Ambush

"Abandoned Shipyard? That's indeed a good place."

Leonard chuckled.

"Why do you say that?"

Luther asked curiously.

The ritual had ended, and they were cleaning up the scene, ensuring everything was restored to its original state. Otherwise, Mr. Pound would be on guard if he discovered anything unusual when he came to work the next day.

"Think about it, no one usually goes there, so we can do things with peace of mind. Plus, the environment is good, the boat swaying on the water... doesn't that set the mood?"

Leonard explained, swinging the gas lantern in his hand back and forth as if imitating a boat on the water. The light circled him, making his shadow sway along. The "The Unsleeping" pathway had good night vision, so the lantern was mainly for illuminating Luther.

Your imagination is truly rich...

Luther was speechless. He put away the blood-stained map, stood up.

As he put away the blood-stained map, he subconsciously rubbed his fingers, but felt no pain—the wound on his fingertip had healed. The same thing had happened last time when he performed a ritual for Old Neil. He didn't know why, but his wounds always healed very quickly.

According to internal Night Watcher documents, high-sequence Mysterious Scholars possessed authority over flesh and blood. Was it because of this?

Whatever, it was better than not healing.

Luther temporarily put the matter aside and then asked Leonard, "So, what do we do next? Retreat, or go take a look over there?"

"Of course, we'll go take a look. They aren't like us; they don't know how to clean up the scene," Leonard said. "We might even find direct physical evidence there..."

"Ugh, better not to see it then."

Luther said with a bit of disgust, pulling open the door in front.

Whoosh!

A blinding flash of light suddenly shot out from the shadows outside the door.

A cold sensation then filled his chest.

"Pfft."

A soft sound of piercing flesh rang out.

Luther belatedly looked down and saw a dagger piercing through his chest. Due to the momentum, the arm holding the dagger was still pushing forward, and that force pushed directly onto him along the dagger, making him fall backward.

Bang!

As his body hit the floor, he heard Leonard's enraged roar.

"Luther!"

Leonard's eyes were about to split. The previous second, they were chatting and laughing, and the next second, Luther in front had been struck down. He saw the attacker's appearance: the person was thin, covered entirely in a hood and cloak. Seizing the moment when they opened the door, the attacker thrust the dagger in their hand with all their might.

The assassination was so swift and rapid that Leonard didn't even have time to react!

Just as Luther fell after being stabbed, Leonard lunged forward and kicked out at the attacker. In the dark night, his strength was greatly enhanced, and this kick produced a whistling sound of wind.

But the hooded assassin retreated nimbly, dodging Leonard's attack as lightly as a feather in the wind. He glanced at the fallen Luther, then at the enraged Leonard, and turned to flee without hesitation.

"The stars burn with my rage, the night wind is my lament..."

Leonard's voice came from behind the assassin, his magnetic voice carrying endless tranquility and sorrow, echoing in the dark corridor, mesmerizing the listener's mind.

The running assassin's steps faltered. His body began to sway, his head drooped, as if he were about to fall into a beautiful dream. Just then, he suddenly raised the dagger and stabbed himself in the arm!

"Oof!"

He let out a suppressed groan, but that also made him sober up, and he ran towards the end of the corridor with even greater speed.

"Damn it!"

Leonard immediately drew his revolver and fired at the figure.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The gunshots were loud, and the muzzle flashed with fire at the moment of firing.

The assassin's figure continued to run without slowing down, crashing through the glass at the end of the corridor and leaping down.

Leonard chased after him, only to find that the opponent had easily jumped off the three-story building without any burden and quickly disappeared into the lightless darkness. He gritted his teeth but did not pursue. Instead, he turned and ran back to the Manager's Office. Luther's injuries were still unclear; he needed to save him quickly!

Luther lay on his back on the floor of the Manager's Office, breathing deeply.

He could feel the burning pain in the wound on his chest. As he breathed, the pain ebbed and flowed. But besides the pain, another sensation was feeding back into his mind.

--He could feel his flesh and blood wriggling, as if every muscle, every piece of tissue had gained consciousness and was about to repair and close. Then, amidst the fine sound of wriggling flesh and blood, the bleeding stopped, his internal organs automatically aligned, his muscles stretched and connected, and the tissues rejoined and healed...

"Luther! Luther!"

He heard Leonard's anxious shouts. The sound of footsteps vibrated through the floor as the "Midnight Poet" rushed back to his side, then stopped abruptly, his shouts ceasing. Needless to say, he must have witnessed the astonishing sight of his flesh and blood healing.

Luther endured the pain and managed to sit up to look. As expected, Leonard's eyes were wide open, staring at Luther with disbelief.

"You're..."

"Stop talking, give me a hand."

Luther reached out his hand, asking him to pull him up. "You should thank me. If I hadn't opened the door first, you would have been the one stabbed by the dagger."

Looking at the hand he extended, Leonard hesitated for a moment, but still reached out to take it, pulling him up with a firm tug.

"Damn it, that hurts..."

The movement of standing up was too abrupt, causing Luther to wince in pain as the muscles around his wound twitched and shuddered; the grotesque sight made Leonard's heart skip a beat.

"Luther, are, are you alright?"

"Oh, I'm fine."

Luther looked down at his wound. The internal organs had already healed, leaving only the muscles and blood vessels to slowly mend themselves. Unfortunately, his shirt was torn and stained with blood. "Did you catch that bastard?"

"No."

Leonard felt a bit awkward. "I was thinking about coming back to save you, so I just fired a shot to drive him away..."

If he had chased after him, not to mention whether he could have caught the enemy, his teammate certainly would have been beyond saving, so this choice was beyond reproach.

Luther nodded, then said, "That person's skills were out of the ordinary, right?"

To be able to trade blows with a Sequence 8 Midnight Poet and successfully escape, it was basically certain that the opponent was a Beyonder!

"Very strong, he is a Beyonder." Leonard also realized the situation. "He was specifically targeting us because we entered the Manager's Office!"

Then the question became very strange: would someone really arrange for a Beyonder to stand guard just to prevent an affair?

Of course that was impossible; there must be some hidden secret behind this.

"Quick, we must go to that Abandoned Shipyard immediately! There must be some unspeakable secret there!"

Both of them started running. When they reached the hallway, Luther saw a patch of blood on the floor, likely left behind when Leonard's shot grazed the hooded man. His heart stirred, and he leaned down to crouch, using a small vial to collect the blood.

Damn it, daring to stab me with a dagger—I'm definitely going to kill you!