Xia De, on the other side, didn't know that because he left home in too much of a hurry, although he didn't leave anything behind, he brought extra items.
He was currently prostrate on the ground, holding his breath, enduring the pain in his head as he listened to the sharp, ear-piercing singing.
Ahead was the source of the singing; the plants in the center of the cornfield were all flattened, forming a circular area. Dozens of short "Servant of Secrets" draped in black robes surrounded a bonfire made of human bones, singing while performing frantic dances in the center of the cornfield.
Their faces clearly had only one eye, yet they could still emit sounds. And that bonfire was an even deeper black, deeper than the surrounding Darkness; just looking at it instinctively brought a feeling of fear and danger.
It was as if everything in the world could fall into eternal slumber in the black bonfire in the center of the cornfield. The slightly trembling black flames seemed to represent the end of all things.
If not for the warmth of the divinity in his soul, constantly warming Xia De, he would probably have immediately fallen into a deep sleep and eternal slumber at that moment. After immediately averting his gaze, his soul still seemed to feel the cold, silence, and emptiness of that instant.
“What is this again?”
Xia De whispered in his heart, but received no answer. He raised his head again, looking through the gaps in the corn stalks to a position slightly to the left; there was a somewhat illusory space on the left side of the circular clearing.
This was a spatial fracture formed after the Darkness melted the space; once one entered that area, they would be transferred to other locations within the Darkness Domain.
“Luvia’s divination couldn’t have been for us to fight these demons, so the divination meant to go to another location through this spatial anomaly… Could it be directly appearing in front of Darkness? No, it shouldn’t be that lucky.”
Xia De deduced in his heart, narrowing his eyes and thinking for a moment.
If he were alone, he would only need to rush out of the cornfield, take a step forward with Raglai's Leap before those demons reacted, and he would be able to enter that spatial anomaly area before being attacked to death.
But he still had Luvia with him, and Xia De couldn't guess where they would appear after passing through that special area, or whether they would need to fight immediately afterward.
“I'll go back and discuss it with Luvia, but for now, it's good news.”
He listened to the sharp, ear-piercing song composed of blasphemy, a prayer for power to the God of Darkness, and carefully crawled backward.
The scene of demons praying in the clearing was obscured by the dense black corn stalks. Xia De moved backward little by little, then heard the singing gradually become even more frantic.
Suddenly, he had a bad premonition, and at the same time, a voice in his heart warned that the surrounding whisper element was becoming increasingly dense.
“Duck!”
Xia De, who had already crawled dozens of feet, suddenly felt a cold wind instantly fly over his head.
The area of influence of the human bone Darkness bonfire was expanding as the ritual progressed. Amidst the howling of the "Servant of Secrets", more corn stalks fell, enlarging the area of the ritual site.
Thus, Xia De, who was hiding within, was exposed.
He patted the dirt off himself and stood up. The singing in his ears stopped. He looked up and saw dozens of vertical pupils staring at him. He didn't know if it was because his eyes had adapted to seeing in the dark, but with the help of the eye drops, the range Xia De could see was getting wider and wider.
“Seriously, I thought the reason I was discovered would be some ridiculous reason like accidentally breaking a branch.”
He felt neither fear nor dread. He stuffed the youthful immortality leaf, which originally belonged to Iluna, into his mouth, kissed the demon hunter seal on his hand, and drew the Moonlight Greatsword, whose light was severely restricted, from the air with his right hand.
The appearance of the two-handed Greatsword seemed to provoke the demons by the bonfire; they all let out sharp cries but did not charge at Xia De.
The demons' bodies actually melted in the black firelight. That flowing Darkness eventually converged, finally reconstructing a humanoid creature in front of the bonfire, draped in a black robe and a head taller than Xia De.
His face also had only one vertical pupil, but on the lower half of his pure white, bread-like, vertically oval face, there was an additional pitch-black crack.
That slit, presumably a mouth, opened:
“What do I see? Moonlight, such pure Moonlight!”
This was the language of demons, more blasphemous and more powerful than the demonic language used by the "Servant of Secrets":
“Welcome to the Darkness Domain!”
The mouth let out a sharp laugh. It turned around, and both hands simultaneously drew slender white human bones from the bonfire behind it. Crossing them over its chest, it clapped them together. As the black flames wrapped around the bones, its face turned towards the black sky, letting out the sharpest roar yet:
“Please, rest here in peace!”
“Wait, you recognize the Moonlight on me?”
Xia De extended his empty left hand, making a stopping gesture, but in fact, he wasn't seeking an answer. Instead, as he extended his hand, he pointed his finger forward, his eyes slightly narrowed:
“Mind Blast!”
The three crystals on the crystal ring simultaneously emitted light, and an invisible wave radiated from his fingertips. The demon holding the black fire human bones stood stiffly in front of the bonfire. Xia De charged forward with the sword in one hand, and after entering within 10m of the demon's body, his body disappeared, then reappeared above the opponent's head with the sword in both hands:
“Hmph!”
The Moonlight Greatsword's blade emitted an even stronger light as Xia De's spirit was infused and elements fluctuated. But the demon, stiff in place, suddenly raised its hand, and the black fire human bones crossed to block the Moonlight Greatsword. Then it opened its mouth towards Xia De's head, and a deep black shockwave spewed forth.
“Not good.”
He held the sword upright, blocking the Darkness that was even more profound against the black background as he descended. The demon hunter seal on his right hand glowed slightly, causing more complex rune chains to vaguely appear on the transparent silver sword blade.
But even so, the Darkness spewing from the demon's mouth still shattered the silver Greatsword, then struck Xia De directly in the chest.
In intense pain, he was sent flying into the distance. After landing on the edge of the circular cornfield clearing, he immediately touched himself, triggering the effect of False Immortality.
He struggled to get up, supporting himself with his hand on the ground. Besides the taste of the youthful everlasting leaf in his mouth, there was also the taste of blood. He quickly took out a test tube and drank a mouthful of water stained with silver spiritual light. There was no need to waste the youthful everlasting leaf yet.
In just one encounter, Xia De was almost at death's door. This demon, formed by the fusion of several "Servant of Secrets", could be equivalent to a Middle-Ring human Ring術士 of 6th or even 7th Circle.
Although Xia De had the demon hunter seal, he was suppressed in the Darkness Domain, while the demon received positive environmental effects.
“Yes, I recognize the Moonlight on you. A mortal favored by the Silver Moon God, such pure light, you could almost be considered a priest of that great sage.”
The information revealed by the blasphemous words startled Xia De. He stood up, leaning on his sword:
“You actually know the ancient god of the moon, the Silver Moon Sage?”
“Before becoming demons, we were elemental 眷族 of the ancient god crawling darkness. The individual is the race, but the race is also the individual.”
The demon holding the black fire human bones laughed wildly as it looked at Xia De:
“We were ordered to guard the corpse of an ancient demon killed by a god here. After the ancient god left, the material world underwent tens of thousands of years of changes, and we also changed. It’s been too long, and the collective memory of the past has almost vanished, but I still remember this Moonlight, so pure, so captivating. If I can make you rest here in peace as well, this Darkness will surely become even stronger.”
“Then have you figured out what I am?”
Xia De immediately asked.
“You, ah~”
The demon laughed wildly, raising the two human bones in its hands high, then suddenly disappeared in front of the bonfire.
“Damn it, these relic derivatives can teleport in the dark!”
Xia De realized there was a rush of wind behind him, and the blasphemous words, along with the descent of the weapon, entered Xia De's ears:
“How do I know what you are?”
The black fire human bones struck towards Xia De's head, but Xia De's figure disappeared again.
The vertical-eyed, wildly laughing demon melted into the Darkness again and reappeared behind Xia De, who had reappeared.
Xia De, who was prepared, threw a right punch. The fist wearing the demon hunter seal went straight for the opponent's face. The demon wanted to melt into the Darkness again, but the activated Space Stabilization Aura, although unable to dispel the Darkness Domain, could prohibit any other entity from using spatial power around him.
Bang!
This punch still missed its target. The demon's left hand dropped its weapon and grabbed Xia De's fist. As the seal touched the opponent's hand, thick smoke with a foul smell immediately rose, but the vertical-eyed demon seemed not to care at all:
“demon hunter seal? Indeed, every time we appear, these rings will appear like dogs sniffing out bones.”
It grabbed Xia De's fist and lifted him high. Xia De drew the Greatsword with his left hand and stabbed it towards its chest, but it was immediately shattered into sparkling silver fragments by the black fire human bones swung by the opponent.
“Not over yet!”
His left hand slashed down through the air, and a Moonlight slash struck towards the opponent's vertical pupil at close range. But the eye merely closed, and the eyelid blocked the Moonlight. Immediately afterward, his left hand tried to use Mind Blast again, but this time, the demon, who was prepared, laughed and violently slammed into Xia De's head. Xia De instantly felt the world spinning, blood flowing down his cheek, his mind unable to focus, and Mind Blast failed to cast.
“Pure Moonlight, but you don’t know how to use it at all.”
It dropped the weapon in its right hand and grabbed Xia De's hands with both of its own, lifting him high. Then it suddenly pulled him to both sides, as if trying to tear Xia De in half.
Steam roared, and a whistle sounded. The complete Destiny Ring of a Second-Circle Arcanist appeared behind Xia De, representing the Ring術士's strongest combat state:
“Do you think I really don’t know how to use Moonlight?”
