Chapter 768: Premature Birth

Looking at the young man wearing red gloves, Francia asked cautiously:

"Who are you?"

She wasn't foolish enough to believe everything a stranger said unless she'd been influenced by some supernatural ability.

"The 'Two of Cups,' the 'Seven of Cups'—you no longer need to participate in what comes next." The young man in red gloves directly named Francia and Jianna's Minor Arcana cards, his tone carrying the authority of someone who had long led large groups, making Francia and the others feel a faint, creeping fear.

He knew our 'Tarot Circle' codenames… a member of the 'Tarot Circle,' or a helper invited by the 'Knight of Swords'? His attire resembles the 'Red Gloves' of the 'Goddess of Night' Church… As Francia pondered, she didn't notice her spiritual intuition giving no warning at all.

She was about to respond when the young man in red gloves pulled out a Tarot card.

The card's face depicted a sky full of stars and a goddess pouring holy water.

The Major Arcana card: "The Star!"

So it's Mr. "The Star"… Francia and Jianna no longer hesitated, nodding in unison:

"Alright."

Lu Jianuo stared, stunned:

Why pull out a card?

I think I've heard of something like this before, but I can't recall it right now…

Almost simultaneously, Anthony appeared from nowhere and squeezed in beside Francia and Jianna.

Francia blinked, muttering to herself:

"I actually forgot about you…"

Mr. "The Star" said nothing more, slightly opening his mouth.

In an instant, Francia and the others were enveloped by an invisible, immense spiritual entity, then, like aboard a hot-air balloon, entered the Spirit Realm, where dense layers of colored blocks overlapped.

…………

At the edge of the city covered in glistening ice, Lu Mi, wearing the Golden Mask of the Eggs Family, withdrew his gaze.

He could roughly guess that the blurred figures inside his two eyes were the Half-God in charge of this operation from the Temperance Sect, one of them, headless, possibly the same Angel he'd seen before, and the semi-transparent insects crawling around his mouth might be the helpers invited by the Temperance Sect.

Just now, how many people had taken up residence inside my body… Lu Mi grumbled inwardly as he sprinted alongside the "Knight of Swords," Marichi.

They entered the wasteland outside Lacre City, racing swiftly toward Dalsh Lake beneath the pale, cold "sunlight."

——Due to the special influence of this "Otherworld," Lu Mi could not "Teleport" to places he couldn't see with his eyes; that meant he had to lock onto targets visually, making it impossible to instantly appear at the edge of Dalsh Lake.

After running a distance, he reached out and grabbed the "Knight of Swords"' shoulder.

Almost simultaneously, blazing white flames surged from within him, instantly engulfing his entire body.

The "Knight of Swords" asked no questions, easily understanding his intent, and immediately became insubstantial, transforming into a vengeful spirit and attaching himself to Lu Mi.

Lu Mi burned into a blazing white spear, radiating fiercely as he shot toward the distance.

The flame-spear sliced through the sky, leaping several times before arriving at the edge of Dalsh Lake.

Detaching from the blazing white flame-spear, Lu Mi saw that the lake remained calm, clear, and saintly beautiful—even within the fused "Otherworld" of the dead.

Under the dim surroundings, the gray-white waters seemed weightless, or drawn upward by some unseen force high above, stretching into a vast curtain of water.

Before the curtain, countless human skulls formed a mound-like head.

Among those skulls of varying colors, one stood out most prominently: it rested atop all others, translucent and crystalline, carved as if from crystal, and a full size larger than a normal human skull.

Inside the eye sockets of this crystal skull, no pale or dark red flames burned—only a massive, ancient, bronze-colored door covered in mysterious patterns.

The door stood slightly ajar, behind it an endless darkness, within which seemed to hide countless, indescribable eyes.

They stared outward, yet could not emerge.

Along the edges of the bronze door's gap, grotesque, horrifying, or nauseating hands gripped the doorframe, desperately trying to squeeze through but failing, producing only piercing, ear-splitting shrieks.

Many undead and human skulls were drawn here, gradually becoming part of the massive head.

Was that crystal skull the original "Undead" skull used? And the bronze door inside its eye sockets—the gateway to the Underworld opened by the Path of Death's Rank 5 "Gatekeeper"? Yes, Rank 5 cannot maintain the Underworld gate beyond a certain time, so it must rely on the "Undead" skull and the unique properties of Dalsh Lake to stabilize it… But where had the "Witch King" Oseto gone? As Lu Mi had this thought, he saw the countless human skulls forming the mountainous head above open their white teeth, each voice different yet speaking in unison:

"Why can't you give me just a little more time?

"Since I can't have it, I'll destroy this place and see how many of you survive the collapse of this 'Otherworld'!

"And I—I've already abandoned this place, having left Lacre District thanks to my prior preparations!"

"Ha ha ha! Ha ha ha!"

Amid the shrill, hoarse, aged, or deep laughter of the skulls, Lu Mi felt the vast shadow above descend sharply toward his head, while the ground beneath him cracked open in wide, deep fissures, faintly revealing profound, void-like darkness.

All skulls, including the crystal one, now bore fine cracks, as if they would shatter completely soon.

At that moment, Lu Mi felt a coldness vanish from within him, and the cracking of all skulls ceased abruptly, as if halted by an invisible external force.

This also stalled the collapse of the "Otherworld"—though not reversed, it would not happen immediately.

"Is this the power of the Temperance Sect's Half-God or their invited helper? Oseto really did escape—she tested with a Banshee's Wail, then decisively abandoned this 'Otherworld,' clearly stronger than the other 'Ladies,' using her prearranged setup and the locale's unique properties to flee before the Temperance Sect could act…" Seeing this scene, a series of thoughts flashed through Lu Mi's mind.

Suddenly, a hoarse voice sounded in his ear:

"Don't just believe what Oseto says herself.

"From my experience, anyone who leaves so many words before fleeing is either already mad, or trying to conceal something.

"Oseto did indeed flee before we locked onto her, and she did intend to destroy this 'Otherworld'—but why tell us her intentions? Just to vent emotion?"

"That's one reason, but there's likely a more important one: she wants us to focus on the collapse of this 'Otherworld' and ignore everything else."

Lu Mi had indeed felt some suspicion after Oseto's declaration through the skulls, but such behavior wasn't unusual for the "Rose Sect's" Hedonist faction.

Those accustomed to indulgence always rush to display their emotions.

The hoarse voice concluded:

"Time will tell us the answer."

No sooner had the words ended than Lu Mi saw the translucent ringed insects fly out.

Suddenly, everything around him slowed.

Everything before Lu Mi's eyes was veiled in a pale gray mist, becoming strangely unreal.

Then, all things projected onto the unreal "curtain" began to reverse: the countless fine cracks on the skulls vanished, the ground smoothed back into evenness, and the thick shadow returned to the sky.

This was not time flowing backward—it was the recent history, events from a short while ago, manifesting.

Lu Mi immediately saw a pair of massive brown wings, capable of blotting out the sky—the current shadow was their lingering trace.

Between each feather, as large as a human head, was the naked silhouette of a woman.

The woman was as beautiful as the night moon, her face glowing with maternal radiance, yet her hands and feet curled, sprouting sharp, gleaming claws.

This was the "Witch King," Oseto.

Lu Mi, who had seen her male form, recognized her at once—her contours were softer, her features more refined.

Her belly swelled high, veins of black stretching across its surface, stretched so thin they revealed, within, countless bird-clawed infants merging together.

This… she'd stuffed all those bird-clawed infants born from corpses into her own belly… What monster was she gestating? No wonder bloodline links couldn't locate the bird-clawed infants—only indirect sensing within a certain range was possible… As Lu Mi realized this, the past Oseto reached her hands toward her belly.

With a tearing sound, her abdomen was ripped open, bloody.

Oseto forcibly pulled out a baby slightly smaller than Ludwig's body—the infant's skin was pale, flesh rotting, its surface still bearing four or five heads and seven or eight bird claws, covered in a pure, clear membrane like water from Dalsh Lake.

Oseto screamed in agony and hurled the infant toward the eye sockets of the crystal skull.

Though the rotting, multi-headed baby was far larger than the eye sockets and the bronze door within them, it strangely shrank, finally squeezing through the narrow gap—only a hand could fit—and vanished into the boundless darkness beyond.

Was Oseto's deeper goal to send that monstrous infant into the Underworld, making some terrible thing real? Now, she was forced into premature labor? As Lu Mi had this thought, the coldness within him vanished entirely.

The female figure wearing a small black cap and the "Knight of Swords" in his shirt and vest appeared simultaneously before the crystal skull.

But they could not pass through the crack in the "Bronze Door," attempting to widen it further.

The Underworld… Wearing the Golden Mask of the Eggs Family, Lu Mi's mind stirred. Seizing the moment the Temperance Sect's Half-God had delayed the collapse of the "Otherworld," he activated the black mark on his right shoulder and "Teleported" to the front of the crystal skull.

In his eyes, the bronze door suddenly became immensely tall.

He extended both hands and pressed against either side of the bronze door.

A hollow, muffled creaking sound followed as the bronze door opened wider.

Lu Mi immediately felt a terrifying pull—and in an instant, he was helplessly squeezed through the gap, hurtling into the depths of darkness.

Two more coldnesses now resided within him.

ps: A bonus update for first place in monthly votes at 7 PM~

(End of Chapter)