Doctors occasionally use terms that Shade doesn't understand to refer to certain additives in the drug synthesis formula. Although Shade's knowledge of herbs and potions is superficial, judging from the synthesis method and the order of adding potions, this "red potion" is likely to be the active ingredient.
"This is... a laboratory-pure synthetic potion given to me by my friend at the Third Mechanical Institute of Tobesk."
"lie."
The black-haired girl said without raising her head as she looked down at the medical records. Mr. Alfred's sweat immediately flowed down his face. Shade shook his head and put down the notebook in his hand:
"Doctor, I have reason to believe that the so-called 'red medicine' is a powerful hallucinogenic drug that you bought from the black market. This unknown illegal drug irritated the eyes of the musician Mr. Bundy, and also caused him to fall into addiction and hallucinations, which eventually led to the tragedy of suicide."
"It's definitely not a hallucinogenic drug! I've tried it myself! It's just for the eyes."
Mr. Alfred spoke loudly again, but being stared at by Shad's scrutinizing eyes, he actually felt inexplicably afraid of the young man in front of him.
"What exactly is red medicine?"
He asked, staring into the ophthalmologist's eyes. The middle-aged man flinched but still looked at him bravely.
The two stared at each other for a long time. Except for wanting to blink, Xia De's eyes remained unchanged. The doctor looked into Xia De's eyes, but he became more and more terrified. The young man opposite him did not show any fierce temperament, nor was he as scary as the gangsters he saw in the nearby streets. However, the more he stared at Xia De, the more inexplicable pressure made him feel creepy, as if he was looking up at some indescribable monster.
Finally, the doctor gave up hiding it and looked away dejectedly:
"That is... a gift from our ancestors."
Shade sighed and turned to look at his assistant. The black-haired girl looked very excited about the story, while Shade was sighing that this troublesome matter had finally come to an end.
Compared to Shade's investigation process, Dr. Alfred's story is relatively boring.
The doctor was not a native of Tobysk, but settled here from another place. Although he had successfully settled in this big city known as the Pearl of the North, Jacob Alfred still returned to his hometown every year.
When he returned home this spring, the doctor considered selling the old house in his hometown to obtain cash to expand his clinic in Tobesk. While cleaning up the old house, an earthquake occurred unexpectedly in the area. The earthquake caused cracks in the wall of the basement of the old house, and behind the cracks, Dr. Alfred found a hollow secret compartment for storing items. There were three items in the compartment: a bottle of red potion, a parchment scroll written in an unknown language, and a ring.
“It’s wonderful!”
The black-haired girl said.
"That's all. I don't recognize the words on the parchment, and the ring looks like an antique. As for the potions, I don't know their specific effects, but I saw the symbol of an eye on the parchment, so I thought it might be useful for the eyes. Later, I experimented on mice and found that it was indeed useful. Later, I added some other herbs to make it work on humans. Mr. Bundy was my first experimental subject, and I really succeeded. He really regained his sight."
Dr. Alfred took out an old suitcase from the safe, carried it to the coffee table, unlocked it with the key, opened the suitcase, took out the three items and put them on the table. Only three-quarters of the red liquid in the yellow bottle remained, and the rest was made into a bright yellow potion. The parchment looked quite old, and there was indeed an ancient language on it.
As for the last piece of antique square iron ring...
Outsider, you have come into contact with "Whisper".
"Oh? A relic?"
"A relic?"
The maid was a little surprised. Without knowing the specific characteristics, it was difficult to find a relic that was not working. However, Xia De's soul was sensitive, so he could make a quick judgment.
He put on a glove and took the ring in his hand, and the sound in his ear immediately confirmed that this was the relic.
The ring is made of black iron, and the face is made of a darker, rustic black iron. The face is rectangular, slightly convex around and concave inside, but the pattern inside the rectangle is convex.
Xia De suddenly widened his eyes:
"Can a ring be considered a seal?"
This is an ancient metal seal ring, and the seal pattern...
"Dongdongdong~"
The three of them looked at the study door behind them. The sudden knock on the door did not bring too much fear, but they all felt uneasy at this moment.
The person outside the door was knocking on the door very regularly, with no intention of stopping.
"Doctor, is there anyone else in your family?"
Miss Servet frowned slightly and asked, then went to see the doctor again. After being puzzled, a look of horror appeared on the doctor's face:
"No, there should be no one else here before you came. Someone broke into my place! Oh, who is it, who is outside!"
He asked loudly, but there was no answer from outside the door. The knocking maintained the original frequency, but the sound became louder and louder.
Miss Servet stood up:
"Be careful, detective."
Both she and Shad sensed something unusual coming from outside the door.
Let the doctor hide under the desk, and Xia De also stood up.
The cold wind quickly came in through the crack in the door. Although it was a late summer afternoon, the light in the area where the door was located suddenly dimmed, as if something was absorbing the light.
But in just a few seconds, the two people standing in the middle of the study saw that the door area had fallen into a pitch-black darkness. The door was completely hidden in the darkness, and the knocking sound seemed to be completely absorbed by the darkness and disappeared.
"What's this?"
Tifa asked quietly, taking a step forward and blocking Shade behind her. Miss Carina asked her to follow Shade, and one of her orders was to protect Shade.
Shade rubbed the metal seal ring in his hand with his fingertips, and then carefully put it on his index finger. He already knew what this relic was. The seal pattern on the ring was exactly the exorcist emblem on the body of the Fifth Epoch prophet Ridel.
This is the Demon Seal, a mark used by demon hunters in the Third Age to hunt evil spirits and demons. Shade had just heard from Luvia yesterday that he would definitely encounter it as long as he walked forward, but he did not expect that this seal was actually a ring.
If what he just saw was a seal, he would never touch the ring.
"I think it's probably the demons that were attracted by this ring. If this ring is not held by a ring wizard for a long time, it will attract demons when it encounters a ring wizard again. This is one of the negative characteristics. It's like the original owner of the ring hopes that the next owner of the ring can understand the mission he shoulders."
Shad whispered.
"What?"
For a moment the maid thought she had misheard.
"This ring is a relic. Its negative property is that it attracts demons. I don't know why it appeared in my hand when I was looking for it. I don't know why there are demons in the city of Tobesk, but now the demons are here. The evil demons left over from the Third Age are here."
He walked towards the darkness that was constantly creeping forward, but his right hand was held by Tifa. The maid frowned and asked seriously:
"Wait, Mr. Hamilton, what do you want to do?"
"Of course, I want to test whether I can fight against this thing. It is not strong. Yes, it is not strong."
This is why Shade did not immediately escape through the window. He had the weak angel potion on him and the Demon Hunting Seal in his hand. Just then, a demon that "she" thought was relatively weak appeared, and the outsider wanted to test whether the weapon he had worked so hard to prepare was effective.
Miss Servet was a little bit unconvinced. The second-ring Shade thought that the terrible creature that brought darkness was not powerful:
"Mr. Hamilton, I know what this is. It is a hidden servant that came out of the dark realm of the angel-level relic that went out of control outside the city. It brings darkness to devour light, expands the scope of the dark realm, and tries to plunge the entire world into forgotten darkness. I must ensure your safety. Let's leave now!"
Meaning that she could handle this thing, but with Shade around, she couldn't take any chances.
"Secret Servant? Oh, it turns out to be a derivative of an out-of-control angel-level relic. I've heard of this... So, I can't leave anymore."
Seeing that the maid was still holding him, he explained:
"Don't worry, what I fear least is darkness. Darkness cannot swallow us."
"Detective, are you worried that this darkness will spread across the neighborhood and devour more humans, so you don't want to leave?"
The maid asked in disbelief.
"Why do you think so? Even if I'm a good person, I'm not that good."
His expression was equally serious as he looked at his assistant today:
"Ms. Servet... No, Tifa, do you think I'm the kind of person who would seek my own death?"
He addressed the girl in front of him directly by her name.
"How will you behave when Miss Carina takes you to handle things? Tifa, although you are not wearing a maid skirt now, please return to your normal state as a maid."
"But... ... "
"I won't brag about myself in front of a pretty girl just to save face, and I won't rely on your strength just because you're by my side. This time, you're a maid, you're the detective's assistant, please obey my orders. Hold my hand tightly and follow me to solve this thing."
He looked into Tifa's eyes. Tifa looked at his serious expression, blinked, and then relaxed a little:
"But I must emphasize two points. First, if we are in danger, we must retreat immediately. Second, before the young lady decides to marry you, you are not my master, so please do not order me around."
Xia De nodded:
"Yes, Miss Tifa Servet, I may need you to protect me later. But at least please hold my hand tightly now and don't be swallowed by the darkness."
The two held hands, Shade took the first step, and then they walked together into the darkness that was wriggling forward in front of them.
She stepped from the normal area of the study into the edge of darkness. Although she did not move in space, her body still felt weightless. But the black-haired girl was not concerned about the moment of weightlessness, but the darkness that surrounded her from all directions after she entered the darkness, which almost melted her body and took away her soul in the next second.
This terrifying illusion of being swallowed by darkness did not last long, and the faint light dispelled the abnormal emotions.
She saw the hand she was holding glowing slightly, and then she saw that Shade was emitting a pure and heart-moving holy silver light. It seemed that because they were holding hands, the light also attached to her body slightly, making the darkness around her go away.
"You see, darkness cannot consume me."
Shade said, and the two summoned the life ring together. The darkness also could not swallow the four-color dazzling light on Shade's life ring, because the life rings of both parties were too close, so after the two metal rings appeared in the steam mist, they rubbed sparks in the rapid rotation, and then slowly adjusted their size and floated away in opposite directions.
"Here's the plan. Find the demon, and kill it. How do you feel about that?"
Shade asked, looking into the darkness around him.
"It's a simple plan, but how are you going to find the enemy? Wait for them to attack us?"
Tifa also looked around.
"No, no, please wait a moment... Silver Moon!"
The silver light on his fingertips flickered slightly, but it was unable to dispel the darkness. This was the first time that the light of the silver moon had no effect, but it was also within Shade's expectations. After all, even the sage-level relic, the fishbone pirate ship, could suppress the moonlight, so it was normal that the angel-level relic that specifically targeted light would be even more powerful.
"In this case, I will have to touch this darkness more deeply."
He took a deep breath and drew the air into his lungs. He listened attentively for a moment, and when he got the hint, he led Tifa forward.
The area covered by darkness was not large, and this was not a spatial anomaly. Therefore, if the direction was chosen correctly, an abnormal sound appeared in front of the person after only a dozen steps. (To be continued)