Chapter 98: Prey and Hunter (Third Chapter, Thanks to Wutong)

The flame monster chased while continuously hurling crimson fireballs, exploding craters into the ground and repeatedly knocking Lu Mi airborne.

Many wooden debris around the ruins caught fire, flickering with crimson flames everywhere.

Lu Mi paid no attention to the flames still burning his clothes, enduring the indescribable pain, being flung again and again by explosive shockwaves, only to rise each time and sprint wildly toward his destination—zigzagging, arcing, straightening, with no pattern at all.

Fortunately, his next planned location was not far; just as he felt a mouthful of blood was about to burst forth and his body would shatter apart, the crumbling building appeared before his eyes.

Boom!

Lu Mi forcibly twisted his body, dodging a fireball, as the crimson object exploded not far ahead, unleashing a violent wave laced with fire.

Lu Mi Shunshidaodi , avoiding the fiercest blast, and rolled forward with the momentum into the building ahead, still partially standing.

The flame monster halted, unwilling to rush into a place that might harbor deadly traps.

It watched Lu Mi rolling forward inside the building, gathering dozens of crimson fire crows around itself.

Those fire crows shrieked as they flew out—half smashing into the building’s supporting points, half striking from all directions toward Lu Mi’s back.

They seemed able to lock onto their target; none deviated, constantly adjusting their trajectories based on Lu Mi’s position.

At that moment, the flame monster already imagined its enemy reduced to a charred corpse.

The swarm of fire crows was far harder to dodge than Suishouniedehuoqiu !

Suddenly, Lu Mi’s figure vanished from the flame monster’s sight.

He rolled into a basement that remained relatively intact.

Thud!

Lu Mi frantically slammed the wooden entrance door shut, using the rebound to fling himself sideways.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh—the crimson fire crows slammed into the door.

Boom!

The heavy wooden door shattered into fragments, each piece ignited.

Boom boom boom!

The other half of the fire crows all struck their intended targets; the crumbling building collapsed completely.

Stones, wood, dust, and debris intertwined and buried the area, sealing the basement completely.

Lu Mi had already hidden in a corner, relying on the piled earth and his practiced rolls to smother the flames on his skin.

Even so, he suffered multiple burns, his internal organs felt displaced by the explosions; without timely treatment, he might not survive the day.

The flame monster’s offensive power and burst capability seemed even stronger than Ryan Cos before he used “Light Storm”!

Lu Mi had originally planned to use “Invisibility” to briefly escape the flame monster, sneak into this basement, perform the mysterious ritual dance, partially activate the black thorn symbol on his chest, and scare the enemy away, then wait calmly for “Fallen Mercury” to complete its fate exchange—but the flames clinging to him earlier prevented him from entering “Invisibility,” forcing him into a desperate chase barely escaping death.

Now, the only thing Lu Mi was grateful for was having prepared a contingency plan for when he couldn’t shake the flame monster’s pursuit and couldn’t safely perform the ritual prayer.

He had even considered collapsing this building himself to bury the basement and buy time—yet the flame monster had done it for him.

Huh… Lu Mi exhaled, sat cross-legged.

He took out the bottle of amber-gray perfume from Aurora, unscrewed the cap, and placed it before him.

Outside the completely collapsed building, the flame monster’s gaze pierced the dust-filled air, searching for its prey.

It believed that cunning creature couldn’t be so easily buried alive.

Given his demonstrated trap skills and familiarity with these ruins, he must have left himself an escape route!

The flame monster’s thinking ability was weak; it relied on “Hunter” instinct to circle behind the collapsed building.

It searched inch by inch, finding a slanted downward opening in just over ten seconds.

The opening was concealed by the building’s pre-existing collapse, untouched by the later total collapse—hard to spot at a glance, extremely hidden.

The flame monster raised its right hand, condensing a fist-sized sphere of blazing white fire in its palm.

It lunged forward, swung its right arm, and hurled the fireball into the passage.

The fire traveled a short distance, entered the basement, and struck the opposite wall.

Boom!

The explosion’s shockwave didn’t reach Lu Mi, who had deliberately hidden in another corner; it only overturned the bottle of amber-gray perfume before him, shaking the entire basement.

Liquid gushed profusely from the open bottle, the delicate sweet scent instantly intensifying.

Lu Mi kept his eyes closed, seated motionless against the wall.

He was meditating!

He had long visualized the crimson sun in his mind and maintained it for several seconds.

Soon, Lu Mi heard the terrifying sound—as if from infinite distance yet right beside his ear.

Veins on his face, hands, and neck bulged, rapidly turning crimson, almost fiery.

Simultaneously, silver-black circular spots seeped through his skin.

Lu Mi opened his mouth but could not scream; his entire body collapsed, curling into a ball.

The “Fallen Mercury” detached from his left palm but dared nothing—it didn’t dare leap toward his uncovered face or right hand to attempt puppet-making through contact.

It merely trembled there, violently trembling.

Outside the basement, beside the entrance Lu Mi had dug, the monster about to form a fireball froze.

It too began trembling uncontrollably.

After several seconds, it fled in panic, abandoning the hunt.

Lu Mi sank into darkness flickering with countless flames, his mind filled with Jizhidetongku and evil thoughts.

At that moment, he felt death would be preferable, sensing something within his soul rapidly growing, slowly taking shape.

It seemed a shadow composed of all negative traits mixed with some will—once assembled into human form, it would completely replace the original.

In the endless darkness of despair and agony, Lu Mi suddenly smelled a fragrance:

Delicate, sweet.

It was Aurora’s scent—the scent she often carried.

Aurora… sister… Lu Mi gradually regained fragments of thought; he seemed to hear again that light, soothing melody.

“I must live!

“The cycle hasn’t been broken yet!

“…”

Thoughts surged back; Lu Mi finally overcame the black will within his soul and the agony-filled darkness, opening his eyes.

The first thing he saw was the overturned bottle of amber-gray perfume.

Upside down? Lu Mi winced and reached out his right hand.

He had only intended to mimic Aurora’s use of incense to suppress loss of control, relying on the perfume’s natural scent to awaken himself—yet the liquid had spilled out half the bottle at once.

The next instant, he felt his body trembling, saw the charred blackness and blood on his hands, saw the silver-black circular spots still not fully vanished.

Without anyone reminding him, Lu Mi himself could “smell” the unfamiliar, chilling odor on his body.

If he now encountered Valentine, he wouldn’t need to act deliberately—he’d be immediately “purified” by the other’s holy light.

Lu Mi picked up the remaining half-bottle of amber-gray perfume, capped it, and put it away.

He then picked up the still violently trembling “Fallen Mercury,” and asked in Hermès tongue:

“Has the fate exchange completed?”

“Fallen Mercury” immediately shifted left and right, indicating it had not.

Lu Mi immediately exhaled in relief.

He feared that upon waking, the fate exchange would already be complete, and the stunned state would last no more than a minute.

If so, and he failed to find the flame monster in time, all the pain and suffering he endured would be meaningless.

Huh… inhale… Lu Mi adjusted his severely deteriorated state, gathering his last strength, and crawled out of the basement through the pre-dug hole.

Every movement pulled at different wounds, making even his high pain tolerance force him to grit his teeth.

After exiting the basement, Lu Mi searched for the flame monster’s footprints while silently sighing:

“Meditating while in poor condition, fully activating the thorn symbol on my chest—it’s outright suicide…

“Only because I’ve never done this since becoming a ‘Hunter’ could I barely suppress the loss of control with the amber-gray scent; had I done it even a few times before, my body would’ve already begun mutating—I’d be a monster now…

“For a long time ahead, unless I want to die, I must never do this again…”

He chose to fully activate the black thorn symbol via meditation rather than partially activating it through the ritual dance because the situation was too urgent—there was no time to complete the dance.

With meditation, he could scare off the flame monster in five or six seconds; the mysterious ritual dance required thirty to forty seconds—even for someone as practiced as Lu Mi.

In Lu Mi’s hunting plan, this was the final resort: attempt meditation when all other methods failed to escape the flame monster’s pursuit.

Lu Mi simply hadn’t anticipated that he’d already suffered severe injuries at the start, nearly losing control and becoming a monster during meditation.

Soon, Lu Mi found the flame monster’s footprints and forced himself to chase after them.

A few minutes later, he saw the footprints were fresh, so he slowed his pace.

After a while longer, “Fallen Mercury” trembled on its own, informing Lu Mi the fate exchange was complete.

Lu Mi no longer hesitated, drew the iron-black axe from his back, and charged forward along the flame monster’s trail.

Less than twenty seconds later, he saw the charred, flame-wreathed prey.

It crouched trembling in a corner formed by stacked stones.

Lu Mi rushed over, dropped “Fallen Mercury,” gripped the axe with both hands, and swung with all his strength.

With a dull thud, the flame monster’s head separated from its body.

Gushes of crimson blood erupted violently, igniting into clusters of crimson flames on the ground.

Thud—Lu Mi could no longer hold up, collapsing to the ground with the axe.

ps: Third chapter, thanks to Wutong for the Gold Alliance donation after the completion of The Mystery of the Unknown, and also, requesting monthly tickets~

(End of chapter)