South Tivian, Bishop Square.
On a cold New Year's Eve, within an alley on the edge of Bishop Square, Barret Despenser's translucent pale spirit was hovering above the summoning ritual. This undead spirit, exhibiting the appearance it had at the time of death, displayed a vacant expression under the constraints of the ritual, answering Dorothy's questions irresistibly.
'As expected... the Mirror Moon Goddess depicted on the Mirror Moon Goddess statue is the pure-colored main god of "Shadow". My previous guess was not wrong. And Barret actually dug out the Holy Emblem of "Shadow". It's inside the secret room in his house!'
Dorothy, huddled against the cold wind on the street, felt a surge of excitement in her heart after hearing about the Holy Emblem from Barret's Ghost. She had been searching for the Holy Emblem of "Shadow" for a long time, and now she finally had a definite lead!
Calming her excited mood, Dorothy took a deep breath, then controlled the Corpse Puppet Brandon to continue speaking to Barret during the ritual.
"Then, Duke, where is your mansion located, and where is the Holy Emblem of the Mirror Moon Goddess located within your mansion?"
Brandon, under Dorothy's control, continued to ask Barret's Ghost. Barret's Ghost paused slightly, then immediately replied.
"That is a villa of mine in the southwestern suburbs of Tivian. The specific location is north of Shield Hill and south of Gray Grass Avenue. The artifact suspected to be the Holy Emblem of the Mirror Moon Goddess is stored in the research secret room within the villa. The entrance to the secret room is on the first floor of the villa, at the end of the corridor west of the living room."
"To open the hidden passage entrance, you need to open the clock face of the clock hanging on the wall at the entrance, set the hour hand on the clock face to 12, the minute hand to 3, and the second hand to 6. After that, the time on the clock face will reset to the correct time, and the secret room entrance will also open. The Holy Emblem is in the upper right drawer of the main desk in the secret room. The drawer is not locked."
With a still vacant expression, Barret's Ghost slowly spoke. After hearing such detailed information, Dorothy nodded internally with satisfaction. With such detailed guidance, she would save a lot of time when searching for the item later.
After obtaining the most crucial information, Dorothy had Brandon speak again, asking Barret's Ghost some other key questions.
"Duke, could you please tell me if you are still clear about how you died? What exactly happened inside Blue Weave Street No. 1 when you died? Did you see the murderer who killed you?"
Brandon asked Barret's Ghost this way. The other party remained silent for a moment after hearing this question, then spoke.
"The situation at the time was very sudden and chaotic. I'm actually not too clear about what specifically happened. I still remember I was standing in the hall protected by guards, looking at paintings, and then suddenly heard a scream from behind. When I turned around..."
Just as Barret's Ghost was about to continue speaking, his spirit suddenly became extremely unstable, starting to flicker and stutter like the picture on a black and white TV with poor signal, and distorting and deforming from time to time. The entire voice also became intermittent and stuttering, mixed with noisy static, completely inaudible.
"What happened? Why did he suddenly become like this?"
Seeing the abnormality in Barret's Ghost, Dorothy asked Naifnis, who was conducting the ritual. Naifnis, who was possessed by Uta's split soul, slowly replied.
"My split soul is about to give out. I told you, this summoning ritual conducted solely by a split soul cannot last long. My pulling force on this spirit is decreasing, and the other summoning ritual for him has not stopped. That other ritual's pulling force on this spirit is still there."
"Simply put, because my pulling force is decreasing, the other summoning ritual targeting this spirit has started to compete with me again. Because it is being pulled by two equally matched pulling forces, this spirit has started to be in this unstable state."
Naifnis, possessed by Uta's split soul, said to Dorothy. Listening to her words, Dorothy was stunned. Previously, Naifnis had told her that this type of summoning ritual conducted by relying on a split soul, although still retaining its rank, was very unstable and would last for a shorter time than a normally conducted summoning ritual. That's why Dorothy had asked for the key information she needed first.
Due to the time constraint, the pulling force of the summoning ritual conducted by Naifnis decreased, while the ritual conducted by the Eight-Pointed Nest, although it didn't summon the soul, had been ongoing. Now, Naif's pulling force has dropped to the same level as the Eight-Pointed Nest's. Barret's Ghost, affected by the two competing pulling forces, began to show abnormalities, making it unable to answer Dorothy's questions normally.
Moreover, being unable to answer questions is a small matter. Another consequence caused by Naif's continuous decrease in pulling force will be more serious.
"So... if our pulling force continues to decrease now, Barret's spirit is very likely to be snatched back by the other party?"
Dorothy had Brandon ask Naifnis, and Naif slowly nodded before speaking.
"Yes... My pulling force is continuously decreasing, and the other party's pulling force will not change much for a long time, so it is inevitable that I will lose control."
"Then is there any way to increase our pulling force again? If we can't increase it, simply stopping the other party from summoning will also work."
Brandon continued to speak, and Naifnis replied with a hint of fatigue.
"My split soul can't hold on for much longer now. Providing stronger pulling force is useless. The ritual will collapse in a while, and this spirit will also be summoned away."
"But if you're simply talking about stopping the other party from summoning, I do have a method. That is, I will transform the ritual, connect to the great soul with the power of a Shaman, and establish a passage in the Nether River. I will transform the summoning ritual into a burying soul ritual. I will send this spirit into the depths of the Nether River through this passage, close to the great soul."
"The great soul is constantly exerting a pulling force on all souls. For the living, this pulling force is very weak and can be ignored. For dead souls, this pulling force will be very obvious. Undead spirits enter the Nether River under this pulling force and return to the great soul."
"The deeper into the Nether River, the closer to the great soul, the stronger this pulling force becomes. In a place slightly closer to Him, this pulling force will be incomparably powerful. This spirit will return under the pulling force of the great soul. The pulling force of any mortal cannot contend with the great soul, and similarly, that includes me."
Naifnis, relying on Uta's split soul, spoke wearily. Dorothy understood her meaning immediately. Since they couldn't compete with the pulling force of the summoning ritual, they would take advantage of the soul still being here to change the nature of the ritual, turning it from summoning to burying, and send the soul to a place close to the great soul in one go, allowing it to be pulled back by the great soul. The pulling force of a normal mortal summoning ritual cannot contend with the great soul, so the soul will definitely be pulled away by the great soul, and when the soul finally returns, any summoning ritual will be ineffective.
If they did this, neither she nor the Eight-Pointed Nest would be able to summon Barret in the future. Barret would return to the origin of souls, taking with him the secrets he hadn't had time to reveal.
"Alright, then please perform the burying soul ritual now and send this soul towards the great soul."
With his hands behind his back, Brandon spoke to Naifnis at Dorothy's instruction. Naifnis slowly nodded after hearing Brandon's words.
Subsequently, the expression on Naifnis's face became serious. She extended her hands, which were suspended above the magic circle, and began to continuously change various hand gestures, murmuring the incantations of Spirit Seal Language in her mouth.
"Ah... Source of all souls... End of all spirits... Eternal order of the The wheel of the underworld... In the name of the Shaman who blesses the resting place... I seek Your guidance in the Nether River... Guide me to the bridge that leads to You..."
As Naifnis's incantations continued, Barret the Ghost within the magic circle also gradually showed some changes. His vague and distorted state slowly disappeared, and his entire spiritual body presented a calm and stable posture. Within this stability, the original sluggish expression on Barret the Ghost's face vanished, replaced by a natural serenity.
Finally, within this serene expression, Barret the Ghost's spiritual body gradually became more transparent, eventually disappearing completely into the air, leaving behind only an empty magic circle and Naifnis, who had stopped her incantations.
"That spirit has embarked on his final journey towards the great soul. He is guided by the great soul, and mortal power can no longer shake his path."
Sitting cross-legged before the magic circle, Naifnis, who was relying on Uta's split soul, said this. The weariness in her eyes was now completely unconcealable.
"Thank you for your hard work, Captain. You've helped us greatly this time."
Facing Naifnis before her, Dorothy had Brandon bow and speak, while Naifnis responded by shaking her head.
"You helped Kapak persuade Sado and the others to return, saving our tribe from unwarranted disaster. This repayment is deserved... Alright, it's time for me to rest now..."
Naifnis, relying on Uta's split soul, said this. Finally, she looked towards Kapak, who was standing beside her, and said her final words.
"Kapak, remember to bring everyone back to me soon. Don't stay there for too long, lest something unexpected happens again."
"Understood, Teacher. I will arrange for our return tomorrow."
Kapak responded solemnly to Uta's split soul within Naifnis. After listening, Naifnis nodded slightly, then closed her eyes.
Next, a faint shadow separated from Naifnis, who was sitting cross-legged, and finally attached and shrunk onto the pipe in Naifnis's hand.
After Uta's split soul left, Naifnis, who had returned to normal, opened her tired eyes. After glancing at the scene before her, she couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief.
"Phew... Is it finally over? I'm so tired..."
Saying this, Naifnis swayed as she stood up. Perhaps due to fatigue, she stumbled forward just as she got up. At the critical moment, Dorothy had Brandon take two steps forward to catch Naifnis, who was about to fall, and then asked with concern.
"What's wrong, Thief Miss? Is there something wrong with your body?"
"Mm... Thank you for your concern. There's nothing wrong with my body, I just feel very tired and my head is dizzy. It seems like it's because my Spirituality is almost used up?"
Naifnis, who had been caught by Brandon, quickly steadied herself, a hint of panic in her heart, and spoke. Hearing Naifnis's words, Dorothy likely understood her current condition.
Naifnis's current state should be a manifestation of excessive ability usage. She had just been promoted to Black Rank and immediately used her ability to rely on the Soul Xu of the Wilderness Spirit. Then she spent a long time searching for people throughout the city. After relying on the Soul Xu for combat, she immediately relied on Uta's split soul to perform the summoning ritual and the burial ritual. The consumption of both these rituals was borne by her.
She had just been promoted and used her abilities for a long time, plus she performed two rituals. After all this exertion, Neff's Spirituality and energy were practically depleted, which is why she showed such fatigue. In the past, Dorothy also experienced fatigue from excessive energy consumption after controlling the maximum number of Corpse Puppets in combat.
"Thief Miss, you should go back and rest now. You've worked hard today." Brandon said this to the visibly tired Naifnis. Naifnis nodded slightly after hearing this. After seeing her nod, Brandon continued to speak to Kapak.
"Shaman Apprentice Mr., please escort Thief Miss back to the East District. Afterwards, go find your fellow tribesmen and settle them down. The Scholar will help you arrange matters for returning home."
"Don't worry, I will safely escort Thief Miss to her destination. Also, please thank the Scholar Mr. for his help on my behalf."
"Alright, I still have a task I need to attend to first. Goodbye, both of you."
After saying goodbye to Naifnis and Kapak, Dorothy controlled Brandon to leave the alley. Kapak and Naifnis also left the scene after clearing away the traces of the ritual. The deserted alley returned to its usual state of calm.
Meanwhile, in the distant night sky, gusts of whistling sounds were coming from far away and approaching.
...
Above Bishop Square, a cold evening wind was whistling, its high-frequency strange sound carrying towards the distance.
On the outskirts of Bishop Square, by the roadside somewhere.
Dorothy sat by the roadside, rubbing her hands together continuously. Her body trembling slightly, she kept looking left and right, glancing towards both sides of the road, seemingly waiting for something.
After a short while, Dorothy seemed to have waited for what she was waiting for. She suddenly stood up from the roadside steps as if she had seen something, walked to the center of the sidewalk, and waved towards the distance on one side of the road. Over there, Grego was running quickly towards Dorothy under a street lamp, panting.
"Huff... huff... I'm very sorry, Dorothy. Some unexpected events happened at the square over there, so I'm late..."
Running up to Dorothy, Grego said to her breathlessly. Upon seeing him, Dorothy tilted her head slightly, then opened her mouth and asked him.
"What happened at the square just now? I heard a loud noise over there from here? It sounded like glass breaking?"
"Huff... huff... This, I don't know about this yet. Maybe it was a gas explosion. In any case, this area is a bit unsafe right now, I'll take you away from here."
Grego said this to Dorothy, and Dorothy also nodded obediently, not asking anything further.
After being arranged by Dorothy to act as an injured person for a while, Grego was quickly carried back to a quiet place by Dorothy's Corpse Puppet actors to change clothes. And just as Grego was wondering what the point of acting injured and coughing a couple of times was, a fierce wind erupted inside Blue Weave Street No. 1.
For a period of time afterwards, Grego, who had just finished changing clothes, began to act based on his sense of responsibility as a Hunter. He immediately went to the square to help coordinate maintaining order and transporting the injured. He remained busy until just now, and only found time to come back and find Dorothy after seeing that the situation at the scene had stabilized.
Up to now, Grego still didn't know exactly what had happened at the scene. He only knew that an unusual extraordinary event was occurring, and he needed to take his sister to a safer place to settle down.
"Grego, are you taking me back?"
On the road far from Bishop Square, Dorothy asked Grego, while Grego said after glancing in the direction of Bishop Square behind him.
"No, it's too late now, and it's very inconvenient to go back. I'll take you to find a hotel nearby, you can stay there alone, and go back tomorrow."
"Grego, do you still have something to do?"
"Yes... I suddenly ran into a colleague from the company at the square just now. Because the previous explosion of unknown cause involved some of our business, I might have to work overtime for a while."
Grego said this. He had already heard the whistling sound that swept across the sky earlier, and he also heard a high-frequency strange wind sound coming from the direction of Bishop Square.
He knew that people from the General Bureau had arrived at Bishop Square. They were gathering the Hunters who had returned home for the New Year holiday in this area. That strange wind sound was the special summoning signal within the An Yin Bureau.
As a Hunter, he should return to his post.
'Ah... it's big brother's long-awaited overtime. Go ahead, don't worry. After you leave, I should also go and work my overtime.'
Listening to Grego's words, Dorothy thought to herself that exploring Barret's villa couldn't be delayed; she had to act quickly as well.
For Dorothy, this New Year's Eve seemed not to be over yet; she also needed to work overtime for a while.