The surroundings were extremely quiet. Seeing no one around, Shard walked towards the sofa but did not sit down, preparing to leave at any time.
However, his eyes once again saw the brass-colored metal gear box on the coffee table. According to common sense, Shard would never take the initiative to touch any unknown objects.
But up close, besides seeing the large and small gear knobs on the brass cube’s surface, he saw a line of twisted musical note-like characters on the upper front face.
Although he had never seen it before, Shard still read it:
“I am watching you in the dark.”
Immediately, the voice in his mind reminded him:
[You have come into contact with [Whispers].]
“What, is this a relic?”
Shard was surprised, and at the same time, he discovered that the bright gas lamps and crystal chandeliers in the room had inexplicably dimmed.
An inexplicable sense of terror made him look down at the brass gear box. At some point, it had silently opened, with the front cover deviating from the box body.
As the light became increasingly dim, rolling black mist surged out, like waves spreading around.
“Isn’t this a plot from a horror novel?”
[Relic containment breach.]
Shard had no time to react before the surging black mist completely extinguished the light inside the room.
The surroundings became entirely pitch black, as if a layer of black ink was smeared in front of his eyes. In the darkness, the feeling of fear grew stronger, causing Shard’s body to instinctively shiver.
In this world enveloped by darkness, his sense of direction completely vanished. Shard felt like he was falling into the most horrifying abyss, with both his body and mind assaulted by fear, at one point even thinking he was under the scrutiny of some immense, indescribable entity within the darkness.
The extreme panic made him want to scream, but the outsider quickly calmed his emotions, knowing that staying rational at this moment was the wisest action.
In the dark space, rationality and emotions were battling each other. This fear was not something he could control—it was an instinctive reaction. Meanwhile, at the peak of his fear, whispers came from the darkness.
It wasn’t the pleasant voice of the woman in his head but rather whispers of hatred and resentment layered a thousandfold, like white worms crawling and rubbing in his ear. The exposed back of his hand even broke out in goosebumps.
“Huh? Why can I see the back of my hand?”
He looked down at his hand, covered with a faint silver glow, preventing his body from being entirely consumed by the darkness:
“Yes, I am no longer an ordinary person. I am a ring warlock.”
Barely calming down in fear, Shard looked at his hands, feeling the slowly rotating brass life ring within his soul and summoned it.
Bell chimes!
Behind his body wrapped in silvery moonlight, the white steam in the dark space also seemed to be tinged with silver light.
Whistle!
A distant and inexplicable screech echoed through time and space, shaking the profound darkness.
Great hammer!
A great hammer struck from the depths of steam and darkness, and amidst the scattering sparks, the brass life ring manifested behind him, spinning at an extremely high speed and scattering sparks into the darkness.
“Silver Moon!”
Even though he hadn’t mastered any miracle of the Silver Moon, embracing his thoughts at that moment, Shard still followed his heart, raising his right hand and calling out.
The life ring’s full manifestation was the strongest stance of a ring warlock. The brass wheel, sparking with sparks, responded to its master. The core rune of the [Silver Moon] shimmered.
At that moment, Shard seemed to hear the woman’s laughter in his ear. Then, the silver light on his raised right index finger burst forth like a dazzling sun.
The moonlight’s radiance gradually spread around, like rewinding time, causing the dark curtain to recede.
At the same time, Shard noticed a golden light delineating the figure of a seated woman in front of him, her light also driving away the terrifying darkness brought by the relic’s breach.
“Is this the person who wanted to meet me?”
Shard thought, watching the light dispel the darkness, restoring the surroundings to the appearance of a drawing room.
The darkness retreated begrudgingly, trying to tear at Shard but unable to approach the silver moon’s glow.
The whispers cursed the people emitting light, the voice layered repeatedly, almost indistinguishable. But Shard still heard the most prominent voice, as more than one whisper uttered a sentence, not directed at him but as an incidental murmur in the darkness.
The outsider understood the mysterious language:
“Old God! You damned thieves! Thirteen of you…”
The darkness completely receded, and the silver glow from Shard’s finger gradually dissipated. But he felt that if he needed, he could use this ability again. This could entirely be seen as the first miracle he created, [Brilliance of the Silver Moon].
Though not particularly useful.
The last whispers echoed repeatedly in his ears. Shard was surprised at their content, though he didn’t know its truthfulness. Content arising from a relic’s breach was usually not credible.
Looking down at the brass cube on the coffee table, it had already closed, as if the earlier scene of black mist surging was just an illusion.
Raising his head to look in the direction of the golden figure, it was the wall with the bookshelf, and in the lower right corner of the entire large bookshelf was a wooden door slightly ajar.
The door handle was pure gold and blended well with the bookshelf, so Shard hadn’t noticed it when first stepping onto the red wool carpet after entering the room.
He instinctively knew that the woman who wanted to meet him, the golden lady just now, was in the room behind this door.
Compared to the hallway, the indoor temperature was cooler. One had to know that the hallway itself was already cooler than this summer night city, and the indoor temperature seemed like that of late autumn.
“The temperature seems a bit off. I remember it was normal at the beginning. Is the relic breach’s aftermath not over yet?”
[The power of a high-ring warlock affects the environment. The other party is probably very angry.]
“High ring? Nine rings or more? Wait, how do you know? And why is she angry? Shouldn’t I be the one angry?”
Shard was startled, and finally, a voice came from behind the door:
“Young sir, do you know how much trouble you caused? Poet-grade relic [Dark Box], only breaches containment when its activation incantation is uttered, and you possess light or celestial spirit runes. I just wanted to meet you, so why did you do this? This incident once again reminds me never to leave relics around, or who knows who might encounter them.”
Her speech wasn’t very fast, with a northern accent in the common language. Judging by the voice, she didn’t seem over thirty, possibly just past twenty. The tone was extremely elegant, even Shard could hear the unconcealed anger in her voice.
“I apologize. I didn’t mean to shirk responsibility. May I ask, why did you seek me?”
He didn’t know how to explain. The lady behind the door surely couldn’t have expected the invited guest to easily read ancient texts and know the spirit runes, making the earlier incident indeed Shard’s fault.
He wanted to speak about compensation, but the other party being a high-ring warlock meant he surely couldn’t afford it. Thus, he could only ask her purpose.
Both he and the lady used their warlock powers just now. The fact that she wasn’t surprised indicated she already knew the detective’s identity when inviting him upstairs.
This made Shard very curious. He had been a ring warlock for just a day, how could anyone have discerned it?
At least the woman behind the door wasn’t Mrs. Lathoya. Even without having heard Mrs. Lathoya speak, Shard was sure that someone so ambiguous in gender wouldn’t be able to speak with such elegant tranquility.
“Young sir, may I know your name?”
The woman behind the door asked. Shard couldn’t see through the door to her, but he believed she could see him. He could entirely imagine the scene of a woman sitting behind a table, talking to him through the door.
