Circle of Inevitability

838 Bluffing

Albus's right hand holding the weapon drooped down, seemingly too weak to bear the weight of the bone and flesh sword. He planted it on the ground made of corpses and bones, but compared to Lumian directly dropping the Sword of Courage, he was clearly much better off.

At the same time, Celeste's voice, filled with anticipation and cruel amusement, emanated from various mirrors and mirror-like objects scattered across the corpse mountain and wasteland, "How are you feeling? Confused about when you got infected with the plague?"

Sure enough, it's a Demoness's Plague... Standing on the wasteland, Lumian took advantage of the moment before his muscles completely lost strength, when he could still lift light objects, to quickly remove the Devil's Whispers bone ring from his finger and stuff it back into the Traveler's Bag.

Wearing this ring would cause Lumian to be constantly burned by sulfurous flames, inside and out, continuously weakening his resistance and tolerance to Plague. Although he was already poisoned by sulfur and had some degree of burns, stopping the damage in time was still very important.

After putting away the Devil's Whispers bone ring, Lumian took out the brass talisman and matching earplugs given by Archbishop Heraberg, gripping one in his left palm and putting the other back into his left ear.

"Listen!" Lumian again uttered this ancient Hermes word, continuing his learning process.

Meanwhile, Celeste's voice continued to emanate from various mirror surfaces and mirror-like objects: "We were certain that the operation targeting 0-01 would face interference and competition from Beyonders of the Hunter pathway, and we would inevitably have to confront Wanak. So, we prepared a Grade 1 Sealed Artifact in advance. The mystical pathogen it produces has a very notable characteristic-it can survive in high-temperature flames for a period of time.

"And I can use the power of the special mirror world to let those pathogens spread quietly through different mirror surfaces, silently dispersing throughout this wasteland and corpse mountain.

"You've been setting fires all along, but I've also been continuously releasing frost, pretending to attack and curse. This actually freezes those mystical pathogens inside, allowing them to survive longer in high temperatures. Combined with their own special nature, it's enough for you to be contaminated partially, slowly seeping into your bodies..."

Celeste explained in great detail, as if wanting to bring pain and savor despair.

This might be her hobby, or perhaps a negative influence brought by certain items.

Albus Medici, leaning on that bone and flesh sword, kept turning his body, looking in different directions, seemingly trying to quickly pinpoint Celeste's true form and drag her out of the mirror world.

However, it was impossible to discern which mirror Celeste was in just from the source of the sound. She might have been constantly moving through the mirror world without stopping.

Similarly, even if Albus recited those three passages of the honorific name again, he could only affect the special mirror world in this area at the peak of the corpse mountain. He couldn't damage the "mirrors" in the middle and lower parts of the corpse mountain and on the wasteland.

Celeste's voice gradually became shrill, both painful and pleasurable.

"This pathogen also has flaws. It's not the type that will have fatal effects in a short time. It can only make you quickly lose your physical strength, accelerate the dissipation of spirituality, and eventually make you lie on the ground, unable to move, desperately listening to your own heart gradually weakening and stop beating."

Hearing this, Lumian teleported to change his position, avoiding being assassinated by Celeste taking advantage of the situation.

Some thoughts flashed through his mind: Could I wear the Eggers family's golden mask to counteract the damage from this mystical pathogen?

If I stop my heart from beating in advance, I won't have to worry about it losing strength!

No, this mystical pathogen seems to affect the Spirit Body as well. Perhaps, after physical death, the Spirit Body will gradually lose the power to maintain its own existence...

Moreover, Archbishop Heraberg said that becoming a deceased here would only lead to eternal slumber... Well, perhaps in the future, one might be 'awakened' as a puppet of 0-01...

Albus Medici at the peak of the corpse mountain suddenly laughed.

"So that's how it is. I do feel weakened.

"Even with my ancestor helping me share the impact, in three or four minutes I should completely lose my fighting ability, barely able to crawl.

"But I don't remember if I told you what I was going to do in the underground mausoleum, or if you noticed that the abnormality had already occurred?"

As he spoke, Albus's smile gradually brightened.

His demeanor was composed, appearing very confident and assured, not panicked at all.

Celeste, who had been emitting sounds from different mirrors and mirror-like objects to delay time until the effects of the mystical pathogen deepened, suddenly fell silent.

She seemed to be observing her surroundings, trying to find the abnormality Albus mentioned.

Albus moved his neck and said with an upturned corner of his mouth,

"I only have three things to accomplish here:

"First is to kill Wanak, so that 0-01 no longer has a proxy of this level;

"Second is to recite my ancestor's honorific names around 0-01, causing it to resonate and gradually awaken;

"Third, heh heh, is to delay time, waiting for 0-01 to break free from this corpse mountain on its own.

"Haven't you noticed that the frequency and amplitude of 0-01's trembling and shaking are getting higher and larger?

"Haven't you noticed that 0-01 is about to break free from the corpse mountain?"

Wh- Celeste, hidden near the peak of the corpse mountain, concealed in one of the components of the previous Mirror Maze to closely observe Albus's movements and ready to interfere with the target's self-rescue at any time, tensed up and instinctively looked towards the violently shaking and trembling 0-01.

She then saw that charred banner with the dangerous blood spots densely covering it.

Her head suddenly buzzed, and her neck ached.

She was further corrupted!

Crack!

The mirror where Celeste was hiding instantly shattered, revealing her figure, with a blank expression, her head trying to separate from her neck.

Now! Albus seized the opportunity, discarding the heavy bone and flesh sword, transforming into a blazing white, blue-tinged flame spear, swooshing down near Celeste.

Then, he created a dense Fog of War, enveloping Celeste and the area within about ten meters around this Demoness.

After completing this, Albus didn't give Celeste a chance to break free from her corrupted state and escape the Fog of War through the mirror world. Mustering his remaining strength, he condensed several blue fireballs and sent them crashing into the Fog of War one after another.

Rumble!

Relatively violent explosions occurred, and pale blue flames rose up. Celeste's Mirror Substitution was passively triggered.

But affected and misled by the Fog of War, her figure reappeared still within the blast range, still covered by shock waves powerful enough to destroy a Demoness's body.

Albus controlled the power of the fireballs, ensuring the Fog of War was never dispersed, causing Celeste's Mirror Substitutions to shatter one after another.

Similarly, he also controlled the frequency of fireballs bombarding that small area of fog, not giving Celeste even a slight chance to recover and enter the mirror world.

Finally, Celeste's shadow froze. That beautiful and seductive body blackened and disintegrated, falling to the ground in the form of corpse fragments.

Plop, the black teardrop-shaped ornament she had been wearing on her brow fell onto a corpse.

Albus stopped maintaining the Fog of War and looked at the dead Celeste, laughing mockingly.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you, my calmness just now was feigned. I needed to delay for five to six minutes to wait for 0-01 to resonate with my ancestor to the extreme, initially awaken, and break free from the constraints of the corpse mountain.

"Why were you in such a hurry? So hurried that you forgot direct eye contact with 0-01 would lead to corruption, and you were already corrupted to some extent.

"Remember, being too hasty or too slow are both major taboos in war."

While mocking the dead, Albus didn't go to pick up that black teardrop-shaped ornament which clearly possessed Beyonder power, fearing it might trigger corresponding negative effects and impact subsequent matters, especially since he was already considerably weakened.

At this point, his hands and feet had become powerless, running had become difficult, so he could only transform again into a blazing white, blue-tinged flame spear, flying back near 0-01.

He glanced at Julie's filthy blood slowly falling in mid-air, estimating it was only about 30-40 centimeters away from the target.

Albus then threw a blue fireball at it, burning that pool of filthy blood, causing it to slowly evaporate and dissipate without triggering any additional changes.

After closing his eyes to sense the frequency and amplitude of 0-01's shaking and trembling, Albus silently said to himself, It seems to be progressing faster than expected, two or three more minutes should be enough.

Heh heh, Celeste, I lied about one thing earlier. In the end, 0-01 still can't break free on its own, it needs me to help it with Medici family blood...

I didn't mock your corpse earlier because I had too much time, some words needed to be heard by Lumian Lee, to make him overlook the part where I lied...

Albus Medici then turned to look at the wasteland, at Lumian who had just completed a teleportation to change his position to avoid being locked onto, and said loudly with a laugh, "You're very alert. In such a pressing situation, you actually didn't follow that fool Celeste to observe the abnormalities of 0-01."

Lumian raised his hand to scratch his right ear, telling a lie that couldn't be more obvious, "Sorry, I was learning, I didn't hear your conversation just now. Alright, I admit, I was thinking Celeste would help me confirm the current situation of 0-01."

Albus looked at this guy and said thoughtfully, "You're very calm. Your physical combat ability should be almost depleted by now. As for me, with my ancestor sharing the burden, I can definitely hold out longer than you."

Lumian laughed, laughing with composure and confidence, exuding the brilliance of atop student. "Haven't you noticed that there are other abnormalities here?"

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