Chapter 982: Together

Facing the flame serpent slashed by Lu Mi, Zarathustra’s historical fissure image had not yet fully emerged from the historical mist and could not respond effectively, while the countless transparent worms within the dark vortex of Zarathustra’s true form merely watched, taking no action.

The highly compressed crimson serpent had not yet truly neared Zarathustra’s true form when it suddenly changed direction, veering sideways, as if unwilling to clash with this complete mythic being.

This was the power of the “Miracle.”

Zarathustra’s earlier vow—“No one shall disturb him”—was still active, still in effect!

Although Lu Mi possessed a degree of divinity, the wish’s power could not prevent him from leaving the “Mysterious Realm” and returning to this mirror-rear zone, but it could still stop him from directly affecting Zarathustra’s true form, causing all his attacks to bypass the target.

At that moment, Lu Mi suddenly lifted his head.

But he was not looking at Zarathustra’s mythic form; he was looking at the glass mirror not far from Zarathustra.

His eye, clouded by shattered capillaries, turned iron-black, reflecting the glass mirror’s entrance-exit, reflecting the pale white patch upon it.

This was the mirror’s inherent weakness.

Immediately after, Lu Mi—with a silver-white ear clip on his left ear and his black hair gently drifting—smiled, raising the “Sword of Courage” in his hand.

The flame serpent, having dodged Zarathustra’s true form, instantly changed direction and lunged fiercely toward the pale white patch on the glass mirror.

The distance between them was extremely short; before Zarathustra’s true form could react, the highly compressed crimson serpent struck the target zone.

Zarathustra’s vortex-shaped head, composed of countless worms, turned toward it, seemingly startled by Lu Mi’s choice.

Once the mirror shattered, the corresponding mirror-rear zone would collapse; anyone or anything within that area, if unable to escape promptly through the mirror tunnel, would be swallowed by the chaotic currents of the mirror world and dragged deep within—where the dangers were lethal to non-mythic beings like Lu Mi!

Even for angels with complete mythic forms, the depths of the mirror world were places they rarely ventured into, unless they followed the “Door” or “Witch” paths.

Seeing this, Lu Mi’s smile grew even more insane:

I never intended to attack you!

From the very beginning, my goal was to shatter the mirror corresponding to this zone, dragging you down into the depths of the mirror world, into the perilous temporal chaos!

To prevent you from detecting my true intent, I pretended to strike you directly—and that strange interference saved me considerable spiritual energy; otherwise, even a “Pyromancer” wearing the “Lies” ear clip would have struggled immensely to alter the serpent’s course mid-flight, consuming enormous energy!

BOOM!

The crimson serpent, imbued with the effects of “Harvest” and “Full Power Strike,” exploded violently against the mirror’s weak point, unleashing a furious storm.

Within the storm, the sound of cracking was drowned out; the mirror instantly shattered into fragments, and the entire mirror-rear zone collapsed with a thunderous roar.

This void-black world crumbled.

Neither Lu Mi nor Zarathustra’s true form entered the spiderweb-like illusory tunnel; instead, they plummeted abruptly into the unseen, bottomless darkness.

The collapse of this mirror world also violently disturbed the historical mist that had permeated the area; Zarathustra’s historical fissure image, not yet fully pulled out, dissolved into nothingness.

In rapid freefall, Lu Mi’s body grew light, his descent speed clearly slowing.

He could now see the dark storm below, seemingly capable of shredding all things, and knew he was about to be swept into it.

He activated the black mark on his right shoulder and vanished from the current void.

His figure did not reappear in the outside world; he did not use the “Witch’s” control over the mirror world or the “Spirit World Transit” ability from the severed hand brother to escape this danger before being engulfed by temporal chaos—he “blinked” to Zarathustra’s side.

Countless invisible spiderwebs emerged, layer upon layer binding the worm-vortex clad in black formal wear.

After leaving the “Mysterious Realm,” Lu Mi had secretly been weaving spiderwebs, encircling Zarathustra’s true form; when the mirror-rear zone collapsed, these transparent threads immediately lashed toward the target, disregarding the contamination and influence of the mythic form, making direct contact with Zarathustra’s true form.

It was through this contact, through the “Witch’s” spiderwebs providing location, that Lu Mi could find Zarathustra’s true form within this chaotic, dangerous space and “teleport” beside Him.

The spiderwebs wrapped around Zarathustra slowly and jerkily; beside them, Lu Mi, dragged along by the threads, closed his eyes and slashed the “Sword of Courage” toward the worm-vortex clad in black formal wear.

The crimson flames upon the iron-black straight sword silently turned pitch-black, bound with violence and madness.

“Destruction Flame!”

As Lu Mi drew closer to Zarathustra’s true form, even with his eyes closed, his thoughts grew sluggish and stiff, and the “Sword of Courage” he slashed clearly slowed.

This was the contamination brought by the mythic form—this too was a form of puppetization.

Zarathustra normally required twenty seconds to preliminarily control a target’s “Spirit Thread,” but with the impact and contamination of the mythic form, it now took only seven seconds!

Since Lu Mi left the “Mysterious Realm,” He had been covertly diverting attention to manipulate Lu Mi’s “Spirit Thread”!

“So… this is how it is…” On Lu Mi’s radiant face, the insane smile did not fade.

He activated the black mark on his right shoulder once more.

And now, he was bound together with Zarathustra’s true form by the invisible spiderwebs.

That meant—he would “teleport” taking Zarathustra with him!

He intended to “go” somewhere with Zarathustra!

Zarathustra suddenly sensed danger, abandoned manipulating Lu Mi’s “Spirit Thread,” and prepared to use the “Paper Doll Substitute” to break free from the spiderwebs and escape this region, nearly swallowed by temporal chaos, using the “Necromancer” artifact he carried.

At that moment, within a phantom tunnel of the mirror world, Bernadette sat upon a green pea vine, talking on the phone while watching a mirror.

The mirror was Lu Mi’s own crafted substitute, deeply linked to him; Bernadette relied on this connection and her “Watcher” path ability to monitor every move within the battlefield.

She suddenly extended her right hand and swept again toward the dark crown she had retrieved.

The crown’s many gems ignited simultaneously, using Lu Mi’s mirror to “disrupt” the corresponding spacetime.

Zarathustra first turned into a paper doll, then his true form reappeared in the same spot, still bound by the spiderwebs.

This was the final bit of help Bernadette could offer.

Lu Mi’s figure vanished into the dark void about to be swallowed by temporal chaos, taking Zarathustra with him.

They reappeared on the surface of the large screen on the hotpot restaurant stage, then passed through it.

Zarathustra immediately saw the private booth belonging to their group, saw tables of guests eating hotpot.

Good—it’s not the police station… Zarathustra immediately contracted the worm-vortex, swiftly reverting to an old man with white hair.

He feared his mythic form would cause mass casualties and madness in this public hotpot restaurant; if so, he would inevitably be detected by the Dream Master’s consciousness, forcibly ejected or turned into a puppet—something he could no longer evade with historical projections.

As Zarathustra regained his human form, he suddenly saw a pair of eyes—dark brown eyes.

They belonged to Zhou Mingrui.

Zhou Mingrui sat at a table not far from the stage, staring in stunned silence as Zarathustra and a beautiful, striking woman with bloodstained cheeks emerged from the screen; he sensed lingering danger on the former, as if he had just escaped a state capable of killing everyone in the hotpot restaurant.

This deeply stirred him; the goose intestine he had pinched with his chopsticks, not yet dipped into the pot, froze midair.

Outside the hotpot restaurant, the evening sky at seven o’clock remained bright.

Zarathustra’s gaze instantly froze.

The next second, he turned his head toward Lu Mi.

Lu Mi’s left eye had lost focus, hazy and vacant; his right eye, blue, was veiled in blood-tinged mist.

He sheathed the “Sword of Courage,” curled his lips upward, and offered Zarathustra a smile both dangerous and beautiful.

Both felt pain, as if bound by invisible tentacles, forcibly dragged away from the world sustaining them.

Their thoughts also rapidly grew sluggish and stiff.

Lu Mi, confirming his expectations, smiled even more joyfully.

Zarathustra made no further resistance—that would prevent Him from entering dreams again.

He gazed deeply at the “Despair Witch” before him and, yielding to the force expelling Him from the dream, departed this world.

Lu Mi did the same.

Applause erupted enthusiastically from all around the hotpot restaurant.

Whether the scene of the beautiful woman and old man emerging from the screen was magic or virtual reality technology, it deserved cheers!

The audience did not notice that behind Zarathustra, a phantom door subtly appeared; Ludwig, dressed in a child’s formal suit, stepped out.

Those and things banished by the “Necromancer” ability, upon the time’s end, did not return to their original positions, but reappeared beside the one who used the “Banishment” ability.

Ludwig glanced at Lu Mianna and Zarathustra ahead, then quickly restored his mouth to its original shape.

He circled around and took Lu Mianna’s hand.

Lu Mianna remembered this was her child; under Ludwig’s guidance, they left the stage and headed toward the back of the hotpot restaurant—the area reserved for face-changing performers’ rest.

Zarathustra glanced curiously at his own position, then descended the stage amid the audience’s applause, heading upstairs.

After walking seven or eight steps, he saw the staircase; for some reason, his mood suddenly brightened.

At that moment, he heard a “bang.”

A dull greenish bullet flew from above, striking the side of his head.

On the glass window in the corner of the second floor, Franca’s figure faintly materialized.

Hidden in the surveillance blind spot, she had extended the “Gun of Necessity” slightly beyond the glass mirror.

“Necessary Death!”

As the gun fired, Zarathustra’s pupils dilated instantly; his head exploded, red and white splattering everywhere.

Franca swiftly retracted the “Gun of Necessity,” using the residual power of the “Ice Talisman” to calmly depart from the glass window.

I can’t kill your true form—can’t I kill your dream image?

Without this identity now, how will you acquire money and resources? How long will it take you to obtain a new identity and return to the Dream City?

(End of Chapter)