Ghouls are a relatively common race of undead, with individual strength ranging from millet level to Shad level. Strictly speaking, the giant amputated undead evil creature that appeared at the end of the Battle of Midhill Castle can also be classified as a "ghoul".
The gardener in front of him was obviously different from a normal zombie. He had a normal rotten body, but at the same time he seemed to still retain human consciousness. After crawling out of the snow, he bowed slightly to Hela Oxenfurt, then held up his hat, grabbed the shovel and looked at Shad.
Scattered black particles emerged from his skin and floated towards the sky in the opposite direction of the falling snow. Pitch-black runes clung to the surface of his skin, but the twisted patterns could not form any words.
The power of blasphemy gave color to his originally dry skin, and even the originally ordinary shovel became terrifying after being stained by the black patterns spreading from his hands.
"To ask someone for help, you actually have to ask them to fight first."
Shade muttered, but did not object. He frowned and observed the corpse ghost. As his eyes blinked, the magic of sight was activated again. In the strange vision, the only abnormality around the corpse ghost was that the originally distorted patterns on the surface of the body could be interpreted, and their meanings were "demonization", "obedience" and "desire".
This does not indicate what the devil is.
"Come to think of it, can this be considered a summon?"
Xia De thought to himself that if it was considered a summoned creature, his Yellow Moon magic "Confusion" would be just the right effect.
Probably not.
While "she" was giving Shade's answer in her heart, the demonized corpse ghost had already rushed up.
Black particles were pulled out from the body at an incredibly fast speed. Just as Shade wanted to parry, the corpse ghost turned into particles and disappeared in the snow, but Shade could still see obvious signs of distortion in the air in the snow:
"Invisible?"
Yes, but it's not a threat to you.
As they were talking, the two of them were already close to each other. The invisible corpse swung the shovel and smashed it at Shad's head, but with a clang sound and sparks flying, the black chain held in Shad's hands completely blocked the shovel that could almost split the earth.
He felt that his spirit seemed to be slightly reduced, and it would be almost imperceptible if he did not concentrate.
It can absorb spirits through its attacks, but it poses little threat to you.
"Do demons always like to suck something?"
The power of the shovel disappeared in the next moment, and the distorted outline of the corpse in front of him burst into black light particles, and then the sound of wind came from behind Shad.
Space movement.
Without time to turn around, he kicked backwards suddenly. As the zombie behind him changed its shape, Shade dodged sideways and kicked the enemy into the snow.
It cannot remain invisible when moving through space.
"How can this be of any use to me?"
He did not summon the Moonlight Greatsword or other weapons that might expose his identity, but only held the chain with four sin runes in his hand. He shook his right hand, causing the chain to rotate and make a sound of breaking through the air, and the corpse ghost also crawled out of the snow, and the shovel glowed with a faint blue light. The shovel looked like an ordinary item at first glance, but when you really feel it up close, you will find that although it is not a relic, it is also very special.
Hela Osenfurt stood under a tree nearby, watching the battle between the two in silence. She watched the corpse ghost disappear in the snow once again, but this time, as Shade's right foot stepped on the snow, mud and snow splashed, and obvious impact ripples appeared on the snow:
"Space Stabilization Aura!"
The chain in his hand was swung out like a long snake, and with another burst of sparks and clanging sounds, the invisible corpse swung the shovel and chopped at the top of the chain, but the chain that was pressed against the snow surface deftly avoided the shovel after being hit for the first time, and then quickly wrapped around the corpse's legs.
The chains of sin didn't seem to have much effect on it, and the ghoul was still able to move. While Shade was trying to pull it down by retrieving the chains, the ghoul gardener broke his own leg with a shovel without hesitation, but no blood flowed from the wound.
It kept retreating, and its broken right leg grew back quickly. When it retreated to a place far away where Shade's spatial stabilization aura could not affect it, it quickly used its own spatial force to transfer and avoided the chain that was following closely.
This monster's combat intelligence was not low. It continued to wander around the edge of the space stability aura, knowing that it would definitely be controlled by the chains if it got close. Under normal circumstances, Shade could easily rush up and deal with it, but this time he didn't intend to expose too much, so he planned to use some uncommon methods.
There was a sound of breaking through the air, and the swinging shovel sent a crescent-shaped arc of dark blue light flying. As Shade dodged sideways, the corpse ghost had already used space transfer to appear far behind him, and then another crescent-shaped arc of dark blue light was shattered by the swinging chain.
clang!
The chains of sin swept the surroundings, and the two arcs of light on the left and right were shattered at the same time. Although the spiritual weapon transformed by the chains of sin had no attack power, its sturdiness was not much different from that of the moonlight sword, and it was even sturdier than the moonlight sword.
"It's time to end it."
Shade waved the chain with one hand and pointed at the ghoul who was trying to dodge the chain in his hand. But he did not use the moonlight series of magic, but a spell:
"Calling Snowball!"
This spell was acquired when he met the witch Miss Chloe Yin in the Silver Snow Mountain. The snowballs summoned by the spell are not only huge, but also difficult to destroy and have multiple effects such as mind paralysis and freezing. As Shade cast the spell, the snowballs fell from the sky like meteorites, but were avoided by the ghouls.
So Shade continued to use the spell, since the cost of this spell was very low anyway, and the corpse ghost kept dodging the intermittent long-range attacks.
As the number of giant snowballs in the yard increased, the space it could dodge became extremely narrow. When Shade felt that it was about time, the chain in his hand flew out again, but this time it was not for attacking, but to quickly pierce through each snowball, until those snowballs were the apex, forming a dense grid like a spider web in the snowy backyard.
The chain itself needs to touch the target to be effective, but such a dense blockade makes it more difficult for the ghoul to dodge, unless he escapes farther away from the battlefield. However, this is a duel, and neither side is allowed to escape, so the monster can only desperately swing the shovel in his hand between the snowballs, trying to cut the chain. Meanwhile, Shade, who is standing in the center of the battlefield, has already made the chain shrink rapidly.
The indestructible snowballs all gathered towards the center as the chains moved, until the zombies were buried in the snow, forming an even larger snow pile aggregate.
The chains of sin pierced through the snow, wrapped around the shovel and threw it far away. The stiff corpse crawled out of the snow with difficulty. Due to the stiffness of his mind, he was now like a normal corpse, rushing towards Shade like a mad dog.
Xia De could have killed the other party directly at this moment, but he retracted the chain and stood in place watching the terrifying monster rushing towards him.
He frowned slightly, clenched his hands and raised them to the right side of his face, closed his eyes and counted three, two, one in his mind. When he opened his eyes again, a terrifying scarlet sword light bloomed between his hands. This was Red Moon's Moonlight Greatsword. Because it was related to the divinity of the God of Vampires, the bloody red color made people feel particularly uncomfortable.
He swung the sword with both hands forward, and an arc-shaped trace of light lingered in the air for a long time. The corpse ghost froze in front of Shade and did not move.
The red moonlight blooming in his hand gradually converged, and the upper half of the corpse's body slid downward along the tangent and fell into the snow, and then the lower half of the body also fell down with a loud bang.
"Is it ready?"
He asked the woman who was walking back. Hela Osenfurt nodded slightly:
"That's enough... The power of sin. I think I understand why he chose you."
"Don't say these useless things, ma'am, where is the clue?"
"I can't tell you the truth directly from his eyes, otherwise my husband will find out. But his eyes did see part of the truth before he died."
The woman pointed at the gardener. Xia De frowned slightly, and put away the broken corpse ghost, which was completely "dead" due to the destruction of the red moon's power, as a toy, and then put away the shovel. Although it was a special item, it could be recycled by consuming more spirit.
Then he called upon fire to melt the snowballs and erase all traces of the small-scale battle.
Although Shade himself cannot extract memories from the eyeballs of the dead, this is not a rare ability. A dream master like Dr. Schneider can do it.
"Not enough. I need further clues. You know, your husband is not easy to deal with."
He continued to make his request, and Hela Osenfurt nodded again, but turned slightly and saw the maid carrying her painting supplies, walking towards the pavilion in the wind and snow.
Then the mouth behind the veil spoke softly as if it had not moved at all:
"Go to the curator of the Randall Valley City Museum of Statues, Mr. Fernandez."
It just so happened that the porcelain vase, one of the three auction items that Xia De was looking for, was in that statue gallery.
"I thought you were going to tell me to go find some folklorist."
Shade put his hands in his pockets and stood side by side with the veiled lady, looking at the deserted garden covered with snow, as if he had been admiring the snowy scenery since just now. The maid was already very close, and Hela Osenfurt could only say the last words:
“He really is a folklorist.”
Xia De was just wondering if Mr. Fernandez also knew Professor Manning, his friend in Tobesk. When he thought of Professor Manning, he naturally thought of Mr. Laiman, whom he met in the previous time key. The two had similar hobbies.
Isn't it the same for you
"She" suddenly said with a smile, Xia De immediately refuted in his heart:
"I like cats, not cat girls."
I didn't say cat, I said dragon maid.
"Her" smile became even more cheerful, while Xia De looked at the snow scene with a stern face.
He has not yet found the time to look for Mr. Lyman's descendants locally. But he thinks that the folklorist in the museum might be able to provide some help. Ancient family lines have always been the focus of folklorists' research, and he is extremely curious about the gift that Mr. Lyman left for him in the cemetery mentioned by Sister Perry.