Because of the Pantanal Voodoo Society's poisoning of the Count a few days prior, there were Church Circle Casters present at this banquet. Consequently, even though Shade had heard news of the Truth Society and the cultists a few hours ago, he wasn't particularly worried.
He timed it carefully, preparing to head to the manor's courtyard around nine o'clock to return the pair of earrings in his hand to Princess Margaret. As it happened, Mr. Bernhart had nothing to do and intended to go with him; after all, leaving the banquet hall alone would be somewhat conspicuous.
Although tonight's banquet was held indoors due to the weather, there were still people gathered in small groups in the courtyard, holding wine glasses and "admiring the moon." Of course, whether they were conducting secret talks or engaging in "deep exchanges" between young people while admiring the moon was hard to say.
Shade and Mr. Bernhart walked into the courtyard chatting and laughing. Almost simultaneously, the two looked up at the moon above and smiled in unison. Bathed in the moonlight, Shade felt refreshed, while the vampire felt the fatigue brought on by the noisy banquet swept away.
With the faint sound of music behind them, entering the quiet courtyard felt like stepping into another world. Seeing that the Princess's maid had not yet arrived, Shade invited Mr. Bernhart for a casual stroll, and Mr. Bernhart was naturally happy to enjoy a moment of peace.
In this early winter season, most of the plants in the courtyard had withered, save for a few evergreens. However, under the hands of the royal family's exceptional florists and gardeners, the serene moonlit garden remained beautiful. Gazing at the manor's courtyard, Shade couldn't help but recall the first large-scale banquet he attended after arriving in this world—the Lakeview Manor banquet.
He had heard many things and met many people at that banquet, until the very end, when he delivered that kick under the moon. Looking back now, that experience still felt incredible.
"Once winter hits, the nights in Huntington are even better than in summer," Mr. Bernhart remarked from the side as they walked together toward the Knight's Fountain in the courtyard. The splashing of the water added a touch of loneliness to the quiet night.
"Yes, I didn't expect to see such a beautiful starry sky and moon from within the city."
Both possessed supernatural arts related to the "moon," so once the topic was opened, they found plenty to discuss.
For instance, the "Moonlight Slash" mastered by Shade was a relatively basic Moonlight-series art. It could be used not only with the Silver Moon, but also the Yellow and Red Moons. However, corresponding to the three moons, the Silver Moon's Moonlight Slash leaned toward combating evil and possessed a "Holy" attribute; the Red Moon's Moonlight Slash leaned toward the destruction of flesh and blood, having a very strong effect on physical destruction; while the Yellow Moon's Moonlight Slash possessed no prominent attribute, which instead allowed the purest destructive effect of spirit and energy to be exerted to the fullest.
Mr. Bernhart was a Seventh-Circle Caster, and his experience provided great inspiration to Shade. Conversely, Shade mastered the "Silver Moon" and "Yellow Moon" which Mr. Bernhart did not, making his experience highly valuable to the vampire.
While sharing experiences on "Moonlight Slash," Shade naturally mentioned the three variations he had developed for this art: the most basic slash, the slow-casting but extremely powerful slash that left intersecting arcs of light in the air, and the slash executed by clapping his hands together and rapidly drawing an arc of light.
"You are truly too gifted when it comes to the moon," Mr. Bernhart said sincerely. "Now that you possess the power of the Yellow and Silver Moons, if you obtain the Red Moon, perhaps all your moon arts will undergo a qualitative change."
In truth, Shade's Fourth Circle already contained the "Red Moon" spirit rune—that was a power of profanity. But to save the Twin Red Butterflies, the Red Moon was temporarily sealed; he had not yet found a suitable method to restore the power of this spirit rune.
"I don't have your talent for 'Moonlight Slash' to develop so many forms," Mr. Bernhart said softly. He looked left and right, ensuring no young couples were trysting in the nearby bushes. "My family—oh, I don't mean the Bernhart family, but the vampire clan—we have more usage techniques for this ability."
Circle Casters were never a supernatural profession that worked in isolation. Long ago, Priest Augustus had said that Circle Casters were more like scholars; sometimes someone else's notebook was more useful than a month of one's own focused research.
"Moonlight Slash can be cast not only with the hands; theoretically, as long as it is a part of one's own body, any part can cast it."
As he spoke, the gentleman gave a light kick forward. Shade saw a crimson blade of light sweep across the ground. Because he deliberately controlled the power, the trail of light vanished the moment it touched the base of the fountain.
"I've tried doing that too," Shade nodded. That kick he had delivered under the moon was an application of using the feet for [Moonlight Slash]. "But besides the hands and feet, other parts are difficult to cast with. Currently, I can only do this..."
Having said that, he opened his mouth, and with a slight flick of his tongue, a small silver trail of light flew out. Shade had never shown this move to anyone after learning it because it had zero practicality; the power was far too weak, and it was far too embarrassing.
Mr. Bernhart felt nothing was wrong; they were engaged in pure academic discussion.
"Yes, that is indeed difficult. Our race has the talent to transform into bats, so in bat form, we use our wings to cast. As for using the tongue like you, some have tried, but the power is poor. After all, the tongue itself is not an organ meant for attack."
He then suddenly smiled. "Since we have time today, I will demonstrate a special [Moonlight Slash] technique to you, one developed by the clan from vampire talents."
The two moved from the central walkway of the courtyard toward a small path. After confirming they were far enough from the main house—
"Heh!"
Under the moon, Mr. Bernhart clenched both fists and raised his arms high, one to the upper left and one to the upper right.
"Ha!"
His arms snapped back, crossing in front of his chest while maintaining the clenched fists.
"Moonlight Slash!"
With a low shout, this middle-aged vampire actually transformed his entire body into a brilliant red arc of light and lunged forward. However, without hitting any target, he reverted back, panting for breath.
Gasping for air, he explained to Shade: "Among our race's inherited arts, there is a 'Blood Avatar Blade' related to the [Blood] spirit rune, which uses one's own blood to cut down opponents. The form variation of [Moonlight Slash] uses a similar principle, allowing oneself to become moonlight to attack the enemy. But the weakness is also obvious."
Mr. Bernhart looked heavily drained. "Looking at me now, you can tell the consumption of this move. Additionally, if the Moonlight Slash is interrupted by an enemy during the attack, the user will suffer considerable damage. Moreover, this form variation is essentially just an application of the art; there is no specific learning method, one can only rely on their own feeling. This requires not only a high affinity for the moon but also an affinity for light itself. Below the high circles, very few can master it directly."
At this point, Mr. Bernhart looked somewhat proud, and Shade praised him sincerely: "It is indeed very impressive. This could be considered the ultimate form variation of the [Moonlight Slash] art."
[Moonlight Slash] was, after all, an art that could be learned at low circles. After developing three forms, Shade understood that the variations of the art had reached their limit. He planned to develop one final form for this art in the last ring of the low Fourth Circle; after ascending to the middle circles, he could seek other moonlight attack arts.
The two did not wander far, continuing to chat in a position where the manor house was still visible. However, before Princess Margaret could appear, a flash of light abruptly occurred in the garden behind the manor. The light was exceptionally conspicuous in the dead of night; not only did Shade and Mr. Bernhart see it, but anyone in the manor looking out a window would certainly have seen it.
"Light spell?" Mr. Bernhart asked hesitantly. "Using a light spell here... aren't they afraid of attracting the Church's Circle Casters?"
"Perhaps it's specifically to attract them, and those casters will be forced to send some people to investigate," the well-informed Shade whispered. The two fell silent for a moment, looking toward the back of the house, but there was no further movement for a long time. Thus, Shade looked toward the entrance of the nearby house. "Why hasn't Princess Margaret's maid arrived yet?"
"I have a bad feeling," Mr. Bernhart said worriedly, then suggested, "Let's go back and check the situation. Whatever that was just now must be related to the Circle Casters. Perhaps those lunatics from the Truth Society really dare to operate here."
Shade agreed. The two walked quickly back to the entrance of the house, but when Shade pushed the door, he found he couldn't open it.
"Hmm?"
He felt as if he were trying to push a mountain.
Seeing this, Mr. Bernhart came over to help, but he similarly failed to open the door. Listening carefully to the sounds inside, the music was normal, and the sounds of conversation and laughter didn't seem fake, as they clearly heard two people by the door arguing heatedly about navigation.
"Someone locked the door?" Mr. Bernhart said in confusion. Shade reached out and tried to use [Key of Doors] to open it. The art did indeed work, but the process of unlocking felt like arm-wrestling a dragon; he could open the door, but he had to concentrate all his attention on the art.
"Mr. Bernhart, wait a moment, I'm unlocking it."
"The banquet is still proceeding normally; this 'lock' is clearly the power of a Circle Caster. The person who set this lock simply doesn't want outsiders to enter for a short time, and doesn't want to attract more attention. The Five-God Church provides direct protection to the royal family; the Truth Society likely wouldn't move directly against Princess Margaret. What on earth are they doing?" Mr. Bernhart analyzed.
After nearly five minutes, Shade finally opened the lock. Pushing open the golden doors, the two slipped inside quickly. The ball was still proceeding as usual; exquisitely dressed gentlemen and beautiful ladies were still dancing and enjoying themselves. The melodious music was so relaxing that the two gentlemen arguing about navigation at the door only gave them a glance; it seemed no one realized something unusual was happening.
But Princess Margaret had disappeared from her corner of the sofa in the banquet hall. After a bit of inquiring, he learned that someone had called her away a short while ago, but when asked who had called the Princess, the ordinary people couldn't say for sure.
"Something has indeed happened," Shade whispered nervously to Mr. Bernhart. "I'll go find that witch; as long as she's there, there won't be a problem."
Mr. Bernhart nodded but didn't want to act with Shade. "I'll go find my clansmen and ask what the situation was. In a moment, you and that lady come directly to me; perhaps I'll already know where the Princess went."
Thus, the two split up. Shade prepared his casting materials while leaving the banquet hall, heading down the left corridor to find Miss Sylvia. But after turning a corner in the hallway, he saw a tall man standing in the middle of the empty corridor, as if deliberately waiting for Shade.
Shade hadn't seen him at the banquet because this man had a dark green vertical line extending down from each cheek. His skin was somewhat dark, and his eyes were sunken deep into their sockets. He was clearly waiting for Shade.
"Was it you who opened the 'lock' from the outside?"
The strange man spoke in Carsonric with a heavy accent, his grey eyes sizing up Shade. "Sir, regardless of who you are, tonight's events have nothing to do with you. If you can pretend not to know about this, I am willing to pay 100 crowns."
Shade was also sizing him up. The opponent was a low-circle caster, likely Third Circle, so the "lock" from before wasn't set by him.
"Pantanal Voodoo Society?" he asked hesitantly. To his surprise, the man actually nodded.
"Yes, sir of Delarion. But this matter has nothing to do with the Voodoo Society; we were simply hired by someone else to come and do a few things."
"Who hired you?" Shade asked again, but the man only shook his head.
"Do you think I would tell you?"
"I just don't understand. The Truth Society has always looked down on hicks like you; why would they be willing to hire you?"
Shade was merely probing, but the burly man's expression changed.
"It seems you really did come to protect Margaret Anjou. Rest assured, neither we nor the Truth Society dare to move against a member of the royal family. We are only here to find an object."
"Why tell me this?"
"If I cannot stop you, I at least want to ensure that this operation doesn't mobilize the Inquisition of the Five-God Church."
He reached into his pocket and gave Shade a deep look, as if making a decision. "I follow the Path of Wildness; my perception of power is very keen. I can feel how terrifying you are. Even if you aren't a high-circle, you are certainly not inferior to one. I cannot stop you, but don't think you can pass easily. Those professors who call themselves civilized people gave us very valuable knowledge, and we will do our best to help them."
As he spoke, he took out something that looked like snakeskin from his pocket. Dense Whisper elements immediately surged in all directions, and Shade heard "hissing" roars in his ears.
"A relic?"
Startled, Shade swung his hand and slashed out a beam of moonlight. The Third-Circle caster didn't dodge at all; just as the moonlight precisely split him nearly in half at the waist, he swallowed the snakeskin into his stomach.
"This is the Document-grade relic [Undying Snake Slough]. Praise Pantanal! Praise the Undying Snake! Therefore, please die!"
The last few words completely turned into a strange, snake-like language, but Shade still translated them.
Blood sprayed from the man's waist; he had collapsed to the ground due to severe injury, his whole body trembling, looking as if he were about to die.
However, Shade's expression changed drastically as he stepped back repeatedly. As the snakeskin was swallowed by the man, the gas lamps in the entire corridor rapidly dimmed. The Whisper elements became more obvious and clear, and a crack opened atop the man's "corpse." Under Shade's astonished gaze, a black snake, as thick as the man's waist, with crimson eyes and a body covered in mucus, burrowed out of the corpse.
"Hiss~"
A crimson tongue flicked from the snake's mouth, and mucus flowed over its body, gradually allowing Shade to see the tapeworm-like patterns on its skin.
Its body was larger and longer than the corpse behind it. It turned and swallowed the human corpse, then slithered toward Shade, leaving wet trails on the carpet. Even though he had seen many snakes in the Sicar Mountains during autumn, being stared at by this thing still gave Shade a chill.
"He swallowed the relic? The relic went out of control?"
This reminded Shade of the Circle Caster who had turned into a merman because a merman scale went out of control.
[It's not out of control; swallowing that snakeskin should be the trigger for the relic's characteristic.]
"Truly disgusting."
His right hand drew a Moonlight Greatsword from the air, and he charged toward the snake. The massive, slow-moving python also lunged at Shade, suddenly curving its body to gather strength, shooting toward Shade like a flying arrow in the darkening corridor.
Its speed was extremely fast, but it ultimately failed to hit Shade, instead passing through a large swarm of red butterflies.
As the python landed, the butterflies converged again. Holding the "Moonlight Greatsword," Shade performed a spinning slash, the greatsword hacking toward the snake's head. However, the greatsword, glowing with a holy silver light, actually passed through the snake's body and struck the floor.
"An illusion?"
It wasn't an illusion, because the python whipped its tail, striking Shade's waist with immense force. Shade had originally thought this strike would at least heavily wound the opponent; he hadn't expected his own attack to miss. Consequently, like a ball hit by a bat, he was sent flying into the wall by that tail.
"Hiss hiss hiss~"
The light in the corridor continued to fade; darkness was descending. The pitch-black python turned, supporting its body with its tail, its mouth opening to reveal fangs. Its crimson eyes stared at the rising Shade, as if wanting to bite his head off in one go.
The descent of darkness made the snake increasingly powerful, and the darkness itself felt like a thick liquid, making Shade feel his movements becoming slower and slower. But as it lunged to bite, it failed to hit Shade, instead slamming its head heavily into the wall, crashing through it into an empty room on the other side.
Using [Ragley's Leap] to displace himself, Shade appeared at the far end of the dark corridor.
The giant snake slithered out from the hole in the wall, flicking its tongue to observe Shade, clearly planning a lethal strike. And despite the obvious noise just now, it hadn't attracted anyone's attention; it seemed this operation was indeed designed to avoid notice by any means necessary.
Relying on Dark Vision in the nearly pitch-black environment, Shade stared at the giant snake that had almost merged with the darkness, while asking himself in his heart
"Why can't I attack it, but it can attack me?"