Bang! Bang! Bang!
Behind the bronze door, the slamming sounds continued incessantly, echoing throughout the vast underground hall as though they came from an abnormally distant past.
Fors clamped up and couldn't help but tremble. Unable to help it, she suppressed her voice:
"What could be behind the door?" "I've no idea." Xio honestly shook her head, subconsciously gulping.
Her right hand, which had just picked up her triangular blade, had her joints protruding out as her blood vessels surfaced. Clearly, she was gripping the triangular blade tightly.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The slamming sounds continued without any change in frequency. Each sound seemed to strike at Fors's and Xio's hearts, leaving their hair standing and scalps tingling
"It likely won't be able to come out, right... If it could so easily come out, it wouldn't have waited until today." Fors tried to console herself with parched
lips.
Xio nodded heavily and said, "We leave once the ingredients form."
"In such an environment and atmosphere, her curiosity had been completely overwhelmed by her innate fear.
"Alright!" As Fors glanced at the spots where the two ancient wraiths had been cleansed, she blamed The Moon for providing undetailed information. He hadn't mentioned that there was such a strange door beneath the ancient castle.
At this moment, glowing dust was landing on the ground like shattered gems, forming into two piles as they gathered together.
Around them, nearly formless remnant spirituality condensed into a seemingly ethereal crystal.
Accompanied by the crystals and dust were two different items. One was ring-shaped and completely transparent as though it was a corroded ring. The other was an eye carved from crystal, with faint black gas swirling within. Upon seeing this scene, Fors suddenly realized something
An ancient wraith was a ghost-like creature with a Beyonder characteristic mixed in. The cursed item would be related to a particular item while they were still alive, fusing with the characteristic and turning into a foundation to which they relied on for their existence. It was precisely because of this that different ancient wraiths had different corresponding cursed items in shape and form. However, they were essentially the same. And the dust was another type of characteristic. It was the source of most of their strength, stemming from remnant spirituality, slightly equivalent to the blood and ingredients of monsters.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The entity striking behind the bronze door didn't let up at all. It kept testing Fors's and Xio's psyche.
Being afraid and cautious, the duo's bodies trembled so much that they even imagined that the door was shaking slightly. Their racing hearts were in their throats.
With them being able to head for the staircase at any moment, Fors finally waited until the ancient wraiths' powder and cursed items took form.
As she signaled to Xio to be wary, she crouched down and took out three square metal boxes she had prepared.
After some hesitation, Fors looked up at Xio and said, "These two ancient wraiths have been waiting for each other for so long. I-I'm thinking of separating a little of what they left behind and burying them together... Uh, in that case, I'll get a cursed item, and you'll get a pile of dust. We'll split the remaining spirituality, alright?"
Xio didn't hesitate as she nodded.
"Alright!"
Fors silently heaved a sigh of relief as she pursed her lips. Flipping through Leymano's Travels, she slid her finger across a particular page.
The five nails on her right hand immediately grew long and sharp, covering black patterns and symbols.
This was the Claw of Corrosion from the Sanguine.
Upon seeing her palm transform, Fors grabbed at the ground, easily digging a hole and leaving behind a corrosive mark.
Right on the heels of that, she placed the crystal eyeball-like cursed item and a pile of dust into the hole before filling the hole with the gravel and soil she had dug up.
She lightly grazed the flattened ground with her fingernails, writing an epitaph.
"Returning for you; Defending for you; Together forever."
After doing all of this, Fors sighed when she heard the slamming behind the bronze turn louder.
Bam!
She jumped in fright and hurriedly placed the pile of dust, ring-shaped curse item, and remnant spirituality into the different square metal boxes.
Then, she put the boxes away, stood up, and slowly walked to the spiraling and cramped staircase with Xio.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The slamming sounds behind the bronze door grew intense as Fors and Xio subconsciously gritted their teeth, following the staircase and rapidly heading up.
They increased their speed until they began running. They ignored the possibility of falling on the staircase and tumbling down like a wheel.
Finally, Fors and Xio saw sunlight.
Sunlight beamed in from outside, shining upon the staircase ahead of them. It was bright, pure, and warm.
At this moment, the slamming sounds from underground had come to a sudden stop without any follow-up.
Fors and Xio exchanged looks, slowed down their pace, and after a few large strides, returned to the top of the abandoned ancient castle.
The duo didn't say a word and directly left the area, returning to the periphery of the forest.
After walking for some time, Fors calmed down and pursed her lips.
"It was really terrifying. Although the thing behind the bronze door didn't deal any harm to us, nor did it even show itself, I think it was more terrifying than the ancient wraiths. Compared to all my past experiences—uh, it's far more terrifying. In those few minutes, I couldn't help but imagine all the different tragic deaths I might suffer. Each one was more terrifying than the last, but none of them were as terrifying as the slamming sounds."
Xio turned her head and agreed with a nod.
"Yeah. I felt as though I was walking on the edge of a cliff."
Fors was about to continue when she saw two streams of bright red blood flowing down Xio's nose.
"Xio, Xio! Your nose is bleeding!" Fors hurriedly warned her friend.
Xio was taken aback as her pupils dilated.
"You too!"
"Ah?" Fors blankly reached out her hand and wiped her nose. It felt warm to the touch, wet and sticky.
She was appalled as she hurriedly held her right hand in front of her and saw red blood smeared across it. It was bright and striking.
"A result from being overly-anxious?" Fors muttered in puzzlement.
At this moment, through the sunlight diffusing through the forest's canopy, she realized that faint black spots were quickly growing on her wrists at a discernible pace.
The black spots rapidly spread, covering her arms and the back of her hands.
"Ah!" Fors subconsciously cried out as she hurriedly looked at Xio.
She saw Xio's cheeks and neck covered with black spots!
"Th-this isn't normal!" Fors blurted out.
Xio sensed the abnormality happening to the both of them as she recalled and said, "Do you still remember what that female wraith said?
"She said that the guards from before had been corrupted by the forces that seeped out from behind the bronze door!
"Could it be that we've been corrupted?"
Fors was taken aback for a second before she nodded heavily.
"It's possible!"
She hurriedly took out the medicine that she had prepared, handing over some of it to Xio. Then, she twisted the lid off and downed two bottles.
However, they didn't show any signs of recovering. The black spots grew in number, turning their vision blurry.
Badump! Badump! Before long, Fors, whose efforts to save herself were in vain, could hear her heartbeat and sense her body beginning to lose strength.
Out of ideas, she quivered her lips, clenched her teeth, and turned her body around. She took a few steps to open up a distance from Xio.
Then, she bowed her head and chanted Mr. Fool's honorific name.
In about ten seconds, she saw dark red light appear, engulfing her like the tide.
The ravings and roaring vanished and Fors saw the familiar mottled table and the ten high-back chairs opposite her.
She then realized that her dizziness and blurred vision had vanished. There weren't any more of the strange, accentuated black spots on her Spirit Body.
"Thank you for your help." Fors hurriedly stood up and bowed at the figure shrouded in gray fog at the end of the long bronze table.
Then, she heard Mr. Fool say in a calm tone, "Your spirit had been corrupted by some force.
"It should be fine now."
Cleansed by Mr. Fool? Fors's heart stirred. Just as she wanted to make a request to Mr. Fool regarding how Xio could be saved, the scene before turned red as light soared up.
After a brief pause, she found herself in the real world, back in Delaire Forest. The black spots on the back of her hands and wrists were rapidly fading and receding. The blood that kept dripping from her nose had already come to a stop.
Returning to her body, she saw Xio weakly slumped on a tree. Her face was covered in black spots, making her look terrifying. The muscles on both sides of her neck were tensed up as her mind spun.
A few seconds later, she walked over quickly, pressed Xio on the shoulders and rapidly said, "I have a way to save you, but you need to follow my instructions!
"Use ancient Hermes to say this: The Fool that doesn't belong to this era..."
Xio could hardly turn her swollen eyelids. Looking at Fors for two seconds, she heavily chanted, "The Fool that doesn't belong to this era.
"The mysterious ruler above the gray fog.
"The King of Yellow and Black who wields good luck..."
Just as she said that, Xio saw dark red starlight surge out from the void, sweeping over her.
Indescribable roars continued for a second before vanishing from Xio's ears. She then saw herself seated in an ancient and majestic palace. She was sitting beside a mottled, bronze table. At her feet was a boundless grayish-white fog. In front of her was a lofty figure looking down upon her.
This scene was both unfamiliar and familiar to her. She had once seen it in a "dream," but she hadn't ever had it again after the exorcism ritual.
That purification was actually useless... Xio suddenly had this thought as she stood up in deliberation, bowing at the figure enshrouded in gray fog.
"You are the great King of Yellow and Black?"
She didn't appear too surprised or alarmed, as though she had already expected it.
"You can call me Mr. Fool. Have a seat," the figure with an epic aura replied calmly.
Xio bowed again and sat down, confirming that she had escaped her unwell state.
She looked to her sides and thought before asking, "Honorable Mr. Fool, does Fors Wall have a seat here?"
Shrouded in the gray fog, The Fool nodded gently and said, "Yes." Xio fell silent for a second and directly asked, "Can I join just like her?"
The Fool chuckled.
"It's a gathering they organized on their own accord but is convened by me.
"There's still a seat available at present. You may join.
"Draw a card. They use one of the Major Arcana cards as their code name."
Xio didn't ask or speak further. She immediately nodded.
"Yes, Mr. Fool."
On the bronze table in front of her, a deck of tarot cards immediately appeared.
Xio reached out her right hand and solemnly cut the deck, pulled out one card, and flipped it over.
Her card depicted an angel with a trumpet and the sleeping dead awaiting salvation: the Judgment card!
