Chapter 81 Traces (Fourth update, please give me a monthly ticket) Lumian was startled, but it was too late to dodge, so he could only allow the invisible force to fall on him. He suddenly felt warm and full of courage, as if the sun had finally greeted him in this winter when he was short of clothes. Apart from that, there was nothing unusual about him, and his experience at the castle was exactly the same as yesterday afternoon. Eh, as a "dancer", I was not hurt? Lumian couldn't help but glance sideways at the short Ryan and the scary-looking Leah, and found that there was no black mist or green smoke rising from them either. Then, Valentine, who existed in the form of a light man, made holy water and dropped a few drops on Leah and Ryan respectively. However, the two still maintained their changed appearance and did not improve at all. “Purification and exorcism have no effect?” Lumian asked. He hopes to figure out why it is possible and why it is not possible, so that he, who has already accepted the "gift", will know in the future what situations to avoid and what situations to pretend nothing happened. Ryan briefly explained to him: "Purification and exorcism are not omnipotent. They require corresponding forces that belong to the evil category. For example, the aura of corruption and all the undead. The latter are not necessarily evil, but they are incompatible with the real world and need to return to the spirit world. Therefore, they can still be purified and exorcised." "Just as our definition of evil gods is mainly based on their style of behavior, the power of evil gods is not necessarily evil."

Lumian seemed to understand a little bit, and he asked thoughtfully: "Fateful, uh, power, is not evil, nor does it represent depravity?" So there is no way to purify and expel it? "Yes." Valentine has confirmed this through the attempt just now. It seems normal for me to be able to withstand that aura, but why can holy water activate the black thorn symbol on my chest and make me hear that horrible sound? Because the pollution in the seal does not belong to me at present, it is incompatible with me, making my body no longer pure, so it needs to be purified? Lumian made a guess in his heart. He originally wanted to use the example of shepherd Pierre Berry, who had already received the gift, to ask whether physical changes also fell into the category of evil and depravity, but the current situation was rather urgent and he could not afford to discuss it slowly. Lumian tried to walk towards the basement door. He had just taken two steps when his ears suddenly buzzed. He vaguely heard a sound that seemed to come from infinitely far away and yet seemed to be right in front of him. However, it was not clear enough and was very vague. It only made his chest slightly warm and his mind a little confused. This is very similar to the state he felt when he saw the "Noodle Man" dancing. This allowed Lumian to confirm that the black thorn symbol on his chest was half activated. He quickly turned his body and looked at Ryan, Leah and Valentine, and found that they did not have any abnormal reactions. Lumian was a little disappointed. He originally thought that the two symbols on his chest could suppress and weaken Beyonders to a certain extent. Now it seems that they can only target monsters in the dream ruins, especially those that have received the gift of the owner of the black thorn symbol. Of course, he was not sure whether fully activating the symbol on his chest would have any impact on the extraordinary people around him. "Has my condition changed?" he asked Leah and others. "No." Leah and the others shook their heads at the same time. Lumian nodded slightly, basically confirming two things: First, the black thorn symbol on his chest, or the evil god pollution sealed in his body, can indeed help him "fight" the abnormalities in the basement; Second, he was really lucky just now, and was affected by the power of "now". After waiting for a few seconds, Lumian tried to take a step diagonally forward.

The slight warm feeling in his chest did not weaken, and maintained the same intensity as before. "Is there any change this time?" he asked Ryan and the others again. Leah was the first to shake her head: "No." Lumian let out a breath and muttered to himself: "With the 'protection' of the black thorn symbol, I can move freely here, and the shepherd Pierre Berry and his men should be able to do the same... "Wait, the parish priest has not received the gift yet, and he doesn't have the symbol of thorns! How could he reach the altar safely before?" Thinking of this, Lumian vaguely understood something and cast his gaze towards the ground. With the help of the light emitted by Valentine, he saw many messy footprints that normal humans could not see. Except for a few that are everywhere, they roughly follow a certain pattern and extend to the front of the altar. Lumian immediately overlapped the location of the most recent footprints, and the slight heat in his chest began to slowly subside. This means he is back in the present. Sure enough, there is a safe route here, a route that leads to the "present"! Lumian suddenly became very happy, because this was a trail that Ryan, Leah, and Valentine, three powerful Beyonders, had not discovered, but that he, a little "hunter", had found. This reminded him of something his sister Aurore had said: "Each path has its own strengths. Before becoming a demigod, in certain situations, Sequence 9 from certain paths might be more useful than Sequence 5 from other paths." Lumian had originally felt a little inferior and depressed because he could hardly play any role in front of the powerful Beyonders during the two days of exploration. He was in the position of a guide and a protector the whole time. Now, he has finally regained a lot of confidence. Finding faint traces in reality is the specialty of "Hunters", but you can't do it, right? Of course, Lumian didn’t forget what Aurore added at the end: “But some approaches are good at everything.” He gathered his thoughts, turned around and directed Ryan, Leah and Valentine. "You all take a step towards the altar at the same time." Ryan and the others were obviously puzzled, but they couldn't fully trust Lumian, so they did what he said without asking the reason. Lumian had no choice but to explain: "Look, there are a lot of footprints on the ground. They were left by the parish priest and his gang, marking a safe route!" Ryan, Leah and Valentine, who did not have the corresponding ability, relied on the light of the "sun" to very barely discover some traces and believed Lumian's statement. ——In the official Intis, there are quite a few Beyonders of the “Hunter” Path. They have cooperated with each other to some extent and know that some sequences are very good at finding faint traces. Following Lumian's instructions, they all walked to the safe route. Almost instantly, Lumian saw Ryan grow taller rapidly, Valentine grow darker, and Leah's face gradually return to normal. They are back in the "present" and no longer in the "past" or the "future". Lumian easily returned to the team along the safe route. He smiled and said:

"Don't make the wrong move again. Another change in status may make it impossible to save the situation." He was imitating Ryan's tone and thought it was very suitable for the current scene. In the past, given his personality, he would probably have laughed directly at me: "Haha, are you blind? You can't even see such an obvious sign. If we go the wrong way again, there will be no hope!" Leah touched her face, breathed a sigh of relief and said: "We'll follow you." Lumian was not modest. He carefully distinguished the footprints on the ground and moved closer to the altar step by step. This was not as light as when he came back just now, because it was okay for him to take a wrong turn, but it was not the case for Ryan and the others. This time, the silver bell on Leah's body did not make any sound. It wasn't until the four of them reached the altar that they began to tinkle, sometimes soothing and sometimes intense. "It's dangerous, but you can find a way to avoid it." Leah, who already has enough experience, gave her explanation. Ryan nodded immediately: "Let's not move anything here for now, just observe." Lumian had already set his sights on the altar. The bottom was sunken, as if it was intended to hold something, and there were cluttered items inside, including gray-white candles, small bottles of clear liquid, and tightly closed wooden boxes. Among them, the most eye-catching is a black piece of clothing. It was a long robe with a hood. On the front of the garment, in the middle of the area surrounded by the rest of the clothing, there is a circular symbol made of thorns engraved. Every part of it was twisted and completely black, as if it was painted with some strange paint, giving people the feeling that it was flowing slowly. As soon as Lumian saw the symbol, he felt dizzy and his ears started ringing. Ryan hummed, and a little light like the morning glow naturally appeared around him. This helped Leah and Valentine suppress their mental turmoil. "Don't look at that symbol too much." Ryan said in a deep voice. Lumian quickly shifted his gaze and looked to the side. His dizziness and tinnitus subsided. The altar looks like this. Let's look around to see if there's anything else... Just as Lumian was about to say this, he heard Leah ask Ryan: "Will your 'Morning Light' stimulate the altar?" Huh? Lumian turned around quickly and subconsciously looked at the altar again. Ding-dang-dang, the little silver bells on Leah's veil and boots rang violently and rapidly. Almost at the same time, the black robe with a hood on the altar stood up, as if it was put on by an invisible person.

Woo! The cold wind swirled over, and Lumian saw a number of transparent faces under the hoods. They were all hideous and twisted, emitting a strong hatred, and gathered together in a huddled posture, forming a weird and terrifying head. There was a face among them that Lumian was very familiar with. It belonged to Raymond. He was pale and swollen, with blood and tears in the corners of his eyes. Lumian didn't bother to take a closer look. He took two steps sideways and hid behind Ryan. "Help us! Help us!" Those transparent faces spoke at the same time, and their sharp voices were like countless needles, piercing into the souls of Ryan and others, stimulating them to the point of wanting to faint. Valentine was in his best form, with his arms outstretched. A pure, sacred beam of light surrounded by illusory flames suddenly fell from the sky and landed on the black robe worn by the invisible man. Light burst out, and Lumian and Leah instinctively closed their eyes. PS: The fourth update asks for monthly tickets~ (End of this chapter)