“Ah!”
The man let out a miserable scream. With the combined effect of the [Ancient Witch's Golden Necklace] and the [Bordeaux Candle], Shade's Silver Moon Slash nearly split the man's entire head in two.
Yet he still did not die. While screaming, he swung his sword to block the short blade thrust by the weakened Miss Annette behind him. Then, his body lunged upward, clinging to the canopy above like a giant bat, attempting to fly out of the room.
But no matter how fast he flew, he could not be faster than light. An arc of light chased him from behind, cutting down the soaring giant shadow.
The man crashed heavily to the ground. The blood-colored longsword in his right hand dissipated, and the [Labyrinth Candle] in his left hand rolled aside. The blood-red mist emanating from his body forced Miss Annette to retreat.
“No, no, I cannot be injured here! That tree... no! Damn it! I cannot be injured here.”
“Detective, something is wrong with his state, be careful.”
Miss Annette warned. Her short hair was disheveled behind her head, and a shallow bloodstain marked her face. Shade had never seen this lady in such a wretched state; it seemed that while Shade had been confronting the Silver-Eyed One, the battle outside had also been extremely fierce.
“I know, you two be careful as well, that tree—”
“Haha.”
Laughter echoed from beneath the tree once more, and the deep blue vines illuminated the man beneath the tree again.
“Silver-Eyed One!”
Miss Bias barely managed to suppress the urge to hurl a Sun Spear at him.
“That damned thing, that damned Blood Spirit School! You've been injured here! You're finished too! The [Corpse Tree] will not let anyone go.”
The man beneath the tree laughed loudly. Within the blood mist, the Life Ring of a Fifth-Circle Warlock appeared clearly behind the vampire. However, its core runes were not entirely the brass-colored [Enlightenment]; the [Vampire] core rune was a whispering iron-black color.
“I smell moonlight... who exactly are you?”
The trembling voice became incredibly hoarse, devoid of the magnetism it had possessed during his conversation with Miss Annette.
Shade took a step back, lighting a candle to hide his form once more, while a silver mist appeared as [Moonshadow Illusion] enveloped the two ladies.
As the man climbed back up from the ground, a terrifying crack appeared on both his face and back. The flesh within the wounds writhed, healing his injuries at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Simultaneously, at the site of the cracks, tiny, barely observable wooden tentacles swayed gently, appearing as if they wanted to merge with the writhing flesh.
Miss Bias rang the Holy Bell and hurled a Sun Spear at the gradually mutating man, but the vines overhead actually took the initiative to block the thunder
“What?”
The brass Life Ring behind the vampire emitted a blood-red light, and then the man transformed into a streak of blood-light. He did not charge toward the two ladies within the illusion, but instead lunged toward Shade, who should have been invisible.
“He can see me too?”
Shade hurriedly dodged, but as the blood mist around the man expanded, Shade's figure actually manifested from the air.
“I smell moonlight! Who are you?”
The cracks on his head continued to heal, but his appearance became increasingly hideous. He seemed to have gone somewhat mad. The blood-red light collided with Shade, and almost in the next instant, a right hand—nearly mutated into a claw—seized Shade by the throat and lifted him high.
However, the golden necklace around Shade's neck immediately grew hot upon contact with the claw.
“What is this?”
Golden light bloomed from the witch's necklace, and the strength of the claw immediately slackened, giving Shade an opening
“Strangling someone has never been a way to kill them! Killing you will end this adventure.”
He spoke words that no one could understand. With a flick of the light from his right hand, he forcibly severed that abnormally thick right arm, which looked as if it were clad in wooden armor.
The man, whose stature had grown taller within the blood mist, stumbled backward. However, the blood spraying from the severed arm transformed into two blood-colored longswords that stabbed toward Shade.
The short blade at Shade's fingertips cleaved the first longsword, but the second sword pierced into Shade's left shoulder.
Shade suppressed the urge to cry out in pain. He gripped the sword with his right hand, attempting to pull it out, but the blood-light of the longsword flickered. He felt the blood in his entire body boiling, unable to control his own blood.
“Sun Spear!”
The crisp sound of a bell reached his ears, and then golden thunder shot out from behind the vampire, piercing straight through his heart.
The blood mist grew even thicker. Shade stumbled, trying to escape, but the pain from the wound where the blood-colored longsword had pierced him almost paralyzed him.
【The whispering elements on your body...】
“I know, I'm injured too. That tree is affecting me.”
The longsword had not yet been pulled out, but wooden tentacles had already appeared at the wound.
“You're finished too.”
The Silver-Eyed One's voice seemed to come from a great distance; Shade felt his consciousness becoming blurred.
Within the silver moon illusion that had not yet faded, Miss Bias seemed unable to move further, as if drained of strength, after throwing the Sun Spear. Miss Annette no longer attempted to attack with the golden short blade in her hand; instead, she once again removed her butterfly-shaped hair ornament and tossed it forward.
A swarm of pale blue transparent butterflies immediately mingled with the blood-light surrounding the man's body.
The blood-light weakened slightly, and the vampire's face finally revealed itself. The crack Shade had carved into his face had not been repaired; instead, tentacles resembling vines were attempting to crawl out from the wound. His entire head had expanded to twice its original size, and tiny wooden tentacles spread from the wound across his entire face, leaving black patterns like tattoos.
The twisted and eerie sensation made the creature, who was already not human, seem even less so. The mutated body carried a sense of primal dread; its indescribable, grotesque form seemed to grant it even greater power.
Black mist mingled with blood-red mist entwined around him. In those beast-like yellow vertical pupils, the spark of intelligence gradually vanished, while madness and cruelty grew stronger.
“Damn it! He's lost control, that tree is influencing him!”
The purple-eyed diviner groaned. Just as she was about to pull something else from her pocket, she discovered that the vampire's figure before her was continuously growing taller. The blood mist swallowed the blue butterflies, and his shadow on the ground actually took the shape of a great tree.
A bell tolled, a steam whistle wailed, and simultaneously, there was the barely perceptible fluttering of a swarm of bat wings. A low voice, sounding like rubbing rusted metal, echoed in everyone's ears
“The blood-sucking monster roars under...”
The spirit runes on the Life Ring behind the Fifth-Circle Warlock rearranged rapidly. Miss Annette was stunned
“This is...”
“Words of Ascension! He's completely insane!”
The Silver-Eyed One mocked loudly; he wanted to watch everyone here die along with him. However, the Silver-Eyed One himself had absolutely no intention of using the Words of Ascension; he feared death and would not commit such a mad act.
Miss Annette could not deal with the lunatic under the tree for the moment. She wanted to run toward Shade, who had collapsed on the ground, but she felt the air instantly turn into a viscous liquid, making it impossible to break through.
“...the blood-red sunset.”
The scent of blood swept over them, and blood-red light filled their vision. With the use of the Words of Ascension, everything around them changed.
The towering monster stood amidst the ruins of a twilight sunset. Crooked, tall buildings were visible everywhere in the distance, and behind him stood a blood-red setting sun.
PS: The next chapter will definitely be exciting.
(End of Chapter)