Chapter 677 Last Year"s Dream Festival
Amandina hesitated for a few seconds before saying, "You"ve already cornered me. What choice do I have?"
Her eyes flickered with an inexplicable excitement and curiosity as she spoke.
Her words seemed to convey a different message: I didn"t want to. I had no intention of doing so. You forced me to go to Saint-Sien Cathedral! Hurry, let"s go!
Are you trying to "broaden your horizons?" Lumian criticized but didn"t expose her.
He pointed at Hisoka"s house and said, "Before heading to Saint-Sien Cathedral, let"s check this place first."
Amandina tersely acknowledged his words.
"Are you trying to find the source of its uniqueness?
"Give up. I checked during the last Dream Festival and just now, but I found nothing."
As she spoke, she followed Lumian at a brisk pace, antic.i.p.ating what this seemingly formidable adventurer would discover.
Lumian reached the second floor of Hisoka"s house, where Camus and Rhea were already waiting.
Surveying every corner, Lumian casually asked Amandina, "Are you familiar with Twanaku?"
Amandina wasn"t surprised by the question. Since she was searching for the source of the abnormality in Twanaku"s residence, she couldn"t avoid gaining a better understanding of his situation. She shook her head and said,
"I"m not familiar with him. I"ve only encountered him once or twice.
"I was just a child when he lived in Tizamo. Most of the time, I studied at the Iris Grammar School in Port Pylos. Later, he only returned to Tizamo two or three times a year—spending a week each time."
It was evident that Amandina had secretly learned about Twanaku. After all, she had only entered the special dream because she had slept in his house. She had even remained fully lucid during the Dream Festival.
Without waiting for Lumian to ask a new question, Amandina glanced at him and added, "Twanaku returns every year for the Dream Festival.
"Last year, during the Dream Festival, when Robert and I returned from the black stone, we noticed someone approaching. We hid behind giant trees on both sides of the path and saw that it was Twanaku."
Twanaku is indeed connected to the black boulder. There are even traces of him or marks formed by extreme emotions and desires there… Lumian turned to Camus, who was watching him and Amandina stroll around the second floor, and pondered for a moment.
"Which month did Twanaku"s house burn down, killing all his family members?"
Without waiting for Camus"s response, Amandina exclaimed excitedly, "I know, I know!"
Yes, I"m asking you. Do you think I don"t know when Twanaku transmigrated? Lumian smiled at Amandina, signaling her to respond.
He had a clear and detailed understanding of Twanaku"s matters on the surface. He had deliberately asked Camus to elicit Amandina"s answer.
He wanted to see if she would lie and if she had any further information.
Amandina said smugly, "Late December. It should be a few days after the Dream Festival."
As far as they knew, the Twanaku family likely perished during the Dream Festival. Upon returning to reality, their fates began to unravel, and they were taken away by the fiery disaster. The question is, why did this house leave behind an abnormality? What happened to the Twanaku family back then, or what had they done? As the bestowed of the Inevitability domain, Lumian found a term that was very Inevitability-like to summarize the phenomenon of those who died for various reasons in the next three months after dying in the Dream Festival and returning to reality.
Reining in fate!
Of course, he couldn"t be certain that death in the Dream Festival would lead to death in reality. However, judging from Amandina"s expression and tone, Lumian believed that she thought the same.
After searching the second floor and finding no differences from reality, Lumian ascended the stairs to the third floor. Amandina followed closely, her excitement showing that she finally had a chance to do what a Beyonder should do.
Lumian glanced at her and casually asked, "What left an impression on you during last year"s Dream Festival?"
Amandina"s excited expression darkened, as if she had been reminded of something unpleasant.
She covered her mouth and nose. After a few seconds, she said, "Robert and I discovered numerous cruelly murdered individuals in the town and various plantations. Their stomachs were ripped open, and their internal organs were removed. They wore pained expressions, as if they had been tortured to death…"
"Serial Killer?" Camus, who had been listening intently to Louis Berry and Amandina"s conversation, blurted out.
This reminded him of Twanaku.
Was this Desire Apostle venting his murderous desires during the Dream Festival to show restraint normally?
So that"s how it is… Lumian roughly understood how Hisoka"s advancement ritual had been completed.
Following the ritual, Hisoka had killed enough people in this realistic dream and devoured their internal organs. When he returned to reality, these people died one after another. From fate"s perspective, they had indeed perished because of Hisoka"s murder. This fulfilled the core requirements of the ritual. Hisoka only needed to truly devour a portion of the victims" internal organs before they were buried. He should be able to complete the ritual, consume the potion, and advance to Desire Apostle.
In reality, completing a series of murders and stealing a corpse"s internal organs were two entirely different matters!
What puzzled Lumian was that according to Devilology, such an advancement ritual required a three-day interval between killings. Otherwise, it was easy to lose control. The maximum interval couldn"t exceed nine days, or the ritual would reset.
Hisoka had clearly used the Dream Festival to complete all the killings in one night. When he returned to reality and the primitive tribe attacked, all the "condemned" people died on the same day. It didn"t drag on until the next month. Lumian believed that it was due to the April Fool"s prank. They had taken advantage of the chaos to send the deceased, whom the primitive tribe couldn"t eliminate in time, to h.e.l.l. This could be confirmed by the statements of the peripheral members of April Fool"s.
In other words, the interval of no more than nine days was satisfied, but Lumian didn"t know how Hisoka had achieved the criteria of exceeding three days.
Had he used the dream"s uniqueness to avoid the three-day interval? When he killed someone in the dream, it hadn"t been reflected in reality, so he wouldn"t lose control so easily? As Lumian pondered Hisoka"s advancement ritual, he circled the rooms on the third floor.
After searching the room where Twanaku slept, he smiled at Amandina and said, "Apart from the serial murders, what else did you encounter?"
Amandina pursed her lips and furrowed her brow. After a brief struggle, she grumbled, "If I cooperate, will I be awarded a medal when I return to reality?"
Her father, Pet.i.t, had once received the Legion of Honor medal from Intis, so he was made a knight.
Without waiting for Lumian"s response, Amandina continued, "I also encountered a woman who seemed like a lunatic.
"Back then, I wanted to visit the Brieu Motel to see how the gentlemen and ladies hunting in Tizamo would react in such a dream. I was looking forward to seeing their other side.
"When I reached one of the rooms, I heard a few people singing a strange song. Then, the crazy woman appeared behind Robert and me. She remained lucid.
"She was quite beautiful, but she was very crazy. Back then, I was like a child with a new toy. I always wanted to test my abilities. I felt that with Robert"s cooperation, I could easily deal with most Beyonders. One controlled, and the other attacked.
"In the end… she captured the two of us. Robert was knocked out, stripped naked, and hung from the bell tower with a bunch of mosquitoes released beside him. I-I was hung in a cesspit, descending bit by bit…"
At this point, Amandina appeared on the verge of vomiting.
In Tizamo, other than the Brieu Motel, Saint-Sien Cathedral, the police headquarters, and a few other places, no one used a flush toilet.
Camus couldn"t help but sympathize with Amandina as he imagined such a scene.
Mad Lady? Were the ones singing the peripheral members of April Fool"s who partic.i.p.ated in the Tizamo prank? Lumian circled the third-floor rooms and smiled at Amandina.
"And then?"
Amandina took a deep breath and said, "She also asked me why I stayed lucid. After I told her about Robert and Padre Cali, she happily ran to Saint-Sien Cathedral and completely forgot about me. After that, I gradually escaped my predicament."
With a nod, Lumian replied, "Let"s go to Saint-Sien Cathedral now."
He planned to consider using the Mystery Prying Gla.s.ses and the Eye of Truth in Hisoka"s house in the dream after obtaining more information from Padre Cali and Robert.
"Alright." Amandina tried her best to appear less eager, but she really wanted to see how Robert, her fiancé, interacted with Padre Cali.
The five of them left Hisoka"s house and hurried towards Saint-Sien Cathedral. Lumian didn"t use teleportation because he didn"t want to waste his spirituality. He couldn"t carry anyone with him in his flaming spear form either.
Fortunately, Tizamo wasn"t large. They quickly followed the shadows by the roadside and returned to the intersection where the Brieu Motel stood amidst various cries.
Lumian pointed at the Brieu Motel and warned Amandina, "Don"t go to the second floor of the Brieu Motel. Trust me, it"ll be even more terrifying than what that crazy woman put you through."
Amandina"s eyes narrowed as she said, "Okay."
The five of them turned onto another street, pa.s.sing through the Bunia café, the police headquarters, and a small square before arriving outside Saint-Sien Cathedral.
Lumian wasn"t in a hurry to enter. He circled to the side, pried open a stained-gla.s.s window, and peered inside.
He and Amandina, who had gathered beside him, nearly went "blind."
In the cathedral"s hall, a handful of naked men knelt before the Eternal Blazing Sun"s altar. They were all from the Northern Continent, including Amandina"s fiancé, Robert.
Padre Cali, also naked, paced back and forth between Robert and the others with an excited expression, reciting, "He walks in the light, He sheds warmth, He illuminates the world…"
With each line, Padre Cali seemed to grow more animated, exhilarated in various ways.