Bodies chasing their heads

After recovering from the dizziness brought on by the terrifying roar, Franca remarked sincerely, "As expected, the Gray Fog here can provide protection."

Otherwise, amidst those roars that clearly harmed their Spirit Body and affected their minds, they would only have two choices: to Loss of Control and become Monster or to die directly.

"Praise the Fool!" Lumian no longer concealed his faith.

He immediately warned in a chilling tone, "But the danger Concealment here might be even more terrifying than that roar just now."

Franca was silent for a few seconds, then said to herself with a sense of encouragement, "Concealment dangers are better than those that have already surfaced. We just need to try not to trigger them."

"If nothing unexpected happens, we'll stay in this corner, hide ourselves, and not go anywhere, waiting for rescue!"

Although Jenna and Anthony Reid felt that doing nothing and waiting for the opportunity to escape from here to fall into their laps was not a good option, under the current circumstances, they dared not venture deeper into Trier in the Fourth Epoch and could only accept this half-baked solution.

In the deathly silence, Anthony was the first to compose himself, pointing to the small, dark wooden box and saying, "I don't know what it's for, but I'm certain that a simple, brief touch won't have any noticeable negative effects."

As for the coins, without his explanation, everyone simply glanced at them and roughly counted the total amount:

312 Felkine 26 Kopek.

"What exactly is this thing?" Franca, leaning against a collapsed pillar in the shadows, staring at the small, dark wooden box.

That wooden box didn't look like an ordinary Wooden Box for storing things; it was clearly an item possessing mysterious powers.

Lumian and Anthony both turned their heads, casting their gazes upon this "Pleasure Witch."

"That's what I should be asking you," Lumian chuckled.

Franca exclaimed, "Oh dear!"

"I have no choice. There wasn't time to ' Spiritism ' just now, and this place isn't connected to the real Spirit World, so I can't do ' Magic Mirror Divination.' To confirm the abilities, functions, status, and Negative Effect of these two items, I can only try them myself, again and again."

"Of course, if you could find a ' Artisan,' then none of the problems would be problems."

She then pointed at Jenna and said, "Just like that black ' Primordial Witch ' Statue, it must have other functions, such as allowing the holder to create a ' Mirror Substitute,' while mine, apart from providing some Anti-Divination and early warning effects, can only be used as an object of prayer during Ritual."

"They're all Statue, differing only in color and orientation, so why is there such a big difference?"

She didn't mention why she didn't try to find out more about the black "Primordial Witch" Statue through various methods. Everyone present understood—under the current circumstances, they had to ensure their own good condition and couldn't risk getting injured or affected while testing the Spoils of War. If something was really wrong, they might die from the "experiment" even before the dangers lurking in Fourth Epoch Trier could be dealt with.

During the brief silence that followed Jenna and the others, Franca sighed inwardly:

This black Statue is clearly problematic, and its origin is even more mysterious. No wonder the Witch Sect wanted me to investigate what Gardner smuggled in through the Underground Tunnel...

If I hand it in, will the Witch Sect reward me with a "Pain" Potion on the spot and promise to help me complete the Ritual, or will they kill me to silence me?

Lumian raised his hand and stroked his chin, then said to Anthony Reid, "In that case, you keep Felkine, and we'll distribute the rest of the Spoils of War once we get back to the surface."

"Just wrap it in the Cloak, put it on the ground, and take it when you leave?" Anthony asked further.

Lumian laughed, pointing to the charred "Bone Flute," and said, "What else? You can carry it with you, and then we might be able to witness the abilities of the ' Seer.' Philip died too hastily just now and didn't have time to show us."

"Of course, given his state at the time of his death, those abilities will most likely be returned to the item's wielder in the form of Curse."

Anthony was not angered by the mockery. He tore off the blood-stained, tattered half of his Black Cloak and wrapped it again around the Bone Flute and the small Wooden Box.

Lumian thoughtfully peeked out, glancing sideways at the unusually narrow street. "If we encounter an enemy later that will be difficult for us to deal with, we might consider giving these two items to him. They might have a surprising effect. Heh, General Philip will surely be pleased to know that he can still be of such use after his death."

That might bring Curse from Destiny!

Despite the tense atmosphere and heavy mood, Jenna was still amused by Lumian's constant sarcasm towards General Philip.

"Damn, General Philip is dead, there's no need to keep harping on him."

Before Lumian could respond to Jenna, he suddenly heard two piercing screams.

They seemed to come from the same place, carrying undisguised fear.

Before long, two Daoist rushed into the narrow street from the side, one after the other, as if chasing an unidentified flying object floating in mid-air.

Franca peeked out from the shadows beside Lumian and looked Past, her gaze immediately freezing.

The Daoist, a man and a woman, were headless; their necks were a bloody mess with no trace of White Bone.

The two heads being chased shared an unusually vivid expression, displaying the purest fear, and dragging bloodied, long-tailed Spine!

One head was that of Men with cheeks bulging like a squirrel, chewing on thick, long black hair. Similar hairs were sprouting from around his dark brown eyes, inside his nostrils, and inside his ears. The headless body chasing him also had similar black hair growing from the severed neck, thicker and more exaggerated, like seaweed.

The other head belonged to a beautiful Women with black hair and brown eyes. She flew forward frantically, coughing constantly and shaking off dazzling starlight. The pebbles flying around her due to the chase swayed as if in slow motion.

Suddenly, the two heads and two bodies that were about to climb over the collapsed building and leave the narrow street froze simultaneously.

The first two shook their heads blankly, as if trying to shake off some discomfort, while the headless Corpse raised their hands and clutched their left chests.

Just seconds later, the two heads, dragging their bloodied Spine, fell with a thud into the collapsed black house, while the bodies that had been chasing them collapsed onto the pile of stones.

This left Lumian and the others speechless.

After a few seconds, Lumian sneered, "See? This is what happens when you venture deep into Fourth Epoch Trier."

"You suspect they are guests at the ' Hostel '?" Jenna asked thoughtfully.

Lumian chuckled and said, "Otherwise what? Where would you find such a fresh head and body in ancient ruins buried for one or two thousand years?"

This reminded him of "Supervisor" Olsen, who was in the same state when he first appeared.

Looking back now, Lumian is almost certain that Olsen was a true Monster whose head and body could be separated.

Franca also remembered the servants in Gardner Martin's household. She looked away, pondering, and said, "Why would heads without bodies cough, like they're sick...? Their final condition looked like a stroke? Those two headless bodies seemed to have suffered cardiac arrest..."

"Was this done by Evil God Gift-Bearers of the Disease Church, or is there another culprit?"

"Hmm, the Sequence 5 of the ' Witch ' Pathway is called ' Pain,' which can spread various diseases, and I was able to enter this place by relying on the Statue of the ' Primordial Witch ' and that Ancient Silver Mirror..."

"This place is clearly also closely related to the ' Witch ' Pathway; the leaked high-level power is causing Monster to fall ill and die?"

"Not bad, you still have some intelligence when it matters," Lumian remarked sarcastically.

Jenna said with considerable relief, "Luckily we didn't go too deep, otherwise we might have gotten sick and even died at any time."

Lumian smiled and glanced at her:

Why do you feel that we are not surrounded by disease right now?

"But, but we didn't cough..." Jenna's voice trailed off as she looked into Hidden Pocket in her clothes.

That's where the Pitch-Black Statue of the "Primordial Witch" is kept.

Similarly, Franca looked into her pocket, as if she could see the Statue of the "Primordial Witch" carved from White Bone through the fabric.

Anthony looked at Lumian and asked, as if confirming, "You mean, Fourth Epoch Trier was rife with disease, and the reason we weren't affected was because we were carrying those two Statue?"

Lumian shrugged and said, "I think this explanation is more reasonable."

Beyond the Gray Fog, the edge of the ruins extending from Fourth Epoch Trier.

Inside a small, brown leather case, the head of "Gardner Martin," covered in blood, suddenly opened its eyes, revealing Gardner Martin clad in full Silver-White Full-Body Armor.

It opened its mouth and spat out a ball of Blazing White Fireball.

The two were so close that Gardner Martin had no way to dodge and could only lean back sharply, trying to avoid the intended target.

With a deafening roar, Gardner Martin was thrown into the air by the massive explosion.

The spiderweb-like cracks on the chest of the Silver-White armor shattered completely, tearing apart the skin and flesh beneath.

This blow struck Gardner Martin squarely; had it not been for the "Pride Armor" absorbing most of the damage, he would have died on the spot.

However, this also means that the "Pride Armor" loses its ability to protect the chest area for a certain period of time.

The blood-stained head, which looked like Gardner Martin's, flew through the air, dragging its bloodied Spine.

On the other side, Olsen's severely damaged headless Corpse stood up again.

Gardner Martin's head was aligned with the empty neck stump, and the white Spine was inserted.

With a snapping sound, the "Gardner Martin" who seemed to come from Hell twisted his neck and grinned sinisterly at Gardner Martin, who had already changed positions and condensed a large number of Reddish White Fire Raven: "Olsen has been dead for a long time. I have been controlling his head and body all along."

"Afterwards, I will take your place."

On the Wilderness, the earth trembled violently, and Burning cracks, like fiery serpents, rapidly stretched into the distance.

The figures of "Magician" and "Justice" are depicted.