Lord of Mysteries 2: Circle of Inevitability

The moment the Post-Apocalyptic Scripture was withdrawn, it began to turn pages on its own, arriving at one of the pages.

On it was a "prophecy" written by Lumian's thoughts: "Lumian Lee will ultimately emerge victorious in this battle, thanks to his exceptional good fortune."

As the mercury-colored text shimmered, the purple- flamed giant bird up in the sky began circling, trailing its long feathers.

It had not yet revealed its complete Mythical Creature form, for if it did, Lumian would not continue "playing" with it, and would immediately summon assistance.

Dark clouds amassed rapidly, looming low over the ground.

In the blink of an eye, a torrential downpour plummeted, as if the sky had split open like a lake.

The deluge quickly formed into a massive water column poured down towards Lumian, but he did not move an inch, simply drawing upon the War Bishop boon's power to become both male and female, with a more androgynous beauty, his chest still pronounced.

The descending downpour slowed down more and more, soon freezing in midair, reflecting the sunlight to reveal a crystalline, translucent appearance.

The layer of ice continued growing upwards from above Lumian, drawing in the abundant rain into its frigid domain, creating an illusion of a rainbow arching across.

With a clattering sound, the subsequent rainfall was blocked by the solid ice sheet, sliding off towards the other areas of Bansy Harbor, combining with the earlier deluge and the already damaged drainage system, rapidly flooding the ruins.

Sheltered by the layers of ice, Lumian calmly surveyed his surroundings, puzzled by the current manifestation of the purple-flamed giant bird's abilities.

This truly has the might of the heavens and earth, if it keeps raining for another two to three hours, combined with the seawater rushing in, the entire Bansy Harbor will be submerged.

But in the realm of angelic combat, this is utterly useless. What Angel would drown in this? And there's ample time to escape the scene…

Unless it keeps raining until the mountainsides collapse, there may be a chance to pose a threat to Angels...

However, this is excellent for slaughtering ordinary people and Low-Sequence Beyonders. Truly befitting the path of war and calamity...

Just as Lumian was pondering this, the purple-flamed giant bird pierced through the thick clouds, extending His head.

Amid the dark clouds, silver-white lightning snakes flashed, converging into a long, lashing bolt.

The lightning struck the crystalline ice, unable to conduct through, shattering and spraying outwards.

Boom!

The thunderous sound reverberated as countless electric snakes plunged into the pooled water of Bansy Harbor, rapidly darting to form a vast silver web covering the entire ruined area.

Crackling sounds rang out endlessly, and Lumian finally understood the purpose of the earlier downpour.

To make the subsequent lightning strikes more destructive and far-reaching!

But Lumian himself stood on dry soil, surrounded by the near-insulating layers of ice, largely unaffected.

In the next moment, new lightning formed, more magnificent and colossal, like a silver-white divine tree connecting the sky and earth.

It struck the thick ice sheet, shattering the barrier as if carrying horrific kinetic energy or releasing stored power, causing an impact.

Rumbling, the thunder waves spread as the terrifying lightning cracked through the layers of frost, reaching the top of Lumian's head.

Lumian's body cracked and shattered, like all fragile mirrors.

Yet his silhouette remained within the area once protected by the ice, still discernible among the collapsed ruins.

Plummeting from the sky, the purple-flamed giant bird spread His burning wings like a meteor, crashing towards Lumian's location.

The nearby rainwater suddenly vaporized, diffusing as mist to welcome the giant bird's descent.

The ground was set ablaze, the remaining walls ignited, and Lumian's body was set on fire.

Boom!

The giant bird struck the ground, kicking up a mushroom cloud of dust.

Lumian's body shattered once more, the original ruins either reduced to ashes or blown away.

At the bottom of the crater formed by the explosion and melting, two bloodstained silhouettes resembling human pulp appeared, slightly dimmer.

Lumian's androgynous figure manifested in the air opposite, his pale blue eyes reflecting the image of the purple-flamed giant bird as he prepared to unleash the Demoness's curse.

The surrounding mist instantly thickened. transforming from scalding steam into true fog of war.

Lumian lost his lock-on, unable to effectively apply the curse.

Immediately after, a tremendous, piercing howl arose, and a horrifying hurricane formed over the sea, sweeping in towering azure waves over 10 meters high towards Bansy Harbor.

A tsunami driven by the hurricane!

Lumian's body was slammed to the ground, shattering.

The remaining building ruins in Bansy Harbor that had managed to retain some height were all flattened, and the purple-flamed giant bird took to the skies, seemingly circling to search for the vanished target.

At that moment, Lumian's silhouette emerged at the bottom of the crater with the two bloodstained human-like imprints, the ashen-white rushing upwards towards the hovering purple-flamed giant bird.

Stones of solidified air fell one by one.

The purple-flamed giant bird suddenly let out a shrill cry.

Lumian's body and mind trembled, as if hearing the incessant drumbeats of an ancient battlefield.

Purple-blue fireballs rapidly materialized in the air, densely packed to block out the sunlight in this area.

They plummeted with a roar, crashing into the advancing ashen-white.

Thunderous explosions rang out ceaselessly, the shattered ashen-white flame statues flung in all directions.

Lumian's created ashen-white kept breaking and retreating, until it finally disintegrated, leaving the remaining purple-blue fireballs to pummel Lumian's body.

This time, the shattered mirror fragments quickly dissolved into liquid.

At this stage of the battle, the good fortune Lumian had gained from the Post-Apocalyptic Scripture had not manifested-neither his attacks on the purple- flamed giant bird, nor the giant bird's strikes on him developed into any unexpected success or failure.

Lumian's silhouette reappeared in an even deeper, larger crater.

The purple-flamed giant bird did not relent, continuing to assault with various Beyonder abilities.

Lumian struggled to endure, relying on his Mirror Substitutions to repeatedly evade fatal blows.

As the entire elevation of Bansy Harbor lowered by several meters, about to be completely subsumed by the azure seawater, Lumian's Mirror Substitution reached its limit.

From then on, he could only afford the death of his real and mirror self.

Circling high above, blocking the sky, the purple- flamed giant bird let out a soul-shaking, chilling cry once more.

He locked onto Lumian's figure, about to plummet like a meteor, carrying His violently burning purple-blue flames.

Almost simultaneously, His body strangely stiffened.

The purple flames on His surface dispersed outwards, the jet-black metal forming His neck stretched impossibly long, as if about to be torn apart by an invisible force.

The purple-flamed giant bird writhed in agony mid-air, the flames continually showering down, adding new blazes to the already raging inferno of Bansy Harbor.

This change was so sudden and bizarre, not caused by any of Lumian's attacks.

Lumian had been on the defensive the entire time, unable to find an opportunity to curse the opponent, and the mystical pathogens he had secretly spread were also succumbing to the indiscriminate purple flames and terrifying heat, unable to propagate and spread.

However, Lumian was not at all surprised by the giant bird's predicament, a distinct smile appearing on his lips.

He watched until the purple-flamed giant bird, driven to madness by the agony, manifested His complete Mythical Creature form.

Lumian averted his gaze.

The fiery giant up above, bearing avian features, seemed to harbor deep, unfathomable knowledge-it materialized phenomena like lightning, hail, and hurricanes, causing the weather in this area to undergo violent changes.

Soon, the fiery giant receded back into the giant purple bird, plummeting earthwards.

Lifting his head, Lumian looked at the giant bird's eyes, fixed with pain and bewilderment, and said with a smile, "Do you know what place you've been attacking this whole time?

"It's the Bansy Harbor telegraph office!"

Pausing for a moment, Lumian took out the fully-burned corpse wax candle from the Traveler's Bag, his smile growing brighter as he said.

"And you are an Angel of the Hunter pathway.

"While I am a bestowed of the two apex powers of Calamity!"

This was why Lumian chose to face the purple-flamed giant bird directly, not seeking assistance from Madam Magician or other Major Arcana card holders, and remained within the fixed area, never fleeing far away.

The Bansy Harbor telegraph office should be a leakage point, connected to a metropolis in the Western Continent, linked to the "malevolent dragon" locked within the ancient well but still able to influence the entire city. Using the corpse wax candle here could grant him a different, more advanced secret deed experience.

In this context, attacking the Bansy Harbor telegraph ruins, assaulting the Lumian who had already extracted the War Bishop boon's power, and being an Angel of the Hunter pathway, then personally crashing into the leakage point, had a significant probability of triggering anomalies and being subjected to unseen influences!

Of course, the anomaly was not a 100% certainty, and the purple-flamed giant bird did not necessarily have to enter the telegraph ruins directly, bombarding it as a flaming meteor. That's why Lumian had used the Post-Apocalyptic Scripture to add sufficient good fortune.

Now, the prophesied outcome had arrived!

Boom!

The purple-flamed giant bird landed nearby, kicking up more dust and flames.

His blazing purple wings folded in, His body gradually shrinking, as if coalescing into a physical form.

Then His final words reached Lumian's ear: "I acknowledge you are qualified. This has nothing to do with Tudor's arrangement."

The purple-flamed giant bird grew smaller and smaller, until only points of light remained. Ultimately, the main body transformed into a palm-sized, crystalline and porous pillar.

The various holes in the pillar contained mists, hall, rainwater, lightning, and other meteorological phenomena, sometimes diffusing outwards. sometimes receding back inside.

The scattered purple feathers and iron bone crystals littered the ground around it.