Lord of Mysteries 2: Circle of Inevitability Chapter 1153: The Shoulders of Giants

Chapter 1153: The Shoulders of Giants

Thump! Thump!

As the heartbeat intensified, the towering, ten-thousand-meter-high Brood Hive hesitated in Its struggle. It seemed to be drawn by an inexplicable force or subjected to an irresistible power.

Its fusion with the blood-red moon accelerated once again.

However, the heartbeat emanating from the depths of the moon did not last long. It soon subsided, as if even the moon's body rejected its continuation, unwilling to let the pulsations grow stronger.

It was as though allowing it to persist might bring about an unknown problem-one so severe that the moon itself was reluctant to face it.

After the brief resonance of the infant's heartbeat, the Brood Hive's resistance faltered. Though It still struggled and held Its ground, Its efforts were no longer as fervent as before. It was akin to a battlefield charge, once full of hope, being thwarted, leading to a drop in morale.

Under such circ.u.mstances, failure seemed inevitable in the near future.

...

At the bottom of the blood-colored sea, Lumian removed the dark golden mask, revealing the chaotic vortex face beneath. At that moment, the left head of the malevolent dragon let out a terrifying roar.

The roar reverberated through Lumian's mind, causing an overwhelming buzzing that briefly scattered his thoughts.

Pain shot through all three of his necks as if invisible hands were trying to wrench each head from his shoulders, spine and all.

Of the three, the chaotic vortex head was the least affected. It turned to the front, stabilizing the body while continuing to "gaze" at the malevolent dragon.

Accompanied by the roar, the malevolent dragon attempted to stretch Its ma.s.sive body and ascend to the upper reaches of the blood-colored sea. But metallic clanging echoed as black iron chains embedded in Its flesh and soul strained against Its movements.

One after another, the demonic engravings on the chains transformed into colossal, tangible ent.i.ties-manifestations of various demons.

They desperately pulled on the chains, preventing the malevolent dragon from leaving Its position.

Some demons quickly succ.u.mbed to the malevolent dragon's power, submitting entirely. Others held on, stubbornly resisting the forces of conquest.

Seeing the formation of demons faltering and on the verge of complete submission, a dark, colorless river flowed down the iron chains, revitalizing the struggling devils. It was like an emergency injection, causing them to return to their positions and heed the commands of their sealers.

High-ranking figures of the Death pathway wield significant control and suppression over their lesser counterparts. The River of Eternal Darkness, a force even higher in rank than Death itself, amplified this effect!

When the malevolent dragon was first sealed, the engravings of demons on the iron chains were chosen specifically for this purpose. Empowered by the River of Eternal Darkness and controlled by the Haoli sect's sect master, these demons could partially resist the dragon's powers of Conquest and Charm. This ensured that the demons would not immediately capitulate in the dragon's struggle, buying time for reinforcements to arrive and activate subsequent layers of containment.

Amidst the piercing sounds of strained metal, the malevolent dragon managed to extend only part of Its body. It could not ascend higher in the blood-colored sea and remained trapped in place.

This was one of the reasons Klein believed Lumian had a chance to merge with the City of Calamity before the Mother G.o.ddess of Depravity completed Her fusion with the Brood Hive. Lumian wasn't facing a fully intact malevolent dragon or the City of Calamity at its peak. Instead, he confronted a target that had been sealed through a monumental effort-one that cost countless heroes their lives!

The current malevolent dragon was shackled, unable to leave its position or create Mirror Subst.i.tutions or slumbering mirrors. It was akin to a living target. If Lumian couldn't defeat, subdue, kill, or merge with such a restrained dragon in a short time, he was fundamentally unworthy of the task.

The cultivators of the Western Continent had paved the way for him, sacrificing generations to remove half the obstacles to the finish line!

Lumian stood on the shoulders of giants, supported by the wisdom and sacrifices of Western civilization's sages.

This was a relay pa.s.sed down through countless generations, and Lumian was merely the final runner!

Many of the demonic ent.i.ties engraved on the dragon-sealing chains were once cultivators who voluntarily transformed themselves to bind the dragon. They willingly accepted eternal torment, choosing to descend into demonic h.e.l.l to ensure the dragon remained imprisoned. Today, they would finally see the decisive battle. The malevolent dragon would be slain, and they would be liberated.

Success doesn't have to be achieved by me, but I must contribute to its achievement!

The demons on the iron-black chains, their faces twisted and their claws bared, remained steadfast. The majority stood resolutely at their posts, refusing to retreat, vowing to resist to the death.

They pulled on the chains with all their might, firmly restricting the dragon's movements and creating opportunities for Lumian's attacks.

Earlier, Lumian had attempted to Instigate the dragon not only to save time but also to leverage the Eye of Calamity to identify the malevolent dragon's weaknesses and the

tributary of fate leading to Its death.

But the malevolent dragon had no fatal weaknesses. There was no tributary in fate leading to Its true demise.

Its only vulnerabilities were the chains and the demons that forcefully created limitations. These were not deadly flaws; they merely restricted Its actions and diminished Its power. Thus, Lumian removed the dark golden mask. He intended to use the chaotic vortex face to draw upon the White Tower pathway's Omniscient Eye ability.

This time, he wasn't searching for weaknesses or death. He was searching for problems. The vortex on the chaotic face at the center of his left shoulder began to spin. Deep within the vortex, an eye seemed to open, illuminating the entwined dual dragon bodies and their three heads.

In an instant, Lumian saw the problem.

A scene suddenly appeared in his mind: Under a specific psychic storm, intangible shadows that didn't belong to the dragon-yet bore Its aura were stripped away.

These shadows included a general seated alone in a tent, a beautiful dancer performing under the general's gaze, a conqueror standing before a ma.s.sive mound of skulls, a concubine gracefully dancing in his palm, an emperor ascending a sacrificial altar alone, and a favored consort smiling at the sight of beacon fires rising in the distance...

These shadows represented successive generations of high-ranking figures who had aligned themselves with the City of Calamity. They were a jumble of influences that had imparted some degree of consciousness, thoughts, and inclinations to the malevolent dragon. Lumian envisioned using psychic authority and a specific Mental Plague to temporarily strip away these external consciousnesses, rejecting them to the edges of the dragon's being. This would return the malevolent dragon to Its most "primal" and "authentic" form.

As such, the malevolent dragon would become a pure symbol of calamity, a walking embodiment of destruction, incapable of controlling Its own instincts.

This created exploitable vulnerabilities.

As the scene took shape in Lumian's mind, the malevolent dragon, which was straining against the chains, suddenly stiffened. One by one, intangible shadows separated from Its

body.

The dragon's left head, with Its iron-black eyes, was instantly tinged with blood-red. The expression on the right, the beautiful woman's head, turned mad. Even the central, chaotic head began spewing all-encompa.s.sing colors from its drilled apertures.

The declared future from a Visionary was unfolding!

The blood-colored sea quaked violently the very next second. An indescribable aura of destruction and madness descended upon the scene. The demons on the chains trembled uncontrollably, while Lumian's right and central heads were forced to bow.

The malevolent dragon's white-bodied head, with Its crazed blue eyes, swiftly reflected Lumian's body within Its gaze. It perceived his fragile balance and the point of calamity's

detonation.

Without hesitation, the dragon lunged forward. In Its eyes, Lumian's body began to collapse

from within, exploding into chaos.

Catastrophe descended!

This was a strike against Lumian's greatest vulnerability-his precarious balance.

For the now-instinct-driven malevolent dragon, what would happen to Lumian in the event

of such a collapse didn't matter.

Its sole desire was destruction, the return of all things to chaos. Lumian's figure shattered abruptly, voluntarily turning into a mirror.

Yet, even with his preemptive use of a Mirror Subst.i.tution, the catastrophe traveled through

the connection between the avatar and his true body, spreading to him.

This was the nature of the City of Calamity.

As long as a connection existed, it could curse, affect, and spread catastrophe! Lumian's half-female, half-male body s.h.i.+mmered in one corner of the blood-colored sea. Both sides of his form began writhing as though they intended to devour each other. Meanwhile, the central head lost its connection and control over the heads on the right and

left.

Within Lumian, the Uniqueness of the Primordial Demoness, the Uniqueness of the Red Priest, and the Demoness of Apocalypse Beyonder characteristics and Conqueror erupted into violent conflict. Each sought to end the current equilibrium and dominate the whole.

Illusory cracking noises echoed as the invisible connections within Lumian, linking his various traits, were forcibly severed by the catastrophe.

However, this did not cause Lumian's body to collapse catastrophically. Instead, it shattered

the protections maintaining his balance.

Grafting!

That protection was Grafting.

Shortly after becoming a dual-pathway true G.o.d, Lumian had enlisted Mr. Fool's a.s.sistance

to Graft the Uniqueness and Beyonder characteristics within him into a cohesive whole, stabilizing his existence in a peculiar manner. He had made similar preparations before facing

the Primordial Demoness.

Now, the Grafting had s.h.i.+elded him from one catastrophic collapse of his balance, but it could only do so once. Beyond this, even the Lord of Mysteries Klein could no longer intervene in

what transpired here.

Lumian's three heads continued to spin, each turning toward different directions. Had he not spent the past month adjusting his state and further stabilizing his psyche and

spirit, Lumian, who had relied on Grafting to escape the predicament, would still have taken

the inevitable turn, albeit less catastrophic.

As his three heads rotated, Lumian managed to barely regain control of Cheek's face. He raised one arm on his right side.