Chapter 1315: Chapter 1315: Blood-Colored Phantom
As the last ray of sunlight from the west disappeared by the lakeside, the glimmer of the Divine Arts faintly illuminated the silent night.
Shard and the two ladies walked out from the woodland, and as the night wind blew, an extremely cold gust unusual for late winter hit them head-on.
Gazing at Eldron Lake not far from the woodland, under the moonlight, the ice surface, which had begun showing signs of thawing, was once again covered in a layer of frost. And this was just the condition of the lake surface. In reality, under the collective spellcasting of three High Ring Sorcerers from the Church on the opposite shore, a massive ice pillar had formed beneath the center of the lake’s surface, completely sealing the abnormal-colored black clay area underwater.
“This is Basic Sorcery, the Breath of Ice. Any sorcery, once mastered proficiently, can become very powerful as the level increases.”
The Witch said to Shard, who also knew this spell, as it was taught by Miss Galina. However, he could only blow an ice flower into a teacup.
The Church’s actions seemed very effective. At least during the thickening of the ice surface, no abnormal situations occurred. However, just as the freezing concluded and the ice had thickened by at least five centimeters, a sudden ground vibration made the earth seem to roar.
“An earthquake?”
An earthquake centered around Eldron Lake appeared abruptly. The intense earthquake made it hard for people to stand steadily, reminiscent of the quake that occurred when the source of pollution emerged at the manor party.
“The earth is retaliating!”
Shard steadied Luviya, while Miss Benanis steadied both of them, and the three clearly heard a “crack” sound.
It was unclear where the crack first appeared on the ice surface, but it quickly spread across the entire lake surface. After thirteen seconds, the earthquake subsided, and the ice layer on Eldron Lake fractured like a spider web.
Aftershocks appeared within just a few breaths, and amidst the intense vibrations, all the Circle Sorcerers at Eldron Lake’s edge felt an angry roar seemingly originating deep within their hearts.
Under the moonlit night, the central ice layer of the lake surface completely melted, followed by the lake water bubbling as if boiling. As the Circle Sorcerers of the True God Church were about to take the risk to fly over the polluted area for a closer look, a giant black clay pillar burst through the ice layer, shooting into the brilliant night sky outside the city.
From Shard’s vantage point at the lakeshore, it seemed as if a dancing giant snake had shot up from the water. The black clay mixed with the lake water soared high into the sky, then cascaded down like a torrential rain upon the surrounding areas of the lakeside.
“Power of the Earth: Abundant Field!”
The purple-eyed girl cast a spell in time, and as a warm sensation enveloped their bodies, the falling muddy rain had no effect on the three of them.
The Church on the opposite shore reacted even faster. The eruption of black clay lasted less than ten seconds before the lake began to freeze from the base of the black clay pillar, quickly encasing the entire column, transforming what appeared to be a black giant snake into a frozen giant snake of ice.
“Is it over?”
Shard, who was holding the umbrella for the two ladies, asked suspiciously as he retracted the umbrella and looked up at several small black dots flying in the sky. The glimmer of the Divine Arts was attempting to dissolve the ejected black clay. The prayers across the lake became increasingly loud, and the ritual runes left on the ice surface were lighting up one by one. After the black clay eruption was suppressed, the purification ritual was about to begin.
“There’s someone over there.”
The Witch suddenly pointed towards the southeastern woodland. When the earthquake started, clouds had drifted in from somewhere and obscured the moon, making the edge of the woodland appear quite dark.
Even with Dark Vision, they could only vaguely see several shadowy figures by the distant lakeshore. The figures didn’t even attempt to conceal their presence, conspicuously gathering at the lake’s edge, appearing to toss something onto the ice surface.
“Shall we take a look?”
The Witch asked, and Shard looked at Luviya, who tossed a coin:
“We’d better take a look.”
Having a Diviner by your side is indeed convenient.
The three of them then proceeded over, discerning that they were three Circle Sorcerers clad in black robes. Two were Inner Rings, and one was a Low Ring. Leading the Inner Ring sorcerer was a middle-aged man wearing glasses, holding a burlap sack in one hand, scattering granules like coarse salt onto the ice surface.
They too noticed the approach of Shard and the others. The bespectacled man stopped his work, turned around, and declared:
“You’re too late. The relic that is about to descend wasn’t summoned by us; we’re just here to do some final touches. Even if you arrest us, it won’t affect what happens next. Besides, we’re not the only ones carrying out the final tasks.”
“What relic? Also, we’re not from the Church.”
Shard stated, to which the unfamiliar middle-aged man seemed even more pleased:
“That’s good to hear. I was wondering how we could be caught by the Church doing such trivial tasks. The pay for this fieldwork isn’t worth my life.”
“So, can you tell us what kind of wrap-up work you’re doing?”
Shard asked, somewhat understanding that the “big business” Ston Osenfort mentioned was likely the wrap-up the three people were involved in.
“We’re imparting miraculous powers to a Relic that is about to arrive.”
The unfamiliar Inner Ring Sorcerer smiled as they sized up the three people:
“Two women, one man, and outdoors too, quite the enthusiasm… But, since you’ve seen us, sorry, please go die.”
The pouch was thrown toward the three, and in mid-air, it exploded like a Steam Bomb.
The explosion’s smoke swept across the lakeshore, and although harsh words were spoken, the robe-clad Circle Sorcerers took advantage of the cover, immediately turning to flee into the woods. Just then, a woman’s clear voice came from within the smoke:
“Earth Wall!”
Benanis stamped her foot on the ground within the smoke, and three towering earth walls rose before the fleeing trio, with gaps left between each wall.
“Thorns of the Moon!”
Shard cast a spell in coordination, and scarlet thorn bushes emerged from the soil to fill the gaps between the earth walls, quickly stretching onto the walls.
The witch’s summoned earth walls were indeed towering, making it time-consuming to bypass, climb, or fly over. Naturally, seeing the blood-red thorn bushes with a crystal-like sheen on the walls, the bespectacled Inner Ring Sorcerer did not attack directly with his fists but shook his right hand and threw a black sphere from his palm at the wall.
There was no explosion; the black Shadow Orb melted a large section of the wall, even dissolving part of the blood-red thorns—after all, this Arcane Technique was meant to prevent the opposite side from entering, thus slightly weakening the defense for the same side.
Yet, even so, the Inner Ring Sorcerer who threw the Shadow Orb turned pale, feeling an eerie drain in his Spirit and Stamina in an instant. Meanwhile, the blood-red thorns that absorbed the opponent’s power continued to spread, not only filling the melted holes on the earth wall but becoming increasingly vibrant, as if the next moment they could drip blood.
If they could withstand the blood-red thorns’ vampiric effect and attack two or three more times, Shard’s Arcane Technique could be broken, but there was no time left now.
The sweeping arc of silvery-glimmer forced them to turn to defend. Even if they managed to smash through Shard’s casually wielded [Moonlight Slash], the chance to escape was already gone.
All six looked at each other, and then Miss Benanis walked toward the leading man among the three, who was probably an Eight Rings; Luviya frowned at the long-haired black-haired man, the only Low Ring Sorcerer among them, but holding an obsidian Spirit Pendulum, a Relic. The man looked at Luviya with uncertainty, then at the Spirit Pendulum spinning like it had fallen into a steam turbine, as if faced with a dilemma.
Meanwhile, Shard’s opponent was the remaining Six Rings Warlock, who wore a sullen expression, seemingly suffering from insomnia. Before Shard could make a move, the opponent suddenly rushed forward, then burst into black smoke with a bang.
Soon after, another explosion sounded above Shard’s head, also marked by black smoke, as the Six Rings Warlock swung a black scythe at Shard.
“Spatial Power, without relying on strange Relics or other sources of power, he possesses Spatial Power on his own!”
Shard was a bit surprised; he had encountered beings with Spatial Power before, but most of them were not human. Human opponents with Spatial Movement Power were mostly The Chosen One, and this time, it was finally an ordinary Circle Sorcerer with Spatial Power.
Not dodging the scythe swinging down, a crimson short blade appeared in Shard’s hand, with both hands gripping the blade to block the opponent’s attack. In the moment of stalemate, he thrust black Chains from his sleeve, the sharp end aiming for the opponent’s right eye.
The Sorcerer in mid-air immediately grabbed the cold Chains with both hands, the Great Sin’s power instantly stiffening his body.
“Hmm?”
The scythe continued to wrestle with Shard, but both hands indeed grabbed the front end of the Chains—Shard was surprised at how many arms the opponent really had.
The man’s third and fourth hands quickly let go of the Chains, leaping lightly with the force from Shard’s short blade in mid-air to land again, avoiding the wildly sweeping Chains. As he crouched on landing to offload force, the Ring of Fate belonging to a Six Rings Sorcerer behind him fully revealed itself.
The Spirit Rune’s Spiritual Light on the Ring of Fate allowed Shard to see that the opponent indeed only had two arms. Just then, a remarkably dim red phantom adhered tightly to the opponent’s back, with the Sorcerer himself tiptoeing, causing the phantom’s feet to wedge between his heels and the ground.
The black scythe was actually wielded by that blood-colored phantom.
“What manner of creature is this? Special Undead?”
For the first time, Shard witnessed such bizarre abilities, glancing again at the opponent’s Ring of Fate, where the Spirit Rune with the most flickering Spiritual Light was unmistakably [Blood-Colored Phantom]:
“A Spirit Rune with extremely precise meaning, is this the exclusive Arcane Technique corresponding to the Spirit Rune? Blood-Colored Phantom…”