Liana's words were like cold needles, piercing through the fragile illusion of calm that Ash Town barely maintained. The atmosphere inside the clinic was heavy; Hank's sullen expression and Meryn's small hands clutching her coat both signaled that Raine could no longer hide within this scorched land.
"…Absolute silence and secrecy." Liana's final words fell, her gaze burning as it fixed on Raine. "You don't have much time. With every passing moment of the Red Moon's fullness, your resonance with the 'Source' grows stronger. The next energy surge you trigger could draw something capable of leveling this entire place in an instant."
Raine stood in silence, the exhaustion still spreading through his limbs and body, but the searing heat of his crystalline right arm had faded, leaving only a hollow chill. His right gear-eye locked onto a certain determination deep within Liana's amber gaze—not pure goodwill, but something akin to the fanatic responsibility of a researcher facing a rare specimen.
"What do you need me to do?" His voice was dry.
"First, go to my caravan. It has the necessary isolation arrays and tools." Liana turned, signaling Raine to follow, then addressed Hank and Meryn: "Please, guard the entrance. Don't let anyone get close. Especially… those in town who've been acting particularly 'normal' lately." She spoke with a hidden meaning.
Hank muttered something in response, a reluctant agreement, a trace of worry flickering in his murky eyes. Meryn nodded firmly, gripping her crossbow tightly.
The interior of Liana's caravan was more spacious than it appeared from the outside, clearly enhanced by spatial expansion magic. But this was not a comfortable carriage; it resembled a mobile laboratory and surgical chamber. Along the walls, various instruments glimmered faintly, and metallic trays held precision tools that gleamed with cold light. The air was tinged with the scent of disinfecting herbs and arcane dust. In the center of the carriage, a complex array of silver filaments and unknown blue crystals had been activated, radiating a soft yet resolute isolating energy field.
"Stand in the center of the array," Liana instructed. She had already donned a pair of thin leather gloves and retrieved a crystal syringe containing a viscous silver liquid from a temperature-controlled box. "This is 'Silent Mercury.' It can temporarily form an isolating membrane on the surface of your energy circulation system, reducing outward radiation. But the process… might be somewhat uncomfortable."
Raine stepped into the array as instructed. Silver light flowed over his body, bringing a strange sense of stagnation, as if a frosted glass layer separated him from the world. He looked at the syringe but did not move.
"Distrusting me is understandable," Liana seemed to see through his thoughts and spoke calmly, "but this is currently the only way to reduce the probability of you being locked onto by 'them.' Or, you could choose to leave Ash Town now and gamble on whether the corrupted creatures outside find you first, or the Deep Diver army flattens this place." She paused, then added, "I swear in the name of… the 'Dawn' I once served, my purpose right now is to help you control the situation, not to harm or exploit you."
"The Dawn Church…" Raine repeated the words, vague impressions flashing through his mind—white robes, healing spells, purifying the 'unclean'… yet somehow different from the Holy Alliance.
Ultimately, his resignation to the current situation and desire for the truth outweighed his caution. He extended his left arm.
Liana's movements were precise and swift. The needle pierced the vein, and the icy silver liquid was slowly pushed in. Instantly, Raine felt a bone-chilling cold spread through his blood vessels. Everywhere it passed, the emerald energy of the Seed of Life, the burning essence of his draconic blood, and even the icy chill of his right arm's crystal seemed forcibly coated with a thick layer of frost, becoming sluggish and heavy. A strong sense of suffocation came, as if his entire energy system was protesting this restraint.
"Breathe. Adapt to it." Liana observed his reactions calmly. At some point, a single-lens monocle with a complex lens system had appeared in her hand, and she carefully examined the crystal and patterns on his right arm. "As expected… energy readings have dropped by 73%. But this is only a temporary measure. Silent Mercury's effect lasts at most seven days, and will gradually fail as your energy self-adjusts."
A few minutes later, the uncomfortable freezing sensation gradually eased, replaced by a dull oppression. Raine felt his power restrained by shackles, yet the uneasy resonance between his right arm and the Red Moon had indeed diminished to almost imperceptible levels.
"All right, the first step is complete." Liana put away her tools. "Now, tell me everything you know. About yourself, about this arm?"
Raine closed his eyes, struggling to salvage fragments from the chaotic memories: "...Raine. Maybe that's my name. The Elven Forest… burning. A woman named Ravenna… and γ… the Gear Moon… falling… and then here." He omitted the sharp detail about Ravenna; instinct told him it was crucial.
Liana listened intently. When she heard "Gear Moon," her brows furrowed tightly. "Gear Moon… one of the highest-level forbidden projects of the Holy Alliance, rumored to be related to the awakening of the 'Weaver.' You really come from there?" Her gaze became extremely complex. "Then this arm of yours… could it be a 'vessel'?"
"Vessel?"
"An unverified legend," Liana lowered her voice. "The Holy Alliance has been trying to create containers capable of withstanding the power of 'Original Sin.' They call them 'Divine Proxies' or 'Ultimate Vessels.' Experimental subjects often combine multiple techniques—Elven life affinity, draconic energy capacity, even fragments stolen from ancient gods… Your situation fits perfectly. Yet the material and energy characteristics of this arm exceed anything I know of from Holy Alliance tech…" She pointed at the black-gold crystal and the subtle internal patterns. "It's more like… a fusion of living metal and high-tier Abyssal ore, forcibly injected with an enormous amount of life energy for balance… utterly insane…"
Her words acted like a key, prying open a lock deep within Raine's memory. He suddenly recalled the word γ had shouted before being teleported—"Projector"! The Red Moon is a projector created by the Council!
"Red Moon…" Raine blurted out, "It's not a real moon, it's a projector! Amplifying… some kind of contamination!"
Liana jolted violently, her amber eyes flashing. "Projector?! Amplifying contamination? Yes! That explains it! Why the Deep Divers' activity is perfectly synchronized with the Red Moon's cycle! Why the corrupted energy fluctuations deep in the mines resonate perfectly with the Red Moon! It's not emitting energy, it's receiving and amplifying a signal from some 'source,' like a gigantic antenna!"
She paced excitedly inside the wagon. "If that's true, then the Red Moon itself might be a breakthrough! If we can interfere with, or even destroy, its projection mechanism…"
At that moment, urgent shouts from Meri and Hank's angry roar came from outside the wagon!
They rushed out immediately. At the clinic door, a townsman was frantically clawing at his own face. His eyes had completely turned into crimson crystal, veins bulging beneath his skin, glowing a dark red, and emitting inhuman guttural sounds. He was desperately trying to rush toward the clinic, while Hank and Meri struggled to hold him back.
"It's Buck! He was fine just a moment ago!" Meri shouted anxiously.
Liana's eyes narrowed sharply. "It's [Crimson Fever]! An acute outbreak of deep mental corruption! The corrupted energy inside him has ignited!"
Before she finished, the townsman named Buck suddenly swelled, his skin cracking to reveal molten-red light beneath, roaring as he smashed past Hank and lunged straight at Meri, who was closest! His speed and strength far exceeded that of a normal human!
"Meri!" Hank shouted.
Raine instinctively tried to channel his power, but the Silenced Mercury inside him severely hindered him; his energy circulation felt like it was sinking into quicksand!
In this critical moment, Liana acted. She did not use the long needles; instead, she rapidly formed a complex hand seal with both hands, chanting ethereal and solemn syllables: "[Life Divergence·Reverse Shackles]!"
Pressing her hands lightly toward the ground, a complex platinum-and-white dual-color magic array instantly unfolded beneath Buck's feet. Countless fine chains of light shot out from the array, wrapping around Buck—but not to restrain his movement. Instead, they forcibly established an energy link!
The next second, a horrifying scene unfolded. Buck's raging Crimson Fever energy—enough to reduce him to ash—was forcibly drawn out, like a hundred rivers merging into the sea, surging madly along the chains of light toward—Liana!
Liana groaned softly, her body trembling slightly, her exposed skin instantly flushing crimson, veins bulging on her forehead—clearly enduring immense pain. But she gritted her teeth, holding the spell steady. The raging energy converged within her, but instead of exploding, she guided and compressed it in a strange, controlled way…
In just a few seconds, the crimson on Buck's body rapidly faded. His swollen frame deflated, and his eyes cleared. He collapsed weakly to the ground, utterly exhausted, but alive.
Liana, meanwhile, slowly straightened her posture. She opened her right hand, and above her palm floated a cherry-sized, highly condensed energy crystal radiating an ominous red light—this was the purified essence of corrupted energy she had compressed!
She carefully placed the dangerous energy crystal into a specially made lead-gray metal box for sealing. Only then did she let out a long breath, her face slightly pale, sweat beading at her temples.
"You… you absorbed corrupted energy?" Hank asked in disbelief, his gaze wary and tinged with fear. Absorbing dark energy was an absolute taboo.
"Not absorption," Liana said, wiping her sweat. Her tone was calm, yet carried a faint, hard-to-detect exhaustion. "It's 'diversion' and 'sealing.' This is my… 'gift,' and also why I was expelled from the Dawn Church. They called it 'blasphemy,' and gave me the name 'Withered Physician'—because I can plunder life and energy, whether to heal or… destroy." She looked at Raine with a knowing glance. "In a sense, we are alike—both 'outcasts' that the world cannot accept."
Raine's mechanical right eye clearly recorded everything that had just happened. Liana's ability was not healing in essence, but rather [Energy Extraction] and [Reconstruction]. She forcibly drained Buck's runaway energy, reversing its destructive process. Yet the energy did not disappear—it was temporarily held and transformed within her own body, serving as both vessel and furnace.
This ability… gave him a strange sense of familiarity, even… a hint of desire? As if something dormant within him had been gently awakened.
"Withered Physician…" Raine repeated the title.
"An unpleasant nickname, but fitting, isn't it?" Liana smiled wryly, then quickly returned to a serious expression. "It seems the influence of the Red Moon runs deeper than I thought—even relatively normal townsfolk may suddenly erupt. The Silenced Mercury only hid you; the root problem—the Red Moon Projector—still exists."
She turned her sharp gaze to Raine. "Do you want to solve this completely? To regain your memories? I know a place where you might find answers, and perhaps… even get a chance to access the core of the Red Moon Projector."
"Where?"
"The deepest part of the Deepdelver mines," Liana spoke each word deliberately. "That's where the corrupted energy originates, and where the Red Moon Projector is most concentrated. I suspect there's a hidden passage connecting to the true 'source,' or at least a crucial node of the projection device. Do you dare go, 'Gardener Raine'? Or should I say… 'Mr. Carrier'?"
Her proposal was tantamount to suicide. The Deepdelver mines were an absolute forbidden zone of Ashen Town—no one had ever returned alive from its depths.
Raine remained silent. He looked at his still-muted right arm, felt the restless yet vague fragments of memory stirring in his mind, and recalled Ravenna's decisive strike and γ's anxious expression.
Staying here meant only awaiting destruction—or being forgotten once again. Moving forward could mean death, but it might also be the only path to survival.
The Red Moon's light filtered through the gaps in the wagon, icy against his face.
"I need my sword," he finally said. Deep within his gray left eye, a long-dormant sharpness quietly rekindled.