The moment they stepped onto the stone street outside, a burst of footsteps suddenly came from the alley beside them.
The three remaining players and one AI mole whipped their heads around to see a man dressed in black, draped in a black robe, his face covered by an ornate half-mask. A dagger hung at his waist as he brazenly passed by.
—It was the first NPC they had encountered after entering this Dungeon.
"It's Jack the Ripper!"
Conan shouted a warning to his teammates.
Almost at the same time, Mouri Ran used her momentum to steady herself, then swung a sideways kick. Her slender yet powerful leg sliced through the air and swept heavily across Jack the Ripper's path with pinpoint accuracy.
—When they had first entered the game, Conan had been the only one to see "Jack the Ripper" face-to-face. But the others had seen his back from afar as he left. That black robe billowing in the wind, along with the Top Hat he insisted on wearing even while fleeing, had left an unforgettable impression.
Someone had suddenly tried to kick him while he was running along peacefully, yet "Jack the Ripper," who had happened to pass through here, did not seem surprised.
At the instant he clashed with Mouri Ran at close range, he suddenly twisted into a side flip, slipping neatly over her. His black robe rustled and rolled through the air. Holding down the hat on his head, he landed lightly like a black bird.
Afterward, Jack the Bomb Maniac did not waste even a second. Without pausing, he continued running forward. That brief, hasty exchange looked more like a performance rehearsed countless times.
Suzuki Sonoko was the last to run out of the Opera House. Panting, she looked up just in time