Chapter 1174: Fortune and Calamity [Part 1]

Chapter 1174 – Fortune and Calamity [Part 1]

Before Lux could reply, Lilith closed her fingers around the black stone.

Her ancient power stirred.

The change was immediate.

Infernal inscriptions flared across the stone, glowing violet-white as it floated from her palm. Thin threads of mana spiraled outward, forming a circular pattern around Lux’s chair. The markings weren’t quite Hell magic and definitely weren’t anything from the modern Seven Sin system.

Older.

Cleaner.

The kind of magic invented before demons discovered that every spell apparently needed seventeen warning labels and three administrative departments.

Lux watched the stone rise until it hovered directly above him.

Lilith placed two fingers against his forehead. "I’ll have them heal your body while you’re inside."

Lux glanced toward Lyra.

She already had another elixir.

Sira had also moved closer with the expression of a woman who absolutely intended to poke him if his unconscious body did anything embarrassing.

Lilith’s fingers glowed. "Close your eyes."

Lux obeyed.

Then the floor disappeared.

There was no falling sensation.

No violent spatial distortion.

One moment Lux was sitting in his mansion.

The next...

Birds were singing.

Lux opened his eyes.

He stared.

Then slowly looked around. "What?"

This was the nightmare?

He’d expected something appropriately dramatic.

A battlefield.

Burning castle.

Mountain of corpses.

Blood-red moon.

Maybe an endless corridor filled with doors containing traumatic memories.

Instead... He was standing in the middle of a beautiful medieval town.

Morning sunlight spilled across tiled rooftops. Merchants arranged fruit beneath striped awnings. Horses pulled wooden carts along cobblestone streets. Children ran past carrying sticks while pretending to swordfight.

A bakery nearby smelled painfully good.

There were flowers hanging beneath windows.

Someone was playing a lute.

Lux looked offended. "This is suspiciously pleasant."

He looked down.

His armor was gone.

So were his wings, horns and tail.

Instead, he wore fitted black trousers, polished boots, a dark embroidered doublet, and a long coat appropriate for some wealthy medieval nobleman.

Lux tugged the sleeve.

"At least the nightmare has standards."

Lilith’s voice suddenly whispered inside his mind.

’You are in the dream world.’

Lux glanced around.

Nobody reacted.

’You can’t use your power there.’

That made him stop.

"What?"

’Only Lullaby and the host can directly manipulate the dream.’

Lux’s expression flattened. "You might have mentioned that before sending me."

’I did say you wouldn’t be particularly useful.’

"You enjoyed withholding the technical explanation."

’Maybe~’

Lux lifted one hand. "System."

Nothing.

His smile vanished.

Lux tried summoning a dagger.

Nothing.

Teleportation.

Nothing.

He was completely mundane.

Lux inhaled. "Okay." He adjusted his coat. "Fair."

Lilith chuckled softly. ’Be careful.’

Then her presence disappeared.

Lux stood in the street and looked around.

A woman carrying vegetables passed him.

Lux smiled politely.

She smiled back.

So.

New objective.

Find Lullaby.

Find Yue.

Identify the host.

Preferably before someone stabbed him, because apparently being stabbed here might actually be inconvenient.

Lux started walking.

The town was convincing.

People weren’t repeating obvious movements. Conversations flowed naturally. Shopkeepers negotiated prices. Two men argued over whether a cart had blocked the road. A woman leaned from an upstairs window and yelled at her husband for forgetting something.

Nothing screamed nightmare.

Which was precisely why Lux distrusted everything.

He passed a fountain.

A group of elderly women sat nearby.

"...Lord’s daughters..."

Lux slowed.

He didn’t stop.

Just adjusted his pace.

One woman whispered, "Such beautiful twins."

Another sighed. "Poor family."

Lux’s attention sharpened.

Twins.

"The younger one is blessed," someone said.

"No, no. They were born minutes apart. Lady Aurelia is technically older."

"Does it matter?"

"It matters to inheritance."

Lux walked toward a fruit stall beside them and pretended to inspect apples.

The gossip continued.

"One lucky star."

"And one disaster star."

Lux’s fingers stopped over an apple.

He picked it up.

The merchant smiled. "Fine apple, sir."

Lux nodded absently.

Behind him, one of the women lowered her voice.

"They say whenever the disaster star cries, something terrible happens."

"Don’t say that too loudly."

"Everyone knows."

"And Lady Celestine?"

"Blessed child. Since her birth, the estate prospered. Harvests improved. Lord Edric won three disputes. Even the northern mines produced silver again."

Lux’s jaw tightened.

The merchant waited.

Lux realized he was still holding the apple. "How much?"

"Two copper."

Lux reached instinctively toward his pocket.

Nothing.

He froze.

Right.

Dream.

No money.

Possibly the most personally offensive part of this entire dimension.

Lux placed the apple back. "I’ve reconsidered."

The merchant’s smile vanished.

Lux walked away.

Behind him, the gossip continued. "They’re opposites."

"Fortune and calamity."

"Blessing and curse."

"Imagine carrying twins only for the gods to mark one as a disaster."

Lux winced.

Mortals loved believing things like this.

Give them two children and enough coincidences, and suddenly the universe had personally issued a prophecy.

Good harvest? Lucky child.

Storm? Unlucky child.

Cow died? Clearly supernatural toddler involvement.

Someone fell down stairs after drinking half a barrel of ale? Obviously cursed daughter.

Accountability remained humanity’s least favorite hobby across apparently every century.

Lux continued deeper into town.

The pattern became impossible to miss.

Paintings displayed in shop windows depicted two noble girls.

Twin sisters.

One usually surrounded by golden flowers.

The other painted beneath dark stars.

A puppet show advertised for that evening was titled ’The Blessed Lady and the Calamity Witch’.

Lux stopped. His expression hardened. "Subtle."

Children ran past him chanting. "Lucky star, lucky star, brings us gold from near and far!"

Another child followed. "Disaster star, disaster star..."

Lux turned.

The child immediately stopped.

Maybe he didn’t have demonic pressure here.

Apparently his resting expression remained fully operational.

The children fled.

Lux continued.

He needed information.

And he needed to determine which twin was the host.

The obvious answer was the so-called disaster star.

Which meant Lux immediately distrusted the obvious answer.

Nightmares weren’t documentaries.

Trauma distorted memories.

A looping prison would exploit that distortion.

Maybe one sister had been scapegoated.

Maybe the supposedly lucky sister betrayed her.

Maybe both were victims.

Maybe Kaelmor had inserted himself later.

And somewhere inside this cheerful medieval town, Lullaby and Yue were apparently trying to untangle centuries of psychological damage without accidentally making the prisoner retreat deeper.