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The cliff and Krag vanished. Maskull saw Gangnet struggling in the air but it was not Gangnet it was Crystalman. He seemed to be trying to escape from the Muspel-fire, which kept surrounding and licking him, whichever way he turned. He was screaming.... The fire caught him. He shrieked horribly. Maskull caught one glimpse of a vulgar, slobbering face and then that too disappeared.
After that, he laid her down again, and rested heavily on his hands, while he peered into the dead face. The transition from its heroic, spiritual expression to the vulgar and grinning mask of Crystalman came like a flash; but he saw it. He stood up in the darkness, and pulled Catice toward him. "Is that the true likeness of Shaping?" "It is Shaping stripped of illusion."
"Nowadays there are men and women, but in the olden times the world was peopled by 'phaens. I think I am the only survivor of all those beings who were then passing through Faceny's mind." "Faceny?" "Who is now miscalled Shaping or Crystalman. The superficial names invented by a race of superficial creatures." "What's your own name?" "Leehallfae." "What?" "Leehallfae. And yours is Maskull.
We shall see. Perhaps Crystalman will make one more attempt on you. There is still time for one more." "Now I don't understand you." "You think you are thoroughly disillusioned, don't you? Well, that may prove to be the last and strongest illusion of all." The conversation ceased. They reached the foot of the landslip an hour later. Branchspell was steadily mounting the cloudless sky.
The stream emerged from the other side on to the sphere, in a double condition. Part of it reappeared intrinsically unaltered, but shivered into a million fragments. These were the green corpuscles. In passing through Crystalman they had escaped absorption by reason of their extreme minuteness. The other part of the stream had not escaped.
The instant the direct movement wearied them, as contrary to their whirling nature, they fell again to killing, dancing, and loving. Nightspore had a foreknowledge that the sixth window would prove to be the last. Nothing would have kept him from ascending to it, for he guessed that the nature of Crystalman himself would there become manifest.
On the other side of the apartment another short flight of stairs mounted through a trap, apparently to the roof of the building. Before ascending these stairs, Nightspore hastened to the window and stared out. The shadow form of Crystalman had drawn much closer to him, and filled the whole sky, but it was not a shadow of darkness, but a bright shadow.
"I once heard it called 'Crystalman's face." "Why not? We are all daughters and sons of Crystalman. It is doubtless the family resemblance." "It has also been told me that Surtur and Crystalman are one and the same." "You have wise and truthful acquaintances." "Then how could it have been Surtur whom I saw?" said Maskull, more to himself than to her.
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