An unexpected encounter
Huff... Lumian exhaled, collected his thoughts, slung his Hunting Rifle over his shoulder, clipped his Axe, and left the semi-underground two-story building standing on the edge of the Wilderness, heading towards that Dream Ruins.
Crossing the Wilderness and following the route he had explored before, he cautiously ventured deeper into the complex of collapsed houses, approaching the dark red "Mountain Peak."
The air above was thick with fog, the ground Weeds barren, and the whole world was dark and gloomy.
Before long, Lumian left the familiar area and truly entered the Depths of the Ruins.
He observed his surroundings, discerned traces, and constantly imagined what he could use if a battle broke out.
This made him move forward very slowly.
Caution and caution are always the first principles of Hunting.
Finally, Lumian found new footprints.
They appear to belong to humans, situated on the edge of the "road," concealed by various collapsed buildings, making them extremely difficult to spot.
"They know how to Concealment themselves well... and can eliminate traces to some extent..." Lumian observed for a while and made a preliminary judgment.
He suspected it was something similar to the Shotgun Monster, and perhaps had clues to the "Hunter" Pathway Sequence 8.
Based on his experience and Aurora's speculation, there should be three types of Monster in this Ruins:
The first category belongs to those who have received Gift, and do not possess Beyonder Characteristic. Typical examples are the "Noodle Man" and the Mouthpart Monster, and they all seem to come from the domain controlled by That One Hidden Being named Fate.
The second type possesses Beyonder Characteristic but has not demonstrated Gift abilities. The most typical example is the Shotgun Monster. However, they should also be suppressed by the Black Thorn Symbol on Lumian's chest, indicating that they may have also been Corruption by That One Hidden Being, which is why they became Monster.
The third type has neither Gift abilities nor Beyonder Characteristic; they are like Ordinary Person or normal creatures that have been Corruption. The Skinless Monster that Lumian first encountered was of this type.
As for whether there are Monster that possess both Beyonder Characteristic and Gift, Aurora and Lumian both felt that there should be, but there was a lack of evidence to prove it.
Therefore, a Monster exhibiting "Hunter" characteristics is likely to possess Beyonder Characteristic!
As Lumian followed the footprints, he even discovered two traps, further confirming his suspicions.
If he hadn't been careful enough, and hadn't been a "Hunter" himself, he might have become the Hunting instead of the Hunting.
Soon, Lumian noticed that the footprints had become fresh.
This means that if you keep going forward, you'll most likely encounter your target.
Instead of rushing to say hello, Lumian circled around a bit and found a good Concealment spot.
Then he started dancing.
In the invisible melody, he stepped with firm and powerful strides, turning in gentle and soothing semicircles, completely recreating the bizarre and mysterious Sacrificial Dance of the "Noodle Man".
It wasn't very skillful, even a bit clumsy, but thanks to her "Dancer's" abilities, Lumian still managed to feel the burning sensation in her chest.
After unbuttoning his clothes and confirming that the Black Thorn Symbol was now clearly visible, Lumian climbed to the middle of the collapsed house and entered the Concealment spot he had chosen.
He quickly looked into the distance and saw Daoist digging a trap.
It was indeed a "person," but its entire body was charred black, and Crimson Flames were still Burning on the table and the Library, never going out.
Could it be Pyromaniac? We've caught a big fish... Lumian was both delighted and troubled.
He was delighted that the Main Ingredient for Sequence 8 "Provocateur" had appeared, but troubled that it was much stronger than his prey.
"Pyromaniac" is Sequence 7 of the "Hunter" Pathway, which, according to Aurora, is a Sequence that represents a qualitative change; it was formerly known as "Pyromancer."
Lumian believed that with the combined strength of "Hunter," "Dancer," and the Black Thorn Symbol, Hunting a "Provocateur" Monster should be no problem as long as he didn't let his guard down. However, he really wasn't confident when facing the Sequence 7 "Pyromaniac."
As long as this Monster continues to attack from a distance, it may not be weakened by the Black Thorn Symbol!
After thinking it over, Lumian decided to retreat first.
He planned to devise an effective plan and set up targeted traps before attempting to deal with the Flame Monster.
His initial idea was to go home and perform that dance that could summon strange things from the surrounding area, to see what kind of negative effects it would have if the lingering spirit of the Mouthpart Monster possessed him.
If it's not serious and acceptable, then he can borrow one of the other party's abilities later, such as "Invisibility."
As for whether there would be any aftereffects from being possessed, and whether the vengeful spirit would be willing to leave after successfully possessing someone, Lumian wasn't too worried.
Anyway, this is in the Dream Ruins. As long as I don't die on the spot, I can go back to reality, rest well, and everything will be restored.
As soon as Lumian made a move, the Flame Monster suddenly raised its head, looking in their direction with its charred face and bulging eyes.
"Not good!" Lumian thought to himself, and without bothering to climb down, he jumped directly from his hiding place to the ground.
Almost simultaneously, a huge, crimson Fireball crashed into the spot where he had been standing, blasting bricks and stones into the air and sending waves of flames surging outwards.
Lumian dodged hastily, and upon landing, he could barely control his body, only able to fall to the ground and roll to dissipate the force.
If it weren't for the extraordinary flexibility brought by his "Dancer" persona, he would have inevitably torn muscles and ruptured ligaments due to these Distortion movements.
When Lumian stood up again, the Flame Monster had already appeared on the top of the collapsed building, with Crimson Crow formed from Flames appearing around it.
Seeing this, Lumian felt as if he were surrounded by a squad of soldiers, with gun barrels all he could see.
Without hesitation, instead of fleeing, he rushed towards the collapsed building where the Flame Monster stood.
Faced with this situation, he felt that his only chance to turn the tide was to use the Black Thorn Symbol on his chest.
This seems to require closing the distance!
Thump thump thump!
As Lumian was running wildly, half of the Fire Raven suddenly descended from the sky and crashed behind him, sending waves of heat soaring and the explosions echoing.
The remaining illusory Fire Raven then changed direction, their "vision" all locking onto the running target.
Just then, Lumian arrived at the bottom of the collapsed building, no more than five meters away from the Flame Monster.
The next second, the charred Monster engulfed in Crimson Flames froze completely, and the remaining Flames Crow around him instantly went out.
It worked! Just as Lumian felt a surge of joy, the Flame Monster turned around, descended from the collapsed building in another direction, and fled.
"Hey, don't run away!" Lumian shouted instinctively.
He quickly bypassed the Ruins ahead and chased after the Flame Monster.
They chased it for two buildings, but because the Monster was so fast, Lumian completely lost sight of it.
At this moment, the burning sensation in Lumian's chest also disappeared.
He had to stop, catch his breath, and prepare to track the footprints and be wary of traps.
While catching his breath, Lumian's gaze swept across the scene, then suddenly froze.
Not far to his side, Daoist was standing at the entrance of a partially collapsed building.
The figure was dressed in a black Robe with a hood, and was otherwise indistinguishable from a normal human, except that it had three faces on its head.
The face in the foreground belongs to an elderly man; his Eyes are cloudy, his eyebrows are sparse, and he has many wrinkles.
The one on the left is a middle-aged man with sharp features, bright blue eyes, and a thick, dark beard;
The one on the right looks like a child under five years old, with smooth and delicate skin, and innocent and naive eyes in his azure eyes.
Three-Faced Monster! That Three-Faced Monster! Lumian was truly terrified.
Because he was chasing the Flames monster, he clearly went deeper into the Ruins and actually encountered Three-Faced Monster!
Having become a "Dancer" and mastered the Mystic Sacrificial Dance, which allowed him to partially activate the Black Thorn Symbol on his chest, Lumian had no intention of using the Three-Faced Monster as a test subject. He intuitively felt that this guy was extremely dangerous; in the words of the Mystic Lady, his status was likely quite high, and even weakened by the Black Thorn Symbol, he could still easily kill weak "Hunter."
Therefore, Lumian's previous plan was to bypass the area where the Three-Faced Monster was located, practice with other Monster, and determine what role the semi-activated Black Thorn Rune could play when facing enemies of different strengths, before considering whether to Hunting the Three-Faced Monster or not provoke it at all.
Who knew that this guy would actually leave his own "Territory" and come here, only to run into Lumian right there!
"Um... how about I dance for you as an apology?" Lumian muttered to herself as she instinctively took a step back.
At the entrance of the half-collapsed building, the Three-Faced Monster wearing a black Robe and a hood took a step back.
Lumian turned around.
The Three-Faced Monster also turned around.
Lumian fled in a frenzy.
The Three-Faced Monster also fled in panic.
Lumian, who had originally planned to create some distance and try dancing, took a few steps, but suddenly felt something was wrong.
He stopped, turned around and looked towards the area where the enemy was, just in time to see the Three-Faced Monster running away.
"..." Lumian was stunned.
After a while, he vaguely understood something, raised his hand to touch his face, and muttered to himself, "Am I that scary?"
The Three-Faced Monster's behavior just now reminded him of the scene when he first encountered it:
At that moment, he secretly glanced at the Three-Faced Monster, then shrank back in fright, praying to the "Eternal Blazing Sun" to Protection him from being discovered. Afterwards, the Three-Faced Monster, despite looking towards where he was hiding, seemed not to notice anything, and instead moved further away.
So it wasn't the "Eternal Blazing Sun" Protection me that time, nor was it just exceptional luck; rather, the Three-Faced Monster sensed or perceived my "special" nature and ran away in fear? Lumian nodded thoughtfully, then made a guess:
"In the Dream Ruins, Monster of a certain rank can directly sense my 'specialness' without me having to activate the Black Thorn Symbol?"