"Hmph! Just a bunch of lackeys from the Dark Night Capital."
The moment the Genie Sylas mentioned those things, his face darkened.
But the more Ethan listened, the more confused he became, "Grand Magus Sylas, do they have a name? Or can you describe what they look like?"
"They… have no fixed form. Or rather, they change shape however they please," Sylas fell into a look of recollection, "But they possess a special ability, the power of death. Wherever they pass, any living thing will have its life force drained away."
"And that kind of thing is called Spirit-Seizing Void. Void as in emptiness."
"Spirit-Seizing Void."
Ethan took a deep breath, "I encountered one once. I didn't even see it, but I felt my whole body freeze up. I couldn't move at all."
"You've encountered a Spirit-Seizing Void?", Sylas looked at Ethan in surprise, "And you're still alive? Then you're truly lucky."
"I had a Guardian Necklace on me. It saved me once."
As he spoke, Ethan took out the Guardian Necklace.
Sylas looked at it and said, "This necklace looks familiar. I think I gave it to a little pet that used to visit me often. How did it end up in your hands?"
"Uh…"
Ethan froze.
'Damn it! The Nightmare Rat King I killed was actually Sylas's pet. That is awkward.'
Seeing Ethan fall silent, Sylas guessed what happened and rolled his eyes, "Useless thing. Holding a Guardian Necklace and still getting yourself killed."
"Forget it. It was just a little mouse I kept out of boredom. Nothing precious."
"But you…"
Sylas stretched out a finger and injected a bit of white light into the Guardian Necklace before tossing it back to Ethan, "Normally, these Spirit-Seizing Voids move in groups. And this Guardian Necklace can only be used once per day."
"Even if you blocked one attack, you shouldn't have survived."
"Kid, what trump card did you use to escape from a Spirit-Seizing Void?"
"I'm quite curious."
Ethan caught the necklace and saw that its three charges had been restored.
[Guardian Necklace: Grants three chances to escape certain death. When you face a fatal crisis, it will save your life. (Can be activated at most once per day.) Remaining uses: 3]
Having a Grand Magus around felt amazing.
He had been heartbroken about this before.
Now it was all good.
He could risk his life again without worry.
"I was just lucky," There was nothing to hide, so Ethan told the truth, "At that moment, a carriage driver from the Traveler's Inn came to pick me up. It was the Lamp Spider that scared the Spirit-Seizing Voids away."
"I see! That little inn is still open? Interesting!"
Sylas stroked his goat beard in delight, a faint shy smile appearing on his face, "I haven't seen my old friend in a long time. I should go visit her when I get the chance. I wonder if she ever got married."
"Sigh! If only I had listened to her back then and not gone courting death."
"Maybe by now even our children would have children."
No one knew what Sylas was thinking of, but the smile on his face grew warmer.
"Grand Magus Sylas, it's not too late to go now," Ethan recalled the legend of the Traveler's Inn and grinned, "Who knows? The innkeeper might still be waiting for you!"
"Really?"
Sylas flirtatiously flicked his hair back, about to ask Ethan if he looked handsome.
But then he noticed his body, made entirely of mist, and immediately snapped, "When are you going to make your wish and restore my true body? I can't go see her looking like this!"
"Heh!"
Ethan had just begun enjoying the benefits of having a Grand Magus around. He wasn't about to let him go so easily, "There's no rush, right? It's already been over a hundred years. What difference does another year or two make?"
"Hmph! One year is 365 days. Once today passes, that's only 364 left," Sylas snorted, "I'm telling you, if you dare break your promise, I'll turn you into something like me and lock you up here."
"Of course, of course! We agreed on 365 days, so 365 it is. One extra day, one extra hour, one extra minute, one extra second would count as overtime."
The moment Sylas heard the word overtime, his face turned cold.
Ethan quickly added, "And my biggest principle is never working overtime."
"Hmph!"
Only then did Sylas snort again before swiftly flying up onto the dog-headed stone statue's head.
He extended a large misty hand into the statue's eye socket and dug hard, forcibly prying out the black gemstone embedded there.
Even watching from below made Ethan wince. Luckily, they were just stone statues.
But… as Sylas dug them out, the two Shadow Guards on the ground clutched their heads again, rolling around in pain.
If they could speak, Ethan could almost imagine, the shrill screams they would be making.
Soon, Sylas had dug out all four eyes from the two Shadow Guards.
He then took out a golden, gleaming sword from his storage gem and slashed at the spot where the Shadow Guards were connected to the dog-headed statues.
In the next instant… Ethan saw the two shadows actually detach from the stone statues and stand up.
Yes, they were truly standing in front of him.
If he had to describe the feeling, it was like those black silhouettes in Detective Conan. Like someone dressed entirely in black, from head to toe, with even their eyes and nose hidden, standing right in front of you.
But the strangest part was that even though they stood there, Ethan couldn't feel their presence at all.
He even reached out, trying to touch them.
But his hand passed straight through their black forms, as if they were just 3D projections.
["These two shadows actually left the ground?",] The Scarecrow hopped onto them as well and began examining them excitedly, ["This is way too fun! Hahaha!"]
"Shut up, you candied-hawthorn straw target. What right do you have to laugh at my servants?"
Sylas shot the Scarecrow a glare.
Maybe the pressure from Sylas was too strong. The usually sharp-tongued Scarecrow actually backed down for once.
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
[email protected]/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining P@treon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through P@treon.