Chapter 1264

"All men must die..."

The right corner of Osenfort's mouth curled up, and he suddenly suggested:

"Do you want to compete with me one more time? If you win, I will tell you an important piece of news."

"Compete in what?"

"Swordsmanship. Let's see who can kill the other."

As he spoke, he bent down, his rough, large hand grabbing at the soil beneath the snow, and then he pulled a stone sword from the dirt. This was the only supernatural power he had displayed so far, yet Xia De still felt he was just an ordinary person.

"Why would I suddenly want to duel with you?"

"Because you are in great need of the information I can provide."

So Xia De picked up the rusted longsword:

"Fine then. I hope that before you die, you can say what it is you really want to tell me. If you die, I will take your corpse to your manor to retrieve the statue I want."

He actually knew that Stone Osenfort possessed a certain degree of immortality; Miss Hai La Osenfort had mentioned it that morning.

Clang!

The stone sword had already smashed down toward the top of Xia De's head, but Xia De raised his longsword to block it. It was just that the force of the stone sword was truly unexpected; even with Xia De's current physical fitness, he was surprised to feel that the opponent's strength was greater than his own.

The rusted sword in his hand was still sturdy enough, but the blade had already developed a subtle curve. Seeing that Stone Osenfort was truly acting with the goal of killing him, Xia De no longer held back.

He lifted his right foot and kicked violently at the opponent's abdomen. As Osenfort bent over and retreated in a somewhat disheveled manner, Xia De followed closely, wielding his sword with both hands and slashing down fiercely from the upper right without any restraint.

This time it was Osenfort's turn to raise the stone sword to defend. The force of the collision between stone and metal made both of them feel their hands go numb. But Xia De recovered faster; he raised his longsword to stab at Osenfort's chest, but it was knocked aside by the swinging stone sword.

Osenfort's swordsmanship had also not undergone formal training; instead, it was as if he had learned to use a sword through fighting on the battlefield. Every one of his strikes was lethal, while Xia De was able to continuously use very clever methods to defend and counterattack.

The sound of metal colliding with stone was continuous, and as that stone sword emitted a scarlet light, Xia De clearly felt that the opponent's speed and strength were becoming stronger and stronger.

In such a state, he dared not easily use 【Vision of Magic】 to observe directly, but he understood that this battle could not be dragged out any longer. Taking a deep breath, the curse 【Power of the Red Dragon】 was activated. At the same moment that the stone sword carrying the scarlet light smashed toward his head again, Xia De raised his left arm, and as the sound of a bone fracture rang out, 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 amidst the sound of tearing air.

He dropped the stone sword, looked in surprise at his pierced chest, staggered back two steps, and then fell heavily to the ground with the longsword still in his chest.

Xia De had already let go of the sword in his hand, his right hand emitting a faint silver light to treat the fracture in his left hand.

He watched the "corpse" vigilantly. Sure enough, Osenfort soon stood up again. He pulled the longsword out of his chest and tossed it aside, not even bleeding during the entire process:

"You really are cautious. I had originally intended to launch a sneak attack while you were close."

"I don't know if you truly understand Ringed Shushi, but an incautious Ringed Shushi would have died long ago."

Xia De looked at him:

"Returning from the dead is not a common ability. I don't know what on earth you are, nor do I care. I won, so you must fulfill the agreement. What important news do you want to tell me?"

"Today is Tuesday, the 11th day of the Star-Sparse Month. The day after tomorrow, Thursday night, around Eldron Schluch Lake in the upper reaches of the Ailong River, a very dangerous major event is going to happen. Yes, very dangerous."

"Eldron Schluch Lake" is the largest lake in the upper reaches of the Ailong River, one of the two important rivers that form the Randall Valley, and it is also the largest lake in the southwest of the Carsonrick United Kingdom. When Xia De and Miss Bernice went to visit the "Saint-Pery Cemetery," they traveled along the river to that great lake and then returned to land on the shore of the great lake.

"A major event?"

Xia De frowned slightly, and Osenfort continued:

"You can tell anyone about this. But I want to 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 lowered his head slightly, but his eyes stared straight at Xia De:

"To be able to resist madness, distortion, and ancient, powerful evil forces—do you think that relying solely on dead spirits, on dead people who are easier to corrupt than normal living people, is enough?"

"What do you want to do?"

"I want to save you, my friend."

The tall, burly man said with a smile under the tall, withered tree at the top of the hill, his arms crossed over his chest. This was the first time Xia De had seen him smile; under the faint moonlight, that face was incomparably strange.

"You, aren't you trying to save yourself?"

Xia De asked.

Osenfort did not answer:

"If you think this is dangerous, you can completely withdraw and pretend you don't know me."

"I've already found two items, and I'll be able to get my hands on 【Founder·Earth】 soon. You want me to withdraw?"

Xia De glared at him:

"Remember your promise. Once I find your sapphire earrings, I want to know immediately who is holding 【Founder·Earth】."

"You will be satisfied."

Stone Osenfort said, then turned and walked down the hill, wearing clothes with a hole in the chest.

Leaving only Xia De standing under the withered tree.

"Don't forget to tell your butler that I'm coming to pick up the statue tomorrow."

Osenfort did not turn around; he raised his hand and waved it, then continued walking toward the farmland in the darkness.

Xia De bent down to pick up the stone sword and looked up at the moon with considerable worry:

"Stone Osenfort, he wouldn't be the Chosen One of Earth, would he?"

(Little Mia is running...)

Tuesday, 11:00 PM, East District of Tobesk City, Rontgen Avenue.

Doctor Shi Nai De, who had finished washing up and was preparing to go to bed, received a hurried visit from Xia De late that night. The doctor knew that Xia De had visited the Osenfort Manor that day, so he hurried downstairs to open the door for him:

"Any leads?"

"There are leads."

The two went to the parlor on the second floor to talk. Xia De brought Little Mia along with him, preventing the cat from being afraid at home alone. He explained in detail and completely the experiences of the day, including the interaction with Hai La Osenfort at the manor in the morning, the battle with the ghoul gardener, the abnormalities of the maid and the old butler, and the conversation and experiences with Stone Osenfort at the wedding party that evening.

During the process of Xia De's narration, Doctor Shi Nai De did not interrupt at all. Only after he finished did he speak his own guesses with a grim expression:

"The soul at the wedding was indeed contaminated; this is a simple way for demons to harvest souls. As for that Stone Osenfort, he has probably already undergone Demonization."

"Demonization? Stronger power?"

"No, no, not the kind of strengthening you think. This is the initial process of a soul falling into a demon. Signing a contract with a demon also falls into two situations. One is that the demon wants your soul; the other is that the demon takes a fancy to your desires and sins and wants you to become one of them as well. Only the most sinful souls are qualified to fall; this isn't something that can be done just by killing a person."

As the doctor spoke of this kind of soul, he showed a sense of utter disgust:

"You cannot imagine how powerful the desires and sins in one's heart must be to gradually self-corrupt. 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 hiding behind him?"

The doctor remained silent, picked up the ghoul gardener's shovel, and clicked his tongue in wonder:

"Truly remarkable, this is a real demonic weapon. Made using a corrupted soul as material, with demonic craftsmanship, permeated with

demonic power. I only know that the high-tier miracle 【Call Demonic Weapon】 might be able to obtain such a thing."

"Doctor, if you need this, you can keep it. I'm not willing to use a shovel as a weapon."

Xia De said generously; 【Night Watcher】 was enough for him, and the doctor appeared very happy:

"I just happen to have been without a melee weapon; this is probably very suitable for me. Oh, let's get back to the main topic. Based on the characteristics you saw—the petrified demonic servant, the woman surrounded by snow, the black fog, the rose vines—I can only give a rough guess and cannot fully confirm the opponent's identity."

"There is one more clue. I encountered a saint's cemetery in Randall Valley, and a nun told me that the evil existing locally has a petrified rose as its symbol (1230)."

Xia De added, and Doctor Shi Nai De still shook his head:

"You don't know how many evil spirit demons were born in the Third Era; these clues are not enough."

As he spoke, he picked up the stone sword Xia De had brought, stroked it once, and then put it down:

"This weapon has no special features; it's a simple application of the curse 【Turn Mud to Stone】 combined with demonic power. Through this stone sword, one can only judge that Osenfort signing the demonic contract and being corrupted was a matter of four or five years ago. Regarding that demon, I have three different guesses: the Archdemon of Lust - Tethys, the Stone Mirror Demon - Gothe, and the Faceless Nun - Valak. We still need more clues to determine which one it is among the three."

Of these three demons, Xia De had only heard of the "Stone Mirror Demon." Miss Bernice had once said that the Stone Mirror Demon was often confused by ignorant people with the true evil god 【Stone Heart Demon】.

"Hai La Osenfort told me that I could go find the curator of the Randall Valley City Statue Museum, Mr. Fernandez; he is a folklorist. Moreover, I will go to the Osenfort Manor again tomorrow to retrieve a statue, and perhaps I will have some gains then."

"That's good, I'll handle the gardener's corpse you brought."

The doctor said. At this time, the corpse was still in the state of a toy, and the doctor intended for Xia De to take it directly to the basement:

"If the gardener really saw Osenfort's true face, I could indeed find clues through his eyes, but that also takes time. A corpse corrupted by a demon is even harder to deal with than a normal corpse."

"Then let's investigate separately... Besides the statue museum curator and tomorrow's visit, I have other clues. Osenfort said that a major event will happen on Thursday; I will notify the local church to prevent this from being a trap deliberately set to lure me in. Of course, I will definitely go take a look myself when the time comes."

"I still want to remind you, Detective, do not trust anyone related to demons. This opponent is a truly ancient evil spirit in its prime. No matter how cautious you are, it won't be too much. The Archdemon of Lust - Tethys, the Stone Mirror Demon - Gothe, and the Faceless Nun - Valak; if these three were described as knights, they would all be blocking enemies that only appear before seeing the final 'Demon King'."