Hidden dangers

Hella glanced at Lumian, paused for two seconds, and said, "Okay, I'll go prepare now."

"But don't get your hopes up too high. Even in an emergency gathering, you need to give others at least ten minutes to pretend, otherwise they probably won't come."

And ten minutes, plus the time spent in the preceding discussion, might be enough to Resurrection "Loki" and warn his accomplices.

Lumian's expression remained unchanged as he nodded slightly.

"We have to give it a try."

"Yes, we should catch as many as we can. Once we have a breakthrough, it will be much easier to find the others." Franca agreed with Lumian's idea.

She suspected that some of the previously deceased members of the "Curly-Haired Baboon Research Society" were killed by "Loki" and others.

Hella wasted no more time, and her surroundings suddenly Gloom, refusing the light from the three Flames to penetrate.

Her figure then vanished, disappearing without a trace.

This is the initial work done in preparation for an emergency gathering.

Lumian stared at the rotten, bloody flesh crawling with dead Maggots, his eyes flickering as he fell into his own thoughts.

Franca carefully examined her physical condition and found no substantial or obvious injuries. The Pain she had suffered was mainly due to the mental Impact. As her Spirit Body was Soothing and healed, only some minor cracks remained.

"Phew." Franca let out a long sigh of relief. "' Loki ' is truly cunning and shrewd. Luckily, you knew to ask Lady Hella for help, otherwise, we would have become his Marionette by now."

Lumian wholeheartedly agreed.

If he hadn't thought of using Hella's power and guessed that Loki could directly discover some of his traits, and hadn't decided to conduct a "Fishing" operation tonight, the outcome might not have been so good.

Caught off guard, Loki approached them with all his might, and neither he nor Franca had any chance to fight back.

He could also use the "Blood Emperor" aura, which was relatively easy to activate and did not require complicated procedures, to indiscriminately attract Official Beyonder, and then use a time difference to "Teleportation" away, while Franca was almost Predestination to be controlled.

Of course, without the "Fishing" operation, Lumian would likely have chosen to take Franca away using "Spirit World Traversal," directly escaping Loki's sight, and then sneaking back later.

"You don't need to worry about becoming Marionette. ' Loki ' plans to raise you into Sequence 4 ' Witch ' and then transform you," Lumian casually reassured Franca.

Franca paused for a moment, then said, "He told me he'd wanted a Witch Marionette for a long time..."

"He lied to you. He also said those four Honorific Name were to speed things up, but actually he was setting a trap for me, a trap that could isolate me from most of the struggles," Lumian calmly pointed out that Franca had been deceived.

"..." Franca couldn't help but curse, "Damn! Does he ever tell the truth? No wonder he's the leader of ' April Fool's Day ' Day,' that new type of Swindler living across from the ' Different from the Rest ' Dance Hall!"

At this point, Franca began to mutter to herself:

"The Honorific Name he chanted is definitely real. It's also true that he could use the traits we share and the power of that Celestial Worthy being to locate me directly. As for the specific range, given his style, it's most likely nonsense and can't be believed."

What characteristics might it have...?

"If this Transmigration was indeed orchestrated by that Celestial Worthy, then we likely all bear His traces or Brand, and Loki, with His power, could easily locate us within a certain range."

Franca suddenly turned her head and looked at Lumian:

"During the gathering, you should have been recognized by Loki as a fake Muggle! You don't have the Celestial Worthy's aura or Brand on you!"

"Yes." Lumian's mood was somewhat downcast.

"We'll have to tell Lady. Hella about this later. Let's see if everyone can come up with a way to remove the Celestial Worthy Aura from them, otherwise, they'll be hunted down by Loki others in the future." Franca said, glancing at the "Wraith" that was emanating a faint greenish light and fused with a part of the Corpse. "How should we deal with this Beyonder Characteristic?"

This is Beyonder Characteristic of Sequence 5!

She had her own thoughts about this Spoils of War, but she didn't know what Lumian's attitude was.

"Lady. Hella killed Loki herself, so the Spoils of War should definitely belong to her," Lumian said nonchalantly.

He then pointed to the other Corpse that the Marionette had transformed into:

Why didn't he extract Beyonder Characteristic?

"Yeah, surely he can't be Resurrection too, can he?" Franca muttered before adding, "Could it be that the Gifted doesn't possess Beyonder Characteristic?"

Her intention was also to bestow the Beyonder Characteristic of the "Wraith" upon Lady Hella.

Lumian nodded slowly:

"At dusk, I thought it was Marionette of the ' Sun ' Pathway. But when I was controlled, every word he said sounded like insane ramblings, affecting my mind and Spirit Body. It's quite different from the style of the ' Sun ' Pathway. Hmm, it must indeed be Gifted some Evil God, made into Marionette by ' Loki '."

"Ask Lady. Hella later." As soon as Franca finished speaking, Hella's figure, dressed in Black Widow-style Dress, appeared in the deserted Mine.

She said to Lumian and Franca, "Wait five more minutes, then we'll recite the Incantation and enter the Palace of the ' Night Kingdom '."

"Okay." Lumian took a breath and then slowly exhaled.

Franca immediately told Hella about the possible common traits among the Society members, and then asked, "Is there any way to confirm or eliminate this? ' Loki, ' a ' Marionettist,' is hiding in the shadows and could come looking for us at any time; it's truly terrifying."

Hella thought for a moment and said, "First, I need to advance to Sequence 4 and become Half-God. Only then can I barely suppress the aura left behind by the Celestial Worthy. Second, I need to find Mystical Item with the effects of Concealment and guarding secrets."

"These are the only two methods I can think of right now. Let's see if anyone else has a better idea at the next gathering."

At this moment, Lumian looked at Hella and asked with a slightly anxious tone, "' Lady,' have you gotten anything out of ' Loki ' or found anything?"

Hella took out a flask, gulped down another three-quarters of it, and drank one of the books.

A flush crept onto her Paleness face, and she said in a cold voice, "When I asked ' Loki ' why he wanted to harm the other members, he said it was for fun, to gain emotional and spiritual satisfaction from creating pranks. But when I asked him separately why he wanted to harm ' Muggle,' his answer was... ' Blessed One of Heaven and Earth...'"

Hella didn't finish her sentence, but both of them understood what she meant.

Selling the "Soul-Summoning Spell" to Aurora and guiding her to use it on herself, causing her to gradually develop a mental breakdown, seems to be the will of That One "Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth".

"Why would He do this... Aurora is only Sequence 7, just a nobody..." Lumian lowered his head and whispered in Pain.

Hella replied coolly, "It's probably because the original owner of that ' Muggle ' body and their family had problems."

Lumian paused for a moment before saying, "Could Loki be lying? Someone like him, who's always Lie, isn't necessarily telling the truth."

"In the Dream I created, he can't lie unless he acquired the ability to remain conscious in a dream beforehand, but that's impossible." Hella refuted Lumian's guess.

Dream... Franca glanced at "Hella" and felt that this did not quite match her impression of her Sequence Pathway.

Lumian fell silent once again.

Aurora's Transmigration is suspected to be brought about by "Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth," and the reason she was targeted by "Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth" after her Resurrection is because Roche Louise Sanson and her family are believers in Fate, which makes Aurora's subsequent experiences seem like a Predestination tragedy.

Seeing this, Franca changed the subject, pointing to the two Marionette Corpse and saying, "' Lady. Hella,' that Beyonder Characteristic is your rightful Spoils of War. What we want to know is, why didn't this Marionette extract Beyonder Characteristic?"

Hella did not refuse. While watching the Beyonder Characteristic of the "Wraith" continue to emerge, she inquired about Franca and Lumian's feelings when they were controlled.

After a brief exchange, she pondered and said, "This should be a Gifted of a certain Evil God. The corresponding Sequence 7 is ' Speaker ' and Sequence 6 is ' Singer.' People of these two Sequence can use their voices to convey different Mysticism powers, which matches your description."

"Furthermore, those Beyonder through this Pathway frequently perform Mysticism Ritual at Sequence 9, gaining Mystery and knowledge from behind the Gate of the Unseen. What different people hear and feel is different, resulting in different abilities. The ability to create a blinding Sun effect with singing is likely one such manifestation."

"Which Evil God?" Franca blurted out.

Hella shook her head:

"I don't know the specific Honorific Name either, and for us, knowing it would actually be a very dangerous thing."

"I've met His followers who sometimes refer to this Evil God as ' First Philosophy ' or ' Master of Mysteries.'"

Before Franca could ask any more questions, Hella nodded gently and said, "We should head to the meeting place."

Lumian and Franca simultaneously recited the Incantation:

"Transcendent being from ancient times, Ruler of the Night Kingdom, exalted Mother of Heaven, please allow me to enter your realm."

As the surrounding Gloom and Slumber feeling dissipated, Lumian and Franca returned to the ancient and dilapidated Palace.

There was no one in sight; it was empty and deathly silent.

Franca felt something was off, and after thinking for about ten seconds, it suddenly dawned on her:

"We haven't disguised ourselves yet!"

As soon as she finished speaking, she saw Lumian shrouded in a hazy, Dream mist, making it impossible to discern his exact form and appearance.

Lumian then used "Face of Niser" to transform himself into a "Muggle" wearing Hood and Warlock's Black Robe.

With Hella 'Lady help, Franca breathed a sigh of relief as her body seemed to disappear into the darkness and become blurry. She then patiently waited for her "April Fool's Day" team members to arrive.

Time ticked by, and suddenly two figures appeared swiftly in the silent Palace.