Chapter 863: The Thief?

As soon as Lu Mi escaped the shadow creature state, he let out a grunt.

Two white beams shot from his nostrils, striking Harrison's body before he could dodge.

Almost simultaneously, Lu Mi sensed Harrison's body radiating thick death energy; his spirit instantly contracted, shrinking into a tiny, golden, round grain hidden deep within the void of his body, unreachable now.

When the two white beams struck Harrison's surface, they hit like rotten wood or a corpse long devoid of spirit, producing no effect whatsoever.

Harrison whirled toward Lu Mi; his contracted spirit instantly expanded, refilling his body completely.

With this change, a wooden stick wrapped in white cloth rapidly coalesced in Harrison's right palm.

He whipped the semi-phantom stick at Lu Mi.

The white cloth on the stick trembled gently, unleashing a chorus of wails—some shrill, some mournful.

They pierced Lu Mi's ears, causing him to hesitate mid-maneuver, unable to dodge in time.

Crack!

The stick wrapped in white cloth struck Lu Mi's body.

His skin rapidly paled; the sensation of death deepened swiftly.

Snap!

Lu Mi's body split open like a mirror, shattering into dull fragments that fell to the ground.

Immediately after, he reappeared beside the slope and shook the mirror hiding Fulanka.

Fulanka understood his intent; she instantly left the mirror, gripping the burning white candle, and leapt to a spot near him.

In his other hand, Lu Mi reached into the Traveler's Satchel, pulled out the Black Tear forehead ornament, and tossed it to Fulanka.

Here, there was no risk of the esoteric plague carried by the Black Tear spreading, and the Witch of Pain could endure the corresponding esoteric pathogens far longer!

Lu Mi even suspected that, due to the unique nature of the Samaritan Woman's Spring, the esoteric pathogens created by the Black Tear could only persist for a limited time before withering away on their own.

As for how he would handle himself during that time, Lu Mi had already considered it—he withdrew his hand from the Traveler's Satchel after tossing the Black Tear ornament, gripping the hilt of the Sword of Courage.

He intended for this sword to bear half the damage and influence!

As for the problem of excessive courage that might result, Lu Mi wasn't overly concerned:

Fulanka was here; she would monitor, guide, and correct the Warrior's choices, using subtle, easily acceptable methods—like securing a better position, making the Warrior hand the sword to her for brief use, then letting the iron-black straight sword fly toward her without catching it, ensuring neither of them was affected by the courage.

In Fulanka 's words, with an external brain present, using the Sword of Courage could be bolder.

Of course, this only reduced the sword's influence, not eliminated it entirely.

Harrison didn't watch passively as Lu Mi and Fulanka prepared; he hurled the stick wrapped in white cloth.

Mid-air, the stick rapidly faded, disintegrated, and dissolved into specks of pale and sickly green light that merged into the darkness.

Instantly, translucent, blurry, pale hands—radiating chilling dread—emerged from beneath Lu Mi and Fulanka 's feet, surging like reeds in the wind, grasping at their ankles and shins.

They seemed capable of inducing paralysis.

At the same time, Harrison opened his mouth and chanted a strange incantation.

A whooshing sound erupted; white flames ignited beside Lu Mi's foot, radiating intense heat to counteract the chilling dread and paralysis summoned by the pale hands.

Fulanka, who had wrapped the Black Tear ornament around her wrist, silently let the sinister, quiet Witch's black flame flow like water, engulfing the translucent, blurry hands trying to affect her, burning them to ash.

Lu Mi finally gripped the Sword of Courage; instantly, he became utterly fearless.

He drew the iron-black straight sword and slashed forward.

A massive, blazing white-and-blue fireball coalesced, hurtling toward Harrison, whose black hair had thinned to a mere faint layer.

Seeing this, Harrison didn't move; he finished the final two lines of the incantation and pointed his right hand toward the Samaritan Woman's Spring.

Fulanka, having just broken free from the pale hands' grasp, finally recognized the words he was chanting.

One was "Steal the Heavenly Secret"; the other was partially obscured, but ended with "Swift as the Law."

Beneath the Samaritan Woman's Spring, the pale water boiled violently, revealing a female figure—calm as night, yet rotting, oozing pus.

The female figure gazed silently outward, motionless.

Yet before Harrison, a similar but more ethereal, flickering silhouette formed.

As Lu Mi's blazing white-and-blue fireball neared the silhouette, it dimmed rapidly, faded, and vanished—most of it gone.

The remaining fragments exploded on the spot, forcing Harrison to retreat two steps.

Seeing this, Lu Mi immediately activated the residual aura of the Blood Emperor in his right palm.

Want to play this game?

Fine!

Let's see who can influence the Samaritan Woman's Spring more!

Nothing to fear!

Splash!

The pale water receded into the black, lightless spring, and a wild, violent sensation descended instantly.

At that moment, Harrison, Lu Mi, and Fulanka were all shaken to their cores, overwhelmed by the urge to submit, their minds blank and thoughts suspended.

The cold, rotting sensation in Lu Mi's right palm immediately emerged, suppressing the Blood Emperor's residual aura.

The wild, violent sensation from the spring rapidly faded.

Lu Mi was the first to regain his thoughts; he raised the iron-black Sword of Courage, dashed forward several steps, and swung at Harrison's head.

Boom!

Amidst the explosion and scattering flames, Harrison's body regressed into a sinister, terrifying paper doll saturated with death.

The paper doll clung lightly to the blade of the Sword of Courage, shredded by the violent shockwave, then fully ignited by the blazing white-and-blue flames.

Around Lu Mi, more paper dolls appeared—each radiating dread, pallor, and death, their painted faces stiff, grotesque, and radiating unspeakable terror and malice.

The next instant, black flames flew from Fulanka 's side, landing on the paper dolls, burning from within the spirit and esoteric essence sustaining them.

In the blink of an eye, the sinister paper dolls collapsed amid a chorus of screams, reduced to ash.

"Harrison escaped!" Fulanka glanced once and immediately concluded.

Lu Mi, gripping the Sword of Courage, sprinted up the slope, chasing all the way to the edge of the gray mist.

The mist here trembled slightly, as if indicating the enemy had fled only moments ago.

Lu Mi was about to pursue when Fulanka 's voice reached his ear:

"Let's exchange the sealed items—mine is about to expire."

Lu Mi, unafraid of the Black Tear's negative effects, immediately tossed the Sword of Courage to her.

The moment the iron-black straight sword left his hand, his reason and clarity returned to his mind:

"I nearly forgot— Fulanka can't leave the mist herself…

"If I go out alone, even if I catch Harrison, without an external brain and without a pre-planned strategy, the Sword of Courage would become my greatest problem…

" Fulanka is eager to capture Harrison too, but she retains sufficient reason to quickly analyze the situation and make accurate judgments…"

The moment Lu Mi caught the Black Tear, he shoved it back into the independent space within the Traveler's Satchel, then, with Fulanka 's help, stored the Sword of Courage as well.

Only then did he take Fulanka 's hand, pierce through the gray mist, and return to the slope leading to the ancient tomb chamber.

As Lu Mi used the Hunter's tracking ability to search for Harrison, Fulanka employed divination to gather clues.

But after the resurrected island visitor left the massive tomb chamber containing the Samaritan Woman's Spring, he vanished completely—and successfully reversed the divination.

Only when they reached the "Crismana Night Pillar" on the third level did Lu Mi and Fulanka stop, exchanging a glance.

Fulanka 's lake-blue eyes revealed unhidden disappointment and regret; she sighed, "If only I'd called Jianna to lie in wait outside the tomb, we could've blocked Harrison."

I should have asked Jianna to lie in wait outside the tomb chamber—that way, we could have caught Harrison.

"Given Harrison's demonstrated power, we should be grateful Jianna wasn't alone outside—she'd likely have been spotted, attacked, and couldn't have held out until we left the Samaritan Woman's Spring."

Given the strength Harrison displayed, we should be grateful Jianna wasn't lying in wait alone outside; otherwise, she might have been discovered, attacked, and failed to hold out until we left the Well of the Samaritan Woman.

Holding the white candle, she glanced around and translated the two incantation fragments she'd heard for Lu Mi.

Lu Mi lit a new candle as he pondered aloud:

"Steal the Heavenly Secret… he tried to steal my Traveler's Satchel… he sensed something valuable and uncovered my concealment?

"It seems Harrison is more like a Follower of the Thief Path—but he can also wield the power of the Death God Path, and with considerable strength.

"Even the Thief Path followers we encountered before, up to Rank 5, the Dream Thief, never showed this level. And Harrison clearly lacks divinity… Could this be an enhancement from the Heavenly Sovereign's mark?"

The Follower of the Thief Path we encountered earlier—even at Rank 5, the Dream Thief—could not have shown such proficiency, and Harrison clearly lacks divinity… Could this be an enhancement from the Mark of the Almighty?

"After the Black Witch told me the Primordial could modify the abilities of different ranks on the Witch Path, I wrote to the Lady of Judgment about it. She said it's not only true gods who can do such things—some Angel Kings can too. Once, Amon altered the esoteric knowledge and partial abilities gained by different ranks on the Thief Path.

After the Black Witch told me the Primordial could modify the manifestations of abilities along the Witch Path to some degree, I wrote to Lady Judgment about it; she said it's not only true gods who can do such things—some Angelic Kings can too. Once, Amon altered the esoteric knowledge and certain abilities gained at different ranks of the Thief Path.

"That might be one reason," Lu Mi considered, "but his recent actions seem to surpass Rank 5—even the complete Dream Thief shouldn't be able to do this… Could the Resurrection Island's methods of utilizing power, its expression, differ significantly from the Divine Paths?"

This might be one reason, but I think his recent actions already exceeded Rank 5—even a full-fledged Dream Thief shouldn't be capable of this… Could the methods and forms of power utilization on Resurrection Island differ significantly from those of the Divine Paths? Lu Mian mused.

(End of Chapter)