Whispering Verse

The sin of gluttony was fully revealed at this moment. With the fire of the Phoenix as the source, blood and fire spread to the entire hall. Blood seeped out from under Shade's hands, and the black tablecloth was gradually stained with blood.

Shade, who was wearing blood-stained clothes, sat at the end of the empty long table. As he stood up from lying down, the gold and silver tableware fell from the sky one by one. In the firelight, the food exuding the alluring aroma changed from illusion to reality. The shining plate reflects the light of the golden candlestick lit by the fire of the Phoenix. Snow did not fall in the sky. On the contrary, the power of sin connected with more of the filthy power that Shade had swallowed.

Just like the wine party of the gods, strings of fangs hung down in the blood, and the strong smell of blood even stained the statues with frightened expressions hidden in the shadows with blood.

The blood light and fire light complement each other, making the dark banquet hall become more and more blurry at this moment. Shade in [Fishbone Pirate Ship] shows the power of [Lord of the Blood Feast] based on [The Little Match Girl]. But at this moment, with his increasingly proficient application of the power of gluttony, he recreated the weird bloody feast with only the fire of the phoenix.

"The Phoenix has awakened?"

Mr. Armand Bernhard, a vampire, was not surprised by Shade's power, but attributed it to the ancient one on the top of the mountain. Sister Devlin, whose silver eyepatch reflected the blood light, turned her head slightly to look at Shade, as if she had encountered an incomprehensible problem.

"Blood Feast."

The owner of the mansion, the decrepit old man, showed surprise for the first time. He held on to the table and tried to stand up, but failed. He could only look at the young man in blood-clothed clothes on the other side of the long table with wide eyes:

"what do you want to do?"

Although a little panicked, it was still decent.

"Just answer one of my questions."

Even with the support of the Phoenix flame, the spirit in Shade's body was still flowing rapidly. With the power of "Gluttony" accumulated in his divinity, he can reproduce this scene again and again, but the consumption of this scene is even greater than the myth lock:

"Did you cheat when you played cards with us just now?"

Shade, who was dressed in blood, asked in a deep voice.

The old man's lips, which were as blue and white as a corpse, wriggled:

"You can leave. I have lost this bet."

"You admit your sin?"

"Yes, I cheated, it was a sin of lies and deception and I will not deny it."

"Hand over the pearl earrings that I want, the fire of sin that the nun wants, and the blood cup that this gentleman wants."

"I can give it to you, but you also have to answer a question of mine."

He pressed his hands on the table and jumped forward. At the same time, all the figurines around him turned to Shade and glared at Shade. The diffuse blood mist seemed to be struck by an invisible wind, and the fangs hanging from the ceiling shook and collided with each other.

Pure black lines representing the power of sin are invading the blood feast. The power of red and black collided in the invisible twisted void. The fierce confrontation of blood and sin, fire and evil thoughts caused all the surrounding glass to shatter.

Mr. Bernhard hurriedly covered his head and dodged. The nun folded her hands on her lap. The firelight and blood reflected on her flawless eyepatch. She was still "gazing" at Shade.

Obviously, although Shade has the upper hand, the owner of the mansion is not without any power to fight back:

"You relied on the power of others to temporarily suppress [Sin Mansion], but this power does not belong to you."

In a suppressed voice, he spoke of Shade's current state. He pressed his hands on the table, and the black lines representing the power of sin were resisting the spread of blood:

"Gluttony, greed, and laziness, you now have the power of the three original sins, but I can see that these are not your deepest sins at all. Tell me——

Outsider, what is your great sin? I admit that I am guilty of deception and lies. What about you, outsider, do you admit your sins? "

"My sin?"

Shade frowned:

“God so loved the world, me.”

Mr. Bernhardt, who was shocked by this scene, looked at Shade, while Sister Devlin lowered her head and arranged the cards in front of her among the shining gold and silver tableware. She seemed to completely understand what was happening at this moment.

".I."

[God loves the world, do you love them? 】

"She" suddenly whispered in Shade's ear, almost causing Shade's serious expression to collapse.

"God loves the world. I am not God, but I long for this state."

Perhaps to Sister Devlin and Mr. Bernhardt, it sounds like Shad means that he intends to be kind to all people like God, but this actually means that Shad intends to become a god.

"No, it's not your big sin."

The owner of the mansion whispered:

"Don't you even have the courage to face your heart? As an outsider, carrying such a heavy weight on your shoulders, do you really not know your own sins?"

Resisting the power of the blood feast from the gods, his entire body was deforming. The image of the dying old man is just an appearance. The real owner of the mansion who was devoured by the power of sin in ancient times has long since become a monster.

Shade recalled many past events in the past four months since he came to this world:

"God loves the world, and I love myself."

Along with the chuckle in his ears, the old man across the long table also laughed crazily. Shade even thought he would die from laughing:

"I see, there are still lunatics like you in this world. Let's go, let's all go. It's definitely more interesting for lunatics like you to exist in the world than to stay here. Big sin! Desire! Very good, very good, You will be my companion, and you are crazier than me."

The human figurines in the shadow of the fire delivered a pair of pearl earrings and a simple blood-colored metal wine glass to Shade and Bernhardt respectively. Shade looked at the pair of earrings that were obviously relics, and it was clear that this was the culprit that caused the current situation. Bernhardt's face showed an expression of ecstasy. This foreign noble could not control his emotions at this moment.

Then, the old man threw the filthy flames to Sister Devlin, as if collected from the abyss. She was immediately burned by black fire, and even Bernhardt across the table could feel the terror of the flames. But the flame was covered by another kind of flame and disappeared without a trace in an instant.

"Hungry for the fire of sin will only lead to fire. Sister, I don't know which god you believe in, but God has definitely guessed your ending. Because I, because I unearthed the fire of sin underground, That’s why it’s like this. Leave, everyone, leave.”

Shade stood up and with a wave of his hand, his Rhodes cards left the hands of Sister Devlin and Mr. Bernhardt respectively. As he stood up, the blood feast, which represented the power of sin, was absorbed into Shade's body from the surroundings, but it did not have any impact on him for the time being.

Sister Devlin and Mr. Bernhardt also stood up, but the old man was still laughing crazily. The blood color gradually faded, and the vessels holding the rich ingredients disappeared one by one.

Shade walked in front, followed closely by the nun and Mr. Bernhardt. They followed the old man holding a kerosene lamp who appeared at the door at an unknown time and left the banquet hall. But the mocking laughter still lingered in his ears.

"Am I really stupid?"

Shade asked in his mind and got the answer immediately. She answered softly, and the ancient language spoke with a whispering sound, as if a breeze was blowing by her ears. That voice was in her ears and in her heart, and she would always be like this:

[There is no need to belittle oneself. 】

"Why?"

【because.】

The group of people walked through the corridor. The corridor that was damaged by Sister Devlin's flames had returned to its original state at some point. The vampire walking behind was still looking at the blood cup in his hand with fascination, while the nun's blindfold was pointed at Shade's back.

【.I am you. 】

He once again recalled the memory of being surrounded by smooth arms emitting silver light around his neck in front of the door of death.

"Will you be with me forever?"

【Yes. 】

She is chuckling:

[My dear, stranger. 】

Far away from the third floor, hunger still haunted Shade. But because the owner of the mansion personally promised to let everyone leave, the group of people safely walked from the third floor to the first floor. When he came to the huge foyer, Shade hesitated and stopped:

"You should leave first. I promised others that I would send this back."

Shade shook the pair of pearl earrings in his hand. The jewelry requested by [Desire] was certainly not a mortal object. It was a relic with a very significant whispering element. The way to leave now is in front of him. There is no need for Shade to return to the wine cellar. After all, he no longer needs to leave through the wine cellar. But after careful consideration, Shade still didn't want to deceive a level 0 relic.

Shade could even imagine that if he left here, maybe after returning home, he would be able to see the woman's head emerging from the bathtub in the bathroom of No. 6 Saint Teresa Square where all the gas lights were out.

"I will go with you."

the nun said softly.

Mr. Bernhard hesitated for a moment, then looked down at the wine glass in his hand, gritted his teeth and said:

"Then I'll go with you too."

He did this to thank Shade for his help.

"No need, it's just a walk, and the danger in the basement is actually greater than the crime mansion itself."

He didn't know if the nuns and vampires understood what he meant, so he turned around and walked along the corridor to the left:

"Wait for me outside, I'll be out soon."

Behind him, Armand Bernhard glanced at the nun hesitantly:

"Excuse me, are you the leader of the Spiritual Cult? Actually, I want to ask you for help with something. Of course, it is paid."

"We can go out and talk."

The nun said, and beside them, the old man holding an oil lamp had already pushed open the door of the mansion with great effort:

"Do you want to sell the oil lamp in your hand?"

the nun asked softly.

(Little Mia is running.)

No one in the mansion would stop Shade, so after saying goodbye to his companions for the time being, he successfully returned to the underground wine cellar.

After arriving at the bottom of the wine cellar from the elevator, the light in the gurgling pool also reflected the sparkling waves on Shade's face.

"It's very fast, and you smell like fire. Are you the phoenix in the underground?"

[Desire] laughed happily.

It seems that after arriving at Sin Mansion, everyone knew that there was a phoenix in Xikal Mountain.

"Yes."

He spread his hands and inside were the pair of golden pearl earrings. Under the influence of the spell [Moving Object], they slowly floated towards the pool.

"I thought you would come over directly."

The woman's head exposed at the edge of the pool said with a smile, and Shade felt the pair of pearl earrings flying for a distance, and then he lost control of them. The earrings separated, flew to the left and right ears of the beautiful woman's head, and were fixed there:

"do I look good?"

The "woman" with wet hair asked Xade shyly by the pool. But instead of making Shade feel charming, this scene actually frightened him. Just a smile from the other party has the power to charm the mind. It is really desire itself.

"Of course you are beautiful. To be honest, I have never seen a more beautiful face than yours so far."

"Although you are a little braver, you are still honest."

A shy blush appeared on that beautiful face:

"Laziness, your new sinful karma turns out to be this. Look, I will say that your sinful karma is with you."

"But I think this seems to be the sin you induced me to obtain."

Shade corrected, but the woman just chuckled, and that laugh was so beautiful.

"Of course, I can't compare to you."

He added in his mind.

【Thanks. 】

"This is the gift I promised you. I think you will like it."

With the gentle sound of water, a white right hand stretched out from the water, holding a piece of rolled parchment. Judging from the thickness, the length of the parchment after unfolding is probably not less than 5 feet (about 1.5m). Even though it was taken out of the water, there was no water on the parchment at all.

"Desire" knew that Shade would not come close, so the ancient parchment automatically flew towards Shade. Shade stretched out his hand to catch it, but did not feel the slightest whisper element. In other words, this thing was not a relic.

"This is knowledge, or more accurately, this is a book."

"what book?"

Shade took the heavy parchment tube and looked up and down. There were some burn marks on the edges of the parchment.

"The Pink Book."

"Um?"

He looked up at the other person, then quickly looked away. Now, the two white hands on the left and right stretched out, hugging each other on the left and the right and placing them on the sink platform in front of the head. But the strange thing is that the shoulders and neck are still not visible.

"I know the Pink Book, it's..."

"It's not the copies you know. This is a copy of the original version of the Pink Book, and it was copied by me."

The woman's slightly hoarse voice was unusually beautiful.

"The original text of the "Pink Book" originated from ancient times, yes, very ancient. When I copied it, I changed the content to the knowledge suitable for the extraordinary system of the Sixth Age. Read it several times and obtain the spiritual runes. Difficult thing. I think you'll be interested in it."

When Shade first went to the library of St. Byrons, he saw a "Pink Book" on the library shelf. Only later did I learn from Dorothy, who had read many books, that this book was about assisted reproduction. Although the content sounds very unorthodox, the knowledge about spells, thaumaturgy, and rituals is actually very useful, but most of it is used in unorthodox ways in this book.

For example, the famous Grease Technique and Partial Petrification Technique, these ancient spells still exude vitality in the Sixth Age. And because of Shade's diversification of thaumaturgy, the advantages of thaumaturgy over spells, and the fact that he upgraded too quickly, he didn't have time to spend money to select useful spells from the academy's huge list of spells, but this didn't mean that he was interested in these spells. Knowledge is not interesting.

For an ordinary ring magician, it is normal for the number of spells to be three to four times that of thaumaturgy, but Shade is almost the opposite.

"So...thank you?"

He said hesitantly, accepted the roll of parchment, and decided to go home and open it in front of the statue hidden behind the wall to prevent accidents.

"No thanks, Shad Hamilton."

She said Shade's name very accurately, and then gave out that pleasant smile again:

"This chance encounter is probably an arrangement of fate. I think this will not be the last time we meet."

Shade really wanted this encounter to be the last.

"So, let's um, see you next time?"

He just wants to leave now.

"Sin karma is also your strength. I hope you can bring me more surprises next time we meet, at least more surprises than the crazy phoenix this time."

"Sin is not my power."

Shade corrected, and then heard the sound of water, as if there was a huge thing stirring the water at the bottom:

"Oh, so young, so innocent."

The two arms were retracted into the water, and the woman's head moved away from the edge of the pool while looking at Shade with a smile:

"Answer me a question."

As he spoke, the head returned to the center of the pool.

"Excuse me."

Shade noticed that the head was slowly submerging into the water, but the beautiful eyes that seemed to be able to absorb the human soul were still looking at Shade;

"When the final moment comes and everything comes to an end, isn't the power of sin the power?"

She didn't give Shade a chance to answer. Her beautiful face completely entered the water, but there was no trace of floating hair on the water.

The sound of gurgling water gradually disappeared, and the light under the water was extinguished little by little. Looking at the square pool again, it is clearly filled with red wine.

The underground wine cellar regained its calm, and the whispering elements returned to their original state in the [Sin Mansion]. Shade knew that [Desire] had left.

"It's a good thing that it didn't stay at Fort Midhill, otherwise the future of this city would be really pessimistic."

After looking down at the parchment in his hand, turning it into a toy and putting it away, Shade turned around and prepared to leave.

But he didn't know that in the dim wine pool behind him, the beautiful head quietly "rised" again. The eyelashes were stained with wine, and red droplets slid down her cheeks. Her purple eyes narrowed and she licked her lips with her slender tongue, her pupils reflecting the color of the silver moon.

After all, she did nothing. There seemed to be something huge stirring the liquid in the wine pool, but it was silent.

The woman's head sank into the wine pool:

"Well, see you next time, funny soul."