861 Marauder?

As soon as Lumian exited his shadow creature state, he let out a grunt.

Two beams of white light shot from his nostrils, flying towards Harrison, who had no time to dodge.

Almost simultaneously, Lumian sensed a dense aura of death emanating from Harrison. His spirit abruptly contracted, transforming into a tiny, golden millet-like particle, hiding in the deepest void of his body, unreachable.

The two beams of white light hit Harrison's body, but it was like striking a piece of decayed wood or a lifeless corpse, producing no effect.

Harrison turned swiftly towards Lumian, and his contracted spirit expanded instantly, filling his body once more.

With this change, a root wrapped in white cloth swiftly formed in Harrison's right palm.

He swung this semi-illusory root at Lumian.

The white cloth strips on the root fluttered gently, stirring up cries that were either mournful or wailing.

They drilled into Lumian's ears, causing him to falter just as he was about to change his position, unable to dodge in time.

Smack!

The root wrapped in white cloth struck Lumian's body.

His skin quickly turned pale, and a sense of death deepened rapidly.

Crack!

Lumian's body cracked like a mirror, shattering into dull fragments that fell to the ground.

Immediately after, he reappeared at the side of the slope, shaking the mirror that held Franca.

Franca understood his intention, immediately exiting the mirror with the burning white candle and landing not far from him.

Lumian, with his other hand, reached into the Traveler's Bag, took out the Black Tear accessory, and tossed it to Franca.

Here, there was no worry about the mystical plague attached to the Black Tear spreading, and the Demoness of Affliction could withstand the corresponding mystical pathogens for longer!

Lumian even suspected that, due to the special nature of the Samaritan Woman's Spring, the mystical pathogens created by the Black Tear would only survive for a limited time before perishing.

As for what to do during that time, Lumian had already considered it-after throwing out the Black Tear accessory, he quickly reached into the Traveler's Bag again, grasping the hilt of the Sword of Courage.

He intended to have the sword share half the damage and effects with him!

Lumian wasn't overly concerned about the excess courage issue:

With Franca around, she would guide and correct the Warrior's choices in a more subtle way that the Warrior would accept, like occupying a better position, making the Warrior throw the sword to her for brief use, and then not catching it when it was thrown back, preventing both from being affected by the courage.

As Franca put it, with an external brain, they could be bolder in using the Sword of Courage.

Of course, this could only effectively reduce the influence of courage, not completely avoid it.

Harrison didn't just stand by and watch Lumian and Franca prepare. He threw the root wrapped in white cloth towards them.

The root rapidly became illusory in midair, disintegrating into intertwined pale and greenish light, merging into the darkness.

Immediately, several translucent, eerie pale-white hands emerged from the ground beneath Lumian and Franca, cold and sinister, grasping at their ankles and calves.

These seemed to induce some kind of paralysis.

At the same time, Harrison's mouth moved, chanting an incantation in a strange language.

With a whoosh, blazing-white flames ignited beside Lumian's feet, bringing high temperatures to counter the chill, cold, and paralysis created by the pale-white hands.

Franca, with the Black Tear accessory wrapped around her wrist, silently let the eerie, quiet black flames of the Demoness flow like water, engulfing the transparent hands trying to affect her, setting them ablaze.

Lumian finally grasped the Sword of Courage, instantly becoming fearless.

He drew the iron-black straight sword and slashed forward.

A huge fireball, blazing white with a hint of blue, formed and shot straight at Harrison, whose black hair was only a thin layer.

Harrison, seeing this, did not move. He quickly finished the last two sentences of the incantation and pointed his right hand towards the Samaritan Woman's Spring.

Franca, just breaking free from the pale-white hands, finally deciphered what the enemy was chanting.

One sentence was "Steal the secrets of heaven," and the other was unclear at the beginning, ending with "Swift as a decree, be driven."

Below, at the Samaritan Woman's Spring, the pale-white water began to bubble, reflecting a figure of a woman, serene as the night but rotting and oozing pus.

The figure silently gazed at the outside world without any movement.

But in front of Harrison, a similar yet more illusory and flickering figure appeared.

As Lumian's fireball-cleaved out from the Sword of Courage-approached this figure, it gradually dimmed, quickly becoming illusory, and mostly vanished.

The remaining bit exploded on the spot, forcing Harrison back two steps.

Seeing this, Lumian didn't hesitate to activate the residual aura of the Blood Emperor in his right palm.

Want to compete?

Fine!

Let's see who can exert more influence on the Samaritan Woman's Spring!

Nothing to fear!

Splash!

The pale-white water retreated into the dark, bottomless spring, and a sense of wild frenzy instantly descended.

At that moment, whether it was Harrison, Lumian, or Franca, they all felt a shock to their minds and bodies, wanting to submit, temporarily losing their ability to think, their minds blank.

The cold, rotting sensation in Lumian's right palm emerged, suppressing the residual aura of the Blood Emperor.

The frenzied, violent feeling from the spring quickly receded.

Lumian was the first to regain his thoughts. He raised the iron-black Sword of Courage and rushed to Harrison, slashing at his head.

Bang!

Amidst the sound of an explosion and scattered flames, Harrison's body reverted to a sinister, deathly paper figurine.

The paper figurine lightly adhered to the blade of the Sword of Courage, torn to pieces by the violent shockwaves and set ablaze by the white-blue flames.

Multiple similar paper figurines appeared around Lumian, all exuding a sinister, pale, deathly aura, with facial features painted in a horrifying and maliciously humorous manner.

The next second, black flames flew from Franca, landing on these paper figurines, burning the spirituality and mysticism that sustained them.

In the blink of an eye, these sinister paper figurines fell in a series of wailing cries, turning to ashes.

"Harrison has fled!" Franca judged quickly after a glance.

Lumian, holding the Sword of Courage, sprinted up the slope, chasing to the edge of the gray fog.

The fog swayed gently, seemingly indicating that the enemy had just escaped.

Lumian was about to pursue when Franca's voice reached his ears, "Let's switch Sealed Artifacts; mine is almost at its limit."

Lumian, undeterred by the Black Tear's negative effects, immediately threw the Sword of Courage over.

As soon as the iron-black straight sword left his hand, rationality and clarity reclaimed his mind:

Almost forgot that Franca can't leave the gray fog...

If I go out alone, even if I catch up with Harrison, without an external brain and a pre-planned strategy, the Sword of Courage would be my biggest problem...

Franca, though eager to catch Harrison, remained rational enough to quickly analyze the situation and make an accurate judgment...

Once Lumian caught the Black Tear, he immediately placed it back in its isolated space within the Traveler's Bag, then, with Franca's help, stored the Sword of Courage as well.

He then pulled Franca through the gray fog, returning to the slope leading to the ancient burial chamber.

As Lumian used his Hunter tracking abilities to search for Harrison, Franca employed divination methods for clues.

But after leaving the large burial chamber housing the Samaritan Woman's Spring, the visitor from Resurrection Island completely disappeared and managed to thwart their divination.

They stopped at the Krismona Night Pillar on the third level, exchanging glances.

Franca's lake-blue eyes revealed undisguised disappointment and regret. She sighed. "If I had known, I would have called Jenna to ambush him outside the chamber."

Lumian comforted Franca, "Given Harrison's displayed strength, we should be glad Jenna wasn't outside alone. She could have been discovered, attacked, and might not have lasted until we left the Samaritan Woman's Spring."

"That's true..." Franca sighed deeply.

Holding the white candle, she glanced around and translated the two lines of incantation for Lumian.

As Lumian lit a new candle, he pondered aloud, "Steal the secrets of heaven... He tried to steal my Traveler's Bag... Did he sense valuable items and thus saw through my concealment?

"It seems Harrison is more like a Beyonder of the Marauder pathway, yet he clearly uses powers of the Death pathway, and quite powerful ones at that.

"The Marauders we've encountered before, even at Sequence 5 Dream Stealer, didn't show such capabilities, and Harrison obviously lacks godhood... A boost from the Celestial Worthy's mark?"

Franca thoughtfully said, "After the Demoness of Black told me the Primordial One can modify the abilities of different Sequences in the Demoness pathway to some extent, I wrote to Madam Judgment about it. She said it's not only true gods who can do such things; certain Kings of Angels can too. Amon, for instance, once altered the mystical knowledge and some abilities acquired in different Sequences of the Marauder pathway.

"Is Harrison exhibiting the original, full version?"

"That might be a reason, but I think some of his actions just now have surpassed Sequence 5. Even a full version Dream Stealer shouldn't manage that... The Resurrection Island's method of utilizing power and its manifestation differ significantly from the paths of the divine?" Lumian pondered aloud.