Based on the orthodox summoning ritual described in Aurore's witchcraft notes and the mystical knowledge of the "contracted person", Lumian said in a deep voice in ancient Hermetic language:
"A "fool" who does not belong to this era;
“You are the master above the gray fog;
"You are the yellow and black king who controls good luck.
“I pray for your favor;
“I pray for your gaze;
"I!
"In the name of the Great Fool, I call upon:
"Strange creatures roaming in the upper realms, mysterious severed hands, and dark-blue, swollen throat crushers."
This is a summoning spell that Lumian designed himself based on the information of the "abscessed hand". Because this ritual will obtain a certain degree of protection from the object of prayer, and the "abscessed hand" cannot be considered dangerous, he removed the descriptions related to "weak" and "friendly" and added other sentences to accurately point to the target creature.
The candle flames, which were already stained with a blue-black color, suddenly expanded and intertwined, forming an illusory door covered with mysterious patterns, while a thin gray mist had already filled the surroundings, which was full of unsettling meanings.
The door slowly opened, and out flew a blue-black severed hand that was rotten, swollen, and oozing with pus. It was two sizes larger than Lumian's palm, and seemed like it could crush a human's head.
The festering severed hand hovered in front of the mysterious illusory gate, with its five fingers spread out, pointing at Lumian's neck, but it did not launch an attack.
Lumian took out another military wine flask of a different color, unscrewed the lid, and poured some liquor towards the altar where the "abscessed hand" was.
The wine fell to the ground halfway, but as the gorse-shaped brooch flashed, the "bribery" was quietly completed.
Lumian then opened his mouth, his throat and chest resonating as he uttered a series of oddly pronounced words.
He had never learned those words before. They all came from the mystical knowledge that the "contracted person" possessed, which allowed him to directly master the pronunciation and meaning.
They belong to the "secret language of fate" and are part of this language.
As Lumian's voice stirred up the air, silver-black words like symbols appeared out of thin air.
They fell one after another on the parchment placed on the altar, forming a brief but strange contract.
As the contract was created, Lumian established a subtle connection with the "aborted hand", just like using the "Dance of Recruiting" to make it attach to himself.
Through this, Lumian grasped the approximate abilities and characteristics of the "Abnormal Hand" and sensed its desire.
The latter is the price Lumian needs to pay:
"Find my body, or you will never attain divinity!"
I can actually get an advance on the reward and just owe the price first... Is this "bribery" having a certain effect? No, not really. Once the contract is signed, I will pay the price immediately, but what I will pay is the "destiny of becoming a demigod". When I find the rest of the body of "abscessed hand", the reward will naturally replace the price... Now it is equivalent to giving enough collateral first... Thoughts flashed through Lumian's mind, and he roughly understood the nature of this contract.
At the same time, he found the "spiritual world travel" he wanted from the abilities and traits of "abscessed hand", including "anti-divination", "difficult to destroy" and "able to break the neck of atheists".
This is a characteristic of the "abscessed hand" itself rather than an ability. The effect is slightly worse than Lumian expected, but it is also within his acceptable range.
Because "Dignity" can only be used for a quarter of an hour, and the cost is affordable, and the ability barely meets the requirements, Lumian did not waste time summoning other alternative creatures, and directly made a promise in ancient Hermetic language:
"I will help you find a body. Before that, I cannot attain divinity."
These words blended with the surrounding environment, turning into wisps of blue-black mist and seeping into the imitation parchment.
The "abscessed hand" then fell, leaving yellowish and bloody pus in the blank space of the contract.
The contract instantly ignited, burning out multiple silver-black symbols and words.
They connected end to end, forming an illusory complex pattern, and suddenly shrank into Lumian's shoulders.
Although covered by clothes, Lumian's mind still naturally emerged about the situation at the right shoulder.
There was a strange black thing there that looked like a seal.
Lumian instinctively believed that as long as he activated this mark of the contract, he would be able to borrow the ability of the "abnormal hand" to travel through the spirit world, and unless one of them died, the contract could not be terminated. This was a destined fate.
Without bothering to test the "Spiritual Travel", Lumian ended the summoning and began a new ritual:
... ...
"In the name of the Great Fool, I call upon:
"The vengeful spirit wandering in the void, the bride who lost her head, the source of the curse of the clan's bloodline."
The mysterious illusory door reappeared due to the interweaving of blue and black flames, and a cold wind blew out from it, making the summer night like a winter night.
Lumian saw a figure walking out of the illusory gate. It was wearing a bright red, festive long skirt with a large number of patterns embroidered on it with golden silk thread.
There was no doubt that this figure had no head, and the strong emotion of resentment and hatred spread outward like a substance.
Lumian followed the same process, used wine to "bribe", read out the contract, and sensed the price required by the "Headless Bride":
"Sacrifice a blood relative or friend."
“Thank you for your hard work.” Lumian chuckled at himself and ended the summoning immediately.
This time, the summoning did not work, but he actually gained something, which was that he confirmed that "bribery" could produce a certain effect:
The "headless bride" was originally only supposed to require the sacrifice of blood relatives, but after being "bribed", the conditions were relaxed to include friends.
Lumian's next target is the "Mantis Face", and the summoning phrase he designed is:
"A vengeful spirit wandering in the void, a hunter resembling a praying mantis, a human face that is good at changing its shape."
With a strange whooshing sound, a huge, translucent green mantis crawled out from behind the illusory door.
On its head is a young, handsome, and sunny face, which makes people subconsciously relax their guard.
After sensing the presence and gender of its summoner, the human-faced mantis quickly transformed into a beautiful woman in a black evening dress.
Lumian chuckled to himself and completed the entire process of "bribing", reciting and induction.
There are three kinds of "sacrifices" that the "human-faced mantis" asks for, and you only need to pay one of them.
"The contractor's reproductive organs; the contractor's ability to lie; the contractor's burning at the stake."
After being "bribed", the conditions were relaxed, and there were one or two more options? This guy actually wanted only one thing, and that was "torture of humanity"... The first one corresponded to the jealousy of those men. If I were a woman, this option would not appear... The second one corresponded to the slanderers and false accusers, and the third one corresponded to the burning at the stake that he himself had suffered... Lumian made a quick judgment.
As an "arsonist", he felt that the third price was no problem at all. On the one hand, he had a strong resistance to fire, and on the other hand, enduring pain was his strong point.
If this option was not available, Lumian planned to give up and go back to find a few similar spiritual creatures to summon. After all, depriving Lie would significantly weaken him, and even make him unable to survive in a place like Trier. He was not sure whether he would be able to return at six in the morning after sacrificing his reproductive organs, so he did not want to take the risk.
He quickly found the "Face of Nether" he wanted from the series of abilities of the "Human-Faced Mantis".
"Niser" was the name of the human-faced mantis before his death. The essence of this ability is closer to illusion rather than a change in the flesh and bones of the body. However, as long as one does not have the ability to restrain it and does not possess divinity, it is impossible to see through the illusion.
This time, a black mark landed on Lumian's left shoulder, along with a red flame that surged from the soles of his feet.
They were unaffected by Lumian, igniting his clothes and burning his body.
Lumian seemed to be back in the time when he was fighting Susanna Mathis. He felt a familiar yet unfamiliar pain surging like a tide, trying to drown his mind.
He quickly threw all the valuables on his body aside and held the "decent" brooch in his palm.
The burning lasted for three full minutes. Lumian's skin was burnt to the point where there was no intact skin left, and his clothes were covered with scorch marks.
To the "arsonist", such an injury could not be considered fatal, not even serious enough, and he even had enough energy to prepare for the next summons.
"A strange creature that roams the upper realms, a lump of flesh with many eyes, a participant in the nightmare of the deep."
As the spell was recited, a creature made up of flesh and blood rolled out from the illusory gate, and each piece of flesh and blood had an eye with a white core and black pupil.
After being seen by countless eyes, Lumian, who was holding the aluminum-white military wine bottle, suddenly fell down and fell asleep.
After an unknown amount of time, he suddenly woke up and discovered that the ritual had ended naturally. The "Thousand-Eyed Evil Creature" had returned to the spirit world and had not actually attacked him.
I'll fall asleep as soon as I see it, and I won't be able to communicate at all... And this level of influence is not protected by the ritual itself... Lumian let out a breath, picked up the pocket watch from the Breeze Ballroom that he had just thrown aside, and checked the time.
Fortunately, I only slept for a few minutes, and there are about three minutes left... Lumian gathered his spirits, restarted the ritual, and summoned the "Screaming Shadow":
"... ...
"A spirit wandering in the void, a combination of many shadows, the creator of coma screams."
The mysterious illusory door opened, but what Lumian saw was not a tangled mass of strange shadows, but a blurry shadow wearing black armor like fish scales.
Its scaled surface was unlike any armor Lumien had ever seen in newspapers and magazines. Each scale seemed to contain tiny, wriggling shadows.
Uh... Is it because the summoning spell is not accurate enough and it brought over a similar spiritual creature? It should also have the Coma Scream. Let's try to sign a contract first... Lumian roughly understood what was going on and began a new round of "bribery", recitation and induction.
The sacrifice this armored shadow wants is:
"A blood sacrifice of more than ten people or 100,000 Felgin worth of gold."
Because of the "bribe", the conditions were relaxed to a sacrifice within three months, otherwise the contract would backfire.
That could very likely lead to loss of control or even death.
100,000 Felgin… Lumian thought this was barely acceptable, so he searched for Stunning Scream in the abilities and traits of Armored Shadow.
While browsing quickly, he found an ability with a strange name:
"Hum-ha technique."