Chapter 1308: Chapter 1308: Osenfort’s Hint
"All mortals must face death..."
Osenfort’s right corner of the mouth lifted slightly, and he suddenly suggested:
"Do you want to have another match with me? If you win, I’ll tell you something important."
"Compete in what?"
"Swordfight, to see who can kill the other."
With that, he bent over, his rough hand reaching for the earth beneath the snow, and then lifted a stone sword from the soil. This was the only supernatural power he’d shown so far, but Shard still felt he was just an ordinary person.
"Why would I suddenly duel with you?"
"Because you really need the information I can provide."
So Shard picked up the rusty longsword:
"Very well then, I hope you can say what you want to tell me before you die. If you die, I’ll take your body and go to your estate to fetch the statue I want."
He actually knew Ston Osenfort possessed a certain degree of immortality, as Haila Osenfort had mentioned earlier that morning.
Clang!
The stone sword then crashed towards Shard’s head, but he raised his longsword to block it. However, the force of the stone sword was surprisingly unexpected, and even with Shard’s physical condition, he felt the other’s strength was greater than his own.
The rusty sword in his hand was quite solid, but the blade had already bent subtly. Seeing that Ston Osenfort was genuinely trying to kill him, Shard decided not to hold back anymore.
He lifted his right foot and kicked hard at the opponent’s abdomen. As Osenfort bent over awkwardly and retreated, Shard followed closely without holding back, both hands gripping the sword and slashing down sharply from the upper right.
This time, it was Osenfort’s turn to raise the stone sword to block. The force from the clash of stone and metal made both feel their arms go numb. But Shard recovered faster, lifting the longsword to thrust at his chest, only to be knocked aside by the swinging stone sword.
Osenfort’s swordsmanship also seemed untrained, more like it was learned through battlefield fighting. Every strike he made was lethal, but Shard constantly found clever ways to defend and counterattack.
The constant sound of metal clashing with stone echoed, and as that stone sword emitted a crimson glow, Shard noticeably felt the opponent’s speed and strength increasing.
In such a state, he dared not easily use the Demon Vision to look directly, but he knew this fight couldn’t be prolonged. Taking a deep breath, the sorcery Power of the Red Dragon was activated. As the stone sword, with its crimson glow, crashed at his head again, Shard raised his left arm; at the sound of bones cracking, he blocked the sword with his left arm alone.
"It’s over."
The longsword in his right hand thrust out, piercing through Osenfort’s left chest with a whooshing sound.
He dropped the stone sword, looking surprised at his pierced chest as he stumbled back a couple of steps and then fell heavily to the ground with the longsword still in his chest.
Shard had already let go of the sword, with a faint silver glow emitting from his right hand to heal the fracture in his left.
He cautiously watched the "body," and sure enough, Osenfort quickly stood up again. He pulled out the longsword from his chest and casually tossed it aside, the entire process not even drawing blood:
"You are indeed cautious. I was originally planning to sneak attack while you were close."
"I don’t know if you truly understand Circle Sorcerers, but careless ones are long dead."
Shard looked at him:
"Resurrection isn’t a common skill. I don’t know what you are and I don’t care what you are. I won, so fulfill your promise. What important message do you have for me?"
"Today is Tuesday, the 11th day of the Sparse Star Month. The day after tomorrow, Thursday night, around Eldron Lake upstream of the Elon River, something very dangerous is going to happen. Yes, very dangerous."
"Eldron Lake" is the largest lake upstream on the Elon River, one of the two main rivers forming Randall Valley, and is also the largest lake in the southwest of the United Kingdom of Carsonrick. Shard and Miss Benanis visited "Saint Perry Cemetery" by following the river to the large lake and then returning to the land along the lake shore.
"A big event?"
Shard frowned slightly, and Osenfort continued:
"You can tell this to anyone. But let me remind you, perhaps those Guardians are not what you think they are."
"Guardians?"
"Don’t tell me you don’t know what I’m talking about."
Osenfort slightly lowered his head but kept his eyes fixed on Shard:
"To counter insane, twisted, ancient, and powerful evil powers, do you think relying on dead Undead, who are more easily corrupted than normal living humans, is it?"
"What are you trying to do?"
"I’m trying to save you, my friend."
The tall and burly man crossed his arms and said with a smile under the tall withered tree atop the hill. It was the first time Shard saw him smile, and under the faint moonlight, his face appeared incredibly strange.
"Aren’t you trying to save yourself?"
Shard asked.
Osenfort did not answer:
"If you think this is dangerous, you can completely withdraw, just pretend you don’t know me."
"I’ve already found two items, and [Genesis: Earth] is almost in hand, and you want me to withdraw?"
Shard glared at him:
"Remember your promise, when I find your sapphire ear pendants, I want to know immediately who has [Genesis: Earth]."
"You will be satisfied."
Ston Osenfort said, turning away in a shirt with a hole in the chest, walking down the hill.
Leaving Shard standing under the withered tree:
"Don’t forget to tell your butler that I’m coming to collect the statue tomorrow."
Osenfort did not turn back, raised his hand and waved, then continued walking towards the darkened farmland.
Shard bent down to pick up the stone sword, looking worriedly at the moon:
"Ston Osenfort, wouldn’t he be the Chosen of the Earth?"
(Mia running...)
Tuesday late night at eleven, Tobesk City Eastern District, Rontgen Avenue.
Having finished washing and preparing to go to bed, Dr. Schneider welcomed the hurried visit of Shard at this late hour. The doctor knew Shard had visited the Osenfort Estate today, so he quickly went downstairs to open the door for him:
"Any clues?"
"Yes, there are clues."
The two talked in the sitting room on the second floor, Shard brought Mia with him, preventing the cat from being scared alone at home. He explained today’s experiences in detail, including the morning interaction at the estate with Haila Osenfort, the battle with the ghoul gardener, the unusual behavior of the maid and old butler, and the dialogue with Ston Osenfort at the evening wedding banquet.
Dr. Schneider didn’t interrupt throughout Shard’s account, only after he finished did he speak with a solemn expression, sharing his conjecture:
"The soul at the wedding was indeed polluted; this is a simple method for a demon to harvest souls. As for Ston Osenfort, he is probably demonized."
"Demonized? Is it stronger power?"
"No, no, not the enhancement you think. This is the initial process of a soul falling into a demon, and the contract signed with a demon divides into two situations. One is that the demon wants your soul, and the other is that the demon covets your desires and sins, wanting to make you one of them. Only the most sinful souls have the qualification to fall, it’s not as simple as killing a person."
The doctor showed significant disgust while speaking of such souls:
"You cannot imagine how strong one’s inner desire and sin have to be to lead to gradual self-degradation. If left unchecked, he will eventually be absorbed by the hidden demon or become a new Evil Spirit Demon. Oh, the former is more likely."
"Then who is the demon hidden behind him?"
The doctor remained silent, picked up the gardener ghoul’s shovel with amazement:
"Truly remarkable, this is a genuine Demon Weapon. Made from corrupted soul materials, crafted by demon skills, and infused with demon power. I only know that High Ring Sorcery [Summon Demon Weapon] could possibly obtain such an item."
"Doctor, if you need this, keep it, I don’t want to wield a shovel as a weapon."
Shard spoke generously, [Night Watchman] was enough for him, while the doctor appeared delighted:
"I’ve never had a melee weapon; this suits me. Oh, let’s get back to the point. Based on your witnessed characteristics, the petrified demon servant, the snow-covered woman, the black mist, the rose vine, I can only provide a rough speculation, unable to fully determine the identity."
"I have another clue; at Randall Valley, I encountered a cemetery of a Saint, a nun told me the local evil bears a petrified rose symbol (1230)."
Shard stated again, but Dr. Schneider kept shaking his head:
"You don’t know how many Evil Spirit Demons were born in the Third Era; these clues aren’t enough."
He said again, picking up the stone sword Shard brought, stroking it slightly before putting it down:
"This weapon has no special features; sorcery [Turn Mud to Stone] combined with simple demon power usage. Based on this stone sword, it’s only determined that Osenfort signed a Demon Contract and got corrupted four or five years ago. For that demon, I have three different guesses, Desire Demon - Telasius, Stone Mirror Demon - Goethe, Faceless Nun - Valak. We need more clues to ascertain who it is among the three."
Shard only heard of "Stone Mirror Demon" among these three demons. Miss Benanis had said before that Stone Mirror Demon is often confused by the ignorant with the true Evil God [Stone Heart Demon].
"Haila Osenfort told me to seek Mr. Fernandez, the director of Randall Valley City Statue Museum, who is a folklorist. Additionally, since I will visit Osenfort Estate again tomorrow to collect a statue, perhaps there might be more gains."
"Alright, I’ll deal with the gardener corpse you brought."
Doctor said, at this moment the corpse was still in toy form, planning to have Shard directly move it to the basement:
"If the gardener indeed saw Osenfort’s true face, I can surely find clues through his eyes, but it will take time. A corpse corrupted by demon is more challenging to handle than a normal corpse."
"Then let’s split and investigate... Apart from the statue museum director and tomorrow’s visit, I have other leads. Osenfort mentioned that something big will happen on Thursday, I’ll inform the local church to prevent it from being a trap deliberately luring me. Of course, I’ll definitely go check it myself then."
"I must remind you again, detective, not to trust anyone related to demons. This time the opponent is a truly fully empowered Ancient Evil Spirit. No amount of caution is excessive."