In the endless darkness, cramped quarters, and jumbled thoughts, Lumian found himself unusually frustrated, even within the confines of his dreams. He longed to rip apart the cage around him and shatter everything in his path.
Slowly, the realization dawned upon him that he was dreaming. He struggled to open his eyes and wake up, but his efforts were in vain. Each time he thought he had finally awakened, in the blink of an eye, he plunged into a deeper darkness and a more profound dream.
After an unknown stretch of time, Lumian naturally awoke to some light seeping through the curtained window.
It was 6 a.m.
Lumian raised his right hand and wiped his forehead, sensing a layer of cold sweat.
Is this a spiritual warning, or had memories of the Samaritan Women's Spring and the afterimage of the Blood Emperor haunted me after I contemplated the smell of death on Hanth Island yesterday? Previously, I had drawn connections between the mysterious deaths of those who witnessed the Demon and the Montsouris ghost, possibly leading to a shallow corruption? Lumian couldn't accurately decipher the complete meaning of the dream. All he could do was remind himself to be cautious and stay focused on his original goal for coming to Hanth Island:
To investigate the Demon legends, not to eliminate the Demon.
Setting aside whether he possessed the strength to face the Demon or if he needed assistance, the fact that the Church of Earth Mother had operated on the island for over a century without completely eradicating the target suggested even the Tarot Club's Major Arcana card holders might not resolve this matter entirely.
Lumian got out of bed and retrieved the golden pocket watch from Salle de Bal Brise. Opening and glancing at it: 6:01 a.m.
Though early, Lumian felt a sense of urgency. The Berries would depart from Hanth Island the morning after tomorrow. He had only two days to delve into the Demon legends, unravel the truth, and identify potential suspects.
If he succeeded, his Conspirer potion might very well be digested.
Gathering, screening, and utilizing information were crucial aspects of a conspiracy!
And if Lumian were a Sequence 7 Detective of the Reader pathway, successfully solving a century-old unsolved case involving high-level powers in just two days would be a remarkable leap from initial digestion to complete digestion.
…
At 9 a.m., in the suburbs of Port Hanth, Return Cemetery.
Holding a bunch of yellow flowers, Lumian navigated through the tree-lined cemetery.
Armed with Ludwig's intel and the insights from the previous night's dream, he adjusted his plan. Instead of hastily venturing into the forest to search for the missing people's remains, he decided to dig up graves here!
His objective: to investigate the circumstances surrounding the mysterious death of someone who had glimpsed the Demon's figure in the forest depths. He aimed to discover if they would meet the same fate as those killed by the Montsouris ghost—exhibiting self-mutilation.
According to the gathered information, the last person to report the Demon's presence to the Church of Earth Mother rested in a quiet corner of Return Cemetery.
His name was Antonio Elias.
Before long, Lumian, clutching the bouquet of yellow flowers, reached the grave. Apart from the deceased's name, birth and death dates, a concise epitaph adorned the stone tombstone: "This wretched man's life was taken by a Demon."
Lumian stooped down, placing the bouquet before the tombstone. Then, he straightened up, silently studying the stone tomb.
Details about Antonio Elias flashed through his mind.
A local, not a foreigner, with parents, a wife, and children. Nine months ago, during a hunting trip in the forest, he encountered a wandering Demon. Fearing his imminent demise, he sought refuge in the cathedral and cloister of the Church of Earth Mother for a full five months. Afterwards, intending to serve as a crew member for three years, steering clear of Hanth Island and its hidden dangers, he was discovered dead at the bottom of the cabin on his second voyage…
Lumian scanned the surroundings, gathering ten to twenty withered branches from beneath nearby trees. He planted them around Antonio Elias's tomb, forming a short, makeshift, and somewhat futile barrier.
Lastly, he laid a withered branch flat on two adjacent branches, constructing a shaky door impassable to anyone.
With that completed, Lumian stepped over the "wall" and entered the grave.
He then bent down, extending his right hand to touch the makeshift door constructed of withered branches.
Simultaneously, a black mark activated on his body.
In the blink of an eye, Lumian's figure vanished. Antonio's tomb remained undisturbed, except for the added circle of withered branches.
In reality, Lumian had retrieved an iron pick, shovel, and other items from his just-purchased Traveler's Bag. He began prying open the stone slabs and digging into the soil.
Bottle of Fiction!
Lumian utilized the "wall" and "door" he had fashioned to employ the Bottle of Fiction contract ability.
In less than two minutes, relying on his understanding of the cemetery's layout and two precise explosions, Lumian cleared the soil from the coffin and pried open the black-painted wooden plank.
A pungent odor of decay wafted out, and Lumian casually ignited it.
After a brief wait, he squatted down, donned gloves, and examined the white bones, now devoid of flesh and blood.
The first item he picked up was Antonio Elias's skull. With a cursory glance, he noted cracks on the inside of the skull, while the exterior remained intact.
A brain explosion as the cause of death? Lumian pondered the force required to induce such damage. Regardless of the ability responsible, Antonio's cerebrum, cerebellum, and brain stem should have exploded into mush at the time of his demise. It seemed illogical for the hard inner cranium to crack while the soft brain remained unharmed.
Examining Antonio Elias's other bones yielded no additional injuries. The stains in the coffin offered no further clues.
Lumian concluded that Antonio's death resulted from an internal explosion in his head. The explosive force, while not physically strong enough to shatter his skull entirely, was sufficient to destroy his brain.
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quality of the flames. I should be able to achieve a similar effect. How did the Demon do it? Lumian's comprehension of the Demon pathway came from his sister's grimoires, information provided by the Tarot Club, and Franca's account. He had only truly interacted with a Demon above Sequence 6 once, and that was with Naboredisley.
He immediately recollected the sensations when Naboredisley stirred his desires and emotions. The echoes of the ranting transmitted through the gray fog during Naboredisley's expulsion and the tumult of his own desires replayed in his mind.
For ordinary people, inducing an upheaval in their desires before detonating them could lead to their brains exploding, given an increase in potency… It shouldn't be a challenging feat for a demigod creature like a Demon. Moreover, the Demon can use those ravings to achieve this remotely? As Lumian completed his deduction, he was convinced that a Demon was indeed concealed on Hanth Island. A Demon of the Criminal pathway, a Demon surpassing Sequences like Devil and Desire Apostle.
With this confirmation, Lumian believed it would be relatively straightforward to locate the Demon if he put his mind to it.
However, the prerequisite was finding it and not resolving the situation, all while risking his life.
Removing the glove, he reached into his Traveler's Bag and touched the Flog boxing gloves.
Following the incident with the Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings and the Great Mother, Lumian had already speculated that the Mother Tree of Desire stood at the peak of the Prisoner, Criminal, and Scrooge pathways. Therefore, the Rose School of Thought's indulgence faction and some members of the Devil family believed in Her and followed Her.
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In that case, the Flog boxing gloves made from the branches of the Tree of Shadow, closely related to the Mother Tree of Desire, had a high chance of attracting the Demon's attention within a certain range. Just as its negative effects meant being observed by some hidden entities, influenced and attacked by dangerous creatures!
Phew, there are no useless items. Only Beyonders who don't know how to use them. Lumian chuckled self-
deprecatingly and withdrew his right hand from the Flog boxing gloves.
He abandoned the plan to directly lure out the Demon.
This decision stemmed from the realization that the Demon was still active on the island, claiming lives, yet the Church of Earth Mother hadn't eradicated it completely!
Having encountered various challenges, Lumian possessed a reasonable understanding of an orthodox Church's strength. He knew that if the Church of Earth Mother genuinely committed, it could eliminate all residents suspected to be Demons and obliterate the island, similar to what the Church of Storms had done to Bansy Harbor.
It wasn't that the Church of Earth Mother lacked the will, but there was a reason holding them back.
This brought Lumian's thoughts back to the valley burning with sulfurous flames deep in the forest. He believed that the Demon couldn't be slain under regular circumstances. It could only be sealed and constrained.
As the Church of Earth Mother couldn't achieve this, and Lumian doubted his ability to do so, enticing the Demon directly would be futile and perilous.
Lumian's current strategy involved leveraging his fake level and Directly support the authors on WebNovel!
his allure to evil gods to traverse the forest. During critical moments, he planned to use the Flog boxing gloves to see if he could converge on the mysterious valley burning with sulfur flames to investigate the source of the Demon legends.
…
In the heart of the forest, surrounded by towering trees, Lumian navigated a path untouched by human presence for years. He moved forward at a measured pace.
From time to time, he would extract the Flog boxing gloves, relying on intuition to guide his course. After ten to twenty seconds, he stowed them away.
After almost an hour, the dense forest unexpectedly cleared.
A menacing brown bear emerged from behind a tree, advancing toward Lumian with ponderous steps.
"Stop, foreigner!"
The bear's mouth emitted a buzzing human voice.
