The light from the Spirit Powder dispelled the thick darkness of night, temporarily providing the three of them with barely usable illumination.
But the severed arm that suddenly took flight had cleverly positioned itself in Ed's blind spot. Ed was busy swinging his shield to smash apart the arm buried in the mud beneath his feet and had no time to defend himself. After hearing the warning, he could only hunch down and hide behind his shield.
Aaron had no idea what would happen if he was caught by that arm, but simply imagining being seized by two severed arms was already horrifying enough.
Severed cleanly at the elbow, flying around through the air like that—what was it called again?
At that moment, Sart had no choice but to scatter another pinch of Spirit Powder. Pointing at the two arms, he said, "Starlight Above, Seal."
The two severed arms that were about to grab Ed were suddenly entangled by a mass of azure light. In the blink of an eye, they lost their strength and helplessly slammed into his shield.
Even Ed, a battle-hardened veteran, could not help breaking into a cold sweat.
"It may be the Avenger Rune. This Heretical Cultist is at least Silver Tier!" Sart shouted again.
If the standard for advancing from Bronze Tier to Silver Tier was finding a way to utilize extraordinary aura, then once someone truly understood extraordinary aura, a rune would automatically condense.
Or rather, condensing a rune was itself proof of advancing to Silver Tier.
The effects of runes were bizarre and varied, but most of them were related to their user's own abilities.
Take these two severed arms flying out of nowhere before them. Sart guessed that they were very likely related to the Avenger Rune, which was also one of the more common runes among Heretical Cultists.
This rune left a mark on its target. Once the target died, it directly extracted the target's remaining life force and soul to launch a counterattack against the killer. The form of the counterattack could vary endlessly, making it impossible to guard against.
For Heretical Cultists of the Crawling Hand Cult, the Avenger Rune often caused the dead person's arms to break free and launch another attack.
At first glance, this rune did not seem very powerful. After all, it was similar to a rune that took both sides down with it, requiring the sacrifice of life and soul. However, once this rune fell into the hands of Heretical Cultists who treated human lives as worthless...
That was also why Alice had hurriedly ordered her servants to retreat from the very beginning. In a battle against Heretical Cultists, ordinary people would not only be useless—they might even become the other side's spellcasting material.
"Watch out, it's past her!" Alice shouted a warning as she charged back from a distance.
She had just led the way, charging into the darkness first, and had successfully come face-to-face with the Crawling Hand. But unexpectedly, the Crawling Hand had not wanted to entangle itself with her at all, directly releasing an Earthbound Hand to restrain her.
Although she had quickly broken free, the Crawling Hand had already gone around her and charged straight toward Aaron and the others.
Following Alice's second warning, Aaron saw, by the azure starlight around them, a spider-like black shadow crouched on the ground and racing rapidly toward them.
However, he could not help taking a second look, only to discover that it was not a spider at all, but a withered human hand!
Its entire body was blue-black. Using all five fingers, it ran nimbly across the ground, radiating an ominous aura.
The instant Aaron saw its appearance clearly, his vision suddenly blurred. All he saw was the withered hand leap into the air and reach straight for him.
The scene was so clear that he could even see the dust falling from its palm and the long, dark nails. Yet he had no time to react.
Even though the hand had not touched him, he already felt as if someone had clamped his neck, immense force crushing his throat.
I'm under attack?
The sensation was so real that he could not help gasping for breath.
But the air around him seemed to have abandoned him. No matter how hard he tried or how violently his chest heaved, he could only exhale and could not draw in any air.
"Starlight Above, Dispel."
Just as the lack of oxygen was making him lose consciousness, he finally heard Sart's voice.
An azure beam of light descended before his eyes. He felt the immense force coiled around his neck vanish into thin air, and the air around him began circulating again.
Still shaken, Aaron could not help gasping heavily.
But in the next moment, he froze.
The sensation of being strangled really had been genuine, because his own hands had somehow clamped around his own neck!
Aaron instinctively looked at his hands. They were so real and familiar, yet so strange.
In an instant, he felt a cold current spread wildly along his spine. A moment later, his hair stood on end.
He even vaguely developed the illusion that his hands seemed to have become someone else's.
"Calm down." Sart spared him a glance and, seeing that something was wrong with Aaron's complexion, said quietly, "Whatever you see, believe that it is only an illusion. The Heretical Cult Aura is trying to distort your perception."
"But why are my hands..."
"That's because you only just advanced to Black Iron Tier and haven't grown accustomed to extraordinary aura yet." Sart spoke in a low voice. "That's the nature of the Crawling Hand. Once you sense it but fail to withstand the guidance of its illusion, you'll be unable to stop yourself from trying to strangle yourself to death. Although it is only a projection, it still possesses this characteristic."
As he spoke, he reached into his pocket again and grabbed a small pinch of Spirit Powder. Looking at the spices that were almost gone, the corner of his mouth twitched.
Aaron watched Ed hide behind his shield and skillfully block the Crawling Hand's attacks. All he heard were dull impacts against the one-handed shield, along with the occasional sharp scratching sounds.
"Move!" Alice finally arrived at that moment. Her silver-white longsword radiated dazzling light, even illuminating the surroundings.
As the Crawling Hand slammed into Ed's shield, she brought her sword down without hesitation.
She had not held back!
Aaron saw only the blue-black palm crumple before the silver-white radiance, getting sliced cleanly in two without any chance to fight back.
But the sword's momentum had not yet run out. It crashed heavily into Ed's shield.
Bang!
Aaron had no idea how much force that sword carried.
But Ed—the middle-aged man in half-plate armor, holding a one-handed shield and sword—was sent flying like a rag doll, as though he had been struck by a heavy hammer!
His eyes widened as he watched Ed fly through the air and slam heavily into the ground, the corner of his mouth twitching.
So this is what they mean by "when I get serious, I even hit my own teammates"?
If Alice's eyes had not remained unchanged, he would have thought that she had also been controlled by the Heretical Cultists.
Or perhaps she was actually a berserker?
Aaron discreetly swallowed and cautiously edged closer to Sart.
Even more terrifying was that she was his fiancée.
Resolute in attitude, unwavering unto death...
Well, it should be "deadly unwavering"—the kind who would chop him to death if he broke off the engagement...
Before you continue