404 Patient
Lumian harnessed the power of the Decency brooch, distorting the door and sealing the entire room.
The patient’s eyes remained tightly shut, lost in a deep slumber. His facial features, hairstyle, and hair color undeniably matched those of I Know Someone.
As Lumian observed this slumbering figure, who had no realization of his intrusion, he began to suspect that this might be a substitute.
As suggested by Madam Magician’s letter, I Know Someone was at least a Sequence 6 Hypnotist of the Psychiatrist pathway, with a slight chance of being a Sequence 5 Dreamwalker. On either pathway, these individuals were skilled observers, unlikely to sleep soundly in the presence of an intruder.
The conundrum now lay in discerning the trap with such a substitution.
Beneath the faint moonlight filtering through the curtains, the patient on the bed suddenly snapped open his eyes.
In those flaxen-colored eyes, Lumian’s image was instantly mirrored.
Simultaneously, Lumian once more glimpsed the dark void, the countless twinkling stars, and the mysterious symbol that had come to life, forming an invisible door.
A voice resonated within his heart and ears, seemingly emanating from the depths of the void and the source of his consciousness.
“Pass through it. Pass through this formless door, and you will gain a transformative experience in your life and boundless knowledge…”
“Everyone possesses godhood and can hear the voice of this world’s origin. To hear it clearly, you must open this invisible door and step inside…”
Lumian’s head throbbed as he “witnessed” the gradual opening of the formless door. Each word from the voice transformed into a living, peculiar entity within his heart.
Once more, the voice echoed, its tone tinged with perplexity and confusion. It muttered to itself, “Where is the end of the world? What did the universe resemble at its inception…
“Which deity brought all of this into existence, and who created Him…
“What lies beyond the confines of the universe? How do other worlds differ…
“What sets human nature apart from godhood? Does true self-awareness equate to human nature or godhood…
“Where lies the demarcation between madness and reason? Is madness the ultimate destination for every living being…”
Lumian’s head throbbed with agony as he absorbed these questions, a fusion of mystical contemplation and the pursuit of answers to profound philosophical queries. It was the first time in a long while that he felt the sensation of a steel drill boring into his skull, stirring his delicate brain.
Moreover, these questions triggered bizarre alterations in his spirituality and his surroundings.
Madness surged forth, as if probing the boundaries of sanity. The enveloping darkness seemed to take on human nature, visibly writhing. The bed before him and the floor beneath his feet gradually etched out bizarre patterns. Even though Lumian couldn’t see them, his body was suddenly consumed by an intense itch, as if yearning to shed his outermost layer of skin…
“Is there something that surpasses all limitations and conceptual thinking…” the voice persisted in questioning the void.
Lumian found himself powerless to resist or halt this transformation. All he could do was witness it helplessly as an overwhelming terror descended, his head throbbing.
The colossal dendrite appeared as if it had sprung forth from a divine realm, and each silver-white “branch” emitted a crackling sound.
Rumble!
As the silver lightning struck the patient on the bed, Lumian was assaulted by a deafening thunderclap that reverberated through his eardrums and resonated within his soul.
The strange creature that had animated those thought-provoking questions convulsed his body, significantly easing the throbbing pain in his head, leaving behind only a disorienting sensation caused by the deafening roar.
A terrifying cascade of lightning surged across the patient on the bed, sending waves of agony and paralysis coursing through Lumian’s skin, even though he stood a few steps away.
In the midst of this electric frenzy, a holy chant echoed faintly, as if proclaiming, “I came, I saw, I recorded.” The ward darkened, as if it had been thrust into a mysterious realm, isolated from the outside world by some insurmountable force.
Lumian exhaled and shifted his gaze back to the bed. There, he beheld the patient’s entire form transformed into a pitch-black, charcoal-like substance, emitting an eerie burnt odor.
The body, still clad in tattered hospital gown, bedsheets, and blanket, began to dissipate, morphing into a dark silhouette.
On the surface of this shadowy figure, cracks materialized, each adorned with mystical symbols and patterns. These formations resembled eyes or myriad mouths that incessantly opened and closed.
Before Lumian could fully fathom this transformation, his vision was flooded with pure, radiant, golden sunlight.
Once more, the ethereal, holy voice resonated in his ears.
When his vision settled back into normalcy, only a faint black mark remained on the scorched surface of the bed, twisting in an uncanny, serpent-like manner.
It’s indeed a trap… Lumian mused, his lack of surprise evident.
He also deduced that both the patient and one of Loki’s marionettes were recipients of the same evil god’s boon based on the starry void and the formless door formed by wandering symbols. The substitute for I Know Someone clearly occupied a higher Sequence.
Had Loki and I Know Someone once targeted a secret organization that worshiped an evil deity?
This is the will of the Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth? What did He seek to achieve?
Did this all somehow tie into I Know Someone’s decision to remain in Trier?
Is this substitute merely a taunting jest aimed at those who pursue them?
I know you’re on the hunt for me, and I’m aware of the clues you may uncover. Yet, I’m intentionally granting you a glimmer of hope?
Thoughts raced through Lumian’s mind like lightning as he attempted to analyze the current situation from I Know Someone’s perspective and extract clues about the fugitive’s whereabouts.
Given the level of danger posed by the patient, Lumian deduced that both I Know Someone and Loki would have struggled to capture him alive and recruit him into their team.
With Loki possessing a marionette with a similar pathway, it seemed clear that the patient hadn’t actively and consciously cooperated with them.
Leveraging his professional skills as a Psychiatrist, I Know Someone had likely skillfully guided the patient, fostering a sense of trust and camaraderie. Eventually, he reached a point where he could “convince” the patient, enabling him to perform a ritual and request a change in appearance.
Glancing at the iron-barred window, Lumian noticed that the deep darkness had receded. Crimson moonlight filtered through the relatively thin glass and bathed the ward in its glow.
Conversely, the darkness that had once been typical at Delta Asylum’s periphery had intensified. The void seemed distorted, as if encased in a spherical barrier.
Madam Magician hadn’t employed any additional abilities after dealing with the dangerous patient. She had merely concealed the entire asylum and its surrounding lawn.
It appeared as though she was implying that Lumian needed to handle this situation independently. She only assisted by preventing any disturbances from alerting Trier’s official Beyonders.
Lumian breathed a sigh of relief. Starting from his search for Loki, he quickly filtered through the matters related to April Fool’s.
Slowly, a conjecture formed, weaving together the pieces of the puzzle into a cohesive “narrative.”
I Know Someone had once been connected to Delta Asylum, whether as a doctor, nurse, or patient. One day, he had stumbled upon a peculiar patient who incessantly posed profound philosophical questions.
Guided by the Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings, I Know Someone had initiated interactions with the patient. During this process, he had likely sensed the presence of an evil god’s bestowed lurking around the patient. Consequently, with the assistance of Loki, they had driven away these problematic figures and gained control over the strange patient. Loki had even managed to gain a marionette.
Upon Loki’s resurrection, I Know Someone, who had been alerted, had leveraged the patient’s trust in him to perform ritualistic magic and beseech the Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings, resulting in his transformation into a substitute and a walking trap.
As for I Know Someone himself, he must have successfully altered his appearance; his whereabouts now unknown.
Amidst Lumian’s frustration, he suddenly thought of something.
Jenna had indeed encountered the substitute for I Know Someone, thanks to good luck.
However, encountering a substitute, one designed as a trap, hardly constituted good luck.
This was unlucky!
That was unless they could somehow use the substitute to trace back to I Know Someone or if Jenna had encountered both the substitute and the real I Know Someone but failed to recognize or directly see him!
Both scenarios pointed toward a high probability that the elusive I Know Someone was still lurking within the asylum!
Even if the trap ultimately failed, pursuers would likely conclude that I Know Someone had long since relocated to a new hiding place.
Beneath an oil lamp lay the darkest and most easily overlooked spot!
With this revelation, Lumian acted swiftly. He spun around, heaved open the heavy door, and sprinted into the asylum’s corridor.
With a resounding crash, he burst through a window at the stairwell’s corner, landing on the lawn encircled by the main building and its adjoining structures.
Simultaneously, he employed the Niese Face to transform into the patient he had encountered earlier.
In a commanding voice, Lumian bellowed his questions to the cosmos from the lawn:
“Where is the end of the world? What did the universe resemble at its inception…
“Which deity brought all of this into existence, and who created Him…”
His voice resonated throughout the asylum, reaching into every room.
A few seconds later, Franca’s voice echoed in Lumian’s ears.
“There’s an abnormality in the doctor’s duty room and the nurse’s workstation on the first floor, as well as in the first ward on the third floor near the west wing.”
Upon hearing his companion’s report, Lumian couldn’t help but chuckle.
He pressed his hands against the void before him, instantly igniting crimson flames.
The flames spread swiftly, illuminating the invisible spiderwebs that enshrouded the entire building.
These intricate layers of spiderwebs extended into every room, diligently monitoring the movements of all its inhabitants.
This complex setup had consumed nearly half of Franca’s spirituality and required a significant amount of time to prepare and maintain.
The crimson flames transformed into three blazing serpents, each colossal in size, which slithered through the spiderwebs toward the doctor’s duty room and nurse’s workstation on the first floor, as well as the ward on the third floor.