Chapter 89

Once Lumian confirmed the situation, he immediately turned and started running frantically.

The environment here offered no advantage, and he lacked understanding of the abilities of the "Blacksmith" monster. What else could he do but run?

He would consider counterattacking once he reached the nearest natural trap, provided the monster continued to pursue him relentlessly.

Thud, thud, thud!

Lumian did not run in a straight line but zigzagged like a snake.

He was worried that the monster might predict his movements and throw a fireball or a ranged weapon.

In the past, Lumian could run in a curve, but at certain moments, he would need to significantly reduce his speed to minimize inertia, otherwise, his body might not withstand it, or he might fall.

But now, things were different. His flexibility was extremely strong, far exceeding that of a normal human. His muscles and tendons easily pulled his body into a smooth arc.

Relying on this skill, he felt that as long as the "Blacksmith" monster had no special abilities, he should be able to smoothly escape the "wall" area and enter the ruins of buildings, which were only about seven to eight meters away.

Suddenly, he felt a strong sense of danger.

Without much consideration or analysis, Lumian fell forward with the momentum of his run.

A sharp tearing sound rang out, and he felt a pain in his back as the sinister silver-black dagger sliced a wound, causing fresh blood to flow.

The "Blacksmith" monster had caught up to him in just one step, swinging its weapon.

It seemed to have compressed the distance of several steps into a single stride!

Lumian endured the pain, rolled twice, and finally touched the edge of a half-collapsed building.

He pushed himself up with both hands and darted inside, using the walls and furniture for cover as he ran out the back door.

Returning to this area, he felt like a tiger in the deep mountains or a fish in the river, skillfully navigating through the ruins of buildings, sometimes circling around and sometimes going straight.

In just a dozen seconds, he reached a natural trap he had previously observed, hiding behind a fallen roof, waiting for the "Blacksmith" monster to arrive.

He did not attempt the sacrificial dance, thinking it would be too late, as the monster clearly had some unique pursuit ability.

Time passed, but Lumian saw no sign of the "Blacksmith" monster, heard no approaching sounds, and noticed no new, subtle footprints.

"Didn't it chase me?" Lumian couldn't help but frown.

He was both relieved and found the situation a bit strange.

After some thought, he guessed that the "Blacksmith" monster could not leave the "wall" area, so it had given up the chase once he entered the ruins.

Considering he had already suffered two injuries and was now exhausted, Lumian decided not to explore further.

Relying on his incredible flexibility, he treated the wound on his back and walked along the path he had taken to the edge of the ruins.

After a long time, he looked at the familiar collapsed buildings around him and suddenly felt something was off: "It's been as long as a dinner, and the dream ruins aren't particularly large. If I had walked in a straight line, why haven't I left yet?"

The more he thought about it, the more uneasy he became. He even noticed his thoughts becoming sluggish and fragmented, as if he was extremely tired or about to fall asleep.

He quickly gathered his spirit and used his "Hunter" abilities to identify the path, hoping to leave the ruins as soon as possible.

However, during his journey, he occasionally felt a daze that he could not control, to the point where he was unsure of what he was doing by the end.

After an unknown amount of time, Lumian's eyes suddenly caught the flickering orange light.

He had returned to the "wall" area, outside the room where the "Blacksmith" monster was.

"Trouble..." I was, influenced by it?

"No wonder it didn't chase me. It seems I can't leave forcibly and can only find a way through that monster..."

Lumian's thoughts became increasingly dull and sluggish.

He approached the room uncontrollably and struggled to perform the mysterious sacrificial dance.

Since he had to deal with the "Blacksmith" monster, his greatest reliance was the black thorn symbol on his chest, which he needed to activate quickly!

With jerky but continuous movements, Lumian saw the door with the orange light open, and the monster in the black robe, holding the silver-black dagger and hammer, appeared at the entrance.

Unlike before, the rot on its face had diminished, and many fresh flesh had grown over the bone-exposed wounds.

Its eyes were more lively, and its gaze on Lumian was filled with unhidden greed and a smile.

This made it look more like a human than a zombie.

At the same time, Lumian saw his own face reflected in the glass window, pale and greenish, with a wooden, lifeless expression and signs of rot on some parts of his skin.

He looked more like a zombie than a human.

In an instant, Lumian realized: "I will, replace, that 'monster.' It will, leave, as a human."

Not knowing what ability had influenced him or when he had encountered the anomaly, Lumian had only one thought: to complete the sacrificial dance, partially activate the black thorn symbol on his chest, and make one last effort.

He took the dance steps slowly but firmly, and the "Blacksmith" monster did not take the opportunity to attack, seemingly patiently waiting for the final outcome, fearing that any additional actions might affect its fate.

As he approached inch by inch, dancing step by step, Lumian's vision became increasingly blurry, but he noticed the monster's smile growing wider and its overall appearance becoming more human.

After moving a bit further, Lumian's mind buzzed.

He heard a terrifying voice that seemed to come from an infinite distance yet was close at hand.

The voice was unclear and very surreal, causing some confusion in his mind but not a near-death experience.

In this confusion, Lumian's thoughts suddenly became clear, and his vision returned to normal.

He felt a burning sensation in his chest, knowing that the black thorn symbol had been partially activated.

Almost simultaneously, he saw the smile on the "Blacksmith" monster's face freeze.

Bumps appeared on the monster's face, head, and hands, all with a silver base and some black.

The sinister dagger in its hand buzzed, as if trembling violently.

Snap!

With a metallic crack, a deep crack appeared on the surface of the silver-black dagger, engraved with sinister patterns.

The "Blacksmith" monster then collapsed, turning into a pile of silver and black bumps and twisted worms crawling on the black robe.

The worms and bumps quickly stopped expanding and contracting, returning to grayish-white flesh.

Lumian watched this scene in a daze, feeling as if the enemy had suddenly committed suicide when he was helpless and unable to resist.

After a dozen seconds, he said to the pile of flesh, half-laughing and half-questioning, "Did you bring me here just to have me perform a farewell ceremony for you?"

"You should have said so earlier. I would have definitely attended and even clapped!"

He approached the pile of flesh where the "Blacksmith" monster had disintegrated and examined it carefully.

He noticed no other abnormalities except that the slightly cracked silver-black dagger was still trembling, like a small animal encountering its predator and injured.

Lumian's heart stirred, and he looked down at his left chest, as if he could see the black thorn symbol through his clothes.

He understood and directly extended his right hand to grab the silver-black dagger.

The sinister dagger trembled even more violently but showed no signs of struggle or resistance, behaving very "tame."

As soon as he grasped the dagger, the burning sensation in his chest intensified.

He felt something leaking out, resonating with the silver-black dagger.

With a metallic buzz, Lumian's mind gained some knowledge about the sinister dagger: it was a severely polluted, empowered weapon with some living characteristics.

In other words, Lumian had not encountered the "Blacksmith" monster but the sinister dagger, with the "Blacksmith" monster being its puppet or "wielder."

It could turn most living beings that touched it with flesh into zombies, completely losing their self-awareness and always holding it, performing actions according to its will.

Those who were cut by it and bled would have a bit of their fate taken by it through an exchange.

During the exchange, it could not cause any further harm to the target.

Earlier, it had used the fate of the "Blacksmith" monster, its puppet, to exchange for Lumian's fate of leaving the wilderness as a human.

If there was nothing to exchange, it would need to kill the target completely to strip a part of their fate and store it in the dagger. This ability originated from the "Dancer" corresponding to Sequence 5, the "Fate Hunter"!

Thus, after the pollution in Lumian's body was partially activated, it resonated with the sinister dagger through flesh contact, revealing some knowledge.

Otherwise, he would have to ask someone to use divination, pattern recognition, or other methods to identify the dagger's abilities and characteristics, or gather information through repeated trials.

After organizing the new knowledge in his mind, Lumian looked at the trembling sinister dagger in his hand and chuckled.

"I don't mind you taking part of my fate, but you have to be able to bear it!" If you could exchange my fate of being trapped in a time loop, I would kneel and kowtow to you three times without any problem.

"Tsk, hunting any fate will only harm you!"

The silver-black dagger only trembled, not daring to respond.

Lumian now understood why it was so obedient: one, the partial activation of the black thorn symbol suppressed it, and two, the encounter had left a psychological shadow on this living weapon.

Sighing, Lumian said to the sinister dagger, "From today, you will be called the 'Fate Hunter Dagger.' How does that sound, simple and clear?"

The silver-black dagger trembled up and down twice, as if nodding.

"Unfortunately, you are just an empowered weapon, and your power will gradually fade. Originally, you could last two years, but after this severe damage, you can only last half a year." Lumian said with a hint of regret.

In fact, he could use a ritual to extract power from the pollution in his body to replenish the "Fate Hunter Dagger," but he would need to find someone to repair the crack first.