Repentance

Ice-blue eyes!

That Devil!

It's in Church!

Lumian tensed up, and without thinking twice, immediately prepared to "Teleportation" away.

This time, he will choose Trier, and the entrance to the Saint Viève Church!

Just then, he saw his own reflection in those icy blue eyes:

My own face Distortion, my expression sinister, and my eyes were icy cold.

Immediately afterwards, one Lumian after another appeared, surrounding Lumian.

There was Lumian with a dreamy gaze, heavy breathing, and a flushed face; there was Lumian with a terrified expression and trembling body; there was Lumian with a blank face and resolute eyes; there was Lumian with a bewildered and sorrowful expression and low spirits; there was Lumian with no will to live; there was Lumian whose eyes were filled with anger and hatred, and whose eyes were red-rimmed...

For a moment, Lumian seemed to split into countless versions of himself, each one seemingly real.

This severely affected his thoughts and actions, making it impossible for him to activate the Contract Mark representing "Spirit World Traversal".

Following his last instinct, he channeled his remaining will toward his right hand, toward the Brand left by "Blood Emperor" Alista Tudor.

Only by startling that icy blue-eyed Devil could he seize the opportunity to break free of his current state and have the energy to "Teleportation" away!

Suddenly, Lumian heard a series of delirious murmurs that conveyed a strong sense of madness and depravity.

His mind instantly turned into a mess, swelling to the point of bursting.

The aura of the "Blood Emperor" was not activated in time.

Fragmented, emotional, and Pain thoughts exploded in Lumian's mind like fireworks, then slowly faded away.

A strong burning sensation then arose in his chest, which helped him regain his sense of self and prevent him from completely losing himself.

After an unknown amount of time, Lumian finally regained control of his thoughts.

His first thought was:

I'm still alive?

Some time should have Past between being attacked by the delirium and regaining consciousness; with the Devil's power, he could have killed him dozens of times over!

As Lumian focused his attention on his right hand again, he looked at the Devil with ice-blue eyes.

The Devil, dressed in a black suit and bow tie with gray hair, sat up straight again, facing the "Life Holy Emblem," slightly bending his back and crossing his arms over his chest.

With its eyes closed and its face contorted in Pain, it whispered, "Merciful Mother, please forgive my sins..."

Merciful Mother, please forgive my sins... Lumian suddenly had a thought and abandoned his plan to activate the "Blood Emperor's " aura.

He sat down again, right next to the Devil.

He gazed at the "Life Holy Emblem" on the Altar, waiting quietly, not interrupting the Devil's confession, and silently reflecting on his recent experience:

The different versions of myself I see must be real illusions; they don't exist in the real world, but rather in my heart, in my mind...

This is a high-level manifestation of emotional and desire fluctuations, activating individual emotions and desires, causing them to vie for control of the body, but it hasn't reached the level of personality splitting.

The subsequent ramblings were somewhat similar to the frenzied Curse Naporidisli during her expulsion, but this time there was no protection from Mr. The Fool's Gray Fog. No, there was still some protection, otherwise, my ego would have already been overwhelmed by the madness brought on by the ramblings. Even if I hadn't Loss of Control, I would have completely fallen, and wouldn't have been able to hold out until the Devil's "conscience" had a change of heart and began to repent...

I thought the safest place on the entire Hunt Island was this Church of the "Earth Mother," a Church I specifically chose to hide from the Devil. Who knew they were praying here... It seems I can no longer blindly trust Church of Orthodox God Church like this. Without sufficient information, nothing is absolute...

However, it was only inside the Church that I survived. In any other place, it would already be Termiboros battling the ice-blue-eyed Devil, followed by the Angel the Church the Orthodox God descending, and the Angel of the Tarot Club Society descending...

Lumian had some guesses, but waited with relative certainty, summarizing his experiences and learning from his mistakes.

A few minutes later, the Devil, with gray hair, icy blue Eyes, and dressed in a black suit, finished his confession. His expression had begun to return to calm, but the bloodshot in his eyes had become more pronounced.

It was only then that Lumian noticed that it was wearing black leather Gloves on both hands, which it had not removed even when confessing and praying. This was not in accordance with the behavior of Devout believer—in the general understanding of the human world, wearing Gloves while praying is disrespectful to the Deity, except in emergencies and special circumstances, and the same applies to wearing a hat.

The Devil glanced at Lumian, his voice low and calm, and said, "You haven't run away yet? Aren't you afraid of angering me again?"

Lumian gazed at the "Life Holy Emblem" ahead and smiled, saying, "Don't worry, this is the Church of the ' Earth Mother '."

"Wasn't this just in the Church?" The Devil controlled his voice, not wanting to disturb the other worshippers.

"Occasional accidents are understandable," Lumian said calmly. "And I believe you can control yourself for a while, but it will be more difficult after six months."

The Devil also gazed at the Altar, his icy blue eyes reflecting the "Life Holy Emblem":

Why do you think that?

"I am an experienced adventurer," Lumian said with a smile. "I know that all the righteous churches have a common rule: survivors of occult events, if there is still lurking danger, are often absorbed into the church, become civilian staff, and receive long-term protection to avoid sudden death. But none of those who saw the demon's shadow on Hunter Island went through this process; they all left after only a few months of protection."

"Is it because they're afraid that if they stay any longer, even in Church or Monastery, people will die?"

"At that time, it will definitely have a great impact on the Church's reputation, and higher-level forces can't keep watching forever."

The gray-haired Devil was silent for a few seconds before saying, "I don't want to kill them, but I..."

At this point, its face Distortion once more, its icy blue eyes filled with Pain.

It crossed its arms over its chest again and began to pray softly.

This time, it quickly returned to normal.

Lumian continued the previous topic, then chuckled, "You didn't write all those people's epitaphs, did you?"

"Yes." The Devil, dressed in a black suit, maintained a slightly forward-leaning posture.

From this perspective, this Devil has a rather good relationship with the Church the "Earth Mother"... It may not be so Devout, but there is no problem in calling it a believer... Lumian knew that even if he asked, the ice-blue-eyed Devil would not answer many key questions, and might even provoke the other party, resulting in very serious consequences. He could only consider taking advantage of the opportunity when the demon was in a stable mood and not showing any malice to indirectly inquire about some details.

But before he could speak, the Devil had already asked a question:

"Outsider, what exactly do you want to do on Hunt Island?"

Lumian deliberately smiled:

"I recently encountered a Devil event..."

He briefly recounted how Sara encountered a "Love Incantation" in Port Coria, and how, while he was investigating, the suspect was suddenly possessed by Devil who wanted to make a deal, which he refused. He then used Concealment official power to drive the demon away.

Lumian didn't go into the details of the "Love Incantation," nor did he mention Naporidisli's name for the time being—this was out of fear that there was a great deal of hatred between the two sides, and that just a name would cause a strong reaction.

He concluded, "I read in that notebook that there are legends of Devil on Hunt Island, and that this is related to a deal that Devil wanted to make. I became curious and decided to come and take a look, to investigate. I didn't intend to harm anyone."

"You can't handle anyone either," the Devil with ice-blue eyes commented truthfully.

It continued gazing at the "Life Holy Emblem" ahead, adding in a calm, low voice, "Curiosity killed the cat."

Lumian laughed, "It was indeed dangerous, but finding you and discovering that sealed-off valley in just one day shows that I am capable enough."

Next time, I will choose a safer "shelter".

The Devil wrinkles on its icy blue eyes were few, and it smiled, a rare occurrence for it.

"The methods you used are unconventional, but they conform to the underlying principles of the Mysticism World."

"But if I hadn't been controlling myself, repenting for the killings and harm I've caused, you would be dead, and this investigation would be pointless."

Lumian didn't argue. Based on the intelligence he had gathered, he wouldn't encounter any danger in the Church of Church "Earth Mother" in the short term—and what had just happened turned out to be a false alarm.

He changed the subject:

Why is that inexplicable Devil targeting you?

"Moreover, given the strength of myself and my companions, it's probably impossible to eliminate you, this so-called Descendants of the Devil. He actually wants us to come and die?"

The Devil, dressed in a black suit, gazed at the "Life Holy Emblem" and said, "I don't know who you've encountered."

It declined to provide further details.

Lumian dared not force him, much less provoke him, so he quickly searched for another angle:

"You seem free, why don't you leave Hunt Island?"

"There seems to be some kind of force influencing you here."

The Grimace Distortion slightly as he said, "This is my duty, and also my atonement."

"Even after I converted to the Mother Goddess, I sometimes still couldn't control myself from killing, and I was still accumulating deep sins."

"Then why not Imprisonment yourself completely?" Lumian asked casually, recalling his previous reasoning.

"I can't Imprisonment him, I can't do it, and I shouldn't." The Devil with the icy blue eyes once again showed an expression of Pain.

Sure enough, your condition is closely related to that of the Blood-Colored Devil in the valley... However, you are already a "Cold-Blooded," so why are you still Pain from killing, and being "healed" by the "Earth Mother" Church the value of life? Lumian decided to ease the topic and let the other person calm down.

He said casually, "I'm sorry, I wasn't very polite earlier; I didn't ask how I should address you."

The Devil gaze in those icy blue eyes lingered for a couple of seconds before he said, "Naporidisli."