Chapter 652: The Harvester

In the Night Kingdom, within an ancient, ruined, desolate, and silent grand palace.

Lumian poured Gardner Martin's blood into a graduated cylinder, then dropped in a small white bone knife, gleaming with cold light and unnaturally sharp.

Throughout this process, he moved carelessly, utterly unconcerned that his fingers were sliced open by the bone knife's extraordinary properties, spilling blood; he merely ignited crimson flames to burn the wounds shut, ensuring the white bone knife absorbed no trace of his blood into the potion.

The physical pain made Lumian even more alert and exhilarated; he next added Gardner Martin's two teeth, the venom of a colorful-bearded horned lizard, and hazelnut oil into the pool of crimson blood.

Gurgling, gurgling, countless bubbles surged and burst within the blood, and all the previously added items mysteriously dissolved and vanished.

Soon, specks of black, iron-rust-like debris floated to the surface of the crimson blood, as if a metallic weapon had shattered inside.

Lumian glanced at the still-sleeping "Siso" Tewanako, picked up the graduated cylinder, and poured its contents into his mouth.

Intense metallic bloodiness, acrid rust, and the sensation of searing fire instantly flooded his mouth and pierced his mind.

He felt as if immersed in chaotic warfare, constantly battered by swords and spears, riddled by gunfire, and assaulted by enemies; wounds appeared across his body, each throbbing with pain.

You fucking sow, is this potion attacking me? In a daze, Lumian fought alongside the overwhelming tide of enemies surging toward him.

Fireballs, fire crows, and blazing white spears exploded, tore apart, and impaled one enemy after another, pinning them to the ground and igniting them into torches.

After an unknown length of time, Lumian felt utterly drained, his spirituality nearly exhausted, and all the accumulated pressure from the "Penitent" had already been released.

At that moment, a colossal figure appeared before him, radiating immense, terrifying power.

The instant Lumian felt a flicker of weakness, he sensed that the colossal figure was afraid, furious, and regretful.

He's afraid of me… Lumian suddenly understood this clearly, gathered his last strength, and forged a blazing white flame spear, hurling himself and the spear toward the colossal figure.

Blazing white light erupted rapidly, piercing straight through the colossal figure's head.

Boom! The colossal figure exploded from within, shattering into countless fragments.

Boom! The entire battlefield collapsed with a thunderous roar.

Lumian snapped awake, seeing the broken stone bricks of the ancient palace, the still-sleeping "Siso" Tewanako, and "Hela" standing quietly beside him.

Sweat continuously dripped from his body, each drop igniting halfway and turning into crimson sparks.

By the end, the sweat gradually returned to normal, dwindling in quantity.

He exhaled, and his spiritual energy began to recover rapidly.

He had ascended to the "Harvester."

He had successfully captured a higher-sequence enemy, performed the ritual of flaunting his conspiracy before the enemy's face, ingested the potion, and ascended to Sequence 5, the "Harvester," of the "Hunter" Path!

Compared to previous sequences, the "Harvester" gained three new abilities:

First, "Weakness Detection," which allows Lumian to identify a target's vulnerabilities and defensive weak points from a mystical perspective.

Second, "Harvest," which can be added to any attack to reap the target's life; any wound inflicted by "Harvest" is treated as striking a vital point or weakness, inflicting massive damage.

If "Harvest" strikes a true vulnerability or true vital point, it may achieve one-shot lethality—even if the target has strong defenses, it is extremely difficult to withstand three such strikes in succession.

This can even inflict real damage upon beings of demi-god tier, but only if the opponent fails to block, fails to dodge, and uses no mystical defenses.

Third, "Precision," which allows Lumian to ensure any attack strikes its intended target with perfect accuracy, and to precisely control spells such as fireballs and fire crows once they leave his body.

He can even split a single massive fireball into a hundred smaller ones, each striking different targets with considerable accuracy, achieving effective area-of-effect damage.

This differs greatly from area-wide explosions—it is far more efficient and effective.

Both "Harvest" and "Precision" consume vast amounts of spirituality, not less than Lumian's current use of "Teleport."

The only exception is "Precision" combined with fire crows, because fire crows inherently possess the trait of distributing minimal spirituality and being easy to control, so even with "Precision" added, their spiritual cost remains negligible.

Additionally, Lumian felt his spirituality had significantly increased, his mind clearer, his life force more vigorous, and he could now compress flames into blazing white within an instant.

He could also combine this with the flame spear to swiftly traverse dozens or even hundreds of meters; if not for spiritual cost, he could use this method for travel entirely.

Lumian's strength, speed, and physical constitution had also improved, but not enough to withstand bullets with bare flesh.

…………

At the entrance to the collapsed men's restroom of Matani Import-Export Store.

A silvery-white full-body armor clanged out, gripping a massive hammer forged from radiant light in both hands.

It rotated half a circle left and right, unable to locate its target, then gradually grew "calm."

Franca emerged from nearby shadows, glanced at Colobo inside the half-collapsed restroom, and judged he was not in immediate danger, though his injuries were severe and he was very weak.

He'll become the "Armor of Pride"'s target… Franca, while the "Armor of Pride" was still searching for its backstabber and hadn't selected another target, rushed forward, seized the now-still silvery-white full-body armor, and shoved it into her "Traveler's Satchel."

"Go meet Jianna!" Franca shouted toward Anthony beyond the corridor.

Immediately, she vanished into the shadows.

…………

So this is the "Harvester"… If I fought "Siso" now, I wouldn't worry about breaking his defenses… My craving for combat and killing seems to have increased… Lumian examined his condition with quiet delight.

After adjusting to his body's changes, he looked at "Hela," standing beside him, and said:

"Thank you."

"Hela" saw nothing worthy of thanks, but replied with a touch of reflection:

"Your team's coordination is excellent."

"Lady Hela, the ritual succeeded, but I wish to re-enter 'Siso's' dream to ask other questions," Lumian made a new request.

"Hela" nodded slightly:

"The ritual requires him to remain conscious—he might lie—but questioning does not."

No sooner had she finished speaking than Lumian abruptly closed his eyes and slumped backward, leaning against the broken stone pillar behind him.

His lips remained curled upward, his expression gradually growing serene.

Inside the dream, in the interrogation room.

Lumian sat again opposite "Siso," addressing the captive whose malice and killing urge were no longer concealed:

"Thank you for your help—I've become a 'Harvester.'"

"Siso" lurched forward, forgetting he could attack:

"So what if you're a 'Harvester'? In a duel, I'll still slaughter you!"

"Without the 'Dagger' and your numbers, you'd already be dead!"

Now that he's no longer conscious, he finally speaks his true thoughts… Lumian laughed heartily:

"Why should I duel you when I can create a situation where many fight one?

"My companions are part of my strength."

"Siso" spat with malice:

"Do you truly trust that 'Hypnotist'?

"Opening your mind and body to a 'Hypnotist' is dangerous—aren't you afraid he'll plant hidden suggestions to manipulate you without your knowledge?"

Lumian stared at "Siso" for several seconds, then smiled:

"Perhaps this is why I've beaten you—no wonder the 'Madwoman' said you're not pure enough.

"One: I do trust him—we've faced death together.

"Two: To kill you, I'm willing to take this risk!"

Here, Lumian straightened up, looked at "Siso," and spoke word by word:

"Even if I fall into the abyss, even if I sink into hell, I will watch you scream as you die!"

"Siso" fell silent.

Lumian sat back down, calmed his emotions, and asked casually:

"From 'Demonology,' I know that 'Demons' require a ritual to ascend to 'Apostle of Desire'—preferably a special serial-killing ritual—but besides the one four years ago, there's been only one recent case, and the killer is already dead. How did you ascend?

"Through divine grace? You weren't an 'Apostle of Desire' four years ago, were you?"

"Siso" smiled:

"Just because you don't know doesn't mean it didn't happen."

Lumian's mind stirred:

"One of those two pranks was to conceal your ascension ritual?"

He learned about the two pranks from peripheral members of "April Fools'," who knew little—only their own role, without the full context.

For the final outcome, they only knew the prank in the gold-mining city of Devise caused a massive gold disappearance, and the prank in the town of Tizamo triggered conflict between townsfolk and a primitive tribe, resulting in a massacre.

Lumian suspected the Tizamo prank concealed "Siso's" ascension ritual.

"Siso" spoke with the tone of an elder praising a bright youth:

"Quite perceptive."

Lumian paused, then changed the subject:

"What about the devil of the Nos family?"

He cautiously avoided mentioning the Heavenly Sovereign and the "Mother Tree of Desire."

"Siso's" expression turned icy:

"I sought to obtain something from him, repeatedly performing rituals to please him, but he only established a connection with me—only last year did he grant me an opportunity."

That thing… last year… the two pranks occurred after this—one in late last year, one in late the year before… Lumian began to suspect the two pranks concealed more than just the ascension ritual—they might have had other purposes.

Before he could ask further, "Siso" asked, filled with resentment and madness:

"Why didn't you seek help from the 'Tarot Society' this time?"

"Why do you care? I killed you without their help," Lumian raised an eyebrow, puzzled.

(End of Chapter)