Chapter 96: Attack (First of Three Updates, Requesting Monthly Tickets)

Lu Mi was half-closing his eyes, feeling his pores open, when suddenly a powerful sense of danger struck him.

In the ruins of the dream, he had faced similar situations before—he slammed on the brakes and collapsed sideways, like a sack of flesh with no bones to hold it up.

A whistle of wind rushed into his ears as a sharp axe sliced through the air, grazing Lu Mi’s body.

Lu Mi crashed to the floor, trying to roll and spring up, but at that moment, arms—pale, black, strange, and sinister—emerged from the shadows around him, grabbing his clothes and clamping his body.

Coldness and stiffness flooded Lu Mi’s body rapidly; he thrashed wildly, trying to use his exceptional flexibility to break free, while screaming at the top of his lungs:

“Help…”

Two grotesque palms, covered in tiny bumps, clamped over his mouth—his cry cut off, leaving only muffled groans.

At the same time, Lu Mi saw a stretched human shadow reflected on the wall, raising its axe above him.

Clang!

A two-handed greatsword, entirely made of light, blocked the axe’s downward strike.

Ryan was the first to arrive—he hadn’t even bothered to don his “Dawn Armor,” only summoning the “Dawn Sword.”

The axe, previously existing as shadow, now materialized as a heavy, sharp, dark-bladed weapon the moment it left the wall.

The second to reach the bathroom door was Lyra, who had been in the study across the hall; her veil and boots’ silver bells chimed with measured urgency.

Lyra raised her right hand, aiming her silver-white pistol at the grotesque arms gripping Lu Mi.

They were pulling with frantic strength, as if trying to drag Lu Mi into the shadows.

Blue veins bulged on Lu Mi’s neck, forehead, and the backs of his hands—he was using every ounce of strength he had.

Yet even so, he could not resist those pale or black arms; his entire body slowly, inch by inch, merged into the shadows.

Bang!

Lyra fired—a golden bullet wrapped in blazing fire struck one of the black arms, so dark it seemed ready to drip ink.

The arm burst into flames, instantly releasing Lu Mi’s neck and retracting into the shadowed corner.

When Aurora arrived at the bathroom door, this was the scene she saw.

Seeing her brother’s body already one-third thinned and darkened into shadow, his expression stiffening as if freezing, Aurora didn’t pause to analyze—she pulled a substance of iron-black material from her hidden pouch.

She scattered the powder toward Lu Mi, her pale blue eyes deepening into darkness.

Lu Mi immediately felt an invisible giant hand seize his body, forcibly pulling him toward Aurora.

He remembered his sister had used a similar spell before—but then it had pushed him away; now it was pulling him closer.

The force of that giant hand was so immense it matched the strength of the sinister arms—Lu Mi’s slide into the shadows halted instantly.

Ding-ding-ding!

Ryan unleashed a series of slashes, driving the axe-wielding shadow back into the wall.

The next second, Valentine appeared behind Lyra and Aurora.

Seeing Lu Mi’s condition, he immediately opened his arms halfway.

Illusory golden flames erupted spontaneously around Lu Mi, instantly igniting countless grotesque arms.

The pale or black arms either melted like candles, dripping liquid, or sizzled into vapor, turning into wisps of black smoke that vanished into the air.

In just one or two seconds, four-fifths of the strange arms gripping Lu Mi vanished.

The remaining ones, unable to withstand the invisible giant hand or Lu Mi’s struggles, let go one by one.

Lu Mi instantly felt relief; carried by the invisible hand’s pull, he half-flew, half-tumbled to Aurora’s front.

At that moment, as the pale and black arms retracted, the axe-wielding shadow solidified on the wall, then swiftly merged into the surrounding darkness, indistinguishable from it.

Lu Mi stood up, glanced around, and sneered:

“That’s it?”

“They only sent one person? They’re really underestimating us.”

Aurora shot him a sharp glare:

“Don’t talk!”

How could he say such an unlucky thing at a time like this?

Even as Aurora’s voice still echoed down the hallway, a thick, spiky black vine—like something from the abyss—dropped from the ceiling beside the study door behind Lyra.

At its tip bloomed a giant crimson flower, reeking of foul, sweet blood.

The flower swelled instantly, opening like a mouth stretched to its limit.

It violently swallowed Lyra’s head, writhing furiously.

Bite after bite, what was inside its mouth became a thin sheet of paper, shredded into fragments.

Immediately after, the pure light-greatsword flew out of the bathroom and pinned the monstrous flower to the wall.

Streams of crimson blood poured down the blade’s length, evaporating into mist.

Almost simultaneously, more black vines descended from Lu Mi’s ceiling, crawling across walls, sealing windows, and sprouting one crimson flower after another.

Aurora had already pulled out a substance resembling powdered pearl, tossing it into the air, merging it with certain awakened natural forces.

An invisible warm wind swept through every corner of the second floor; the black vines lost vitality, withered, and could no longer hold up the crimson blooms.

They drooped limply onto the second-floor floor.

Not bad… Aurora silently marveled.

This spell came from a member of the Curly Baboon Society—he’d learned it somewhere to maintain his lawn and garden, calling it a “weed-removal spell.” Aurora had bought it cheaply, thinking she couldn’t lose, and had only ever used it to clear weeds from her walls—today, it actually worked.

Yet those abyssal black vines were unnaturally resilient—only withered, not dead.

This gave Valentine time—he summoned more golden, illusory “Lightfire,” letting it blaze freely across the hallway and rooms, consuming the impure creatures.

Ryan followed by filling the area with clear dawnlight, driving away all evil and dispelling every illusion.

Trapped and powerless, the “Hunter” Lu Mi suppressed his urge to dance the mysterious dance, watching as his sister and the three outsiders cooperated to cleanse the anomalies that had invaded the second floor.

Soon, the black vines and crimson flowers turned to gray smoke.

Yet Lyra’s veil and boots still chimed with their silver bells—meaning the danger had not passed.

Lu Mi swiftly scanned the room, sniffed, and said:

“The air smells… off.”

A faint, sweet metallic odor lingered.

“I feel dizzy. I want to sleep,” Lyra admitted without hiding her discomfort.

The gas from the burned vines and flowers was anesthetic? How insidious! Aurora, rich in occult knowledge, instantly realized it.

She pulled out another handful of translucent powder and hurled it forward.

A great wind roared into existence, sweeping across every inch of the second floor.

Seeing this, Ryan, Lu Mi, Valentine, and Lyra each rushed into different rooms, forcing open windows sealed by black vines.

When the harmless wind ceased, Aurora turned to Lu Mi and asked:

“How’s it now?”

Lu Mi sniffed carefully:

“That smell’s gone.”

“I feel much better,” Lyra added.

At that moment, the silver bells on her veil and boots stopped ringing.

The crisis was over.

“A probing attack by the parish priest?” Aurora speculated.

Lu Mi glanced at Valentine’s pale face:

“I think so—either the newly granted ‘Blessing’ of Guillaume Béne, or the already powerful Shepherd Pierre Béry.”

Hearing his phrasing, Valentine’s expression softened.

Ryan looked around and said gravely:

“Whatever the case, it reminds us we must raise our alert level.

“From now on, we split into two teams, taking turns resting and standing watch—day or night.”

If only one person stood watch alone, they could be ambushed, trapped, with no one to help in time.

“No problem,” Aurora and Lu Mi exchanged a glance and said, “My brother and I will be one team.”

Ryan and the others offered no objection.

Afterward, the two teams took shifts every six hours. Though nothing happened, as Lent approached, all of them knew danger was coming—and it would come again and again.

During this time, Lu Mi used his rest periods to further explore the dream.

He didn’t immediately hunt the fire monster; he suppressed his impatience, determined to fully understand its patterns.

With his “Invisibility” ability, repeated long-distance tracking, relentless observation, and sufficient patience, Lu Mi finally gathered the intelligence he needed:

The fire monster visited the open area each morning to set traps and practice its techniques, lasting forty-five minutes to an hour and a half; then it followed a fixed route to a region scattered with flesh and blood, to replenish its energy.

Its afternoon movements were irregular—mainly patrolling its “territory” via different paths; Lu Mi had yet to discern the pattern behind its route choices.

In the evening, it returned along the same fixed route into the hunting zone.

Beyond that, Lu Mi didn’t know—he never stayed in the dream ruins longer than six hours, and had never explored at night.

…………

The night before Lent.

Lu Mi awoke in his dream bedroom amid faint gray mist, glanced at the “Fallen Mercury” beside him, and instantly focused.

Tonight, he would hunt the fire monster.

ps: Today there are three updates—first update, requesting monthly tickets! Second and third updates at 7:00 and 7:05 PM.

(End of Chapter)