"We can't rely too much on the Dark Box. The gap between the two is too big. The Dark Box has been corroded by the Dark Realm. Shade, look at these traces..."
Tifa pointed to the black stain on the brass gear mechanism box:
"This is the outward manifestation of corrosion. Fortunately, as long as the box is not opened, the corrosion effect of the dark field on it can be almost ignored, so we can take it with us as a safety guarantee on the road. But if it is not necessary, you'd better not let it get out of control, which will seriously accelerate the corrosion."
"What would happen if the Dark Box was truly corrupted by the Dark Realm?"
Shade asked curiously. Tifa couldn't answer, but Luvia gave the answer:
"This is a very rare phenomenon where relics merge with each other. When relics of the same type and with similar functions come into close contact and one is much stronger than the other, the weaker one will be absorbed by the stronger one, just like water merging into the sea. But this situation is extremely rare, extremely rare."
Everyone who was awake looked at her; it was the first time for everyone to hear such a thing.
"So that's how it is..."
Shade thought about it:
"Tifa, in that case, you carry it. I won't use its loss of control effect unless it's necessary."
The Light Spirit Rune is used to kill demons in the dark realm, but since the maid is with him, there is no need for Shade to destroy them by himself.
"Okay, so do you still need to rest?"
Tifa asked again.
"No need, time is tight, let's leave immediately."
said Shad, who had rested long enough from standing behind Mr. Riddle, watching the card game.
"Luvia, stay here and wait for my good news."
Shade said to the female fortune teller again, shaking the corked glass bottle. This is the core ritual material of the ritual to seal the devil that Luvia found. He is saying that he is fine.
All he had to do was witness what exactly happened to the second chosen one, and only if the church, the witches, and other strange organizations of ring sorcerers failed, and Darkness not only completed the ritual but also had the potential to escape, would it be necessary for Shade himself to take action.
But compared to the dozens of other possibilities, this one had the lowest probability, so Shad was not worried about the rest of the journey. He figured all he had to do was go and see, and then bring back the results.
"I'll wait for you here... This time, you'll have to face it on your own. This is for you. It's an alchemical item I made myself. It can bring some luck to its owner."
She took off a silver necklace from her neck. The pendant at the end of the necklace contained a photo of her deceased parents. Every time Shade saw Luvia, she wore this necklace. This was not only an alchemical item, but also her most precious personal jewelry:
"Don't worry, I've always had good luck compared to doctors."
Shade put the necklace away, and Luvia nodded, her eyes seemed to have thousands of words to express, but in the end she just took off the four metal amulets that had cracks on her body and handed them to Tifa. Shade was basically unaffected by the dark realm, but Tifa, even with the sixth ring, would definitely be affected by the angel-level relic.
The maid held the amulet tightly and nodded:
"I will protect Shade."
Tifa arranged who would be in charge of the situation after she left the manor, and then she and Shad, each carrying a metal box, left the master bedroom on the third floor.
Sure enough, when the two came to the corridor shrouded in darkness, Tifa stumbled and almost fell, but because her level was much higher than Luvia and she also had the power of a witch, she adapted to it and seemed to be fine.
As for Shad, the strange blessing given by the Augustus priest was still in effect. Although this effect could not last forever, as long as the blessing power was not greatly depleted, the priest's blessing was enough to allow Shad to travel through the dark realm.
Instead of leaving the manor directly, they went to the stable on the side of the manor under Tifa's guidance.
The horses in the stable were all ordinary creatures, and of course they were all in a coma. Perhaps because they were less intelligent, their minds and souls were weaker, one of them had even been dissolved by darkness, turning into a strange-looking one-eyed "Servant of Secrets", which was then easily killed by Tifa.
The maid possesses the Light Rune, but the last time she encountered the Servant of Secrets at the ophthalmologist's, neither of them knew that light could kill this kind of demon, so she did not take action at that time.
Tifa came to the stable not to wake up the horses. She asked Shad for a knife and cut some mane from a red pony that had fainted on the ground, and cut some tail from another unusually tall black horse. Finally, she found a rusty horseshoe and some horse bones in the stable.
After drawing a circular ritual array made of tadpole characters on the ground with chalk, Tifa placed four items in the four square spaces deliberately left in the center of the densely packed tadpole characters.
She cut her finger and dripped a drop of blood into the center of the ritual array, then clasped her hands together, clenched her fists, lowered her head, closed her eyes, and chanted the spell in a low voice. The dark realm swallowed up the light produced by the ritual, but it could not swallow up the skeleton horse that walked out of the rolling black fog.
"Oh~"
Xia De looked at this thing with admiration. It was a pure undead creature, and the blue flames in its eyes were the flames of its soul.
"Let's go."
Tifa found a saddle, bit, reins and other equipment and hung them on the undead horse, and then hung the box she was carrying on the side of the horse.
"I thought that when this kind of summon appears, the saddle and other things will be ready."
"The items on the dead are not part of the dead."
Tifa said, reaching out and stroking the horse's skull a few times:
"Shad, can you ride a horse?"
The maid asked again.
"Of course not."
Shad said.
"Well, I'll ride the horse."
She climbed onto the horse's back nimbly, but because she was wearing a skirt, she sat sideways. She waved to Xia De, signaling him to get on as well, but Xia De hesitated:
"Hmm... How should I get on the horse?"
So Tifa had to pull him up, and then let Shad hold her waist with both hands to prevent her from falling.
"Wait a moment!"
Before Tifa pulled the reins and prepared to set off, Shad reached into his pocket again and took out a small bottle of bright yellow eye drops:
"Remember this? Put some in your eyes and it will expand your field of vision."
Then he handed her the Leaf of Eternal Youth which originally recorded the magic - Breath of Time:
"Take this, in case of any unexpected situations."
"This is... ... "
The maid looked at the green leaves in Xia De's shining palm, which seemed to be also stained by the silver moonlight.
"Youth is not old."
"What?"
She obviously knew about this relic too.
"Let's go quickly. I'll lend it to you temporarily to prevent any unexpected situations."
Shade stuffed the leaf into her hands, and Tifa hummed softly. After getting ready, the skeleton horse carried the two of them out of the stable, along the central axis of the courtyard, out of the manor, and ran towards the southeastern suburbs of the city.
This undead horse summoned by Tifa through a ritual can run faster than a normal horse. Although the undead itself will be dissolved by the silent darkness, because Shad on its back is constantly glowing and dispelling the surrounding darkness, the undead, like Tifa, are slightly less affected by the dark domain when they come into close contact with Shad.
Because they knew the destination and the terrain, they could choose the shortest path even when visibility was extremely poor. They passed through deserted villages and dark, empty farmlands. As they gradually approached the core of the dark realm, the black shadows representing the "past" and the secret servants that occasionally attacked from the darkness became more and more dense.
At the beginning, the two people on the skeleton horses could still fight back with the power of Tifa, but as the power of the devil became stronger and stronger, they had to open the Dark Box and let another kind of darkness cover them.
This was very effective, not only did it more obviously banish the influence of the Dark Realm, but it also made it seem as if the Servants of the Hidden were completely unable to see them.
However, on the dark box hanging on the side of the skeleton horse, more and more black spots gradually covered the original brass color. And as they got closer to the central area, the black marks spread faster and faster.
It was clear that they could never rely on this relic to keep them safe forever.
If the edge of the dark realm was just a dark and silent area, then as the two went deeper, all kinds of terrible illusions, as well as real demons and phantoms of the past, became more and more dense.
This darkness can not only melt the sleeping people, but also seduce and scare awake intruders. Once the emotions are affected, it won't be long before they fall into deep sleep.
Not far from the word "core" written by Miss Carina on the map, they finally encountered the church's ring magician team in the dark. However, due to the severe obstruction of vision in the darkness, when Shade found them, they did not notice the two people on the skeleton horse at all.
Xia De relied on the light on his body and the gift box of God on his back to dispel the darkness, while the twelve-member team from the Peace Church relied on a glowing holy emblem. The holy emblem was not a relic, but just an ordinary divine item. However, because the righteous God Peace Father really existed, this divine item could actually directly protect the twelve-member team and allow them to move freely in the darkness.
Shade told Tifa about the situation ahead, and both of them thought it was unnecessary to confront the church team, so they took a detour and left. On the subsequent journey, they encountered more and more church ring magicians.
Just as Xia De had estimated, although the area out of control of the Dark Territory had expanded, the Church still had basic control over the situation. If he was lucky, he would only need to witness Darkness being captured or killed by the Church, and Xia Mo's final adventure would truly be over.