Chapter 3415: The True Purpose

The wax candle held by the "Lady" High Priest illuminated the folded handkerchief Xia De took from his pocket, which contained hair and a photograph. The photograph had been "imprinted" by Dorothy according to Xia De's memory; naturally, to avoid trouble, the withered face of the middle-aged man lying in bed on the photo did not fully match the appearance of the "Grey Owl."

As for the hair, it was "artificial hair" artificially cultivated by Priest Augustus. This was a further advancement in necromancy after the priest obtained part of the "Human Alchemy" alchemy shared by Xia De from Laplace Howard. Xia De had even laughed, saying the old priest could spend his later years selling wigs and become a wealthy man.

The Lady then took the handkerchief Xia De offered with great care, and subsequently signaled for Xia De and Miss Miss Difa to follow her forward.

She led the two through the crowd holding candles gathered beneath the platform, went straight up the steps, and arrived before the stone coffin. Only then did Xia De discover that the interior of the stone coffin actually contained only a human-shaped depression.

The Lady threw the hair and photograph from the handkerchief into the stone coffin, then beckoned downward. Thus, two black-robed figures with human labels on their heads carried a wooden bucket up, and while Miss Miss Difa covered her mouth and nose with her hand, they poured an entire bucket of human blood into the stone coffin.

The photograph and hair were submerged in the viscous blood. The heavy stone coffin lid was lifted by their combined strength and placed upon the coffin. Then, as more black candles arranged in the room lit up, the "people" on the platform and below it jointly shouted in an obscure, incomprehensible language.

The sound was uniform yet eerie; even a normal person with a firm mind arriving here would likely be terrified into trembling. Miss Miss Difa was now held in Xia De's arms, while Xia De looked around with a blank expression.

Miss Miss Difa could not understand what they were saying, but Xia De could. Unlike the fake occult traces on the ground and walls, these people were now chanting a true ancient language.

Although Xia De had not studied it, having encountered so many ancient languages over the past two years, he could himself deduce some patterns in pronunciation and grammar across different eras. The language they were chanting now likely originated from the Second Era, specifically the earlier period of the Second Era.

As for the meaning—

【Praise the God of Flesh! Praise the God of Creation! Praise the God of Evolution! Praise the Lord of Crimson and Forest White!】

These four titles belong to the same entity, namely the 【Dusk Creator】 among the Thirteen Ancient Gods. This deity is the creator of many ancient races in legends and myths; for instance, the ancestors of the Titan Giants were created by this "Creator."

But very interestingly, no myth or legend has ever mentioned that this "Creator" created humans and elves.

A very small number of vampire clans do not worship the moon or the God of Vampires, but instead worship this deity. The 【Blood Spirit School】, which has dealt with Xia De many times, is a clear worshipper of this deity.

Xia De had previously only heard from records that the 【House of Pseudo-Humans】 might be related to this Ancient God; he never expected to find evidence so easily.

However, the good or evil nature of this deity cannot be judged solely by the 【House of Pseudo-Humans】, just as one cannot judge the Moon Sage as a villain based on the "Crazy Moon."

"However, the 【Dusk Creator】 governs creation, reproduction, and flesh, which is indeed very similar to the authority of the Red Moon. But the Red Moon has absolutely no relation to the concepts of 'creation' and 'evolution'."

Xia De thought to himself. Although the atmosphere was terrifying, the prayers chanted by these humans and pseudo-humans did not trigger any changes in elements or spirits, so Xia De merely held the "frightened" Miss Miss Difa.

As for the blank expression on his face, it not only failed to confuse the "Lady" observing him, but instead strengthened her determination to continue executing the plan.

The continuous prayer lasted a full ten minutes; Xia De even worried whether their throats would have problems. When the "prayer" ended, however, the coffin lid did not open. The Lady smiled and said to Xia De:

"Next, we need to wait for some time. We will temporarily leave here, honorable guest. Please stay here alone and recall as much as possible your various experiences with the relative about to return; only then can he move faster against the path of the dead."

Xia De, however, hugged Miss Miss Difa tighter:

"My maid, I mean the lady sent by that person to accompany me, cannot stay here either? This won't do; I will not let my maid leave me just for my uncle."

The Lady's face still wore an unchanged smile; she was not surprised by this:

"Of course, this young Miss can stay with you; that is no problem. It is just that lights cannot be lit here in a moment, and please do not make any noise, so as not to affect the return of the soul."

Then she apologized:

"Also, I hope you will no longer have direct contact with this Miss; you need to concentrate your spirit. The returning deceased needs to follow your thoughts to find the path of return."

It had to be admitted that they indeed looked very professional.

"It's alright, Master; I will just stand behind you."

Miss Miss Difa's soft voice came from Xia De's embrace, and Xia De gently stroked her hair with his hand.

The "Lady" High Priest's vertical human eye swept over the two, and then she smiled and said:

"Then, two honorable guests, let us begin now. Remember, absolutely no sound must be made; you must concentrate your attention."

Thus, the humans, pseudo-humans, and the sole vampire in black robes in the room withdrew. Their departure meant the room was once again without a light source. But in fact, the closed coffin was now faintly emitting a blood-colored glow; the light was just very weak and could not illuminate the situation beneath the platform.

The Lady kindly brought soft cushions for Xia De and Miss Miss Difa before leaving, so they could sit down:

"Just sit and recall carefully. Please do not think I am nagging; I still must remind you: you must concentrate your attention, and do not use matches or other tools for lighting, otherwise there is a risk of the ritual failing."

She spoke thus, and as the door closed again, Xia De and Miss Miss Difa in the darkness did not look at each other.

Although there was light around the coffin, the bloody smell around it was very choking, so they did not stay there. The cushions were placed below the platform, and the two supported each other and sat down closely together.

Although they did not have direct contact afterwards, Xia De could still feel the young Miss's faint breathing and heartbeat beside him.

He certainly did not recall memories of living with Detective Sparrow, because he had no such memories. Although he closed his eyes after sitting down, he was actually thinking about what the pseudo-humans wanted to do. Although people resurrected by the 【House of Resurrection】 would not reveal their experiences, he instinctively felt that the current process seemed a bit off:

"There is no need to delay time like this; I delay time for Luvia and the others to arrive. What do the pseudo-humans want to do?"

Although he would not rashly cast spells here, sensing the location of the Fire Seal was not casting a spell; this was already a kind of instinct. As for the Fire Seals in Tobesk, except for Miss Jia Lin Na and Princess Lei Lei Qianya, whom Xia De had explicitly forbidden from participating in the action, the others were almost arriving nearby.

Of course, the Fire Seal closest to Xia De was still Miss Miss Difa. The location of the maid Miss's Fire Seal was unique. Although Xia De knew he should not recall the kiss at sunset now, that memory jumped out on its own.

"Hmm?"

At this moment, Xia De suddenly perceived a slight change in space, followed by the power of the artifact represented by the Whisper Element coming into play. The change in space lasted only an instant; after that instant, Miss Miss Difa's position changed from beside Xia De to the next room. Fortunately, apart from the change in position, her state and mental condition were fine.

The problematic thing was that the Fire Seal showed Miss Miss Difa had been moved by spatial power to the next room, but strangely, Xia De could still feel the breathing and heartbeat beside him exactly the same as before Miss Miss Difa's position changed.

He suddenly realized what the pseudo-humans had gone to such great lengths to do tonight:

"With this, it should be soon..."

Sure enough, in less than five minutes, the door was pushed open from the outside. Those people holding candles returned, with the pseudo-human in the appearance of the Lady still leading them.

She walked to Xia De's side and spoke to Xia De, who was still looking down with his eyes closed:

"Honorable guest, the ritual is progressing smoothly. Now please go with this Miss to rest elsewhere; we will continue the ritual process next."

Xia De then raised his head and opened his eyes, nodded, stood up, and then reached out to the side to pull "Miss Miss Difa" up as well.

The same mask, the same build, the same posture; even the eyes within the mask holes were exactly the same.

Her appearance was ninety-nine percent similar to the normal Miss Miss Difa. If it were not for the non-existence of the Fire Seal and the almost imperceptible Whisper Element on her body, Xia De would have even doubted his own intuition.

"Fortunately, I have had deep exchanges with Grace and Helen for so long. Even if the Whisper Element of a human-form artifact is very faint, it cannot deceive me. Moreover, there is no human label on her head... This is a Stage Four Pseudo-Human... So they wanted to kill two birds with one stone: on one hand, to stuff a pseudo-human into my hands, and on the other, to directly replace the Duke's personal maid. What a clever idea."

He suppressed his disgust and held the hand of "Miss Miss Difa." The latter's eyes curved, revealing a gentle smile, and the "she" by his ear asked with a smile:

【Where is the one percent different from the real Miss Miss Difa Servet?】

Xia De held the hand of "Miss Miss Difa," feeling its power level. This was his first contact with a Stage Four Pseudo-Human; it was even possible that in the entire history of humanity, no one had ever had such a deep opportunity to investigate the secrets of a Stage Four Pseudo-Human:

"The front armor is not quite right."

(End of this chapter)