Chapter 691: Moonlight Greatsword · Yellow
After a moment of standoff, the three of them acted simultaneously. This time, after consuming an unknown potion, the fifth-circle warlock of the [Truth Society] actually utilized his Life Ring to summon a Cerberus, a ghoul, a treant, and an ugly old witch wearing a hat all at once.
This method of using individual spirit runes for separate summons was, of course, inferior to the summoning performed by Lecia and Dorothy, who linked five spirit runes together. However, quantity could slightly compensate for the gap in quality; the Cerberus and the treant faced off against Shad, while the other two went after Iluna.
Shad kissed the moonstone ring on his finger. Steam mist surged behind him, revealing a corner of a third-circle warlock's Life Ring, and the miracle spirit rune [Yellow Moon] flashed with light
"Confusion!"
The ring shimmered with bright yellow moonlight as Shad extended it forward. Under that light—which was almost weak—the ugly Cerberus and the treant, which looked like a twisted human body, actually stopped in their tracks and began to fight each other.
"Is this miracle art really this useful?"
Shad looked at the ring on his finger. The fifth-circle warlock also noticed the situation on Shad's side; he stopped calling for more summons and instead charged toward Shad, clutching a greatsword.
Likely seeing that Shad was only third-circle, he was confident in his own physical attributes. He merely applied a buff to himself using the whisper spirit rune [Strength] before swinging his sword directly.
*Clang~*
"What?"
Silver moonlight splashed everywhere. The greatsword wielded by the strange warlock had actually struck the pitch-black iron chains held in Shad's both hands. Those were the [Chains of Great Sin]. Although they possessed no offensive power, unlike the Moonlight Greatsword which had shattered many times, the [Chains of Great Sin] had never once broken.
The sword could not sever the chains, and the chains certainly could not shatter the sword. Thus, it became a contest of strength between Shad and his opponent. However, even with the buff, the fifth-circle warlock only managed to slightly overpower Shad in strength
"Damn it, where on earth did you people come from?"
He still didn't understand, while Shad stared blankly at the familiar sword before him. He had fought with this sword many times, but this was the first time he had been attacked by it, and the first time he had observed the full appearance of the [Moonlight Greatsword] from the perspective of the sword's tip
"I see."
His body vanished again and reappeared ten meters away. He flicked out the [Chains of Great Sin], but since he didn't employ whip techniques, the chains only managed to scare the opponent into taking a step back.
Shad looked up at the moon in the sky. On the corner of the Life Ring revealed behind him, the [Yellow Moon] spirit rune flashed. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes; the light representing that bright yellow moon in his palm flickered in synchronization with the rhythm of his breathing.
Standing in the dense forest, it felt as if he had returned to the Forest of a Thousand Trees, as if he were once again seeing Miss Orlanode before him, demonstrating her miracle art.
With his hand empty and eyes closed, he rushed quickly toward the fifth-circle warlock ten meters away. Although the opponent was confused as to what Shad intended to do, he first flicked out glowing light bullets. After Shad easily dodged them, the man prepared to counter with his greatsword.
The moment the two met, silver moonlight slashed toward Shad's shoulder. At that instant, the light in Shad's palm finally synchronized its frequency with the flashing spirit rune behind him
"Perhaps I really do have a talent for moonlight miracle arts."
Ten seconds had passed. His figure vanished beneath the sword and appeared behind the man. The man immediately spun around to slash behind him, and Shad finally opened his eyes.
The yellow moon shone upon him, and he was one with the moon
"Moonlight Greatsword!"
*Clang!*
Bright yellow moonlight shards and silver moonlight shards splashed simultaneously. Holding the bright yellow longsword, Shad blocked the silver greatsword in the opponent's hand.
The power of a spirit rune is weaker than that of a core spirit rune, so the Yellow Moon Greatsword in his hand was currently weaker than the Silver Moon Greatsword. However, the Silver Moon Greatsword was weakened when held by anyone other than its master. Therefore, when the two swords collided, both developed fine cracks.
A pitch-black vortex appeared beside the man again, and this time, Iluna accurately grabbed the mirror.
Under the immense force, both swords shattered simultaneously. The Magic Eye effect vanished, and Shad regained the right to use the silver moon—the [Moonlight Greatsword]. The warlock of the [Truth Society] could no longer slash at Iluna's hand, so he widened his blue Magic Eye once more to look at the dark vortex, attempting to seize that power, only to discover to his surprise that the Magic Eye had no effect on the vortex.
"What is this now? And did I perform experiments on your friend? Who the hell are you people?"
He cursed, giving up on the mirror and letting Iluna take it. After stubbornly tanking a [Psychic Blast] punch from Shad, he finally retreated to a safe distance, bleeding from his seven orifices and enduring a splitting headache
"Midshillburg is truly dangerous. You two ganging up on one is truly shameless. Just wait until I request more reinforcements."
White mist appeared behind him. Iluna, who had just arrived in the city, didn't recognize it, but Shad did
"Spatial Stability Aura!"
But it was too late; the Gap between Life and Death almost instantly swallowed the opponent. The white mist vanished, taking the man with it.
"That's an entrance to the Gap between Life and Death. Is the [Truth Society] really that bold? Moreover, they actually possess the method to open the Gap," Shad said in surprise. He wanted to take off his mask, but Iluna stopped him
"The Church doesn't allow me to use the power of 'Balance' casually in this city."
Iluna explained, waving the mirror in her hand toward Shad
"Spoils of war."
Under the moonlight, the seventeen-year-old girl revealed a smile
"Thanks to you, otherwise we wouldn't have won so easily. I've seen him before; a few years ago, he was a researcher for the Truth Society. Don't worry, he's a genuine villain. The Church has a bounty of 8,000 pounds on him; we didn't hit the wrong person."
"These are your spoils."
Shad gestured for Iluna to keep the mirror that could absorb sunlight spears, then looked down at his left and right hands.
Both hands pierced into the air simultaneously, and then, a holy silver [Moonlight Greatsword] and a clear yellow [Moonlight Greatsword] actually appeared at the same time.
One belonged to the core spirit rune [Silver Moon] and was a standard two-handed greatsword; the other belonged to the third-circle spirit rune [Yellow Moon], and because its power was weaker, the sword's length and width were smaller, making it essentially a slightly larger longsword.
Shad's [Moonlight Greatsword] could not summon two blades of the same rune, but the same miracle art belonging to different spirit runes could be used simultaneously. In the dark forest, both swords emitted a faint glow, making the scene in the woods incredibly mystical.
"Did you learn this on your own? Truly amazing," Iluna said with great envy. "I've heard that the [Moonlight Greatsword], like the [Sunlight Greatsword], is a high-circle miracle art. You actually learned it so simply. Sometimes I really want to ask our friend there—who exactly is the chosen one?"
"Of course it's you; that's been confirmed many times. However, should we notify the Church about what happened here?" Shad asked.
Iluna thought for a moment and nodded: "Yes. You should leave first; I'll notify the Church in a bit and see if we can track the other party's trail."
"Alright, remember to contact me anytime if something happens."
Shad turned to leave, but Iluna called out to him again
"Wait a moment."
The brown-haired girl put her hands behind her back and looked down, kicking a pebble at her feet
"I'll have some time around nine o'clock. So, shall we dance together? I heard from my colleagues at the Church that the bonfire dance of the Fire-Worshiping Festival is very lively."
"You knew I would be at the banquet?"
"I just felt you would appear in such a setting..." She hesitated. "So, will you..."
Shad nodded: "Iluna, see you at nine."
The seventeen-year-old girl revealed a bright smile under the moon.
Miss Aurora wouldn't be dancing forever; after dancing with the witch, he could go find Iluna.
【You really are a bad man.】
Her voice drifted through the wind, but Shad believed the fellow who had just escaped was the real bad man.
The warlocks of the Truth Society had officially appeared; the situation in Midshillburg had become even more chaotic.
(Mia is running...)
When Shad left the academy's forest and returned to the Fire-Worshiping Festival banquet grounds amidst the bonfire light, no one noticed he had ever left. Shad, however, noticed that two large carts of fireworks had been delivered; setting off fireworks during the Fire-Worshiping Festival was a new tradition that had only appeared in modern times.
Although both Miss Aurora and Iluna had asked Shad to dance, there was still some time before the bonfire dance, so Shad planned to go see that special Rhode card at the auction. If it suited his tastes, he would donate a sum of money to this charity gala.
The invitation did not include a list of auction items, but Grandma Cassandra had just given Shad a detailed list. For the convenience of inspection and for security reasons, the auction was held entirely inside the castle. The academy auditorium served as the main auction hall, or Hall One, which was the area for bulk goods, high-priced antiques, and art collectibles; even with money in his pocket, Shad didn't dare go to such a place.
The venue for auctioning the special Rhode card was the Principal's Conference Room on the second floor of the castle's east wing. That was where the academy's principal and board members held meetings; it was lent out as an auction hall for the Fire-Worshiping charity gala, allegedly as a favor to Grandma Cassandra—she was also a board member of the academy. Considering her teacher was actually the Gemini of the Fifth Epoch, it explained why Grandma Cassandra could establish an auction house famous across the continent, possess deep knowledge of antiques and relics, and even recognize the origin of the [Night Watchman] longsword at a glance.
After all, the armored old man at the party had also once been a holder of the [Night Watchman], and he had died in this region.
The Principal's Conference Room on the second floor had been completely cleared. This room, with its impressive depth, even included a small terrace. When Shad entered the room from the corridor holding a wine glass, the auction had not yet begun, but quite a few people had already arrived to preview the goods.
Most people, like Shad, held wine glasses while examining the auction items. Among them were gentlemen in formal wear, noblewomen whose jewelry sparkled under the gas lamps, artists with unique styles of dress, and even several elderly people gathered in front of a glass case containing a white wig, discussing its origin.
Shad heard their voices and thus knew the owner of the wig was a very famous poet from Delarion. However, due to his libertine nature, that unlucky fellow had been stabbed to death by a mistress in his bed one morning eighty years ago.
"How ominous."
Amidst the laughter in his ears, Shad moved a bit further away from that group.
(End of Chapter)