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n836 Unorthodox Feint

n836 Unorthodox Feint

nAlbus transformed into a blazing-white, blue-tinged flaming spear, flying to the peak of the corpse mountain, toward Julie’s filthy blood descending onto the charred 0-01 banner.

nBut in the blink of an eye, he lost his target, reverting from his fiery state to land beside the corpse where 0-01 should have been embedded.

nAt the peak, opening his eyes no longer seemed an issue, but Albus Medici’s vision no longer contained the charred banner, Julie’s filthy blood, or Celeste.

nWith his past experience, Albus quickly understood what was happening: This was the mirror world, or a Mirror Maze!

nAfter waiting so long at the peak, Celeste must have made some preparations!

nAs Albus guessed, this was a Mirror Maze created by multiple mirrors reflecting each other. Celeste stood outside, her gaze pained and distant as she watched the filthy blood race towards the charred flag.

nFor some reason, the filthy blood slowed its descent, as if repelled by 0-01, but it still sank inexorably, just at a reduced pace.

nAlbus tried using the crystal necklace coiled around his wrist but found no mirror world to traverse or escape through, confirming he was trapped in the Mirror Maze. He immediately condensed blazing white, blue-tinged fireballs, sending them in all directions to blast the hidden mirrors forming the maze.

nAs its name implied, the Mirror Maze was just a maze, not a true barrier with defenses!

nThunderous explosions erupted almost simultaneously, yet Albus still could not break through the Mirror Maze.

nNot a single mirror had been damaged!

nWith a slight narrowing of his eyes, Albus decisively abandoned any further such attempts.

nOutside the Mirror Maze, Celeste felt the explosive winds and inwardly scoffed.

nIn other locations, widespread bombardment might overwhelm a Mirror Maze meant to trap Hunters. But here at the corpse mountain’s peak, the heart of 0-01’s seal, it would not be so easy.

nAs a Demoness of Affliction corrupted by 0-01 to some degree like Julie, Celeste could wield traces of that special mirror world’s power!

nThe Mirror Maze’s mirrors were not at the peak itself, but scattered among the corpses and bones below, their reflections then projected around 0-01’s vicinity through that special mirror world, forming the Mirror Maze.

nSeeing Julie’s filthy blood nearing the charred banner, Celeste felt a mix of elation and confusion, underlaid by anguish.

nFrom somewhere, she produced a black teardrop-like ornament and affixed it to between her brows.

nInside the Mirror Maze, Albus calmly lowered his head and half-closed his eyes, preparing to do what would inevitably be required.

nHe murmured in ancient Hermes, “The great God of War, the symbol of iron and blood, the ruler of chaos and strife.”

nWith this three-passage invocation of the honorific name, the iron-black metal flagpole suspending the charred banner shuddered slightly, its drooping flag fully unfurling with a rattling sound despite the stillness, each bloody stain growing vivid.

nJulie’s filthy bloody halted, hovering a couple meters from 0-01, as if grasped by an unseen hand.

nHigh above, clouds rapidly swirled into an immense vortex tinged with faint purple firelight, larger than the mountain itself, its far end suggesting some vast entity straining against an invisible barrier.

nCracks spread from the Salinger’s Blood Banner with snapping sounds, the special mirror world over the peak shattering.

nThe Mirror Maze dissipated as its special mirror world projection broke apart.

nAlbus’s head snapped up, his irises now flecked with iron-black, a bloody mark stark on his brow.

nHis gaze fell on Celeste, now adorned with her own black teardrop ornament, meeting her eyes.

nBefore combat could erupt, Lumian nonchalantly climbed over the peak’s edge, a mere seven or eight meters from 0-01.

nNo communication was needed as Albus and Celeste simultaneously attacked Lumian.

nAlbus casually thrust out a fist expelling a massive blue-tinged fireball, while frost coalesced around Celeste’s head into mirrors, each preceding an eerie, smoldering black flame.

nBut just as Celeste’s icy mirrors would have reflected Lumian, his figure faded, vanishing with a mocking smile.

nBehind him, an immense silhouette suddenly loomed into Albus and Celeste’s view.

nAlready over five or six meters tall yet still growing, twisting appendages sprouting, it was covered in patches of brown bark and sickening knobs that oozed clear fluid from the gaps.

nFor now, the monstrosity cradled a blood-stained, vertebrae-trailing head in one hand, its silvery-black empty eyes dead and sunken.

nOn either shoulder was a fleshy, head-sized bulge, the surface rippling with some contained liquid.

nThe next second, the monster leaped to the peak, shedding puddles of wriggling maggot-flesh.

nCountless black gaseous tendrils dragged at it from behind, trying to pull it back into the sleek, iron-black breastplate mirror.

nThe mere sight catalyzed a visceral sensation of corruption in Albus and Celeste.

nCeleste’s hair billowed outward, rapidly thickening and coarsening, while Albus’s face became mapped with protruding black veins.

nBoom!

nAlbus’s immense blue-tinged fireball with white remnants exploded against the monstrosity as Celeste’s flickering array of frost-mirrors reflected its figure, engulfing it in roiling black flames.

nCrack!

nThe monster shattered mirror-like, its silhouette immediately reappearing beside 0-01, making Albus and Celeste’s scalps prickle-it could use Mirror Substitution too.

nRaising its severed head, the monstrosity emitted a sound like it came from another world.

nCeleste felt herself plunged into cloying, frozen blackness, constrained on all sides in inescapable oppression.

nAlbus likewise found himself surrounded by stifling darkness.

nThis was a mystic technique inspired by the Mirror Person’s state of being.

nAt that moment, Lumian, having teleported away to avoid the earlier clash, reappeared at the corpse peak’s base.

nHis silhouette flickered behind Albus in the darkness, mouth opening to harrumph, sending a pale-yellow gaseous breath that washed over him.

nFor an instant, Albus’s eyes went blank, his body swaying before he recovered his senses.

nThe Red Angel had helped him resist part of the Spell of Harrumph’s effects.

nSeizing Albus’s momentary disorientation, Lumian’s left fist blazed with white flames as he struck at his vulnerable point-the neck connecting head and body.

nCull!

nAs Lumian’s fist neared Albus’s neck, the member of the Medici family transformed into a humanoid blaze of white, blue-tinged fire.

nNot the merger with a flaming spear, but transmutation into living flame itself.

nIn this fiery state, his neck was no longer a weakness!

nBang!

nLumian’s punch only made the flaming figure waver and dim slightly.

nIn the next instant, Albus became a roaring blue-tinged flaming spear, bursting through the black icy shackles into the air.

nWheeling about like a javelin cast from the high vortex’s hidden depths, he unleashed dozens of blue-streaked white fireballs in a thunderous barrage toward the peak.

nBoom! Rumble! Boom boom!

nHorrific explosions engulfed the area in relentless succession.

nThe indescribable monstrosity repeatedly used Mirror Substitution yet could not escape the bombardment’s range.

nMeanwhile, Lumian had teleported pre-emptively back to the mountain’s base.

nStill teleporting? Hand Bro isn’t dead yet? As a chill ran down Lumian’s back, he saw Celeste’s face reflected in a nearby corpse’s smooth breastplate.

nThe Demoness had not met Albus’s assault with Mirror Substitution, instead deploying a mirror to swiftly traverse the mirror world to the wasteland-one of Lumian’s backup plans.

nSeeing she did not immediately attack him, Lumian turned his gaze back toward the peak.

nHe did not regret missing the opportunity to eliminate Albus earlier, as that was the outcome he wanted.

nIf he had intended to kill Albus with that strike, he would not have used only his Cull ability-he would have surely drawn the Sword of Courage or attacked in his Desire Incarnation form instead.

nIf I killed Albus now, who would help me deal with Celeste and that monster? Just me alone? Lumian inwardly muttered with obvious malice.

nHis earlier attack had a hidden purpose: to deceive Albus into thinking his defenses were ineffective against Lumian, to make him believe the pitch-black bone ring on his hand could not target him.

nThen, at the crucial moment, he could “surprise” Albus by exploiting this misconception!

nThe thunderous explosions finally subsided. The corpses and bones atop the peak had suffered severe damage, and Julie’s filthy blood had dissipated somewhat.

nThe indescribable monster no longer had Mirror Substitution, its surface charred and tattered.

nAlbus reappeared, his iron-black eyes lifting his right hand to push forward.

nA spiraling storm of white-blue Fire Ravens flocked relentlessly toward the monster’s exposed abdomen in overwhelming numbers.

nRumble!

nIts weak point battered, the staggering monster collapsed into fragments.

nSeeing this, Lumian instantly drew a straight sword resembling the Sword of Courage and teleported to the peak, while Celeste also raced toward it.

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