Chapter 918: Truth and Falsehood

After the reanimated corpse retreated into the dark tunnel, Franca’s first reaction upon her silhouette just forming was to use Lumián’s newly crafted “Ice Talisman” to chase after it, taking Jianna and Anthony with her, before it fully escaped this mirror world.

Her hand closed around the crystalline talisman long since removed from the “Traveler’s Satchel,” but her spiritual intuition made her pause.

The destination of the reanimated corpse’s “Mirror Transit” is unknown—it may have allies waiting; rushing after it could lead straight into a trap!

Moreover, chasing it means separating from Lumián, making them vulnerable to being picked off one by one.

Franca stared for two seconds, then immediately told Jianna, Anthony, and Ludwig, who was still greedily devouring “air”:

“Leave this place—go to the surveillance room!”

The reanimated corpse had hidden at the tunnel’s edge for how long? How many esoteric pathogens had it seeded here? Staying in this zone would only worsen the infection until it manifested!

And with Ludwig eating one mouthful at a time, who knew how long it would take to clear the esoteric pathogens, which kept reproducing? More importantly, this sealed angel’s physical condition had dropped to Sequence 7—esoteric pathogens inside his stomach couldn’t harm him, but those eroding his skin, eyes, and respiratory tract absolutely could infect him.

Then it would come down to whether Ludwig finished consuming the pathogens first, or the pathogens overwhelmed him first.

Also, Franca and Jianna’s “Witch” black flames were restricted by the dream—only a few blossoms, a few clusters at a time could be summoned; they couldn’t burn the surrounding esoteric pathogens in a flood to create a safe environment.

Yet the dream’s restrictions had downsides and advantages: the reanimated corpse’s “Plague” ability was likewise suppressed to Sequence 7, preventing Franca and the others from being infected or falling ill too quickly.

Jianna and Anthony didn’t question Franca’s decision; only Ludwig hesitated, reluctant to leave.

Even sick, I must eat!

Even if I die, I must eat!

Jianna grabbed the boy, forcibly dragging him out of the mirror-realm, his physical condition now fully reduced to Sequence 7.

In this emergency, Jianna felt the “Pain” elixir digesting once again.

“Let go of me! Let go...” Ludwig’s words cut off as he passed through the mirror and appeared in the surveillance room.

But they saw no Lumián.

“Has Lumián also been attacked?” Franca’s expression darkened as she swiftly scanned the room.

Or did he chase after some other enemy?

No sooner had Franca spoken than every monitor screen changed.

They replayed the scenes from noon when the reanimated corpse had appeared.

In the rectangular matrix of surveillance footage, the reanimated corpses either lifted their heads or turned halfway, all staring directly out of the screens.

Dressed in white dresses, their loose buns now identical, their pale, delicate hands reached toward the lenses, extending beyond the screens toward Franca, Jianna, and the others.

One by one, they crawled out of the screens, faces shadowed, flickering with occasional light.

Seeing this, Franca, relying solely on spiritual intuition and the “Witch’s” vision, could not for a moment distinguish which reanimated corpses were real and which were false.

For a moment, she even doubted whether all were real—or all were fake.

She drew her “Cannon Gun,” now transformed into the “Gun of Necessity,” aimed at the monitor, intending to shatter the screen and hurl the still-half-emerged reanimated corpses into the depths of the “Surveillance World,” preventing them from reaching reality.

Franca’s finger pressed against the trigger—but didn’t pull it.

She suspected Lumián might have entered the “Surveillance World”; if she shattered the screen and the “Surveillance World” truly possessed traits of the mirror realm, Lumián would be swallowed by the chaos—extremely dangerous.

Though Franca hadn’t reacted in time, she still had allies.

Anthony stepped forward, his pupils narrowing into vertical slits, tinted pale gold.

Instantly, he radiated a terrifying aura, like a creature at the apex of the food chain.

“Intimidation!”

He unleashed a ranged “Intimidation” directly at the surveillance screen.

The reanimated corpses crawling out of the monitors froze briefly, then resumed normal movement.

They didn’t seem reanimated at all—just corpses, naturally immune to intimidation, neither frightened nor panicked!

Jianna seized the moment, turning her head to point at the reanimated corpses and asking Ludwig:

“Which one tastes best?”

The one that tastes best must be the original!

Judging food quality was Ludwig’s specialty!

Ludwig swallowed hard and pointed at the bottom-right monitor:

“I want that one!

“That one tastes best!”

Before Ludwig finished speaking, Franca had already vanished; as soon as he pointed to his preferred food, her silhouette—dressed in a black T-shirt and wide-leg pants—materialized instantly beside the reanimated corpse in the bottom-right monitor.

One hand gripped the “Gun of Necessity,” the other held the “Cold Blade,” transparent as if invisible; she thrust the latter into the target’s temple, beside its delicate ear, while it was still half-emerged from the screen.

Crack! The reanimated corpse shattered like a mirror, and all other female figures grew hazy and vanished before the surveillance screen.

The next second, beside the mirror decoration through which Franca and the others had emerged, the reanimated corpse—beautiful-faced, long-necked, dressed in a white dress, loose bun—materialized silently.

In one hand, she held a dagger of ice crystals covered in black flames, and stabbed violently at Anthony’s back.

…………

After passing through the surveillance screen, Lumián appeared inside a dark, silent, abandoned mall.

The escalators had stopped; all stores had rolled down their metal shutters.

Lumián swiftly scanned the area and saw a figure in a white dress flicker past the corridor leading to the restrooms.

The black mark on his right shoulder glowed, teleporting him instantly.

His silhouette had barely formed at the corridor entrance when his left hand already pulled out his phone.

Lumián glanced at the illuminated screen—no signal.

That was exactly what he wanted to confirm.

“This is an alternate dimension formed by surveillance footage—a phantom world? Similar to the mirror realm, similar to the painting realm...” As thoughts flashed through Lumián’s mind, he stuffed the phone into the “Traveler’s Satchel,” not his pocket.

He feared the coming battle might damage the phone.

For a family already struggling financially, this would be a major loss!

In Lumián’s blue eyes, the female figure in the white dress had already reached the corner.

As seen, as obtained—almost simultaneously, Lumián “Flash-Stepped” behind the target and thrust forward his ice-crystal longsword.

The moment the ice blade touched the female figure, she rippled like water and vanished.

An illusion—just an illusion.

Created using the mirror above the sink in the restrooms!

At that moment, a blurred figure emerged from the shadowed corner near the men’s restroom entrance, holding a medium-sized mirror that reflected Lumián’s image: shirt and trousers.

Taking advantage of Lumián’s full attention on the illusion, the blurred figure pressed its palm, covered in “Witch” black flames, against the mirror.

Instantly, black flames erupted from Lumián’s eyes, nose, and mouth—but his body began to fade inch by inch, dissolving.

Another illusion!

Behind the blurred figure near the restroom entrance, Lumián’s body materialized—his eyes iron-black, right fist clenched, muscles bulging as he slammed it into the junction of the enemy’s neck and back.

“Harvest” + “Full Power Strike!”

You use mirrors to create illusions? So can I!

Boom!

The punch shattered the blurred figure into fragments, scattering like glass shards in all directions.

Immediately, Lumián felt countless invisible spiderwebs wrapping around his limbs and torso, attempting to bind him and disrupt his movements in multiple ways.

Lumián let out a sharp “Hmph!”—dozens of black flames, bound with madness and danger, spontaneously erupted and landed on the invisible webs.

The “Flame of Destruction” ignited the webs like true “Hunter” fire, spreading rapidly, consuming all flammable matter and burning the esoteric pathogens floating in the air.

In the blink of an eye, Lumián broke free from the “Witch’s” web and the hidden “Plague” effects.

At the corridor entrance, a female figure emerged clearly in the glow of the burning webs.

Dressed in a white dress, loose bun, beautiful face, delicate ears, long neck—she was the reanimated corpse.

…………

In the surveillance room.

As Franca’s strike failed, Jianna and Anthony, both experienced, shifted positions instantly.

Anthony dodged the reanimated corpse’s ice-dagger thrust.

But this forced all three into a tight cluster within the small surveillance room.

The reanimated corpse’s gaze shifted to the two security guards seated motionless.

One guard immediately broke free from his statue-like state and sprang to his feet.

The next second, his body swelled violently, inflating like a balloon filled with gas.

In the process, the gray-white in his eyes turned a sickly yellow-green.

Boom!

The guard exploded like an overinflated balloon—his flesh and organs torn into shreds, mixed with yellow-green pus, swept by the shockwave across every corner of the surveillance room, covering Franca, Jianna, and the others.

Virus bomb? Franca’s pupils dilated sharply.

The reanimated corpse was within the blast radius too—but she had prepared; she stepped back and vanished into the mirror decoration.

(End of Chapter)