Circle of Inevitability

Dreams are reality, despair is hope

The sunset light shone through the window, casting a dim golden-red glow in the room.

Except for Lugano who had taken Ludwig to explore local cuisine in the New City of Silver, Franca, Jenna and Anthony remained in the living room, listening to Lumian recount what had happened to him after they parted ways.

Lumian recounted the key points of Termiboros becoming Amon, the psychological treatment report Amon had read out, and the subsequent "story" script, all in a detached manner as if he were an outside observer, without concealing anything.

That low and indifferent voice entered Franca and Jenna's ears, gradually making them feel a suffocating pain and despair, as if they had experienced it themselves.

This was not physical pain, nor the kind of despair when facing death. It came from one's own insignificance, one's own powerlessness, from the realization that one's beliefs, emotions, and decisions were actually products arranged by someone else.

Franca couldn't help but think of the lab mice she used to work with frequently.

She finally understood why Lumian, despite not being averse to switching to the Demoness pathway, was still in pain over advancing to demigod status, his emotions constantly suppressed.

Looking at that familiar yet strange face, that expressionless beautiful visage, Franca felt an inexplicable heartache and pity.

After a moment, Franca took the initiative to change the subject, sighing. "I never imagined that Black Tear was also arranged by that individual. Wasn't that something from the Demoness Sect?"

"If not Black Tear, there would be White Tear or Gray Tear. If they can't arrange the vessel for the Primordial Demoness's divine descent, can't they arrange for other Demonesses?" Lumian responded calmly.

Seeing him in this state, Jenna felt a wave of sadness and heartache. With her experience, she would rather Lumian be in a state of rage, or directly show the pain hidden deep in his heart, instead of being like a dried-up well now, with all emotions pressed down to the bottom.

Franca had a similar feeling. She almost instinctively made a self-deprecating remark, "I never thought Jenna and I would have a place in the script, even if our role was just to stabilize your mental state, providing a stable anchor point when you advance to become the Demoness of Despair."

The word "anchor" was something she had encountered a few times with Madam Judgment, suspecting it was related to how High-Sequence Beyonders stabilized their own state—the higher the Sequence, the easier it was to go mad, and anchors seemed to be external help to strengthen self-awareness and resist the tendency to lose control.

"It's not just that," Lumian, still wearing the black cloak, said in a matter-of-fact tone. "It's also a means to prevent me from becoming addicted to the feeling of Aurore's soul fragments gradually reviving, unwilling to switch back to the Hunter pathway, and gradually abandoning my self-identification as a male."

Jenna and Franca fell silent, both feeling an indescribable pain in their hearts.

The latter stood up from the large, high-backed chair that she could curl up in, looked at Lumian, and said straightforwardly, "I don't like the way you put it, as if Jenna and I have really become tools.

"Black Tear only made the problem erupt earlier; it doesn't mean the problem didn't exist, it doesn't mean that the emotions and thoughts in our hearts were created out of thin air, that they appeared because of that individual's arrangements!

"I-I only speak for myself, my attitude is that I won't persuade you to definitely switch back to the Hunter pathway, nor will I care whether you're a Demoness or a Hunter. I'm also very glad that Aurore still has hope of resurrection, and I'm looking forward to seeing her come back to life, but what I value more is you, Lumian Lee, the one who has gone through so many things with us and shared so many beautiful memories…"

At this point, Franca was at a loss for words, not knowing how to express the thoughts she hadn't yet spoken.

Jenna also stood up, pursing her lips before saying, "I would be happy to see Aurore resurrect through you, but I don't want to see you give up on yourself because of it.

"In this world, there are people who care about Lumian Lee, who like him, who value him!"

"Yes!" Franca echoed Jenna's words.

Lumian's blue eyes, now a lighter shade, looked at the two Demonesses, with a faint light flickering in their depths.

He didn't respond to Franca and Jenna's words, but he didn't object to or mock their statements either.

Just as Franca and Jenna were about to say something more, they suddenly saw Anthony give them a look, indicating that this was just right, and that Lumian should be left alone to calm down and think for a while. Too much comfort, encouragement, and confession would only bring about the opposite effect.

Uh… Franca closed her mouth.

She then realized a fact:

Anthony was here… Doesn't that mean he heard everything I said earlier?

Embarrassing!

EMBARRASSING!

Jenna sat back in her original position, trusting the Psychiatrist's judgment in this matter.

As for her own emotional outburst just now, she didn't feel shy about it. She knew Anthony had seen through it long ago.

Anthony sighed inwardly. As a normal, almost middle-aged man, he was very grateful to be a Psychiatrist, a Hypnotist. Otherwise, facing two Demonesses each with their own unique charm every day, and later adding a captain whose beauty was breathtaking, he would definitely be naturally enchanted and unknowingly lose his heart.

He felt that with this kind of training, even if he hadn't become a demigod yet, he could resist the Charm of an enemy Demoness of Despair for a longer time.

The embarrassed Franca instinctively searched for a topic. She let out an "Ah" and said, "That individual's arrangements are truly terrifying. It's not something we can escape or choose not to accept."

Jenna nodded in deep agreement.

Both Demonesses had been in significant situations before. They had personally experienced the celestial changes that Red Angel Medici had created in Fourth Epoch Trier. But the True Creator's arrangements, which came without warning and left no trace, completely surpassed their imagination. Just thinking about it a little would cause nightmares or sleepless nights.

Lumian responded in a low voice, "That being is a true god. I even suspect He's more than just a true god. At least Madam Magician's attitude towards Him is more respectful and fearful than towards true gods like the Eternal Blazing Sun.

"The Tarot Club, the Church of The Fool, and other related forces combined might not be able to prevent His arrangements. At most, they could detect anomalies a bit earlier and give warnings."

"Yeah, although there are many Angels around Mr. Fool's divine throne, they're still not enough to face a true god. Damn, why would a true god focus on someone who wasn't even a demigod before?" Franca sighed and cursed.

She originally wanted to add, "With such a large gap in status, resistance is mostly futile. We can only make do for now, not letting this matter weigh on our minds, and try to use His arrangements to strengthen ourselves as much as possible." But after considering Lumian's current state, she swallowed these thoughts that arose from her own personality.

"Perhaps we'll only stop worrying about being arranged by that individual when Mr. Fool wakes up," Jenna said carefully.

"Yeah, when will Mr. Fool wake up?" Franca echoed with a sigh.

Suddenly, with her rich gaming experience, she had an idea.

She sat up straight and looked at Lumian, saying, "The lucky coins in my, Jenna's, and Ludwig's possession all seem to come from Mr. Fool's past bestowal, carrying his aura. Could it be… could it be that gathering all the lucky coins might awaken Mr. Fool?"

"If it were that simple, the Major Arcana card holders would have already collected the lucky coins and awakened Mr. Fool," Lumian pondered for a few seconds before saying, "Perhaps gathering the lucky coins is just a prerequisite, and there are still some things to be done afterward."

At this point, Anthony interjected, "I'm about to get a lucky coin too. The Knight of Swords promised to use it as payment."

"Four coins now…" Franca couldn't help but glance at Lumian.

In the past, she would definitely have teased him, but now, facing Lumian in this state, how could she bear to?

Lumian didn't show any disappointment. He looked out the window and said, "Madam Magician should be coming to me soon. I'll ask her about the true significance of the lucky coins."

"Mm." Franca touched her Traveler's Bag. "By the way, I want to ask Madam Magician to create an independent space in my Traveler's Bag to store that revolver. I can feel that it, like Black Tears, is continuously creating diseases and constantly spreading outward."

Her Cannon Gun had already combined with part of the boon power from Higdon that was intercepted in the special mirror world, and had not yet been renamed.

After saying this, Franca asked Lumian to place the entire room into the Bottle of Fiction, while she took out the corrupted Cannon Gun and used Magic Mirror Divination method to grasp its corresponding effects and negative impacts.

15:50

Before long, Franca obtained a relatively detailed answer:

"The corrupted Cannon Gun will continuously spread disease and decay within a three-kilometer radius, with random types of diseases;

"The corrupted Cannon Gun can add either the Certain Death or Sure Hit effect to fired bullets, for a total of thirteen times, which can be stacked with the original Heavy Strike effect;

"If either the Certain Death or Sure Hit effect is triggered, the user will inevitably fall seriously ill for a period of time afterward. If a suitable healer isn't found, they might even die from it. If found, the severe illness state would last from a few hours to a day.

"After all the Certain Death and Sure Hit uses are exhausted, the negative effect of continuously spreading disease and decay will still exist, lasting for about a year."

As soon as she got the answer, Franca immediately stuffed the corrupted Cannon Gun back into the Traveler's Bag. Then, deliberately trying to liven up the atmosphere, she smiled and said, "If I were to use Impregnating Bullets with the Sure Hit effect, how would the enemy deal with that?"

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