"Damn it, your blood is wrong. What exactly are you?"
The demon's voice woke Xia De. The long illusion corresponded to reality for less than two seconds, so short that even Iluna and Tifa didn't have time to react.
As his mind returned to normal, the glowing runes on the 【Great Sin Chains】 also returned to their normal state, but their dark color seemed to indicate that the chains were now somewhat different.
Darkness's right hand quickly released Xia De's shoulder and retreated as if it had encountered a natural enemy.
But the consequence of doing so was that the black chains piercing his arm also followed him, being pulled towards Darkness.
Priest Augustus's blessing disappeared, and the 【darkness box】 ceased its out-of-control state due to its power being devoured. The surroundings returned to the internal environment of the Darkness Domain.
Xia De clutched his right shoulder, seeing that the silver light on the right side of his body had extinguished, and half of his body seemed to have melted into the Darkness.
However, in the blink of an eye, the abnormal half of his body recovered, and the effects of devouring the dark power completely disappeared. It even seemed as if he had adapted to the Darkness by devouring it; his vision was broader than when the blessing was still active, and he could now almost completely see in the Darkness:
"Priest Augustus's blessing is truly excellent. I must make a special trip to thank him after we get out."
Xia De thought.
She was chuckling.
Darkness's arm retracted, wriggling and transforming into pus, "spitting out" the runic chains that had pierced his arm. Xia De, whose spirit suddenly became full, leaped forward, once again breaking through space with 【Raglai's Leap】 and appearing in front of Darkness.
He swung his sword down with his right hand. This time, Darkness merely raised his right hand and grasped Xia De's Moonlight Greatsword.
Silver moon fragments drifted into the mouth on his palm, and a huge suction force prevented Xia De from moving. However, the abundance of spirit allowed Xia De to maintain the existence of the Moonlight Greatsword for a long time. The demon, who had been successively injured by the weak angelic potion and the 【Great Sin Chains】, was only barely able to suppress him this time.
At this moment, the ritual array composed of thirteen light spots had risen from Darkness's feet to his waist, and the Selected One Ritual was about to be completed.
"Hamilton, what rank are you exactly?"
In the glow of the Moonlight Greatsword, Darkness's scarlet eyes stared at Xia De, and he finally asked the question.
"Guess?"
Although the suction prevented Xia De from retreating, he could at least release his sword and then embrace the other's hand. The 【demon hunter seal】 touched the demon's mouth, and Darkness wanted to retreat as if scalded, but behind him was the black stone pillar, and the 【Great Sin Chains】 that surged out again tightly bound Xia De's hand to his right hand.
Darkness opened his mouth and exhaled a puff of black smoke at Xia De. The black smoke enveloped half of Xia De's face, and with a rustling sound, half of Xia De's face completely crystallized.
But it didn't matter; Xia De's goal had been achieved.
"What?"
The Moonlight descended, and the 【Blade of Chaotic Time】 summoned a second Moonlight Greatsword.
The right hand, possessed by the demon, was firmly embraced by Xia De and could not escape. The Moonlight passed through his wrist, and the entire right hand fell to the ground with the descending Moonlight. But before it could be tracked and entangled by the 【Great Sin Chains】, that right hand turned into a puddle of pus again, escaping through the gaps in the chains and falling with a *thud* onto the crystallized ground at their feet.
The 【god's gift box】 on Xia De's back had opened a crack when he was struck flying earlier. At this moment, this box, like the 【darkness box】 that had gone out of control just now, had its lid forced open by an unseen force from outside, and a dark shadow suddenly shot towards the ground.
"My demonic power!"
In extreme pain, Darkness kicked Xia De, who was close by, to the far ground, covered his right wrist with his left hand, and let out a tragic howl. But the ritual continued; having a demon attached to him was not a necessary condition for the ritual.
"Is the current situation normal? Are you sure that the demon on you isn't trying to bewitch you and take over your body right now?"
Taking advantage of the demon's brief separation from Darkness, Xia De, whose half body was crystallized, struggled to squeeze out words with half his mouth, his uncrystallized eyes staring directly at the fading red glow in the other's eyes:
"Your talent is Darkness, not demons. Don't be deceived by the demon."
Xia De also felt very unwell after being kicked by the other party. In addition to the crystallization of his body, he even felt something crawl onto his shoulder and then climb towards the box on his back.
After applying the "False Immortality" state to himself, he slowly stood up, and the crystallization rapidly spread to the other half of his body.
"Xia De!"
The two girls, severely wounded by the previous dark impact, supported him from behind. The three of them looked together at Darkness in the heavenly light.
"No, I haven't been deceived, no one can deceive me!"
The dark pus on the ground automatically flew up. Darkness, whose face was distorted by pain, extended his right arm, and the black pus accurately connected with his bleeding arm, gradually fusing in the distorted Darkness.
He could have used Xia De's sword to reject the demon during the Selected One Ritual, but he chose to merge with the demon once again.
"Are you really going to use the demon's power?"
Xia De looked into his eyes and asked one last time:
"Are you sure you're right?"
"I never believe in good or evil, right or wrong; I only believe in myself. With power, I can define good and evil myself."
Darkness, floating in that strange heavenly light, though pale, met Xia De's gaze directly. He frowned, genuinely answering Xia De's questions seriously and pondering the meaning of these words:
"No matter what Ring術士 you are, you won't stop me."
"I don't believe in good or evil either; good and evil are defined by humans themselves. But after doing so many bad things, betraying your organization for power, slaughtering ordinary people who witnessed you, spreading demonic power to distort others' souls, and making yourself look so terrifying, is all of this worth it?"
Xia De asked.
"Of course it's worth it. In my youth, I pushed my cousin, who knew my private secrets, off a cliff. In my youth, I murdered my brother for inheritance. After becoming a Ring術士, for the power of the demon, I poisoned the Second-Circle Arcanist who trusted me with a magic potion. Do you think I'll feel guilty? No, I don't have such emotions, because everything can be abandoned. Do you understand Darkness? I understand. I will ultimately walk alone. I, only believe in myself."
"But to me, Darkness is not such a thing."
Xia De wanted to refute:
"Darkness is just Darkness, the most profound natural phenomenon capable of swallowing everything. It is you who have given Darkness your thoughts; your Darkness is not pure, you are about to be devoured by Darkness."
Darkness's arm reconnected, the scarlet light in his eyes reignited, and their gazes met:
"Fear!"
Extreme fear once again surged into Xia De's eyes. Even after experiencing the fear in Terror Castle, this blow, imbued with the power of an ancient god, still made his heart tremble.
Thinking carefully, this moment seemed somewhat familiar. It seemed not long ago, he was also standing in the Darkness with two ladies, but at that time, someone had said another sentence...
His soul was stirred, and a long-dormant power was trying to revive. This was an impulse, a strange impulse. Xia De understood the power he sought; Priest Augustus was right, it is not light that defeats Darkness, but the courage to face Darkness.
He knew he was only one step away from a brand new Miracle, and he no longer lacked spirit. He only lacked the final touch, the touch that would push him to reach that great power.
The ritual array composed of thirteen light spots fully ascended, reaching above Darkness's head. The black-robed phantom merged with the Hexacle Destiny Ring, and the true power of the Darkness Chosen One swept forth.
With a muffled *bang*, all the crystals on Xia De's body shattered, along with his skin and clothes. The revealed cracks showed the divine golden afterglow that lit up from contact with the ancient god's power.
The power of Darkness washed over him. Xia De shielded the two girls behind him, and the afterglow from his cracks trailed behind him like golden flame tails. He touched the dice in his pocket and smiled:
"Just don't regret it yourself."
Darkness stared intently into Xia De's eyes, wanting to know what he would do at the last moment.
Xia De narrowed his eyes, then suddenly bent down—
"Balance!"
Iluna appeared close behind Xia De's head, her eyes meeting Darkness's gaze in place of Xia De's.
The world was eerily silent for the moment.
Above, Darkness's Destiny Ring melted and transformed into a black robe adorned with golden light spots.
The second Chosen One had officially appeared.
Xia De squeezed the dice in his pocket, then pulled Iluna and Tifa back. The three of them didn't attack Darkness, and Darkness didn't attack them either.
He fell back to the ground, and that beam of pure white heavenly light exploded in the air. With a thunderous *boom*, terrifying black lightning continuously struck the ground in the sky of the Darkness Domain, as if the world was celebrating the appearance of the second Chosen One.
He laughed wildly in this profound Darkness, his voice directly echoing throughout the entire dark expanse.
The black robe formed by the Destiny Ring draped over him, the thirteen light spots integrated into his being, and the power of the ancient god poured into his soul from the distant void. The innate talents and Knowledge already present in his soul were pushing him to an even higher peak:
"It's a success! Destiny, it truly is on my side!"
Black pus flowed from the palm of his right hand, spilling the disgusting black liquid onto the crystallized ground. The pus climbed the black giant pillar from the ground, and at the same time, like a spring, it continuously spread outwards.
In the blink of an eye, the open space in the crystal forest was covered with pus. And outside the forest, amidst earthquakes and mountain roars, black crystals spread from the crystal forest as the center to the entire domain, with crystal pillars piercing the ground one by one.
Iluna turned and took the golden scales floating behind her. A circular area of golden light formed, creating a circular space for the three of them amidst the gurgling pus.
Darkness's human form was severely wounded by the Church's Ring術士, and his demon mouth form was severely wounded by Iluna and the 【weak angelic potion】. But he did not enter the third form, which is the half-demon form. Instead, he directly covered his right half of his body with Human Pus, entering the Human Pus demon form, and gradually merging with the black giant pillar behind him.
"He wants to devour the ancient demon's corpse. Don't worry, he was affected by my gaze at the last moment. Don't look at how happily he's laughing now, and the power he's displaying is even more terrifying than mine was at the time, but this is the power of instantaneous soul sublimation and eruption. I bet he won't be able to use any power above Four Ring for half an hour. As long as we prevent the Human Pus from helping him devour the ancient demon and thus recover from my restraint, we will win this time."
Iluna whispered, and Xia De also whispered:
"Don't worry, I'll open a Mystic Lock for him to see in a bit."
"Mystic Lock? Didn't you tell the young lady you weren't a Summoner?"
Tifa was greatly surprised, but Xia De said again:
"Not the snowy Mystic Lock. I have my own Mystic Lock, related to Darkness and courage, but it hasn't fully formed yet. One person can't have two Mystic Locks, so this proves again that I'm not a Summoner."
The rule that "one person cannot have two Mystic Locks" doesn't actually exist. It's just that Mystic Locks are inherently difficult to learn and master, so the possibility of a Ring術士 mastering two Mystic Locks is almost non-existent.
The surrounding Darkness grew thicker with the gurgling pus flowing beneath their feet, as if the profound Darkness was about to swallow everything here.
The three stood within the circular area opened by the Chosen One's power of 【Balance】, but Xia De ignored the Darkness and instead took off the box he was carrying, opened its lid, and looked inside:
"Before that, I need to confirm something."
"Meow~"
The tiny orange cat, as if in fear, curled up in a corner of the 【god's gift box】. Seeing Xia De looking down at it, it raised its head, looked at him with its large amber eyes, and let out a very wronged meow.
Iluna and Tifa also saw the cat, and although he had guessed the source of the meow just now, Xia De still couldn't quite believe it:
"When did you get in..."
He paused again, seeing Mia in the box as if she was biting something. He first looked at his hand, confirmed that all three rings were there, and then hesitantly asked:
"Mia, you... this ring... where did you get it?"
"Why can't I use my power? Where is my fish training ring?"
Darkness, in his demon form, suddenly shouted, and Xia De then understood why he didn't enter the half-demon form.
Without the 【fish training ring】, the Human Pus demon would not be able to speak through the demon's mouth, and thus could not transform into a half-demon with a certain degree of autonomy.
The Ring術士 himself was severely wounded, the reconnected right hand meant the demon's mouth was temporarily not a threat, the half-demon could not appear, and the Darkness Chosen One's talent was suppressed by Balance.
Although he had completed the most crucial ritual and obtained his identity, the current Darkness only had the final form of Human Pus that he could use. And because of the weak angelic potion, Darkness in his Human Pus form did not seem to possess overwhelming power.
At this moment, only four minutes had passed since the Steel Right Hand left. Although Xia De and the ladies were all wounded, it seemed that they were the ones who had the upper hand.
