Chapter 1376: Gathering

That night, as usual, Dorothy stayed overnight at Xia De's house. Because she heard that Luvia would be finished with the Randall Valley matter next week and would probably be back soon, the writer cherished the time now.

After the adult time of the night passed, she even let Mia out of the closet so the cat could sleep beside Xia De's pillow.

Time came to 1:30 AM on Sunday. The bedroom at No. 6 St. Deran Square was pitch black, and the tightly closed curtains blocked out the moonlight and the light from the gas street lamps.

Xia De, in his sleep, was hugging the girl in his arms when suddenly the cat beside the pillow opened its amber eyes. After standing up alertly, it jumped onto Xia De and patted his quilt with its paws.

By the time Xia De, who was sleeping lightly, regained some consciousness, "She" beside his ear also whispered: "Earthquake."

"What?"

The feeling of the bed shaking slightly only appeared after Xia De finished asking. Without time to think, Xia De instinctively hugged Dorothy with one hand and grabbed the cat with the other, then rolled off the bed. Then, with force, he rolled into the space under the bed with the cat and Dorothy.

Only then did Dorothy, who had been sleeping soundly, come to her senses:

"Oh, Xia De, if you want to try under the bed, can you tell me in advance?" "It's an earthquake!"

Xia De emphasized, and at this moment, the shaking sensation was lessening.

"What about an earthquake? If your haunted house would collapse in an earthquake, then this wouldn't be a haunted house."

The sleepy blonde girl muttered, hugging Xia De tightly, and with a roll, she brought him out from under the bed. Fortunately, the maid who came to clean every week cleaned every corner conscientiously, so it wasn't dirty under the bed.

Now Dorothy couldn't sleep either, so they got up and went to the window, seeing Xia De's neighbors nervously coming outside in their pajamas one after another, but returning to their houses because it was too cold, before they went back to bed to sleep.

And this small earthquake that occurred in Tobesk, although it didn't cause too many casualties, made Xia De inexplicably feel that his actions in Randall Valley probably needed to speed up.

And on this Sunday daytime, the first familiar person Xia De saw in Randall Valley after a long time was not Sister Daelin, but Marilyn Hendel, whom he saw on the first floor of the hotel when he went to find Luvia at the Abundant Earth Hotel early in the morning.

This lady's whereabouts had been unclear since she last met Xia De and Dr. Schneider at the Tobesk Public Cemetery late last autumn. After half a year of not seeing her, she looked a bit thinner, and her skin had become paler than last time.

But at the same time, the feeling of almost directly touching the essence of death on her became more and more obvious. Xia De didn't know if this was because she had truly walked out of death, or because of that curse of death.

Joey Barton's soul stood beside Ms. Hendel. Seeing Xia De walk into the hotel, he nodded at him. Xia De pulled out a chair and sat down in front of the pale woman. After calling the waiter to prepare hot tea for them, he clasped his hands together:

"Long time no see, Ms. Hendel. How does this city feel?" "Like a soul about to fall into the abyss."

Marilyn Hendel said in Delarion:

"I can feel the breath of death spreading on this land, and dying here might mean being unable to reach the end. The earth is binding souls; the earth is trying to contend for the authority of death."

Xia De nodded:

"Someone will solve the matter here. Sending someone to find you this time is in the hope that you can deal with a soul." "May I ask where that soul is?"

Ms. Hendel asked.

"I haven't killed the person yet. However, I hope that after he dies, he can leave the world of the living as soon as possible, preferably heading straight to the end."

Ms. Hendel and the soul beside her looked at each other:

"No problem. Sending a lingering soul on its way is our way of atonement."

"That's good... Actually, there is another question. I recently met a very special soul. The soul itself is complete, but it is composed of hundreds of powerful

souls, sharing one consciousness, and yet able to manifest hundreds of different ways of thinking."

He described the way the Guardians existed, and Ms. Hendel hesitated for a moment:

"Souls belong to the world and the gods. Theoretically speaking, the situation you described does not conform to basic common sense and should not appear. But if it is a voluntary sacrifice, plus the power of a Great One, it is only then possible for so many souls to aggregate together, and then appear as a near-sublimation phenomenon."

Seeing Xia De still wanted to ask, Ms. Hendel added:

"But even if the gods permit it, this form of existence still conflicts with the world. The world itself, as well as the supernatural system and mysticism, have strict definitions for souls. In Barton's and my view, even if it is a voluntary sacrifice, this is a manifestation of desecrating the soul. Even to protect the earth beneath one's feet, one should not do this."

Joey Barton, who hadn't spoken, also spoke at this time:

"Those souls are destined never to reach death because they desecrated the soul and rejected death, so death rejected them. Compared to the devil's soul you mentioned just now, this aggregate soul is the existence that is absolutely not allowed to appear. We have no intention to evaluate other Chosen Ones, but he is perhaps even crazier than I was back then."

Xia De pursed his lips, lowered his voice, and asked very, very softly:

"If there is a situation where I come into conflict with the Guardian, is there any way for me to target him?" 【What are you going to do?】

"She" asked suddenly.

"One must be prepared for danger. Before the Chosen One ritual is held, nothing can be said for sure. Moreover, long-haired Luvia insisted on letting Miss Lathers die and using her soul to lead the Guardian, which means the Guardian is likely to have an accident. After facing the shadow of the Evil God on Tuesday night, Luvia and I discussed this situation."

Ms. Hendel and Joey Barton both considered it, and then the pale woman answered:

"Fighting the Guardian is equivalent to fighting hundreds of ring-warlocks at the same time. In terms of power, you currently cannot suppress so many souls, but that is, after all, a soul. The nun wearing the silver eye mask, relying on the power of the Death Chosen One, can absolutely be its enemy."

"Can't we make targeted preparations based on the characteristic that it exists as hundreds of souls together?" Xia De asked again, and Joey Barton nodded:

"Because hundreds of souls are fused into one, once a curse is successfully applied to the soul, it is equivalent to the opponent having to undergo hundreds of judgments. As long as one judgment is not passed, all the souls will be cursed. If the devil you mentioned wants to fight the Guardian, it is highly likely that it will also use this method."

He signaled Ms. Hendel to take out paper and pen, write down a miracle, and hand it to Xia De:

"Because the opponent's soul resistance must be extremely high, and it itself is clear about its own weaknesses, so high-damage soul curses are highly likely to be invalid. You can try this; although it may not be able to defeat the enemy in one move, it is absolutely effective."

Xia De looked at the content on the note:

"Miracle—【Soul Lash】, corresponding Spirit Rune—【Punishment】 【Thorn】 【Penalty】 【Whip】 【Pain】, and it can only be of the miracle or blasphemy type. An active miracle, requiring a drop of one's own blood as a casting material. Prick the finger, flick the blood, and it transforms into an invisible soul lash, causing the target soul to feel pain as if being whipped by thorn vines. But besides the pain, the miracle itself has no direct damage."

"Pain itself is a kind of damage."

Xia De said, and then felt he had seen a similar miracle. But the one he saw was not targeted at the soul, but at the flesh, only making the flesh feel pain but not actually causing damage. That similar miracle he saw came from "The Pink Book," and Xia De did not learn the miracle he saw.

"The whipping pain produced by the miracle itself is enough to make a strong soul dazed for a moment. And the superposition of hundreds of identical pains should be enough to make the Guardian have problems. Or at least, delay his actions."

Ms. Hendel said, and explained the origin of the miracle:

"Not every soul lingering in the world of the living is very polite. The ancient messengers of death, in order to send them away politely without harming the soul, created this ancient miracle. Because of its fame that spread since the First Era, 【Soul Lash】 is more effective against ancient souls; time and years have given this miracle unique abilities."

Although Xia De did not have the "Thorn" Spirit Rune, he had the miracle "Moon Thorn," so he felt he could probably learn this miracle.

After thanking Ms. Hendel, Xia De arranged for her to stay at the Abundant Earth Hotel and informed her that although the specific time for the action had not been determined, it was definitely next week.

As for Sister Daelin, she arrived in Randall Valley at noon that day, but then went to the Sun Church. By the time Xia De saw the nun at the Wang Erde Opera House, it was already after dinner.

Because Sister Daelin came in the name of supporting the Church, it was inconvenient for her to contact the witches directly, so she met Xia De and Luvia in a box at the Wang Erde Opera House.

The opera began, with high-pitched female singing expressing the laundry girl's longing and expectation for a brand-new day. This was the well-known Karsinric play "The Laundry Girl and the Cat Prince," which Xia De had seen many times at the Wang Erde Opera House.

"The situation is basically like this."

Xia De and Luvia told the nun about the current progress, and Sister Daelin actually obtained a conclusion quite similar to Ms. Marilyn Hendel's from the morning:

"The enemies this time are not two, but three. The Guardian will definitely have an accident; the special form of soul existence means that he is more easily twisted than a normal soul. Perhaps the Heart of the Earth you mentioned protected him for the past thousand years, but now that the earth itself is twisted, I am afraid this distortion will also be transmitted to him. Your and Luvia's judgment is very correct; the crazy Guardian will be the final enemy." ===== CHAPTER 1377 =====

"This time, the enemies are not two, but three. The Guardian will certainly suffer an incident; his unique form of soul existence means he is more prone to distortion than a normal soul. Perhaps the Heart of the Earth you spoke of protected him for the past thousand years, but now that the earth itself is distorted, I fear this distortion will also be transmitted to him. Your and Luweiya's judgment is quite correct; the mad Guardian will be the final enemy."