Whispering Verse

"You can't rely too much on the [Dark Box]. The gap between the two is too big. The [Dark Box] has been corrupted by the [Dark Realm]. Shade, look at these traces..."

Tifa pointed to the black stains on the brass gear mechanism box:

"This is the external manifestation of corrosion. Fortunately, as long as the box is not opened, the corrosive effect of the dark field on it is almost negligible, so we can take it with us as a safety net on the road. But if it is not necessary, you'd better Don’t let it get out of hand, as this can seriously accelerate corrosion.”

"What will happen if the [Dark Box] is really corrupted by the [Dark Realm]?"

Shade asked curiously, Tifa couldn't answer, but Luvia gave the answer:

"This is a very rare fusion phenomenon between relics. The same type of relics have similar functions. When they are in close contact and one party is much stronger than the other, the weaker party will be absorbed by the stronger party, just like water. Merging into the sea. But it's very rare, incredibly rare."

Everyone who was awake looked at her. This was the first time for everyone to hear such a thing.

"So that's it..."

Shade thought about it:

"Tifa, in that case, you carry it. I won't use its out-of-control effect unless necessary."

The [Light] Spirit Rune is to kill the demons in the dark realm, but since the maid lady is with him, Shade doesn't have to destroy them on his own.

"Okay, so do you still need a break?"

Tifa asked again.

"No need, time is tight, we will set off immediately."

Shade said, standing behind Mr. Riddle watching the card game, he had rested enough.

"Louvia, stay here and wait for my good news."

Shade said to the female soothsayer again, shaking the glass vial with a cork. This is the core ritual material for the ritual that Luvia found to seal the devil. He is saying that he has no problem.

All he had to do was witness what happened to the second chosen one. Only when the church, witches, and other strange ring sorcerer organizations failed, and Darkness not only completed the ritual but was able to escape, could he Shade needs to do it himself.

But compared to dozens of other possibilities, this possibility has the lowest probability, so Shade is not worried about the rest of the journey. He thinks that all he has to do is to see and then bring the results back.

"I'm waiting for you here... This time, you have to face it by yourself again. This is for you. This is an alchemy item I made myself. It can bring some luck to the owner."

She took off a silver necklace from her neck. In the pendant at the end of the necklace were photos of her deceased parents. Every time Shade sees Luvia, she wears this necklace. This is not only an alchemical item, but also her most precious personal jewelry:

"Don't worry, compared to doctors, I have always been very lucky."

Shade put the necklace away, and Luvia nodded. There seemed to be a thousand words she wanted to express in her eyes, but in the end she just took off the four cracked metal amulets on her body and handed them to Tifa. Shade is basically unaffected in the [Dark Realm], but Tifa will definitely be affected by the angel-level relics even if she is in the sixth ring.

The maid held the string of amulets tightly and nodded:

"I will protect Shade."

Tifa arranged who would be in charge of the situation after she left the manor, and then she and Shade left the master bedroom on the third floor, each carrying a metal box on their backs.

Sure enough, when the two came to the corridor shrouded in darkness, Tifa staggered and almost lost her balance. However, because her level was much higher than Luvia's and she also had the power of a witch, she adapted to it and seemed fine. .

As for Shade, the effects of the strange blessing given by Priest August are still in effect. Although this effect cannot last forever, as long as the power of the blessing is not greatly reduced, the priest's blessing is enough to allow Shade to travel through the dark realm.

They did not leave the manor directly, but headed to the stables on the side of the manor under Tifa's guidance.

The horses in the stable are all ordinary creatures, and of course they are all asleep. Probably because their intelligence is lower and their hearts and souls are weaker, one of them has even been dissolved by the darkness and turned into a strange one-eyed "hidden servant", which was then easily eliminated by Tifa.

The maid lady possesses the [Light] spirit rune, but when they encountered the hidden servant at the ophthalmologist last time, neither of them knew that [Light] could kill this kind of demon, so she did not take action at that time.

Tifa didn't come to the stable to wake up the horses. Tifa asked for a knife from Shad and cut off some mane from a red pony that was unconscious on the ground, and cut off the tail from another unusually tall black horse. Mao finally found a rusty horseshoe and some horse bones in the stable.

After using chalk to draw a circular ritual array composed of tadpole characters on the ground, Tifa placed the four items in the four square spaces deliberately left in the center of the densely packed tadpole characters.

She cut her finger, dropped a drop of blood on the center of the ritual array, then clasped her hands into fists, lowered her head, closed her eyes, and recited the incantation in a low voice. The dark realm swallowed up the light that produced the effect of the ritual, but it could not swallow the skeletal horse that came out of the billowing black mist.

"Oh~"

Shade looked at this thing with a sigh. It was a pure undead creature, and the blue flames in its eyes were the flames of the soul.

"move."

Tifa found a saddle, bit, reins and other equipment and hung them on the undead horse, and then hung the box she was carrying on the side of the horse.

"I thought that when such a summoned object appears, it will have a saddle and other things ready."

"The items on the undead are not part of the undead."

Tifa said, reaching out and caressing the horse's skull a few times:

"Shadow, can you ride a horse?"

The maid asked again.

"of course not."

Shade said.

"Okay then, I'll ride the horse."

She easily climbed onto the horse, but because she was wearing a skirt, she was sitting sideways. He waved to Sha De and motioned for him to come up, but Sha De hesitated for a moment:

"Hmm...how should I mount the horse?"

So Tifa could only pull him up, and let Shade's hands wrap around her waist to prevent her from falling.

"Wait a moment!"

Before Tifa pulled the reins and prepared to set off, Shade reached into his pocket again, first taking out a small bottle containing bright yellow eye drops:

"Remember this, right? Put some in your eyes to expand your field of vision."

Then he handed her the [Eternal Youth Leaf] which originally recorded the thaumaturgy - Breath of Time:

"Take this, just in case something unexpected happens."

"This is......"

The maid looked at the green leaves in Sha De's shining hands that seemed to be infected by the silver moonlight.

"Leaf of Youth."

"What?"

She obviously knew about this relic too.

"Let's go quickly. I'll lend it to you temporarily to prevent unexpected situations."

Shade pushed the leaf to her, and Tifa gave a slight "hmm". After getting ready, the skeleton horse carried the two people out of the stable, rushed out of the manor along the central axis of the courtyard, and ran towards the southeastern suburbs of the city.

This undead horse summoned by Tifa through a borrowing ritual can run faster than a normal horse. Although the undead themselves will also be dissolved by this silent darkness, because Shad is always glowing on his back, dispelling the surrounding darkness, the undead, like Tifa, are slightly weakened by the darkness when they are in close contact with Shad. degree of influence in the field.

Because they knew their destination and terrain, they were able to choose the shortest road even if the surrounding visibility was extremely poor. Passing through deserted villages and dark and empty farmland, as we gradually approach the core of the dark realm, we are surrounded by black shadows representing the "past", as well as secret servants who occasionally launch attacks from the darkness. More and more dense.

At first, the two people on the skeleton horse were able to fight back with Tifa's power, but as the demon's power became stronger and stronger, they had to open the [Dark Box] to let in another kind of darkness. Envelop them.

This is very effective. Not only does it make the effect of expulsion of the [Dark Realm] more obvious, but the Secret Servants seem to be completely unable to see them.

It was just hung on the dark box on the side of the skeletal horse, and more and more black marks gradually covered the original brass color. And as they got closer to the central area, the black traces spread faster and faster.

It was clear that they could never rely on this relic to stay safe.

If the edge of the dark realm is still just a quiet area of ​​darkness, then as the two go deeper, various terrifying illusions, real demons and phantoms of the past become more and more dense.

This darkness can not only melt sleeping people, but can also confuse and frighten awake intruders. And once your emotions are affected, you are not far away from falling into deep sleep.

Not far from the word "core" written in Miss Carina's handwriting on the map, they finally encountered the church's Ring Warlock team in the dark. However, due to the darkness severely obstructing the line of sight, when Shade found the other party, the other party did not notice the two people on the skeleton horse at all.

Shade relied on the light on his body and the [God's Gift Box] carried on his back to dispel the darkness, while the twelve-man team from the Peace Church relied on a glowing holy symbol. The Holy Emblem is not a relic, but an ordinary magical item. However, because the True God [Peaceful Father] really exists, this magical item can actually directly protect the twelve-man team to move freely in the darkness.

Shade told Tifa about the situation ahead, and both of them believed that there was no need to meet the church's team, so they took a detour and left. On the subsequent journey, they encountered more and more church ring sorcerers.

Just as Shade estimated, although the [Dark Realm] has expanded out of control, the church still controls the basic situation. If he's lucky, he only needs to witness Darkness being captured or killed by the church, and the final adventure at the end of summer will truly be over.