Circle of Inevitability

?In the ancient, crumbling palace of the Nation of the Evernight, Lumian carefully poured Gardner Martin's blood into a measuring cylinder and added the unusually sharp, small white bone blade that emitted a cold light.

During this process, he moved swiftly, paying no attention to the bone-blade-shaped Beyonder characteristic slicing his fingers and causing blood to flow. Instead, he ignited crimson flames, helping the wounds contract and preventing the white bone blade from entering the potion with his blood.

The physical pain heightened Lumian's clarity and excitement. He added Gardner Martin's two teeth, the Colorful Bearded Horned Lizard's venom, and the hornbeam essential oil into the bright red blood.

Bloop! Bloop! Bubbles bubbled in the blood, and the items mysteriously dissolved.

Soon, black iron dregs emerged from the bright-red blood, as if an iron weapon had shattered inside.

Lumian glanced at the still-slumbering "Hisoka" Twanaku, picked up the measuring cylinder, and poured the liquid into his mouth.

The pungent smell of blood, the unfamiliar taste of rust, and the burning sensation instantly filled Lumian's mouth and pierced his brain.

It felt like being caught in a chaotic war, constantly facing blades, firearms, and relentless enemy assaults. Wounds appeared all over his body, throbbing with pain.

Son of a sow, am I being attacked by a potion? Lumian muttered, bewildered, as he found himself locked in combat with a swarm of oncoming adversaries.

Fireballs, Fire Ravens, and blazing white spears shattered, tore through, or impaled the enemies, turning them into torches that illuminated the battlefield.

After an unknown span of time, Lumian felt his strength waning, his spiritual energy on the brink of exhaustion. The accumulated spirituality of an Ascetic had long been unleashed.

In that moment, a colossal figure materialized before him, radiating a formidable and intimidating aura.

Despite Lumian's weakening state, he sensed the colossal figure's fear, hatred, and frustration.

He's afraid of me... Lumian realized suddenly. Summoning the last shreds of his courage, he condensed a blazing white flaming spear and hurled it at the colossal figure.

A blinding white flame erupted, piercing through the colossal figure's head.

Rumble. The giant figure exploded from within, shattering into countless fragments.

Rumble. The entire battlefield crumbled.

Lumian shook off the daze and found himself in front of a crumbling ancient palace, its stone bricks weathered by time. Hisoka Twanaku still slumbered, and Hela stood silently by his side.

Sweat dripped from Lumian's body, bursting into crimson sparks.

Eventually, the sweat returned to normal.

Phew... Lumian let out a relieved breath. His spirituality was rapidly recovering.

He had advanced to become a Reaper.

Having completed the ritual of capturing a higher Sequence enemy alive and revealing his conspiracy, Lumian had consumed the potion and advanced to Sequence 5, a Reaper of the Hunter pathway.

Compared to his previous Sequences, Reaper bestowed three additional abilities:

The first, Weakness Investigation, allowed Lumian to discern the target's vulnerabilities and weak points in their defenses from a mystic perspective.

The second, Cull, could be infused into any attack to harvest the target's life. Any part struck by Cull was akin to an assault on vital points and weaknesses, dealing significant damage.

If Cull hit a genuine weakness or vital point, it could deliver a fatal blow, making it challenging for the target to withstand three consecutive attacks.

It could even inflict real damage on demigod-level creatures, provided they didn't block or successfully evade, and refrained from using mystic defenses.

The third, Precision, enabled Lumian to precisely target a predetermined location and manipulate fireballs, Fire Ravens, and other spells that had left his body.

He could split a colossal fireball into hundreds, striking different targets with precision, achieving effective area-of-effect damage.

It was a far cry from a blanket explosion, being more efficient and effective.

Both Cull and Precision demanded a substantial amount of spirituality, rivaling Lumian's current usage of teleportation.

The exception was the combination of Precision and Fire Raven, as Fire Raven could allocate a bit of spirituality and was easily manipulated. Even with Precision, its consumption of spirituality wasn't significant.

Lumian also felt a significant enhancement in his spirituality. His mind cleared, and his life force intensified. He could compress flames to a blazing white state in an incredibly short time, merging with flaming spears and swiftly covering dozens to hundreds of meters. Ignoring the spirituality consumption, he could travel using this method.

While Lumian's strength, speed, and physique had improved, he was still not resilient enough to withstand a bullet with his body.

...

At the entrance of the mostly collapsed male bathroom in the Matani Import and Export Shop, the silver-white full-body armor burst out, wielding a light-condensed hammer in both hands.

It searched left and right but couldn't locate its target. Gradually, it seemed to "calm down."

From a nearby shadow, Franca emerged, her eyes assessing Kolobo within the half-collapsed bathroom. His life wasn't at risk, but his injuries were significant, and he appeared weakened.

He'll be Pride Armor's next target... Franca thought quickly. Seizing the moment while Pride Armor was still on the lookout for the backstabber and hadn't chosen a new target, she swiftly approached. Franca grabbed the motionless silver full-body armor and deftly stowed it into her Traveler's Bag.

"Meet up with Jenna!" Franca called out to Anthony, positioned outside the corridor.

In an instant, she melted into the shadows, disappearing from sight.

…

Surveying his newfound abilities, Lumian felt a surge of delight. Is this Reaper… If I were to confront Hisoka now, breaking through his defenses wouldn't be a concern. My craving for combat and slaughter has intensified… Having adapted to the changes in his body, Lumian turned to Hela and expressed his gratitude.

"Thank you."

Hela, not seeing any cause for gratitude, sighed and commented, "Your team's teamwork is impressive."

"Madame Hela, the ritual has succeeded, but I wish to enter Hisoka's dream again and inquire about something else," Lumian requested.

Hela nodded in agreement.

"The ritual requires him to remain lucid. He might lie, but the questioning doesn't need him to be lucid."

As she finished speaking, Lumian suddenly closed his eyes, slumping to the ground against a dilapidated stone pillar.

The corners of his mouth remained curled up, and his expression gradually turned calm.

In the dream's interrogation room, Lumian took a seat across from Hisoka and addressed the captive, whose malice and desire to kill were no longer concealed.

"Thank you for your help. I've become a Reaper."

Hisoka, leaning forward, seemed to forget that he could attack.

"So what if you're a Reaper? In a duel, I'd still kill you easily!

"If you hadn't joined forces with Hidden Blade and relied on numbers, you would have been dead!"

No longer lucid, he's finally revealing his true thoughts in the dream… Lumian chuckled and responded, "If I can create an opportunity to fight with numbers, why should I face you one-on-one?

"My companions are also a part of my strength."

Hisoka spoke with malice, "Do you truly trust that Hypnotist?

"It's very dangerous to open up your body and mind to a Hypnotist. Aren't you afraid that he'll take the opportunity to leave some hidden cues that will unknowingly bring you under his control?"

Lumian gazed at Hisoka for a moment before breaking into a smile.

"Perhaps that's why I defeated you. No wonder Mad Lady said you weren't pure enough.

"Firstly, I do trust him. We've been through life and death together.

"Secondly, I'm willing to take such a risk to kill all of you!"

Straightening up, Lumian locked eyes with Hisoka, enunciating each word, "Even if I plunge into the Abyss, even if I descend into hell, I shall witness your tragic demise!"

Hisoka fell silent.

Lumian eased back into his seat, composed himself, and casually inquired, "I learned from Devilology that a Devil requires a ritual to advance to Desire Apostle. It's best if it's a special serial killing ritual. However, other than the one four years ago, there's only been one in Port Pylos recently. Furthermore, I've already killed the murderer. How did you advance?

"With a boon? You couldn't have become a Desire Apostle four years ago, could you?"

Hisoka responded with a smile, "Just because you don't know doesn't mean it didn't happen."

Lumian's heart stirred.

"Was one of those two pranks to cover up your advancement ritual?"

Lumian ventured, drawing from the scattered information he had gleaned from the peripheral members of April Fool's. They were like scattered pieces of a puzzle, each offering a fragment of the truth but lacking the full picture.

The tales spoke of chaos unleashed: a disappearance of gold in the depths of Devise, and a clash between townsfolk and a primitive tribe in Tizamo Town, resulting in tragedy.

Lumian suspected that Hisoka's advancement ritual had been shrouded within the chaos of Tizamo's prank.

Hisoka's eyes sparkled with approval, his tone paternal.

"You're quite perceptive."

Lumian seized the moment to shift the conversation.

"What's up with the Nois family's Demon?"

He treaded cautiously, sidestepping the Celestial Worthy and the Mother Tree of Desire, for now.

Hisoka's expression turned cold.

"I aimed to utilize him to acquire something and carry out a ritual to appease him repeatedly, but he only formed a connection with me. He only granted me an opportunity two years ago."

Something… Two years ago… The pranks in the gold mine city and the town of Tizamo took place after this. One happened at the close of the preceding year, while the other unfolded at the close of last year… Lumian started suspecting that these two pranks might have motives beyond concealing the advancement ritual.

Before he could delve deeper, Hisoka asked vehemently and frenziedly, "Why didn't you seek the Tarot Club's assistance this time?" This chapter was originally shared via n(0))vel(b)(j)(n).

Lumian arched his eyebrows and inquired with confusion, "Why does it matter to you? Even without the Tarot Club's aid, I could have successfully dealt with you."