After wandering around the salon for a bit, the two young ladies were led by Madam Norma's maid into a reception room. By the time they entered, there were already seven or eight people inside—all young and familiar faces.
If Audrey remembered correctly, the parents of these young people all held significant positions within the Loen political and military circles.
"Good evening, Miss Hall. You are as beautiful as ever," Madam Norma approached and greeted Audrey warmly. She was a tall, elegantly dressed middle-aged lady with slender eyebrows and a naturally likeable appearance.
"Thank you, Madam Norma," Audrey responded politely and sat down beside Helena with an obedient demeanour, quietly waiting for the real salon to begin.
About ten minutes later, there was a soft knock at the door. A middle-aged man with slightly brown skin—seemingly carrying some Southern Continent blood—walked in, wearing a pleasant smile.
"Ladies and gentlemen, it's good to see you all again," he said.
He quickly scanned the room and added, "I see there are a few new faces here tonight. Please allow me to introduce myself: I am Hilbert Alucarde, a psychologist."
"Tonight, I will continue sharing some fascinating insights from the field of psychology and demonstrate how psychological techniques can be applied in everyday life."
———
Meanwhile.
In the form of Emlyn White, Edward donned his Invisibility Cloak and cast a Disillusionment Charm, silently making his way to the Delaire Forest.
What would have been a six-to-seven-hour trek on foot took him just over twenty minutes on a flying broomstick.
Activating the Concealment ability of the Invisibility Cloak, Edward moved like an invisible feather through the night, arriving at the half-collapsed, vine-covered ancient castle he had seen in his dream divination.
"This is it."
Under the crimson moonlight, Edward was able to roughly make out the shape of the ruins ahead.
Following the scenes from his dream, he circled around the castle and found a relatively intact section of the wall. There, he cast Open Door and phased through it.
Picking up his pace, he quickly located the stone staircase that spiralled downward and began descending into the depths, one winding step after another.
The deeper he went, the darker it became. Eventually, he had to light his wand with a Lumos spell—
It was at that moment he found himself missing the Hand of Glory he had sold to Little Sun; after all, only the holder of that item could see its light.
After a few more minutes, when the ground beneath his feet levelled out into a solid floor, Edward finally arrived at a massive underground hall.
The surroundings were pitch black, and the faint glow from his wand barely illuminated the immediate area.
"This place is contaminated by the underground corruption. The vampires probably wouldn't dare chase me too deep," he mused.
With that, Edward waved his wand and unleashed a surge of flames—
"Incendio!"
In an instant, the vast hall was bathed in firelight. The first thing Edward saw was a pair of massive bronze double doors, and beside them, two blurry, ghostly figures wandered back and forth.
Suddenly, the two figures flickered and vanished—In their place appeared a monstrous creature made up of dozens, if not hundreds, of limbs and heads—
The Medici Descendant amalgamation!
"!!!"
Edward's heart jolted in alarm, and he instinctively wanted to retreat.
But he quickly realised: even if this was a Medici Descendant amalgamation, it made no sense for it to suddenly appear here.
Remembering how Fors and Xio had encountered illusions here in the original story, he immediately understood:
"An illusion?"
But among the spells and powers he currently possessed, none seemed particularly effective against illusions.
Thinking fast, Edward first cast a Protego Diabolica to protect himself, followed by a Clear Mind spell.
Then, from the tip of his wand, a wave of light rippled outward: "Revelio!"
Wherever the light passed, the black-furred monstrosity flickered briefly, became transparent—but then rapidly solidified again.
Edward leaned back, spreading his arms wide as if embracing the sun.
BOOM!
A grand, pure, and blazing pillar of light descended from the heavens, flooding the entire hall.
The Medici Descendant amalgamation melted away instantly, like snow meeting fire.
Moments later, the hall returned to normal.
At that point, the two ghostly figures—a man and a woman—reappeared. After a brief moment of confusion, intense malice surged from them as they shouted, "Who's there?!"
The next second, they screamed and charged toward Edward.
Though they couldn't see Edward under the activated Concealment of the Invisibility Cloak, their instincts allowed them to accurately home in on his location.
This was precisely why, in battles against powerful enemies, invisibility only helped Edward before he made a move. Once a fight started, Beyonders had countless ways to deal with invisible opponents—
Just like witches' invisibility, the most common countermeasure was wide-range attacks.
In just a blink, Edward felt an icy chill form rapidly inside his body, freezing his flesh and joints.
"Unfettered."
The discomfort vanished at once.
Edward retreated swiftly while shouting:
"Possession is forbidden in this place!"
At the same time, he cast Theft, first stealing the various abilities of the two wraiths, then snatching their current thoughts.
Taking advantage of the brief sluggishness that followed, he unleashed another burst of Light of Holiness.
BOOM!—
The underground hall was once again flooded with dazzling brilliance. The two wraiths shrieked miserably under the radiance but didn't immediately perish.
Edward then swung his wand.
"Avada Kedavra!"
Two beams of green light shot forth.
With two fleeting wails, the two wraiths dissipated, leaving only a scattering of dim, gem-like dust behind.
"Phew—"
Edward exhaled softly and flicked a coin into the air.
"The two wraiths have been eliminated."
The coin landed heads up—a clear affirmation.
He strode forward. In the brief time that had passed, the lingering, nearly invisible remnants of the two spirits had each condensed into a piece of ethereal crystal. Alongside the crystals and scattered dust lay two distinct items: one was a transparent, ring-like object, as if a corroded band, and the other resembled a crystal eye, with faint black mist swirling inside.
Edward covered the objects with a piece of sheepskin, wrapped them up, and stuffed them into a prepared tin box.
"Perfect. Two cursed items from ancient wraiths—one for myself, the other I can sell to Miss Salted Fish later. As for the wraith dust, Klein will probably want it."
Perfect. Mission complete.
Just as he was about to leave, a series of thump, thump, thump knocks suddenly echoed in his ears.
Edward frowned and turned to look at the massive bronze door—the one that had shown no reaction even under the purifying blast of Light of Holiness.
Huh?
A door?
Edward gazed at it, and his expression slowly turned vacant. His thoughts first seemed to freeze, slowing to a crawl, then suddenly sped up, whirling chaotically.
A faint burning sensation emerged once more from the square-shaped tattoo outlined in lines on the back of his hand.
No way...
Could it be that this "cheat"—the one that had allowed him to travel between two worlds—was somehow connected to that bronze door?
While Edward was still dazed, the pounding behind the bronze door grew more urgent, each beat striking directly against his heart. He was startled to realise that his heartbeat had started syncing with the rhythm of the pounding.
A horrifying thought struck him—
If the pounding abruptly stopped, his heart might stop as well!
Run! Now!
But when he tried to cast Apparition, he found himself unable to give the command. Instead, his body began moving against his will, one step at a time toward the bronze door.
Meanwhile, the burning pain on the back of his hand intensified. A sudden crimson hue flashed before his eyes, and a whisper—one he hadn't heard in a long time—echoed in his ears:
It was Mr. Door!
"Don't save me! Don't save me! Don't save me!"
"Don't save me! Don't save me! Don't save me!"
"Don't save me! Don't save me! Don't save me!"
Immediately afterwards, Edward's skin began cracking and boiling like it had during previous episodes of losing control. His fingernails grew crazily, but—this time—the experience was not accompanied by the agonising pain he had felt before.
Still, without intervention, this would only result in a "painless loss of control."
Just as this realisation struck him, Mr. Door's chant shifted.
"Don't save me! Don't save me! Don't save me!"
"Don't save me! Don't save..."
"Run!"
Suddenly, Edward regained control of his consciousness and body. Without the slightest hesitation, he cast Apparition.
CRACK!
His figure twisted and vanished.
The ancient and massive hall instantly fell silent. The pounding behind the bronze door ceased as if it had never existed at all.
———
Edward did not return to the inn directly. Worried that he might still carry some unknown pollution from behind the door, he chose an abandoned warehouse near the Backlund Bridge.
"Hoo—"
He slumped onto a battered crate.
This time had been dangerously close!
First, the bronze door's mind control; then, Mr. Door's whisper; and outside, there could very well be vampires lurking.
But…
"At the end, it sounded like Mr. Door said 'Run'? Was that directed at me?"
"Was it because of him that I managed to regain control?"
"But...why?"
"Even if, even if Mr. Door helped me for some reason, wasn't he banished beyond the stars? How could he possibly interfere with 'reality'?"
"And then there's the square-shaped tattoo on my hand, the door I saw during my advancement, and the bronze door here...what connection is there between them? And how does Mr. Door fit into all this?"
"My cheat—what secrets does it hide?"
At this thought, Edward suddenly realised: The warning from today's divination—that it was an unsuitable day to visit the castle—might not have been because of vampires. Rather, it had something to do with that bronze door…or more precisely, something behind it.
"Perhaps the truth will only be revealed once I completely push open the door I saw during my advancement."
"Huh...why does this feel so much like Klein climbing the steps to uncover the secrets of the Sefirah Castle?"
After resting for a while longer, Edward made his way to Saint Samuel's Cathedral. He sat near the area closest to the Goddess's sacred emblem for over an hour, then confirmed through divination that there was no problem with him.
Only then did he head to Green Cemetery.
Edward took out half of the wraith dust he had collected and buried it inside a tomb. He erected a headstone for the poor wraith lovers and, after hesitating for a while, copied a line he often saw online in his past life:
"Mountains and seas may part our ways, yet even mountains and seas can be crossed. But if it is the stars we seek, they shall forever lie beyond our reach."
Edward placed his right hand over his chest and bowed slightly.
"My apologies—I'll be taking both cursed items. Thank you."
Raising his head, he glanced at the yellowing sky. The images of the bronze door, the mysterious door glimpsed during advancement, and the square-shaped tattoo all flashed through his mind once more.
He stepped back a few paces and Apparated away.
Just after Edward left, another figure quietly passed through the cemetery and headed toward the woods nearby.
It was Klein.
———
[Note]: Enjoy the Extra Chapter~
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