Chapter 80: Traces (Fourth Update, Requesting Monthly Tickets)

Lu Mi was startled, too late to dodge, and could only let the invisible force settle upon him.

He immediately felt warmth, his body filled with courage, as if finally welcoming the sun in winter without clothing.

Aside from that, he felt no abnormality, exactly as he had in the castle the previous afternoon.

Huh, as a “Dancer,” I wasn’t harmed? Lu Mi couldn’t help glancing at the short Ryan Cos and the terrifying Lyra, noticing no black mist or green smoke rising from them either.

Immediately afterward, Valentine, in his form of light, created holy water and dripped a few drops onto Lyra and Ryan Cos, yet both remained unchanged, showing no improvement whatsoever.

“Purification and exorcism don’t work?” Lu Mi asked.

He wanted to understand why it worked and why it didn’t, so that he, having received the “Blessing,” would know what situations to avoid and which he could pretend were harmless.

Ryan Cos briefly explained to him:

Purification and exorcism are not universal—they require the target to belong to the category of evil, such as corrupted qi and all undead. The latter aren’t necessarily evil, merely incompatible and discordant with the material world, needing to return to the Spirit Realm, so they can still be purified and expelled.

“Just as we define Dark Gods primarily by their behavior, their power isn’t necessarily evil.”

Lu Mi began to understand somewhat, and asked thoughtfully:

“The power of Fate… isn’t evil, nor does it represent corruption?”

So it can’t be purified or expelled?

“Yes.” Valentine had confirmed this through his earlier attempt.

So it seems normal that I can withstand that halo—but why did the holy water activate the black thorn symbol on my chest and make me hear that terrifying voice? Because the corruption sealed inside isn’t mine, it’s discordant and incompatible with me, making my body impure, so it needs purification? Lu Mi speculated inwardly.

He had intended to use Pierre Beri, the Shepherd who had already received the Blessing, as an example to ask whether bodily changes also fell under evil corruption—but the situation was too urgent for leisurely discussion.

Lu Mi tried walking toward the basement door.

After just two steps, a sudden buzz filled his ear, faintly hearing that voice—as if from infinite distance yet seemingly right before him—but it was unclear, extremely blurred, merely causing his chest to warm slightly and his mind to grow slightly confused.

It was very similar to the state he experienced when watching the “Noodle Man” dance.

This confirmed to Lu Mi that the black thorn symbol on his chest was half-activated.

He quickly turned his body to look at Ryan Cos, Lyra, and Valentine, finding no abnormal reactions from them.

Lu Mi felt a pang of disappointment—he had thought the two symbols on his chest could suppress and weaken other Adepts to some degree, but now it seemed they only affected monsters within the Dream Ruins, especially those who had received the Blessing from the black thorn symbol’s master.

Of course, he wasn’t certain whether fully activating the symbols on his chest would affect nearby Adepts.

“Has my condition changed?” he asked Lyra and the others.

“No,” Lyra and the others shook their heads simultaneously.

Lu Mi gave an almost imperceptible nod, confirming two things:

First, the black thorn symbol on his chest—or rather, the Dark God’s corruption sealed within him—could indeed help him “resist” the anomalies in the basement;

Second, he had been incredibly lucky: the force affecting him had been “Now.”

After waiting a few seconds, Lu Mi took one step diagonally forward.

The slight warmth in his chest didn’t weaken; it remained at the same intensity.

“Has anything changed this time?” he asked Ryan Cos and the others again.

Lyra was the first to shake her head:

“No.”

Lu Mi quietly exhaled, muttering inwardly:

“With the ‘protection’ of the black thorn symbol, I can move freely here—Pierre Beri and the other Shepherds must have been the same…”

“Wait—the parish priest hasn’t received the Blessing yet, doesn’t have the thorn symbol! How did he safely reach the altar before?”

At this thought, Lu Mi vaguely understood something, and turned his gaze to the ground.

With the light emitted by Valentine, he saw many chaotic footprints invisible to ordinary humans.

Aside from a few scattered randomly, they largely followed a pattern, extending all the way to the altar’s front.

Lu Mi immediately overlapped his position with the nearest set of footprints—and the warmth in his chest began slowly fading.

This meant he had returned to “Now.”

Indeed, there was a safe path here—a path through “Now”! Lu Mi suddenly felt elated, for this was a trace he, the lowly “Hunter,” had found, while Ryan Cos, Lyra, and Valentine—the powerful Adepts—had missed it.

It reminded him of something his sister Aurora had said:

“Each Path has its strengths; before reaching Half-God, in specific situations, a Sequence 9 of one Path may be more useful than a Sequence 5 of another.”

Lu Mi had previously felt inferior and suppressed, having played only the role of guide and protected during these two days of exploration, powerless before the mighty Adepts—but now he had regained much of his confidence.

Finding faint traces in reality is the Hunter’s specialty—can you do that?

Of course, Lu Mi didn’t forget Aurora’s final addition:

“But some Paths are good at everything.”

He gathered his thoughts, turned his body, and directed Ryan Cos, Lyra, and Valentine.

“All of you, take one step forward, directly toward the altar.”

Ryan Cos and the others clearly didn’t understand, and didn’t fully trust Lu Mi—but followed his instructions without asking why.

Lu Mi had to explain:

“Look at the ground—there are many footprints, left by the parish priest’s group, marking a safe path!”

Ryan Cos, Lyra, and Valentine, lacking the corresponding ability, could barely perceive the traces through Valentine’s “Sun” light—and believed Lu Mi’s claim.

—In the Intis government, there were many Adepts of the Hunter Path; they had cooperated to some extent and knew certain Sequences excelled at finding faint traces.

Following Lu Mi’s cue, they all stepped onto the safe path.

Almost instantly, Lu Mi saw Ryan Cos rapidly grow taller, Valentine dimming, and Lyra’s face gradually returning to normal.

They had returned to “Now,” no longer trapped in “Past” or “Future.”

Step by step, Lu Mi easily returned to the group along the safe path.

He smiled and said:

“Don’t step wrong again—another change in state might be irreversible.”

He was imitating Ryan Cos’s tone and manner, finding it perfectly suited the moment.

In the past, given his nature, he would have directly mocked:

“Hah! Are your eyes blind? You can’t even see such obvious traces? Step wrong again and you’re done for!”

Lyra touched her face and sighed:

“We’ll follow you.”

Lu Mi didn’t humble himself; he carefully examined the footprints on the ground, inching step by step toward the altar.

This wasn’t as light as when he returned earlier, for if he himself stepped wrong, it didn’t matter—but Ryan Cos and the others couldn’t afford it.

This time, the silver bells on Lyra’s body made no sound.

Only when all four reached the altar did they begin to jingle—sometimes slow, sometimes intense.

“There’s danger, but it can be avoided,” Lyra, with sufficient experience, interpreted.

Ryan Cos immediately nodded:

“Don’t touch anything here yet—only observe.”

Lu Mi had already fixed his gaze on the altar’s top.

It sloped inward as if meant to hold something, cluttered with gray-white candles, small bottles of transparent liquid, and sealed wooden boxes.

Most prominent among them was a black garment.

It was a robe with a hood.

In the center, surrounded by the other objects, was engraved a circular symbol composed of thorns.

Every part of it twisted unnaturally, entirely black, as if painted with some strange pigment, giving the illusion of slow flow.

The moment Lu Mi saw the symbol, he felt dizzy and his ears rang incessantly.

Ryan Cos grunted, and tiny rays of dawn-like light naturally appeared around him.

This helped Lyra and Valentine suppress their mental chaos.

“Don’t stare too long at that symbol,” Ryan Cos said sternly.

Lu Mi quickly averted his gaze, looking sideways.

His dizziness and ringing ears lessened.

The altar seems just like this—let’s look around for other things… Lu Mi was about to say this when he heard Lyra ask Ryan Cos:

“Will your ‘Dawn’ stimulate the altar?”

Huh? Lu Mi immediately turned back, instinctively glancing again at the altar.

Ding-ding-ding! The silver bells on Lyra’s veil and boots rang fiercely and urgently.

Almost simultaneously, the black hooded robe on the altar rose upright, as if being worn by an invisible figure.

Whoosh!

A cold wind swirled toward them, and Lu Mi saw dozens of transparent faces beneath the hood.

Each was grotesque and twisted, radiating intense hatred, clustering together to form a bizarre and terrifying head.

One of those faces Lu Mi recognized—it was Raymond’s, pale and swollen, his eyes filled with bloody tears.

Lu Mi didn’t pause to examine further; he leapt two steps sideways, hiding behind Ryan Cos.

“Save us! Save us!”

The transparent faces spoke in unison, their shrill voices like countless fine needles piercing the souls of Ryan Cos and the others, driving them toward fainting.

Valentine, in the best condition, opened his arms.

A pure, sacred, illusionary flame-wreathed column of light instantly descended from the sky, striking the black robe worn by the invisible figure.

The light erupted, and Lu Mi and Lyra instinctively closed their eyes.

PS: Fourth chapter done, requesting moon tickets~

(End of chapter)