Chapter 2157: Ghostly Afterimage
Emilia’s trembling voice carried immense fear and unease, even a hint of timidity. Luviya and Dorothy exchanged glances, then Dorothy patted the back of the cat on her left side, indicating Shard to call at the door:
"Emilia, it’s us."
"Shard? It’s great that you’re here... How can you prove it’s you?"
Shard could almost imagine the Elf Girl trembling behind the door, asking cautiously. He used his paw to push away Mia’s approaching head:
"A very prudent question; indeed, it’s too late to just open the door recklessly. I brought Mia this time, should I let her meow to let you know?"
He said as he extended his paw to pat the orange cat that Dorothy was holding with her other hand, and the latter immediately meowed happily:
"Meow~"
The soft sound was quite soothing, bringing smiles to both Luviya and Dorothy’s faces. The sound also seemed to help the Elf Girl behind the door cast off her fear, and they heard the sound of trembling hands fiddling with the security chain.
As the door opened, Emilia made a move as if to leap into Shard’s arms but, upon seeing the two ladies outside the door, she immediately awkwardly retracted her hands. She pulled the door to conceal her embarrassment, intending to ask where Shard was, only to then notice the two cats Dorothy was carrying.
She obviously recognized Mia, who got along well with her Unicorn, and the silver cat...
"Shard?"
She tentatively asked, and upon noticing the ladies outside the door wearing smiles, she knew her guess was correct.
"Oh, my God, what happened here?"
Despite saying this, she seemed eager to touch the silver cat in its current form.
After entering, Luviya and Dorothy did not immediately explain Shard’s current situation, but instead asked Emilia what was wrong tonight.
The Elf Girl had seen Luviya in Randall Valley, and Dorothy was the one who picked them up upon their arrival in Tobesk, so they weren’t strangers to Emilia. The presence of so many people around her gave her enormous courage, so while watching Shard lying on Dorothy’s lap, the Elf Girl, holding her teacup, said:
"Everything was normal before tonight; Rio Enhill and Matilda Delas joined me in the east of the city to meet witnesses for the relic we were investigating, and then we had dinner there before returning to the hotel. The incident started at seven p.m. when I entered the room—I wanted to write letters to my family and friends, and as I sat by the desk, from the corner of my eye, I saw a shadow standing beside me."
Saying this, she paranoia-inducing glanced around. Thus, the two women and two cats also looked around the room; everything seemed normal.
"It’s alright, we are all here with you."
Luviya comforted, sitting beside Emilia, while Dorothy, with two cats on her lap, sat opposite them. The Elf Girl carefully nodded and continued:
"I was first startled but upon closer inspection, saw nothing. Initially, I thought it was exhaustion from the past few days, so after I finished writing the letters, I intended to rest. Then, as I freshened up in the washroom, after washing my face and looking up, I saw a ghostly image behind me in the mirror..."
She pursed her lips while saying this, as it wasn’t the worry itself—most people have entertained similar terrifying thoughts as children if there was a mirror in the home’s washroom. And when such a thing truly happens in reality, even the bravest person would panic.
"Leaving the washroom, I again saw the ghostly image at the door from the corner of my eye, and sitting by the window, I again saw from the corner of my eye a ghostly image at my feet..."
With a shudder, she hugged her teacup tightly, suddenly glancing quickly to her right. So did Shard Cat but still couldn’t see anything.
"I dare not leave; I feel that leaving the room would make things worse. I intended to first survive this night and visit Shard to solve the problem when morning comes. Earlier, as I cowered by the door, thinking if there were truly monsters, even if it might be more dangerous outside, I’d have to dash out—good thing you came."
Luviya clasped the Elf’s hand, giving her comfort, while Dorothy, holding the two cats, stood up and circled the room. The silver and orange-white cats looked around as well, but still found nothing abnormal.
Thus, Dorothy asked Emilia:
"Did you turn off the gas lamp tonight?"
"No."
The Elf Girl quickly shook her head, causing Dorothy to sigh in relief:
"Thankfully, the light is still on. Shard, can you sense the Whisper Elements?"
The cat in his arms nodded:
"Yes, they are concentrated near Emilia, but aren’t very strong, or rather, very weak, and we haven’t found the source yet."
"I think I know what it is, the Scribe Level Relic [Ghostly Afterimage]. Emilia, staying indoors was the right decision."
Shard had heard of the Scribe Level Relic [Ghostly Afterimage] when he took Emilia to Old John for help; the old man spoke about the Angel-Level Relic [Body in the Wall], Sage-Level Relic [Friendly Neighbor], Keeper of Secrets Level Relic [Chain of Malicious Curse Letters], Scribe Level Relic [Ghostly Afterimage], and Poet-Level Relic [Midnight Footsteps], referring to them as the Five Great Urban Legends Relics.
Though he had heard about them, he didn’t know their traits. Dorothy, who was focused on literary creation, was quite familiar with such relics involving folklore and legends:
"These are event-based relics, manifesting as pitch-black ghostly figures at the edge of your vision. These figures won’t cause you actual harm, aside from startling you. However, during their appearances at night, you must not leave the building you’re in, as that could cause the non-reality-interfering ghostly figure to change. So it’s good that Emilia stayed in her room."
"Although it’s merely Scribe Level (Level 4), there should be more traits, right?"
Luviya inquired further, and Miss Writer nodded:
"The appearance of the ghostly figure accelerates the loss of spiritual power. For ordinary people, it would lead to mental exhaustion and death within half a week, although the impact on Circle Sorcerers is limited. The real danger lies in not being in complete darkness, meaning never allowing your vision to stay in darkness while awake. This would let the ghostly figure at the edge of vision gradually approach the victim until it snatches your life in the darkness. This curse-like phenomenon is infectious, and the host’s death significantly enhances this infectiousness. Its danger rating isn’t the lowest Poet-Level mainly due to its infectiousness."
"How do we dispel it?"
The cat asked.
"It’s simple, the ghostly figure in the peripheral view won’t attack, but it can’t be captured either. We need to extinguish all nearby lights and destroy it when the ghostly figure attempts to attack Emilia."
The answer Dorothy provided wasn’t very surprising, and even though Shard is a cat now, she and Luviya should be sufficient to deal with this relic.
But Emilia hesitated, so Dorothy generously handed over the two cats:
"You hold Shard and Mia; if there’s any danger, Shard will protect you."
With that, the Elf Girl no longer hesitated and reached out to hold the ginger cat and the silver cat, even appearing somewhat happy. As for Mia’s usual dislike for other people, since Emilia was a familiar face and Shard Cat was by her side, Mia begrudgingly only struggled symbolically.
To facilitate movement, the room’s furniture had temporarily been moved to the sides. The Elf Girl, holding the cats, stood alone in the center of the room, Luviya stood by the window, and Dorothy stood by the gas light switch near the door:
"Emilia, you don’t have to make any moves. Luviya, get ready, three, two, one."
Click~click~click~
The gas light knob rotated three notches back to the starting point, and the light dimmed until it completely extinguished, plunging the room into darkness. Elves should have excellent Dark Vision as a racial talent, but Emilia found herself unable to see anything in this eerie darkness.
As her eyes gradually adapted to the unsettling darkness, she quickly sensed a black ghostly figure with hollow pits for facial features and a slender build nearly face-to-face with her. Instinctively wanting to step back, she remembered the instructions, held her breath in restraint, not daring to move, and then sensed both cats in her arms simultaneously leap onto her shoulders, one on her left side and the other on her right side.
"Meow~"
"Silvermoon."
Mia opened her mouth and released a pitiful spark, while Shard Cat’s mouth emitted genuine silver moonlight, though not as powerful as the Dragon Form, its essence was identical. In the dual glimmers, the ghostly figure that was suddenly assaulting Emilia appeared to retreat immediately, followed by Luviya placing her hand on the ghostly figure’s shoulder.
The ghostly figure silently vanished under Luviya’s hand, but immediately Dorothy stepped forward with her eyes closed, appearing directly behind the ghostly figure.
Her hand pierced through the ghostly figure’s abdomen; the curse conglomerate should have immediately infected her hand, but in reality, fresh red cracks appeared on the ghostly figure’s surface. From these cracks, red butterflies emerged one after another, with the black silhouette gradually becoming transparent until it completely disappeared.
"It’s done."
Dorothy said, as Luviya re-lit the gas light by the wall. The bright light caused Emilia to squint, as she looked around cautiously, feeling a bit amused with the two cats perched on her shoulders. Then she caught a glimpse of black from the corner of her eye that startled her again. Turning her head to look, she realized it was her coat hanging on the door’s coat rack. Only then did she let out a sigh of relief, and the silver cat on her right shoulder was hugged tightly:
"Goodness, that’s the second dangerous relic I’ve encountered this week."