Chapter 2190: The Demon Reveals Its Tracks

Chapter 2190: Chapter 2190: The Demon Reveals Its Tracks

Seeing the doctor once again jesting about his house, Shard raised an eyebrow:

"They left by train, the Academy arranged for a teacher to secretly protect them. Even if my place is truly safe, once they leave Tobesk they may encounter other issues, so there’s no need to worry too much... With the Academy’s consent, this matter should be reported to our local church. My friend at the church is already writing an investigation report and will likely submit it today... Oh, the things from the Misfortune Cult are still with me, Doctor, do you want to take a look?"

Speaking, he got up and went to the study, bringing out the "withered leaf bookmark," "Evil God Emblem appearing after the metal dice is crushed," and "Ghost Bone Tree Derivative: Silver-plated Brooch" to the doctor.

Dr. Schneider wasn’t very familiar with the Misfortune Cult, and had only heard of the Keeper of Secrets Level Relic: Ghost Bone Tree, so he didn’t immediately touch the latter two items, but suspiciously picked up the withered leaf, sniffed it, and then seriously asked Shard:

"The sequence in which the elf girl obtained the three items was..."

"Bookmark, dice, silver-plated brooch. After interrogation by the Academy, the cultists have admitted that the bookmark and dice are Misfortune markers given to Emilia, but usually they give only one marker. It’s strange that this time there were two. The Academy is still investigating this matter, and currently suspects they are specifically targeting Emilia."

Shard said:

"Moreover, although the leaf carries Desecration Elements, it doesn’t have the Cult Sect’s emblem, which is strange. But those two captives insist the leaf was given by them. The investigation is still ongoing, involving the Evil God Emblem, so there’s a high likelihood of divination errors, and the Academy can’t directly ask other companions of those cultists."

"The leaf definitely wasn’t given by the cultists; they likely only gave the dice. Their memories have been altered."

The doctor confidently concluded, and Shard furrowed his brows in doubt, then suddenly hugged the cat in his arms tightly:

"Wait, you’re not suggesting..."

The psychologist with blue eyes nodded:

"Yes, there’s a demonic aura on this leaf."

Shard gasped, not noticing the cat in his arms imitated his action and also took a deep breath.

"Hold on—Demon Sight, yes, I tried, and there’s no demonic power on this."

"If the Arcane Technique - Demon Sight could detect traces of all demons, how could the Fourth Era Civilization Demon Hunters have almost collapsed due to those evil spirits?"

The doctor asked sternly, sitting on the sofa while placing the leaf in front of his eyes:

"Also, this time our opponent is very cautious, indeed, very cautious."

He gradually lowered his voice, eventually whispering:

"Who could it be this time, oh, it’s that guy, so this strange series of events can be explained. So cautious, even knows to let the cultists cover for him, aside from me and a few others, there might not be many in this era who could guess who’s behind it just from this leaf."

"Doctor, who’s the opponent this time?"

Shard asked at the right moment, and the blue eyes looked at him, filled with half concern and half excitement:

"Misfortune Demon - Fanarius. Its footprints span the entire human history of civilization, its birth can even be traced back to before the Fourth Era. It’s one of the oldest demons, a demon never sealed. Even the Fourth Era Demon Hunters only have records about it, but no one has ever defeated it head-on."

"Older than any demon we’ve encountered before?"

Shard asked again, the doctor thought for a moment, then gently shook his head:

"Before meeting you, I’ve devoured five demons myself: 1837 - Parallax Demon - Coseni, 1841 - Immortal Demon - Haber, 1845 - Venomous Spider Demon - Sergei, 1847 - Terror Worm - Juel Winter, 1850 - Brain-Eater Demon - Bayengulens, none of these are older than the Misfortune Demon.

But after you joined our group, the demons encountered in 1853 summer - Tobesk - Human Pus, 1853 autumn - Midshire Fort - Arsonist - Sophix, 1853 winter - Tobesk - Desire Multiplying Demon - Vanny, 1854 winter - Randall Valley - Stone Mirror Demon - Goethe, 1854 spring - Green Lake - Maze Demon - Yalu; Human Pus is comparable in age to the Misfortune Demon."

This wasn’t good news, because "Human Pus" wasn’t actually defeated by Shard; it was Miss Feliana who intervened.

"So how strong is this thing?"

Shard asked again, very concerned for Emilia.

"Strong? No, it doesn’t rely on its own power; it’s part of Fate, even representing the concept of ’misfortune,’ condensed from the world’s malice."

The doctor explained very seriously:

"Such an existence already far exceeds our understanding. Being targeted by this demon is essentially no different from being targeted by a natural phenomenon."

"Even a unicorn can’t dispel this demon’s curse?"

Shard asked, the doctor shook his head:

"No, it must break the curse on its own. Listen to me, the true form of the Misfortune Demon - Fanarius is a pitch-black raven. Instantaneous movement, time pause, memory manipulation, these are just the basic abilities of this Ancient One. Haven’t you seen the Stone Mirror Demon - Goethe pause time? No one has seen Fanarius fight with all its might because no one cursed by misfortune has ever survived to face it. We must act quickly; otherwise, even if that Elf Miss is called back to live with you, she won’t survive this summer."

"Can’t we just let her return to the Academy immediately? There are at least two Thirteen-Ring Sorcerers at the Academy."

"But the principal and librarian can’t protect her for her entire life. The entanglement of misfortune can follow her all her life. This matter can only be resolved by us, yes, only us."

Upon hearing the doctor say this, Shard knew that despite all the groundwork, there was still a way to deal with that demon:

"What needs to be done?"

"Since it’s so powerful, we can’t give it a chance to act. Our only advantage now is that it has truly deceived everyone’s eyes, and I only discovered it after the Elf left here, so it certainly couldn’t have noticed me. We are in the shadows, and we have only one chance to act. This time, we must become the most cautious hunters in the Dark Forest, not even allowing the sound of a heartbeat to be heard before we act."

The doctor could see that Shard cared a lot about the Elf girl, and as a victim of the demon incident, he absolutely couldn’t allow the demon to harm others:

"I need time to prepare something that can deliver a killing blow to it, probably a week or longer. Shard, during this time, you have a task too, to send the Elf girl to a place where fate is in chaos; only then can we avoid being detected by it before we act."

"Specifically, where? Do I need Luviya’s help with divination?"

Shard asked while holding a cat; he originally intended to call Emilia back directly.

The doctor shook his head:

"It’s not that complicated, just those places you often go to where major events are happening. I’m not a Diviner like Annette, but from repeated experiences, I can see a bit of the arcs of fate."

Shard nodded knowingly:

"That would be Moon Bay City. Doctor, I’ll find a way to send Emilia to Moon Bay. But this time, are you taking action personally, or do I take the weapon you prepare?"

Dr. Schneider considered it for a moment:

"To be safe, I’d better do it. I know you’re strong, but this time the situation is special. We only have one chance, and if we alert it, there won’t be another chance again.

This matter requires immediate action; I’m going back to prepare right now. I’ll inform you when I have news. Moon Bay is too far from here, so we’ll use spatial movement this time. Fortunately, since returning from Green Lake, I’ve known this day would come, so this task is not yours to handle; Old Man John has been keeping an eye on similar relics for me. Remember to soothe the Elf girl well, but don’t reveal the demon’s matter in advance."

He stood up to leave, but Shard stopped him:

"Doctor, what about Emilia? Is there a way to protect her without alerting the demon?"

The doctor patted his forehead:

"I was too tense and almost forgot about this. Let me think... [Demon Hunting Seal] can slow down the misfortune symptoms, but we can’t take it out before we act, or the demon will become suspicious... You mentioned a unicorn earlier?"

"Yes."

Shard nodded, so the doctor suggested:

"If you can manage to let the Elf girl and the unicorn live together, it might also alleviate the curse. Otherwise, let her live in a church; a church like the Archdiocese in Tobesk, which has miracle power, can also suppress the Misfortune Curse. If the civilization and faith of the Fourth Era were as prosperous as we have now, perhaps back then demon hunters could have relied on the church to defeat that demon."

The doctor soon left, taking some mithril and mountain copper from Shard to make the weapon he needed. Those metals were a gift from the church, given to the "God Summoner" after the Green Lake incident.

Having learned about the demon matter, a worried Shard didn’t have the heart to depart for Moon Bay. After bidding farewell to the doctor downstairs, he immediately wrote a letter to Miss Danester, marking the matter as extremely urgent.

It took only five minutes to reply via the poetry manuscript page, and the note brought by the transmission simply read "Now."

So Shard immediately moved a chair and water basin to set up the ritual. Soon, his eyes saw a small office. It was clearly not the school library, but the interior decor was similar to what Shard had seen in the Academy’s classroom during elective courses.

The students who helped set up the ritual said goodbye and left. The Thirteen-Ring Red-Haired Sorceress sitting opposite Shard observed him up and down, and seeing that he was intact and not in any injured state, she breathed a slight sigh of relief:

"I thought... As long as you’re okay. Shard, what is the matter this time?"