Prey and hunter

The Flame Monster chased after Lumian, constantly throwing out crimson Fireball that blasted craters into the ground and knocked Lumian over several times.

As a result, much of the wood in the surrounding Ruins was set ablaze, and red flames flickered everywhere.

Ignoring the Flames still burning his clothes, Lumian endured the indescribable Pain, repeatedly thrown back by the Impact of the explosion, only to rise again and again, running wildly towards his destination, sometimes to the left, sometimes to the right, sometimes in an arc, sometimes in a straight line, without any rhyme or reason.

Fortunately, his next destination wasn't far away. Just when he felt he was about to spit out a mouthful of blood and his body was about to be torn to pieces, the dilapidated building appeared before him.

Boom!

Lumian forcefully twisted his body to avoid a Fireball, which exploded not far in front of him, creating a fierce wave of Flames.

Lumian took advantage of the fall to the ground, dodging the most intense wave of damage, and rolled into the house in front of him that had not yet completely collapsed.

The Flame Monster stopped in its tracks, not in a hurry to chase into the place that might be hiding a deadly trap.

He watched Lumian tumbling and crawling inside the house, and Crimson Fire Raven began to condense around him.

The Fire Raven crows swooped out, half of them crashing into the various support points of the building, while the other half hurled themselves at Lumian's back from all directions.

They seemed to be able to lock onto their target, none of them deviating, and they constantly adjusted their trajectories according to Lumian's position.

At that moment, the Flame Monster seemed to be able to see its enemies being blown to smithereens.

A flock of Fire Raven is not as easy to dodge as Fireball you can just conjure!

Suddenly, Lumian's figure vanished from the Flame Monster's sight.

He rolled into the relatively well-preserved Basement.

Bang!

Lumian slammed the Wooden Door shut and used the rebound to lunge to the side.

With a whoosh, the crimson Fire Raven slammed into the door.

Boom!

The heavy Wooden Door was blown to pieces, and every fragment was set ablaze.

Rumble!

The other half of the Fire Raven all hit their intended targets, and the dilapidated house collapsed completely.

Stones, wood, dust, and various debris intertwined and engulfed the area, completely burying the Basement.

Lumian had already hidden in a corner, using the pile of dirt and skillful rolling to extinguish the Flames on his body.

Even so, he still suffered burns in multiple places, and his internal organs seemed to have shifted due to the explosion. If he did not receive timely treatment, he might not survive a day.

The Flame Monster's attack power and burst damage seem to be even stronger than Ryan's without using "Storm of Light"!

Lumian had originally hoped to use "Invisibility" to get rid of the Flame Monster, sneak into the Basement, perform that mysterious Sacrificial Dance, and partially activate the Black Thorn Symbol on his chest to scare it away, so he could wait for "Fallen Mercury" to complete the exchange of Destiny. However, the Flames that had previously attached to him prevented him from entering "Invisibility" and he was chased so hard that he almost lost his life.

Lumian's only consolation right now is that he had a plan in place to avoid being pursued by the Flame Monster and to avoid using the Sacrificial Dance dance in peace.

He had even considered collapsing the house himself to bury the Basement and buy time, but the Flame Monster did it for him.

Huff... Lumian let out a breath and sat down cross-legged.

He took out the bottle of Gray Ambergris Perfume from Aurora, unscrewed the cap, and placed it in front of him.

Outside the completely collapsed house, the Flame Monster's gaze pierced through the dust filling the air, searching for traces of the enemy.

It believed that the treacherous fellow couldn't have been buried alive so easily.

Given the skill he displayed in setting traps and his familiarity with these Ruins, he must have left himself an escape route!

The Flame Monster wasn't very good at thinking; it relied on its "Hunter's" instincts to circle around to the back of the collapsed house.

It searched the place inch by inch, and found a downward-sloping opening in just over ten seconds.

The opening was concealed by parts of the already collapsed building and was not affected by the subsequent overall collapse, making it difficult to see at a glance; its location was quite hidden.

The Flame Monster raised its right hand, and a fist-sized Blazing White Fireball condensed in its palm.

It took a sudden step forward, swung its right arm, and threw the Fireball into the passage.

The Flames traveled a short distance, entered the Basement, and slammed into the opposite wall.

Boom!

The shockwave from the explosion didn't affect Lumian, who was deliberately hiding in another corner; it only overturned the bottle of Gray Ambergris Perfume in front of him, causing the entire Basement to shake.

The liquid then flowed out in large quantities from the uncovered bottle, and the delicate, sweet fragrance instantly became richer.

Lumian remained seated against the wall, his eyes closed.

He's Meditation!

He had already pictured that crimson Sun in his mind, and held it there for several seconds.

Soon, Lumian heard that terrifying sound, which seemed to come from infinite distance yet was also right next to his ear.

On his face, the back of his hands, and his neck, bluish veins stood out, quickly turning a fiery red.

At the same time, one after another, silver-black circular spots appeared on the surface of his skin.

Lumian opened his mouth, but failed to scream. He collapsed and curled up.

The "Fallen Mercury" slipped from his left palm, but he dared not do anything, daring not to actively flick it towards his uncovered face and right hand, attempting to create Marionette through contact.

It just trembled there, trembled violently.

Outside the Basement, next to the entrance Lumian had dug out, the Monster that was about to condense Fireball suddenly froze.

It trembled uncontrollably.

A few seconds later, it ran away and abandoned the Hunting.

Lumian was plunged into darkness filled with countless flickering flames, his mind filled with extreme Pain and evil thoughts.

At that moment, he felt that death was preferable, and he sensed something growing rapidly and gradually taking shape Depths his soul.

It was as if a shadow, composed of all negative Personality mixed with some kind of will, was being pieced together into human form, and would completely replace the original owner.

In the endless darkness filled only with Despair and Pain, Lumian suddenly smelled a fragrance:

Delicate and sweet.

That's the smell of Aurora, a smell that comes often.

Aurora... Older Sister... Lumian gradually regained some of her thoughts, and she seemed to hear that light and soothing melody again.

I want to live!

The Loop hasn't ended yet!

"..."

A flood of thoughts rushed back, and Lumian finally overcame the Pitch-Black will Depths his heart and the Pain darkness, opening his eyes.

The first thing that caught his eye was the bottle of Gray Ambergris Perfume lying on the ground.

It fell over? Lumian reached out her right hand with concern.

He had only intended to Imitation Aurora's behavior of using incense to suppress signs of Loss of Control and to awaken himself with the naturally emanating scent of perfume, but unexpectedly, most of the liquid in the bottle was spilled.

The next second, he felt his body tremble, saw the charred and bloody marks on the back of his hand, and saw the silver-black circular spots that had not yet completely disappeared.

Without needing anyone to remind him, Lumian could "smell" a strange, creepy odor emanating from his body.

If he were to encounter Valentine now, he wouldn't need to make any effort to show off; he would simply be "purified" by the Summon Holy Light by Valentine.

Lumian picked up the half-empty bottle of Gray Ambergris Perfume, capped it, and put it away.

He then picked up the still violently trembling "Fallen Mercury" and asked in Hermetic, "Is the exchange of Destiny complete?"

"Fallen Mercury" immediately moved left and right to indicate that it hadn't happened yet.

Lumian immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

He feared that when he woke up, his Destiny would have already been switched, and that the state of Intimidation would last for at most a minute.

In that case, if he fails to find the Flame Monster in time, all the pain and suffering he just endured will be meaningless.

Heaving, breathing... Lumian adjusted his extremely poor condition, mustered his remaining strength, and climbed out of the Basement through the pre-dug hole.

Every movement he made would aggravate different wounds, causing him, who had an extremely high pain tolerance, to grimace in pain.

As Lumian left the Basement, he searched for traces of the Flame Monster while muttering to himself:

"Meditation when you're not feeling well, which fully triggers the Thorn Symbol in your chest, is practically suicidal..."

"It's only because I stopped doing this after becoming a ' Hunter ' that I was able to barely suppress the signs of Loss of Control by relying on the scent of Gray Amber. If I had done it a few more times before, my body would have started to mutate, and I would have become Monster by now..."

"For a long time afterward, unless I wanted to die, I couldn't do that anymore..."

He chose to fully activate the Black Thorn Symbol in his chest through Meditation rather than partially activating it through Sacrificial Dance because the situation was urgent and there was simply no time to complete the dance.

With Meditation, he could scare away the Flame Monster in five or six seconds at most, while the mysterious Sacrificial Dance took thirty or forty seconds, even when Lumian was already proficient.

In Lumian's Hunting plan, this was a last resort: when other methods failed to shake off the Flame Monster's pursuit, try Meditation!

Lumian hadn't expected to be so badly injured from the start, almost losing control and Loss of Control into Monster during his Meditation.

Before long, Lumian found the footprints left by the Flame Monster and forced himself to chase after it.

A few minutes later, he noticed the footprints were fresh, so he slowed his pace.

After a while, the "Fallen Mercury" trembled on its own, telling Lumian that their Destiny had been exchanged.

Without further hesitation, Lumian drew his Iron-Black Axe and charged forward, following the footprints of the Flame Monster.

In less than twenty seconds, he saw his prey, charred black and engulfed in Flames.

It was huddled in a corner enclosed by stones, trembling.

Lumian rushed Past, dropped "Fallen Mercury," gripped the Axe with both hands, and chopped down with all his might.

With a dull thud, the Flame Monster's head separated from its body, offering no resistance.

Streams of bright red blood gushed out violently, turning into clusters of crimson flames on the ground.

With a thud, Lumian could no longer hold on and collapsed to the ground, Axe in hand.