“Something is wrong. Grandma Cassandra's records didn't mention this kind of attack.”
Shade walked to the window with his sword in hand, reaching out to pull back the crimson curtains. But just as his hand was about to touch the high-quality fabric, a massive mouth suddenly lunged from the curtains, attempting to bite his hand.
“It seems this place has suddenly become full of malice toward me.”
Shade withdrew his hand, and the curtains returned to normal.
He turned and walked toward the door, but a series of loud, crackling explosions echoed from the second floor once again.
“Could it be that someone who arrived here before me did something to cause further changes in the [Sin Manor]?”
Shade didn't believe he was the cause of these changes, as he truly hadn't done anything.
“Can you feel anything?” he asked softly in his mind.
【Nothing.】
“Alright then.”
Shade pursed his lips, deciding it was best not to wait in this room any longer. The malice of the [Sin Manor] was manifesting itself, and who knew what might happen if he stayed. At least judging by his strange intuition, leaving this room as quickly as possible was the correct choice.
He strode toward the door and reached out to grasp the handle, but a knock sounded at that exact moment.
There was only the knocking; no voice spoke. Shade's outstretched left hand paused for a moment before he snapped it back, taking a step back and raising his longsword.
The knocking continued for over ten seconds before stopping. Then, black sewage began to seep in through the gap beneath the door.
The sewage pooled in front of the door, and then a bald human head emerged from the black water. The currents forming the head continued to flow, appearing exceptionally eerie under the dim light.
“Are you a trader of the Sin Manor?” Shade asked.
“No, I am here to take you to see the Master.”
This answer immediately made Shade frown. After entering the Sin Manor, the normal way to leave was to exchange an increase in one's own sins for the opportunity to depart. Once a person was influenced by the power here and conducted too many trades by increasing or decreasing their sins, they would become a "VIP" and be led to see the Master of the Manor. None of the past records had mentioned any information regarding the Master.
Therefore, going to see the Master was almost synonymous with death.
“Apologies, I haven't conducted any trades yet,” Shade pointed out.
“There is no need for trades now; you may go directly to see the Master.”
“No, I would still prefer to do things according to the rules.”
“No, the rules have changed now.”
“No, I believe that since rules exist—”
“Give me 3 units of perfect Gluttony sin, and I will escort you out.”
The head in the black water abruptly proposed a condition. Shade was stunned for a moment, then shook his head.
“Impossible.”
Once 3 units of Gluttony were traded away, it would severely damage the power of the [Gluttony] spirit rune. Even if Shade were to trade, he could not use Gluttony.
“Then I wish you luck.”
The head sank back into the black water, and the liquid flowed back out through the gap in the door. Shade waited for a while to ensure this wasn't a trap to lure him closer to the door. Only then did he fish out his mask and put it on. After preparing his spellcasting materials, he reached out, gripped the door handle, and struggled to push the door open.
The corridor seemed different from when he had entered. The once-straight hallway had become skewed, and the floor even exhibited undulating rises and falls. In the portraits on the walls—depicting blood-drinking, beheadings, and even more horrific imagery—the figures had all vanished. The remaining oil-painted backgrounds were more terrifying than the portraits themselves.
“Gluttony...”
In the oil painting on the wall directly opposite the door, a long dining table was depicted amidst a pile of trash. The gold and silver vessels on the table were filled with fresh, dripping human organs.
“This is bad.”
Stepping out of the room onto the blood-soaked carpet, Shade looked left and right and decided to return to the courtyard first to see if the [Key of Doors] could open the sealed fence gate. As he walked quickly toward the stairwell, the quiet, oppressive atmosphere made the influence of the Whisper elements on him grow stronger.
“If I find out who the hell caused those explosions on the second floor...”
The third floor was the highest level of the building. On either side of the stairwell stood two suits of metal armor holding long spears. These were common decorations in noble estates; even in the steam age, estates like Miss Galina's had similar decorations, and those antiques were more expensive than dozens of Mia.
As Shade approached the stairwell, the two suits of armor moved on their own. They did not attack him; instead, they crossed their spears, blocking the stairwell, and spoke together in dull voices
“You cannot leave.”
“I'm going downstairs to see the Master of the Manor,” Shade said casually.
“The Master is on the third floor.”
“Hmm?”
Shade immediately looked left and right to confirm there was no one in the corridors before whispering, “How about I give you some sins to let me leave? The price is negotiable.”
“No bribes needed. Answer one question, and you may leave the third floor.”
“Please speak.”
“What do you believe your Great Sin to be?”
This was a question that pierced straight into the heart. Shade hesitated for a moment.
“I want to obtain everything I desire, yet I am unwilling to lose anything.”
The two spears automatically parted, clearing a path for Shade, but he did not descend immediately.
“Why ask me such a question?”
“Guest, you must have the courage to acknowledge your own sins.”
“What does that mean?”
But he received no answer.
Descending from the third floor to the second, he found the situation on the second floor to be even stranger. On the third floor, only the corridors were twisted and the figures in the paintings missing, but the second floor was covered in splashes of fresh blood, and the walls were riddled with scratch marks, as if a pack of frenzied wolves had attacked the place.
The light from the gas lamps grew dimmer. Shade wouldn't have been surprised if a demon suddenly crawled out from the edge of the dim yellow glow.
Of course, whatever happened on the second floor had nothing to do with him. He turned to continue downward, but then heard a thunderous boom from below. A heatwave surged upward, turning the area beneath the railing bright red with firelight before returning to normal.
“What's going on down there? A gas explosion?”
Walking down the stairs, he indeed encountered an enemy in the stairwell. It was a one-eyed man with a bloated body and a face covered in black hair, wearing an apron. He held a sharp weapon in each hand: a long watermelon knife in the left and a standard kitchen knife in the right. An extremely pungent stench emanated from him, and both of his arms looked as if they had been scorched by something, with burn marks even on the edges of his apron.
Clearly, he had been injured downstairs.
“Give me 5 units of your Gluttony, or you stay here.”
Upon seeing Shade, this was the first thing the man said. Shade immediately shook his head.
“Make it a bit cheaper, I—”
The kitchen knife was hurled at Shade's head. His first instinct was to step back, using Ragley's Leap to dodge the attack. However, as he abruptly shifted three steps up the stairs, the knife maintained the same interval and also shifted three steps upward out of thin air.
“This knife has a spatial locking function!”
With no time to think, he raised his longsword.
*Clang!*
Under the immense force, Shade was sent flying. He crashed back toward the second-floor landing, rolling several times before barely managing to push himself up from the floor.
Blood leaked from the corner of his mouth. Although he hadn't lost his grip on the sword, the palm of his right hand was bleeding. Not only that, he could feel that the bone in his right wrist had been compromised by the impact. The intensifying pain made it nearly impossible to hold the sword; clearly, the impact had caused internal injuries, and his right wrist was fractured.
“I don't think I have the ability to treat bone fractures.”
Barely holding his sword, he retreated. His left hand traced a crossing cross in the air, and then he lunged forward with a side-step. A crossing crescent of moonlight flew toward the bottom of the stairs. The obese man, walking up the stairs with heavy steps, raised his left watermelon knife and slashed forward, actually shattering the moonlight strike.
This was the first time someone had been able to neutralize that move head-on.
“The opponent's strength is too great, and his defense is excellent. Even if I throw Iluna's Sun Spear, I might not be his match. Terrifying—to have such power even while injured.”
Shade knew he couldn't beat the opponent, but fortunately, the man's movement speed was quite slow. He wanted to retreat to the second floor to hide, but the black-haired man beckoned with his hand, recalling the kitchen knife and hurling it at Shade once more.
“Spatial Stability Aura!”
With intense mental concentration, Shade could almost perceive every afterimage of the flying weapon in the air. Once the sharp kitchen knife entered the range of the Spatial Stability Aura
“Ragley's Leap!”
His body appeared to the left in the next second. While the Spatial Stability Aura wasn't completely effective against the knife, it at least ensured the knife's trajectory didn't align perfectly with Shade.
The kitchen knife flew in an arc, slashing toward Shade's head again. But because the position had already shifted once, the highly focused Shade ducked violently at the last moment. There was a dull thud above his head; the kitchen knife had embedded itself deep into the wall.
“Run!”
Thinking this, he sprinted down the corridor to the left. The rows of rooms seemed like viable hiding spots, while the footsteps from the stairwell remained heavy and oppressive.
A door ahead opened at that moment, and a familiar face appeared. Mr. Armand Bernhardt, with a small bat pattern floating above his head, waved to the masked stranger.
“Get in!”
With no better options left, Shade activated his奇术 (Oddity/Thaumaturgy) once more. As he stepped forward, he appeared behind the vampire. The latter was clearly startled by Shade's disappearance, but quickly realized he had already entered the room.
He immediately slammed the door shut. Then, Shade and Armand Bernhardt held their breath together, listening as the *thump, thump, thump* of the footsteps drew closer and closer.
(End of Chapter)