Traces

Lumian was startled and had no time to dodge, so he could only let the invisible force fall on him.

He immediately felt warmth and was filled with Courage, as if he had finally welcomed the Sun in the winter when he lacked clothes.

Apart from that, he showed no abnormalities, just like his experience at the Castle yesterday afternoon.

Huh? As a "Dancer," I wasn't hurt at all? Lumian couldn't help but glance at the short Ryan and the terrifying-looking Lya, and found that there was no black mist or blue smoke rising from them either.

Then, Valentine, in his form of light, Create Holy Water and dripped a few drops on Lya and Ryan. However, the two remained in their altered state and showed no improvement whatsoever.

"Purification and exorcism have no effect?" Lumian asked.

He wanted to figure out why it was possible and why it wasn't, so that he, who had already received the "Gift," would know what situations to avoid and what situations to pretend nothing had happened.

Ryan explained it to him simply:

"Purification and exorcism are not omnipotent; they require corresponding forces to fall into the category of evil, such as the aura of corruption and all the Undead of the dead. The latter are not necessarily evil, but they are simply incompatible with the real world and need to return to the Spirit World, so they can still be purified and exorcised."

Just as we define Evil God primarily based on their style of doing things, the power of Evil God is not necessarily evil.

Lumian seemed to understand a little, and he asked thoughtfully, "The power of Fate, uh, it doesn't belong to evil, nor does it represent depravity?"

So it can't be purified or removed?

"Yes." Valentine had confirmed this through his previous attempt.

So it seems normal that I can withstand that halo, but why did the Holy Water activate the Black Thorn Symbol on my chest and make me hear that terrifying sound? Is it because the Corruption within the seal doesn't currently belong to me, and is incompatible with my own nature, making my body no longer pure, so it needs to be purified? Lumian began to speculate in his mind.

He had originally intended to use the example of the Shepherd Pierre Berri, who had already received the Gift, to inquire whether bodily Mutation also fell into the category of evil and depravity, but the current situation was too urgent for him to discuss it at length.

Lumian tried to walk towards the Basement door.

He had only taken two steps when he suddenly heard a buzzing in his ears. He vaguely heard a voice that seemed to come from both infinite distance and near at hand, but it was not clear and was very blurry. It only made his chest feel slightly hot and his mind a little confused.

This is very similar to his state of mind when he saw the "Noodle Man" dancing.

This confirmed to Lumian that the Black Thorn Symbol on his chest had been partially activated.

He quickly turned to look at Ryan, Lya, and Valentine, and found that they did not react unusually.

Lumian was somewhat disappointed. He had originally thought that the two symbols on his chest could suppress and weaken Beyonder to some extent, but now it seemed that they could only be used against Monster in the Dream Ruins, especially those that had received the Gift of the owner of the Black Thorn Symbol.

Of course, he wasn't sure if fully activating the chest symbol would have any effect on the Beyonder around him.

"Has my condition changed?" he asked Lya and the others.

"No." Lya and the others shook their heads simultaneously.

Lumian nodded almost imperceptibly, basically confirming two things:

Firstly, the Black Thorn Symbol on his chest, or rather, the Corruption from the Evil God sealed within him, could indeed help him "fight" the anomalies in the Basement;

Secondly, he was really lucky just now, and was influenced by the power of the "present".

After waiting a few seconds, Lumian tried taking a step diagonally forward.

The slight warmth in his chest did not weaken; it remained as intense as before.

"Has anything changed this time?" he asked Ryan and the others again.

Lya was the first to shake her head:

"No."

Lumian quietly exhaled and muttered to himself:

"With the 'protection' of the Black Thorn Symbol, I can move freely here, and the Shepherd Pierre Berri and his companions should be the same..."

"Wait, the Parish Priest hasn't received the Gift yet, there's no Thorn Symbol! How did he manage to reach the Altar safely?"

Thinking about this, Lumian vaguely understood something and turned his gaze to the ground.

With the help of the light emanating from Valentine, he saw many messy footprints that normal humans could not see.

Except for a few that are found everywhere, they generally follow a certain pattern, extending all the way to the front of the Altar.

Lumian immediately overlapped the location of the nearest set of footprints with the one he had been looking at, and the slight warmth in his chest began to slowly subside.

This means he has returned to the "present".

Sure enough, there was a safe route here, the route of "now"! Lumian suddenly became very happy, because this was a trace that the three extraordinary Beyonder, Ryan, Lya, and Valentine, had not discovered, but that he, a mere "Hunter," had found.

This reminded him of something his Older Sister Aurora, had said:

"Each Pathway has its own strengths. Before reaching Half-God status, in certain situations, Sequence 9 from some Pathway might be more effective than Sequence 5 from Pathway."

Lumian had initially felt somewhat inferior and depressed because he had been unable to play a significant role against powerful Beyonder during the past two days of exploration, spending most of his time as a guide and being protected. However, he has now regained much of his confidence.

Finding subtle traces in reality is a "Hunter's" specialty, can't you do that?

Of course, Lumian didn't forget that Aurora added one last thing:

"But some Pathway excel at everything."

He gathered his thoughts, turned around, and began to direct Ryan, Lya, and Valentine.

"Take one step at the same time, facing the Altar."

Ryan and the others were clearly puzzled, yet they couldn't fully trust Lumian, so they did as he said without asking why.

Lumian had no choice but to explain, "Look at the ground, there are many footprints. They were left by the Parish Priest and his men, marking out a safe route!"

Lacking the corresponding abilities, Ryan, Lya, and Valentine barely managed to find a trace using the light of the "Sun" and believed Lumian's account.

--On the official website of Intis, hetushu. com, there are many Beyonder who follow the "Hunter" Pathway. They have cooperated with each other to varying degrees and know that some Sequence are very good at finding faint traces.

Following Lumian's instructions, they all walked onto the safe route.

Almost instantly, Lumian saw Ryan grow taller rapidly, Valentine grow darker, Lya's face gradually return to normal.

They returned to the "present," no longer existing in the "Past" or the "Future."

With a few quick movements, Lumian easily returned to the group along the safe route.

He said with a smile, "Don't make the same mistake again. Another change in circumstances might be irreversible."

He was Imitation Ryan's tone and manner of speaking, thinking it suited the current situation.

In the past, given his Personality, he would most likely have directly mocked him.

"Haha, are you guys blind? You can't even see such obvious marks? If you keep going the wrong way, you're doomed!"

Lya touched her face, sighed, and said, "We'll go with you."

Lumian showed no modesty, carefully examining the footprints on the ground as he approached the Altar step by step.

This wasn't as lighthearted as when he came back earlier, because it didn't matter to him if he got lost, but it didn't matter to Ryan and the others.

This time, the silver bells on Lya's body did not ring.

The clanging and tinkling only began when the four arrived at the Altar, sometimes gentle and sometimes intense.

"There is danger, but there are ways to avoid it," Lya, who already had enough experience, explained.

Ryan nodded immediately:

"Let's not touch anything here for now; let's just observe."

Lumian had already set his sights on the Altar.

There was a depression at the bottom, as if it were meant to hold something, and inside were scattered White Candles, small bottles containing clear liquid, and tightly closed wooden boxes, among other things.

Among them, the most eye-catching was a black garment.

It was Robe with a hood.

At the front of the garment, in the center surrounded by other items, is engraved a Ring symbol composed of Thorns.

Every part of it was Distortion, and its entire body was pitch Pitch-Black, as if it were coated with some strange Paint, giving the impression that it was slowly flowing.

Upon seeing this symbol, Lumian felt dizzy and experienced constant tinnitus.

Ryan snorted, and a faint, Dawn- like light naturally appeared around him.

This helped Lya and Valentine suppress their mental turmoil.

"Don't look at that symbol too much," Ryan said in a deep voice.

Lumian quickly shifted his gaze to the side.

His dizziness and tinnitus subsided.

The Altar seems to be like this. Let's look around for anything else... Lumian was about to say this when he heard Lya ask Ryan:

Will your ' Dawn ' disturb the Altar?

Huh? Lumian quickly turned around, then subconsciously looked towards the Altar.

The Silver Bells on Lya's veil and boots jingled loudly and rapidly.

Almost simultaneously, the black Robe with a hood on the Altar stood up abruptly, as if it had been put on by an invisible person.

Ugh!

A cold wind swirled around, and Lumian saw several transparent faces beneath the hoods.

They were all ferocious and Distortion, exuding intense hatred, and huddled together to form a bizarre and terrifying head.

Lumian recognized one of the faces; it belonged to Raymond. He was Paleness and swollen, with tears of blood streaming from his eyes.

Lumian didn't have time to look closely; he quickly took two steps to the side and hid behind Ryan.

"Help us! Help us!"

Those transparent faces spoke simultaneously, their shrill voices like countless needles piercing the souls of Ryan and the others, stimulating them to the Past of fainting.

Valentine was in the best condition, with his arms outstretched.

A pure, sacred beam of light, wreathed in illusory Flames, descended from the sky and landed on the black Robe worn by the Invisible Man.

A burst of light erupted, and Lumian and Lya instinctively closed their eyes.