Attack

"Something was wrong. The nearby Spirit Bodies were filled with unease..."

Daly frowned.

"There's a powerful Beyonder nearby, and they're hostile toward us!"

She rose from the sofa, no longer carrying her previous air of dejection. Her face was grave as she looked around, then she grasped the crystal pendant on her wrist and silently moved her lips, communicating with some unseen existence.

So this was a true "Spirit Medium." She was communicating with invisible spirits!

Leonard reacted as well. He sprang up from the sofa, walked to the window, and looked outside. The bustling North Zoteland Street appeared perfectly normal.

"Could it be another official Beyonder team, like the Mandated Punishers or..." Angel offered a possibility.

"Not likely. We all have clearly defined territories, and we usually don't casually come near another team's base. Besides, judging by Ms. Daly's reaction, this Beyonder..."

"Is stronger than me," Daly answered curtly.

Leonard's expression changed drastically. He hurriedly drew the revolver from his shoulder holster and cocked the hammer.

"Then they're very likely Sequence 6. Tingen City has no official Beyonders of that level."

Stronger than Ms. Daly, so very likely Sequence 6... Was Daly Simone also a Sequence 7 Beyonder? Angel looked at Daly, who was silently communicating with an unknown existence. She had never expected this unremarkable young woman, with her distinctly listless air, to be a Beyonder on the same level as Dunn Smith, captain of the Nighthawks.

Wait, Sequence 6...

"Madam Sharon!"

Angel blurted it out. In Leonard's emerald-green eyes, which had gone from momentary confusion to sudden widening, she saw a trace of terror.

"Go to Chanis Gate. We stand no chance here." Leonard made his decision at once. Holding his gun up, he left the window and headed toward the partition in the reception room.

Though Angel had no idea where this "Chanis Gate" was, following him couldn't be wrong...

Angel rose from the sofa as well. She first opened the box of bullets on the table, took out all the "Storm Convergence" rounds, slipped the bullets already loaded into the speedloader into her dress pocket, then picked up both revolvers and followed Leonard.

Daly stopped her Spirit Channeling as well. Her brows remained tightly furrowed as she looked around.

As Angel passed Daly, she held out the smaller ladies' revolver loaded with "Phantom Phosphor Eruption" bullets. "Ms. Daly, you know how to use a gun, right?"

Daly, whose eyes were still deep as an abyss after finishing her Spirit Channeling, looked at Angel in surprise and gave a soft laugh.

"Though I may not look it, I'm a genuine Nighthawk."

She reached out to take the gun.

Angel's hand tightened around the gun and froze in place, leaving the weapon suspended before Daly as though she were teasing her.

Unfortunately, Daly could no longer blame Angel. It was as if invisible threads had wrapped around her. Her black robe clung tightly to her body, outlining her lovely curves, while her outstretched hand hung motionless in midair in the pose of someone waiting for a handshake.

Angel knew her own clothes must be just like Daly's, because her limbs were rigid too, her neck locked in place, leaving her unable to move. From the corner of her eye, she saw Leonard, who had reached the reception room partition and was about to go around it. His trench coat clung to his lean body, his hands and feet fixed in a forward-moving pose as he stood frozen like a comical puppet.

This was undoubtedly Madam Sharon's handiwork. As a Sequence 6, she had boldly entered Blackthorn Security Company through invisibility, stood beside them, and used her Beyonder Ability to control everyone present like marionettes. Although Daly had received a warning through her Spirit Channeling ability, it was already too late.

Angel could feel the threads tightly winding around her entire body. All her major joints were locked solid, unable to move in the slightest, and the sensation was rapidly spreading toward her fingers and above her neck. Perhaps in just a few seconds, the only part of her body she could still move would be her eyeballs. Madam Sharon was waiting for that moment as well. She only needed to remain invisible nearby until they were completely under her control, then reveal herself and complete her final slaughter.

Daly and Leonard might have been thinking of ways to break free, but Angel could not wait any longer. She had to use these precious few seconds to create a chance for the others to strike back. First, she had to force Madam Sharon, hiding nearby, to reveal her true form.

With great effort, she moved her left index finger, slowly curled it, and pressed it against the trigger of the ladies' revolver—the muzzle pointed directly at Daly Simone, who was about to take the gun.

"Sorry..." Angel's lips moved, forming a single word.

The trigger pulled, and the hammer clicked. The "Phantom Phosphor Eruption" bullet, propelled from the barrel by expanding gunpowder gases, was instantly ignited by the power sealed within its inscriptions. Trailing a spreading streak of phosphorescence, it struck Daly in the chest.

Of course, Angel was not an undercover agent sent by Madam Sharon, biding her time until this moment to shoot Daly herself. As an auxiliary bullet, "Phantom Phosphor Eruption" had no direct lethality. The instant it struck its target, the impacted bullet shattered into insubstantial "Phantom Phosphor Powder," covering a ten-meter radius and marking every object and creature that reacted to spirituality—including invisible ones.

As for the bullet itself, if it struck bare skin, it might cause mild burns, but through clothing it was almost harmless. More than that, the invisible threads binding Daly seemed extremely afraid of high temperatures. Angel saw transparent, spiderweb-like strands appear where Daly had been hit in the chest, rapidly dissipating under the effects of "Phantom Phosphor Eruption."

At the same time, centered on the point of impact, the entire reception room was instantly filled with glittering Phantom Phosphor Powder. Ignoring gravity and the breeze blowing in through the windows, it floated quietly through every inch of space.

In Angel's eyes, Daly before her and Leonard farther away both emitted faint phosphorescence, their bodies enveloped in a white halo as though seen through Spirit Vision. Less than two meters from Leonard, an identical humanoid halo emerged in empty space.

Without Angel needing to warn him, Leonard locked his gaze on the halo beside him. The only parts of his body that could move were his facial features. Without the slightest hesitation, he opened his mouth, and his deep, magnetic voice rang out:

"Farewell, free and unrestrained sea.

This is the last time before my eyes that you will roll with azure waves, and shine with your delicate, lovely radiance..."

The ethereal, tranquil chant echoed beneath the high ceiling of the reception room like a lullaby. Even the breeze blowing in from outside seemed to vanish, and the Phantom Phosphor Powder filling the room drifted away from Angel.

It was as though she had arrived at a lakeside in the forest, or lay on a bed of velvet. That peaceful, serene atmosphere made her mind blur, and she could fall asleep at any moment.

"Don't sleep!"

Suddenly remembering that she was still in battle, Angel forcibly called back her consciousness, which had nearly flown from her body. To stay awake, she even bit her own tongue.

A sharp pain struck, driving away the powerful drowsiness. The lake before her eyes and the velvet beneath her vanished, and she returned to the reception room of Blackthorn Security Company, where Phantom Phosphor Powder floated down.

This should be an ability similar to the Nightmare's Dream Invasion, only weaker than Dunn's direct Dream Invasion...

Angel refocused her gaze on Leonard. He was still chanting in that deep voice. The halo before him—Madam Sharon—should have fallen into the same state, and because she was closer to Leonard the "Poet," the effect was even more pronounced.

Then, I should... She tried moving her limbs. Unfortunately, the invisible threads still pulled at her body, but compared with her previous state of utter immobility, the threads had clearly loosened after losing Madam Sharon's control. Angel could feel that she was now able to move her limbs slightly.

She looked toward Ms. Daly. Daly had also sensed that her range of movement had increased, and immediately used the crystal pendant on her wrist to quickly enter a Spirit Channeling state. Her emerald-like eyes became deep once more.

"Use fire," Angel reminded her.

As an "Assassin," she had no way to deal with the invisible threads wrapped around her entire body. She could only place her hopes on Daly the "Spirit Medium," and on the invisible "spirits" around them.

Daly nodded almost imperceptibly. Then wisps of pale-blue fireflies drifted through the space around them, dispersing the nearby Phantom Phosphor Powder. This was the glow cast by the threads binding them as they caught fire.

These invisible threads only curled up and vanished as swiftly as spiderwebs meeting flame when exposed to high temperatures. The blue fireflies rapidly spread along the threads in the surrounding space, creating a dreamlike scene.

But Angel had no mind to admire it. The instant the threads ignited, she felt the force binding her rapidly dissipate. Before she could praise Daly's performance, she raised her right hand holding the large-caliber revolver and, without even aiming, fired a "Storm Convergence" round at the halo representing Madam Sharon, relying on her feel for the gun.

The hastily fired bullet did not strike Madam Sharon's vital areas, only hitting her in the waist. Yet instead of the dull sound of a bullet piercing flesh, there came a crisp crack. The halo marked by the Phantom Phosphor Powder shattered like an illusion in a mirror and vanished from Angel's sight. Shattering along with it was the full-length mirror hanging behind the front door for guests to straighten their clothes.

Mirror Substitution!

The phosphorescence-marked mirror had shattered across the floor, while Madam Sharon, who should have been there, had vanished without a trace. Angel swept her gun around the room but found no New Goal amid the gradually dispersing Phantom Phosphor Powder.

Had she run away...

That made sense. Fleeing after a failed strike and returning another day was an assassin's key to survival. But would Madam Sharon, who had boldly attacked the Nighthawks' base, really give up so easily?

Daly stood where she was, continuing to guide blue flames toward Leonard and help him escape the threads' restraints. Angel swept her gaze through every corner of the room, trying to find where Madam Sharon was hiding. Even teleportation should not be able to escape the Phantom Phosphor Powder's mark—that was common knowledge Angel had learned in another world—but here, the ill-suited mark had been easily destroyed by Mirror Substitution, becoming a one-time effect.

The sense of danger in her heart grew steadily stronger. The instincts of an "Assassin" made Angel stop hesitating. She pointed her left-hand gun at the ground, pulled the trigger, and fired another "Phantom Phosphor Eruption." The fragile bullet shattered against the floor, and dreamlike Phantom Phosphor Powder once again filled the entire room.

Within the spreading powder, a figure rapidly approached. Angel bent slightly, ready to dodge, only to realize in shock that the target was not her, but Daly the "Spirit Medium," whose back was turned to the figure!