Chapter 8: Grisha Adam's Gaze (4k)
"Just say it straight, what do you want?"
Listening to Lumian's flushed voice, Ning Lu spoke calmly to him:
"For your sister's sake, I might be able to help you. But you have to act quickly, because your sister will probably wake up soon—I can tell she doesn't want you to touch Beyonder power."
Lumian heard Ning Lu's words, his ears twitched, and indeed he heard a noise coming from downstairs.
The choices before me are that mysterious woman and this apparently powerful stranger Beyonder... If Aurore finds out, she'll definitely stop me from becoming a Beyonder!
He seems far more reliable than that mysterious woman... Lumian took a deep breath, weighed his tone, and said:
"I hope to trade you a chance to become a Beyonder. If you can enter my dream, you must be an extremely powerful Beyonder..."
He didn't expect the Beyonder before him to grant Beyonder power for free, but from the snippets of conversation, Lumian felt his special dream might be the lure for this Beyonder.
[He bears the destiny of becoming the 'Calamity of Destruction'.]
At that moment, the Heavenly Sovereign's voice drifted to Ning Lu's ear, offering a reminder:
[In case you're unclear, I need to tell you this is an opportunity. 'Calamity of Destruction' is one of the offspring of the Mother Goddess of Depravity and our Original Creator...]
[Comrade, I don't know if your world has 'symbols', but in our world, 'symbols' are almost equivalent to the law of the Beyonder realm. If you can become the father acknowledged by 'Calamity of Destruction', we'll have a chance to go further...]
"—Why should I help you? I'm not your godfather."
Hearing the Heavenly Sovereign, Ning Lu's heart fluttered, and he deliberately said to Lumian:
He wasn't dreaming of grand ambitions like "I'll become the ultimate original baker!", and he didn't know what lies hidden in the Sovereign's words, but he believed he couldn't let this 'Red Priest' hatchling slip away.
He couldn't keep opposing the Sovereign just out of fear of his lies. Although the Sovereign seemed to digest the sequence 8 elixir of the Fool's Pathway perfectly in the dream‑city, it's undeniable that He is also the universe's most terrifying 'Deceiver'.
[You seem to be thinking of something quite offensive.]
The Sovereign's voice rose again; Ning Lu felt a moment of guilt, but still whispered in a calm, placid tone:
"Illusion."
After a brief and pleasant exchange with the Sovereign, his face broke into a smile as he looked at Lumian before him.
Lumian's expression flickered, but soon he seemed to make up his mind:
"Father..."
Compared with his sister's safety, what does calling someone 'father' matter?
If calling a father grants Beyonder power, I can call many fathers!
...You'll achieve great things someday, Lumian. Ning Lu whispered silently in his heart.
However, before Lumian could finish his sentence, the sound of a door being pushed open cut him off:
"You two, what are you doing this late at night?"
Aurore, in pajamas, hair slightly disheveled, looked puzzled as she surveyed Ning Lu and her brother, wondering what had transpired between them.
—Earlier, she quietly divined Ning Lu's earlier words and confirmed he hadn't lied.
"Earlier, I guessed his dream would attract something else," Aurore said, and Ning Lu continued:
"I was drawn here by his special dream. Rational beings are like that; irrational spirits are even easier to attract. Now I see, indeed, it led me to this Owl."
"Yeah sis, I just saw Naroka..." Lumian forced a laugh, quickly turning to Aurore.
I must never let Aurore know I almost recognized a father!
As Lumian secretly resolved in his heart, Ning Lu's voice drifted extremely softly into Lumian's ear:
"Don't worry, I won't tell your sister. It's a secret between us."
"Tonight we'll meet inside your dream; within it lies what can make you a Beyonder."
For a moment Lumian felt a surge of gratitude toward Ning Lu, but the next moment Ning Lu's voice suppressed that gratitude:
"But when it's just the two of us, what should you call me?"
"You have to call me godfather!"
How grudging this guy is... Hearing Ning Lu's words, Lumian muttered quietly to himself. Time passed quickly; the whole day Ning Lu kept investigating the village inside the dream, deepening his impression of Cordu Village.
Meanwhile Lumian and Aurore dealt with Naroka's death and continued the covert investigation of the dead Owl and matters related to the Parish Priest.
Late night, above the gray mist.
The Heavenly Sovereign lounged on a luxurious chair, leisurely sipping the historic projection in his cup; Ning Lu quietly watched the countdown on the back of his hand tick down.
Today is his last day here. Preparations are complete; now he must enter the 'Dream Ruins' that Lumian speaks of, which are actually the 'real world'!
Previously his flesh was stored atop Sefirah Castle, and he entered Lumian's dream only as a spirit.
But he can't stay forever atop Sefirah Castle. If he fears the gaze of the high‑ranked and refuses to enter the real world, the 'golden finger' he barely obtained will be wasted.
After all, the apocalypse won't wait for him to finish all his preparations.
Although Ning Lu's memory of the Circle of Inevitability isn't crystal clear, he knows well that Sefirah Castle is coveted by more than one outer god.
And he refuses to hand his fate over to anyone else.
Lost in thought, Ning Lu took a deep breath, and his figure vanished into the gray mist.
The Heavenly Sovereign gently set down the newspaper he held, murmuring softly:
"I truly cannot steal His thoughts... My awakened will occupies a great portion of this vessel, yet I cannot penetrate outward..."
"Is He indeed from beyond this world? Is He the original of another world?"
"What a terrifying compatriot."
...
Within the thin gray mist, Lumian gradually regained consciousness. The surroundings remained unchanged, the only difference being the knock at the door.
"Is it Mr. Ning Lu?" Lumian whispered to himself, cautiously looking out the window, and only after confirming the knocker was indeed Ning Lu did he carefully push the door open, weapon in hand.
At this moment, the Beyonder standing before him, who in the real world looks no different from an ordinary person, appeared extraordinarily terrifying:
Gray fog swirled beneath a wizard's hat and a classic wizard robe, making the Beyonder look as if he were a humanoid formed of gray mist.
However, Lumian only felt his eyes flutter slightly, and the mist‑formed figure slowly became faint, soon turning into a person who merely exuded a thin mist while otherwise looking completely ordinary.
"What's wrong?"
Ning Lu gave Lumian a slightly puzzled look.
"Ah..." Lumian snapped back to his senses and said to the Ning Lu before him, "Mr. Ning Lu, what should we do next?"
Ning Lu said nothing, and Lumian did not intend to question the bizarre, Monster‑like form. He recalled a story his sister Aurore had told him about a masquerader who, once exposed, slaughtered all survivors.
"Do you remember that Shotgun Monster you encountered earlier?"
Ning Lu watched Lumian cautiously close the door, then pointed toward the silent ruins outside:
"It—or its kind—carries a characteristic that can turn ordinary people into Beyonders. What we need to do now is hunt that Monster directly and combine auxiliary materials to create a 'potion.'"
Ning Lu couldn't recall whether Salty Fish Lady had explained anything about the potion to Lumian, so he simply gave a brief overview of potion‑related knowledge. After speaking, he smiled:
"The hunting process is yours to undertake; I will only provide assistance, drawing away those foes far beyond your current capability—if you can't even handle the remaining dim‑witted Monsters, becoming a Beyonder won't let you effectively wield the potion's power."
"...That's basically it. Do you understand?"
"Understood, Mr. Ning Lu," Lumian took a deep breath and tentatively asked, "Shall I now go hunt that Monster?"
"Very well." Ning Lu nodded lightly, "As your godfather, I need to remind you of one thing."
Lumian looked up with sudden clarity.
"Uncontrolled Monsters with Beyonder power may be low‑intelligence, but they still possess the 'instinct' granted by their Beyonder characteristic." Ning Lu chose his words carefully and told Lumian, "Based on my observation, the creature you dreamed of the day before yesterday should be a 'Hunter.'"
"When you hunt it, it will also prepare to hunt you; the roles of Hunter and prey can switch in an instant."
"...I understand now."
Lumian solemnly nodded, lifted his steel fork and axe, and walked toward the distance.
He didn't think he could directly defeat a Monster wielding Beyonder power; the phrase "weak overcoming strong" sounds beautiful, but in most cases the "weak" side possesses something the strong side lacks.
Originally, Lumian believed his only advantage was his intellect, which could outmatch such a Monster, but now he felt uncertain.
Nevertheless, he still planned to set multiple traps as before, using himself as bait to lure the Shotgun Monster into them. He intended to spend extra time digging the traps as deep as possible to further weaken the Monster's strength!
Only Monsters that act purely on instinct will fight others head‑on.
From a short distance away, Ning Lu watched Lumian rapidly begin setting traps and luring the Monster.
"I have now manifested in the real world. Logically, my condition is like a firefly in the night or a lighthouse in a storm; once I appear in reality, those high‑rank beings will notice me..."
Ning Lu muttered to himself, and then added:
"I've already made contact with this 'pawn' that Lumian and many others have promoted, and I've slightly altered some events that were supposed to happen to Lumian, yet no one seems to have noticed me?"
"Is it Sefirah Castle that shields me from others' sight?"
"No, that's unlikely." Ning Lu dismissed his speculation, silently thinking, "My current stature relies on Sefirah Castle, and the castle itself is not invincible; it can also be discovered by beings of equal rank..."
"Even with the special attribute the Celestial Sovereign mentioned about me, I cannot be ignored by all high‑rank beings. I didn't inherit the Chaos Sea, nor am I a Spectator who can 'psychologically become invisible.'"
"Even if my presence vanishes completely in the metaphysical sense, the unknown identity of the person who 'contacted Lumian' will still attract those high‑rank beings' attention, and my flesh truly exists within these ruins!"
Concluding this line of reasoning, Ning Lu suddenly entertained a bold hypothesis:
"Could it be that a high‑rank being noticed me and deliberately blocked the sight of other high‑rank beings?"
After pondering, he realized only one person had both the motive and the ability to do so.
With that thought surfacing, Ning Lu didn't hesitate and whispered:
"Heavenly Sovereign."
"You say, the inheritor of God would want someone... to help suppress God's will?"
While Ning Lu waited for Lumian's actions and drew his conclusions, he had already seen Lumian encounter the Shotgun Monster and lure it into the deep trap.
The countdown on Ning Lu's back ticked down, inch by inch, nearing zero.
In an instant, gray mist rose from his hand, swiftly spreading to envelop his entire body.
Instinctively, he looked upward and seemed to see a pure gaze projected from the depths of the sea.
Amid the silent gray fog, the Heavenly Sovereign's light laugh and its answer simultaneously echoed in Ning Lu's ears:
[Yes.]
[Now, we share common interests and goals.]