He held the Moonlight Greatsword with both hands and swung a Moonlight Slash forward. The brilliant Moonlight temporarily illuminated the corridor but passed directly through the snake's head, as if the snake was truly just an illusion.
The snake stared at Xia De, slowly but with an increasingly strong whisper element, swimming towards him.
"【Because I don't know the relic's properties, I can't know the specific reason. But having just touched that snake, I can confirm it's in a solid state.】"
"Then why..."
"【When your attack touched the snake's skin, the corresponding position transformed into a special void state. You did hit the target, but you couldn't harm it. This should be one of the relic's properties.】"
"Wherever I attack, that place becomes void?"
Xia De understood. To deal with such an enemy, the best method seemed to be to attack its entire body in the moment, but there was also the possibility that its entire body could become void.
"It is indeed a troublesome relic. No wonder a Three-Ring Sorcerer dared to undertake such a mission. When I was a Three-Ring Sorcerer, I was..."
Thinking about what he was doing when he was a Three-Ring Sorcerer, Xia De mused:
"However, since it's not avoiding attacks but rendering them ineffective, then it doesn't truly have no weaknesses."
He thought of another method. The dark Great Sin Chains flowed out from his left sleeve. The gluttony, greed, and sloth runes, written in different eras' languages, were strung and intertwined on the chains. After linking sloth to this Miracle through a ritual, the Great Sin Chains' strength and length became even better than before.
Coupled with the Living Rope Trick spell learned from the pink book, Xia De could now control this chain more freely.
The slender black chain climbed along the carpet towards the great snake in the darkness, while the dark great snake also crawled towards Xia De. When the chain and the great snake touched, the latter paid no attention to this slender "kindred." As Xia De expected, the Great Sin Chains tried to bind the snake, but still passed through its body.
And at the moment, the climbing great snake paused abruptly, and at the same time, Xia De felt the spirit in his body rapidly depleting because the chains were restraining an extremely powerful fellow:
"Indeed, although it cannot be attacked, it can still be restrained!"
The great snake did not completely stop, but its wriggling body seemed to be under a not-so-clever petrification spell.
Seizing this opportunity, Xia De stepped forward, appearing directly in front of the great snake, swinging his sword down with both hands. The silver Moonlight marks left a brilliant afterglow in the darkness. But at this moment, the restrained enormous black snake actually melted into the darkness, and Xia De's attack missed again:
"Spatial movement relying on darkness? What kind of creature did that snake skin originally belong to?"
"【Left.】"
Clang~
The swung Greatsword swept horizontally towards the strange triangular snake head that was biting from the left. Although the snake had already broken free from the chains using its spatial movement ability, Xia De's sword did not pass through the snake's head, but actually struck it, making a heavy impact sound:
"Spatial power and etherealization power cannot be used simultaneously?"
The Moonlight Greatsword forcefully pushed the snake away. After landing, the great snake hissed its tongue at Xia De, staring directly at the human in the darkness. It was becoming increasingly powerful.
"Space Stabilization Aura!"
Xia De stamped his left foot, and invisible ripples spread outwards. The black snake seemed to sense something and actually turned to retreat.
"Great Sin Chains!"
The chains slid out onto the ground again. The great snake agilely tried to dodge, but the Living Rope Trick from the pink book specifically countered such flexible movements. Even the most agile lady would find it difficult to dodge a rope manipulated by a trick, let alone a snake. Therefore, in the brief clash between the snake's tail and the chains, it was still pierced by the chains.
The snake's head slowly turned towards Xia De, opening its mouth to reveal sharp fangs, as if trying to make a desperate strike, but Xia De would no longer give it a chance. The last thing the snake saw was the incredibly brilliant Moonlight.
"Moonlight Greatsword!"
The silver Greatsword fell behind the great snake, passing through its head and scattering into specks of brilliance in the darkness.
Plop~
The snake's head landed on the carpet, and its heavy body fell with it.
Xia De breathed a sigh of relief, noticing that as the giant snake's body burned, the gas lamps in the corridor quickly lit up. But he still frowned, because inside the burning snake corpse, a man's body unexpectedly reappeared, and the corpse's head was severed just like the snake's:
"This relic is truly evil."
When the last dark flame disappeared, the giant snake's body was completely burned to Ashen Remains, leaving only the man's body lying on the carpet, but strangely, no blood flowed out. In the man's mouth, a small piece of snake skin revealed a corner.
Xia De bent down and pulled the piece of snake skin out of the corpse's mouth, confirming that it was the relic itself. Probably because Xia De had just defeated it, its whisper element was much weaker than before:
"A Document-level (Level 4) trophy, but this thing is truly disgusting."
He clipped the piece of snake skin into his notebook and then briefly searched the man's body, but found nothing:
"He went out without a wallet, without confidential letters, and not even a diary? Is he poorer than me?"
He complained softly, using a handkerchief to restore the canvas toy back into canvas, and then used the canvas to turn the corpse into a toy.
Looking at the corridor, which had been damaged by the brief battle, he took a deep breath. The Breath of Years reversed time, restoring everything to its original state.
Not lingering there, Xia De continued along the corridor. After going up the stairs, he soon arrived at the door of Miss Sylvia's lounge, but received no response after knocking.
"Excuse me, please forgive my rudeness."
Xia De said softly, turning the doorknob and pushing open the door.
Unfortunately, although the room was lit, there was no one inside. The room's windows were closed, and thick embroidered curtains blocked the Moonlight outside.
"Where did Miss Sylvia go?"
He quickly walked to the window, pulled back the curtains, and looked outside. Outside this room was the manor's garden. The garden, which should have had gas lamps, was completely dark at the moment, but with dark vision, Xia De could see three Low-Ring Sorcerers of the Church fighting a Five-Ring Sorcerer holding a flowerpot. He could also see the Six-Ring Arcanist of the Mechanical Church constructing machinery in the void, fighting a Six-Ring Arcanist manipulating vines.
In the garden of this mansion, at least a dozen people were fighting. The two sides were the Church and the hired Pantanal Voodoo Society, and it was clear that the Church had the upper hand, but everyone tacitly avoided using spells and Miracles with obvious sound and light effects.
Xia De did not find any trace of Miss Sylvia in the garden. He frowned and looked back into the room, then suddenly closed his eyes, holding his breath and concentrating. Following a faint inspiration, he opened his eyes and came to the door, then looked at the oil painting directly opposite the door:
"There's something wrong with this painting."
The gas lamps in the corridor were very bright, and the red carpet beneath his feet even looked scarlet under that light.
The oil painting under the gas lamp depicted a gray temple, like a pyramid, located in a dense forest. The temple was built of square bricks, and giant trees and vines almost completely submerged it. At first glance, there was nothing special about it, just an ordinary landscape painting of ruins, but staring closely at the painting, there was a faint illusion of being sucked into it.
As his eyes blinked, the painting instantly transformed into a strange, indescribable thing composed of trees, vines, grass, flowers, and thorns, but with another blink, it returned to its original appearance.
Xia De took a step back in surprise, but quickly came to the wall. He reached out and took down the oil painting, feeling four elements at the moment of touch.
He reached out to touch the painting, but his hand was immediately repelled by a powerful force:
"What's going on?"
"【A subspace is sealed within the painting, similar to 'Sublimation Words' and 'Mystic Lock', but not the former two. Emma Sylvia is most likely inside, and the power of a witch can be felt within the painting.】"
"Can I go in?"
Xia De frowned slightly. Although he didn't know what was happening, as long as he found Miss Sylvia, all current problems would be resolved.
"【Use your sword, stab it. But be careful, similar spaces are easy to enter, but difficult to leave.】"
"I know."
His right hand once again drew the Moonlight Greatsword from the air, but this time it was the slender yellow Greatsword. Xia De held the sword with both hands, pointing the tip at the oil painting with a serious expression:
"I want to see what's really going on."
As the sword tip pierced the oil painting, the bright light in the corridor suddenly extinguished. Everything around him faded, and the illusory colors rapidly reassembled.
Xia De vigilantly looked around as the smell of stench and decay wafted in. He was currently standing in a passage with sewage flowing on the ground. The stone walls around him were covered with green plants, and these plants emitted a green glow, providing illumination for the place.
This looked like the interior of an ancient building long abandoned in the Great Swamp. This desolate passage exuded a sense of antiquity and vicissitude, as if nature and mystery were perfectly merged here.
He carefully observed the stone walls covered with green plants, and cautiously looked at the shallow flowing water beneath his feet. Moving forward along the passage, the glowing things on the walls, which looked like tree roots or ivy, became increasingly thick. The air gradually thinned, and an unknown mental pressure made every step Xia De took more difficult.
He quickly reached the end of the passage, which was a square temple space. All six sides of the entire room were made of rough gray square stones, and on the innermost wall was a stone platform. On the stone platform was enshrined a terrifying statue made of plant remains.
---Author's Note---
PS: Please vote, monthly votes and recommendation votes are all welcome.
