"Are you sure that won't be a mistake?" the woman hummed. "What if I'm not lying?"
'If she isn't lying, then even if I give her the ring back, she would kill me.'
After all, he was plenty aware of how human nature worked.
So without even humoring her, he fired his crossbow through her sleeve, pinning her against the wall.
After reloading, he swiftly ran up the stairs, reaching the ruined church in less than a minute. To his dismay, he felt that there was much more miasma than usual, which meant that there might actually be someone up there.
But if he were to stop here, the woman would catch up. Not seeing any other way out of it, Julian stepped out of the staircase and looked around.
It was empty, but the sky had turned dark already. He was sure he wasn't in there for that long, so why...?
As he left the church, he saw the corpses of hundreds of evil spirits scattered around, dismantled and crushed.
It was a horrific sight, but it would explain the strong stench of miasma.
'It's probably that woman's doing. Yeah... I should probably get as far away from here as I can,' Julian decided, and started moving toward the forest.
Minutes passed, but no matter how much closer he was getting, he couldn't see the outline of a forest. He was starting to grow confused, but that was when Julian stopped abruptly, nearly falling to his death.
His eyes widened.
He had forgotten, but when night falls, the Land of Churches rises. At the moment, he was at least several thousand meters in the sky.
As he peered over the edge, he gulped. He wasn't really afraid of heights, but not being able to see the ground wasn't exactly pleasant.
'But doesn't that mean I have no way of getting down until it's daytime again? Shit... Nights are at least 18 hours long here. If it's only me and that woman here, she's going to find me in no time.'
Sighing in defeat, Julian glanced at the ring in his hand, then swiftly put it on his right hand. An interface appeared shortly after.
Soul Artifact: Crimson Halo
Soul Artifact Rank: Awakened
Soul Artifact Type: Utility
Soul Artifact Description: A golden ring set with a crimson gem that amplifies spiritual output and awareness. It heightens perception of spirits and hidden energies while allowing the user to store a small portion of nearby Spiritual Essence within the ring for later use. Allows short-distance Spiritual Essence projection for reconnaissance.
"Oho..." Julian smiled. 'This is pretty good for an Awakened Ranked Soul Artifact.'
He would become more sensitive to evil spirits, and he could even store Spiritual Essence from the surroundings, then use it whenever he pleased. Of course, without going through the awakening, he wasn't even sure how to use it properly.
Even so, satisfied, Julian placed his other hand over the ring, and soon after, another pop-up appeared.
[Do you wish to assimilate the Soul Artifact: Crimson Halo with your soul?]
[Yes / No]
Without hesitation, he pressed "Yes."
A cool sensation spread throughout his body, relaxing his muscles. This happened every time someone assimilated an artifact with their soul. In just a few minutes, that relaxing sensation passed.
[Congratulations, you have bound the Soul Artifact: Crimson Halo to your soul.]
[You may now utilize it freely.]
He felt a connection to the ring, and he could also tell that it had close to no Spiritual Essence at the moment, although it was slowly refilling itself.
Not only that, Julian's eyesight improved significantly, and without having to pay close attention, he spotted an evil spirit in one of the churches a couple hundred meters away.
Letting out a chuckle of disbelief, Julian ran over to that church and confronted the evil spirit.
It was a tall, lanky creature with white skin. It had no ears or eyes, and if he didn't know anything about this evil spirit prior, then he would've been scared shitless.
'According to the books, this should be a White Tree Spirit. They aren't very durable, but they let out a very loud screech if you don't kill them in one shot.'
Basically, it was a pocket siren that most evil spirits dragged around in groups. Whenever they wanted to inform the other evil spirits, they would kill the White Tree Spirit to alert them.
Despite that, Julian wasn't afraid. He approached the lanky evil spirit and stood right below it. Its thin head was bobbing from side to side until finally, it halted.
The moment it did, Julian fired his crossbow straight through its forehead, effortlessly killing it in an instant.
[You have slain a dormant evil spirit, White Tree Spirit.]
It fell lifelessly to the ground, but instead of letting its corpse go to waste, Julian propped it up at the entrance of the church, nailing it to the wall with his crossbow bolt.
After that, he went inside the ruined church and found some cover. He wasn't tired, but constantly moving around while the night was still young was suicide. He sat down, checking his ammo.
'Hmm... I have 17 bolts combined. I wasted nearly 43 bolts in just a couple of days... yikes.'
But if that woman were to attack, 17 was more than enough. Hopefully.
The next few hours passed in silence. Honestly, he was beginning to think that it might be just a little too silent.
And as if jinxing himself for the umpteenth time, the ground shook. Soon, a pillar of light burst into the sky, only a few kilometers away from him.
As if fate was playing a cruel joke on him, the tremors didn't stop. Evil spirits that were hidden began to emerge from all corners of the Land of Churches, each running toward that light. Since he was behind cover, none of them spotted him.
However, his senses were going haywire. There were so many dormant evil spirits here. Not only that, near that bright light, he felt the presence of something stronger than a dormant evil spirit.
Likely an Awakened Ranked evil spirit. Possibly higher...
But while he was lost in his thoughts, he suddenly heard something rustling beside him.
Julian's eyes widened in surprise as he shot to his feet and aimed his crossbow at the noise.
Yet when he spotted the being who had arrived, he couldn't help but furrow his brows.
"What are you doing here?"