Shade's right hand traced a brilliant arc through the air. The blade of the silver moon tore through the curtain of blood mist, slashing toward the woman who was lightly kissing her ring. But aside from leaving another wound on her forehead, it was utterly useless.
The woman laughed maniacally—laughing in her final moments. She recited the incantation that Shade had failed to hear clearly last time
"The transformation of positive and negative is the beginning of a new life!"
As she slipped the ring on, thick smoke immediately erupted from her broken body. Lady Lasoya slowly closed her eyes, her life reaching its end.
At that moment, the black smoke enveloped the woman's body. Shade, attempting to stop him, heard the whispers once more—the sound of chewing within the black smoke, and the curses of countless voices.
He reached out to thrust his hand into the black smoke, feeling he had to do something. But a boot extended from the black smoke, kicking Shade back against the wall.
The black smoke vanished, leaving a young man wearing a white pebble ring standing amidst the blood mist of the corridor. He rolled his neck and snapped his fingers behind him.
As steam mist appeared and the sound of a whistle drifted in, the life ring of a Sixth-Circle Warlock flickered behind the man, reflected in the eyes of the slumped Shade
"Gender transformation... to think it could actually..."
The doctor's desperate strike had failed to kill the enemy, but it wasn't because they were too weak. In this moment, Shade actually experienced the sensation that the man in the burgundy formal wear had felt before his death not long ago.
"Yes. The Keeper-level Relic, [The Transmutation Ring]. While transforming the gender, it replaces the entire body with a completely different one. Although this damn ring has given me some hobbies I didn't have before, the ring itself is worth the price," the Sixth-Circle Warlock, Jack Deon, laughed.
He wore a sharp black formal suit, his leather shoes gleaming under the gaslights. The smoke and the wreckage of the corridor behind him, along with the unconscious people, seemed to serve only to highlight his triumph.
"Hmm? Your clothes look very familiar. Oh, that doesn't matter. Though I have no idea where you lot popped up from..."
He spoke loudly, as if delivering a speech at a major public event. His precise, rounded articulation made Shade want to punch him. He was showing off; there was no way he wouldn't flaunt such a staggering, death-defying reversal.
"But this time, clearly, I have won."
Spirit runes flickered with light within the life ring behind him. The iron-colored rune, which Shade had interpreted as [Corpse Experiment], was triggering a miracle. However, before the miracle could be released, it was actively suspended. The man looked at Shade and suddenly laughed.
"The living sacrifices required for the ritual are not quite sufficient. That woman over there is on her period; impure blood is unsuitable. These two men are too old; the host of this banquet would not like that."
Taking two steps forward, he grabbed the heavily injured Shade by the collar and tossed him into the banquet hall to "reunite" with the dozens of people already unconscious there. The detective rolled across the blood-red wool carpet, finally coming to a stop when he slammed into the leg of a long table.
Struggling to open his eyes to face the door, Shade saw that the double golden doors, which Miss Louisa had originally burst through, were actually slowly rising and closing again under the miracle of the man's [Metal Repair] spirit rune.
Lying by the long table in the banquet hall, Shade could only see through the crack of the closing doors that the man had his hands behind his back. Ignoring the three others who had fallen, the man walked toward the second floor along the stairs; the circle warlock squad below was his true opponent.
The door slammed shut. Blood-colored light flickered within the room, gradually blurring Shade's vision. He did not know if this was a sign of his impending death, or a sign of an Evil God's imminent arrival.
As his vision blurred, he finally had the chance to cast a spell on himself, but the spell could only ensure he wouldn't die; it could not prevent him from falling into a coma due to his severe injuries.
But—
The small book in his pocket emitted a soft, quiet glow; the sentences written just minutes ago were taking effect. The Poet-level Relic hanging from his chest, [The Orb of the Silver Moon], was affected by that light and began to radiate a silvery glow. This Poet-level relic was extremely weak and should not have lost control so easily, but under the influence of the script, the orb cracked, and the silvery light surged directly into Shade's head.
If nothing unexpected happened, he would fall into permanent madness because of the Silver Moon.
In his coma, Shade suddenly jolted awake within his dream.
The chaotic dream was replaced by a familiar one; he felt the night wind. Looking around, he found himself standing on a field ridge at night. Shade slowly raised his head and saw a massive silver moon hanging amidst the stars, suspended above the sea of starlight.
He was beneath the Silver Moon, and the Silver Moon was in his eyes. The holy light intoxicated Shade; the strange silvery traces of the moon in the night sky—the power of the Silver Moon brought about by the out-of-control relic—were deeply branded into his mind.
He suddenly felt that he finally understood the "Silver Moon," understood this strange power. He reached out his right hand, his fingers attempting to touch the lunar disk in the night sky.
At that exact moment, the life ring hidden deep within his soul rotated, and the core rune [Silver Moon] emitted a faint light. The increase in his understanding of the Silver Moon stimulated a resonance between the rune and the dream, forcibly waking Shade to prevent him from going mad from the Moon Dream. However, the full power of the out-of-control relic was etched into this momentary memory, making Shade feel as if the Silver Moon were right inside his heart.
He did not know how long he had been unconscious. When he regained consciousness, he could only see the dim banquet hall, where the blood mist was so thick it seemed to have dyed the entire world red. The air was terrifyingly cold; the blood-colored mist felt as if it wanted to seep into his body through his pores.
The frantic whispers seemed to herald something terrible about to happen. Enduring the intense pain and the trembling of his body, he realized that [False Immortality] had actually been consumed because his injuries were too severe; the effect of the spell could be nullified if the subject suffered severe damage again shortly after it was cast.
"This is bad. I have to get out of the banquet hall quickly, otherwise..."
He forced himself up, leaning against the long table covered in a pure white tablecloth, but just then—
*Ding-dang~*
A crisp sound rang out as if directly inside his head. Someone was striking a bell with a small hammer; it was the signal for the banquet to begin.
That vibrating metallic sound shook his spirit and his soul. Phantoms appeared before his eyes once more, making it nearly impossible for Shade to distinguish reality from illusion. The blood-colored banquet hall was replacing the normal banquet hall, and the living sacrifices who had arrived before him were also awakened by the bell at this moment.
The Blood Banquet had begun.
Shade turned to run toward the great doors, but his body was completely out of his control. High-dimensional power had descended; mortals were, after all, merely mortals. Blood seeped from his facial orifices simultaneously. Trembling, he slowly turned to look toward the head seat of the banquet hall, toward the end of the long table.
He heard it; he heard the bell signaling the start of the feast;
He saw it; he saw silver and gold vessels filled with fresh human organs appearing one by one on the empty tabletop;
He smelled it; he smelled the sweet scent of food amidst the thick, bloody mist;
He touched it; he touched the blood-soaked corpses hanging down from the ceiling.
He felt it—
He felt it! At the other end of the long table, a figure in a red robe seemed to have crossed over from a distant dimension, its silhouette gradually becoming clear.