Nightmare's Call

Chapter 318: Homecoming: Part 1

Leaves and branches ruffled in the wind. There were also the chirps of insects and hoots of the owls in the distance.

In the dark woods, a man was wielding a dagger that glowed in a faint green light. It was apparent that dark energy had enhanced the dagger.

“Wandering alone in the woods at such a late hour. Kid, you have guts.” The man laughed as he came closer. No matter what level of strength Lin Sheng had, he still could not shed his student looks. If he was a student, he was definitely no match for them. What he had to do was to stop Lin Sheng from screaming. Killing a person was that simple. He could take a life with the slit of the dagger.

“Take this! Phantom Blade!” The man approached and shouted.

Amid a whizzing sound, a silvery-white blade burning with green flames whizzed through the air. It left behind a trail of afterimage as the man whisked the dagger straight at Lin Sheng’s throat.

As the dagger approached, it got faster and faster. The green flame and silvery-white reflection from the blade illuminated Lin Sheng’s whitish face.

Many occult spells were available for use at One-wing and Two-wing levels. Different occult spells had different amplification effects. A good occult spell could exert dark energy to enhance the human body. It amplified the speed, strength, recovery, spirit, and even soul of the caster. Dark energy had more functions than people could imagine.

Occult spells were like dark energy, there were refined divisions. But in general, there were only three categories: gold, silver, and bronze. And Shadow Dagger was a bronze-class occult spell.

While it was probably just the lowest level of an occult spell, as long as it was one, it could be deadly. No matter how lousy an occult spell was, it could produce a powerful amplification effect, doubling the strength of normal dark energy.

If such a lethal force was used on an ordinary student, it would be foolproof. Even if he were to encounter elite students, he could effortlessly crush their mettle. After all, most of the students had not mastered the basic characteristics of dark energy, let alone the use of occult spells.

This man was right, but...

A piece of green crystal appeared out of nowhere, stopping Shadow Dagger in its pace, right in front of Lin Sheng. The green crystal, shimmering with a green light, was only the size of a fingernail. Yet it could block the half-a-meter dagger head-on.

Dark energy from the tip of the dagger hissed. As if it had all its strength focused on one point, it tried to break through the barrier to pierce into Lin Sheng’s throat. But no matter how hard it tried, the crystal would not budge. It was as if a wall of unimaginable thickness, the dagger had no hope of breaking through.

“You’re too puny!” Lin Sheng looked up, his eyes slit open, turning into pale-golden vertical pupils. “It happens that I’m short of a few oblations. Let me take you.” He stepped forward, his body fading into a blurry shadow as his hand fluttered toward the man.

Blood splattered. But by not much. As if struck by lightning, the body of the person wielding the dagger cocked like a prawn as blood spurted out of his mouth. The others did not react in time and received a heavy blow to their chests.

Everything happened so quickly. These people shivered, dark energy lighting up around them. But their defense mechanism had come too late. An attack that was quicker than their instinct had struck them within half a second.

Lin Sheng’s reemerged on the pasture in the forest, his body normalizing.

One man stood wobbly in front of him. This was the one who wielded a dagger to kill him just a while ago. The man spat out a mouthful of blood, curled up on the ground, and became motionless. The dark energy on his body flashed and surged incessantly, but there was nothing that could revive him.

Soon, another one kneeled on the ground. It was the fat woman who stopped the blond man from leaving. Her nose, ears, and mouth were bleeding, her eyes bloodshot as if they would explode.

Following immediately was the third person, the fourth, and the fifth.

Lin Sheng walked up. “No matter how much dark energy you have and what kind of Darksiders you are, it’s useless.”

He raised his finger and tapped. Five threads of dark energy shot out from his fingers, penetrating the shoulder blades of the five persons with precision and tying them in a bundle.

An excruciating pain struck, but they lacked the strength to even utter a sound. The attack that struck them was even quicker than the reaction of the nerves of their bodies. Before they could feel pain, they were already injured.

“I may only be a Two-winger, but I’m several times quicker than you all.” Lin Sheng walked up to the man from the Fury Gold Academy during the day.

“Are you afraid?” Lin Sheng lowered his head, looking into the panicked eyes. The man spurted another mouthful of blood, dropping to the ground on his side, unable to utter a sound. All he managed was his violent panting.

“Oh, I forgot. You can speak no sh*t.” Lin Sheng laughed and looked at the throat of the man, which had been severed.

“My dark energy may only be at a Two-wing level, but...” He bent down and stared into the man’s eyes. “My Two Wings are equivalent to your Four Wings, or even Five Wings.”

The man writhed like a dying worm. He opened his mouth, but all he could make was a hollow gust of air. He wanted to speak, but his thinking had become blurry.

“Oh, I’m just kidding.” Lin Sheng got to his feet. “People like to talk nonsense before killing their enemy. But I’m different. I prefer to kill first and talk nonsense later. Talking nonsense can indeed putting the mood in order. It soothes the heart and relieves depression, making your body and mind at ease.”

While he spoke, a pale green dark-energy crystal warrior emerged behind him. The warrior moved to grab a live body, tipping it upside down and letting blood to drip from the wound in the throat. He was using the man’s blood as ink to draw a ritual circle on the ground.

“The number of dark-energy beads was a little small. This time I will add a little more bait and hope to catch a big one.” Lin Sheng directed the crystal warrior to draw the ritual circle. With five living bodies of the Darksiders, he hoped that these oblations would attract some powerful dark-energy being.

Soon, the ritual circle was ready. A vault guard took the ingredients out from the backpack and blended them together. He then sprinkled the mixture in the correct positions.

Lin Sheng stood still, waiting until everything was ready.

“Place the bodies in there.”

Lin Sheng let out a smile of satisfaction after the crystal warrior placed the living bodies in the correct sacrificial position. When everything was in order, he bowed his head to chant the initiator.

In just a beat, he heard a voice, as if someone was whispering in his ear. A hazy murmur spread in Lin Sheng’s mind. An evil and greedy voice bypassed his normal senses and got into his brain.

Circles of strange airflow were spreading out from the ritual circle, blowing at and bending the surrounding grass.