The eagle!
The crumpled paper!
The eerie smiley face!
Heaton!
The Guardians organization!
The Dome Clock Tower!
As Qin Ran watched the eerie crimson smiley face flickering on Heaton amid the flames, all the clues instantly came together into a complete picture.
"So that was it!"
"Selection, testing, acceptance..."
Qin Ran murmured to himself.
He was now fairly certain that if he had entered that door inside the Dome Clock Tower, he might have become a guardian of the "Witch's Legacy" too.
But...
Was the selection random?
Qin Ran thought of the eagle and quickly dismissed that possibility.
The eagle had clearly been trained.
How could selection by a trained eagle possibly be random?
It could only have been the trainer's choice.
Then who was that trainer?
An unlikely possibility surfaced in Qin Ran's mind.
"Figured it out?"
"Too late!"
"I'll make you pay for Tyrell's death with your life!"
Heaton sneered as he watched Qin Ran ponder.
The ten javelins surrounding Qin Ran immediately thrust toward him.
Heaton stared at Qin Ran.
He wanted to watch Qin Ran collapse into a pool of blood and die a gruesome death.
But what happened next left Heaton utterly dumbfounded.
All ten javelins struck their target.
Yet every one of them failed to do any damage.
The javelins, which could easily pierce defenses rated at the extreme level, failed against that unassuming black leather armor without even touching Qin Ran's skin.
"H-how is that possible?!"
Heaton stammered, staring at Qin Ran in disbelief.
Then fear filled his heart.
He could feel a sharp force building inside his body.
"Wait..."
Bang!
Just as Heaton opened his mouth to say more, the retaliatory force generated by the [Devourer's Shadow Armor]'s [Devouring Strike] exploded.
A bloody hole instantly opened through Heaton's chest and back.