874 Unsealing

After a while, Voisin Sanson stopped passively waiting for the fate exchange to complete and began actively using various strange abilities, suppressing Lumian's attacks.

On the other side, Harrison increasingly relied on his Paper Figurine Substitutes to avoid the mystical plague spreading through the ruins of the town.

He had little time left to interfere with Lumian and kept trying to remove the densely packed mythical pathogens in the air with various methods he could think of, but to little avail.

Lumian felt the fate exchange nearing completion. Although he wasn't afraid, he decided to take a gamble.

Mimicking the Beyonders of a Warrior, he unleashed a Hurricane of Light, holding the Sword of Courage upside down and stabbing it forcefully into the ground.

With him and the Sword of Courage at the center, blazing white-blue fireballs spread layer upon layer, covering the ruins of the town.

Rumble!

Explosions erupted one after another, destroying the already crumbling ancient buildings and igniting every corner of the ruins.

Harrison used his Paper Figurine Substitute again. As he was always on the edge of the town ruins, his figure reappeared in the dark tunnel they had pursued through earlier.

Voisin Sanson, who was closer to Lumian, was inevitably affected. His attempt to teleport was interrupted by the violent shockwave.

His body caught fire again, but the injuries were not fatal. With the resilience of an Ascetic, he only instinctively twisted his face in pain.

Seizing this opportunity, Lumian teleported in front of Voisin Sanson.

Voisin Sanson's eyes immediately filled with ghostly green light.

Almost simultaneously, Lumian, anticipating Voisin Sanson's habit and method of using the terrifying beam, half-turned the Sword of Courage, holding it horizontally in front of his chest.

The ghostly green beam, upon completion, shot towards Lumian at unavoidable speed, striking the Sword of Courage. The blazing white-blue flames on its iron-black blade were instantly extinguished, and its metallic luster dimmed significantly.

Successfully blocking Voisin Sanson's beam, Lumian released his left hand, aiming to deliver a fatal blow.

He sensed that Voisin Sanson's current Circle Inhabitant cycle was nearing its end. Perhaps two or three more triggers would lead to the inevitable conclusion, possibly even death.

At this moment, Lumian's hair stood on end, his mind nearly blank.

The negative effects of the Black Tear forehead accessory manifested.

If not for the Sword of Courage sharing the burden, he would have been utterly overwhelmed by Pleasure, rather than just briefly dazed.

Taking advantage of this moment of distraction, Voisin Sanson teleported away from the emptied ruins but did not extend the distance beyond the Fate Exchange limit.

Lumian quickly regained his senses and prepared to pursue Voisin Sanson.

Suddenly, his thoughts slowed, becoming sluggish as if he had been rapidly frozen.

His body became rigid, and even moving a finger was extremely difficult.

The fate exchange had completed.

Clang! The Sword of Courage fell to the ground, as Lumian no longer had the strength to hold it.

Lumian slowly collapsed to the ground, his eyes vacant, his expression blank, leaning against a pile of rubble.

No longer controlled by Courage, he instinctively tried to activate the Blood Emperor's residual mark on his right palm, hoping the rampant frenzy might help him break free from his current state, but he couldn't manage it.

His ability to think coherently was rapidly slipping away.

This was the outcome Voisin Sanson had wanted from the Fate Exchange.

Voisin Sanson smiled, teleporting back to Lumian, and whispered, "If not for your false Angel rank, the fate exchange would have been completed long ago.

"You probably don't know that the maximum limit for the Circle Inhabitant's cycles is nine. You're still several cycles short of dealing real damage to me.

"You're not truly a demigod. There's a fundamental difference between you and someone with godhood."

As Voisin Sanson spoke, he pulled out an incomplete ritual sheepskin, just large enough to cover a head, intending to turn Lumian into a sheep and completely control him.

In the next second, Lumian felt the stiffness in his body and the sluggishness of his thoughts easing, their effects seemingly distorted.

Opportunity! Lumian immediately tried to activate the black mark on his right shoulder, hoping to teleport out of the special mirror world.

Voisin Sanson's face changed, then he activated a contract mark, shouting in a deep voice, "Lumian Lee!"

As Lumian's figure was still fading away, his mind buzzed, his head spinning, making it difficult to maintain the teleportation effect.

Voisin Sanson then placed the sheepskin over Lumian's head, chanting in Hermes, "Sheep!"

A flash of dark light transformed Lumian into a grayish-white sheep.

Most of his abilities were sealed, and the earlier state of sluggish thoughts and stiff body returned, preventing him from using the Black Tear forehead accessory or the Devil's Whispers bone ring.

Seeing this, Voisin Sanson felt the weakness and spirituality exhaustion in his own body but believed he could endure the mystical plague for a while longer, waiting for the Circle Inhabitant effect to passively activate.

A sinister paper figurine with drawn features entered the still-burning ruins from the tunnel, its surface accumulating rust at a visible rate.

It looked at Lumian and spoke in Harrison's voice, "Your companions don't seem to have escaped either."

As he spoke, the paper figurine made a gesture, and the edges of the dark world illuminated by the flames began to turn transparent, revealing the states of Franca and the others-not through Harrison's magic, but through the Mirror People watching in the shadows.

In the mirror-like scene, Franca led the others, except Ludwia, trying to traverse out of the special mirror world.

Above them, a figure in a black dress and gold crown appeared.

Surrounded by white mist, a light seemed to emanate from in front of her.

She glanced down, causing Franca and the others to fall back into the area they had just left, unable to escape the special mirror world.

Higdon, having split into two and covered in green-yellow slime, blocked Franca and the others' escape route in the scene.

After using it three more times, Franca's Ice Talisman only had one Mirror Traversal left.

She did not attempt to flee again. She pulled out a set of silver-white full-body armor from the Traveler's Bag and placed it in front of herself. Anthony also drew the Winter is Coming revolver.

In another scene, another Higdon was searching for Ludwig.

Seeing this, the increasingly ragged paper figurine of Harrison spoke to Lumian with a laugh, "Your companions will likely all die before you. Their Mirror Substitutes aren't as numerous as my paper figurines. You still have time to mourn them.

"Actually, you've done quite well. If it weren't for me and Higdon, your team might have been able to escape or even win against Voisin Sanson on their own."

With double control over him, Lumian had almost no ability to think deeply, leaving only his emotions to resonate.

His heart was ablaze with anger, indignation, and hatred, filling the sheep's eyes with bloodshot rage.

Voisin Sanson turned to Harrison's paper figurine and asked, "Can I kill him now to bring back Lord Termiboros?"

Harrison's paper figurine shook its head slowly, "The Celestial Worthy's revelation is to imprison."

Voisin Sanson thought for a moment and said, "Indeed, killing this trash might trigger unforeseen changes due to the high-level powers within him, potentially affecting the entire Project Vortex.

"Can I attempt to unseal his chest and bring back Lord Termiboros?"

Harrison's paper figurine paused for two seconds and said, "Yes."

This did not violate the Celestial Worthy's revelation.

Voisin Sanson smiled and said, "I'll need you to use that Celestial Worthy's boon for the final part. Otherwise, I'd have to bring Lumian Lee to the brink of death to unseal him, which is too risky."

The method to unseal Lumian Lee's The Fool seal wasn't devised by Voisin Sanson himself but given through a ritual by the great Circle of Inevitability.

"Okay." Harrison agreed.

Voisin Sanson immediately took out a black metal box and opened it.

Inside were thumb-sized mercury beads, their surfaces tinged with black and inscribed with complex, fear-inducing patterns and symbols.

Voisin Sanson's voice became low and his words eerily ethereal.

The black-tinged mercury beads floated up, spinning rapidly in mid-air, forming a continuous river.

With barely any coherent thoughts, Lumian heard Voisin Sanson and Harrison's conversation and saw the scene unfold but felt no despair or regret.

At this point, despair and regret were meaningless.

Lumian was only filled with anger, indignation, and hatred. The sheep's eyes bulged with fury.

Son of a sow!

Within ten to twenty seconds, Voisin Sanson completed his chant, sending the silver-black river towards Lumian's chest.

In the tunnel, Harrison had lit four candles and placed four pieces of bread in front of each, reciting incantations while taking special footsteps and gestures.

Lumian quickly fell into a dark state, his thoughts gradually clearing.

But before he could form any other thoughts, his chest grew hot, the familiar heat rapidly dissipating, turning cold.

In an instant, silver-black light beams burst from his body, weaving together in front of him to form a figure.