Chapter 1378: Chapter 1378: Noon Ceremony

Osenfort squinted his eyes as he looked into Shard’s eyes:

“According to the contract, it must give me the strongest immortal power, that I can be sure of. So, the commission it gave you, in fact, is because it’s fed up with me and wants to ‘collect’ my debt, to retrieve my soul.”

Shard looked back at him:

“You haven’t told the truth, at least not the whole truth of your contract with it.”

He extended his finger:

“First, your contract can’t be that simple. The small things it asked you to do are absolutely not trivial. Second, if I’m not mistaken, this contract also involves Mrs. Haila, but you didn’t mention her at all. Third, I can’t believe its condition for taking your soul is just someone being able to break its immortality, that’s too simple.”

Osenfort shook his head:

“Knowing this much is enough for you. How could I possibly tell you everything?

Listen well, I used to be a sailor on a ship, and the captain of that ship, who still has some of my personal belongings, is Captain Allen Woody. He’s currently in town, find him and retrieve my old photos and letters, then I’ll give you the white gemstone.”

As he spoke, he took out his notebook and hastily wrote down an address to hand to Shard:

“You don’t have to go, but don’t expect to know where the gemstone is either. Also, next time you see it, don’t recall our past private meetings, it can read people’s thoughts to some extent.”

After finishing this, Osenfort took out his pocket watch:

“I’ve already stayed ten minutes here, exceeding your request. Goodbye, once my photos and letters are retrieved, send them directly to my manor. After that, I’ll give you the white gemstone in town.”

Saying this, he turned to leave, apparently not wanting to talk to Shard about anything further.

“Old photos and letters? Captain Woody?”

This seemed like a good opportunity to understand Osenfort’s past, and since the demon was also looking for those gemstones, it meant Mr. Lyman’s grave was indeed as important as Shard thought.

After confirming Ston Osenfort’s carriage had gone far, Shard returned to the church where he found Luviya holding a cat. The two took a carriage to the Prophet’s Society located in the city center; Luviya had only taken a half-day off today and needed to gather new information at the society:

“Confirmed, Ston Osenfort is indeed the second candidate for the Chosen of the Earth.”

Since Shard had already had suspicions beforehand, Luviya wasn’t too surprised either:

“So, the demon wants to kill the Guardians and make Ston Osenfort The Chosen One? It’s so confident it can oppose those chosen by fate? We know the demons we encountered before entangled with The Chosen were cooperating with them.”

“It’s not that simple; what the demon wants to do probably isn’t just to eliminate the first candidate.”

Shard slightly frowned inside the carriage:

“Earlier, Ston Osenfort told me that if I could break his immortality and kill him, then his soul would completely belong to the demon.”

“So I guessed that the demon wants to kill the first candidate and then control the second one.”

Luviya said, but after speaking, she also felt something was off:

“That shouldn’t be it; my inspiration tells me it can’t be that simple. Since it’s an ancient evil spirit, it should understand how terrifying those Sons of the Era and destined heroes are. The Third Era’s evil spirits preferred playing with intrigue rather than just using force to solve problems.”

“No matter what that demon is planning.”

Shard twisted his neck:

“As long as I deal with it, nothing else matters. Miss Lathis has also found leads on the power of the earth. By then, even if there’s an issue with the current unclear first candidate, at least we still have a third candidate.”

He never considered letting Ston Osenfort become The Chosen One, as he believed that since mistakes were made, there should be deserved punishment.

After sending Luviya to the Prophet’s Society, Shard took Mia back home from the Church of the Forgotten.

By now, it was after ten in the morning, and considering it was nearly lunchtime, Shard decided to stay home for a while to handle some trivial matters, planning to go out for lunch at half-past eleven, then head to Old John’s place.

However, before Shard could leave, around eleven o’clock, the sound of the doorbell rang from downstairs.

Upon opening the door, he found Iluna outside. The girl with the long brown hair cheerfully said:

“I thought you wouldn’t be home at noon. I was just nearby, so I came by to try my luck. If you weren’t home, I would’ve come back in the evening.”

“Did something happen? Is it… the matter of going to Randall Valley?”

“Yes.”

Iluna nodded:

“The orders I received this morning told me to pack up and set off the day after tomorrow, Sunday. It’s still a steam hover zeppelin, but Randall Valley is much farther than Midshire Fort and the Pantanal Swamp. It will probably take three to four days to get there.”

“You receiving orders also means that the Church believes the issues in Randall Valley have reached a critical moment.”

Shard nodded:

“Do you have any plans for lunch? How about we grab a meal together? I can also talk to you about the findings Luviya and I have in Randall Valley over the past few days. The situation is still unclear, but at least our goal is simple. We just need to deal with a certain enemy, and ignore all the other flashy distractions.”

Iluna was amused by Shard’s description:

“I don’t have any plans for lunch, so let’s have lunch together… Just the two of us, right?”

She stood in the foyer, glancing up the stairs.

“Meow~”

The overlooked cat, standing on the first step of the stairs, let out a dissatisfied meow.

Since Iluna happened to visit, Shard invited her to help him learn the Arcane Technique [Reverence for the Sun], which he obtained from Miss Danester the morning before. The ceremony for learning the Arcane Technique can only be held at noon, and it requires the assistance of a Circle Sorcerer skilled in Sun Power.

Iluna naturally agreed, so she happily went with Shard to a restaurant on Silver Cross Avenue for lunch, and then they returned to Saint Delan Square to prepare for the ceremony.

The ceremony required only a few minimal requirements, one of which was that the Chest of the Circle Sorcerer conducting the ceremony needed to be directly exposed to sunlight. Therefore, Shard chose his attic as the location for the ceremony. The Ritual Circle was also not complicated because Miss Danester had provided enough materials at 2.5 times the necessary amount, so there was no need to go out shopping again.

After setting up the simple ceremony, Shard lay face-up at the center of the circular Base Formation, outlined in red chalk in the shape of a human figure. Above his head was a sun pattern resembling the Sun Holy Emblem. At his feet was a moon phase diagram representing the full moon, new moon, and crescent moon. His surroundings were filled with prayers praising the Sun.

Iluna was wearing a white ritual robe. Since it belonged to Shard, it was obviously too large, with the hem covering her feet.

She held Shard’s [Night Watchman] and then bent over to remove the cat basking in the sun on Shard’s chest:

“Wait a moment, I need to confirm the ceremony procedures.”

She picked up a notebook placed on a small stool beside her and read it through once again:

“Are you ready, Shard?”

“I’m ready.”

Iluna ensured the cat was sitting on the stool without running over, then quickly stepped beside Shard, holding the sword in both hands aimed at his sunlit chest:

“The Arrogant, do you revere the Sun?”

Although [Night Watchman] was a Silver Sword, the sword’s body emitted a faint golden glow in Iluna’s hands, including the runes. Sunlight shone on the longsword, making it sparkle. Shard only felt warmth on his chest as he looked up at Iluna and said:

“Yes, I revere the Sun.”

So Iluna, carefully holding the sword, placed its point against Shard’s shirt and gently slid it, cutting through his clothes and skin until a massive Sun Emblem was etched on his chest.

Iluna’s control was extremely skilled. Although Shard’s skin began to seep with tiny beads of blood, which made the cat next to them uneasy, he did not feel much pain.

Subsequently, the bloodied sword tip, still in Iluna’s grip, touched the chalk lines on the floor. The blood seemed to “ignite” the entire Ritual Circle in an instant, and brilliant crimson flames engulfed Shard lying on the floor.

Iluna slowly stepped back, solemnly holding back the cat that wanted to rush over. After the flames subsided, only a simple chalk circle remained on the floor. The top-shirtless Shard got up from the floor, standing with the wound scabbing from the fire, leaving strange scars on his skin.

Iluna, holding the cat in one arm, walked over again, positioning [Night Watchman] upright in front of her:

“The Arrogant, do you revere the Sun?”

She asked once again, extending her right foot clad in black leather shoes beneath her robe, kicking a nearby mirror to reflect sunlight onto Shard’s entire body.

Shard extended his arms, closed his eyes, and praised facing the sunlight:

“Praise the Sun.”

In an instant, the sunlight, which just made his skin warm, seemed to shine directly on his soul. The warm feeling was like jumping into a hot pool after rushing home in a blizzard. Spirit became more active than before, and Shard even felt his flesh power had been enhanced.

Only then did he take a deep breath, understanding that the arcane technique learning was successful. Opening his eyes to thank Iluna, he noticed that Iluna had turned her head but was sneaking a peek at him, somewhat embarrassed to see Shard without a shirt:

“You should change your clothes.”

Mia, seizing the opportunity, suddenly jumped into Shard’s arms. The cat was careful to curl its little claws to avoid scratching Shard, but its tongue seemed to lick the residual blood on his skin.

“Oh, Mia, you’re not a vampire cat!”

This cat seemed to have a peculiar habit; every time Shard got injured, it would like to lick his blood.