Lord of Mysteries 2: Circle of Inevitability

After a while, Jenna recalled Lumian's previous introduction. "At the angelic level, do you still have to fly to get around?"

"Each pathway is different. At least the Hunter pathway doesn't have those more mystical methods. By Sequence 1, maybe my speed will let me fly out of the current planet, or even faster." Lumian thought for a bit. "Actually, I can already use the explosive force of flames to continually accelerate, reaching a terrifying speed, but my body would be unable to withstand it long before then."

"A human rocket, huh…" Franca joked.

Lumian continued, "I can also directly descend through the prayers of believers, and enter the spirit world without relying on other abilities, but I can't discern directions or complete the pinpointing, I can only go to the markers I've already set up in the real world."

"I see… So the higher-level Hunters rely on their team members to gain diverse capabilities." Franca was quite satisfied with acquiring this knowledge.

Lumian nodded slightly with a smile. "Yes."

As he spoke, his azure eyes vertically slit, tinged with gold.

Seeing this, Anthony sat up a little straighter unconsciously.

Lumian then explained, "Now, you are all my team members, within a 10km range.

"I can use your Beyonder powers without your consent, but you need my permission to use mine."

"Just like that, we're team members?" Franca blurted out in surprise, "No ritual needed?"

"With mental resonance, and no subconscious resistance within the range, you can be integrated into my team," Lumian's voice sounded in the minds of Franca, Jenna, Anthony, and Ludwig, without his mouth moving.

"Then can't I also get a taste of being an Angel? Borrowing your Beyonder abilities and traits…" Franca's excited remark was suddenly cut off.

She realized something.

The fact that Sequence 2 Hunters must be male was also considered a trait.

Lumian saw through her thoughts and chuckled. "The self-modification during advancement cannot be shared, just like you can't use my Mythical Creature form."

"Alright…" Franca felt a bit disappointed.

She then inquired, "You mentioned before that when you transfer back to the Hunter pathway, being closer to the subject of the secret deed ritual, you should be able to complete the secret deed without needing the corpse wax candle, performing a ritual, or being in a special environment. Is that the case now?"

"Yes," Lumian nodded. "This is combined with the ability to petition the essence of war or the 'war' symbolism, and has been further refined:

"Ordinary Weather Warlocks can do this once a week, I can do it once a day. The real limit is my body and mind, not the frequency.

"Also, ordinary Weather Warlocks only get corresponding, somewhat distorted assistance when they petition, but I can also gain secret deed experiences. How deep the secret deed can be depends on whether I'm petitioning 0-01 or the dark presence in the ancient well, and what I'm petitioning for, as well as the state of the secret deed subject.

"Mm, other Weather Warlocks need to prepare sacrifices and perform rituals to petition, I don't. Of course, having sacrifices would yield better results, and always skipping them might anger the secret deed subject."

"So powerful… Is this the true value of a War Proxy, a Son of Calamity?" Franca hissed in awe.

"All prices have already been exacted for what fate bestowed. I just haven't reached the point where I must pay yet," Lumian responded calmly.

At that moment, a voice suddenly sounded in everyone's minds: "I'm so hungry!"

Instantly, Lumian and the others turned their gaze towards Ludwig.

"I'll take him to the sea." Lumian stood up.

Franca pondered for a moment and asked, "While you're at it, bring some food for the Face of the Arcane."

Lowering her voice so Ludwig couldn't hear, she continued, "Can you block Ludwig out of the mental channel, only lifting it if there's an emergency? Otherwise, we'll never get a good night's sleep, hearing 'I'm so hungry, I'm really hungry' every little while."

"Okay," Lumian also felt this was a problem.

When Lumian returned with a well-fed Ludwig from the sea, Jenna was the only one left in the living room.

"Where are the others?" Lumian asked casually.

Sitting on the sofa, Jenna smiled and said, "Franca is continuing to work on the kind of robot she wants, and you know how Anthony has been busy lately, digesting the Manipulator potion and searching for clues about the hidden cults.

"I was also planning to contact the bishops, have some of them go to other provinces, other regions, even other countries, to preach in remote villages where the Churches' presence is weak. Now that you can respond to prayers worldwide as an Angel, we need more believers, it's time to expand our evangelism, but…"

"But what?" Lumian asked.

Jenna stood up. "You haven't designed a qualifying title yet.

"Additionally…"

Jenna eyed Lumian's face with her shimmering blue eyes.

"I feel like you're not very happy after your advancement, your mood has been low."

Smiling, Lumian replied, "Actually, I'm very happy. Becoming an Angel means I'm substantially closer to reviving Aurore, and I have stronger power to protect those I want to protect. And the latent problems will most likely erupt before the apocalypse, without needing to worry about interference from most evil gods.

Pausing momentarily, he added, "It's mainly that just after the advancement, with my godhood enhanced, my condition is unstable, and I have to devote a large part of my energy to maintaining and suppressing it, so my everyday demeanor will naturally be more muted.

"After some time, when I've adapted and begun to digest it, I'll be a lot more normal."

Jenna pursed her lips and nodded slightly. "I see."

She was silent for two seconds, then suddenly walked up to Lumian.

She stopped in front of him, spreading her arms and her face blooming with a clear smile.

Then, she proactively hugged Lumian, her voice coming from the embrace.

"Long time no see, Lumian Lee."

Lumian slowly raised his hands and hugged Jenna back.

His expression gradually softened, and his body seemed to relax a bit as well.

After hugging for a while, Jenna and Lumian suddenly felt something was off.

They straightened up and turned their gaze to the side.

Ludwig was eating a lollipop, looking slightly puzzled at them.

"I'll go contact the bishops and have them prepare to preach in other regions." Jenna gestured towards a room on the first floor.

That was the exclusive papal office, which the two "deities" did not have.

"I also need to pray to Mr. Fool. He gave me a revelation just as I completed my advancement, telling me to go above the gray fog after stabilizing my condition." Lumian nodded in response. "There should be something I can understand at the angelic level."

Separating from Jenna and heading upstairs, Lumian heard clanging sounds coming from the end of the second-floor hallway.

He went over and found Franca's workshop door slightly ajar, making quite a commotion.

Pushing open the door, Lumian saw Franca with the left side of her face covered by a mask made of rivets, springs, gears, and various mechanical parts, trying to assemble a mechanical arm.

She had already invented her fully automatic healing machine, and in the process, she had also created her own unique mystical pathogen.

Now, the machine she had infused with soul fragments and brought to life using the Face of the Arcane had been moved to the mirror world, staying with her mirrored self, fully automatically responding—this required no further operation from the her mirrored self, just categorizing the requests, as it was a truly autonomous machine with living properties and basic intelligence.

Franca stood up, removing the Face of the Arcane, and came to the door, jokingly handing it to Lumian, "It's Master Arcane's mealtime."

Lumian took out a mirror and put the Face of the Arcane into it.

Behind the mirror, there was seawater and a large number of marine creatures.

Franca looked down the hallway and asked, "Where's Jenna?"

"She went to assign the bishops to preach in other regions," Lumian briefly answered.

"Oh, it's time to preach in other regions," Franca replied and then fell silent.

Looking at her, Lumian suddenly smiled and said, "You said before that you occasionally still want to see Lumian Lee, to hug Lumian Lee, right?

"Now you can hug him."

"…" Franca was suddenly dumbfounded.

Me saying it is fine; but you saying it?

Shameless!

She snorted a couple of times, but still stepped forward and hugged Lumian, muttering,

"I'm starting to miss Lumina and Aurore…"

Pausing for a moment, she then said in a muffled voice,

"Welcome back, Lumian Lee."

Lumian returned Franca's hug, embracing her in silence.

After a while, Lumian released his arms. "I need to go above the gray fog."

He took the well-fed Face of the Arcane out from behind the mirror.

"Mm-hmm, I'll keep going, I'm sure I can make it!" Franca excitedly took back the Face of the Arcane.

…

Above the gray fog, within the majestic palace.

Lumian's figure appeared by the bronze long table, seeing only Mr. Fool and Madam Magician present.

As expected, the upcoming topic is something only Angels can engage with… Lumian stood up and greeted Mr. Fool.

Ma'am Hermit and Madam Judgment were still unable to become Angels due to the level of their potion digestion and the required rituals.

Sitting at the head of the bronze long table, Mr. Fool looked at Lumian and asked in a gentle voice, "How are you feeling now?"

Lumian didn't hold back any information.

"I'm full of the urge to kill and destroy, and also have a strong desire for copulation, especially towards the Demonesses, wanting to merge with them body and mind, until I devour and swallow them, truly becoming one. Additionally, I also want to conquer everything around me."

Mr. Fool nodded slightly and said, "This is the manifestation of godhood."

Madam Magician sitting diagonally opposite Lumian quickly asked, "Mr. Fool, can you explain the difference between godhood and humanity in more detail? I'm not too clear on it myself."

She didn't have this dilemma before, and Mr. Fool hadn't specifically discussed it. By the time she became an Angel, Mr. Fool had already entered his slumber, unable to answer her questions.

Enveloped by the gray fog, Mr. Fool glanced at The Chariot Lumian and The Magician Fors and said, "Okay."