Chapter 307 Haunted Hotel
Because Aiwass has no wind attribute mana, Liz cannot transform into an element with Aiwass.
But even if it was just a simple close-ground flight, they soon found the direction of Alder Town.
After all, when they first came to Eagle Point Village, the two Griffin Aunts had already taken them through Alder Town. If this place didn't look so unlike Eagle Point Village, they might have landed here.
After seeing Alder Town, Sherlock on the griffin subconsciously looked back.
But I discovered that Eagle Point Village hadn't disappeared since I left. It was a circular village, neatly placed at the bottom of the valley. Even from this angle, looking down, I could see the edge of the village was a perfectly neat circle.
He immediately patted Aiwass on the back and shared the situation with him.
Aiwass also looked back and then became thoughtful.
"I see..."
As long as you come to Eagle Cape Village, you will no longer be confused by the barrier?
Or are there some other conditions... like having your name remembered by the people here, or having slept here?
So, Daiya... that is, the dream demon egg of the nightmare demon, may have also been to Eagle Cape Village.
Is she still in that hotel now?
I guess he is gone.
The nightmare demon is also a serious upper-level phantom demon, and usually lives in the dream world.
Without a demonologist's contract, a high-ranking demon would find it difficult to remain in the real world for long. Unless the demonologist summons her again, she will likely remain in the dreamland of the Path of Beauty for years.
...Then the earthbound spirits here must be quite lonely.
She probably thought the nightmare was just as skilled at manipulating illusions and dreams as she was, and that it would stay and play with her. But she didn't expect it to be a working older woman who just came over to chat for a bit before going back to work...
With a cry from the griffin, the griffin's altitude began to slowly descend.
"It seems that the chaotic time sequence is not imposed on us. After leaving Eagle Cape Village, our sense of time immediately returned to normal."
Aiwass first looked up at the sun in the sky, moved by the fact that it no longer suddenly jumped.
Then he lowered his head and saw the road sign ahead clearly.
It was an old, crooked metal sign.
It faces the direction of Alder Town and stands at a three-way intersection.
On the left side, a red arrow reads the warning: "This place is dangerous, no going forward, violators will be sentenced to death"; on the right side, a black arrow reads "Leading to Bagpipe Town", and above it there is another black arrow reading "Leading to Alder Town".
It was now tilted forty-five degrees to the left, as if blown by the wind, and was covered with grime caked with damp earth and numerous spots of dried mud.
Apparently, few people come here, because on some of the wet roads, apart from the footprints left by Liz when she landed, there are no more footprints or tire tracks.
Sherlock suddenly frowned, looked around and fell into thought.
He suddenly jumped off the griffin and ran behind the sign to take a look. Then he stepped back and patted Aiwass's arm.
"Evans, purify this brand," Sherlock said.
"uh-huh."
The corners of Aiwas' mouth rose slightly, and without even asking "why", he waved his hand and released a flame butterfly carrying the fire of purification.
It slowly flew over to the road sign and then exploded into a ball of fire.
In the flames, the road sign was not burned, but underwent a strange change - the words on it suddenly turned into another font.
The arrow that was originally pointing upward now points downward, and the text on the left and right sides is also reversed. The danger arrow that was pointing to the left now points to the right.
"As expected," Sherlock sneered. "I have a feeling the sign is either stuck upside down or blown upside down by a storm. Or maybe there's some kind of magic that's flipped it around.
"When the Avalon fork sign is facing a one-way street, it doesn't point up, but down. It only points up when the sign faces away from that road—just like up at a crossroads is pointing forward."
"This shows that the strength of the earthbound spirit is not as weak as we thought."
Aiwass said softly, "Even from this distance...she's already able to create illusions that affect places far away."
"Alice...is that so?"
Sherlock muttered.
Previously, Aiwass had told him about his experiences and encounters during the ascension ceremony, which of course also included the poor girl named Alice who was buried in the foundation. She was the earthbound spirit of the haunted inn, and the source of the series of disasters that followed, which attracted the nightmare egg Daiya.
Generally speaking, earthbound spirits will create illusions or dreams to kill passers-by and absorb their souls to strengthen themselves.
And if the Earthbound Spirits have become much stronger than they were sixty years ago...
That probably means she has eaten a lot of people.
“…It might be a fierce battle.”
Little Sherlock warned sternly, "She is no longer the innocent girl who became an earthbound spirit sixty years ago."
"Not necessarily."
Aiwass shook his head: "I tend to prefer another possibility..."
"What?" Sherlock asked confused.
"No, later."
Aiwass did not answer.
Because it was just a guess, without any evidence, and saying it now would seem a bit presumptuous.
As they mounted the griffin again, they flew in the right direction.
Soon the sky became overcast.
It was like a videotape sped up—perhaps because the griffins they were riding were moving too fast, causing the dark clouds in the sky to grow and pile up at a speed almost visible to the naked eye.
They had just seen the hotel from a distance when the sky, which had originally been considered cloudy, became covered with dark clouds.
Following a flash of lightning.
A cold wind whistled past, and thunder rumbled.
Then, without any warning, heavy rain came down!
"—Again?"
Sherlock frowned. "It's still an illusion, right?"
"I can't dispel this."
Aiwass chuckled, shielding his eyes with his hands and gazing at the rapidly approaching inn, unconcerned.
By the time they arrived at the hotel entrance, Sherlock's newsboy jacket was completely wet.
He had a sour face and a furrowed brow, looking as if he was considering how much compensation to ask for.
And the hotel didn't look like much of an illusion.
Its sign had been roughly removed, leaving only white glue marks. The building's age was evident from the outside, with a visible layer of white dust, like a computer fan that hadn't been cleaned in over a year, thickly accumulating in the cracks of the building.
"Is anyone there?"
Aiwass dismounted the griffin and, shouting, pushed open the door of the inn.
As a result, the hotel lobby, which was so shabby as if it was from the last century, was empty.
In the dim hotel, there was only a young receptionist.
He looked very thin, wearing thin clothes that were inappropriate for the season, and he was dozing on the table with his hands folded like a student.
But with Aiwas's divine vision as a third-level priest, he could easily see that the outline of the front-stage body was translucent.
Aiwass raised the corners of his mouth slightly and walked to the front desk with confidence.
"Hey, long time no see, bro."
He greeted with a smile.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
