Chapter 231: Mutterings and Worms
"There's danger in that house!"
Luo En pointed at the house Fors and Xio rented, his tone grave.
Xio is here now. The one in that house should be Fors, right? Could it be—something happened to her?
Luo En's heart also tightened; Fors could be considered his friend.
He glanced at Xio beside him, finding her face pale, her worry almost overflowing from her eyes.
"Could it be—that's your home?" Luo En asked softly, deliberately pointing this out.
"Are you sure something really happened in that house?" Xio suddenly looked up at Luo En, her voice trembling slightly from anxiety.
"Mm."
After receiving an affirmative reply, Xio didn't hesitate at all and immediately dashed towards her home!
Fors! Please don't let anything happen to her—she prayed desperately in her heart.
"Hey! Don't be so impulsive!"
Seeing Xio rush out without a care, Luo En quickly followed.
Inside the house, Fors, who had been writing furiously, inspired by a pleasant meeting with her pen pal, suddenly frowned in pain. Today is a full moon—she struggled to lift her head, looking out the window.
The moonlight outside the window grew increasingly intense and crimson, and the pain on Fors's face intensified accordingly. Fine beads of sweat seeped from her temples.
Thump!
She could no longer support herself and fell from the chair, her body twisting and struggling violently from the unbearable pain. The full moon's ravings were back!
"Great Steam—and Machine God—"
"You are—the essence's—incarnation—"
She very laboriously recited the honorific name of the deity she believed in, hoping to gain salvation through it.
However, none of this had any effect. The pain she endured not only didn't lessen but intensified further.
In her violent thrashing and struggling, she accidentally knocked over the nearby tea table. The sapphire fountain pen, which she regarded as a token of love, also rolled to the ground.
No—.. Don't. That's, very precious.
Fors struggled to reach out, but the bone-gnawing pain made it impossible for her to even lift her arm.
Her fingernails were growing strangely long! Her hair was also growing wildly!
Twisting and rolling, she suddenly saw a piece of paper with ancient Hermes words written on it.
I don't care! As long as it can save me. Even if it's an Evil God, I can accept it!
She used all her strength, in an extremely faint, almost inaudible voice, to chant:
"The Fool who does not belong to this era... Is someone praying to me?
Klein, who was in a tense standoff with Leonard, suddenly heard an extremely ethereal prayer.
Just as he was momentarily distracted!
Smack!
A silver Demon Hunting bullet grazed his forehead, flying past, almost blowing his head off on the spot!
"Damn it!" Klein cursed.
Now is not the time to be careless! The prayer can wait!
Klein forcibly suppressed the distracting thoughts in his heart, refocusing all his attention on Leonard, who was pressing him hard.
Looking at his old teammate's relentless demeanor, he clenched his fist.
Leonard! Don't force me!
In terms of combat ability, a Magician is one of the best in the middle Sequences!
Because the "Evil God" she was calling was busy and unreachable, Fors's condition did not improve at all.
Damn it, do even Evil Gods despise me and refuse to save me?
I don't want to lose control! I don't want to turn into a Monster! My wonderful life has just begun!
Fors used all her strength to try and get up from the ground.
But just as she barely managed to prop herself up a little, she completely lost strength and stumbled, collapsing heavily onto the ground, landing precisely on the sapphire fountain pen that had fallen!
Like most luxury items, this expensive fountain pen's durability was inversely proportional to its value.
Those luxurious materials simply couldn't withstand such repeated abuse and broke directly into two pieces.
No—
Looking at the "token of love" shattered on the ground, Fors let out a desperate wail.
She felt her sanity rapidly collapsing.
"Fors! Are you okay!"
Xio shouted as she violently pushed the door open!
She entered the living room and immediately saw Fors lying on the ground, struggling in pain.
"Fors! Hold on! I'll help you!"
Xio instinctively rushed forward.
But a hand suddenly grabbed her arm from behind.
"Don't go! It's dangerous!"
Restless spirituality, a mutated body—it was clear she was about to lose control! Luo En instantly recognized Fors's current state.
"No! She's my friend! I have to help her!" Xio was almost in tears, struggling to break free from Luo En's hand. "Xio, is that Xio? Get out! Get out of here! Don't mind me!" Fors heard her friend's voice and issued a weak warning with her remaining sanity.
"No! I will definitely save you!"
"That's right—purification!"
Xio, as if grasping at a last straw, suddenly turned her head and pleaded, "Do you still have that purification charm?
Like last time! Please, save her! I'll pay any price!"
This—Luo En's Adam's apple bobbed. Reason told him that a Sun domain charm only had the function of warding off evil. For a situation of losing control originating from oneself, it should have no effect.
However, for Luo En to personally say "no" in front of a girl who was almost in despair, he—couldn't do it.
"Please! Hurry and save her! If you can save her, whatever you want—I, I'll agree to it!" Xio pleaded incoherently while struggling.
"Don't move!"
Luo En raised his voice, his tone incredibly grave:
"I'll—try."
He pulled a charm from his embrace and activated it.
Buzz!
Warm, sacred sunlight instantly surged forth, engulfing the entire living room.
'I hope—this doesn't attract the Official Church people.' Luo En sighed inwardly.
"Ah!"
However, the warm sunlight did not alleviate Fors's pain. Instead, it seemed to stimulate her, causing her to let out an even more shrill scream.
"Strange, her loss of control seems somewhat unusual."
Luo En activated his Spirit Vision and scanned Fors, who was in pain.
He found that Fors's Spirit Body seemed to be undergoing a very strange erosion.
"Fors—" Looking at her friend gradually transforming into a non-human form, Xio's eyes were filled with an emotion called "despair."
She hadn't felt this way in a long time. The last time she experienced this emotion was when her father passed away.
That time, facing her father's departure, she was powerless.
And now, facing her friend's impending death, she was still powerless.
"Don't zone out!"
Luo En's low shout pulled Xio back to reality from her despair.
"I'll save your friend! You go and keep an eye on the situation outside!"
"If the Official people notice what's happening here, we'll all be in trouble!"
"Got it, got it."
With a clear task and goal, Xio seemed to find her backbone again. She quickly composed herself, turned, and rushed towards the door without hesitation.
Luo En looked at Xio's strong back and sighed inwardly.
Alas...
Beyonders who lose control often only have one outcome: becoming a Monster!
If it really came to that, Xio probably wouldn't be able to bring herself to deliver a killing blow to her best friend.
Alas, then, it can only be me who does it.
After preparing himself for the worst in an instant, Luo En focused all his attention on the collapsing Fors.
What to do? What way is there to save her?
Appraisal Monocle! Can the Appraisal Monocle reveal anything?
Luo En suddenly remembered his Mystical Item.
It had no effect on ordinary people. But an almost out-of-control Beyonder should—not be considered an ordinary person, right?
Fors's Spirit Body was being subjected to some strange erosion. If he could know the source of this erosion, perhaps he could save her!
With the thought of treating a dead horse as if it were alive, Luo En took out the monocle, ground from crystal, from his pocket and placed it over his right eye.
He looked at Fors, who was in pain, again.
But everything in his field of vision didn't seem to have changed at all.
"Still can't see the specific source—" He had just thought this.
"Ah!"
Luo En stumbled, almost falling.
He heard the ravings!
Countless indescribable ravings, like a surging flood, suddenly appeared in his mind!
"Damn it!"
Luo En immediately reached out and clamped his hands over his ears. However, this had no effect. The ravings were not transmitted through hearing but acted directly on his Spirit Body, and even deeper places!
Crimson moonlight streamed through the window, engulfing the entire living room.
Whether it was an illusion or not, the moment he met that moonlight, he felt that the voices he heard in his mind became clearer and crazier!
An imperceptible glint flashed across the surface of the monocle on his right eye.
"Help me—"
"Help..."
Is someone asking for help?
Luo En suddenly froze. He suddenly realized that he seemed to understand the true meaning behind those ravings!
"Pant—"
On the other side, Fors, curled up on the ground, gasped for air, miraculously regaining a sliver of sanity.
It seemed someone was helping her share the terrible pressure. She felt her Spirit Body, which was about to completely collapse, gradually calming down.
"Could it be... over?"
She weakly lifted her head, her blurry vision seeing a man half-crouching not far away.
"Who is he? Where's Xio?"
Although the ravings in her mind had weakened, they hadn't completely disappeared. Her head was still a mess.
Luo En stumbled again. He instinctively sensed an intrusion from a higher level!
These ravings seemed to contain something else! Something far beyond human imagination!
Something is looking for me!
A faint silver flash flickered in the depths of his pupils.
"Help me... Don't save me."
"Help me—"
"Don't—"
The sound of the ravings suddenly changed. It was like a schizophrenic person fighting themselves, the previous sentence and the next expressing completely opposite meanings.
"Let me help you?! You tell me who you are! And how do you want me to help you!" Luo En roared.
"Crack!"
An extremely faint crisp sound!
A tiny crack suddenly appeared on the monocle over his right eye.
"No! If this continues, something will definitely happen!'
His Beyonder intuition was warning him frantically!
He himself might be fine.
But Xio behind him, Fors in front of him, this house, and even the entire street would be in trouble!
Luo En recalled the terrifying, world-destroying lightning he had seen above that primitive island.
"Hurry up and go!" He roared at Fors, who was still stunned on the ground.
"What?" Fors was startled by the roar and looked blankly at Luo En, whose expression was pained, "Are you... are you okay? Do you... need help?"
Help me? I'm in this state because I was trying to help you!
What to do?! Is there any way to make this schizophrenic guy shut up—Luo En's brain raced.
Wait! I can't block his mouth, but it's fine if I can't hear him!
He suddenly plunged his hand into his embrace and felt the playing card with the Three of Diamonds pattern!
Under Fors's shocked and astonished gaze, the man in front of her suddenly vanished into thin air without any warning.—
In the sky, the crimson moonlight also seemed to dim a little.
Fors numbly felt the changes in herself; the tide-like ravings in her mind were slowly receding.
She herself, it seemed—had made it through.
"How is it? Are you two alright?" Xio, who had been anxiously waiting outside the door, rushed in when she heard silence inside.
She immediately saw her friend, disheveled but seemingly back to normal and no longer mutating, and was instantly overjoyed: "Fors! You're okay?! That's great!"
"Yes, I'm fine!"
"Then—where is that gentleman?"
"He—" Fors's face showed a trace of bewilderment, "He—... disappeared?"
She briefly described the scene of Luo En suddenly vanishing into thin air.
"Disappeared?" Xio was stunned for a moment, then speculated, "Could it be—he is also a Beyonder of the Apprentice Pathway?
Left using a teleportation ability?"
"Perhaps—" Fors was a little uncertain.
Hey...
Xio suddenly saw a playing card on the floor, glowing faintly.
"What is this? Did he leave it?" She bent down in confusion and picked it up.
The moment her fingers touched the card, buzz!
The next second, Luo En, who had just vanished, suddenly reappeared in front of them out of thin air.
"Hoo—... Hoo—..."
He supported himself with one hand on the ground, his face pale, his forehead covered in cold sweat.
"My judgment was correct. The independent space within the playing card indeed has the effect of isolating internal and external connections."
He looked up at Xio and Fors, who were bewildered and shocked, and forced a smile: "Hey, what are those expressions? I just saved you..."
"Cough!"
Before he finished speaking, Luo En suddenly let out a violent cough.
"Cough, cough, cough!"
"What's wrong with you?"
Xio asked with concern, looking at Luo En, who had suddenly started coughing violently.
"I..."
Luo En wanted to say something more, but the monocle on his right eye suddenly fell off with a "clatter."
"Oh, ugh."
He suddenly let out a dry retch!
A worm, completely transparent with several transparent rings on its body, was vomited out by him!
Luo En felt his body lighten and fell to the ground.