Chapter 81

Lumian had previously told Lain and the others about the black thorn symbol on Guillaume Bene's chest, the secret existence with the honorific "Fate" in its name, and the materials corresponding to its domain, such as gray amber, tulips, cloves, and musk, but he attributed all the sources to the parish priest, claiming it had nothing to do with him.

Now, at his reminder, Lya, Lain, and Valentine immediately became alert and made corresponding speculations.

"Place of Sacrifice?" Lain muttered to himself.

As he spoke, everyone turned their gaze to the basement.

With the limited light flowing down the stairs, they barely made out the general appearance of the interior: the space beneath the church was slightly larger than the entire first floor of Lumian's house. The floor was paved with grayish-white stone slabs, and the surroundings were extremely dark due to the lack of light. In the center stood a stone platform about half a person's height.

The top of the stone platform was slightly concave, as if hiding something, but it was indistinct.

Lumian, thinking aloud, said softly, "This might be where the parish priest and others sought 'blessings' from the evil existence."

"They actually built an altar to the evil god beneath the church!" Valentine was almost furious, and Lumian suspected he would burst into flames and transform into holy light to purify everything in the next second.

"Calm down," Lain patted Valentine's shoulder, "Prepare to ignite the flames."

He then gestured for Lya to conduct a reconnaissance.

Lya, maintaining her sweet smile, sniffed her pert nose and said, "The secret existence with 'Fate' in its honorific really likes fragrances..."

As she sighed, she walked into the basement, her lips moving as if silently reciting something.

The four small silver bells jingled, sometimes intensely, sometimes gently.

One step, two steps, three steps—Lya turned around and said to Lain and the others, "There's nothing unusual in the entrance area."

Only then did Lain, Lumian, and Valentine pass through the old brown wooden door and enter the basement, reaching where Lya had stopped.

Lya continued to move forward.

After a few steps, the silver bells hanging from her veil and boots began to shake violently.

Ding, ding, dang, dang!

The sound spread urgently in all directions.

Around Lain, points of light like dawn appeared, condensing into a silver-white full-body armor on his body.

At the same time, Lain held a pure light greatsword in his hand.

Valentine, with his arms half-open, allowed golden illusory flames to burn beside him.

One of the flames suddenly elongated and widened, and Lya's figure emerged from it.

She returned from near the altar to where Lumian and the others were.

How amazing! Lumian was once again amazed by Lya's performance. Compared to the understandable and imaginable abilities of the "Sun" pathway and Lain's combat state, Lya's various performances were more bizarre and magical, such as the ability that transferred his wound from his thigh to the edge of his calf yesterday, which was simply inconceivable.

Faced with the sudden "alarm," Lumian still made his only response: he drew the iron-black axe and retreated behind Lain, whose body had grown significantly.

During this process, he casually glanced around and found no unusual changes.

After all, he had "Spirit Vision" activated.

Of course, Lumian did have some discoveries—relying on the light from the golden flames, he saw piles of human bones at the edge of the basement, some covered with light-colored sheepskin.

Were these previous sacrifices? The parish priest and others have been conducting evil rituals here for at least half a year, and Orol and I didn't notice at all. Lumian's thoughts raced, feeling that the village of Cordu, where he had lived for nearly five years, was so unfamiliar. It had become abnormal at some point, perhaps from the very beginning.

"Is everything okay?" Lain asked Lya while vigilantly looking at the altar.

Lya shook her head, "I don't feel anything wrong, just a sign of danger."

"Very strange," Lumian turned his head to look at Lya, but his voice suddenly stopped.

He saw the beautiful lady's face become translucent, with what looked like twisted worms crawling and burrowing in and out, making her more terrifying and evil than any legendary evil spirit, causing his scalp to tingle and his heart to race.

This was beyond Lumian's imagination, and he suspected he would have nightmares for a long time.

"Your face!" He couldn't suppress his fear and warned Lya.

Lya subconsciously touched her face with her right hand, and her eyes changed.

As for whether her complexion had changed, Lumian couldn't tell from the translucent and twisted worms.

Lya quickly looked at the back of her hand, where the skin had also become translucent, and the flesh beneath seemed to have turned into strange worms.

"You're losing control!" Valentine also noticed Lya's state.

Lya muttered in confusion, "But my mental state is fine."

"First, determine if this is your hallucination," Lain reminded her, turning his head.

Almost simultaneously, Lumian noticed that the tall warrior was rapidly shrinking, and the silver-white full-body armor and the light greatsword in his hand were disintegrating.

In the blink of an eye, Lain had become a small dwarf, no more than 1.5 meters tall, with a brown shirt and light yellow pants that were now too big or too long.

He also had a mutation? Only Valentine and I are unaffected. Lumian's pupils dilated, and he instinctively looked at Valentine.

"Lain, you've shrunk!" Valentine, now a pure being of light, urgently reminded his companion.

"..." Lumian, almost blinded, quickly asked Lya, "Have I changed?"

Lya, with countless translucent worms that seemed to be crawling out of her flesh, said, "You're normal. But in this situation, being normal might be the most abnormal."

I'm normal? Could it be that the black thorn symbol protected me, making the 'danger' here think I'm one of them? Lumian suddenly had a guess.

At this moment, Lain, after checking his body, said while on guard, "I haven't shrunk; I've returned to my previous state, and I've lost my extraordinary abilities."

"Previous state?" Lumian blurted out.

He vaguely had an idea.

Lain nodded, "Yes, I was naturally short, which was a great misfortune for a man. So, when choosing a 'potion,' I chose 'Warrior,' which could effectively change my height.

"Whether it's fortunate or unfortunate, in the past five or six years, there have been many extraordinary monsters and abnormal phenomena related to the 'Warrior' pathway, making it relatively less troublesome to gather the materials needed for advancement."

After hearing Lain's words, Lumian roughly understood the source of the mutation: "You've returned to the 'past'!" As far as I know, the authority of that secret existence involves the past. Saying this, he imitated the mysterious lady, deliberately pausing for a few seconds and adding some other words: "It also involves the present, and, and, and the future."

Although he was currently using Intis, he was still cautious.

Lya reacted quickly, blurting out, "Valentine and I have entered the future. Is this a state from our future?"

"And I am in the present?" Lumian confirmed Lya's guess with a question.

He then thought of the three-faced monster he encountered in the ruins of the dream.

The monster had only one head but three faces: one old, one middle-aged, and one young.

Lumian suspected this was also a blessing from the owner of the black thorn symbol, and it was of a higher level, but the recipient couldn't bear it or encountered some accident, turning into a three-faced monster.

Lya nodded lightly, "Probably, but this change in state hasn't affected my mental state; I don't feel any signs of losing control."

"I don't feel like I'm burning either," Valentine added.

Lain thought for a moment and said, "Similarly, I haven't lost my memory. Perhaps there's only a residual force here that can't affect the mind, spirit, or memory, but I'm not sure if there will be any serious aftereffects if this state persists for a long time.

"I'm fine; at worst, I can retake the potion and advance again. As for you, the future should have multiple possibilities, but now, the future might be predetermined: one losing control, one turning into holy light. This is, well, my understanding of 'Fate.'"

"It's really scary," Lya said with a smile, "Fortunately, we can restart the cycle, and we can try to find the 'present' here."

Seeing no terrifying monsters approaching, Lumian suggested, "Why don't we go out and see if we can naturally recover?

"Besides, we might encounter the force representing the 'present' on the way."

Lain didn't object, "We can try."

Now, he was just an ordinary person, and it would be dangerous to go further.

"I'm afraid another change in state might lead to losing control," Lya said cautiously.

Encountering the 'present' would be great, but encountering the 'past' would be troublesome, and another layer of 'future' might have unknown consequences.

Lumian took the initiative, "I'll scout ahead. I have one more chance to change my state."

He mainly wanted to test whether it was just good luck that he encountered the 'present' or if the black thorn symbol on his chest protected him.

"Be careful," Lain didn't stop him, just gave a warning, and Lya nodded in agreement.

Valentine's gaze toward Lumian also became less cold.

He couldn't help but think: This young man has a sacrificial spirit, and he is a devout believer in my Lord. After the cycle is resolved, I'll see if there's a way to remove the hidden pollution from his body and let him join our team.

Seeing Lumian about to step forward, the calmed Valentine suggested, "Let me try to dispel this state first?"

No one objected, and Lumian was the same, as he was in the 'present' and didn't need to dispel the 'negative state' or undergo purification.

The next second, he realized he had miscalculated.

Valentine didn't directly create holy water to purify Lya and Lain; instead, he first used the "Sun Halo."

A dark golden light flashed, and an invisible force spread out in all directions.