Chapter 99

Lumian first carefully wrapped his left hand with layers of white bandages, then picked up the "Fallen Mercury," a black iron axe, a bottle of gray amber perfume, some cookies, cheese, a lamb chop with blood, a rope for setting traps, and a bag of cooled boiled water. He slung his hunting rifle over his shoulder and left his semi-underground home.

In the pervasive light gray mist, he crossed a barren wilderness with no grass and full of cracks, entered the ruins of the dream, and headed straight for the open area where the flame monster was most active.

Hearing sounds from a distance, Lumian turned to the path the monster always took and arrived at a natural trap he had previously scouted.

It was a deep pit by the roadside, with collapsed walls in front and to the left, a pile of stones to the right, and a partially collapsed house behind.

It was difficult to spot such a natural trap just by passing by the road. Lumian had to explore several times to find it.

He squatted behind the deep pit, threw in a few sharpened wooden stakes, then covered them with a pre-woven rope net and some loose soil.

A simple trap was thus set, and the next step was to place the bait.

Lumian carefully placed the two lamb chops with blood on the edge of the rope net, half supported by the ground and half hanging over the deep pit.

Standing up, he glanced at the precarious balance and took a few steps back, entering the partially collapsed house and climbing to the top of the remaining outer wall, where he squatted.

He adjusted his position to clearly observe the trap without being seen by the monster passing by.

Next, Lumian took out the gray amber perfume and sprayed a little on the wall.

The light, sweet scent spread, carried by the wind that occasionally blew through the ruins, leaving a faint trace.

Some of it adhered to the wall and Lumian's body.

Lumian did not linger, but jumped back.

Landing, he carried the faint scent of perfume, circled around, and returned to the path the flame monster always took. However, he was now closer to the area where the monster hunted for flesh to replenish its energy. Lumian changed direction again, crossing the road and entering the ruins on the opposite side.

Stopping at the back of a rickety house, he leaned against the wall and waited.

Like his strategy against the rifle monster, Lumian never expected the trap to fool the flame monster or cause it serious injury.

This was more of a bait and alarm system designed for the monster's superlative sense of smell, observation skills, and behavior.

Only a "Pointer" knew how to use a "Hunter's" strengths to deal with it!

Of course, this was all predicated on the target acting primarily on instinct, with the remaining intelligence limited to combat.

Leaning against the wall, Lumian drew the "Fallen Mercury" with his left hand, which was wrapped in white bandages, and removed the black cloth covering it.

He was uncertain how long it would take for the flame monster to arrive, but the only thing he could do was wait patiently.

This was a strong point he had developed during his wandering.

Time passed, and in a place Lumian could not see, a monster with a charred body and red flames entered the path.

After walking about ten to twenty meters, it suddenly twitched its nose, smelling a faint bloody scent.

The monster did not immediately turn around but continued to move forward, glancing at the source of the smell with the corner of its eye.

As it passed the collapsed wall in front, the two lamb chops with blood residue came into view.

This was good food, but the flame monster did not follow its instinct and immediately devour it.

It continued forward, but slowed its pace.

Soon, it detected a faint, unusual scent in the wind.

It instantly realized the two pieces of meat were a trap and that a hunter was lying in wait nearby.

This hunter seemed different from the one who had "invisibly" observed it before, lacking sufficient knowledge of a "Hunter" and failing to properly mask its scent.

After a few more steps, the flame monster used the source of the scent and the subtle footprints to confirm the enemy was hiding on the outer wall of the house behind the trap.

It pretended to notice nothing and increased the distance by about seven to eight meters.

Suddenly, it turned, and the red flames on its body rapidly condensed into a fiery ball with a hint of white.

Boom!

With its right hand extended, the fiery ball shot toward the position where Lumian had been "lying in wait," causing the outer wall to collapse and the house to sway.

Hearing the explosion from a distance, Lumian immediately left the building he was leaning against and began a frenzied, twisted dance in the not-so-wide open area.

The explosion was a new signal for him to prepare the second trap!

This was a plan that Lumian and Aurore had devised after much contemplation.

In the rhythmically intense mysterious dance, Lumian sensed the presence of the mouth monster, the rifle monster, and the skinless monster.

By this time, the flame monster had already run to the collapsed wall, searching for the enemy's trail.

Lumian continued to dance for about ten to twenty seconds, and as the dance became more intense, he used his right hand to draw a small incision on his left wrist with a silver dagger.

A drop of fresh blood seeped out, forming a tiny sphere.

Lumian stepped, turned, and flicked the drop of blood toward the mouth monster.

"I!"

He suppressed his voice and shouted in ancient Hermes.

At this point, the flame monster had already discovered the subtle footprints and the faint scent, and was tracking them.

After quickly issuing the subsequent command, Lumian watched the mouth monster swallow the silver dagger and the drop of blood, which entered his body.

A mad, cruel will and intense hunger instantly overwhelmed him.

Lumian forcibly suppressed the discomfort and quickly bandaged the small wound with the white bandages he had brought.

Next, he put a piece of cheese in his mouth, chewed it, and swallowed it, ensuring that the remaining gray amber perfume could mask other odors.

During this process, Lumian ran to the edge of the road and stopped in a place out of sight.

Then, he tightly closed his mouth, turned his body, and stepped back along the route he had taken, following his own footprints.

Relying on the hunter's observational skills and the "Dancer's" exaggerated flexibility, Lumian stepped precisely on his own subtle footprints, leaving no additional traces.

Soon, he retreated to the center of the road and stopped there.

He stood openly on the road, but remained invisible.

Lumian waited again, using a method of repeatedly entering and interrupting light meditation to control the various thoughts flashing through his mind, preventing himself from thinking about the upcoming attack on the flame monster.

This was a very rudimentary way to interfere with the monster's danger sense.

The inspiration came from the "Hunter's" clear self-awareness.

The method of retracing his steps to return to the center of the road and lie in wait was something Aurore had written in a novel.

After about seven to eight seconds, the flame monster, with its charred body, appeared in Lumian's line of sight. It relied on its terrifying flexibility, twisting its body to observe the area the target would chase.

The flame monster followed the subtle footprints and the faint scent, not stopping halfway as it was still within its "territory."

Returning to the main road, it sniffed the air and, as expected, smelled the faint scent.

It instinctively lowered its head and found the not-so-obvious footprints.

At the same time, it did not detect any traces of a trap in the area.

Without hesitation, the flame monster followed the footprints and ran to the other side of the road.

Its charred face and eyes, which were about to fall out, grew larger and clearer in Lumian's view.

Lumian held his breath, no longer repeating the cycle of meditation and interruption, but instead focused on emptying his mind.

Five meters, three meters, one meter... He suddenly pounced at the target, raising the "Fallen Mercury" in his left hand and slashing forward!

He did not wait for the distance to close further, fearing that it would trigger the monster's danger sense and cause it to take evasive action. The flame monster instantly felt a strong sense of danger.

Without any thought, it pounced to the side.

At the same time, it saw Lumian's figure in its field of vision, noticing his left hand, wrapped in white bandages, holding a silver-black dagger aimed at it.

The distance was so close that, despite its reaction, the flame monster could not avoid being hit by Lumian.

With a tearing sound, the sharp blade of the "Fallen Mercury" pierced the right chest of the flame monster.

The fate stripped from the "Noodle Man" seeped into the monster's body in the form of illusory mercury beads.

At the same time, a river of countless complex mercury symbols appeared, with some of the fate rapidly converging on the silver-black blade.

Lumian did not bother to choose which fate to exchange, allowing the "Fallen Mercury" to act on its own.

Boom!

The flames on the monster's body burst out in response.

The intense shock wave pushed Lumian and his "Fallen Mercury" away, and the red flames shot out, igniting his clothes and burning his face.

Lumian endured the burning pain, twisted his waist in mid-air, and changed direction. As soon as he landed, he immediately stood up and ran away.

However, with the flames still burning on his body, he could not re-enter the "invisible" state.

Boom!

Even though Lumian ran in an S-shape, he was still hit by the shock wave of the fireball, causing his back to ache and go numb.

He stubbornly stood up, rolled, and crawled away from the road, returning to the place where he had hidden earlier.