What was going on!!??
Why couldn't he move?!
It was as if his entire body had been fixed in place. Something was holding him down, preventing him from moving. He couldn't even turn his head now.
"Who are you?!"
He found that he could only move his facial expressions as he stared at the glowing promotional text on the building before him.
"How could you possibly find me?!"
He gritted his teeth in horror, a storm raging in his heart. It had not been long at all since the chaotic battle among the seven of them had ended. How had this person found him?!
No one answered him. The fear in his heart grew greater and greater. He had already done everything he could to pour his Magic Energy Value into his body. The feedback told him it seemed to be working, yet he still could not break free from the restraint!
How was that possible?!
Who was this person?
Among the other six, how could anyone possibly restrain him without him noticing?!
Could there be a Mystic Side mage hidden among them, just like him?
Impossible!
Even if that were the case, with his C-Rank level, even if his Magic Energy Value was insufficient, he should not have been unable to break free from this person's restraint!
What the hell was going on?!?
He felt like he was about to go insane!!!!
"Um... I can help—"
Pfft!
Before he could finish his pleading, conciliatory words, a silver sword tip emerged from his chest!
"Kh... you..."
A hoarse sound came from his throat. He found that his body had regained its freedom. He turned around and collapsed to the ground, finally seeing the truth of that figure before his eyes!
Beneath the pitch-black night, the black-haired young man in dark clothes had an indistinct face. Behind him, a tall, cloaked humanoid floated eerily in the air, its edges gently stirring. Within the pure-black cloak, there seemed to be nothing but darkness.
It was a bizarre, chilling sight.
"Y-you... you!!!"
He vomited blood in great mouthfuls, pointing in horror at the black-haired young man and the monster floating behind him. Then he suddenly remembered something!
That thing that was said to be accessible only to those above B-Rank.
"You're Dark—"
His words were slurred, but before he could finish, he permanently lost his voice and breath.
The blade in his hand, Dragon Wings, folded away and vanished. The tall black cloak behind him transformed into streams of black lines that gathered in his hand, condensing into a card.
Shadow Card (THE SHADOW) Symbol: The unknown, the emergence and elimination of problems. Description: Magic that allows one to control one's own shadow and the shadows of others.
The night wind was slightly cool. The black-haired young man, dressed in black to conceal his figure, quietly looked at the person he had pierced, lying on the ground.
After a moment of silence, his whole body suddenly began to tremble. He clamped his right hand over his mouth and bent over, desperately suppressing the panic and fear rising within him, along with the nausea that churned in his stomach!
He had killed someone.
He had killed a person.
Just now.
Realizing that fact, he trembled violently, as though he could barely remain standing. But after swaying once, he forced himself upright again.
As if nothing had happened.
You have successfully eliminated one participant first. Pursuit activated. The approximate locations of the remaining participants have been provided. Current participants: 7/12
He opened the system's pursuit interface, where several enormous range circles were marked on the map.
A circular vortex appeared beneath his feet once more. His body began to rise from the ground again, flying in a certain direction.
Night, 2:16 a.m.
Outside the commercial district, in a villa complex.
Even as the nearby streets had gone dark, this villa district inhabited only by the wealthy remained brightly lit. Beautiful, luxurious villas stood scattered throughout the area in an orderly arrangement.
In the deepest part of the complex, inside the largest villa, a woman in professional attire sat on a soft leather sofa, frowning as she looked grimly at the interface before her.
Current participants: 4/12
"What's going on?!"
She frowned and spoke, forcibly suppressing her anxiety. But she knew it was not because her mental fortitude was lacking. As one of the few C-Ranks in this scenario, she had naturally participated in many scenarios before.
It was simply that this situation was too bizarre.
Ever since the seven of them had ended that chaotic battle the night before, withdrawing from the battlefield with varying injuries and each entering a period of hiding and lurking.
According to her original plan, after the melee and a period of recovery, the latter half of the night would be when their true slaughter and conflict began!
But someone tell me!
What exactly was going on?
Starting an hour after the melee ended!
People had been getting taken out one after another!
How was that possible?!
Could someone have emerged completely unscathed?!
Then precisely found every one of them and successfully killed them each time?
However, as someone who had been hiding all along, she did not yet know that after killing someone, the system would automatically grant Pursuit.
"What a joke!"
She snarled furiously and smashed the wineglass in her hand onto the white marble floor with all her strength!
When she had discovered that she had entered a random special contest scenario this time, she had initially been somewhat confident. After all, she was from Against the Current. As long as she obtained this Night Device, her strength would soar!
Her status within Against the Current would inevitably rise along with it!
But she had never expected Si Ai, a B-Rank, to be in this scenario. She had only just accepted an alliance with that man in a suit to take out Si Ai, and now something like this had happened!
"Who is it?! Who the hell is it?"
The woman in professional attire stared at the interface showing only four people remaining, muttering continuously:
"Who could it be?! There are only four people left now, four C-Ranks. Aside from me, there's the official's person, Midnight's person, and the lone mage."
She tightly gripped the sofa's armrest and gritted her teeth as she asked:
"Which one of them is it?!"
Who had recovered first?!
Just as she was suspiciously making guesses!
The floor-to-ceiling window in the spacious living room suddenly shattered!
A bedraggled figure, tangled in expensive silk curtains, crashed into the villa!
"Who's there?!"
The woman in professional attire was instantly alarmed! She abruptly stood up and shouted! A gauzy feather-like fabric of unknown material appeared in her hand!
That figure rolled across the floor with a pale face, seemingly still covered in flames. His black coat and mask had both been burned to tatters!
It was the official's person, her mortal enemy!
How had he been beaten into such a state?!
The woman in professional attire, who had exchanged blows with him during the melee, was startled!
Then he spat blood, barely tore away the curtains wrapped around him, propped himself up with his Tang Blade, and rapidly spoke to her with an ugly expression:
"If you don't want to die, attack together with me!"
The woman in professional attire was instantly shocked. Through the hole blasted through the window, she looked outside and saw a figure that made her breathing stop as he slowly walked toward them!
Black trousers, his right hand casually in his pocket, flames burning in his left hand and faintly illuminating his face—and that person was the greatest reason her breathing had stopped!
Si Ai.
"Yo! Ready to pay back what you owe me?"
He sneered at her in a wild, contemptuous tone. The flames in his hand were blazing hot and bright!
This...!!!!!!!
Her whole body stiffened and her throat went dry. She immediately turned to ask the official's person. Though they were enemies in terms of strength, there was no time to care about that now. Only by joining forces would the two of them have any hope of escaping!
"What exactly is go—"
Her words caught in her throat, because the Tang Blade had already pierced her chest!
"Demon Wind—Condense."
"Big sister?"
In what seemed like the blink of an eye, the person before her had suddenly become the face of her closest family member—her younger sister, who had relied on each other with her to survive—blinking at her with wide, puzzled eyes.
Her words faltered, and she lost her final chance to counterattack. The Tang Blade—no, a streak of silver-white light—pierced through her chest!
At the edge of death, it was as though she had finally understood. She gritted her teeth viciously and struggled to turn around, to look at that "Si Ai" behind her!
The black-haired young man in black stood there.
Then her vision went completely dark.
The woman in professional attire fell onto the villa's carpet, blood slowly flowing and spreading. Her eyes remained open.
And after she fell, the figure who had dealt her the fatal blow suddenly stopped moving as well.
As if a layer of color had faded away, that person revealed his true form just like "Si Ai"—a tall black cloaked humanoid, beneath whose cloak there seemed to be nothing but darkness. It transformed into streams of darkness and returned to the young man's hand.
The faded colors did not disperse either. They too transformed into streams of light that gathered and returned, finally condensing into a golden card. The red gemstone on the card faintly gleamed.
Illusion Card (THE ILLUSION) Symbol: The desire to escape from reality. Description: Magic that causes opponents to think of what they long for in their hearts and fall into illusions.
The two cards disappeared. The true "illusion and shadow" that had killed the woman in professional attire also vanished.
The young man stood outside the villa, looking up at the night sky. He clenched his fists tightly and exhaled deeply, emptying the air from his lungs.
"Two more."
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