Chapter 818: The Dark Forest (Thank You, Mr

At the edge of the street district destroyed by the volcanic eruption, Lumian's figure swiftly materialized, his gaze fixed on the site of the violent explosion.

The ground there had collapsed into a massive pit, emitting thin wisps of mist, but not yet thick enough.

From within the pit leapt out the figure of Albus Medich, followed closely by a iron-plated soldier three or four meters tall, wielding a long spear wreathed in blazing white-and-blue flame.

Lumian once again transformed into a shadow creature, merging into the darkness beyond the reach of the firelight.

He intended to observe the scene first before deciding what to do.

Almost simultaneously, he saw a human silhouette emerge from within the pit, half dissolved into the night, half illuminated by fire, long hair cascading over her shoulders, chest prominently swollen, abdomen distended as if she'd drunk too much beer.

At first glance, Lumian recognized the silhouette as Guxin from her softer, maternal features.

"Guxin turned into a woman? And she's pregnant?" Lumian froze, then immediately understood what had likely happened.

He remembered adding a touch of Rage Elixir and Bark Elixir to the altar lamp's oil—both from the Night Wanderers, products of the "Great Mother's" bestowed power.

"Was Guxin the one who performed the Covenant Ritual using that lamp?"

"He already had some ability to manipulate the Mirror World, meaning part of the knowledge and power he gained from the Covenant Ritual belonged to the 'Witch' Path—and the 'Witch' Path is mystically tied to 'femininity.' So, under the amplified 'Witch' experience from the corpse-oil candle's divinity, the Rage Elixir and Bark Elixir caused Guxin's Covenant Ritual to connect with the 'Great Mother,' resulting in this transformation?"

"Fascinating…"

Lumian watched Albus Medich battle the maternal version of Guxin and the iron-plated soldier, whose strength clearly surpassed the earlier puppets, with no intention of aiding either side yet.

The Hunter must strike only at the most critical moment!

Frankly, if Albus Medich hadn't taken the head of the Pus-Clotted Stump, Lumian wouldn't have wanted to kill him now—even though Wanack's bait plan had succeeded perfectly, luring Albus and Guxin into the trap, he might still have found a chance to let Albus escape.

It was to maintain balance.

Before completing his studies, Lumian didn't want any of his rivals to become overwhelmingly dominant.

That could trigger sudden changes, forcing him to enter the underground mausoleum prematurely before finishing the books provided by Archbishop Heraberg.

So, Lumian observed the battle, patiently waiting for an opportunity to extract clues about the Pus-Clotted Stump's head from Albus Medich, while calmly appreciating Guxin's transformation and the terrifying power of the iron-plated soldier.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The Hunter's battles always unfolded amid violent explosions; buildings already weakened by the prior volcanic eruption collapsed one after another, filling the air with thick dust.

Seizing an opening, Albus Medich leapt into the air, coalescing a blazing white-and-blue flame longsword, and slashed it down hard onto the iron-plated soldier's head.

Boom!

The sword exploded on impact, shattering the soldier's skull open.

Yet the iron-plated soldier did not collapse; instead, Guxin's right cheek instantly caved inward, grotesquely deformed.

The next instant, Guxin's skull and muscles writhed and swelled rapidly, restoring her to normal.

As this change occurred, the iron-plated soldier's head healed just as quickly.

"This… the self-healing power from the 'Great Mother' Path, combined with the 'Courage Sword's' trait of absorbing damage? Not only can it endure harm, but it can also share its own abilities?" Lumian felt a chill run up his scalp.

What kind of monster did my "additives" create…

Seeing this, Albus immediately transformed into a blazing white flame spear, zipping past the collapsing buildings and putting distance between himself and the iron-plated soldier and Guxin.

Immediately after, thick mist spread around him, engulfing the streets within a radius of dozens of meters.

Seeing this, Lumian's eyelid twitched slightly.

He sensed Albus Medich was trying to flee.

If it were him, he'd flee too!

Facing the mutated Guxin and the iron-plated soldier, nearly a demi-god, one misstep could mean grievous injury or instant death—even if he won the fight, he'd certainly be badly wounded, and then likely face the villains drawn by the commotion. So why not abandon these two monsters and leave them to the Enforcement Squad or Knowledge Church's reserve forces?

An enemy dead is a good ending; who killed him doesn't matter.

As the War Fog just formed, Lumian saw a figure appear atop a nearby pile of rubble.

It was Wanack, with iron-black eyes and blood-red hair.

He stepped forward, raised both hands, tilted his head upward, gazing at the gloomy dark sky as if praying to a deity.

Whoosh!

Morola's already volatile and extreme weather suddenly erupted into a hurricane, uprooting trees and forming a vortex of wind connecting sky to earth not far away.

Whoosh! The hurricane forcibly dispersed the War Fog, exposing Albus Medich's relocated figure to Lumian and the others.

"A hurricane affecting the entire city? That's something only a demi-god could accomplish—even weaker demi-gods couldn't manage it… Hmm, add Morola's extreme weather conditions, and Wanack's connection to '0—01,' and it's not quite as terrifying as I first thought…" Lumian's gaze sharpened; in an instant, he noticed Julie, clad in a cotton nightgown, materializing from the shadows ten meters from Albus.

This "Witch" held a mirror, reflecting a portion of Albus's figure within it.

"Julie is acting now—and coordinating so seamlessly with Wanack?" Lumian was startled, then understood why.

All the hidden adversaries had keenly sensed Albus was in trouble, and without prior arrangement, they'd instinctively made the same choice:

To ambush Albus, hammer a few more nails into his coffin lid, and drive them deeper!

"This is the rule of this game, the rule of conflict between the Hunter and the Witch: without strong binding tools like notarized contracts, everyone is free to form alliances and switch sides—but if anyone shows signs of weakness, the rest will immediately target him, uniting to crush him before he can recover…" Lumian understood as he saw Julie raise her right hand, covered in Witch's Black Flame, and swipe it across the mirror's surface, which reflected part of Albus's image.

Almost simultaneously, Albus burst into flames, exploding into countless crimson fireballs that shot outward in all directions.

Some of these flames turned black, dimming from brilliant to somber, finally landing on the ground and sinking into the underground hollows still oozing wisps of War Fog.

The remaining crimson flames reassembled ten meters away, reforming Albus's body.

His aura was clearly weakened.

In his eyes, a blazing white light suddenly flashed.

It was a blazing white flame spear, shooting from the shadows.

It came from Lumian—he too had joined the mob beating the fallen dog.

Seeing this, Albus instantly set his crimson short hair ablaze, the flames extending downward as if becoming a long mane reaching his back.

His face faintly took on an iron-black hue.

Boom!

The blazing white flame spear exploded before it struck him, like a bursting firework.

Lumian's figure materialized behind Albus, his eyes glowing silver-white with black flecks.

He swung his fist at Albus.

The fist moved slower and slower, as if shouldering an impossibly heavy fate.

Lumian was attempting to exchange Albus's fate.

Of course, he didn't expect it to succeed—he only wished to use this ability to quickly scan Albus's fate, locate fragments related to the Pus-Clotted Stump's head, and thus discover the item's whereabouts.

For him, this was the most important thing right now.

A shimmering, mercury-colored phantom river, composed of complex symbols, instantly appeared in Lumian's eyes, and as his fist "touched" it, countless fate fragments materialized, surging forward.

Lumian ignored everything else, rapidly searching for his target according to approximate time markers.

In the blink of an eye, a fate fragment magnified before his "eyes":

Albus carried the rotting, bluish-black head of the Pus-Clotted Stump to the entrance of the underground mausoleum, threw it in from a distance, letting it clang and thump inside, bouncing like a rubber ball, unknown where…

"Inside the underground mausoleum? No wonder I couldn't sense it… He really knows how to hide… and how to provoke…" At that moment, Lumian suddenly felt killing Albus here wasn't such a bad idea.

This kid was too good at pissing people off!

The next instant, before he could complete the fate exchange, he lost track of Albus's mercury-colored fate river.

The Medich family member, sensing Lumian behind him and attempting to attack, instantly transformed into a blazing white flame spear and shot toward the outskirts of the ruins.

The iron-plated soldier summoned dozens of blazing white-and-blue fire crows, which chased the flame spear as if alive; Guxin tilted her head back, preparing to unleash a piercing, indiscriminate shriek.

Julie vanished into darkness once more, but ahead and on both sides of the blazing white flame spear, thick, gray-white spider silk emerged, layer upon layer, weaving into an incredibly resilient "net," waiting for Albus to fly straight into it.

The hurricane still howled; Wanack leapt into the air, coalescing a massive blazing white-and-blue sword, ready to dive-bomb Albus.

ps: Thank you, Mr. O of the Aurora Society, for once again sponsoring the Silver Alliance!

(End of Chapter)