Howling

Lumian thought for a moment, then specifically reminded him, "Don't forget ' Four of Swords '."

To be honest, he had almost forgotten about Anthony's existence, but he was always thinking about what his teammates were doing and how to coordinate with them so as not to really forget about them.

When Lumian invited the two "Witch" to Chaban Street at the "Saint-Milon Restaurant," he didn't think of Anthony. It wasn't until he got to the street that he remembered he had such a teammate. However, he couldn't find a "Hypnotist" who had used "Psychological Invisibility," so he could only trust that Anthony was experienced and would understand that the next action was not suitable for them to split up after seeing the other teammates all together. So he took the initiative to follow them.

It must be said that the habits Anthony developed while working as Information Broker and his "Psychological Invisibility" created a very good Chemical Reaction.

Upon hearing Lumian's reminder, the "Knight of Swords" paused for two seconds before replying, "I won't forget."

It seems you've already forgotten... But the Half-God of the Temperance Faction shouldn't be significantly affected by Anthony's "Psychological Invisibility," so they shouldn't have actually forgotten about Anthony when sending Franca and Jenna away... If that's the case, one of the biggest causes of death for the "Hypnotist" must be that the "Psychological Invisibility" was too effective, to the point that his teammates forgot about it and ignored it... As Lumian was thinking this, the special "Otherworld" before his eyes suddenly underwent Mutation.

A deafening roar erupted from the direction of Darsh Lake, as the Gray-White water surged into the air like Tsunami. The wilderness, which was already integrated with the Lacray City, began to dominate, instantly crossing many Square and streets, bringing Lumian, who had not yet truly entered Chaban Street, into its midst, while bypassing Franca and the others.

Oseto, who possesses the Gift of a "Great Mother," seems to have realized that he has been exposed.

Her choice was to use the characteristics of the "Otherworld" to temporarily separate the Blasphemy humans from the Temperance Faction of Half-God, and then use the brief time difference to target Lumian and achieve her desired goal.

Almost simultaneously, Lumian, who was wearing the Golden Mask of the Aegis Family and had transformed into Undead, felt his body become increasingly "heavy," as if there were clusters of cold things inside him.

The next second, he saw the blurry human figures on Chaban Street disappear. Franca, Jenna, Ludwig, Lugano, and possibly Anthony behind him were also gone, as if they were separated from him into two different worlds.

The human Skull, in their varied states, became increasingly distinct, their Eye Sockets, Burning with either Paleness or dark red flames, all turning towards Lumian.

At the end of Chaban Street, on the edge of the city where it blends more closely with the wilderness, a series of swaying figures crawled out from somewhere and headed this way.

They included long-haired cattle rotting to the point where only a few pieces of pus and blood remained; Giant Bird flying low with exposed White Bone; Giant Serpent with half-melted threads pulling out from between rotting flesh; and Monster resembling small mountains composed of multiple headless skeletons.

Human skulls from all over the city rushed towards Chaban Street, floating in mid-air, covering the sky and blocking out the Paleness, dim, and cold "Sunlight."

Lumian seemed to be struck by some kind of Intimidation, or perhaps as Undead being facing a higher and more terrifying counterpart, and for a brief moment could only stand frozen in place, unable to move.

Just then, a Pain, agonizing howl came from the direction of Darsh Lake.

The terrifying, piercing sound, like a rapidly spinning drill, pierced directly into Lumian's soul, causing his vision to go black and him to lose consciousness.

When Lumian regained his senses and awareness of his body, he found himself in the middle of Chaban Street, next to Maric "Knight of Swords," who had arrived at some unknown time and was wearing Black Waistcoat and White Shirt.

Around him, crystalline ice froze the human Skull, each in its unique state, in mid-air, on the ground, and on the surface of the Gray-White stone buildings.

This dreamlike, Freezing scene stretched all the way to the wilderness on the edge of the city.

Among the Undead Army that staggered in, the Monster still in a state of decay had their flesh and blood fall to the ground with a thud, leaving only bones that were yellowish, brownish, or stark white. The parts that were originally just bones sank into the soil, with drops of bright red blood that did not belong to them seeping out from their surfaces. The other Wraith Evil Spirit swelled up like balloons one after another, then exploded silently, turning into strange dust.

Although Lumian didn't understand what was going on, two thoughts suddenly came to mind:

Were they all Curse?

A skeleton devoid of flesh and blood was Curse to bleed?

Thinking of this, Lumian couldn't help but raise his right hand and wipe his nose.

He immediately noticed some dark bloodstains on the back of his hand.

This is blood from inside his body, blood that had long since stopped flowing.

During the Banshee's howl, not only was his soul injured, but his Undead body also suffered a physical attack, with capillaries in some places rupturing and black blood seeping out.

That was terrifying... Lumian roughly figured out what had just happened:

"Oseto shouted from a great distance, but with the ' Otherworld ' Banshee amplified by the banshee's howl, and I Past fainted?"

"And the Temperance Faction's Half-God, before the ' Otherworld ' could expand in, possessed me as Wraith spirits, thus being pulled into the ' Otherworld ' at the first opportunity? Then, they took over my body and used their abilities to deal with the surging horde of human Skull and the Undead Army?"

"The ' Knight of Swords ' has also possessed me, so I'm now in the ' Otherworld '?"

After figuring out what had just happened, Lumian gained a clearer and more accurate understanding of the terror of Half-God:

"Oseto, whose Sequence I'm unsure of but who certainly doesn't hold the Angel-Level, Past Gift out a Banshee's howl and I lost consciousness, incapacitated and taking over ten seconds to regain consciousness... If it weren't for the existence of the Temperance Faction Half-God, those ten seconds would have been enough for Oseto to kill me more than ten times over..."

"This is not comparable to Half-God in a painting. If I don't seize the initiative when facing a real Half-God, I won't even have the chance to draw the ' Sword of Courage ' or use the ' Avatar of Desire '!"

"Even if I activate my shadow to take the damage for me, it won't be enough time, unless I foresaw it beforehand..."

Amidst a jumble of thoughts, Lumian regained control of her body.

Then he heard "Knight of Swords" Maric whisper, "Oseto has retreated; she should be at Darsh Lake."

It's unclear what kind of assistance she's requesting.

"Darsh Lake?" Lumian asked, slightly taken aback.

That tranquil, beautiful, and sacred lake?

However, this makes sense when you think about it; the mining of various minerals in the Lacré Region has all bypassed Darsh Lake, preventing it from suffering any Corruption whatsoever...

The "Knight of Swords" surveyed his surroundings before immediately galloping into the Depths of the wilderness towards Darsh Lake.

He nodded slightly and said, "Darsh Lake itself has a certain special quality, and it has some connection with That One fallen ' Death God '. The reason why this small Undead Kingdom was able to be established in the Lacré Region was because of the existence of Darsh Lake."

"Back then, That One official from the former Balam Empire also used the skull of the ' Undying ' stored in the ' Death God ' Church. Then, with the help of his ' Gatekeeper ' abilities, he opened the gate to the Underworld and fixed it to the skull of the ' Undying ' so that it wouldn't close completely too quickly, and a little bit of the aura of the Underworld would always leak out."

"The skull of an ' Undying '? Even the ' Undying ' can die?" Lumian instinctively retorted.

The "Knight of Swords" began to stride toward the edge of the icy world.

He glanced at Lumian and said, "' Undying ' is merely Sequence 4 of the ' Death God ' Pathway; they will die if killed."

I see... Lumian nodded almost imperceptibly.

The Knight of Swords continued, "The overflowing aura of the Underworld, the unique qualities of the ' Undying ' skulls, and the special characteristics of Darsh Lake together support this realm of the Undead, attracting the souls of the dead in this region to enter and gradually perish..."

After listening, Lumian was stunned for a moment:

"You seem to know a lot about the local Undead Kingdom..."

The Knight of Swords replied, "' The Rose School ' has ruled here for over a thousand years, and aside from the peculiarity of Darsh Lake, everything else has long been figured out."

"Then why didn't you say so sooner?" Lumian blurted out.

If you had told me sooner, I could have guessed part of Oseto's purpose sooner!

"Initially, we didn't connect Oseto with the Undead Kingdom, so that information wasn't reflected in the documents," the Knight of Swords explained. "Afterwards, I answered every question you asked, but I didn't elaborate. Sharing is a desire, and it needs to Temperance."

"..." Lumian suddenly understood how Franca felt every time he heard him say, "This story begins with my trip to the ' Samaritan Woman Spring ' with Lady Hella."

As they spoke, he and Maric had arrived at the edge of the city, the dividing line between the Freezing world and the desolate wilderness.

Lumian glanced instinctively at the thick ice encasing the Gray-White building, and, with the help of the mirror effect, was astonished to find a blurry figure reflected in each of his eyes:

One wore a small black soft hat and a matching Court Long Dress, while the other had no head and wore a dark Long Dress with intricate and sinister patterns.

Immediately afterwards, Lumian noticed several Insects with translucent Ring crawling in and out of the edge of his mouth without him noticing.

At the entrance to Chaban Street, Franca, Jenna, and the others felt a sudden chill as Lumian vanished before their eyes.

Before they could exchange information or formulate a response, they heard a voice, slightly magnetic yet ethereal and dreamlike, ring in their ears:

I'll take you back to Trier first.

Franca, Jenna, Lugano, and the others instinctively turned to the side and discovered that a young-looking man had appeared next to them at some point.

The man was wearing White Shirt and a thin black trench coat. He had black hair and green eyes, and possessed a handsome appearance as if he came from the darkness. He wore a pair of red Gloves on his hands.