Cunning

Lumian's dance was designed to lure strange creatures, allowing him to "Invisibility" approach them and observe Flame Monster activity patterns and daily behavior, thus gathering sufficient intelligence for future Hunting.

In just thirty or forty seconds, he used the Ancient Hermetic to make the Mouthpart Monster possess him once again.

An intense hunger swept over him, and Lumian involuntarily opened his mouth, as if he had grown a mouthpart with Teeth arranged in Whirlpool.

He quickly suppressed the bloodlust and madness that filled his body, took out a small biscuit and a Cutting piece of cheese, put them in his mouth, chewed and swallowed.

At the same time, he amplified the Mouthpart Monster's instinct to Invisibility and disappeared from the spot.

After suppressing the hunger pangs slightly, Lumian tried to keep his mouth shut to prevent the smell of biscuits and cheese from escaping.

Immediately afterwards, he followed the edge of the road, directly searching for the trail of the Flame Monster.

Soon, Lumian saw the Monster, its body charred black and Burning.

It is setting up new traps in the same open space as before.

"Even after becoming Monster, they're still so dedicated?" Lumian scoffed silently.

Of course, he knew very well that this was actually a manifestation of the Monster acting on its instincts.

Lumian didn't dare get too close, stopping at the edge of the open space next to a broken wall.

He stared at the Flame Monster for a few seconds, then looked back at the path he had come from. He noticed that although his footprints were very shallow and inconspicuous, and hidden in places that were not easy to find, they were still there.

Looking down at his current location, Lumian had some ideas.

He kept a close eye on the Monster's movements. When the monster picked up a large rock and threw it aside, he immediately pressed his right hand against the broken wall, jumped up, and landed steadily on the top of the wall.

Bang! The sound Lumian made was perfectly masked by the sound of the stone hitting the ground.

After changing his observation point, Lumian felt much more at ease. While keeping an eye on the depletion of his spiritual energy, he carefully observed the Flame Monster.

He discovered that the traps set by the Flame Monster this time were not the type that were very well hidden or difficult to find, and they did not target any loopholes in thinking or the behavioral habits of the target. They were simple and made no attempt to conceal themselves.

A very simple example: The Flame Monster stretched a rope, slightly above ankle height, between two collapsed buildings on the other side of the open space.

Anyone with normal eyesight, whether human or Monster, can spot this trap.

Lumian initially didn't understand its purpose, but after putting himself in the situation, he gradually discovered its potential significance:

The purpose of these traps is not to directly harm or trap enemies, but to create a more suitable environment for the Hunter to perform.

In the heat of battle, those who are not good at observing their surroundings and keeping an eye on targets need to be constantly distracted by the various limitations of the place. They also have to slow down or change their posture to jump over traps. The characteristic of a "Hunter" is to always pay attention to their surroundings and make full use of the environment.

In this way, the relative strengths of the two sides shifted.

In Aurora's words, it was an open conspiracy... Lumian nodded in understanding.

At that moment, he felt that the Flame Monster was like a strict Teacher, imparting to him certain experiences about "Hunter" in this way.

Almost simultaneously, he recalled something from one of Aurora's novels:

Stealing someone's skills will get you killed!

After a while, the Flame Monster stopped moving, its charred face instinctively looking around.

Then, bracing itself against the Flames emanating from its body, it walked toward the edge of the clearing on Lumian's side.

"Following the fixed route, heading to the next place?" Lumian muttered to himself thoughtfully and with considerable excitement.

For Hunter, knowing the movement patterns of their prey is extremely valuable.

Most traps are hidden on these kinds of routes!

The Flame Monster walked around, constantly looking around and checking the ground, behaving very cautiously.

This made Lumian frown, realizing that High-Sequence "Hunter" were really difficult to deal with.

The Beyonder are often people or things of High-Sequence on the same Pathway, even if they are only one or two Sequence higher.

What you excel at, I excel at even more than you; what I have, you may not have!

If it weren't for his "Dancer" abilities and the "Fallen Mercury" Dagger, Lumian wouldn't have dared to even consider attacking this Flame Monster.

Seven or eight seconds later, the Flame Monster arrived at the edge of the open space, about five or six meters away from the broken wall.

Just like before, the Flame Monster's gaze instinctively turned in this direction.

Its gaze paused, as if looking at footprints on the edge of the broken wall that looked like someone had stood there.

Thump, thump, Lumian's heart involuntarily quickened slightly.

He wasn't ready to Hunting Flame Monster right now.

Putting aside the fact that the two were five or six meters apart, the fact that "Fallen Mercury" had not yet stored Destiny available for exchange made Lumian have no confidence in killing his opponent.

If a battle were to break out now, he, who didn't even have time to activate the Black Thorn Symbol, would be the one being Hunting!

Lumian struggled to control his heartbeat and breathing, placing his right hand on the black cloth strips Entanglement the surface of the "Fallen Mercury" blade, ready to tear them off at any moment.

Within the current distance, he leaped forward, giving him a chance to get close to the Flame Monster and avoid the ranged combat where the difference in strength between them was greatest.

Two or three seconds Past as if time had almost frozen, then the Flame Monster withdrew its gaze and continued on its way.

It appears that Lumian's footprints were not found.

After walking about ten meters, the Flame Monster suddenly turned around.

The clusters of Flames that emerged from its body instantly coalesced into a huge, Blazing White Fireball.

The Fireball, like Cannonball, hurtled towards the spot where Lumian had been standing at the edge of the broken wall.

Without a second thought, Lumian, who was crouching on the wall, followed his instincts and jumped directly to the other side of the broken wall, the open space where the Flame Monster had just set up its trap.

Boom!

The fire burst forth, and the already crumbling wall collapsed on the spot.

After landing, Lumian rolled twice to avoid the falling Stone Bricks and the Impact mixed with flames.

Immediately afterward, he jumped up, remaining "Invisibility," and dashed through the various traps left by the Flame Monster towards another exit of the open space.

The Flame Monster failed to spot the enemy immediately and had to focus on finding traces.

Finally, it spotted a series of tiny footprints.

At that moment, Lumian reached the rope strung between the two collapsed buildings, easily jumped Past, and escaped the open space.

He ran all the way back to a natural trap, completely shaking off the Flame Monster.

After reviewing what had just happened, Lumian, who had already deactivated his "Invisibility" status, cursed in anguish, "Too cunning, too cunning!"

"These Monster ' brains are all more useful than Pons'. After discovering my footprints, considering that we were too close and they might be attacked, they pretended not to see anything and naturally created distance!"

Despite his angry outburst, Lumian felt he had learned something new.

Of course, this approach also has obvious drawbacks:

The increased distance gave Lumian room to escape.

Furthermore, his invisibility prevented the Flame Monster from immediately pinpointing his location, making it highly likely that he would escape the area successfully.

After catching his breath and regaining some of his senses, Lumian muttered to himself as he ate biscuits and cheese:

"Judging from what just happened, if things are arranged properly, after stabbing that guy, I might have a chance to use ' Invisibility ' to create distance and escape to a farther place, waiting for the exchange of Destiny to be completed."

--When launching an attack, the "Invisibility" state will be canceled, but Lumian can use it again as long as he is out of contact.

This was his biggest discovery from this reconnaissance mission.

At the same time, he also discovered a problem:

"As Hunter, he didn't even bring water when he went 'hunting in the mountains'!"

I'm so thirsty!

Whether it's cheese or cookies, you need to drink water to balance them out.

The jerky that Lumian later wanted to make also belonged to this category.

After resting for a while, he decided to Hunting the "Noodle Man," strip away some of its bad Destiny, and store it in the "Fallen Mercury," so that it wouldn't be helpless in the face of unexpected situations like before.

--The Destiny of Marionette also belongs to "Fallen Mercury," which can be used for exchange, but Lumian is not a "Blade-Bearer" and cannot exchange his own Destiny Destiny someone else's. Otherwise, he would be happy to give away the bomb on his body.

About half an hour later, Lumian found the "Noodle Man," whose limbs and facial features were haphazardly pieced together.

Having performed the Sacrificial Dance beforehand, he Past openly and unsurprisingly saw the "Noodle Man" and immediately prostrated himself on the ground.

"Very well-behaved..." Lumian praised.

He held the Iron-Black Axe in his right hand, while his left hand gripped the "Fallen Mercury," whose silver-black blade had already been revealed.

After wielding this Evil Dagger for a long time, Lumian discovered that even without direct contact with flesh and blood, he would gradually be affected by the slight Corruption it emitted. For most Beyonder, this might slowly induce signs of Loss of Control, but Lumian had long been used to it and had a certain degree of resistance.

After watching the trembling "Noodle Man" for a few seconds, Lumian turned his gaze away from its mouth on its forehead, sighed, and said, "According to Aurora, in your condition, death is the only relief. The sooner you die, the sooner you'll find peace."

As he spoke, he knelt down on one knee and swiftly plunged the silver-black Dagger into the back of the "Noodle Man's" neck, where it went deep.

The "Noodle Man" trembled even more violently, but offered no resistance or struggle.

Lumian immediately withdrew his left hand, gripped the handle of the Iron-Black Axe with his right palm, and swung it down forcefully.

With a dull thud as the axe pierced flesh, the "Noodle Man's" head, coated in "Fallen Mercury," detached from his body and rolled to one side.

A large amount of blood gushed out and splattered all over the ground.

After twitching a few times, the "Noodle Man's" body fell completely still.

Lumian took a large step, came to the "Noodle Man's" head, and reached out his left hand to grasp the "Fallen Mercury."

The next second, he saw an illusory river shimmering with light.

The river seemed to be pieced together from a series of intricate, Mercury-Colored symbols, each symbol appearing as if the river itself Entanglement.

At this moment, at the end of the Illusory Long River, all the tributaries have disappeared, leaving only the main stream, which is interrupted and meanders as if trying to return to its origin but unable to do so for the time being.