The Cycle of Fate

Chapter 52: The Parish Priest's Plan

Thick white fog filled the sky, blocking most of the light, leaving the entire dreamscape ruins in a perpetual twilight.

Lumière stood up, glancing toward the blood-red "mountain" as he stretched and assessed his condition.

Compared to the "Hunter," the "Provocateur" offered slight improvements in strength, reflexes, speed, and agility, but nothing substantial.

Lumière noted three main changes: First, his body felt sturdier, and his recovery rate seemed significantly enhanced. Second, his spirituality had grown, allowing him to maintain a state of possession for four minutes instead of just three. Third, he gained an extraordinary ability called "Provocation."

This ability could either bring about a permanent state change or require active triggering to achieve the desired effect.

The former meant that Lumière's insight had undergone a qualitative change, far surpassing that of ordinary people. He could effectively detect what words, actions, or matters would provoke a strong response from a target and what might anger them the most.

When actively using "Provocation," it could be combined with insulting words or humiliating actions, causing communicable targets to lose their rationality.

The more targeted the insults and humiliations, the better the "Provocation" worked. But even a simple "You're garbage" could provoke anger to some extent.

For entities that couldn't communicate, "Provocation" would make Lumière emit an aura that they found repulsive.

This ability paired well with the traps and ambushes that "Hunters" excelled at, but for Lumière's current situation, it wasn't as useful as he had hoped.

He didn't have time for extensive hunting. All he wanted was to further explore the "wall" area around the blood-red "mountain" and uncover the secrets of the dreamscape ruins.

In comparison, the increase in spirituality and physical resilience pleased him more, as it would allow him to venture deeper into the dark zones that could put people to sleep.

Taking advantage of the boost from the "potion," Lumière pressed his temples. This time, he smoothly activated his "spiritual vision."

He finally had a simple way to switch his "spiritual vision" on and off.

Without delay, after calming his mind, Lumière changed into fresh clothes, grabbed the "Fallen Mercury," his iron-black axe, and a bag of cheese biscuits, and slung his shotgun over his back. He then left the half-buried two-story building, traversed the wilderness shrouded in faint gray fog, and entered the ruins.

He followed a familiar route, avoiding areas that might harbor monsters, advancing step by step.

Once he reached the place where he had encountered the three-faced monster, Lumière began to dance, partially activating the black thorn symbol.

Using this "amulet," he navigated through increasingly dangerous environments, scaring off several terrifying monsters.

Finally, he arrived at the thorny "wall" formed by a conglomeration of various houses.

After a moment of thought, Lumière chose a direction. He decided to head toward the area that seemed shrouded in darkness, a place that made him want to sleep as soon as he entered it.

His intuition told him that while the high wall of twisted trees likely concealed something important, the area that resembled nightfall was more likely to hold the secrets of the dreamscape ruins.

After all, words like "night," "sleep," and "dream" were often linked.

After a while, and another round of ritual dancing, Lumière reached the area that was noticeably darker than its surroundings.