Chapter 28: Remnants of the Old Gods

Having obtained information that had nothing to do with him under perfectly safe circumstances, a satisfied Shard intended to turn and leave, planning to recount today's experiences to Dr. Schneider.

But at that moment, the woman's elegant, whispering voice rang in his ears once more

【You have come into contact with 'Enlightenment.'】

He stopped in his tracks and frowned. The [Enlightenment] element was related to civilization, but dense traces of mysticism or sorcery could also cause its appearance, but here—

Standing in the narrow space between the pipes and the wall, because it was a blind spot, there was little trash, though there was more animal excrement.

Shard carefully examined the wall before him. The wall was almost entirely covered in various filthy words and shapes representing private organs drawn in chalk and paint; beyond that, there were many strange marks he did not wish to imagine.

His only two Spirit Runes did not currently possess the effect of enhancing vision, but what truly set him apart from ordinary people was his ability to decipher almost any written language.

Below a sentence insulting a deity, at a position higher than Shard's waist, some strange patterns were captured by the young detective's eyes. He treated them as text, and sure enough, he obtained the meaning and pronunciation of those words

"Manifest."

It took a full six syllables in the ancient language to express such a simple meaning.

Amidst the thin mist, a white light flickered before Shard. He took a step back but kept himself within the crevice between the pipes and the wall.

A curious cat was startled awake by the white light, while the person holding it saw a dilapidated stone statue slowly rising from beneath the ground.

Its base was square, and the statue itself was only half Shard's height—the image of a noble man with bat wings, draped in a cloak.

Shard closed his eyes, letting blood-tears overflow from beneath his eyelids. He covered the cat's eyes and turned around quickly, hearing the whisper in his ear—it was a whisper of joy, reciting a story never before told

【You have come into contact with the remnants of the Old God, "Duke of Vampires, Laorel."】

【An Old Deity born from the primordial filth of blood, craving blood and driven mad by it. In the twilight of the old days, expanding its kin through blood curses, its mind clouded by blood curses, it roars from the depths of a dark night castle.】

【You have listened to the story of the Old God, "Duke of Vampires, Laorel," and you have learned one of the miracles of the Old God, "Duke of Vampires, Laorel."】

"Can I engrave a Spirit Rune?"

A moment later, after confirming that this was all the information provided, Shard emerged from his shock and asked in a voice full of anticipation. The headache caused by the close contact with the Old God's statue was even relieved by this.

Then, Shard heard the woman's voice in his heart chuckling

【You have obtained the sorcery, Blood Echo. You have not yet obtained enough stories belonging to this deity, Outsider; miracles are not so easily attained.】

The whispering voice in his heart fell silent, and the Old God's statue transmitted a new power to Shard. The Fate Ring hidden behind his soul rotated, absorbing minute traces of golden elements, allowing the Brass Ring to be stained with golden particles, condensing a Spirit unique to his soul.

Shard's right eye suddenly turned blood-red; he had gained the power to see imperceptible residual bloodstains.

After fully understanding what had just occurred, Shard did not check his newly acquired power first, but instead checked the cat in his arms.

Although the cat had witnessed the entire process of the Old God's statue appearing alongside Shard, fortunately, the cat's vision had been distracted by the scattering white light at the time, so it had not observed the full appearance of the statue immediately like Shard had. Thus, aside from being a bit listless, Miya had not suffered a mental shock like Shard.

To put it simply, the power Shard had gained meant that his right eye could now, when the sorcery was actively triggered, see imperceptible bloodstains remaining on the air or object surfaces.

In Shard's world, this kind of ability could be achieved through certain technological means. However, when using sorcery, he required no instruments—only to open his eyes—and as long as a bloodstain remained, no matter how faint, he could see it.

While not a particularly powerful ability, it was unexpectedly well-suited to Shard's profession as a detective.

Shard had never heard of the name of the Old God "Duke of Vampires, Laorel"; in fact, he had never heard the name of any Old God other than the "Father of the Infinite Tree."

The story of this Old God made Him sound like He was not a benevolent deity. This judgment was entirely correct; therefore, after obtaining the sorcery and the story, the voice in his head also prompted Shard that he was coming into contact with the silver element [Profane], an element belonging only to evil gods.

But whether it was because his own perception of this Old God's [Profane] nature was shallow, or because the power of this pedestal-mounted stone statue leaned more toward [Miracle], Shard gained nothing from [Profane].

However, the gain of the sorcery was quite good. Mysticism requires corresponding Spirit Runes to use, whereas sorcery does not require Spirit Runes; it is a universal occult ability for Ring Warlocks. Because it is "universal," the effects of sorcery are often inferior to mysticism, but in reality, some sorceries also have usage restrictions.

And according to the doctor's notes, sorceries obtained through contact with Old God remnants usually cannot be learned through any other means.

Thus, Shard had essentially obtained a rare sorcery for free, though its effect was not particularly obvious.

Since he had already reaped the benefits, the next step was, of course, to leave immediately.

Shard could not take this Old God statue with him; he didn't even dare to touch it directly with his skin. The existence of the stone statue was clearly related to Lady Lasoya, and an Old God statue could not naturally exist within a city; it must have been brought to this alley and hidden by her.

The act of bringing an evil god's statue into a city was a serious illegal offense, so Shard finally judged that Lady Lasoya was not a good person.

Consequently, he read the six syllables of the ancient word meaning "Manifest" in reverse order, causing the evil god's statue to slowly descend back into the ground.

Only then did he cautiously slip away from the mouth of the alley. He didn't even bother to save money, directly hailing a carriage at the next intersection and, without any hesitation, taking the cat and heading toward Dr. Schneider's psychological clinic located in the East District of Tobesk City.

But unfortunately, Dr. Bill Schneider was not at the clinic.

The people in the clinic recognized Shard, who had been invited by the doctor to visit yesterday, so Dr. Clay, who was in charge of receiving him, informed him of Dr. Schneider's whereabouts.

The wife and daughter of an unnamed Count in this city had recently developed bulimia. The Count's private physician believed it was a psychological issue, so he had specially invited Dr. Schneider to diagnose and treat them. Dr. Schneider would be staying overnight at the Count's manor outside the city; he would not be returning at least today.

As for the address of the manor and the Count's surname, they could not be told to Shard in order to protect the patients' privacy.

"But Mr. Hamilton, you can leave a note for Bill, and he will see it when he returns," Dr. Clay said kindly, yet remained firm in his refusal to reveal the location of the Count's manor.