Chapter 100

The flame monster continued to chase, constantly throwing crimson fireballs that exploded on the ground, creating craters and flipping Lumian over several times.

Many pieces of wood in the surrounding ruins caught fire, and crimson flames flickered everywhere.

Lumian didn't have time to deal with the flames burning his clothes. He endured the indescribable pain, being repeatedly thrown by the shockwaves of the explosions, and each time he stood up, he ran wildly towards his destination, zigzagging and sometimes in a straight line, without any pattern.

Fortunately, the next location in his plan wasn't far. Just as he felt a mouthful of fresh blood about to spurt out and his body was about to fall apart, the dilapidated building appeared before his eyes.

Boom!

Lumian forcibly twisted his body to avoid a fireball, which exploded not far in front of him, sending a fierce wave of flames and debris.

Lumian fell to the ground to avoid the most intense part of the explosion, and then rolled into the building that had not yet completely collapsed.

The flame monster stopped, not rushing into the place that might contain deadly traps.

It watched Lumian roll inside the building and formed crimson fire crows around itself.

The fire crows whistled as they flew out, half of them smashing into the building's support points, and the other half attacking Lumian's back from all directions.

They seemed to be able to lock onto their target, none of them deviating, and continuously adjusted their trajectories based on Lumian's movements.

At this moment, the flame monster seemed to already see the enemy being burned to a crisp.

The swarm of fire crows was not as easy to dodge as a casually thrown fireball!

Suddenly, Lumian's figure disappeared from the flame monster's sight.

He rolled into a relatively well-preserved basement.

Bang!

Lumian hastily slammed the wooden door shut and used the rebound to leap to the side.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, the crimson fire crows hit the door.

Boom!

The heavy wooden door was shattered into pieces, each piece catching fire.

Rumble!

The other half of the fire crows hit their intended targets, and the dilapidated building completely collapsed.

Rocks, wood, dust, and various debris intertwined, burying the basement completely.

Lumian had already hidden in a corner, using the soil piled there and his skilled rolling to extinguish the flames on his body.

Even so, he was already burned in multiple places, and his internal organs felt displaced. If he didn't receive timely treatment, he might not survive the day.

The flame monster's attack and explosive power seemed even stronger than Rien's before using the "Storm of Light"!

Lumian had originally hoped to use "Invisibility" to initially escape the flame monster, sneak to the basement, perform the mysterious sacrificial dance, partially activate the black thorn symbol on his chest, scare the monster away, and wait for the "Fallen Mercury" to complete the fate exchange. However, the flames on his body prevented him from entering the "Invisibility" state, and he was almost killed by the chase.

The only thing Lumian was grateful for now was that he had a backup plan in case he couldn't escape the flame monster's pursuit and couldn't calmly use the sacrificial dance to pray.

He had even considered collapsing the building to bury the basement and buy time, but the flame monster did it for him.

Phew... Lumian exhaled, sat cross-legged.

He took out the bottle of gray amber perfume from Ourore, unscrewed the cap, and placed it in front of him.

Outside the collapsed building, the flame monster's gaze penetrated the dust in the air, searching for the enemy's trail.

It believed that the cunning guy couldn't be so easily buried alive.

Given his trap-setting skills and familiarity with the ruins, he must have left a way out for himself!

The flame monster's thinking ability was not strong, relying on its "Hunter" instincts to circle around to the back of the collapsed building.

It searched inch by inch and found a sloping tunnel entrance in just a few seconds. The entrance was hidden by the parts of the building that had already collapsed, unaffected by the subsequent overall collapse, and was quite concealed.

The flame monster raised its right hand, forming a fist-sized white-hot fireball in its palm.

It suddenly stepped forward, swung its right arm, and threw the fireball into the tunnel.

The flame traveled a short distance, entered the basement, and hit the opposite wall.

Boom!

The shockwave of the explosion did not affect Lumian, who was hiding in another corner, but it knocked over the bottle of gray amber perfume in front of him, causing the entire basement to shake.

The liquid flowed out in large quantities from the uncapped bottle, and the delicate, sweet scent instantly became intense.

Lumian kept his eyes closed, sitting focused against the wall.

He was meditating!

He had already visualized the crimson sun in his mind and maintained it for several seconds.

Soon, Lumian heard the terrifying voice that seemed to come from an infinite distance yet was right by his ear.

The veins on his face, hands, and neck bulged, quickly turning a fiery red color.

At the same time, silver-black circular spots appeared on his skin.

Lumian opened his mouth but couldn't scream. He fell down, curling up.

The "Fallen Mercury" slipped from his left palm but did nothing, not daring to jump to his uncovered face and right hand to create a puppet by contact.

It just trembled, violently.

Outside the basement, next to the entrance Lumian had dug, the monster that was about to form a fireball suddenly froze.

It also began to tremble uncontrollably.

A few seconds later, it fled, abandoning the hunt.

Lumian fell into a darkness filled with countless flickering flames, his mind filled with extreme pain and evil thoughts.

At this moment, he felt that death would be better and sensed something growing rapidly in the depths of his soul, gradually taking shape.

It seemed to be a shadow composed of all negative traits and a certain will, and once it formed a human shape, it would completely replace the original host.

In the darkness filled with only despair and pain, Lumian suddenly smelled a delicate, sweet scent.

It was the scent of Ourore, a scent she often had.

Ourore... sister... Lumian gradually regained his thoughts, and the light, soothing melody seemed to ring in his ears again.

"I want to live!"

"The cycle has not been broken!"

These thoughts quickly returned, and Lumian finally overcame the dark will and the pain-filled darkness in his mind, opening his eyes.

The first thing he saw was the bottle of gray amber perfume that had fallen to the ground.

It's spilled? Lumian reached out with his right hand, feeling heartbroken.

He had only intended to mimic Ourore's use of incense to control the signs of losing control, relying on the natural scent of the perfume to wake himself up, but the liquid had spilled out in large quantities.

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

Without needing anyone to remind him, Lumian could "smell" the unfamiliar, bone-chilling scent on his body.

If he encountered Valentine now, he wouldn't need to act; he would be directly summoned by holy light to be "purified."

Lumian picked up the remaining half of the gray amber perfume, capped the bottle, and put it away.

He then picked up the "Fallen Mercury," which was still trembling violently, and asked in Hermes, "Is the fate exchange complete?"

The "Fallen Mercury" moved side to side, indicating it was not yet complete.

Lumian immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

He was afraid that when he woke up, the fate exchange would already be complete, and the state of being shocked would last only about a minute.

If that were the case, if he couldn't find the flame monster in time, the injuries and suffering he endured would be meaningless.

Phew, inhale... Lumian adjusted his very poor condition, mustered his remaining strength, and climbed out of the basement through the tunnel he had dug in advance.

Every movement he made pulled at different wounds, causing even the extremely pain-tolerant Lumian to grimace.

After leaving the basement, Lumian searched for the flame monster's footprints and sighed to himself, "Meditating to fully activate the thorn symbol on my chest when in poor condition is almost suicidal..."

It's only because I haven't done it since becoming a 'Hunter' that I can barely control the signs of losing control with the scent of gray amber. If I had done it a few times before, my body would have already undergone some mutations and I would have become a monster...

"After a long time, unless I want to die, I can't do this again..."

He chose to meditate to fully activate the black thorn symbol on his chest rather than perform the sacrificial dance to partially activate it because the situation was urgent, and there was no time to complete the dance.

Through meditation, he could scare away the flame monster in just five to six seconds, while the mysterious sacrificial dance would take thirty to forty seconds, even with Lumian's familiarity.

In Lumian's hunting plan, this was the last resort: if other methods failed to escape the flame monster's pursuit, try meditating!

Lumian just didn't expect to be severely injured from the start, almost losing control during meditation.

Soon, Lumian found the footprints left by the flame monster and forced himself to follow them.

A few minutes later, he saw the footprints becoming fresh and slowed down.

After a while, the "Fallen Mercury" trembled on its own, telling Lumian that the fate exchange was complete.

Lumian no longer hesitated, drew the iron-black axe, and charged forward along the flame monster's footprints.

In less than twenty seconds, he saw the charred, flaming target.

It was crouching in a corner surrounded by rocks, trembling.

Lumian ran over, dropped the "Fallen Mercury," and held the axe with both hands, using all his strength to swing it down.

With a dull sound, the flame monster's head separated from its body without any resistance.

A torrent of fresh blood spurted out, turning into crimson flames on the ground.

Thud, Lumian could no longer support himself and fell to the ground with the axe.

PS: Third update. Thank you to Wutong for the gold alliance support after the completion of "Guisi," and please vote for the monthly ticket!