“Doctor, 17 seconds left.”
Shad reminded him again, though he was already at ease. Holding his sword, he watched as the Balrog's body gradually vanished from the distant platform, while the flames on the Doctor's body grew increasingly intense.
Finally, with 10 seconds remaining before the Doctor had to step back through the door, the Balrog on the platform in the center of the mountain cavern vanished completely.
The Doctor shook his right hand, which had returned to normal, as the flames on his body gradually died down. He turned to Shad with a smile, only to find Shad looking behind him with a face full of surprise.
Doctor Schneider felt something flying rapidly past his face, and then he saw a black stone with crimson cracks on its surface charging straight toward Shad's heart.
Instinctively, Shad swung the longsword in his hand forward. In that moment, it felt as if the sword were guiding his hand, piercing the black stone with absolute precision.
The stone was impaled on the blade. The crimson, flame-like cracks on its surface flickered a few times and then became completely still.
“This is the heart of a Balrog. Yes, the Balrog itself, not an evil spirit or demon. I didn't expect a mimicked Balrog to have such an organ. Wait...”
The Doctor reached out to touch the stone, which still radiated residual warmth
“Just a Balrog heart, no other power left. Put it in the bottle from the suitcase—the one I labeled. Oh, there's not enough time.”
The Doctor patted Shad on the shoulder and then jogged into the half-open door.
With a *clang*, the wooden door with its metal base vanished, and the metal key dropped onto the stone pedestal. Simultaneously, as the Doctor departed, the two fireballs he had summoned for illumination disappeared.
The entire mountain cavern returned to darkness, leaving only the bright yellow runes on the blade of Shad's longsword—【My heart is clear, my sword slays demons】—emitting a faint glow in the dark.
“Silver Moon!”
Holding the sword in his left hand, Shad lit the Silver Moon at the tip of his right finger. He squinted at the longsword, then bent over to pick up the key. After placing the demon's heart, which had been pierced by the blade, into the bottle the Doctor had prepared, he slowly walked toward the edge of the stone pedestal.
Standing on the wooden planks before the broken bridge, he looked across the central pedestal toward another platform hidden in the deep darkness on the other side of the mountain. When the Balrog's flames had illuminated the entire cavern earlier, Shad had caught a glimpse of what looked like a stone tablet standing on that opposite platform.
After a moment of hesitation, he raised his right hand and extended his index finger
“Silver Moon!”
Standing at the edge of the pedestal with the abyss beneath his feet, brilliant moonlight erupted from his fingertip. The instantaneous flash turned the cavern into daylight, even coating the longsword in his hand with lunar radiance. This dazzling light had little effect on the caster himself, allowing Shad to see the full view of the stone tablet.
It was too far to make out a single letter, but he could at least see the base and the shape of the tablet.
The knowledge within 【Witch's Echo: Felianna】 immediately matched the image; the style of the opposite tablet was clearly from the end of the Fifth Epoch. Furthermore, judging by the design, it had been created using a spell available only to high-ranking witches.
“It seems the hallucination I saw when I first held the sword was real. The Witch Emperor of the Fifth Epoch, Violet Marshall, left a stone tablet here. And hundreds of years ago, Doctor Alfred's ancestor, that high-circle warlock, didn't explore the area after arriving; he simply left the sword to seal the Balrog. Yes, there's a high probability that the location in the Interstice corresponding to this place is that seal on the mountainside!”
Shad extinguished the silver light at his fingertip, tidied up the suitcase, and erased the ritual traces before leaving the place, carrying the suitcase in one hand and the longsword in the other.
(Mia is running...)
“Come, Detective, for friendship and today's victory, let us toast!”
In the eastern district of Tobesk, the lights on the first and second floors of the Schneider Psychological Clinic had long been extinguished, but the bedroom on the third floor remained lit. Under the bright, cheerful glow of the gas lamp, Shad and Doctor Schneider each held a glass goblet, clinking them together by the window in celebration.
It was 9:30 PM. The key had returned to its place on the wooden door by the wall, and the suitcase lay open on the bedroom desk, its bottles and jars shimmering under the gaslight. The longsword was wrapped in a bedsheet by Shad and leaned against the wall by the door.
“Congratulations, Doctor.”
As they toasted, the middle-aged doctor could barely suppress the smile on his face
“It went smoother than I expected. Truly wonderful; this is already the seventh demon I have devoured.”
A terrifying crimson light flashed across his right eye, but this was merely the Doctor demonstrating this impressive power to Shad
“Beyond that, I've additionally learned two oddities related to Balrogs and obtained a brand new spirit rune.”
Shad raised his glass again in celebration
“What a pity, Doctor, you haven't held your ceremony to ascend to the Sixth Circle yet. The current spirit rune can only be considered a Fifth Circle one.”
“No, no, I am deliberately controlling the digestion process of the Balrog's power. I think if all goes well, after the ceremony during the full Yellow Moon at the end of this month, I can obtain one or two more spirit runes.”
Both were in high spirits, so they chose to stand by the open window, conversing in the night breeze.
Shad took a sip of the red wine provided by the Doctor—which was said to be exceptionally expensive—and squinted at the night view of Tobesk
“Doctor, are you sure that devouring such eerie things won't cause you to lose control?”
“My emotions might fluctuate over the next few days, but for now, I won't lose control,” the Doctor said, the smile on his face fading slightly. “Don't worry about me; I've made all the necessary preparations. At the very least, I absolutely will not lose control before I successfully rescue the souls of Mr. Shelf Tim and Miss Shana Aya.”
Shad nodded
“You should still be careful. Tomorrow morning, come to my house. There is a door in my basement that can help you suppress your emotions.”
He was referring to the door leading to the 【Dark Dungeon】. Since this door was obtained by killing a Chosen, the use of the dungeon was not limited to warlocks possessing the “Darkness” spirit rune. After entering the trapdoor that represented oneself in the dungeon, one could converse or even fight with the “self” in the darkness, which could reverse a loss of control.
According to Iluna, the Church of Light and Shadow—the Holy See of the Dawn Church—had also found a door to enter the Dark Dungeon, which is why the probability of Dawn Church warlocks losing control was lower than that of other churches.
“Alright.”
The Doctor nodded without asking further and added
“However, I can't identify that sword you obtained either. You could take it to Old John for appraisal; he is absolutely reliable. Or, go to the Academy. I recall you have a very good relationship with the librarian, Miss Danest; she even gave you an Academy task with very high practical credits.”
“Yes, but I don't think I'll go to the Academy for appraisal.”
Shad looked back at the sword by the wall
“Once the Academy knows I have this, I won't be able to carry it around freely. Moreover, I received information from within the sword; it could be the key to solving the problem of the Interstice. It probably won't belong to me forever.”
“Decide for yourself.”
“And that Balrog heart...”
Shad brought it up again.
“All the spoils are yours.”
The Doctor shook his head indifferently. Although Shad had found the location, strictly speaking, the Balrog heart was the Doctor's spoil
“If this heart were intact, it would be quite valuable—probably enough for you to buy your neighbor's house as well.”
Such a metaphor sufficiently illustrated the value of a “flawless Balrog heart.”
“Unfortunately, too much of its power was absorbed by me, so it's practically an empty shell now. Nothing like this has ever appeared on the market. If I were to estimate, its current value probably wouldn't exceed five thousand pounds.”
“That's still very valuable. Who earns that much money at once? Oh, if it sells for a high price, I might even consider learning that expensive oddity the priest gave me,” Shad said with a smile, then asked, “But why did the heart attack me back then? I thought an evil spirit or demon was trying to possess me.”
“Impossible. You were wearing the Demon Hunter's Seal, and the soul of the evil spirit had already been extracted and crushed by me.”
The Doctor shook his head
“Let's not talk about that. In any case, tonight was a huge harvest. But I must warn you, Detective: do not visit Midhillburg often. Because of the power within me, I am very sensitive to Whisper elements and Profane elements. Aside from the Night of Divine Descent in Tobesk, I have never felt an elemental chaos like that of Midhillburg anywhere else.”
“Then how do you feel about Midhillburg now? Any discoveries?”
Shad asked curiously. The Doctor held his wine glass and thought for a moment
“The final silence before a volcanic eruption.”
“A volcano, huh...”
Shad sighed, drained the red wine in his glass, and looked out at the night sky of eastern Tobesk with the Doctor. In the distance, the lights of the standing buildings twinkled like stars, and further away, chimneys continued to spew black smoke into the night sky.
The night in a big city was exceptionally quiet, especially in such an affluent area. One could only hear the barking of dogs in the alleys and the rhythmic sound of carriages rolling over the cobblestone roads from outside the block.
“But this way, I actually have both a warrior who slays dragons and a hero who slaughters demons by my side,” he lamented softly.
“Slaying dragons? Where did a dragon come from? Are there still dragons in Midhillburg? I can't deal with those,” the Doctor asked curiously. After picking up the bottle from the small round table to pour more wine for Shad, he pointed to himself with a smile
“And I certainly can't be counted as a hero.”
(End of Chapter)