Chapter 60

Auror recalled the situation at the time and believed it was just as her brother had said.

She sighed sincerely:

"Just knowing about her can cause such terrifying pollution... The secret existence that the shepherds Pierre Berry and the others worship is truly terrifying. Many of the evil gods in ancient notes don't have such effects."

"Otherwise, how would we be trapped in this time loop?" Lumian wasn't surprised at all.

Auror's thoughts veered further off track, muttering to herself:

"Could it be that by the twelfth night, we need to face that secret existence directly, defeat it, and break the loop?

"And this requires you to gather materials in each loop, digest the magic potion, and become a deity..."

Seeing her sister's increasingly wild speculations, things that even a bold person like herself wouldn't dare to think about, Lumian interrupted her thoughts:

"Stop!

"It shouldn't be that extreme."

Auror responded with a "Hmm" and nodded slightly:

"You're right, we have at most one more loop, and becoming a deity in twenty days is clearly impossible."

She then shrugged:

"There's no hope, let's just wait to die."

"..." With a brain that could always come up with various excellent pranks, Lumian couldn't keep up with his sister's train of thought at this moment.

"Phew." Auror exhaled, looking at her brother, "Alright, I've vented, let's continue."

"Huh?" Lumian's face was full of confusion.

It took him a few seconds to realize what his sister meant by "continue":

"Those three people turned into sheep, it seems they were sent back to Cordu as sacrifices, no wonder they didn't wait until early May.

"The twelfth night is actually the day of a large-scale sacrifice to that secret existence?"

Auror's eyes flickered as she said:

"I originally guessed that too, but before Lent, the parish priest and his group received different levels of blessings. According to my understanding, this should be obtained through sacrifice."

Lumian, thinking from the perspective of mischief, combined with the events of the previous loop, boldly speculated:

"A small sacrifice, a grand ceremony?

"At the end of the Lenten festival, the parish priest, who gained extraordinary powers, no longer concealed his abnormality, clearly planning to do something big!"

Auror pondered for a moment and said:

"The Lenten festival might be part of the grand ceremony.

"Before the grand ceremony, the parish priest finally made up his mind, dedicating his soul to that evil god and, with certain sacrifices, obtained a large amount of blessings, revealing his true nature.

"From the start of the Lenten festival, everyone in Cordu will be involved, and no one can escape."

The siblings looked at each other, both believing that their speculations were close to the truth.

But the problem was, if the abnormalities really began with the Lenten festival and continued until the twelfth night, how could they "peacefully" wait for the final ceremony and find the key to the loop?

The entire village, except for those who died or became sacrifices, would likely be contaminated!

"I'm only a Sequence 7..." Auror couldn't help but cover her face, "You're even just a Sequence 9."

They were about to face such a situation!

Based on Lumian's description of the final battle of the Lenten festival and his recent experience hunting black-marked monsters, Auror believed she definitely wasn't a match for the parish priest after he received the blessings, and even the shepherd Pierre Berry would require her to prepare in advance to fight.

At the time, Lumian's ability to defeat the parish priest, who had undergone a transformation, was a stroke of luck.

To prevent the parish priest and his group from gaining extraordinary powers in advance, the twelfth night might not come, and the loop would likely restart early.

"Nightmare difficulty! Nightmare difficulty!" Auror slapped the table in front of her a few times, her face full of sorrow.

Without waiting for Lumian's response, she raised her hands and rubbed her golden hair, as if venting something.

After a series of actions, Auror composed herself and calmly said to Lumian:

"Tomorrow morning, go find those three outsiders. You can appropriately reveal the village's abnormalities to them, and don't hide the fact that we are extraordinary beings."

"This is dangerous..." Lumian instinctively replied.

Aren't wild extraordinary beings considered criminals by the authorities?

Auror slowly exhaled and said:

"Given the current situation, we can't be too cautious.

"Besides the mysterious lady, they are probably the most trustworthy people in the village now, and each of them has strength not much weaker than mine, or even stronger.

"We are all bound together, so no one should look down on anyone, whether they are wild extraordinary beings or official ones, we must unite.

"As for whether we will be pursued by the authorities in the future, we can worry about that later. For now, let's focus on breaking the loop."

Lumian had heard his sister use the phrase "bound together" before, knowing it meant everyone was in the same predicament and faced the same problems. If something went wrong, no one could escape, and they must unite.

"Alright, I'll go find them tomorrow." He agreed.

Auror then said:

"I now suspect that there is someone behind the parish priest and the shepherd Pierre, who is the real origin of the pollution."

"Mrs. Pualis?" Lumian guessed, "She is not only powerful but also the parish priest's lover, capable of quietly controlling him and using him to influence others in the village."

"But she has no apparent connection to the shepherd Pierre." Auror looked at her brother, frowning in thought, "From the experience of those three sheep, last October, when Pierre and Nior moved to the plains, they should have already had extraordinary abilities, or at least the knowledge, as they didn't return and had no way to obtain them.

"This means the village's abnormalities can be traced back to last July or August. Uh, did you notice any problems?"

Lumian slowly shook his head:

"No."

He originally thought he was very familiar with and understood Cordu village, but now he realized that the undercurrents had existed for half a year, making him feel that the place was very strange and causing him deep fear.

What was the real problem? Lumian felt as if he was facing layer after layer of fog, and even after removing one layer, there was another, never seeing the true face of the matter.

Auror continued:

"It could also be that owl.

"According to legend, the wizard who died might not have truly died. He might still be hiding somewhere in the village, or he might be someone we often see.

"He might have discovered that I am also a 'wizard' and deliberately concealed the legend to prevent me from knowing, while not restricting you, an ordinary person."

At this point, Auror sternly instructed:

"Next time that owl comes to see you, notify me immediately. I'll have 'White Paper' follow it to see where it goes."

Lumian nodded, indicating that he was also waiting for the owl to return.

This time, I won't let you off! He silently cursed in his heart.

Auror thought for a moment and made a third arrangement:

"Tomorrow afternoon, I'll invite Mrs. Pualis to our house as a guest. At that time, the administrator will still be working, and only the butler and servants will be left in the castle. You can take the opportunity to sneak in and see if you can find any clues. If you can convince the three outsiders in the morning, you can ask for their help in this mission."

When Mrs. Pualis was at home, Auror didn't dare to send 'White Paper' over, and when Mrs. Pualis was with her, she couldn't focus. She could only rely on her brother.

Lumian nodded and suggested:

"Better not to be alone with Mrs. Pualis. I'm afraid she might take the opportunity to attack you.

"Invite Nalalayiza and the others for afternoon tea?"

The more people, the higher the safety factor.

"Sure." Auror thought this was a better choice.

She then said half in concern and half in jest:

"Be careful when you sneak into the castle. I don't want to be an aunt now."

Lumian didn't dare to retort, only using his eyes to convey, "I'm more worried about you because Mrs. Pualis is with you."

During dinner, Auror released 'White Paper' to monitor the sheep pen and found that the three sheep had cleaned the blood from their faces without the shepherd Pierre Berry noticing anything unusual.

After that, until bedtime, Lumian continued his esoteric education, learning several Hermes language words, including "I," "name," "summon," "need," "light," "sun," and others.

"Light" is the incantation to activate the "Upright Brooch," with a pronunciation consisting of three parts.

...

In the room filled with a faint gray mist, Lumian woke up.

He walked to the window and looked again at the dark red "mountain" and the surrounding ruins.

I wonder what secrets are hidden here... Lumian muttered to himself.

As he watched, he suddenly had an idea:

There are too many dangerous areas in the ruins that he can't or dares not approach, such as the place where the three-faced monster roams. But if he could summon a 'White Paper'-like spirit and sign a contract with it, asking it to help infiltrate and observe, he could gather more information.

— His vision, sense of smell, and hearing are all enhanced by extraordinary characteristics, theoretically a form of supernatural power, which can be carried by 'White Paper.'

As he thought, Lumian whispered to himself:

"The current problem is whether spirit entities can be summoned in the dream ruins...

"If not, can they be summoned in reality, and after signing a contract, can they be brought into the dream through the connection between us...

"What impact will adding a new contract entity have on the loop? Can the corresponding spirit realm join? If not, when the summoning time is up, the contract entity will return, and the loop will restart..."

Lumian's head ached more and more, feeling a deep respect for the esoteric arts, hoping to quickly master enough language to complete a summoning ritual.

Without further delay, he took his hunting rifle, the few remaining lead bullets, and a sharp axe, left his house, crossed the wilderness, and entered the ruins once again.

PS: Requesting April's monthly votes~