Lord of Mysteries 2: Circle of Inevitability

Inside a four-wheeled, four-seater carriage.

Amandina sat across from Lumian, excitedly looking out at the Intis parasol trees along the road, the still brightly lit shops, the magnificent arcaded streets, gentlemen and ladies walking their turtles, and some citizens in strange attire.

She sincerely praised, "Trier truly lives up to its reputation. It's even more wonderful than I imagined."

"I hope you won't take back that assessment after staying here for a while," Lumian wanted to make a sarcastic remark, but there were so many things worth mocking about Trier that he couldn't find the most representative one at the moment, so he could only respond to Amandina in this way.

Amandina turned her gaze away from the carriage window, saying with some regret, "It's a pity I have to return to Port Pylos at dawn."

She planned to apply for entrance exams to some universities in Trier after graduating from grammar school.

Amandina glanced at the coachman's seat in front, and lowered her voice to ask Lumian, "Why don't we just... just teleport there directly?"

Lumian smiled leisurely.

"You're a guest. Of course I should show you around Trier."

Amandina scrutinized Lumian for a moment.

"I feel like you're deceiving me."

"Your feeling is not wrong." Lumian laughed without concealing anything. "Going slowly allows the Law of Beyonder Characteristics Convergence to take effect."

If he had teleported with Amandina to the entrance of the underground catacombs and rushed to the Samaritan Women's Spring at the fastest speed to complete what needed to be done, Harrison, the visitor from Resurrection Island, might not have reacted in time, might not have been affected by the law of convergence, and might not have made the decision to sneak into the Samaritan Women's Spring again at night. Everything would have ended without achieving the expected goal.

He had to leave enough time for the Law of Beyonder Characteristics Convergence to take effect!

Sometimes, slow and steady wins the race.

"What... what are you trying to converge with?" Amandina, having witnessed Lumian's performance during the Dream Festival, became nervous all of a sudden.

"A target I'm currently tracking," Lumian leaned back against the carriage wall and answered with a smile. "Don't worry, your safety is absolutely guaranteed."

Hearing this, Amandina quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

Louis Berry was indeed a trustworthy person; he had fulfilled all the promises he made.

What she didn't know was that if Franca or Jenna were here, they would definitely ask in return, "Is only safety guaranteed? Won't there be any injuries, torture, or impacts on the mind and spirit during the process?"

Amandina glanced at the coachman's seat again through the carriage wall and said softly, "Aren't you afraid the coachman will overhear what you're saying?"

You weren't lowering your voice at all just now!

Lumian chuckled.

"He can't hear us."

Amandina was stunned for a moment, trying to understand with her mysticism knowledge.

"Did you... did you quickly create a wall of spirituality?"

"You can think of it that way," Lumian couldn't be bothered to explain to Amandina what a Bottle of Fiction was.

Amandina relaxed and asked with a smile, "Are those two ladies just now your lovers?"

Lumian let out a derisive snort.

"Shouldn't you ask that question in front of them?"

"That would be so embarrassing! They would definitely get angry!" Amandina's emotional intelligence was quite good.

"And I wouldn't get angry?" Lumian asked amusedly.

Amandina giggled.

"You don't seem like someone who would get angry over something like this."

She suddenly pointed out the window.

"Is that the Trier Normal University?"

"Your technique for changing the subject is quite clumsy," Lumian mocked Amandina without mercy.

And so, the four-wheeled, four-seater rental carriage arrived at Place du Purgatoire at a normal speed.

As Lumian descended the stairs, he took out a white candle and tossed it to Amandina, telling her about the various taboos inside the underground catacombs.

Amandina listened very carefully and lit one of the candles by rubbing it with spirituality.

"I've seen some of these in magazines, but never as detailed as what you've told me today.

"Do these taboos really have to be followed? What happens if they're not followed? For example, what if I hadn't lit a candle?"

As they spoke, the two had already arrived at the giant stone archway inscribed with the warning "Stop! The Death Empire lies ahead!"

The catacombs administrator behind the door, with graying hair and wearing a blue vest and yellow trousers, glanced at Lumian but did not stop the two from entering the underground catacombs at night.

Lumian looked straight ahead, walking forward through the piles of skeletons along the sides of the path, and said in a calm tone, "In that case, you would disappear from this world. Your parents would forget they had such a daughter, your former fiancé would forget he once had such a fiancée, your friends would forget you, your servants would forget you, and perhaps only I would remember you."

Although Amandina was a Beyonder equivalent to Sequence 7 and had witnessed some of the tragedies that occurred during the Dream Festival, and her former fiancé was particularly skilled at summoning the dead, being in the underground catacombs-a gloomy, dark place full of skeletons and permeated with the aura of death-she couldn't help but feel a bit frightened and uneasy.

This, combined with Lumian's explanation, made the hair on the back of her neck stand up, and she gripped the white candle even tighter.

"The first time I entered the underground catacombs, I thought this was truly a perfect place for telling horror stories. Unfortunately, until now, such opportunities have been rare." A smile appeared on Lumian's face.

Amandina was stunned for a moment. "Were you just telling a horror story?"

"Yes, and the most terrifying part of this horror story is that every word of it is true," Lumian replied with a smile.

"_." Amandina was scared once again.

She quickened her pace, afraid of being left behind by Lumian.

As the two made their way to the fourth level of the underground catacombs, there were no shortage of skeletons suddenly moving, trying to trip Amandina, nearly causing the young lady to cry out in alarm.

Finally, Lumian led Amandina to the huge, decaying, and mottled tomb chamber that housed the Samaritan Women's Spring.

He looked left and right and silently said to himself, We didn't encounter the shadow resembling Krismona this time... Was She wandering around the fourth level of the catacombs before to find a female Demoness, and no longer has such an obsession after achieving Her goal?

Lumian shifted his gaze back and tossed a mirror to Amandina.

"Hold this and wait for me here."

"Wait here?" Amandina looked around, slightly panicked.

The surroundings were pitch black, with numerous tombs, decaying and dilapidated, with unknown things lurking in the shadows.

"It'll be quick," Lumian didn't offer any comfort, but went straight through the half-open stone door into the tomb chamber.

After walking a few steps, he encountered the deeply wrinkled catacombs administrator who looked more like a corpse than a living person.

The elderly administrator, also wearing a blue vest and yellow trousers, did not stop Lumian but stood silently in place, allowing him to pass.

After reaching the gentle downward slope, Lumian took out a mirror and the Black Tear accessory that had been burned for over half an hour from the Traveler's Bag.

Outside the huge tomb chamber, Amandina saw Lumian's face appear on the surface of the mirror by the yellowish light of the white candle, and heard his voice.

"Press your hand against the mirror."

With experience, Amandina quickly pressed her hand holding the white candle against the mirror surface.

Again, she passed through the familiar cold water flow, experienced the familiar terrifying suction force and weightless falling sensation, and soon found herself appearing beside Lumian.

Lumian put away the Black Tear and the mirror, pointing to the depths of the slope. "It's down there."

...

In the gap between two ancient tomb chambers, twenty to thirty meters away from the huge tomb chamber housing the Samaritan Women's Spring.

Franca, holding a white candle, carefully peeked out and glanced towards the target location.

She then withdrew and muttered to Jenna, "This candle is really annoying. We can't hide well at all. How are we supposed to ambush Harrison like this?"

The dim yellow light of the white candle was quite conspicuous in the deep, pure darkness.

Jenna looked at Franca and smiled. "It works both ways. Harrison also can't approach silently without us noticing. Besides, hiding in this corner can effectively reduce the impact of the candlelight. It won't travel that far."

Franca knew all this and was just complaining casually.

She suddenly remembered something and asked with a twitching corner of her mouth, "Have you seen Anthony?"

"Uh..." Jenna was also stunned.

At this moment, Anthony's voice came from outside the gap.

"I've been here all along."

Along with his voice, Franca and Jenna finally saw their companion.

He was standing openly on the path outside, holding a lit white candle, and the two Demonesses hadn't noticed him before.

"Psychological Invisibility is really great..." Franca praised enviously.

Psychological Invisibility worked on a completely different principle from other invisibility abilities. lt mainly involved placing oneself in the psychological blind spots and cognitive dead angles of the surrounding people, making them ignore the situation here. Therefore, whether Anthony was holding a lit candle or not did not affect his ability to become invisible.

Anthony simply replied, "Candlelight is a powerful attention-drawing element here. It also reduces the effectiveness of my Psychological Invisibility. I need to be very focused to maintain it."

Franca and Jenna stopped talking and hid in the gap between the tomb chambers, listening to the sounds around them.

...

In front of the faintly contracting and expanding thin grayish-white fog.

Lumian once again examined his own state.

That cold emanating from within his heart occupied his body, causing most of his emotions and desires to wither, but the malice and irritability resulting from the negative effects of the contract still existed and were growing stronger.

He was in a very good state now, having endured without much reliance on the abilities of the Ascetic.

Amandina had a similar reaction, one side of her face turning deathly pale from the "freeze", while she gritted her teeth to prevent an unfamiliar version of herself from emerging.

Lumian grabbed her arm and extended his left palm holding the white candle towards the grayish-white fog.

As his chest warmed, the two successfully walked into the mist.

Everything became even more silent.