The Whispering Verses
Chapter 84: Under the Silver Moon

After a brief moment of disorientation, it felt like waking from a profound dream.

Shad sat upright in the banquet hall's master seat. Rising amidst the dimly restored hall, the acrid scent of blood from the sacrificial killings lingered, unalleviated by the Evil God’s departure. The blood mist had vanished, along with the form behind him. That fleeting gentleness seemed like nothing more than a deathbed illusion.

“Did you really appear?” he asked in a daze.

【The Gate of the Extraordinary has been pushed open by you, revealing the Path of Ascension. Foreigner, you have discovered a unique path and acquired a drop of divinity.】

On the brass-colored Fate Wheel behind him, faint golden flashes intertwined almost imperceptibly.

“What’s the use?”

Shad gazed at the silent banquet hall. Moonlight poured through the windows, illuminating his feet and the mangled remains of sacrificial offerings on the floor.

【Information is obtained from divinity. Each time you ascend, a drop of divinity will cleanse the core runes corresponding to the Ascension Words. Upon reaching the Thirteenth Ring, if you purify the twelve core runes tied to three Ascension Words and recite them, you shall ascend as a deity.】

Though unimaginable, Shad was surprisingly calm:

【No, you are unique. No mortal soul, save yours, can endure the power of divinity.】

“You manifested earlier?”

【The power of divinity granted me brief corporeality. That ring created a fleeting opportunity, allowing you to absorb the Evil God’s power. However, this act draws its gaze, a danger you must heed.】

“Will you remain by my side?”

【Of course.】

Shad walked through the silent hall to the rear and stepped onto the third-floor terrace. The night breeze dispersed the blood mist, but the estate’s courtyard was in chaos. He sensed within himself an unprecedented strength.

“What else can divinity do?”

【By burning divine power within the Fate Wheel, you can temporarily manifest as a god, entering a state of "Divine Combustion." You are not a god, but you can rival any deity.】

Shad remained silent, his gaze fixed on the courtyard. The blood mist had cleared, and bodies lay strewn across the ground. At the courtyard’s center, the original long table had been obliterated. Two squads of Church Ring Warlocks engaged a silver-eyed middle-aged man, who shielded the injured "Madame Lasso."

Shad murmured on the terrace:

“The Silver-Eyed wielder of 【Blood of Mercury】 is here to extract her. But for mortals, using divinity seems unnecessary.”

【For ten minutes after acquiring divinity, due to its slight overflow, you possess near-immortality and almost unlimited spiritual power. However, utilizing this overflow will leave you in prolonged unconsciousness—this is the "Divine Overflow" state.】

【While holding divinity, its power is sealed within the Fate Wheel. The luminous radiance that escapes keeps you in a state of "Divine Residue." During this time, any miracle, spell, or ritual you perform will be amplified.】

“So, this is what the Old God meant by the Radiance of the Gods... So, the rest of my life will be spent traversing past and present timelines to collect twelve drops of divinity? For you? For me?”

【There are no tasks—everything is your choice. Foreigner, you exist beyond fate.】

The Silver-Eyed man's brass-colored nine-sided Fate Wheel gleamed behind him. Despite the twenty-strong squad of Ring Warlocks surrounding him, none could approach.

Mercurial brilliance unfolded behind the Silver-Eyed man. At the peak of his miraculous arts, a towering mercury giant manifested, lifting him and his Fate Wheel from the earth.

As the oppressive power made proximity impossible, a young woman with chestnut hair and violet eyes, Iluna Beas, stood courageously in defense of her injured comrades. Shad noticed her, and she suddenly looked up, meeting the masked stranger on the third-floor terrace.

“Who is she?”

【You should ask your friend Miss Anat, not me. But clearly, even in a world with a so-called protagonist, it will not be you. Foreigner, those who exist beyond fate may choose freely, but they are not the story's hero.】

“With the path to divinity laid before me, I have no interest in becoming a troublesome Chosen One. But you, are you the Old God with the Silver Moon’s divine authority? The Witch Emperor of the Fifth Epoch? Did you choose me to assist you after I ascend as a god? This is my last question.”

【No, I am you.】

Shad nodded, accepting this truth.

Standing on the terrace, he took out a frog’s leg, crushing it lightly between his fingers as he chanted an esoteric spell, 【Frog’s Leap】.

With a graceful bound, he leaped from the third-floor terrace onto the mansion's rooftop, standing beside a stone statue under the brilliant starry sky.

The courtyard below noticed him, a lone figure bathed in the light of three moons, with the Silver Moon’s radiance uniquely draped upon him.

Shad’s murmured words carried across the night. The power of Divine Overflow and the recent memory of the Silver Moon’s dream drove him to unleash the 【Moonlit Illusion】 rune.

The Silver Moon in the sky seemed to detach from the other two moons. Growing larger, it loomed behind him until its light poured through his right eye. Against its glow, Shad’s form became a dark silhouette.

Recalling the Silver Moon’s light trace, Shad leaped into the air, his body framed by the moon’s radiance. With arms outstretched, his inverted silhouette aligned with the glowing disk, his descent tracing luminous arcs.

The arcs cleaved the starry night, descending like brilliant streams of silver moonlight upon the manor courtyard.

“What is this…”

The brilliance momentarily dazzled the onlookers, silver light casting its glow upon every face. The Church’s warlocks retreated, dragging unconscious guests away. The mercury giant turned, raising its massive arms, but it was instantly evaporated by the descending moonlight.

The Silver-Eyed man, bloodied from a spell backlash, abandoned “Madame Lasso” in a desperate dodge. She, too, vanished in the radiant impact, leaving a white pebble ring on the scorched earth below.

The silver moonlight etched an indelible mark into the courtyard ground, its shockwave shaking the southern outskirts of Tobesk.

Shad fell unconscious as he landed back on the third-floor terrace.

Miss Anat pulled him into the shadows, away from the Church's view, then dragged him back into the banquet hall littered with sacrificial remains.

Father August, now awake, tended to the still-unconscious Dr. Schneider and Miss Louisa. Pale-faced but miraculously healed, he observed the sleeping Shad and murmured, “Did he truly trust us to rescue him in time?”

The violet-eyed woman softly replied, gazing at Shad’s face, “Hamilton is a trusting young man. Too young, just awakening from blind foolishness. He lacks experience, which I will teach him in time. But he’s a good man.”

Father August shook his head, his pallor visibly improving, though he hesitated. “That Silver Moon slash…”

“We all have secrets, don’t we, Father August? For instance, you always recover, no matter the injury,” Miss Anat said, her glowing eyes fixed on the sleeping detective.

“And my prophecies consistently show our group will never have a fifth member. He exists outside fate.”

“Go now. Take the three of them; I’ll hold off the Church’s squads,” Father August urged, exhaustion in his voice. “Today, we’re lucky you disrupted the ritual node, preventing the Evil God’s descent. Once again, you saved the world, Anat.”

“Yes, I disrupted the node, but…” Miss Anat’s gaze lingered on Shad. She remembered how the shadow of the Evil God partially manifested for three seconds—a mere blink to a god, yet an eternity.

“It was his luck. Those three seconds allowed me to destroy the ritual completely.”

As Father August straightened his robes, preparing to leave, he looked around the wrecked hall and muttered, “I have a feeling this is far from over.”

Moonlight illuminated his massive shadow on the wall, the faint outline of wings flickering behind him.

Miss Anat’s violet eyes glowed faintly as she gazed at Shad, murmuring as if to herself:

“Father, this is only the beginning. The epic of the Sixth Epoch has begun.”