Chapter 334

She said she wasn't Aurore Lee? Lu Mian felt as if he had been struck by lightning; his entire brain stopped functioning.

In fact, he had guessed that Aurore Lee wasn't his sister's real name. Someone who specifically moved to a border mountain village to settle down would likely not use their real name. But in their nearly six years of living together, he could clearly feel that his sister identified more with the name Aurore Lee. She had never mentioned her original name or life in front of him, and the forged identification documents she had someone make became more and more realistic. By the time she became a well-known bestselling author, they were truly as real as could be.

Why would she suddenly say that?

What did this have to do with her inexplicable belief in that entity named Inevitability?

The throbbing pain in his head brought Lu Mian back from the massive shock caused by that information, and he asked in a hurried tone:

"Did she say who she was?"

On the surface of the mirror, which was no longer covered by black flames or congealed frost, Guillaume Bénet, with his pale, cyan-tinted face, answered in a daze:

"She said she was Roche Louise Sanson."

A name I've never heard of... Lu Mian frowned and said:

"Regarding this identity, did she say anything else?"

Guillaume Bénet shook his head:

"No."

Lu Mian raised his left hand, pressed it against the side of his head, and was silent for a few seconds before asking:

"Was the sacrifice of the entire Cordu Village to exchange for the descent of the Angel of Inevitability planned by Roche Louise Sanson?"

Guillaume Bénet seemed to fall into a struggle, but in the end, he couldn't resist the influence of the "Spirit Mediumship" and answered honestly:

"No, it was I who wanted to do it.

"I wanted to obtain divinity as quickly as possible and become a saint. Aurore Lee expressed her approval a few hours before, but opposed my plan a few hours later, never able to make up her mind. In the end, I chose to hide it from her and secretly make preparations. Later, she also tacitly consented to our attempt, and would even provide help at critical moments, only occasionally being less cooperative and doing some destructive things, but she would soon compromise again."

The Aurore you describe is like a patient with split personality disorder... Lu Mian subconsciously wanted to defend Aurore's image, but immediately remembered the lizard-like transparent sprite that had crawled out of his sister's mouth, and remembered her being clear-headed from time to time, discussing with him ways to escape their predicament.

But even when she was "clear-headed," Aurore couldn't be called completely normal. She didn't even remember to summon "Hela's" messenger to ask for help in the simplest and fastest way.

Lu Mian turned to ask:

"When did Aurore start spreading the faith of Inevitability in Cordu Village?"

Guillaume Bénet was even more dazed than before:

"My initial investigation results were May or June of last year, and then she secretly came to visit me."

This basically matches my speculation... Something must have gone wrong a period of time before that, leading to Aurore being contaminated... If she had been a believer of Inevitability from the start, it would be impossible for her to only try to proselytize after settling down for five or six years... Lu Mian revealed a pained expression, then quickly suppressed it:

"Have you seen a lizard-like transparent creature in Cordu Village?"

"No." Guillaume Bénet answered truthfully.

"Then do you know if there is a 'Sufferer' in Cordu Village?" Lu Mian pressed on.

Guillaume Bénet was stunned for a moment:

"I don't know, no."

The muscles on Lu Mian's face twitched instinctively as he said:

"Have you seen an owl around Aurore?"

"No." Guillaume Bénet gave a negative answer again.

Lu Mian asked a few more questions related to the disaster in Cordu Village, but didn't get any satisfactory or effective replies. He finally asked:

"Does a secret organization or evil god church exist behind Roche Louise Sanson?"

Guillaume Bénet, whose pale, cyan-tinted face was becoming increasingly blurred, finally nodded:

"Yes, it's called 'Sinners.'

"I am currently one of the archbishops of 'Sinners.'"

"Sinners"... An evil god church that believes in Inevitability? Lu Mian's spirit was invigorated, and he asked in depth:

"Who is the leader of 'Sinners,' and who is responsible for contacting you?"

"I don't know who the leader is, I only know that he is the only one among all the sinners who possesses divinity." Guillaume Bénet's spirit voice answered hollowly, "The one responsible for contacting me is Boir Pompéro."

The only one who possesses divinity... Could it be that "Sufferer" who was lurking around me before? Lu Mian made a guess while asking:

"How can I make contact with Boir Pompéro?"

"It's useless." Guillaume Bénet answered in a drifting voice, "As soon as I die, he will perceive the change in fate and eliminate all clues in advance. Among the abilities he obtained through contracts is 'Shape-shifting.' He can be any appearance, but he is no longer himself."

He can be any appearance, but he is no longer himself... After using "Shape-shifting" for a long time, he'll probably go completely crazy... Maybe I can go to the asylum and ask if there are any patients with similar cognitive impairments... I must be cautious after I can obtain more contract abilities. It's fine when there are only three or four negative effects, but once they pile up, not only is it easy for problems to arise, but they can also be exploited by enemies... Someone like the parish priest, if he encountered members of the "Blessed Society" or recipients of the "Mother Tree of Desire's" gifts, would definitely be easily dealt with... Lu Mian looked at the mirror on the altar and said:

"What did the 'Sinners' organization send you to the Red Princess District to do?"

A hint of fanaticism appeared on Guillaume Bénet's blurred face:

"On one hand, it's to satisfy my desires; on the other hand, it's to secretly develop believers and prepare for the next large-scale ritual. Only by letting my master descend to the earth can we sinners be forgiven and baptized, escaping our destined fate."

"Is your money provided by the 'Sinners' organization, or did you earn it yourself?" Lu Mian wanted to find clues from the source of the money.

Guillaume Bénet shook his head:

"It was Aurore Lee—no, Roche Louise Sanson—who gave me bearer deposit slips, totaling 100,000 Vergold."

"Damn it, you old boar!" Lu Mian blurted out.

Although he had anticipated this long ago, the moment he thought of the parish priest using Aurore's royalties to keep a courtesan, live in a big house, and develop evil god believers, his anger flared up, rushing straight to his head.

Lu Mian suppressed the emotions in his heart and said with a sneer:

"Didn't the 'Sinners' organization provide you with Beyonder characteristics? Haven't you ever consumed a potion?"

Otherwise, the parish priest would be even more powerful and harder to deal with.

"The Beyonder characteristics of the 'Diviner,' 'Monster,' 'Apprentice,' and 'Marauder' pathways that fit the gifts of Inevitability are not easy to obtain. I am currently searching.

"With the negative effects brought to me by those contract creatures, if I drank potions of other pathways, I would definitely lose control on the spot."

Fortunately, my current negative effects are few and weak; otherwise, it would be very dangerous if I wanted to drink potions of the 'Hunter' pathway in the future... Lu Mian's spirituality was almost drained, so he seized the time to ask the final question:

"What are the names of Sequence 6 to Sequence 0 of the 'Inevitability' pathway?"

Guillaume Bénet's voice became increasingly hollow:

"Sequence 6 is 'Ascetic,' Sequence 5 is 'Fate Appropriator,' Sequence 4 is 'Ring-in-the-Ring,' Sequence 3 is 'Sufferer.' Beyond that, I don't know."

"Ascetic"... Sounds like an advancement of "Mendicant Monk"... Why didn't Termiboros tell me? That's right, as a victim, he will have his "Ascetic" gift extracted later, so it's normal that he's unwilling to answer related questions. If he had no reaction at all and cooperated by giving the answer, I would be afraid instead, feeling that there must be a trap... Lu Mian tilted his head slightly, his expression beginning to distort involuntarily:

"What abilities does an 'Ascetic' have?"

Guillaume Bénet answered in a drifting voice:

"The essence of an 'Ascetic' is endurance, accumulation, and eruption. After accumulating power in the body during normal times, one can erupt in a short period during battle, making oneself like a giant. After accumulating the ritual process, one can simplify some special rituals and apply them in battle."

Like a giant... Short eruption... Lu Mian remembered the battle process between the Shepherd Pierre Berry and the investigator Ryan, and remembered the metal giant the parish priest had just turned into.

If it weren't for the fact that in the battle just now, the metallic Guillaume Bénet was clearly wary of the "Snort-Ha Technique," didn't dare to attempt close-quarters combat, and always maintained a sufficient distance, changing positions in time so that Fu Lanca's "Mental Piercing" couldn't take effect, he could have beaten Lu Mian—who had to save his spirituality—severely just by relying on the combination of "Steel Body" and "Ascetic."

This also proved the correctness of Lu Mian's decision to abandon the strange creatures that came with the gifts and insist on finding contract objects from the Spirit Realm creature data himself. Otherwise, the parish priest could have accurately judged whether he could still use the "Heng-Ha Technique" and how much combat ability he had left. In that case, the opponent's choices during the battle and the final result would likely have been completely different.

And as for simplifying rituals, Guillaume Bénet had also "revealed" it before:

Wrapping someone in sheepskin that had accumulated the ritual process and chanting the incantation could turn the other person into a sheep, without needing to perform complex and troublesome rituals.

Lu Mian was just about to ask if the parish priest knew what abilities a "Sufferer" possessed when his head suddenly felt a needle-like pain, and he no longer had the strength to maintain it.

He was a bit disappointed, but he could accept it. If it weren't for Fu Lanca's self-created "Magic Mirror Divination," how could he have asked so many questions and obtained so many answers?

Lu Mian opened his "Spirit Vision," ended the "Spirit Mediumship," and while breathing heavily, watched Guillaume Bénet's spirit float out of the mirror.

Having eased up slightly, he suddenly extended his right palm and grabbed the parish priest's spirit body.

This obviously couldn't control an intangible object, but crimson flames erupted from Lu Mian's palm, instantly igniting Guillaume Bénet's spirit, which was already very fragile.

In the firelight, which was more scorching than the noon sun, Lu Mian watched the ghost that was instinctively struggling with a pained expression, curled his lips high, and shouted in a low voice:

"Praise the Sun!"

Guillaume Bénet was stunned for a moment and dissipated rapidly in the flames.

(End of chapter)