Lord of the Mysteries 2: Circle of Inevitability

Southern continent, Lacre region.

During the day, Lake Dash is clear and tranquil, reflecting the blue sky and snow-capped mountains in the distance, and is as beautiful as a dream.

Lumian was not in the mood to appreciate this beautiful scenery. He was walking slowly around a pit on the edge of the forest with Ludwig, who was wearing a formal tweed jacket, and Lugano, who was wearing a thin cotton coat.

There were highly decomposed corpses in the pit. They were in a semi-melted state, as if they were fused with the surrounding soil, and were decomposing themselves in a unique way, allowing nutrients to return to the earth.

Seeing this scene, Lumian roughly understood why Osetto, the "Witch King", did not destroy the corpses after the ceremony, leaving evidence and traces:

Burying the corpses and returning them to the earth should be part of the ceremony!

Last night, after reading the information provided by the "Knight of the Sword", Lumian had a clearer idea of ​​how to find Osetto, an important believer of the "Original Moon".

Obviously, conventional methods such as "magic mirror divination" are unlikely to work, otherwise, the companion of the "Knight of the Sword", the member of the Temperance Faction with a very strong spiritual intuition, would have found Osetto long ago.

Lumian currently has three ideas:

First, starting from the fact that Osetto is a member of the "Rose School" and has been mixed with the Hedonists for a long time and accepted the concept of indulgence, let the two "witches" Franka and Janna dress up carefully and go to the city of Lacre to see if they can meet Osetto and let this "Witch King" who never restrains his desires take the initiative to attack. Of course, this will definitely be under the protection provided by the Temperance Faction.

Moreover, Anthony will also follow Franka and Janna by "psychological invisibility" or disguise as an ordinary person to observe the reactions of the people around them after seeing the two "witches" to see if they will show obvious malice, so as to distinguish him before Osetto really takes action and eliminate the danger before it happens.

As for whether Osetto has accepted the gift of the "Great Mother" and turned into a woman, this detail does not affect the two "witches" tempting him - Lumian speculated from the situation of Mrs. Puaris and Franca that Osetto would still like women, at most he would like men at the same time.

Second, he used his own Omibella bloodline, which the gift of the "Great Mother" could sense within a certain distance, to wander around in the Lacre area and try to fish out Osetto. Similarly, Lugano, who had some abnormalities and might be related to the "Great Mother", was also a good bait.

Third, he re-explored the site left by Osetto to see if there was anything edible.

Lumian pinched his nose, carefully checked the traces inside and outside the pit and the dozens of corpses for a while, turned his head and asked Ludwig:

"Is it dirty?"

"Very dirty." Ludwig nodded vigorously.

"Dirty from the 'Great Mother'?" Lumian asked further.

Ludwig said "hmm", his expression full of struggle.

Then, as expected, he heard the godfather ask him:

"Can I eat it?"

Hearing this question, Lugano next to him couldn't help but retching, and the "Sword Knight" Maric, who had been watching quietly and suppressing his emotions, moved his eyebrows slightly.

Ludwig answered reluctantly:

"Yes."

"Can you sense the child born from the corpse after eating it?" Lumian asked further.

According to his experience, these corpses should have been passively pregnant in that ceremony, with bird claw monsters growing rapidly in their stomachs, and then these bird claw monster babies tore through the mother's stomach, absorbed the corresponding residue, and crawled out by themselves.

From the perspective of mysticism, whether it is active or passive, willing or forced, the bird claw monster babies and the corpses have the closest blood connection, and can easily find the other party with the help of one party, and even complete the curse in the air.

But the information of the "Sword Knight" said that the divination they conducted with the help of blood connection was fruitless, and the bird claw monster babies that crawled out of the stomachs of these corpses seemed to have disappeared from this world.

This may be a powerful counter-divination by a high-ranking person, or it may be that the state of the bird-claw monster babies has changed. Lumian can only hope that Ludwig can eat some different information.

Ludwig said with a gloomy face:

"You can use some cooking method to obtain a little blood of the corpse. Although this cannot help me detect the position and state of the child from a long distance, if both parties are within a range of 30 meters, I should be able to sense its existence."

"Okay." Lumian felt that the effect was better than expected.

Then, he watched Ludwig squat down and use a silver children's knife and fork to separate a piece of half-melted and half-rotten flesh from one of the corpses.

The flowing yellow pus and the disgusting state of the flesh itself made Lugano turn his body and look at the Dash Lake not far away and the city of Lacre on the other side of the lake.

Ludwig then asked Lumian to take out the iron pot, bracket, wheat flour, liqueur, several spices and a piece of coagulated lard from the "traveler's bag".

Lumian served as the "cook's" assistant, mainly responsible for making fire, while Ludwig first melted the lard, then added some liqueur and several spices, and fried it to produce a rich and tempting smell.

Then, he wrapped the rotten flesh in wheat flour, threw it into the iron pan, and fried it in the dark-colored, fragrant lard.

The fragrance and the stench mixed together and gradually spread out.

Finally, Ludwig finished cooking, picked up the fried golden meatballs with a fork, and stuffed them into his mouth.

While chewing, he seemed to have tears in his eyes, feeling wronged as if he had been bullied.

"You didn't think it was bad when you ate 'Loki' raw." Lumian joked.

Ludwig muttered:

"It's not good to eat when it's rotten, and it doesn't have much spirituality."

After swallowing the fried meatballs that looked good, Ludwig "relished" and said slowly:

"The birthday of the deceased is the second day of every year."

"Is there anything special about this?" Lumian asked.

Ludwig quickly stuffed the candy and answered casually:

"In myths and legends, on the first day, the world was first created, and on the second day, the 'Great Mother' was born."

"Why haven't I heard of such myths and legends..." Lugano, who had his back to Ludwig, said to himself in confusion.

Lumian cast his gaze thoughtfully at other corpses:

"Wouldn't their birthdays also be on the second day of every year?

"I remember that the New Year of many tribes in the southern continent is different from that in the northern continent. The first day of every year is not exactly January 1st. So, what day is the second day of every year, and what calendar is used?"

Ludwig said, holding a candy in his mouth:

"Any day is fine, as long as it is the second day of the New Year in the calendar that you believe in."

Pure symbolic meaning... Lumian turned his body and looked at the "Knight of the Sword":

"Have you confirmed the identities and birthdays of these corpses? ”

Rakele is a relatively prosperous area in the Star Plateau, with a large population. It is similar to the area where the "White City" Lapus that Lumian had visited before. It is one of the several support points for the ancient Highland Kingdom to rule the entire Star Plateau.

This place is famous for its rich mineral deposits, but the mining sites are magically far away from Dash Lake, so that the holy lake in the minds of the highlanders remains pure.

In the past, the Star Plateau was mainly contested by the Intis Republic and the Feysac Empire. After the war a few years ago, the power of the Feysac Empire declined, and the hand of the Loen Kingdom slowly reached out. Even the Loen "Goddess of the Night" Church seemed to have begun to preach in this area. Lumian heard about this when he was in Lapus.

And the place with the most Loen people in the entire Star Plateau is the "city on the mine" Rakele.

"Sword Knight" Maric nodded slowly and said:

"Ninety percent of the bodies have been confirmed. According to the calendar of the northern continent, most of their birthdays are January 2nd, and the rest are on the second day of the new year according to the local calendar.

"Those whose identities are still unknown are probably outsiders, who may or may not have come here voluntarily. If we give them some more time, we will definitely be able to figure out their identities."

The sample is already large enough, which basically fits Ludwig's statement. The ritual requires a strong symbol of the "Great Mother"... Lumian did not stop the Temperance Faction from wasting energy to confirm the identities of the remaining dead. What if there are other strange things?

Lumian looked at the city of Rakre across the lake and said:

"Let's go back to the city and walk around."

It depends on whether it is the blood of Omibella, the abnormality of the "Earth" path, or the blood connection with the bird claw monster baby, which will play a greater role!

Walking along the Dash Lake, which is as blue as the sky, towards the city with many gray and white stone houses, Lumian suddenly thought of a question.

He asked the "Sword Knight" who was walking quietly beside him:

"In the 'Rose School', Osetto is responsible for the Rakre area?"

"It wasn't before, and it's not sure now." The "Sword Knight" answered concisely.

Lumian nodded and said to himself:

"If he is not responsible for the Lacre area, but just initiated a sacrifice when passing by here, he should leave after the ceremony. Why is he still here?

"Does he have a deeper purpose in going to the Lacre area?

"Or, does the 'Rose School' want to take action here?"

"Sword Knight" was silent for a few seconds and said:

"We suspect there is a deeper purpose."

He paused and said:

"Before the establishment of the Highland Kingdom, many areas in the Star Plateau believed in the 'God of Death', and Lacre was the place most influenced by the belief in the 'God of Death'. To this day, some customs of the local people still have the shadow of death worship."

As they spoke, the three adults and one child came to the outside of Lacre City.

Compared to the exquisiteness of the "White City" Lapus, the various buildings here are quite rough. Although some people who come and go wear dark red robes and bright robes, most of them wear canvas workers' clothes that are more wear-resistant.

Before Lumian even got close to the entrance to the city, he could already feel the hustle and bustle.

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