Chapter 1422: The End of Osenfort

"You've been standing there with your eyes closed for over half an hour. It's almost midnight. How are you feeling now?"

The firelight in the dead tree forest had dimmed significantly, but grey snow was still drifting through the night sky. With the Doctor's support, Xia De sat down on the other half of the millstone buried deep in the snow, then looked down at his hands:

"The demon wanted to see my reflection, then turn into my likeness to deal with me."

He rested his right arm on his right knee, his upper body leaning forward slightly as he looked at the Doctor before him:

"So, I saw what I looked like."

"No, no, that wasn't your likeness; that was your shadow."

The Doctor corrected him:

"I understand Goethe's power. What you saw was simply a version of yourself that is usually invisible. It seems you've gained something from this?"

"Yes."

Although he had only gained one more spiritual rune and one passive miracle, all his powers related to the moon had been enhanced. He couldn't describe the feeling, so he summoned the 【Moonlight Greatsword】.

The weight of the spiritual weapon was almost identical to a normal weapon, and Xia De, feeling somewhat weak at the moment, nearly failed to hold onto it.

The greatsword, covered in a string of runes, pierced the snowy surface. Its nearly translucent silver blade illuminated Xia De's profile and the grey snow. The appearance of the 【Moonlight Greatsword】 had also become more ornate than ever before.

"Truly a beautiful weapon."

The Doctor also offered a compliment, then fished a glass bottle out of his pocket and handed it to Xia De:

"I guessed you'd be in a sorry state. Drink this. The demon's domain is not friendly to any living being with a soul. I know you have some special abilities, but it looks like it will take a while for you to recover."

Xia De drank the fire-red liquid. Just as the Doctor said, he had stayed in the demon's domain for too long, and the impact on his body would require rest to recover. After drinking the potion, although he didn't heal immediately, at least his body began to feel warm:

"In about an hour, I should be back to normal."

Seeing Xia De's complexion improve, the Doctor finally asked with a smile:

"Xia De, oh Xia De, didn't you say you'd leave the task of defeating the demon to me? Why did you do it yourself? I prepared for two whole weeks, and in the end, none of my preparations were used."

It was clear the Doctor was in an exceptionally good mood. Xia De shook his head:

"A lot of things happened."

The Doctor didn't press for details:

"Tell me when you have time later. This matter is over, and that's what matters. Speaking of which, what is happening outside? Why is the forest burning? Also, I think I saw a dragon flying toward here earlier, but your friend, a very beautiful black-haired lady, took your sword to intercept it. That lady seems very concerned about you; she said she would be back soon."

He must have been talking about Miss Difa, which was why Xia De hadn't seen the witch when he opened his eyes.

"Although you already said that Randel Valley would be lively tonight, I didn't expect it to be this lively."

The Doctor said again, turning his head to look at the night sky lit by the fire. Xia De looked around; the white courtyard no longer showed any traces of the battle that had just taken place.

"Doctor, did you see the other lady? I asked her to intercept Schluch Lake Osenfort."

"Miss Marilyn Handel, is it? Yes, she appeared after I swallowed Goethe. She introduced herself, and there was a very strange soul following her. She and that soul used chains to drag that demon-man along. Are all your friends in Randel Valley this interesting?"

The Doctor nodded:

"But she left too. She said there would be many places in Randel Valley tonight that would need her. However, is the soul you mentioned this one?"

The Doctor pulled a narrow-necked glass bottle covered in grey snow from the ground at his feet. Inside the bottle, a miniature Schluch Lake Osenfort was constantly slapping the inner wall.

"The soul is in the bottle, and his body is in the snow next to us; you can see it if you brush away the snow layer... Don't look at me with such a strange expression. Since I know demon lore, isn't it normal to know how to imprison a soul?"

The Doctor explained and handed the bottle to Xia De. Xia De leaned in to look. To Schluch Lake Osenfort inside the bottle, this must have been like a giant's face constantly drawing near.

"Doctor, your skills are getting stranger and stranger, but this is indeed him."

Xia De breathed a sigh of relief. This way, at least the two worst endings for tonight had been avoided. After things were over, he would have to properly thank Miss Handel.

"Now this soul is entirely under your control. Miss Handel said before she left that you could send it away at any time."

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The Doctor reminded him again. Xia De nodded and drew a pitch-black crack in the air beside him with his finger. The Doctor was so startled he nearly jumped, but then Xia De shook his head, not throwing the bottle in, but smoothing the crack over instead:

"How do I let him out?"

"Just pull out the cork. Be careful not to let him escape."

The Doctor reminded him, so Xia De pulled out the cork.

The two of them watched as the soul inside the bottle turned into a wisp of white smoke and flew out of the narrow bottle mouth. The white smoke flew toward the corpse under the snow, and then the gasping living dead man sat up from under the snow again.

"The Stone Mirror Demon—Goethe has been driven away by us."

Xia De sat on the millstone, not releasing the 【Light of Imprisonment】 or the Sin Chains, but just watching Schluch Lake Osenfort in the heavy snow. The Doctor, sitting on the other side, added:

"At least for a thousand years, don't expect to see him again."

"Osenfort, actually, there is no enmity between the two of us."

Xia De continued. Both Xia De and the Doctor were facing the burning forest from the side, their long, thin shadows trembling amidst the crackling sound of the fire:

"Our relationship was just a simple commission, and you paid the reward quite readily. However, I learned about some things from your past, and I also know about the relationship between you and Hela Osenfort, so..."

"Are you going to be the messenger of justice, save me from the demon, and then kill me?"

Osenfort asked, looking at their figures.

"Saving you from the demon was for other reasons."

Xia De shook his head:

"I can give you one chance to choose between dying and dying a very ugly death. And as the price, you must repent. Kneel here now, recount your crimes, and repent to all those you have murdered."

"At this point, is there still any need for that?"

Schluch Lake Osenfort looked up at Xia De. Even facing the current situation, there was no sign of weakness on his face:

"Murder, robbery—that is my way of life. I have nothing to repent for. I do not believe what I did was wrong."

"If you hadn't met the demon, you probably would have become a very famous pirate, or a murderer."

Xia De said:

"Even now, do you still believe you did nothing wrong?"

"Yes."

So Xia De said very calmly:

"Hela Osenfort said she doesn't want to see you anymore."

The man on the snow immediately shut his mouth. After being stunned for a moment, he turned his head to look at the third-floor window:

"Let me see her one more time. Even if I say nothing, just let me see her one more time. I can give you everything I have."

Xia De shook his head:

"Those people you killed—when they begged for mercy before they died, did you ever show any kindness?"

Osenfort stopped paying attention to Xia De, held onto the snow with difficulty to control his stiff body as he stood up, and then stumbled toward the entrance of the mansion.

Xia De just sat there watching him run further and further away.

"Aren't you going to stop him?"

Doctor Schneider asked curiously, to which Xia De replied:

"I hope you won't think my upcoming actions are excessive."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow, signaling Xia De to proceed:

"To be honest, I don't believe you have any excessive methods."

So Xia De fished the group photo of the Watson family out of his pocket. He had originally intended this photo as his first layer of insurance against Osenfort, never expecting it to become a tool for the ending:

"What must go, do not keep."

After saying this softly, he threw the photo into the air. The grey snow reflected the shadow of the old photo fluttering in the wind. The shadow of the photo was a tilted rectangle, but then, dozens of black giant hand shadows extended from that rectangle on the snow.

Xia De stood up, walked forward a few steps, and then suddenly slashed down straight with his right hand from top to bottom. Then, the crack leading to true death appeared once again.

At the same time, the four-armed old ghoul, the mouse-like half-demon, the ghost-state old woman, the ogre covered in pink fat, and the banshee soul covering her face with her own hands all squeezed out of the photo, grabbing Osenfort from behind at the entrance of the mansion as he tried to enter.

The old ghoul hugged his neck, the mouse half-demon hugged his left hand, the ghost hugged his right hand, the ogre grabbed his feet, and the weeping banshee used her hands to pierce his chest from behind, grabbing the heart that originally belonged to her sister.

The heart was taken from the living dead man's chest and thrown onto the snow. Then, the family of five dragged Osenfort from behind, moving him bit by bit toward the crack Xia De had opened.

Schluch Lake Osenfort lay on the snow, his ten fingers leaving ten clear scratch marks on the surface. He looked up in despair at the only window on the third floor that was still lit, but he never saw the person he was longing for appear there.

Xia De and the Doctor sat on their respective halves of the millstone, silently watching the five resentful souls finally drag Osenfort into death. Screams came from the calm mudflat, but then the crack closed automatically, so the living didn't know what would happen next. ===== CHAPTER 1423 =====