Wilt had not expected to open the door and find himself at a murder scene. This development was well beyond anything he had anticipated.
It's all right. I'm a Mid-Sequence Beyonder. I could already be a captain in an official Beyonder squad.
And I possess three Paths of the Divine, so there's no need to panic. Wilt reassured himself, then quickly began thinking of a countermeasure.
Supreme Pathway, Sequence 7 Cryptologist: a slight improvement to physique and proficiency with short weapons, but I don't have one on me...
I could try to persuade him with charm, eloquence, and misleading reasoning, but he's already charging at me. There's no time to talk. Ruled out!
Wheel of Fortune Pathway, Sequence 9 Monster: increased Spirituality, no direct combat ability. Ruled out!
Eternal Aeon Pathway, Sequence 9 Dancer: increased flexibility, no direct combat ability. Ruled out!
Fuck!
After analyzing his options, Wilt felt like cursing.
What kind of trash Sequences are these? Not one of the three Pathways is good at direct combat.
By now, Tris was charging at him at tremendous speed. Wilt gritted his teeth and made an instant decision.
Use the Sealed Artifact and try to finish him within thirty seconds!
But the Sealed Artifact was in Wilt's pocket, so he immediately stepped back, closing the door with his right hand to buy himself time while reaching into his pocket with his left.
Seeing Wilt's actions, Tris mobilized the Spirituality within him, and the speed of his attack abruptly doubled.
Whoosh!
His body slipped through the gap in the door and into the room with an exceptionally tricky movement and outrageous flexibility. Then, dagger in hand, he unleashed a Beyonder Ability at Wilt: full-force strike!
Swoosh! The dagger cut through the air with a faint whistle. Wilt's left hand had only just entered his pocket, and he had yet to touch the Sealed Artifact inside.
At this rate, Tris would kill him before he could touch the Sealed Artifact.
Wilt realized this too, so he instantly activated an ability of the Marauder Pathway: Mental Interference!
Buzz!!!
An illusion suddenly appeared before Tris's eyes. In his vision, Wilt's body lunged to the right to dodge the attack, so Tris shifted his attack to the right in pursuit.
Swoosh! The dagger slashed through the spot he had carefully predicted, but Tris frowned. It didn't feel right; it didn't feel like a blade sealing someone's throat.
Then Tris saw the Wilt he had attacked disperse, while the real Wilt had dodged to the left.
"An illusion!" Tris instantly understood what had happened.
Bang! He planted his left hand on the deck, then pushed with his arm to swing his body around a full 180 degrees. In an instant, he turned to face Wilt again, ready to attack.
But Wilt had already touched the Sealed Artifact.
"Mind Breath!"
The invisible, transparent breath struck Tris's Mental Body and Spirit Body directly. His movements stopped at once, his body felt as though it had been struck by lightning, his mind was torn apart, and his spirit body was pierced through.
"Aahhh... pfft!" Tris spat out a mouthful of blood and fell to his knees, his face pale.
On the other side, Wilt, the attacker, was not doing much better. His face was just as deathly pale, and he looked as though he had overexerted himself.
I still underestimated a demigod-level Sealed Artifact. One attack actually used up more than half my Spirituality.
Forget thirty seconds. Even ten seconds would be a struggle!
Wilt hurriedly looked toward his opponent, preparing to finish him off.
When he looked up, he saw Tris kneeling on the floor, his face pale, blood at the corner of his mouth, and tears in his eyes. He looked so pitiful that Wilt's heart instantly softened.
"Hmm?" Wilt sensed that something was wrong.
No, it's a Beyonder Ability!
Across from him, Tris saw that Wilt had been affected by his instigation. The pitiful look in his eyes vanished in a flash, instantly turning ruthless.
He then tightened his grip on his dagger and hurled it straight at Wilt, aiming for his throat.
Swoosh!
The dagger flew toward Wilt, but Tris was so weakened that the attack was much slower.
Seeing this, Wilt instinctively threw himself to the side.
The corners of Tris's mouth slowly curled upward. He reached into his pocket with his right hand and pulled out a revolver.
Wilt: !!!
Are all Beyonders this hard to deal with?
Wilt did not know what other Beyonders were like, but the one he had encountered in his first battle felt incredibly difficult to deal with.
Just as Wilt was about to use the Sealed Artifact again, something unexpected happened.
Bang!
The ship shook violently. The Alfalfa had crashed into the port.
Wilt, who was dodging the attack, tilted and fell straight onto the deck, but in doing so, he also avoided the dagger.
As for Tris, he was too weak to keep a firm grip on the revolver, and it flew out of his hand.
By sheer coincidence, the revolver flew right in front of Wilt and struck him on the head.
Clang!
Wilt felt a pain in his head. Then he looked up and saw the revolver, and a glint instantly flashed in his eyes.
He grabbed the gun, aimed, and fired in one smooth motion.
Bang! An orange-yellow bullet flew toward Tris.
At the sound of the gunshot, Tris's Spirituality warned him frantically, and he instinctively rolled to the side.
Bang! The attack missed, and the bullet struck the wooden boards.
Just as Wilt was about to fire again, he suddenly heard cries of alarm from the crowd outside.
"Oh my god, it's the Alfalfa! How did it crash into the port?"
"Where are the people on board? Why can't I see the sailors or the captain?"
"Quick, call the police! Something may have happened on the ship!"
Wilt suddenly froze.
The Alfalfa!
He looked again at the pale-faced man before him.
Round face, Beyonder...
Trissy, the one behind the Alfalfa Tragedy!
No, he hasn't become a woman yet. He should be called Tris.
This really is an unexpected encounter!
At that thought, a faint smile appeared on Wilt's face.
He pointed the revolver at Tris, who had pulled out another dagger, and said:
"Tris, a member of the Aurora Order and a Sequence 8 Instigator of the Assassin Pathway."
"You boarded the Alfalfa this time to digest your Instigator Potion. To that end, you incited the people on the ship to kill one another."
"Am I right, Mr. Instigator?"
Tris's face instantly darkened at those words. He stared fixedly at Wilt. "Who are you?"
"Why do you know all this?"
"Heh." Wilt chuckled and began to use a Swindler's eloquence and charm.
"Actually, we're not enemies. There's no need for us to fight here.
"I'm neither a police officer nor an official Beyonder, and the people you killed have nothing to do with me. I'm just a passerby who ended up here by accident, and I won't tell the Nighthawks or the Mandated Punishers what you've done either."
"So we can get along peacefully and shake hands to make peace."
"Hmph!" Tris sneered.
"Who knows whether what you're saying is true? I trust the dead more than any of that."
"No matter how you learned about me, as long as I kill you, every problem will be solved."
Wilt aimed the revolver toward the window.
Bang!
Crash!
The glass shattered instantly, and the room fell silent.
"The police heard the gunshot and will be here soon. You're running out of time!"