Chapter 86: Sudden Encounter (First Update, Please Give Me a Monthly Ticket) Huh... Lumian let out a breath, collected his thoughts, put on his hunting rifle, steadied his axe, walked out of the semi-underground two-story building standing on the edge of the wilderness, and walked towards the ruins of the dream. Crossing the wilderness, following the route he had explored several times before, he carefully went deeper into the complex of collapsed houses, approaching the dark red "mountain". There is thick fog in the sky, no weeds grow on the ground, and the whole world is so dark and gloomy. Soon, Lumian left the familiar area and truly entered the depths of the ruins. He observed the environment and identified traces along the way, constantly imagining what things he encountered now would come in handy if a battle broke out. This made his progress very slow. Caution and caution are always the first principles of hunting. Finally, Lumian found new footprints. They appear to be human beings, and are located at the edge of the "road", obscured by various collapsed buildings, making them very difficult to spot.
“He knows how to hide himself... and can eliminate traces to a certain extent..." Lumian observed for a while and made a preliminary judgment. He suspected that this was a creature similar to the shotgun monster, and perhaps had clues to Sequence 8 of the "Hunter" pathway. According to his experience and Aurore's guess, there should be three types of monsters in this ruin: The first category is the type that has received gifts and has no extraordinary characteristics. Typical examples are the "noodle man" and the mouth monster, and they all seem to come from the realm controlled by the hidden existence named Fate. The second category has extraordinary characteristics but does not show the gift of power. The most typical example is the shotgun monster. However, they should also be suppressed by the black thorn symbol on Lumian's chest, which shows that they may have also been contaminated by the hidden existence, so they have become monsters. The third category has neither gifted abilities nor extraordinary characteristics. They are like ordinary humans or normal creatures that have been contaminated. The skinless monster that Lumian encountered at the beginning was of this type. As for whether there are monsters that possess both extraordinary characteristics and gifts, Aurore and Lumian both think there should be, but there is a lack of practical evidence. Therefore, a monster that exhibits "Hunter" characteristics is likely to have extraordinary characteristics! While following the footprints, Lumian even discovered two traps, which made him more certain of his guess. If he hadn't been careful enough and wasn't a "hunter" himself, he might have turned from a hunter into a hunted target. Soon, Lumian noticed that the footprints became fresh. This means that if you move forward, you will most likely hit the target. Without rushing to say "hello", Lumian walked around a little and found a good hiding spot. Then he started dancing. In the invisible melody, he took sonorous and powerful steps and turned softly and slowly in a semicircle, completely recreating the strange and mysterious sacrificial dance of the "Noodle Man". It was not a skillful move, even a little unfamiliar, but thanks to his ability as a "dancer", Lumian still managed to feel his chest becoming hot. After unbuttoning his shirt and confirming that the black thorn symbol was visible, Lumian climbed to the middle of the collapsed house and entered the chosen hiding spot. He quickly looked into the distance and saw a figure digging a trap there. It was indeed a "person", but his entire body was charred black, with red flames still burning on the surface that never went out. Could it be the "arsonist"? A big fish has been caught... Lumian was both happy and worried.
He was delighted that the main material corresponding to Sequence 8 "Provocateur" had appeared, but he was troubled that the prey was much stronger than he had expected. The "Arsonist" is Sequence 7 of the "Hunter" pathway. According to Aurore, it is a sequence that has undergone a qualitative change, and was called the "Fire Mage" in ancient times. Lumian thought that with the combined power of the Hunter, Dancer, and the black thorn symbol, as long as he was not careless, hunting a Provocateur monster should be no problem. However, facing the Sequence 7 Arsonist, he was really unsure. As long as this monster keeps attacking from a distance, it may not be weakened by the black thorn symbol! After thinking about it, Lumian decided to retreat first. He planned to work out an effective plan and set targeted traps before trying to deal with the fire monster. His initial thought was to go home and perform the dance that could summon strange things from the surrounding area, to see what negative effects it would have if the remaining spirit of the mouthpart monster took over his body. If it is not serious and acceptable, he can then borrow an ability from the other party, such as "invisibility". As for whether there would be any sequelae after being possessed, and whether the vengeful spirit would be willing to leave after successfully possessing the body, Lumian was not too worried. Anyway, this is in the ruins of a dream. As long as you don't die on the spot, you can go back to reality and have a good rest, and everything can be restored. Just as Lumian made a move, the fire monster suddenly raised its head and looked over here with its burnt face and bulging eyes. "Not good!" Lumian said secretly, and without bothering to climb down, he jumped directly to the ground from his hiding place. Almost at the same time, a huge, red fireball hit where he was originally, blowing bricks and stones into the air and sending out layers of flames. Lumian dodged hastily and could hardly control his body when he landed. He could only fall down and roll to dissipate the energy. If it weren't for the extraordinary flexibility brought by the "Dancer", he would inevitably tear his muscles and rupture his ligaments due to the twisting movements. When Lumian stood up again, the fire monster had already appeared on the top of the collapsed building, with red crows formed by flames standing around it. Seeing this scene, Lumian felt as if he was surrounded by a group of soldiers, and all he could see were gun muzzles. Without hesitation, he did not flee but instead ran towards the collapsed building where the fire monster stood. Faced with such a scenario, he felt that his only chance of turning defeat into victory was to use the black thorn symbol on his chest. And this seems to require getting closer! Ding Ding Deng! As Lumian ran wildly, half of the fire crows fell from the sky and hit him from behind, causing heat waves to rise and explosions to echo. The remaining phantom fire crows changed direction accordingly, and their "sights" were all locked onto the running target. At this moment, Lumian arrived at the bottom of the collapsed building, no more than five meters away from the fire monster. The next second, the charred monster wrapped in red flames froze completely, and the remaining flaming crows around him were instantly extinguished. It worked! Just as Lumian was filled with joy, the fire monster turned around, descended from the collapsed building in another direction, and fled wildly. "Hey, don't run!" Lumian shouted subconsciously. He went around the ruins in front of him and chased after the fire monster. After chasing for two buildings, Lumian completely lost sight of the monster because it was so fast. At this time, the burning sensation in Lumian's chest also disappeared. He had to stop and adjust his breathing, preparing to follow the footprints and guard against traps.
While taking a breath, Lumian glanced around and suddenly froze. Not far to his side, at the door of a half-collapsed building, a figure was standing. The figure was wearing a black robe with a hood, and overall looked no different from a normal human, except that there were three faces on its single head. The face in front belongs to an old man, with cloudy eyes, sparse eyebrows, and many wrinkles; The one on the left is of a middle-aged man with deep 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 blue eyes that reveal innocence and ignorance. A three-faced monster! That three-faced monster! Lumian was really frightened. Because he was chasing the fire monster, he obviously went deeper into the ruins and actually encountered a three-faced monster! After becoming a "Dancer" and mastering the mysterious dance, which allowed him to half-activate the black thorn symbol on his chest, Lumian had no intention of using the three-faced monster as a test target. He intuitively thought that this guy was very dangerous. In the words of the mysterious lady, his status might be relatively high, and even if he was weakened by the black thorn symbol, he could still easily kill the weak "hunter". Therefore, Lumian's previous plan was to bypass the area where the three-faced monster was located, practice with other monsters, confirm what role the half-activated black thorn symbol can play when facing enemies of different strengths, and then consider whether to hunt the three-faced monster or not to provoke it at all. Who would have thought that this guy would actually leave his own "territory" and come here, running headfirst into Lumian! Well... How about I dance for you to apologize? Lumian muttered madly in his heart and took a step back instinctively. At the door of the half-collapsed building, a three-faced monster in a black robe and a hood also took a step back. Lumian turned around. The three-faced monster also turned around. Lumian ran away. The three-faced monster also ran away. Lumian, who had been planning to distance himself and try to dance, ran a few steps and suddenly felt something was wrong. He stopped and turned to look at the area where the enemy was, just in time to see the back of the three-faced monster running away. “……”Lumian was stunned. After a while, he vaguely understood something, raised his hand and touched his face, and whispered to himself: "Am I that terrible?" The three-faced monster's behavior just now reminded him of the scene when he first encountered it: At that time, he secretly glanced at the three-faced monster, shrank back in fear, and prayed to the "Eternal Sun" to protect him from being discovered. Afterwards, the three-faced monster clearly looked at where he was hiding, but seemed to notice nothing. Instead, it took the initiative to distance itself and stood farther away. So it wasn't the Eternal Sun that blessed me, nor was it that I was very lucky, but the three-faced monster saw or sensed my "specialness" and scared itself away? Lumian nodded thoughtfully, and then made a guess: "In the Dream Ruins, monsters with a certain status can directly sense my 'specialness' without me having to half-activate the black thorn symbol?" PS: First update, please give me a monthly ticket~ PS2: I recommend a book, "The Talker of the Ming Dynasty", a very unique historical text in absurd and humorous style. (End of this chapter)