Black Snuff Bottle and Lamp Spirit (Please Follow-up Reads)

[Black Snuff Bottle] and [Lamp Spirit] (Please Follow-up Reads)

The lid of the Black Snuff Bottle's spout opened on its own, and a plume of eerie black smoke poured out. The black smoke quickly rose and condensed into a twisted human shape, like The Scream in an abstract painting.

"What... kind of witchcraft is this?" Rock Bear Knight was utterly shocked. His heavy hammer smashed toward the twisted figure.

Boar Knight watched quietly, his eyes smug.

The heavy hammer passed through the twisted black-smoke entity and finally slammed into the ground, cracking it open.

Frost Wolf Knight also slashed with his sword, but it likewise passed through the black-smoke entity's body. He finally jolted awake, then cried out, "Big guy, this is an Evil Spirit! Damn it, our attacks are useless against Evil Spirits! Run! We have to report this..."

Before Frost Wolf Knight could finish speaking, two streams of black smoke emerged from the twisted human shape and drilled into Frost Wolf Knight's and Rock Bear Knight's nostrils.

In an instant, the two knights froze in place, unable to move.

Rock Bear Knight's arm glowed with black light. He used the power of Black Qi, and at once, a terrifying, bizarre howl rang out from within Rock Bear Knight's body.

It seemed as though two forces were struggling inside him, but in the end, the light faded from Rock Bear Knight's face, and the Black Qi on his arm also began to dissipate.

Clearly, although Black Qi had the power to resist this black smoke, that was all it could do.

Frost Wolf Knight was in the same situation. Both of them resisted for a moment before they could no longer hold on.

In the end, the two knights collapsed to the ground with a thud. Their eyes were wide open, their expressions twisted, as if they had seen something terrifying beyond measure.

The vigor in their bodies seemed to be drained away in an instant. Wisps of white vapor surged into the body of the snuff bottle "Evil Spirit," making the "Evil Spirit's" form grow increasingly solid.

As for the two knights, they looked no different from ordinary people on the outside, but they had no breath left at all. They were already dead.

"Burp."

The snuff bottle Evil Spirit seemed to have eaten its fill and actually let out a burp. Then it burrowed back into the Black Snuff Bottle, leaving only one sentence echoing through the council hall: "I am very satisfied with this transaction. According to the [Principle of Equivalent Exchange], as a gift, I will act once on behalf of your Brotherhood of the Wilds. For the next transaction, you must offer up three knights."

The "Evil Spirit" had actually spoken.

Boar Knight hurriedly lowered his head and said respectfully to the snuff bottle, "Understood, Lord Lamp Spirit."

After all this was done, they looked at the corpses on the ground.

Boar Knight said coldly, "Just as we discussed at the start: while the three of you were attending the noble ball, you encountered an attack from the legendary Evil Spirit. Rock Bear Knight and Frost Wolf Knight unfortunately lost their lives, and because you devoutly wore the Heavenly Father's Holy Radiance Badge, you were lucky enough to escape disaster."

"But will the Kingdom and the Church believe it? Murdering other nobles is a grave crime," Silver Fox Knight asked, clearly somewhat uncertain.

"Relax. Whether they believe it or not, no one will investigate you. On the contrary, they may even use this chance to spread the word and make their lord appear even more all-powerful. Besides, the Millennial Holy War has left the Kingdom and the Church exhausted. The enfeoffed lords below have long since grown restless. I imagine the king won't care much about the deaths of these two Barons. He may even secretly breathe a sigh of relief," Boar Knight said with a cold laugh.

"In addition, it is an indisputable fact that the two of them suffered an Evil Spirit attack. On this point, you did not lie. Otherwise, there would be no way to explain how these two men suddenly died despite their bodies being completely intact and showing no signs of poisoning. But they will never imagine that this Evil Spirit was controlled by humans. You must believe that in this world today, only our Brotherhood of the Wilds has the ability to command this legendary, terrifying Evil Spirit."

"A pleasure working with you. The matter was completed perfectly. The only flaw is that Serpent Vulture Knight didn't come."

"This is one thousand Gold Coins. I hope our future cooperation becomes more and more pleasant."

"Chaos will descend in the end. May the Lord of the Wilds protect you."

After Boar Knight finished speaking, he tossed down a large bag of Gold Coins, then turned and left.

Only Silver Fox Knight remained, his expression shifting between gloom and uncertainty. In the end, he sighed and picked up the bag of Gold Coins from the ground.

For a small territory like Silvermoon Territory, one thousand Gold Coins was almost ten years of fiscal revenue.

In this world, Gold Coins had very strong purchasing power. For Silver Fox Knight, who urgently needed to expand his armaments, this was an enormous sum, equivalent to dozens of excellent sets of Knight Armor.

For this huge sum, even if he had to risk the Church discovering the truth, he still had to do it.

"Evil Spirits are too terrifying. Two Formal Knights had no ability to fight back before it. But it seems Black Qi can oppose Evil Spirits, only the effect is very weak. Or rather, the quality and quantity of Rock Bear Knight's and Frost Wolf Knight's Black Qi were not enough."

Silver Fox Knight still felt lingering fear. Whether it was that eerie, invisible attack or that illusory form immune to attacks, both allowed Evil Spirits to stand invincible against knights.

"The Brotherhood of the Wilds has mastered the power of Evil Spirits. Now it's the Kingdom's and the Church's turn to be overwhelmed."

The true "winter" was about to arrive. No one could remain untouched. What Silver Fox Knight could do was become as strong as possible before winter came.

A few days later, Levi learned from some traveling merchants in his territory that Rock Bear Knight and Frost Wolf Knight had encountered a legendary Evil Spirit and suddenly died.

Levi could not help breaking into a cold sweat.

"Good thing I didn't go. Whether these Evil Spirit rumors are true or false, Silver Fox Knight definitely had no good intentions when he invited me," Levi muttered inwardly.

As for the rumors of an Evil Spirit attack, he half believed them and half doubted them. He had encountered an Evil Spirit before and knew that Evil Spirits were not merely things of legend. But this Evil Spirit had killed Rock Bear Knight and Frost Wolf Knight, while only the host, Silver Fox Knight, was fine. That was somewhat suspicious.

However, this was not something Levi should worry about.

"Knights aren't a match for Evil Spirits. What exactly are these ghostly things? I also need to put finding clues about Wizards on the agenda. I have to use magic to deal with magic."

Spring passed, and summer in the Month of Flowing Fire arrived.

After more than a month, the Holy Radiance Church's investigation into the deaths of Rock Bear Knight and Frost Wolf Knight finally produced a result.

The final conclusion was that they had died from an Evil Spirit attack.

For a time, the entire country was in a panic.

All along, everyone had thought Evil Spirits were nothing more than ancient legends.

They were lies adults used to scare Bear Children who refused to sleep.

But now, their existence had been confirmed by the Church, the most authoritative institution in the world! In response, the Pope of the Holy Radiance Church warmly reminded the nobles and commoners at large that wearing the Church's Holy Radiance Badge on one's person had the effect of warding off evil. Silver Fox Knight had escaped the Evil Spirit's attack precisely because of this.

For a time, what had originally only been a commemorative badge issued by the Church for the Millennium, worth one Gold Coin, was hyped up to the absurdly sky-high price of one hundred Gold Coins apiece.

From princes and nobles down to wealthy merchants, no one felt at ease leaving the house without wearing a Holy Radiance Badge.

After all, Evil Spirits had only been legends before. But now, Evil Spirits truly existed.

Even lofty knights were so fragile before Evil Spirits.

Of course, none of this had anything to do with peaceful and quiet Blackwater Valley.