A Furrowed Brow

Lynn and Constantine went from a mutually troublesome family to competitors in less than a second. At that moment, each saw their own reflection in the other.

What a shameless bastard.

Thanks, same to you.

After a simple exchange of glances, before the two could even sympathize with each other, the situation in the room changed again.

A thick fog seemed to have appeared in the room. Lynn could not be sure; he felt that something else might be wrong.

"It isn't fog. Something's wrong with my vision. Kitty? Schrodinger? Constantine?

Mm... something's wrong with my voice too. Or perhaps it's my hearing.

Everyone's having problems."

Lynn's current sensation was strange. It felt as if he had returned to the time in Arkham when those doctors had forcibly helped calm him down.

All his senses were faint and hazy, becoming unreal. Lynn hated that feeling.

"In other words, I'm currently a wooden stake, clueless and senseless, just standing here waiting to be hit.

But am I still alive and well?"

Lynn could not be sure.

He suspected that he might already be covered in wounds, with blood pooling all over the floor, and simply did not know it.

He lifted his right shoulder slightly. There was nothing there.

Even Kitty's presence was gone.

If Lynn had not been Kitty's owner and thus able to sense Kitty's existence on a spiritual level to some extent, he probably would not even know if Kitty had died.

He had to do something.

Lynn was a little worried that Kitty might be attacked. It would not be good if he subconsciously used his ability.

Maybe this guy really was a weakling. Lynn being alive right now was the best proof.

So enormous vines began growing, gathering, and surging mindlessly in every direction. Lynn gripped the Lantern Hammer in one hand and the Infinite-Ammo Tactical Master in the other, slowly raising both arms.

"I've already been restrained enough. Watch yourself."

Lynn suddenly raised his hand and began firing at the ceiling. He held down the trigger as he gradually lowered his arm, randomly aiming in every direction.

"Stop! Stop it!"

Mm! Lynn had never been so obedient.

A smile curled at the corner of his mouth as Lynn decisively raised his hands in surrender.

The next second, a searing pain erupted in his left shoulder, while a thin layer of frost covered his feet.

When he opened his eyes, dozens of cold, emotionless pupils were staring back at him.

"Hey! What are you people standing around here for? Trying to scare someone to death?!"

The words seemed to possess tangible force, brushing over those ghostlike figures and scattering them into the wind until they vanished.

Only then did Lynn see Constantine.

He was half-reclining on the ground, propping up his upper body with one elbow. There was a hole in his right thigh, and blood was still flowing from it.

Without leaving a trace, Lynn slipped his pistol into his spatial pouch and quickly walked toward Constantine. "Brother, are you okay?"

Constantine truly, truly did not want to speak to Lynn at all.

He pointed at his leg, where blood was still pouring out.

Lynn pointed at his shoulder, charred black and mangled.

"Oh, then we're fine."

Constantine's mood suddenly improved considerably. He pulled out a strip of cloth, tied it around his leg, then flipped over and climbed to his feet.

"Lynn, did you hear that just now..."

"I did."

Lynn immediately answered, "Not only did I hear it."

He pointed behind Constantine, toward the stairway. "I saw it too."

Constantine turned around in alarm. Standing on the bottom step of the black wooden staircase was a pale, expressionless gothic girl.

She looked to be only around ten years old. She wore a black dress patterned with dark red diagonal squares, while her lower body was clad in black pants covered in pockets and fine metal chains.

Her face was pale, her hair jet-black, and behind her head was the faint illusory outline of a raven, sometimes rippling and sometimes disappearing.

The most noticeable thing was not that she was barefoot in the freezing weather, but the cat in her arms.

Lynn glanced at his shoulder. When had she taken it?

Just imagining himself standing there like a piece of wood in the thick fog, with this little girl emerging from the depths of the mist, expressionlessly stopping in front of him, stretching out her hand, and picking up the cat from his shoulder...

For the rarest of moments, Lynn felt a little chilled.

But that only strengthened another of Lynn's suspicions.

This strange, eerie little girl did not seem to intend to kill the two of them.

Otherwise, she had just been given a perfect opportunity. In fact, Lynn and Constantine had already roughly guessed as much when they discovered someone watching them in town. Neither had dared to be certain at the time.

Constantine's fingers began trembling slightly again. Lynn knew that was a sign he was about to cast a spell.

Constantine had always done things this way. If he was expected to calmly chat with something that might be an enemy, he first needed to confirm two things.

First, whether the other party posed a threat.

Second, if it did pose a threat, whether it could be stopped.

Constantine did not care much about whether someone was good or evil. More than half the matters he dealt with were caused by nonhumans, and a considerable portion of the rest came from humans bringing suffering upon themselves.

So, having dealt with the same kind of problem many times, Constantine's first reaction was: if he wanted the other side to communicate normally, he first had to help it "calm down."

However, Lynn stopped him in time.

In a very physical way.

"A garrote?!"

"Calm down, brother."

"You're the one who needs to calm down!"

Lynn and Constantine started fighting again regardless of the situation, but the expressionless girl remained just as blank-faced, as if she had not seen the two suddenly turn on each other at all.

Thus, Lynn and Constantine quickly returned from their tangled state to normal.

This time, they could be certain. The other party truly was not a normal "thing," at least not the human Lynn had previously suspected.

"Wait."

Lynn stepped forward once more, moving in front of Constantine.

"Would you be willing to give my cat back?"

The girl raised her head to look at Lynn. Her eyes were strange as well.

There seemed to be almost no whites in her eye sockets.

"Is this your cat?"

The girl spoke. It was indeed the voice that had driven them away earlier. "You cannot stay here."

She seemed somewhat reluctant, but she still let go. The little cat, which had not dared move before, dropped to the ground and quickly ran back into Lynn's arms.

They could actually communicate!

"Those... people outside, are you the one keeping them trapped here? Why are you doing this? Is there something wrong with them?"

Lynn's questions seemed to remind the girl of something. Her hair began to drift, and the raven phantom behind her became more solid. At the same time, Lynn noticed that Constantine's expression seemed rather bad.

As though he had seen something terrifying.

"Lynn..."

Constantine furrowed his brow, retreated directly behind Lynn, and whispered, "This girl... we have to kill her..."

The next chapter will be posted between six and seven.

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