Chapter 696: A

Did the "Dream Festival" end early? Lu Mi sat up abruptly, finding the strange golden mask he'd taken from "Siso" in his hand.

For a moment, he couldn't tell whether he was still in the dream, or if the mask had crossed from dream into reality.

Lu Mi turned his body and directed his gaze toward what had originally been behind him.

Reyasa and Maxlo, both dead within the "Dream Festival," lay in the middle of the street, just waking up.

Seizing the moment as they recalled their ordeal and slowly rose, Lu Mi focused his mind and studied their fortunes.

He saw both bore clear signs of death—fate would shift violently in the coming moments, irreversibly staining black.

Compared to Maxlo, Reyasa's fortune changed more abruptly and violently, like a river hitting a cliff and plunging into a waterfall.

At that moment, Reyasa remembered his experiences during the "Dream Festival," and his pale, cold face twisted with uncontrollable fear.

Boom, boom, boom—large, nauseatingly slimy tumors burst across his skin, beginning to overlap with what Lu Mi had seen in his dream.

Seeing Reyasa's eyes rapidly fill with madness, his body disintegrating yet still radiating dangerous intent, Lu Mi raised his free right hand, mimicking a pistol, and tapped the air above Reyasa's mouth.

A bullet of intensely compressed, layered white flame shot from Lu Mi's fingertip, shattering Reyasa's teeth and slamming into his mouth.

Boom!

Reyasa's head cracked apart inch by inch, spewing streams of burning flame.

The deputy captain of the Pelos Port Patrol collapsed in a heap of wet, tumorous flesh, now covered by a black formal suit, parts of it still exposed.

Lu Mi turned to Maxlo, who was stunned by Reyasa's transformation and terrified of his own death in the dream, and asked calmly:

"Who was he serving?"

As he spoke, Lu Mi slipped the golden mask into the "Traveler's Satchel," then checked whether items like the "Chant of Hatred" were still there.

They were—all of them, including the food meant for Ludwig.

Maxlo hesitated for several seconds before saying:

"We're both members of the Spirit Cult."

Members of the Spirit Cult… Lu Mi laughed softly:

"You still worship the 'Death God'?"

Isn't the Death God dead?

Maxlo thought for a moment and said:

"Reyasa told me the Death God is about to return—there have already been signs of responses to prayers."

Hearing Maxlo's phrasing, Lu Mi nodded thoughtfully:

"Which faction of the Spirit Cult are you from?"

As far as he knew, the Spirit Cult had many factions: the Imperial Faction, centered on the descendants of the Eggs family, seeking to restore the Baelan Empire; the Artificial Death God Faction, aiming to recreate a Death God; and weaker ones like the Sleep Faction and the Underworld Faction.

"We're from the Imperial Faction," Maxlo did not hide.

"You infiltrated the Patrol?" Lu Mi asked casually.

Maxlo shook his head:

"No, General Quilariel has been secretly cooperating with us."

The de facto ruler of Matanibang, General Quilariel, also has close ties with the Imperial Faction of the Spirit Cult… Add the Church of the Earth Mother and the remnants of Intis, and isn't this precisely what Flanka meant by dancing on three eggs? So Reyasa isn't a traitor… No wonder Quilariel didn't send reinforcements—no matter how many he sent, neither the Spirit Cult nor the Fool's Church could resolve this… Lu Mi realized and asked:

"Was joining this 'Dream Festival' a direct order from the upper echelons of the Imperial Faction?"

"Yes," Maxlo said, glancing at Reyasa, now unrecognizable as human. "Supposedly, it was the Empress herself who gave the order."

The Empress… the Pale Empress of the Spirit Cult's Imperial Faction? Lu Mi instinctively scanned the surroundings.

Suddenly, an idea struck him—he drew the straight sword he'd bought in Sangtagang, lifted Reyasa's clothing, and quickly checked what items he'd left behind.

No golden mask corrupted by death. No skull made of crystal.

Though the latter had turned into a goat in the dream, and the golden mask had sunk into the River of Silence, Lu Mi thought it was still just a dream—no matter how strange, it was still a dream. People die in reality, but objects don't necessarily vanish—just like the food Ludwig ate, which had now returned to the "Traveler's Satchel."

Even if they were to disappear, it would happen gradually, one by one—they must still return to reality now!

But Reyasa had none.

A chill surged through Lu Mi. He lowered his voice and asked:

"Therimipolos, do you sense anything?"

Therimipolos's grand, layered voice echoed inside Lu Mi's ears:

"Only now are you afraid?"

"Tch." Lu Mi felt a flicker of dread, but showed none on his face. "Was the Pale Empress watching just now?"

Therimipolos replied in a deep, resonant tone:

"Not just Her."

Her? Was the Pale Empress an Angel? Lu Mi calmed himself and turned his gaze back to Maxlo.

Maxlo was puzzled by Louis Berry's muttering, when suddenly the man asked him:

"Why did Reyasa want to kill you?"

Maxlo remained silent.

Lu Mi laughed softly:

"Did you betray him?"

Maxlo's lips twitched, but he still didn't speak.

Lu Mi smiled indifferently:

"It's fine. If you don't want to answer, don't. You won't live long anyway."

Maxlo's face turned instantly pale—he remembered what his death in the "Dream Festival" meant in reality.

Lu Mi nodded gently:

"Use your remaining time to do what you want. Don't do anything bad—it'll kill you sooner."

Having finished speaking, Lu Mi glanced at Reyasa's corpse, which was now beginning to emit extraordinary properties. Greed surged within him, but was suppressed by the "Penitent's" endurance.

He felt that regardless of whether Reyasa was a traitor, his extraordinary property should belong to Giam, to the Matanibang Patrol.

To prevent himself from being consumed by greed, and remembering something very serious, Lu Mi's expression changed slightly. He immediately activated the black mark on his right shoulder and "Teleported" away.

Maxlo stared at the empty street and the lights awakened by the explosion, his expression blank and desolate, as if he'd lost his soul. He turned and walked toward the forest outside Tizamo Town.

…………

Buriu Inn, second-floor suite.

Lu Jianuo woke up immediately, feeling his right forearm numb and unresponsive.

"It's fine, fine—just a couple of psychological treatments, and the people of Tizamo Town can fix even this with non-supernatural masses…" Lu Jianuo endured the throbbing pain in his forearm, soothing himself.

At that moment, he heard hurried footsteps outside in the living room.

Click!

Lu Jianuo's bedroom door swung open. Through the crimson moonlight streaming in, he saw Ludwig standing there, wearing a blue pajama with yellow stars and a matching sleep cap, holding a half-withered, bloodstained dark red heart.

Thump! Thump!

Lu Jianuo heard his own heartbeat, feeling as if his soul might soon flee his body from terror.

Did Ludwig wake up early, not get enough to eat in the dream, and come for a snack?

The next second, Lu Jianuo saw a figure drift through the doorway.

The figure was semi-transparent, dressed in a complex, ornate, and gloomy black gown. Her neck had no head—only a clean, even cut—and in her hands she held four golden-haired, red-eyed, strikingly beautiful heads, all identical.

"Give… it… back… to… me…"

The four heads spoke one ancient Fusa word each, forming a single sentence.

All eight crimson eyes simultaneously reflected Ludwig's figure.

"Mine!" Ludwig rushed to Lu Jianuo's bedside, turned around, and assumed a posture as if to bring the heart to his mouth—but seemed hesitant.

The four heads held by the semi-transparent figure spoke one after another:

"Eat… your… own… brain… idiot…"

"That… is… my… heart…"

"If… you… don't… return… it…"

"I'll… turn… you… into… a… pig…"

Almost simultaneously, Lu Mi's figure materialized beside Ludwig, witnessing the scene and hearing the words.

Lu Mi glanced at the strangely dressed woman, then at Ludwig, whose face was set in determined defiance as if guarding his food, and said carefully:

"Madam, you might try exchanging something else rich in spirituality for it."

In this state, Lu Mi wouldn't dare take anything from Ludwig's hands.

The woman holding the four golden-haired, red-eyed heads fell silent.

After a moment, one of her heads spat out a gleaming gold coin, holding it between her teeth.

A gold coin? Trying to buy it with money? Ludwig didn't care for money… Lu Mi was about to warn the woman, when he suddenly recognized the coin.

It was a Ruin coin, one pound denomination.

Uh… Lu Mi turned his gaze to Ludwig.

Ludwig's face showed clear hesitation.

After a few seconds, he finally extended both hands and offered the half-withered dark red heart toward the head corresponding to the woman.

The golden-haired, red-eyed head opened its mouth, letting the coin fall into Ludwig's hands, then swiftly bit down on the half-withered heart.

The semi-transparent woman stepped back and vanished at the doorway of Lu Jianuo's bedroom.

Ludwig quickly shoved the Ruin coin into his mouth, as if trying to swallow it, then realized that was wrong—he fished it out, wiped it on his pajamas, and carefully tucked it into his pocket.

Just like Jianna's lucky coin… both are Ruin coins closely tied to the "Fool" gentleman? Lu Mi nodded with sudden understanding.

He immediately felt a bit disappointed:

Two people beside me have already gotten the lucky gold coin—why haven't I?

(End of Chapter)