"Someone asked me to delay time here and not let you leave too early, so you'd better talk to me again."
Ossenfurt said, and Shade suddenly realized:
"I understand what you said, but what does it have to do with me? Do you have anything else to say? Never mind, I don't want to hear whatever you want to say. Are you ready to start fighting? Or, do you want to fight outside?"
"You are a person with a really impatient personality."
Ossenfurt said that Shade couldn't care less:
"You don't think that you can stop me with just the two lower-level demons behind you, do you?"
"We've traded so many times, why not trade again?"
Stone Oxenfurt said, taking out his pocket watch and taking a look:
"It's nine o'clock in the evening. Stay here and talk to me for another half an hour."
“It’s not very long, but what if I say no?”
Shade shook his head.
"There are still many things you don't know. Don't you want to continue listening to the story? Also, aren't you curious about why I became a ring warlock? It has something to do with the three items I asked you to find. If you kill me now, I'm afraid these secrets will be buried forever."
"Sorry, it's not important to me, time is the most important..."
But after saying this, seeing the butler and maid behind Ossenfort, and thinking of the other party's promise of more information about the devil, Shade hesitated and changed his words:
"However, I do have a request. Tell me how you summon demons. Where are all the demon information of Captain Woody? Also, I want you to release these two lower-level demons and set them free."
These are actually two conditions, and putting the two together is not at all abrupt, so Xia De is not afraid of the other party knowing his true purpose.
"If that's the case, no problem."
Sure enough, the man at the door said:
"The information on summoning demons is in my stone carving studio. It's in the safe behind the cabinet on the right. You can see it when you open it. As for them..."
He turned to look at his silent butler and maid:
"This is also part of my story. After summoning the stone mirror, there was a time when I regretted that I signed a contract with the devil so easily. Humans always have their own ideas, so I came up with a bolder idea."
"You want to summon another demon to fight your own demon?"
Xia De said with a mocking tone, pulling out a chair in the newlyweds' bedroom and sitting down:
"I find it hard to understand you."
"People always say that your peers are your biggest enemies. As a pirate, I agree with this view, so I thought of using demons to fight demons."
Osenfurt said, looking back at Shade:
"It's interesting that I followed the instructions on the parchment and wanted to summon the mirror's opponent, but I summoned them instead. They... To be honest, they are not very strong, but as housekeepers and maids, they are still very good. When I was not at home, they looked after the manor, took care of Hela, and drove away some guys with brain problems and buried them in the backyard. But now..."
He shook his head.
"After tonight, my life is going to be very different anyway. So, although I don't apologize often, I still want to say thank you. I haven't paid you in all these years, but you know where my wealth is. Take it - you are free."
The old butler and the maid nodded to Shade at the same time, then they turned into two streams of black smoke, flew over Ossenfurt's shoulder into the room, then broke open the door to the small terrace and flew into the night sky with snowflakes flying.
"Are you relieved now? I am your only opponent now."
The owner of the manor opened his arms and entered his newlywed bedroom. Shade knew that he was running out of time, but there were some things he really needed to understand. The matter between Ossenfurt and the devil was complicated, and it couldn't be resolved by winning a battle:
"I'll only give you half an hour. After half an hour, I won't listen to a word you say."
"No problem, my friend, I'll do as you say."
He put his hands on his hips and looked at the indoor environment:
"I really miss it. I was so young back then. I will never forget what happened on that winter night when we got married."
"When did Hela Oxenfurt die?"
Shad asked.
The expression on the manor owner's face became a little sad, but only for a moment:
"This vision represents that night."
"The night you got married two years ago?"
Xia De raised his eyebrows:
"You killed your wife?"
"Don't be so silly. You know my story so well. Do you think I could possibly do such a thing? I would rather kill myself than kill her. For her, I am willing to pay any price, including my life. I love her and have always loved her."
Ossenfurt looked at the phantom and the corpse on the bed. He felt much more deeply about the illusion than Shade did:
"Hela died before dawn on our wedding night. We stayed like this all night: I stood at the window looking outside, and she lay on the bed, crying because of the news given to her by the bitch at the wedding. Then, before the first light of dawn illuminated my face, she stopped breathing."
Both Shade and Osenfurt were silent. After half a minute, Shade asked:
"I'm sure there were no wounds or signs of self-harm on the body. So, to put it politely, she died because..."
"Died of a broken heart. And my heart died at that moment."
"Since Madam Hela died two years ago, who was it that I saw in 1854? Did you resurrect her?"
"I don't have this ability, but it does. It just so happens that it wants to add some content to our contract, so we have the current complete version of the contract."
"Resurrection obviously comes at a price."
Shade said softly, and Osenfurt shook his head. Even now, he was unwilling to talk to Shade about the details of the contract:
"I know you hate me. Sometimes I hate myself too, but there's nothing I can do about it. This is life. My life changed the day I met Hela. Maybe the eyes of the gods were all on me that day. I found a way to leave the fleet, redeem my family's estate, and become a big businessman. But all this is fake."
He grabbed the air with his hands:
"You are curious about why this place became so dilapidated overnight, right? In fact, this is the real appearance of this manor. It is too old and too dilapidated. It should no longer exist. And I let it use its power to keep the surface here bright and shiny. Now it has sensed my resistance and its power has gradually been stripped away from this manor, and it has returned to its original state."
"You shouldn't leave things behind that should go."
Shade looked at the woman on the bed.
"You don't have to give me any hints. I know what I want to do."
Oxenfurt smiled, folding his arms over his chest and leaning his back against the wall next to the door, while Shad still sat sideways in the chair pulled out in front of the table.
"I knew exactly what the devil wanted to do, so when I signed the contract, I tried my best to avoid being 'collected' by the devil. It wasn't easy, but thanks to you."
His hands slid in the air a few times, and the light danced with his hands. This was the basic spell "Light Magic". Although it was basic, it also represented the identity of a ring magician:
"After coming into contact with the mystery, there are only two outcomes. Either you go crazy, like the people in the fables; or you discover your talent and become a ring sorcerer, just like you and most ring sorcerers. And I am obviously an exception. I do have some special talents, but after signing a contract with it, the power of the contract bound my soul, and I cannot become a ring sorcerer."
Shade thought for a moment:
"So, the three items you asked me to find are related to your becoming a ring wizard now?"
Ossenfort nodded:
"There is a supplementary clause in the contract between it and me. It is a bet. The full content of the bet is this: the 'wedding ring' representing my marriage, the 'medal' representing my family's honor, and the 'sapphire earrings' representing my love are hidden by it in this city. These three parts represent the things I cherish most and represent a part of my soul. Only by finding them can my soul be complete, and the devil will untie my shackles and let me become a ring wizard."
Speaking of this, Ossenfurt's tone lightened:
"So, even though you hate me very much, I'm actually glad to meet you. The devil gave me a fate that I would never get those items, but fortunately you showed the power to overcome fate."
"Can you let me see the life ring?"
Shad suddenly suggested, and Stone Oxenfort nodded:
"certainly."
In the thick steam mist, accompanied by the sound of whistles and bells, the brass wheel ring slowly emerged. The core spirit runes were the same as Shade's, two of them, the Enlightenment Heart and the Enlightenment Stone, which was not unexpected.
Because he has only been a ring sorcerer for two days, there is currently only a silver blasphemous spirit rune demon on his first life ring.
"After you came into contact with the devil, you must have learned a lot of occult knowledge yourself, right?"
Xia De asked again.
"Yes, and I'm not worried about going crazy at all. Sometimes, I even hope I will go crazy."
"I don't understand. Since you know about the occult, why did you summon the butler and the maid when you summoned the demon to deal with it again?"
Osenfurt looked at Shade with a strange look:
"First of all, I want to make sure that we are talking about summoning demons. You don't think those ancient evil spirits are kind people? As long as I make a wish, I can get a corresponding response? I do want to find a demon to deal with the demon itself, but it is quite a pity that although two were summoned this time, they have no power."
The two demons that were being talked about had now turned into black smoke and flew away. If they had just left like that, Shade would not have been able to find them.