Lord of Mysteries 2: Circle of Inevitability
Chapter Summary
Lumian scoffed, "You're not bad yourself." Julie blinked and said, "But why don't you look at me when you speak?" "Because you don't have anything down there," Lumian replied, ignoring Julie and heading towards the Dades Agricultural Company. Some of them might be carrying items with high rank." Before Lumian could respond, she glanced at her boss and said, "It seems that the Albus you're wary of has formed an alliance with Gusian's group." Lumian nodded, then added, "They're probably trying to ...
Discovered? How did it find me? I'm currently a real shadow creature...
Lumian wondered as he emerged from the shadows.
He instantly teleported to the side of the iron soldier.
The iron soldier ran past him, realizing too late that its target had moved.
It had to slow down forcefully, half-turning to sweep its giant sword.
Lumian, well-prepared, leaped high into the air. His fist, blazing with white-hot flames, struck the iron soldier's neck.
Clang!
The sound echoed like a church bell. The tall, heavy, and hard iron soldier was pushed back a step.
A fist-sized dent appeared on its metal-covered neck, surrounded by spiderweb-like cracks.
Lumian's strike was purely a Cull, without probing for weaknesses. He didn't need to.
Having thoroughly studied "Doll Crafting and Maintenance," he knew exactly where the weak points of such iron soldiers were!
Of course, he had also observed beforehand to confirm that this iron soldier was of the regular type and hadn't been modified.
The iron soldier, enraged by the Cull attack, swung its giant sword in a storm of slashes, cutting and chopping within a five to six meter radius.
Lumian teleported several meters away, watched the iron soldier, and raised his right palm, still with one hand in his pocket.
One after another, white-hot fireballs formed and flew towards the iron soldier.
The dark red glow in the iron soldier's eyes brightened as it locked onto Lumian and charged at him.
Rumble!
It cleaved through the fireballs in its path, enduring the rest as it advanced through the smoke and flames.
Almost simultaneously, Lumian vanished from its sight again.
Lumian reappeared on the soldier's shoulder, half-crouched, and delivered a powerful punch to the previous dent.
Whoosh! White-hot flames erupted from his fist.
Clang!
The sound was like a hammer striking a large bell.
Lumian's figure quickly faded, dodging the iron soldier's left hand as it released its giant sword to grab him.
A moment later, the dent in the iron soldier's neck shattered completely.
The cracks spread rapidly to its head and body.
The iron soldier staggered forward, its metal fragments falling piece by piece, like an iron rain.
Lumian's figure swiftly outlined not far away. He scoffed and said, "Didn't you learn from the last time? Making the same mistake again. Oh, I forgot, you don't have a brain."
As Lumian finished speaking, the struggling iron soldier collapsed into a pile of metal debris.
Lumian then turned his attention to the other side of the Dades Agricultural Company.
The remaining iron soldier was silently burning with pitch-black flames, moving slower and accumulating more rust.
Clang! It fell to the ground, motionless, losing its oppressive aura.
Julie, wearing a cotton nightgown with a hint of spring, stood leisurely beside it. She watched as the iron soldier quickly shrank back to the size of a children's toy.
The metal fragments near Lumian were also shrinking, soon reduced to mere scraps.
Julie looked at him, smiling gracefully, "Boss, you're even more impressive than I imagined."
Compliment me all you want, but why stare at my crotch... Lumian scoffed, "You're not bad yourself."
Julie blinked and said, "But why don't you look at me when you speak?"
"Because you don't have anything down there," Lumian replied, ignoring Julie and heading towards the Dades Agricultural Company.
Julie's expression turned dark, her face flickering in the firelight.
After a few seconds, she muttered through gritted teeth, "Soon you won't have anything either."
By then, Lumian had reached the half-collapsed building and started inspecting the battle traces.
Explosions, high temperatures, fire, attacks directly hitting key structures... Definitely a battle between Hunters... Multiple injuries, more than one, but all blood traces burnt to scorches... Lumian quickly circled the explosion site, discovering several corpses.
Some were ordinary, like night shift employees caught in the blast, suffocated by smoke, burned by flames, or crushed by debris. Others were mangled, reduced to chunks of flesh, or dismembered as if violently torn apart.
Lumian noticed one corpse with a somewhat intact head, a faint red mark on its forehead, with something wriggling under the skin, trying to emerge.
I've seen a similar mark on Gusian's forehead...
So, the Iron and Blood Cross Order is indeed trying to assassinate Wanak...
With Albus Medici joining them, they've grown bold enough to eliminate potential rivals and disruptors?
But it seems they failed... Wanak is formidable, facing an Iron and Blood Cross Order assault, possibly with Albus and Gusian present, yet still managing to counterattack and escape...
The Iron and Blood Cross Order is really cooperating with Albus Medici?
Do they truly believe this Medici descendant? Does Gusian not know what the Medici name represents?
Hmm, they know but intend to use Albus Medici, a collaboration full of mutual conspiracies?
As these thoughts raced through Lumian's mind, Julie approached and stopped beside him.
"Have you figured anything out?" Julie asked.
Lumian chuckled.
"Shouldn't I be asking you that? You Demonesses are good at divination, unlike me."
Julie's expression had returned to normal, her eyes bright as she said, "I tried, but got nothing. Some of them might be carrying items with high rank."
Before Lumian could respond, she glanced at her boss and said, "It seems that the Albus you're wary of has formed an alliance with Gusian's group."
Lumian nodded, then added, "They're probably trying to eliminate Wanak."
"Next, they'll try to eliminate me, you, and all the Hunters and Demonesses in Morora," Julie said with a slight smile. "Boss, I know you don't trust me, and I can't trust you either, unless all that's left is a shlong. But against the threat of Albus and Gusian, can we temporarily cooperate?"
You? A Demoness who doesn't like to study and only knows how to do twisted things, wanting to cooperate with me? I just want to study quietly and diligently... Lumian criticized, then chuckled and said, "Sure."
His goal was the information accumulated by the Demoness Sect and their preparations. "Cooperation" would make it easier to access them.
Julie was about to say more when she suddenly saw a group of black-robed enforcers running over from the direction of the Knowledge Cathedral.
Her eyes flickered, and she said to Lumian, "I have to leave now. Let's talk tomorrow morning."
Lumian glanced at the leading enforcer and noticed it wasn't Celeste.
He replied thoughtfully, "Alright."
Julie immediately stepped into the nearby shadows and vanished from his sight.
Lumian stared at the corpses in the ruins for a few seconds before turning and leaving Dades Agricultural Company, heading into the nearest alley.
In the darkness, he walked at a steady pace, pondering a troubling question: Aren't there too many Iron and Blood Cross Order members infiltrating Morora?
Just to deal with Wanak, four or five have already died!
It's not just about whether they could infiltrate so many members or if the Church of Knowledge is being too lenient, but no secret organization would want to suffer such heavy losses among its members.
Morora is the place where 0-01 is sealed. Every Beyonder sent here must be prepared for a high likelihood of sacrifice.
The Demoness Sect only sent one Sequence 5 Beyonder at a time.
Unless the previous Demoness lost contact and no longer responded, they wouldn't send another. Does the Iron and Blood Cross Order really not care about mid-to-low-level Beyonders, treating them as cannon fodder?
For a war, that's not too strange, but a sensible commander would only sacrifice soldiers at critical moments, not let them die on the way. Or has Gusian developed a large number of new Hunters in Morora... Lumian suddenly thought of Gusian, the bloody mark on that corpse's forehead, the stone statue, and the oil lamp in the depths of the underground fog.
Or are the true Iron and Blood Cross Order members only Gusian and a few others, while the rest are mass-produced through a special secret ritual?
As he pondered this, Lumian smiled.
If that's true, when Gusian and the others hold their next ritual to create soldiers, something very interesting might happen. The oil lamp I tampered with should bring about a different outcome...
I wonder what kind of soldiers will appear...
Lumian's pace quickened, and soon he returned to the Carnivore bar. He sat at his desk, forming a white-hot fireball to serve as a gas lamp.
He wanted to finish reading "Examples of Mausoleum Construction" so he could take the exam at the Knowledge Cathedral tomorrow morning and borrow more books.
"Don't let anything interrupt my studying again..." Lumian muttered as he buried himself in his reading.
Amidst the occasional sound of flipping pages, he suddenly turned his head, his sharp gaze focusing on the mirror in the room.
The surface of the mirror rippled, revealing a figure with iron-black eyes, bright red hair, and a chiseled face.
Wanak? The same Wanak who was attacked earlier? Lumian narrowed his eyes slightly, waiting for the figure to speak.
The figure of Wanak swayed lightly, as if affected by water waves.
He asked in a deep voice, "Do you want to kill Gusian and Albus Medici?"