Chapter 840

Albus's right hand, which was holding his weapon, dropped down; he seemed somewhat unable to bear the weight of the Sword of Bone and Flesh, so he propped it against the ground paved with corpses and skeletons. However, compared to Lu Mian, who had directly let go of the "Sword of Courage," he was clearly faring much better.

At the same time, Celeste's voice, filled with anticipation and a cruel smile, emanated from the mirrors and mirror-like objects scattered across the mountain of corpses and the wilderness:

"How do you feel?"

"Are you very confused about when you were infected with the disease?"

It really was the "disease" of a "Witch"... Standing on the wilderness, Lu Mian took advantage of the moment before his muscle strength had completely faded—when he was merely unable to lift heavy objects—to quickly remove the "Devil's Whisper" bone ring from his finger and stuff it back into the "Traveler's Bag."

—Wearing this ring would keep Lu Mian constantly scorched by sulfur flames, from the inside out, which would continuously weaken his resistance and tolerance to "disease." Although he had already been poisoned by sulfur and had a certain degree of burns, stopping the loss in time was also very important.

After putting away the "Devil's Whisper" bone ring, Lu Mian took out the brass charm and the matching earplugs given to him by Archbishop Madame Hela-Berg, holding one in the palm of his left hand and putting the other back into his left ear canal.

"Listen!" Lu Mian recited this Ancient Hermes word once again, continuing his learning process.

At the same time, Celeste's voice continued to emanate from one mirror surface and mirror-like object after another:

"We were very certain that the operation against '0—01' would be interfered with and competed for by Beyonders of the 'Hunter' pathway, and we would inevitably have to face Wanake. Therefore, we prepared a Grade 1 Sealed Artifact in advance. The occult pathogen it creates has a very significant characteristic: it can survive in high-temperature flames for a period of time."

"And I can also utilize the power of the special Mirror World to allow those pathogens to spread quietly with the help of different mirror surfaces, silently covering this wilderness and this mountain of corpses."

"You were setting fires the whole time just now, but I was also continuously releasing frost, pretending to attack and curse. This was actually to allow those occult pathogens to freeze inside and survive longer in the high temperature. Coupled with their own special nature, it was enough for you to become contaminated with a portion of them, slowly seeping into your bodies..."

Celeste spoke in great detail, as if she wanted to bring pain and appreciate despair.

This might be her hobby, or it might be the negative influence brought about by certain items.

Albus Medici leaned on that Sword of Bone and Flesh, constantly turning his body and looking toward different places, seemingly wanting to lock onto Celeste's true body as quickly as possible and drag her out of the Mirror World.

However, it was completely impossible to distinguish which mirror Celeste was in just from the source of the sound; the opponent might have been shuttling through the Mirror World the entire time without stopping.

Similarly, even if he recited those three honorific names again, Albus could only affect the special Mirror World in the area at the top of the mountain of corpses; he could not damage the "mirrors" in the middle and lower parts of the mountain of corpses and on the wilderness.

Celeste's voice gradually became shrill, both painful and joyful:

"This type of pathogen also has flaws; it is not the type that will erupt with fatal effects in a short time. It can only make you lose your physical strength rapidly, make your spirituality flow away at an accelerated rate, and make you eventually lie on the ground, unable to move, despairingly listening to your own heart become weak bit by bit, no longer beating."

Hearing this, Lu Mian "teleported" to change his position, lest he be assassinated by Celeste while she had the chance.

Thoughts flashed through his mind:

"Can I wear the Aegis family's golden mask to hedge against the damage of this occult pathogen?"

"If I make my heart stop beating in advance, I won't have to worry about it running out of strength!"

"No, this occult pathogen seems to affect the Spirit Body as well. Perhaps, after the physical body dies, the Spirit Body will also gradually lose the strength to maintain its own existence..."

"Moreover, Archbishop Madame Hela-Berg said that becoming a deceased person here would only lead to falling into an eternal slumber... Hmm, perhaps in the future, I will be 'awakened' as a puppet of '0—01'..."

Albus Medici at the top of the mountain of corpses suddenly laughed:

"So that's how it is. I do indeed feel weak."

"Even with my ancestor helping me share the influence, I should completely lose my combat ability in three or four minutes, only barely able to crawl."

"But I don't remember if I told you what I was going to do in the underground mausoleum, or rather, have you noticed that the abnormality has already occurred?"

As he spoke, Albus's smile gradually became brilliant.

He was composed in his posture, appearing very certain and very confident, not flustered at all.

Celeste, who had been emitting sounds from different mirrors and mirror-like objects to stall for time until the effects of that occult pathogen deepened, suddenly fell silent.

She seemed to be observing her surroundings to find where the abnormality Albus spoke of was.

Albus moved his neck, the corners of his mouth curling up as he said:

"There are only three things I need to accomplish by coming here:"

"First, kill Wanake so that '0—01' no longer has an agent of this level;"

"Second, recite my ancestor's honorific name around '0—01' to make it resonate and gradually be awakened;"

"Third, hehe, third is to stall for time until '0—01' breaks free from this mountain of corpses on its own."

"Haven't you noticed that the frequency of '0—01's trembling and shaking is getting higher and the amplitude is getting larger?"

"Haven't you noticed that '0—01' is about to break away from the mountain of corpses?"

This... Celeste, who was hiding near the top of the mountain of corpses and inside a component of the previous "Mirror Maze" to closely observe Albus's movements and was ready to interfere with the target's self-rescue at any time, felt her spirit tighten and instinctively looked toward the violently shaking and trembling "0—01."

She immediately saw the scorched flag and saw the dangerous blood spots densely covering it.

Her head buzzed instantly, and there was a burst of pain in her neck.

She had been further contaminated!

Crack!

The mirror Celeste was hiding in shattered instantly, her figure appeared, her expression dull, and her head was attempting to detach from her neck.

Now is the time! Albus seized the opportunity, discarded the heavy Sword of Bone and Flesh, transformed into a scorching white and cyan flame spear, and swooped down near Celeste.

Immediately following, he created a dense "Fog of War," letting it shroud Celeste and the area of more than ten meters around this "Witch."

After completing this, Albus did not give Celeste the chance to break free from the contaminated state and escape the "Fog of War" with the help of the Mirror World. He mustered his remaining strength, condensed balls of cyan fire, and let them smash into the "Fog of War" one after another.

Boom—!

A relatively violent explosion occurred, and pale cyan flames rose up. Celeste's "mirror substitute" was passively triggered.

However, influenced and misled by the "Fog of War," the position where her figure reappeared was still within the explosion range, still covered by the shockwaves sufficient to destroy a "Witch's" body.

Albus controlled the power of the fireballs, ensuring the "Fog of War" was never blown away, and making Celeste's "mirror substitutes" shatter one after another.

Similarly, he also controlled the frequency of the fireballs crashing into that small patch of mist, not giving Celeste the chance to recover slightly and slip into the Mirror World.

Finally, Celeste's shadow froze, and that beautiful and seductive body charred and disintegrated, falling to the ground in the form of corpse chunks.

Plop, the black teardrop-shaped forehead ornament she had originally worn between her eyebrows fell onto a corpse.

Albus no longer maintained the "Fog of War." Looking at the dead Celeste, he laughed "hehe" with a mocking tone:

"Oh, I forgot to tell you, my calmness just now was faked. I needed to stall for five to six minutes to wait for '0—01' to resonate with my ancestor to the limit, initially awaken, and break free from the shackles of the mountain of corpses."

"Why were you in such a hurry? You were so hurried that you forgot that looking directly at '0—01' would lead to contamination, and you yourself were already contaminated to a certain extent."

"Remember, being too hurried and too slow are both taboos of war."

When mocking the deceased, Albus did not go to pick up the black teardrop-shaped forehead ornament that clearly possessed extraordinary power, worrying that it would trigger corresponding negative effects and affect subsequent matters; after all, he was already quite weak now.

At this time, his hands and feet had become weak, and running had become difficult. He could only transform into a scorching white and cyan flame spear again and fly back near "0—01."

He glanced at Julie's foul blood slowly falling in mid-air, visually estimating that it was only thirty or forty centimeters away from the target.

Albus then threw a ball of cyan fire over, scorching that pool of foul blood, letting it slowly evaporate and dissipate without causing additional changes.

After closing his eyes and feeling the frequency and amplitude of "0—01's" shaking and trembling, Albus muttered to himself silently:

"It seems to be faster than the expected progress. Two or three more minutes should be enough."

"Hehe, Celeste, I lied about one thing just now. In the end, '0—01' still cannot break free on its own; it needs me to help it with the blood of the Medici family..."

"I wasn't mocking your corpse just now because I had too much time either. Some words had to be heard by Lu Mian Lee, so he would ignore the part where I lied..."

Albus Medici turned to look at the wilderness, looking at Lu Mian, who had just completed a "teleportation" to change his position so as not to be locked onto, and said with a loud, laughing voice:

"You are very alert. In such a pressing situation, you actually didn't follow that idiot Celeste to observe the abnormality of '0—01'."

Lu Mian raised his palm, scratched his right ear, and told a lie that couldn't be falser:

"Sorry, I was studying and didn't hear your conversation just now."

"Fine, I admit, I was thinking that Celeste would help me confirm the current situation of '0—01'."

Albus looked at this guy and said thoughtfully:

"You are very calm. Your physical combat power shouldn't have much left now."

"And I, with my ancestor's sharing, will definitely be able to hold on longer than you."

Lu Mian laughed, laughing with composure and confidence, with the demeanor of a top student:

"Haven't you noticed that there are other abnormalities here?"

(End of chapter)