Chapter 613

Boom!

When his body was torn by the explosion, Lu Mian, relying on the "Ascetic's" endurance of pain and the "Pyromaniac's" resistance to burning, triggered the black mark on his right shoulder once again.

He carried Father Montserrat, who had the "Dirge of Hatred" inserted into his neck, and vanished into the rolling waves of fire, appearing at the edge of the dark wilderness.

His linen shirt, black vest, and dark trousers had become tattered, and the exposed parts were all bloody and mangled, interspersed with charred black, with white bones visible in some places.

Father Montserrat was nearing death; the filthy, translucent white film on his body had been torn and burned in the explosion and was long gone. His naked body below, mutated and grown with multiple organs, was full of depressions and charred marks everywhere, with flesh and blood falling off in chunks.

Plop.

After the first chunk of flesh fell to the edge of the darkness still covered in weeds, it suddenly seeped downward, as if absorbed by the soil.

Seeing this, Lu Mian's heart stirred. He grabbed Father Montserrat's body and initiated "teleportation" once again.

He directly left this dark wilderness, his figure outlined on the deck bathed in crimson moonlight.

At the same time, the illusory oak tree deep in the cargo hold shed its bark, growing moist, slippery, huge fleshy petals.

The blood-engorged fleshy petals began to wriggle, but only spat out a human figure not yet the size of a palm.

This figure was nearly the same size as the chunk of flesh that Father Montserrat had just dropped on the ground and been absorbed by the wilderness.

It had clean features and a young state; it was clearly Father Montserrat shrunk by an unknown amount.

This Father Montserrat had dull eyes and a stiff expression, without any performance that could be called intelligent.

The silver-white "Armor of Pride" rushed over, swinging the newly condensed giant hammer of light heavily downward, smashing the small elf-like Father Montserrat flat, turning the opponent into a mass of blood-colored meat paste.

Points of dawn light lit up, quickly dissolving this mass of meat paste.

The illusory, huge oak tree immediately became more and more transparent, and the black wilderness covered in weeds quickly fell apart.

In just the blink of an eye, this abnormal scene disappeared, and the cargo hold returned to its original state, only with multiple wooden crates broken, and obvious depressions and deep marks on the steel walls and floor.

On the other side, Lu Mian pulled out the black bone flute, the "Dirge of Hatred," watching Father Montserrat's blood drip onto the steel-paved deck without any seepage.

He had just breathed a sigh of relief when he heard Father Montserrat, who had fallen to the ground and entered a dying state, shout weakly but persistently:

"Must drive away, the divine child, must master, His true name!

"His true name is..."

Suddenly, Father Montserrat's voice disappeared, but his mouth was clearly still opening and closing.

And the illusory, hollow baby's crying sounded in Lu Mian's ears once again.

Unlike before, the crying was far away, as if in another world, and Lu Mian's body did not stiffen or turn cold, losing the ability to act.

The invisible divine child was still wary of the "Blood Emperor's" aura? Was this an instinctive fear? Lu Mian quickly looked around and discovered that the crimson moonlight on the deck, or rather around him, had disappeared.

This area had become abnormally dark, and even the sound of the ocean splashing could not enter.

"Waa! Waa! Waa!"

The baby's crying continued, and where it came from gradually became clear.

Lu Mian suddenly lowered his head, casting his gaze toward Father Montserrat, who had already lost his breath, toward this bloody and mangled corpse, toward the corpse's abdomen.

It had bulged up at some unknown time, as if something was wriggling inside, stretching the belly, which already had a huge wound, into an eerie blood-red color.

Lu Mian narrowed his eyes slightly, knelt on one knee, and reached his right hand, which was holding the "Dirge of Hatred," toward Father Montserrat's highly distended belly.

Rip!

With a light slash of the black bone flute, Father Montserrat's blood-red belly split open from the middle. Inside were blood-stained small intestines and other internal organs; there was no so-called divine child, no wet, filthy baby.

Pfft! A large amount of pale yellow, transparent liquid sprayed out from the split blood-red belly, splashing all over the surrounding deck.

"Waa! Waa! Waa!"

The baby's crying grew louder and more miserable, and the distance to Lu Mian grew closer and closer.

It seemed to be gradually suppressing its fear of the "Blood Emperor's" aura due to anger and hatred.

Must find a professional to drive away this invisible divine child... Lu Mian, whose spirituality could still support two more "Spirit World Traversals," planned to go find help.

"Hunters" were not experts at doing this kind of thing!

However, after Lu Mian triggered the black mark on his right shoulder, he discovered that he could not sense the Spirit World or the coordinates he had already mastered.

The abnormal darkness brought by the divine child's miserable crying seemed to have sealed off this area.

This was closer to the "Other Shore World"!

Could not find help, could not summon a messenger, or pray to high-level existences... Lu Mian's gaze hardened, his heart sinking.

At this time, the invisible divine child's crying grew closer, and he felt his body become stiff and cold again.

As his thoughts raced, Lu Mian, as a "Conspirator," quickly found a new plan:

"Ghost-Driving Technique"!

This was one of the five ritual magics from the "Ascetic Monk," capable of driving away vengeful spirits and even evil spirits.

And in essence, the divine child, who had not yet been born into the real world and was in an invisible state, was very similar to a vengeful spirit or evil spirit!

As for the fact that the "Ghost-Driving Technique" also required a target for prayer, Lu Mian was not worried.

Firstly, he could use the name of "I," and secondly, if he wanted to achieve better results, he could completely pray to Mr. "Fool." In a situation where he could not connect to the outside world, the "Fool" seal on his chest would respond nearby, providing status and power!

In addition, Lu Mian, who had become an "Ascetic Monk," could simplify parts of the "Ghost-Driving Technique," allowing it to be completed in the shortest possible time.

The problem now was that the "Ghost-Driving Technique" required the target's true name and an item they had carried for a long time; Lu Mian had neither.

He cast his gaze back to Father Montserrat's split, deflated belly, intending to find something that might be relevant.

And if a minute passed without finding anything, he would fully trigger the aura of the "Blood Emperor" Alista Tudor to see if he could scare away the invisible divine child, break through this abnormal darkness, and indirectly achieve the effect of driving it away.

After scanning back and forth a few times, Lu Mian's gaze fell on the chaotic, blood-stained small intestines.

Interspersed among them was a short, flesh-colored, blood-stained, and clearly underdeveloped strip-like object.

This... the unformed umbilical cord of the divine child? If it really was an umbilical cord, then it was closely related to the divine child, flesh and blood connected... Lu Mian put away the "Dirge of Hatred" and pulled down the object suspected to be the underdeveloped umbilical cord.

The illusory baby's crying grew more intense and miserable.

Lu Mian shivered and laughed in a low voice:

"Thank you for helping me confirm."

Holding the unformed umbilical cord, he danced a dance that was extremely rhythmic, extremely twisted, and had a very primitive atmosphere.

During the dance, Lu Mian constantly bent his body, using the umbilical cord to stain Father Montserrat's blood to draw corresponding symbols on the deck's surface.

He simplified the patterns that needed to be completed, straightened his body, pressed his left palm down, and created a ball of crimson-nearly-white flame on the symbols.

Then, he placed the umbilical cord into the flame.

This had a strong symbolic meaning, representing driving away, burning, and purification!

"Waa!"

The baby's crying suddenly drew much closer, and Lu Mian felt cold all over, his body trembling slightly.

He hurriedly placed a lit candle at the head of the flame and umbilical cord, then took a step back and chanted in Hermes:

"The Fool that doesn't belong to this era, the mysterious ruler above the gray fog, the King of Yellow and Black who holds good luck..."

As Mr. "Fool's" honorific name was chanted, faint gray fog permeated from thin air, and the invisible baby's crying suddenly moved away, becoming more hollow.

Feeling the scorching heat on his left chest, Lu Mian stepped forward two steps with a solemn expression, picked up the burning umbilical cord, shook it three times, and put it back in its original place.

He continued to chant:

"I pray for your help;

"Pray for you to drive away the thing connected to this umbilical cord..."

Suddenly, the crimson-nearly-white flame was dyed with the color of the gray fog, burning more intensely. The umbilical cord quickly turned charred black, and Father Montserrat's transparent face, full of blast marks and blood stains, was highlighted beside it, the hollow baby's crying growing more and more distant.

Father Montserrat's spirit flew backward involuntarily, a hint of relief appearing on his pained face.

He was also one of the things connected to the umbilical cord; he was now also a ghost!

Father Montserrat raised his hands with difficulty and shouted hoarsely:

"Life is precious, harvest is joyful!

"Praise the Earth, praise the mother of all things!"

His transparent spirit body quickly dissolved into the depths of the darkness, and the invisible divine child let out a miserable cry full of hatred and curses.

This cry echoed in Lu Mian's head, making him feel as if he had encountered "mental piercing" again and again. His entire person not only became very weak but was also occupied by the pain of his soul, losing his perception of the outside world.

By the time he recovered, the abnormal darkness on the deck had disappeared, and the crimson moonlight shone on it once again.

The symbols drawn on the ground and the flame dyed with the color of the gray fog were wiped away from thin air, leaving only the candle that was still quietly burning and the charred, shriveled remains of the umbilical cord.

Lu Mian calmed down for a few seconds, bent down to extinguish the candle flame, and took the opportunity to press his hand to his chest, whispering softly:

"Thank you, Mr. 'Fool'."

After putting away the remains of the umbilical cord and the ritual candle, he glanced at Father Montserrat's corpse, which had not yet precipitated any Beyonder characteristics, and released the power of "Accumulation."

His spirituality was restored, and his weakness was alleviated.

Only then did Lu Mian have the confidence to return to the cargo hold and stuff the quietly standing "Armor of Pride" into his "Traveler's Bag."

After finishing this, he changed his tattered clothes and simply treated the wounds exposed on his body.

Then, enduring the pain, he walked back to his suite as if nothing had happened and said to Captain Pedro and the others:

"The problem is solved. Father Montserrat's corpse is on the deck. You can hand over his relics to the, um, Beyonder of the Church of the 'Mother Goddess of Earth'."

Lu Mian had never thought of possessing items from the Church of the "Mother Goddess of Earth."

Captain Pedro and the others left in suspicion and doubt to check the situation on the deck, while Lugano approached Lu Mian and asked in a low voice:

"Is Father Montserrat really dead?"

"You can go look at his corpse," Lu Mian replied with a "smile," intending to order this servant to provide treatment.

Lugano frowned and said:

"But I vaguely heard his voice earlier; he seemed to be shouting the name of that so-called divine child."

Shouting the name of the so-called divine child? At that time, Father Montserrat had indeed shouted the divine child's true name, but based on some special reasons, it hadn't come to the real world. Only Beyonders who had been polluted by the divine child and were nearby could hear it? Lu Mian thought thoughtfully and said to Lugano:

"That was before Father Montserrat died.

"What name did he shout?"

Lugano breathed a sigh of relief and recalled, saying:

"It seems to be, it seems to be..."

Finally, he remembered and restored the pronunciation:

"It is, Omebella."

(End of chapter)