After a moment of standoff, the three began to move simultaneously. This time, the PentaCircle Arcanist from The Society of Truth, after consuming a bottle of unknown magic potion, used his Destiny Ring to simultaneously summon a three-headed dog, a ghoul, a tree demon, and an ugly old witch wearing a hat.
This method of individual summoning using a single Ling Rune, of course, couldn't compare to Leia and Iluna's method of connecting five Ling Runes for summoning. However, quantity could slightly compensate for the difference in quality; the three-headed dog and the tree demon went against Xia De, while the other two faced Iluna.
Xia De kissed the moonstone ring on his finger, and steam mist emerged behind him, revealing a corner of his Three-Ring Arcanist's Destiny Ring, as the Miracle Ling Rune 【yellow moon】 shimmered:
"Bewilderment!"
The ring shimmered with bright yellow Moonlight as Xia De extended it forward. Under that even faint light, the ugly three-headed dog and the tree demon, resembling twisted human bodies, actually stopped and then started fighting each other.
"Is this Miracle really that effective?"
Xia De looked at the ring on his finger, and the PentaCircle Arcanist also noticed the situation on Xia De's side. He didn't continue to summon more creatures but instead charged towards Xia De with a greatsword in hand.
Perhaps seeing that Xia De was only a Three-Ring Arcanist, and confident in his own physical strength, he merely used the blasphemy Ling Rune 【Strength】 to apply a buff to himself before directly swinging his sword to attack.
Clang~
"What?"
Silver Moonlight splattered as the greatsword wielded by the unfamiliar Ring術士 actually struck the dark iron chains held in Xia De's hands. Those were the 【Great Sin Chains】; although they had no offensive power, unlike the Moonlight Greatsword which had been shattered many times, the 【Great Sin Chains】 had never broken.
The sword could not cut the chains, and the chains, of course, could not break the sword. Thus, this became a test of strength between Xia De and his opponent, but even with his buffed state, the PentaCircle Arcanist only slightly overpowered Xia De in terms of strength:
"Damn it, where exactly did you come from?"
He still didn't understand, while Xia De stared blankly at the familiar sword in front of him. He had fought with this sword many times, but this was the first time he had been attacked by it, the first time he had observed the full appearance of the 【Moonlight Greatsword】 from the tip of the blade:
"So that's how it is..."
His body vanished again and reappeared ten meters away, flinging out the 【Great Sin Chains】 from his hand, but because he didn't use any whip techniques, the chains only scared the opponent back a step.
Xia De looked up at the moon in the sky, and the 【yellow moon】 Ling Rune on the corner of his revealed Destiny Ring behind him shimmered. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and the light in his palm, representing that bright yellow moon, flickered like a breathing rhythm.
Standing in the dense forest at this moment, it felt as if he had returned to the Thousand Tree Forest, as if he had once again seen Ms. Olanorde in front of him, demonstrating her Miracle.
He stood empty-handed, closed his eyes, and quickly rushed towards the PentaCircle Arcanist ten meters away. Although the opponent was puzzled by what Xia De intended to do, he first flicked out glowing light bullets with his hand, which Xia De easily dodged, then held his greatsword ready to meet the attack.
the moment the two met, silver Moonlight slashed towards Xia De's shoulder. And the light in Xia De's palm, at this moment, finally synchronized its frequency with the shimmering light of the Ling Rune behind him:
"Perhaps, I really have a talent for Moonlight Miracles."
Ten seconds had passed; his figure vanished from beneath the sword, reappearing behind the man. The man immediately spun around to slash behind him, and Xia De finally opened his eyes.
The yellow moon shone upon him, and he was one with the moon:
"Moonlight Greatsword!"
Clang!
Bright yellow Moonlight fragments and silver Moonlight fragments burst forth simultaneously. Xia De, holding the bright yellow longsword, blocked the silver greatsword in the opponent's hand.
The power of a Ling Rune is weaker than the power of a core Ling Rune, so the yellow moon Greatsword in his hand at this moment was weaker than the Silver Moon Greatsword. However, the Silver Moon Greatsword itself was weakened when held by someone other than its owner. Therefore, when the two swords collided simultaneously, both developed fine cracks.
A dark vortex reappeared beside the man, and this time, Iluna accurately grasped the mirror.
Under immense force, both swords shattered simultaneously, the magic eye effect failed, and Xia De regained the right to use the Silver Moon - 【Moonlight Greatsword】. The Ring術士 of The Society of Truth could no longer slash Iluna's hand, so he widened his blue magic eye again, looking at the dark vortex, attempting to seize this power, but unexpectedly found that the magic eye had no effect on the vortex.
"What is this again? Also, have I experimented on your friends? Who exactly are you people?"
He cursed, abandoning the mirror and letting Iluna take it. After enduring a 【Mind Blast】 punch from Xia De, he finally retreated to a safe place, bleeding from seven orifices while enduring a headache:
"Middlesburg is truly dangerous. You two against one is shameless. Just wait until I apply for more support."
White mist appeared behind him. Iluna, who had just arrived in the city, didn't recognize what it was, but Xia De did:
"Space Stabilization Aura!"
But it was too late; the Gap seemed to have swallowed the opponent instantly. The white mist disappeared, taking the man with it.
"That's the entrance to the Gap. Is The Society of Truth that bold? And they actually mastered the method to open the Gap."
Xia De said in surprise, wanting to take off his mask, but Iluna stopped him:
"The Church doesn't allow me to freely use the power of 'Balance' in this city."
Iluna explained, shaking the mirror in her hand at Xia De:
"Spoils of war."
Under the Moonlight, the seventeen-year-old girl smiled:
"Thanks to you, otherwise, we wouldn't have won so easily. I've seen him before, a few years ago, he was still a researcher for the Truth Society. Don't worry, he's a genuine bad guy. The Church has an 8000 pound bounty on him, we didn't hit the wrong person."
"This is your spoil of war."
Xia De motioned for Iluna to keep the mirror that could absorb the Sunlight Gun, then looked down at his left and right hands.
Both hands simultaneously pierced the air, and then the holy silver and clear yellow 【Moonlight Greatsword】 actually appeared at the same time.
One belonged to the core Ling Rune 【Silver Moon】, appearing as a standard two-handed greatsword; the other belonged to the Three-Ring Ling Rune 【yellow moon】, and due to its weaker power, the sword's length and width were smaller, making it a slightly larger longsword.
Xia De's 【Moonlight Greatsword】 could not summon two at once, but the same type of Miracle belonging to different Ling Runes could be used simultaneously. In the dark forest, both swords glowed faintly, making the scene in the forest incredibly mystical.
"Did you learn this yourself? That's amazing."
Iluna said with great envy:
"I've inquired, 【Moonlight Greatsword】 and 【Sunlight Greatsword】 are both high-level Miracles, and you actually learned them so easily. Sometimes I really want to ask our friend, who exactly is the chosen one."
"Of course it's you, that's been confirmed many times. But, should we inform the Church about what happened here?"
Xia De asked, and Iluna thought for a moment and nodded:
"Yes, then you should leave first. I'll go inform the Church later and see if we can track the opponent's whereabouts."
"Alright, remember to contact me anytime if something comes up."
Xia De turned to leave, but Iluna called out to him again:
"Wait a moment."
The brown-haired girl stood with her hands behind her back, lowering her head to kick a small stone at her feet:
"I'll have time around ten o'clock, so shall we dance together? I heard from colleagues at the Church that the local Fire Worship Festival bonfire dance is very lively."
"You knew I'd be at the banquet?"
"I just had a feeling you'd be at this kind of event."
She hesitated:
"Then, you..."
So Xia De nodded:
"Iluna, see you at ten."
The seventeen-year-old girl smiled brightly under the moon.
Ms. Aurora wouldn't dance forever; after dancing with the Witch, he could go find Iluna again.
【You really are a bad person.】
Her voice came on the wind, but Xia De thought the fellow who just escaped was the bad person.
With the official appearance of the Ring術士 from the Truth Society, the situation in Middlesburg became even more chaotic.
(Mia running...)
When Xia De left the academy's forest and returned to the bonfire-lit Fire Worship Festival banquet grounds, no one noticed that he had ever left. Xia De, however, noticed that two cartloads of fireworks had already been transported there; setting off fireworks at the Fire Worship Festival was also a new tradition that only appeared in modern times.
Although Ms. Aurora and Iluna both invited Xia De to dance, there was still some time until the bonfire dance, so Xia De decided to go see the special rhode cards at the auction. If it suited his taste, he would donate a sum to this charity banquet.
The invitation did not include a list of auctioned items, but Grandma Cassandra had just given Xia De a detailed list. For convenience of inspection and safety considerations, all auctions were held inside the castle. Among them, the academy auditorium was the main auction hall, or rather, Auction Hall No. 1, for bulk goods and high-priced antiques and art collectibles. Even if Xia De had money, he wouldn't dare go to such a place.
The venue for the auction of that special rhode cards was the Headmaster's Conference Room on the second floor of the east side of the castle. That was where the academy's headmaster and directors held meetings. This time, it was lent out to the Fire Worship Festival charity banquet as an auction hall, supposedly out of respect for Grandma Cassandra—she was also a director of this academy. And considering that her teacher was actually the Gemini of the fifth epoch, it could be explained why Grandma Cassandra was able to establish auction houses that civilized the entire continent, had deep knowledge of antiques and relics, and could even recognize the origin of the 【Night Watchman】 longsword at a glance.
After all, the armored old man also at the party had once been the holder of the 【Night Watchman】, and he died in this very area.
The Headmaster's Conference Room on the second floor had been completely cleared out at this time. This room, with its surprisingly deep overall layout, even included a small terrace. When Xia De arrived in the room from the corridor, holding a wine glass, the auction had not yet begun, but quite a few people had already arrived to view the items in advance.
Most people, like Xia De, were holding wine glasses and examining the auction items. Among them were gentlemen in formal attire, Noblewoman whose jewelry sparkled under the gaslight, artists with unique clothing styles, and even a few elderly people gathered in front of a glass cabinet containing a white wig, discussing its origin.
Xia De heard their voices and thus knew that the wig's owner was a very famous Poet from Delarion. But because of his promiscuous nature, that unlucky fellow was stabbed to death by his mistress in the same bed on a morning eighty years ago.
"How ominous."
Amidst the laughter in his ears, Xia De moved a little further away from that area.
