Lord of Mysteries 2: Circle of Inevitability
chapter-839

839 The "Hidden" Taboo

Other abnormalities? Albus's first reaction was that Lumian was imitating him, trying to trick him into looking at something he shouldn't.

He cautiously scanned the wasteland below the corpse mountain, only seeing undead soldiers fallen in different places and nearly extinguished colorless embers.

During this process, Albus also listened for any movements around him, but apart from the increasingly violent trembling and shaking of 0-01, he received no other information.

"Are you trying to delay time this way? I think this is more advantageous for me," Albus replied to Lumian with a smile.

The image of this competitor was reflected in his iron-black eyes as he quickly estimated the probability of launching a successful surprise attack in his mind.

He wanted to eliminate the last hidden danger before losing his close combat ability.

Lumian didn't give Albus this opportunity. Although his arms had weakened to the point where he could only pick up relatively light objects, and his legs were so weak he could barely walk, the accumulated spirituality he released was still quite abundant, enough to support him in completing many teleportations.

His figure disappeared from Albus's sight, then reappeared on the side of the corpse mountain.

Before Albus could find him, Lumian said with a smile, "It's understandable that you didn't notice other abnormalities here. After all, you don't seem to be someone who enjoys studying. And your ancestor, that Red Angel, although having a very thorough understanding of 0-01, the current 0-01 is no longer the same as before.

"From the Sealed Artifact information, I know that after your ancestor was killed by the Blood Emperor, 0-01 changed hands twice-once to Alista Tudor, and once to Death from the Southern Continent. Therefore, it has been corrupted by other, equally high-level corruptions."

Seeing Albus's gaze turn towards him, seemingly listening and discerning the truth of his words without immediate intention to launch an attack, Lumian stayed in place and continued, "Of course, your ancestor visited Fourth Epoch Trier and understood the various details of the corresponding seal. Morora's seal was modeled after Trier's, so you definitely wouldn't lack understanding of the situation here. But the seals on both sides are only mostly similar, with many details still having critical differences.

"The book 'Principles of Sealing' tells me that this is because 0-01 and its corruption are purer compared to Fourth Epoch Trier; it's less complex, can form fewer balances and constraints, and many characteristic issues are more prominent.

"If your ancestor were to come in person, take a turn in the underground mausoleum, no, just take a few glances, He would definitely understand what abnormality I'm talking about. But unfortunately, He can't descend to Morora, and probably can't see or hear directly through the seal using your eyes and ears. He can only give you power, help you share the damage, and listen to your reports periodically.

"Under these circumstances, heh heh, it's indeed understandable that you didn't notice other abnormalities here."

Albus Medici stared down at Lumian, listening to his narrative with a smile on his face, while pondering where the problem actually lay.

Rambling on and on about irrelevant things, it does seem like he's trying to buy time.

But buying time is more beneficial to me... The resonance between 0-01 and my ancestor is getting stronger and stronger. In two or three more minutes, I'll be able to approach and drip some Medici family blood...

His condition will only deteriorate faster than mine, the longer we delay, the weaker he'll become...

Is he waiting for reinforcements? But unless the Archbishop of the Church of Knowledge personally intervenes, there should be no one in Morora who can participate in this struggle, and those outside Morora can't come in... The Church of Knowledge currently appears quite neutral, at most with a slight inclination in secret, they won't directly get involved. Hehe, I need to be vigilant about this point, so-called scholars are more treacherous than us Hunters, the more knowledge they have, the more treacherous they become...

It's a pity, this trash can is very alert, he'll teleport away at the slightest sign of trouble, while I need to get close to release the Fog of War... No wonder my ancestor said that before Alista Tudor became a god, he found Bethel Abraham more troublesome...

Continuously feinting attacks, forcing him to use teleport repeatedly, draining his Spirituality? That's one way. If we really go on according to his pace, by the time his spirituality is insufficient to support teleport, I'll also be almost unable to complete the battle, even standing will be difficult, only able to rely on Fire Ravens-scatter shots-like a blind man shooting birds...

But if feints are to be convincing, they need to consume a lot of spirituality, and if they're not convincing, they can't bluff anyone...

Why does this dog shit-like pathogen target the physical body first, then affect the Spirit Body? If the rate of spirituality dissipation could be as fast as the loss of muscle strength, the problem would be simple. In that case, I wouldn't need to hold out for too long, just longer than this trash can.

As Albus's thoughts raced, Lumian smiled and said, "Do you need me to give you a hint?

"I don't know if you've seen the sealing information for 0-01, but you must be very familiar with the various taboos here. Haven't you noticed that two sections of the content, or rather, two of the taboos, hide problems?"

Two taboos hiding problems? Albus suddenly had a dangerous intuition, he began to believe that some of what Lumian said might be true.

Lumian said with a mocking tone, "Haven't figured it out yet? See, this is the consequence of not studying. I didn't notice it at first either, but after reading a large amount of related books and materials in Morora, I gradually developed doubts.

"Let me give you another hint. The first problematic taboo is that experimental subjects must cover their eyes and carry a lamp, and if the lamp goes out, that experimental personnel will directly disappear, and everyone who knows him will simultaneously believe that he died long ago."

"What's wrong with that? I've already had people verify the authenticity of this taboo. Hehe, it's only because there are many light sources here, otherwise we would have all disappeared by now," Albus quickly thought about the details he might have overlooked.

At this moment, Lumian's figure suddenly disappeared.

He teleported to change his position, appearing near the top of the corpse mountain, next to the Sword of Courage.

Taking advantage of the fact that he could still move the Traveler's Bag, he crouched down and slipped the bag he had been holding in advance over the Sword of Courage, returning it to its companions.

At this time, Albus, not expecting Lumian to appear so close to the top of the corpse mountain, was still searching for the target with his gaze across the wasteland.

By the time he reacted and condensed blue fireballs to bombard downwards, Lumian had already activated the black mark on his right shoulder and truly teleported to somewhere in the wasteland.

He risked picking up the Sword of Courage because he now realized that he might be the one facing its indiscriminate attacks later.

As the rumbling explosions just began to subside, Lumian's voice sounded again:

"Haven't you figured it out yet?

"After I arrived at the real corpse mountain, I actually doubted my guess and completely abandoned it, but the later results made me more certain, and allowed me to figure out more problems along the way."

Lumian spoke to Albus Medici from afar in the tone of a teacher, "The answer is, why must it be experimental subjects carrying lit lamps to enter, why not place burning wall lamps at intervals inside the underground mausoleum and replace the lamp oil regularly? Although this would consume more resources, it would be more convenient and safer. The Church of Knowledge's financial power couldn't possibly be unable to support such an arrangement.

"Is it to make the seal seem mysterious and terrifying? Obviously not, there are clearly deeper reasons."

Albus Medici's eyes flickered slightly, vaguely having some guesses.

He cast his gaze towards the embers scattered across the corpse mountain.

Lumian's figure disappeared again, appearing among Celeste's corpse fragments.

He then inverted the Traveler's Bag over the black teardrop-shaped forehead ornament, collecting it.

This time, Albus tracked Lumian's figure in time, but he didn't make a move, nor did he transform into a flame spear to throw himself over.

This was firstly because the other could teleport away at any time, and secondly because what Lumian was doing now was also beneficial to him.

Albus was almost certain that the forehead ornament was the "source" of the current mystical pathogen. After placing it in another space, the concentration of pathogens here would gradually decrease, preventing their conditions from rapidly deteriorating, allowing them to hold out longer.

After putting away the forehead ornament, Lumian immediately teleported to the wasteland on the other side of the corpse mountain, smiling at Albus.

"The second problematic taboo is 'Beyonders with strength surpassing Sequence 5 are forbidden from approaching. Warning, Beyonders with strength surpassing Sequence 5 are forbidden from approaching.'"

Albus immediately understood Lumian's line of thought and asked in a deep voice, "You mean there's no need to specifically emphasize that Beyonders above Sequence 5 cannot approach?

"Indeed, in reality, as long as they're not already corrupted experimental subjects or special people like us, whether they're above Sequence 5 or not, they shouldn't approach 0-01."

Lumian wanted to applaud, but even adjusting the Traveler's Bag was quite strenuous for him now.

He said with a tone that approved his educatability, "Yes, so why specifically emphasize that Beyonders above Sequence 5 cannot approach?

"Probably because when Beyonders above Sequence 5 approach 0-01, besides bringing danger to themselves, it would also trigger additional, more terrifying abnormalities. Therefore, it must be specially warned!

"Just now, the appearance of Hand Bro brought about an attack from 0-01, leaving embers all over this wasteland and corpse mountain. And from my observation, these embers will extinguish on their own.

"What does this indicate? It indicates that before we came in, this place was in darkness, without any firelight.

"Combining this with the first problematic taboo I mentioned, and with what the book 'Principles of Sealing' says about self-balance and self-sealing, the potential hidden danger becomes very clear."

Albus's expression changed slightly, obviously realizing what the possible abnormality might be.

Lumian once again changed his position using teleportation and continued, "That hidden danger is that there's a latent taboo:

"The underground mausoleum needs eternal, deathly darkness. It can occasionally have light, but there can't be continuous light in the same place. And when Beyonders above Sequence 5 with godhood approach, it instinctively causes 0-01 to burn this area, bringing embers that can last for a period of time."

At this point, Lumian's smile grew even brighter.

"Now, the embers have been burning for a while, and you're still continuously creating firelight.

"I'm very curious about what will happen next."

What will happen? Albus Medici's gaze instantly froze, his back suddenly tensing.

He knew where the problem lay now!

The frequency and amplitude of 0-01's trembling and shaking were more violent than he had anticipated, progressing faster!

At this moment, the entire sky suddenly took on the color of burning.