Plans

Aurora recalled the situation and concluded that it must have been as her brother had described.

She exclaimed sincerely, "Just knowing about Him can bring such terrible Corruption... The Hidden Being That One Shepherd Pierre Berri and his companions worship is truly terrifying; even many Evil God in ancient records don't exhibit such behavior."

"Otherwise, how could we be trapped in a time Loop?" Lumian wasn't surprised.

Aurora's thoughts drifted further and further, and she began to mutter to herself:

"Won't it be that on the Twelfth Night, we'll have to confront That One Hidden Being and defeat it to break the Loop?"

"And this requires you to gather materials, digest Potion, and become Deity through repeated Loop..."

Seeing that her Older Sister were becoming increasingly outrageous, containing things that even someone as daring as herself wouldn't dare to think about, Lumian interrupted her thoughts:

"Stop!

"It shouldn't have come to that."

Aurora hummed in agreement and nodded slightly.

"That's true. We have at most one more Loop; becoming a god in twenty days is clearly impossible."

She then shrugged:

"There's no hope. Just wait to die."

"..." Even with Lumian's brain, which was always able to come up with all sorts of brilliant pranks, she couldn't keep up with her Older Sister's train of thought at this moment.

"Phew." Aurora let out a breath, looked at her brother, and said, "Okay, I'm done venting. Now, continue."

"Huh?" Lumian's face was full of confusion.

It took him a few seconds to understand what his Older Sister meant by "continue":

"The sheep that the three people turned into seem to have been sent back to Cordu as Sacrifice; no wonder they didn't arrive until early May."

"Is the Twelfth Night actually a day of large-scale sacrifice to That One Hidden Being?"

Aurora's Eyes flickered slightly as she said, "That's what I guessed too, but what about the Parish Priest and his group receiving different levels of Gift before Lent Festival? As I understand it, this must have been obtained through sacrifice."

Taking a negative approach and considering the events of the previous Loop, Lumian boldly speculated. "A small sacrifice, a grand Ritual?"

"At the end of the Lent Festival celebrations, the Parish Priest, who had gained extraordinary powers, no longer concealed his unusual abilities; it was clear he was about to do something big!"

Aurora pondered for a moment and said, "The Lent Festival celebrations may be part of the grand Ritual."

"Before the grand Ritual, the Parish Priest finally made up his mind to offer his heart to That One Evil God, and with certain Sacrifice, he received a great deal of Gift in return, completely revealing his true nature."

"It seems that from the start of the Lent Festival celebrations, everyone in Cordu will be involved; no one can escape it."

The siblings looked at each other, both agreeing that their earlier guess was very close to the truth.

The problem is, if the anomaly truly erupts from the start of the Lent Festival celebrations and continues into the Twelfth Night, how can they "peacefully" wait until the final Ritual to find the key to the Loop?

The entire village, except for those who died or became Sacrifice, will most likely be Corruption!

"I'm only a Sequence 7..." Aurora couldn't help but raise her hand to cover her face, "and you're only Sequence 9."

We're about to face this!

Based on Lumian's description of the final battle of the Lent Festival celebration and his recent experience Hunting Black Mark Monster, Aurora believed she was no match for the Gift Parish Priest, and even the Shepherd Pierre Berri, she felt she needed to prepare in advance for the fight.

At that time, Lumian was able to take on two Mutation Parish Priest single-handedly; no one knew what Dog Shit he had.

However, if we want to prevent the Parish Priest from obtaining supernatural powers in advance, and the Twelfth Night may not even come, the Loop will most likely Reboot ahead of schedule.

"Hell difficulty! Hell difficulty!" Aurora slammed her hand on the table in front of her several times, looking utterly dejected.

Before Lumian could respond, she raised her hands and ruffled her Golden hair, as if venting something.

After completing the routine, Aurora composed herself and calmly said to Lumian, "Tomorrow morning, go find those Three Foreigners. You can subtly reveal the unusual situation in the village to them, but don't try to hide the fact that we are Beyonder."

"This is dangerous..." Lumian replied instinctively.

Aren't Wild Beyonder always inherently guilty when they encounter official authorities?

Aurora slowly exhaled and said, "In this situation, we can't worry about that now."

"Apart from That One mysterious Lady, the three of them are probably the most trustworthy and reliable people in the village right now, and each of them possesses strength that is not much worse than mine, or even stronger."

"We're all in this together, so let's not look down on each other. Whether you're a wild Beyonder or an official Beyonder, we have to unite."

As for whether we'll be hunted down by the authorities later, we can worry about that later. Right now, let's focus on breaking free from this Loop.

Lumian had heard her Older Sister say the phrase "grasshoppers tied to the same rope" before, and knew it meant that everyone was in the same predicament and facing the same problems. If something really happened, no one could escape, and they had to unite.

"Okay, I'll go find them tomorrow." He agreed.

Aurora then said, "I now suspect that there is someone behind the Parish Priest and the Shepherd Pierre, who is the beginning of everything, the Source of all this Corruption."

"Madame Pualis?" Lumian guessed. "She's not only powerful, but also the Parish Priest's Lover. She can subtly control him and use him to influence the rest of the village."

"But she and the Shepherd Pierre have no official relationship." Aurora looked at her brother, frowning in thought. "Judging from what happened to those three sheep, Pierre and Néol should have already possessed Extraordinary Ability, or at least the relevant knowledge, when they moved to the Plains Last Year October, since they didn't come back along the way and had no way of acquiring them."

"This means the abnormalities in the village can be traced back to at least July or August of Last Year. Uh, have you noticed anything wrong?"

Lumian slowly shook his head:

"No."

He had thought he was very familiar with Cordou Village, but now he realized that the undercurrent had been there for more than half a year, which made him feel very unfamiliar with the place and filled him with deep-seated fear.

Where exactly did the problem lie? Lumian felt as if he were surrounded by layers of fog, one layer disappearing only to be replaced by another, never able to see the true nature of the matter.

Aurora continued, "It could also be that Owl."

"The Warlock who supposedly died may not have really died; he may still be hiding somewhere in the village, or he may be Someone we often see."

"He probably discovered early on that I was also a ' Warlock,' so he deliberately concealed the legend from me. For Ordinary Person like you, there are no such restrictions."

At this point, Aurora instructed in a deep voice, "The next time that Owl comes to see you, notify me immediately. I'll have ' White Paper ' follow it and see where it flies off to."

Lumian hummed in agreement, indicating that he was also waiting for the Owl to return.

"This time I'll pluck all your feathers!" he cursed inwardly.

Aurora thought for a moment and made a third arrangement:

"Tomorrow afternoon, I'll invite Madame Pualis to our home. At that time, the Administrator will still be at work, and only the Butler and servants will remain in the Castle. You can take that opportunity to sneak in and see if you can find any clues. Hmm, if you can persuade those Three Foreigners in the morning, we can ask them for help with this operation."

When Madame Pualis was at home, she dared not let "White Paper" Past; when Madame Pualis was by her side, she could not be distracted and could only rely on her brother.

Lumian nodded first, then suggested:

"It's best not to be alone with Madame Pualis; I'm afraid she might take the opportunity to get back at you."

"Invite Naa La Yiza and the others to join us for afternoon tea?"

The more people there are, the higher the safety level.

"Okay." Aurora felt this was the better option.

She then said, half concerned and half joking, "Be careful after you infiltrate the Castle; I don't want to be an aunt now."

Lumian didn't dare retaliate, only sending a look that said, "I'm more worried about you, because Madame Pualis is on your side."

During dinner, Aurora released "White Paper" to monitor the Sheep Pen. It discovered that the three sheep had licked the blood off their faces, preventing the Shepherd Pierre Berri from noticing anything amiss.

Afterwards, until he fell asleep, Lumian received another Mysticism education, mastering several Hermetic, including "I," "name," "summon," "need," "light," and "Sun."

"Light" is the Incantation to activate the "Brooch of Integrity," and its pronunciation consists of three parts.

Lumian woke up in a room filled with a faint Gray Fog.

He walked to the window and looked again at the dark red "Mountain Peak" and the rings of Ruins buildings surrounding it.

"I wonder what secrets are hidden here..." Lumian muttered to himself.

As he looked around, an idea suddenly came to him:

There are too many dangerous areas in that Ruins that he can't or dares not approach right now, such as the place where the Three-Faced Monster roams. But if he could summon a "White Paper" type Spirit World Creature, sign Contract with it, and have it help him infiltrate and observe, he should be able to gather more information.

--His vision, Sense of Smell, and hearing are all enhanced by Beyonder Characteristic, theoretically belonging to a kind of supernatural power, which can allow a "White Paper" to contain one of them.

As he pondered, Lumian muttered to himself, "The problem now is whether it's possible to summon Spirit World Creature within the Dream Ruins..."

"If not, after being summoned in reality and signing Contract, could we use our connection to bring it into the Dream...?"

"What impact will adding a new Contract Creature have on the Loop? Can the corresponding Spirit World be newly added? If not, once the summoning time is over, the Contract Creature returns, and the Loop will Reboot..."

Lumian's head throbbed with worry, and he developed a deep reverence for the Mysticism, hoping only to master the limited language he needed to complete a Summoning Ritual as soon as possible.

Without further delay, he picked up his Hunting Rifle, took the few remaining Lead Bullets, clipped his sharp Axe, left his home, crossed the Wilderness, and once again entered that Ruins.