The instant the hooded man stepped into the ruined house, Greg suddenly realized his mistake.
He had relied too heavily on his foreknowledge of the original plot and taken far too much for granted.
He already knew that by the time the protagonist arrived, the ritual targeting Sylvia had been completed, and Professor Audrey had gone utterly mad.
Yet now that he had stopped that process ahead of time, he had failed to consider another possibility:
Would the true mastermind lurking behind the scenes choose to appear in person and clean things up after his plans were disrupted?
He should have thought of that.
Professor Audrey was nothing more than a pawn being used.
For her to obtain dangerous items like the stone tablet and the Breath of Slumber, there had to be someone truly guiding her from behind the scenes.
When a pawn slipped out of control and might even expose clues, wasn't it perfectly natural for the player to step in and clean up the mess?
But he had still let his guard down.
The sense of superiority that came from knowing the plot, along with a little smug satisfaction at getting ahead of it, had clouded his judgment. He had assumed that once he subdued Audrey and secured the crucial evidence, the incident would be more or less over.
He had underestimated the complexity of this real world and the variables beyond the plot.
Unlike Audrey, who had merely been used, the hooded man before him radiated danger.
He was a true follower of the Fallen Mother, a genuine enemy of humanity.
**"Danger! My other half! Leave this place at once! The foul faith and murderous intent shrouding this man are no trivial matter. He is far beyond what you can face head-on at your current strength!