Using the force that held his hand in place, Xia De twisted his waist, kicking his legs forward, while desperately recalling the last time his divinity overflowed and he used 【Moonlight Slash】 to cleave the giant Mermaid corpse.
He had not failed to research improving and changing his Miracles, but neither 【Moonlight Slash】 nor 【Moonlight Greatsword】 could be further sublimated without a higher Ring術士 level and more Ling Runes.
However, when his divinity overflowed, Xia De experienced power beyond the Thirteenth Ring, and he also understood how he could further utilize his strength. Facing the pressure of darkness at this moment, he suddenly remembered Miss Aurora writing glowing words in the air with her finger in the Witch Council not long ago, and then recalled his flash of inspiration during the final battle at Coldwater Port.
Behind him, the 【Silver Moon】 core Ling Rune suddenly flared with light.
The silver light around his body expanded violently. His right foot, above the demon's face, kicked out a ray of Moonlight slanting from bottom-left to top-right. Immediately after, his left foot, above the demon's face, drew a ray of Moonlight from top-left to bottom-right.
The two rays of light formed a cross, but unlike previous 【Moonlight Slash】 attacks, they did not fly out immediately; instead, they solidified in the air.
"Heiya!"
Xia De curled his legs together, then, in his suspended position, suddenly kicked his feet forward.
His feet struck the Moonlight cross floating in the air, and then the crossed Moonlight, propelled by the force of his feet, cut towards the demon's vertical pupil.
The crossed Moonlight was more dazzling than ever, and its brilliant light made the demon feel a sense of danger. Left with no choice, its left hand released Xia De's right hand and quickly raised its left arm horizontally in front of its face to defend.
The Moonlight cross, kicked out by Xia De's feet, easily destroyed the sleeve of the robe upon contact with the demon's thick black right arm, and then collided with the black gas seeping from the demon's skin. It dissolved the black gas and cut into the skin. Before the last wisp of Moonlight disappeared, the demon's left arm was almost split into four parts.
"Ah~"
Amidst a crazed and terrifying roar, the demon held Xia De and tried to smash him to the ground. But Xia De had already dropped the dried frog leg, and using the left hand that the demon was gripping, he swung himself hard. As his body rotated, his right hand drew the Moonlight Greatsword from the air and stabbed towards his opponent's right arm.
Because its left arm was severely injured, the demon could only release Xia De with its right hand as well to block the Moonlight Greatsword. Xia De also seized this opportunity, lightly kicking off the demon's raised arm with his feet, and using the reactive force to jump backward.
After spinning three hundred and sixty degrees in the air, he landed steadily on the ground, successfully creating distance from his opponent.
The vertical-pupiled demon in the black robe did not launch another attack in its fury. The surrounding darkness converged on its severely injured left arm, and the arm, flowing with black blood, was rapidly recovering. It seemed that in this Darkness Domain, these demons, derived from relics, were almost immortal.
"That kick just now was indeed commendable, but you still can't defeat me."
The blasphemy spoke the truth. Although Xia De had modified the Miracle 【Silver Moon Slash】, sacrificing a few extra seconds of preparation time for a significant increase in power, it was probably still impossible to defeat this terrifying entity with just that. The opponent was practically overwhelming him, and Xia De did not believe he had any chance of defeating the demon:
"Yes, so wait for me for three seconds. I'll fight you again after three seconds."
Xia De said very seriously. While the demon absorbed darkness to heal itself, he had already fumbled in his pocket for the time key of the fifth epoch, 1784:
"May the World Tree protect me throughout infinite time."
He chanted quickly, holding the key in his right hand and inserting it into the pendant held in his left hand.
Click~ With a sound, the keyhole turned, and the door of the door-shaped pendant opened as the key was pulled, white mist like silk threads drifting out from behind the miniature door frame.
The black demon picked up the black fire human bone from the ground and threw it at Xia De, but Xia De had already extended his finger into the door frame:
"See you in three seconds."
The relics he carried fell to the ground along with the door pendant. The black fire human bone passed through Xia De's disappearing illusion and was obliquely stuck behind the spot where he had originally stood.
【Outsider, you have stepped into the "Time Corridor".】
【Message from the Ancient God "Father of Infinite Trees":】
【Winter of the fifth epoch, 1784, Terror Castle.】
【Event: Gambling Game - Life Game.】
【Duration: Twenty minutes (3/3).】
【You have gained additional information.】
【The figure of the Father of Infinite Trees continues to watch you.】
【The Ancient God of Time gives you a test.】
【Help mortals win the "Life Gambling Game".】
【The Father of Infinite Trees will give you rewards: Miracle - Breath of Years, a piece of real information - Dark Dungeon.】
"This is bad. Without the darkness box, I can't experience darkness even when facing fear."
Xia De thought with some annoyance, standing in the white mist.
Among the quick methods for obtaining 【Light】 Ling Runes provided by Miss Aurora, one needed to stimulate oneself with a relic possessing 【Darkness】 power. Although Xia De was currently in the Darkness Domain, due to the protection of Priest Augustus's miraculous power, he could not feel the pressure of the darkness power on himself at all; only his vision was severely affected.
Therefore, using this key without the darkness box by his side, even if fear would stimulate the formation of Ling Runes, it would not directly allow Xia De to obtain Ling Runes.
Stepping forward in the white mist, he entered the ancient corridor within Terror Castle. Before the surrounding light began to waver and he felt a sense of being watched from behind, Xia De took off running forward:
"But before completing this task, I still need to go out and see what exactly is chasing me."
Because this time he started running almost immediately after appearing, the gaze that directly caused primal fear, which was behind him, was still a long distance away until he saw the large door engraved with the symbol of a flipped coin.
Xia De crashed sideways into the metal door, and upon entering, immediately turned around and firmly closed the door.
Only then did he lean against the door, panting heavily, while Mr. Riddle, who had been sitting by the wall with his head down, now looked up.
He was still wearing that dirty brown robe, his eyes dull as if a little lost. But he quickly recognized Xia De, stood up leaning against the wall, and smiled:
"You're finally back... Oh! Are you injured?"
"It's fine, just let me drink some water."
Xia De shook his head. This was the meaning of the twenty-minute extra rest time.
"Sometimes I even wonder if all my memories of you are an illusion."
Mr. Riddle sighed softly.
"Then why don't you think this is an illusion now?"
Xia De finished his water, put the water bottle into his pocket, and wiped his mouth.
"When you appear, the reality of the world is stronger than ever."
Mr. Riddle used a metaphor that Xia De did not understand, which was probably some kind of metaphor among Prophets.
Although the total time Xia De and Mr. Riddle had spent together was only a little over half an hour, both felt like old friends reunited upon meeting.
Compared to Xia De's last visit, Mr. Riddle's mental state was significantly better this time, and his logical thinking was mostly normal. He even remembered the "all things are impermanent card" that Xia De had mentioned when he left last time. Therefore, when Xia De took out three cards from his pocket and explained his thoughts, Mr. Riddle was surprised and wanted to see the cards:
"This is truly fascinating, cards left by Ancient Gods. Although they don't possess extraordinary power, they have been passed down from ancient times, so there must be a greater secret on them. Perhaps in my temporarily lost memories, there are clues about these cards, but unfortunately, I can't think of anything now."
By personally seeing these three cards from Xia De's hand, Mr. Riddle would likely be able to conduct relevant research more smoothly after leaving Terror Castle. Records from the Prophet Association show that this gentleman indeed found a card before his death, and that card is still preserved within the Prophet Association to this day.
The two did not chat for too long. After Mr. Riddle sat back down beside the stone table, the thick darkness was temporarily dispelled by the light of a short candle lit on the other side of the table, and the black-robed deity appeared again.
So far, He had not revealed His true form when appearing here. Xia De and Mr. Riddle only saw the black robe, but because of this, Mr. Riddle, as an ordinary person, was qualified to gamble with a god.
If it were truly a Saint or the deity's true body, even if it were just the "powerless" The Innocent Creator, Mr. Riddle would absolutely not have been able to last until the end of the gambling game.
"I don't know what will happen after I place these three cards; it's just a guess for now."
Xia De, with golden cracks appearing on the surface of his body, stood behind Mr. Riddle and placed the three cards to his right.
"all things are impermanent; everything has no fixed destiny. Therefore, all we can do is gamble on luck."
Mr. Riddle said softly. This ancient Prophet living in the fifth epoch, after overcoming the mental instability caused by loneliness, displayed a rationality and composure that greatly surprised Xia De.
But thinking about it carefully, this gentleman survived so many adventures and is still alive, and from historical records, he still has more than twenty years to continue adventuring. Therefore, in addition to luck, courage and wisdom beyond ordinary people were clearly not lacking.
"Oh God~"
He called softly, taking the all things are impermanent Balance that Xia De had placed on top into his hand. He held the bottom of the card with his right middle and index fingers, showing the card face to the deity, while also letting the card block his right eye:
"May I use this card, a gift from an unknown person, to continue this gamble?"
He chose to directly ask the deity, but after waiting for a long time, he received no response from the deity.
