Bang! Bang! Bang!
Behind the bronze gate, the sound of pounding echoed continuously in the empty underground, as if it came from an extremely distant ancient time.
Fors' body tensed, and she trembled uncontrollably, her voice involuntarily lowering again:
What could be behind the door?
"I don't know." Hugh shook his head honestly, swallowing hard.
Her right hand, which had just picked up the triangular thorn, showed prominent knuckles and visible veins, indicating she was exerting extreme force.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The knocking on the door continued, neither faster nor slower, maintaining the same rhythm. Each knock seemed to strike Fors and Hugh's hearts, making their hair stand on end and their scalps tingle.
"They probably won't come out... If it were that easy, they wouldn't have waited until now," Fors reassured himself, his mouth a little dry.
Xiu nodded vigorously and said:
"We'll leave as soon as the material is formed."
In such an environment and atmosphere, her curiosity was completely unable to overcome her instinctive fear.
"Good!" Fors glanced at the place where the two Ancient Evil Spirit had been Purification, while inwardly complaining that the information provided by " the Moon " was not detailed enough, as it did not even mention that there was such a strange door underground in the castle.
At this moment, tiny specks of dim, luminous dust, like fragments of gemstones, fell to the ground, splitting into two piles and gathering together.
Around them, almost invisible remnants of Spirituality each condensed into a seemingly illusory crystal.
Accompanying the "crystallization" and dust were two different items: one was ring-shaped and completely transparent, like an eroded ring; the other was like an eye carved from crystal, with a faint black aura flowing inside.
Seeing this, Fors suddenly had an epiphany:
Ancient Evil Spirit are ghost-like creatures with a mixture of Beyonder Characteristic. Among them, the cursed object is related to a certain part of their body or an item from their previous life. This combination with their characteristics becomes the basis for their existence. Because of this, the cursed objects of different Ancient Evil Spirit will not appear in the same way, but their essence is the same. Dust is another characteristic and is the source of most of their abilities. As for the residual Spirituality, it is roughly equivalent to materials such as the blood of Monster.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The hammerer behind the bronze gate was persistent, never stopping, constantly testing Fors and Hugh's nerves.
The two, trembling with fear and caution, even had the illusion that the door was shaking slightly. Their hearts pounded wildly in their chests.
With the possibility of being propelled down the stairs at any moment, Fors finally witnessed the dust and cursed matter of the Ancient Evil Spirit coalesce into form.
She gestured for Xiu to be on guard while she crouched down and took out three square iron boxes that she had prepared.
After hesitating for a moment, Fors looked up at Hugh and said:
"These two Ancient Evil Spirit have waited for each other for too long. I think I should divide up some of their remnants and bury them together... Uh, in that case, I'll take a cursed object, you take a pile of dust, and we'll split the remaining Spirituality essence equally, is that alright?"
Without hesitation, Xiu nodded slightly and said:
"Good!"
Fors a silent sigh of relief, pursed her lips, and flipped through " Lemano's Travel Notes," running her finger across one of the pages.
Suddenly, an extra section of her five fingernails grew out, with sharp tips and covered in black patterns and symbols.
This is the " Claws of Corrosion " originating from the Sanguine.
After glancing at the changes in his palm, Fors grabbed at the ground and easily dug a hole, leaving behind traces of Corrosion.
Next, she placed the cursed object, resembling a crystal eyeball, and a pile of dust into the pit, then filled it with the bricks and dirt she had just scooped up.
With a few quick strokes of her fingernails, she wrote an epitaph on the flattened ground:
"I'll return for you, I'll protect you, we'll never be apart."
After doing all this, Fors was about to sigh when he suddenly heard a louder knocking sound coming from behind the bronze door.
Bang!
She was so frightened she almost jumped up, and quickly put the remaining pile of dust, the ring-shaped cursed object, and the residual Spirituality into different square iron boxes.
Then, she packed the box, straightened up, and walked slowly with Hugh up the winding, narrow staircase.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The pounding behind the bronze door grew more and more intense. Fors and Hugh clenched their teeth instinctively and quickly ascended the stairs.
They went faster and faster, until finally they were running, completely disregarding whether they would fall on the steps, tumbling down like wheels.
Finally, sunlight appeared before Fors and Hugh's eyes.
Sunlight streamed in from the outside, casting its glow on the steps ahead—bright, pure, and warm.
At that moment, the faint clanging sounds coming from underground abruptly stopped, and there was no further response.
Fors and Hugh exchanged a glance, slowed their pace, and made several leaps to return to the upper level of the abandoned castle.
Without exchanging a word, the two left and headed back towards the edge of the forest.
After walking for a while, Fors calmed down, pursed her lips, and said:
"That was terrifying. Although what was behind that bronze door didn't cause us any harm, or even reveal its form, I still think it's more terrifying than the Ancient Evil Spirit, more terrifying than anything I've experienced before. For those few minutes, I couldn't help but imagine several gruesome ways to die, each more frightening than the last, but none as terrifying as the banging sound itself."
Xiu tilted his head and nodded in agreement:
"Yeah, I felt like I was walking on the edge of a cliff."
Just as Fors was about to say something more, he suddenly noticed two streaks of bright red blood flowing from Hugh's nose.
"Hush, Hush, your nose is bleeding!" Fors quickly reminded her friend.
Xiu paused for a moment, his pupils widening slightly as he said:
You're getting a nosebleed too!
"Huh?" Fors reached out blankly and wiped the tip of his nose, feeling a warm, slightly thick liquid there.
She was stunned for a moment, then quickly brought her right hand to her eyes, where she saw that it was stained with bright red blood.
"Was it caused by being too nervous before?" Fors muttered to himself in confusion.
Just then, she noticed that a light black spot was visibly growing on her wrist, visible to the naked eye, under the sunlight filtering through the trees.
The dark spots spread rapidly, covering areas such as the forearm and the back of the hand.
"Ah!" Fors exclaimed instinctively, then looked up at Hugh beside her.
Her eyes immediately caught sight of the dark spots on Xiu's cheeks and neck!
"This, this isn't normal!" Fors blurted out.
Hugh also noticed the unusual behavior between his friend and himself, and after thinking for a moment, he said:
Do you remember what that female Evil Spirit said?
She said the previous guards had been corrupted by the power seeping from behind the bronze gate!
Could we also be corrupted?
Fors paused for a second, then nodded solemnly and said:
"Possibly!"
She quickly took out the medicine she had prepared beforehand, divided some for Xiu, and then unscrewed the cap and gulped down two bottles herself.
However, their condition did not improve at all; the dark spots grew more and more, to the point that their vision began to blur.
Thump, thump! Not long after, Fors had tried to save himself to no avail, heard his own heartbeat and felt his body begin to lose strength.
Having exhausted all other options, she pursed her lips a few times, gritted her teeth, abruptly turned her body, took a few steps to the side, and created some distance.
Then, she lowered her head and began to recite the name of " The Fool ".
In just ten seconds, Red Light surged before her eyes, engulfing her like a tidal wave.
A few roars and murmurs flashed by, Fors saw the familiar, mottled long table and the ten high-backed chairs opposite it.
She immediately discovered that the dizziness and blurred vision in her head had completely disappeared, and no strange black spots appeared on her spirit body.
"Thank you for your help." Fors quickly stood up and bowed to the figure shrouded in thick Gray Fog at the head of the bronze table.
Then she heard Mr. The Fool say in a flat tone:
Your spirit has been corrupted by some force.
"Everything's fine now."
Has it already been Purification by Mr. The Fool? Fors's heart stirred, and he was about to ask how to save Hugh when suddenly his vision turned red, and then light rose up again.
After a brief pause, she found herself back in the real world, back in the Delaire Forest. The dark spots on the back of her hands and wrists were fading and disappearing rapidly, and the bleeding from her nose had stopped.
Turning around, Fors saw Hugh weakly leaning against a tree, his face covered in dark spots, looking extremely frightening. Fors ' neck muscles tensed suddenly, and his thoughts began to race.
A few seconds later, she strode over, grabbed Hugh's shoulder, and said quickly:
"I have a way to save you, but you need to do as I describe!"
"In Ancient Hermes, it means the Fool That Doesn't Belong to This Era..."
Hugh struggled to lift his swollen eyelids, glanced at Fors for two seconds, and then recited in a low voice:
" The Fool That Doesn't Belong to This Era ";
" The Mysterious Ruler Above the Gray Fog "
" The King of Yellow and Black, who holds the key to good fortune..."
Before he could finish speaking, Xiu was astonished to see a deep red starlight surge forth from nothingness and engulf him.
The indescribable roar lasted for a second before disappearing from Hugh's ears. She then found herself in an ancient and magnificent palace, sitting at a mottled green table, with endless gray-white mist beneath her feet, and a majestic figure looking down at her from the side.
This scene was both strange and familiar to her; she had seen it once in a "dream" before, but had never thought about it again after the exorcism ritual.
That Purification was actually ineffective... This thought suddenly popped into Hugh's head. He carefully rose and bowed to the figure shrouded in Gray Fog:
"Are you the great King of Yellow and Black?"
She didn't seem too surprised or terrified, as if she had expected it.
"You can call me Mr. ' The Fool,' please have a seat," the figure, exuding an aura as vast as a mountain and as deep as the sea, replied calmly.
Hugh bowed again, sat down, and made sure he had shaken off the bad feeling he had just experienced.
She glanced around, thought for a moment, and said:
"Dear Mr. 'Fool,' is there a chair here, Fors Wall?"
The " The Fool," shrouded in Gray Fog, nodded slightly and said:
"Yes."
Hugh paused for a second, then spoke directly:
"Can I join her like she did?"
The Fool chuckled softly:
"This was a gathering they organized themselves, which I convened."
There are still seats available; you can join.
"Draw a card; they all use one of the Major Arcana cards as their code name here."
Without asking any further questions or saying anything more, Xiu immediately nodded and said:
"Yes, Mr. ' The Fool '."
A tarot deck immediately appeared on the long bronze table in front of her.
Hugh extended his right hand, solemnly cut the cards, drew one, and turned it over on the table.
Her card depicts Angel holding a trumpet and a deceased person awaiting redemption.
" Judgement " sign!