.

Zach's first reaction was to digest what was happening, "Astral!!" Zach muttered the word as he swiftly took out a revolver from his waist.