Silence arrived in a moment. After that it was broken with the old man saying casually "A Clourfuss has a special condition where a shadow creature has possessed him but can be purified without having to kill the host"
"This way allows a Clourfuss to no longer have the chance to be possessed by a different shadow creature"
"The history between the Clourfuss family and Clan Boreas goes back a long way. It is a relationship of partners and kinship."
"To solve the problem of shadow creatures in An Clourfuss, the blood of a descendant of Clan Boreas is the key"
Then the room became quiet again in a moment. the flame from the candle in Ilya's left hand swayed so that it made the shadows in the room look tense.
"Put your sealing medium in the center of the altar." The old man gave instructions.
It was pointed right there at Zach, with a bit of confusion, Zach lifted a wooden casket with a metal handle to the center of the altar.
On the old man's orders, Zach opened the crate and left it in the same state as the old man returned to explain.
"This is a warning to you, descendant of Clourfuss." His voice seemed to echo in the room and circulated making a cool and piercing wind fly.
"You are given the opportunity and must possess the ability to sustain your destiny as protector of Stonefield!"
"By giving our daughter to you as a support in your actions as a protector!"
Zach quickly tensed up, that was because the old man's words sounded so serious.
And at this time the atmosphere became silent for a moment when the old man took out a small knife and gave it to Ilya.
Ilya took it with his right hand and lowered the candle in his left hand to the side of the altar. The flame of a burning orange candle slowly changes color to bluish white.
Ilya sliced the surface of his index finger and fresh red blood slowly gathered and dripped down.
She put her hand forward and pointed it at Zach. Zach who saw that couldn't help but turn to the old man at the edge of the altar.
"Drink, it's part of the ritual" The old man said it as an instruction to Zach.
Ilya advanced his finger slowly, Zach then got a little understanding about his next action. "It's so messed up, there's no proper training or instructions, everything is just vague, am I being asked to interpret everything?" Zach couldn't help but have this in his mind.
Zach slowly leaned forward and put Ilya's finger in his mouth. The strange taste of blood flowing and being swallowed by Zach made his head with a big bang buzzing like a bell kept ringing in his ears. it made Zach periodically hold his head. His vision gradually took on a purple hue that gradually turned red.
Currently, Zach was holding his head above the altar in an inverted triangle, his eyes dripping with blood that was flowing and dripping down the back of his hand.
Then he remembered what the undead man, Vanders, had said. "I need to be conscious! Otherwise the shadow creature inside my body which is already much stronger will devour me instantly!" Zach got thoughts popping into his head.
The cold wind circulating in the room slowly gathered in one place, it was an open wooden case.
The masked old man scattered brown powder into the air and made it slowly circulate along with the cool breeze and gather in the center of the wooden case.
The bluish-white flame of the candle grew bigger and higher. Directly behind Zach, the shadow that appeared on the wall of the room seemed to swell before finally exploding and revealing a hideous face in the form of a black shadow on the wall.
At this moment Zach almost lost himself, due to the pain that spread throughout his body, the mysterious screams that echoed in his head, And the blood that came out of his eyes, nose and ears.
And Zach seemed to stop with the appearance of a symbol of two unequal lines projecting from the black smoke behind his head. Zach's reaction seemed to be very slow, but his mind was working normally. It made his brain unable to control the pain in time.
The masked old man stood up and looked at Ilya expectantly. "..." Without saying anything, the masked old man lowered his head slightly before walking towards the door.
The masked old man opened the door slowly and seemed to make a warm breeze come through the door and aggravate Zach's pain.
And when the door was closed, Zach's body reaction returned to normal. His thoughts were still scattered and the pain was still as before.
"Mr Clourfuss, don't let you lose to yourself, the main enemy of someone who has Guardian blood is himself" Ilya said softly.
It made Zach try hard to stay conscious, it lasted for several minutes until at one point, the pain in his head turned into a cold feeling that pierced his whole body.
This shift made Zach unable to maintain his consciousness. Black smoke circulated around him and slowly swirled around his neck before gradually covering his body.
Ilya, who also almost lost himself because of the tension and fear of seeing the shadow that slowly covered Zach's body, slowly strengthened his resolve and overcame that fear.
"Mr Clourfuss..." That was the last sound Zach heard before losing consciousness. Even so, that didn't mean Zach couldn't feel a chill that chilled him to the bone.
Zach seemed to be floating in the air as the cold feeling continued to spread, he couldn't snuggle up or cover up the abnormal coldness.
It lasted not even one minute.
Until Zach felt the warmth that broke his suffering into comfort and peace.
His eyes felt heavy but also calm. As if there is no more worry. All the bad things just seemed to disappear.
Zach peeked with his eyes almost closed and realized he was in a warm embrace. But the drops of blood that dripped down his back and he knew it wasn't coming from him.
"Did the shadow creatures finally take over my consciousness? Did I make a mess? Did I injure her? Is this the end?" Zach had thought about this but seemed to be cleansed by warmth until his mind was peaceful to the highest point.
He felt that he was in the barren grass with a cool breeze, the air and silence made Zach's mind carefree.
...
At the same time in the city of Vandash.
The street with orange lights looks very crowded. At a different point, an alley squeezed by tall buildings, a man with a face full of wrinkles and a conspicuous mustache and beard was walking occasionally checking piles of trash.
He is one of the homeless people in the Varios Street area of Vandash city.
He fiddled with a pile of trash covered in bugs.
The place was quiet, although the sound from the main road could still be heard faintly. He dug until he realized something was wrong.
With his instincts as a survivor without a home and as a bum, He reflexively turned his head to the side. It is another passage. Amidst the darkness, the man faintly saw a pair of glowing red eyes.
"What's that? A cat?" The man tried to get a closer look before the figure in the shadows fully appeared.
It's huge body with billowing black smoke, the bloodshot eyes on it's head showed intimidation and a great sense of danger. The man wanted to scream for help but his voice wouldn't come out.
He glanced down and found that his vocal cords were cut!
Blood was pouring out profusely until the black figure drew nearer and nearer.