Nightmare’s Call

It was different than the last time.

After getting the first taste of the Ritual of Sacrifice, he once again cast his attention onto Sir Kaarman.

If he could get something that great out of just a mere female follower, then what would he be able to get from the man himself?

Lin Sheng had great hopes for that.

He gently pushed the iron gate of the sanctum open and ran over towards the Kaarman manor and entered it.

He went past the fountain and straight to the front door.

The owl on the door slowly opened its wings and the door opened.

Lin Sheng took a deep breath, and pushed it open.

It was dark all over inside, more so than the last time he was here. Only a sliver of moonlight came through the window, casting light on a carpet.

Lin Sheng quickly noticed the fallen rack, and Annie’s body lying beside it.

And beside her body was the familiar black sword, his corrupted blade.

He went over to pick the blade up and carefully went up the second floor in full alert.

Annie had come charging from the second floor that other time.

And that crazy ax-wielding brute too may very well come down from there.

Before Lin Sheng could even get to the staircase with his sword in hand, an ominous wind suddenly blew.

He felt that breathing suddenly became difficult as the air around him seemed to have been sucked out. Without much thought, he quickly rolled away and stood up a distance away from where he had stood, and looked over.

Over at where he had stood earlier, there was the two-meter tall giant standing in the darkness.

He was wielding a massive double-headed ax. His head was encased in a metal helm, while a thick mail skin adorned his lower body, as his chest was bare.

The mail shone under the reflection of the moonlight.

*Crack!*

The monster pried the ax off the wall and turned towards Lin Sheng, and broke into a charge.

His heavy footfalls stomped holes into the carpet.

The monster charged over like a tank towards Lin Sheng and swung a brutal sweep with his axe held two-handed towards Lin Sheng’s chest.

*Bam!*

Lin Sheng bent down and allowed the blade to cut harmlessly into the wall above his head.

“You managed to ambush me last time, let’s see who’s dead meat this time!”

Lin Sheng had his sword in both hands and gave a powerful thrust toward the monster’s chest.

Unexpectedly, his skin was extremely tough, and the sword tip only managed to bite in a little before getting stuck.

The monster by then had pulled his ax out again and swung in a downward arc at Lin Sheng.

“Sacred Blood!”

Lin Sheng felt his muscles swelled slightly as purple veins appear all over his chest and temple. A surge of explosive energy came bursting out from his heart.

*Clang!*

The black sword rose up and smashed against the ax head. As the two weapons collided, the area imploded.

Both Lin Sheng and the monster was pushed back by the impact.

Lin Sheng felt his back against the wall, his arms shuddering from the shock.

But he was not concerned. He quickly got into a stance, and a dash later, charged at the monster like an arrow.

Since it was a test of the limits of his power, and also the moment he started changing.

He was tired of playing hide and seek, like a sewer rat.

With the explosive strength, the black sword swung out heavy and powerful strikes.

With Lin Sheng’s unleashing of the Blackfeather techniques, the explosive power unleashed was even more terrifying than when he had faced the corrupted swordsman.

It was nothing but a flurry of violent attacks and techniques, and that staggered the monster.

Without proper balance, he could not swing his ax and was being pushed back by Lin Sheng.

*Clang clang clang!*

Under the flurry of strikes, wounds started appearing all over the monster’s naked chest.

“Rwarrrr!!”

A roar boomed out as he tried to counterattack, but just as he was about to move, the black sword bit diagonally into his face.

The powerful blade cut through steel like butter and slashed through his eyes, nose, and mouth.

The monster immediately froze in place as a gaping wound appeared on his face.

A thud later, the ax fell into the ground as his body dropped onto his knees before collapsing onto the ground, motionless.

Lin Sheng was steaming hot as he got before the dead monster and stab into his chest.

Black blood gushed out of the heart wound.

He shuddered for a bit as black smoke appeared and formed into a black line towards Lin Sheng and entered his chest.

Lin Sheng quickly retreated.

A few steps later, he rushed out of the hall into the yard.

Only after resting against the wall until the influx of memories into his brain and the resulting headache had lessened did he got up and went in again.

“You got me once, you won’t get me again.”

Lin Sheng took a deep breath and brought his black blade before the monster. He knelt down as he searched the body for any spoils

From the memory fragments, the man was called Bard, he was an adopted child of Kaarman since young.

Compared to Annie however, while Bard had gotten knowledge of rituals, it was not the sacrificial ritual to obtain special powers.

Rather, it was a proper ritual called the Beckoning.

In the memory, the strength of Bard was not his own, but rather the animal companions he had bonded through the ritual.

“The Beckoning? A type of ritual that could bond and control animals?” Lin Sheng was intrigued.

Any and every ritual now piqued his interest.

The earlier Ritual of Sacrifice could only be performed once, but the Beckoning ritual was different, and as long as he have sufficient materials, and his spirit could withstand it, he could repeat the ritual.

However, to Lin Sheng’s slight dismay, he did not get the details of the ritual in Bard’s memories.

Perhaps he had simply not gotten the memory fragments containing the ritual; instead he had gotten more of the nitty-bitty details of his love and his life.

Seems like this Bard person was the type that place massive importance on love.

Lin Sheng quickly went upstairs while his Sacred Blood was still active.

In the memory, Bard’s room was on the second floor, and he wanted to see if he could find any information regarding the Beckoning ritual in the other rooms upstairs.

Being able to bond with animals and to control them, such a ritual was certainly much safer and hidden compared with the ritual of sacrifice.

The key point was, that ritual allowed Lin Sheng’s earlier idea to work even better.

As the Sacred Blood effect continued, Lin Sheng felt his body was reaching its physical limit.

He rushed up the staircase and stood at the stairway.