Chapter 75: Cross

Chapter 75: Cross

Hearing Fors’s question, Xio hesitated briefly before saying,

“We’ve been discovered…”

They had said something similar earlier, but repeating it now did not carry the same meaning. Previously, it meant that the matter of recognizing Sherman had been discovered by the other party’s hidden protector or monitor. Now, the emphasis was that their own choices and corresponding actions were all within the expectations—or arrangements—of the person behind the scenes, and were utterly without secrecy.

This meant that the opportunity Xio longed for might truly have appeared, but what else hid behind it was impossible to guess.

“If we act according to the intention of the one who left the ‘message,’ the final result will depend entirely on whether she holds goodwill, and that is something we cannot control.” Xio added from a rational perspective.

The reason she used “she” to represent the one behind the scenes was because she had thought of the faint, sweet fragrance she had smelled the last time she lost track of Sherman.

Fors listened quietly. Nodding in agreement, she said,

“Yes. In this whole matter, we are far too passive. The best choice is to leave this place…”

Her voice had barely faded when she looked toward that warehouse, opened her mouth, and yet added nothing.

She had thought of Sherman’s current possible situation and suspected that “he” might be deep in danger. In the end, however, she deliberately ignored it and did not mention that point.

To Fors, Sherman was only someone who existed in Xio’s descriptions, no different from a character in a novel. If she had the ability and the opportunity, she would be willing to save that person in passing. But if doing so meant taking on risk, making her friend act recklessly and face mortal danger, then she would absolutely not consider it.

Xio nodded once.

“All right. We will leave now.

“However, the one who left the ‘message’ definitely will not want to see us do this. She will surely set up some obstruction.

“Uh, how about this? We flee in different directions, forcing that person to choose one side. Whoever successfully leaves this area will immediately create a commotion and draw the official Beyonders over.”

“Why not directly create a commotion here?” Fors instinctively raised a question.

“That will definitely be obstructed or sabotaged!” Xio gave her reason.

Fors nodded thoughtfully.

“That makes sense.

“All right. We should not delay any longer. Let’s begin.”

Xio said no more. Clutching a three-edged dagger so transparent that it was almost invisible, she bent low, darted out of their hiding place, and ran along the areas covered by shadow toward the outside of the docks.

That three-edged dagger was a mystical item she had commissioned the Craftsman to create using the dust and residual spirituality of an ancient wraith through The Hermit of the Tarot Club. It had cost her five hundred pounds in cash and was called the Icy Blade.

Anyone struck by this weapon, even if merely touched, would fall into a frozen stiffness. Their thoughts would no longer be under their own control, as though they were possessed by a wraith. At the same time, if a battle dragged on, even enemies of the Icy Blade who had not directly come into contact with the dagger would gradually find their thoughts slowing and their movements becoming stiff and sluggish.

The negative effect of the Icy Blade was comparatively less terrifying, and there was only one: it made its carrier’s body gradually lose temperature, shifting toward an undead state. Once a certain time limit was exceeded, that process would become irreversible.

Thus, Xio had recently become more and more fond of running or riding bicycles at high speed, producing heat herself to resist the loss of temperature.

Even so, she had only increased the interval before she had no choice but to separate the Icy Blade from her body from three hours to four hours.

After running for some distance, Xio glanced back and discovered that Fors had already passed through the wall and disappeared from their previous hiding place.

She stared for two seconds, bit her lip lightly, then suddenly turned and changed direction.

She actually headed straight for the warehouse!

Very quickly, she reached the side of her destination. However, she did not hurry toward the entrance. Instead, she looked upward, seeming to search for another passage—a more concealed passage, one less likely to be noticed by those inside.

At that moment, her keen intuition made her turn her head to the side. She saw a figure flash out from the corner of the wall.

That figure wore a black dress, had slightly curled brown hair, and a pair of light-blue eyes. It was Fors Wall.

“Didn’t you leave?” Xio asked in surprise, not forgetting to lower her voice.

Fors curled the corner of her mouth.

“Aren’t you also fleeing this place?”

For a moment, Xio found no words to answer. Several seconds passed before she asked,

“How did you notice?”

“You didn’t even mention Sherman. That is completely unlike you! I had already prepared reasons to persuade you!” Fors replied rather quickly.

“…” Xio froze briefly, then said with a complicated expression, “There was no need for you to come back.”

Fors ignored her words. She pressed a hand against the warehouse wall and said,

“If we keep talking, perhaps we won’t need to trouble ourselves over this matter, because it will already be over.

“Aiya, why didn’t I think of such a good method earlier? I should have simply opened my mouth and insisted on going with you to save someone, while you would definitely have tried to stop me and refused to agree, wanting to act alone. After repeating that exchange a few times, the matter would have ended on its own.”

Xio looked deeply at her friend. Without hesitating any longer, she carried the Icy Blade and stood beside her.

Fors immediately flipped through Leymano’s Travels, adding some Beyonder effects to herself and her friend. Then she put the magic book away, grabbed Xio’s arm with one hand, and pressed the other back against the wall.

Xio was waiting to “Open Door” and enter, only to discover that Fors had not activated the ability immediately.

This bestselling novelist suddenly inhaled, then rapidly said,

“After we enter, we first hide and observe. We only act after confirming there really is an opportunity.

“If there is truly no opportunity, or if we fail to seize it, then we leave immediately. At least that way, we can still avenge Sherman instead of being buried with her!

“Only while alive do all kinds of possibilities exist…”

Xio nodded at once and answered solemnly,

“All right.”

Fors still wanted to say more, but considering that they had already delayed for some time and could not keep wasting time, she could only “open” an illusory door, bringing Xio through the wall and behind a row of wooden crates.

She was no longer unfamiliar with such actions. Instinctively, she crouched down and, following the motion, drew out Leymano’s Travels, flipping it open to one of the pages.

Xio likewise did not recklessly charge into the deeper area. She bent her back, brought her eye close to the gap between the wooden crates, and observed the situation in the empty space.

Sherman, now in female form, sat lifelessly on a wooden crate. Her brown hair seemed to be lightly stirred by the wind.

Standing before her was Viscount Stratford. This court guard captain tightened his collar and, looking around at who knew what, said,

“What a pity. You are merely a Demoness.”

“Do not worry. I will let you die without the slightest pain and receive thorough purification.”

As he spoke, he took an item from the inner pocket of his clothes.

Relying on the eyesight improved by the Interrogator potion, Xio clearly saw what that item looked like:

It was a cross ornament stained all over with copper-green rust. Several sharp spikes protruded from it, as though it had once pierced through someone.

Its style and characteristics did not belong to any of the Northern Continent countries of the Fifth Epoch. It possessed an ancient charm.

“Very good. You know that resisting is useless.” As Viscount Stratford spoke, one of the fingers with which he gripped the copper-green cross pressed against one of its spikes.

Bright-red blood immediately flowed out and was absorbed by the spike, seeping into the item.

The mottled copper-green rust on the surface of the cross began to disintegrate, rapidly peeling away and revealing the solid form of light condensed beneath it.

In only a second or two, the item in Viscount Stratford’s hand transformed into a radiant cross!

It released pure light without the slightest flaw, illuminating the surrounding area with exceptional brightness.

The shadows cast by the wooden crates rapidly retreated. The dark patches created by the walls evaporated like water.

Around Shermane, the countless spider threads that had originally belonged to Trissy floated up one after another, struggling as though in fire before melting away in only a few moments.

The light grew brighter and brighter, yet it did not sting the eyes at all. From Shermane’s body, streams of black flame and sheets of crystalline ice darted out.

Under the illumination, they successively faded, became transparent, and disappeared.

Within the range of that radiant cross, no evil existed, and no darkness remained!

Seeing Shermane’s expression begin to twist, Xio could not help turning her head to look at Fors.

She could clearly feel how terrifying that radiant cross was, and she wavered over whether to save the person.

Fors had also noticed what was happening there. She pointed at Leymano’s Travels, raised her left index finger, and whispered into Xio’s ear in an extremely low voice,

“There is only one chance.

“I will do my best to create it for you. If it does not succeed, or if you cannot seize it, then we give up.”

Without the slightest hesitation, Xio nodded solemnly.

Fors immediately half straightened and flipped Leymano’s Travels to a page whose surface was scorched yellow.

This page was filled with all kinds of complex, twisted, indescribable symbols and markings. Merely looking at it gave one the impression of a howling gale.

A demigod ability of the Sailor pathway: Tornado!

After observing the surroundings again and confirming that there were no other enemies, Fors’s gaze crossed the gap between the wooden crates and locked onto Viscount Stratford. Her finger lightly slid across that scorched-yellow page.

A howling sound abruptly erupted. A visible hurricane rose from beneath Viscount Stratford’s feet and rushed upward into the air.

Encountering such a terrifying attack without warning, that court guard captain could not maintain his balance at all. He was directly swept up by the tornado and slammed heavily into the warehouse roof.

Rumble!

The top of the warehouse was torn apart by the hurricane. Some sections collapsed downward, while others spun in the wind, rising higher and higher.

Viscount Stratford was struck so hard that he nearly fainted. He could no longer hold onto the radiant cross, allowing it to fly out of his palm.

The spike left the corresponding finger with a smear of blood, and mottled copper-green rust once again covered the surface of the cross.

The flawless radiance vanished along with it.

Seeing this, Xio rushed out from their hiding place without hesitation. First, Viscount Stratford’s figure was reflected in her eyes; then, two piercing “bolts of lightning” lit up inside them.

Psychic Piercing!