758 Devil’s Whispers

758 Devil’s Whispers

This really leans towards the concept of harvest… If I could obtain seeds from magical plants or be in an environment dominated by magical plants and special insects, the Harvest Priest’s combative abilities using mystical means wouldn’t be too bad; they might even be impressively effective…

The Beyonder ability to directly catalyze plants to unleash their full life force has vast imaginative possibilities. Unfortunately, a Harvest Priest’s direct combat ability is limited. If Lugano were a Sealed Artifact and I were to use it, things would be completely different…

Amid these thoughts, Lumian looked at Lugano and asked, “Have there been any enhancements to your body?”

“There are some, but not many,” Lugano replied honestly.

Lumian nodded and pulled out a letter from his pocket sent along with Hisoka’s Sealed Artifact from Madam Magician, reading it with the aid of the bright white light orb floating above his head.

“Temporarily named: Devil’s Whisper.

“Positive effects:

“1. Devil’s Arm:

“To minimize the negative effects and make it easy to use, the Beyonder ability of this bone ring is reduced. Originally Devil Transformation targets the entire body, it now only affects the arm wearing Devil’s Whisper.

“It causes the arm to swell, darken, and sprout sinister patterns, as if covered with a thick layer of armor. The flesh becomes highly elastic and resistant, minimizing damage.

“The arm in question becomes immune to most poisons, resistant to curses and fire to a certain degree, and significantly stronger.

“2. Malice Perception:

“For the same reason, Malice Perception granted by this ring only helps you sense whether people around you bear ill will towards you, not to detect looming dangers. Make do with it.

“3. Desire Incarnation:

“This is a power I specifically requested the Artisan to emphasize, sacrificing the chance to obtain other powerful effects. Moreover, to ensure its full manifestation, I agreed to slightly increase the rings negative effects.

“It can transform your body into a shadowy black liquid composed of various emotions and desires, helping you avoid damage, conceal your movements, and affect your enemies.

“This sounds quite useful, but is it worth my special request to the Artisan? You’ll understand why once you use it.”

Upon reading this, Lumian muttered to himself, ‘So, by suppressing the reduced negative impacts of the first two positive effects, some of the impact has returned in the Desire Incarnation ability? What makes it so special for Madam Magician to do this?’

Lumian didn’t rush to experiment and continued reading.

“4. Wraith Shriek

“By rubbing the demon relief on the ring’s face and emitting a loud sound, you can create an effect similar to Wraith Shriek that can rupture the eardrums of living beings and harm their spirits. The closer they are to you, the better the effect.

“Negative effects:

“After wearing it, your malice will become more pronounced. If you can’t control yourself and indulge in malice, you’ll gradually slip into the Abyss and eventually be controlled by the malice of this ring, meaning, if you indulge in malice while wearing it, you will become its puppet, and it will be the driver, you the driven.

“While it’s not that a single indulgence in malice will result in being controlled, it’s hard for humans who have tasted the sweet lure of malice not to continue.

“According to my estimates, the conspicuous malice combined with the existing negative effects of the contract ability will negate all your endurance from Ascetic and your own willpower, making you unable to withstand further emotional and desire stimuli.

“Moreover, whether worn or not, just carrying it will cause your body to suffer burns from sulfur flames, both internally and externally. Placing it in the Traveler’s Bag can effectively mitigate this effect. As a Pyromaniac who has reached Sequence 5, you can withstand these burns for a longer period, but be mindful of the sulfur’s toxic effects and treat it promptly.

“Furthermore, including yourself, people within a hundred meters radius will be subtly influenced by the Devil’s Whisper, more prone to ill thoughts and impulsive actions. This can also be mitigated by placing it in the Traveler’s Bag.”

The rest is okay, but after wearing Devil’s Whisper, my emotions and desires will become my greatest weaknesses… Lumian assessed this Sealed Artifact from Hisoka.

Its sealing is relatively simple, requiring only spatial isolation. Combined with Lumian’s strong endurance, he could totally use it as a mystical item.

Lumian then pulled out the pitch-black bone ring, wrapped in a dark transparent barrier, from another pocket. He pressed his hand against the sphere and slowly reached inside.

His right hand felt like it was moving through a dense swamp, struggling to touch the ring.

At the same time, the dark sphere silently crumbled, unfolded on its own, and merged with the surrounding void.

Lumian then slipped Devil’s Whisper onto his left index finger.

His body suddenly liquefied and became ethereal.

He turned into a pool of thick black liquid. Lugano, who only glanced at him, shivered uncontrollably, chilled to the bone as if he had seen the most sinister and hidden desires and emotions deep within the human heart.

The newly-advanced Harvest Priest impulsively asked Lumian, who had just returned to human form from a black liquid state, “When can we return to the surface?”

Lumian gave him an icy glance, his blue eyes seemingly harboring a darkness that no light could penetrate.

Lugano shuddered violently, a familiar fear creeping back as he stuttered, “J-just asking.”

Lumian cracked a slightly mad smile and slowly removed the Devil’s Whisper, placing it back into the Traveler’s Bag.

He now understood why Madam Magician had specifically requested this ability.

His desires and emotions were not entirely his own!

A smaller part of his emotions and desires stemmed from his fate linked to Termiboros, from the residual aura of the Blood Emperor, and from the bloodline of Omebella. Normally, these would only affect him, but using Desire Incarnation, these emotions and desires could be materialized and thus exert some influence on the outside world and his enemies.

If I were to envelop a Sequence 4 Saint in the Desire Incarnation form, that demigod would likely suffer from the corresponding emotional and desire corruption… But this method of attack means I’m forgoing evasion to face the backlash head-on, Lumian mused briefly, fairly satisfied with this Sealed Artifact.

Facing a demigod, evasion was sometimes futile-better to fight it out!

And both the Sword of Courage and Devil’s Whisper gave him that chance.

When night fully descended, Lumian arrived at the headquarters of the Psychic magazine, located at 19 Rue Scheer in Avenue du Boulevard, and met Mr. K in the basement.

Mr. K, wearing a wide hood, warmly said, “Let us pray to the Lord first.”

Lumian nodded slightly and closed his eyes.

His thoughts tightly wrapped, not drifting outward.

After a while, he and Mr. K opened their eyes simultaneously.

Mr. K, with a hoarse but fervent voice, said, “Congratulations, you are now a candidate Oracle.

“This is the greatest reward, being closer to the Lord is the greatest reward for us!

“Afterwards, wherever you go, you can contact the local Oracles or members of the Aurora Order, followers of the Lord, to request their help.

“If there are no Saints or Oracles locally, you have the authority to call upon all resources there, including personnel, money, intelligence, and materials.”

Is this the Aurora Order’s reward, elevating my authority and status? Lumian made the sign of the cross over his chest and said in a hoarse voice, “Praise you for creating all. Praise you for bearing the world’s sins!”

Mr. K nodded in satisfaction.

“There are no other rewards for now, let’s continue to investigate the matter of the vortex.”

“Okay,” Lumian quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

If Mr. K had offered material rewards, he would have hesitated to accept them.

It’s not that he was worried about the items themselves being marked by that entity; after all, he was already under surveillance, so a little more wouldn’t make a difference. His reluctance was more psychological.

Lumian pondered for a moment and then informed Mr. K, “I might be heading to the Southern Continent again soon to wrap up some previous matters, not sure how long I’ll need.”

“Alright,” Mr. K nodded gently, “Which area specifically?”

“Not sure yet,” Lumian answered truthfully.

He really didn’t know.

Mr. K didn’t inquire further.

“We have Saints and Oracles on the Southern Continent, and many followers of the Lord operating secretly there. Once you determine the specific location, I can help you contact the person responsible for that area.”

“Thank you, Mr. K,” Lumian said, expressing his gratitude.

Mr. K corrected him, “No need for thanks; we are all Oracles now, not being equals is disrespectful to the Lord.”

Lumian was momentarily speechless.

He casually asked, “Mr. K, that cathedral you took me to last time, does it have any significant meaning within our Aurora Order?”

Mr. K replied fervently, “That was the first cathedral established by our Aurora Order.”

Is it related to Baynfel? Lumian asked a few more indirect questions from different angles, then took his leave.

Returning to Quartier de la Cathédrale Commémorative, he informed Franca and Jenna about the Knight of Swords’ request and then activated the black mark on his right shoulder, beginning the teleportation.

He moved between layers of pure color blocks and indescribable bizarre creatures, not knowing how long it took, but he finally arrived at the location indicated in the Knight of Swords’s letter.

The first thing that caught Lumian’s eyes were several pale-faced men and women, like bodyguards, surrounding the Knight of Swords with somewhat disheveled brown hair, a suppressed look in his eyes, dressed in a white shirt and black vest.