The Cycle of Fate

Chapter 96: An Unexpected Development

Lumian glanced at the shattered mirror in Franca's hand, feeling both relieved and puzzled. He said, "But I didn't feel like I was attacked at all." His "Dance of Summoning" could have continued for another five or six seconds until Franca grabbed his wrist, which made him stop early.

Franca cleared her throat and adopted a teacher-like posture. "Some mystical techniques won't make you aware of the attack. By the time you realize it, you might already be dead."

Could it have been in the one or two seconds between stopping the "Dance of Summoning" and entering the mirror that the monster subtly influenced him? Lumian thought for a moment and nodded. "Yeah, just like how we started bleeding in that space without any warning, and we had no idea how to stop it." While speaking, he looked at Franca's face, noticing her skin was smooth and unblemished, without any sign of the blood that had seeped from her earlier wounds.

Franca raised her hand to touch her face and, after some thought, said, "It is indeed strange. But we did lose some blood. As a 'Witch,' I have a mystical sense of my own blood volume. So, the damage we took in that strange mirror world wasn't fake. It just didn't leave any physical wounds."

"Ah, damn it, I didn't bring the electric stone lamp out with me!" she exclaimed, turning around to rummage through a pile of rubble in the dim tunnel.

Lumian hadn't had time to grab his own electric stone lamp either, so he could only watch Franca's movements in the faint light that filtered in from the distance.

In less than ten seconds, Franca pulled out a mirror from the pile. It seemed to be made of pure silver, with mysterious and somewhat sinister patterns engraved on the sides. The surface, however, was dull and tarnished, as if corroded by time.

"As expected," Franca muttered, avoiding letting her reflection appear in the antique silver mirror. She gave Lumian a quick lesson, "In unsafe places, or during strange and eerie encounters, try to avoid looking into mirrors. Otherwise, something terrifying might happen. And with something as mysterious and ominous as this, you definitely shouldn't touch it!"

Lumian, who had hidden his use of the "Peeper's Glasses" to create a disguise that prevented him from looking into mirrors, nodded in agreement. "I understand the idea of the exit being a mirror, but what I still don't get is how we entered that space without noticing anything. We didn't encounter anything strange along the way."

"I'm just as puzzled," Franca replied, wrapping the surface of the antique silver mirror with a cloth. Standing up, she continued, "This thing seems closely related to the 'Witch' pathway. How about you let me have it? I'll find something valuable to compensate you later."

"No problem," Lumian said with a smile. "But you didn't have to ask. I wouldn't be able to take it from you anyway."

Franca clicked her tongue and said, "That's not how it works. Spoils must be distributed fairly, or the team will definitely have conflicts. I've been taken advantage of plenty of times in the past. If I weren't so forgiving, I'd have sought revenge by now."

"Ma'am, I feel like you're insulting me..." Lumian muttered under his breath. If someone took advantage of him and he couldn't fight back in the moment, he wouldn't just let it go. He'd definitely find a way to get even later.

After putting away the antique silver mirror, Franca pointed toward the source of the faint light. "Let's go check it out. Maybe we'll run into the quarry police or some other smugglers. We can ask for directions. Being lost in the underground of Trier might be even more dangerous than being trapped in that strange mirror world."

"Agreed..." Lumian concurred. If the Montsouris Ghost hadn't been such a problem, it would have been dealt with by the authorities long ago.

The two of them advanced through the dim tunnel, remaining alert for any potential threats. Soon, they reached a quarry cavern, where they spotted a figure in a felt hat standing in the middle. The light came from the electric stone lamp in his hand.