862 Help

Holding the white candle, Franca thought for a while but couldn't figure out the situation. She walked towards the area outside the Krismona Night Pillar, saying solemnly, "No matter if it's because Resurrection Island has a special way of utilizing and manifesting power, or if Harrison is a Beyonder of the Marauder pathway, using the secrets of heaven to wield the Death pathway's power, or if he belongs to the Death pathway and uses the Celestial Worthy's mark or boons to display stealing abilities, we can't underestimate him. We need to report this immediately."

Lumian walked beside Franca, nodding. "If I don't use Sealed Artifacts, I'm not confident I can beat him. At the very least, I'm not sure I can capture or kill him, and he might also possess a Grade 1 Sealed Artifact."

"Fortunately, we encountered him today. If it were another time, when I was alone, a chance meeting would be much more dangerous." Franca sighed and changed the subject, "Does this mean the followers of the Celestial Worthy are truly involved in Project Vortex? What benefit could they gain?"

"The descent of an evil god?" Lumian speculated based on his knowledge and intelligence. "Or bringing about the apocalypse earlier?"

Franca's expression flickered in the dim candlelight, and she could only let out a long sigh.

Lumian moved forward, kicking away a silent, bony hand that reached out.

He exclaimed with excitement, "This is undoubtedly a very big vortex. We can't just rely on the Major Arcana card holders for help. We need to quickly improve our own strength to avoid being swept up and rendered powerless."

"Exactly," Franca agreed.

Lumian continued to look straight ahead, his voice unwavering, "You need to digest the Affliction potion as soon as possible, and I need to quickly bring Ludwig fully into the team."

Franca was taken aback and couldn't help but glance at Lumian's profile.

She hesitated for a moment, then asked carefully, "Are you saying this out of guilt? There's no need; we can think of other ways."

"Guilt is part of it, but it's not the main reason." Lumian continued forward without much change in expression.

Franca frowned slightly, looking at Lumian, and raised a question she had before meeting Harrison, "Why did you suddenly come to find me today and be so proactive? I thought I would have to endure our awkward relationship until I couldn't take it anymore and had to seek you out."

Lumian chuckled."If I told you Jenna asked me to find you, would you believe it?"

Franca suddenly felt a bit stifled, not even sure why she felt this way or if it was for multiple reasons.

She muttered, "She asked, and you just came?"

Lumian smiled as if talking about something ordinary. "If I absolutely don't want to do something-sans the influence of mystical powers-there's only one person in this world who can force me to do it."

Franca knew who Lumian was referring to and understood what he meant.

The blockage in her heart eased a lot, but recalling certain things made her expression quite complicated. There was anger, bitterness, and a bit of joy.

She clenched her right fist, the one not holding the white candle, and punched Lumian's shoulder with considerable force, "You brat, you gave it away!"

Lumian took the punch stoically, as if he had anticipated it.

They walked in silence for a while. Franca, having adjusted her mood, curiously asked, "Actually, I wanted to ask earlier. Jenna had already found you and expressed her thoughts, and you said the best response was to delay until you became an Iron-blooded Knight. But in that situation, how could you delay? There was no way to delay anymore!"

Lumian glanced at Franca. "Find Anthony. Did you forget we have a Psychiatrist in our team?"

Franca chuckled awkwardly. "How can you discuss such matters with a Psychiatrist teammate you meet every day? It's too awkward! Jenna and I definitely can't talk to Anthony about this."

Lumian ignored Franca's excuse and continued, "With the help of a Psychiatrist, or even a Hypnotist's abilities, the issue could be delayed for a while. But fundamentally, this is an emotional problem, not a psychological or mental issue.

Using a Psychiatrist can delay it, but it can't be postponed forever. It will eventually erupt, so it's better to resolve it sooner."

Franca tersely responded.

After a few more steps, she looked at the darkness ahead and said in a calm but slightly joyful tone, "Do you know why I only punched you once?"

"No," Lumian replied frankly.

Franca smiled, feeling quite gratified.

"Previously, you always gave me a feeling that goals, power, and close relationships were important, but you didn't care much about yourself, as if you didn't matter.

"This time, I originally thought you made all these decisions in that same mindset, but when you said you weren't entirely passive and had your own thoughts, even if just a bit, I was very happy."

Lumian did not respond but did not refute her either.

...

In Trier, Quartier de la Maison d'Opra, in an underground room.

Anthony met with the Knight of Swords.

The Minor Arcana card holder still wore a white shirt and black vest, his brown hair slightly disheveled, and his eyes looked quite repressed.

At this moment, the Knight of Swords sat at a long table, with several playing cards covering different chairs.

After glancing at what seemed like the aftermath of a card game, Anthony, who had met the Knight of Swords in the Raklev region of the Southern Continent, politely greeted him.

The Knight of Swords responded briefly. After Anthony found a chair without cards in front of it and sat down, he spoke in a low voice, "I need your help with two things. One is to provide psychological treatment for a while to help stabilize my mental state."

"No problem." Anthony nodded gently.

He knew that Madam Justice and Madam Susie were not in Trier recently. It seemed they had left because there were traces of a dragon on the West Midseashire Coast, and a member of the Tamara family's Judgment branch in the Loen Kingdom had surfaced and expressed a desire to cooperate. Both ladies had been away for some time and wouldn't return soon. Among the Minor Arcana card holders in Trier, only he could provide psychological treatment to the Knight of Swords.

Maintaining his repressed state, the Knight of Swords continued, "The second thing is that we discovered some members of the indulgence faction seem to have brought a significant item to Trier. There are traces of a demigod among them.

"We have confirmed where these indulgence faction members are staying, but without knowing what the item is or if there are other powerful individuals hidden, we don't want to launch a rash attack.

"It's best not to involve the authorities in this. If the item is useful to us but falls into official hands, it would be quite troublesome.

"Every two or three days, a servant from their villa comes out to buy supplies. Of course, there's likely an indulgence faction member watching secretly, whose strength and level are uncertain.

"We will handle distracting the indulgence faction member watching the servant.

You will find an opportunity to hypnotize the servant, ask two or three questions, and then hypnotize him to forget being questioned.

"The questioning time is short, and the risk is high. We can't guarantee your absolute safety, only that your safety will be our top priority.

"You can refuse, but if you agree, we will give you sufficient or exceptionally special compensation."

"Exceptionally special?" Anthony asked, slightly puzzled.

The Knight of Swords, Maric, took a shiny Loen gold pound from his pocket and said in a low voice, "I believe you recognize it."

Anthony immediately remembered the lucky coin Jenna and Ludwig had obtained.

After a moment's thought, he decided, "Alright, I will hypnotize the servant and handle the questioning, but you need to design the questions. I don't know what concerns you."

"Deal." The Knight of Swords showed a slight smile, but his eyes remained repressed.

Anthony looked at him and said, "Shall we start the first psychological treatment now?"

"Okay." The Knight of Swords nodded gently.

Anthony smiled peacefully.

"First, I must clarify that a Psychiatrist is not omnipotent. Sometimes, I can only help you find the right path. Other times, I can only provide some emotional relief, allowing you to view troubling matters more normally.

"Just as restraint is for crucial moments of release, if you never release, I can only help delay it for a while. Eventually, it will be uncontrollable."

...

Two days later, in a bustling market.

Anthony spotted his target, a man with evident Southern Continent ancestry.

Pretending to select fresh meat, he slowly approached the target.

According to the plan, the Knight of Swords and his team would now start distracting the indulgence faction member watching the servant. If they failed, they would use Wraith possession to inform him that today's mission was urgently canceled.

Soon, Anthony reached the target's side.

Suddenly, his eyes brightened as he bent down to pick up a Louis d'or from the ground.

After a moment's hesitation, he asked the servant beside him, "Sir, did you drop this?"

The servant looked over blankly, the gold coin's shine making him squint. At the same time, Anthony's eyes subtly turned vertical, tinged with a light gold hue.

The servant, completely focused on the gold coin, swallowed and said, "Yes, it's mine."

Thus, Anthony completed the hypnosis.

He handed the coin to the servant and asked casually, "What are they doing in the villa, never coming out?"

The servant hesitated, then replied, "They're in an orgy, all together. They're making babies, making babies!"