Chapter 673: Opening

Upon hearing Buniya's words, Lyra was so astonished she forgot to be angry.

She was no naive girl unfamiliar with such scenes; she had faced similar moments before. What shocked her was that a man who had always held such a favorable image in her mind would now wear such an expression and speak such words.

And this was even though they weren't even friends!

At this moment, Lyra wondered if she hadn't woken up yet, and even kindly speculated whether Buniya had suffered some trauma, developed a mental illness, or contracted hysteria as the "Dream Festival" drew near.

As Lyra hesitated in doubt, Buniya's grin grew even more lewd.

He extended both hands across the counter, reaching for Lyra's chest.

Lyra instinctively leaned back, trying to evade him.

When his hands missed, he pulled them back, braced them on the counter, and leapt up—amid the clatter of coffee cups and glass jars—lunging straight at Lyra, who was still arching backward.

This reaction, this choice, this burst of strength caught Lyra off guard. She had no time to draw her hunting bow and arrows; instead, she arched her waist further back and kicked her right foot upward like the other end of a seesaw—cracking squarely into Buniya's abdomen, sending the suddenly transformed café owner flying.

At the same time, a thought flashed through Lyra's mind:

"Has he truly gone mad?"

Thud. Buniya crashed onto the floor in front of the counter.

Lyra pushed off with her lower back, straightening her body, then drew her hunting bow and nocked an arrow, aiming it at Buniya as he rolled over and struggled to his feet.

Buniya immediately showed fear—frozen for a second, then pleading:

"No, don't kill me!

"I just lost control of myself!"

Looking at the face twisted with pleading and terror, Lyra felt Buniya was both familiar and alien; her arrow remained drawn on the bowstring, but she did not release it.

…………

On the street leading into Tizamo Town from the primal jungle, Lumian sneered at the houses on either side, each now lit with lamps:

"Is this really so terrifying? So strange?"

He had encountered similar shifts before—in the Fourth Era's Trier—he had witnessed nearly identical events, when not only had the dark town relit its lamps, but the entire Fourth Era Trier had stirred from stillness into noise, fully awakened.

Facing this current anomaly, Lumian was undoubtedly surprised and highly alert, but he felt no intense emotional shock; he calmly observed his surroundings.

He noticed that Lei Yasa and Ma Disi were gone—the two patrol members who should have been right behind him had vanished.

"If someone could make two extraordinary individuals disappear right under my nose, they could make me vanish the same way… In other words, I've likely been affected too—my earlier daze was probably an external manifestation…"

"From a mystical perspective, a town that had long fallen into slumber suddenly relighting its lamps—without any obvious incident—means we've entered another scene, one related yet distinct from the original…"

"Could this be forced dreaming?"

"Has the 'Dream Festival' officially begun?"

"I wasn't even sleeping in 'Xiso's' house—why am I still awake?"

Lumian quickly formed a hypothesis based on the case he was investigating.

At that moment, he saw a figure illuminated by light behind a glass window, half-hidden by wooden planks and weeds ahead and to his left.

It was a local man in his early forties, with dark brown skin, brownish eyes, black hair, and thick lips.

Lumian recognized him—he was a hunting guide who led gentlemen and ladies from Pailos Port and elsewhere into the jungle to hunt.

Lumian remembered him as always wearing a servile smile, nodding "yes, yes, yes" to everything, never angry even when scolded by the gentlemen and ladies.

Seeing Lumian, the hunting guide grinned, revealing a cruel smile.

He suddenly shoved open the window and raised his other hand—holding a double-barreled shotgun.

"Die, North Continent dog!"

As he cursed, the hunting guide aimed the shotgun at Lumian and pulled the trigger without hesitation.

Bang!

A cone of lead pellets spread outward, engulfing the targeted area.

But as the guide aimed, Lumian had already sidestepped and rolled, landing beside the street on the opposite side.

Before his eyes appeared the cattle, sheep, and horses, previously quiet.

Now, their eyes seemed slightly bloodshot.

Lumian pushed off with one hand, leaping up—amid the loud lowing, baaing, and neighing, and as the hunting guide re-aimed his shotgun—landing midway up the stairs leading to the second floor.

A sudden scream erupted—then cut off abruptly.

The door to the second floor flew open. Before Lumian stood a young man, drenched in crimson blood, holding a massive axe still dripping with gore; behind him lay the corpse of a middle-aged man, his neck and shoulders a bloody pulp, the wound deep into his chest.

Lumian, who had wandered Tizamo Town for days, knew both men well.

The man lying on the ground, eyes wide open, was the town's leather craftsman—he bought hides brought back by gentlemen, ladies, and hunters, then processed and sold them.

The one holding the axe was his eldest son, who had learned tanning and curing from him—a quiet, obedient young man, whose father was never a harsh, old-school master.

This was typical of Tizamo Town's people: docile, peaceful, never expressing intense emotion.

Now, the leather craftsman's eldest son had apparently just murdered his father.

The young man, seeing Lumian, his eyes overflowed with bloodthirsty delight.

He roared, raised the axe, and swung it at Lumian, while the hunting guide on the other side began reloading his shotgun with fresh lead pellets.

Lumian's body instantly blurred, merging with his shadow, vanishing into the darkness beside the stairs.

"Shadow Transformation!"

Using this ability to slip toward the Police Headquarters for several seconds, Lumian suddenly heard someone screaming in terror.

He broke from the shadow, returning to human form, and saw Lyra aiming her arrow at the café owner Buniya—but still holding it taut.

At that moment, from the roof of the opposite house, beneath layers of dried grass, a giant serpent as thick as a barrel slithered out, hanging downward.

Its cold eyes opened, its mouth gaped wide with foul stench, and the patterns on its scales seemed to swell.

This time, Lumian did not dodge.

Facing the serpent trying to swallow him, his eyes darkened as he swung his fist upward.

Whoosh—blazing white flames erupted from his fist, engulfing his entire forearm.

Bang!

Lumian's fist slammed into the serpent's mouth, shattering bloody flesh, driving deep into its palate.

Before it could complete the act of swallowing a human, the serpent's cold eyes lost all light; its body fell by inertia, but Lumian easily stepped aside, retracting his fist.

Crash!

The serpent crashed heavily to the ground, its slick-scaled body erupting in blazing white flames from within to without.

"Weakness Detection!"

Lumian walked toward Lyra and saw that the patrol member was watching him too—alert, eyes puzzled, not launching an attack immediately.

She… Lumian's heart stirred; he smiled:

"Looks like you're still awake."

Lyra, keeping watch on Buniya, studied Lumian for a moment, then hesitated:

"You say… awake?"

"Yes." Lumian pointed at Buniya, who glared at him with hatred. "Didn't he just try to attack you? Even attempt to rape you?"

"Yes." Lyra didn't ask "How do you know?"—she answered directly. "What's happening?"

Lumian smiled:

"Perhaps we've entered a dream again—but this time, we're not alone."

From Lyra's clear awareness, Lumian deduced:

Sleeping recently in "Xiso's" house and entering the special dream might be why he remained conscious!

This needed further confirmation from Qiumu.

Hearing Lumian's answer, Lyra suddenly recalled a term.

Before she could speak it, she heard three clear chimes: "Dong, dong, dong."

The bells echoed throughout Tizamo Town, as if summoning its people.

Lyra listened closely, her expression shifting:

"It's the church bell!"

The church—Saint Cien Church? Lumian immediately thought of Father Cali, who bore strange traits, and turned to Lyra:

"Let's go see."

"Yes." Lyra answered without hesitation.

She lowered her arrow from Buniya, the café owner, and ran with Lumian toward Saint Cien Church, just across from the Police Headquarters.

Buniya's expression shifted constantly—now filled with longing, now with hatred—but fear kept him from chasing after them.

Lumian and Lyra ran swiftly; within seconds, they crossed the Police Headquarters and reached the small square before Saint Cien Church.

Father Cali stood at the church entrance.

But he no longer wore the white robe with gold thread of the Eternal Sun Church clergy—he now wore a deep black, intricately embroidered robe.

The priest, with dark brown skin, sunken eye sockets, sharp features, and short black hair, gazed at the empty square and at Lumian and Lyra as they arrived, clutching his holy book, and shouted wildly:

"I declare: the Dream Festival has officially begun!

"During the Dream Festival, there are no taboos, no constraints—you may do anything you desire, act without restraint, including harming, even killing.

"Celebrate! Release all your emotions and desires, everyone!"

(End of Chapter)