“I'll criticize you when we get home.”
It wasn't the time to reason with a cat, Xia De said to the aggrieved Mia, reaching out to snatch the ring from her mouth, and lifting her out of the box for Tifa to hold.
He placed the god's gift box at his feet. The box seemed to respond to the light from Iluna's scale, preventing the Human Pus that had already covered the entire clearing and was spreading towards the crystalline forest from contaminating the three of them.
“Meow~”
Mia huddled in Tifa's soft embrace, her big eyes watching Xia De. There was a very faint golden glow on the cat's body, like the sun, but also like the Divine Radiance on Xia De at this moment.
“I think your ring is here.”
Xia De displayed the fish training ring briefly, then put it on his finger. This way, both of his hands had two rings each, appearing more symmetrical. When Darkness's right hand landed earlier, the shadow that rushed out of the god's gift box was clearly Mia. It was Mia who snatched the ring from the severed hand. This cat liked the metamorphosis ring, so it might also like the fish training ring.
“You damned thief!”
A cursed voice emanated from Darkness's mouth, but it wasn't Darkness's own voice; it was clearly a demon speaking in Demonic Tongue. Amidst the gurgling sounds, Xia De slightly opened his mouth in surprise:
“Without the ring, you can actually use his mouth to speak? You really want to possess Darkness's body!”
In this completely Darkness Domain, the three people illuminated by the golden light huddled together. The light from Iluna's scale barely allowed them to see Darkness.
“Ivan Darkness, answer me, who am I speaking with now?”
Xia De asked.
“You want to seize my body?”
This time, the voice coming from Darkness's mouth was indeed his own.
“Yes.”
The demon's language once again came from Darkness's mouth, but the man, who had already become the second Chosen One, showed no concern, maintaining his Human Pus form and laughing:
“After being hit head-on by that terrifying potion, and taking so many attacks from the Thirteen Ring Sorcerer for me, even giving all the power absorbed from the Darkness to me to complete the Ritual, how much power do you have left now? I have already become a Chosen One, I have already mastered that vast Knowledge and power you cannot even imagine. Did you think I was always unprepared for you?”
In his right eye, covered by Human Pus, a scarlet light flickered. Darkness continued to talk to himself, probably how Ring術士 communicate with themselves.
The demon spoke through Darkness's mouth:
“At the moment the Selected One Ritual was completed, affected by the power of Balance, are you really fine? If it weren't for me exerting myself, you seem to temporarily not even have Middle-Ring power. Only a Chosen One can kill a Chosen One, and now another Chosen One stands before you, but I was not affected by her terrifying Balance.
Do you believe in the gravity of fate? My dear Ivan, you must be careful, that human beside her seems to hide even more terrifying power, you still need my help now.”
Speaking to himself through Darkness's mouth, trying to entice him, looked extremely bizarre.
Darkness's back seemed to have embedded itself into the crystalline giant pillar. His height and physique continuously grew stronger, while the black pus gushing from his right half of the body also increased.
But Xia De was still waiting. As Darkness gradually grew stronger, he, in the Darkness, was also gradually grasping that sensation. Enough Spirit was sufficient for him to cast Miracles across levels. This time, it seemed no Divine Radiance needed to be wasted.
“What do you want?”
Darkness asked softly, both his normal eye and the covered right eye looking at Xia De, but this was clearly not directed at him.
The demon finally stated his purpose:
“To help you devour the power of the Darkness Domain, allowing you to directly advance to High-Ring from Hexacle. In return, share your power with me. From now on, for 6 hours out of every 24 hours, I will have complete control over your body.”
“Then, through repeated demands, you will continuously extend this time until you completely occupy my body?”
Darkness laughed.
“You have no choice. Without my help, can you escape now? Across from you is a Chosen One who awakened earlier than you, a woman with witch power, and a guy who knows not if he is human—”
Xia De felt insulted.
The Demonic Tongue whispered softly:
“You need me, don't you?”
Xia De translated the demon's words to his companions. Tifa shook her head, indicating her incomprehension of Darkness, while Iluna looked resentfully at Ivan Darkness, who was gradually disappearing at the edge of the light:
“We have both inherited the power of the Old Gods and bear that responsibility. Do you really want to share your power with a demon, defiling the pure Darkness, defiling your own identity?”
“Look, they are stopping me from helping you, they are all afraid of me.”
The Demonic Tongue from Darkness's mouth continued to murmur, and Xia De also considerately translated.
In reality, the Spirit transformed after devouring the Darkness was enough for Xia De to incompletely activate the Mystic Lock, the little match girl. Even if he couldn't defeat the current Darkness, it was enough for him to escape with his companions, because Darkness absolutely wouldn't have the time to waste with him here.
But Miss Jialinna was still here, and Xia De couldn't abandon her. Moreover, if he left now, he had a premonition that the Church would absolutely not be able to contain Darkness.
It was still unknown what the situation outside was, or if Weeping Blood Hermons had other arrangements. But Xia De didn't want to constantly worry about a powerful enemy needing to be dealt with in the distance, and to fear that his enemy would reappear whenever he encountered danger, only to truly resolve him after more than ten years of constant worry.
Therefore, he chose not to activate the Mystic Lock, the little match girl, to escape, but instead wanted to try another possibility.
The golden luster of the scale in Iluna's hand was being compressed, and Darkness was completely hidden in the Darkness Domain. But the scarlet light flickering from his right eye, covered by Human Pus, was still present.
Before he entered the Darkness, Xia De clearly saw a strange, slime-like thing clinging to his back, whispering softly into his ear.
Xia De seemed to understand what was about to happen; only this made the most sense:
“So that's it, that's what the demon wanted.”
Dense whispers lingered in everyone's ears. The thick Darkness and the Human Pus flowing on the ground seemed to want to turn this place into an abyss. Iluna was already somewhat unsteady, and Tifa quickly supported her. The cat, originally held by Tifa, took this opportunity to jump onto the brown-haired girl's shoulder, lowering her head to curiously look at the golden scale she held.
The light of the Old God's power reflected in the cat's curious and innocent eyes.
“It's about to end.”
Xia De, with Divine Radiance glowing on him, said softly, preparing to roll the dice.
From the Darkness came the voice of the Human Pus demon, a voice that used another, more ancient language, a language whose power seemed capable of directly corrupting any strong soul in this world:
“How about, my Ivan, let me become your 'other self'.”
Iluna and Tifa simultaneously looked in surprise at the scarlet light representing Darkness's right eye, and amidst the gurgling sounds of flowing black pus, they both heard Darkness's reply:
“Why should I agree to you?”
“You are to walk alone in the Darkness, so let me become your shadow, forever, my dear Ivan, forever with you. All for greater power.”
Only the gurgling sound of pus filled the surroundings. After a few seconds of silence, Xia De and his two companions heard the Chosen One's answer:
“You are me.”
This sentence was spoken in delarion common language. Iluna sighed, knowing that the most terrifying thing was about to happen.
“I am you.”
The ancient Demonic Tongue spoke this sentence. The scarlet light extinguished, and everything fell silent.
After that terrifying second, as if the whole world had fallen silent, with the ear-splitting sound of wind, maniacal laughter came again from ahead. Not just ahead, but from all directions. Scarlet light points representing the demon came from all directions. Demonic whispers, terrifying roars, and fear that could not be described by human language surrounded them.
“Silver Moonlight!”
Raising his right hand, Xia De shouted loudly. Because he was currently protected by Iluna's Balance power, this light finally penetrated the Darkness.
The three of them saw that only the hemispherical area where they stood under the tree still had light. All around, dark crystals stood tall. From the pus on the ground, from the pitch-black air, from the Darkness above their heads, countless terrifying things were forming.
The combination of modern humans and ancient demons produced an even more terrifying phenomenon.
Thousands upon thousands of demons, using the power of the Darkness Chosen One and the Human Pus demon after their fusion, and with the power of the Darkness Domain as a breeding ground, were coming from the cracks of history and the past into the present.
The Silver Moonlight on Xia De's fingertips and the light from Iluna's scale contracted sharply inward, while Darkness seemed to be omnipresent.
He had now transformed into these thousands of demons.
“Unrestricted and without reverence, wantonly abusing the Chosen One's talent, it turns out to lead to such terrifying consequences. He actually communicated with history, using Human Pus to shape those past demons. It seems we still underestimated the power within Iluna. If a Chosen One has no bottom line and doesn't intend to be human anymore, they can be so terrifying. That's why Diviners try their best to find them.”
Xia De said softly.
He stood in front of the two girls:
“Don't worry, leave everything to me.”
The demons around them, in the sky, and even beneath the ground, simultaneously stretched out their hands, or hand-like organs, towards them. The Darkness extended, and the light had been compressed into a very small circular area around their feet. Even the Moonlight on his fingertips was about to extinguish.
But the scars on Xia De's body were completely unaffected. The demons feared this light, hesitating to reach out and touch it.
He looked up at everything around him:
“Darkness, you were finally devoured by the Darkness.”
When the dice of fate is thrown, it immediately causes good or bad luck to occur, and the person who throws the dice will inevitably know about it afterwards. Although the good luck determined by the dice cannot be specified, in the face of a life-threatening situation, the result of the dice will more likely affect the surrounding situation to ensure that the person who throws the dice knows what the dice affected before they die.
That's why Xia De chose to save the guaranteed 20-point opportunity until now.
Before throwing the dice, Xia De squinted at the cat on Iluna's shoulder. At this moment, Iluna and Tifa had both almost turned black, but this cat, trembling with fear, was still completely normal. Not only that, but with the surrounding light extinguished, the faint glow on the cat was very noticeable:
“I knew it, after the second Night of Divine Descent ended, it definitely wasn't me who restored you from a doll.”
Xia De thought to himself, throwing the dice of destiny upwards:
“It's over.”
