Chapter 1348: Chapter 1348: Desecration – Arrogance

The whistle blew long and loud, and a shadow kept approaching Shard from the depths of the steam fog behind him, until it formed a gigantic brass wheel.

The Ring of Fate radiated dazzling spiritual light, completely dispelling the black and white world. As it spun madly, the Ring of Fate also absorbed the powers of the Evil God’s statue and the Ancient Evil Spirit Demon, even the residual power from the palm imprint on the chest.

The silver Desecration Element nearly transformed the entire Ring of Fate into a silver halo, and the Great Sin Chains dancing wildly around Shard underwent a brand-new transformation at this moment.

Disrespect the Deity, even to the point of willfully altering one’s perception of the world. Compared to most people in this world, the outlander coming from afar is truly arrogant.

[Outlander, you have touched Desecration.]

[Disrespect the Deity, twist fate, interfere with time, look down on all beings. When your sword pierces the statue of the Deity, glimpsing the Stone Heart Shadow hidden deep within the earth; when you once again gaze at yourself before that Evil Fiend’s Stone Mirror and see your own appearance, the Great Sin of Arrogance has long entwined your soul and spirit.]

“So do you like my arrogance?”

[Of course.]

On the heavy Great Sin Chains, the fifth rune of sin was born. On the spinning Ring of Fate, the powers of the Evil God and the Demon together inscribed the third Spirit Rune for Shard’s Five Rings.

[You have witnessed your own sin, you have drawn power from the Evil Fiend – Stone Mirror Demon: Goethe.]

[Outlander, you have inscribed the silver Desecration Spirit Rune—Arrogance.]

“I still underestimated you.”

The demon vanished before Shard’s eyes, only to reappear intact not far from him, at least it seemed so.

The black and white world completely faded away, with Shard standing bare-chested in the snow, the two of them locking eyes in the snow-covered woodland, with the demon clapping as it retreated:

“Very good, quite impressive, it seems you do indeed have a chance to complete my task. I will wait for you at the end.”

A slick smile, not showing any sign of the battle that had just happened with Shard.

“However, I must remind you, you have destroyed the divine statue of the Great One, you are likely to face big trouble next.

“The divine statue with power is not something that can be found easily. You, as expected, are collaborating with the Stone Heart Demon’s order, what exactly are you plotting?”

But Shard couldn’t get an answer, only watching as Stone Mirror Demon: Goethe clapped and retreated, then disappeared into the shadows of the woodland.

[It really has left.]

“Oh!”

Only then did Shard, with the effect of the Magic Potion wearing off, disregard his image and sat directly in the snow, clutching his chest and breathing heavily. Though it appeared as if he had the upper hand in the battle just now, he hadn’t been able to inflict any fatal damage on the Evil Fiend, and he himself felt intensely uncomfortable due to the invasive Demon Power.

Fortunately, after the demon left, Shard put on a shirt again, drank holy water, and took the magic potion prepared by Priest Augustus, reluctantly recovering:

“I had prepared so thoroughly, yet I still didn’t gain much advantage in the first confrontation. Truly worthy of an Ancient Evil Spirit.”

He closed the suitcase and turned to look at the still-visible Ring of Fate:

“Arrogance, is it? A new power. Miracle – Thorns of the Moon, Desecration – Arrogance, Whisper – Puppet… Miss Danester will definitely be surprised the next time she sees me.”

With a light chuckle, he concealed the Ring of Fate and stood up again, looking toward the dilapidated manor in the snow not far away.

“Indeed, without Dr. Schneider, relying on myself alone, I’m still no match for such Ancient Evil Demons.”

He stepped through the snow toward the manor:

“However, I can probably guess who the intruders in the manor are… it truly has used everyone.”

The unexpected encounter just now, though it consumed Shard to some extent, the impact was not significant, so he acted as if nothing had happened and faced the increasingly gloomy weather, after a short uphill path through the woodland, reaching the front of the abandoned manor.

Shard was quite curious why a place with such obvious issues hadn’t been discovered by the local True God Church. But then he understood, Stone Mirror Demon: Goethe’s ability to hide was indeed strong. Although it didn’t dare expose itself before the church, simply hiding wasn’t a problem for such an Ancient Evil Spirit.

Unlike the Osenfort Estate, the Worsent Manor, closer to the city, did not use tall walls to protect itself, but had a circle of iron railings erected outside the manor. Three years was enough for the railings to rust and deform, even in some places there were holes. Shard hoped those who intruded didn’t meet with trouble.

At the end of the uphill road stood a sign, indicating the location and the names of country villages the diverging roads led to. On the sign, someone had written in the Casenric Language with red paint, “We will all die”, which oddly matched the sinister atmosphere of the place.

The gate of the railing was tightly locked, but since the railing itself had holes, it was easy to get inside. Shard stood outside the railing, looking within, wanting to first observe the situation, but immediately noticed shadows quickly moving within the manor.

“Already inside?”

The quickly moving shadows appeared as if being chased by something terrible, appearing at a second-floor window, soon reaching the third floor. Before long, they even appeared on the roof of the manor’s mansion.

The three crows circling in the snowy sky were cawing excitedly, while the person on the roof, unsurprisingly, leaped directly down from it. After a somewhat clumsy roll on landing, they joined with two others who had escaped from the front door and backyard, and together they ran toward the manor’s gate.

Shard didn’t see anything chasing them, but he kindly cast an Arcane Technique on the gate after the three of them skirted around a dried fountain piled with fallen leaves and snow in the courtyard’s center:

“Thorns of the Moon.”

Red thorn bushes emerged from the snow, clinging to the gate and then spreading across the entire perimeter fence of the courtyard. Although this consumed quite a lot of energy, it was still much less than the consumption of Sorcery like “Power of the Earth: Healing Aura”.

He switched hands holding his suitcase, watching the three fleeing figures inside the courtyard reach the gate desperately, only to look at the gate’s fence in despair.

“I advise you, it’s best not to attack my thorn bushes.”

Shard kindly suggested, but the three, who were injured, didn’t listen at all. The Five-Ring Sorcerer among them suddenly stomped on the ground, causing rocks to protrude and strike the fence door, only for those rocks to be immediately ensnared by the blood-colored thorns. The man who released the Arcane Technique then turned pale, almost collapsing into the snow.

His two companions hurriedly looked behind at the empty space, and the bearded man said in panic:

“Friend, we mean you no harm. Tell us, how can we get you to let us out?”

“Identity, purpose, the situation inside.”

Shard spoke concisely, understanding that the demons’ mockery of these people moments ago wasn’t without reason.

“We can’t say.”

The bearded man immediately declared, at which point Shard showed a helpless expression. The bearded man’s freckled companion frantically tried to speak but was stopped by the bearded man.

“I actually know who you are.”

Shard said:

“You’re believers of the deity [Stone Heart Demon], aren’t you?”

The bearded man was startled and immediately pleaded:

“Yes, we are. Since you know, I won’t deny my faith.”

“Why are you here?”

The bearded man hesitated for a moment, but after another glance backward, he spoke in horror:

“We collaborated with a very dangerous guy, but he turned out to be too dangerous. After discussing with our other allies and the High Priest of the Order, we decided that we needed to find something to restrain him. That’s why we were sent here to look for a weapon.”

Shard sighed with relief; it was just as he thought. Even though the Stone Heart Demon’s Order and the Blood Spirit School had undisclosed deals with demons, they would certainly remain wary of them. After all, “never deal with demons” was not just common knowledge for Academicians; every Circle Sorcerer knew how dangerous demons truly were.

“What’s the situation inside?”

“The demon has corrupted some souls, and a relic has fused with this manor… Let us out, quickly let us out! Oh, for the sake of humanity, let us out!”

The bearded man suddenly panicked, and despite knowing the blood-colored thorns were very dangerous, the three of them rushed fearlessly into the thorn bushes.

Shard still didn’t see anything else in the courtyard, but it hardly seemed like an illusion:

“Tell me later what kind of relic it was.”

“No problem, you can know anything you want, just let us out!”

So Shard snapped his fingers, and the blood-colored thorns vanished like phantoms. He reached to push the courtyard gate open but then widened his eyes in shock:

“Crazy Earth? How many forces have corrupted this place?”

The Key of the Door was used to forcefully unlock it, and as he opened the door, a bitterly cold wind almost numbed Shard’s right hand beyond feeling.

Seizing the opportunity, the three inside dashed out in single file, the gate then swung shut with such force that even Shard couldn’t resist.

The three collapsed in the snow, panting heavily, one of whom, hurt by Shard’s “Moonlight Thorns: Red Moon”, even coughed up blood into the snow, making Shard suspect he had contracted pneumonia or some similar illness.

Three Moonlight Rings slipped over their necks before they had a chance to react, and then a Great Sin Chain, newly engraved with a rune, slithered out from beneath the snow like a long snake, and Shard deftly used the Animated Rope Trick to manipulate the chain and tie the three’s feet securely.

“What’s really going on?”

Shard asked, pulling out the Desecration Cross and sweeping it in front of each of the three to ensure they weren’t demons in disguise trying to trick him.